Last movie you watched

[Filipower]

I get what they went for, but in the rest of the weird scenes there was always some sort of realistic explanation for whatever was happening.

***SPOILER***Her looking up and smiling is like when he flies around town, but then you realize he was in a cab, whereas in that last shot you don't get the realistic side. Obviously you can guess for yourself, and I get the "makes you think", Inception-y thing, but I just mean I would mind the literal shot like the rest of the movie had.***SPOILER***


Still a cool ending to an AMAZING movie, I'm not one of those people who said "they should have done this or that" like I could do a better job.

 

[Filipower]

The Grand Budapest Hotel

Gotta love Wes Anderson, his aesthetic is awesome. and Ralph Fiennes is just incredible in this.

 

[chygry]

Birdman - Well i also saw it. Yup, it was grand. Since i almost quite literally had no idea what to expect, i enjoyed it even more. I shouldn't have watched the trailer though, i think. I remembered it so well that while i was watching the film, a lot of images were flashing before my eyes from it, so that was kind of disturbing, but it managed to surprise and they spoiled nothing.
Nice performance by Keaton as well, hadn't heard anything about the guy in a long time.

About the ending (spoilers maybe), i think it was pretty much perfectly executed. There was no cliched ending where he was now the next big thing, enjoying the life of stardom again (even if for a short while). I kind of saw something similar coming, he was finally set "free". But it can have multiple meanings, in the end it's obviously left for the viewer to decide and how to interpret it.

What i also liked how they were poking fun at all those actors making those superhero movies (and the movies itself of course), plus the the nowaday twitter and facebook generation. There were many other things as well but i'm not gonna write them all down. Anyway definitely worth a watch.

... oh and saw a couple of more.

Fury - It was alright, a couple a quality scenes in it. Otherwise nothing really to write about.

The Judge - Rubbish. I can't believe i spent 2.5 hours watching this, but i couldn't sleep so... Thought Robert Downey Jr. was better than this. Enjoyed him in Kiss Kiss Bang Bang and Zodiac off the top of my head.

 

[Deisler]

American Sniper - Good war movie, although due to pretty much knowing the story behind it is found it boring at times.

 

[Sir Didier Drogba]

I also saw American Sniper. Do we finally have our first definitive movie portrayal of the post 9/11 middle eastern wars? No. It's pretty good, the action scenes are tense, well shot and feel realistic and the various cinematic pauses for the audience to considerr the frequently arising moral questions do not interrupt the flow of the film and work well. The 'home' scenes, particularly his pre army life and his early flirtation with his future wife, are a bit cliched and actually rather dull, but I guess if they happened that way then they happened that way. Most of the scenes in america, other than the little glimpses of the effect of the war on his psyche, merely serve as breaks from the tension and I was usually relieved when the scene changed back to iraq. I didn't like the lack of information, which must be available, given about mustapha, he became a faceless adversary really, and I actually thought the descent into an 'enemy at the gates' style cat and mouse movie was a little disappointing and detrimental to the impact, again, if it happened like that it happened like that but there must have been more aspects to his later tours. Even some more scenes of his general base life, at the expense of some of the home scens or some of the cat and mouse stuff, I think would have made it more complete as a portrayal. The final home scenes were good, and the ending powerful, and there were strong periods throughout the film, and Cooper's portrayal was strong, surprisingly multi-faceted, but overall, yeah, it didn't blow me away and didn't 'show me the new warfare and the life of the modern soldier like never before'

 

[Mandieta6]

Watched Whiplash. If you told me beforehand it was about a third of just people playing instruments, often the same song over and over I would have passed. I liked it though, it is rare that I find myself feeling tense because of what's happening on-screen but it did a great job of sucking you in and feeling practically stressed out. Loved the bald guy whose name escapes me now and I also enjoyed the fact that the writer/director/lead actor were able to keep you hooked with a protagonist who was bland at first and unlikeable at the end, this with an antagonist who was not exactly a villain-you-love-to-hate deal either. Probably wouldn't rewatch but a good film.

Gonna watch Birdman tomorrow.

Also rewatched August: Osage County and still found it to be a great film. It's rare that you get about 10 characters who are all fleshed out well and have depth without any of them making you feel like you want less or more of them. Actors were all good and the plots were all interesting. Maybe McGregor's character was a bit shallow and the teenage girl and Mulroney were uninspiring. Roberts was brilliant and I don't like Roberts at all. Might be the only film of Cumberbatch I've seen but he was very good in it.

Also note that I watched Budapset Hotel when it came out and liked it a lot but I don't really get the nomination although this seems like a really weak year. Sir_Didier_Drogba?

 

[theo]

Whiplash was great, totally took me by surprise.

 

[Back Door Skip]

The Drop - Decent movie, and Tom Hardy is a great actor, but it reminds me a lot of The Departed. And like The Departed, it doesn't have much of a plot. It's just more or less a "this is what happens in this part of town" type of story...

 

[Alex]

Finally got to watch Birdman, and also really enjoyed it. I think Edward Norton was really good in it, but I've not heard much about his performance, which I think is unfair.

I also watched Dallas Buyers Club, which I also really liked. It's one of those movies that made me research more of the real story - which I think is always a good sign.

 

[Jaboldinho]

Loved Whiplash, too. Birdman next on the list.

 

[Mandieta6]

Without having watched Birdman yet (gonna do it in 9 hours), I'm campaigning for Norton to get an Oscar win.

