what was the last movie you watched?

[Warhawk]

Is the copy in the original aspect ratio? Apparently Cameron decided to open up the Blu-Ray (and DVD I presume) to fill a 16:9 screen for the current release. So that screener may actually have some value for purists (that is if you can get past the constant reminders that its a screener and not to copy it ).

I don't watch most special features so odds are I really just saved money, unless I opt for a 3D copy down the road.

Don't know, I haven't seen him in a couple weeks, he just told me about it.

* disclaimer - I have never downloaded a movie illegally off the internet or made an illegal copy of a movie. I have recieved one copy of a movie before it was released in the past but subsequently bought the movie (and knew I would as I saw it in the theater and intended to buy it after release). I will also buy Avatar even if he gives me a copy. No studios were harmed in the making of this post.

 

[pdxKingsFan]

I don't pirate movies either, but this I will say: Studios themselves copy the screeners and check them out to their employees. If they want to complain about it they should stop making the screeners. They tried it one year and it didn't go over well at all. The leaked copies almost always come directly from academy members.

 

[Rockmeister]

Picked up Avatar today but didn't get to watch it. Supposed to be the new standard of excellence for Blu-Rays.

I, too, bought Avatar yesterday and will see it soon. I must be the only woman on the planet that didn't see this movie in the theaters. Oh well.

 

[pdxKingsFan]

I, too, bought Avatar yesterday and will see it soon. I must be the only woman on the planet that didn't see this movie in the theaters. Oh well.

Did I miss something, is Avatar a chick flick?

 

[Prophetess]

I, too, bought Avatar yesterday and will see it soon. I must be the only woman on the planet that didn't see this movie in the theaters. Oh well.

nope. i waited to watch at home. i wasn't that impressed. it was good, but not fantastic.

 

[GoGoGadget]

I have no real need to buy Avatar, and probably no time to give a movie my undevided attention until after I move (with the exception of The Losers on Sunday and Iron Man 2 when it comes out, of course), but I am curious to rent it and watch it again. I have a feeling it will bore me to tears without the 3D and bigness.

 

[Warhawk]

The Losers - entertaining, I like Chris Evans as an actor, wasn't expecting much going in. Lots of action. Some scenes were a bit over the top, but to be expected. Looking for a little escape for a couple hours? Check it out.

 

[Merdiesel]

Just seen Oceans this morning.. Pretty mind blowing to say the least..
the camera work is masterful and the narrating by Pierce Brosnan is great.
A definite must see!

 

[Warhawk]

Just seen Oceans this morning.. Pretty mind blowing to say the least..
the camera work is masterful and the narrating by Pierce Brosnan is great.
A definite must see!

I was wondering about that one. Thanks!

 

[Superman]

Watched Terminator: Salvation last night. Never seen another Terminator movie, but now I know why IRobot, Eagle Eye, The Matrix and all those others get compared to it. This was kind of a mish-mash of all of them. But I liked it. Just couldn't help wondering why The Resistance didn't have an EMP, but oh well. Christian Bale's Batman Voice is played, but Sam Worthington and Moon Bloodgood did a good job. Common is not a good actor, at least not in this one.

 

[Rockmeister]

Sherlock Holmes. Although I do like Robert Downey Jr, I really thought this movie was kind of boring.

 

[Warhawk]

2012 - thank goodness I didn't pay to see that in the theater. Visually interesting, but just not a good movie. At all.

 

[Bricklayer]

Watched Terminator: Salvation last night. Never seen another Terminator movie, but now I know why IRobot, Eagle Eye, The Matrix and all those others get compared to it. This was kind of a mish-mash of all of them. But I liked it. Just couldn't help wondering why The Resistance didn't have an EMP, but oh well. Christian Bale's Batman Voice is played, but Sam Worthington and Moon Bloodgood did a good job. Common is not a good actor, at least not in this one.

Wait..how is it possible you have never seen another Terminator movie, yet somehow have seen the likes of I Robot and Eagle Eye?

As an aside, they flubbed Salvation. Not as bad as my brother thought they did, but it was about the least it could be. Skynet was about as intimidating and omnipotent in that movie as John Travolta's aliens on stilts in Battlefield Earth. The earlier movie suggested a wonderfully nihilistic and bleak future, not a well armed army.

