The Official Last Movie You Saw Thread (Part 2)

[KCKUKFan]

I read Kenneth Turan's entire column, and I'm having a hard time understanding what he's trying to argue.

You gave up on horror movies? Okay, dude.

[KevinHall]

I read Kenneth Turan's entire column, and I'm having a hard time understanding what he's trying to argue.

You gave up on horror movies? Okay, dude.

Sounded to me he just didn't like all the blood and gore many of these horror movies turn into now. I kinda of agree with him on that. For me you don't need a lot of blood and gore to make it a horror flick. What you don't see and hear can be more frightening than any visually graphic picture.

[Joneslab]

I read Kenneth Turan's entire column, and I'm having a hard time understanding what he's trying to argue.

You gave up on horror movies? Okay, dude.

I think he's saying implicitly that since we live in a time where we are deluged with horrific images, why would anybody actually watch more horror?

That's a hard one to answer. For me it's always been about the shock. I like shocking things. Weirdness, overt sexuality, gore, psychological jolts. There is a line, though; sometimes those things are gratuitous. But when done right horror is still the genre that sits most with me, and I think it's because horror more than any other genre reverberates after you've seen it. You can't just go to the cinema and put a good horror movie away. It sticks. It hangs on.

All great films do this regardless of genre but horror is special in my mind. By not reviewing it Turan is missing out on a lot of films that supercede the genre and should just be classified as "good movies."

[Joneslab]

Sounded to me he just didn't like all the blood and gore many of these horror movies turn into now. I kinda of agree with him on that. For me you don't need a lot of blood and gore to make it a horror flick. What you don't see and hear can be more frightening than any visually graphic picture.

The problem though is that there are tons of horror movies that are not gory at all. He's saying he doesn't review hardly any horror films and never has. There are great horror movies that show no blood at all. Turan would know this--and yet he's still making the decision to not review them.

If you're a critic, that's weak.

[KevinHall]

The problem though is that there are tons of horror movies that are not gory at all. He's saying he doesn't review hardly any horror films and never has. There are great horror movies that show no blood at all. Turan would know this--and yet he's still making the decision to not review them.

If you're a critic, that's weak.

True, if you are a critic you have to watch just about everything that comes out to have good credibility. Even the type of movies that you really don't like.

[George]

Sounded to me he just didn't like all the blood and gore many of these horror movies turn into now. I kinda of agree with him on that. For me you don't need a lot of blood and gore to make it a horror flick. What you don't see and hear can be more frightening than any visually graphic picture.

You ever read Harold Pinter's The Dumb Waiter?

[KevinHall]

You ever read Harold Pinter's The Dumb Waiter?

No, afraid not.

[George]

No, afraid not.

It's a play that utilizes (may have perfected, even) the very technique you described: the fear is derived from the things you don't see or hear, and in the end it's those unknowns that ultimately pit the characters against one another.

[KevinHall]

I liked The Innkeepers a lot actually. It's one of the horror films I think about quite a bit.

The critic Kenneth Turan had an idiotic column about horror movies recently that's been getting blasted by a few in the biz:

http://www.latimes.com/entertainment...013-story.html

We watched the end last night. It was "meh" to me. The ending didn't have any type of resolution. I like a little something to be resolved. I think the rating it is getting on IMDB is about right which is a 5.5.

We have also been watching this series, Thriller. It was done by Brian Clemons in the early to mid 70's on British TV. It was syndicated in the US after that. My wife said she watched these during the mid 80's on a local channel in WVA. She had even cut out the TV listings for them in her local paper and kept them. She was showing it to me last night. This series has 43 episodes. She bought it on Amazon about a year ago. I think we gotten through about 25 episodes. Almost all have been very good. They are murder mysteries with usually a phsychopath being the killer. Some of them have a supernatural edge to them too. Its mostly British actors but some Americans like Gary Collins and Donna Mills are sprinkled in a few episodes. They are only about an hour long and very much worth watching if you like that type of show.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0164295/?ref_=nv_sr_6

[Blue Heaven]

This week I watched Spiderman:Homecoming and War for the Planet of the Apes.

Spiderman was really good. It was better than I thought it would be. I really liked that it was about a young Peter Parker and how he went through everyday High School life as a teen and just trying to fit in. There were some really funny moments in the back and forth between he and his buddy. Michael Keaton is the villain and he is convincing. He plays the head of a demolition company who is tasked with cleaning up the city after the events of the Avengers. He gets a hold of the left behind alien technology and starts making weapons. Lots of good action and good performances means this is a movie to see if you like this sort of stuff.

War for the Planet of the Apes? What can I say other than this was damn near a perfect movie. I loved the first two in this series and this one outdone both. Here, we have humanity's last hope in a group of soldiers lead by a ruthless Colonel played by Woody Harrelson. The apes find themselves imprisoned and forced to build a wall to hold back a group of invaders that has a beef with the Colonel and his men. This movie has some very impressive battle scenes and was masterfully shot. The whole movie is gorgeous to look at. The CGI work on the apes is flawless and, when you consider the shear number of apes in these movies, it's probably the best ever in any movie period.There are good performances here, all on the apes side. Obviously Andy Serkis is great as Caesar, but other apes such as Maurice (my favorite in this series), Rocket, and Donkey are wonderful. Laugh at that if you wish but it's true. You really feel for these apes as well as understand where the humans are coming from. I thought this was a fantastic film and one of the best I have seen this year.

[Blue Heaven]

Guess I am gonna have to watch Mindhunter. Not only am I getting good word of mouth, but supposedly has a killer soundtrack. Any show/movie that expertly uses Led Zeppelin's In the Light has got to be worth checking out.

[KCKUKFan]

Stranger Things 2 - Pretty much great, although not quite on that zeitgeist level the first season approached. This does what any good sequel does -- expands the mythology, ups the stakes, and gives the characters more depth. The acting across the board is great, the nods to 80s sci-fi horror remain in spades, and the writing is solid. Just wildly entertaining. Eleven's solo episode was startling weak and out of place, but other than that, I have no complaints and look forward to season three next Halloween.

[George]

Stranger Things 2 - Pretty much great, although not quite on that zeitgeist level the first season approached. This does what any good sequel does -- expands the mythology, ups the stakes, and gives the characters more depth. The acting across the board is great, the nods to 80s sci-fi horror remain in spades, and the writing is solid. Just wildly entertaining. Eleven's solo episode was startling weak and out of place, but other than that, I have no complaints and look forward to season three next Halloween.

It was. Eight (is that what we're calling her?) seemed entirely unnecessary. I'm sure she'll factor into next season, but if her presence in this season is that inconsequential, why not just keep her in your pocket until next season?

Also, the scene with Billy and Mike/Nancy's mom was pure gold. Those two nailed it.

[Spiritof96]

I saw Split a few days ago. It held my interest but seemed to fall a little flat with an interesting premise. The self-indulgent "final twist" was lame. Had it been a post credit scene I wouldn't have minded.

[KCKUKFan]

I saw Split a few days ago. It held my interest but seemed to fall a little flat with an interesting premise. The self-indulgent "final twist" was lame. Had it been a post credit scene I wouldn't have minded.

A decent M. Night Shyamalan movie (there have been precisely three of them) is still an M. Night Shyamalan movie, and with that comes all the typical narrative lapses and disappointing conclusions.