list/discuss/rate - your recently watched movies

I thought this underrated movie would be a bomb, but it was genuinely funny without being corny. Go figure.

Edited by SteveG - July 17 2015 at 14:34

Very dark comedy satirizing the British military alliance with the United States focusing on the planning of either the Afghanistan or Iraq war, which is which is left unclear by the script. The lion's share of the satire focusing on how many of the important decisions are either made by spin doctors or with a motivation to "keep up the appearances" above any practical concerns. It's pretty funny if you follow UK/US politics, many of the subplots refer to specific British political scandals, though since the plot is rather complex viewers who don't keep tabs on that stuff will be left in the dark very quickly.


Haven't read the comic it's based on, but I enjoyed how the action uses a lot of comic book visual tricks in the film medium. Not a new classic considering that not-quite-once-in-a-lifetime cast or anything, but it's a very entertaining sideways look at the "old veterans forced into service again" subgenre.

I can't see the image. I think IMDB don't allow other sites to link to their pics in general.


Edited by Toaster Mantis - July 26 2015 at 10:58

Ant-Man.

A usual Marvel entry at around two hours in length. Two quick references to the Marvel Universe were made but it stood pretty much on it's own. I like Paul Rudd, and like Mark Ruffalo he brings a bit of an everyman flavour to the character he plays. The story is typical MU stuff. Evil mad man uses technology meant for good as his evil device. I'd give it a 6.5 as an introduction to yet another MU hero with hopes that they expand on the idea and develop a more compelling story for the sequel.


Edited by JD - July 26 2015 at 14:45

Most recently, I saw...Rifftrax Live: Sharknado 2. It was a lot of fun, as expected, though comparing it to former Rifftrax Live events I've been to, it wasn't QUITE as funny as the showing of Santa Claus Conquers the Martians or Night of the Living Dead. Lots of laughs, though, and the short at the beginning was great.

Honestly, one of the best films I've seen for a long time - one of those films so good, the Oscar nominations completely bypass it. An innocent priest told he is to be killed in 7 days in revenge for a parishoner's abuse as a child. The premise being nobody would raise an eyebrow at the killing of an abusing priest, but an innocent one...

Watch it.

The man behind Pusher, Bronson and Drive turns his attention to the viking age resulting in one of the most unique sword-and-sandal epics I've ever seen. Imagine the barbaric existential mysticism aspect of the first Conan movie from 1982 turned up to 11, with very little dialogue or narrative structure, and you have a good idea of what you're in store for.

Instead of a typical historical action movie, it's more of a bloody metaphorical journey operating on dream logic into the spiritual struggle between Germanic Paganism and Christianity. There's also quite a few direct references to Werner Herzog's conquistador biopic Aguirre the Wrath of God, and for that matter the fighting choreography is more similar to old samurai movies than to anything to come out of the Occidental film industry in a long while.

It's a quite divisive movie, but I really liked it. Also, is it just me or is the main character meant to be interpreted by the audience as secretly being the one-eyed war-god Odin in the guise of a mortal? You need to know your Norse mythology in order to pick up on all the allusions, so maybe that was lost on audiences outside of Scandinavia...


Edited by Toaster Mantis - August 08 2015 at 11:24

Coincidence - saw this one a couple of days ago & I agree - way better than Raid 1. Better storylines, character development (not just the good guys either) cinematography stunning in places (the fishing scene was beautifully shot), choreography of the fight scenes was jaw dropping - yes, I am using a lot of superlatives, but I think The Raid 2 is a martial arts film for people who don't think they like martial arts films. Loved it.

A solid 9/10 from me.

Edited by Jim Garten - August 10 2015 at 02:46

Mission: Impossible - Rogue Nation.

Fantastic Four(Reboot)
Complete and utter trash. Don't waste a dime watching or time discussing this failed attempt to bolster the weakest Marvel entry ever. Don't expect a sequel unless they need a tax write-off.