New decade; new movies (2020)
New decade; new movies (2020)
1. Hacksaw Ridge - Wow. Easily the best movie I've seen this year. But seriously, had I watched a day sooner; it would have definitely made my top 10 for 2019. Garfield and Weaving were both great. The story as a whole was wonderful; the war scenes intense. My only complaint would be that Vince Vaughn needs to stick to comedies; he just seemed really out of place.
Re: New decade; new movies
I thought Hacksaw Ridge was only alright. I appreciate that Gibson wanted to glorify a medic over traditional combatants as so many other war movies do, but the film hasn't had much staying power with me.
Doesn't help that Hacksaw Ridge came out the same year as Silence, which is the vastly superior film about Andrew Garfield having his religious faith tested by violence in Japan.
Doesn't help that Hacksaw Ridge came out the same year as Silence, which is the vastly superior film about Andrew Garfield having his religious faith tested by violence in Japan.
"[Cinema] is a labyrinth with a treacherous resemblance to reality." - Andrew Sarris
Re: New decade; new movies
I remember reading Silence in an Asian studies class in college... didn't realize there was a movie with Garfield!
*Edit* And Adam Driver?! Just added to my wish list.
*Edit* And Adam Driver?! Just added to my wish list.
Re: New decade; new movies
Lol I knew this conversation sounded familiar... from my 2018 Black Friday thread when I bought Hacksaw Ridge:
Gendo wrote:I didn't realize Silence was Andrew Garfield. We read the book in an Asian Studies class in college.Silence
Re: New decade; new movies
Yeah say what you will about the direction Star Wars took, but Adam Driver has been pretty consistently picking interesting projects these last few years.
Not all of them are great (Midnight Special immediately comes to mind), but the dude is worth paying attention to.
Not all of them are great (Midnight Special immediately comes to mind), but the dude is worth paying attention to.
"[Cinema] is a labyrinth with a treacherous resemblance to reality." - Andrew Sarris
Re: New decade; new movies
Lol I completely forgot this too.Gendo wrote:Lol I knew this conversation sounded familiar... from my 2018 Black Friday thread when I bought Hacksaw Ridge:
Gendo wrote:I didn't realize Silence was Andrew Garfield. We read the book in an Asian Studies class in college.Silence
"[Cinema] is a labyrinth with a treacherous resemblance to reality." - Andrew Sarris
Re: New decade; new movies
2. Us - Good. An interesting mix between the home invasion genre, zombie movie genre, and more standard horror genre. I have to admit that I didn't even get the symbolism while watching it; had to read about it later. Doesn't quite match the cleverness of Get Out; but still scary and enjoyable.
3. Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle - Not bad. I wasn't expecting much; it was fun and stupid. The couple small tie-ins to the original movie were good. Jack Black was great. Not really looking forward to seeing the sequel.
3. Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle - Not bad. I wasn't expecting much; it was fun and stupid. The couple small tie-ins to the original movie were good. Jack Black was great. Not really looking forward to seeing the sequel.
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Re: New decade; new movies
Just saw the sequel yesterday and it's pretty much exactly like the first one. It was sort of entertaining and fun.
Re: New decade; new movies (2020)
4. The Lego Movie 2: The Second Part - Good. The music was good, especially the not an evil queen song. Almost as good as the first one; the thing really stopping it from reaching that level was that the real-world parallel was both too obvious and shown too early. In the first one; the real-world parallel was basically presented as a twist in the final minutes of the film. Here; they show it very early on; and it's also just more in-your-face throughout. This made it so that instead of just watching the action itself for what it was, I was finding myself viewing it as toys being played with by kids. The humor, while good, was a bit excessive at times.
5. Side Effects - Interesting by the end... the first half of the movie is really boring, and I had no idea what it was about. Thought it was a simple story about a woman struggling with depression. Then it becomes an interesting mystery, followed b a cat-and-mouse game of characters trying to get the upper hand on one-another.
5. Side Effects - Interesting by the end... the first half of the movie is really boring, and I had no idea what it was about. Thought it was a simple story about a woman struggling with depression. Then it becomes an interesting mystery, followed b a cat-and-mouse game of characters trying to get the upper hand on one-another.
