The Ballard of Buster Scruggs

There are some interesting themes and visuals in The Ballad of Buster Scruggs, and of course a lot of great actors, but overall, it's just not my thing.

The Coen Brothers are hit or miss with me, and The Ballard of Buster Scruggs falls squarely in the category of "meh."

Gladiator

I have a history of not liking Ridley Scott movies, and there's nothing in Gladiator for me. The time period reminded me of Titus (the Anthony Hopkins movie, not the comedian). I’d recommend watching that instead.

Gladiator came out the same year as Snatch. I guess I'm on an old movie kick. Like Snatch, I saw Gladiator back then, but I had completely forgotten all of it, and for some reason, I never saw the ending of Gladiator. It's widely regarded as a good movie, I guess. One of the people I was watching it with kept saying "this is such a good movie" during it, but I didn't share that sentiment. I think I'm pretty safe in saying I just don't like Ridley Scott's movies.

The opening fight scene reminded me of Lord of the Rings or Game of Thrones. I guess Gladiator came out first, so it should be the other way around. It's not a very feminist movie. There's not really anything for women to identify with or like.

American Made

American Made is about a selfish guy who doesn't have the sense to quit when he's ahead. The camerawork is atrocious, and as with so many other movies, the point of making or watching it escapes me.

American Made is so forgettable that by the next day, I had completely forgotten that I had even seen it, if that tells you anything. I'm not a fan of Tom Cruise. I can't even think of a movie I've seen him in other than Rain Man, and I had to watch that for a class in college. American Made didn't interest me based on the trailer, or, it turns out, the movie, either.

It's understandable how Seal got roped into everything, but he should have gotten out of it a lot sooner. He was just being greedy. He didn't even have a use for all of that money. He should have taken it and moved his family to another country where the government and the Contras wouldn't find them.

Atomic Blonde

Atomic Blonde is probably the best movie I'll see all year, which is unfortunate since it's only February. It's directed by the same guy who did John Wick, and it has a similar feel. It's really a love letter to Charlize, Berlin, and a slick modern/future version of the '80s. The action is solid, there are some inspired song choices, and the cinematography is striking. I recommend seeing it on the big screen if you can.

I'm not a huge fan of Charlize Theron, but I don't think I've ever seen James McAvoy in a movie that I didn't like. And the action for Atomic Blonde looked like it would be cool. It turns out that it was directed by the same guy who did John Wick. I can see that.

The first 20 minutes of the movie are definitely the best. The first three songs that they play are great, the action is nice, it looks good overall, and the characters are interesting.

Robin Hood

Robin Hood takes its place in a long line of movies where I'm not really sure what the point of making or watching it was.

I hadn't ever heard of this version of Robin Hood. I'm kind of ambivalent about Russell Crowe, but he is good at playing this sort of character. The characters were the strongest part of the movie. They were all pretty likeable and interesting. The movie did seem to go on forever. But I was watching the director's cut. Although I think most of the scenes that were added actually were beneficial to the movie.

The Magnificent Seven

The Magnificent Seven has a lot of flaws, and the acting isn't good enough to carry the lack of plot and character development. Some of the action is cool, but it's not really enough to make it worth watching.

The Magnificent Seven got mixed reviews, but I was hoping it could be carried on the virtue of the actors. Turns out it couldn't. The plot is ridiculously simple, but you know that going in, so they really need to do some character development or have some cool tricks or something, but they don't. It felt really tired and unispired. The whole "defending a small town with tricks" thing has been done to death. You've got to have some spectacularly impressive tricks if you're going to make it entertaining, and they didn't.

The Nice Guys

I probably would have enjoyed The Nice Guys more if I had understood what they were going for when I watched it. It was consistently funny, but some of the characters were annoying, a lot of the scenes didn't work, and the ending was strangely unsatisfying.

The trailer for The Nice Guys looked funny, and Roeper liked it, so I guess I had unreasonably high expectations. It was kind of disappointing. Russel Crowe's character was cool I guess, but March kind of got on my nerves. Ryan Gosling did look good at least.

Hail, Caesar!

I'm not the biggest Coen brothers fan, but I liked "Hail, Caesar!" All the actors are good, it's fun to see how they used to make movies, and there are a lot of funny scenes.

I'm not a huge Coen brothers fan. I either haven't seen or haven't been that into most of their movies, although I did like The Ladykillers (what) and True Grit. But Hail, Caesar! just looked interesting on its own merit. Roeper liked it; the friend I watched it with had seen it already and didn't like it because it seemed too "disconnected." Maybe I was inclined to like it just to be contrary. I didn't really find it to be disconnected. Everything seemed to go together pretty well. And overall it's exactly what you're promised – a funny look at how they used to make movies back in the '50s.

Rise of the Legend

There are some cool ideas in Rise of the Legend, but they aren't carried out well. The action looks fake, there's a bizarre fascination with poorly done CG fire, and the plot is dull.

