What movies did you recently watch?

Deceptive Practices: The Mysteries and Mentors of Ricky Jay (2012) - 4/5 - Mind = blown. Ricky Jay takes magic to new heights.

 

The Green Mile - 5/5

 

STARTING OVER AGAIN: 9/10

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Honestly funny, reality-based, and it is not your typical Pinoy movies of girl ends up with the boy. Kudos!

 

12 Years a Slave - 4/5



Even though I've given "12 Years a Slave" 4 out of 5, I expected more. I kept hearing about this great movie, read all those positive reviews and to be honest, had liked the movie even before I saw it. Yesterday, I got to see it and I wasn't impressed so much.

When you look at the storyline, you think: "Oh, a freeman that becomes a slave. This is new," then you watch the movie and realise that it's just another film about slavery. You get to see slaves work in the worst conditions possible, get beaten and mistreated... alright, I've seen that. You get to see horrible slavers and other disgusting people... alright, I've seen that. Of course, you get to see some understanding, white men and women trying to help out... alright, I've seen that. I can't get rid of the thought that 12YaS's just playing it safe.

There are a few other, minor things I'm not a fan of, but I don't wanna sound like I didn't enjoy what I saw (possibly failing at that?).

It must be incredibly hard to put 12 years into 2 hours and McQueen did a fine job. Biographies and stories based on a true story are difficult to make anyways. I just wish it was more about the "freeman" than about anyone else.

SPOILERS DOWN BELOW!!!

And the whole conversation about the "universal truth", between Michael Fassbender and Brad Pitt, wasn't my thing either. "Oh, I'm not sure about carrying your stupid, little letter that I could easily hide away (ask Christopher Walken). Too risky, I don't know, that really scares me. However, I'm completely alright with telling one of the most infamous slavers in the country that slavery is wrong and one day he's gonna burn in hell for it. Right in the fucking eyes."

 

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The Armstrong Lie (2013) (Documentary) - 5/5 - Busts open the scandal surrounding Lance Armstrong doping case. Pretty insane what he did.

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Only Lovers Left Alive (2013) - 3/5 - Can't quite figure out how i feel about it yet. i mean it was a mood piece for sure but i wish more stuff had happened in the film. i like these off beat and realistic vampire films... Let the Right one In, Thirst are both some of my favorite films. this had similar things to offer but it always pulled back during those moments.. like the blood drinking scenes. i guess wanted something with a bit more punch.

direction, set piece wise it was great though. the dialogs felt a bit clunky in places but tilda/tom pulled it off well.

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Nebraska - 3/5 - I liked it but I didn't love it. The pacing could've been a bit faster. Towards the end I found myself thinking why isn't this ending! All those shots of the town and skies could've been minimized at least. They served little to no purpose.

I loved the casting. Will Forte was really good and so was the woman playing his mom. Some of her lines had me cracking up good. I don't think Bruce Dern's performance was all that tbh... he mostly acted like "an old man". Also, some of the black and white visuals were stunning to look at.

Overall the story didn't quite hit me hard like it was aiming for. I was hoping for more heart to heart moments between Woody and David. Every time I thought a moment was coming it was cut short for some random shot of the town or something.

 

The Giant Mechanical Man - 2/5

blehhhhhhhh. this was way too "quirky indie," it almost felt like whoever sat down to write the script purposefully set out to write a parody of indie movies and incorporate as many indie tropes as they could. every character that was not a protagonist was a ridiculous over-the-top asshole. although the cinematographer, Doug Emmett, did a great job. it was pretty to look at, if nothing else.

Antichrist - 3/5

oh my god. this movie is horrifying. it's directed by Lars Von Trier, and is extremely dark and unnerving. genital mutilation and weird supernatural...things. and a talking fox. and it's very artsy. you might lose your appetite. I don't actually know what score I'd really give it out of 5.

 

Just watched "Non-Stop" last night. 10/10

 

The Monuments Men - 4/10

 

Silence of the Lambs 8/10

 

Pompeii (2014) – Saw it with school. I didn't expect much, and I didn't get much. This movie looks good, but that's about it. Don't see it unless... well, there's no real reason to see this film whatsoever. But it served its purpose well – We had the first lesson, then we went to watch the film. We came back for the sixth lesson and we didn't even have the seventh that we were supposed to have. 4.5/10

 

^lol

Cloud Atlas 9/10 though my understanding of the meaning is fairly vague (though I do get the main point) as I have only had the chance for one sitting, I though it was really brilliant. Beautifully done and so refreshing. And of course Tom Hanks can do no wrong. At first it is a bit weird seeing him in several roles but you eventually lose him in the characters. It could've been dangerous doing something like that and end up like the fucking Klumps or something. But it's Tom Hanks so my fears were clearly irrational.

Lord of Salem 2/10 I really wanted to like this one but it was really cheesy and cliche. That's all that needs to be said there.

28 Days Later (rewatch) 8/10 Probably my favorite zombie movie. Although I was mildly disappointed by Eccleston's lack of wit and time travel ability.

Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas /10

 

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300: Rise of An Empire - 7/10

Stunning, inspiring visuals. The cast does a fine job, but I'll be damned if I said I didn't miss the complete and utter dominance that was Gerard Butler's portrayal as Leonidas. Oh, and Eva Green completely stole the show for me.

 

Anchorman 2 (2013) - 2/5 - Big big disappointment. It started off with some big laughs but started to fizzle out the more it went on on. All the cameos seemed forced, none of them added anything to the film. The overplotting took away from the comedy too.



Grand Piano (2013) - 1/5 - Ridiculous premise, ridiculous film.

 

The Lego Movie - 4.5/5 - Stupid yet smart, animated but alive, hilarious but touching

 

The Perks of Being a Wallflower 4/10 Huge disappointment. The book was amazing but the movie fills in on details in a super sloppy fashion and moves at an awful, rushed pace. The book isn't even that long, just fucking follow it. Also Emma Watson's accent pokes through sometimes.

 

Need for Speed - 6/10 - Ok film. Better than I expected, especially for a video game adaptation.

 

Frozen 7.4/10

 

Spoilers:

Gravity 6/10 What a grossly overrated movie this was. I was so ready to just be blown away and was pretty disappointed. Sandra Bullock did a pretty good job but George Clooney's part was awful. I'm rather glad he'll be rotting in the depths space, it's where his character belongs. The only saving grace was a few of the visuals were pretty amazing.

 

I kind of feel the same way, though not a strongly as you do. I personally love Clooney's character. Buy yes, the movie is overrated. One of the reasons I may feel this way is because I watched it on my laptop. Had I seen it in IMAX 3D, I would probably appreciate it a lot more. I originally gave this movie a 10/10, I guess because I just wanted to feel the hype others had felt.

Final Rating: 7.5/10

 

Haven't seen the film yet, but I'm assuming the opinion amongst viewers are both divided and dependent on how the film was experienced, as was the case with The Blair Witch Project, and Cloverfield.