Recently Viewed Movies Episode 2: The Vampire Bites Back

[Dincrest]

I FINALLY saw Batman: The Dark Knight Rises on HBO with my mom.  We had caught some of it last night, but wanted to see it from the beginning since the story was really intriguing and we'd never seen it in theaters (though we did see the first two in theaters.)  I enjoyed it a lot.  It had plenty of action and plenty of comic book plot convolutions.  The only thing I didn't like, as with everyone else, was that Bane was difficult to understand.  Sure people will say "the mask, blah blah blah" but Darth Vader had an even more obtrusive mask and he was comprehensible.  Then again, I'm often hard to understand whenever I wear my pseudo gas mask while gigging with my band, but for the sake of the movie, better clarity or subtitles would have helped. 

Also, like everyone else, I was hesitant about Anne Hathaway as Catwoman.  She's a breezy rom-com cutie whom I thought would crumble under Christian Bale's intensity.  I envisioned someone like Christina Ricci as Catwoman.  But Hathaway didn't just kick ass in her role, she f'n kicked balls!  She totally brought the smoldering intensity. 

Yeah, this is one trilogy I want on Blu-Ray. 

I also like the subtle nods to not only the Knightfall comic (

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the way they recreated the scene where Bane breaks Batman's back was really well done) but also to The Dark Knight Returns comic (

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what with the aging Batman coming out of retirement.  Oh, and how he fought that one street thug ganglord trying to match his brutality and getting his arm broken.  Then when he came back to fight the ganglord again in a mudpit, he was more calculating and strategic subtly cutting a hole above his eyes to blind him with blood and mud.  In Rises, he subtly sliced one of the tubes on Bane's mask to disable him.)
Sure, the interpretations and backstories of the characters aren't 100% accurate to the comic, but it doesn't matter.  What Christopher Nolan did here was really f'n good. 

[Yoda]

Watch it a few more times and the honeymoon will end. It's a fun movie though, but my favorite is the 1st of the series.

[Dincrest]

Basically, I've pretty much seen it twice in one weekend.  Of COURSE there will be disjoints, chinks in the armor, and inferences that aren't clearly explained.  I could say that about almost ANY of my favorite movies.  If I dissect everything so critically like that, I won't enjoy anything.  Sounds strange to say since, well, I'm a game and music reviewer at RPGFan where I have to dissect stuff. 

So while I accept suspension of disbelief in almost anything, the question becomes, "is it natural, or do I have to consciously make myself suspend my disbelief?"

[Dice]

Watch it a few more times and the honeymoon will end. It's a fun movie though, but my favorite is the 1st of the series.

I have trouble picking a favorite, while I think the latter two did a DAMN good job as the "next steps" the series, there's hardly room to breath, stuff is always happening (and some bizarre narrative leaps in the 3rd one, most addressed in this really amusing review).  But a damn fine series, I'd put my faith in C. Nolan to direct the Care Bears movie and still make it good.

[Esper_Crusader]

The Town. Still love it. This and The Departed are the two best crime movies of the last decade. Unless anyone can recommend others I may be forgetting..

[Yoda]

Oh man I love departed.

The greatest line in movie history:
http://youtu.be/jvnfb8UkgDE

[Jotacon]

The Town is certainly very good. I like Infernal Affairs better than The Departed(maybe because I saw it firstl), but both are very good. Anyway I have a few recommendation, I don't know your watching patterns so I took a broad variety of crime movies. I like these movies about as much as I liked The Departed so Imagine we'll differ a bit. Apologies if you've seen most/all of them.

Killer Joe - An underlooked, but excellent film from 2011. The black comedy is great and it does Matthew McConaughey right, I mean the guy seems like an asshole so let him be one and the audience automatically believes it.

In Bruges - Another dark comedy that uses guilt extremely well. The action is nice, but you're in it for the script and location shots. In the same vein try Seven Psychopaths by the same director Martin McDonagh which is In Bruges mixed with Adaptation.

Bad Lieutenant: Port Call New Orleans - Depending on how much crazy/Nicholas Cage you can take this movie is either an excellent or exhausting. Werner Herzog directs so there is a lot of sincerity hidden behind the dark curtain.

No Country for Old Men - I'm sure you've seen it, but c'mon this is The Coen Brothers at their best.

Drive - Tense is the best word for Drive. If you haven't seen it yet, it's been talked up and it is every bit as good as you've heard. Albert Brookes is amazing here.

