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PostPosted: Wed May 13, 2015 5:05 pm 
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Going to see Mad Max: Fury Road this Sunday and cannot frickin' wait. Hopefully it alleviates the profound disappointment of Avengers.


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PostPosted: Thu May 14, 2015 10:43 am 
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Av-merican wrote:
Going to see Mad Max: Fury Road this Sunday and cannot frickin' wait. Hopefully it alleviates the profound disappointment of Avengers.

Been reading a ton of superlatives (mostly from your shared links on FB) about this movie - I'm looking forward to it too.

AoU was just ok. There's an interesting (Daily Dot, I think) article about that weird scene in the middle with Thor taking a bath after spelunking... Hopefully, the Director's Cut includes all of these scenes.


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PostPosted: Sun May 17, 2015 6:38 pm 
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Mad Max: Fury Road

What a kick-ass movie. Just a stripped down action film that's little more than one very long, expansive car chase. And I think the main reason that it works is that Max is actually not even the star of this film. This is Charlize Theron's movie from start to finish, Tom Hardy is just kind of along for the ride, and he might actually have the fewest lines of any of the leads.

My favorite thing about this film by far is the tricked out post-apocalyptic cars. That must've been a hell of a lot of fun putting those things together. It's a shame Max's poor Interceptor actually gets wrecked twice in this film.

Four pucks. This one's definitely ending up on my shelf when it becomes available.


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PostPosted: Wed Jun 10, 2015 4:11 pm 
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Leviathan

Russia's entry for the Best Foreign Film for the Oscars in 2015, watched it on the plane back from Spain. This movie absolutely kills. It's a scathing indictment of Russian political corruption, and the futilitiy of living or even acting in one's own self-interest in Russian society. Everyone that you'd think the film would try and get you on their side does something that makes you think 'holy shit, what an asshole', but some of it folds up in the general theme of acting in one's own self-interest without the backing of power. You are what you are in modern Russia, there is no moving up or down. The only place where self-interest is rewarded is in becoming a cop or a priest.

A man has his property, in his family for three generations, seized by the local council. He fights the seizure on various grounds (including property valuation), and his lawyer (an old army buddy living in Moscow) tries to win the case by blackmailing the mayor, a highly corrupt man whose corruption is known in Moscow. He presents the mayor with hard evidence in a one on one meeting in his office. The mayor struggles when confronted with the evidence, even though he's given an easy out to just pay for the property at the valuation determined independently by the owners. He struggles with the pressures of an upcoming election, and what the revelations will spell to his career. He struggles with how he will be seen before the Orthodox Church and God, as he is currently able to have one on ones with the local bishop as well as the much more humble local priest. He struggles with how his cronies, which include all the local law enforcement as well as judges, will fare once the allegations come to light. The family of that owns the land struggles with the changes coming toward them, whether to move to a shitty local apartment or try out Moscow. The man refuses to leave his homeland and falls into wreckless drinking and his son becomes distant. His wife (not the boy's mother) becomes distant as well.

It's amazing to think this won the national selection committee for Russia. The Russian Cultural Minister Vladimir Medinsky said of the film "It's talented, but I don't like it". Quite frankly, I can't believe it didn't win although I haven't seen Ida, the actual winner. Leviathan did win the Golden Globe apparently. It's beautifully shot, too. Stunning visuals of the Russian North, the sea, the stunning shots of the whale skeleton on the beach... And then the sporting moment when the local cop decides for his birthday that he wants to drive an hour away to a remote spot to shoot some targets while getting wasted, brings an AK-47 and uses portraits of past Russian leaders as targets. When the protagonist asks 'if he had anyone more current' after flipping through Lenin et al, it's pretty amazing, and the reply is great, too.

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PostPosted: Fri Jun 19, 2015 5:39 pm 
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http://www.macleans.ca/culture/movies/s ... e-said-it/

Quote:
“If you’re a fan of things like non-franchise, non-superhero movies, it’s kind of difficult now not to see Star Wars as a culturally corrosive influence.” But all the things people used to dislike about Lucas’s filmmaking—the New Age faux-religiosity, the overdependence on technology—are now inescapably part of every movie being made for mass audiences. Which means that, even if Star Wars: The Force Awakens disappoints, the original movies will just keep looking better. After all, as Kenny and others point out, Lucas’s visual language and storytelling in Star Wars were inspired by Akira Kurosawa. Today’s blockbusters have the disadvantage of being inspired by George Lucas.

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PostPosted: Tue Jul 14, 2015 11:14 am 
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I hardly watch movies anymore, but I might go see Suicide Squad just for Margot Robbie as Harley Quinn. Wowza.

