The last movie I saw was...

[LeMarchand]

Why did you watch it then?

 

Because I hadn't seen it! Was hoping that it wasnt as bad as people made out. I've seen quite a few films that were panned but I enjoyed. IIRC "Blade Runner" wasn't well reviewed on release...

[mavhc]

It's well reviewed now though, the first release (well, second) was a different cut.

 

BTW, it was Galaxy Quest I saw, not GotG, hence the copyright avoidance thing.

 

At this point it's just a law that Fantastic Four movies can't be good. Never trust a movie that reviews itself in the title.

[LeMarchand]

It's well reviewed now though, the first release (well, second) was a different cut.

 

BTW, it was Galaxy Quest I saw, not GotG, hence the copyright avoidance thing.

 

At this point it's just a law that Fantastic Four movies can't be good. Never trust a movie that reviews itself in the title.

 

But had I listened to the critics at the time, I would have denied myself one of my all time favourite films.

 

I quite enjoyed the first 2 FF movies for the dumb fun they were. In fact, I got more enjoyment from the Roger Corman version than the Josh Trank one!

 

Not an Ab Fab fan, but the movie trailer didn't even raise a smile.

[Duranis]

Took my 11 year old and his cousin to watch the new Ice Age film at the cinema on Sunday. Wasn't quite as bad as I was expecting it to be and felt fairly short (the Neil Degrasse Tyson bit made me laugh). I wanted to take them to watch independence day but the Mrs veto'ed it

[pooley]

Took my 8yr old to watch independence day, thouroughly enjoyed it, if you liked the old one with Will Smith then you will enjoy this, if you didn't like the first one then avoid this one!

[mavhc]

The Witch: A tale warning religious people that if your teenage daughter becomes a woman, everyone will die.

 

Those people were super afraid of women.

[Boredguy]

Found Paranoia available to watch on Amazon Prime last night and it certainly wasn't too bad of a film.

 

A bit of technobabble and a two good antagonists in Gary Oldman and Harrison Ford.

[Gerry]

Recently re-watched a couple of Clint classics: The Outlaw Josey Wales & Unforgiven.

Last night I watched The Raid 2 again - brutal!

[witch]

Went to see Independence Day last night. I enjoyed it as the bit of a romp that it is. Was a bit distracted by the amazing resemblance between Liam and Chris Hemsworth though

[LeMarchand]

Mr Holmes

 

 

An ageing Sherlock Holmes, his memory failing, is reminded of his last case. It seems Dr Watson gave it a happy ending in his dramatization of it, but Holmes is sure there was more to it...

 

This seems to be disliked for not being a "Sherlock Holmes" film, but I don't think it was supposed to be. It's a meditation on ageing and memories. Well worth a look if the trailer intrigues - just don't expect lots of clever deduction scenes.

 

Pay attention during the scene when Sherlock visits a cinema; the actor portraying him on screen is a previous big screen Sherlock.

[rickjames]

I enjoyed Ghostbusters. Particularly Kate McKinnon and Chris Hemsworth. Yeah.

[LeMarchand]

The Legend of Tarzan

 

 

My favourite film of the year so far! If you like the look of the trailer, you should love it. If you want to whinge about "too much CGI"/"I could spot all the CGI" then don't bother, though perhaps you might want to think how stampeding a huge herd of wildebeest through a town could be achieved practically. Also if you're a kneejerk reactionary who wants to wring your hands about colonialism and the alleged inherent racism of the concept then don't bother either. If you want a beautifully shot, fun romp with the first soundtrack I've heard for months that made me want to listen to it later, then do go see.

Edited July 13, 2016 by LeMarchand
Changed possibly offensive phrase

[sonofsanta]

Can EduGeek please be one place on the internet where we don't drag everything down into the "SJW" argument? Please? It's a term that exists solely to wind people up and dismiss any and all opinions on either side regardless of the complexity of the situation at hand. This is about the only place left where I don't see it :/

[LeMarchand]

Can EduGeek please be one place on the internet where we don't drag everything down into the "SJW" argument? Please? It's a term that exists solely to wind people up and dismiss any and all opinions on either side regardless of the complexity of the situation at hand. This is about the only place left where I don't see it :/

 

I think you've missed a few instances!

 

I don't know how else to describe someone who writes a lengthy discourse on a film that they probably haven't seen based on a series of books that it's patently obvious that they've never read purely to show that they are sensitive souls who recognise every wrong in the world and feel deeply about them.

 

I've seen too many articles of late about Tarzan's alleged inherent racism claiming he becomes "Lord of the Jungle" because he is a white man, and that all "foreigners" in the books are bad, and all black Africans stupid tribesmen. It's not because he is white that he rises to the top - he both lucks out because he was brought up by Kala and because of his inherent strength of character. He happens to be white, yes. So did pretty much all the heroes in Western literature of the time. I haven't seen articles about how (say) John Steinbeck was racist because his novels were about white people. Whilst in the film I'll grant that all the "foreigners" are bad (but as they're all on the "enemy" side that's kind of understandable) in the books the first human Tarzan meets is a Frenchman, and it's this man that teaches him human speech and he becomes a dear friend. There are "bad" Africans in the books, and there are also many good ones. In fact, ERB was possibly more progressive (for his time) than many of his contemporaries.

 

TL;DR. If you have a preferred succinct description for the sort of person who spews forth a poorly-researched diatribe that seems to be designed to prove how socially aware they are then I'd be happy to edit.

[sonofsanta]

I think you've missed a few instances!

