The Last Movie You Watched (no spoilers)

[Clayton]

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2: 3/5 stars. The first half was awful. I was thinking it might be MCU's worst output, if not one of the worser movies I've seen in a while.

But the second half picked up, save for a way too long battle scene at the climax. The Kurt Russell being a villain thing wasn't even the most predictable thing that's happened to me today, and Yondu (Michael Rooker) becoming a loving father figure was actually pretty heartwarming. His send off was nice. I bet Stallone is still spending the money he made from his 3 minutes of screen time; bastard.

I gave the first Guardians of the Galaxy 3/5 stars as well, but I liked this one more. The biggest issue I have with them is that the humor (and there's so much of it (that's attempted)) is fucking terrible. I begrudgingly chuckled once. It's like only 8 year olds would find the jokes in these movies to be funny.

The MCU is becoming way too predictable. They're entertaining enough because there's a lot of great actors/actresses in the universe and the writing/dialogue is still very good, but the plots are just terrible. Constant jokes ---> 80s references ---> the world is going to be killed/ended ---> stale, one-dimensional villain ---> explosions, fighting sequences ---> happy ending, no one of note dies.

I'll let you all know what I think of Spider-Man: Homecoming.

The humor of Guardians 2 really ruins repeat views. I think Guardians 2 is better the first time around but you'll really want to skip scenes with repeat views.

My big beef with the Guardians is that they make them too nice. We hear that they're somewhere in between good guys and bad guys but they're pretty clearly good guys. They don't portray Gamora's character as likable or having a dark side which makes her whole character stilted and boring. A good contrast is how interesting Elastigirl is in Incredibles 2. Even Nebula comes off as more relatable.

When they do portray them as dark (rocket and yondu with the arrow come to mind) it comes off as really dark and awkward.

 

[Rex Racer]

Watched Red Sparrow last week, it was OK. It started to drag on so I paused it and had some dinner and a drink. Came back an hour later and finished it up. I think some selective editing to get the movie down to 1:50 or so would have helped. 2 hours and 20 minutes works for some movies, but not this one.

 

[Omar 382]

The humor of Guardians 2 really ruins repeat views. I think Guardians 2 is better the first time around but you'll really want to skip scenes with repeat views.

My big beef with the Guardians is that they make them too nice. We hear that they're somewhere in between good guys and bad guys but they're pretty clearly good guys. They don't portray Gamora's character as likable or having a dark side which makes her whole character stilted and boring. A good contrast is how interesting Elastigirl is in Incredibles 2. Even Nebula comes off as more relatable.

When they do portray them as dark (rocket and yondu with the arrow come to mind) it comes off as really dark and awkward.

Couldn't agree more with the humor part. I thought the first one was bad in its attempts, but this one took it to a whole new fucking level. Like I said, I chuckled maybe once. Like, 8 whole fucking minutes for Groot to find the arrow-head thing? And what's the point of Groot anyway, he's stupid as fuck

Yondu's part in this movie saved it.

 

[Clayton]

Couldn't agree more with the humor part. I thought the first one was bad in its attempts, but this one took it to a whole new fucking level. Like I said, I chuckled maybe once. Like, 8 whole fucking minutes for Groot to find the arrow-head thing? And what's the point of Groot anyway, he's stupid as fuck

Yondu's part in this movie saved it.

Yondu in general is the best part of that movie, imo, because he does balance the good with the evil that is basically the tag line to the Guardians.

The arrow shooting up his old crew is way dark, though, which doesn't match the rest of the movie. It sticks out especially if you watch it multiple times.

 

[Omar 382]

The arrow shooting up his old crew is way dark, though, which doesn't match the rest of the movie, imo.

I was thinking while it was happening, "This movie seems pretty flippant about portraying a mass murder (by a hero, mind you)"

 

[calsnowskier]

I was thinking while it was happening, "This movie seems pretty flippant about portraying a mass murder (by a hero, mind you)"

Meh

They killed Chibs. Fuck ‘em all.

 

[calsnowskier]

Baby Driver

You knew during the opening credits that this was going to be a movie that required multiple views, and that it likely would sustain multiple views. The soundtrack was Tarantino-esque. The stunts were first rate. The camera-work was world class. The cast was super solid.

I can’t really think of anything to complain about for this movie. I will need to watch it again in the future, so it may be able to earn the last bit of rating as time passes. This has “classic” written all over it.

9/10

 

[lilchi721]

Isle of Dogs

 

[Omar 382]

Brothers: 3/5 stars. Between the premise, a HOF actor in Gyllenhaal, and a great actor in Tobey Maguire; this movie could have been great if not amazing. Sadly, Jim Sheridan opted for less character development and more melodrama. If a film is effectively emotional, it's a great drama. But if it's ineffectively emotional, it's a melodrama, and that's what parts of this movie felt like. There was strong enough acting from Gyllenhaal, Maguire, and Portman to make it watchable/somewhat enjoyable, but I keep going back to what this movie could have been.

It did do a good job portraying how fucked up war is, but focused way too much time on Portman/Gyllenhaal back home. I'd have rather seen Maguire come home halfway through the movie. The ending was also a bit flat.

