AndyLL's "Looks like I picked the wrong week to quit sniffing glue" Top Ten of 2015

[AndyLL]

1 minute ago, Telemachos said:

ANDDYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY

 

I gave you fair warning 1st....

 

 

[AndyLL]

 

The rest tomorrow hopefully.  My top five are sure to please the forums....

 

Spoiler

 

[Blankments]

Your comments on Ex Machina intrigue me. I too can be bothered by overly excessive nudity in movies, but Ex Machina handled it in a way that I didn't even feel like I was watching nudity because... well, they were robots. I really liked that aspect of tackling sexuality and nudity in that movie, even though I wasn't a fan of it overall

[AndyLL]

Spoiler

 

A movie I didn't know much about until I saw the trailers and started reading up on it here in the forums.  I'm a science fiction fan so there was no doubt I was going to see it but my family doesn't always feel the same way and it was touch and go if I was going to be able see this in the theater.

Luckily the trailers created an interest with the whole family and we found time to see this in IMAX.

I was a fun movie and I thought Damon did a great job.

I was concerned about pacing... a lot of time these types of SciFi movies can have a lot of slow parts... Gravity had a few... Apollo 13 had some... Intersteller was a snooze fest for half the movie.

But The Martian did a great job keeping the story flowing throughout the movie.

I am sorry I only got to see it in IMAX once but can't wait to get the Blu-Ray.

 

 

 

[incognitoo]

13 hours ago, AndyLL said:

 

  Reveal hidden contents

 

 

 

 

 

Jurassic Park is one of my top 10 all time movies.

I knew exactly what I was going to get with Jurassic World.

 

 

1) Park with genetically engineered dinosaurs opens.
2) No matter how careful they are the dinosaurs escape containment.
3) Dinosaurs cause mayhem and eat people
4) Someone saves the day and they leave the island

 

 

 

I never expected to love this movie.  I figured it would be an enjoyable IMAX popcorn movie.

 

 

 

But I did love it.   It's hard to put in words exactly why.  Most likely the characters.

 

 

 

I love Pratt and I really liked Howard.  I felt they nailed their characters.

 

 

 

The plot was stupid.  But so was the originals.  The violence was at times gratuitous.    I didn't mind that however that was a big difference from the original.  JP did a much better job at building tension with the hint of violence instead of just having dinos eating people.

 

Still it was a fun, fun movie.  I saw it 3 times in IMAX and several times on Blu-Ray

This action scene... as stupid as it was... will likely be my top nominee for the BOFFYs

 

 

 

Bait eh? Well I don't care since, I don't see how one of the greatest Blockbusters of all time not including farting robots could be seen as something bad.

 

Given, I had some problems with the movie. The whole The Raptor Whisperer thing was outright ridiculous. But (!), it was cool. At least if one put oneself back into the body and mind of a thirteen year old dinofanatic. High heels vs. T-Rex was... stupid. But since Transformers already did go there twice (well, nearly), it did not came out as a complete shock. T-Rex / Raptor hug at the end of (one of) the (greatest Dino-) battle(s of all time) was facepalmworthy but still endurable. I disliked that they were not able to come up with having Pratt something to do beside looking tense at people, dinos and windows. The elevator scene in the control room struck me as if they wanted to shoot a Coca Cola light man commercial featuring Pratt. Maybe he should have taken off his shirt in this scene -> 800 Mio domestic confirmed. The stupid decisions some characters in this movie make... well, we all still like Halloween, Scream or Friday the 13th dispite featuring characters making stupid decisions, don't we?

 

Dispite all that, it was a very entertaining movie with great action scenes and the right amount of grimness. Overall, I really had fun watching it. And as long as a blockbuster about a dinosaur park manages to pull that off, I am satisfied.

[Avatree]

14 minutes ago, incognitoo said:

 

Bait eh? Well I don't care since, I don't see how one of the greatest Blockbusters of all time not including farting robots could be seen as something bad.

