Last movie watched...

[Professor Bear]

There's a brilliant bit in SHarknado where they're in a house being quiet so the sharks won't hear them, and I cannot stress enough that this is exactly what it sounds like - they're going "

[Professor Bear]

Dunno what happened there.  I shall blame Opera because it is not the best.

Anyway: Sharknado: they sneak around a house trying to creep up on the cast like they're burglars rather than sharks and it's a bit mad.  Also there's a bit where they're flying helicopters alongside a tornado throwing bombs at it because that is how America makes its problems go away.  There's no "this will create an inverse vortex to negate the tornado" rationalising, it's a problem so they're just going to throw bombs at it, that's all you get.

As for Fast and Furious 5 and 6, they deliberately dropped the car fetishism in those because they were worried that they were alienating potential customers at that tricky point in any franchise where ticket numbers traditionally start to trail off, so now the series centers on the basic concept of "good" outlaw types fighting "evil" outlaw types in outrageous settings and/or scenarios rather than just the loud and visually incomprehensible car chases of FF 1-4.  If anything, it's now an update of the Glen Larson-style 1980s television action series, centering on heists, fights, and outrageous escalations of the traditional battles on moving objects - ie: the final fight between the Rock, Diesel and the bad guy of FF6 isn't just a fistfight in an escaping plane, the plane is also on fire and is attached by grappling hooks to cars inside which the secondary cast are also having fistfights of their own.  Also there is a scene with a tank where a character solves everything by remembering he is played by Vin Diesel - this is literally the only way I can explain how it ends.

[JamesC]

Fast and Furious has some competition on the way in the shape of the Need for Speed film.

they may have to crank the ridiculous car chase and fight scenes up a notch.

[JudgeE1M1RT]

Just watched Back to the Future for the fiftieth time. Great movie, one of my favorites.

Sharknado is genuinely hilarious, the premise is absurd as all hell.

[NapalmKev]

World War Z - I really enjoyed it.

Cheers

[HdE]

I'll stick my neck out and say that Sharknado is genuinely, properly, A-Grade fun.

Is it a good movie? F*** no! But it's FUN!

I sat and watched it with family in Solihull when I was down there for Auto Assembly. it's not often thata movie has every single one of us roaring with laughter. Painful laughter. That threatens to rupture internal organs.

The finale of that movie is inspired.

[pictsy]

Iron Man 3-  I had heard some harsh criticism about this film, but I don't see what the problem is.  It's a Disney/Marvel superhero film, a pretty good one, but it's never going to be 'Ghandi'.  Speaking of Ghandi, Ben Kingsley was great and I loved his role in the film.  All the cool Iron Mans flying around at the end was entertaining as well.  I also liked Tony Starks trauma from what happened in the Avengers film.  All in all I think it's a welcome addition to the Iron Man film franchise and if they choose not to make any more I think it serves well to round it off as a trilogy.

[DaveGYNWA]

"Now you see me" - I wish I hadn't (although I can quite happily watch Isla Fisher in anything)

[von Boom]

Caddyshack - I've not seen it in years. What an amazingly racist film. I doubt it could ever get made today with the script the way it is.

[Dandontdare]

Caddyshack - I've not seen it in years. What an amazingly racist film. I doubt it could ever get made today with the script the way it is.

It's been a while since I saw it, but the only potentially racist bit I can recall is Rodney Dangerfield laughing at Mr Wang's name, and calling him a "fuzzy foreigner" (which became my nickname from one caddyshack-obsessed guy when I was in the states many years ago) and even that isn't extreme in the context of regular Hollywood racial stereotyping. 

[pictsy]

I watched Caddyshack for the first time within the last year off the back of it being a classic comedy film.  I really didn't see the appeal.  It didn't make me laugh once.

[JamesC]

I watched Caddyshack for the first time within the last year off the back of it being a classic comedy film.  I really didn't see the appeal.  It didn't make me laugh once.

I never found it funny either. Same thing with Animal House.

[Hawkmumbler]

Talking about comedies that everyone els loves but you just don't get, why do people like The Hangover so much? It's honestly one of the worst films I've ever seen.

[Professor Bear]

I watched the first 45 minutes of the Hangover and didn't so much as smile.  I found the characters infuriating and unlikable and not one interesting, unexpected or funny thing happened so I called it a day.  Apparantly there are scenes later with a funny rapist.  Can't say I'm surprised.
I imagine the appeal of those old 1980s films depends on your tolerance for the comedians and their delivery - like most comedies, really. 

I watched Scary Movie 5 and for the most part it is just painful stuff, but there is the odd thing I really laughed at, and not just by statistical probability, there were some cleverly done pull-back-and-reveal/bait-and-switch gags alongside the usual visual references, hinging as they do on your understanding that this is a really lowbrow and stupid film and once you accept that it can effectively broadside you by doing stuff like a character going "what's that smell?" while holding a baby up near their face and instead of the poop gag, the camera pulls back and reveals that the baby's head is on fire.  I am not proud of it, but I also tried not to laugh at the non-pc Planet of the Apes gag where someone suddenly realises what he's done when he defensively and reflexively says that apes are "just like you" to a black colleague, but it is well-played, and the slowly-forming look of horror on a nearby ape's face as even he realises that the guy is just digging himself deeper the more he talks is great.  Not a great film - not even a good one - but occasionally it is funny.

Speaking of the devil, I watched the original Planet of the Apes films over the last week or so.  I keep forgetting how enjoyable these are and must assume I just take them for granted.  They're cracking films, though taken as a narrative whole occasionally contradictory and I'm not sure if they're meant to be a predestination paradox looping infinitely or a regular old paradox caused by Zira and Cornelius traveling to the past and changing the future - no Aldo starting the ape revolution by saying "no" during Conquest suggests the latter, but the crying statue of Caeser at the end of Battle suggests the former (if like me you assume he's crying because the integrated human/ape civilisation is destined to fall).  There's supposed to be deleted scenes from Battle where Mendez - the lead mutant from Beneath - is revealed to be the second in command of the mutants attacking Ape City, but these scenes weren't in the version of the film in this box set, which is a shame as I think having all five films integrated as a whole work is a great idea compared to what is most likely - that they just made it all up on the fly.
Conquest is the one I enjoyed least, but they're all still top entertainment.

[JamesC]

I've never much liked those 'Frat Pack' style comedies.
They seem to have a strange sensibility that both mocks and celebrates stereotypical male shortcomings. The thing is they mock things like 'geeks can't get laid' and celebrate things like infidelity and taking copious amounts of drugs.
I'm sure a fascinating essay could be written comparing the American university experience of Animal House with the British university experience of The Young Ones (in which everyone's an archetype but not the archetype they're trying to be)!