Last movie you watched......

Right, I know they couldn't pull everything from Old Man Logan, but maybe switch a few of those key points they put on film. I'm not talking about the super villains running everything or Hulk etc. They still did a remarkable job, don't get me wrong. They just switched a thing or two and yes, it all worked out.

 

I have more to say on that topic, but it should probably wait a bit for the spoilers.

One thing I forgot to mention. There are no mid-credit or post-credit scenes, which I like. I read that James Mangold said that they are expected these days was a good reason not to include one. I know it usually isn't practical, but I would love to see more movies put such scenes at the start rather than the finish as Logan does.

 

Get Out at 99% on RT is absurd.* It was slow for a long time and the ending felt rushed. The film didn't build up, it just jumped to the ending.

Maybe I missed something, maybe I wasn't in the mood, but it just stuns me that RT would determine that over 160 critics would have a positive review. The viewers score is 90%. Metacritic has it at 83 for critics and 6.7 for users.

*Anybody have a guess as to the one critic who didn't like it?

 

I looked it up so I won't spoil it here but out of curiosity I checked to see if he liked the Shack and was stunned to see he didn't review it.

 

Just noticed that 50 Shades of Grey is on E! tonight (at 6:30 Central?). How much editing had to be done to get that one to cable TV? Also, somehow, it's in a 150-minute block, so I'm guessing about 90 minutes of that is commercials.

 

Nothing like Good Will Hunting to make me feel like a tremendous waste of (modest) talent.

 

"Moonlight" deserved every accolade it got. The cinematography captured the viewer from the opening scene and the acting was tremendous. Trevante Rhodes was incredible as Black. I was amazed at his ability to look hard and tough as hell one moment and lose that facade almost instantly to become vulnerable to Kevin. It was a great piece of acting. Mahershala Ali and Naomie Harris were tremendous as well.

 

Do we know each other? I have a friend who is a movie critic and loves to use the word 'twee.'
I loved that it was unapologetic in its strangeness, yet wasn't strange simply for the sake of strangeness.
The 'Gilligan's Island' aspects of creating props didn't bother me at all. I completely gave over to it.
I will agree with your 'twee' comment with regard to its sentimentality. That is not a characteristic I find very palatable. However, I gave over to that as well because I intuitied a darker element coming as the ending pay off. The movie delivered that darker resolve at the end, which really worked for me, and then robbed it away with that final stroke of sentimentality.

Still strange and inventive and highly entertaining.

 

My friend always uses the word 'twee' with regard to Wes Anderson movies, and I love Wes Anderson's work.

 

I do, too. "The Life Aquatic" is one of my favorites.

 

I saw Logan last night. I don't read the comics and only peripherally know the X-Men story, but I thought it was good as a stand-alone. Easily the most violent movie I've seen in a long time, and I'm not saying that like it's a bad thing. I liked the end with the X.

 

Just watched "Dr. Strange" and it was decent, but not among my favorite Marvel films. Visuals were mostly really good, but obviously derivative of "Inception," and not as well done (some of the running while the cities folded up was unconvincing).

Strange is a cool character, but this film basically made him Kung Fu Panda in a cloak. His personality is basically the Tony Stark of the medical/sorcery fields.

Also, Michael Giacchino ripped off his own work from "Star Trek" in composing the film. I get that artists have their own style. You can tell an Ansel Adams photo or a Martin Scorsese film or an Andy Warhol painting, even if their subjects are wildly different. But unlike, for instance, John Williams or Danny Elfman - both of whom have recognizable styles that reverberate through distinctly different works - Giacchino's "Dr. Strange" score compared to the score for "Star Trek" sounds like Vanilla Ice's "Ice, Ice, Baby" to Queen/Bowie's "Under Pressure." If there's a difference, it's subtle enough to be basically unnoticeable.

I guess what I'm trying to say is that, for as fantastical and seemingly original as the film initially appears to be, it is really derivative in so many ways that I didn't feel like I was seeing anything new or inventive. I'm fairly surprised at the largely glowing reviews I've read here and elsewhere.