 

Given, I had some problems with the movie. The whole The Raptor Whisperer thing was outright ridiculous. But (!), it was cool. At least if one put oneself back into the body and mind of a thirteen year old dinofanatic. High heels vs. T-Rex was... stupid. But since Transformers already did go there twice (well, nearly), it did not came out as a complete shock. T-Rex / Raptor hug at the end of (one of) the (greatest Dino-) battle(s of all time) was facepalmworthy but still endurable. I disliked that they were not able to come up with having Pratt something to do beside looking tense at people, dinos and windows. The elevator scene in the control room struck me as if they wanted to shoot a Coca Cola light man commercial featuring Pratt. Maybe he should have taken off his shirt in this scene -> 800 Mio domestic confirmed. The stupid decisions some characters in this movie make... well, we all still like Halloween, Scream or Friday the 13th dispite featuring characters making stupid decisions, don't we?

 

Dispite all that, it was a very entertaining movie with great action scenes and the right amount of grimness. Overall, I really had fun watching it. And as long as a blockbuster about a dinosaur park manages to pull that off, I am satisfied.

 

Do you mean the sequel to one of the greatest blockbusters of all time?

[incognitoo]

1 hour ago, AndyLL said:

 

  Reveal hidden contents

 

A movie I didn't know much about until I saw the trailers and started reading up on it here in the forums.  I'm a science fiction fan so there was no doubt I was going to see it but my family doesn't always feel the same way and it was touch and go if I was going to be able see this in the theater.

Luckily the trailers created an interest with the whole family and we found time to see this in IMAX.

I was a fun movie and I thought Damon did a great job.

I was concerned about pacing... a lot of time these types of SciFi movies can have a lot of slow parts... Gravity had a few... Apollo 13 had some... Intersteller was a snooze fest for half the movie.

But The Martian did a great job keeping the story flowing throughout the movie.

I am sorry I only got to see it in IMAX once but can't wait to get the Blu-Ray.

 

 

(OT: nice Ulala pic AndyLL)

 

CC: Well, now that the screenplay is on, who should we get for the main role?

NG: I think we should ask Pitt.

CC: Too old.

NG: Excuse me? He's 51?

CC: 52 next year. As I said.

NG: Well, what about Bale?

CC: I don't think we want to give Ridley a heartattack that early.

NG: What about Cooper?

CC: Not available atm. Also, too handsome for portraying a nerd.

NG: Crowe?

CC: Too old. And too fat.

NG: *sigh* You're a hard woman to please.

CC: That I am.

NG: Oh I know! Gosling!

CC: Who?

NG: Gosling?

CC: Who?

NG: Gosling? You know? Only god forgives?

CC: WHO? WHAT??? Woman, you are talking in tongues!

NG: *sigh* Ryan Gosling? As in Drive? Or as in Gangster Squad?
CC: *looks up the name online* But... he is Canadian!

NG: THAT'S RACIST!

CC: Also, too cute for portraying a nerd.

NG: *deepest sigh ever* Then... Damon?

CC: Damon it is.

 

I really liked that movie (well, who didn't?). One of the "hit" ticks in Scott's hit-and-miss statistics. Connected really well and even my wife wasn't put off because of the nerdy SciFi theme. However, to me it feels that Damon slowly walks the path of Hanks during the 90s and 00s in terms of employments. "Who should we get for this?" "Who is popular and connects to the widest demografic atm?" "Ok, I'll give Tom a call." Doesn't mean that I don't like him, it just feels for me like he's being overused a bit in the last few years. Everyones elses mileage may vary though.

 

Edited January 8, 2016 by incognitoo
correcting typos

[AndyLL]

Spoiler

 

 

I did not see the Hunger Games in the theater.  My wife read the books and badly wanted to see it.  I refused.  She went alone.

I did not see Catching Fire in the theater.  My wife took a neighborhood 13 year old girl to see it with her.

However... Catching Fires run happened during Frozens run.  This is when I began to really participate on the forums.  I keep reading about how good the series was from members I respected.

So late one night with nothing better to do I plopped in the HG blu-ray.  I was hooked.  I finished HG and immediately watched Catching Fire.

