40Cent @ the movies

[GDS_Starfury]

I thought it was Mirth's girlfriend.

[Centurion40]

I thought it was Mirth's girlfriend.

You could be correct.

[Centurion40]

Saw Machete Kills with the Mrs yesterday.

It was... ok.  Apparently there is going to be another coming out.  I don't really know why, unless they are REALLY cheap to make.

21 out of 40

[BanzaiCat]

I don't get all of the critical short-stroking over Gravity. It's okay...not good, not bad. I imagine if it were anyone other than Clooney and Bullock in this, I doubt anyone would be saying the word "Oscar." It's basically Open Water in space; these kinds of stories have been done and done to death.

And it's pretty funny that Clooney's mug is on the movie poster and not Bullock's - if you've seen the movie you'll understand.

[Windigo]

Saw Captain Phillips. Stars Tom Hanks. He's the Captain of a containership going around the horn of Africa. Somali pirates .... Navy seals ... great acting by Tom Hanks.

A solid 3 Smuck shaves outta 4

[MetalDog]

Heard a short bit about the veracity of the role Capt. Philips actually played.  It falls short of heroic.  Having said that, how many of us would actually stand up to these pirates if faced with them?

[Staggerwing]

He knew the crew was safe, locked away below. After that, do what you need to do to survive and screw the ship and the 'stuff' and wait for the choppers.

[Windigo]

Heard a short bit about the veracity of the role Capt. Philips actually played.  It falls short of heroic.  Having said that, how many of us would actually stand up to these pirates if faced with them?

He definitely doesn't come across as heroic in the movie, just a regular ol' human being with a job put into unusual circumstances.

[Centurion40]

The Mrs and I (despite the bad reviews) went to see The Counselor yesterday.  It wasn't as bad as the reviews indicated, but it wasn't as great as it should have been (given all the star power in front of, and behind the lens).

It was a great looking movie with some very clever dialogue.  But it didn't always do a good job at connecting all of the dots.  There were a bunch of quick sub-plots that seemed to go nowhere.  I suspect that's because they were cramming something that should have been a HBO miniseries into a 2 hour movie.

I find it difficult having any empathy for Fassbender.  He played the titular Counselor, a wealthy lawyer- the protagonist of this disjointed tale.  He looks too much like a villain to me, and his actual name is never revealed.  So I really didn't give a crap when misfortune befell him.  However I did really like Bardem, his character was awesome.  Kind of like what I'd imagine Alex Van Halen would be like, if Van Halen (the band) broke-up in 1985 and Alex moved to Phoenix to run a handful of nightclubs. There was a scene between him and Cameron Diaz that was almost worth the price of admission.  His reaction was perfect while she put Tawny Kitaen (think Whitesnake video) to shame.

But overall, this flick is lackluster because of the manner in which the story was told.  Maybe it was the writing, maybe it was the editing; I really don't know.  I do know that the cinematography and acting were just fine- so it's not a total loss.

24 out of 40.

[mirth]

Watched Ender's Game on Sunday. I enjoyed it, but huge parts of the novel were lost. It focused almost entirely on Ender and his time at Battle/Command school and the events were very much compressed as compared to the book. A lot of the sense of Ender developing his skills is lost because so much had to be shoehorned into less than 2 hours of film. I really felt this was one movie that could have benefited from 20-30 minutes of additional running time to truly flesh out the story. The ending in particular was very rushed, felt like "hey we need to wrap this thing up in the next 5 minutes".

The effects were stunning, the battles were epic (if too short). Above all else, the child performances were excellent. I thought Asa Butterfield was perfectly cast as Ender and his presence on the screen is amazing for someone his age (he's sixteen, but he was totally believable as a younger child).

Harrison Ford was fine as Graff. He was gruff and scowled a lot. Ben Kingsley is always great, but I didn't think he was a good fit for Mazer Rackham. The other supporting actors were all quite good, though with limited roles and screen time.

If you're a huge fan of the novel, you'll likely be disappointed by how much was lost in the translation to film. Otherwise this is a solid B effort. Call it 34/40.

As a note, I've read a number of rather negative reviews for Ender's Game and it seems to me that they are a reaction to Card's position on gay marriage, rather than honest reviews of the film on it's merits.

[Centurion40]

Saw Last Vegas with the Mrs. yesterday.  It was fine, but not noteworthy.  It was a bit depressing at first, a bunch of old codgers facing their last leg in life.  But the story was fine (a somewhat happy ending), the acting was fine... it was fine.  The Vegas scenery is always nice to see (in more ways than one).  But overall this was a bit better than mediocre effort and gets a bit better than mediocre score.

25 out of 40.

[BanzaiCat]

I saw Ender's Game with my kids last weekend before I rushed out to Louisiana yet again. The movie was decent, although I'm only about 60% through the book. My son had already finished it and he said much the same as mirth did. Decent movie, good cast, great special effects. 32/40.

[eyebiter]

.

[Centurion40]

Thor: The Dark World

I've already given a review in the Thor movie thread.  So I will summarize by saying:

- better than the original Thor
- 94% as epic as The Avengers
- a bit corny at first, but eventually hits its stride
- worth the price of admission
- I really enjoyed it

34/40

[GDS_Starfury]

off to see Enders Game and the theater has a full bar.  8)