Recently I watched PATTON (1970) for the first time and I have to say...... seriously where the hell have I been? it was an Epic film about the the expoilts of General George S. Patton during WW2. George C. Scott was amazing and deserved the Oscar (which he turned down) for Best Actor. The supporting cast was also great especially Karl Malden as General Bradley. The only fault in the film was that there were no subtitles for the German boardroom scenes etc in the print that I watched on Fox Classics. I give this film a 4.5 out of 5

[Edited 6/10/17 18:05pm]

[Edited 6/10/17 18:05pm]

eyes of my mother 3.5/5 stark, barebones, b&w arthouse horror. it's perhaps a touch too simple & underdeveloped, but it has quite a few truly creepy, even nightmare-ish scenes that ought to make it worth a watch for genre fans.

thekidsgirl said:

Alien: Covenant

I did not like Prometheus all that much due to the questionable/not believable science and the story that just felt thin and undeveloped... Covenant was better (to me), but still not really great. I could have taken more back story about the engineers and David's experiments on the planet and less typical Alien gore. Oh well.

2.5/5

yes to that bolded section!

and i have to agree that, while it didn't like prometheus's engineer storyline at all, i think it would have been far more interesting to have followed through on that rather than just retreat to a fairly standard, pretty unimaginative slasher film.

Wonder Woman (2017)

Maybe now that it is the best offering of the post-Nolan DCEU, Hollywood will finally hire women to direct and carry blockbuster films. Like the Guardians films, and unlike the Snyder DCEU offerings, this was an exciting and emotionally relatable summer movie.

Gal Gadot . . . oh my.

.5

namepeace said:

Wonder Woman (2017)

Maybe now that it is the best offering of the post-Nolan DCEU, Hollywood will finally hire women to direct and carry blockbuster films. Like the Guardians films, and unlike the Snyder DCEU offerings, this was an exciting and emotionally relatable summer movie.

Gal Gadot . . . oh my.

.5

she'll be the new Angelina jolie

Wonder Woman (2017)

The best of the current DC Universe movies. 3.5/5

"It Comes At Night"

1/2

Network, amazing movie. Why we are mad as hell.

2freaky4church1 said:

Network, amazing movie. Why we are mad as hell.

I love Network (1976) I give 5 out of 5 it was so ahead of its time, Faye Dunaway totally slays as Diana Christensen and its one of Sidney Lumet's best work as a director . The 1976 film that foretold the rise of Trump, invented reality TV and made suicide a spectacle https://www.spectator.co....pectacle/#

it comes at night - 4/5 tells a story that you've likely seen a billion times (in a post-apocalyptic world, people discover that they are still their own worst enemy), but i thought it was incredibly effective. believable characters, every one of them likable & sympathetic & acting in a realistic manner in a hopeless , unrelentingly bleak situation. and there is a scene near the end that surprised and shocked me as much as anything i've seen in a movie or tv show since breaking bad's s4 final episode.

comparisons to the witch might be a bit obvious, but i think that's not too far off base, in that they both have a similar atmosphere of 'creeping dread,' things are going to fall apart, it's just a question of how and where and when.

[Edited 6/16/17 5:14am]

Lost In Translation

2 word review: Soooooo BORING!!

djThunderfunk said:

Lost In Translation

2 word review: Soooooo BORING!!

namepeace said:

djThunderfunk said:

Lost In Translation

2 word review: Soooooo BORING!!

This crap has a 95% Fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes?!? This is why critics don't matter...

djThunderfunk said:

namepeace said:

This crap has a 95% Fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes?!? This is why critics don't matter...

I really liked it, but it was slow.

namepeace said:

djThunderfunk said:

This crap has a 95% Fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes?!? This is why critics don't matter...

I really liked it, but it was slow.

Apparently EVERYBODY liked it, 'cept me. Something, ANYTHING, would have to have happened for it to be "slow".

