My year so far in movies

[rmill3r]

So I've been seeing a LOT of movies this year. For the longest time I just stopped going to the theater--period. I only watched things through Redbox, Netflix, or something I downloaded. I finally found a place in my area that has a couple of very cheap movie nights throughout the week, so I've started making it a weekly ritual of mine to see movies on those days. Because of that, I have seen a lot more movies this year than I usually do and just wanted to give my thoughts on some.

Interested to see what everyone else thinks of these as well, so please let me know what you thought of these and post about others you've seen.

I'm listing these in the order I saw them/the order they were released...

A Most Violent Year

I started this year by watching a movie that came out in 2014. I loved it. Oscar Isaac is absolutely incredible. I loved its slow pace, and how it didn't try to be too violent, too "slick," or too clever (relatively speaking) for a gangster movie. This one seriously stuck with me after all was said and done.

Kingsman: The Secret Service

Definitely way more entertaining and interesting than I thought it would be, but still fairly forgettable and run-of-the-mill stylized action movie.

Cinderella

Saw this one because I was in town visiting fam and they wanted to watch it with the kids. I wasn't expecting much. Surprisingly, the kids were only halfway into and most of the adults (including me) enjoyed it way more. I loved it's fairly old school style of approaching a fairy tale.

It Follows

It's got some plotholes and it's not quite the "second coming" to horror movies like some fans would say, but my god...this was such a surprisingly excellent horror movie. It's creepy and haunting rather than relying on jump scares. I appreciated the atmosphere, soundtrack and pacing so much. With a few rather minor adjustments, this easily could have been my favorite of the year.

Ex Machina

Possibly my favorite of the year. It's exactly the kind of sci-fi fare we've been missing for so long. It's a slow burner with excellent acting, excellent premise, and a fantastic atmosphere. Once again, Oscar Isaac is absolutely incredible. Without giving anything away, it avoids a huge cliche in robot/A.I. type movies that I hate. I still think about this movie now.

Avengers: Age of Ultron

I didn't like the first Avengers very much. I know I'm in the minority on that one, but it's a movie that tries to hard to be something it's not. This one was just even worse. I kind of liked Ultron actually, but I seriously fell asleep in the theater for this one. Ugh...I know people love superhero movies, and I used to be such a big superhero/comic fan, but I'm so sick of all this stuff.

Mad Max: Fury Road

Honestly don't have anything bad to say about this one. Easily the MOST entertaining movie I've seen this year.

Tomorrowland

The first half was really cool and had a lot of promise. The second half was aimless and boring. Fell asleep in this one too, and that's something I usually don't do.

Jurassic World

Pretty entertaining, fairly funny, and certainly better than I expected it to be. Wasn't nearly as enamored with it like everyone else seemed to be, though. Some of the acting was very forceful, they still relied on cgi too much (and some of it was very obvious looking), and it still didn't incite a sense of wonder in me like the first one did. I really think this is a franchise that they need to learn to leave alone.

Me and Earl and the Dying Girl

Went into this one blind. Didn't know what to expect, and was so glad with what I found. It's smart, it's funny, it's sad, and it has a cool fast pace. I actually teared up in this movie, unlike another movie about a kid with cancer....

Inside Out

Excellent. One of those truly "family friendly" kind of movies, where of course the children are going to love it because it's colorful animated, and goofy, but adults can seriously enjoy it as well. It's smart, well paced, well voiced, and covers some tough subjects in a careful way. Pretty much what you can expect from Pixar.

Minions

Awful. Where Inside Out was smart, funny, and good for the whole family, this was 100% a kid's movie and nothing else. It's just nonsense, and not nonsense in a funny kind of way, but nonsense in a "I want to shove chopsticks in my ears and eyes" sort of way. On a side note, I can completely understand why kids love it. If you're a parent and want to have a good time with your child, that's what this movie is for.

Ant-Man

I couldn't for the life of me understand why they were making an Ant-Man movie, and to be honest, I'm still wondering that. But it was actually surprisingly good and enjoyable. I haven't liked a vast majority of the Marvel movies that have come out pretty much since the first couple X-Men and Spider-man, but this was pretty funny and entertaining. I still don't get the point. Still probably won't watch it again. But it really wasn't bad...

Trainwreck

Judd Apatow has made some god awful comedies lately, but this was surprisingly good. It's way irreverent and inappropriate, but for those who can handle that, it's pretty funny and with a good heart too.

Mission Impossible: Rogue Nation

Good. Entertaining. A bit forgettable. I appreciate Tom Cruise's personality and his dedication to doing his own (daring) live-action stunts, Simon Pegg was great, and the pace overall was great. Like Jurassic World, though, I think this is another franchise that should have been left alone.

