Movie JANUARY 2017 MOVIE DISCUSSION THREAD

[J.T.]

9 hours ago, Curt McGirt said:

The talk about Ip Man in the other thread made me check this out. Pretty cool

JT said:  7. Ip Man 3 (The Donnie Yen / Mike Tyson fight is really good)

 

[J.T.]

I've noticed that the trailer for Split is on heavy rotation.

Sad that I think we all know what is going to happen.

[J.T.]

The Dump Months are not really living up to their name. 

There are quite a few horrible things coming to the theater to be certain that I will probably watch anyway (the Underworld and Resident Evil franchise finales), but there are also movies coming out like John mother fucking Wick 2, Get Out, and A Cure For Wellness that I am actually looking forward to.

I think my life will go on if I skip The Bye Bye Man and xXx; Xander Cage Rises From The Grave.

I haven't decided whether or not I am going to see Split, as I think I've already seen the movie in the trailer and have a good idea of what M. Night has planned for his not so surprising obligatory twist ending.

[S.K.o.S.]

48 minutes ago, J.T. said:

I haven't decided whether or not I am going to see Split, as I think I've already seen the movie in the trailer and have a good idea of what M. Night has planned for his not so surprising obligatory twist ending.

So a few weeks back when whoever that was wanted to know what the twist of Shut In is, I went and found that, and then I followed that up by trying to find what the twist in Split is.

I couldn't tell you exactly what it is, I just have a general idea, but I don't think it could be called obvious.  And outside of that, people seem to feel that McAvoy does a really good acting job with the whole multiple personality thing.

I will be going to see it.

[J.T.]

4 hours ago, S.K.o.S. said:

So a few weeks back when whoever that was wanted to know what the twist of Shut In is, I went and found that, and then I followed that up by trying to find what the twist in Split is.

I couldn't tell you exactly what it is, I just have a general idea, but I don't think it could be called obvious.  And outside of that, people seem to feel that McAvoy does a really good acting job with the whole multiple personality thing.

I will be going to see it.

My theories on the twist ending thanks to the overabundance of information provided by the trailers coupled with extrapolation provided by my ridiculously extensive horror movie plot pedigree:

Spoiler

1. M. Night rips off the movie, Identity. The girls and Kevin are separate persona in someone else's head battling to see who gets to be the alpha.  Anna's character in Split will turn out to be The Beast just like how the innocent kid in the crazy dude's head in Identity turned out to be the psychotic persona.

2. M. Night rips off Shutter Island.  Anna's character is the one who is batshit crazy and Kevin is a figment of her imagination and manifests all of her personalities.

3. Stockholm Syndrome.  As above, Anna's character is batshit crazy for some reason or another, but the kidnapping is real and she ends up turning heel and helping Kevin rather than thwarting him because he is an insane kindred spirit.

3a. Stockholm Syndrome redux aka The Halloween II Bullshit Angle:  Anna's character knows / is related to Kevin and that is why she is mixed up in all of this..

And finally, my favorite:

4. Holy shit!!  Kevin is crazy now, but he wasn't always a fucking lunatic!!  The Beast is a "real" supernatural creature that inhabits Kevin's body and is some sort of spiritual / psychic vampire that emerges every so often to devour human souls / life energy.  The trauma created by the Beast's feedings causes Kevin to adopt their personae in order to insulate his own psyche.  By keeping their memories alive in his own head via the multiple personalities, Kevin is avoiding the ugly truth that he's involved in the deaths of all of those people.

Number Four is so far out there that it is probably the correct theory.

I also plan on going to see this.

[Technico Support]

Holy shit, Identity.  I've never seen another film where the plot twist killed off any desire to care about the movie like that one did.  "Oh, none of this is real and it's all taking place in some guy's head?  Why should I give two shits?"

[J.T.]

2 hours ago, Technico Support said:

Holy shit, Identity.  I've never seen another film where the plot twist killed off any desire to care about the movie like that one did.  "Oh, none of this is real and it's all taking place in some guy's head?  Why should I give two shits?"

Aw, the fun of Identity was finding out that you were routing for the wrong personality to come out on top and saying to yourself, "Yeah, that guy is still fucking crazy and no one knows," as the credits rolled.

