List some movies you've watched recently. Theatre, rental, TV...

[Arkaign]

The Town - 8.5/10

I went into this not really expecting anything special, but I was fortunately in for a good surprise. While not quite on the level of 'Heat' or 'The Departed', it was still far above average for a crime/action thriller. Ben Affleck does well here, but Jeremy Renner (lead in The Hurt Locker) really steals the show here. The direction was very competent, and the action sequences are definitely well done. About the only considerable weak spot was the lead FBI agent, I'm not going to blame it entirely on the actor, the script didn't seem to flesh him out very much at all, so the audience doesn't really have anything more than a very thin character to go on. He pops up now and again in the story and seems just sort of douchey and flat. Overall there's nothing terribly original here, good old cops and robbers (in Boston again, that city has been getting some screen time of late!), but it's pulled off well enough that any genre fan should have a great time with it.

I'll say it clearly : Ben Affleck has come a long long way from the respective messes of Gigli and Daredevil, and his presence works well in ensemble pieces. His direction, while not Scorcese-level by any means, is really quite good. He doesn't employ a lot of flashy tricks or artistically unique elements, but he's consistent and the deadpan style works great here. There are multiple scenes where you could tell a lot of filmmakers would be inclined to stretch out, try to raise tension/etc, but Ben's direction stlye here just bangs it out in real-time, which leads to some very sudden violence and nothing lingers on the screen unnecessarily. It's extremely satisfying at times. If you want to know the exact opposite, think of stuff like 'Truth or Consequences, N.M.", where there is heaps of slow-mo, extreme camera angles, and everything is telegraphed a mile away.

If you like crime sagas with a good dose of action, here you go, a surprise joyride. If you're expecting a script on par with The Departed or Heat, you may be slightly let down. This is not a best picture contender, but it might definitely be the best film of its type this year.

 

[mcurphy]

The Town - 8.5/10

......

Thanks for your thoughts in this review. I have been looking forward to this movie and now I really can't wait to see it. I am a big fan of Jeremy Renner (I thought he was excellent in Hurt Locker and even great in 28 weeks later), and I don't mind Affleck either (good in some roles, bad in some roles, but really can be a great actor in others).

 

[Arkaign]

Thanks for your thoughts in this review. I have been looking forward to this movie and now I really can't wait to see it. I am a big fan of Jeremy Renner (I thought he was excellent in Hurt Locker and even great in 28 weeks later), and I don't mind Affleck either (good in some roles, bad in some roles, but really can be a great actor in others).

It sounds like you're exactly the type of person who would like it, I know I had a great time watching it. I've heard the other cops and robbers movie out right now called 'Takers' is merely okay, which is sort of normal for the genre sadly. I think I might go so far and to say that 'The Town' is the best crime flick since 'The Departed' and probably earns a spot of top 10 crime films from the past couple of decades, and can be comfortably sit amongst the best.

 

[cKGunslinger]

I really hated how they ended the film on something of an agnostic note. Yes they did mention there was "xx minutes of static" thereby semi confirming Jodie Foster's experience but they also let a semi religious note creep in which IMNSHO was an insult to the late Carl Sagan, at that time not long dead.

Did you read the book?

Do you not remember the ending there? Finding a message encoding into a Universal Mathematical Constant is somewhat a nod to a Creator, is it not?

 

[zerocool84]

The Town 6.5/10

Wanted to see Social Network but it was sold out so saw this instead and this has been getting pretty good reviews so thought why not.

It was a decent movie it just dragged too much for me at many points. Definitely not a bad movie at all just many parts had me yawning which should never happen at a movie. The parts that were good though were many and lots of the action was very well done. The ending sucked though as you pretty much knew what was going to happen and it was cliché. You should still go see this movie as it's pretty good but the many boring parts in-between the interesting parts were too frequent. Just because Ben Affleck directed this shouldn't make you not want to see it at all. You should go see it as it's definitely a solid movie just dragged too much for my tastes.

