Last movie watched...

[The Legendary Shark]

Yes, I expected the first ape charge to be a slaughter because they didn't know how to insert the ammo clips (because weapons aren't generally stored loaded) or cock the guns, figure out the safety catches and auto/semi-auto settings etc. Then they would have to rely on their own physical abilities and simple weapons, which I think would have made for a better ending.
.
Otherwise, yeah, a good little movie.

[shaolin_monkey]

Empire Records - this came recommended to me by several people over the years, and it popped up on Netflix, so I thought what the hell, why not?

Jesus H Christ, what a complete and utter pile of wank!  Stupid angst teens do zany things to shit music in a record store which seemingly only lets white people in. 

What a fucking waste of 1.5 hours of my life.  I'm going to hunt down the folk who recommended this to me, tie them up, and make them watch Spiceworld.  It's only fair.

[pictsy]

Empire Records is certainly not the best coming of age film.  If you like the idea of coming of age films mixed with a music based theme I'd recommend Almost Famous.

[TordelBack]

Stupid angst teens do zany things to shit music in a record store which seemingly only lets white people in. 

I've always suspected a lot of enthusiasm for that movie was based on Liv Tyler in her pants. 

[JamesC]

Empire Records is great fun and I won't hear a bad word about it.
It's not really a coming of age film in the same vain as Almost Famous (you'd be better comparing it to something like Mallrats) - it's just a fluffy MTV style comedy with a bit of an emotional 'journey' bolted on. It's very of its time - promoting hot new talent like Liv Tyler and Renee Zellweger and screaming 'Mid-Nineties' in the process. The real star of the show is Maxwell Caulfield who is absolutely hilarious as the egotistical heartthrob.
While I can accept that it may not be to some people's taste I think it takes a hard heart to begrudge films like this their place.

[radiator]

Yeah, I kind of agree. I haven't seen Empire Records in 15+ years but remember it quite fondly. I know a lot of people around my age who regard it as one of those iconic special movies of their childhood. It's cheesy, but no more so than anything John Hughes ever did.

Seems odd to take such an aggressive stance against such a gentle film aimed at mid-1990s tweens - it's certainly not a cynical piece of pop culture trash like Spice World.

Of that genre/era, I'm very fond of Clueless and both Brady Bunch movies.

[TordelBack]

Of that genre/era, I'm very fond of Clueless and both Brady Bunch movies.

Well naturally.  Those are three brilliant films.  Clueless remains the best thing with Jane Austen's name on it.

[shaolin_monkey]

Urgh. I can't even begin to explain why I hate it so much without going into full blown rant mode. It was horrible. It seems I shall just have to stand alone in my complete antipathy towards it then.

I do it to myself really. I force myself to sit through these films in the hope that some good will come of it.

If it is any consolation, I felt the same towards The Breakfast Club.

High Fidelity - there's a good film about a record store, music, and to a lesser degree, youthful relationships.

[Link Prime]

High Fidelity - there's a good film about a record store, music, and to a lesser degree, youthful relationships.

In the Top Five.

[Tiplodocus]

'Fury' - Brad Pitting starring WW2 tank battle extravaganza. Out this week but I got a free preview ticket - thanks Telegraph Readers Club! - wife's not mine. It came with a bonus feature of 30 minutes of the stars taking selfies with fans at the London première - hope that makes the Blu-Ray!

It was quite good. The battles were excellent with a 'Saving Private Ryan' eye for the savagery of battle - the tracer did look a bit ray gun for me though. It followed the exact same narrative as 'Ryan' with a rookie joining the crew, an ill fated meet up with civilians and then a long final battle against impossible odds.

It lacked much in the way of characterisation or decent acting, with Shia LaBouff just crying a lot. Good body count and hardware if you like that sort of thing.

I have to disagree with a lot of this. Great film but hard to describe it as enjoyable as it is so unrelentingly grim. Even the downtime scenes have an edge that something horrible is just about to happen.

Performances were great; the stand out being a physical tour de force from Jon Bernthal with an exaggerated neanderthal swagger that has you believe he IS another species. 

The battles are short and brutal; the four shermans vs. The Tiger being the stand out. And the final heroic stand has an air of the Audey Murphy about it with Brad vs winging on the 50 cal. Convenient that the ss don't have a flamethrower with them.

I left the cinema feeling slightly shell shocked.

[pictsy]

The Gamers.  A 2002 low-budget film about D&D gamers.  Better than what I was expecting with a couple of moments that made me chuckle slightly.

[Tiplodocus]

Audie Murphey... dang spell correct thing.
http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Audie_Murphy

He must have been proper mental.

[TordelBack]

Audie Murphey... dang spell correct thing.
http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Audie_Murphy

He must have been proper mental.

The most incredible part of that bio to me is that he was only 46 when I was born, younger than my uncle.  I often forget how little time separates us from these seemingly legendary figures.

[The Adventurer]

Last night I sat down to finally watch Fritz Lang's Complete Metropolis. I've actually had the Blu-ray release for several years, but have been sitting on it because I knew watching it was going to be... an event. Especially with its two and a half hour run time.

This movie... what they accomplished in 1927... just mind boggling. Its a work of art. Its unfortunately that a good 30 minutes of run time is of really damaged quality. But its amazing that those segments continue to exist at all.

The effects work in this movie defy expectations, the shear amount of money they blew making this movie is very apparent. It puts even talky era movies 10 years after it to shame. At the same time you can totally tell that they were still trying to figure out this whole 'moving pictures' thing. Its pacing is rather lumbering. And its message a bit sugar sweat. While also being pretty poignant? And its final act descends into a very cliche 'hero vs villain to save the girl' moment that was rather distracting.

But this is a must see movie.

[Tiplodocus]

Audie Murphey... dang spell correct thing.
http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Audie_Murphy

He must have been proper mental.

The most incredible part of that bio to me is that he was only 46 when I was born, younger than my uncle.  I often forget how little time separates us from these seemingly legendary figures.

http://research.archives.gov/description/299775
This is an account of the action that won him the Medal of Honour.  And it does read like something out of a movie/video game.  But you do have to wonder, what were the rest of his platoon doing while he was being a bullet and shell magnet?

(No doubt about it - I'd have been shitting myself in a ditch!)