The last movie you've seen thread 2016

[RI]

Saw Jupiter Ascending today. I'll preface this by saying I'm a huge Wachowski fan, having both Cloud Atlas and Speed Racer in my top five favorite movies I've seen. JA has received exceedingly bad reviews, currently at 22% on RT, with some comparing it to Battlefield Earth as one of the worst sci-fi movies ever.

Honestly, I wonder what movie they were watching. Jupiter Ascending is a fun, self-aware movie that delivers some of the most incredible action sequences I've ever seen. I was very skeptical of the castings of Kunis and Tatum, but they both played their characters quite well, though they weren't particularly hard characters to play. While Mila has her share of typical damsel-in-distress moments, she really steps up in the final third of the movie, taking matters into her own hands. Redmayne plays a very hammy villain with mommy issues, but the performance isn't anywhere near as bad as people suggest.

The plot is so-so, standard space opera fare in the vein of The Fifth Element or the 2009 Star Trek, but the universe it inhabits is a beautiful and well-developed construction that I wanted much more than barely over two hours to explore. What surprised me most was that the movie was actually quite funny, moreso than I ever thought it would be, and not in a bad way. The tone was actually not that much more serious than Guardians of the Galaxy, though it was more serious (I strongly question how a movie like this bombs with critics while Guardians, which is quite similar, does so well). I was also surprised that when we get the much-derided line from the trailer ("I love dogs!") actually works really well in context; in fact, both the love story and the "chosen one" story actually play out in ways quite different than you might expect coming in.

I think the key to the movie is this: it's fundamentally a quite ridiculous movie, and it knows it. If you can be okay with that, it's a great ride. If not, then it's probably not for you.

[Middle-aged Europe]

Birdman

Well, that was weird...

[Antonio the Sixth]

L'affaire SK1. Nothing groundbreaking or mind-blowing, but a pretty well-conceived and well-executed movie. It manages to avoid the excesses that plague most films that deal with horrifying real-life events, and gives all the elements of the police inquiry (including those that go nowhere) without trying to force them into an artificially coherent ex-post narrative.

[Middle-aged Europe]

Foxcatcher

John du Pont, what a creep... although I suspect his "weirdness" was somewhat exaggerated just like they did with Turing in Imitation Game. Brilliant acting by Steve Carell though.

[Middle-aged Europe]

Whiplash

[Antonio the Sixth]

Big Hero 6. Really loved it.

First off, the visuals are absolutely magnificent, with excellent CGI, bright colors, and, most importantly, the greatest city in the world as a setting! Yeah, San Fransokyo, whatever... all I saw was San Francisco. And boy, I couldn't have asked for more. I had an eye-gasm every time they showed aerial views of the city. And SF is obviously the perfect place to set this semi-deranged techno-wonderland. I've never been a geek for technology and gadgets, but I really got sucked in into the universe. It got this perfect balance between "feeling real" and dreamlike wonderment that made other Disney movies work.

In terms of characters, I guess Hiro is the only one to be really developed beyond a couple funny lines (or actually, I take it back: Baymax, of all people, actually is a fully fleshed character). The interaction between the two brothers in the first part of the movie is really touching and spot-on. It's new territory for Disney and I feel they've handled it really well, it's really a believable character dynamic.  Baymax, as I said, is a lot of fun. From Data on, it's always impressive to see how the magic of filming manages to give a lot of personality to characters that are explicitly conceived as having no emotion. And it's really cool to see the creativity invested in fully exploiting its status as a medical robot in situations where they wouldn't seem very useful.

The plot isn't particularly brilliant, but it's OK. I'm sooooo glad they avoided the obvious route of making the greedy corporate guy the villain, for a couple seconds I actually believed they were going that way, but thankfully it soon became so obvious that it could only be a red herring. The actual plot they went for is not exactly new, but it's a good concept that allows some degree of moral complexity. It reminded me of the Batman episode "Heart of Ice". It's a shame that Prof. Callaghan is given absolutely zero exploration as a character, turning him into a fully fleshed anti-villain could have brought the movie to a whole new level. But still, for what it is, the plot works fine.