 

[pontifex]

Cop Out - 7/10 - better than I thought it would be. The scenes with Bruce Willis, Tracy Morgan, and Sean William Scott are hilarious and the best parts of the movie.

 

[CoinOperatedBoy]

The Sting - 8/10 - Very stylish, and an obvious forerunner to more recent con man and heist flicks. Gotta love the Paul Newman-Robert Redford combo. I enjoyed this film very much, but I doubt it lends itself well to repeat viewings once the twists are known.

The Town - 7.5/10 - A heist flick, sure, but definitely a departure from the lighthearted antics in The Sting. Affleck does a more-than-passable job with The Town; it seems Boston is his muse. Jeremy Renner continues to be a scene-stealer. Plus, Don Draper!

 

[sandorski]

The Last Sect 7/10-- Story is weak, Lesbo seduction is strong, albeit in short spurts. Not Porn, just Erotica.

 

[sdifox]

The Sting - 8/10 - Very stylish, and an obvious forerunner to more recent con man and heist flicks. Gotta love the Paul Newman-Robert Redford combo. I enjoyed this film very much, but I doubt it lends itself well to repeat viewings once the twists are known.

The Town - 7.5/10 - A heist flick, sure, but definitely a departure from the lighthearted antics in The Sting. Affleck does a more-than-passable job with The Town; it seems Boston is his muse. Jeremy Renner continues to be a scene-stealer. Plus, Don Draper!

I have seen The Sting many times, I enjoyed it each time. I would say at least 15 times.

 

[sdifox]

The Expendables 6/10 Good old romp in the jungle. Some scenes are decent but as a movie it is pretty much run of the mill shoot them up. I wonder how much Arny and Bruce got paid for the cameo or maybe they did it just for fun.

 

[Ichinisan]

Beauty and the Beast BD - 8/10
Worth watching again. It was better than I remembered.

Breakdown (Kurt Russell) Netflix streaming HD 7/10
Pretty fun vengeance / action movie.

 

[KeithTalent]

Cell 211 (Celda 211) - 7/10: A Spanish film about a new prison guard, at work the day before he is supposed to start, who gets caught up in a riot and ends up ingratiating himself in with leader of the prisoners and the riot. I liked this quite a bit, seeing the guy embed himself with the prisoners, but a few of the emotional parts seemed a bit contrived. Overall a decent, straight-up prison action-drama; something I could easily see being re-made in the US.

The Invention of Dr. Nakamats - 8/10: A short documentary on Yoshiro Nakamatsu, a Japanese inventor, the holder of over 3,00 patents and the creator of things like the floppy disk, and various other things. The camera follows Nakamats as he goes around to various meetings, shows off all kinds of inventions, and setting up his 80th birthday party. A fascinating and hilarious guy, plus the doc is filmed very well; a very enjoyable 60 minutes.

Repeaters - 2/10: A Canadian film about 3 youngish people in a re-hab facility, that end up repeating the same day over and over; sort of like a darker Groundhog's Day. The story has a lot of potential, but the execution is terrible. Poor writing and poor directing killed this; the pacing was way off and I wanted to leave half-way through, but I didn't because the director and actors were in attendance, so I would have felt bad.

Cold Weather - 8.5/10: A very fun sort of mumblecore thriller, centred around a brother and sister living together in Portland; the brother had recently quit school where he was taking forensic science, but he starts a job at an ice factory, then gets caught up in some mysterious happenings surrounding his ex-girlfriend. I love this kind of stuff; low-budget (though the film looked great) with minimal, mostly improvised dialogue. Adding a mystery element to this type of film is not something I had ever seen before and it made for a very fun ride. I also thought the sister was excellent. Good stuff.

American Grindhouse - 7.5/10: A documentary on the history of grindhouse and exploitation cinema, with lots of clips and interviews with some of the major players along the way and various other directors. Tonnes of fun and quite informative (I had no idea they disguised all kinds of nudity in films in the 50's as educational material). If you have any sort of interest in film or even if you just want to see what was behind some of those schlocky old films, this is definitely worth a watch.