Re: New decade; new movies (2020)
6. Creed II - Really good! Heavy emotion; basically cried liked 4 different times. Jordan was great, of course. Even Dolph Lundgren managed to bring a lot of depth to that character. The way the fight ended was just perfect; don't think any of the other Rocky movies ended that way from what I remember. Also, they even got a child actor for Rocky's grandson that really looks like Thalia Shire!
Re: New decade; new movies (2020)
7. Beavis and Butt-Head Do America - Stupid. I mean, it's supposed to be stupid. But it was stupider than I expected. I never watched the show; though I'm a fan of Judge's other stuff. The trippy music video in the middle was cool. And as a King of the Hill fan, it's cool to see Tom Anderson who basically just is Hank Hill. But I almost never laughed.
Re: New decade; new movies (2020)
8. We Own the Night - Meh. Not bad, but not good. I just didn't find the characters very compelling; and Joaquin's transformation felt forced.
9. Grudge Match - Good! Jake LaMotta vs Rocky, what's not to like? It wasn't as silly as I expected; it actually felt mostly genuine. Alan Arkin and Tracy Morgan and Kevin Hart were especially great.
9. Grudge Match - Good! Jake LaMotta vs Rocky, what's not to like? It wasn't as silly as I expected; it actually felt mostly genuine. Alan Arkin and Tracy Morgan and Kevin Hart were especially great.
Re: New decade; new movies (2020)
10. The Jerk - Somehow never saw this before. Very funny. Steve Martin was just a lot of fun. Some really clever and funny lines throughout.
Re: New decade; new movies (2020)
R1 (Rewatch). Sherlock Holmes (2009) - My first rewatch of the year; and I watched it across at least 4 different sittings. Still good. The overall Guy Ritchie feel just works so well here. Downey is great of course. The music is wonderful.
Re: New decade; new movies (2020)
R2. A.I. Artificial Intelligence - Such a weird movie. Pretty much nothing in it actually makes any sense. There's some cool set pieces and visuals. I used to really like this, but not so much anymore.
11. Dog Day Afternoon. It was ok, but not as good as I was expecting given its reputation. The characters were interesting. But a lot of stuff felt pretty unrealistic. Don't know how accurate it is to real life. Maybe it's just because I've seen too many bad comedies, but there's a few different things that go along with “the polite bank robber" that I've seen in movies before, except normally they're played for laughs because of how silly it is. Which made it hard to take seriously in this case. But it got better as it went on.
12. Baby Driver - Also fine, but I expect more from Edgar Wright by this point. The use of music was fantastic throughout for sure; as well as the usual attention to detail you expect from Wright. But the story and characters seemed lacking.
13. The Mule - Good. Not what I was expecting at all in terms of tone. I feel like Earl wasn't developed enough as a character we never really know what he's thinking or feeling about everything that's going on; he just goes along with whatever and doesn't seem to care. But it was fun to see a different type of character for Eastwood.
11. Dog Day Afternoon. It was ok, but not as good as I was expecting given its reputation. The characters were interesting. But a lot of stuff felt pretty unrealistic. Don't know how accurate it is to real life. Maybe it's just because I've seen too many bad comedies, but there's a few different things that go along with “the polite bank robber" that I've seen in movies before, except normally they're played for laughs because of how silly it is. Which made it hard to take seriously in this case. But it got better as it went on.
12. Baby Driver - Also fine, but I expect more from Edgar Wright by this point. The use of music was fantastic throughout for sure; as well as the usual attention to detail you expect from Wright. But the story and characters seemed lacking.
13. The Mule - Good. Not what I was expecting at all in terms of tone. I feel like Earl wasn't developed enough as a character we never really know what he's thinking or feeling about everything that's going on; he just goes along with whatever and doesn't seem to care. But it was fun to see a different type of character for Eastwood.
Re: New decade; new movies (2020)
14. The Commuter - Fine I guess. It's a compelling premise; just once I want to see a really good film made from the premise. So far they've all just been meh... The Box, The Commuter, Eagle Eye. The idea of a random person being controlled by a mysterious antagonist with power. I suppose The Belko Experiment is similar; though not quite the same premise; as it's not a random person being chosen.
