Locked Rate and Discuss the Last Movie You Saw v.15

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Assassin Nation - I just realized that the whole concept of this movie was the entire 20th season of south park. Kind of pisses me off. An accurate way to show how people would react if everyone's lies got unveiled all at once. It's absolutely exaggerated, and people wouldn't go on the killing sprees like this, but it does display how the whole world would overreact and be unable to trust anyone. As much as all of that was good, the movie in general, and especially the beginning wasn't put together too well. It was a weird edit with diatribes of voice over that eventually just end up preaching. The movie preached a lot, and it was distracting until it became annoying. I don't know if I'd see it again but whatever. 5.5/10

The Sisters Brothers - A memorable relationship between John C. Riley and Joaquin Phoenix, including Jake Gyllenhaal's character, he was fantastic. This film wasn't every "we're on the run" or "we're on hunt" western you've ever seen. Theres more to it than that. It has all the common western tropes, but the decisions made are very realistic which include grim ends and surprisingly happy ones as well. A lot of westerns have the environment to carry the stories where the characters are just a part of this world and have to adapt(most recently: Hostiles), and other westerns are about heroes who change their environment to suit better for them (True Grit, Butch Cassidy). This was more of the latter. The Sisters Brother are in a constant struggle over who's in control of their future, all the while trying to forge their own future behind the people who are controlling them's back. All of the outcomes in this movie were never planned, which I loved, because most expeditions in life are never planned, and you're usually going down a different road until you find a new one and move onto that. Really it was a fun/sad movie that western lovers should check out. Also, the trailer plays this to be some sort of hybrid western and comedy, but it's not a comedy what-so-ever. 8/10

 
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Watching a few horror/thrillers that I've never seen to gear up for Halloween.

10 Cloverfield Lane - 6/10
A woman decides to leave her boyfriend and run away to find a new life ends up waking up locked in a bunker. Her captor tells her he's saved her, humanity is dead and that was some kind of attack on the world and that the outside world is now toxic. Is he crazy? Is he telling the truth? John Goodman stars the captor and he gives a great performance. He's the best kind of villain as he doesn't know that he's the villain. Meanwhile, the lovely Mary Elizabeth Winstead plays her role well although I did get a bit of a Mary Sue vibe from her where he knew how to do everything and come up with brilliant ideas on the spot. The good thing is that they set up many, many plot points by simple references. One throw away line about her wanting to be a fashion designer leads to a moment in the film. I praise this kind of storytelling and there are tons of moments like this. It's a lost art of storytelling in movies these days.

I was surprised at how serious the movie was for at least an hour and 20 minutes. Hardly no music, no annoying modern movie troupes, just an acting and suspense driven movie. Until the end...

I didn't hate the ending but I thought they missed a brilliant opportunity to end the movie at "Come on..." I would have bumped the score to 7/10 and it would have been a classic. Instead, it goes on for another 10-15 minutes and just feels overly long and not very interesting.

Alice, Sweet Alice - 5/10
The movie is about Alice. A troubled young girl who is acting out, hates her sister (a young Brooke Shields) , aunt and life in general. There is a tragedy followed by a series of stabbings and everyone assumes it's Alice. It's a case of who-done-it that's fairly interesting. The best part of the movie is that it pre-dates the original Halloween and has a similar vibe. The killer wears a creepy translucent mask and there is quite a bit of blood, religious symbolism and deeper themes going on. Ultimately though, I wasn't happy with the pay off. Average flick but certainly not bad but I do praise it for being influential to the coming slasher genre. Also this...

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12 Monkeys - 9/10

Really cool sci fi movie. Had heard it mentioned for years and finally decided to watch it. Willis and Pitt were great and the whole film just had this manic feel and pace that kept my attention throughout the 2 hour length. The relationship that developed between Cole and Dr Railly got me in the feels at the end.
 
A Simple Favor 7.5/10
It's decently funny and always stays entertaining, but I had difficulty suspending my disbelief for a lot of the big plot points.
 
White Boy Rick (2018) - 7/10

Felt a little rushed along, like it was 2 hour and 45 minute epic but it was condensed for some reason. I still really liked it though, great cast, interesting characters, and a good enough story.
 
Black Panther (2018)

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Despite some minor, unapologetic racism I did enjoy this film. It was well acted by a very strong cast.

8/10 - "B"
 
Wonder Woman


This was...pretty darn good, actually. These superhero flicks aren't as difficult to get right as DC would have you believe. All you need is a simple story about a big evil that the hero has a conviction to stop, and fill in the rest with a personal journey of self discovery, mixed with some mild humor, a touch of romance, and just the right amount of darkness to balance it out, and you just hit those beats consistently while building on the main conflict, and then tie it all off at the end with a big showdown and satisfying resolution. You get a good cast and director to bring it all together, and bada bing, bada boom, enjoyable movie. This flick stuck to those basic principles, and look at that, it worked. Easily the best DC movie of the post TDK era.

