duccichucka said:

RodeoSchro said:

It was Family Night at the Movies last night. We voted on what to go see. I voted for "Creed', naturally. I got outvoted. We saw "SPECTRE". I should have pulled a George W. Bush and protested the ballot, appealed to the Family Supreme Court, and had the results of a valid election overturned.

But I didn't. At least I didn't invade the wrong country!

I will admit that I was anticipating this movie. More than a few Orgers and reviewers have said this is a great movie, very exciting, incredible opening scene, etc.

You were all wrong!

That first scene was a snooze fest! Bond popped off a few shots, landed on a couch, and followed some guy with a bad Man Bun. They rolled around in a helicopter, and Bond finally wins. I guess we were supposed to be wowed by a helicopter doing barrel rolls and a loop. Saw that already, back in the 80's, in "Blue Thunder".

To top it off, Bond didn't even go back to the girl he had waiting!

I told myself, "Self, you are in trouble. All those Orgers said the first scene was the most exciting scene in the movie, but then it gets kind of boring. If the scene I just yawned through is the MOST exciting scene, you're going to need to go to the bar - a lot. Of snap! We're at a regular theater, not the one with a bar! Arrrrrrrrgggggggghhhhhho f*** the next two hours!"

Sure enough, the next scene was the opening song. Oh man does that song SUCK. I guess I am not a fan of Sam Smith. All I know about the guy is that he ripped off Tom Petty, and he sang the worst, most boring James Bond song ever. I needed booze, stat!!!!!!

I didn't get any.

OK, it's not like this was the worst movie ever made. It was boring, the acting was wooden and laconic (although Ben Affleck was nowhere to be found), the gadgets were non-existent, the villian(s)were laughable, their plot to take over the whatever was infantile, and the locations were third-rate. But it was shot well.

The problem with this movie is that it is a James Bond movie.

Daniel Craig is not a bad actor. But he is a bad James Bond.

This movie was not a bad spy movie. But it is a pathetic James Bond movie.

Bond is the gold standard. You can NOT bring Bond down to the level of a mere mortal. Every single thing Bond does is bigger than life. The most beautiful girls in the world throw themselves at him, and he willingly accepts. He goes to only the most exotic and coolest places on Earth. He drives only the coolest car on the planet. He has the neatest gadgets. He wins every fight, and he NEVER needs a girl to save him by shooting the bad guy.

"SPECTRE" fails in all those metrics.

I see now what I have to do.

I have to write a James Bond movie, and I must have complete control over casting.

Since "SPECTRE" holds itself out as a James Bond movie, it must be rated as a James Bond movie. I can only give "SPECTRE" five of Jaws' metal teeth out of thirty-two possible Jaws' metal teeth.

The reason why the first scene in Spectre is notable is because it is one continuous shot; not be-
cause of its action sequence. The helicopter scene was very difficult to shoot and I appreciate
the direction and filming involved; I never saw anything like that in Blue Thunder, which is a de-
cent film. But why does the audience need to see Bond go back and shag that chick? He said
he would; chances are, being the horndog that he is, Bond did, in fact, go back to the hotel room
to fuck her. I don't know why that's a point of contention with you or why the film would be better
if we do see him go back to fuck her; otherwise, why bring this up?

The film was shot in Mexico City during its Day of the Dead festival; they filmed scenes in Lon-
don, Austria (even on a glacier!), along the Tiber River in Italy, and in Morocco. What's "third
rate" about those locations?

I don't think Daniel Craig is a bad "James Bond" at all. I think he's fantastic: he's terse, icy,
and he doesn't play the character with a tongue-in-cheek approach. He's serious, which means
the film have a certain gravitas about them that the other cheeky Bond films do not. He's a
bit of a sociopath while the other Bonds, because they were playing the character with a smirk
underneath, only killed because they had to. Craig's Bond kills because he has to and he fucking
likes it. That makes him more interesting (it's kinda like how Bale plays his Batman, who is
definitely a sociopath).

I like this Bond reboot because he is a mortal. Those other catoony Bond flicks are for kiddies.
This means, then, that the gadgets are minimal; and the villains aren't so overblown (even though
Bardem's character in Skyfall was a bit much). So, I'm fine with him getting his ass kicked and
needing to be saved from his imminent death by a chick (that we later see him fuck, since you
personally need to see that in your James Bond films).

