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Rate the latest movie you've seen.

Started by GalacticBusDriver, February 16, 2013, 12:37:09 AM

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SGOS

JEXI

Sophomoric, gross, and inappropriate.  Rotten reviews at Rotten Tomatoes (11% from critics, but 71% from audiences).  I never looked at audience reviews until a minute ago, so I feel somewhat vindicated.  I had avoided this in theaters because of the reviews, but now out on DVD, I got a coupon for a freebee, which I do quite often at Redbox, so I chose this. To be honest, I've always had an affinity for movies where a guy has an intimate relationship with his computer.  I must have seen this plot line at least 3 times, and they're usually kind of cute, but enjoyable, so that pushed me into the rental too.  I was totally surprised.  The movie drags when the main character leaves his phone behind, as the movie must slow down to make space for some shallow observations about the human condition, but embarrassingly, when he has his phone with him, I'm in nonstop stitches, kind of like the stream of punchlines in the old Airplane movies.  JEXI is actually an app for the iPhone that replaces Siri, I guess.  But Jexi is a search engine and convenience app that is somewhere between a manic looneytoon and a paranoid psychotic.  I'm pretty sure it will make you laugh if you're not uptight about being grossed out.  Think MAD Magazine from the 1950s.

Sal1981

Terminator: Dark Fate - 9/10

The swan song of Arnold Schwarzenegger's Terminator franchise, basically. It was entertaining, albeit slightly predictable as they used most of the tropes from the 2nd and 3rd movies. And I'm a sucker for nostalgia.

Gawdzilla Sama

We 'new atheists' have a reputation for being militant, but make no mistake  we didn't start this war. If you want to place blame put it on the the religious zealots who have been poisoning the minds of the  young for a long long time."
PZ Myers

Mr.Obvious

The last stand

Dumb action flick with predictable humor and cliche characters up the wazoo.

But I'll give it this much. It works. It was mind-numbingly fun to watch. I liked it.
"If we have to go down, we go down together!"
- Your mum, last night, requesting 69.

Atheist Mantis does not pray.

Blackleaf

Quote from: Sal1981 on January 25, 2020, 05:32:36 AM
Terminator: Dark Fate - 9/10

The swan song of Arnold Schwarzenegger's Terminator franchise, basically. It was entertaining, albeit slightly predictable as they used most of the tropes from the 2nd and 3rd movies. And I'm a sucker for nostalgia.

"Oh, wearisome condition of humanity,
Born under one law, to another bound;
Vainly begot, and yet forbidden vanity,
Created sick, commanded to be sound."
--Fulke Greville--

Sal1981


Baruch

1917 - 8/10.  Minor inaccuracies, stitched together yarns from the Great War.  Otherwise pretty realistic.  Europe committed suicide, for no good reason at all.  And the gift kept on giving until 1991 (fall of Bolshevism).  US occupation of W Europe still not ended.  Time for the US to get out.  Let the French and Germans fight again, so we can make money selling popcorn again.
Ha’át’íísh baa naniná?
Azee’ Å,a’ish nanídį́į́h?
Táadoo ánít’iní.
What are you doing?
Are you taking any medications?
Don't do that.

Munch

Quote from: Sal1981 on January 28, 2020, 07:37:58 PM
When I was a teenager, I watched Terminator 2 some 17 times.

So did I, maybe more, I owned it on vhs, dvd and now blueray. Which is why the way they fucked it up with dark fate leaves a taint on the first two movies that's hard to wash off.
'Political correctness is fascism pretending to be manners' - George Carlin

SGOS

I watched Dark Fate last night.  I enjoyed it more than any of the others.  I was never a big Terminator fan in the past.  All I remember about the first one was heroes being chased by an indestructible robot, but no real plot.  Granted, this was an oversight on my part, because Terminator movies most definitely have a plot, and as a fan of time travel movies, I'm not sure why I didn't feel the plot was worth remembering.  In watching this last one with a critical eye, I think maybe it's because the series emphasizes action over story.  I do enjoy action, fiery explosions, and car chases until they become gratuitous.  I found my interest fading during action scenes that dragged on, punctuated by short periods of unnecessary philosophical brooding, which almost seemed like they were added to give a chance for the special effects team to catch up.  Yet the film was still interesting, and keeping track of the time travel paradoxes warrants another viewing to understand what I consider the more important part of the film.

As a side note, I don't think Arnold Schwarzenegger is at his best when he tries to be serious.  I think his best film was True Lies, where he does funny satire on his own usual film persona.  His sense of humor is seldom tapped, and I think that's when I enjoy him the most.



Mr.Obvious

"If we have to go down, we go down together!"
- Your mum, last night, requesting 69.

Atheist Mantis does not pray.

LoriPinkAngel

I watched Joker the other night, too.  I thought it was pretty interesting.  Made me think about the lack of proper mental health care available which is still a problem.

Munch

Quote from: LoriPinkAngel on January 31, 2020, 03:25:45 PM
I watched Joker the other night, too.  I thought it was pretty interesting.  Made me think about the lack of proper mental health care available which is still a problem.

Yeah, I like that theme, and it's very inkeeping with the batman mythos
'Political correctness is fascism pretending to be manners' - George Carlin

Shiranu

"A little science distances you from God, but a lot of science brings you nearer to Him." - Louis Pasteur

Baruch

Hope to go see latest Star Wars with daughter.  She will watch for the feminism.  I will watch because I like women.
Ha’át’íísh baa naniná?
Azee’ Å,a’ish nanídį́į́h?
Táadoo ánít’iní.
What are you doing?
Are you taking any medications?
Don't do that.