Re: New decade; new movies (2020)
R3. Ghost - This totally holds up. Was great a long time ago, and still great now. I just checked out Jerry Zucker's filmography, and wow... Airplane, Ghost, First Knight... then he does Rat Race and that's the end of him; nothing for the next 19 years.
Re: New decade; new movies (2020)
15. The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (2011) - Interesting. Very hard to follow the actual murder mystery; although it doesn't actually feel like the movie is about the murder mystery. I found myself compelled by wanting to know what was going to happen next most of the time. But ultimately it doesn't feel like it really goes anywhere. The mystery is just too hard to really follow; multiple times it feels like there's some big reveal where the characters have discovered something, and I just didn't understand what it was they discovered. Great atmosphere; but the plot was lacking.
Re: New decade; new movies (2020)
16. Aquaman - It was fine. Still felt like it didn't have as much character-driven heart as the average MCU movie. But it has some nice visuals; and I appreciated the changing aspect ratio for land vs water scenes; something I didn't even notice until halfway through. Patrick Wilson felt out of place as the bad guy. But definitely better than the average DCEU.
Re: New decade; new movies (2020)
R4. Cocktail - Bryan Brown makes this good. Also Cruise is just charming, even when his character is doing uncharming things. There's not a lot going on here really; but for some reason I like it.
R5. A Few Good Men - Probably the best Tom Cruise movie there is. The music, performances, and dialog are all excellent.
17. The Dark Tower - Wow this was bad. I was expecting it to be bad from everything I'd heard, yet it was worse than that. I've only read the first book; but this just destroys everything I liked about the book. Even McConaughey didn't help. The story made no sense, and the characters were all poorly done. Yeah I remember reading The Gunslinger and thinking "you know what would be cool? If there's a super cliched fish-out-of-water scene where Roland doesn't know how modern-day New York City works! That's what this book is missing!" Apparently modern-day New York does actually exist in the later books, and that makes me sad for where the series ended up going.
18. Alien: Covenant - Meh. I don't remember almost anything about Prometheus; and I felt like this movie assumed I did (I didn't even remember Michael Fassbender's character). I have a feeling I'll soon forget this movie just as much. Someone needs to tell Ridley Scott that he's not nearly as important as he thinks he is. This whole movie comes off as someone trying to say something super profound; yet doesn't actually have anything to say.
R5. A Few Good Men - Probably the best Tom Cruise movie there is. The music, performances, and dialog are all excellent.
17. The Dark Tower - Wow this was bad. I was expecting it to be bad from everything I'd heard, yet it was worse than that. I've only read the first book; but this just destroys everything I liked about the book. Even McConaughey didn't help. The story made no sense, and the characters were all poorly done. Yeah I remember reading The Gunslinger and thinking "you know what would be cool? If there's a super cliched fish-out-of-water scene where Roland doesn't know how modern-day New York City works! That's what this book is missing!" Apparently modern-day New York does actually exist in the later books, and that makes me sad for where the series ended up going.
18. Alien: Covenant - Meh. I don't remember almost anything about Prometheus; and I felt like this movie assumed I did (I didn't even remember Michael Fassbender's character). I have a feeling I'll soon forget this movie just as much. Someone needs to tell Ridley Scott that he's not nearly as important as he thinks he is. This whole movie comes off as someone trying to say something super profound; yet doesn't actually have anything to say.
Re: New decade; new movies (2020)
I didn't really get the impression that Scott was going for profound in Covenant really, but more just expounding on creator/created themes from Blade Runner and Prometheus. Fassbender trolling everyone to death is the main pleasure of Prometheus and Covenant though IMO.
A Few Good Men owns, though I think best Tom Cruise movie is probably Eyes Wide Shut. For his more traditional action stuff Edge of Tomorrow is really good too.
A Few Good Men owns, though I think best Tom Cruise movie is probably Eyes Wide Shut. For his more traditional action stuff Edge of Tomorrow is really good too.