All nuance, no story...

damosuzuki said:

it comes at night - 4/5 tells a story that you've likely seen a billion times (in a post-apocalyptic world, people discover that they are still their own worst enemy), but i thought it was incredibly effective. believable characters, every one of them likable & sympathetic & acting in a realistic manner in a hopeless , unrelentingly bleak situation. and there is a scene near the end that surprised and shocked me as much as anything i've seen in a movie or tv show since breaking bad's s4 final episode.

comparisons to the witch might be a bit obvious, but i think that's not too far off base, in that they both have a similar atmosphere of 'creeping dread,' things are going to fall apart, it's just a question of how and where and when.

[Edited 6/16/17 5:14am]

I just saw this too. This one nailed the characters and atmosphere. The setting was good and spooky and I loved the tension building music during the truck ride... Funny thing though, the reaction of the audience when this movie ended was hilarious. So many people were audibly angry and annoyed at the ending .

I wouldn't have minded a more exciting finale, and a bit more back story, but I enjoyed this

3/5 stars

luvsexy4all said:

Last night I watched All Eyez On Me (2017) the Tupac biopic. On a positive note the look of the film really did have that 90s feel to it, and the cast especially Demetrius Shipp Jr, Kat Graham and Dominic Santana were pretty impressive in what they were given to work with. However, I noticed that the film makers chose to leave out key moments in Tupac's life. For example, there is no mention of his clash with the Hughes Brothers on the set of Menace to Society (1993) resulting in him serving 15 days in jail for assault. Also absent was the AIDs test drama surrounding Janet on the set of Poetic Justice and briefly dating Madonna. Finally his marriage to Keisha Morris in 1995 while he was in prison was left out, which left me annoyed because there is alot of info out there that could have been used to flesh out the film to highlight the complexity of his life.

Anyway I give this film a 3 out of 5 because you could tell that the filmakers had a great intention of making a fair and balance portrayal of Tupac, but they came off short with an underbaked screenplay. Also if anyone else here has seen the film, was that Snoop Dogg himself doing voice over work for his character in the film? Because it sure sounded like him. Is All Eyez On Me the worst biopic? Nope, Man In the Mirror (2004) is still holds that title because its totally unwatchable

[Edited 6/17/17 22:29pm]

[Edited 6/17/17 22:35pm]

[Edited 6/17/17 23:31pm]

damosuzuki said:

Goddess4Real said:

Last night I watched All Eyez On Me (2017) the Tupac biopic. On a positive note the look of the film really did have that 90s feel to it, and the cast especially Demetrius Shipp Jr, Kat Graham and Dominic Santana were pretty impressive in what they were given to work with. However, I noticed that the film makers chose to leave out key moments in Tupac's life. For example, there is no mention of his clash with the Hughes Brothers on the set of Menace to Society (1993) resulting in him serving 15 days in jail for assault. Also absent was the AIDs test drama surrounding Janet on the set of Poetic Justice and briefly dating Madonna. Finally his marriage to Keisha Morris in 1995 while he was in prison was left out, which left me annoyed because there is alot of info out there that could have been used to flesh out the film to highlight the complexity of his life.

Anyway I give this film a 3 out of 5 because you could tell that the filmakers had a great intention of making a fair and balance portrayal of Tupac, but they came off short with an underbaked screenplay. Also if anyone else here has seen the film, was that Snoop Dogg himself doing voice over work for his character in the film? Because it sure sounded like him. Is All Eyez On Me the worst biopic? Nope, Man In the Mirror (2004) is still holds that title because its totally unwatchable

[Edited 6/17/17 22:29pm]

[Edited 6/17/17 22:35pm]

[Edited 6/17/17 23:31pm]

I personally would give the movie a solid 4 out of 5 stars. I thought it was really really good although it was inaccurate but the actor did a REALLY damn good job playing Tupac. I thought he was Tupac and the actress that played his mother did really good too. I think Snoop did the voice for the actor that played his character. I think they could have gotten someone who looked more like him. I think they focused on his friendship with Jada too much and some parts were fabricated. I was surprised they didn't cover the movie he did with Janet, Poetic Justice which was a really iconic moment for him. A lot of Janet fans say that AIDs test was just a rumor...but I believe that Janet's people approached Tupac with a test and yes that was rude (Dont see why Tupac would lie about that).