I loved the world and the story.  I loved Jennifer Lawrence.  

The only thing I didn't love was the seemingly forced love triangle but I could live with it.

So MockingJay Part 1 was my 1st Hunger Games movie in the theater.

I loved it.  

I didn't like the series because of the games... I liked it because of the world.  The idea that a society would use managed violence to keep the population under control.  Yes I know it's been done many times before but the HG series did it extremely well.

Katniss drives the movie.  A conflicted, unwilling hero.  She has a lot of conflicts.  Symbol vs participate.  Home vs duty to all.  Family  vs the people in the districts.

JLaw played her so well.

My disappointment in MJ1 was the same as everyone else.  They needed to either find a way to make MJ1 a more complete movie or combine MJ1 and MJ2.

So it's obvious I consider MJ2 just a continuation of MJ1 and my rating of MJ2 would likely not be the same if I considered as a standalone movie.

I was excited for MJ2.  I'll admit that excitement was tempered by my excitement for TFA.  I do think that hurt MJ2s box office. 

The MJ2 plot was pretty predictable.  That was a result of the year difference between MJ1 & MJ2.

It didn't matter to me.  MJ2 was an awesome end to the series.

I've bought the books and look forward to reading them this year.

I hope they do a prequel and explore the initial uprising and the forming of the games.

 

[AndyLL]

22 hours ago, The Panda said:

Put Inside Out, Mad Max, and Star Wars as your top 3 and the list will be redeemed.

 

Spoiler

 

[The Panda]

Gag, Mockingjay Part 2 nearly makes this list irredeemable.  I hate that movie the more I think about.  The C- grade I downgraded it to was generous.

 

If Mad Max, Star Wars, or Inside Out missed the list to it... Well God have mercy on your soul... 

Edited January 8, 2016 by The Panda

[Plain Old Tele]

Well, I guess @K1stpierre will be happy.

[AndyLL]

11 minutes ago, The Panda said:

If Mad Max, Star Wars, or Inside Out missed the list to it... Well God have mercy on your soul... 

 

[The Panda]

Oh, I just realized you haven't seen Mad Max.  You should post-pone the list, go watch it, knock Mockingjay 2 off and add Mad Max because you'll love it so much.

[Plain Old Tele]

Yeah, I mean, c'mon, if you're gonna die historic, might as well die historic on the fury road.

[AndyLL]

4 minutes ago, The Panda said:

Oh, I just realized you haven't seen Mad Max.  You should post-pone the list, go watch it, knock Mockingjay 2 off and add Mad Max because you'll love it so much.

 

So... if I were to replace MJ2 with Mad Max than my #3 would stay. 

 

Spoiler

I have seen Max Max

 

[4815162342]

7 minutes ago, Telemachos said:

Yeah, I mean, c'mon, if you're gonna die historic, might as well die historic on the fury road.

 

 You know, hope is a mistake. If you can't fix what's broken, you'll, uh... you'll go insane.

[Avatree]

If Mad Max is not on this list then I will give the list my seal of approval, regardless of how many Jurassic Worlds there are on here.

[Water Bottle]

This is Andy's list so he doesn't need my approval. But I also don't think he's actually picked a bad movie.

[AndyLL]

So... while I'm writing up my final 3 (which is challenging for 1 of them), here are some facts about my top 3.

 

Two I've seen 8 times... One I've seen 6 times.

 

I've grown tired of known of them.   Anyone of them I know I'd enjoy just as much now as I did when I 1st saw it.

 

As of right now...

 

1 of them is my favorite of all time from its studio.

1 of them is my 2nd favorite of all time from its studio.

 

I didn't have a tough time coming up with my top 10 movies of 2015.

 

It was more challenging coming up with my top 3.

 

Any of my 4-10 positions could change on any given day.

 

However my top 3 are my top 3 because of the enjoyment I get from them combined their re-watchability.

 

Sometimes I feel we get too technical about movies here and forget to just watch them.  

 

A movie can have a million things wrong with it but still be a 'great' movie to watch.  Half my list falls into that category.

