The last movie you've seen thread 2016

[Mr. Morden]

I saw Ex Machina last weekend.  Definitely enjoyed it.  Though I think if I'd been writing it, I would have written the final conversation between two of the main characters somewhat differently.

[Amenhotep Bakari-Sellers]

Avengers; and with Thanos; just like XMen Apocolapse; it will meet its apocolyptic ending. With one twist, a Spidey is coming in to save day.

Swan song of all the Mavel movies at the end of decade; 2019 of course.

[Chancellor Tanterterg]

Mad Max: Fury Road

It's basically a video game, but does have some redeeming features.  The first is that the cinematography, costume design, sound, etc are excellent even for this type of movie.  Secondly, this is probably the closest thing to a female-driven (and perhaps even feminist) action movie I've ever seen.  It's not perfect in this regard (I'm not a fan of how the villain's wives were used, especially in the first act, although even some of them were given occasional bits of characterization), but I liked that they didn't objectify Theron's character (Furiosa) at all, gave her real agency and independence, and made her essentially the main hero of the story with Max relegated to the second fiddle role Furiosa would've been given in any other action movie.  It is also one of the rare times that the relationship between the male and female leads in this sort of movie wasn't sexual or romantic in any way, shape, or form.  They were just to damaged people trying to survive.

On the negative side, the film really isn't about anything (this is an action film, but it isn't enough fun to make the viewer overlook the lack of a real plot) and (odd as this may sounds) takes itself a bit too seriously during one scene in the beginning of the third act.  Additionally, although the movie is only two hours, it feels about twice as long and simply isn't enough fun for that not to become a real problem by the end of the second act.  Lastly, there's a really dumb subplot (if you can call it that) in which one of the minor bad guys does a pretty dumb and random Heel Face Turn when the character probably should've just been killed off in the first act to cut down on the runtime.

All things considered, I'd give it a C+

[RI]

I saw Tomorrowland today. Really conflicted with this one. I loved a lot about it, but hated almost as much.

Pros:
1) Hugh Laurie was great and a solid anti-villain. I really like it when movies make the antagonist have a point and be good intentioned in their own right.

2) The Paris/Tomorrowland entry scene was beautifully shot and rendered. A clear example of CGI helping the movie along. In general, the cinematography was above average.

3) I actually really liked the message of the movie and wish more people would internalize it. However...

Cons:
1) This may be the most preachy movie I've seen outside of bad Christian movies. Talk about beating a dead horse. I generally liked the message, but virtually everything in the movie was in service to that message. Every conversation in the first third of the movie was based on "positivity" and "hope" and "dreaming" and etc. and so forth. (Anyone who thought Interstellar was on the nose would die watching this)

2) This movie was essentially two hours of Disney fellating itself. Gratuitous Star Wars references, It's a Small World being a portal, Disney itself serving to inspire Frank, etc. Add in the ridiculous physics, laughable mooks, and a cliché Disney finale, and I really start to wonder if this movie couldn't have been so much more if it had been made by a different studio.

3) Gov. Nix's death. Ugh. Just ugh.

4) Every jetpack scene was a horrible CGI-fest of awful.

5) I'm pretty sure the second-fifth or so of this movie was directly copied from Jupiter Ascending

6) Young Frank's acting was pretty bad.

It's probably a 2.5/5, maybe a 3/5. Could have been great, but it really failed to live up to that potential.

[angus]

I watched "Life of Pi" last night.  It was the first time I'd watched it in toto, although I have caught parts of it from time to time.  Intriguing.  I googled a few analyses and critiques afterward and I thought that they were all *way* overdone.  Or overthought.  Anyway, I think it was all happy ever after.  Try not to read too much into it.  It's a good story from the mind of a good storyteller.  I do like the nod toward plural religious affiliation, especially in such a user-friendly way.

[publicunofficial]

Mad Max: Fury Road

Amazing visuals, entertaining story, nice to see a car chase that actually MEANS something and is entertaining, great characters, loved the practical effects and lack of CGI, and was generally an all around fun, ass-kicking, awesome movie.

[Lincoln Republican]

The Hobbit:  The Battle of the Five Armies

[Middle-aged Europe]

Mad Max: Fury Road

Interesting to see that more than 30 years after Mad Max 2 George Miller is still at the top of his game and even outdoing himself, creating an action film which actually possesses artistic value.

It's basically a post-apocalyptic feminist western with elements of a black comedy.

[Mr. Smith]

Saw Guardians of the Galaxy, The Bucket List, and 22 Jump Street.

[Tetro Kornbluth]

Chimes at Midnight (1966)

[free my dawg]

I just got done watching Fly Me to the Moon, which was inspired by a certain Oklahoman's experiences with the movie.

