JonnyCraig

Finally went to see this yesterday and absolutely loved it. Ponsoldt showed that he has the ability to get genuine, naturalistic performances out of his cast with his previous film, Smashed and he does the same thing here. It kind of felt like a somewhat mumblecore variation of John Hughes at his best, to me at least. It's just too bad they tied into this into 500 Days of Summer in the marketing, as I think a film like this is one that definitely has the ability to connect with audiences on a larger level.

So much potential here, and the cast is game but Bay's manipulation of events/characters and general crasness ultimately ruined it for me. 5/10

Wright definitely has a knack for mixing genres, combining apocalyptic sci-fi and mid-life crisis dramedies this time around. Basically, it's The Big Chill meets Invasion of the Body Snatchers, a difficult genre fusion that succeeds thanks to a strong ensemble and Wright's stylistic flair. There is a lot more exposition than you'd expect this time around but it's all worth it and gives us an opportunity to see a side of both Pegg and Frost that wasn't present in the previous installments. The added depth makes this feel like the perfect conclusion to the series, ultimately bringing various themes present in the previous two installments full circle but it works just as well as a standalone film. I also liked the cameos from various other Spaced alum, although I think my group were the only ones who noticed.

It's been almost two weeks since I watched it and it's still on my mind. It is mystifying and anger-inducing, hell, it's even Lynchian, never giving you a moment to compose yourself. I am still at a loss for words pretty much. 10/10

Most of the claims of inaccuracy are coming from SeaWorld itself, expected since they are depicted negatively (and for good reason.) The film is so gut-wrenching at times that people may think there is manipulation going on, but unfortunately, there is actually very little of that here. Much of the film's claims against SeaWorld has been written about previously in great detail, and the film's point is made through testimony from multiple SeaWorld trainers, rather than the filmmakers themselves. Watch the film for yourself. If you have some background on the story, it feels like seeing stuff you already know but the film still packs an emotional punch and the footage of various incidents involving the whales is incredibly frightening at times. There is one particular scene which terrified me, showing a trainer getting pulled underwater repeatedly by a whale (and only being able to survive due to his prior experience as a diver.) In terms of recent documentaries, this isn't as great as The Act of Killing but it's still up there.

Eh. The first 20 minutes or so annoyed the hell out of me, then I dug it for about 90 minutes, and then it concluded with one of the most anti-climactic endings I have ever seen. If you're going to cop out, don't go with the 'false ending' trick. Even when you consider the film's exposition and terrible ending, this is still a return to form for Stone, with its flashes of brilliance reminding me of '90s Stone (the last time he had any consistency.) Lively annoyed the hell out of me, but I thought the rest of the cast was fine, with Travolta and Hayek's scene chewing being the highlight. It could've been so much more, but it is still the best Stone film since the rather underrated Any Given Sunday. C+

The Act of Killing (2012)Blackfish (2013)The Hunt (2012)

Eh. Cliched plotting and Foster was awful but the world-building and Damon's likability won me over. B-

I don't end up hating too many films since I avoid films I suspect I'll dislike, so the worst I have seen so far are The Purge and Oz the Great & Powerful. Still, I'd rank them both in the C to C- range, which isn't completely terrible.

If it is even trying to make much of a point, Noe pretty much beats you over the head with it but it is quite an experience in and of itself. If you can get past poor acting, medicore scripting and don't happen to have epilepsy, this is worth experiencing with the lights off and the surrounds up. Basically a strobe-filled (seriously, there are literally 5 minute segments with nothing but strobes) music video with large doses of drugs, graphic sex and violence to top it all off. People who say style over substance when referring to the likes of Tarantino haven't seen anything yet, this is truly style over substance and it ultimately works in spite of itself. 7/10

Saw this on Netflix a couple years ago and absolutely loved it. I only knew Chris Morris initially from The IT Crowd, but he is actually a very astute writer and director. In any other director's hands, this would have been a disaster but Morris knows how to satirize the roots of homegrown extremism without preaching or just going for shock value.

Since I liked Smashed a lot, I am really looking forward to this. People who haven't seen Miles Teller before need to check out Rabbit Hole, since he is absolutely terrific in that and it shows how talented he is.

95% full in downtown San Diego and I felt like a fish out of water as well. There was one guy on my left who looked college-age, but aside from that, EVERYONE was over 50.

I grew up with Allen's films, and this is a return to form for him, in my opinion at least. Sure, Midnight in Paris was pretty good but this is just absolutely brilliant. I can't think of any American director who can pull off a tragi-comedy better than Allen, and Blanchett is pretty much a revelation here. Before Midnight was my #1 of the year just a couple weeks ago, but it looks like its reign has already ended for me.

I think I should change my name to avoid the confusion, since you beat me to the punch. I think some people are running the joke into the ground a bit (considering how nobody cared about David Vitter, people knew about Newt's stuff well before the '12 race, GOP covering up the Mark Foley scandal, blah blah), but it still gets me going. I just keep on imagining someone saying "I'm Carlos Danger" in an Inigo Montoya voice.