What MOVIE(s) have you been....seeing? watching?

Finally got around to watching Dredd (in 3D). I thought it was really great. I was already a Karl Urban fan so no surprise he rocked it.

Watched Kingsman a few months back. I hated pretty much everything about it. The entirely juvenile nature of it just didn't appeal to me I guess.

Kingsman was annoying because it couldn't figure out what kind of movie it wanted to be. It was tonally all over the place, never settling into anything.

The Gift: Jason Bateman and his wife move back to his old hometown and he runs into an old high school acquaintance, who becomes a bit overbearing. It has an interesting turn about halfway through, and a disturbing possible implication near the end, and in general was a very solid psychological thriller. But afterward I kept thinking of a couple things the characters did (or didn't do) that annoyed me, where if they had just done (or not done) that thing the outcome would have been very different. I guess a lot of movies are contrived that way, and people do make mistakes, but something about one of the main characters didn't ring true to me, as far as how they acted. I'm being vague because it is definitely worth seeing and there are some interesting reveals.

The Visit: A return to decent form for Shyamalan, though like The Gift, there are some contrived head scratcher moments. Yes, there is a Syhamalanic twist, and it's well done and was unexpected to me, as I was thinking the film would play out in a very different way just before that point. There's a quirky feel between being a lighter look at old folks and something more genuinely sinister, but it definitely has a dark side. I wouldn't say it's fantastic... in some respects it's kind of goofy... but it was pretty entertaining and should get M. Knight some better directing opportunities again.

Those are both movies I really want to see. I read both your reviews and I can't decide if you liked them or no. I heard The Gift is great, heard nothing about the visit, had no idea it was Shyamalan

Liked them both, quite a bit, with some reservations or issues. Not sure either are really worth big screen viewing, but should do very well as rentals or VOD at home.

I was going to see Everest today but it was only in IMAX 3D this week. Probably good to see on IMAX, but I really didn't want the 3D. So I opted for The Visit, which was a fun enough diversion for a couple hours.

Previews: The Revenant looks great. Crimson Peak, the gothic horror film by Guillermo del Toro looks like it might be good, but despite some cool creepy visuals (par for del Toro), I'm not sure that the trailer is selling me on the story aspect. H8ful Eight looks like a really fun Tarantino romp.

My wife had bought a physical dvd of "He's just not that into you" and I was fairly depressed so I watched it. I really like movies with interwoven story lines--part of my brain is just drawn to them. So even though it wasn't an amazing movie, it was the movie I needed to watch for some reason.

Finally saw Blue Velvet. More here , but the short version is:

1) "erotic" thriller? Uhhh...sure, okay (backs away slowly)
2) Can see why it blew minds in 1986
3) kind of loses steam at the end, doesn't really sell the resolution

Southpaw was fine. Jake Gyllenhaal was great of course. Every boxing movie follows such a similar structure though and never really offer any surprises.

There wasn't a darn thing on at the first-run theaters that I wanted to see, so it looked like a trip to the discount cinema. I couldn't talk my daughter into seeing Mad Max on the big screen yet again, so we ended up watching Age of Ultron again. I think 'competent' might be the best word for it. For me, it's not nearly as good as Winter Soldier, and is better than Iron Man 2.

After the pretty decent showing of The Visit the other day, I decided to give Shyamalan's The Village another chance (it's on Netflix now). That movie is where it really turned sour for him, and at the time I agreed that it was pretty weak. (I didn't love Signs, either, but it had some great moments.) But I've heard a few people praising it recently, so I thought I should give it a spin again. Well, given some time and a different kind of perspective (knowing what the twist was) and far less expectations, I found a lot to like this time. I think the way they marketed it, essentially as a horror film, was a huge mistake, and probably contributed to its failure. There's a pretty good level of thought in the script and premise, dealing with fear and insecurity and some underlying religious/political propaganda implications. The cast is amazing, geez... William Hurt, Adrian Brody, Joaquin Phoenix, Sigourney Weaver. It's heavy handed in the dialogue, and no doubt some levity would have helped a lot. Usually Shyamalan is good about adding that, but I think he failed here in that respect. But I appreciated the story of it this time. Still weaker and flawed compared to his earlier successes, but maybe worth another look.

Finally watched Tree of Life, which I'd been meaning to for what, four years. Whew. Don't even know what to say, but it's powerful and beautiful and frustrating and transcendent and indulgent and all of that. More like poetry than anything really narrative driven, but man, some really poignant moments here and there. Hey Barney, have you seen that? I found a post where you had listed it in that year's Oscar noms and you only said "ugh." I was surprised, as I know how much you love Boyhood, and I thought Tree of Life was very much in that vein. Sure, Tree of Life also has the artsy-fartsy stuff and is much more enigmatic at times, but the core of the film is the childhood and growth of the kid, and there are some similarly wonderful moments like in Boyhood as he's dealing with his life and father and the usual kid stuff.

I couldn't get through it. But with your write up, maybe I'll give it another go. I just really don't dig that guys movies at all

On the village, yeah the marketing was all off on that one. I think it’s Ok, it was just his first disappointment. I think things didn't start really turning on him until lady in the water

Grudunza wrote: Finally watched Tree of Life, which I'd been meaning to for what, four years. Whew. Don't even know what to say, but it's powerful and beautiful and frustrating and transcendent and indulgent and all of that. More like poetry than anything really narrative driven, but man, some really poignant moments here and there.

I completely agree. I even said the exact same thing about it being "poetry." I thought it was a phenomenal film.

Yeah, Barney. Maybe have another look. It's not nearly as linear as Boyhood, and there's the whole kind of poetic layer that is not going to be to everyone's taste, but the main part of the film (the second half, mostly) is really quite similar to Boyhood with some of the feelings and situations it evokes and describes. A different era, of course, but covering some similar ground in terms of life experience. Anyway, I thought of you when I saw that. Awwww... :oP

awwwwww, thanks I hope it didn't pull you out of the movie

Black Barney wrote: awwwwww, thanks I hope it didn't pull you out of the movie

Ha, yes. As my soul was stirring from the existential weight of the imagery in the film, a sudden vision of Richard Simmons deeply disturbed my contemplation.