"[Cinema] is a labyrinth with a treacherous resemblance to reality." - Andrew Sarris
Re: New decade; new movies (2020)
19. Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom - Fine for what it was. Of course it was stupid; but hopefully it was meant to be. Had some fun action; and Pratt was a lot of fun. That twist about the girl though... what even was that? Literally out of no where the bad guy for no reason at all suddenly states what's supposed to be some big twist; and it has nothing to do with anything at all. Nothing prompted the bad guy to reveal the truth at that time.
20. Sicario - Good suspense and overall a well made film. I found the actual story and dialog to be lacking though. The audience was kept in the dark about a lot of things; seemingly to mirror how Kate was being kept in the dark. But it didn't seem realistic that she would actually be going on these dangerous missions without being given more information about what the missions actually were. It's one thing to hide a certain fact or detail from her; but it seems like she (and us) knew almost nothing at all about what was happening. I'm also not sure if by the end we're supposed to think of most of the characters as a blurred line of morality; if we're supposed to see them as the good guys doing whatever it takes to get the job done; or if we're supposed to see them as actually bad. And maybe that was the point. For a lot of what this movie does; Training Day does the same thing but better. Still good though.
20. Sicario - Good suspense and overall a well made film. I found the actual story and dialog to be lacking though. The audience was kept in the dark about a lot of things; seemingly to mirror how Kate was being kept in the dark. But it didn't seem realistic that she would actually be going on these dangerous missions without being given more information about what the missions actually were. It's one thing to hide a certain fact or detail from her; but it seems like she (and us) knew almost nothing at all about what was happening. I'm also not sure if by the end we're supposed to think of most of the characters as a blurred line of morality; if we're supposed to see them as the good guys doing whatever it takes to get the job done; or if we're supposed to see them as actually bad. And maybe that was the point. For a lot of what this movie does; Training Day does the same thing but better. Still good though.
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Re: New decade; new movies (2020)
We're supposed to see them as some kind of necessary evil to fight worse evils...but definitely not good guys.
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Re: New decade; new movies (2020)
21. Sinister - Pretty good. Actually scary for the most part; especially in the sound design. There were a couple really lame jump scares though. It did a good job of misleading you into thinking you knew what was coming and turning out to be wrong. And I pretty much always like Ethan Hawke in anything.
R6. Mud - Still really good. Still came across as portraying women poorly as a whole though. Searched this forum to discover that it's actually been a whole 5 years since I saw it the first time... crazy; I would have guessed 2-3. I appreciated the themes of moving on more this time around.
R6. Mud - Still really good. Still came across as portraying women poorly as a whole though. Searched this forum to discover that it's actually been a whole 5 years since I saw it the first time... crazy; I would have guessed 2-3. I appreciated the themes of moving on more this time around.
Re: New decade; new movies (2020)
22. Strictly Ballroom - The first Baz Luhrmann movie; going to watch them all soon. Pretty good! The story itself was very simple and not all that interesting; but the way it was told was fun. The first 20 minutes and the last 20 minutes were better than the middle in terms of how heavily he leaned into stylistic storytelling. But there were some really good performances in both acting and dancing.
R7. The Rainmaker - Pretty basic legal drama. Not a lot going on here; and a not-great performance from Matt Damon.
23. The Pride of the Yankees - Gary Cooper was super charming; this is the only thing I've seen with him I think. I was surprised that the movie had almost nothing to do with his disease; when a disease is nicknamed after a person, you expect a movie about that person to be about that disease. But no, that was like the last 20 minutes. It's just Lou Gehrig's life; both personally and professionally. Good movie.
24. You Were Never Really Here - I dunno about this. Joaquin Phoenix was great; I really don't think there's anything he can't do. But I think it leaned too far into the idea letting the audience figure things out for themselves from subtle clues. Not saying I need to be spoon-fed the story; but I do like to have some idea of what's going on. It's one of those movies that really just wants the audience to go through the experiences of the character, and it does ok at that. But it's not enough.
R7. The Rainmaker - Pretty basic legal drama. Not a lot going on here; and a not-great performance from Matt Damon.
23. The Pride of the Yankees - Gary Cooper was super charming; this is the only thing I've seen with him I think. I was surprised that the movie had almost nothing to do with his disease; when a disease is nicknamed after a person, you expect a movie about that person to be about that disease. But no, that was like the last 20 minutes. It's just Lou Gehrig's life; both personally and professionally. Good movie.
