Last movie you watched......

ID4 was filmed on the lot where I work; the sets looked rather hokey, although they made a moonscape that looked pretty cool in a "Danger Will Robinson" sort of way.

 

Zootopia on DVD last night. Pretty good movie, with some heavy social commentary, particularly given current political issues.

 

I agree, though I'll say this: They are dated, and I don't really mean that as a criticism. It came out in 1996, and as far as I could tell the visuals were cutting edge at the time. SGI has come a long way since then. I have a theory that we as a viewing public have become so saturated in the TV and movie programming we see that our eyes have become more adept at spotting flaws, and if you're watching something that came out 20 years ago, they're going to look more dated than perhaps they really are.

 

Went with the wife to see The Shallows.
Not bad. Not at all what I was expecting. It's a mashup of a lot of movies -- Jaws, Castaway, Open Water, The Blair Witch Project, 127 Hours and Soul Surfer were some of the easier ones to spot -- but it somehow pulls them all together in the right amounts without overdoing any of them.
I kept waiting for it to turn into a schlocky SyFy movie with killer sharks, or some horror plot about the creepy Mexican guy from the trailer leading her there for a sacrifice or something. A found footage angle at the beginning didn't give me high hopes, either. But, somehow, it stayed a straightforward survival story that had some nice (if overdone) cinematography and plenty of gratuitous shots of Blake Lively's bikini-clad ass to help you get through the slow parts.
It's not winning any Academy Awards, but I've seen worse.

 

Parts of the ID4 effects still look great because they were blowing up models. There is a little dodgy CGI, but some of the worst shots are real effects that were poorly composited with different elements to make one shot. Like the Empire State Building getting blow to hell looks great on its own, but composed with extras running down a street that's clearly on a lot, and then composed with either more skyscraper models or matte painted backgrounds .... it starts to fall apart. I don't think you have to know much about filmmaking to see that disconnect.

Anyway, I loved the sequel. Dumb, fun, popcorn summer movie without superheroes. Remember that? Damn, I loved the mid-90s. The Rock, Con Air, Face/Off, Die Hard With a Vengeange.... I miss old school action flicks without superheroes.

And disaster flicks! Volcano, Dante's Peak, Deep Impact, Armageddon, Daylight. So bad, but I love 'em.

Maybe it makes me a shithead, but I'm not upset about mass destruction in disaster flicks. I love 'em. I'm ok if people label it disaster porn. Because it's just a fuckin movie. It's not real. Those people are fine.

Too bad ID2 will flop. Guess we'll get more superheroes.

 

In a new town for the next two years and I found my movie theater yesterday. I want to see "Finding Dory" (and have no problem going by myself) but apparently what's coming here translates to "Fish Dora Lost."

 

I know some people who hate the original. I thought it was kind of cheesy fun. But it did seems to teeter between being a popcorn movie and being a darker save the earth movie.

Some scenes seem straight out of X-Files and others I can't remember if they were from Independence Day or Mars Attacks!

So I think that sense of "what the hell is this movie trying to be?" turns some off.

 

Took family to ID this weekend and I found it simple, good, summer theater fun. Some decent lines (which keeps Goldblum employed).

 

Free State of Jones matinee today. If historical gorefests are your thing, then this movie is for you. Felt a little bit long, and there were a couple of scenes that really felt like you stumbled onto a movie set during filming. That said, interesting angle on the Civil War.

Also, a new wrinkle on previews. This was a Regal Cinemas theatre and there was a tie-in, but they had Spielberg introduce the preview for BFG and Nate Parker introduced Birth of a Nation. Wonder if other theatre chains are doing this.

 

Saw it today, and I second just about all of this. One scene to me - and I won't put it here in the interest of avoiding a spoiler - really strained the limits of suspension of disbelief, but overall, fairly intense and entertaining movie.

 

Trumbo.

 

Trainwreck.. The Amy Schumer comedy.

LeBron and Cena were funny. Nice turn by Colin Quinn as well... The rest? Not so much.
Not real funny, I LOL'd, maybe twice.

Didn't recognize Tilda Swinton in the movie.