TODAY I WATCHED (TV-series, Movies, Cinema Playlists) 2013

Fat Freddy wrote:

"Inglourious Basterds" (2009)



Quentin Tarantino's WWII epic about a crack commando team (led by Brad Pitt, with a hilarious Southern accent) and a plot to assassinate the entire Nazi high command during a Paris film premiere is overlong and way too talky for its own good (like most Tarantino films), but the occasional bursts of brutal violence and the kick-ass finale almost make sitting through all the blah-blah-blah worth it. I didn't hate it but I've seen lots better. Add a few points if you're a Q.T. fanboy.

For whatever weird reason--and this is coming from someone who puts Eddie Van Halen and Quentin Tarantino in the same catagory--his movies just aren't doing much me after Kill Bill. Plus, I doubt anything he does could ever top Pulp Fiction.

The opening sequence of Inglorious Basterds with Christoph Waltz visiting the cabin with the family hiding under the floor boards is brilliantly done, Hitchcock would have been proud. I'm not a Tarantino fanboy but I have enjoyed several of his films.

I'm not much of a QT fan in general...I think he's overrated as hell, to be honest, but this one got such rave reviews that I got curious enough to check it out. Besides, there's a character in it named after Hugo Stiglitz, Mexican b-movie actor and star of "Nightmare City," one of my favorite trash flicks, so how could I resist?

I agree with S.D., the opening scene was brilliant and got the movie off to a great start, but the rest of it was very inconsistent from that point on.

Django

I really like Inglorious Basterds, the opening scene and the rest of it. I didn't care much for Kill Bill.

It is true that he's unlikely to top Pulp Fiction (or Resevoir Dogs for that matter) but i still enjoy his films, that said, I haven't gotten around to Django yet.

Django was underwhelming for me because of one gaping factor: it was predictable. Being predictable is not part of Quentin's vocabulary. But I seemed to be one step ahead of every scene, and I'm sure others felt the same way. So I guess there were just no big surprises or unexpected turns--unlike the rest of his work, which just slaps you in the face when you think it's going in one direction.

I really enjoyed Django and Inglorious Basterds.  Although the problem I had with both (and really with a lot of modern movies) is the climatic shoot-out isn't so climatic when you've had a ton of other shoot-outs leading up to it.  So the endings just felt like a bigger re-tread of what occurred earlier rather than an epic final battle.  I also wasn't too keen on the whole extended sequence at the end of Django where Tarantino had to get in his cameo.  Really started to drag at that point.  Thought they needed more Francis Nero as well.  

Was pretty disappointed with the Kill Bill films.  But the other QT stuff is gold for me.  My absolute favorite of his, by a long shot too, is Jackie Brown.  Damn do I love everything about that movie.

Jackie Brown is my favorite as well, I think it is a much better film than Pulp Fiction.

I'm a fan of QT's flicks. I thought Bastards was better than Django, but I have liked all his flicks. Pulp Fiction is probably my favorite. Jackie Brown is a great flick too - it's probably his most underrated flick.

See, now "Pulp Fiction" did absolutely nothing for me. I was so pumped to see it when it first came out cuz it got such rave reviews and Tarantino would go on and on during interviews about his love for 70s and 80s exploitation cinema, which is the stuff I dig, so I thought "Pulp Fiction" would be a no brainer for me...but I sat in that theater f*cking hating that movie, I was bored as hell, it just didn't grab me at all. I avoided anything with Q.T.'s name on it for years after that.

(shrugs) Again, I guess I just didn't "get" it.

Pacific Rim (cinema premiere) = fantastic movie ! highly rated !

Pulp Fiction
Reservoir Dogs
Jackie Brown
Inglorious Basterds
Kill Bill Pt 1
Death Proof
Kill Bill Pt 2

That's the running order for me, the first three are classic IMHO

Pawn Stars

G.I. Joe Retaliaton (what a crap, glad to havent see in cinema, Dwayne is good)

"The Dark Knight Rises" (2012)


Christopher Nolan's Batman trilogy comes to an epic close, as a terrorist named Bane places Gotham City under martial law and forces Batman out of an eight year retirement. Gorgeously photographed (and I'm not just talkin' about Anne Hathaway in the Catwoman suit), with very cool action set pieces, suitably great performances by Michael "Alfred" Caine, Morgan "Lucius" Freeman and Joseph Gordon Levitt as a devoted Gotham cop who figures heavily in the finale.

Not quite as awesome as the preceding "Dark Knight" flick but still pretty damn good and wraps up the series nicely.

Bad Santa (2003)
Evan Almighty (2007)

S.D. wrote:

Bad Santa (2003)
Evan Almighty (2007)

As far as comedies go, those are on the opposite ends of the spectrum!  

Under the Dome

"Batman: The Dark Knight Returns, Part I" (2012)


The DC Animated Universe scores another winner with this adaptation of Frank Miller's classic 1986 graphic novel, which totally re-wrote the Batman myth and inspired pretty much every film and animated version of the character that has followed, to this very day. In Part I of the saga, Batman returns to Gotham City's streets after a 10 year absence and takes on a particularly brutal street gang known as "The Mutants," picking up a new Robin - a girl! - along the way. Nicely animated as usual, with an impressive voice cast that includes Peter "RoboCop" Weller as Batman.

I'll be watching Part 2 tomorrow night, when we finally get to see Bats face off with an older, wiser Joker!!

The People vs. George Lucas. An entertaining doco for any self-respecting Star Wars fan. I loved it!

Sutekh wrote:

The People vs. George Lucas. An entertaining doco for any self-respecting Star Wars fan. I loved it!

Been told I should see it. Star Wars has been pretty much dead to me since Episode 2. I used to be die-hard with the toys, cards, novels, etc...then Lucas ruined it for me.

I recently watched Return Of The Jedi on blu-ray and the big thing that got me upset wasn't the "NOOO!" by Vader but the changing of the music at the end. I about lost it with that.

jstate wrote:

I recently watched Return Of The Jedi on blu-ray and the big thing that got me upset wasn't the "NOOO!" by Vader but the changing of the music at the end.  I about lost it with that.

Ewoks! A whole movie ruined by F***ing Ewoks!

Lucas should have left it at two. I don't hold out any hope for the new ones, 

Boris2008 wrote:

Lucas should have left it at two. I don't hold out any hope for the new ones, 

Except Lucas won't be involved with the new ones, so that shows promise right there.

Lawrence Kasdan (who co-wrote the screenplay for Empire) is on board as creative consultant so that's another good sign.

Plus JJ did a pretty admirable job of updating the Star Trek franchise so I'm curious to see what he does with Star Wars.

iamrockerfun wrote:

Pacific Rim (cinema premiere) = fantastic movie ! highly rated !

I'm really curious to see more reviews of this one.  Of course I'll root for the Kaiju over the Transformer wannabes but the trailers and clips I've seen look great. And I'm a Del Toro fanboy so I really hope this is good.