Talking about how mentally ill people are portrayed in movies like Split, Identity, and every slasher picture ever made just reminds me how suspense thrillers and horror cinema are to the sciences of Psychology and Psychiatry what space operas and action films are to the science of Physics.

[J.T.]

Traded texts with my cousin in LA a few minutes ago:

Me:  Hey, your wife works for the [LA] Times and always gets to go to the advances.  You guys seen Split yet?

Cousin: Yea, weekend private screening.  The twist is that the movie isn't dumb like The Happening.

 

[GuerrillaMonsoon]

Doing a late run on Golden Globe nominees.

The Accountant was super fun if you think of it as Autistic Batman. Cool story, at least something different from the usual shoot 'em up.

Nocturnal Animals.....ehh, felt like it had been done before and better. Isla Fisher and Amy Adams on screen at the same time? Needed Julianne Moore too just to hammer that point home.

Really liked Florence Foster Jenkins. No idea why. Good cast, fun story, didn't try to be more than what it was.

 

 

[J.T.]

January 23rd is nearly here.

[J.T.]

18 hours ago, RolandTHTG said:

Doing a late run on Golden Globe nominees.
The Accountant was super fun if you think of it as Autistic Batman. Cool story, at least something different from the usual shoot 'em up.

Nocturnal Animals.....ehh, felt like it had been done before and better. Isla Fisher and Amy Adams on screen at the same time? Needed Julianne Moore too just to hammer that point home.

Really liked Florence Foster Jenkins. No idea why. Good cast, fun story, didn't try to be more than what it was.

GG's have proven that they are more awesome, braver, and relevant that the Oscars for giving Moonlight a nom for Best Drama. 

That being said, I expect Manchester By The Sea to win and it will deserve to do so.

If Deadpool wins Best Musical / Comedy, I will mark like a schoolgirl, but it won't because La La Land.

 

[GuerrillaMonsoon]

17 more movies to go. Not sure if going to make it, if lack of sleep doesn't get me, lack of torrents.

Enjoyed Hell or High Water. Plot was all over the place, and seemed very cookie cutter, but some strong performances just the same. Jeff Bridges and Chris Pine really good in it, wish they gave the woman from Eastbound and Down a much bigger role.

Sing Street was super fun too. Really enjoyed it. Billy Elliott-like. Great soundtrack. Jack Reynor puts in a good performance here too.

[EVA]

I was shocked by how much I didn't like HELL OR HIGH WATER.  I mean, I liked it, but I expected to love it, given that crime dramas, especially ones set in the South, are my shit, and I just didn't.

For one thing, I think I'm 100% over all these bank robbery movies that feel the need to also make some kind of statement about how corrupt and shitty the banks are.  It's like....every other movie post-2008.  And there was way too much of that in here.

Plus, I really got his sense that the director had much love for these rural Texas characters.  Like, either he just didn't get them (which would be understandable - he's from England) or he was outright looking down his nose at them.  The minor characters, especially, are almost treated like grotesques.

[elizium]

La La Land was so damned charming. Uplifting, but with just the right amount of cynicism. Don't think it needs to win any major Oscars, but it definitely deserves to be nominated.

[J.T.]

So, I finally caught The Anomaly (Ian Somerhalder, Noel Clarke); a futuristic action ditty that is equal parts The Matrix, Total Recall, and The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde.

It was not as horrible as I have been led to believe, but I have low standards and love B-Movies.

I think this movie could've benefitted from a bigger budget to expand the sci-fi visual experience (the CGI mock-ups used to make London, New York, and Hong Kong look futuristic are pretty bad). 

Still, there are interesting, if unrealized, concepts and enough action in this movie to keep you entertained and the runtime is a brisk and nicely paced ninety or so minutes, so it's not like you're wasting away vast amounts of your time on earth.

There is also a cyborg hooker.  Bonus..

The Anomaly definitely would've been better if Noel Clarke had reeled in his ego a bit more so that Ian Somerhalder (who has villain charisma for DAYS~!) and Michael Bisping (yeah, that Michael Bisping) could've had more room to be credible antagonists and it would've been nice to know what The Anomaly actually was.

The one major complaint I have is this.  The Anomaly breaks the Number One Rule of Sci-Fi, as there is little, if any, world building going on.