[Antonio the Sixth]

I saw Tomorrowland today. Really conflicted with this one. I loved a lot about it, but hated almost as much.

Pros:
1) Hugh Laurie was great and a solid anti-villain. I really like it when movies make the antagonist have a point and be good intentioned in their own right.

2) The Paris/Tomorrowland entry scene was beautifully shot and rendered. A clear example of CGI helping the movie along. In general, the cinematography was above average.

3) I actually really liked the message of the movie and wish more people would internalize it. However...

Cons:
1) This may be the most preachy movie I've seen outside of bad Christian movies. Talk about beating a dead horse. I generally liked the message, but virtually everything in the movie was in service to that message. Every conversation in the first third of the movie was based on "positivity" and "hope" and "dreaming" and etc. and so forth. (Anyone who thought Interstellar was on the nose would die watching this)

2) This movie was essentially two hours of Disney fellating itself. Gratuitous Star Wars references, It's a Small World being a portal, Disney itself serving to inspire Frank, etc. Add in the ridiculous physics, laughable mooks, and a cliché Disney finale, and I really start to wonder if this movie couldn't have been so much more if it had been made by a different studio.

3) Gov. Nix's death. Ugh. Just ugh.

4) Every jetpack scene was a horrible CGI-fest of awful.

5) I'm pretty sure the second-fifth or so of this movie was directly copied from Jupiter Ascending

6) Young Frank's acting was pretty bad.

It's probably a 2.5/5, maybe a 3/5. Could have been great, but it really failed to live up to that potential.

I feel exactly the same. I love the message, but I wish they would have been more subtle about it, or even added a slight twist. Something along the lines of "It's good to be optimistic, but even if the world is really doomed you should still do your part to make it a little better". I was really looking for it. I also thought Laurie's character had a good point, but the movie doesn't really seem to acknowledge it. It could have been used to develop the film's message in a more dialectical way, ending with a synthesis of the two points of view.

Still a solid movie IMO.

[🐒Gods of Prosperity🔱🐲💸]

Anonymous  Some wonderful performances in this one. The Oxfordian theory of Shakespeare authorship is ultimately unconvincing, but it makes a great film.

[The Dowager Mod]

San Andreas.

[Ban my account ffs!]

Ex Machina, Avengers, and Spy.  All were good in their own way...but the first and last were the better two. 

[Ebsy]

I just got done watching Fly Me to the Moon, which was inspired by a certain Oklahoman's experiences with the movie.

[Snowstalker Mk. II]

Fly Me to the Moon

[DKrol]

A Million Ways to Die In the West, nearly a year ago.

[Antonio the Sixth]

Finally got around to watching Frozen. It's never too late to let it go!

[TDAS04]

Saving Private Ryan

[Dancing with Myself]

Finally got around to watching Ladyhawke after been wanting to watch it for tons of years.

Overall it was pretty well done. Richard Donner in his prime and one of the better fantasy films of the 80's. Prob the only film I have seen Rutger Hauer do a decent job in. It's amazing how young Matthew Broderick and Michelle Pffeifer was in it.

Wish it could have had a little more action but the story and acting was perfect.

And I loved the score. Most people loathe it but I admire it. Alan Parson project on steriods with some 80's coke thrown in

[Gass3268]

Love and Mercy

[Chancellor Tanterterg]

Love and Mercy

Was that any good?

[RI]

Jurassic World was a lot of fun and had a couple great moments, but between the god-awful writing (at least in the first half), the almost complete disposal of animatronics in favor of CGI and unnecessarily blue color grading, and the overall fan fiction-y tone, it feels like a massive hollowing of the franchise (though you could argue the other sequels already did that) that left me cringing more often than not.

I did appreciate the film's fairly self-aware tone and Chris Pratt's performance, though. The acting was solid enough and the cinematography did a fair facsimile of Spielberg's mise en scene but added little to it. Similarly, the score was essentially slightly new arrangements of Williams' 1993 score plus a bunch of generic tracks. There were times when the music really jarred with what was on screen, but that may have been intentional (maybe?).

Well, at least it looks like it's going to dethrone The Avengers for top grossing opening weekend both domestically and internationally. It's a better movie than either of those films, though that's not saying much. I'd give it a 3/5 or so.

[Samantha]

I went to see Jurrasic World in 3D last night. The story was pretty thin and I was disappointed with the super-dinosaur hybrid creation. It was a very pretty movie though...plus I promised my boyfriend I wouldn't bitch if he bought me nachos—so I'm honor bound to not compare Jurrasic World  to Jurrasic Park.