LEGEND Rate the Last Film You Saw

[Faceplant]

Straight Outta Compton - 9/10

I was a huge NWA fan in high school, so this movie really did it for me. Loved everything about it. Even if you are not a fan of rap, or NWA, this movie would be worth seeing. The young actors (including Ice Cubes son O'Shea Jr) did an amazing job and I even learned a few things that I didn't know about the band and their story.. This is a movie I will end up watching 10+ times. It was that good.

The Hateful Eight - 7.5/10

I love me some Tarantino movies and was not disappointed in this one. Not his best, but well done considering it all took place in one room for the most part. I liked it.

The Martian - 7/10

Too long, and was eerily similar at some points to the character Damon played in Interstellar. Worth watching for sure, but kinda plodding. Think Castaway on Mars. I liked Castaway better.

Creed - 7.5/10

Really looked forward to this one. I thought Michael B Jordan did an OK job, but Stallone was the star here. While Jordan is a likable guy, I just didn't believe him as an athlete in a violent sport. Too nice of a guy. Good story thought.

The Revenant - 7/10

Good movie, but a little longer than it needed to be. I found myself waiting for the redemption to come, but the suffering just went on and on. Not enough payoff at the end for me. Good, but not great movie. Bear scene was ridiculous. RIDICULOUS.

The Big Short - 7/10

Good movie that will piss you off at all the shit eating mortgage brokers of the last decade. I knew a few of them. Dirt balls. My brother in law was one, and I swear they had a character that represented him perfectly in that movie. Douche nozzle.

 

[kurtfaulk]

Maybe I was just in a bad mood, but the new Mad Max movie was perhaps the all time dumbest movie I've ever seen.

It wasn't really a movie. More like alot of action sequences cobbled together. And the cobbling wasn't that good.

.

 

[12intheBox]

Eddie the Eagle

- fantastic flick. Took the whole family and we all enjoyed the hell out of it.

 

[Dieter the Brock]

Spotlight
8/10
Actually a good movie - handled well. Thought it was like All the Presidents Men part 2 but heck I'll take it

 

[Mojo Ram]

i agree. the thing gets a 10 from me. the scene where they take a blood sample from everyone in the room is still one of the best scenes in any movie i've seen when it comes to pure tense cinema with a massive shot of anticipation.

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Fuck yeah it was.
This was also a pretty special time in the age of special effects(early 80's).
CGI was just about to step in and bring with it a new age...but practical special effects were at the absolute best ever, and it all started with Douglas Trumball and some other geniuses who created 2001:A Space Odyssey about 12 years earlier. Effects that still hold up today which is unbelievable.

John Carpenter handed this young unknown named Rob Bottin the creature effects for 1982's The Thing, and it's pretty much the benchmark for practical creature effects in film history. Bottin has since gone on to movie effects fame. Stan Winston was another pioneer in practical effects.

CGI was a natural progression in film and when used properly and sparingly(at times) it's beautiful to watch but give me the old school guys for my money. Everything was created and shot with a camera. These guys pushed the envelope, solved problems and created techniques....whereas today's guys use software and a mousepad. Granted, CGI is time consuming hard work, but i have so much more respect for the old guard.

Movies like Blade Runner, The Thing, Star Wars, Close Encounters, Alien, Aliens, The Terminator, The Howling, American Werewolf in London, Star Trek:The Motion Picture all used ZERO computer generated effects yet they are amazing to watch. I could go on and on.

Even movies like Apocalypse Now, using real helicopters and fighters dropping flame bombs on location, landing REAL people in the middle of a firefight and shit....the sheer amount of coordination it required to shoot all that stuff is remarkable. Today you simply green screen your actors and put a jungle behind them, toss in 100 animated helos and do whatever the fuck you want. Meh....

Fun fact: Star Trek II The Wrath of Kahn(1982) was the first film to use computer generated graphics/images. The one we all remember was of course the first Jurassic Park(1993) and probably T2:Judgement Day(1991)

Interestingly, there has been a bit of a trend lately by some of the modern directors to resist using CGI out of pure convenience and go for a more practical approach when using special effects and locations. Chris Nolan's Interstellar comes to mind, same with Neil Blomkamp's Elysium, Joseph Kosinski's Oblivion and others. I love it.

When done right i still say that using models, stop-motion photography and actually building things looks more believable than simply using CGI and no one can deny that using real locations is the more natural, realistic choice.

Geez, sorry for the wall of text but i'm pretty passionate about this stuff.

 

[ozarkram]

Backtrack. Small dark movie. Well acted. If you like films that take you places you don't believe they are going you will like this. Many twists an turns. Doesn't end up where you think it will. Borrows some from other films but all and all an interesting ride. Again very dark.

 

[CGI_Ram]

Bridge of Spies

7/10

I liked it. My wife thought it was a little slow, particularly early.

 

[Tron]

Spotlight 9/10

Good movie and can see why it won the Oscars. Very compelling

 

[IowaRam]

Surprised me that Mark Rylance won the Oscar for best supporting actor for that movie

 

[Akrasian]

CGI was just about to step in and bring with it a new age...but practical special effects were at the absolute best ever, and it all started with Douglas Trumball and some other geniuses who created 2001:A Space Odyssey about 12 years earlier. Effects that still hold up today which is unbelievable.

