The Last Movie You Watched (no spoilers)

[Omar 382]

Gone Baby Gone: 4/5 stars. I thought that the film was meandering, until the end, where I realized that it had direction the entire time. I really enjoyed Casey Affleck, Titus Welliver, and Ed Harris' performances. I'm not sure that I agree with Affleck's decision wholeheartedly, but I figure I would probably do the same things in his shoes and hate myself for it.

 

[Omar 382]

Saw Lucy again tonight.

Still think it is a VERY underrated flick.

One of my most hated films of all time. 1.5/5 stars. But to each their own

 

[PatsFan2003]

Saw Lucy again tonight.

Still think it is a VERY underrated flick.

Me too. The whole premise is kind of silly actually but I really like it for some reason.. The French Police officer who accompanies Lucy is hilarious.

 

[Clayton]

Logan.

An amazing, ridiculous movie. B+

 

[Omar 382]

Alien: 2.5/5 stars. I'll take John Carpenter's "The Thing" over Alien any day of the week. I liked how it took its time to set everything up (much like The Thing), and I won't deny the overall mood and setting was creepy for the first half of the film. But by the time it was discovered that

Spoiler

Ash was a robot, which I totally saw coming (well, at least I saw that he wasn't a human, or at least normal),

the film largely dragged to me. The alien just wasn't scary enough for me, and it had no motive. I know, I know, giant evil aliens don't need motives, but I still found myself bored during the entire second half.

Without any real standout performances either (Weaver and the guy who played Parker were decent), it really made this film hard to engage with. Would not recommend (unless I watch Aliens, which I will, and really like it, in which case I will probably recommend for continuity purposes).

 

[chf]

Alien: 2.5/5 stars. I'll take John Carpenter's "The Thing" over Alien any day of the week. I liked how it took its time to set everything up (much like The Thing), and I won't deny the overall mood and setting was creepy for the first half of the film. But by the time it was discovered that

Spoiler

Ash was a robot, which I totally saw coming (well, at least I saw that he wasn't a human, or at least normal),

the film largely dragged to me. The alien just wasn't scary enough for me, and it had no motive. I know, I know, giant evil aliens don't need motives, but I still found myself bored during the entire second half.

Without any real standout performances either (Weaver and the guy who played Parker were decent), it really made this film hard to engage with. Would not recommend (unless I watch Aliens, which I will, and really like it, in which case I will probably recommend for continuity purposes).

What was 'The Thing's motivation in 'The Thing?'

 

[Omar 382]

What was 'The Thing's motivation in 'The Thing?'

Haven't seen it in a while, but to assimilate into other people's bodies and become them. FWIW, I'm not even sure "Alien" wanted to kill all those people for sure. It seemed like he only killed them when they fucked with him

 

[chf]

Haven't seen it in a while, but to assimilate into other people's bodies and become them. FWIW, I'm not even sure "Alien" wanted to kill all those people for sure. It seemed like he only killed them when they fucked with him

Exact same thing. It wants to survive and propagate its species.

Trivia:

The real life species that inspired the Alien movies | C H I C K T E C H

 

[Omar 382]

Exact same thing. It wants to survive and propagate its species.

Trivia:

The real life species that inspired the Alien movies | C H I C K T E C H

That's nice and all, but it still can't take away from the overall creepiness I found inherent in The Thing that I found lacking in Alien. Did you like Aliens?

 

[chf]

That's nice and all, but it still can't take away from the overall creepiness I found inherent in The Thing that I found lacking in Alien. Did you like Aliens?

I'm not a big horror guy, but yeah, I found Aliens to be plenty creepy. The Thing had more of a campy feel to it. I enjoyed The Thing, I thought it did a nice job of giving the audience breaks from ratcheting up the tension.

I guess I can understand someone liking it more than Aliens, I just don't get the reason you gave at all though. In Carpenter's movie, the alien was just as unknowable.

I find in general you dock movies hugely for some really weird reasons.

 

[PatsFan2003]

I'm not a big horror guy, but yeah, I found Aliens to be plenty creepy. The Thing had more of a campy feel to it. I enjoyed The Thing, I thought it did a nice job of giving the audience breaks from ratcheting up the tension.

I guess I can understand someone liking it more than Aliens, I just don't get the reason you gave at all though. In Carpenter's movie, the alien was just as unknowable.

I find in general you dock movies hugely for some really weird reasons.

I think the Thing is just great and tops the list of these three for me. The suspense of not knowing who is real and who is "The Thing" drives the whole movie really well even up to the end. Certain scenes where they are so close to trapping "The Thing" but let it just get away are great. And you know which ones I'm talking about.

Good special and sound effects which send chills through your spine. Kurt Russell's best film LOL.

Aliens is my next favorite. Non-stop kickass action. Good dialog. A great cast of characters throughout.

Alien is a great movie but it doesn't age as well as the other ones. You get the idea pretty quickly how it all turns out.