24. You Were Never Really Here - I dunno about this. Joaquin Phoenix was great; I really don't think there's anything he can't do. But I think it leaned too far into the idea letting the audience figure things out for themselves from subtle clues. Not saying I need to be spoon-fed the story; but I do like to have some idea of what's going on. It's one of those movies that really just wants the audience to go through the experiences of the character, and it does ok at that. But it's not enough.
Re: New decade; new movies (2020)
The Rainmaker is such an odd movie. IIRC its basically Matt Damon's first starring role, but the fact that it was directed by Francis Ford Coppola of all people is truly befuddling. It shows not only how far he had fallen since the 70's, but even since the beginning of the damn 90's. While they have pretty obvious flaws, there's still a huge drop in quality from Dracula/Godfather III to The Rainmaker.
"[Cinema] is a labyrinth with a treacherous resemblance to reality." - Andrew Sarris
Re: New decade; new movies (2020)
Don't forget he directed "Jack" right before it. So yeah, definitely fell far.
Re: New decade; new movies (2020)
25. November Criminals - Really good; a movie about grief and obsession. Good performances in general. Some of the plot required a bit too much suspension of disbelief in terms of the character actually going into the investigation without just being almost immediately killed; as well as the lack of police involvement (from both the police and the protagonist).
Re: New decade; new movies (2020)
26. Romeo + Juliet - The second Baz Luhrmann film. Really good! It was just filled with excitement throughout. The blending of original language with modern everything else managed to fit really well. Not one of DiCaprio's best performances, but that didn't hurt it much. Also, the sets and costumes were great.
27. Green Book - It was fine. Good even; but nothing special. Other than Viggo; he really stood out. It was an interesting story to tell, but there were definitely better movies that came out in 2018. Like Creed II; how was that not nominated for anything?
27. Green Book - It was fine. Good even; but nothing special. Other than Viggo; he really stood out. It was an interesting story to tell, but there were definitely better movies that came out in 2018. Like Creed II; how was that not nominated for anything?
Re: New decade; new movies (2020)
R8. Moulin Rouge! - This has always been one of my favorite movies; though I hadn't seen it in about 15 years. It really holds up! The music, costumes, and especially the sets are fantastic. Nicole Kidman gives a great performance; along with several of the side characters. The story itself is good; not all that special but engrossing enough.
Re: New decade; new movies (2020)
My favorite song from that movie is their version of the main theme from The Sound of Music and to this day I'm annoyed that there's still not a full release of it.
"[Cinema] is a labyrinth with a treacherous resemblance to reality." - Andrew Sarris
Re: New decade; new movies (2020)
I'm really into their version of Your Song; I like it better that Elton's.
Re: New decade; new movies (2020)
28. The Shack - Surprisingly good, mostly. If you don't know, The Shack is a very controversial Christian fiction book made into a movie. Some Christians say that it's inspiring and showed them things about God's character in a new way. Others say it's filled with heresies and portrays a false picture of a false god. Guess what; it's both! The author definitely has some wrong theology that should not be taken as truth; but that doesn't mean that you can't read it as pure fiction, realizing that it's not the Bible, and still find truth in some of it.
But that's the book. The movie follows the book very closely; though it's been many years since I've read it, I don't think there were any important story elements or plot points changed. They did exclude one of my favorite quotes from the book, but they also excluded one of my least favorite. The production values were much higher than your typical Christian film; it felt like a real movie.
But the worst part... Sam Worthington was terrible. The story relies heavily upon serious emotion, and he fails completely at conveying it. Also, while is American accent is fine some of the time, other times it sounds muddled, and then other times it sounds like he completely forgot that his character was supposed to be American, and he just sounded Australian.
Anyway, I can't say for sure, but I would think that non-Christians wouldn't really enjoy it. Ultimately it's still a preachy Christian film. And given the incorrect theology presented; it would probably not be good for a non-Christian anyway.
But that's the book. The movie follows the book very closely; though it's been many years since I've read it, I don't think there were any important story elements or plot points changed. They did exclude one of my favorite quotes from the book, but they also excluded one of my least favorite. The production values were much higher than your typical Christian film; it felt like a real movie.