After watching this movie, I felt thrilled to realize that Disney seems to be regaining all their creative genius. This movie shows that they still have people with talent who are dedicated to pushing the boundaries of animation and bringing joy to children and adults alike. I have no idea what critics have though of it, but to me, after Frozen (which I really need to see some day), this movie might mark the beginning of the Second Disney Renaissance.

[World politics is up Schmitt creek]

I saw Jupiter Ascending and agree with realisticidealist almost entirely, which I think might actually be a first for our respective tastes in big-budget action-and-heroics movies. (Except for having Speed Racer and Cloud Atlas among his favorite movies. I...really, really don't agree with that part.) I particularly enjoyed that the conflict was, technically, 'resolved' about halfway through in a sequence of bureaucratic comedy featuring a Terry Gilliam cameo, and the rest of the movie was basically just the heroes forcing the villains to abide by the relevant inheritance laws.

I don't want to say that it's getting such bad reviews largely because it has a female lead, but...

[afleitch]

Grey Gardens

The HBO movie, not the excellent documentary. It was on my 'to watch' list for a while.

[Gustaf]

I saw Jupiter Ascending and agree with realisticidealist almost entirely, which I think might actually be a first for our respective tastes in big-budget action-and-heroics movies. (Except for having Speed Racer and Cloud Atlas among his favorite movies. I...really, really don't agree with that part.) I particularly enjoyed that the conflict was, technically, 'resolved' about halfway through in a sequence of bureaucratic comedy featuring a Terry Gilliam cameo, and the rest of the movie was basically just the heroes forcing the villains to abide by the relevant inheritance laws.

I don't want to say that it's getting such bad reviews largely because it has a female lead, but...

One of the reviews I read panning it actually made the point that the female lead was so lame and dependent on others that it couldn't give it any feminism points. I haven't seen it though.

American Sniper was my last. What sh*t.

Also saw We Are The Best, a Swedish movie. Really cute and sweet.

[RI]

I saw Jupiter Ascending and agree with realisticidealist almost entirely, which I think might actually be a first for our respective tastes in big-budget action-and-heroics movies. (Except for having Speed Racer and Cloud Atlas among his favorite movies. I...really, really don't agree with that part.) I particularly enjoyed that the conflict was, technically, 'resolved' about halfway through in a sequence of bureaucratic comedy featuring a Terry Gilliam cameo, and the rest of the movie was basically just the heroes forcing the villains to abide by the relevant inheritance laws.

I don't want to say that it's getting such bad reviews largely because it has a female lead, but...

One of the reviews I read panning it actually made the point that the female lead was so lame and dependent on others that it couldn't give it any feminism points. I haven't seen it though.

Jupiter has lots of agency.

SPOILERS: She chooses to sacrifice herself and even her family to save the Earth, then she proceeds to beat the hell out of the main bad guy, getting some great one-liners in there as well. Not to mention that she doesn't go along with everyone else's plan several times, most notably that she doesn't become Queen of the Universe just because everyone wants her to. She chooses to go back home and live out a (mostly) normal life at the end. Heck, half the movie is her trying to get out of this thing everyone else is forcing on her while trying at the same time to not let a corrupt industrial empire destroy everything she values.

[Marokai Backbeat]

I watched this movie for some reason. Let's say it has it's ups and downs.

[Beet]

No Way Out (1987). Still a goodie, but it seems a bit homophobic now...

[they don't love you like i love you]

Interesting take on Jupiter Ascending. http://www.dailydot.com/geek/jupiter-ascending-female-audience

To be fair if the comparison is correct and it's basically to women what the Transformers movies are to teenage boys that doesn't speak highly of it either. No doubt better than Fifty Shades of Grey though.