The exposition on what is wrong with this futuristic society (ex. Is it a utopia or dystopia. Is society too content? Is everybody an asshole?) that warrants severity of the BBEG's evil scheme is non existent and you have probably seen world dominating schemes just as impressive on an episode of the GI JOE cartoon.

But does this particular movie need to have that level of complexity In order to be entertaining?  Not really. 

Sometimes something just needs to be good enough to pass muster and The Anomaly is a standard thrill ride posing as a glimpse into the future and it doesn't ask for much in return. It is not a serious sci-fi movie for serious sci-fi fans.  This joint makes Robot Jox look like Solaris and yet it still could've taught Jupiter Ascending a thing or two about not taking itself too seriously.

Oh, and if Michael Bisping is in your cast, you really should let him choreograph your borderline laughable fight scenes.  You should at least let Bisping teach you how to throw a punch, Noel.

If you seen the Pitch Perfect movies and wondered what Alexis Knapp looks like naked, this is your huckleberry.  Like Ian Somerhalder's bad guy, her character is visually engaging and has a certain charm, but she's not given enough to do or room to work and she's not on screen long enough to generate any real chemistry with Clarke's protagonist.

.All moaning aside, I love seeing brothas do well no matter where there from and it is nice to see a home boy save the day and get the girl for a change, even if he's from across the pond so I will say good on Noel for creating his own projects and keeping himself busy instead of tying his fate to some other studio's fortunes.

The Anomaly is a solid OnDemand pick (currently available of you have Starz!) and some popcorn handy, but not something you should buy on DVD and make shelf porn out of unless you have a prominent B-Movie section of your collection.

[GuerrillaMonsoon]

I absolutely fucking despised La La Land with a passion. That this is a raging favourite to take out Best Picture disturbs me greatly.

Spoiler

Awfully written characters. Usually when you write an underdog protagonist, you at least make sure that the character is deserving of her due, and generally there's someone who has it that isn't deserving. Instead write her as someone who isn't even deserving of her shitty coffee job. No inclination of showing whether she's even talented as an actress or a writer, and the minute she faces adversity she gives up and runs away. Like writing Cinderella as a 6/10 next to her attractive step-sisters, or whatshername in Coyote Ugly as not being particularly talented as a singer. 

The message seemed to be that people deserve the things they want simply because they want them enough, and don't necessarily need to make any effort, sacrifices or adapt to achieve them. 

I liked the ending, but apparently interpreted it far differently to everyone else I saw it with. Saw it as her seeing what she missed out on, and what he deserved in that nothing really changed in the alternative timeline for him, as he adapted and did what he had to do to achieve what he wanted in buying the club.

 

[GuerrillaMonsoon]

20 hours ago, EVA said:

I was shocked by how much I didn't like HELL OR HIGH WATER.  I mean, I liked it, but I expected to love it, given that crime dramas, especially ones set in the South, are my shit, and I just didn't.

For one thing, I think I'm 100% over all these bank robbery movies that feel the need to also make some kind of statement about how corrupt and shitty the banks are.  It's like....every other movie post-2008.  And there was way too much of that in here.

Plus, I really got his sense that the director had much love for these rural Texas characters.  Like, either he just didn't get them (which would be understandable - he's from England) or he was outright looking down his nose at them.  The minor characters, especially, are almost treated like grotesques.

Can't argue with much of that. Think the actors involved made the best of what they had. 

Spoiler

Why the brother felt he needed to die/sacrifice himself wasn't really explained enough. Why the police just gave up investigating Chris Pine's character as being an accomplice so easily seemed bullshit too. Jeff Bridges' character's motivations seemed pretty lame/ill-explained too. Generic one day left till retirement type. Then his partner of no real emotional connection gets shot with 5 minutes to go. 

 

[Curt McGirt]

In A Valley of Violence was funny as living shit yet somehow manages to be a solid Spaghetti Western anyway. It's clearly a comedy but is so deadpan that it throws you off at times. Tarantino should have directed it, but Ti West did a fine job. Worth the price of purchase to see John Travolta trying to negotiate with Ethan Hawke over situations overall.

Note: bring bourbon.

[EVA]

On January 5, 2017 at 4:16 PM, RolandTHTG said:

Can't argue with much of that. Think the actors involved made the best of what they had. 

