1. This site uses cookies. By continuing to use this site, you are agreeing to our use of cookies. Learn More.
  2. We've had very few donations over the year. I'm going to be short soon as some personal things are keeping me from putting up the money. If you have something small to contribute it's greatly appreciated. Please put your screen name as well so that I can give you credit. Click here: Donations
    Dismiss Notice

TFP Movie Review Thread

Discussion in 'Tilted Entertainment' started by Tully Mars, Mar 23, 2015.

  1. Tully Mars

    Tully Mars Very Tilted

    Location:
    Yucatan, Mexico
    I looked around and couldn't find a general movie review thread. I'm interested in what others like or dislike, I can usually guess if I'll like or dislike something depending on what another person likes or dislikes. Some members have tastes very close to my own. Other have tastes that don't gel with mine at all. Nothing wrong about that, people enjoy what they enjoy and that's great. So here's the TFP movie review thread.

    I'll start.

    "Wild"- This is an independent film staring and produced, mainly, by Reese Witherspoon. It's based on real events. It's a story of a woman, with little to no hiking skills, who decides to hike +/- 1,ooo miles of the Pacific Crest Trail. It' about her travels and what lead her to decide to attempt such an undertaking. Her reasons are revealed in flashbacks. Some are belief but very telling, sort of a less is more thing. Or maybe a little is plenty? I really liked this film. The scenery is beautiful and the story compelling. It's a story of not simply one woman's travel along the trail but from one point in her life to a completely different point. A transition of grand proportions. Witherspon and Laura Dern both hand in commanding performances in my opinion.

    For complete disclosure I've spent some time on the PCT, as much as two weeks at a time many summers and I love it. Plus the lady in the story (and IRL) ends up in Portland Oregon, A city I also greatly enjoy. However this story could have taken place on the Appalachian Trail and I'm certain I would have enjoyed it just as much.

    So I recommend this film and give it 4 out of 5 stars.


    Ok, who's seen what and what did you think? Good or bad, lets hear it.
     
    Last edited: Mar 23, 2015
    • Like Like x 1
  2. redravin

    redravin Cynical Optimist Donor

    Location:
    North
    The most recent movie I've gone to see was The Kingsman.
    It was perfect for the moment despite a few flaws.

    The Kingsman are an independent secret service group in England who are impeccably and deadly as hell.
    The agents are named from the Knights of the Round Table and Colin Firth is one of their best.
    He comes to the aid of the son of an agent who died and much of the story reads like Harry Potter in hell.
    The young man has to fight to survive the training at The Kingsman Academy.
    Meanwhile Samuel Jackson playing a computer genius with a loathing for blood and an impossible lisp, is doing his best to be the best evil genius possible.
    His bodyguard makes Oscar Pistorius look like a wimp.
    There is some wonderfully choreographed violence in this movie.
    Stuff that goes over and above just about anything I've seen before.
    It's probably hard to imagine Colin Firth as a killing machine but not only does this movie do that it does it in spades.
    There are a couple of spots where you have to shut off your brain for a moment and the ending left me with a couple of big questions but otherwise I enjoyed the hell out of this movie.




    The big one at the end is, if he blew the heads off all the people with chips that pretty much took out most of the leaders in world. How was that explained or dealt with?[/spoilers]
     
  3. Baraka_Guru

    Baraka_Guru Möderätor Staff Member

    Location:
    Toronto
    I saw Terry Gilliam's Brazil (1985) for the first time yesterday.

    It's probably best described as a satire of totalitarianism and bureaucracy. It also has parodic elements, as its style and themes are reminiscent of films such as Metropolis (1927) and even the novel Nineteen Eighty-Four.

    I've been meaning to watch this for years, but it hasn't had the best of availability (to me anyway). It's currently on Shomi (and in HD, no less), so I watched it before it could disappear on me.

    It was interesting to see the likes of Jonathan Pryce, Robert De Niro, Ian Holm, Bob Hoskins, and Michael Palin together. The humor ranged from slapstick to absurdist to sardonic to black. I enjoyed it thoroughly, but it seems to warrant more than one viewing, as I'm sure I've missed a number of subtleties.

    It was odd to watch because I kept thinking, "Oh, the special effects aren't that great. Because 1985." But then I'd remember that it was parodying older cinema. So that kept things really fascinating.

    The acting was amazing. Besides seeing shades of Bilbo Baggins in Ian Holm and Monty Python in Michael Palin, the cast performed really well to make the fictional world seem plausible despite its strangeness. The humour—even the slapstick elements—wasn't overdone. The balance was spot-on.