 

One of the most ridiculous things I find here is that people seemingly base their enjoyment/potential enjoyment of a movie from the critics, or the trailers, or from other peoples reactions to it. 

 

Did you enjoy the movie itself?  Did it make you happy... make you think... tell a story you wanted to hear?  Does it hold up over multiple viewings?  

 

The last is important to me.  I don't feel you can judge that a movie is either great or horrible without giving it a 2nd chance.

 

 

[AndyLL]

Spoiler

 

 

Spoiler

 

So... do I even bother writing up why?

 

Let's  start with what I feel is wrong with the film.

 

1) I didn't like the Casey and Frank narration to start the movie - I felt it set the wrong tone.

 

2) I felt the 1st act was too long.  I think you could have gotten the point across that the world was a mess and that Casey was an intelligent, concerned, future thinking person that wanted to do something about it.  I think this forced the rushed ending.

 

3) More Tommowland somewhere...  The creation of it,... the destruction of it,  the rebuilding of it... anything.

 

#3 combined with the realization that the poor reception of the film means that the story will remain incomplete.  I'll never be able to explore this world anymore than this movie.

 

Bird addressed this very point:

 

"People will argue about whether we told the proper story or not. People ask, 'Why did you spend so much time in a car when you could have been in Tomorrowland?' But the movie was always intended to be a road movie and its title seemed to suggest, to some people, that the whole movie was going to take place in Tomorrowland. We had a lot of ideas for Tomorrowland but just running around Tomorrowland is not a movie. There has to be a conflict. It has to be somewhat interesting. We set out to make a fable or a fairy tale about what happened to the positive view of the future and how can we get it back and pursue that idea. For better or worse, we did."

 

I understand his point but I think they took it to far.  There was a compromise in there somewhere.  And if the GA expected this to take place in Tommorland ( I didn't ) then that is their fault.

 

So why did this movie make my top 3?

 

It's hard to explain but I'll give it a shot.

 

The easy things...

 

1) I thought the characters and the actors that played them were outstanding.

 

Cassidy as Athena I thought was outstanding
Robertson as Casey was wonderful
I've never been a Clooney fan but I thought he nailed is portrayal of Frank

 

2) I thought the pacing was good.  Certainly there were 5 minutes I would have removed here... 10 minutes there... but in general the movie did a great job of building up to the end.

 

3) The message.  I won't lie.  I also feel we are doing a lot to ruin our world and refuse to even do the easy things to try to fix it.

 

4) Combining the above 2... as Bird said... it was a road trip film.  Casey knows something is wrong. She knows there is something better.  She knows she needs to find that path.  The movie showed that trip.

 

A I mentioned in the Cinderella post above I'm not just a Disney fan like many here... I'm a bit of a Disney fanatic.  Us Disney freaks do not only enjoy what Disney has to offer... we buy in to Walt Disney's vision.

 

Yes... I know... Walt Disney is not that altruistic visionary that could never do wrong.  He was flawed in many ways.

 

However he was a visionary in storytelling and his ability to bring to life his visions outside of the theater to me over shadows many of his flaws.

 

With the original Disneyland Park Walt Disney attempted to take people outside of their current world and immerse them into other worlds.  One of those worlds of course was a Fantasy world filled with princesses and talking animals. 

 

However one of Walt's goals was to also create a 'Tommowland' a vision of the future, of innovation and of learning.

 

Unfortunately Walt's vision is dying in the Disney Parks.  Innovations, along with most of the educational attractions, are shells of their formal selves.  EPCOT has become nothing more than another theme park compared to being a vision of the future as it was originally envisioned to be.

 

Imagineers have be replaced with bean counters.

 

This is why the movie Tomorrowland had a much more positive reception on the Disney forums than it did with the GA.  It was an attempt to tell the story of Walt's vision.  We are more willing to overlook the flaws.

 

I commend Disney for attempting it.

 

I condemn Disney for fucking it up.

 

What we got is all we'll get and I feel the surface was only scratched.