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What did you watch this week?(04/30-05/06)


Movies, shows... Let's discuss what we watched, please comment on mine and I'll comment on yours

Cheers

Judge Dredd (1995 TV): Last year I saw the remake, Dredd, which I found to be a good action movie and gave it a 6.5. Twenty years ago I saw the original one and found it to be also a solid action movie, no more no less. But as I rewatched it, I realized that it was way funnier and way better than I remembered. The poor special effects are delicious, the one-liners are hilarious and the over the top acting was perfect. I think the French translation made it all even funnier. If you watch it with the right set of mind I don't see how you can hate this. 7.5/10

The last of Mohicans (1992 DVD): It was my third viewing and it was as great as always and I still discover some new details. I can't say that it's Daniel Day Lewis's best performance, far from it, but everything about this movie is good. That last seen on the rocky cliffs is mesmerizing. 8.5/10

Y tu mama tambien (2001 bluray): OK , so the first few minutes of this was literally teen porn and Later on, there's a scene of the two boys jerking off at the pool, topped with a close-up off the sperm dropping in the pool. Not the kind of image I'm looking for but The goal was to provoke an they sure succeed. Then, if you stick with it, you're in for a little gem of a movie. Really. The main quality is that it feels so realistic and genuine. It's like the director just told the actors "OK, so do whatever you would do in that situation. Action!" It's the same thing for the background action. Everything that happens on the screen seems like it's just real people doing real things. When the movie is over you feel like you just traveled to Mexico, it's amazing. The editing and voice over were very original, liked it a lot. The narrator provides countless random off-screen details that you just end up craving for. Overall, it's very sexual but also passionate, it's a wonderful road trip drama that takes you on an exotic voyage. I wished it last a little longer and not just because I loved it so much, I'm sure any movie lover can tell that the ending felt rushed. It's too sudden, too abrupt . Still, I'm very glad to add this to my collection and will rewatch it many times I'm sure. 8.5/10

Warcraft: When I was a young teenager, this was the game I played the most on my computer so I was a bit scared of being disappointed going into this. Fortunately it was not the case, as they represented the game very nicely, but the second hour of the movie contained some pretty awful scenes. Also, The main things I was hoping to hear were not there; the classic "Yes my Lord? Aye Captain." from the humans and the "shtruck dhart." from the orcs. It would've been so easy to just insert those lines in the movie. The acting was decent but the guy playing Lothar looked at times like a wannabe Leonardo DiCaprio. In the scene where his son dies in front of him, he makes the face I would make if someone stole my dessert. Then later on, he articulately explain his emotions by saying "i've never felt so much pain in my life as I do now." Deep stuff. Ben Foster was great and he's also a childhood memory of mine so it's always nice seeing him. What really made this movie was the more-than-acceptable graphics and the entertaining action. 7/10

I also watched the first three episodes of The ultimate fighter season 25 redemption. All the fighters were in past seasons and have a shot at $250,000 and a chance to fight in the UFC again. Up t'ill now it's great and promising. The drama between the two coaches is laughably childish. And it never stops.

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I totally agree with you on The Last of the Mohicans! A great adventure flick with so much passion and drive, accentuated by that magnificent score.

For me it's been :

Seven Pounds- It draws you in, keeps you guessing, you think you know but still it manages to fool you, ( at least it did me and I'm pretty good at second guessing) . It could be considered a tear jerker.

The Hurricane - controversial biopic of Ruben " The Hurricane " Carter and his unjust imprisonment. Dynamic performance by Denzel Washington, IMO.

Both movies had very poignant, moving scenes.

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7 pounds is a very solid drama and will smith did good. 7/10

Hurricane: When I saw this movie at the theatre, it got to me to a point that I came out with a new motivation to find myself a biography of someone that would become my hero. The next day I was at the library and stumbled upon Muhammad Ali's bio. It took me a while to read it all and I can't say that he became my hero but I highly respect him and it sure was a positive experience. Great movie and I need to rewatch it soon 8/10

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Interesting. If you haven't seen it yet, check out The Greatest, his biopic. I saw it in the mid 80's and I remember enjoying it. Yes, Ali was one of a kind. I actually didn't like him when I was younger because of what appeared as his loud braggadocio. Later, when I put his entire life into a more realistic perspective, it made more sense.