[Edited 6/19/17 19:00pm]

edge of seventeen - 3.5/5 does a pretty good job of walking a fairly tricky tightrope. it's clever without tipping into that 'nowhere in the world have there ever existed teenagers this witty & effortless with a quip' realm that annoys me a bit at times, and manages to be kinda sweet while avoiding mawkishness. i liked it quite a bit.

mjscarousal said:

Goddess4Real said:

Last night I watched All Eyez On Me (2017) the Tupac biopic. On a positive note the look of the film really did have that 90s feel to it, and the cast especially Demetrius Shipp Jr, Kat Graham and Dominic Santana were pretty impressive in what they were given to work with. However, I noticed that the film makers chose to leave out key moments in Tupac's life. For example, there is no mention of his clash with the Hughes Brothers on the set of Menace to Society (1993) resulting in him serving 15 days in jail for assault. Also absent was the AIDs test drama surrounding Janet on the set of Poetic Justice and briefly dating Madonna. Finally his marriage to Keisha Morris in 1995 while he was in prison was left out, which left me annoyed because there is alot of info out there that could have been used to flesh out the film to highlight the complexity of his life.

Anyway I give this film a 3 out of 5 because you could tell that the filmakers had a great intention of making a fair and balance portrayal of Tupac, but they came off short with an underbaked screenplay. Also if anyone else here has seen the film, was that Snoop Dogg himself doing voice over work for his character in the film? Because it sure sounded like him. Is All Eyez On Me the worst biopic? Nope, Man In the Mirror (2004) is still holds that title because its totally unwatchable

[Edited 6/17/17 22:29pm]

[Edited 6/17/17 22:35pm]

[Edited 6/17/17 23:31pm]

I personally would give the movie a solid 4 out of 5 stars. I thought it was really really good although it was inaccurate but the actor did a REALLY damn good job playing Tupac. I thought he was Tupac and the actress that played his mother did really good too. I think Snoop did the voice for the actor that played his character. I think they could have gotten someone who looked more like him. I think they focused on his friendship with Jada too much and some parts were fabricated. I was surprised they didn't cover the movie he did with Janet, Poetic Justice which was a really iconic moment for him. A lot of Janet fans say that AIDs test was just a rumor...but I believe that Janet's people approached Tupac with a test and yes that was rude (Dont see why Tupac would lie about that).

[Edited 6/19/17 19:00pm]

about Danai Gurira as Afeni Shakur, she was great. Like I said the cast was good with what they had to work with.......just the script was half-baked. Also according to Tupac in this interview janet changed her phone number too which is a shame, they made such a cute couple in the film and thought they would be friends.

[Edited 6/19/17 23:27pm]

[Edited 6/19/17 23:28pm]

Goddess4Real said:

mjscarousal said:

I personally would give the movie a solid 4 out of 5 stars. I thought it was really really good although it was inaccurate but the actor did a REALLY damn good job playing Tupac. I thought he was Tupac and the actress that played his mother did really good too. I think Snoop did the voice for the actor that played his character. I think they could have gotten someone who looked more like him. I think they focused on his friendship with Jada too much and some parts were fabricated. I was surprised they didn't cover the movie he did with Janet, Poetic Justice which was a really iconic moment for him. A lot of Janet fans say that AIDs test was just a rumor...but I believe that Janet's people approached Tupac with a test and yes that was rude (Dont see why Tupac would lie about that).

[Edited 6/19/17 19:00pm]

about Danai Gurira as Afeni Shakur, she was great. Like I said the cast was good with what they had to work with.......just the script was half-baked. Also according to Tupac in this interview janet changed her phone number too which is a shame, they made such a cute couple in the film and thought they would be friends.

[Edited 6/19/17 23:27pm]

[Edited 6/19/17 23:28pm]

Yea I don't think it was nice the way she treated him during the movie and after the film. Tupac had thick skin so he probably just brushed it off and laughed about it but still and he is right asking for a AIDs test is insulting and if I was him I would not have taken the test either. I don't see why they had to stop being friends after the movie. Janet was a big diva during this period.

