[amphibian]

The Great Beauty (the recent Italian film)

[A Demon Llama!]

I've actually had Planes, Trains & Automobiles in my Netflix list for a while now. I'll watch that today.

I remember watching The Great Beauty trailer and was somewhat interested. Looks like its on Netflix as well.

[Macros]

13th Warrior

[Macros]

Just watched the trailer for independence day resurgence.

Why does every trailer have to have that silly BWWWWWWAAAAUMMMM noise on repeat loop these days?

[Morgoth]

Saw The Man From U.N.C.L.E. I really enjoyed it, though the plot was less, hm, complicated than I would have liked. This was Guy Ritchie after all.

[Macros]

I really want to see that, avoided the build up as much as possible, a sa result I've managed to get away with only seeing like 10 seconds of a trailer.

[polishgenius]

I finally caught up and watched Inside Out. It was good, better than some of Pixar's recent efforts- but it felt a little bit pat in some of its messages and I felt that, oddly, The Lego Movie better captured the madness of the inside of the mind, despite not specifically being about that.

[QuickTidal]

FANTASTIC BEASTS AND WHERE TO FIND THEM trailer.

Looks great!

[Macros]

needs more BWWWAAAAAAAAUUUUUUMMMM

[QuickTidal]

Macros, on 15 December 2015 - 01:01 PM, said:

needs more BWWWAAAAAAAAUUUUUUMMMM

Heh, I think the bwaaaaammmmm may be on its way out. I hope at least.

This post has been edited by QuickTidal: 15 December 2015 - 01:44 PM

[amphibian]

It depends on what they aim for. Getting the surreal Swayze and Kiedis vibe right probably won't happen again.

But if they put together something simple with terrific action pieces like John Wick or The Raid, it'll work.

[QuickTidal]

amphibian, on 22 December 2015 - 04:30 AM, said:

It depends on what they aim for. Getting the surreal Swayze and Kiedis vibe right probably won't happen again.

But if they put together something simple with terrific action pieces like John Wick or The Raid, it'll work.

Yeah, I was initially vehemently against it, but then I saw the trailer and the bit about Bodie wanting to do some spiritual multiple activity journey (AKA not just surfing) hit me as interesting. It could still be bad, but my wife wishes to see it and I'm happy to take her. I'll report back after we see it.

[polishgenius]

Briar King, on 27 December 2015 - 06:52 PM, said:

Just watched John Wick. That was a fun film. Idk why it only got 2 stars instead of 3.. It was pure popcorn mob fun.

From whom?

[worry]

Depending on your company it's very possible it's an average rating from viewers who bother to rate things on their cable guide, which is like a subset of a subset of a subset of viewers. Not sure most people even know you can rate things you've watched on digital cable, let alone how to navigate to do it.

[worry]

Finally saw:
Big Hero 6: Entertaining but surprisingly thin. Very little character development for pretty much everyone. Baymax is effectively adorable and delightful though and it was still more or less fun to watch.

Fury Road: Pretty darn awesome. Lived up to reputation. Only oddity was how lacking in blood/gore it was. Felt like SNES Mortal Kombat in some scenes.

[Gnaw]

The Big Short. Based on the Michael Lewis book.

I would never have dreamed that it would be possible to make a coherent movie out of that material, but from where I'm sitting they fucking nailed it.

Excellent, excellent movie.

[QuickTidal]

While my better half and I were nursing our separate maladies over the long weekend (me with my tooth infection, her with nausea) we watched some movies on Netflix.

FAR FROM THE MADDING CROWD (2015) - I'll start this off by saying that I'd always thought it was "maddening" not "madding"...otherwise I'd always wanted to read the book back in my "read the classics" days of my early 20's, so I'm glad to have finally seen the story. The film is LAVISH in cinematography and even pacing and score. The direction is adept and thoughtful, and the acting was incredible from Mulligan, Schonaerts, and Sheen throughout. I bought every single second of them on screen in their roles. The minor (and it is minor, as I loved this film from start to finish) issue I had was with Tom Sturridge's character...the actor is such a smarmy looking shit from the moment he's on screen, that you just KNOW he's going to be a dick...which makes him a tad on the nose. If I'd been casting, I might have gone with someone who was good looking, but didn't offer up the smarmy mug from shot one. Otherwise, an incredible film.

THE SECOND BEST EXOTIC MARIGOLD HOTEL - Loved the first film, and the second is no different. Dev Patel and Maggie Smith (with Bill Nighy bringing up the rear) just sell these films with their portrayal. The RT consensus fits with my view: "The Second Best Exotic Marigold Hotel is about as original as its title—but with a cast this talented and effortlessly charming, that hardly matters." The pedigree of the actors involved and their efforts onscreen makes this as enjoyable as it is. Bonus: Having watched the first one I'd had no idea who Tina Desai was...but watching this and knowing how incredible she was in SENSE8 as Kala I got extra enjoyment out of her character on the back of her performance in the netflix series. It's also structured around the myriad of events around a Hindu wedding (things I've been a party to through Hindu friends in past) which was a nice touch to give the story a little more of a grounding. The only thing that kind of falls flat is the hotel inspector plotline (lifted nearly wholesale from the FAWLTY TOWERS episode of that name) with Richard Gere and Tamsin Grieg...but it's not a dealbreaker, just kind of hackneyed and underbaked.

CINDERELLA (2015) - As Disney's first real foray into live-actioning it's animated properties (followed by the upcoming THE JUNGLE BOOK, and BEAUTY & THE BEAST), their choice of Kenneth Brannagh for director was an inspired choice. He is the perfect guy to shepherd something as fairy-tale-like and over-the-top as Cinderella (especially the Disneyfied version) into the live action realm. He keeps things grounded while allowing them to be ludicrous at the same time. The mice don't talk, but they jibber and jabber as IF they have a language. Things like that. Cate Blanchette does a serviceable job as the wicked stepmother...but I never buy her fully as the character...not enough time to REALLY hate her...and then Wietz's script adds in a bit that tries to humanize her which falls flat in the face of just how brutal she can be. It's an odd balance that never really works...thankfully Brannagh leaves most of that on the cutting room floor. The stepsisters come across more as squabbling morons than sadistic....but perhaps that's how they were in the animated movie? Everyone else here is great, including the lead Lily James. For my money though, the BIG winner of this film is the set design. I want to LIVE in Cinderella's house. It is like a Thomas Kinkade painting come to life in the countryside. Anyways, quite good, if not perfect adaptation.

[worry]

That's the movie lineup of a retired couple, QT.

[polishgenius]

I actually watched this a while back, but I've been totally remiss in updating here, I was gonna ask: who's seen Song of the Sea? Excellent little Irish fairy-tale animation, and absolutely gorgeous. I did think the director's first feature, Secret of Kells, was a little stronger (there's less subtlety to the emotional message here being the chief reason), but it's a thin line really.

Both films are massively recommended if you haven't seen them for fans of traditional 2D animation and for lovers of a good old fairytale.

[Aptorian]

Same author as far as I recall.

I am confused though, the trailer seems to imply that there's some kind of bad guys besides the Zombies in this film.