what was the last movie you watched?

Padrino said:
I really didn't enjoy the previous one very much. I've been a big fan of the M:I movies, particularly since Brad Bird's soft reboot with Ghost Protocol. But wicked car chase aside, that last one felt like a half-assed Bond movie. Which was weird to me, since M:I has kind of carved out its own lane as a franchise.
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The car chase and final train crash escape sequence aside, that last M:I movie was absolutely one of the most self-indulgent pieces of self-congratulatory junk I’ve ever sat through in a theater which sucked because the previous 3 films in the franchise were probably in the top ten of action movies of the 21st century.

Really sucks that this new one appears to be more of the same. (Also the lack of Rebecca Ferguson makes this a lesser movie regardless)
 
Tetsujin said:
The car chase and final train crash escape sequence aside, that last M:I movie was absolutely one of the most self-indulgent pieces of self-congratulatory junk I’ve ever sat through in a theater which sucked because the previous 3 films in the franchise were probably in the top ten of action movies of the 21st century.

Really sucks that this new one appears to be more of the same. (Also the lack of Rebecca Ferguson makes this a lesser movie regardless)
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100% agreed on your final point.
 
was considering watching the Mission Impossible flick since I tend to like those but based off the couple of reviews here, skipping it wouldn't be the worst decision
 
I'll still go see Final Reckoning, but I'm in complete agreement that Dead Reckoning Pt. 1 lowered the bar to such an extent that I'm not all that excited about this one. Which is a shame because it seemed like McQuarrie and Cruise had a lot of runway left based on their earlier collaborations. Ghost Protocol and Rogue Nation are easily my favorite of the Mission Impossible movies (despite the fact that they're both saddled with similarly generic sounding subtitles). Those two movies found the right mix of seriously inventive action with slightly slapstick comedic touches which started to distinguish the Mission Impossible series as a better version of the James Bond formula. I liked the introduction of Jeremy Renner's character, William Brandt. As an actor he elevates every movie he appears in. And Rebecca Feguson as Ethan Hunt's MI6 foil Ilsa Faust was easily the best part of the whole series right up until she was killed off to make room for a far less interesting new love interest.

In retrospect, the series had already started to come apart for me a bit with Fallout -- a movie which had some really strong points (incredibly well-filmed action scenes, Henry Cavill's mustache, every scene with Vanessa Kirby in it, a decent attempt at completing the 'Ethan Hunt as normal guy alter ego' character arc that J.J. Abrams started in MI3) but also some equally disappointing low points (no Jeremy Renner, no heist sequence, an unwelcome return to the series' self-serious origins, most of the plot seems contrived to stitch together otherwise unrelated action set pieces). But even so, Fallout is a masterpiece compared to Dead Reckoning Pt. 1 which just felt like a nearly three hour movie built to show off one incredible stunt. These have ceased to be upscale spy movies and have instead just become an excuse for Tom Cruise to cosplay as Evel Knieval.
 
On a whim I watched Red One on Prime - a somewhat silly and lighthearted Christmas movie about Santa being kidnapped and getting rescued by Black Adam and Captain America, or something. :)

Wasn't expecting much, and that's exactly what I got, but it had some cute touches here and there.

I actually liked their idea for delivering toys across the world - there's a giant "mothership" with huge containers preloaded full of toys and shuttles alternate running new containers to the Red One (Santa's sleigh) and taking the empties back while they zip around the world. That was a pretty interesting take on the activity.
 
We took our 3 year old to see Paddington at the theater a couple months ago. It was the first movie I’d seen at a theater since Avatar haha. The kid had zero interest in the movie and spent the whole time saying hi and bye to everyone coming or going in the hall. I made the mistake of showing up early for the movie and nearly fell asleep during the long previews (those recliners don’t help) The theater experience is a great reminder that some of us have a near non existent attention span. Thanks technology haha.
 
iowamcnabb said:
We took our 3 year old to see Paddington at the theater a couple months ago. It was the first movie I’d seen at a theater since Avatar haha. The kid had zero interest in the movie and spent the whole time saying hi and bye to everyone coming or going in the hall. I made the mistake of showing up early for the movie and nearly fell asleep during the long previews (those recliners don’t help) The theater experience is a great reminder that some of us have a near non existent attention span. Thanks technology haha.
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This is pretty much why I am not a huge fan of theaters with recliners. I'd much rather pay less and watch a movie in the theater sitting upright than pay a premium just to be able to recline. Honestly, it just doesn't do it for me.
 