 

[pdxKingsFan]

2012 - thank goodness I didn't pay to see that in the theater. Visually interesting, but just not a good movie. At all.

I firmly believe this movie was done as a comedy. There is just no way it could have been made to be taken seriously. I think Emmerich was apologizing for trying to be serious with The Day After Tomorrow and went for sheer camp but the studio marketing department didn't get the memo.

 

[Sac.1989]

watched iron man 2, no idea why we get it before you guys

 

[Warhawk]

I firmly believe this movie was done as a comedy. There is just no way it could have been made to be taken seriously. I think Emmerich was apologizing for trying to be serious with The Day After Tomorrow and went for sheer camp but the studio marketing department didn't get the memo.

Never saw that one either.

 

[Warhawk]

Watched Terminator: Salvation last night. Never seen another Terminator movie, but now I know why IRobot, Eagle Eye, The Matrix and all those others get compared to it. This was kind of a mish-mash of all of them. But I liked it. Just couldn't help wondering why The Resistance didn't have an EMP, but oh well. Christian Bale's Batman Voice is played, but Sam Worthington and Moon Bloodgood did a good job. Common is not a good actor, at least not in this one.

OK, you have to see the first two. The first one definitely shows it's age special-effects-wise, but it was made in 1984. I think the second is a quality follow up. The third, not so much, but it does set up the 4th.

And I have always liked this tidbit (referenced here in wiki):

Cameron originally envisioned the Terminator as a small, unremarkable man, giving it the ability to blend in more easily. As a result, his first choice for the part was Lance Henriksen. O. J. Simpson was on the shortlist but Cameron did not think that "such a nice guy could be a ruthless killer."

Also worth noting:

The Terminator has also received recognition from the American Film Institute. The film ranked 42nd on AFI's 100 Years... 100 Thrills, a list of America's most heart-pounding films. The Terminator was selected as the 22nd greatest movie villain on AFI's 100 Years... 100 Heroes and Villains. Arnold's catch phrase "I'll be back" was voted the 37th greatest movie quote by the AFI. In 2005, Total Film named The Terminator the 72nd best film ever made.[19] In 2008, Empire Magazine selected The Terminator as one of The 500 Greatest Movies of All Time.[20] Similarly, the publication also placed the T-800 14th on their list of The 100 Greatest Movie Characters.[21] In 2008, The Terminator was deemed "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant" by the Library of Congress and selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry.[22]

 

[pdxKingsFan]

Never saw that one either.

Don't.

 

[GoGoGadget]

I actually didn't hate The Day After Tomorrow. There was some good cheese there, fo all its flaws.



Oh, and Jake Gyllenhaal doesn't hurt.

 

[pdxKingsFan]

I didn't really hate it, I just think it totally got its wires crossed. It took on a serious subject in a completely over the top fashion and left me thinking it was all rather pointless. At least with 2012 Emmerich seems to have realized he is a hack with a knack for blowing things up and little else and run with it.

 

[Superman]

2012 was absolutely awful.

Spoiler

They outran the end of the world in a limo. And then an airplane.

 

[Superman]

Wait..how is it possible you have never seen another Terminator movie, yet somehow have seen the likes of I Robot and Eagle Eye?

As an aside, they flubbed Salvation. Not as bad as my brother thought they did, but it was about the least it could be. Skynet was about as intimidating and omnipotent in that movie as John Travolta's aliens on stilts in Battlefield Earth. The earlier movie suggested a wonderfully nihilistic and bleak future, not a well armed army.

Don't know. Don't know. I understand now that Terminator was sort of the predecessor of those kinds of movies, and The Matrix. Wasn't a huge fan of I Robot or Eagle Eye, though they were alright. Love the Matrix trilogy, of course. As soon as I work up the nerve to spend $100 on a box set of movies that I already own, I'm buying the Bluray set, for sure.

I've gone back and read about the previous Terminator movies, and I can see how you would sort of feel disappointed with Salvation. They didn't really spend too much time on Skynet. Lots of machines, which were great. Word is that they were/are working on another installment, but the studio is having money problems, so it's currently on hold with no immediate plans for production. It was supposed to be three more movies, from what I read. Maybe they were planning to give Skynet more development in the next two.