 

[Omar 382]

I'm not a big horror guy, but yeah, I found Aliens to be plenty creepy. The Thing had more of a campy feel to it. I enjoyed The Thing, I thought it did a nice job of giving the audience breaks from ratcheting up the tension.

I guess I can understand someone liking it more than Aliens, I just don't get the reason you gave at all though. In Carpenter's movie, the alien was just as unknowable.

I find in general you dock movies hugely for some really weird reasons.

I think the Thing is just great and tops the list of these three for me. The suspense of not knowing who is real and who is "The Thing" drives the whole movie really well even up to the end. Certain scenes where they are so close to trapping "The Thing" but let it just get away are great. And you know which ones I'm talking about.

Good special and sound effects which send chills through your spine. Kurt Russell's best film LOL.

Aliens is my next favorite. Non-stop kickass action. Good dialog. A great cast of characters throughout.

Alien is a great movie but it doesn't age as well as the other ones. You get the idea pretty quickly how it all turns out.

I agree with Pat's Fan. Not knowing who the Thing was, and wondering if that one black dude was the Thing at the end, along with the soundtrack and Kurt Russell's general kick-ass attitude made The Thing superior to Alien in my book.

Also, note that The Thing isn't even close to being one of my favorite films of all time. I gave it 3.5/5 stars, and had it around 90 on my top 100 list. I just was not as big a fan of Alien as others, and thus regard The Thing, who it shares some qualities with, as better.

Besides, the alien having no motive was an aside for me, I even mentioned that evil, scary aliens don't generally have motives.

 

[chf]

Besides, the alien having no motive was an aside for me, I even mentioned that evil, scary aliens don't generally have motives.

Right, so it should have had nothing to do with why you downgraded Aliens.

 

[Omar 382]

Right, so it should have had nothing to do with why you downgraded Aliens.

It really didn't, it was just a minor component of my disdain for the film

 

[Omar 382]

The Fly (1986): 4/5 stars. One of the saddest horror stories you will ever find, and Jeff Goldblum's portrayal of Brundle is one of the best examples of a tragic hero you will find in film. I thought that Brundle could have been portrayed a little more sympathetically (after all, he did want to do that crazy science experiment with Ronnie), but I understand that his condition made him sick to the point that he just wanted to be normal again. The end where he places the shotgun to his head to tell Ronnie to kill him was borderline devastating.

IMO, the only better example of a tragic hero (and better death) would be Spiderman 2's Doc Ock

 

[chf]

It really didn't, it was just a minor component of my disdain for the film

Right, you're weird, it's love or disdain. Which is interesting, I guess. Different anyway.

 

[Omar 382]

Right, you're weird, it's love or disdain. Which is interesting, I guess. Different anyway.

"Disdain" wasn't the right word. I didn't hate the film. I gave it 2.5/5 stars after all. I guess I used disdain in relation to the critical acclaim that it has received. If "Exodus: Gods and Kings" got 2.5/5 stars from me, I probably wouldn't mention the word disdain; which, like I said, I probably shouldn't have used anyway to describe "Alien".

 

[chf]

"Disdain" wasn't the right word. I didn't hate the film. I gave it 2.5/5 stars after all. I guess I used disdain in relation to the critical acclaim that it has received. If "Exodus: Gods and Kings" got 2.5/5 stars from me, I probably wouldn't mention the word disdain; which, like I said, I probably shouldn't have used anyway to describe "Alien".

But why do you care if it gets acclaim? So what?

I thought 'There Will Be Blood' was waaay overhyped. But that's just my opinion. I can recognize why other people loved it. It had excellent cinematography, the sound editing and score was fan-fucking-tastic. Day Lewis was incredible in it. If people want to discuss why I thought it was meh, I'll do that, but I dont' make it my life mission to change people's minds about it.

 

[Omar 382]

But why do you care if it gets acclaim? So what?

I thought 'There Will Be Blood' was waaay overhyped. But that's just my opinion. I can recognize why other people loved it. It had excellent cinematography, the sound editing and score was fan-fucking-tastic. Day Lewis was incredible in it. If people want to discuss why I thought it was meh, I'll do that, but I dont' make it my life mission to change people's minds about it.

I didn't realize I was making it my "life's mission" to change people's mind about Alien. This is a thread dedicated to discussing the most recent films we saw; I saw Alien; thought it was ok; and voiced my opinion. I really enjoy the back-and-forth that results from different opinions on a film, but at the end of the day, of course I don't give a fuck if you or largely anyone liked or disliked Alien.

And I didn't give the movie 2.5/5 stars in comparison to it's acclaim. My star ratings for movies/TV seasons are my best attempt at objectivity in this world. I used the word "disdain" to say- "hey, everyone loves Alien. I thought it was just ok."

 

[chf]

I used the word "disdain" to say- "hey, everyone loves Alien. I thought it was just ok."

Fair enough. Disdain kinda' means more than that, if you'd started with the other, I wouldn't have said boo.

And my bad for a bit of my own hyperbole with 'life's mission.'

And hey, I enjoy the back and forth, at least you provide reasons for your opinions.