Blackleaf

Quote from: Baruch on January 31, 2020, 05:19:17 PM
Hope to go see latest Star Wars with daughter.  She will watch for the feminism.  I will watch because I like women.

Oh yeah. I haven't given my thoughts on The Rise of Skywalker yet. Hard to say much without spoilers, but going into it, I expected the movie to essentially backtrack on most of the things the previous numbered film, The Last Jedi, did with its controversial plot. Heck, the title itself sounded like it was going to undo one of the big reveals of the previous movie. Who were Rey's parents? No one important. Or were they? With Luke dead, which Skywalker could possibly be rising? Leia? Doubtful, since we know what happened to Carrie Fisher. Ben? He's a Solo, not a Skywalker. That only leaves one likely candidate.

To some extent, it kinda was what I was expecting. They gave Kylo Ren his mask back, re-opened the question of Rey's parentage, and sort of brought back the evil emperor, although in a different form. The execution was different than I was expecting, though.

[spoiler]So Rey is a Palpatine? Apparently, there were clues left behind since the first film that this was what they were going for, and they were subtle enough that most people didn't notice. And those who did noticed were dismissed because that idea just sounded too stupid to be true. So did the director of The Last Jedi not get the memo? Watching the trilogy does not give many the impression that this trilogy was planned from the start. I'm fairly certain most of it was made up as they went, which is really frustrating and does not make for good, internally consistent storytelling.

But if Rey is a Palpatine, then who is the Skywalker the title refers to? Well, that is apparently also Rey. Luke and Leia sort of adopt Rey into their family. Or perhaps more accurately, Rey takes the name Skywalker as a sign of respect to Luke and Leia. That wasn't what I was expecting, but it's fine. There's something that bothers me about the heritage of Rey, though. The Last Jedi's answer was more satisfying, I think. Sure, fans speculated about which popular Star Wars character she could be secretly related to, but no answer could have been satisfying, except none-of-the-above. Rey being related to no one means she was her own person. Her skills were not inherited from someone else. She rose from literally nothing into one of the universe's most powerful (living) people. When we see that random kid using the Force to move a broom to his hand, that reinforced the message that one's heritage does not determine their destiny. And then the next movie contradicted that, making Rey related to a powerful Sith lord. Great.

It's no so much that Rey being related to Palpatine is stupid. It's a perfectly fine idea for Palpatine to have a secret heir. The guy had all kinds of contingency plans in the case of his untimely death. The First Order, in fact, was literally his first order post mortem.

Which brings me to my next point. The emperor. When I saw that first trailer and heard Palpatine's laugh, I was actually kind of excited to see Ian McDiarmid's usual hammy performance. But I was very disappointed. This was the most serious we've ever seen the character. I understand why. They wanted him to be this creepy, barely human creature hanging on to life. But he was just so bland.

Also, if I understand the movie correctly, the movie suggests that Sith literally live on in their students when they are slain by them. This would explain why Sith bother to teach another person everything they know. I mean, why have an apprentice? Why not keep the power for yourself, especially when you know from previous experience that the student will eventually surpass you and murder you. Well, turns out raising an apprentice is sort of a method of achieving immortality. When you get old, you shed your old body and possess your apprentice's body, passing your power onto them to become incrementally stronger with each generation. It also explains why Sith only have one student. I actually really like this idea.

Lastly, there's the Final Order. So apparently, the emperor had secretly been building an army while he was pretending to be dead. I don't know how he did this, or where he got the man power, but he just shows up with a ton of ships equipped with canons capable of destroying planets. Basically, each ship was a smaller, more efficient Death Star. I believe this is a concept taken from the extended universe. He uses these to hold the entire universe hostage. Not a bad way to up the level of threat, but still, the question of where dafuq all this stuff came from just nags at me. Also, the Sith Troopers people were talking about? Turned out to be just another pallet swap. Called it.

Random other thoughts: The writers clearly didn't know what to do with Finn. He's just along for the ride. He had so much potential, as the first turncoat Stormtrooper of the series, just flushed down the toilet. The movie tries to make us thing that Rey joining the Dark Side was actually a possibility. That vision of evil Rey with the double-bladed lightsaber? WTF? Nobody's taking that seriously. I do like how they handle Leia's death in this movie. She kind of dies voluntarily so that she can influence Ben via the Force, turning him to the good side. As the only person in the world left connecting Kylo Ren to Ben Solo, she succeeds. But she doesn't fade away into the Force until after Ben dies. She was waiting for her son to join her before crossing over. That is nice. Rey gets this cool new yellow lightsaber, made from the parts of her staff, but they don't give it to her until the end of the movie. This is supposedly the end of her story, so we may never even get to see her use the damn thing. Oh, and I can't forget the most important part of the movie: Chewbacca finally got his medal!

Overall, my opinion of the movie is: Meh. It's entertaining, but it has so many plot holes and contrivances. It had to wrap things up after the previous mix bags of the trilogy, so they probably did the best they could with what they had, but the trilogy as a whole did not leave me feeling satisfied. I can't put my finger on it, but it just feels shallow. Like it's missing something.
"Oh, wearisome condition of humanity,
Born under one law, to another bound;
Vainly begot, and yet forbidden vanity,
Created sick, commanded to be sound."
--Fulke Greville--