But I'm sort of glad that I haven't seen the others, for two reasons: First, I could just enjoy Salvation without any real expectations, and as a stand-alone movie, I thought it was good enough.

Second, it seems like the original Terminator movies got time travel all wrong, and would get laughed at if they came out today. Iconic, sure, but sci-fi fans don't take time travel lightly.

 

[pdxKingsFan]

Re: Supe's spoilers, that is precisely why I am certain the movie was a comedy. And they actually did the latter twice because the first time just wasn't impressive enough. Or maybe they had multiple VFX shops working on the same shots and they decided they could just use both as separate sequences. I dunno, but it was so far beyond stupid that everyone involved in the making of the film had to have been in on the joke.

I promise if you watch this movie as a comedy and laugh out loud at every bad effects shot, cardboard stereotype of a character, "no way in hell could that ever happen" moment, you will feel a lot better about how you just spent the last two and a half hours of your life than you would if you sat down and tried to watch it seriously.

 

[Bricklayer]

Second, it seems like the original Terminator movies got time travel all wrong, and would get laughed at if they came out today. Iconic, sure, but sci-fi fans don't take time travel lightly.

Sure they do -- its such a staple that it just gets swallowed in all it variations. See the Star Trek reboot. Personally I am more of a fan of rigorous "realistic" time travel, but loosier goosier paradox inviting time travel has been a constant in hundreds of sci fi films and series, and the Terminator series at least went for the dramatic implications of causality.

 

[Superman]

Re: Supe's spoilers, that is precisely why I am certain the movie was a comedy. And they actually did the latter twice because the first time just wasn't impressive enough. Or maybe they had multiple VFX shops working on the same shots and they decided they could just use both as separate sequences. I dunno, but it was so far beyond stupid that everyone involved in the making of the film had to have been in on the joke.

I promise if you watch this movie as a comedy and laugh out loud at every bad effects shot, cardboard stereotype of a character, "no way in hell could that ever happen" moment, you will feel a lot better about how you just spent the last two and a half hours of your life than you would if you sat down and tried to watch it seriously.

Well, I didn't finish it. I got to

Spoiler

the Himalayas Bentley escape

and had to go. Was at a friend's house with the wife and daughter, and it was late ... and 2012 was on. But what I did see, I laughed out loud at. It was certainly a comedy, whether it was supposed to be one or not.

 

[Superman]

Sure they do -- its such a staple that it just gets swallowed in all it variations. See the Star Trek reboot. Personally I am more of a fan of rigorous "realistic" time travel, but loosier goosier paradox inviting time travel has been a constant in hundreds of sci fi films and series, and the Terminator series at least went for the dramatic implications of causality.

I have seen the new Star Trek, but only once, and haven't really thought about the time travel implications in that one.

But the Terminator series is just a huge conglomeration of paradoxes, from what I can tell without having seen them. For that matter, though, so is Back to the Future, and I like that just fine. Probably because I've been watching it for the last 25 years, you know, before the geek bubble started to envelope me.

By the way: rigorous "realistic" time travel? For instance?

 

[Bricklayer]

By the way: rigorous "realistic" time travel? For instance?

The brilliance that was Twelve Monkeys for instance.

Of course that was only possible in a world where the past was unknown, but nonetheless -- the past is unalterable despite all your efforts.

 

[Superman]

Of course, if you make room for branching universe theory, things change, but other than that, we agree.

Oh, and 12 Monkeys was good. I just saw that for the first time about a year ago. Glad I waited until I could appreciate it. Definitely a must see for a time travel junkie.

 

[GoGoGadget]

Of course, if you make room for branching universe theory, things change, but other than that, we agree.

At which point you're into Donnie Darko territory and so far removed from realistic sci-fi (is there such a thing?) that it's best to ignore the science of it and just have fun.

Oh, and 12 Monkeys was good. I just saw that for the first time about a year ago. Glad I waited until I could appreciate it. Definitely a must see for a time travel junkie.

Have to add my voice to this chorus. Easily my favorite example of time travel mechanics.

 

[pdxKingsFan]

I enjoy 12 Monkeys, quite a bit, but I never thought "wow this is more realistic time travel than any other movie".

Spoiler

And also, wasn't it not that stopping the virus thus altering the future was impossible, but that he was set up and stopping the virus was never the goal? It has been some time since I've seen it.