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Seven Pounds (https://moviechat.org/tt0814314/Seven-Pounds) was a great film. It was especially poignant because Will Smith usually plays such humorous, vivacious characters. It was tough seeing him like that and I wouldn't rewatch. I guess it's a testament to his acting skills that I had that reaction.

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I'd like to see it again, just to capture some of the dialogue I missed. His performance was ( I really hate to use this trite, all encompassing word )'different'

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Still trying to finish a movie I started, The Paperboy. Man, the movie is so boring I had to stop so many times to do something else. Currently, I have only watched around 35 minutes and I still have like an hour and 14 minutes to go!

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The first half of Cosmos: A Spacetime Odyssey - Excellent documentary series

Started to rewatch the X-Files (only saw up to season 5 when they originally came out, but want to go back and see the rest before the new season) Don't know if I can make it through.

The Hunt (2012, Thomas Vinterberg) If you like Mads Mikkelsen from Hannibal, or if you're familiar with Vinterberg from The Celebration... this is a fine drama about a kindergarten teacher who is accused of molesting children.

Room (2015) I finally got around to watching this. Deserves its acclaim although I felt the first half was stronger. Both Brie Larsen and the kid were terrific.

I like Y tu mama tambien the best from your list... although The Last of the Mohicans is certainly a very good film too. Can't comment on them too much because I saw them when they came out... but I enjoyed those.

Judge Dredd feels very dated and old.

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I saw Room a few months ago, here are my thoughts:

A razor-sharp drama with wonderful acting. It was a bit hard to find a glimmer of hope in the 2 hours story and Unfortunately I started losing interest in the last half hour but overall it was a good but sad experience. 7/10

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Well, it was horrible mostly for the mother. The child didn't know any different so for him, Room still held a nostalgic attraction. It was like being born blind and then gaining sight... or living in Plato's cave. I found beauty and hope in the way the mother created a safe universe inside Room for him to flourish... she could've been depressed and negative the entire time but instead made the shed a world of wonder. It was only when she finally escaped that she could start dealing with her own feelings.

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The Hunt was exelent.

And anytime Room comes on HBO, I'm glued to the screen, I can't click away. And I cry like a baby everytime (very embarrassing when I saw it in the cinema).

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Yeah, I wonder if The Hunt was based on a similar case in Los Angeles. Near the beach communities south of Los Angeles there was a preschool many years ago where a family was vilified by the press because all the children claimed they were molested. There was a mother and son operating the place and their names were dragged through the mud and only much later it was found that these stories were either exaggerated or untrue. It's an interesting story because of course we always want to protect children first... but still try to carefully make sure that the adults get fair treatment too.

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I haven't heard about that case. But I'm sure there are similar things happening all over the world.

It's a very sensitive and complex issue, because you want to give justice to the victims. But also, you want to be as certain as you can that the person accused is guilty. A stain like that can follow someone all their life, even if they were found inosent. I thought the filmmakers did an excellent job with the subject.

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The McMartins case, I remember it. First I've heard of The Hunt, and didn't know there's been any film based on the McMartins, except, I believe, a documentary or two.

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Yeah, I have no idea whether it was inspired by that case... perhaps there was a similar incident in Denmark.
It's a good film... you should try to watch it.

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Sunshine
Stargate sg1,season 2
Fringe.

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What did you think about the sudden change of style in the third act of sunshine ?

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Well,those scenes with close shots on the characters then quickly zooming out,i've seen them before and i'm use with them,anyway i kinda liked Pinebeaker,he was burned by the sun,didn't die instead changed his behavior and starting to hunt the others,i didn't understand why,though.

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It felt as jarring as the last part of Dead Presidents... where it starts out as a drama and then turns into an action film. Sunshine all of a sudden becomes a horror movie. It's still a good film, but I'm not a fan of the drastic shift in tone.

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Tank Girl (1995) - Missed the beginning, fell asleep towards the end. What I saw in the middle looked like something I'd like, but felt like something I hated. But at least now I know what it's all about.