A Film Unfinished (Shtikat Haarchion) - 8/10: A pretty fascinating documentary surrounding an unfinished nazi propaganda film that was unearthed many years ago, but is just now being truly uncovered with details of what was being done and why. The original film was done in a Warsaw ghetto where ~500,000 Jews were kept in a 3 square mile area; conditions were appalling, with people dying of strvation all over the place and the bodies littering the streets. The propaganda film was staged in order to show the disparity between rich and poor Jews in the ghetto and how the more well-off Jews (not even the rich people necessarily, but the people that could still wak around like normal human beings) acted horribly to the lower-class Jews, when in fact this was all instructed by the nazis, which can be seen in the various takes the nazis did in setting this all up. An extremely difficult film to watch, but fascinating at the same time as you get a real look behind how the nazi propaganda machine worked. Not something I will watch again anytime soon, if ever, but I'm glad I saw it.

Armadillo - 8.5/10: A very compelling documentary following a Danish military unit stationed in Afghanistan. Some of the footage in this film is amazing; the film maker must be a bit insane as he was right in the middle of some of the gun fights, but this also shows the other side of a soldier's life, where they sit around bored, waiting for something exciting to happen. I have to say it was nice to see a different perspective in a war film, since almost all of the Afghan/Iraq war films I see are from an American viewpoint, though at the end of the day the there does not seem to be much difference between the Danish and American soldiers I have seen on screen. An extremely well shot movie and a great look into a soldier's tour.

KT

 

[KeithTalent]

The Sting - 8/10 - Very stylish, and an obvious forerunner to more recent con man and heist flicks. Gotta love the Paul Newman-Robert Redford combo. I enjoyed this film very much, but I doubt it lends itself well to repeat viewings once the twists are known.

It's been three or four years, but I've watched this a few times and I liked it every time. I think watching Newman and Redford together is worth it alone, though I must say Butch Cassidy and The Sundance Kids is one of my favourite movies.

KT

 

[mcurphy]

Cop Out - 7/10 - better than I thought it would be. The scenes with Bruce Willis, Tracy Morgan, and Sean William Scott are hilarious and the best parts of the movie.

Seriously??? You've got to be fucking kidding. You can honestly rate it as high as a 7.......and you aren't high on drugs?

This was easily the worst movie I have seen in the past decade.

But I guess, to each their own........

 

[slayer202]

Seriously??? You've got to be fucking kidding. You can honestly rate it as high as a 7.......and you aren't high on drugs?

This was easily the worst movie I have seen in the past decade.

But I guess, to each their own........

idk why no one likes this movie lol. I saw it in theatres so it was a while ago, but I thought it was hilarious. I gotta see it again, I feel like i'm crazy or something

 

[gimmewhitecastles]

Following 8/10
Thoroughly enjoyed this one. When it comes down to it, the plot is very simple if arranged in a normal timeline. But the way it jumps in and out of different times during the whole movie, though hard to follow at first, it really added character to the overall film.

 

[busydude]

The Social Network 9/10 - Brilliant, absolutely brilliant. This movie made me think a lot which is a good thing, beautiful script, great performances, flawless direction.. this movie has got everything going on. It is going to stay in my mind for a long time.

Following 8/10 Thoroughly enjoyed this one. When it comes down to it, the plot is very simple if arranged in a normal timeline. But the way it jumps in and out of different times during the whole movie, though hard to follow at first, it really added character to the overall film.

This movie is a showcase of Nolan's talent, an absolute masterpiece.

 

[maziwanka]

toy story 3 - 8/10. seriously awesome. dunno what else to say but a really nice story and a great end to the toy story series.

 

[legcramp]

City Island - 8/10 Great watch, kept me entertained the whole time. I didn't expect the movie to be so funny so that was surprising.

The Experiment - 3/10 Started out pretty good, then I was just frustrated the whole time after finding out what the "experiment" was. Adrien Brody did a good job but not enough to save this pos movie. Forest Whitaker was a mis-cast IMO, I was just laughing my butt off at his character while wanting to put him in a coma. Maybe that's what they were going for? :X

Now only another week until I get my HTTYD blu-ray.

