Movies! Movies! Movies! (potential spoilers)

[Bounce]

Just saw Safe House...  Not first Bourne movie good, but still a good movie.

+1

Return of the Living Dead 1 - 5: 1 was an hilarious send up of the Night of the Living Dead franchise. Few of the rules from the then-ingrained mythos work which leaves our feckless friends frantic. 2 follows up with the 2 main characters even parodying themselves when a comment is made that they feel like they've been through "this" before. 3 drifts from the first 2 with new characters and not a little S&M thrown in for spice. 4 drifts farther from the first 3 - enough that it's a pass IMO. 5 is flat out a loser without any tie to the original 2 other than the gas canister and the movie title.

Highly recommend 1 & 2 for those familiar with the Night Of... franchise. 3 is a strong maybe if you like the first 2. 4 and 5 are a solid pass; even as rentals.

Age of Dragons: Not bad. "Moby Dick" with dragons; down to a lot of the dialog. Instead of Pip, they have Ahab's daughter as they seek the Great White Dragon.

[Rogue]

Act of Valor

Wow!  This has got to be one of the best war/action movies that have come out in a while.  I love the attention to detail and realism.  The weapons even sounds like the real thing.  I remember seeing and hearing a GAU go off during a demo at a big gun range years ago and this movie got it right!  I also remember hearing and seeing a .50 and yup....the movie made it sound pretty accurate.  You know it's a .50 or a GAU no doubt.

Nicely done!    

No Rambo shit.  No overly dramatic crap.  No drama.  Just the facts.  I like.

[Bounce]

+1 on Act of Valor

Mirror Mirror: I'm not a fan of what's-her-name but this was a funny movie that both the wife and I liked.

[1moreroad]

This Means War - a more watchable chick flick for guys.  Chris Pine and Tom Hardy are the least "authentic" CIA agents in a movie for many years both going after the same girl (Reese Witherspoon).  Not in ANY way realistic, but entertaining enough.  I got browny points for watching it with my wife.

[Rogue]

Catch .44

This stars Malin Akerman, Bruce Willis, Forest Whittaker (who lost a ton of weight), Deborah Ann Woll, & Nikki Reed .  The movie is about these down and out girls in some rural town in the south and trying to get out of the life of poverty only to be double crossed by Willis' and his cohorts.  

The movie had some interesting moments but it was mostly boring as hell.  A lot of talk.  Willis sucked.  Akerman and Woll were both beautiful but their characters were shallow.  Whittaker was better but his character was also weak.  It was kind of a waste of my time.

 

[Bounce]

Brake: Mainly the actor that played Deacon Frost in the first "Blade". He's kidnapped and spends most of the movie trapped in a clear lucite box in the trunk of a car as his captors try and break him (yes they spelt the title wrong) and get some secret info from him.  Not bad action flick. I kept thinking about what it would have been like to spend the whole shoot in that crazy box.

[hig4s]

This Means War - a more watchable chick flick for guys.  Chris Pine and Tom Hardy are the least "authentic" CIA agents in a movie for many years both going after the same girl (Reese Witherspoon).  Not in ANY way realistic, but entertaining enough.  I got browny points for watching it with my wife.

My wife and I both enjoyed it,, I agree, an action/adventure chick flick. I in general like both Hardy and Pine.

[HipGnosis]

Brave  As Disney/Pixars latest animation, the animation is outstanding, near photo quality (except for the characters faces for some reason).
Obviously made for kids/families, but enjoyable for all.   There were a cpl points in the movie where the kids in the audience giggling added to the movie.
It's the story of a Scottish princess that isn't the typical princess who bucks tradition by taking her fate into her own hands (but succumbs to using the aid of a witch to do it).
There are a few plot and continuity flaws, but nothing distracting (more like things to talk about on the way home).

[1moreroad]

Brave  As Disney/Pixars latest animation, the animation is outstanding, near photo quality (except for the characters faces for some reason).

I think Pixar does this to avoid the uncanny valley.  If animation gets close but just misses "photo quality" it looks really wrong.

[Squareman357]

I think Pixar does this to avoid the uncanny valley.  If animation gets close but just misses "photo quality" it looks really wrong.

Fascinating.  Any examples of movies or animation that hit this "uncanny valley"?

[miles]

Fascinating.  Any examples of movies or animation that hit this "uncanny valley"?

The first movie I remember being promoted as 'photorealistic' was Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within.  It fell squarely in the uncanny valley.





Another example was the film Polar Express.

[Squareman357]

I've got both of those on DVD.  While Polar Express did look a bit strange, I thought Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within had stellar animation.  Story was kinda ass, but the animation was good.

[miles]

I've got both of those on DVD.  While Polar Express did look a bit strange, I thought Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within had stellar animation.  Story was kinda ass, but the animation was good.

The animation in FF was good- but every now and then, something would seem disturbingly odd.  Usually it was facial expressions that did it.

[HipGnosis]

Pixar does this to avoid the uncanny valley.  If animation gets close but just misses "photo quality" it looks really wrong.

Great point

[Bounce]

The Watch: We saw this last night (2d if there's a 3d version). We all liked it and laughed a lot. While it was a "dumb buddies as neighborhood watch" movie, it was more than that, too. Actor/Director/Writer Richard Ayoade (Submarine, The IT Crowd, etc.) as a calming offset to the sometimes frenetic Jonah Hill and Vince Vaughn. The actors may have had input into their characters beyond the writing as there wasn't the one-note-comic-styling of many Ben Stiller movies.

[rbwilliams2]

Salmon Fishing in the Yemen Ewan McGregor, Emily Blunt

A nice bit of fluff. Good performance by McGregor - playing a  fisheries scientist - pompous and condescending. Wife & I enjoyed it.

[hig4s]

Salmon Fishing in the Yemen Ewan McGregor, Emily Blunt

A nice bit of fluff. Good performance by McGregor - playing a  fisheries scientist - pompous and condescending. Wife & I enjoyed it.

we enjoyed it also, but it was not fast paced enough for most people so the reviews were mixed.

[Bounce]

God Bless America: Great comedy about how 2 people deal with the inanity of modern life; "a complete lack of common courtesy and an over developed sense of entitlement." 2 thumbs up.

[Mr.Black]

God Bless America: Great comedy about how 2 people deal with the inanity of modern life; "a complete lack of common courtesy and an over developed sense of entitlement." 2 thumbs up.

I have been looking forward to this movie.

[Scratch33]

Just saw Moonrise Kingdom   Thoroughly enjoyable.