The Gift

Didn't know hardly anything about this movie going in, and I was very glad for that. This was a pretty excellent thriller that had a so-so ending. I love Jason Bateman, but he often just plays himself in a lot of roles. I think this is one of the few roles where he lost himself in the character and I really believed he was who he was portraying. I had never seen Joel Edgerton before, but he did an excellently creepy job in his role and also did a fantastic job with directing. Loved some of the shots and pacing in this one too.

Shaun the Sheep Movie

I have never seen the show that this is based on, but I'm a huge fan of Wallace & Gromit and Chicken Run. This was as amazing as I expected it to be. It's a silent film in disguise and it's just hilarious and touching. So good, so well animated, so much joy and heart in this one.

The Diary of a Teenage Girl

I walked into this one completely on a whim. I was pretty glad for it. It's a pretty unique movie, dealing with the struggles of a growing girl. All of the acting was fantastic (especially Kristen Wiig) and I have never...ever felt so uncomfortable in a movie in my life. '

The Man From U.N.C.L.E.

I like Guy Ritchie's blend of action and humor, but his Sherlock movies with Robert Downey, Jr., were pretty forgettable. A lot of people criticize this movie for the exact same reason, and while I can sort of agree with that I was entertained by this movie much more than I thought I would be. It's simple, stylish, fun and fairly funny.

Straight Outta Compton

This was also better than I thought it would be. I thought it was going to be shameless self-promotion by Dr. Dre and Ice Cube (and at the ending it kind of was...), but a majority of the movie (especially the first half) was incredibly engaging. All of the main actors did an excellent job and Paul Giamatti was a surprising addition. The second half lags a bit, but overall this movie had more to it than it initially seemed to contain.

The Visit

From Sixth Sense to (sort of) The Village, I was a huge M. Night Shyamalan fan. As tame as it sort of is, Sixth Sense is still the scariest movie I've ever seen because of its atmosphere and overall concept. Unbreakable also nailed it in the atmosphere department, and was an excellent take on real-life superhero stories. Signs was legitimately funny and did a great job of taking a huge concept (alien invasion) and reigning it in to a small movie about a family on a farm in the middle of nowhere--it was so well done and so much better than critics gave it credit for in its time. The Village was a beautiful and endearing movie that was sadly marketed as another scary horror/monster movie when it was really a romance; it also really messed up its twist ending and left a few plot holes and pretty much marked the downfall of Shyamalan. Everything after that of his has been garbage. But still...every time M. Night comes out with a movie, I see it in the hopes that he'll return to his roots. That was what The Visit was supposed to be with its lo-fi attempt at a scary found-footage horror film. I'm so. very. sick. of found-footage horror films, but The Visit really did avoid a lot of the pitfalls and cliches that come with that style. It was also appropriately funny at times and just overall a surprise. It wasn't amazing by any means, and it's far from his first few films, but I like to think that it was a step in the right direction for Shyamalan, and that's good enough for me.

Black Mass

Here was another surprise, as Johnny Depp hasn't had an actual good role in what feels like ages. While his bald cap and cheesy bright-blue contact lenses were very distracting, he still did a fantastic job as Whitey Bulger. Joel Edgerton (from "The Gift" above) also proved again he's a great actor. Overall, this was a well-shot gangster movie that was violent and shocking enough in just the right spots without going too over the top.

Everest

Yet another surprise. This looked like a Roland Emmerich level of a cheesy disaster movie. I was so glad to find that it was legitimately terrifying and grim at certain points. I really felt a lot of the pain and loss in this movie, and it was well shot and acted as well.

Sicario

Oh.....my....god.

I wanted to take a shower after this movie, but in just the best way possible. Josh Brolin and Emily Blunt are pretty excellent in this movie, but Benicio Del Toro is just....on entirely different level. This is the best I've ever seen him in a movie, and it just left my jaw on the floor. I didn't know what to expect from this movie. From excellent sets, atmosphere, acting, story, message, and cinematography, this movie was breathtaking in both beautiful and horrible ways. It's right up there with It Follows, Ex Machina, and Mad Max for my favorite movie of the year and I might just have to edge it past even those movies for the time being.

The Walk

Based on the teasers and trailers, this initially looked like the most boring movie about a guy walking a tight rope across the World Trade Centers that has ever existed. But it was fairly good. I doubt I'll see it again, and wouldn't necessarily consider it amazing, but I was impressed with Joseph Gordon Levitt, and the whole concept had a whimsical "dream big" kind of vibe that was oddly appropriate.

