[amphibian]

Tron: Legacy is a very decent movie. It's not the greatest thing ever, but the effects are great, the story makes sense and the actors are enjoyable. Plus we get Cillian Murphy as the bad guy in the next iteration, which is awesome.

[QuickTidal]

amphibian, on 10 February 2013 - 05:23 PM, said:

Tron: Legacy is a very decent movie. It's not the greatest thing ever, but the effects are great, the story makes sense and the actors are enjoyable. Plus we get Cillian Murphy as the bad guy in the next iteration, which is awesome.

Indeed. I think that film was a victim of a blinder-legacy. The original, is nothing spectacular, but is nostalgicly awesome to so many people...and I think people just thought that its sequel was going to some mind-blowing thought-provoking revelation...and instead what it was is a VERY fun, well put together sequel to TRON...and it works as such...but people needed to go in expecting TRON....not INCEPTION.

I liked it a lot.

[QuickTidal]

Saw A GOOD DAY TO DIE HARD, and was pleasantly surprised! It was a really solid entry in the series, feels much more like a DIE HARD flick than the 4th one did...has all the swearing, bullets and blood that made the series famous (lots of "fucks" and "mother fuckers"), and has a cool, fairly simple storyline. It's also, like a 90's action flick, only 1hr40min...so it wastes no time getting things moving.

Great fun, and we both enjoyed it immensely!

[McLovin]

Saw IDENTITY THIEF last week.

I nominate Melissa McCarthy to be in the next installment of the TAKEN franchise. She's clearly got the throat-punch down.

[amphibian]

Those throat punches were awesome.

I gave Identity Theft a solid B. It's not Planes, Trains and Automobiles, but it's got a good heart and some laughs.

[Khellendros]

QuickTidal, on 15 February 2013 - 03:47 AM, said:

Saw A GOOD DAY TO DIE HARD, and was pleasantly surprised! It was a really solid entry in the series, feels much more like a DIE HARD flick than the 4th one did...has all the swearing, bullets and blood that made the series famous (lots of "fucks" and "mother fuckers"), and has a cool, fairly simple storyline. It's also, like a 90's action flick, only 1hr40min...so it wastes no time getting things moving.

Great fun, and we both enjoyed it immensely!

I saw it last night, and thought it was truly terrible. Hardly any funny dialogue, which Die Hard is known for normally, and Bruce Willis kept repeating the same two lines over and over again: "Jesus Christ!", and, "I'm on vacation!" He must have said each at least a dozen times. The action was overblown, he's now an indestructible superhero more than anything else. I mean, I know you're supposed to suspend disbelief in any DH film, but there comes a point when it's too much.

Spoiler

You just have to laugh when the bad guys come in with 'anti-radiation spray' which works in five seconds flat, and the woman says, "Trust me, it works". She's not talking to the other bad guys there, she's just trying to get the audience to accept it

[Khellendros]

QuickTidal, on 10 February 2013 - 07:15 PM, said:

amphibian, on 10 February 2013 - 05:23 PM, said:

Tron: Legacy is a very decent movie. It's not the greatest thing ever, but the effects are great, the story makes sense and the actors are enjoyable. Plus we get Cillian Murphy as the bad guy in the next iteration, which is awesome.

Indeed. I think that film was a victim of a blinder-legacy. The original, is nothing spectacular, but is nostalgicly awesome to so many people...and I think people just thought that its sequel was going to some mind-blowing thought-provoking revelation...and instead what it was is a VERY fun, well put together sequel to TRON...and it works as such...but people needed to go in expecting TRON....not INCEPTION.

I liked it a lot.

I found Tron: Legacy thoroughly enjoyable. And how can you mention it without saying anything about the Daft Punk soundtrack, which is fantastic? I found it so good that I had to actually buy the CD, and I'm not even particularly a Daft Punk fan.