iowamcnabb said:
We took our 3 year old to see Paddington at the theater a couple months ago. It was the first movie I’d seen at a theater since Avatar haha. The kid had zero interest in the movie and spent the whole time saying hi and bye to everyone coming or going in the hall. I made the mistake of showing up early for the movie and nearly fell asleep during the long previews (those recliners don’t help) The theater experience is a great reminder that some of us have a near non existent attention span. Thanks technology haha.
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keep the phone at home when going to the theater, problem solved. Helps your mind focus on things you otherwise wouldn't. It's a beautiful feeling.
 
kingsboi said:
keep the phone at home when going to the theater, problem solved. Helps your mind focus on things you otherwise wouldn't. It's a beautiful feeling.
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I actually never took my phone out but the temptation was there. I’ve always had a bit of an attention deficit so even focusing for a two hour movie can be difficult, especially a kids movie I had little interest in.
 
iowamcnabb said:
I actually never took my phone out but the temptation was there. I’ve always had a bit of an attention deficit so even focusing for a two hour movie can be difficult, especially a kids movie I had little interest in.
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have you been medically diagnosed with attention deficit or is this a self diagnosis?
 
Dad wanted to see the new Mission: Impossible flick, so we went. Be sure to turn off your brain if you do. It's less and less like the original movies and more and more like over the top action flicks that are a dime a dozen, just with much better production value.

Some of the things they did were even dumber than the previous movies. And that's saying something.

But, as an action flick, it's not bad if you can ignore the silly stuff.
 
Watched MI yesterday with the wife. We both liked it, we both thought some of it was cheesy, both thought that some of the action scenes pushed and then went over the line by a country mile when it comes to suspending belief but with that all being said, we did enjoy it
 
Jaws (1975) (Amazon Prime)

Friday was the 50th anniversary of the world’s first summer blockbuster and the group I was with thought it’d be fun to watch the film of my nightmares.

Actually, it wasn’t the famous original that inspired my lifelong fear of sharks. That honor goes to Jaws: The Revenge (1987) which is both awful and ridiculous, but absolutely horrifying for a 5-year-old who doesn’t know sharks can’t roar.

But the first Jaws is of course a masterclass in suspense and filmmaking with a murderer’s row of iconic scenes: Chrissy skinny dipping in the dark, the second attack dolly zoom, Quint’s nails on a chalkboard, shark hunters on the dock, Hooper at Ben Garden’s boat, arguing with the mayor in front of the doctored Amity sign, the fin prank and pond attack, the Indianapolis speech, Brody shooting at the air tank as the Orca sinks, “You’re gonna need a bigger boat.” I suppose someone could watch those scenes on YouTube and get the impression they saw Jaws.

Which it seems is exactly what I did, because having now braved the whole movie, I don’t think I’ve ever truly watched it from start to finish before. Or maybe I’ve only ever seen it through the gaps of my fingers. Either way, I feel as though I’ve had some kind of therapeutic breakthrough sitting through Jaws from “My name’s Chrissy” to “I used to hate the water.”

Damn good film … that I’m never watching again.
 
Dad and I caught Ballerina in Louisiana a few days ago because he wanted to go. If you like John Wick (particularly the sequels) - same type of stuff.
 
Caught a couple of flicks over the past couple of days.

Re-watched Ferris Bueller's Day Off with a couple of youngsters who hadn't seen it before. Always enjoyable.

Watched my first Marilyn Monroe movie - Some Like it Hot - on Prime. Cute, somewhat typical 1950's type flick.

Don't remember where I saw the recommendation, but caught The Master on Prime as well. Fantastic cast and acting, but the movie was just on the strange side for my taste.
 
My wife and I caught F1 today in the theater. It's a good movie. Yes, the plot is a bit stale, but it is well acted, the racing scenes are well shot, and the music is good (both the Hans Zimmer compositions as well as the "regular" song selection). We both really enjoyed it.
 
TCM was airing Yojimbo (1961) and I had to give it a watch. Now I'm in search of more Samurai based films. Simple but effective movie. The wisdom is reason enough to watch.
 
kingsboi said:
TCM was airing Yojimbo (1961) and I had to give it a watch. Now I'm in search of more Samurai based films. Simple but effective movie. The wisdom is reason enough to watch.
Click to expand...

You’ve come to the right place.

Seven Samurai (1954) is a must watch for any fledgling samurai or even just general film fan.

Sanjuro (1962) is the direct sequel to Yojimbo.

Ran (1985) is one of my personal favorite films, and Kurosawa’s magnum opus in a filmography of masterpieces. It’s essentially King Lear with samurai.

Rashomon (1950) technically isn’t a “samurai” movie per se, but is inventive, entertaining, introduced Kurosawa and Japanese film to the West, and does have a samurai in it.

Other Kurosawa samurai movies of interest: Kagemusha (1980), (bandit pretends to be the daimyo. “Dress rehearsal” for Ran) Throne of Blood (1957), (MacBeth with Samurai) The Hidden Fortress (1958) (the foundation of which Star Wars was built).

