I think it came out at the same time as The Expendables and The A-Team so it got third billing in the similar genre game.
And The A-Team was a lot better.
Rurouni Kenshin: The Beginning - I probably should have watched the original first, because this was a pretty tepid and predictable sequel. Lots of swordfighting and gore, but the big plot twist was fairly obvious from quite early on in the film. I’d rather go back and re-watch Kurosawa films instead.
Munich - a star turn from Eric Bana and the rest of the cast in this “Steven Spielberg continues to work through his Jewish angst” film. Does a pretty good job of depicting the increasing moral murkiness of what the characters are doing as they hunt down the planners of the 1972 Munich massacre and become hunted themselves.
Not sure if this counts, but I also watched the animated Hellboy: Sword of Storms. In all the Hellboy movies the interesting part isn’t how they will defeat the Big Bad - usually it involves Hellboy punching them a lot and getting punched a lot - it’s all the little vignettes steeped in actual folklore (Japanese, in this instance) along the way. Plus they’ve got Ron Perlman, Selma Blair and Doug Jones doing the voices, and what’s not cool about that?
Rock the Kasbah (Netflix) - Bill Murry is a shyster manager for B list talent who ends up taking his act on a USO tour in Afghanistan, high jinx ensues and he discovers an Afghan woman who can sing and wants to represent her in the Afghani version of America’s Got Talent.
The beginning was good. Throughout my 20’s I travelled extensively all over the world on a shoestring backpacker budget and one thing I have noticed in Hollywood movies is that few even attempt to portray the utter weirdness of being in a foreign country. Foreign places are just scenery for whatever story the writer wants to tell, few actors portray being in the environment. Lost In Translation is an obvious standout, Bill Murry is good at the understated fish-out-of-water portrayal and Rock The Kasbah was created for just that sort of effect as well.
The Middle was ok, Bruce Willis, Danny McBride and Scott Caan do their thing. Kate Hudson isn’t left to do much but look pretty, but I suspect that is all she can do.
The end was schmaltzy, but I guess ok for the type of movie this was supposed to be.
In all I liked it. It was a fun light-hearted popcorn date night flick. Then I went over to Rotten Tomatoes to see the reviews, 7% on the Tomatometer, and 28% on the Audience score. As Dangerfield himself would say, “Yeesh, tough crowd”.
Just watched this last night, a bit late to the game.
The first act was OK, all premise and character introduction. The scenes between father and son weren’t believable, but they were fun. The second act was exciting and well paced. The best part was the humor and character interactions between the soldiers, and a bit of mystery once you meet the daughter and wonder what’s going on. Unfortunately the third act was complete nonsense. Amusing, but nonsense. We scored ourselves on how well we predicted the action - it wasn’t subtle.
Chris Pratt is extremely likeable, but there’s just so much that can help a mess like this. Still, 2 hours spent and I laughed a few times, so there’s that.
The Empty Man
Lost in the shuffle of horror movies like Bye Bye Man, Slender Man, or even Candyman, The Empty Man was never able to get a strong audience.
Wow, it is NOT your standard silly horror movie. It almost feels like an accident that this movie turned out so well. I can see a studio green-lighting this movie picturing another quick-profit horror movie and coming back later to realize that David Prior(this is his first feature!) delivered a slow moving, methodical, and pretty creepy movie.
I kind of loved it. I have heard that others have found it and it is developing a cult following. It deserves it. The Empty Man is a real movie and a very well made one. Check it out if you are looking for a real surprise.
I’m so glad you brought this one up. I remember when it came out and I planned to see it in the theater IIRC. Read some reviews that were generally good but the synopsis wasn’t appealing. Now I will definitely watch it.
I’ve been meaning to thank you for your contributions to this thread. I’ve watched several of your recommendations and have enjoyed them. I think we may share the same taste in films.
Thanks. Feel free to share any thoughts on any movies you saw from my recommendations. I’d love to hear anyone’s thoughts on movies.
I enjoyed this one, too. A great cast of about to be famous actors.
Thought I might give The Net another look. Fun seeing all that now-antiquated equipment, graphics, etc. Bullock is solid in it, like she was in most efforts.
100% typical Lin-Manuel Miranda. If you’re a fan, you won’t be disappointed–it’s got a lot of “In the Heights”, a good helping of “Hamilton”, and a touch of “Moana” blended together into a Cubo-Floridian hero’s journey. Sprinkle in some “Up”, some “Mean Girls” and a “Finding Nemo” vibe.
A great choice for family movie night, or for jaded middle aged men who need a good musical-inspired bawl at the end of a stressful day while hoping his wife doesn’t notice…(or so I might imagine…no, not me at all). On netflix.
The Other Guys
I don’t know why I think that Will Ferrell is going to have a great comedy somewhere out there, but I keep thinking that since he is a funny guy, he certainly must have a funny movie out. I found this one because it is quite well reviewed according to Rotten Tomatoes and is one of his highest grossing movies. Also, a buddy cop comedy sounds fun.