[amphibian]

The Master was fairly good, but I'm interested in seeing if there's a director's cut out there. Some scenes felt truncated and storylines shortened for time. All the primary actors (I include actresses in that category) were great, even if Joaquin Phoenix is essentially an unlikable guy in every single role he's ever done. One of my uncles is a Scientologist and fairly weird about it too, so it is a topic that holds some fascination for me.

Still gave DDL the far better chances of winning the Oscar with the voters in the discussion with my brother and was borne out by the actual vote.

[Abyss]

McLovin, on 01 March 2013 - 01:45 PM, said:

Saw IDENTITY THIEF last week.

I nominate Melissa McCarthy to be in the next installment of the TAKEN franchise. She's clearly got the throat-punch down.

Just saw TAKEN 2... that could be an improvement.

Khellendros, on 04 March 2013 - 02:54 PM, said:

QuickTidal, on 15 February 2013 - 03:47 AM, said:

Saw A GOOD DAY TO DIE HARD, and was pleasantly surprised! It was a really solid entry in the series, feels much more like a DIE HARD flick than the 4th one did...has all the swearing, bullets and blood that made the series famous (lots of "fucks" and "mother fuckers"), and has a cool, fairly simple storyline. It's also, like a 90's action flick, only 1hr40min...so it wastes no time getting things moving.

Great fun, and we both enjoyed it immensely!

I saw it last night, and thought it was truly terrible. Hardly any funny dialogue, which Die Hard is known for normally, and Bruce Willis kept repeating the same two lines over and over again: "Jesus Christ!", and, "I'm on vacation!" He must have said each at least a dozen times. The action was overblown, he's now an indestructible superhero more than anything else. I mean, I know you're supposed to suspend disbelief in any DH film, but there comes a point when it's too much. ...

here's what bugs the crap out of me... John McLane in DH and DH2 was a badass, but at root a normal guy in a completely fucked up situation just trying to stay alive and save his family. He got beat up a lot, he survived fights and shootouts and splosions by the barest of luck or by just being toucher than the other guy... now he's a super-hero. They've completely tossed the 'poor almost-ordinary shmuck running for his life' angle for JOHN MCLANE ASSKICKING AMERICAN SUPEHEROMAN!!! and the movies have utterly suffered for it, imnsho.

3 was a joke. A decade or so later so was 4. I'll catch 5 on a plane or small screen eventually but i won't spend dollars to see it.

[Khellendros]

Abyss, on 04 March 2013 - 07:40 PM, said:

McLovin, on 01 March 2013 - 01:45 PM, said:

Saw IDENTITY THIEF last week.

I nominate Melissa McCarthy to be in the next installment of the TAKEN franchise. She's clearly got the throat-punch down.

Just saw TAKEN 2... that could be an improvement.

Khellendros, on 04 March 2013 - 02:54 PM, said:

QuickTidal, on 15 February 2013 - 03:47 AM, said:

Saw A GOOD DAY TO DIE HARD, and was pleasantly surprised! It was a really solid entry in the series, feels much more like a DIE HARD flick than the 4th one did...has all the swearing, bullets and blood that made the series famous (lots of "fucks" and "mother fuckers"), and has a cool, fairly simple storyline. It's also, like a 90's action flick, only 1hr40min...so it wastes no time getting things moving.

Great fun, and we both enjoyed it immensely!

I saw it last night, and thought it was truly terrible. Hardly any funny dialogue, which Die Hard is known for normally, and Bruce Willis kept repeating the same two lines over and over again: "Jesus Christ!", and, "I'm on vacation!" He must have said each at least a dozen times. The action was overblown, he's now an indestructible superhero more than anything else. I mean, I know you're supposed to suspend disbelief in any DH film, but there comes a point when it's too much. ...

here's what bugs the crap out of me... John McLane in DH and DH2 was a badass, but at root a normal guy in a completely fucked up situation just trying to stay alive and save his family. He got beat up a lot, he survived fights and shootouts and splosions by the barest of luck or by just being toucher than the other guy... now he's a super-hero. They've completely tossed the 'poor almost-ordinary shmuck running for his life' angle for JOHN MCLANE ASSKICKING AMERICAN SUPEHEROMAN!!! and the movies have utterly suffered for it, imnsho.