The Martian

FINALLY. Another good Ridley Scott movie. Matt Damon was great, Kristen Wiig was great, Jessica Chastain was great, Kate Mara was great, Jeff Daniels was great, Chiwetel Ejiofor was great. It was another sci-fi kind of movie that we've needed. I just really hate the "I've gotta science the **** out of this" line...oh boy...so cheesy. Still, it's intense, engaging and heart wrenching at times.

Crimson Peak

Unlike a lot of films on this list where I didn't expect much (or anything) and was happily surprised, this is one where I expected a lot and was a bit let down. I love Guillermo Del Toro and pretty much all of his movies. The trailers for this movie made it look like the most beautiful horror movie that has ever existed. And while it was visually stunning it also relied too heavily upon so-so CGI and jump scares--two things that Guillermo Del Toro is so famous for avoiding! Still, the set pieces were great, the cinematography was breathtaking, the concept was a nice throwback to old ghost stories, and the ending was awesome. Other than Jessica Chastain, the acting wasn't bad by any means but it was merely passable. Still...I honestly think I would watch this one again. There's still something about it that's hard to ignore. Guillermo Del Toro is still a great director and this movie had a lot of excellent aspects to it. It was just sadly marred by a few too many tropes that I really expected Del Toro to avoid by now.

Bridge of Spies

I didn't know what to expect from this movie either. I was the youngest one in the theater, and it was all about the Cold War (something I wasn't even close to living through), but this movie was appropriately tense, funny, and uplifting. Tom Hanks did a fantastic job in his role as usual, and it kept my interest throughout its relatively long running time. It looks like a movie I would have hated, but somehow managed to be quite gripping.

Goosebumps

At first I wasn't going to see this. It looked like a terrible cash grab of a movie, but then news started trickling in that it was actually pretty good. Nobody was heralding this as a great movie by any means, but a lot of reviews and news floating around were saying things along the lines of "truly a solid 'B' movie," which sounds great to me to be honest...but...well....er....hm.

The CGI is just....bad. Very...very, very bad. Jack Black plays....well, Jack Black. On the plus side, the story is actually fairly competent and I really liked Slappy as the main villain, but all in all, this is the kind of movie where someone trips and falls down and then everyone in the audience roars with laughter because....."that's the joke"

_____________________________________________________________________________

So that's been my year so far in 2015. There are still quite a few that I'm looking forward to seeing...

Steve Jobs - because Michael Fassbender is a god and there's no way it could be worse than the Ashton Kutcher one that came out like a whole month after Jobs died.

Spectre - because Cristoph Waltz, mostly.

The Good Dinosaur - because Pixar.

Krampus - because Santa Claus with hooves and horns.

Macbeth - because it looks gorgeous...and also because Michael Fassbender is a god.

Star Wars: The Force Awakens - because how else will I be able to talk with everyone in the world about how it was absolutely so much better than all of those stupid George Lucas prequels combined, and isn't it cool how they used so many practical effects and hardly any CGI, and wasn't this so much better than anything with Jar Jar Binks in it, and it may or may not have been as good if not better than A New Hope and Empire Strikes Bad, but did you know Return of the Jedi was actually not as good as you probably remember when you were a kid, and isn't J.J. Abrams suuuuch a great director?.... J.J. Abrams.

Joy - because Silver Lining Playbook and American Hustle were pretty okay.

The Hateful Eight - because Tarantino doing a western again.

The Revenant - because I will watch literally anything that the guy who directed Birdman does.

[MIKA27]

WOW - What an amazing write-up!!

I normally see a whole bunch of movies in the Cinemas but this year for me has probably been the least visited.

I haven't seen as many as yourself but here goes.

A Most Violent Year

Yep, Oscar Isaac yet again does a brilliant job. It is pretty slow and for me who expected more of an injection of action/violence, I felt it was a little diluted for my expectation. HINT! Don't have high expectations and you will like this movie. In saying this, I in no way mean to say it's a bad movie. For me the title is misleading but the acting is absolutely brilliant.

Kingsman: The Secret Service

I liked this movie a lot, don't have anything to say about it other than it did it's job for entertaining.

It Follows

THIS IS MY GENRE of movie, I love Horror and as such, was really disappointed with this. I NEVER felt in any way scared, nervous nor did I jump. It was a great idea and still worth a watch but I don't plan on watching this one again.

It's got some plotholes and it's not quite the "second coming" to horror movies like some fans would say, but my god...this was such a surprisingly excellent horror movie. It's creepy and haunting rather than relying on jump scares. I appreciated the atmosphere, soundtrack and pacing so much. With a few rather minor adjustments, this easily could have been my favorite of the year.

Ex Machina

Agree - Brilliant movie, slow paced BUT WELL ACTED. Oscar Isaac is a legend, anything he is in is bound to be brilliant.