[World politics is up Schmitt creek]

Interesting take on Jupiter Ascending. http://www.dailydot.com/geek/jupiter-ascending-female-audience

To be fair if the comparison is correct and it's basically to women what the Transformers movies are to teenage boys that doesn't speak highly of it either. No doubt better than Fifty Shades of Grey though.

I'd say it's more akin to Guardians of the Galaxy in terms of plot, theme, scope, intent, et cetera, and closest to something like a concussed and disoriented Pacific Rim (which is still a couple steps up from Transformers) in terms of artistic merit. I mean it's obviously not Snowpiercer, which is the best sci-fi movie of the past decade or so, but it's not entirely lacking in emotional or thematic resonance either, and it's possible to justify watching on semi-serious grounds.

In other words it definitely was kind of crap but not crappy enough that I feel ashamed of myself for liking it.

[Lief 🗽]

I mean it's obviously not Snowpiercer, which is the best sci-fi movie of the past decade or so, but it's not entirely lacking in emotional or thematic resonance either, and it's possible to justify watching on semi-serious grounds.

Have you seen Under the Skin?

[Middle-aged Europe]

No Way Out (1987). Still a goodie, but it seems a bit homophobic now...

The relationship between Gene Hackman and Will Patton in this movie is oddly reminiscent of that between Mr. Burns and Waylon Smithers though.

[World politics is up Schmitt creek]

I mean it's obviously not Snowpiercer, which is the best sci-fi movie of the past decade or so, but it's not entirely lacking in emotional or thematic resonance either, and it's possible to justify watching on semi-serious grounds.

Have you seen Under the Skin?

No, that flew under my radar somehow. Should I?

[Lief 🗽]

I mean it's obviously not Snowpiercer, which is the best sci-fi movie of the past decade or so, but it's not entirely lacking in emotional or thematic resonance either, and it's possible to justify watching on semi-serious grounds.

Have you seen Under the Skin?

No, that flew under my radar somehow. Should I?

Yes, it's great! Right up there with Snowpiercer as my favorite sci-fi of the year (though very different).

[Deus Naturae]

Just watched Donnie Darko. I liked it better than any movie I've watched in a very long time.

[Antonio the Sixth]

Has anyone seen Kingsman? I'm considering going to see it, but it sound like the kind of movie that could either be a lot of fun or absolutely godawful. Is it worth the time?

[bedstuy]

Has anyone seen Kingsman? I'm considering going to see it, but it sound like the kind of movie that could either be a lot of fun or absolutely godawful. Is it worth the time?

I liked it.  It's very campy, it kind of reminds me of a mix of James Bond, Austin Powers and the Indonesian movie, The Raid.  Nothing amazing certainly, but pretty good.

[ingemann]

I'm going to see "Kingsman" this weekend, but the last movie I saw was "The Imitation Game". I had expected it to be good, but somewhat bland movie from what I had heard about it, and the critic that it ignored his chemical castration, and that it would be a somewhat feel good film about a man beating his asbergers to save the world for Nazism (let's be honest I had low expectations).

spoiler


Instead it was a movie who showed a man serving his country, making choice for it which would haunt him the rest of his short life, only to be thrown for the wolves when his country no more needed him.

Of course the point was somewhat subtle, in that it wasn't yelled from the town squire with a megaphone.   

[Antonio the Sixth]

Has anyone seen Kingsman? I'm considering going to see it, but it sound like the kind of movie that could either be a lot of fun or absolutely godawful. Is it worth the time?

I liked it.  It's very campy, it kind of reminds me of a mix of James Bond, Austin Powers and the Indonesian movie, The Raid.  Nothing amazing certainly, but pretty good.

That sounds good. I don't mind camp, if done smartly enough.

[they don't love you like i love you]

I'm under the impression it's very much in the "Crosses The Line Twice" style of Kick-Ass.

[World politics is up Schmitt creek]

I'm under the impression it's very much in the "Crosses The Line Twice" style of Kick-Ass.

That's an unusual way to describe Kick-Ass. And yes, I'm aware of what the term means.