What Movies Have You Seen Lately?

Quote: odiousgambit

which reminds me, I have watched the final scene in the 1999 original over and over again but ... what the hell is supposed to be happening in that final scene, esp. the last few moments?

I decided to quit being lazy and looked it up

Quote: terapined

I thought this was one of the best action scenes I have seen in any recent movie
Sicario - border crossing shootout scene HD
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0CQfQNJ-65U

I recently had a chance to watch Sicario. I thought the shootout (...well, maybe more of an execution) terapined references was the best part of the movie.

There is another good action sequence at the climax of the film, but getting there is a burden. The pace of this film is excruciatingly slow. Benicio Del Toro and Josh Brolin are really good as shadowy CIA operatives, but Emily Blunt in the lead role is not very believable as an FBI agent assigned to their drug war task force gone off the rails.

I give it six bummed cigarettes out of ten.

Why are wolfman movies reasonably satisfying - especially compared to most other monster type movies?

"The Wolfman" [2010], with Anthony Hopkins, fits the bill. Of course the whole premise for any wolfman movie is totally preposterous, so I won't try to defend that statement LOL.

Caveat: watching the movie now, maybe I won't like the ending

Quote: odiousgambit

Why are wolfman movies reasonably satisfying - especially compared to most other monster type movies?

No Wolfman movie has made stratospheric box office.

The Wolfman $61,979,680 Benicio Del Toro, Anthony Hopkins, Emily Blunt, Hugo Weaving 2010
Wolf $65,002,597 Jack Nicholson , Michelle Pfeiffer 1994
Teen Wolf $33,086,611
Wolfen $10,626,725
Teen Wolf Too $7,888,703

Quote: Pacomartin

No Wolfman movie has made stratospheric box office.

The Wolfman $61,979,680 Benicio Del Toro, Anthony Hopkins, Emily Blunt, Hugo Weaving 2010
Wolf $65,002,597 Jack Nicholson , Michelle Pfeiffer 1994
Teen Wolf $33,086,611
Wolfen $10,626,725
Teen Wolf Too $7,888,703

What about the original, Lon Chaney Jr. 1940's black and white classic? In inflation adjusted dollars, it had to have been a hit. It actually spawned a bunch of sequels (Son of..., She-Wolf...) and cross overs (vs. Dracula, vs. Frankenstein...)

There was also "An American Werewolf in London", and there have been TV shows, and cartoons too

Character's that change from humans to wolves have played key roles in many other "hit" films:
The "Twilight" series
Some of the "Harry Potter" films
The "Underworld" series

When you add it up, I think it's pretty good coin.

Quote: odiousgambit

Why are wolfman movies reasonably satisfying - especially compared to most other monster type movies?

Maybe you just like dogs?

I'm ready for a new Frankenstein movie. I don't really like super modern innovations on the look of the monster. Just better special effects.

They've done different things to the classic movie Dracula look and I don't like that either.

I prefer the early movie monsters no matter whether they agree with a book version.

Just finished 2010's "The Wolfman" and the ending, though with corny elements, was OK. The best part of the movie might be the interplay of horrific brutality vis a vis Victorian sensibilities - naturally contrasting elements and they just do a great job with it. To watch it, you have to be OK with the fantastic premise that not only does lycanthropy exist, but its manifestation is profoundly supernatural. Naturally I have problems with that myself, and have to be in the mood - but otherwise recommend the movie. Very gory.

A remake, the writers certainly expanded on the 1941 screenplay, but were faithful to the basics. This got me interested in the original screenwriter, Curt Siodmak. It struck me that Bram Stoker got huge notoriety from his novel "Dracula" and its influence on modern vampire legend, while Siodmak is close to an unknown outside a small circle. I think 75% of the people who would regularly watch TV's "jeopardy" would quickly come up with Stoker as the answer to "who wrote 'Dracula' ", but even the best contestants might not be able to name Siodmak.

Siodmak, like Stoker, deserves credit for taking a long standing legend and nailing down the modern concept and an accepted version of its details. In his case, it did not begin with a novel, but the screenplay itself, there apparently being no preceding novel by anybody. He is given credit for first involving the effect of the full moon and for imagining silver bullets to have special powers over such monsters, although it is easy for me to think he scooped up these ideas from somewhere.

As far as the difference in the fame, I don't think it is so much that one started with a screenplay and the other a novel, as it is the generally lowbrow body of work for Siodmak, writing mostly other screenplays for similar movies, none of which rise to any greatness. On the other hand, you might wonder if there is all that much difference with Stoker, who was hardly the Shakespeare of his time. Perhaps "Dracula" made him a one-hit wonder, not clear; there were other novels. Nonetheless I think we can say his other works are quite forgotten today. Apparently, there's just enough difference to account for this fame for one of the two only.

Both have wikipedia pages.

The Accountant

As someone with two degrees in Accounting, I had to see this.

There isn't much accounting in it, but I found it to be pretty entertaining. Very unrealistic (duh), but enjoyable to watch.

Spoilers for the end:

Quote: odiousgambit

. Perhaps "Dracula" made him a one-hit wonder, not clear; there were other novels. Nonetheless I think we can say his other works are quite forgotten today. Apparently, there's just enough difference to account for this fame for one of the two only.

Lair of the White Worm was fairly popular.

Dracula was a popular novel when it was published, but it was not iconic. The movies made 25 years and 34 years later, after Bram Stoker's death made the creation iconic. Writing novels was Bram Stoker's avocation which he pursued on the side, while managing the theater was his primary profession.

Saw Spectre on Prime. Really disappointed.
Worst Bond movie in recent memory. Dumb
story, Craig looked bored and old. Typical
action scenes, Bond gets the living shit beat
out of him for 5 min and by luck gets out
of it with one move. Of course he has not
a scratch on him after getting hit in the
face and head dozens of times. By contrast,
on another show a middle aged guy got hit
in the face once and in the next two episodes
his face was bruised and swollen.

I give Spectre 1 star, I couldn't wait for it to
end.