[Edited 6/20/17 11:18am]

damosuzuki said:

edge of seventeen - 3.5/5 does a pretty good job of walking a fairly tricky tightrope. it's clever without tipping into that 'nowhere in the world have there ever existed teenagers this witty & effortless with a quip' realm that annoys me a bit at times, and manages to be kinda sweet while avoiding mawkishness. i liked it quite a bit.

See "Juno".

Ace said:

damosuzuki said:

edge of seventeen - 3.5/5 does a pretty good job of walking a fairly tricky tightrope. it's clever without tipping into that 'nowhere in the world have there ever existed teenagers this witty & effortless with a quip' realm that annoys me a bit at times, and manages to be kinda sweet while avoiding mawkishness. i liked it quite a bit.

See "Juno".

that's exactly what i was thinking of as i typed that sentence.

the incident (2014) 3.5/5 - fairly trippy mexican indie. two groups get trapped in geographical loops, unable to escape out of a stairwell and road. has a definite feeling of a better than average twilight zone episode, and it also has strong echoes of philip k dick (whose 'time out of joint' shows up as the only book one group has to read for 35 years). not necessarily an improvement on its inspirations, but i'd certainly say it's at least as good as most of the culty/mind bending american films of recent years like coherence & the one i love.

[Edited 6/21/17 18:18pm]

It's time for Rate The Last Movie You Watched - Tropical Storm Cindy version!

Let me say first off that we here in Houston, Texas were extremely lucky in that Cindy was inconsequential to us. Our thoughts and prayers go out to those who were affected much more than we were. Stay safe!

Which is what we decided to do last night. We repaired to my mother-in-law's to wait out the storm. And since I foresaw no impact from Tropical Storm Cindy, I purchased two bottles of Mark West Pinot Noir from the local Asian market. After convincing the ladies there was nothing else on TV, we decided to watch a movie.

We...well, I picked "Lucy".

You know, it's been awhile since I've picked a good movie. Surely a sci-fi thriller with the future wife of PurpleJedi is a can't-miss!

Or is it?

"Lucy" starts off promising. Scarlett Johannsen - who I am confident is merely days away, if not hours, from meeting PurpleJedi and falling hopelessy and forever in love with him - has some incredibly scuzzy boyfriend wearing a cowboy hat and a poor imitation of Bono's sunglasses. They're somewhere in Asia. Scuzzy boyfriend wants ScarJo to walk into an office building and give a briefcase to some dude. ScarJo says "What's in the briefcase?" Scuzzy boyfriend says, "Papers, and I'm getting $1,000 to drop off this briefcase, which I will gladly split with you!"

ScarJo is not falling for that banana in that tailpipe. She knows there's something bad in it, and refuses. Not even Scuzzy Boyfriend putting his stupid cowboy hat on her makes her change her mind.

COWBOY HAT INTERLUDE!

It's a well-known fact that all people are enhanced by wearing a cowboy hat, but women are especially enhanced. You could put a cowboy hat on Broomhilda and she would quit looking like a witch and start looking like a red hot barrel racer. Proof? Look at these ScarJo Before-And-After-Cowboy-Hat pictures:





Which ScarJo would YOU leave your wife, kids, job and friends for? Well, neither in my case. But if you are a degenerate, I'm sure that Cowboy Hat ScarJo could get her clutches on you, whereas Plain Head ScarJo probably could not (unless you are PurpleJedi).

For further proof, and to justify the Google Search history I now have that says, "Image Search for Hot Girls In Cowboy Hats", look at this picture:





I'm sure you would agree that even though she's wearing her cowboy hat backwards, it's still the hat that draws your attention to the picture. Correct? Oh, come on! You mean to tell me you didn't even notice the cowboy hat is on backwards? What the Sam Hill were you looking at?!? This was clearly labelled as a COWBOY HAT interlude. I expected you to focus on the hat!

There, that ought to satisfy my boss when she checks my history.

Back to the movie. Scuzzy Boyfriend won't take "No!" for an answer and handcuffs ScarJo to the briefcase. Why he wasn't already handcuffed to this valuable briefcase is a question that is ever answered. Not even when ScarJo is using 99% of her brain (this movie is about brain power).

