Lighting definitely brings cinematic feel, yeah.

If lit correctly, you could easily bring a DSLR to a film set and have the film-feel on the footage.
And if lit largely incorrect, a cinema camera could produce pretty bad images.

Spectre (2015) - 5/10 (7.1)

Unfocused enough to lack immersive qualities, and the tone is all over the place. Sometimes goofy, tension-less action mixes with fairly long stretches of time where the, admittedly, nice cinematography is the only really impressive thing on display. Multiple villains, techno-babble plot, and a criminally underused Christoph Waltz playing a character lacking any depth on paper.
I'm trying to think of a scene from the film, but most of it is already gone from my memory.
Highlight of the film is the sweeping opening section with some very impressive camerawork and choreography, and atmosphere.

American Ultra (2015) - 5/10 (6.1)

Has a certain charm at times, but this is not a tight film. Direction seems generally aimless, Only some good performances, one which belongs to Kristen Stewart. Writing is derivative, and whatever wit exists on paper either direction or the actors often fail to really sell.

The Man from U.N.C.L.E. (2015) - 7/10 (7.4)

Quite enjoyable. Feels generally conventional, safe, and sometimes artificial in plotting, character dynamics or presentation in a kind of "Oceans Twelve - we're just cool dudes riffing and having fun" kind of way. However I was not bored watching this, and I wouldn't mind a sequel at all.

Ringu (1998) - 7/10 (7.3)

Today not as mind-blowing as it might have been when it came out, but it's a tight horror story with a refreshingly sparse, downtuned and relaxed feel. Very well directed for the most part. Often much is conveyed with very little.

Poltergeist (2015) - 3/10 (5.0)

This remake can go die in a pool filled with skeletons. Astonishingly inferior in every single way to the original. Uninspired, lazy, flat, anorexic film.

Madeo (2009) - 9/10 (7.8)

Bong Joon-Ho is probably in my top 3 favourite directors at the moment. I really like "Snowpiercer" and I love "Memories of Murder", and this film is pretty much a perfect gem aswell. A mother must try to clear her son of murder charges. Acting is superb, cinematography is just so damn good. Story has twists, and yet feels natural and not convoluted.

Direction however is the highlight. Bong Joon-Ho is a real master of tone. It's a surreal mix of drama, comedy, absurd situations, slapstick, gripping emotion and violence. The movie can effortlessly have several of these existing simultaneously in a scene, and it's effortlessly clear what the intention of it is.

Very, very recommended.

Yes! He made that clear-as-hell in Inglourious Basterds, but for some reason we still aren't treating these most recent 3 movies as anything other than surface (which is bullshit, 'cause they're very smart films). All this talk of "[such-and-such] is played for laughs and it's disgusting" is just malarkey and says more about the audience than the film.
I think The Hateful Eight is an excellent film, but I also have a feeling that I know there's certain people I'll enjoy talking about it with, and certain people I'd hate trying to talk to about it!

Disclaimer: if you dislike the tone of a post I make, re-read it in a North/East London accent until it sounds sufficiently playful

Snail recommended "Thirteen Days" which is about the Cuban Missile Crisis with Bruce Greenwood as Kennedy. For a film about old guys having meetings it was really well done.

Non-stop, Edge of you're seat... Meetings...

"Life is about movies; anything else is a bonus!"- Me   

11/10.

Holy fuck. This is what I've been waiting for: a great Mars movie.

A while back, I mentioned that I don't like most Mars movies that have been thrown at us. Mission To Mars, Red Planet, Doom, The Last Days On Mars, John Carter and Ghosts Of Mars were all unsatisfying to me. The Martian, on the other hand, fires on all cylinders - there's some humor, lots of thrills and magnificent scenery porn. Ridley Scott is cool again.

Highly recommended.

Crimson Peak - it's all production design. Victorian Gothic imagery cranked up to 11. Same ol' plot as dozens of other supernatural horror stories, and lamely executed at that. Not sure what the point was. But nice to look at. Graded to an inch of its life. If you like the lead, see her in Stoker - a better story.

I finally watched this one a couple months back and it pretty much immediately became of my favorite "these" movies. There's this and Cabin in The Woods, that's about it.

I have to admit I didn't care that much for Cabin in the Woods (liked it, didn't love it) but Tucker and Dale could quickly become one of these comfy movies I could watch again and again (thus joining Die Hard and The Princess Bride, amongst others).

Hardcore Henry

Fun. I don't really get motion sick, so I didn't have any issues with that, though my wife was uncomfortable by the end. The movie would have done well to slow down a few more times - let the plot stew a bit more at times, and take a breather in the middle of a few action scenes (especially the last one) to let us regain our spatial awareness. The movie doesn't try to hide cuts, though time flows well through the movie, but the cuts are disorienting in the two darker fight scenes.

Now I said I didn't get motion sick, but during one of the climbing sequences I did get a tiny bit of vertigo. If in doubt, sit towards the back of the theater.

The two best bits in the movie were the horse and Sharlto Copley.