Past week or so:
11/1: Birdman 8.5/10
13/1: John Wick 8/10
15/1: The Imitation Game: 7.5/10
16/1: Exodus (Theatrcial cut): 5.5/10
18/1: American Sniper: 8/10
21/1: Ex Machina: 9/10

Godzilla
It's pretty good when it's not trying to be some profound family drama.

Tropic Thunder-Great performances from Tom Cruise and Robert Downey.Jr

Grand Piano

Burn this movie. Burn it to the ground. I refuse to believe Damien Chazelle wrote a script this bad. I was laughing at things that were not supposed to be funny like horrible lines (see Spoilers), bad acting, some of the worst extras I have ever seen, and John Cusack. Embarrassing. The only thing it has going for it is the cinematography but I just don't care. I don't understand how anyone could give this movie a positive review.

Joseph Smith The Prophet of the Restoration

Very educational picture but . T.C. was wrong to leave out this .

Swingers-

Sublime.


-Vader

Vader182 wrote:Swingers-

Sublime.


-Vader

Still haven't seen Go but I don't think Liman's topped it. Bourne Identity is obviously thereabouts.

Vader182 wrote:Swingers-

Sublime.


-Vader

Isn't it fun

SquareWatcher wrote:Grand Piano

Burn this movie. Burn it to the ground. I refuse to believe Damien Chazelle wrote a script this bad. I was laughing at things that were not supposed to be funny like horrible lines (see Spoilers), bad acting, some of the worst extras I have ever seen, and John Cusack. Embarrassing. The only thing it has going for it is the cinematography but I just don't care. I don't understand how anyone could give this movie a positive review.

"Oh, shoot me." (Seriously?)

"You just saved my life."

"I think I broke my leg!" (This one took me a second, I admit.)

Yeah the script's dreadful. It doesn't help that the decision to make Elijah's character talk with the gunman during the playing of the pieces. We're meant to be frightened that he might play a wrong note; instead we're focusing on the dialogue.
Plus Elijah's playing piano for real- - but is giving a half-hearted performance because he's doing both activities halfway.

Decent direction though. 5/10

So I started watching The Hobbit Fan Edit; I'm about an hour in, but I have to sleep soon so I'll finish the rest later. It's pretty great so far.

The editing is pretty much on point; it feels smooth and seamless.

It's made me realize how much exposition is repeated and emphasized in the films and really how much excess fat PJ stuffed in. This guy does a pretty fantastic job of cutting out all that unnecessary foreshadowing of LOTR as well. For example, Radagast, Galadriel, and Saruman are completely removed, an edit which feels entirely invisible. Instead of old Bilbo's extensive monologue about Erebor, all of that is cut, and I noticed it's actually explained adequately in minor dialogue between Gandalf and Thorin. Balin's monologue about Thorin and the battle for Erebor is also removed, which is a nice omission, though I wonder if that cuts out too much exposition for later on in the story. Also, all that early Azog shit is completely cut out, thank fuck.

I mean, yeah, we can sit here and debate about the morality of fans editing films regardless of how terrible the theatrical releases were, but this is a really neatly executed concept.