The problem with Spectre is that it is too long and it is bathetic. After Skyfall, the next Bond in-
stallment was sure to be anticlimatic. Spectre gets weighted down by an underwhelming per-
formance by Christoph Waltz and to be honest with you, I wouldn't argue too much with you if
you said that the flick sucked because Craig mailed this one in. He's even articulated as much
as he's openly indicated that he's tired of playing the role. It's not a bad film, and it's not a bad
James Bond film in this particular canon. It's just a boring film that is a bit too formulaic; being
a spy film notwithstanding. Where I do agree with you is in your sentiments regarding the theme
song (it sucked) and the cinematography (it's beautiful).

But therein lies the problem for me. So it was one continuous shot, but it was one BORING continuous shot. I didn't go to the movie to get bored, and no amount of technological expertise can counteract boredom. Again, maybe this would have played well if it wasn't a Bond movie. But it WAS a Bond movie, and therefore had the highest of standards to meet. And for me, that scene didn't come close to meeting those standards.

James Bond was created onscreen to be a hero, IMO. He killed because he had to in order to save lives. He didn't like it - no hero likes killing. But they are heroes because their highly-developed sense of right and wrong directs them to do what they have to do.

I forgot to mention the ending. Apparently, James Bond quit the Double-0 program and settled down. So I wonder where the next Bond movie goes? I hope they don't make it like "The Bourne Identity" and kill of his companion, thus driving Bond mad. I love the Bourne movies but I wouldn't like that treatment given to James Bond. I want James Bond going back to being the coolest, most unflappable dude in the room.

Spotlight (2015)

Based on a true story of the Boston Globe's expose of widespread concealment of child abuse in the Boston archdiocese. It is one of the very best movies about journalism I have ever seen, and a virtual lock for a best picture nod.

Of course, there are outstanding performances from the all-star cast. Michael Keaton may have given the performance of his career in this film, and there were great turns from Mark Ruffalo, Rachel McAdams, Liev Schreiber, John Slattery, Stanley Tucci and Billy Crudup.


But the performances from the unknowns who played victims are the ones that stayed with me after I left the theater.

[Edited 11/28/15 11:22am]

[Edited 11/28/15 11:22am]

[Edited 11/28/15 11:22am]

I saw "Creed". I am going to break with tradition and rate it first:










I REALLY want to talk all about this movie but I'm not going to do so, because I couldn't do that without giving away any spoilers. But I will say this:

All that buzz you hear about Sylvester Stallone and an Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actor?

He deserves it. He is TREMENDOUS.

So is Michael B. Jordan. He should get a nomination for Best Actor.

This is one of the best movies I've ever seen!

Kingsman - The Secret Service

.

fun movie in a harry potter meets 007 kind of way. recommend for light watching

.

RodeoSchro said:

Sweet November (1968 version)

I didn't know the Keanu Reeves/Charlize Theron version was a remake

This movie was sweet, and it was a nice watch for rainy Sunday, but Sandy Dennis seemed surprisingly stiff to me as the lead ..... 3/5

The Shining

I LOVED the acting in this. Watched it for the first time with my brother (who is a Stephen King fanboy) for thanksgiving. He was disappointed at the things left off from the book, and we both agreed that Jack's descent could have been portrayed a bit more gracefully, but Shelly Duvall's look of true fear made up for that in my book.

4/5

Entertaining. Funny, fairly realistic, and very well-cast and acted (gotta credit the director there). Not for those who are offended by the profane and/or don't want to see a film where the protagonist debates having an abortion.

Don't Be Menace to South Central (While You're Drinking Juice in the Hood).

Was on cable and I set it to the dvr.

Luv it.

8/10.

[Edited 12/1/15 22:06pm]

Suffragette (2015) - The foot soldiers of the early feminist movement, women who were forced underground to pursue a dangerous game of cat and mouse with an increasingly brutal State.

