It's Back: Exceelent Movies I've Seen Lately

[johnnya24]

Went to see The Hobbit myself yesterday and came away unimpressed. It's still pretty to look at but it drags quite a bit and there's less interesting characters than in the LotR trilogy.

I thought it was poor. I was rooting for the bad guys. If Disney made Tolkien, this is what you would get.

Edit: if George Lucas decided to make Tolkien, this is what you would get.

[swampdragon]

Huh, I thought it was hilarious. I even own it on DVD.

Burn After Reading was even worse then The Men who Stare at Goats and both of those were garbage

I liked almost all of the others very much
- there is some great stuff there

[johnnya24]

Judge Dredd - thought this was really good actually. No nonsense 80's style action movie.

[Gregg]

The timing and subject matter of Jack Reacher could not be worse considering the recent events of the CT shootings.

That said I have always been able to seperate my movies from reality.

I really enjoyed Jack Reacher. I thought Tom Cruise did an excellent job with the character. It certainly left the door open to more. I hope they make them.

[Frank]

Went to see[B] but it drags quite a bit and there's less interesting characters than in the LotR trilogy.

LOL.....There are drug therapies for ADD.......It's obvious you haven't read the Hobbit....or LOTR

Joking............. about the ADD

[overkill94]

Nope, haven't read any of them. Obviously something was going on throughout the movie, I just didn't find it very interesting.

[Frank]

Nope, haven't read any of them. Obviously something was going on throughout the movie, I just didn't find it very interesting.

Well....That's why the Coen Bros make movies and why they make movies like Judge Dredd.....There is something out there for for everybody

[overkill94]

Well....That's why the Coen Bros make movies and why they make movies like Judge Dredd.....There is something out there for for everybody

Dude, chill out, why do you care if I liked the movie or not? Like I said, loved the original LotR trilogy and this one did nothing for me. I like all different types of movies (Almost Famous, Adaptation, Pulp Fiction, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, and The Big Lebowski are my favorites) so assuming I have poor taste is pretty ridiculous.

[johnnya24]

Flight - very well executed movie. You could see the ending a mile off, but it didn't matter. Denzel was terrific as usual ... as were the rest of the cast (plus some nice cameos).

[Erik]

Burn After Reading was even worse then The Men who Stare at Goats and both of those were garbage

I liked almost all of the others very much
- there is some great stuff there

The Men Who Stare at Goats was a classic example of funny trailer, dreadful movie.

[swampdragon]

The Men Who Stare at Goats was a classic example of funny trailer, dreadful movie.

I watched There Will be Blood last night for the second time. Very good but not great like it was in the theater.

I did see Lincoln yesterday and was really impressed - great acting - great story

It was a Daniel Day Lewis kind of day in our house.

My college aged daughter saw Les Miz yesterday and was quite underwhelmed - the singing was nothing special at best - except for Aaron Tveit and many of the ensemble singers - The name actors are actors not singers. The idea of zooming in on the faces to show oversinging and overacting really annoyed her. She has a technical theater minor in college and is quite the snob towards mediocrity in musicals

[overkill94]

Watched a few movies in the last week or so:

Lawless - Pretty good Prohibition-era flick about a trio of brothers distilling moonshine who run into a snag when new lawmen are brought in who want to shut them down. Thomas Hardy is terrifying as the eldest brother who keeps the operation running while Shia LeBouef does a pretty good job as the youngest brother who finally grows a pair when the business is teetering on the edge. The acting overall is pretty good and it's nice and violent although the characters aren't fleshed out as well as they could've been.

Premium Rush - Super simple plot - a bike messenger is tasked with delivering a parcel that a bad guy wants instead. Joseph Gordon-Levitt delivers as usual and Michael Shannon is convincing as the crooked cop, but most of the other performances leave a lot to be desired. The action is pretty much non-stop (it's basically a real-time movie except for the flashbacks) so it's worthwhile as a popcorn flick.

Total Recall - Having only seen parts of the original, I found the remake to be pretty entertaining although nothing special. Colin Farrell plays the main character whose seemingly menial existence morphs into that of a revolutionary. Kate Beckinsale is hot and menacing as the wife/nemesis and Jessica Biel gives her normal "meh" performance as his true love interest. Most of the reviews I read compared it unfavorably to the original (hence the 30% Rotten Tomatoes rating) but as a standalone film I found it to be pretty decent.

[rhd]

I ran across an interview someone did of David Roya, the actor who played the heavy (Bernard Posner) in the first Billy Jack movie. I thought it was a good insight into the trials of a young actor trying to make it in Hollywood. Roya candidly portrays himself as being young and very stupid at the time. I found it hilarious, despite being sad and somewhat disturbing. Roya appears to be a well-adjusted and successful school teacher and parent now. The transcript is rather long, but here's the link:

http://popcultureaddict.com/interviews/davidroya-htm/

[heyelander]

careful throwing around that hilarious tag... we are trying to set a high bar around here.

[rhd]

careful throwing around that hilarious tag... we are trying to set a high bar around here.

LOL. We can have a debate on whether it was hilarious or not