[tdockweiler]

Fat Man and Little Boy - 5.5/10
 
Best movie title ever! You come up with such a good one like that you just know it's going to be a box office success!
Ok, but seriously this one is starring Paul Newman and is directed by Roland Joffee who made the amazing "Killing Fields'.
The name refers to the two bombs the USA dropped on Japan. It's the story behind the creation of them...and yes, it's pretty boring.
 
Ebert Gave it a 1.5/4 and I don't think it's that bad but close..
 
I have to say that any movie on the subject really makes me think. I'm against the dropping of it, but I don't know if Japan would have given up without it.
 
 
There is also "Black Rain" which is pretty decent and a few other documentaries on the subject.
 
I've seen a lot of bad movies lately..really need to find some good ones.
 
BTW have you noticed there are almost no movies on Amazon Instant/prime with a 5 ratings with hundreds of reviews?
There is Shawshank Redemption, Mister Roberts, Ben Hur, The English Patient and October Sky (one of my favorites!). I think only 5% of them have gotten a 5/5.
 
 
Amazon reviews generally don't mean much because some of the best ones have a 3/5 (All is Lost and "The Thin Red Line" etc).

 

[kova4a]

  Fat Man and Little Boy - 5.5/10
 
Best movie title ever! You come up with such a good one like that you just know it's going to be a box office success!
 

Really? What's so original about naming a movie about the Manhattan Project after the nuclear bombs from WW2?
 
Anyway, just watched 
Joe - 6/10
 
Tye Sheridan does decent enough job again and is actually the character around whom the main story revolves. The simple story of a boy with an old abusive father aka G-Daawg, who likes to drink all day long, beat up his son and occasionally do some popping and waving (don't ask me why - that's probably how those kids in the Step Up movies will end up too when they realize they can't be street dancing their whole lives). edit: Actually, just read that Gary Paulter the guy playing the father ( who I thought was a pretty good actor) was actually a homeless guy, who apparently played himself in the movie rather than a screenplay character and that sadly he died few months after finishing the movie.
It's nothing special but it's not that bad either, especially given that Nicolas Cage is in it and what's been his track record the past few years. He actually was pretty good. It' the story that is kinda average and lacking true heart and soul. I don't know if they were trying to make something like Mud or what, although Mud was also pretty mediocre story-wise, but I think the movie mainly lacks character development. For a movie named by the main character of Cage it's pretty weird that it doesn't give you a proper backstory or something else to flesh his character out more and explain why is he doing certain things or acting totally insane in certain situations?

 

[fractus2]

Metropolitan (1990). 8/10 Making my way through Whit Stilman's films. Started with The Last Days of Disco, then Damsels in Distress, now his first. Classic WS with the dialogue. Next up is Barcelona. Carolyn Farina is the main character, and she also shows up in TLDoD and DiD.
 
Ebert gives it 3 and a half stars.
 
http://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/metropolitan-1990

 

[2015071]

The Hunger Games: Catching Fire - 9.001/10
Catching fire is one of the sequels that live up with it's predecessor. Catcing Fire up the tension, suspense, sadness, cinematography (camera is much more stable), CGI and action. GG

American Hustle - 6.11/10
What a lame, no ****s given 80% rt film. The romance is lame. The characters are lame. The story, which can be good and interesting, turn down by lameness. What a overated piece of ****.

 

[alpha421]

^Strange coincidence.  I've recently seen both films and I would've flipped the scores and lowered American Hustle a few notches (Catching Fire - 6.11/10, American Hustle 7/10). Generation difference, perhaps?

 

[2015071]

^i would rather call it "personal reference".

 

[Hutnicks]

^and^^
 
I like to sit you both down to run through "Base Moi" and get your reactions.

 

[2015071]

^ 21% on RT sounds tempting... 

 

[metalsonata]

Captain America: The Winter Soldier (2014): 8/10
 
Ridiculous but surprisingly thrilling, and even somewhat politically relevant, in a way that the Marvel films haven't been since the first Iron Man. In addition to which this is the first true 'game-changer' in the Avenger film series--assuming that they don't just wind up immediately undoing many of the more serious developments that occur here. I do wish that there were more character moments (I still don't think the 'time-travel' element of Captain America's story has been satisfactorily explored on a character level), but ultimately it's pretty hard to find anything to really complain about here. Great summer movie fun, and it's not even summer yet.
 
The Grandmaster (2013): 7/10
 
It wasn't until after I watched it that I learned with some distress that I had seen a heavily edited version of The Grandmaster--and after doing some reading, it seems like some of my problems with the film (the explanatory inter-titles, especially) can be directly attributed to this particular cut that I saw. Nonetheless, after the film's rocky opening it was hard to tear myself away--Wong Kar-Wai is a great visual director, so even though the film never gels in a satisfactory manner outside of the Gong Er 'subplot' it was still worth watching, if only for the physical beauty of the images that unspool throughout the film. I'm not overly familiar with the Ip Man story, and have not seen any of the very numerous 'Ip Man' movies, but can confidently state that The Grandmaster fails as an Ip Man film. I didn't know anything more about the man's history or personality by the time the credits began to roll than I did when I first popped the DVD into the player, and throughout the movie Ip Man seems to be more of a footnote in his own story than anything else. Indeed, this is more Gong Er's story, and the film's storytelling works best when it's focused on her. I can't say that I'd recommend this film (or at least the version of it that I saw), but film fans who can appreciate powerful visuals on their own merits will find a lot to love here.
 
