NOW CLOSED ; List some movies you've watched recently. Theatre, rental, TV... and give a */10

[zerocool84]

The apes aren't the bad guys. The people aren't either.

The most compelling protagonist was Caesar and the most compelling antagonist was Koba. The humans also had a protagonist (Malcolm) and an antagonist (Carver). The human story is still important because it draws parallels that make it easier to empathize with ape characters.

The best part of the movie is how they are able to have the ape parts carry most of the movie. You really start caring about them, feeling for them. They did a great job with that.

 

[Ichinisan]

The best part of the movie is how they are able to have the ape parts carry most of the movie. You really start caring about them, feeling for them. They did a great job with that.

Agreed.

 

[smackababy]

The best part of the movie is how they are able to have the ape parts carry most of the movie. You really start caring about them, feeling for them. They did a great job with that.

I loved how they could parallel the apes and the humans, showcasing they are the same. They had bad guys and both wanted to survive.

 

[raasco]

The Wire remastered 11/10

The best show ever, looks better than ever.

 

[purbeast0]

i strongly recommend watching the bluray extras of dawn of the planet of the apes if you have a chance to. they are really awesome.

exodus - 7/10 - was a long movie but didn't feel long. i enjoyed noah and liked this more as far as recent bible related flicks go. bale did a really great job, and i loved the costumes and scenery in the movie as well.

 

[motsm]

Glengarry Glen Ross - 8/10

Watched for the first time on Netflix last night. Great acting and script, within a very dialogue driven film, featuring an all-star cast. The first half has a noir vibe visually that I found pretty unexpected, but worked great. An easy movie to recommend, and covering a subject matter rarely seen so it's all the more interesting.

 

[smackababy]

Glengarry Glen Ross - 8/10

Watched for the first time on Netflix last night. Great acting and script, within a very dialogue driven film, featuring an all-star cast. The first half has a noir vibe visually that I found pretty unexpected, but worked great. An easy movie to recommend, and covering a subject matter rarely seen so it's all the more interesting.

The first 10 or so minutes is pretty much amazing. I believe Alec Baldwin was nominated for best supporting actor for just that speech. But, there are two kinds of people: people who get fired up by that and people who get offended.

 

[motsm]

The first 10 or so minutes is pretty much amazing. I believe Alec Baldwin was nominated for best supporting actor for just that speech. But, there are two kinds of people: people who get fired up by that and people who get offended.

IMDB shows Al Pacino was nominated, but Alec Baldwin's speech was indeed pretty great.

 

[ImpulsE69]

The best part of the movie is how they are able to have the ape parts carry most of the movie. You really start caring about them, feeling for them. They did a great job with that.

And..I nominate the orangutan as best supporting um..CGI ape thing actor....who couldn't love that guy.

 

[Ichinisan]

And..I nominate the orangutan as best supporting um..CGI ape thing actor....who couldn't love that guy.

People do gush endlessly about "The genius of Andy Serkis" (that was actually the name of a featurette on the Rise of the Planet of the Apes Blu-Ray).

 

[Don Vito Corleone]

The Interview - 4/10

I like Seth Rogen but in general have found little to enjoy about his work with James Franco. I didn't love This Is the End and actively disliked Pineapple Express. Despite this I rented The Interview on iTunes last night. I found The Interview basically more of the same - simplistic, vulgar and lazily written comedy that didn't make me laugh even once. I gather there is an audience for this movie but I am clearly not it.

 

[Chocu1a]

Went to see Big Eye yesterday. Pretty good movie. Not your typical Tim Burton movie(which is a good thing).
I would give it a 7/10. Waltz is as charismatic as ever, playing the con man as artist. Adams portrayal as Mrs. Keane was equally as believable.
I felt the movie could have been a bit longer, but overall a very enjoyable piece.

 

[Josefinamax]

List's are updated now ?

 

[n7]

Dawn of the Planet of the Apes...now that was great movie making. We identify with multiple characters, human and ape. There are bad individuals on both sides. We want the them to resolve their differences. It's sad when the selfish actions of the few destroy all hope that apes and humans will be able to coexist peacefully. It emphasizes that, in any conflict, an opportunity for peace might be the only opportunity you'll ever have...so don't blow it.

Thanx for replying. I suppose the first part contributes to my not loving that movie.
I don't identify with apes at all. They aren't humans, and don't speak English.
"Massive suspension of disbelief" is required to even appreciate the entire premise of the movie.
I would need to watch it again and make some detailed notes of why i didn't like it all that much, but i recall it feeling very cliched far too often (assuming we are treating apes are human characters).

I know many critics love this one too, so i'll go with we'll have to agree to disagree. I think it's a good movie, just probably not one for me.

 

[slayer202]

The Wire remastered 11/10

The best show ever, looks better than ever.

I watched the first episode over the weekend. I can't remember how the original looked, but the courtroom scene in that first episode looked kind of awful. When the frame is always centered to account for the narrow aspect ratio, it starts to look/feel strange when it opens up. There was something about that scene in particular that really felt off. I think I'll stick with the original format

 

[raasco]

I watched the first episode over the weekend. I can't remember how the original looked, but the courtroom scene in that first episode looked kind of awful. When the frame is always centered to account for the narrow aspect ratio, it starts to look/feel strange when it opens up. There was something about that scene in particular that really felt off. I think I'll stick with the original format

I just caught a few street scenes last night that I thought looked great. I guess the reformatting isn't without some trite.

