Discuss and Rate the Last Movie You Saw v.14

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Dragonlordxxxxx

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Rate and Discuss the Last Movie You Saw

Don't just give a title and a rating. Say something about it, doesn't have to be long, just a reason why it was good, bad or in between.

Guideline for the 10-star rating system:

10 - Excellent
9 - Great
8 - Good
7 - Pretty Good
6 - Decent
5 - Average/Fair/Meh
4 - Poor
3 - Bad
2 - Very Bad
1 - Abysmal


Note: Some of your reviews might be copied to the official thread of the subject movie.

Link to previous thread:
http://forums.sherdog.com/posts/123213509/
 
October 25, 2016

Dragonlord's Review of DOCTOR STRANGE
(No Spoilers)

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Remember watching Christopher Nolan's Inception and being blown away by some of the dream world sequence but was a little disappointed that they didn't go all out. Well, Doctor Strange ran with that concept and amplified it a hundredfold. The result is Marvel Studios' craziest, eye-gasmic, psychedlic feature film yet.

The movie starts off with a small sample of the visual spectacle to come later with an exciting battle between the Ancient One (Tilda Swinton) and Kaecilius (Mads Mikkelsen). After that we're introduced to the brilliant neurosurgeon Stephen Strange (Benedict Cumberbatch) who loses his way after a misfortune. His quest to restore what he lost leads Stephen to Kathmandu where he is thrust into the world of the mystical realms and the invisible battle that rages in between.

The group of thespians assembled for this film is simply remarkable. You have Cumberbatch, Swinton, Mikkelsen, Chiwetel Ejiofor and Michael Stuhlbarg. This is a cast you’d expect from an Oscar contender drama than a superhero movie.

Aside from possibly portraying Reed Richards, Doctor Strange is the comic book character Cumberbatch was born to play. Everything about him – charm, acting, eloquence, sophistication – makes him the perfect choice for the Master of the Mystic Arts. I predict Strange will be a blast to watch when he finally interacts with the rest of the superhero characters from the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

Swinton was fantastic as the Ancient One and there’s also a surprising warmth to her performance. Mikkelsen was just adequate as the main villain and the role could have been spiced up more. Ejiofor as Karl Mordo was solid. Rachel McAdams as the love interest was thankfully not intrusive to the story and sparingly used.

The story is the weakest element of the movie. It’s not terrible but at the same time it doesn’t feel fresh. Doctor Strange’s origin story even evokes a lot of similarities with the first Iron Man movie. To make it a bit fresher, I would have preferred they cut out all of Stephen Strange's scenes prior to the accident and start with him arriving at Kathmandu.

Magic is finally being introduced in the Marvel Cinematic Universe and it looks amazing. The highlight of the movie no doubt is the trippy special effects and out-of-this-world visuals. The action is fun and frenetic with lots of innovative choreography involving the topsy-turvy landscape.

But the disappointing part of their magic usage is there seems to be no long-range energy attacks and their offensive weapons mainly composed of translucent stalactites and mystical whipping towels.

We also get to briefly visit the Dark Dimension which was so trippy and very reminiscent of Steve Ditko’s artwork from the ‘60s and ‘70s. Similar to the sentient magic carpet in Disney’s Aladdin, Strange’s Cloak of Levitation is such a fun “character” in its own way.

Overall, Doctor Strange is an entertaining mystical adventure filled with an impressive cast, fun action sequences and strikingly impressive visuals but the run-of-the-mill story and villains hobble it a bit. Stick around for two post-credits scenes.

Rating: 7/10

Seeing Dormammu and how powerful he was being portrayed was pretty cool. I hope that was not his final form though.

The Eye of Agamotto is definitely the Time Stone. Seeing it in action was very cool but it was also an uber Deus Ex Machina device.

For an object that's very dangerous and powerful such as the Eye of Agamotto or any of the books and relics, security at the temple sucks.

The time loop solution was amusing but full of holes. Dormammu could have not killed Strange and just tortured him, taken the Eye from him and any other ways to get out of the time loop predicament.

Stan Lee’s cameo was meh. He is seen reading Aldous Huxley’s The Doors of Perception inside a bus.
 