A Dark Song (2016) - A grieving woman elicits the help of an expert in the occult, to perform a ritual for contacting something/someone on the other side. Things go out of hand, slowly. It gives you a feeling of the isolation, and the performances I thought were good. It had some beautiful shots of the overcast Welsh? countryside, which added to the atmosphere. Overall I liked it.

Apocalyptic (2014) - Like The Sacrament, but Australian. The story is nothing new or original, but the acting was excellent. It felt really natural. I liked it, but I'm a sucker for found footage faux documentaries.

Sweet Charity (1969) - Charity is met with disappointment after disappointment, but she carries on regardless. She thinks she's finally met the man for her, and the one who will help her get out of her dead end job, but has she? Shirley MacLaine is amazing in this. I loved her performance! I didn't much care for the songs themselves, but the dance numbers were so good (well, it is Bob Fosse...). I really enjoyed this one.

I don't think I've seen any of yours. The Last of the Mohicans I feel like I've seen, but I can't remember... But it's about time I finaly saw Y tu mama tambien.

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I saw Split (https://moviechat.org/tt4972582/Split) this week. Really good psychological drama by M. Night Shyamalan about a person (James McAvoy) afflicted with multiple personality disorder and the crime he commits as a result. I rank it right up there with Shyamalan's best efforts like The Sixth Sense and Unbreakable.

I also saw Y Tu Mama Tambien (https://moviechat.org/tt0245574/Y-Tu-Mama-Tambien) many years ago. I enjoyed it, but probably not as much as you did.

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Guardians of the Galaxy 2 (going to see it later today!)

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I haven't seen any that you've seen, so no comment.

I saw:

Operator -- a film I discovered randomly on Netflix, and enjoyed it. In ways it reminded me of Her, which I liked a lot. While not as polished as Her, it was well worth my time watching it.

Hell on Wheels -- TV show recommended to me by a friend. Interesting, good, but for some reason I lost interest after the first 3 episodes. Gritty western about the building of the railroads in the U.S.

Sophie and the Rising Sun -- Film recommended to me by another friend. Set in the Carolinas in the U.S., during WWII. Japanese American guy gets beat up, landing in a small town in S. Carolina, mistaken as Chinese by the provincial locals, and for the most part treated as an oddity (not in a good way). After the bombing of Pearl Harbor, things worsen for him. Excellent, quiet and introspective film.

The Disappointments Room -- Recent Netflix addition. Eh. Tired haunted house tropes of a family moving into an old, beautiful house, and the (naturally, disturbed in some way) wife sees and hears otherwise inexplicable things, which frighten her. She investigates history of the house, finds out a room not in blueprints was what was referred to as a disappointments room, where, during Victorian times, wealthy Victorians kept their children, who were disabled in some way, hidden away. Not worth my time, except for the shots of the beautiful old house and grounds.

Better Off Single -- Fun, quirky comedy, with a twist to the ending I've never seen before. I liked it.

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Haven't seen those but Sophie and the rising sun sounds like something I'd like. I also watche a WWII movie today. You'll find it in next week's thread.
Hint: it's directed by John Woo.

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Give it a try, you may like it.

I'll look for your next thread, and which Woo film it is. I've only seen one of his, which I liked: Face/Off.

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I was following Hell on Wheels for about three seasons also -- and then the UK channel that was airing it just dropped it cold! Either that, or switched it to a premium pay channel I don't subscribe to. They tend to do that to UK viewers, they did it for Lost, such a dirty trick.

It was good, very gritty, but I must admit I tired of the lead guy.

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Ugh, how frustrating! I only watched 3 episodes, and can only imagine how frustrating it would be to watch a show you liked for 3 entire seasons, only for it to be unceremoniously and suddenly dropped!

Agreed, it was good, and gritty. I didn't watch it long enough to tire of lead guy. I may pick it back up again … providing it doesn't get suddenly dropped by Netflix here in the states.

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It's a really dirty trick the UK TV stations seems to do just to get people to sign up for a premium service if they want to keep watching their favorite show. I was all into it and booom!

I don't think I'll pursue it now; but it's a good show and worth watching.

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