I just saw Kingsman, really enjoyed it. The kind of fun movie that doesn't take itself too seriously that most will bemoan for not insisting on forcing a gag every two minutes.

It's funny that when you put it in the context of the movie landscape, it's light-years better than anything else out there. When was the last blockbuster where people bleed gratuitously when they get hit, tight story pacing, good writing, economy of storytelling (they can't afford to use sweeping CG shots for no reason, so they make each of them count).

Wouldn't shock me if this is HBO testing the waters for eventually doing the series finale as a big summer movie release a week ahead of the TV broadcast.

What if Ned and Robert had said that about King's Landing?

Which, we know, cannot happen in GoT.

Not at all sure what I thought of this one. Some absolutely stunning/haunting visuals, but I can't decide whether it was ultimately great or a meandering bit of not-much-at-all. Shall have to mull it over.

Last edited by Abbie (2015-02-13 05:38:18)

Rewatched this, having not seen it since the 1995 cinema release.

I LIKE it! It's not superb, and the VFX mostly don't hold up, but in general, I'd watch it again. Robin Williams performs great, the kids too, even Kirsten Dunst performs really good. The story is exactly what you'd think, and I think it pays off quite nicely.

However, after checking out the cast for the spiritual successor, Zathura, I'm skipping that one.

Last edited by Tomahawk (2015-02-14 19:11:41)

Firefly and Serenity

Mmmm... That's the stuff. I finally got around to watching the series, and then the movie. Shame the show was cut so short, but the movie did a great job of wrapping it up.

THIRTEENTH FLOOR (1999)

Forgettable VR knock-off we've seen done better many times elsewhere (Tron, Matrix, Inception, etc). The visual style was channelling discount Blade Runner. It was like a pre-viz draft for a better movie still to be made with better actors. The love story was god-awful with zero-chemistry between zero-charisma leads. But always nice to see German actor Armin Mueller-Stahl, who did a bit of Hollywood in the late 90s. What happened to him?

The highlight was an appearance of Frank Lloyd Wright's Ennis House (channelling a Maya temple), which I hope to buy one day, and then you're all invited for a FIYH party.

Alright, my google-fu has entirely failed me. What the hell is an acid pool?

I'm assuming it's not some sort of James Bond-esque villain trap.

Star Trek Into Darkness.

Yep, I revisited it. I'm mildly adjusting my opinion, just due to the pacing of the film. The film can't be bothered to slow down enough for the emotional moments. I still find the characters very interesting, though, and quite enjoyable overall.

6/10

CITIZENFOUR

Important subject matter, but bland documentary. Any other subject matter, and this would have been boring. Why should Laura Poitras get the credit (Oscar, etc), because this subject sells itself. How do you tell the difference between Cinéma Vérité and laziness / incompetence?

If you compare it to Finding Vivian Maier (also in the running for Best Doco), you have the opposite situation: trivial subject matter (a weird nanny took good photos) but a brilliant documentary. My vote, if I had one, would go to John Maloof.

Anyway, if you're interested in the fact that the NSA if spying on you without your permission or official acknowledgement, I recommend the PBS Frontline doco: the United States of Secrets...
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline … f-secrets/

There's also a recent (last week) discussion of CitizenFour here (with Edward Snowden on Skype) here... hosted by David Carr (who died just hours later)....

http://timestalks.com/laura-poitras-gle … owden.html

I don't think I could disagree with you more if the Hadron Collider created a whole pocket universe that housed all infinite disagreement..  And I'm sorry to say this, but criticizing a director's efforts because "the subject sells itself," is incredibly ignorant of the process and lazy in and of itself.  I wish I had half the balls she had.  Every time her camera turned on, she ran the risk of being arrested.  Every time she boarded a plane, every time she sent an email, she had the spectre of arrest hanging over her.  I found the film the opposite of bland, and the fact that she managed to weave in a bit of a love story is impressive of itself. 

To be this reductive of a film that has a very deft directorial hand is something else.