The Great Beauty (2013): 9/10
 
Its thematic ambitions may slightly outreach its grasp, but the film's title is a fine descriptor for the film itself: great performances, breathtaking cinematography, and a beautiful soundtrack married expertly to the film's visuals (Can anyone tell me where this film's version of 'My Heart's in the Highland' originates from?) all work together to create an experience that veers between garish comedy and absolute cinematic poetry, with very few seams visible. I could easily see some film fans accusing it of being over-done, but its richness worked on me like a drug--this is probably a film I could watch over and over again without regretting the time I've spent on it. 
 
Hara-Kiri: Death of a Samurai (2011): 8/10
 
Surprisingly restrained for a Takashi Miike film--in many ways, I actually found the 1962 original by the great director Masaki Kobayashi to be the more difficult of the two to watch. Miike's take on the story is a fine refreshing of an old film, though I can't help but wonder why Miike felt the need to re-make it, if he was going to change so little--especially considering how well the original has aged (though yes, it is a black-and-white film) . It's not as assured as the original either--that film was better paced, and the 'revenge' moments there were enough to make you want to stand up and cheer, in no small part thanks to Nakadai's great performance as Hanshiro. Not that the actor here, Ichikawa, is bad. He's just no Nakadai. And Miike is no Kobayashi. Still, it's worth checking out, whether you're a fan of the original or have never seen it. 

 

[kkl10]

Tabu (2012) - 8
 
How to say ... two stories? Or a monumentally long prelude before the story? Regardless of perspective, I think there's good reason for us to dwell so much time in the quotidian of three ladies, to know Aurora. To know one of the links that connect the two halves of the narrative (or anti-narrative), this senile and insecure woman, prone to fits of delirium and eccentricity who has, as a vestige of past times, a black maid, Santa, that somehow manages to put up with Aurora. Maybe Santa puts up with Aurora because she feels for her a much higher degree of compassion than we do. But old age eventually reclaims Aurora's life, and so appears Gian-Luca Ventura, the other link, to chronicle the Paradise. The memoir of a sad love story, visceral, reckless and adventurous love between Aurora and Ventura held decades ago in the bleak landscape of a former Portuguese colony in Africa. A love story that, by its sheer turmoil, had the unfortunate consequence of triggering the Portuguese Colonial War. Paradise lends another depth and color to Aurora's character and, in the end, it's impossible not to have the slightest compassion for her.
 
The slowness and monotony of the first half might discourage the least patient, but it pays off to endure to the end with Tabu. Miguel Gomes, Portuguese filmmaker, forged a movie gifted with cinematic beauty as ravishing as the love story itself, the clean, modern and direct nature of Paradise Lost contrasts with the dreamlike and nostalgic enchantment of Paradise, as if those were two completely different worlds (or films). The reward is immense both for the strokes of cinematic genius revealed by Miguel Gomes and for the feeling of having contemplated, over a lifetime, the memory or dream of someone. Amidst all this, the significance of Pilar's role, the other main character of Paradise Lost, becomes incognito to me. The prominent attention given to her persona seems inconsequent, all in all, she is little more than a spectator, just like us ... maybe the director actually wanted to allude us through Pilar, an intriguing reading which boosts even more my impetus to re-watch this film. This is a singular work in the context of Contemporary Cinema which pays tribute to the old B&W Classic Cinema. Wonderful art house film, highly recommended!

 

[fractus2]

Meet Me in St. Louis (1944). 8/10 Starring Judy Garland and Mary Astor. Noticed a very young June Lockhart (18,19), who played the mom in Lost in Space, and also in the Lassie tv series. Chill Wills makes an appearance.

 

[fractus2]

The Grand Budapest Hotel (2014). 8.5/10 With the passing of Roger Ebert,I've found a new reviewer - Dana Stevens:
 
http://www.slate.com/articles/arts/movies/2014/02/wes_anderson_s_the_grand_budapest_hotel_starring_ralph_fiennes_reviewed.html

 

[Focker]

If you like sci-fi, you may want to give this one a go...it was better than I expected. 
 
 
"The Machine" - 7.9/10
 
 

 

[fractus2]

  If you like sci-fi, you may want to give this one a go...it was better than I expected.
 
 
"The Machine" - 7.9/10
 
 

 
That's on my list.

 

[Focker]

   
That's on my list.

 
Let us know what you think after you see it....one thing I'm curious about is the budget for this one. I got tired of trying to find the number, but I'm under the impression it was relatively low budget....assuming that's the case, it's very impressive visually...a lot of the effects and action are very well done. It's a bit of a sleeper, I think.