My uncle (then - he and my aunt got divorced long ago) Con Pedersen did the computer effects - primitive as they were - for 2001. The travelling through the monolith scene was all him.

He hated the work, though - Kubrick was hard to work for, and hated living in England for a year (nothing personal, guys) since he is a SoCal guy, who went to UCLA. He ended up mainly doing special effects for commercials after that, so he could work normal hours, and go home to his very nice house each night. So he's a footnote in movie history now.

 

[fearsomefour]

Surprised me that Mark Rylance won the Oscar for best supporting actor for that movie

I agree.
That picture pretty much sums up what he did.
Sly deserved it.

 

[PA Ram]

Surprised me that Mark Rylance won the Oscar for best supporting actor for that movie

I am not an actor so maybe I just don't "get it" but I thought that was one of the most passive--do nothing really, performances I've ever seen. I felt like almost any actor could have done the same thing. I don't even understand why he was nominated. Sometimes I think they just give an award to someone they feel is deserving for past work or because they just like a film or don't want another film to get an award but I thought pretty much any of the actors in the category should have won over that one--and I absolutely wanted Stallone to get it. And I wasn't the biggest "Creed" fan.

 

[HX76]

London has fallen.

Ridiculous idea that a London would fall, especially with me here, and be saved by a jock.

Fuming.

0/10 and I've not even seen it.

 

[bluecoconuts]

London has fallen.

Ridiculous idea that a London would fall, especially with me here, and be saved by a jock.

Fuming.

0/10 and I've not even seen it.

Lousy Brits, of course you need a Scott who got famous for playing an Irishman who's pretending to be an American to save your city.

 

[Mackeyser]

Zootopia: 9/10

Fantastic. FUN. Laugh out loud moments. Good family fun with more sophisticated humor. John Lasseter's legacy as director and producer (he was executive producer on this) only grows.

Not quite as deep as pure Pixar offerings like Toy Story, Wall-E, and Up, but the Pixar folks folded into Disney Animation have done well looking at larger issues in this film.

I will definitely own this film on Blu-Ray when it comes out.

 

[kurtfaulk]

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10 Cloverfield lane - 6/10.

Ok movie. But i feel like i got ripped off when we left the theatre. $50 for both of us is hard to swallow. I recommend waiting for it to hit your TV screens.

SPOILER ALERT so don't read on.

What i didn't like was that 90% of the movie was located in a bunker with 3 people. If i had known that i wouldn't have watched it because it's difficult to keep interest levels up. Then the ending didn't pay off the long slog we had to endure beforehand. And it seemed like it was just tacked on to the rest of the movie so they could use Cloverfield in the title.

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[PA Ram]

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10 Cloverfield lane - 6/10.

Ok movie. But i feel like i got ripped off when we left the theatre. $50 for both of us is hard to swallow. I recommend waiting for it to hit your TV screens.

SPOILER ALERT so don't read on.

What i didn't like was that 90% of the movie was located in a bunker with 3 people. If i had known that i wouldn't have watched it because it's difficult to keep interest levels up. Then the ending didn't pay off the long slog we had to endure beforehand. And it seemed like it was just tacked on to the rest of the movie so they could use Cloverfield in the title.

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I have to disagree on this one.

I actually loved the bunker scenes and thought they were some of the most tense scenes I've seen in a film for several years. The acting was fantastic. I actually wish the ending would have been played more low key but I accepted it within the universe of the film.

Still--some people will love it and others won't. I enjoyed it.

9/10

 

[CGI_Ram]

Creed 7/10

I enjoyed it. The story was mostly predictable, but it kept me entertained.

Stallone was pretty good in this one, IMO.

 

[Angry Ram]

Couple I have seen lately.

Everest- 6/10. It's based on a true story where almost everyone dies on a Mt. Everest expedition. It's kinda hard to tell the climbers apart and can get kinda boring. IDK if this movie is supposed to be entertaining, though.

Inside Out- 6/10. Decent movie. Predictable, standard Disney/Pixar movie.

 

[fearsomefour]

The Witch....4.5/5

I really enjoyed this movie. I usually don't like horror flicks. I am not sure this is really a "horror" flick. It reminded me in style and pacing of the older style scary movies....a lot of tension and a very, very gloomy, doomed sort of feel to it.
Set in the 1600's. The old English can be tough to understand at times, but, I liked the story. It is either just a straight retelling of several old American/Puritan tales or a story about temptation....the world changes but the nature of temptation does not.
All of the actors were fantastic. If you watch a movie like this then go back and watch movies from the 70s and 80s, kids generally were terrible actors back then. I don't know where they find these kids now but they are fantastic. The whole cast is terrific.
Anyway, I would not bring young kids to this as there are some scenes, while not blood and guts horror movie fare, are a bit disturbing. I have recommended it to several people I know...about split. They either really like it or don't care for it at all.
Worth the shot to me....I loved it.