Watched any good movies recently?

[Dong Zhou]

I doubt some of them would be villains DC would ever want to use in their own films. In terms of those they would have wanted, I used to think that "best they get their own film" but guardians of galaxy introduced a whole set of characters (bar a weak villain) successfully in a franchise few had heard of and made them really popular so I can see how it could work.

[Sun Fin]

But my understanding of Guardians is that they have always been a team, a large part of who they are is shaped by the team dynamic whereas all the Suicide Squad members are characters in their own right. I see it as like the difference between the Fantastic Four and the Avengers.

[Zyzyfer]

While we're on the comic book movie kick...

Watched Logan. It's apparently based on the Old Man Logan comic books. Stars Hugh Jackman, Patrick Stewart, and a spooky Dafne Keen. It's 2029 and Wolverine's powers seem to be failing him as he cares for the ailing Charles Xavier and works as a chauffeur. But things take a new turn when a woman approaches him, asking for him to escort her and a child somewhere.

Without going into spoilerific specifics, It's a good send-off for Hugh Jackman's Wolverine. Patrick Stewart is great in this, it's probably the first time I've seen him let his invisible hair down for a role in quite some time (if ever?). Dafne Keen is OK, although I have a feeling she is going to end up getting the Hit-Girl treatment soon enough.

The plot was OK. Pretty much any review is going to highlight inconsistencies within the franchise, though. And it kind of leaves you with more questions than answers by the end, for better or worse.

I felt the violent aspects of the film were overrated, Deadpool was way bloodier.

The main killer for me is the hype surrounding the movie. It's better than a lot of the comic book stinkers out there, and it's an excellent entry in the X-Men franchise, but personally I didn't feel it fell into the "top comic book movie" tier that seems a common claim. Part of me thinks I may have felt more strongly about it if I had seen it in the theater?

Verdict: While it's good, I think it's a bit over-hyped right now.

[Dong Zhou]

I do find with really popular/critically loved superhero films, they are never quite as awesome when I watch them.

Watched J. J. Abrams sci-fi nod to the past/Steven Spielberg Super 8. Premise: In the summer of 1979, young Joe (Joel Courtney) is mourning his mother and living with his distant policeman father (Kyle Chandler), working on his friend's Charles Kaznyk's (Riley Griffiths) film when they witness a train crash....

The first half is very good, the cast with a mix of recognisable faces and young cast all performing well, the story of Joe and his father well done, manages to create a sense of a small town as one sees glimpses of people like the Kaznyk family. The attempts to create Charles film is fun with the group: Cary (Ryan Lee), Martin (Gabriel Basso) and Preston (Zach Mills) feel like friends, teasing, knowing each other, squabbling. Add in the impact of a girl Alle (Elle Fanning) to the mix and it a good combination, there is a nice romance. When films goes away from character stuff, Abrams shows some flair, it creates a sense of mystery and the "less is sometimes more" principle works really well.

Unfortunately the second half shifts to a lot less character stuff to the point where it feels like the group would be helped by removing one character to help others get more time, attempts to build further relations don't quite come off, idea's aren't fully explored. Instead the film concentrates on the mystery with a lot of running around and why "more is not always a good idea", the mystery became a lot less intresting and the action was boring. Ending didn't quite feel earned but loved the scene in the credits.

6.5

[Zyzyfer]

I just think Logan reviews put it slightly too high, Rotten Tomatoes has it at 92% which seems a bit over the top. I'd put it high 70s/low 80s at most due to the subject matter not being accessible to a broad audience. I think the high scores might be due to overreaction as Fox often makes some bizarre plot choices in their movies, but played it straight here.

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Super 8 for me was one of those films where yeah, it starts off promising but veers off into the uninteresting. It doesn't help that it has shades of

Cloverfield

in it.

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Stumbled on Infinitely Polar Bear on the television last night. It's kind of an autobiographical piece/memoir to the father of the director, Maya Forbes, who had bipolar disorder. Stars Mark Ruffalo and Zoe Saldana, with Imogene Wolodarsky (Forbes' daughter) and Ashley Aufderheide rounding out things as their daughters, Amelia and Faith.

Based in Boston in the late 1970s. After suffering a breakdown, Cameron (Ruffalo) loses his job and is institutionalized for a time. Upon his release, he tries to reconcile with his family but wife Maggie (Saldana) is hesitant to pick up where they left off. But when Maggie gets an opportunity to go to grad school in New York and weighs the options, she asks Cameron if he would be willing to step in and care for the children while she studies. Cameron reluctantly agrees, hesitant because of the commitment it would require on his part and still unsure of himself and his condition.

Although it deals with some very serious issues, the tone stays very light and airy and the movie flies by. The dynamic between Cameron and his daughters in particular is very eccentric yet warm and kept us chuckling. Ruffalo is fantastic all around in this and really carries the movie, this may be the best work I've seen from him. He somehow manages to balance the unsavory characteristics alongside Cameron's love for his children very well. It's also refreshing to see Saldana in a role that lets her stretch her legs a bit, although her performance is somewhat muted in comparison.