Avengers: Age of Ultron

The Superhero genre IMO is losing it's welcome and I'm a comic book fan. If I had to pick, I'd still pip the first Avengers movie over Age of Ultron, but it was nevertheless a good movie and well worth watching.

Mad Max: Fury Road

I'm unsure on this one and I'm probably the only one with a negative feeling on this. I've never really liked the original versions and this was a well made movie, the setting isn't my cup of tea and would have liked to see more of Hardy acting whereas Charlise Theron IMO was the main lead throughout the movie. Still a good watch.

Tomorrowland

I was really disappointed with this one. Still liked it but it's a little misleading in that I thought the movie would be set in the world of "Tomorrow land" when really, it wasn't. Still worth a watch but I'd have liked more of an adventure in that realm.

Jurassic World

Keep these movies coming! I love Jurassic World, sure it could have been written better, IMO it was missing the middle one learns about when writing (Beginning/Middle/End) but it wasn't a bad outing for a reboot of the franchise. Watched this with my son and I've now seen it a few times.

Inside Out

I'm trying to convince my son to watch this, he is so against watching it and yet I feel this would be a good flick.

Minions

On a side note, I can completely understand why kids love it. If you're a parent and want to have a good time with your child, that's what this movie is for.

I loved this movie but I think you're spot on in regard to enjoying it with your child. Again, I watched this with my son and because he loved it, I was happy. It is rather funny but something I couldn't watch again in a while.

Ant-Man

I agree 100%

I myself was anti Ant-Man, never read the comic books, I was always and still am a Bat Man fan along with the main DC heroes but I took my 7 year old son to watch and I really enjoyed it. Looking forward to seeing how he fit's in with Civil War.

Mission Impossible: Rogue Nation

I love the M.I movies (All except M.I 2 which sucked). Can never get tired of these so long as the writing, direction and acting a relatively good. Simon Pegg brings a light side to these movies which is a welcome.

The Man From U.N.C.L.E.

Great movie, casting was spot on also IMO. Love these sorts of movies.

The Visit

I loved this movie, it wasn't in any way jump out of your seat frights or anything but the twist at the end is what made it for me. Pretty enjoyable movie, highly recommend it.

Black Mass

Great Gangster movie, but the contacts in Depps eyes and the baldness is a little distracting, agreed on that!

Everest

What's wrong with cheesy disaster movies!? I am yet to see it and really looking forward to watching.

The Walk

I have no interest in this, will possibly watch sometime when it is available elsewhere. My thoughts are exactly that, a guy on a tight rope in the 70's, based on a true story.

The Martian

FINALLY. Another good Ridley Scott movie. Matt Damon was great, Kristen Wiig was great, Jessica Chastain was great, Kate Mara was great, Jeff Daniels was great, Chiwetel Ejiofor was great. It was another sci-fi kind of movie that we've needed. I just really hate the "I've gotta science the **** out of this" line...oh boy...so cheesy. Still, it's intense, engaging and heart wrenching at times.

Agree in every way, I LOVE SCI-FI!

Crimson Peak

Del Toro is a legend with his work, really looking forward to watching it.

Bridge of Spies

Almost anything Tom Hanks puts himself to is bound to be brilliant and I love anything related to the Cold War. Haven't seen it as yet but will surely watch in anticipation.

Steve Jobs - Not really interested in watching this. It's a movie about Steve Jobs.... Just sayin'

Spectre - Because it's James Bond, Because it's Daniel Craig, Because it's Christopher Waltz and Monica Bellucci!!

Krampus - Because my Grand Parents used to use the story of Krampus on me and my siblings to behave. I still recall living in Europe, dark winter nights listening to the stories of what happens when Krampu takes you. Scared the hell out of me.

Macbeth - The last MacBeth movie I watched, my wife and I walked out after the first 20 minutes. Will probably watch on Netflix on day.

Star Wars: The Force Awakens - This is THE ONE movie I am most looking forward to watching. I still remember the original movies, watching those at the drive-in. I can't wait to take my son to watch this and I will no doubt watch it a bunch of times before it finishes at the cinemas. J.J. Abrams. is a brilliant director, he did so well with Star Trek so I have high hopes for this. So long as Lucas isn't writing the scripts, this movie will in no way be anything like the prequels, horrible acting, horrible characters like Binks who IMO was the main protagonist in ruining EPS 1 and EPS2. I don't even tarnish my hard drive at home with EPS1&2.

The Hateful Eight - This will be great. DJANGO was brilliant so this will only add to a movie genre that I'd like to see continue. I still remember growing up watching Clint Eastwood Westerns with my dad.

The Revenant - because;

[Overproof]

Ex Machina was so damn good. Minimal, very well written and visually awesome (The whole film was shot in 4K). Agree with you and Mika, Oscar Isaac does some fantastic acting in this.