If you want more I got more :)

[Yoda]

I hate to keep commenting lightly on the posts of other's but Bad Lieu is terrific. However I'm always in the mood for Nic Cage crazy but that movie seemed a bit longer than necessary.

I think it's on instant watch, fyi

[Jotacon]

Yo, what exactly is instant watch? Canadian Netflix is different (not just in content) so we don't have a lot of stuff. Like we don't have any sort of Queue anything. So I kinda get confused when people mention these things. Either that or I don't know how to use it at all. Care to help a brothah out?

[Yoda]

Yo, what exactly is instant watch? Canadian Netflix is different (not just in content) so we don't have a lot of stuff. Like we don't have any sort of Queue anything. So I kinda get confused when people mention these things. Either that or I don't know how to use it at all. Care to help a brothah out?

Sorry my good man,

instant watch is netflix instant watch. But i've come to use that interchangeably with amazon prime, hulu +, etc because it seems that most movies are available cross ....streaming services.

And congrats on being Canadian. As a Yank of Midwestern mortal coil I support my far Northern friends with all due love and earnestness.

In fact I used to have dreams/visions of moving to Edmonton. Those lasted a greater part of 2002/2003. 

[Jotacon]

Sorry my good man,

instant watch is netflix instant watch. But i've come to use that interchangeably with amazon prime, hulu +, etc because it seems that most movies are available cross ....streaming services.

And congrats on being Canadian. As a Yank of Midwestern mortal coil I support my far Northern friends with all due love and earnestness.

In fact I used to have dreams/visions of moving to Edmonton. Those lasted a greater part of 2002/2003. 

Goddamn Hulu doesn't work in Canada (unless you cheat the system) and goddamn Amazon Prime doesn't have Instant Video up North either. We're getting gypped! Not that it matters since Bandwidth is hella expensive for most people. It must travel slower in colder weather, it'd take way more gas. That makes sense.

Otherwise, being Canadian is great and thanks for the support! How is the midwest? All I hear about is it being filled with sexists, football and corn-based food products... or maybe that's just Nebraska. I support my 'Murican friends as much as possible. What didn't work out with the move? Just too difficult/not worthwhile. I would recommend the very similar, but slightly more apathetic Canadian way of life.

On a more on topic note I checked and Infernal Affairs was 2002, meaning this decade, meaning Esper_Crusader(and others) if you haven't seen the film that The Departed is based on you should. It is one of my favourite Hong Kong films of all time.

[Bytor]

Watched Children of Men the other night on a whim, and I must say color me impressed, best thing I have seen in quite some time!

[GrimReality]

Watched Children of Men the other night on a whim, and I must say color me impressed, best thing I have seen in quite some time!

That's a damn fine film. I'd love to see it again.

Bully -
This turned out to be not quite what I was expecting. Not that I want to see kids being bullied, but the movie really only showed it happening to one kid. The rest is all hearsay. Certainly true, but not all that persuasive. We also get stories of a kid who committed suicide, and a girl in juvenile jail.
 I was actually confused at times what kid belonged to what parent. And who was still alive. I didn't even know there were 2 kids that had committed suicide being covered.
The movie is still effective, and makes you very frustrated and angry at how these things are dealt with. The Principal(assistant?) lady that they focus on seems especially inept. She says all the right things, then does nothing.
I'm not that much a fan of documentaries. I feel the only effective ones are those that are done with people unaware of the camera. Otherwise, I don't feel the real story is being told. A camera changes you. Did the kids on the buses know a camera was on them?
Having been bullied myself in school for several years, I certainly feel a kinship here. So much more needs to be done in this world to combat bullying. Too many people still see it as part of growing up. Or insist that the kid being bullied should just fight back, which is idiotic, and no solution at all.
Raise your damn kids right, with respect for others, and an appreciation for our many differences, and this could all so very easily go away. And yet it won't. Ever. Which is tragically sad.

[Dice]

Watched Children of Men the other night on a whim, and I must say color me impressed, best thing I have seen in quite some time!

That's a really weird coincidence, I re-watched it two nights ago with the boyfriend who hadn't seen it.  The plot is surprisingly deep for a 1h40m movie (he translated the Romanian gypsey in the end for me.... I always wonder what I miss when these films have the un-subbed foreigner).  I loved Michael Caine in it and Owen Wilson is a man amongst men.

[Bytor]

Dice, what was she saying? I was curious myself.