3 was a joke. A decade or so later so was 4. I'll catch 5 on a plane or small screen eventually but i won't spend dollars to see it.

I agree with you entirely...aside from one thing: ...With a Vengeance was awesome, my favourite Die Hard Come on, the water measuring scene! Classic! I admit that's when the transition started taking place, with Samuel L. Jackson taking on the average guy in a crazy situation role more so that McClane, though not completely.

[tiam]

Agreed 3 was much better than 2. The opening scene with Mclane in the van, hungover as balls after being suspended does not quite show the unkillable machine that 4 does. An average cop in a realistic scenario killing a harrier jump jet in 4 is where the bed was shit in.

Ill still watch 5 though because I just will. The Expendables is also awful in a genuinely awful, non ironic way, yet I did still enjoy it.

EDIT- Yeh Taken 2 (a 12 in the UK rather than the original 18 certificate) is all sorts of meh. But thats what you get when you drop a certificate ala Die Hard. You also get the 150 million extra Taken 2 made over Taken.

This post has been edited by Jean-Claude Van tiam: 04 March 2013 - 10:53 PM

[Mezla PigDog]

I caught Super 8 on Blu-ray yesterday. I recommend it. Old school kids vs the world a la E.T. or The Goonies but with a few F-bombs and a surprisingly high body count.

[worry]

There's actually one F-bomb. The reason I know that is cuz on the day I went to see it with someone we were listening to a film podcast that was discussing the MPAA and PG-13 movies and all that arbitrary nonsense, and how PG-13s are allowed the use of one F-bomb, and sure enough they ALL seem to use that option. So we were just waiting to see if they would, and sure enough.

[worry]

Pretty great story, huh?

[Assail]

Anyone else seen Silver Linings Playbook?? I went and saw it last night with a couple friends and was expecting it to be the usual chick flick kinda movie but I was incredibly surprised. Jennifer Lawrence really went up in my book as an actress... Hunger Games didn't make me think too much of her as an actress, but I was really pleasantly surprised. That and she is sexy as fuck! Had to be said.. didn't think so from Hunger Games hahaha. Anyway, all that aside, the plot was great, the acting phenomenal, it was way funnier than I expected, and it was just an all round great movie in my books.

Can't say that was very eloquent, but I was just wondering if anyone has seen it (If not, I highly suggest you do so!), and if so, what did you think of it?

[worry]

Spoilers included:

I liked it a lot. I've heard a lot of criticism that it started out strong but went into "fantasy land" by letting these two mentally ill people find each other, that the rom-com structure diminished the mental illness aspect in the end. I had kind of the opposite reaction, more like "Finally, a movie where the mentally ill aren't just tokens for miserablism or very special moments." Know what I mean? It could treat mental illness seriously and still have fun, romance, optimism, even some sentimentality. If people are reading the ending like everyone's problems are solved, they're just being simple IMO. These are people with mental illnesses, not cardboard stand-ins for mental illness in an after-school special.

[Assail]

worrywort, on 12 March 2013 - 06:54 AM, said:

Spoilers included:

I liked it a lot. I've heard a lot of criticism that it started out strong but went into "fantasy land" by letting these two mentally ill people find each other, that the rom-com structure diminished the mental illness aspect in the end. I had kind of the opposite reaction, more like "Finally, a movie where the mentally ill aren't just tokens for miserablism or very special moments." Know what I mean? It could treat mental illness seriously and still have fun, romance, optimism, even some sentimentality. If people are reading the ending like everyone's problems are solved, they're just being simple IMO. These are people with mental illnesses, not cardboard stand-ins for mental illness in an after-school special.

Spoilered this just in case. It's got some stuff from the movie in there.