One thing leads to another - Suzzy Boyfriend is shot and killed in broad daylight, with total impunity. ScarJo is captured by non-English-speaking badass Asian dudes, who have already killed lots of people and kill a few more for grins. ScarJo's stomach is implanted with a bag of blue crystals (four of those bags were in the briefcase. For some reason, the head bad guy thought the briefcase was going to explode, so he wasn't even sure what was in it. Major plot hole and if ScarJo had still been wearing that cowboy hat, I could have forgiven it). Three other dudes get blue bags in their bellies. All are told they are going home, and are given plane tickets. But for some reason ScarJo ends up as a sex slave for some really creepy gang members. One gang member tries to fondle ScarJo (who is chained to a wall) but she is disdainful and rebuffs him. So he kicks her in the stomach. I'm sure you can figure out what THAT does.

Yep - it breaks the bag of blue crystals in her stomach and she becomes Super Woman!

ScarJo obliterates some slimebag that was coming in for a Chained Girl Quickie and escapes, but not before killing all the other gang members. She then proceeds to a hospital where some brain surgery is going on, kills the patient ("You weren't going to be able to save him anyway") and then gets the doctor to take out the blue pouch in her stomach and tell her what's in it.

What's in it is some chemical produced by pregnant women. It helps in the formation of the fetus - in other words, it aids in cell creation and duplication. Why in the world this is a valuable drug on the street is never explained. The closest we get is when ScarJo is first captured. The Asian bad guys bring in some junky who is just about comatose. They give him some blue crystals, and he revives. I guess since he can't stop laughing maniacally, they shoot him. Or maybe those bad Asian guys just like shooting people. They end up shooting pretty much everyone they ever meet.

So now ScarJo knows what's in her and is just beginning to realize that she's gotten a LOT smarter. Oh! I forgot!

Morgan Freeman is in this movie. He's a brain researcher who believes that we only use 10% of our brains but if we could use more of it, we could do some awesome things. Getting Smarter ScarJo finds him in a Google search (I assume that she also Google searched "Hot Girls in Cowboy Hats". I mean, who wouldn't?), reads all 6,000 pages that Morgan Freeman has ever written, finds him, and shows up at his Paris hotel. She explains what she's been given and that she needs more of it to live a little longer. Morgan Freeman immediately accepts that she's now Super Brain Woman and agrees to help.

ScarJo uses her Super Brain Woman memory and x-ray vision to find the three other guys with packets in their bellies. She needs those packets so she convinces the French police to travel the world immediately and apprehend those guys. This is accomplished in a few hours, and now all blue-packet-stomach-having guys are one big happy family, and ScarJo joins them for a reunion in Morgan Freeman's office.

Now all this time, ScarJo's brain function has been increasing. We know this because the director helpfully tells us when her brain power is increasing by plastering "10%", "20%", "50%" etc on the screen in between scenes. However, ScarJo tells Morgan Freeman that when she hits 100% brainpower, she's going to die. Except earlier she told the head French cop while mowing down people in a car chase that "No one ever really dies". This is unexplained. So while we're waiting for ScarJo to hit that magic 100%, we get to watch her do a lot of metaphysical stuff - mainly, disarming bad guys by telepathically making their pistols fly away whenever she wants.

ScarJo had earlier confronted the main Asian bad guy - the one for who the briefcase was delivered, and the one who put the blue stuff in ScarJo's belly and then sold her to be a sex slave. Needless to say, ScarJo is a little teed off at this guy and she hunts him down. She kills a lot of his henchmen and...wait. Isn't "henchmen" a great word?!? You cannot read "henchmen" and think of anyone else but The Batman. Every villian The Batman fought had henchmen. Nowhere else have I ever heard of a gang of assistant bad guys being called henchmen. Not even in the 30+ Parker novels I've read. I hereby declare that "henchmen" is the Word Of The Day, said day being any and every day you read this review.

