"The Last Movie You Saw" thread

[Two Utes]

Speaking of my incredibly low entertainment IQ, when I was in law school there were things called "reading groups" where students could set up a group where students would get together and discuss a topic of their choice once a week, presumably with some sort of underlying source material that everyone would be familiar with for the meeting. You had to get a professor to sign off on it, but the professors then had nothing to do with it, and you could always get a professor to sign off. Anyway, me and a few of my buddies set up a "Law and Film" reading group, which we planned to use to get a school credit by meeting together weekly at the law school and watching a movie we liked. Unfortunately, we had to open the reading group up for anyone to enroll in. When the first day rolled around, it turned out that me and about 6 of my buddies had enrolled, but so had about 5 other students who we didn't know. We had just enough bodies for everyone to present one movie. My buddies and I all presented our favorite dumb comedies (think Ghostbusters, Fletch, Monty Python, etc.) while the other students would bring these independent art-house type depressing social commentary movies. I will never forget the total disgust and disdain these Yale Law School students would have for us when we would roll out another juvenile comedy; they really thought we were so incredibly far beneath them (and they were probably right).

Well, we have a complete douche bag for President because people like your class mates think the democratic blue collar folks in Ohioi, Pennsylvania, Michigan and Wisconsin (who presumably also like juvenile comedies) are beneath them. So, there's that.

[Scratch]

Well, we have a complete douche bag for President because people like your class mates think the democratic blue collar folks in Ohioi, Pennsylvania, Michigan and Wisconsin (who presumably also like juvenile comedies) are beneath them. So, there's that.

Spot on.

[UBlender]

I saw both Moana and Fantastic Beasts over last weekend. I didn't expect to enjoy Moana but it was actually pretty fun, good music and the Flight of the Conchords guy was great in his role.

I thought Fantastic Beasts was good but not great. On its own I didn't think it measured up to most of the Harry Potter movies. Probably a good chunk of that is not knowing much about the characters. Newt is a really great character, but none of the others did much for me. The best thing it did was get me excited for what is most likely coming in the series.

[NorthwestUteFan]

I saw both Moana and Fantastic Beasts over last weekend. I didn't expect to enjoy Moana but it was actually pretty fun, good music and the Flight of the Conchords guy was great in his role.


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I watched Moana when it came out, and again last night. It is very good on its own visually and as a story, but Lin-Manuel Miranda's music makes it a modern masterpiece. Several of the songs very powerful and moving.

Jemaine Clement was good as always, and Dwayne Johnson did a great job as Maui. Even his singing was impressive. I wouldn't be surprised if he gets an Oscar nomination for supporting actor, just as Ellen DeGeneres won for Finding Nemo.

[Rocker Ute]

My son's birthday is tomorrow, it seems it will be a tradition now to go and see the new Star Wars flicks for his birthday. With that said we saw Rogue One this morning. It is actually pretty dark and a movie designed for fans. I've seen some negative reviews holding it up to the original trilogy, but I think people like that still live in a world where those movies were the end all be all. Don't get me wrong, I love those movies, but if you watch them today they have bad acting, goofy plots and goofy characters. I know that is blasphemy among some, but it is true. When the prequel ones came out, they actually were about on par with the originals.

I loved episode 7 when it came out, but watching it again later it seems pretty derivative and that JJ Abrams decided to just appeal to every fan out there and cram all that in without a real original idea. Fair enough.

So with that prelude, I liked this movie a lot, who is to say it won't wear thin like Episode 7 did for me? But I liked the story line, I liked the characters, I liked the many tie-ins you'll spot throughout the movie and I liked that it was pretty dark. A few criticism to be had but I won't discuss as they may be spoilers? I dunno.

Also, given it is pretty dark the PG-13 rating seems apt. I took my 9yo and while she did okay I probably wish I wouldn't have. She is just a happy kid, and so those type of movies are particularly hard on her.

I tend to believe this movie may stand the test of time though and may even be praised for having the better story of the originals, particularly considering the constraints. It also makes some of the plot holes in Ep 4 less egregious.

[sancho]

When the prequel ones came out, they actually were about on par with the originals.

You're throwIng all your movie review credibility away here.

[Rocker Ute]

You're throwIng all your movie review credibility away here.

Here is the test: ask anyone about 35 and older which are the best movies the original trilogy or the new one and they'll always say the old. Ask anyone under that and they'll say the new. When you watch them all together you realize the rankings go from best to worst: 5,4,3,2,6,1. 1 is so bad it skews the scale, but really it can be eliminated and not cause harm to the story.

But watch them all in this order 4,5,2,3,6 and you'll realize they are all about the same.


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[Scratch]

5, 4, 6, 3, 2, 1.

[Rocker Ute]

5, 4, 6, 3, 2, 1.

I'd would have posted this same ranking had I not watched Return of the Jedi this last week with my kids. A plot that centers on Ewoks and C-3PO puts it on par with 1, the movie up through Jabba puts it on par with 2 or 3, averaging out to 2nd to last. Plus now they've shoved Hayden Christensen into the ending as Anakin I think I have some pretty solid nerd crew to stand on.


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