 

[Godstree]

Isle of Dogs

Did you like it? I took kid to see it in Ann Arbor awhile back. Thought it sucked. He liked it, but it was a movie with dogs so......

 

[calsnowskier]

War for the Planet of the Apes

Clearly the best of the series to date. Not that the first 2 weren’t good, they just weren’t very memorable (I believe the Marky Mark movie has been retcon’d out of the series...). This one was a really good war flick.

8/10

 

[Omar 382]

Did you like it? I took kid to see it in Ann Arbor awhile back. Thought it sucked. He liked it, but it was a movie with dogs so......

How old is your 'kid'? I thought Isle of Dogs was supposed to be an animated film for an adult audience. Namely because it was directed by Wes Anderson, had Bryan Cranston and Edward Norton, and was rated PG-13. Also, it got really good reviews FWIW (not saying you can't dislike it or that you're wrong, I'm just somewhat surprised to see you say it 'sucked.') Isle of Dogs

 

[Omar 382]

Baby Driver

You knew during the opening credits that this was going to be a movie that required multiple views, and that it likely would sustain multiple views. The soundtrack was Tarantino-esque. The stunts were first rate. The camera-work was world class. The cast was super solid.

I can’t really think of anything to complain about for this movie. I will need to watch it again in the future, so it may be able to earn the last bit of rating as time passes. This has “classic” written all over it.

9/10

I gave Baby Driver 3.5/5 stars. It was a decent summer blockbuster/popcorn movie, but shit, I would not go anywhere close to "classic" for it. I know that it was really well reviewed and all that, but is that really the direction its legacy is headed?

 

[Godstree]

How old is your 'kid'? I thought Isle of Dogs was supposed to be an animated film for an adult audience. Namely because it was directed by Wes Anderson, had Bryan Cranston and Edward Norton, and was rated PG-13. Also, it got really good reviews FWIW (not saying you can't dislike it or that you're wrong, I'm just somewhat surprised to see you say it 'sucked.') Isle of Dogs

My son is 8 and the reason he liked it was because it had dogs in it. He likes dog movies. I watched all 3 "pup star" movies with him, they are about as dumb as could be but he liked them.

I thought it would have been way better for the reasons you mentioned. But it was way dumb with a dumb plot. Nothing new or exciting at all in the movie. I was hoping to be amused the way Fantastic Fox was amusing but was not. The stop animation was the only redeeming quality.

 

[calsnowskier]

I gave Baby Driver 3.5/5 stars. It was a decent summer blockbuster/popcorn movie, but shit, I would not go anywhere close to "classic" for it. I know that it was really well reviewed and all that, but is that really the direction its legacy is headed?

The use of music was amazing. Like I said, almost Tarantino-esque. The opening sequence was one of the best I remember ever seeing.

It had hints of Reservoir Dogs, Heat and John Wick, just to name a few. And while it may not be as good as those, it certainly stands strong in that company. And the stunts and car chase scenes may be second to none.

Like I said, I need to see it again in about a year or so to see if it has the legs and rewatchability to REALLY stand up to that tag, but I think it has the potential to be a very memorable flick.

 

[Omar 382]

A Scanner Darkly: 4/5 stars. Speaking of films that need rewatching- this is the first film I've ever seen, that when it concluded, I knew I would need to watch a second time to truly appreciate it. Some of the shots from the movie were amazing, almost Terry Gilliam-esque. (I unfortunately can't find them online when I looked earlier today, but I'm referring specifically, for example, to when the doctors were explaining to Keanu Reeves the two different hemispheres of the brain, and it was a shot from behind Reeves with each doctor on each side of him).

Honestly, one of the best sci-fi movies I've seen. The idea to animate the characters obviously referenced our view of people in real life who struggle with drug addiction; how our biases or preconceptions invariably color everything we see.

Reeves gave the best performance. I know people bag on him, but I think he's a pretty good actor. Watch this one if you haven't seen it yet.

 

[Mondo Jay]

A Quiet Place. Interesting premise that kept me on the edge of my seat until the credits rolled.

Enjoyed it. 7/10

 

[Omar 382]

Solaris (1972): 3/5 stars. Russian film that's considered among the greatest sci-fi movies ever made. I certainly wouldn't go that far, and you do certainly have to invest yourself in the movie (2 hour 47 minute runtime), but if you like sci-fi, it's worth it to see. Very similar to 2001: A Space Odyssey (2/5 stars) in its length and attempts to cover existential themes.

 

[Taddy Mason]

Solaris (1972): 3/5 stars. Russian film that's considered among the greatest sci-fi movies ever made. I certainly wouldn't go that far, and you do certainly have to invest yourself in the movie (2 hour 47 minute runtime), but if you like sci-fi, it's worth it to see. Very similar to 2001: A Space Odyssey (2/5 stars) in its length and attempts to cover existential themes.

You're thinking of Stalker

 

[Omar 382]

You're thinking of Stalker

"The film is often cited as one of the greatest science fiction films in the history of cinema.[8][9]"

Solaris (1972 film) - Wikipedia

Is Stalker better in your opinion?