Not much more to say really. It isn't anything you haven't seen before. It's just a really solid superhero movie. The kind that Marvel routinely churns out effortlessly. DC needs to study this flick's blueprint, and apply it to every project they do. If there is a "secret formula" to these movies that DC just can't figure out for some reason, well, this movie figured it out. Keep it simple, stupid.

Now, if I had any complaints, it would be the length(my god the length of these movies). Some CGI looked laughably bad. There are a few sparse moments of CGI where it simply didn't look finished. Like they just rushed some character models in action that looked so cartoonish and not touched up, and didn't think the audience would notice. Also, while Gal Gadot is great as Wonder Woman the action hero, her dramatic chops need some work. There are a couple of really cringey scenes. Let's just say that emoting sadness is a bit above her pay grade. Small nitpick though, as she is really good outside of those sad emotional scenes.

All in all, pretty good. DC gets on the scoreboard.

8.5/10

I enjoyed Wonder Woman as well. My one big complaint is that it borrowed a lot from Captain America: The First Avenger (which was a superior film that did it better).

  • An almost blindly loyal super hero that wields a shield.
  • A military love interest.
  • A band of eccentric military guys that follow the hero into battle without hesitation.
  • The Germans are the enemies and a super villain bent on world domination is among their ranks.

Go back and watch Captain America again if you're not sure what I mean. They basically stole the plot.
 
I enjoyed Wonder Woman as well. My one big complaint is that it borrowed a lot from Captain America: The First Avenger (which was a superior film that did it better).

  • An almost blindly loyal super hero that wields a shield.
  • A military love interest.
  • A band of eccentric military guys that follow the hero into battle without hesitation.
  • The Germans are the enemies and a super villain bent on world domination is among their ranks.

Go back and watch Captain America again if you're not sure what I mean. They basically stole the plot.

I noticed, but I'm pretty sure damn near every Superhero fought some form of super Nazi in their comic book history, and Wonder Woman is a bit of a Cap ripoff anyways, in design. Both characters were created during WW2 around the same time, with a pretty big emphasis on American symbolism. Comparisons were bound to happen. It wasn't a deal breaker for me. I actually noticed the "Thor" elements more.

Whatever though. These comic flicks are bound to tread familiar ground every so often.
 
True, but this was a very similar plot.

It's no more similar than countless other flicks, involving American war heroes during WW2, in terms of it's fundamental plot points. "The First Avenger" wasn't exactly original in it's structure.

I also I didn't particularly care for the first Cap movie, so I'm not as bothered by some liberties being taken here and there, as I might otherwise be if I really liked Captain America:TFA.
 
It's no more similar than countless other flicks, involving American war heroes during WW2, in terms of it's fundamental plot points. "The First Avenger" wasn't exactly original in it's structure.

I also I didn't particularly care for the first Cap movie, so I'm not as bothered by some liberties being taken here and there, as I might otherwise be if I really liked Captain America:TFA.
Name another film that resembles The First Avenger or Wonder Woman.
 
Name another film that resembles The First Avenger or Wonder Woman.

In what way? War veteran leading troops into battle against nazis, who has a love interest? That's pretty much all you laid out, and there are countless flicks like that. I'm not going to bother naming a bunch that have those basic fundamental elements. Movies about war heroes fighting Nazis didn't begin with Captain America. There is also a whole sub-genre of B-movies about heroes fighting super Nazis hell bent on world domination.

It's not exactly an original concept.

I mean, look at one of your points:

"A band of eccentric military guys that follow the hero into battle without hesitation."

You're telling me that's a Captain America original trademark? No other movie did that before Captain America? C'mon son.
 
In what way? War veteran leading troops into battle against nazis, who has a love interest? That's pretty much all you laid out, and there are countless flicks like that. I'm not going to bother naming a bunch that have those basic fundamental elements. Movies about war heroes fighting Nazis didn't begin with Captain America. There is also a whole sub-genre of B-movies about heroes fighting super Nazis hell bent on world domination.

It's not exactly an original concept.

I mean, look at one of your points:

"A band of eccentric military guys that follow the hero into battle without hesitation."

You're telling me that's a Captain America original trademark? No other movie did that before Captain America? C'mon son.

Naah. I laid out more than that. The similarities are pretty obvious. Name another film that parallels those two that closely...or don't...