 

[theo]

The Drop - Decent movie, and Tom Hardy is a great actor, but it reminds me a lot of The Departed. And like The Departed, it doesn't have much of a plot. It's just more or less a "this is what happens in this part of town" type of story...

yeah, it was okay I guess. I'll miss Gandolfini


Fury was also decent, felt like it missed a direction though. you can't get lazy if you want to make a good war film.


also liked Gone Girl a lot, as much as I hate Affleck.

 

[chygry]

Without having watched Birdman yet (gonna do it in 9 hours), I'm campaigning for Norton to get an Oscar win.

I really want to hear your opinion about it. : )

Jesus, I've watched a lot of movies lately, i cannot fucking sleep.

Bringing Out The Dead (1999) - A Scorsese movie. I really don't know what to think about it, it was decent to say the least. Nothing special. I have a feeling that between 1980-1990 (doesn't really go with this picture) the guy was so coked up that he couldn't finish his movies like he wanted to. I know that feeling very well. Same with HST and his articles he wrote for Rolling Stones magazines. His editor had to put the puzzle together so to speak heh...

Cape Fear (1991) - It was decent. Robert De Niro at it again. Perfect performance under Scorsese. Nothing special, though.

Kill The Messenger (2014) - It started quite well.. Promising I have to say. Then it went downhill as the movie progressed. Save yourself and don't watch it. It's a well known fact that CIA had something to do with the crack epidemic in the US and using the drug money to finance the Nicaragua war. Blah blah.....

St. Vincent (2014) - Probably the best I've seen lately, although the same plot has been in so many movies. Worth a watch if you're feeling bored.

The Lookalike (2014) - Surprised me, seemed like some B category movie. Was better than that. Again, if you're feeling bored and have nothing better to do, watch it. 4.9/10.

 

[Back Door Skip]

Finally can read this thread without worrying about spoilers. Loved Birdman. It was all over the place, but yet it seemed like it had a purpose. I loved how they transition into scenes, the drums and the emotion they have in it. Loved the dark humor. Also Birdman's voice was cool, too.

The ending was on the WTF spectrum of things, but the movie was so good that it could get away with it. Definitely the best movie I've seen in a while.

 

[chygry]

Finally can read this thread without worrying about spoilers.

Yup I had the same issue, clicked on "back" on my browser as soon as I saw people who had already seen Birdman talk about it in this thread, didn't want to accidentally read any spoilers. Left it for later.

I loved how they transition into scenes, the drums and the emotion they have in it.

Yeah totally agreed. That was one thing I also noticed right away and I loved it as well. (spoilers) For example when Ed Norton's character went to make out with Riggan's daughter on the upper floor of the theatre after they came down from the roof. And then it slowly transitioning to the next scene, especially how the camera moved slowly down to show Norton already acting in the play on the stage at the same time. (spoilers) It was just nice to look at. I hope you get what I mean, was a bit difficult to explain.

I cannot recall seeing that kind of technique/cinematography used before, and especially so well. It's the kind of movie that really grows on you as well. I'm definitely planning to rewatch it when I can, and I don't do it with a lot of films so quickly after already having seen them lately.

 

[Mandieta6]

I liked Birdman, but all the talk about it had me expecting more so I was kind of disappointed. I loved the cinematography, which I usually don't notice or pay attention to but for one reason or another it was very noticeable and I have a great appreciation for the work that entails. At one point it became distracting, though, I dunno if anyone else felt the same.

Liked the story, loved the acting. Don't think Norton deserves an award for this but I want him to get it for his body of work. Overall, an enjoyable film and I liked how they played with the audience expectations. You think you're going to see a film with supernatural elements and gradually you start thinking there's gonna be a big showdown or something, then they make you think it's all in his head and finally it's a fuck you, we do what we want. I think like they could have extracted more and a lot of the 'emotion' scenes like the final one between Keaton and his ex I just waited for them to be over.

So, good film, if I had gone without any expectations I would have liked it more, though. If this is the best of the year this is a bad year. It's not an indictment of the film, but it just hasn't been the best year.

 

[Filipower]

I liked Grand Budapest better.

 

[chygry]

I don't know, I wouldn't exactly say it was a bad year regarding movies. There have been worse ones. I made this small list of the better ones I saw this year, even if they were made in 2013, but released EDIT: last year, or I just happened to watch them in 2014. I have a good memory.

Gone Girl (2014)
Birdman (2014)
Interstellar (2014)
A Most Wanted Man (2014) - It wasn't that good, but I mostly included it because it was PSH's last movie.
Calvary (2014) - Probably not for everyone.
The Way Way Back (2013) - Dunno really if this deserves a place on this list either, I just liked it.
Her (2013) - Dunno why I included this, but it was alright and deserves a mention.
The Wolf of Wall Street (2013)
American Hustle (2013) - I didn't really enjoy it, but it seemed that a lot of people here did, so I decided to include this one as well.
Dallas Buyers Club (2013) - That's probably one of my favourites this year.
Filth (2013)
The Grand Budapest Hotel (2014)
Rush (2014)
Fuck it, maybe Wish I Was Here (2014) as well.

I haven't seen the ones like Nightcrawler (will be the next one I'll be watching), Whiplash, Boyhood (not planning to watch it anyway, I just feel it's not for me), The Imitation Game, Inherent Vice (will be looking forward to it the most I think) and Foxcatcher. I'm sure I probably forgot something. Perhaps American Sniper should go into the unseen movies list as well, I've always enjoyed movies directed by Clint Eastwood.

Now looking at that list it really wasn't the greatest of year, but it wasn't bad either.

 

[Mandieta6]

I watched Budapest a year ago but from memory I recall I did too.

 

[Filipower]

Oh, I watched Whiplash, pretty awesome. JK Simmons is fantastic!