 

Probably but it's almost unavoidable elsewhere on the internet, so if it's still low enough on the ground here that it can be missed, that seems like a win for EduGeek and its level of class

 

TL;DR. If you have a preferred succinct description for the sort of person who spews forth a poorly-researched diatribe that seems to be designed to prove how socially aware they are then I'd be happy to edit.

 

"Kneejerk reactionary" seems less of a value-judgement to me, as SJW is often thrown at people purely on the basis of what their opinion is (i.e. from a conservative to a liberal, aka "libtard"), regardless of the level of thought, research or experience involved in forming that opinion. I'm being overly touchy here because the flame wars going on in SF circles are genuinely hurtful and divisive and spilling over into ludicrous campaigns around awards (Rabid Puppies etc.), so I see a lot of phrases like SJW thrown around--often by people spewing forth a poorly-researched diatribe designed to prove how righteous and edgy they are without any consideration for who they're attacking not at all saying that's what's happening here, and none of this is in any way an attack. I'm just saying that's why I'm so averse to it as a phrase, and having a polite conversation to that end

 

On-topic (ish, as it's not a film): watched the first season of Line of Duty on Netflix over the weekend. Seems like any other BBC police drama, which is not normally something I'd get excited over, but it was seriously good TV in the end. Ended up binging all five episodes!

Edited July 13, 2016 by sonofsanta
spleling

[LeMarchand]

Edited post to preserve Edugeek's high level of class.

[mavhc]

How does the CGI of Legend of Tarzan compare to Jungle Book?

[LeMarchand]

How does the CGI of Legend of Tarzan compare to Jungle Book?

 

Jungle Book is a "when it's free on my TV package" movie for me, so I'm afraid I can't say.

 

The Mangani apes are a bit "off" sometimes, one duff vine sequence (the others are magnificent) and there's a medium shot of a herd of elephants that doesn't look great, but generally it's impressive. I think because we know it's CGI it isn't always convincing to us. If you showed the film to someone from as recent as the 70s (if not the 80s) they'd probably assume it was real. Then again, I go to a film to (hopefully) enjoy it - not to prove how cool I am by picking holes in the CGI. (In no way suggesting this is you - just stunned by the comments on pretty much every film with CGI on IMDb!)

[Sagima]

Watched The X Files - Fight the Future movie at the weekend. I had seen it before but apparently had forgotten everything except the rescuing of scully near the end. (It was almost 20 years ago now)

We are currently watching the tv series on amazon - since Christmas we have watched the first 5 seasons and the movie makes more sense when watching between seasons 5 and 6 as we did this time. The season six opener even had a "previously on the x-files..." bit referencing the events of the movie. (My husband was also quite glad of the season six recap of what the bees and corn were for)

 

It's quite good if you like the x files because it is just a two hour long episode with a massive budget. Still enjoyable nonetheless but I feel I probably felt cheated by the cost of the ticket when i was 19

[mavhc]

Jungle Book is a "when it's free on my TV package" movie for me, so I'm afraid I can't say.

 

The Mangani apes are a bit "off" sometimes, one duff vine sequence (the others are magnificent) and there's a medium shot of a herd of elephants that doesn't look great, but generally it's impressive. I think because we know it's CGI it isn't always convincing to us. If you showed the film to someone from as recent as the 70s (if not the 80s) they'd probably assume it was real. Then again, I go to a film to (hopefully) enjoy it - not to prove how cool I am by picking holes in the CGI. (In no way suggesting this is you - just stunned by the comments on pretty much every film with CGI on IMDb!)

 

Jungle Book is a good movie, also good CGI.

 

Last movie I saw: Taxi Driver, very good.

 

IMDb: Highest Rated IMDb "Top 250" Titles down to 99 movies now.

 

Saw the 2nd Xfiles film a bit ago, quite good. Watched it before watching S10, where the non Chris Carter episodes were the best, Darin Morgan is a genius

[witch]

Ghostbusters

I really enjoyed it - which I didn't expect to. Loved the fact that all the people from the original were in it too

[LeMarchand]

Rewind

 

Busted pilot for SyFy time travel show that I came across on YouTube. A top physicist (played by David Cronenberg!) nukes NY in order to force the hand of the military to use their as yet untested time portal. It's pretty poor and doesn't make a whole lot of sense. Particularly the end, where a secondary cast member seems to know when/where the portal (previously explained as unpredictable) would open to.

 

Odd Thomas

 

 

Apparently rights/money arguments kept this one from the cinemas. The late Anton Yelchin stars as Odd Thomas (that is his actual name), a cook with psychic powers who must save his town. From the director of the millenial Mummy films, and of a similar action/supernatural ilk. Quite fun, but badly let down by Addison Timlin's odd delivery (possibly she was trying for "Katherine Hepburn"?).

[witch]

@LeMarchand

 

Odd Thomas is a book by Dean Koontz and it is very good. In fact there is a whole set of books about him.

[LeMarchand]

@LeMarchand

 

Odd Thomas is a book by Dean Koontz and it is very good. In fact there is a whole set of books about him.

 

Cheers! I knew about the books, but haven't read a Dean Koontz for years. When he's good, he's great; other times, not so much... Might have to seek them out.

 

I did cheat and find out if later instalments conveniently forget how important a certain character was to Odd and was pleasantly surprised to learn that apparently he doesn't become the supernatural equivalent of B.J. McKay. Without the "bear". Or the truck.

[LeMarchand]

Ghostbusters (2016)

 

Enjoyable semi-remake. Not one I'd say "rush out and see" but if you were planning on doing so, you definitely should.

 

There's a post-credits sequence, but I didn't think it was worth the wait. The "during the credits" bits are amusing (and should've been it the film, but it's close to 2h as is).