Rate the latest movie you've seen.

[trdsf]

Don't get me wrong, I LOVED the movie.  Reminded me of Outcast (?).  My objections were very minor.  Details, and I bet the technical experts on the set screamed "NO, don't do that".  But if more movies were like THAT, I would watch more movies.

We watched The Martian on the charter bus back home after the eclipse fizzle.  I really liked it, the first half more than the second; my objection was that they were piling on too many obstacles and it looked contrived even by the standards of fiction.

Interestingly enough, I've been listening to the audiobook the last couple days at work on the advice of my niece and find that even though all those "contrivances" and more are there in the book, it doesn't feel quite so much like dogpiling -- probably because in the book, you get some breathing space between disasters and in the movie it all has to be telescoped into two hours or less.  I'll probably give Weir's Artemis a chance.

[Gawdzilla Sama]

Don't get me wrong, I LOVED the movie.  Reminded me of Outcast (?).  My objections were very minor.  Details, and I bet the technical experts on the set screamed "NO, don't do that".  But if more movies were like THAT, I would watch more movies.

"...being careful to keep the plants alive." DAFUQ?

Anyway, I've seen that one more than a dozen times. You should read the book.

[aitm]

Finally watched, Justice League, fantastic movie......if I was twelve.

[SGOS]

Gary Oldman is one of the best actors of our day! He's been in so many great roles- any movie he's in is worth watching just because he's In it.

He is a good actor, almost always in a supporting role, but in important supporting roles, and mostly in important films.  He isn't talked about much, but he's probably talked about a lot by directors and producers.  If I were a star, I would want him in my movie.

[Gawdzilla Sama]

I hope that one goes up for "Best Foreign Film."

[SGOS]

I recently bought two older movies that were listed in Rotten tomatoes as "not certified fresh".  It was from one of their related articles along the often used format of something like "10 films that failed, but are still worth seeing."  Obviously, it was some writer's judgment call suggesting the numbers don't always reflect the quality.  Two of them looked personally interesting, and I took a chance and ordered them through two of Amazons sponsored dealers.  These can sometimes be absurdly cheap, especially when they are used buybacks, so there wasn't much risk.  I would say both were the better movies I've seen in the last three weeks or so.  I usually watch at least one movie a day.

The Majestic  8/10 although it was given a 42% by critics
Jim Carrey played a straight role, although the movie was a combination of fantasy and romance.  It had some negative but forgivable weak points, a bit overly patriotic, but applicable to the plot, and required some suspension of belief.  But very entertaining, I easily identified with the characters.

The Cell 7/10 but 46% from critics
Vince Vaughn playing it straight along with Jennifer Lopez in a sci fi crime thriller.  Turns out I had seen this chilling film years ago, and from time to time thought I'd like to see it again, but could never remember the name of the movie.  A couple of plot holes were feebly explained away, and the scripting seemed a little loose, but it definitely kept me on the edge of my seat.

[Baruch]

I liked The Majestic ... it was an interesting idea, and I like actors "out of role".  Same reason why I love "Dead Poet Society" and "Good Will Hunting".

[SGOS]

Mark Felt  10/10

Although Rotten Tomatoes gave it 34%, and audiences at 45%.  I thought this was great political drama.  I can't attest to the accuracy of the story, but none of the negative reviews I scanned at RT took issue with the movie's accuracy.  Mostly they criticized the script and the direction, claiming that it spent too much time focusing on Felt's personal life and family matters.  I adamantly disagree with that.  I was in my 20s when Watergate happened and paid a lot of attention to the Watergate hearings, but that was just bunch of Senators investigating long after the part of history the movie focuses on.  Deep throat was often mentioned, but I can't remember anything about how his leaks managed to prevent the White House from trying to stop the investigation.  The movie sort of explains it as making the public aware, but I would have liked to see that part covered in more detail.  I guess I would have liked to see more of Nixon's Cabinet scrambling to do the damage control, which ultimately failed.

