What are you watching right now?

[Sirgin]

Layer Cake - (2004) - B
--> Quirky odd action movie starring Daniel Craig. Interesting to see the pre-Bond Craig. The movie doesn't take itself too seriously, which is a good thing.

The Brothers Grimm - (2005) - B-
--> I think I was about 15 minutes into this movie until I realized I was watching the late Heath Ledger. Time flies. He's been dead for over 10 years. As far as this movie goes, it's just about "ok", however the visual effects really haven't held up too well.

Ghost in the Shell - (1995) - A
--> The atmosphere in some of the scenes is still top-notch. It really is all in the music, the static scenes, the bravado of the director to dare to let shots linger than usual. Then realizing this inspired a whole generation of movies, including The Matrix, this truly is a masterpiece that was 10 years ahead of its time.

The Big Wedding - (2013) - C-
--> Typical chick flick romcom stuff. Some good actors in this, but it doesn't manage to elevate itself beyond the typical genre fare.

Mrs. Winterbourne - (1996) - C+
--> More of the same, right after The Big Wedding. This movie has more charm and feels less generic. Some of the scenes feel a bit forced. Brendan Fraser before The Mummy is akin to Craig before Bond.

Last Knights - (2015) - B-
--> This is some pretty trippy plot & seemingly random group of actors. Why does Clive Owen have this "psychopath" vibe in some of his scenes? Maybe some would call it "intensity", I'm not sure. I noticed the same in Closer.

Im Labyrinth des Schweigens - (2014) - A-
--> Great psychological drama about Nazi denial in post-war Germany.

The Grand Budapest Hotel - (2014) - A+
--> So stylistic, so enthralling. Wes Anderson has mastered his craft. Already saw this, but once I stumbled on it, I couldn't look away.

Toy Story - (1995) - A++
--> The start of a genre!

Truman - (2015) - B+
--> Touching comedy drama about when life's days are numbered.

Cleopatra - (1963) - B-
--> Not a bad movie, but man oh man, did they really have to make this 248 minutes long?!? With some movies you feel they could have been improved had the editor shaved off 10-15 minutes. With this one, they could have easily cut 60-80 minutes and probably end up with a better movie. I watched it in about 3 sittings, which says enough.

[Ghost Soldier]

Dead Files

[Ghost Soldier]

Clue

The Warriors

[kaysow]

Kong: Skull Island 2/5
Thought it was decently entertaining while watching, but I had zero expecations and I've already forgotten everything about it.

Ghost in the Shell (2017) 1/5
I was mostly angry the whole time at how they took so many iconic elements from all the original stories and just mashed them together to rip off Robocop. It's no Super Mario Bros but it's been a long time since I saw someone misunderstand the original material this badly.

Blade Runner 2049 3/5
Kept my interest throughout. I enjoyed it a lot more than the first one.

Alien: Covenant 2/5
Ridley Scott's films are always atmospheric and pretty but the script and characters usually start to fall apart before the end.

[bombatomba]

Alien: Covenant 2/5
Ridley Scott's films are always atmospheric and pretty but the script and characters usually start to fall apart before the end.

I really don't understand why people fawn over this movie.  The most interesting parts of the flick occur early on and the whole thing just craps out.  It kind of killed any further interest in the series (at least anything written by Scott).

I was watching the ProJared review on the original Final Fantasy, then thirteen year-old my son came downstairs and poured himself cereal.  Apparently he now has a mustache.  Now I am watching that.

[MetalFRO]

Ghost in the Shell (2017) 1/5
I was mostly angry the whole time at how they took so many iconic elements from all the original stories and just mashed them together to rip off Robocop. It's no Super Mario Bros but it's been a long time since I saw someone misunderstand the original material this badly.

I rather liked the GITS live-action movie. Yes, they took liberties with the story, but I felt like it was an interesting take on the ideas in the anime. Yes, I know the anime was based on a manga, but I've never read it, and have only seen the original anime adaptation. But I thought it was a good movie on its own merits.