The Good Neighbor

Not a very good film really but for some reason, maybe I had too much booze in my blood from the weekend, it really got me in the feels. I felt really gutted at the end of this one. Poor old bastard. 7/10
 
Nikita. This is one of Luc Besson's early films, it still holds up pretty well although I've never really liked the ending. To me it doesn't add up. Still, it's a decent film. There's some good action scenes. The guy from Betty Blue stars in it. It has the first appearance of Leon and Parillaud looks pretty hot once they clean her up. 6/10
 
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Contact, 7.5 Good movie, didnt realise how similar Helen Hunt and Jodie Foster looked until I realised it wasn't Helen Hunt.
Magnificent 7 -6 Fun movie, had some pretty cheesy moments and a few lazy points in the plot but still okay for what it was. I had high hopes for this, kind of disapointing.
Jack Reacher Never Go Back - 6 Fun movie, if you liked the first one you'll dig this one too.
 
The American:8/10 I dug it,the understated detached assasin is way different than anything else ive seen clooney do.Its a weird movie,very restrained in alot of ways,but a good trip. The guy in the end decided he wanted to be a human being. Locales,this old italian town..and the two beautiful women (the sniper,and the prostitute)
Anyway i dug it,its a weird film,and probably not for everyone. And that sniper rifle dude built is pure badassery.
 
The seven five. Documentary about a couple of corrupt cops in Brooklyn during the 80's. Really entertaining with some very colorful characters. Best crime move I have seen in a while 8/10
 
Fury - Liked it.

Great movie aside from the rape scene. Curious what other people thought about this part, where they go into that woman's house, find the daughter and have breakfast. The whole scene was tense as you know what's coming, and Pitt's character says "If you don't take that girl into the bedroom, I will".

I hated that it was romanticized. Soldiers forcing their way into a home and staying there and these two women know there's nothing they can do to fight back. What are the odds that soldiers come into your home and you're going to be swooned by one in such a short time. The mother stands there horrified by what's taking place. It was disgusting.

I get the point of that scene in a sense, with the outcome of the girl and the effect it had on Norman, but I can't relate to or connect with what took place in any way. I can't rationalize it. Am I supposed to be repulsed? Was that the intent?

Reminds me of Beasts of No Nation, where Elbis' character sexually abuses the young boys of his group. Here's this strong leader, admirable man (depending on perspective) but we're all supposed to look away when the rape takes place, because what? Because men away from home are lonely and have desires? It was really repulsive to try to make that scene romantic. Long after that scene ended, it's all I could think of for the next little while.

I also didn't like Pitt's drawn out, dramatic death and speech. So many people died in the movie in an instant... literally hundreds. We watched hundreds of people die with no story, no face, no meaning or connection, even allies of Pitt that we were familiar with. Just instantly gone, but Pitt gets this dramatic end where he gets to make peace and say his dying words.

One of the things I like about Stephen King's books that he gets a lot of criticism for is that major characters die too abruptly without some epic finale. I like that. Obviously I'm not an expert on death but I don't think there is a dying speech that everyone gets to have, or that moment of peace. I think it's just death. I could be wrong, I just didn't like the contrast for the star.

Aside from those two things, the movie was fantastic, but the rape scene really brings it down overall. Maybe there's a message or something I missed in there.
 
Free State of Jones - 8/10

Another good one with McConaughey.
 
Under The Shadow - 6.5/10

Pretty interesting ghost story set in 1980's Iran during The War Of The Cities. The set up/first half was great, but once the horror elements are introduced it gets a little meh, still good but just loses some of it's steam. Definitely still worth watching though for fans of horror movies.

Before I Wake - 5/10

Cool premise but the movie itself was cliched and a little bland.
 
Ip Man 3 - 5.5/10

It was like like Ip man meets Westside story.
 
13 hours (6/10)

An action movie account of the 2012 siege of two US diplomatic buildings in Benghazi, from the perspective of the private security contractors hired to protect one of the buildings. Having only a vague recollection of the incident, I found the movie interesting and somewhat informative. As a Michael Bay film, dont expect much more than a cursory explanation of the issues surrounding the incident however, as the focus is on the action and the build-up to the big Call of Duty style siege at the end. If it wasnt for the subject matter that interested me, I wouldve given a lower rating, as its pretty much a cliched action movie with lots of ammo.
 
Rewatched Unforgiven again...400 million out of 10
 
Hammerhead (1968)

James Bond clone movie from the 60s that I checked out because it had two old actors that I like, Peter Vaughan and Judy Geeson.

None of the Bond clones from the 60s and 70s are particularly good, but this one was pointless and it was a chore to get to the end.

3.5 / 10.
 
Moment by Moment (1978)

Universally reviled as one of the worst movies ever made. April-August romance story between John Travolta and Lily Tomlin, with their lack of chemistry well documented. Lack of material in the script is also well documented. It has been grouped in with The Last Airbender and Battlefield Earth...