But the worst part... Sam Worthington was terrible. The story relies heavily upon serious emotion, and he fails completely at conveying it. Also, while is American accent is fine some of the time, other times it sounds muddled, and then other times it sounds like he completely forgot that his character was supposed to be American, and he just sounded Australian.
Anyway, I can't say for sure, but I would think that non-Christians wouldn't really enjoy it. Ultimately it's still a preachy Christian film. And given the incorrect theology presented; it would probably not be good for a non-Christian anyway.
Re: New decade; new movies (2020)
29. Patton - I liked it. Definitely a little slow and tiring at parts. But George C. Scott was great, and the dialog was well-written. The character of Patton himself was fun to watch.
R9. Save the Last Dance - Still holds up. There's some clichéd and corny moments for sure. But it's just a good story about what life is like for underprivileged black teens in an inner-city. I especially like the dialog about "two worlds" vs "one world". Apparently Thomas Carter, the director, also directed Coach Carter, which is almost obvious looking back on them both.
R9. Save the Last Dance - Still holds up. There's some clichéd and corny moments for sure. But it's just a good story about what life is like for underprivileged black teens in an inner-city. I especially like the dialog about "two worlds" vs "one world". Apparently Thomas Carter, the director, also directed Coach Carter, which is almost obvious looking back on them both.
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Re: New decade; new movies (2020)
I think I gave my general thoughts on Patton in the long movies thread. It's solid, but nothing special beyond Scott's performance. Moulin Rouge! is a fun film, and I tend to like films that embrace their campiness if they're well-executed, and Moulin Rouge! is, especially visually.
"As far as we can discern, the sole purpose of human existence is to kindle a light in the darkness of mere being." -- Carl Jung
Re: New decade; new movies (2020)
30. Australia - I really liked it. A very different Baz movie. In the first few minutes I could see some of his usual style; but basically none after that. The story and the history behind it were great. The biggest problem is that there's a somewhat jarring place where basically one movie ends and another begins. It's kind of weird. The actor playing the kid was great; he's not even an actor, just an aboriginal that Baz found.
Re: New decade; new movies (2020)
31. Tremors - Bad, but fun and good also. Filled with 80s cheese; even though it technically came out in the 90s (just barely). Apparently it would have been 80s except they had to delay it so they could make some various edits to get it to PG-13. lol, I noticed while watching it that the line "we killed that motherhumper" was noticeably dubbed; I was confused because it was like watching a made-for-TV cut. Anyway, it was entertaining enough. Several good characters.
32. The Emperor's New Groove - Pretty good. The style of storytelling worked really well; it actually reminded me of Baz Lurhmann in the editing style. Good story, funny moments, and I always love John Goodman. Didn't really like Spade as a voice actor though.
32. The Emperor's New Groove - Pretty good. The style of storytelling worked really well; it actually reminded me of Baz Lurhmann in the editing style. Good story, funny moments, and I always love John Goodman. Didn't really like Spade as a voice actor though.
Re: New decade; new movies (2020)
I really liked Emperor's New Groove when I was a kid. That, Atlantis: The Lost Empire, and The Road to El Dorado were like a weird little adventure trilogy for me.
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Re: New decade; new movies (2020)
I remember hating Australia. I think it's a good example of where camp/cheese just doesn't work when it's also not very well made.
Tremors is one of those good bad-movies, kinda like Evil Dead, though not quite on that level.
Emperer's New Groove I haven't seen since it came out. I remember liking it but I was a teenager back then.
Tremors is one of those good bad-movies, kinda like Evil Dead, though not quite on that level.
Emperer's New Groove I haven't seen since it came out. I remember liking it but I was a teenager back then.
"As far as we can discern, the sole purpose of human existence is to kindle a light in the darkness of mere being." -- Carl Jung
Re: New decade; new movies (2020)
There's nothing bad about Evil Dead. ![Image](https://i.imgur.com/UWpik52.gif)
![Image](https://i.imgur.com/UWpik52.gif)
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Re: New decade; new movies (2020)
I just mean films that are generally self-aware of the typically shlocky traditions of the genre films they're borrowing from, but end up executing them at an extremely high level so that they're actually good. If you remove Raimi's talents from Evil Dead it's probably a pretty terrible and typical B-horror film. (though perhaps Evil Dead II is a better example of this)Raxivace wrote:There's nothing bad about Evil Dead.
