Showing posts with label movies. Show all posts
Showing posts with label movies. Show all posts

Friday, June 5, 2015

It Follows




Meh.  Not even in my top twenty scariest movies.  Why Bob Mondello felt the need to review the film, and why I took his review as good evidence that the film would be an extraordinary horror flick is now a greater mystery to me than whatever it is that follows.  Pretty standard fare with all the usual plot devices.   I will give it this: the music was great and reminiscent of John Carpenter.

Thursday, April 9, 2015

Insterstellar



I liked it--quite a lot actually.  I have seen some people criticize the film for the bad science with respect to "wormholes/black holes," but that didn't detract from the film for me.  I thought the way it used the so-called "Grandfather paradox" (which is not really a paradox) made up for other defects.  A few more thoughts and spoilers below.

Sunday, March 22, 2015

Nebraska



Everybody wants respect and to live for something.

(The visit with the relatives and the two deadbeat brothers are hilarious.)

Thursday, March 19, 2015

The One I Love



Very good.  Another genre-bender.  Romantic comedy...sort of.  I don't want to give too much away, but there are at least two or three genres battling in this one.  It's interesting all the way through; the writer/director not only understands human relationships, but came up with a neat idea to frame the movie around.  Watch it.

Thursday, March 5, 2015

Frank




Frank is...unforgettable.  Can I recommend it to you?  It depends on who you are.  If you enjoy strange (as I do) and have a sense of humor, it might be worth less than two hours of your time (or if you're in a band or are thinking about being in one).  It kind of reminded me of Rubber only instead of a thriller-parody it's a Bildungsroman-Comedy.  This is not high art, folks, but it's certainly well above the average brain-drainer.  I never would have guess it, but it's based on (inspired by?) a true story!

Thursday, February 26, 2015

Predestination




I have a high threshold for great movies.  Predestination is not a great movie.  But it's interesting, well-acted, well-written, and technically proficient.  As J.F. remarked, "It is what Looper should have been."  I agree.  The film is based on a short story which I now have in my possession but have yet to finish reading.

More thoughts (and spoilers!) below the fold:

Monday, February 16, 2015

Gone Girl

I finally watched it.  Two thumbs up.  It's a dark psychological thriller with a surprising amount of humor.  Very well done.  Long, but there's never a dull moment.  It's almost two movies seamlessly tied together.  Congratulations are in order to Affleck for learning how to act over the last few years.

A few critical remarks and spoilers below:

Wednesday, December 24, 2014

Movie Review: The Guest


Last night, as is our annual custom, I watched "A Christmas Carol" with the girls (it's too scary for the boys).  Then I decided to watch "The Guest" on a recommendation from a friend (who shall remain nameless).

Can I recommend it?  No.  How did this get a 96% rating on rottentomatoes??? Now, don't get me wrong--for 3/4 of the movie I enjoyed it. I'm not recommending that the movie not be watched.  I really liked the throwback 80's John Carpenteresque soundtrack.  (There needs to be a name for one of the eerie musical sound effects that had to have been ripped off from the 80's.  Maybe there is a name for it).

I liked the main character well enough.  However...

MAJOR Spoilers:

Friday, November 7, 2014

A Movie Paradox?

This just occurred to me in class the other day.  There are several types of movies.  There are excellent movies and there are real stinkers.  Within the class of bad movies there are some that are so bad that you just have to see them because they are so bad.  But there are also bad movies that are not so bad, that you see once and would never recommend seeing to anyone else.

I have tried to think of examples for these bad movies but I rarely watch bad movies since I only watch movies that have been recommended to me from people I trust or that I've read reviews about.  The first 3 Star Wars movies were pretty bad, but not so bad that I'd want to see them again or would recommend them for their badness.  The Fast and the Furious was about as stupid of a movie as I've ever seen but it's not so bad that I'd recommend it for its badness.  One website I came across had Remo Williams: The Adventure Begins in the "so bad it's good" category but that movie is not even bad!!  In fact, I've seen it at least twice!

But does it make any sense to talk about movies that are so bad that they are good?  How could a movie be so bad that it's better than a not so bad movie?  Impossible!  There are no movies that are so bad that they are good!  (Yes, i realize I'm riding roughshod over the intrinsic/extrinsic good distinction but it's just a blog post).

So why do we say this?  I suppose that it's because the movie is so bad that it's funny.  But then if it's funny it's not so bad.

Tuesday, October 7, 2014

Best Westerns

NO. Not Best Westerns.  Best Westerns.  Top Five:

#1
"All right, I'm coming out.  Any man out there, I'm gonna shoot him.  Any sumbitch takes a shot at me, I'm not only gonna kill him, I'm gonna kill his wife, all his friends, and burn his damn house down." 

Monday, June 9, 2014

All-Time Best Opening Scene from a Movie

Jaws?  2001: A Space Odyssey? Reservoir Dogs?  Magnolia? Once Upon a Time in the West?

All excellent.  But, for my money, this is hard to beat (viewer discretion advised for pacifists, unpatriotic Americans, and those with sensitive ears):


Saturday, May 31, 2014

"Left Behind" Movie with Nicolas Cage?!

Surely this cannot be true.  Either that or the world really is coming to an end.

Tuesday, May 13, 2014

Best Christian Films

Well, I finally got around to watching God's Not Dead.  I'll  post about it in the near future, but first I thought I'd give my top ten unobjectionable, intentionally Christian films.  What do I mean by "intentionally Christian?"  I mean that the film has some major Christian theme or prominent Christian element that's hard to ignore, even if the film doesn't jump out and slap you in the face with it.  At some point in the process of writing to the finished product, there was someone involved who had thought about the Christian theme or element, and thus it wasn't mostly an accident that the film turned out to be a Christian film.  By "unobjectionable" I mean that few Christians will find the movie offensive and few will find it unChristian.  For instance, I left The Last Temptation of Christ off the list because it's so controversial.  A different example, the LOTR series could've easily made the list, but the Christian elements are very subtle.  Perhaps I'll make another list sometime with more controversial and less overtly Christian films.

I recommend all of these but here is the list from (roughly) favorite to least favorite:


Two of my favorite actors in a film that everyone in the family can watch.  A classic.  I love it.

The George C. Scott version!  It's the best.  We watch it every year with the girls (and soon, the boys).

The Elephant Man
Staying true to the play it was based on, this Peter Lynch directed movie is powerfully Christian.

Chariots of Fire
Great independent movie.  I'm breathing hard just thinking about it.

A Charlie Brown Christmas
If you don't like this movie then you're probably not a Christian or a good person.

The Seventh Seal
Lots to think about in this classic.

It's a Wonderful Life

Somehow I went 24 years in this world without ever watching this movie.  What's not to like about it?
The Mission

De Niro. With a beard and a sword.  Jeremy Irons playing "Father Gabriel."  What's not to like about IT?
The Passion of the Christ

What was the controversy about again?  Too much blood and gore?  What's not to like about blood and gore?
Babette's Feast

There are some nice subtleties in this off the beaten path film.

SO WHAT AM I MISSING?