While it was quite boring, it wasn't all that bad. John Travolta actually did quite a good job with the lacklustre material he was given, not overplaying things. You're not going to get much in the way of fireworks when you have an age-mismatched romance between a confirmed lesbian and...John Travolta...

But it did have a slight amount of 1970s charm.

3.5/10.
 
Fury - Liked it.

Great movie aside from the rape scene. Curious what other people thought about this part, where they go into that woman's house, find the daughter and have breakfast. The whole scene was tense as you know what's coming, and Pitt's character says "If you don't take that girl into the bedroom, I will".

I hated that it was romanticized. Soldiers forcing their way into a home and staying there and these two women know there's nothing they can do to fight back. What are the odds that soldiers come into your home and you're going to be swooned by one in such a short time. The mother stands there horrified by what's taking place. It was disgusting.

I get the point of that scene in a sense, with the outcome of the girl and the effect it had on Norman, but I can't relate to or connect with what took place in any way. I can't rationalize it. Am I supposed to be repulsed? Was that the intent?

Reminds me of Beasts of No Nation, where Elbis' character sexually abuses the young boys of his group. Here's this strong leader, admirable man (depending on perspective) but we're all supposed to look away when the rape takes place, because what? Because men away from home are lonely and have desires? It was really repulsive to try to make that scene romantic. Long after that scene ended, it's all I could think of for the next little while.

I also didn't like Pitt's drawn out, dramatic death and speech. So many people died in the movie in an instant... literally hundreds. We watched hundreds of people die with no story, no face, no meaning or connection, even allies of Pitt that we were familiar with. Just instantly gone, but Pitt gets this dramatic end where he gets to make peace and say his dying words.

One of the things I like about Stephen King's books that he gets a lot of criticism for is that major characters die too abruptly without some epic finale. I like that. Obviously I'm not an expert on death but I don't think there is a dying speech that everyone gets to have, or that moment of peace. I think it's just death. I could be wrong, I just didn't like the contrast for the star.

Aside from those two things, the movie was fantastic, but the rape scene really brings it down overall. Maybe there's a message or something I missed in there.

Yeah the rape scene was ridiculous. Not sure what they were going for with that

Ending was retarded as well. Bunch of SS losing about 10,000 men to a disabled tank? You can tell they didn't use real Germans in that scene because Pitt and his crew would've been ruined with the quickness

Otherwise I thought the film was okay
 
Yeah the rape scene was ridiculous. Not sure what they were going for with that

Ending was retarded as well. Bunch of SS losing about 10,000 men to a disabled tank? You can tell they didn't use real Germans in that scene because Pitt and his crew would've been ruined with the quickness

Otherwise I thought the film was okay

I thought the rape scene was one of the most memorable and thought-provoking scenes I have seen in recent years.

I actually found it somewhat brilliant. You had four people in an apartment, and the only two who knew it was a rape were the two not participating in it. It required some very subtle acting from all involved and said quite a bit about shifting moral lines in times of war.

Brad Pitt's character just wanted a couple hours of normalcy and decency before returning to the trenches, and even that couldn't be achieved without becoming twisted and muddied.
 
Doctor Strange - 6.5

Very solid acting, probably the best aspect of the movie along with the visuals.

I loved the first 40 minutes and then progressively lost interest as the story developed and they started doing magic and "fighting".
Watched it in 3D and I'm not sure if that helped or made it worse. Also I'm sure it deserves more than the 6.5 I'm giving it, I just didn't care for it. Not my cup of tea.
 
I Am Wrath. 2/10

It was late and I just didn't give a fuck. An outrageous display of donkery from John Travolta. Leave the aging badass movies to Liam Neeson. This movie almost ruined me if not for the brief glimpse of Rebecca De Mornay. She can still get it.

MV5BOWVmNDlmYzAtZmY2Ny00M2E3LWE4ODEtMjkwNzJlNTU4NjYwXkEyXkFqcGdeQXVyNTEwNDY2MjU@._V1_UY1200_CR90,0,630,1200_AL_.jpg


 
I Am Wrath. 2/10

It was late and I just didn't give a fuck. An outrageous display of donkery from John Travolta. Leave the aging badass movies to Liam Neeson. This movie almost ruined me if not for the brief glimpse of Rebecca De Mornay. She can still get it.

MV5BOWVmNDlmYzAtZmY2Ny00M2E3LWE4ODEtMjkwNzJlNTU4NjYwXkEyXkFqcGdeQXVyNTEwNDY2MjU@._V1_UY1200_CR90,0,630,1200_AL_.jpg




That just looks terrible.
 
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