"As far as we can discern, the sole purpose of human existence is to kindle a light in the darkness of mere being." -- Carl Jung
Re: New decade; new movies (2020)
I dunno, have you seen Ash vs. Evil Dead? Other than the pilot which Raimi directed himself, I still found most of those episodes to be pretty enjoyable even if they weren't on Evil Dead 1/2 levels, though they were no doubt helped by Raimi being on board as a producer.
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Re: New decade; new movies (2020)
I have not, but I'd stress it's being made in a very different context compared to the original Evil Dead. Once you have films/filmmakers that have shown you can take schlocky sources and make great films out of them, then there's always that template for others to copy from or build upon. In fact, given that Tarantino (and others) have done something similar with the exploitation and grindhouse genre, it's hard to think of many genres left that still have that stigma (besides porn, I guess).
"As far as we can discern, the sole purpose of human existence is to kindle a light in the darkness of mere being." -- Carl Jung
Re: New decade; new movies (2020)
That's a fair argument.
As for genres with a stigma...hmm. There's porn of course, but I wonder if its cousin the erotic thriller hasn't fallen into that? At least I can't think of the last time a major one was released. Maybe Gone Girl and even that one you'd have to reaaaaalllllyyy stretch to fit into that.
As for genres with a stigma...hmm. There's porn of course, but I wonder if its cousin the erotic thriller hasn't fallen into that? At least I can't think of the last time a major one was released. Maybe Gone Girl and even that one you'd have to reaaaaalllllyyy stretch to fit into that.
"[Cinema] is a labyrinth with a treacherous resemblance to reality." - Andrew Sarris
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Re: New decade; new movies (2020)
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Re: New decade; new movies (2020)
I only saw the first episode of Ash vs the Evil Dead; thought it was fine. Big fan of Army of Darkness.
33. All the Money in the World - I liked this. I called Scott pretentious after Covenant; but that same thing works much better here; when he's addressing the problems of the super-rich. Amazing that it's a true story. Christopher Plummer was excellent; glad that they replaced Kevin Spacey. It had great suspense, and really drove home the concept of Getty living in a different world from the rest of us.
34. Straight Outta Compton - Great. I knew nothing at all about NWA before this, other than knowing a couple of their songs. I knew a couple of Eazy-E songs as well, but didn't even know he was dead. Not that the movie needed to be longer, but I would have liked to seen some more of the pre-NWA lives of the characters. But still; it was just a strong biopic; the performances were great; the music was great.
35. Yesterday - Excellent. As usual, I found myself not particularly likely Boyle's actual directing style, but that didn't matter too much. The story itself was great, and kept getting better as it went. Very refreshing to see an original concept being done in the age of nothing but remakes and sequels.
33. All the Money in the World - I liked this. I called Scott pretentious after Covenant; but that same thing works much better here; when he's addressing the problems of the super-rich. Amazing that it's a true story. Christopher Plummer was excellent; glad that they replaced Kevin Spacey. It had great suspense, and really drove home the concept of Getty living in a different world from the rest of us.
34. Straight Outta Compton - Great. I knew nothing at all about NWA before this, other than knowing a couple of their songs. I knew a couple of Eazy-E songs as well, but didn't even know he was dead. Not that the movie needed to be longer, but I would have liked to seen some more of the pre-NWA lives of the characters. But still; it was just a strong biopic; the performances were great; the music was great.
35. Yesterday - Excellent. As usual, I found myself not particularly likely Boyle's actual directing style, but that didn't matter too much. The story itself was great, and kept getting better as it went. Very refreshing to see an original concept being done in the age of nothing but remakes and sequels.
Re: New decade; new movies (2020)
36. Valkyrie - Pretty good.Strong suspense throughout. Depressing though, knowing that ultimately the good guys can't win, given that it's a true story. Then again, I remember thinking the same thing when watching Inglorious Basterds... not that that was a true story, but it was a period piece that would drastically re-write history if the good guys in the movie won. Thankfully, Tarantino is find with re-writing history! Anyway, Valkyrie was fine. Always love Tom Wilkinson.