 

[CZroe]

Thanx for replying. I suppose the first part contributes to my not loving that movie.
I don't identify with apes at all. They aren't humans, and don't speak English.
"Massive suspension of disbelief" is required to even appreciate the entire premise of the movie.
I would need to watch it again and make some detailed notes of why i didn't like it all that much, but i recall it feeling very cliched far too often (assuming we are treating apes are human characters).

I know many critics love this one too, so i'll go with we'll have to agree to disagree. I think it's a good movie, just probably not one for me.

Are you saying that a virus engineered to improve brain function which may prove deadly to humans but not primates requires "massive suspension of disbelief?" You don't think that a smarter ape raised with humans who brought intelligence to the others by giving them the virus would be a natural leader now that they all have human-like intelligence? I have no problem with that.

Treating childbirth differently, standing upright just because they are smarter, and not having proper, er, anatomy (no monkey penises), were dumb elements but they helped the human audience relate to their ape society and they are easy to forgive in the name of story-telling.

Also, they DO speak English. Not sure how you missed that. Sign language has the advantage of being A) partially understood by some apes already before their viral intelligence boost, and B) able to be used by all type of apes regardless of vocal ability (notice: Orangutans, Gorillas, and Chimpanzees). The virus didn't grow voice boxes so even Ceasar obviously had difficulty vocalizing with words. That much is very realistic. Having the brain capacity for complex speech before having the biological capacity for complex vocalizations

 

[smackababy]

I don't think the virus that gave them intelligence was the same that wiped out humans. I just figured it was a mutation of some kind of Simian flu helped mutate by the brain growth serum.

Either way, a movie about smart monkeys is going to require some kind of suspension of disbelief, but that didn't take away from it. Their society makes sense given Caesar's upbringing. He would, being the leader, form the society to how he knows.

 

[CZroe]

I don't think the virus that gave them intelligence was the same that wiped out humans. I just figured it was a mutation of some kind of Simian flu helped mutate by the brain growth serum.

Either way, a movie about smart monkeys is going to require some kind of suspension of disbelief, but that didn't take away from it. Their society makes sense given Caesar's upbringing. He would, being the leader, form the society to how he knows.

It is. They were giving it to Koba when a hose came loose and infected a lab tech. That lab tech went to Ceasar's house and infected the pilot who then, very dramatically, spread it around the world in the final sequence. They switched viruses because the effect using the previous one would eventually fail as the human immune system fought it off. The implication is that the human immune system is not able to fight this one off except for 1 in 500. Though the original virus has no life-threatening effect in chimps, the modified virus is deadly to humans.

 

[DigDog]

Sword of Doom
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Sword_of_Doom

5/10

honestly, i watched one hour, then got bored. the protagonist is not a hero, but he is not a anti-hero either; it's just some guy who's got issues, and at that, the drama is not well done either, i felt i couldn't relate.

 

[motsm]

A Simple Plan - 6.5/10

Three friends in a small town find a few million dollars, which knocks them into a bit of a tail spin. A nice try and not a bad movie, but to me, it never quite hits the heights it's reaching for. Too many scenes come off a bit flat, or just slightly unbelievable. The screenplay was nominated for an Oscar, and I can see it's strengths, but I think it may have hit a few snags being translated to film.

 

[werepossum]

Everything must Go: 1/10. I cannot even begin to describe on how many levels this film fails. Ferrell provided a very nuanced and understated performance, but the writing is atrocious, all the characters were either horrible (except for Christopher Jordan Wallace & Rebecca Hall) or pointless (Laura Dern), and there just wasn't any real point to it. We were hoping for Stranger Than Fiction (10/10); by the end we would have settled for Blades of Glory.

Four years is plenty long enough for every single copy of this film to have been rounded up and destroyed, people.

 

[JamesV]

Temple Grandin - HBO movie with Claire Danes 9/10

I've seen it before, and might have even reviewed it in this thread (been a while), but it deserves mentioning, it is such a great film. It's the story of an autistic woman who figured out ways to more humanely treat cattle, and was good for business. For example, a 'dip' that is a bath for the cows would have to stop if a cow slipped and broke a leg, but her setup the cows just naturally walked through it (instead of being prodded).

Pretty inspiring and interesting story; you should check it out if like movies like that.

 

[Ichinisan]

The Grand Budapest Hotel 9/10 (HBO HD)

One of Wes Anderson's best. Very entertaining. Very stylized. It has even more of Anderson's signature quirk.

The 4:3 aspect ratio was interesting. The movie even plays around with it. For example, some people are waiting at a large gate and you hear lots of metal clanging as if someone was trying to open it. Then you hear loud metal hinges creaking and the camera pans slightly left to reveal a door you didn't know was there. The door would have been visible the whole time of it was framed for 16:9. Were any other Wes A movies filmed in 4:3 aspect ratio?

I love the camera movements in Wes A movies.

 

[zerocool84]

The Grand Budapest Hotel 9/10 (HBO HD)

One of Wes Anderson's best. Very entertaining. Very stylized. It has even more of Anderson's signature quirk.

The 4:3 aspect ratio was interesting. The movie even plays around with it. For example, some people are waiting at a large gate and you hear lots of metal clanging as if someone was trying to open it. Then you hear loud metal hinges creaking and the camera pans slightly left to reveal a door you didn't know was there. The door would have been visible the whole time of it was framed for 16:9. Were any other Wes A movies filmed in 4:3 aspect ratio?

I love the camera movements in Wes A movies.

I just read about the aspect ratio in that movie and each of those different aspects ratios corresponds to the time frame they are in. Each one was the standard aspect ratio for the time frame that part of the movie takes place in. That's why when the movie time frame gets more recent and recent the aspect ratio gets wide.