Good grief, ya'll need to lighten up.
Though, Squiggly, sorry about your car. Deer suck. Did you at least get some meat?
Zootopia
Late to the party, and I don't care. This movie trades in Disney tropes, mocks them and fulfills them as well.

The protagonist is the likable Judy Hops, determined to be the first rabbit police officer. She meets resistance from pretty much everyone, and is desperate to prove herself. Along the way, she meets Nick, a fox who is the sarcastic cynic to Judy's optimism.

The film is a lot of fun, has a tone of inside jokes, and allusions to other movies, as well as some touching themes. It's on Netflix right now, so go watch it.

Ditto.  I think Zootopia is my fave film of 2016.   As for inside jokes - as a former longtime resident of Tujunga, CA, I loved the completely random reference to how nobody outside Tujunga seems to know how to pronounce Tujunga.

Now I'm mad DIF never did Space Jam.

Saw The Great Wall. Doesn't offer as many opportunities for such disturbing images, but I really enjoyed it nonetheless. I din't watch enough Chinese cinema to say that it definitely felt like a Chinese film vs. a Western one but it definitely had its moments. (I'm aware it's a Chinese production but I'm curious how much, if at all, it was Westernized in shooting.)

That was a fun pit. I also love that Alan Tudyk played a weasel, selling bootlegged  films, and on and on.

"What the fuck?"

Yes, strange premise. The trailer promises the weirdest film you've seen in a while: Paul Dano stranded on an island, finds a dead Daniel Radcliffe whom through bonding he can slowly bring back to life (and be multi-purpose: work as a fart-propelled speedboat, shoot stuff from his mouth, you name it).

Yes, it is that weird. But behind all this is a very deep film about embracing your weirdness and every part of you you're repressing in front of a judging society. It is a very intimate indie movie brilliantly acted, absurd, and dramatic. The directors said they wanted to make a movie where "the first fart makes you laugh and the last fart makes you cry." I think this nicely encapsulates what this movie is: much more than a 1h37 fart joke.

Teague is gonna have a fucking stroke.

I'm going to post further thoughts once I have the time to write a full length piece because this is the most aggressively useless movie maybe ever and I have feelings.

EDIT: Thoughts posted.

Last edited by Abbie (2017-03-18 05:49:44)

"The Jungle Book"
The more recent live action adaptation of a beloved Disney classic based upon a book, this film is quite well done. More so than just being a substitution of live action instead of animation, the film has its own narrative, that builds upon Mowgli's developing in to a greater awareness of the world. All the characters have their own unique feel, and even minor, bit parts, provide a great atmosphere of a lived in world.

While I enjoyed all of the casting, Idris Elba stood out as Shere Khan, and Christopher Walker as King Louie. It's also worth it to watch the credits as Walker delivers his rendition of "Want to be like You."

The film also does not dip in to musical territory. Instead, any songs that are sung come from the narrative, rather than being forced in over the story.

Finally, I really did not expect it to end the way it did, and it is certainly was a well done film. It's on Netflix in the US, so hopefully y'all get a chance to enjoy, if you haven't already and I'm just behind.

A

I agree. Saw it opening weekend, absolutely loved it. Great way for Jackman and Stewart to say farewell to their respective roles. I wouldn't say all comic book movies should share this tone or be this intense. I think I like having the fun Marvel movies we're used to. But movies like this certainly are a wonderful break from the monotony of action-driven blockbusters. It's icing on a cake.

I really think Logan could be compared to a game called the Last of Us. This movie technically doesn't take place in a post-apocalyptic world (well, ok, in a way it does HUEHUEHUE), but it does for mutants. It's a story of a small handful of mutants just trying to hang on to their lives and humanity by a thread.

I highly recommend to anyone who was on the fence. While, on the whole, I don't think the X-Men movies are as good as the MCU films, I give them credit for taking more risks, whereas MCU movies tend to stick with a formula.

What's the usual pallet cleanse between films?

"Central Intelligence"

If you saw the trailer at all, then you have a pretty good idea of what the film will be about. However, what saves this film from being a paint by numbers buddy-cop comedy is the chemistry between Johnson and Hart. The two play very well off of each other and have a lot of fun with a pretty typical flick.

I had a lot of fun with it, with several laugh out loud moments. If you don't watch it, at least search for the blooper reel. That was a lot of fun too.

You're right. Danielle Nicolet was fantastic and the therapy scene was hands down one of my favorites.

I agree that Dwayne Johnson's ditz bit was hard to swallow, but I also think he was trying to be insecure, which also does not fit him. But, I loved the ending.

Again, not a perfect film, but enjoyable enough for what it is.

I couldn't disagree more with either of you. Sorry, I thought that was just saying

I didn't like Saw at all, and felt he was a wasted character, especially for just being in Act 1, especially for how disjointed Act 1 was in editing. The rest of the characters were mixed, and while I didn't "like" most of them, I could at least appreciate their arcs and wanted to see the Rebels succeed-which is more than I could say for the Jedi in the PT.

That said, I do agree with Writhyn that the characters were at least interesting enough to keep me engaged in the film.