Must see the Martian while it's still showing in cinemas.

Thanks for sharing your list and comments fellas!

[Bill Hayes]

Saw Mad Max. I went in knowing the kind of style it was paying homage to and adding to. So just enjoyed the ride and loved it.

Saw The Martian and kind of wish I'd seen it before Interstellar. I really enjoyed it but I guess I was a bit spoiled and was expecting perhaps to absolutely love it. Still liked it a lot. I love anything 'space'.

Saw Jurassic World and was surprised. Liked it more than I thought I would.

I'm really annoyed that I missed Sicario. I was sick with the flu.

I liked Nightcrawler a lot and Out of the furnace.

Not much else comes to mind.

But waiting in anticipation for James Bond, Star Wars, Hateful 8 and Revenant.

[Ken Gargett]

good post.

hardly seen any this year - a few on a plane but i fell asleep - ulton i think, but that was perhaps not its fault.

very keen to see bridge of spies and of course bond. also star wars.

[MIKA27]

I forgot to mention having watched John Wick which was a brilliant action flick, highly recommend it.

Also, only just last night I watched and enjoyed;

Howl (A Horror Werewolf flick) if you like Horror, I recommend it. Group of people stuck on a derailed train, driver heads out to repair and becomes a snack, passengers on train find out, s**t the bed, all mayhem breaks loose. Again, don't expect academy award lines and acting but the effects are pretty good and I enjoyed it.

On another note slightly off movies but series related, my wife and I have really been getting into a bunch of series versus movies. Of course Game of Thrones is one of them but there's a bunch more other seriously brilliant shows out there that carry their own weight and acclaim such as a few noted below that I highly recommend.

The Strain: One of the creators is Guillermo del Toro which explains a lot on what to expect. Season 2 only just ended so I highly recommend all to watch seasons 1 and 2. Brilliant Vampire flick/series.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DqcuyXeN8O8

Falling Skies; Another Scy Fi series, only wrapped up season 5 (It's final season), Aliens take over the planet as we know it, small group of human militia put up a resistance and fight. Great stuff.

Walking Dead: Goes without saying, one of the best series to date, a Zombie apocalypse, group of survivors struggling, running, fighting, surviving against hordes of the undead as well as groups of humans who are not so kind.

EXTANT: Stars Halle Berry and is based on her character, a female astronaut who returns from space after a 13 month mission and finds out shes pregnant. Yes, it's an alien flick/series but it's also set in the future and has advanced robots who look like humans. Bad government builds robots to track down and kill the aliens (who are humanoids) and it is a pretty engaging show. We've watched both seasons and another highly recommended show to watch and it goes without saying Halle Berry is a good actress.

Minority Report: A spin off series following Tom Cruises flick with the same title. This series follows the pre-cogs 10 years AFTER the Minority report movie and Precrime is disbanded. One of the Precogs, Dashtries to lead a normal life, still sees visions and attempts to solve crimes with the help of a cop. It's only into episode 5 thus far but I'm enjoying it. The special effects is very much on par with the movie.

[Mr.T]

Wow! Great write up, thanks! I don't get to watch movies much any more so I catch up on movies on long haul international flights. I watched Me, Earl and the Dying Girl on the way over to China and loved it. The style, acting and pace reminded me of the guy that did Rushmore, Royal Teenanbums (sp) etc. As per your write up will watch a few of the ones you suggested on the way home like Mad Max and Ant Man.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Scrubber]

Nice post. There's a few on your list which I will try to watch soon.

Haven't watched as many movies this year as it's hard to find the time with a newborn.

I absolutely loved John Wick. Great action movie that didn't try to be anything other than what it is. Didn't waste time and just pure entertainment.

I also loved the Kingsman. Didn't know anything about it going in and it really surprised me.

It Follows was good when I watched it although if I'm honest I have pretty much forgotten it already so that says something.

I'm really looking forward to Spectre, the Hateful Eight and the Revenant. Tom Hardy and Di Caprio are my two favourite actors at the moment so can't wait.

I also agree with Mika that there is really high quality tv series being made in the last few years. The production values are pretty much on par with most movies. Loved Breaking Bad and also really like the Walking Dead. I think binge watching tv series is the future. You can get deeply connected with the characters which is also helped by fantastic actors who now do a lot of these recent shows.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[rmill3r]

WOW - What an amazing write-up!!

I normally see a whole bunch of movies in the Cinemas but this year for me has probably been the least visited.

I haven't seen as many as yourself but here goes.