 

[BurnItDwn]

The Crazies (remake) - 6.5/10 (2010)
I got a real kick out of this movie. The story was good, the action was great. The dialogue was a bit weak, but what do you expect? Overall a pretty good film, (Awesome if you like horror flicks.) On the technical side, sound & video are great on bluray.

I still haven't seen the original Romero movie, but, one of these days I will hopefully get around to it.

 

[CoinOperatedBoy]

It's been three or four years, but I've watched this a few times and I liked it every time. I think watching Newman and Redford together is worth it alone, though I must say Butch Cassidy and The Sundance Kids is one of my favourite movies.

KT

It wasn't my intention to imply that The Sting wouldn't be enjoyable to watch again, only that a big part of the intrigue will be gone. Some movies feel more rewarding on each viewing; others have big reveals or fun twists that are less impactful once known. That said, the visual texture and lively dialogue of The Sting may be enough to warrant another watch.

 

[The_Dude8]

King of Fighters: 0 out of 5. WTF. worst movie I saw this year.

 

[KeithTalent]

Tamara Drewe - 7/10: Essentially a British romantic comedy set in a small UK town about a journalist who returns home to prepare her family home for sale, then runs into all kinds of romantic escapades that are paralleled with an older couple's declining relationship on the adjacent farm. Directed by Stephen Frears, the guy who did Dangerous Liaisons, The Grifters, High Fidelity, and The Queen, all films I liked, I was hoping for a great film, but I only got a good one. It was a pretty enjoyable little film and I liked all of the characters, but I felt there could have been a bit more depth. Have to say I'm a big fan of Gemma Arterton though after this and Alice Creed; very nice!

Aftershock (Tangshan dadizhen) - 4/10: A Chinese epic based on the 1976 Tangshan earthquake that killed 240,000 people. It follows one family as they are splintered by the quake and the different paths the surviving members end up taking. Way too melodramatic, so many scenes played for tears and tonnes of cheesy dialogue. There were a few scenes in English later in the film that were so absolutely horrendous I was actually laughing and it had me wondering if the entire film had been in English if I would have hated it even more; I'm guessing yes as the Chinese dialogue probably masked some the poor dialogue. I did think a few of the sequences were good and there was the shell of a very interesting, compelling story, but the execution of it fell completely flat.

King's Road (Kóngavegur) - 8/10: An Icelandic film about a young man who returns to his home in Iceland, which is a trailer park (I guess they have trailer parks everywhere in the world), after spending some time away. With him is a German friend (Daniel Bruhl, who played Frederick Zoller in Inglourious Basterds) and what results is a crazy, quirky few days in the trailer park; drinking, drugs, sex, and a dead seal all make appearances and it's a very fun ride. Definitely some unanswered questions here (maybe something lost in translation) but it was a lot of fun with the kind of odd, dark humour I love.

The Perfect Crime (Ferpect Crime or Crimen ferpecto)- 9/10: An absolutely hilarious Spanish, black, crime comedy. It's all about a slick saleman at a local department store, who ends up getting into a very sticky situation and how he has to deal with it. The performance from Guillermo Toldeo in the lead role was perfect, whether he is breaking the fourth wall, which he does repeatedly, or having to deal with the advances of an unattractive woman, he does it so well. I laughed a lot during this and while the very ending was a bit much, I loved the ride. Definitely one I can see myself watching again.

KT

 

[KeithTalent]

It wasn't my intention to imply that The Sting wouldn't be enjoyable to watch again, only that a big part of the intrigue will be gone. Some movies feel more rewarding on each viewing; others have big reveals or fun twists that are less impactful once known. That said, the visual texture and lively dialogue of The Sting may be enough to warrant another watch.

It's a good point, but I think your final sentence holds true. This is not somethingl ike The Sixth Sense, where it's really not all that watchable after the first time (or second time to try and spot the clues).

KT

 

[AstroManLuca]

King of Fighters: 0 out of 5. WTF. worst movie I saw this year.

not sure what you expected from a movie based on a video game