I also enjoyed the setting, as someone born in 1979 and who had a similar upbringing, certain scenes in particular resonated a lot with me.

The only nitpick from me would be that it never deeply delves into the painful side of things, whenever things start to go south, the boat rights itself pretty quickly.

Verdict: Worth a watch.

[Sakae Wu]

Ruffalo is fantastic all around in this and really carries the movie, this may be the best work I've seen from him. He somehow manages to balance the unsavory characteristics alongside Cameron's love for his children very well.

Verdict: Worth a watch.

A spot on review I'd say, I especially agree with the above part. I just watched this last week on the Star channel here in Japan even though I don't usually care for these kind of flicks.
I've always liked Ruffalo since Shutter Island and this one was probably the most impressive I've seen of him.
He's kind of a screw up but you can see the genuine warmth and love he has for his children.

One part I didn't really care for was him always having a cigarette in his mouth or hand. Not that I mind smokers at all, but after awhile it seemed to come across as a prop rather than a natural act for him.
But just a small critique in a outstanding performance.

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Another one I just watched is a pretty obscure movie called A Scene at the Sea
1991 (Japan) director: Takeshi Kitano

It's basically a story of a hearing impaired young man who dreams of being a professional surfer. His girlfriend, who is also similarly handicapped is trying to keep the relationship together despite his increasing single mindedness.

It's a little bittersweet and kinda sad at times, but I enjoyed it nonetheless. Very little dialogue throughout the movie and I was impressed at how expressions and body language can have such an impact in interactions. Definitely not your run of the mill type movie.
Also, a good soundtrack featuring Joe Hisaishi

8/10

[Zyzyfer]

Yeah the smoking thing, I couldn't really put my finger on the purpose of it, except perhaps to maybe establish something about the time period, like how it was right on the cusp of the shift to the non-smoking movement in the US, perhaps. Another consideration I had was maybe it had something to do with his bipolar, but that doesn't really make much sense when I think about it. I also considered foreshadowing but that wasn't the case at all.

Anecdotally, when I was growing up, everyone around me was smoking, and if I were making an autobiographical movie with my mother in it and wanted everything to be authentic, then yeah the actress would basically have to have a cigarette in her mouth at all times. Which yeah, basically turns it into some sort of prop for the actor since it wouldn't relate to anything meaningful.

And I don't usually go for this sort of film either. When it first came on, I got a vibe from it and changed the channel pretty quickly. We only went back to it a little later because nothing else was on. But it sucked us right in.

[Dong Zhou]

I get what you mean with Super-8.

Watched adaptation of Giambattista Basile's dark fairytales Tale of Tales telling three tales: One Queen (Salma Hayek) is desperate for a child, a lecherous King (Vincent Cassel) is enchanted by a beautiful singing voice of a lady he can't see and another King (Toby Jones) begins to neglect his daughter Violet (Bebe Cave) for a flea.

It is a film that is nice but is never quite right. Some impressive visual views in Italy yet also something harsh about them while when they animate animals, it looks fake. The film makes good use of height differences but bar Franco Pistoni's creepy sage, lacks a sense of tension or horror, some humour but rare. Cast do a good job with a mix of famous actors and local Italians, Cave and Pistoni do the best work

The stories are old so some of the mid story twists were predictable for me (though not my sister), they are well told in themselves though with very little connection to each other but it's format works badly against the film. One will get through a passage from one story and then jump to another story, constantly disrupting the rhythm. So one would be enjoying the story your on then suddenly on another and it took time to get back into the "current" story and for enjoyment to return, by the end there was enough adjusting periods that it left the film feeling long.

Both: 6.5

[Dong Zhou]

Watched The Addams Family, something I loved as a child and it has aged amazingly well, including visually (a few moments where age tells but most stands up). Perhaps due to age or amount of times I watched it when young, it isn't as funny now and Fester (Christopher Lloyd) takes awhile to get going

doesn't work as the baddie but does as he falls under the family's sway

but it still has a lot of charm and is well constructed. Their love of the dark side of things and strangeness still works very well, they are rarely mean (golfing aside, that feels mean-spirited) but I had forgotten how integrated into the community they are, they do normal things like charity auctions and it allows the film to twist normality further. They also have very strong sense of family, the kids feel like actual kids with their excitement and squabbles, it feels like a family and the great romance at it's heart with Anjelica Huston brilliant as Morticia. Also loved learning about family past with the graves, would love to have learnt more...

[Dong Zhou]

Tried Don't Breathe but left very early. The three robbers with a heart of gold really didn't click for me and neither did their scenes, felt I had seen versions of it before and done better. I meant to wait till they got in their target house but just got bored

In interests of fairness, I was later rather ill but I felt fine at the time.