The Unofficial Ongoing Current Movies in Theaters thread

[Hugh Conway]

Lovelace - Amanda Seyfried sucks a mean popsicle.

[PB]

Sci-fi, one of my favorite genres. ....almost always a letdown.


med-bays, got em in every home in elysium, but not even a single one on earth?!? dumb

The whole technology of Elysium seemed a hodge podge of improbables - the med-bay technology seemed so far above anything else, I could only conclude that visiting aliens had left them behind for some silly reason.

[dookeyXXX]

Finally saw Pacific Rim: Top Gun with giant robo and monsters. Great FX, but the character development was seriously lacking and the dialogue was pretty bad (not Transformers bad, but close...why can't they spring for a decent script to match the FX in films like these?)

Finally saw Iron Man Three: started out sluggish, but picked up nicely. Definitely an improvement over Two, but not as stellar as One. Still, it was one of the better "Summer Blockbusters" this year.

[pappag]

Saw Woody Allen's latest film, "Blue Jasmine", last night. While I'm slightly indifferent due to his way of just ending a movie without resolve, Cate Blanchett gave one hell of an Oscar-worthy performance. She goes through an incredible downward spiral similar to the Sara Goldfarb character in "Requiem for a Dream." Decent movie but wait for the DVD.

[LegoSkier]

Elysium was horrible. I am embarrassed for myself for spending money on that piece of shit. Hear I thought, hey its got Jodi Foster, she was in Contact which was one of the best scifi movies ever, its got Jason Bourne, and its by the District 9 dude which was a pretty decent movie, what can go wrong? Everything apparently.

[Chainsaw_Willie]

Funny, Elysium seems to be one of those love it or hate it movies. I've read a lot of really positive reviews of it too. One thing just about everyone seems to agree on though is that Jodi Foster sucks in it.

[SKIORFORGETIT]

I thought Wolverine sucked ass.

Want to see Jobs despite the horrible reviews on RT.

[dookeyXXX]

I rather enjoyed The Wolverine. I felt it managed to do what Ang Lee failed to do with his Hulk: it married action and romantic drama rather nicely. That said, I know it drifted quite a bit from the source material (the Chris Claremont/Frank Miller Wolverine mini-series)...

[splat]

I liked Elysium for it's social commentary and reinforcement that people can change dire consequences. Did not like Jodie Foster's faux French character portrayal in it.
I'm enough of an escapist to not pick out glaringly wrong tech issues.

[Hugh Conway]

drinking buddies: it's like watching a movie of an anonymous lifeadvice TGR padded thread. Without the douchebaggery or jokes or tits.

[dookeyXXX]

The World's End was tits.
It was like an episode of the original Star Trek bitch-slapped silly by Monty Python.
Whip snap smart dialogue throughout and insane pacing. Top notch.
If you dug Shaun of the Dead and Hot Fuzz, then you'll dig this.

Elysium was meh at best.
Jodie Foster was gnawing on a ham sandwich the entire time and Wagner Moura was picking up her crumbs. William Fichtner was on full automatonic mode. The story was more or less a rehash of District 9 mixed with Robocop 2, but with usually fine actors doing god knows what (over/under acting). The look of the film was cool, especially the robots and shuttle ships, but little else was worth recommending other than as a late night rental. It actually makes me second-guess my original opinion of District 9 and I may watch it again to see if it holds up. I still like director Neil Blomkamp's short films and commercials the best, though.

[PB]

Cockneys vs Zombies: Shaun of the Dead it's not, but rollicking good fun! Alan Ford and Honor Blackman make quite the pair.

[dookeyXXX]

Cockneys vs Zombies: Shaun of the Dead it's not, but rollicking good fun! Alan Ford and Honor Blackman make quite the pair.

Ah, but the question is: did you see it in a theater? It had an extremely limited run at 10 theaters in the U.S. (many of which were just showing it as part of film festivals) back on August 2nd. The only other way it's out there is VOD and DVD, both of which would negate its inclusion in this thread.



And no love for Albert Finney? C'mon, dude!

[PB]

My bad - definitely On Demand; "Same Day as Theaters", though!

'Bert's character projection just doesn't compare.

[dookeyXXX]

THE GRANDMASTER - rating: 4 (out of 5)
Wong Kar Wai’s martial art(s) house take on the life of Ip Man is visually stunning and manages to accomplish everything that Ang Lee failed to do with Crouching Tiger/Hidden Dragon: combine a love quadrangle and insane action into a cohesive whole. Rumor has it that more than 30 minutes were trimmed from the original Asian release, and one feels that a little something is missing from the third act, but overall the look and feel of the film is a well-crafted and updated ode to classic kung fu films; hardcore kung fu fans should be appeased with the action and philosophical asides and laypeople should be fine with the drama and opulent set pieces. Yuen Woo Ping (yes, he of Matrix/Once Upon A Time In China/Iron Monkey/Drunken Master/Fist of Legend fame) contributes some engaging fight choreography which Wai turns into a cinematic ballet of balled fists and lightning feet.

Final Verdict: See it on the Big screen if you can


RIDDICK - rating: 2.5 (out of 5)
Better than Chronicles of Riddick, but nowhere near as good as Pitch Black. Speaking of which, in many ways the latest installment of the series is a rehash of Pitch Black with a bit of Road Warrior tossed in (I wish I could say “for good measure”, but I can't). Some of the major flaws include heavy references to both of the previous films without any kind of flashback/recap for the audience. Thus, if you haven’t seen either of those films ever (or even in a while) you’re gonna be a bit lost (for the record PB was released in 2000 and CoR in 2004, so that's 13 years since the start of the series, which is an eon in Hollywood terms). Additionally, Riddick is basically an update on “The Man With No Name” character made famous by Clint Eastwood back in the ‘60s. The allure of that archetype is not knowing anything about their past; really not knowing anything about them other than learning their personal moral code as the film unfolds. With each subsequent entry in the life of Riddick the director has attempted to shed more light on his past, yet he hasn’t really helped us to understand the character any better. The end result is that the mysterious character looses a little bit of the mysteriousness with each film, but the audience isn’t any closer to understanding him or where he comes from. Finally, the supporting cast is wasted by being beyond over-the-top, 1-dimensional cartoon cliches, which doesn't help the cause much.

Final Verdict: wait for the rental/stream

[mcsquared]

Every time you review a movie I want to drown your childhood pet and then go read a book.

[My Pet Powder Goat]

I enjoy them. The guy takes time to craft a decent review.

[PNWbrit]

Every time you review a movie I want to drown your childhood pet and then go read a book.

You'd have to beat me to it.

[Sparky]

I enjoy them. The guy takes time to craft a decent review.

Me too, keep them coming. Saved me wasting hours of my life and pointed me towards some good films.

[Hugh Conway]

I've enjoyed many of the movies dookey panned. The movie's he enjoys are turgid pieces of arty bullshit - like "Only God Forgives"

[SKIORFORGETIT]

Want to see rush & prisoners

[cherry12]

I have recently watch the White Chick again, and found that it is still funny.

[Hugh Conway]

Closed Circuit - a studio film. OK script, couple good performances from stars, mediocre - bad supporting cast, still can hold attention

[Captain Awesome]

Want to see rush & prisoners

Saw Prisoners last night. Hugh Jackman was intense, and the movie was pretty good. I still can't tell if I think it was better than that - parts of it seemed to bug me. Anyone else seen it?

[nickwm21]

Looking forward to seeing Rush and Captain Phillips.

I don't understand Gravity. Seems like such a small plot to fill 90-120min????