Red Beard (1965) Takes place during samurai times, but is about doctors. It’s highly praised, yet surprisingly one of the few Kurosawa films I’ve never seen.

Non-Kurosawa Classic Samurai Movies:

Harakiri (1962) - kind of an anti-samurai film, really dives into the hypocrisy and contradictions in the warrior class

Lady Snowblood (1973) - What Tarantino based Kill Bill on

The Sword of Doom (1966) - A psychopath samurai rampage with a bit of a ghost story at the end.

Samurai Rebellion (1967) - same director as Harakiri, explores similar themes, great cinematography and sound, Mifune and Nakadai together, with a fantastic duel at the end.

Kill! (1968) - If you’ve ever wondered what a samurai parody dark comedy film would be like, here it is.

Samurai Trilogy:
-Musashi Miyamoto (1954)
-Duel at Ichijoji Temple (1955)
-Duel at Ganryo Island (1956)
-Criterion collection certified trilogy can’t be wrong.

And there is also the very long running Zatoichi (the Blind Samurai) and Lone Wolf and Cub series

This should help your search as well. Happy hunting!

IMDB Too 65 Samurai List
www.imdb.com

Top 65 Samurai Movies

www.imdb.com www.imdb.com

PS: I never got into more modern 21st century samurai films for whatever reason, although I’ve read there are some good ones. I can recommend Miike’s 13 Assassins (2010) for the insanity of the final battle alone.

Also, the absolutely ridiculous and god-awful 47 Ronin (2013) which ludicrously stars Keanu Reeves and I sheepishly adore is a very loose adaptation of Chushingura (1962) a sweeping 3 hour epic of Japan’s most famous national narrative - that I couldn’t really get into.
 
Last edited:
Löwenherz said:
You’ve come to the right place.

Seven Samurai (1954) is a must watch for any fledgling samurai or even just general film fan.

Sanjuro (1962) is the direct sequel to Yojimbo.

Ran (1985) is one of my personal favorite films, and Kurosawa’s magnum opus in a filmography of masterpieces. It’s essentially King Lear with samurai.

Rashomon (1950) technically isn’t a “samurai” movie per se, but is inventive, entertaining, introduced Kurosawa and Japanese film to the West, and does have a samurai in it.

Other Kurosawa samurai movies of interest: Kagemusha (1980), (bandit pretends to be the daimyo. “Dress rehearsal” for Ran) Throne of Blood (1957), (MacBeth with Samurai) The Hidden Fortress (1958) (the foundation of which Star Wars was built).

Red Beard (1965) Takes place during samurai times, but is about doctors. It’s highly praised, yet surprisingly one of the few Kurosawa films I’ve never seen.

Non-Kurosawa Classic Samurai Movies:

Harakiri (1962) - kind of an anti-samurai film, really dives into the hypocrisy and contradictions in the warrior class

Lady Snowblood (1973) - What Tarantino based Kill Bill on

The Sword of Doom (1966) - A psychopath samurai rampage with a bit of a ghost story at the end.

Samurai Rebellion (1967) - same director as Harakiri dives into similar themes, great cinematography and sound, Mifune and Nakadai together, with a fantastic duel at the end.

Kill! (1968) - If you’ve ever wondered what a samurai parody dark comedy film would be like, here it is.

Samurai Trilogy:
-Musashi Miyamoto (1954)
-Duel at Ichijojo Temple (1955)
-Duel at Ganryo Island (1956)
-Criterion collection certified trilogy can’t be wrong.

And there is also the very long running Zatoichi (the Blind Samurai) and Lone Wolf and Cub series

This should help your search as well. Happy hunting!

IMDB Too 65 Samurai List
www.imdb.com

Top 65 Samurai Movies

www.imdb.com www.imdb.com
Click to expand...

If you only watch one of these @kingsboi, my vote is for Harakiri.
 
Löwenherz said:
I mean, yes, other than Seven Samurai, Rashomon, and Ran.

But for sure, make time for Harakiri - the movie, not the practice.
Click to expand...

Seven Samurai is great for sure but I'm going to go against the grain and blaspheme that I actually like the 1960 version of The Magnificent Seven with Yul Brenner and Steve McQueen more than the movie its based on. I would rank Yojimbo as my favorite of the Kurosawa samurai classics and my own picks of what to watch next for someone just tipping their toes into those waters are Sanjuro (Toshiro Mifune as the same character is a can't-miss proposition), the previously mentioned Harakiri (for an exploration of the darker side of honor and obligation) or Seijun Suzuki's Tokyo Drifter which is a 1960's yakuza movie but has a lot of samurai movie DNA in its makeup.
 
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