Is this movie worth my time?

[bollemanneke 723]

I didn't find a thread like this, so decided to create one, a kind of 'prequel' to the 'What Is the Last Film You Watched' threads in which we can ask whether we should (not) watch certain films.

 

The TV guide is offering a few interesting films this week, but I might not have time to watch them all, so... Are these titles worth my time?

 

- Wyatt Earp

- Paper Towns

- Carrie (2013)

- Mean Girls

 

Thoughts?

[Stefancos 7742]

Carrie is a redundant remake, but the cast is good.

Mean Girls is something of a zeitgeist film, i guess.

[Norma's Corpse 3704]

Wyatt Earp is okay. Only watch Mean Girls if you're smitten with 2004-era Lindsay Lohan and you're a nut like me.

[mrbellamy 2907]

Mean Girls is hilarious!

[Norma's Corpse 3704]

It's better than Freaky Friday at least.

[Stefancos 7742]

Lindsay Lohan was kinda cute...

[Norma's Corpse 3704]

And she's only 31 now and looks like an old boot. She could have still looked adorable...

[Stefancos 7742]

Hollywood live!

[Thor 1747]

25 minutes ago, bollemanneke said:

- Wyatt Earp

 

Decent enough western, although a bit heavyhanded. The score is one of JNH's best.

 

25 minutes ago, bollemanneke said:

- Paper Towns

 

Haven't seen it, but Ryan Lott's score is excellent!

 

25 minutes ago, bollemanneke said:

- Carrie (2013)

 

Skip it, and watch the original classic instead, if you haven't already.

 

25 minutes ago, bollemanneke said:

- Mean Girls

 

Not a fan of Tina Fey, but it's one of those pop cultural films giving nourishment to Lindsay Lohan's "persona". So better viewed for that than any particular filmatic quality. But I suggest you watch ELECTION, RUSHMORE or CLUELESS instead. Or any of the 80s high school classics (FAST TIMES, BREAKFAST CLUB, SIXTEEN CANDLES, PRETTY IN PINK etc.).

[Pieter_Boelen 456]

31 minutes ago, bollemanneke said:

Wyatt Earp

Long and dramatic and certainly not the greatest film ever made, but I like it well enough.

Music is pretty darn good and I like hearing that used in context.

[Fancyarcher 278]

My thoughts. 

 

Wyatt Earp - It's fine. Great score and production design, plus a superb cast, but a little too long, and kinda aimless. 

 

I haven't seen Paper Towns, not really my kind of film honestly.

 

Carrie - Not a fan. Failed to capture what made the 1976 version work so well. Performances aren't bad, but as far as remakes / readaptations of old Stephen King novels, I didn't much care for it. 

 

Mean Girl - Classic. One of the movies that probably defined the mid 2000's for a lot of teens / young adults. Sharp script, and performances (Rachel McAdams being a particular standout), plus it features Lohan before she went crazy. I've seen it several times, and I still highly recommend it. It's endlessly quotable and hilarious. 

[Koray Savas 1158]

Tombstone > Wyatt Earp

[Warrior of Wet Dreams 1387]

Mom and Dad Save the World?

[Quintus 3514]

It's been years since I saw the original Carrie. It's was so good back in its day, but isn't that pervy intro a bit difficult to watch these days? A bit, erm, suspect?

[Warrior of Wet Dreams 1387]

Images (1972) ?

[bollemanneke 723]

Thank you for all your feedback! I just watched Carrie (2013), couldn't watch the Original one:

 

The first half was great. Well, of course it was: things don't get better when Julianne Moore is playing a religious fanatic. But then, like every single other horror movie I know, everything just fell apart, literally: nasty stuff for no reason whatsoever, everything breaks and everyone dies. Lame.

This was my second Marco Beltrami score and surprisingly, I enjoyed most of it, especially the medieval/magical effect he created by combining celeste with soft, electric guitars.

[Richard 2522]

3 minutes ago, kaseykockroach said:

Images (1972) ?

It's Bob Altman, it's John Williams, it's Susannah York. What's not to like?

[Thor 1747]

1 hour ago, kaseykockroach said:

Images (1972) ?

 

Superb film, one of the best that Williams ever scored, and that Altman ever directed. Featuring gorgeous cinematography by Vilmos Zsigmond. It wears its REPULSION on its sleeve, true, but not in a bad way. I've held lectures on this film (and score) and have come to really appreciate it for the masterpiece that it is.

[bollemanneke 723]

Okay, I'm back. Which movie should I choose next week? I Can only pick one.

- The Secret Life of Walter Mitty

- The Bodyguard

- The Good Dinosaur

- The Disappearance of Eleanor Rigby: Him

- The Lucky One

[Stefancos 7742]

19 minutes ago, bollemanneke said:

The Secret Life of Walter Mitty

 

The 1947 or 2013 one?

[Norma's Corpse 3704]

I hate how they keep making more than one movie with the same title.

[Stefancos 7742]

At least Spielberg renamed a Guy Named Joe into Always when he remade it.

[Norma's Corpse 3704]

He should have renamed War of the Worlds as "Dark Basements".

[bollemanneke 723]

37 minutes ago, Stefancos said:

 

The 1947 or 2013 one?

Ah, sorry, 2013.

