What was the last movie you watched?

Payback is a great 70's crime film homage and Gibson is perfect in the role. Another from his comeback era is the preceding Conspiracy Theory which I recently rewatched. (The scene w/ Patrick Stewart and the therapy pool is as comedic as it is horrifying.) I think Payback just line jumped other films, I can sit down in front of it again.

If you like "Payback", you should check out "Point Blank" (1967), the film that Payback was based on. Lee Marvin starred in the Mel Gibson part. Excellent film.
 
If you like "Payback", you should check out "Point Blank" (1967), the film that Payback was based on. Lee Marvin starred in the Mel Gibson part. Excellent film.

I'll do that. I've seen it but it's been so long I've forgotten nearly everything about it. Shame on me too, I am a Lee Marvin fan.
 
On now

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I watched the new Ben-Hur. Been a fan of Heston's for forever. I couldn't help but compare the two. The new screenplay is too modern, typical of epic remakes nowadays, incredibly dumbed down for today's audience. One modern exception is Ridley's Kingdom Of Heaven. Back to Ben-Hur. I never read the book but this new film is utterly different than the 1959 film that won 11 Academy awards. This new film never had a chance. Almost cheesy in its approach and the way it plods along at two hours from scene to scene to scene.The revenge plot is what drives Ben-Hur to survive in the gallows for five years and that's it. Too shallow... I'll not give away everything because it does have some good moments, the chariot race one, but Judah does not return to Judaea the way I was expecting, as a Roman more powerful than Messala. This hurts the remake for me in a big way. I could go on but why? So it goes...

S.J.
 
Prisoners (2013) dir - Denis Villeneuve

I had seen some of his other films (Arrival, Sicario, Enemy - ugh!) and a number of folks seemed taken by "Prisoners" as well - so I put it on the Netflix disc list and it came Friday.
We thought it was kinda meh ... and we were taken as prisoners for 2 1/2 hours
the whole child kidnapping allowed all kinds of insane violence, repeat mcGuffins and distractions ...
Once we saw Melissa Leo we had a good idea where it was going, so at that point it was watching the writer's mechanisms play out, sadly for too long ...
But Gyllenhaal and Jackman had good parts - Jackman was miserable!!
 
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I watched the new Ben-Hur. Been a fan of Heston's for forever. I couldn't help but compare the two. The new screenplay is too modern, typical of epic remakes nowadays, incredibly dumbed down for today's audience. One modern exception is Ridley's Kingdom Of Heaven. Back to Ben-Hur. I never read the book but this new film is utterly different than the 1959 film that won 11 Academy awards. This new film never had a chance. Almost cheesy in its approach and the way it plods along at two hours from scene to scene to scene.The revenge plot is what drives Ben-Hur to survive in the gallows for five years and that's it. Too shallow... I'll not give away everything because it does have some good moments, the chariot race one, but Judah does not return to Judaea the way I was expecting, as a Roman more powerful than Messala. This hurts the remake for me in a big way. I could go on but why? So it goes...

S.J.
Sounds like an articulate opinion. Where remakes have an inbuilt disadvantage is that they will inevitably be compared to the other version. If the prior version is a stone cold All Time Classic firstly; the remake team would need to go above and beyond with the follow-up version. The remake had better hit every ball out of the park or it fails. Secondly; If the original was gloriously exceptionally well done, why **** with the formula? Leave it alone. No remake.
 
Sounds like an articulate opinion. Where remakes have an inbuilt disadvantage is that they will inevitably be compared to the other version. If the prior version is a stone cold All Time Classic firstly; the remake team would need to go above and beyond with the follow-up version. The remake had better hit every ball out of the park or it fails. Secondly; If the original was gloriously exceptionally well done, why **** with the formula? Leave it alone. No remake.

Well said. I can't argue any thing you wrote.

S.J.
 
1922
Steven King
Meh, not bad.

I.T.
Pierce Brosnan
He was exec director as well I believe.
Somewhat predictable but exciting none the less.
 
The Wizard Of Lies

Interesting portrayal of the events which preceded and followed the unmasking of Bernie Madoff. Very well done.

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The Elephant Man (1980)
(Anthony Hopkins, John Hurt, Anne Bancroft)

I never saw it before, it was on TV last night.

A nice "feel-good" movie which I enjoyed watching very much. Sad ending, but quite fitting (if I understood it well).

Recommended. :thumbsup:
 
I remember liking Conspiracy Theory and it being better than I expected. I'll have to watch it again, it's been years.

It is a really fun film and Stewart in his first role post ST:TNG (First Contact 1996). He clearly is shaking off Picard typecasting with a vengeance and is over the top. It is also a great snapshot of the time just prior to the internet explosion. Cell phones are there as is the web but neither are pervasive. The film starts off with Gibson surreptitiously mailing his conspiracy newsletter out via USPS which was the viable way to distribute info; deep web barely stirring. Two years later you get The Matrix and the web is well entrenched and usable by most at work if not at home too.
 
Prisoners (2013) dir - Denis Villeneuve

I had seen some of his other films (Arrival, Sicario, Enemy - ugh!) and a number of folks seemed taken by "Prisoners" as well - so I put it on the Netflix disc list and it came Friday.
We thought it was kinda meh ... and we were taken as prisoners for 2 1/2 hours
the whole child kidnapping allowed all kinds of insane violence, repeat mcGuffins and distractions ...
Once we saw Melissa Leo we had a good idea where it was going, so at that point it was watching the writer's mechanisms play out, sadly for too long ...
But Gyllenhaal and Jackman had good parts - Jackman was miserable!!

I've not seen Prisoners although it's one I should watch being both a Gyllenhall & Jackman fan. It was because of this director and 2 of his previous (Sicario & Arrival) that I really dragged my feet on his latest. Neither were bad they just weren't very good albeit beautifully filmed & framed. But I finally got out to see Blade Runner 2049 with my wife this weekend after reading the studio is drastically cutting its run.

It was great, I enjoyed every second, and the story matched the cinematography. Now I am an unabashed fan of the original Blade Runner so there was definitely bias to like it but my wife felt the same way and she is stone cold in her judgments. I will likely catch it again. It is truly spectacular on the big screen and perhaps one of the best movies I've seen in a theater in some time. Most of the 2015 & 2016 outings are completely forgotten.
 
"End Of Watch" (2012)

Jake Gyllenhall and Michael Pena are young LAPD officers assigned to patrol the gang-infested streets of South Central LA. Untainted by corruption (how refreshing !), the film revolves more around their friendship and their devotion to the job.
When they run afoul of some cartel members, drama and violence follow.

One of the best "cop drama" films in a long time, IMHO.
 
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