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PostPosted: Wed Jul 15, 2015 3:59 pm 
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Kingsman: The Secret Service

*MAJOR SPOILER WARNING* though I'm not giving away any big plot twists or anything.

Anyway, this movie could've been a 4 or 5 puck film, but it kinda peters out to 2.5 when the violence reaches Looney-Tunes levels of cartoonishness. Someone needs to tell Matthew Vaughn (who can craft a fight scene like no other) that Mark Millar's over-the-top antics work perfectly well in comic books, but need to be curtailed a bit in movies. Even seen as a satire on violence and spy films, the body count in this movie is downright garish.

The film starts out pretty damned awesome, and Colin Firth is best part of it by far. Once he's gone (there's the spoiler) the whole enterprise really suffers. I liked Mark Strong, but was surprised at how much I DIDN'T like Samuel L. Jackson and Michael Caine. Seriously, I've NEVER not liked Michael Caine. It's like they cast him just to give a really shitty role some gravitas.

My wife and I agreed though (and we rarely agree on films) that the villainous girl with the bladed prosthetic limbs counts as one of the best baddies we've ever seen, and as I mentioned before, Colin Firth is freaking awesome. He basically said he had a blast making this movie, and it shows.

2.5 pucks.


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PostPosted: Wed Jul 29, 2015 12:11 am 
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Ant-Man

I was really looking forward to this, especially after the major disappointment of the last Avengers film. Thankfully, this one doesn't disappoint. I'm not sure why, but I'm usually not a fan of Paul Rudd movies. Maybe it's because I just don't seem to enjoy a lot of the Apatow stuff as much as everyone else seems to. Regardless, this one works. Not a masterpiece but enjoyable, and with some really inventive action scenes.

Oh and for cryin' out loud people, wait until the credits roll in their entirety before you leave!

Also, I'm reading there's a blink-and-you'll miss it cameo by one of the Marvel Universe's most powerful characters. I am assuming he (or it) plays a significant role in the upcoming Doctor Strange film. Guess we'll see. Overall, I'm glad that despite losing Edgar Wright, the movie didn't end up being some watered-down garbage.

3.5 pucks.


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PostPosted: Wed Sep 30, 2015 2:15 pm 
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Guh...wife dragged me to go see The Intern. Makes sense given that she too is a business owner under some duress of late. Pretty much like any other Nancy Meyer movie, a cute little popcorn fart of a film. Robert De Niro is truly one of the all-time greats, mainly because he somehow remains engaged throughout and doesn't look bored. It'd be nice to see him once again in a truly great film...he seems to be picking a lot of low-hanging fruit in the twilight of his career.

Looking very much forward to seeing The Martian. Judging from the reviews it appears as though Ridley Scott has returned to form. Thank heavens...his last few have really stunk.


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PostPosted: Wed Sep 30, 2015 2:37 pm 
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Av-merican wrote:
Robert De Niro is truly one of the all-time greats, mainly because he somehow remains engaged throughout and doesn't look bored. It'd be nice to see him once again in a truly great film...he seems to be picking a lot of low-hanging fruit in the twilight of his career.


Not a Silver Linings Playbook fan?

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PostPosted: Wed Sep 30, 2015 2:43 pm 
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Bosc wrote:
Not a Silver Linings Playbook fan?


Honestly I think a lot of D.O.R's stuff is a tad overrated. I certainly didn't hate SLP nor did I hate American Hustle, but I didn't quite get why everyone was heaping so much praise on them. Sure, performances were strong by all actors involved (especially Cooper as a permed-out, coked-up FBI agent living with his mother), but I just wasn't thrilled with the plot of either film. And it appears he's bringing back his favorite principle players (Lawrence, Cooper, and De Niro) for his next one. I suppose we'll see if that one's any better.

The two O. Russell films I truly enjoyed were The Fighter and I Heart Huckabees, the latter mainly because it was so damned weird.


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PostPosted: Wed Sep 30, 2015 9:07 pm 
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I think the last film I saw that had De Niro in it that I truly loved was Stardust. And he was a pretty minor player in that one. In order to find a flick I truly enjoyed throughout that features him as a principle player I think I'd have to go back even further to Jackie Brown.


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PostPosted: Wed Oct 21, 2015 1:05 am 
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The Martian. Good to see Ridley Scott put one firmly in the win column once again.

Now begins the long wait for December and that one obscure sci-fi film comes out.


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PostPosted: Wed Nov 25, 2015 2:50 am 
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The first Civil War trailer dropped today.

http://www.ew.com/article/2015/11/25/ca ... h-iron-man

Saw Spectre. To be honest I enjoyed Quantum of Solace more. Not sure why that movie gets so much hate, especially from Daniel Craig himself. The conclusion was a bit meh, but frankly the climactic action scene in this film felt far more contrived to me. I had an easier time believing the stuff in Moonraker than Bond managing to take down an helicopter with his Walther PPK. Sorry if that's a spoiler, but really it's not. All in all, it was fun, but a far cry from Skyfall IMO.