A Most Violent Year

Yep, Oscar Isaac yet again does a brilliant job. It is pretty slow and for me who expected more of an injection of action/violence, I felt it was a little diluted for my expectation. HINT! Don't have high expectations and you will like this movie. In saying this, I in no way mean to say it's a bad movie. For me the title is misleading but the acting is absolutely brilliant.

Kingsman: The Secret Service

I liked this movie a lot, don't have anything to say about it other than it did it's job for entertaining.

It Follows

THIS IS MY GENRE of movie, I love Horror and as such, was really disappointed with this. I NEVER felt in any way scared, nervous nor did I jump. It was a great idea and still worth a watch but I don't plan on watching this one again.

It's got some plotholes and it's not quite the "second coming" to horror movies like some fans would say, but my god...this was such a surprisingly excellent horror movie. It's creepy and haunting rather than relying on jump scares. I appreciated the atmosphere, soundtrack and pacing so much. With a few rather minor adjustments, this easily could have been my favorite of the year.

Ex Machina

Agree - Brilliant movie, slow paced BUT WELL ACTED. Oscar Isaac is a legend, anything he is in is bound to be brilliant.

Avengers: Age of Ultron

The Superhero genre IMO is losing it's welcome and I'm a comic book fan. If I had to pick, I'd still pip the first Avengers movie over Age of Ultron, but it was nevertheless a good movie and well worth watching.

Mad Max: Fury Road

I'm unsure on this one and I'm probably the only one with a negative feeling on this. I've never really liked the original versions and this was a well made movie, the setting isn't my cup of tea and would have liked to see more of Hardy acting whereas Charlise Theron IMO was the main lead throughout the movie. Still a good watch.

Tomorrowland

I was really disappointed with this one. Still liked it but it's a little misleading in that I thought the movie would be set in the world of "Tomorrow land" when really, it wasn't. Still worth a watch but I'd have liked more of an adventure in that realm.

Jurassic World

Keep these movies coming! I love Jurassic World, sure it could have been written better, IMO it was missing the middle one learns about when writing (Beginning/Middle/End) but it wasn't a bad outing for a reboot of the franchise. Watched this with my son and I've now seen it a few times.

Inside Out

I'm trying to convince my son to watch this, he is so against watching it and yet I feel this would be a good flick.

Minions

On a side note, I can completely understand why kids love it. If you're a parent and want to have a good time with your child, that's what this movie is for.

I loved this movie but I think you're spot on in regard to enjoying it with your child. Again, I watched this with my son and because he loved it, I was happy. It is rather funny but something I couldn't watch again in a while.

Ant-Man

I agree 100%

I myself was anti Ant-Man, never read the comic books, I was always and still am a Bat Man fan along with the main DC heroes but I took my 7 year old son to watch and I really enjoyed it. Looking forward to seeing how he fit's in with Civil War.

Mission Impossible: Rogue Nation

I love the M.I movies (All except M.I 2 which sucked). Can never get tired of these so long as the writing, direction and acting a relatively good. Simon Pegg brings a light side to these movies which is a welcome.

The Man From U.N.C.L.E.

Great movie, casting was spot on also IMO. Love these sorts of movies.

The Visit

I loved this movie, it wasn't in any way jump out of your seat frights or anything but the twist at the end is what made it for me. Pretty enjoyable movie, highly recommend it.

Black Mass

Great Gangster movie, but the contacts in Depps eyes and the baldness is a little distracting, agreed on that!

Everest

What's wrong with cheesy disaster movies!? I am yet to see it and really looking forward to watching.

The Walk

I have no interest in this, will possibly watch sometime when it is available elsewhere. My thoughts are exactly that, a guy on a tight rope in the 70's, based on a true story.

The Martian

FINALLY. Another good Ridley Scott movie. Matt Damon was great, Kristen Wiig was great, Jessica Chastain was great, Kate Mara was great, Jeff Daniels was great, Chiwetel Ejiofor was great. It was another sci-fi kind of movie that we've needed. I just really hate the "I've gotta science the **** out of this" line...oh boy...so cheesy. Still, it's intense, engaging and heart wrenching at times.

Agree in every way, I LOVE SCI-FI!

Crimson Peak

Del Toro is a legend with his work, really looking forward to watching it.

Bridge of Spies

Almost anything Tom Hanks puts himself to is bound to be brilliant and I love anything related to the Cold War. Haven't seen it as yet but will surely watch in anticipation.

Steve Jobs - Not really interested in watching this. It's a movie about Steve Jobs.... Just sayin'

Spectre - Because it's James Bond, Because it's Daniel Craig, Because it's Christopher Waltz and Monica Bellucci!!

Krampus - Because my Grand Parents used to use the story of Krampus on me and my siblings to behave. I still recall living in Europe, dark winter nights listening to the stories of what happens when Krampu takes you. Scared the hell out of me.

