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

[ironfist]

About as far from Exeelent as you can get, I watched Night of the Lepus last night. Hey the Year of the Rabbit is coming up right? Anyway, it was as terrible as you can expect from such a ridiculous premise (attack of giant killer bunnies). However, it was one of those so-bad-it's-good type of movies. If you enjoy that sort of thing, it should probably be on your list. Most of the scenes are pretty dull, but the rabbit rampage scenes are hilarious. All that and Deforrest Kelly too!

[Gregg]

We rented RED last night.....I loved it.

I believe it was brought up at the Old House. I am like B-Fly and rarely go to a theater anymore. This makes me a bit behind the times of seeing some of the movies that are discussed in here.

RED was funny, exciting, filled with great characters, just a great time. My wife and daughter loved it too.

[JudeBaldo]

The King's Speech better win Best Picture and Colin Firth better win Best Actor. I really enjoyed this film. This wasn't an epic like Lawrence of Arabia or anything but it was just well done and acted. Though its weakest moments -- the editing -- were The Social Network's strongest points. But The Social Network does not have the beauty or splendidly shot scenes that The King's Speech has.

[Teenwolf]

Diner - 1982 flick about a group of friends in their mid-20's trying to figure out what to do with their lives in 1959. Some great performances here from Kevin Bacon and Mickey Rourke in particular. Not a whole lot happens in this, but it was a fun watch.

High Tension - French horror flick from 2003 that's gained some cult status. Pretty standard horror, guy chasing hot young women around... but there's a twist. The last 20 minutes flip a switch, and it's awesome. If you like horror, this one is worth checking out.

Conviction - Whatever you do, don't watch any trailers for this. They give away the entire movie, point for point. It's one of those incredible true stories that end up feeling somewhat unnecessary when you see the final product. Performances from Hilary Swank and Sam Rockwell are good, as you would expect. It just didn't feel very genuine to me. I'd rather see a documentary on this story than this movie. You could do worse than watching this with the family/wife though.

Due Date - Buddy roadtrip movie with Robert Downey Jr. and Zach Galifianakis. The stupidity of Galifianakis' character is a bit over the top at some points, but overall it was fairly enjoyable.

Friday The 13th - Not quite a remake, more of a re-imagining of the original. Actually, the first movie is summed up within the first 10 minutes, then takes a completely different path, so this is like a re-imagining of an early sequel. In this, Jason Voorhees is much more of a survivalist character (think Rambo), using traps and tripwires to get at his victims. Kind of interesting. Still not a good movie, but an interesting take on the Jason character, for sure. Again, for horror movie fans only. Does anybody here like horror? Scott?

[Trader Mac]

I rented and saw the recent True Grit last night and really liked it. Jeff Bridges did a great job with his character. I never saw the original so I can't compare with the first one.

[ironfist]

High Tension - French horror flick from 2003 that's gained some cult status. Pretty standard horror, guy chasing hot young women around... but there's a twist. The last 20 minutes flip a switch, and it's awesome. If you like horror, this one is worth checking out.

Friday The 13th - Not quite a remake, more of a re-imagining of the original. Actually, the first movie is summed up within the first 10 minutes, then takes a completely different path, so this is like a re-imagining of an early sequel. In this, Jason Voorhees is much more of a survivalist character (think Rambo), using traps and tripwires to get at his victims. Kind of interesting. Still not a good movie, but an interesting take on the Jason character, for sure. Again, for horror movie fans only. Does anybody here like horror? Scott?

I agree with you on High Tension - pretty brutal flick though. But I hated hated hated the remade Friday the 13th. It was a pretty straightforward slasher movie - nothing new at all. Frankly, I don't get why they felt the need to remake this one at all if this is what they were going to do with it.

[Teenwolf]

I agree with you on High Tension - pretty brutal flick though. But I hated hated hated the remade Friday the 13th. It was a pretty straightforward slasher movie - nothing new at all. Frankly, I don't get why they felt the need to remake this one at all if this is what they were going to do with it.

It's another in the string of Platinum Dunes horror remakes. They've done 7 horror flicks since 2003, including 5 remakes. If you ever wonder why Hollywood generally sucks so badly, look at this company's wiki page. The highest rated film on rotten tomatoes is a 21% for The Amityville Horror, as rated by critics. Even fans hate these movies though, as the highest user rating for any film is 36% for The Texas Chainsaw Massacre.

Despite all of this, these films have an average budget just a shade under $20 Million, and gross an average of just over $90 Million.

That said, I didn't think either Friday The 13th or Nightmare On Elm Street were really bad. They added very minor touches, but mostly played it safe. It's just unfortunate that they missed out on opportunities to really do something different.

[ironfist]

It's another in the string of Platinum Dunes horror remakes. They've done 7 horror flicks since 2003, including 5 remakes. If you ever wonder why Hollywood generally sucks so badly, look at this company's wiki page. The highest rated film on rotten tomatoes is a 21% for The Amityville Horror, as rated by critics. Even fans hate these movies though, as the highest user rating for any film is 36% for The Texas Chainsaw Massacre.

Despite all of this, these films have an average budget just a shade under $20 Million, and gross an average of just over $90 Million.

That said, I didn't think either Friday The 13th or Nightmare On Elm Street were really bad. They added very minor touches, but mostly played it safe. It's just unfortunate that they missed out on opportunities to really do something different.