[Marian Schedenig 1412]

1 hour ago, bollemanneke said:

- The Good Dinosaur

 

 

It looks like an unremarkable run of the mill Pixar entry, and for the first half or so it seems like that's all it is. But I thought it excels at portraying its characters (and with very little dialogue, too) and reaches an emotional climax worthy of the Pixar canon. Lovely score, too. And amazing photo-realistic scenery, which somewhat clashes with the simple character design.

[publicist 2641]

2 hours ago, bollemanneke said:

Ah, sorry, 2013.

 

Try both. A remarkable demonstration of the same premise done in completely different eras. 

[The Illustrious Jerry 1249]

It's Monday. The local listings show Incredibles 2 and Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom are plentiful in showings. Should I bother with either of these? Incredibles 2 doesn't seem like my cup of tea, nor does JW FK, but of the two the latter seems more enticing. Heck, I may just see Solo again. Any thoughts?

[Bespin 2364]

2 minutes ago, Jerry said:

It's Monday. The local listings show Incredibles 2 and Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom are plentiful in showings. Should I bother with either of these? Incredibles 2 doesn't seem like my cup of tea, nor does JW FK, but of the two the latter seems more enticing. Heck, I may just see Solo again. Any thoughts?

 

Jurassic Park.. just saw a review headline that starts with "Stupidity finds a way". 🤣

[Alexcremers 1291]

I would definitely go for The Incredibles 2, even though I haven't seen it (or JW: Fallen Kingdom)

[The Illustrious Jerry 1249]

Well it now turns out that I'm going with an old buddy, who'd like to see Jurassic World, so that's what it is. 

[Iron_Giant 139]

Both movies are underwhelming, and I really wanted to enjoy them as much as the reviewers tend to be enjoying them. I think my disappointment in Incredibles 2 is worse than for JW2 because the first one was so good.

[bollemanneke 723]

I am in need of your good counsel once more. Rotten Tomatoes hates all of them, but I don't trust them anymore, so... Should I ever watch any of these?

- Unfinised Business (2015)

- Patch Adams

- Grace of Monaco

 

[publicist 2641]

no

[Norma's Corpse 3704]

Patch Adams is okay but not essentual viewing.

[Holko 2056]

It grossly misrepresents him, his life and his colleagues to turn it all into a gigantic cliche.

[Alexcremers 1291]

1 hour ago, bollemanneke said:

 Rotten Tomatoes hates all of them, but I don't trust them anymore, so...

 

Are you and RT growing apart? Even when it comes to old movies?

[Norma's Corpse 3704]

28 minutes ago, Holko said:

It grossly misrepresents him, his life and his colleagues to tun it all into a gigantic cliche.

 

Oh was he a real person? I didn't know.

[Holko 2056]

Yeah and he hates it.

[Norma's Corpse 3704]

He outlived the actor who played him too?

[bollemanneke 723]

45 minutes ago, Alexcremers said:

 

Are you and RT growing apart? Even when it comes to old movies?

Yes, we fought at dinner yesterday. She said Moulin Rouge was a great movie again.

[Quintus 3514]

With RT and new films you want to aim in the 50 - 72 region, and write everything else off as probable hyperbole.

[Disco Stu 6720]

40 minutes ago, Quintus said:

With RT and new films you want to aim in the 50 - 72 region, and write everything else off as probable hyperbole.

 

That kind of makes sense for Metacritic. Conceptually I mean.  But RT is binary, positive or negative, a critic’s level of enthusiasm has no influence on the tomato score, just if it was liked or not.  That’s how a movie like Ant-Man and the Wasp has 88%.  Very few critics would give it that score out of 100, it just means 88% of critics at least liked it.  Whereas its metascore is 70, much more accurate to critical enthusiasm and falls within your 50-72 rule. It’s a likeable, fine, unsurprising movie.

[Quintus 3514]

I don't have a formula or an algorithm for this stuff, it's just anecdotally what has come to work for me whenever I've inevitably followed a link through to the RT site and looked at a movie there. All that stuff in the 80s and 90s "fresh" ballpark, I barely ever agree with any of it; those critical laudings or quasi-aggregates, if you like. I very rarely find any of it reliable, which is why I generally don't take any notice of RT.

 

For me, the modern movies which seem to divide critics somewhere down the middle tend to end up with review ratings I find the most reliable and worth a look.

[Stefancos 7742]

Mad Max: Fury Road has a 97% rating.

[Holko 2056]

Why do people still only look at RT's binary ratings? The average critic rating on a 10-scale is right below that! Fury road has 8.6, Ant-Man and the Wasp has 6.9, both are probably reasonable.

[Stefancos 7742]

Fury Road is 97% fresh!

[Quintus 3514]

Exactly.

[bollemanneke 723]

Should I watch Chain Reaction, Ex Machina or both?

[Norma's Corpse 3704]

On 8/5/2018 at 5:40 PM, Stefancos said:

Fury Road is 97% fresh!

 

Is it really that good?

[Thor 1747]

10 minutes ago, bollemanneke said:

Should I watch Chain Reaction, Ex Machina or both?

 

You can watch CHAIN REACTION for the sheer popcorn value; that's about it. Not even Goldsmith's score is very exciting.

 

EX MACHINA, however, is a masterpiece, and my favourite movie that year (and one of my favourite movies in the 2010s overall).