This really set itself up as the wrap-up for Daniel Craig's run. If so, I'd say even if the films themselves were a bit uneven, the portrayal of Bond himself was IMO the best anyone has done. He actually came off as a real character, unlike the previous incarnations who IMO always felt more like styling than actual acting. And yes, I include Connery's version in that as well. Brosnan might go down as my least favorite, Dalton would've fared better had he gotten better writing. Moore was the Bond I grew up with so I don't mind the campiness he brought to the role everyone else seems to disdain so much.

Anyway, if there was one quibble I had overall with the James Bond reboot it was with the theme songs. They usually vary from excellent to merely fun, but they tried to make the songs themselves as big an event as the films, and they always came up short. Even Adele's contribution didn't do much for me. I'm growing to like Sam Smith quite a bit, but um...



Probably my favorite part of the film was anything involving Dave Bautista. He made for a great villain, even better than Waltz.


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PostPosted: Wed Dec 02, 2015 6:30 pm 
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Been a movie a week lately for me. Went to go see the final Hunger Games. As expected, it was fairly entertaining, but not great. Was slavishly faithful to the book. I'll admit the climactic scene with the execution was actually quite intense, despite knowing exactly how it was gonna go down. Couldn't separate the film from the glaring fact that Philip Seymour Hoffman died before it was finished, and it definitely shows in the final scenes.


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PostPosted: Tue Dec 15, 2015 10:10 pm 
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Man, you definitely can't judge a movie based on a trailer but it's not a good sign when the newest Star Trek teaser fails to excite ANYONE.


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PostPosted: Mon Dec 28, 2015 2:03 pm 
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Star Wars gets 4 pucks from me. Plot and characters sometimes feel a little TOO much like the originals, but man, once the Falcon takes off, you realize just how exciting these movies used to be, and how utterly boring the prequels were.

No spoilers here, but you'd best get off your arse and go see it before they work their way across the internets.


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PostPosted: Mon Dec 28, 2015 5:08 pm 
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Av-merican wrote:
Star Wars gets 4 pucks from me. Plot and characters sometimes feel a little TOO much like the originals, but man, once the Falcon takes off, you realize just how exciting these movies used to be, and how utterly boring the prequels were.

No spoilers here, but you'd best get off your arse and go see it before they work their way across the internets.


For me it was sort of an awesome repackaging with modern film making effects of the Star Wars I was raised on. Really enjoyed it overall and would agree with four pucks.


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PostPosted: Wed Dec 30, 2015 12:38 am 
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Hounsy wrote:
Av-merican wrote:
Star Wars gets 4 pucks from me. Plot and characters sometimes feel a little TOO much like the originals, but man, once the Falcon takes off, you realize just how exciting these movies used to be, and how utterly boring the prequels were.

No spoilers here, but you'd best get off your arse and go see it before they work their way across the internets.


For me it was sort of an awesome repackaging with modern film making effects of the Star Wars I was raised on. Really enjoyed it overall and would agree with four pucks.


3 pucks, all the shooting sans humour, adventure and originality of the first three. Typical Abrams, good but nothing that ever makes me go whoa!, or that it was really worth seeing in the theatre and not waiting. I would have preferred any of Nolan, Whedon, or del Toro as the director, I believe they would have managed something more unique, funny or interesting. The one really bright note for me was Daisy Ridley, look forward to seeing more of her in the next two movies.

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PostPosted: Wed Dec 30, 2015 1:37 pm 
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The second movie is gonna be a very, very high bar to clear. I can give them credit for gambling big as well, Rian Johnson has put out three films that weren't great, but sure were ambitious and fun, so I'm curious to see how he does with something this monumental. Of course Josh Trank was another one of those guys and he crashed and burned spectacularly with Fantastic Four.

It's a shame, the prequels probably would've been great had someone stepped in to stop Lucas. He was only good when he had people keeping him in check. I read recently the first cut of Star Wars was an unmitigated disaster, it wasn't until his film editor wife at the time cut it that it became the masterpiece we eventually saw.

The one thing that simply can't be recreated is the chemistry between the three lead actors, and that was always the best part of SW for me. The new trio definitely has some acting chops though so we will see I suppose. Even the worst of them was 1000 times better than Hayden effin' Christensen. I agree Daisy Ridley was pretty amazing though. I was disappointed Domhall Gleeson and Andy Serkis were both given such generic roles though. Can't we get something more than the dark, angry, snarling villain archetype in these movies?


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