    I now know why people have lauded this film over the years. At thirty years old, Brazil holds up really well. What's more, I see in today's society much of what the film targets in its satire. In other words, it's still very relevant.

    * * * * out of * * * *
     
    Last edited: Mar 23, 2015
    • Like Like x 1
  4. Charlatan

    Charlatan sous les pavés, la plage

    Location:
    Temasek
    Kingsman: the anal sex jokes and final shot of the film ruining what was, until that moment a very good film. Felt like a fumble at the goal line.

    Brazil is a masterpiece. Give it time and go back for a second view. Also have a look for the alternative versions and documentaries. It has a great back story. I actually took someone on a first date to see Brazil when it first came out. Her distaste for the film should have been a sign post to ending that relationship.
     
  5. POPEYE

    POPEYE Very Tilted

    Location:
    Tulsa
    I gave this film a 4 out of 5 stars
    You will enjoy this movie most by knowing nothing about it before you view it. hmm the picture didn't post. still learning to use the internet. :mad:
    OK it is titled The Rover an Australian film set 10 years after the collapse of the economy in Europe
     
    Last edited: Mar 23, 2015
  6. Tully Mars

    Tully Mars Very Tilted

    Location:
    Yucatan, Mexico
    I really need to see this film.

    There's a period in my life, early to mid 80's, where I spent a lot of time abroad. So I missed some great films and a lot of so-so music. I came back on leave once and while attending a party full of half drunk (and some completely drunk) friends and many people I didn't know all of whom kept asking me "Who you gonna call!?" "Um, I don't know... my brother?" Which of course was meant with blank stares and "No, dude, dude Ghostbusters. You know... the movie." "Never heard of it." Which of course resulted in "Hey this guy's never heard of Ghostbusters!"
     
    Last edited: Mar 24, 2015
    • Like Like x 1
  7. Speed_Gibson

    Speed_Gibson Hacking the Gibson

    Location:
    Wolf 359
    I will borrow a post from my own blog....

    Red Dawn (2012)
    My short review on this one is simple – skip this remake and watch the original. It has a better cast, story, and especially ending.
    The longer version -
    I like the change from a more rural country town to the significantly larger urban setting. This is set in “Spokane Washington” which looked wrong to my eye; I live just an hour or so from the Coeur d’Alene/Spokane area and have been up there more than a few times. Not surprisingly they did the same tactic employed in the 1955 film Oklahoma for admittedly entirely different reasons and filmed in Mount Clemens, Michigan.
    For the most part this largely echoes steps taken in the 1984 film, just in a less satisfying fashion when they do.


    I gave it 2.5 Rotties out of 5
    --- merged: Mar 23, 2015 at 10:23 PM ---
    Some real stinkers I personally thought were appalling for the most part.....
    Total Recall remake (still have not posted that one). Only thing I liked about it was hearing Kate use both her proper accent and her spot on American accent.
    as I stated enough on here already - any Star Trek film with J.J. "The future is so bright I gotta wear shades"Abrams attached to it. To be fair I have not seen the second one but I have seen enough of it and know the plotline enough to know it is not any better than the 2009 film.
     
    Last edited by a moderator: Mar 30, 2015
  8. Chris Noyb

    Chris Noyb Get in, buckle up, hang on, & be quiet.

    Location:
    Large City, TX
    This' an interesting and related thread that started well, but then faded:
    The Weirdest Movies You've Ever Seen | The TFP

    ----------------------------------------------------------------
    Babel, directed by Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu, written by Guillermo Arriaga. This long movie, 143 necessary minutes, shows how a single act by one man affects the lives of many people: A Moroccan family, an American couple touring Morocco, the nanny who looks after their child, and a Japanese businessman and his daughter. It also causes an international political conflict. Any more details would be spoilers.

    If you seriously like movies that make you think, Babel is well worth watching.
     
    • Like Like x 2
  9. Tully Mars

    Tully Mars Very Tilted

    Location:
    Yucatan, Mexico
    I didn't see that thread when starting this thread. Interesting thread. I just posted in it the oddest film I ever saw.

    Maybe we can bring it back to life?
     
    • Like Like x 2
  10. Chris Noyb

    Chris Noyb Get in, buckle up, hang on, & be quiet.

    Location:
    Large City, TX
    On free TV I watched Wonder Boys. An author, and tenured professor, who relies heavily on marijuana to get through life, wrote a critically acclaimed and bestselling novel, but five years later he can't finish his next book. Not because of writers block, he actually can't stop writing it, can't end it. The author/professor, along with one of his students, and his about-to-be-fired editor, go through a crazy three day period which affects his mistress, his boss, his boss's dog, and several other people.