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Django Unchained - 8.5/10

I watched this last night for the first time and I have to say I loved it. I had never gotten around to watching it because for the most part I’m very hot and cold with Tarantino’s movies. I love Pulp Fiction and liked Kill Bill Vol 1 and Reservoir Dogs but was a bit more like warm to Kill Bill Vol 2, didn’t like Inglorious Bastards very much, and flat out disliked Death Proof. But this was great, might be my second favourite Tarantino movie after Pulp Fiction.

What I found particularly interesting was to see Christopher Waltz go from being a detestable piece of shit in Bastards to having a heart of gold in this film (notwithstanding being a cold blooded killer as needed).

I think next weekend I’ll try to watch Hateful 8. Have heard some mixed reviews so we’ll see.
 
The Greatest Showman - 7/10

I cant believe how much I enjoyed this. I liked the music, characters etc. Solid performances from the leads. Similar to LaLa Land, I enjoyed the hell out of this.

Rampage - 6/10

Big dumb action movie, with absolutely dumb characters and fun looking set pieces. A generic summer blockbuster. You'll enjoy it if you dont think.

The Thing (2011) - 4/10

The Thing is one of the best fils Ive ever seen personally, I watched it way later on, just loved everything about the, the subtely and nuance, a time where limitations bred creativity. The film is so damn good, I need to rewatch it but I was completely captivated from start to finish. The Thing 2011 is absolutely garbage in comparison, it lacks everthing the first did well. Good thing the main character is so good looking otherwise I wouldve stopped watching this abomination.
 
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Jigsaw - Started really nice, but they butchered everything in the end. No pun intended.

4/10.
 
Night School (2018)

Normal Kevin Hart/Tiffany Haddish schtick. Didn’t have a lot of laugh out loud moments. Overall a very meh movie.

One thing I did really like though is that addresses the fact that everyone doesn’t learn the same. Having learning disabilities is a thing.

The other thing I liked is that it addressed the fact that you might fail a test or class multiple times, but don’t give up. Stay in the pocket and trade shots with this thing called life and you might win one or two.

5.5-6/10
 
The Predator (2018)

As a big fan of the entire Predator franchise (yes even the shitty Antarctica pyramid one) this was not the Predator movie I wanted. That being said it was still better than expected given the fact that I went in with low expectations. Leave your brain in the car and this movie was actually pretty enjoyable.

7/10
 
Monsters and Men -

This movie reminded me a lot of A Place Beyond The Pines. It centers around 3 main characters and switches back and forth between them, only it's different in there aren't any major time jumps. It begins with a shooting from an officer using excessive force onto a black male. These main characters are going to become effected by it directly and indirectly, but they have to choose a side. From the outside it's an easy choice, but these people have to face the hard truths and sacrifices it takes to make these decisions. Some extremely sad, others grim, and another uplifting. This movie is well acted, well, REALLY well acted, and centers around a topic everyone in the country holds a strong opinion on. It feels like a shoe-in for an oscar nom, and I wouldn't be surprised if it left with a few. 8.5/10

The Old Man and The Gun -

A happy-go-lucky, no nonsense, easy going antihero movie about a criminal who does't live a life of crime, but just lives and finds himself doing the wrong thing as he follows his heart. Robert Redford couldn't have been a better charmer, his pure blissful nature and incredibly interesting life stories throughout were enough to carry the story in a perfect, easy flow. But he is joined by a cast that matches him perfectly. Sissy Spacek, Danny Glover, Tom Waits, and Casey Affleck oppose the ebb and flow of his inability to accept an end to life perfectly with their acceptance to finally meet ends. Because basically this movie's central message reflects not accepting deteriorating and still trying to grow. A great message, and good-bye to Robert Redford in the acting world. 7.5/10
 
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Museo -

A fantastic true story about the largest art heist in history. It follows the two normal guys who just wanted to be somebody and cement their names into history. It's beautifully shot and performed incredibly. The two leads killed it, and they brought on some good laughs breaking up the suspense that's always rising throughout the film. This made me want to lookup the director and check the rest of his films out. 8/10

A Simple Favor - Yeah, if I was a mom this would be my holy grail. It was good though with Anna Kendrick and Blake lively acting as a fucking powerhouse of leads. They carried this movie even though there was a lot that didn't work. The obvious attempts of misdirection could easily be seen coming, but It didn't matter because I still walked out singing to the credit roll's song. Anna Kendrick was a crazy little nice girl and scared the shit out of me because she could have been crazier than her opposite. Not to say that Blake Lively didn't play her part with a bloody passion. She played sociopath to the "H". She is the person you would never want to fuck with because you can see the crazy in her eyes and shining through her smile. I'm happy it wasn't the chick flick I expected, and it was just a well performed suspenseful movie that you knew how was going to end, but didn't care because the voyage to it was worth the while. 7/10
 
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