I'm finally watching through The Office on Netflix. I never understood the show's appeal before, but now that I'm 5 seasons in, I'm really enjoying it. It's definitely a show you have to invest time into in order to get into the flow, and to become invested in the characters.

[kaysow]

I rather liked the GITS live-action movie. Yes, they took liberties with the story, but I felt like it was an interesting take on the ideas in the anime. Yes, I know the anime was based on a manga, but I've never read it, and have only seen the original anime adaptation. But I thought it was a good movie on its own merits.

I'm probably way too in love with the 1995 movie to appreciate another artistic interpretation of it. But the way I see it, GitS usually operates like a crime thriller or TV police drama where they rarely focus on the main cast and their backstories. Instead they go all-in on the case at hand. Most of the time they're deliberately trying to keep the Section 9 members' origins a mystery, although the level of secrecy varies between all the different adaptations. But in everything I've seen, the mystery of the Major herself is always strictly off-limits. Until this movie, which is all about the one subject every previous adaption has taken great care to avoid.

Anyway, I probably shouldn't say too much more about the movie since I was neither sober nor paying close attention throughout most of it =) and granted I haven't seen Arise or read the second manga so maybe this is more reminiscent of those.

[bombatomba]

The Justice League.   Unlike the rest of the most recent DC films, I felt like multiple watches of the films has actually made Justice League less enjoyable for me.  Take Batman V. Superman; I'm about eleven watches in and I'm really starting to like it (wacky LL characterizations aside), but every time I watch Justice League I see more MCU film influence.  It felt like they tried to sandwich three movies into two hours is all.

I'll try watching it a couple more times and see if it gets any better.

[Sirgin]

Wow, haven't posted in here in ages - so here goes.

The Lone Ranger - (2013) - B-
--> This is an enjoyable action comedy. Not sure why it got so many bad reviews.

Chef - (2014) - B+
--> Road trip / midlife crisis movie about a chef who changes his life around. Good movie.

What's Eating Gilbert Grape - (1993) - A
--> Terrific drama, made in the traditional way. Excellent performances by Depp and DiCaprio.

Testament of Youth - (2014) - B+
--> Adaptation of the 1933 novel by Vera Brittain, poet & pacifist. The movie recalls the WWI period in which her friends all went to fight in the war & died.

Lawless - (2012) - B
--> Three brothers run a moonshine business in Virginia, trying to stay away from the law.

Easy Money - (2010) - B
--> Swedish movie about a young man who gets involved with the wrong crowd, trying to make, ahem, easy money. You can guess the rest.

Escape from Alcatraz - (1979) - A
--> These types of roles were just made for Clint Eastwood. The title says it all.

Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy - (2011) - B-
--> Interesting spy movie, well made, but suffers from a needlessly complex plot. I think it could have been stronger with a more focussed story.

Steamboy - (2004) - A-
--> Love this anime movie. The drawing style in combination with the CGI works really well and is visually splendid.

Mr. Holmes - (2015) - B+
--> Ian McKellen plays an elder Sherlock Holmes, struggling with his failing memory, who is dragged out of retirement for a new case.

The Hundred-Foot Journey - (2014) - C
--> Family comedy film about an Indian family starting a restaurant in a rural French town.

[Ghost Soldier]

The Goonies

[Zagnorch]

Going through the Rocky movies over the week. Watched the first one last night, will be checking out Rocky II tonight, Rocky III tomorrow night, and so on, all the way to Creed I. And yes, this slow-motion movie marathon will include Rocky V.

[Zagnorch]

Reruns of MXC on YouTube.

[Ghost Soldier]

House and afterwards I plan on watching The Fog

[Zagnorch]

Now THIS is a special edition of the Star Wars saga I can really get behind:

[Zagnorch]

I'm currently marathoning the entire prior season of my favorite documentary series, Air Disasters (formerly Air Crash Investigation). First up is TWA Flight 800; this one's gonna be a laugh-a-minute for sure!