Macbeth - The last MacBeth movie I watched, my wife and I walked out after the first 20 minutes. Will probably watch on Netflix on day.

Star Wars: The Force Awakens - This is THE ONE movie I am most looking forward to watching. I still remember the original movies, watching those at the drive-in. I can't wait to take my son to watch this and I will no doubt watch it a bunch of times before it finishes at the cinemas. J.J. Abrams. is a brilliant director, he did so well with Star Trek so I have high hopes for this. So long as Lucas isn't writing the scripts, this movie will in no way be anything like the prequels, horrible acting, horrible characters like Binks who IMO was the main protagonist in ruining EPS 1 and EPS2. I don't even tarnish my hard drive at home with EPS1&2.

The Hateful Eight - This will be great. DJANGO was brilliant so this will only add to a movie genre that I'd like to see continue. I still remember growing up watching Clint Eastwood Westerns with my dad.

The Revenant - because;

Thanks for your takes on these movies as well! That's really cool to hear about the Krampus story. I never heard of it until maybe the past few years. I like the idea of taking something happy and family-friendly like Christmas and putting it in a horror setting. It's been done before, but if I remember correctly they didn't do such a good job. Krampus looks like it's going to be both scary and funny which I'm looking forward to.

good post.

hardly seen any this year - a few on a plane but i fell asleep - ulton i think, but that was perhaps not its fault.

very keen to see bridge of spies and of course bond. also star wars.

I want to note that Bridge of Spies was so great, especially considering it was almost entirely a movie about talking. This wasn't an action movie at all, like some other Spielberg movies. But it was a movie where he treated talking scenes and things like negotiations as if they were action sequences. I was really impressed.

I forgot to mention having watched John Wick which was a brilliant action flick, highly recommend it.

Also, only just last night I watched and enjoyed;

Howl (A Horror Werewolf flick) if you like Horror, I recommend it. Group of people stuck on a derailed train, driver heads out to repair and becomes a snack, passengers on train find out, s**t the bed, all mayhem breaks loose. Again, don't expect academy award lines and acting but the effects are pretty good and I enjoyed it.

On another note slightly off movies but series related, my wife and I have really been getting into a bunch of series versus movies. Of course Game of Thrones is one of them but there's a bunch more other seriously brilliant shows out there that carry their own weight and acclaim such as a few noted below that I highly recommend.

The Strain: One of the creators is Guillermo del Toro which explains a lot on what to expect. Season 2 only just ended so I highly recommend all to watch seasons 1 and 2. Brilliant Vampire flick/series.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DqcuyXeN8O8

Falling Skies; Another Scy Fi series, only wrapped up season 5 (It's final season), Aliens take over the planet as we know it, small group of human militia put up a resistance and fight. Great stuff.

Walking Dead: Goes without saying, one of the best series to date, a Zombie apocalypse, group of survivors struggling, running, fighting, surviving against hordes of the undead as well as groups of humans who are not so kind.

EXTANT: Stars Halle Berry and is based on her character, a female astronaut who returns from space after a 13 month mission and finds out shes pregnant. Yes, it's an alien flick/series but it's also set in the future and has advanced robots who look like humans. Bad government builds robots to track down and kill the aliens (who are humanoids) and it is a pretty engaging show. We've watched both seasons and another highly recommended show to watch and it goes without saying Halle Berry is a good actress.

Minority Report: A spin off series following Tom Cruises flick with the same title. This series follows the pre-cogs 10 years AFTER the Minority report movie and Precrime is disbanded. One of the Precogs, Dashtries to lead a normal life, still sees visions and attempts to solve crimes with the help of a cop. It's only into episode 5 thus far but I'm enjoying it. The special effects is very much on par with the movie.

Ohhh, I watched John Wick this year as well. Definitely impressed with that one. I loved how blatantly stylized and action-packed it was. It's fun once in a while when a movie does exactly what it knows it wants to do but doesn't pretend to be more than it is.

Since you like horror, The House of the Devil is another one I saw this year (even though it came out in 2006 or 2009) and it was pretty impressive. Some people don't like it because it's another "slow burner" kind of movie where sometimes nothing happens in a scene at all, but I personally liked it because it added to the tension. You always felt like something bad was going to happen even if nothing did. It was also shot purposefully to look like a late 70s/early 80s horror film, which was a tad gimmicky, but again, I personally liked it.

And I totally agree with you and Scrubber about TV shows. I'll have to check out some of the ones you listed, but there are a bunch I've been watching for the past few years as well and some of them are just magnificent--better than some movies in some cases. In fact, I might want to even make a separate post about it.

