Last movie you watched......

The first one was the only one worth seeing.

 

Star Trek was great. Better than Ironman3. As good as Star Trek 1

 

I inadvertently discovered a Memorial Day commemoration via Comcast On Demand last night. Check out "Area 60," an HBO documentary about the section of Arlington National Cemetery devoted to Iraq and Afghanistan deaths. I bawled.

 

I saw the third installment last night on a whim and IMO it was better than two. The first was a good watch.

 

I see only a couple movies a year in theaters any more, and unfortunately -- not by choice, obviously -- Iron Maiden 3 was one of them.

I'm so sick of this 21st century influx of mediocre comic-book-based movies that aren't really true to the books, aren't really interesting for us normal people, but somehow still get decent reviews and huge crowds.

It's a shame greater America doesn't give a shit about real writing, real stories, real messages. Comic books are not books. And even THOSE aren't good enough to be followed faithfully by the parasites who make these awful moving pictures.

 

Broken City on demand last night. Outstanding cast, and yet it still did not command my attention.

 

Yeah, caught the third one yesterday just because I needed to kill time between games at a baseball tournament. Galifinakis was great in III. Not a great movie by any stretch, but it had its moments. Melissa McCarthy was a welcome addition.

 

* Elvis & Annabelle, a quirky rom-drama (is that a phrase yet?) with Max Minghella & Blake Lively. Lively, who I don't like in many roles, was decent to good in this one. Awkward "storyline" — he's a mortician who brings her back to life by kissing her — and Joe Mantegna is very good as Minghella's father.
* Another off-the-wall movie came on right afterward, Daydream Nation. Odd relationship piece with Kat Dennings & Josh Lucas as student and teacher.

 

Saw Star Trek: Into Darkness last weekend and liked it, although not quite as much as the 2009 reboot version. Still, I'm a bona fide Star Trek geek and it takes a lot for me to dislike anything related to it. I'd willingly watch it again as a fun, interesting movie for someone who likes that kind of stuff.

Watched Silver Linings Playbook last night on DVD and thought it was kind of stupid. I got it but just thought it was weak, dull and dumb. I don't know how it could have been a nominee for Best Picture.

 

Technically, comic books are books. There are comic books with well-crafted stories that make a point and challenge the reader. Usually not the mainstream stuff, but it is there, too. And there is plenty of crap out there that you would consider a "real" book that doesn't even come close.

It reminds me of when my wife instituted a "real people" rule if she was going to watch television with our daughter. As in nothing animated. Of course, some of the animated stuff out there is clever and there are plenty of shows out there that aren't animated that are complete shit.

Just because a movie is based on a comic book doesn't mean it has to follow the material faithfully. There are some damn good X-Men stories that haven't been in any of the movies, but X-Men: First Class didn't really follow any of them and it worked anyway.

But if you go in with the idea that all comic books are crap, let's just say you aren't the target audience for any of the movies based on comics. So you enjoy your attitude and I'll enjoy the movies.

 

This seems to be the general consensus on The Internet. Two is just a straight-up money grab, and while the third is just OK, at least they kind of gave a crap.

The original Hangover kind of reminded me of Old School, in that they weren't really traditionally good movies, they were just aiming for the most laughs in a 90-minute span. I loved Old School, but I don't think I would have wanted to see those characters in another 90-minute installment. (And I can understand if people have similar thoughts about Anchorman 2, but I think the subject matter of spoofing TV news is probably rich enough to do as many as they want, as long as they keep going forward in time.)

 

Yeah, it was OK until they turned Rage Against the War Machine into Iron Patriot; at that point, they might as well called in Judas Priest to give it last rites.

[/smartass]