Fair warning - I tried to stop going down the "henchmen" rabbit hole but was unsuccessful. So here is some more mesmerizing "henchmen" information. (I guess if I'm going to declare a Word Of The Day, I should go all the way.) Skip to the next picture if you've already had your fill of henchmen-related information.

"Henchmen" was orginally a complimentary word. It signified a trusted assistant. Then it was attached to political assistants so it immediately became a bad word. Then The Batman took it over. Mirriam-Webster's site has some cool "henchmen" information and one neat thing is the message board that you're supposed to tell them why you looked up this word. There were 22 comments. Only 1 as Batman-related. This surprised me but then I realized that everyone who reads/watches/emulates The Batman would not have to look this word up. So now I think the one guy who did look it up in a Batman-related search is not the sharpest tool in the Bat Utility Belt.

Interstingly enough, the root of "henchmen" is "hench" and hench means "a man strong, fit, and having well-developed muscles". I strive to be a hench but I do not want to be a henchman! Now, back to our regulary-scheduled programming:





Where was I? Shoot, who cares! This review should change focus to pictures of Hot Girls in Cowboy Hats! All in favor say "AYE!"

Actually, I want to finish this review. So ScarJo sneaks up on the main bad guy while he's sitting in a chair getting tattoed and listening to tunes through some boss headphones, and runs samurai-type knives through his hands, effectively fastening him to said chair. She says something pithy to him but even though she's killed everyone else she's mete since ingesting blue crystals, she lets this guy live.

He re-assembles his gang later in the movie and they have a big shoot-out. For some unexplained reason, ScarJo lets the shoot-out happen, which results in the deaths of lots of good and bad people. In fact, the bad guys overpower the good guys and the head Asian bad guy breaks into the room where ScarJo, Morgan Freeman, and some other pointy-head scientists are barricaded. In an ironic turn-about, ScarJo is sitting in a chair with her back to him - just as she was when she shishkabobbed his hands. Except ScarJo is not getting tattoed and listening to tunes through boss headphones. No, she is travelling through time, and ultimately meets the very first humanoid. You may have heard of her some time back. Guess what her name is?

Lucy! Here is Humaniod Number One, a/k/a Lucy. Also a/k/a/ as The One And Only Female For Whom A Cowboy Hat Would Not Matter:





ScarJo and Lucy touch fingers like in that Man Meets God painting. Then ScarJo begins to turn all black. This is ScarJo reaching 100% brain power. Just as she turns all black, the head Asian bad guy shoots at her. But too bad! It turns out that when you hit 100% brain power, you sponatneously combust! The head Asian bad guy is perplexed, but then has a bigger problem when the head French policeman bursts into the room and blows him away.

Everyone is happy but Morgan Freeman, who asks out loud "What happened to Lucy? Where is she?!?" A phone screen lights up with the words "I Am Everywhere". Just like Fidget Spinners!

Lucy also creates some sort of super UBS stick for Morgan Freeman which supposedly contains all the knowledge Lucy accumulated in the 24 hours in which she had Super Brain Power. But what we NEVER address is the ultimate question - What is God like???

The film never addresses this important question. So for that reason, as well as the other major plot holes/unused super powers listed above, I have to rate "Lucy" as 1 Hot Girl in a Cowboy Hat out of 5 Hot Girls in a Cowboy Hat. Since I've only posted 3 Hot Girls in Cowboy Hats, to complete the rating system, here are 2 more Hot Girls in Cowboy Hats for all of us obsessive compulsive people. You'll probably enjoy them more than this movie!

The Book Of Henry (dont ask why).

F+

night moves - 4/5 radical environmentalists plot to blow up a dam. the first half of this movie is almost a conventional thriller, which is pretty atypical for a kelly reichardt movie. it's a fairly tense, relatively (for her) propulsive nail-biter, until mid-point when it reverts to the kind of meandering indie-drama that you will expect if you've seen her other movies. and like her other films, it ends on an extremely unresolved note. i don't think this quite rises to the level of meek's cut-off, her best film imo, but it's still fascinating & i love spending time in the worlds she creates.

damosuzuki said:

Ace said:

See "Juno".

that's exactly what i was thinking of as i typed that sentence.