The Official Last Movie You Saw Thread (Part 2)

[KCKUKFan]

Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle.

I've always thought the original Jumanji was a pretty great family movie. I showed it to my daughter a couple of years ago and I've never seen a person have such a pleasurable reaction to a movie. This new reboot takes four stock high school characters, throws them into the bodies of famous actors, and milks that conceit for all its worth. There are a couple of extremely funny sequences, but for the most part this is just a move that sort of exists. The action sequences aren't as exciting as in the original simply because they aren't as surprising, the bad guy is pure stock, and by the second half the jokes grow a little stale.

Recommended but just slightly.

Chris Van Allsburg was my favorite author as a kid. "Jumanji" and "The Polar Express" are two of his most well-known books, but he's got dozens more.

I'll pass on this movie, but only because it appears to exist as an excuse for The Rock, Kevin Hart, and Jack Black to get a paid vacation.

[Blue Heaven]

Saw The Last Jedi today and I really liked it. It wasn't as good as TFA, but good nonetheless. You can't go into this movie expecting Episodes 4,5, or 6. TFA did an excellent job grasping the nostalgia of those movies but it was clearly taking the franchise in another exciting direction. This movie is darker and less funny than previous entries. It expands the Jedi "religion" in ways that you thought may have been possible but never seen or heard before. The performances were good especially that of Hamil, Ridley, and Driver and their stories interwove and went where I didn't believe it would go. The middle of this movie felt slightly off from the rest, but the path was necessary I felt and it tied it up to the third act but not as good as it could've. Still, aside from that, I had no complaints. In this day and age you just can't keep these original characters hanging around much longer. It needs to go in another direction and this movie does a good job of speeding the Star Wars universe along. I highly recommend this movie if you are/can be a Star Wars Realist. It's set up good for the next chapter which sees JJ Abrams taking the reigns once again to close out this new trilogy.

[Joneslab]

I really liked The Last Jedi as well.

The first 30 minutes lag a little (okay, a lot), but the last 90 minutes of this are as good as any Star Wars film including Empire.

Highly recommended.

[Spiritof96]

I really liked The Last Jedi as well.

The first 30 minutes lag a little (okay, a lot), but the last 90 minutes of this are as good as any Star Wars film including Empire.

Highly recommended.

Oh please...

[KCKUKFan]

Saw Jumanji today, because the wife was begging. This was... shaggy, but harmless.

It obviously was conceived as an unrelated film, probably titled "Welcome to the Jungle," but the studio figured they could double the box office receipts with a heavy dose of Member Berries if they slapped the Jumanji brand all over it.

[40bill]

"Jumanji" was just as advertised: light entertainment with some laughs,
A good stop to relax and not fight the Star Wars crowd.
I thought it was a good movie for Christmas break.

[Blue Heaven]

Caught the Netflix movie Bright last night. It stars Will Smith and Joel Edgerton. It's about a world of elves, fairies, and orcs living amongst humans. Smith is an LA cop and his partner Edgerton is an Orc. They find themselves in a plot to save an elf who holds a secret wand that can summon a dark lord. The idea is fantastic but this movie fell on it's face. There are some interesting set pieces and action but the story is a complete mess. This is a one time viewing that will quickly be forgotten. It's a shame to because it was directed by David Ayer, who directed Training Day, U-571, End Of Watch, and Harsh Times, all movies I really liked. He must be hitting a directing wall as his last picture, Suicide Squad, while not as bad as the reviews still wasn't very good.

[KCKUKFan]

Ayer only wrote Training Day and U-571. He's directed End Of Watch and Fury (both excellent) and then Suicide Squad and Bright (both awful).

[Joneslab]

After sleeping on it, the Mouse needs to give this franchise to the creative team behind LEGO Ninjago. My eldest watches those and while they drive me nuts and are annoying beyond words, they never fail to impress me with their narrative structure and story telling.

I get this criticism in some ways.

But the difference in those Lego movies and Star Wars is that Star Wars has to deal with the old characters while building the franchise for the future. They're juggling a lot of balls and it's difficult to keep everything up in the air. I think that's why the first 30-45 minutes was bloated and slow-moving.

The original trilogy was great partly because of its simplicity. Think about how long the Jabba the Hutt scene lasted in Return of the Jedi. That was really just one set piece that went on for--what?--forty-five minutes or so. It was easily understandable, all the characters were in place, and you could easily wrap your mind around the stakes.

These new movies don't have the luxury of that. They're dealing with the backstory, the current story, and they're trying to build outward so that possibly kids twenty years from now will still be enjoying the Star Wars universe. It's not as simple and straightforward as a cartoon.

At this point I find myself actually more interested in the new characters than the old. I thought Skywalker's part was pretty cool in The Last Jedi, but these older actors can't contain the scope of these movies. First, they aren't going to be around for much longer (or they aren't around as it is). And second, they don't resonate for the younger audience the way they do for us. What Abrams and these other guys are really trying to do is hand Star Wars off to a new generation.

That's a tricky thing to pull off, and for the most part I think they've done a good job.

[Spiritof96]

I get this criticism in some ways.

But the difference in those Lego movies and Star Wars is that Star Wars has to deal with the old characters while building the franchise for the future. They're juggling a lot of balls and it's difficult to keep everything up in the air. I think that's why the first 30-45 minutes was bloated and slow-moving.