Spoiler

Oh there was definitely an element of fantasy land in that they both found each other, but it was a movie, you have to have a little of that sometimes you know?

Exactly! It started off for me a little depressing, seeing how they both interacted with the world and the issues he specifically had dealing with the song and what his wife did to him, but it quickly jumped to exactly as it's titled: silver linings (And not just a simple happy ending) and the fact that even with them, life is still a struggle. I'm with you 100%, it left you feeling optimistic about the situation really. It wasn't glossed over as if they had now found each other and everything was hunky dory and the illness was gone, it was presented that they were a work in progress, and that they had found ways within each other to cope.

This post has been edited by Assail: 12 March 2013 - 07:49 AM

[Abyss]

Assail, on 12 March 2013 - 06:42 AM, said:

Anyone else seen Silver Linings Playbook?? I went and saw it last night with a couple friends and was expecting it to be the usual chick flick kinda movie but I was incredibly surprised....

worrywort, on 12 March 2013 - 06:54 AM, said:

Spoilers included:

I liked it a lot. I've heard a lot of criticism that it started out strong but went into "fantasy land" by letting these two mentally ill people find each other, ...

Saw it, liked it way more than i expected to. Had some surprisingly dark turns and wasn't afraid to show mentally ill people as 'human' warts and all.
I get the fantasyland critique but SPOILERS

Spoiler

...one of the points at the end was they their families conspired to try to get them together in the first place, which is in turns cute, sweet and condescending as fuck, in keeping with some of the dark notes in the flic.

I wouldn't have wanted to spend big screen prices to see it, but worth seeing. Cooper and Lawrence both delivered way better performances than i thought they were capable of and De Niro was surprisingly human.



Saw ARGO. Pretty good. The hype sort of exceeded the film, but still entertaining, ham-handed manufactured tension aside.

THE MAN WITH THE GOLDEN GUN was on last night.... sometimes classic Roger Moore as Bond is just the bestest thing in the world.

[Assail]

Abyss, on 12 March 2013 - 02:38 PM, said:

Assail, on 12 March 2013 - 06:42 AM, said:

Anyone else seen Silver Linings Playbook?? I went and saw it last night with a couple friends and was expecting it to be the usual chick flick kinda movie but I was incredibly surprised....

worrywort, on 12 March 2013 - 06:54 AM, said:

Spoilers included:

I liked it a lot. I've heard a lot of criticism that it started out strong but went into "fantasy land" by letting these two mentally ill people find each other, ...

Saw it, liked it way more than i expected to. Had some surprisingly dark turns and wasn't afraid to show mentally ill people as 'human' warts and all.
I get the fantasyland critique but SPOILERS

Spoiler

...one of the points at the end was they their families conspired to try to get them together in the first place, which is in turns cute, sweet and condescending as fuck, in keeping with some of the dark notes in the flic.

I wouldn't have wanted to spend big screen prices to see it, but worth seeing. Cooper and Lawrence both delivered way better performances than i thought they were capable of and De Niro was surprisingly human.



Saw ARGO. Pretty good. The hype sort of exceeded the film, but still entertaining, ham-handed manufactured tension aside.

THE MAN WITH THE GOLDEN GUN was on last night.... sometimes classic Roger Moore as Bond is just the bestest thing in the world.

This seems to be a general consensus so far... I had high hopes for Cooper as far as performance goes, Lawrence was a wild card for me though. This was a role that stepped outside of De Niro's usual portrayals and I reckon he nailed it. The family dynamic was truthful in a lot of ways. What do families do BUT get involved when you don't necessarily want them to ya know? Ah well, enough of me singing praises.

I've been meaning to see Argo for some time.. everyone is screaming how amazing it was and all that good stuff, but I'm taking that with a grain of salt...

Sean Connery was a WAY better Bond as far as I'm concerned Abyss

[Obdigore]

Just watched Iron Sky. It is most likely the best movie made in 2012.