    I enjoyed it, but I also love to read. I could see most people saying "A movie about an author? No thanks."

    Michael Douglas starred in quite a few 'small' movies that clearly weren't made with 'huge' commercial success in mind. I'm not sure if WB falls into that category because the cast is impressive--Michael Douglas, Toby Maguire, Robert Downey Jr, Frances McDormand, Katie Holmes, Rip Torn, and many familiar actors.
     
    • Bad Spelling Bad Spelling x 1
  11. Tully Mars

    Tully Mars Very Tilted

    Location:
    Yucatan, Mexico
    On a recent flight I caught American Sniper. On my my iPad, planes are getting away from in flight entertainment. Much better then I expected. I had it in my head it was going to be a "Rah, Rah the war was brilliant. Our troops do no wrong... blah, blah, blah" type film. A lot more human story here and Bradley Cooper shows a lot of range. I caught him in Silver Lings Playbook about a year ago and he's more versatile than I would have thought.Overall a moving film,

    4 out of 5
     
    • Like Like x 2
  12. Chris Noyb

    Chris Noyb Get in, buckle up, hang on, & be quiet.

    Location:
    Large City, TX
    I've been wanting to read Empire Falls by Richard Russo (2002 Pulitzer Prize). I was pleasantly surprised to find the HBO two-part mini-series (2005) on DVD at a pawn shop. Three reasons I decided to add it to our DVD collection: The screenplay was written by the original author, Richard Russo. It runs 197 minutes (I get really tired of seeing long books get hacked down to fit the 90 to 120 minute movie mold). It has a great cast (I'm a fan of Ed Harris' work). OK, 4th reason--It was $1.99.

    The ending leaves some questions unanswered and issues unresolved, but that could be because the mini-series/long movie follows the book. Why did Francine Whiting put the family home up for sale? Why didn't Miles tell David the truth?

    Without having read the novel, I'll give this a 4 out of 5.
     
    • Like Like x 1
  13. omega

    omega Very Tilted

    Mad Max Fury Road was awesome. It's completely over the top,and loads of fun. Tom Hardy was kind of a waste, just a lump, but Charlize Theron and the host of other characters worked well. The mythology of the war boys was communicated in a few scenes and sentences. Two thumbs up and an enthusiastic grin. Knowing the source material allows you to say that's awesome,not that's ridiculous for all the over the top action. And knowing that the vehicles were real and the action sequences weren't digitized really added to it. Definitely worthwhile.
     
    • Like Like x 3
  14. Chris Noyb

    Chris Noyb Get in, buckle up, hang on, & be quiet.

    Location:
    Large City, TX
    Charlize Theron
    +
    Her "Marilyn Monroe' pose in The Cider House Rules
    =
    Unforgettable.
     
    • Like Like x 1
  15. omega

    omega Very Tilted

    Really didn't care for that movie. I guess that's why I don't remember her even in it. I only remember Michael Caine and spiderpussy.
     
  16. ralphie250

    ralphie250 Fully Erect Donor

    Location:
    At work..
    Mmmmmm Charlie theron
     
  17. Chris Noyb

    Chris Noyb Get in, buckle up, hang on, & be quiet.

    Location:
    Large City, TX


    I read The Cider House Rules before I saw the movie. The movie ran a bit over two hours, but still didn't capture the full essence of the novel, even though John Irving wrote the screenplay as well as the novel.
     
  18. omega

    omega Very Tilted

    I also saw pitch perfect 2 this weekend. Double feature of girl power. If you liked the first one (I did),then you'll probably like this one as well. Are sequels ever as good (usually not),but this one was worthwhile.
    Good thing I'm secure in my manliness. Not only is my girlfriend taller than me, but she makes more money and is getting offered even more responsibility and authority at her job. Take that, men's rights advocates. Girl power. That goes for my twin daughters as well.
     
    • Like Like x 1
  19. redravin

    redravin Cynical Optimist Donor

    Location:
    North
    I saw Mad Max Fury Road and I understand what all the fuss is about.
    Damned impressive movie.
    What I really liked was that they never said a word about Furiosa's missing hand, nothing, she just dealt with it.
    The stunts were freaking amazing and the filming was beautiful.
     
  20. snowy

    snowy so kawaii Staff Member

    I was unconvinced that I wanted to see it until I read some reviews focused on Bad Ass Charlize, and now I want to go see it. But it's showing at the bad theater :(