  Reveal hidden contents

Why the brother felt he needed to die/sacrifice himself wasn't really explained enough. Why the police just gave up investigating Chris Pine's character as being an accomplice so easily seemed bullshit too. Jeff Bridges' character's motivations seemed pretty lame/ill-explained too. Generic one day left till retirement type. Then his partner of no real emotional connection gets shot with 5 minutes to go. 

 

Definitely agree about the ending.

 

There was more than enough circumstantial evidence tying Pine's character to his brother to warrant investigating him thoroughly.  There's no way they'd let him slide just because BANKS ARE BAD.  People died because of what he did.  Not the least of them being a law enforcement officer, and you know they're notorious for taking it easy on criminals involved in cop killings.

[jaedmc]

Cried and laughed a bunch watching Fences today. It was like watching my dad. 

So go see that if you haven't. Denzel must have made this for nothing(By Hollywood standards) because he basically films it like a stage play in the back yard. It's also weird seeing him slip into some stage actor tactics in film, I guess it was hard to shrug some of that off.

But I like that he took a harder edge when it needed to be. I had seen the side by side comparison of him and James Earl Jones and I disliked his version - though I think he was partially pushed to go there by the audience.

Anyway. It's a great story, a great play, and the older actors have GREAT chemistry together. Just a lot of fun to watch even when it gets pretty rough.

[APO]

So, I lost a bet and had to go see Underworld on Saturday with a friend. Ugh, ugh, UGH. I hope this stinker is the one that finally kills this insipid franchise off once and for all. I knew it was gonna be bad going in, but fuck me, this movie was so goddamn boring that I caught myself dozing off during almost every fight scene 30 minutes in(mostly because all the goddamn jump-cuts anytime someone threw a punch or fired a weapon started making my damn eyes hurt).

[GuerrillaMonsoon]

8 hours ago, jaedmc said:

Cried and laughed a bunch watching Fences today. It was like watching my dad. 

So go see that if you haven't. Denzel must have made this for nothing(By Hollywood standards) because he basically films it like a stage play in the back yard. It's also weird seeing him slip into some stage actor tactics in film, I guess it was hard to shrug some of that off.

But I like that he took a harder edge when it needed to be. I had seen the side by side comparison of him and James Earl Jones and I disliked his version - though I think he was partially pushed to go there by the audience.

Anyway. It's a great story, a great play, and the older actors have GREAT chemistry together. Just a lot of fun to watch even when it gets pretty rough.

Couldn't agree more. Great story. Denzel's just a total dick the whole time, and you can see why everything he does is justified.

[Ace]

La La Land was a lot of strictly okay. I enjoyed the dance numbers, but the songs were nothing special. Gosling isn't a singer, and Emma Stone only gets to put actual effort into one song. I did like how they did the ending, though. 

[J.T.]

On ‎1‎/‎8‎/‎2017 at 10:52 PM, jaedmc said:

Cried and laughed a bunch watching Fences today. It was like watching my dad. 

So go see that if you haven't. Denzel must have made this for nothing(By Hollywood standards) because he basically films it like a stage play in the back yard. It's also weird seeing him slip into some stage actor tactics in film, I guess it was hard to shrug some of that off.

But I like that he took a harder edge when it needed to be. I had seen the side by side comparison of him and James Earl Jones and I disliked his version - though I think he was partially pushed to go there by the audience.

Anyway. It's a great story, a great play, and the older actors have GREAT chemistry together. Just a lot of fun to watch even when it gets pretty rough.

I saw it last weekend and yeah, it is a great story even when it gets hard to watch. 

Fences was chock full of brilliant performances.  Don't really want to name favorites as everyone in the cast deserves equal mention.

I also cried and laughed a lot, but I am old and sentimental and am an easy target.

[Pete]

On 1/4/2017 at 11:56 PM, elizium said:

La La Land was so damned charming. Uplifting, but with just the right amount of cynicism. Don't think it needs to win any major Oscars, but it definitely deserves to be nominated.

It's a real "all the feels" charmer with a whole bunch of melancholy thrown in for good measure. Maybe a bit overrated due to the META aspects, but I wouldn't weep if it won a bunch of Oscars. I think Chazelle is a shoo-in for Best Director due to the dance sequences.

I'm amused that supposedly it almost wasn't produced because Hollywood didn't feel an old-style musical would be successful... I guess they missed an actual silent movie winning Best Picture a few years back.