What was the last movie you've seen?

[noiseredux]

Watched Daredevil over the weekend. Had not seen it since it came out. Better than I remember but not good compared to the show.

[Gunstar Green]

Doctor Strange was a lot of fun. And visually excellent. Glad I saw it in 3D. My wife said it was one of her favorite MCU movies yet. I still put Guardians above it. And Captain America. And Ironman and Avengers. And Deadpool if we're just talking Marvel. But it was very good.

It was pretty meh other than the visuals but I did enjoy Cumberbatch as Dr. Strange and the ending was wonderful.

[REPO Man]

When I first saw this I was kinda miffed that (what would ultimately be) the second-longest HP book ultimately got so condensed.

I mean, each film's roughly 2 1/2 hours long, despite how long the books were and since Deathly Hallows (the longest book) was split into two films, it's BS that this was the most condensed book. It's bad enough that the first three had only one Quidditch match each and the Quidditch World Cup (and a HUGE chunk of the first few chapters) was basically cut from Goblet of Fire (the actual Quidditch match between Ireland and Bulgaria was never shown).

And OotP was WAY longer than GoF.

But we can all agree that Umbridge is a MAJOR:

CUNT!!!

Next up, HALF-BLOOD PRINCE! Which BTW I haven't seen since it was in theaters.

[samsonlonghair]

I saw Dr. Strange.

I lieu of a proper review, I just want to talk about one scene in particular: the Stan Lee Cameo.

Stan Lee's Cameo in Dr. Strange has him pointing to a book, laughing, and saying, "that is so true!" What book was it? The Doors of Perception by Aldous Huxley. If you don't know what this is already, just google it.

I have a couple of issues with this. First off, I read The Doors of Perception myself. It's not really a funny book; It's a surprisingly serious and literal couple of essays. Aldous Huxley is the antithesis of Timothy Leary or Hunter S. Thompson. He doesn't write about going on a bender; rather he describes the use of LSD as a legitimate psychotherapy.

My bigger issue is Stan Lee laughing about a drug reference. Stan Lee had made very clear over the course of his seventy-year career in the public that he does not endorse the use of drugs - especially in front of children. He has not wavered in this. Stan Lee does not approve of hidden *wink wink* drug references. He has made this explicitly clear multiple times. Although I do not share his hardline views on the issue, I respect the man for sticking to his compunctions for seventy years.

So why this? Why now?

I can speculate. Stan Lee has said in more than one interview that his eyesight has been failing him slowly for years now. He cannot drive a car, or read anything unless the font size is blown up to gigantic proportions. Did the film makers slip a book in front of Smiling Stan and tell him to point and laugh without explaining what was in the book? Something smells fishy to me. I hate to imagine that the film makers were taking advantage of a blind old man for a quick joke.

And then I read a story in the Washington post.

“I loved the ‘Doctor Strange’ cameo,” the Marvel mastermind tells The Washington Post’s Comic Riffs of his scene in the new film, in which he can be glimpsed as a bus passenger reading Aldous Huxley’s “The Doors of Perception,” oblivious to a dimension-warping Manhattan showdown.

The Disney/Marvel film, of course, is based on comics that Lee and Steve Ditko created in the ’60s, not long after the Huxley book came out.

“Next to Mother Goose, Huxley’s my favorite,” says Lee, who has said that he believes in the power of fairy tales to engage young minds.

What? If I take this at face value, then Stan Lee knew what book he was laughing at the whole time. I'm totally perplexed. I have read several pieces about the Life of Stan Lee, including his own autobiography, and this statement seems out of character to me. Until now, I had never heard Stan Lee mention Aldous Huxley, let alone call Huxley his favorite.

I am perplexed.

[Xeogred]

Arrival was awesome.

[noiseredux]

I haven't seen Batman Begins in 8 years. I remembered liking it, but not this much. It's awesome. Basically Year One and the first few issues of Long Halloween mashed together. Scarecrow is badass. So good.




Still working my way through Amy Adams' filmography. Enchanted is great. I'm surprised I never saw it before. Classic Disney hand-drawn animation mixed with a really funny modern story. I hope everyone with kids who enjoy Dinsey princesses has shown them this.

[TSTR]

Half-assed watched STAR TREK: BEYOND.

FAAAAAART

[darsparx]

Still working my way through Amy Adams' filmography. Enchanted is great. I'm surprised I never saw it before. Classic Disney hand-drawn animation mixed with a really funny modern story. I hope everyone with kids who enjoy Dinsey princesses has shown them this.

I think I now see where OUAT gets it's inspiration for the design of the Evil Queen in her Fairy Tale land version...

[ExedExes]

Hacksaw Ridge
About time the Pacific Theater in World War II finally gets some love on the big screen! As you know that is the focus of the games I enjoy playing, be it FPS or otherwise (Iron Aces on the Dreamcast for example) This tells the true story of PFC Desmond Doss, a combat medic who was a conscientious objector and refused to carry a firearm. The first part of the movie deals with the background and his beliefs and reasoning to not wanting to kill anyone, and the backlash he receives while in boot camp. After he is allowed to do this, the second half shifts to the action at the Battle of Okinawa, where even though the Americans pulled out, he continues to go back and forth bringing the wounded down from the large hill (the titular Hacksaw Ridge) and he eventually receives the Medal of Honor for his actions. The war scenes were some of the best I've seen in a very long time, reminding me very much of the great HBO miniseries, The Pacific.



Seven Steps of Kung Fu
Now from something really big to something I dug out of my Amazon watchlist, this non-descript title may see like something you'd pass on, but it features some of the best fight choreography I've seen in these type of movies. There's not much of a story, it's mainly training and fighting, which I'm quite all right with! It's not Shaw Brothers level of quality but it will really surprise you if you're into this kind of stuff!

[noiseredux]

after re-watching Batman Begins, figured I'd re-watch Dark Knight. I still love this movie. Everything is awesome here.