I can watch Carey Mulligan in almost anything and she did a good job in this movie. Meryl Streep was in it for only five minutes. Running the dates in which women won the right to vote in countries around the world before the closing credits was a nice touch. 3.5/5

Spotlight (2015) - The true story of how the Boston Globe uncovered the massive scandal of child molestation and cover-up within the local Catholic Archdiocese, shaking the entire Catholic Church to its core.

Excellent. Contender for movie of the year. 5/5

The Hunger Games: Mockingjay -- Part 2 (2015)

Rather sluggish finish to the series. It seemed like this series worked hard not to be interesting.

1/2

Krampus our of 4 stars

-

It's a good date movie. Its scary (but funny scary not really nightmare scary)

The Madness of King George

Great movie, great acting and some touching scenes 4/5

DONNIE DARKO

Very weird movie,but utimately interesting and great, but overrated. 3/5

214 said:

DONNIE DARKO

Very weird movie,but utimately interesting and great, but overrated. 3/5

When I was younger I loved it.. when I recently rewatched it I noted how much I liked the soundtrack, but the movie is B or B- type of movie, not all that great. But it has all the necessary elements to be a cult classic type of film.. which its become.

Spectre (2015) - A cryptic message from Bond's past sends him on a trail to uncover a sinister organization. While M battles political forces to keep the secret service alive, Bond peels back the layers of deceit to reveal the terrible truth behind SPECTRE.

I agree with most that this was a disappointingly average James Bond movie. 3/5

sexton said:

Finding Vivian Maier (2013) - A documentary on the late Vivian Maier, a nanny whose previously unknown cache of 100,000 photographs earned her a posthumous reputation as one of the most accomplished street photographers.

Great photography and I liked the slow unraveling of the mystery about who this person was. 4/5

I caught the last half of that documentary.


Very interesting. Clearly a tortured soul.

In the theaters, this was the last movie that I saw;



/5

It was ok. The action was good, but sparse. The dialogue/drama (which was the strength of the last movie) was ok.

I feel as though they tried to combine the campy feel of the old Roger Moore movies with the darkness of the last film, and the result was tepid.

Still & all, Craig makes a kick-ass Bond.

The Peanuts Movie (2015) - Snoopy embarks upon his greatest mission as he and his team take to the skies to pursue their arch-nemesis, while his best pal Charlie Brown begins his own epic quest back home.

I liked this a lot. It's very faithful to the classic strips and early TV specials. 4/5

Disney's "Jungle Book " was one of my favs as a kid, but the fact it has pretty much no story, some poor characters (were the elephants that good to have 2 whole scenes?) along with those awful vultures, drag the film down. It does still have some absolute magic moments though, and the character animation, particually on Mowgli and Baloo are just amazing and makes me appreciate how great those original Disney guys were.

Humans are very hard to draw well but they nailed it with Mowgli. Baloo's voice carries the film, but thats fine. I know it's meant to be lighthearted in general but some of it just doesn't gel with me. Still good overall though.

[Edited 12/9/15 18:33pm]

worth viewing.

Right now on TCM.

A Christmas Classic.

Drunk Stoned Brilliant Dead: The Story of the National Lampoon 2 stars out of 5

Not as funny as you would think it would be. The film suffers from flashing pages of the magazine much too quickly. Some good footage of Belushi, Chase, Radner, Murray, Doyle-Murray and Landis working on the radio show. But it kind of ends on a bummer.

[Edited 12/12/15 13:25pm]

Fantastic Four

C-

Really as bad as everyone said - had potnential with casting, but really one of the worst plotted movies I've seen in a long time. Nothing happens, and then it's over

I was pretty impressed by this. Not exactly a feel-good picture, though.

I usually get a kick out of Mewes' Jay shtick, but I just felt like this flick tried way too hard. Joke-wise, it was kind of an everything-but-the-kitchen-sink approach. Mostly fell flat, for me.

Trainspotting 1996

Good movie, i have got a good time watching it, good movie, but sooo overrated. It's not that great. It's like a cool way of dealing with heavy topics like drug abuse. 3/5

Amelie 2000

Good movie, a lovely modern fairytale, you get to love the main character, a shy young woman with and her particular way of see things; always longing for love, until the day comes. Lovely film, but once again, overrated. 3.5/5