But I'm getting picky here trying to understand the negative reviews.  I was on the edge of my seat throughout the entire movie.  Perhaps the critics and audience wanted a replay of what everyone already knows about Watergate.  In my 20's I wasn't aware of the first leaks, and how they became gradually more revealing.  I didn't start paying attention until everyone knew about the scandal.  And Mark Felt, the movie, focuses on the part I wasn't paying attention to so it was mostly new to me.

[Baruch]

Mark Felt was deputy director of the FBI under Nixon.  He claimed he was Deep Throat.  And Woodward, one of the two newsmen ... he was and still is, CIA.

[trdsf]

Mark Felt  10/10

Although Rotten Tomatoes gave it 34%, and audiences at 45%.  I thought this was great political drama.  I can't attest to the accuracy of the story, but none of the negative reviews I scanned at RT took issue with the movie's accuracy.  Mostly they criticized the script and the direction, claiming that it spent to much time focusing on Felt's personal life and family matters.  I adamantly disagree with that.  I was in my 20s when Watergate happened and paid a lot of attention to the Watergate hearings, but that was just bunch of Senators investigating long after the part of history the movie focuses on.  Deep throat was often mentioned, but I can't remember anything about how his leaks managed to prevent the White House from trying to stop the investigation.  The movie sort of explains it as making the public aware, but I would have liked to see that part covered in more detail.  I guess I would have liked to see more of Nixon's Cabinet scrambling to do the damage control, which ultimately failed.

But I'm getting picky here trying to understand the negative reviews.  I was on the edge of my seat throughout the entire movie.  Perhaps the critics and audience wanted a replay of what everyone already knows about Watergate.  In my 20's I wasn't aware of the first leaks, and how they became gradually more revealing.  I didn't start paying attention until everyone knew about the scandal.  And Mark Felt, the movie, focuses on the part I wasn't paying attention to so it was mostly new to me.

I didn't know they'd made a movie about Felt.  I'll have to check it out.  I have been a Watergate junkie since... well, since the Watergate scandal itself.

I mean, really, if you tried to write a political thriller with the same events as Watergate, no one would think it could possibly be anything but fiction.  What an amazing time it was.

[SGOS]

I didn't know they'd made a movie about Felt.  I'll have to check it out.  I have been a Watergate junkie since... well, since the Watergate scandal itself.

I mean, really, if you tried to write a political thriller with the same events as Watergate, no one would think it could possibly be anything but fiction.  What an amazing time it was.

Yeah, if Felt had knuckled under the Administration's pressure to stop the investigation, the whole thing would have been buried, and no one would know it ever happened.  I got the movie from Redbox.  It's been out for two weeks, and I almost didn't rent it because of the reviews.

[Baruch]

Well, perhaps not every FBI agent who had worked under J Edgar, was evil ;-)

[SGOS]

According to the film, at the time he confessed to being Deep Throat, he also confessed to engineering some nefarious FBI undertakings that suggest he also had a dark side.  All we know is that he did one ethical thing on his own while in the FBI, although he may have done other good things, as well as evils we will never know about.

[Baruch]

According to the film, at the time he confessed to being Deep Throat, he also confessed to engineering some nefarious FBI undertakings that suggest he also had a dark side.  All we know is that he did one ethical thing on his own while in the FBI, although he may have done other good things, as well as evils we will never know about.

Real people are like that.  They aren't cardboard cut-outs.

[trdsf]

According to the film, at the time he confessed to being Deep Throat, he also confessed to engineering some nefarious FBI undertakings that suggest he also had a dark side.  All we know is that he did one ethical thing on his own while in the FBI, although he may have done other good things, as well as evils we will never know about.

Felt supervised COINTELPRO in the early '70s and was convicted in 1980 of violating the civil rights of some alleged members of the Weather Underground, having ordered warrantless break-ins (ironically enough) in a search for incriminating evidence.  He was later pardoned by Reagan.

In short, he was neither white knight nor black night... he was just human.