[MIKA27]

I also agree with Mika that there is really high quality tv series being made in the last few years. The production values are pretty much on par with most movies. Loved Breaking Bad and also really like the Walking Dead. I think binge watching tv series is the future. You can get deeply connected with the characters which is also helped by fantastic actors who now do a lot of these recent shows.

Yes I think TV series is the way to go in the future, they are a lot more engaging, tell more of the story as one can segment them between episodes and seasons, so you get more that way. These shows are also luring some great actors and actresses.

[Overproof]

Saw Mad Max. I went in knowing the kind of style it was paying homage to and adding to. So just enjoyed the ride and loved it.

Saw The Martian and kind of wish I'd seen it before Interstellar. I really enjoyed it but I guess I was a bit spoiled and was expecting perhaps to absolutely love it. Still liked it a lot. I love anything 'space'.

Saw Jurassic World and was surprised. Liked it more than I thought I would.

I'm really annoyed that I missed Sicario. I was sick with the flu.

I liked Nightcrawler a lot and Out of the furnace.

Not much else comes to mind.

But waiting in anticipation for James Bond, Star Wars, Hateful 8 and Revenant.

Oh year nightcrawler was heavy. Great flick!

[rmill3r]

Just saw...

Steve Jobs

I'm not an Apple fan, and therefore don't particularly care about Steve Jobs and definitely didn't think we needed another movie about him only four years after his death, but I went because I tend to enjoy Danny Boyle films, have recently discovered that many movies/TV shows I like are written by Aaron Sorkin, and firmly believe Michael Fassbender is the second coming to modern day acting.

Just like Bridge of Spies, this movie impressed me in that it's a very energetic and fast-paced movie revolving entirely around dialogue scenes. This movie is just non-stop talking (very "Sorkin-like"), but it's entirely engaging. One big thing about this movie that I've heard is that the facts just aren't all true (surprise, surprise). People say some events/conversations did happen, but maybe happened at a different time or place; and others say some events/conversations didn't happen at all--period. Boyle and Sorkin apparently have been fairly open about this fact, and said that they are just trying to make a good movie and paint an overall picture of Jobs. I could definitely see and appreciate this. It puts a new spin on the likable character many people saw on stage and on TV at presentations and in the public eye.

Michael Fassbender was incredible. He completely lost himself in the character and I simply forgot I was watching Fassbender. He doesn't always look like Jobs necessarily but looking the part is only 25% of the battle in portraying a real-life character, in my opinion. And if the facts of the movie aren't entirely true, then maybe he doesn't portray the real-life Steve Jobs well, but he portrays the character Boyle, Sorkin, and himself created perfectly.

On a smaller note, the film is beautiful, and the ending--while acceptable and not deal breaking--is a tad cheesy and a little rushed, in my opinion, for what this otherwise very intense movie built up to. This is a great movie, but it's long and has lots of dialogue, so if that's not your thing...you've been warned.

[Bill Hayes]

Saw Bridge of Spies last tight ar$e Tuesday. Reduced price movies on Tuesdays here and I try to go when there is something I want to see. I liked this film a lot. Although, I was left thinking it could have been a little more intense or with a few more layers to it to really make it a standout in my opinion. Then again, it's based on a true story and the facts can't be stretched too far without criticism. Well worth a look though.

[Mr.T]

I watched Mad Max on the way home from China and loved it. I would love to watch it on a big screen. Charlize Theron was just great. Really felt like it took place in a human wasteland

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Bill Hayes]

Saw Sicario today. Might have just got to see it before it finishes its season. Liked it a lot. Very gripping and very well directed in my opinion. Kind of hard to believe Emily Blunt in that role at first but as the plot unfolds you can see why she is thrust into the world of Mexican drug cartels etc.

[rmill3r]

Finally saw...

Spectre

Seems like there are a lot of James Bond/007 fans around here, so I guess I'm sorry for this but I thought this movie was just awful. Well...maybe not awful, but incredibly disappointing. Casino Royale was such an awesome take on the Bond universe and managed to do away with so many cliches, Quantum of Solace was entirely forgettable, and Skyfall was just a beautiful movie and Javier Bardem was one of the best villains in recent memory. I was so excited to see them using Christoph Waltz as the villain in Spectre, but my GOD...he was so underutilized. He was in so little of the film, and every time he was on screen, it didn't even feel like the camera was giving him enough opportunity to shine in his performance. Even though most people know which throwback villain he plays, the surprise of it just feels like nostalgia rather than originality. I don't personally think Skyfall was the best Bond movie, but it was definitely a great one, so I just can't wrap my head around how or why Sam Mendes turned around and made Spectre--probably the most generic and unnecessary 007 movie since Tomorrow Never Dies.