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2014 MOVIE OMNIBUS THREAD


RIPPA

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I actually liked Three Days to Kill probably because I thought it was going to be downright awful. I thought it was a fun, little Taken-lite cliche action movie. If Costner played it serious the whole time, it would have been a big stinker.

I liked it more than the 5/10 rating might indicate.  I was entertained throughout - except when Amber Heard would appear onscreen from whatever movie she thought she was actually in - and I appreciated the humor.  It wasn't at all what I was expecting, though like you I also thought it would be pretty bad.  

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Re-watched Sinister. Yeah, it that's rare film that has such a great opening sequence the rest of the movie can't even hope to live up to it.

 

Ethan Hawke also had a thing against turning off lights apparently. 

 

One of those films you watch and think, "Yeah, there's a classic movie in here...somewhere."

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Re-watched Sinister. Yeah, it that's rare film that has such a great opening sequence the rest of the movie can't even hope to live up to it.

 

I watched Calvary last night. Even though I really enjoyed the movie, I don't think anything topped the very first line of the movie. Just a soul crusher.

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God the idea of Sinister is so good. And its best moments are when they just point the camera at Hawke and let him react to the shit he's watching. But it's does a disservice to all of it's good work by paying off well earned dread with cheaply executed scares. Same could be said with Insidious and the rest of that ilk, where they do such a great job crafting a cool idea and creating the right mood and then they spasm all over it.

 

Those movies are basically Jason Biggs in a bedroom with Shannon Elizabeth.

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God the idea of Sinister is so good. And its best moments are when they just point the camera at Hawke and let him react to the shit he's watching. But it's does a disservice to all of it's good work by paying off well earned dread with cheaply executed scares. Same could be said with Insidious and the rest of that ilk, where they do such a great job crafting a cool idea and creating the right mood and then they spasm all over it.

 

Those movies are basically Jason Biggs in a bedroom with Shannon Elizabeth.

 

The music in Sinister is unsettling and fantastic for setting a creepy mood.

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God the idea of Sinister is so good. And its best moments are when they just point the camera at Hawke and let him react to the shit he's watching. But it's does a disservice to all of it's good work by paying off well earned dread with cheaply executed scares. Same could be said with Insidious and the rest of that ilk, where they do such a great job crafting a cool idea and creating the right mood and then they spasm all over it.

 

Those movies are basically Jason Biggs in a bedroom with Shannon Elizabeth.

 

PG-13 rating + interfering studio execs = doom. 

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Re-watched Sinister. Yeah, it that's rare film that has such a great opening sequence the rest of the movie can't even hope to live up to it.

 

I watched Calvary last night. Even though I really enjoyed the movie, I don't think anything topped the very first line of the movie. Just a soul crusher.

 

 

Ghost Ship is another one. Opening is amazing...rest of it is downright awful.

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I think PG-13 should be an advantage when it comes to those types of flicks. Show less and you fuck with people more. Joyride starring Paul Walker and Steve Zahn is a BRILLIANT PG-13 scary movie. Perhaps its best scene is just the two of them listening to what's happening next door and being unsure of what they're hearing.

Show less, force people to use their imagination and thus fuck with them more.

Studio execs- I got no cure for. Burn 'em with fire, I guess.

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It can depend, but PG 13 by its very definition limits things.

 

If it's acceptable for kids, is it truly horror?

 

I did like that story about the people making The Conjuring going out of their way to get a PG-13 rating only to be told by censors that even though it technically obeyed the rules, it was just too scary to get that certificate.

 

Now that's a compliment.

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I'm totally against the rating system. Now that they run those descriptors with the rating "Graphic Sex and Nudity" "Cartoon violence" "Pervasive Language" etc etc - I think we can do away with the rating. I mean does anyone really look at the rating any more? They just quickly scan the list of shit that'll be in the movie - which I think is more than enough to guide a parent as to which movie is not for their child or for themselves. Not to mention trailers that tell you the whole film and give you pretty clear indication as to what you should expect. Rating system is beyond obsolete at this point.

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I'm totally against the rating system. Now that they run those descriptors with the rating "Graphic Sex and Nudity" "Cartoon violence" "Pervasive Language" etc etc - I think we can do away with the rating. I mean does anyone really look at the rating any more? They just quickly scan the list of shit that'll be in the movie - which I think is more than enough to guide a parent as to which movie is not for their child or for themselves. Not to mention trailers that tell you the whole film and give you pretty clear indication as to what you should expect. Rating system is beyond obsolete at this point.

 

You're overestimating parents.  I would say the vast majority, if they care at all (and a lot don't based on the number of pre-teens I know that have seen R-rated movies), just look at the rating itself and don't read the stuff under it.

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god I worked in a video store in Kentucky and I don't remember a whole lot of moral outrage over picking up the wrong movie, or something being inappropriate for kids. However, I do remember being the lucky one who got to deal with the family who wanted a free rental because A VERY LONG ENGAGEMENT was subtitled. I DON'T WANT TO READ A MOVIE.

 

That and having to point out to someone that they weren't actually seeing less of the film because of letterboxing because their TV is a square, and when they saw it in the theater the movie was the same rectangle shape as what was on the DVD. 

 

BLANK STARES BLANK STARES.

 

I miss video stores though. 

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Speaking of movies with "ass" in the title, I remember being amused with my local Walmart staff's wherewithal to put copies of "Big Ass Spider" (the cover of which apparently the studio was either forced to censor or they did it themselves to avoid some suspected backlash) next to copies of "Kick-Ass 2" (where said title was uncensored, with "Ass" on full display). Giglz aplenty.

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Grumpy Cat's Worst Christmas may be getting all the publicity, but the Hallmark cat-themed movie of the holiday season is Nine Lives of Christmas and it's not even close.

 

It becomes even more hilarious when you imagine this is the alternate reality life of Superman where he becomes a smalltown firefighter to hide his identity, which works so well that he is never found, and is doomed to a lonely life with only a stray cat to keep him company.

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Grumpy Cat's Worst Christmas may be getting all the publicity, but the Hallmark cat-themed movie of the holiday season is Nine Lives of Christmas and it's not even close.

 

It becomes even more hilarious when you imagine this is the alternate reality life of Superman where he becomes a smalltown firefighter to hide his identity, which works so well that he is never found, and is doomed to a lonely life with only a stray cat to keep him company.

 

Grumpy Cat's Worst Christmas got smoked in the ratings. But I watched it with my wife and we both had a great time with the flick. Of course we're both big fans of Aubrey plaza and Grumpy Cat.

This film was our cleansing of the palette after watching The Walking Dead mid-season finale.

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If you are going to make a ghost filmed/themed/whatever kind of film you need to be strapped down and forced to watch The Haunting for hours nonstop. Clockwork Orange style.

 

The recent Chris Rock interview where he put the smackdown on pretty much everything in contemporary culture and society still had him saying that he would watch something just to SEE if it's PG before he showed his daughters something rated PG. Even coming from someone whos first (and favorite) film ever purchased for them was Night of the Living Dead, that comes off as massively protective. Wait til those girls get in their teens, Chris...

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What she said.

 

Here would be my suggestions for the ghost marathon.  I put the year of release in some titles to steer you away from the dumb remakes.

 

The Haunting (1963)

The Innocents (1961)

The Devil's Backbone

The Others

The Sixth Sense

Stir of Echoes

The Uninvited (1944)

Shutter (2004)

Ring (the original Japanese and remade American versions have their merit)

Poltergeist

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