The original trilogy was great partly because of its simplicity. Think about how long the Jabba the Hutt scene lasted in Return of the Jedi. That was really just one set piece that went on for--what?--forty-five minutes or so. It was easily understandable, all the characters were in place, and you could easily wrap your mind around the stakes.

These new movies don't have the luxury of that. They're dealing with the backstory, the current story, and they're trying to build outward so that possibly kids twenty years from now will still be enjoying the Star Wars universe. It's not as simple and straightforward as a cartoon.

At this point I find myself actually more interested in the new characters than the old. I thought Skywalker's part was pretty cool in The Last Jedi, but these older actors can't contain the scope of these movies. First, they aren't going to be around for much longer (or they aren't around as it is). And second, they don't resonate for the younger audience the way they do for us. What Abrams and these other guys are really trying to do is hand Star Wars off to a new generation.

That's a tricky thing to pull off, and for the most part I think they've done a good job.

LEGO Ninjago is an ongoing series with 6 main characters that tells a season long story with continuity heavy call backs to previous seasons. They keep A LOT of stuff in the air as about every character has a sub plot going to keep them involved. As far as storytelling goes... those guys are pros. Hell, Game of Thrones staff could take a lesson.

I think they would have been better served going in their own direction (Star Wars) with a few cameos from the original cast rather than making them the only important people in the galaxy. The Fin character as an example is an interesting back story that is totally undeveloped and wasted. His big moments a are presented as though the audience has a reason to care about him.

[Joneslab]

I Don't Feel at Home in This World Anymore.

What begins as an offbeat rom-com ends as a Tarantino-style bloodfest. The first hour of this is pretty awesome; I particularly loved the interplay between Melanie Lynskey and Elijah Wood, two hapless souls who just want to find some good in this brutal world and hang on to it. Lynskey particularly is great, and the camera settles on her face for long sections of the film as she strikes a nice befuddled look at the atrocities of humanity. But then the movie turns in its last half hour, and that turn ends up ruining it. The boring last act is nothing but a stale, predictable, gore-infused gun battle, and what could have been a tremendous dark comedy is essentially wasted.

Esquire put this in the top 10 of 2017, but that's absurd. This is a doodle that you'll want to watch only if you're flat out of other options...but man, it could have been great.

[KCKUKFan]

"The Disaster Artist" was good, but probably confusing to those who aren't familiar with "The Room."

"All The Money In The World" was typical late-period Ridley Scott: expertly crafted, well-acted, beautifully shot, but cold and sort've pedestrian overall.

"The Shape Of Water" was decent, but it seems to be a bit overrated. I'm sort've cold to most Guillermo Del Toro movies, especially the more recent ones, and this is no different. It was okay, but certainly not the masterpiece that critics are making it out to be.

"Molly's Game" was terrifically entertaining, but wholly forgettable. Pretty much Aaron Sorkin by the numbers.

I thought "Star Wars" was fine, but I don't really care about the series in general. It was too long by about half, but I was entertained by most of it.

[Old School]

Saw The Last Jedi... I'll go out of my way to be generous.

It is sporadically interesting. If you think it is "as good as" or belongs on "the same list" as the original 3... Shut. up.

My sense is that people who just like the feeling of watching a Star Wars movie and visually interesting action set pieces will like this thing fine. I think that AT BEST it is a potentially interesting story told poorly and 5 sub-plots that are terrible. Taken together the movie doesn't work very well. At worst, it is a TEXT BOOK example of everything wrong with modern cinematic story telling and script writing.

The big problems
1. As I mentioned this wasn't a good story and it was poorly (awkwardly told) with bizarre writing and directorial choices. Most of the cast needs something to do so there can be a movie and they fill the void by doing dumb things.
2. Like most modern films that don't trust their audience the characters are RELENTLESSLY EXPLAIN THE PLOT TO THE AUDIENCE RATHER THAN DOING THINGS.
3. In the most ham-fisted and self congratulatory way, this movie takes what should be sub-textual social commentary and turns it into a script, smashing the audience in the face with it OVER AND OVER again. I felt like Jiminy Cricket and Tinker-bell had a gun to the writers head demanding that various "wish upon a star" tropes be injected at the end of each act. STOP TELLING ME WHAT TO THINK AND FEEL. LET THE AUDIENCE COME TO THEIR OWN CONCLUSIONS!

Smaller problems

1. None of the comedy works. At all.
2. Classic trilogy characters make odd or out of character choices.
3. I don't like most of the new characters. (At all)
4. It would be a spoiler.

If find all of the new Star Wars movies to be gross wastes of potential.

YMMV.

So far it looks like they need to throw in the towel on the little orange alien who ran the bar in The Force Awakens and whose appearance in The Last Jedi was worse than worthless. But I think, instead, we'll see more of it in the next one...unfortunately.

I hope the little yellow penguins don't show up again.

[Spiritof96]

So far it looks like they need to throw in the towel on the little orange alien who ran the bar in The Force Awakens and whose appearance in The Last Jedi was worse than worthless. But I think, instead, we'll see more of it in the next one...unfortunately.

I hope the little yellow penguins don't show up again.

It’s interesting that this director seemed to have no interest in the mysteries introduced in TFA. He either ignored them or destroyed him. He did say in an interview that there was no plan after TFA for where they were going with the story.

[Blue Heaven]

Watching Jeremiah Johnson. One of my all time favorites.