Did I laugh two or three times watching this movie? Yes, actually.
Did I find myself thinking how lame and dumb this movie is and how mostly unfunny it is? Yes, I really did.
Not enough laughs to warrant a viewing.
The Other Guys is like the episode of The Simpsons where Grimey gets frustrated by Homer being a jammy git.
The Olympics are over, so it’s back to Bad Movies to fill my days till it’s time to start drinking. Watched Under the Silver Lake. 2:19 of senseless mumbo-jumbo, red herrings, non-sequiter with the occonasial naked body thrown in randomly. Too long, too stupid, too… nothing. Except for some interesting music and location spotting, it’s a complete waste of time.
Remake of The Italian Job. Eh, whatever. Silly action/heist flick with predictable stupid preposterous shit, but I wanted to punch Seth Green (well, and everybody else involved with this scene) in the throat when he dropped a Lemon-yellow Ducati 749 on the ground, and then didn’t pick it up and put it on the kick-stand!!! That is beat-down level of contempt for fine machinery, right there.
Badlands
This is the first of only two movies Terrence Malick made before he stopped making movies for 20 years. The only Malick movie I had seen was Thin Red Line, so I thought I’d go back and see what made him so well received in the 1970’s.
It’s actually a really great movie and even more impressive as a debut of a new director. It’s also the earliest appearance of Martin Sheen I’ve ever seen and he is very impressive in the movie. More than the script or plot, the movie features fantastic cinematography, editing, and use of music. A pretty simple story of a guy and a girl who run off and kill a whole bunch of people.
Very well done and I’m glad I saw it.
Days of Heaven is even better (IMHO).
Free Guy Just came out in the theaters over here. It’s what it says on the tin. Ryan Reynolds movie about a NPC in a GTA-like game who finds out he is an NPC. An action-comedy type movie with quite a few nods to shooter tropes.
Ryan Reynolds does his usual schtick which I find amusing and others may find annoying. I’d never seen Jodie Comer before: she does a good job in a role with limited character depth (but what did you expect in this kind of movie), and is very beautiful in her avatar outfit.
I found it a lot of fun, even though it is not particularly memorable. If you don’t like this kind of movies, this won’t draw you over. It is kind of like a more family-friendly Deadpool in a videogame.
Caught most of the remake of Midway. Kinda haphazard and disjointed, but visually exciting. Those in the know say it’s pretty accurate. I got no problem with that.
Here’s what I got problems with: Can’t take Woody fuckin’ Harrelson seriously as Admiral Nimitz. Sorry.
Second, air combat is pretty intense and exciting all on its own. We don’t need scenes of planes skimming off the surface of the water and making miraculous recoveries to take wing again and save the day. Just stupid un-needed Hollywood Bullshit. And flying through narrow canyons while being chased by Zeros that crash into the sides of cliffs. This ain’t Indiana Jones! Just use your fancy CGI and make a straight film.
Third, holy shit! What kind of bombs are they dropping that result in 6 different huge explosions all over hell??? One scene, a divebomber drops ONE bomb and the whole carrier goes up. Yes, I know the carriers were loaded with munitions and fuel, but Jesus, take it easy. Artistic license I guess, but it looked stupid. Same with the airfield bombing earlier in the video ga… I mean, ‘film’.
Check Out Stranger than Fiction
Ferrell is not playing for laughs. It’s about a man who discovers he is doomed character in someone else’s book.
I’ve seen it but didn’t see it as a comedy really.
I watched this last night and agree with all you said, with the qualifier " relative to the majority of horror movies produced in the last 15 years". It still feels, in small ways, like a lot of the stuff that’s being churned out but, what it does well, it does really well.
I really like the lead actor (James Badge Dale); not the typical “impossibly good looking and almost invincible badass”. I mean, he is nice looking and fit, but he seems like a real person you might know.
The “urban legend” premise itself is nothing new but at least this one has some depth.
I appreciate that “jump scares” are kept to a minimum. That is the number one thing that will keep me from recommending / rewatching a film and this one kept me expecting one several times and it didn’t happen. Very tense!
I DID NOT appreciate the scene with the dead dog. I am purposely not spoilering that because it doesn’t affect the plot and anyone who is uncomfortable with that kind of thing would be really upset by this one.
The small. creepy elements were really well done: [spoiler]when the entity is outside the cabin door and each time the girl takes a step back it takes a step forward. Ditto when Lasombra is discovered by the cult and they all move in unison. And finally at the end when the hospital staff all genuflect.
At first the main missing girl irritated me with her bad Howard Wolowitz haircut; but wow was she good in the end scene.
The (minimal) gore, which I don’t usually thing adds much in general, was just oogie enough. The brief glimpse you get of Paul after James shoots him in the head was so much more impactful than if we had to see it close up for 5 seconds.
Finally, the soundtrack was fairly good throughout but really got good in the last scenes.
I would recommend this to any horror fan, but especially anyone who is looking for a film that is a cut above what we’ve gotten used to in the last several years.