I haven't seen the new Nightmare, but the Texas Chainsaw remake wasn't too bad, in my opinion. That may just be because I haven't seen the original (I know I know). I can't take the rotten tomato scores too seriously for these kinds of movies, since horror movies don't usually get good grades from critics, but that list of movies is pretty horrible.

[revo]

the best part about having kids is that most of these animated moves they want to watch are awesome, and I'd never see them otherwise.

Just saw Despicable Me and it's right up there with some of the better movies I've seen recently.

Some others:
Takers -- from what I remember of it, decent enough action, but I hate movies where they treat the bad guys as masterminds and the good guys as buffoons.

Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps -- Gordon Gekko as a kind-hearted soul? Puh-leeeze. What's next, Hannibal Lecter as a philanthropist? The scene between Gekko and Bud Fox (Charlie Sheen making a cameo) was eye rollingly bad. The plot was ripped right out of the Lehman Brothers disaster. Watchable, but not anything like the original.

The Other Guys -- horribly unfunny. It's mildly amusing that I expect more out of Mark Wahlberg. Eva Mendes' copious rack is the best part of the flick.

[Teenwolf]

the best part about having kids is that most of these animated moves they want to watch are awesome, and I'd never see them otherwise.

Agreed. The Pixar films of the past 4-5 years are some of the best films around, and Dreamworks seems to be catching up.

My girl adores Despicable Me.

[Fresno Bob]

anyone seen this yet, looks weirdly awesome!

[hacko]

The Other Guys -- horribly unfunny. It's mildly amusing that I expect more out of Mark Wahlberg. Eva Mendes' copious rack is the best part of the flick.[/QUOTE]

You are right a really bad movie - But it was so bad it started to make me laugh. WHile i will never watch it again I did find myself laughing at the movie not with it

[Friarfan]

High Tension - French horror flick from 2003 that's gained some cult status. Pretty standard horror, guy chasing hot young women around... but there's a twist. The last 20 minutes flip a switch, and it's awesome. If you like horror, this one is worth checking out.

Friday The 13th - Not quite a remake, more of a re-imagining of the original. Actually, the first movie is summed up within the first 10 minutes, then takes a completely different path, so this is like a re-imagining of an early sequel. In this, Jason Voorhees is much more of a survivalist character (think Rambo), using traps and tripwires to get at his victims. Kind of interesting. Still not a good movie, but an interesting take on the Jason character, for sure. Again, for horror movie fans only. Does anybody here like horror? Scott?

I'm pretty sure I wrote up High Tension in here a while back. One of my favorite horror movies to come out in the past 2 decades or so (along with The Descent). I've been meaning to go back and watch it again and see if the "twist" still holds up.

The trend of "re-imagining" horror movies the last few years has worn really, really thin (Stay far, far away from Last House on the Left - just a friggin slap in the face to a classic). Still, I've seen all 19 Saw films so I will probably see this soon. I actually do want to see the new Nightmare on Elm Street because I think the whole backstory it goes in to is interesting (was he really a pedophile or was he mistaken with someone else?). Nonetheless, the entire original series was carried on the charisma that Robert Englund brought to Freddy, and, while I think Jackie Earle Haley is intriguing, I can't see being nothing but disappointed when compared to the original.

I haven't been able to see as many movies lately (funny how getting a life will do that to you) but I've got an ever-growing Netflix horror section.

[Trautdiggity]

the best part about having kids is that most of these animated moves they want to watch are awesome, and I'd never see them otherwise.

Just saw Despicable Me and it's right up there with some of the better movies I've seen recently.

Some others:
Takers -- from what I remember of it, decent enough action, but I hate movies where they treat the bad guys as masterminds and the good guys as buffoons.

Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps -- Gordon Gekko as a kind-hearted soul? Puh-leeeze. What's next, Hannibal Lecter as a philanthropist? The scene between Gekko and Bud Fox (Charlie Sheen making a cameo) was eye rollingly bad. The plot was ripped right out of the Lehman Brothers disaster. Watchable, but not anything like the original.

The Other Guys -- horribly unfunny. It's mildly amusing that I expect more out of Mark Wahlberg. Eva Mendes' copious rack is the best part of the flick.

Totally agreed on Despicable Me: Loved it. As for Wall St. I'd say borderline unwatchable. Seriously can someone explain to me why Shia LeBeouf is getting parts in movies? I find him terrible.

[Teenwolf]

I'm pretty sure I wrote up High Tension in here a while back. One of my favorite horror movies to come out in the past 2 decades or so (along with The Descent). I've been meaning to go back and watch it again and see if the "twist" still holds up.

The trend of "re-imagining" horror movies the last few years has worn really, really thin (Stay far, far away from Last House on the Left - just a friggin slap in the face to a classic). Still, I've seen all 19 Saw films so I will probably see this soon. I actually do want to see the new Nightmare on Elm Street because I think the whole backstory it goes in to is interesting (was he really a pedophile or was he mistaken with someone else?). Nonetheless, the entire original series was carried on the charisma that Robert Englund brought to Freddy, and, while I think Jackie Earle Haley is intriguing, I can't see being nothing but disappointed when compared to the original.

I haven't been able to see as many movies lately (funny how getting a life will do that to you) but I've got an ever-growing Netflix horror section.

Whenever you get around to watching it, give a review of the Nightmare On Elm Street remake. I really liked Jackie Earle Haley in the role, but I felt that the entire backstory about the pedophilia was mishandled. I won't ruin the ending, I just felt like they had a chance to do something really interesting with his character and they completely blew it.