R10. Field of Dreams - Easily one of my all-time favorite movies. Man this is so good. I really like the way that the supernatural elements are presented as very down-to-earth; the characters just take them as something that can happen. The music is amazing; man I miss James Horner.
R10. Field of Dreams - Easily one of my all-time favorite movies. Man this is so good. I really like the way that the supernatural elements are presented as very down-to-earth; the characters just take them as something that can happen. The music is amazing; man I miss James Horner.
Re: New decade; new movies (2020)
37. The Great Gatsby (1974) - I've technically seen this before, but not since I was an adult and didn't remember anything about it. So not counting is as a rewatch. Anyway, it was fine. Mia Farrow was fantastic. A bit slow in parts and probably could have been shorter.
R11. The Dark Knight - Holds up as a great film.
R12. Domestic Disturbance - Not a great movie, but I like it. Your standard thriller. A few months ago I said that Vince Vaughn should stick to comedy, but for some reason I think he's great here.
38. The Great Mouse Detective - Another one I know I watched as a kid. Fun story, with some surprisingly dark stuff for a G rating. But I guess Disney used to do that a lot.
R11. The Dark Knight - Holds up as a great film.
R12. Domestic Disturbance - Not a great movie, but I like it. Your standard thriller. A few months ago I said that Vince Vaughn should stick to comedy, but for some reason I think he's great here.
38. The Great Mouse Detective - Another one I know I watched as a kid. Fun story, with some surprisingly dark stuff for a G rating. But I guess Disney used to do that a lot.
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Re: New decade; new movies (2020)
I loved Straigh Outta Compton, despite not being a huge fan of hip-hop and knowing nothing about NWA. In fact, it may be the best musical biopic outside of Amadeus.Gendo wrote:34. Straight Outta Compton - Great. I knew nothing at all about NWA before this, other than knowing a couple of their songs. I knew a couple of Eazy-E songs as well, but didn't even know he was dead. Not that the movie needed to be longer, but I would have liked to seen some more of the pre-NWA lives of the characters. But still; it was just a strong biopic; the performances were great; the music was great.
35. Yesterday - Excellent. As usual, I found myself not particularly likely Boyle's actual directing style, but that didn't matter too much. The story itself was great, and kept getting better as it went. Very refreshing to see an original concept being done in the age of nothing but remakes and sequels.
I've been interested in Yesterday just because I'm such a huge Beatles fan.
I remember thinking Valkyrie was pretty mediocre. Good intensity, but everything felt pretty by-the-numbers otherwise.Gendo wrote:36. Valkyrie - Pretty good.Strong suspense throughout. Depressing though, knowing that ultimately the good guys can't win, given that it's a true story. Then again, I remember thinking the same thing when watching Inglorious Basterds... not that that was a true story, but it was a period piece that would drastically re-write history if the good guys in the movie won. Thankfully, Tarantino is find with re-writing history! Anyway, Valkyrie was fine. Always love Tom Wilkinson.
R10. Field of Dreams - Easily one of my all-time favorite movies. Man this is so good. I really like the way that the supernatural elements are presented as very down-to-earth; the characters just take them as something that can happen. The music is amazing; man I miss James Horner.
Haven't seen Field of Dreams since I was a kid, but I remember really liking it back then.
Nah.Gendo wrote:R11. The Dark Knight - Holds up as a great film.
"As far as we can discern, the sole purpose of human existence is to kindle a light in the darkness of mere being." -- Carl Jung
Re: New decade; new movies (2020)
I probably need to rewatch The Dark Knight at some point, I haven't seen it since it first came out on DVD. I do generally enjoy Nolan despite his flaws, but when you pay close attention those flaws become hard not to notice. This video for example critiques how a scene in TDK is constructed.
Gonna agree though on how good Straight Outta Compton was.
Gonna agree though on how good Straight Outta Compton was.
"[Cinema] is a labyrinth with a treacherous resemblance to reality." - Andrew Sarris