I keep watching these Well Go movies, and they're always terrible, but for some reason that doesn't stop me. I saw the trailer for Rise of the Legend, and I thought it might have some interesting action scenes. I guess it did. There was one in water that was kind of cool. And I liked the idea of the fire one more than anything that really happened during it. The dialogue was horrendous, but I think that was partially the fault of whoever did the subtitles. The story probably would have been better if it had been translated differently. All the "F" names were confusing, with Fei and Fiery and Fa, and the first time I saw them I wondered if the subtitles were just messed up (they did refer to Fei as the "forth adopted son" for the entire time). 

I didn't recognize Eddie Peng from Tai Chi Hero at all. He seemed a lot better-looking in this movie than that one. Maybe he was just surrounded by people who weren't as good-looking in this one, though. Overall the action was pretty flat. It all seemed super fake. Even the giant "thoom" sound effect every time somebody got kicked was a bit much. 

X-Men: Apocalypse

There's not much to say about X-Men: Apocalypse other than if you like the X-Men, you'll probably like it. The action looks cool, the plot is interesting (albeit simple), and you get to see more characters in their younger iterations.

I begin this post about X-Men: Apocalypse with the disclaimer that I've never seen an X-Men movie I didn't like – although that could be because I've strategically avoided X2 and X3. And I knew I didn't want to see The Wolverine. And it's not even listed as an X-Men movie, so I'm not counting it (I didn't like it. But I did like X-Men Origins: Wolverine, unlike everyone else). I watched and liked the animated series, and the X-Men are definitely my favorite superheroes.

Apocalypse got a lot of bad reviews. It seemed like no one really liked it. I liked it. I didn't think it had too many characters or anything. A lot of them were people we already knew. I can't stand Sansa as Jean, though. I just don't like that actress. Then again, I felt the same way about Jennifer Lawrence, and I'm getting more used to her in the role now I guess.

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

Maybe because I had low expectations going into it, and/or maybe because I just like Henry Cavill and Armie Hammer, I thought The Man from U.N.C.L.E. was brilliant. There are so many hilarious scenes, and the timing and delivery of the lines is (frequently, although not always) dead on. The plot is less than inspired, but it looks slick, and the soundtrack really stands out.

I didn't have high hopes for The Man from U.N.C.L.E. It got pretty mixed reviews. People like to pick on Guy Ritchie for some reason. I liked Snatch, and I wasn't impressed with Lock, Stock, although I can't remember either movie anymore at this point. But Sherlock Holmes was great. I need to see RocknRolla. I wanted to see The Man in the theater, but circumstances prevented me from doing it, the first time it came in from the library I flat out didn't have time to watch it, so I've been wanting to see it for forever.

I *thought* I hadn't ever seen Henry Cavill in anything until I just checked and found out he was the super hot guy from The Tudors. He's still super hot, and I love his voice. Solo reminded me a lot of Neal from White Collar. They're basically the same guy - a thief who got caught and is now working for the government. Although Neal wasn't in the Army. Henry's acting wasn't exactly perfect. There was something a little *too* mannered/deliberate/campy about it. But it did work most of the time. 

The only thing I'd ever seen Armie Hammer in was The Lone Ranger, but he was great in that. So I was basically just interested in The Man because of the two lead guys. And the trailer had some great lines. I liked the idea of these two guys who hate each other having to work together. I'm sure it's not the first time it's ever been done, but it looked interesting anyway. It was really tough at first to buy Armie as a Russian guy, though. I don't know how authentic his accent was, but I just kept thinking, "this guy isn't Russian and I know it." He and Henry did absolutely kill it a lot of the time in terms of comedic timing/delivery/tone, though.

The Hateful Eight

The Hateful Eight has some interesting characters and scenes, but it's not exactly iconic.

I wasn't interested in The Hateful Eight from the trailer,  and the reviews didn't make it sound like something worth watching. I've never been a fan of Tarantino's dialogue, but it actually wasn't so bad this time. The characters were pretty interesting. I sort of missed about 10 minutes when they first got to the Haberdashery, but it probably wasn't important.

Not just for that reason, but it's one of the few movies I think I'd like to watch again, knowing all the secrets now. Bob's accent was weird. I didn't really buy him as Mexican. The British guy brought a lot of life to things. Domergue was intriguing, too. And you can't go wrong with Walter Goggins.

Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy

Tinker Tailor Solider Spy is apparently about how pointless the Cold War was, or what a drag it is to be a spy, which doesn't exactly make for an enjoyable movie. It was interesting about half the time, though, and Gary Oldman's performance was great.

I wasn't interested in this when it came out; or before I watched it, frankly. I heard it was supposed to be good, but it just seemed boring. It did turn out to be about 50% boring. There were some parts where the suspense or storyline kicked in and it got interesting, mostly because of Tom Hardy or Gary Oldman.

X-Men: First Class

The main plot of X-Men: First Class comes off as extraneous, but the movie is still an entertaining look into the characters' backgrounds. Michael Fassbender and James McAvoy do a great job portraying the origins of Charles and Erik's relationship, and Kevin Bacon hits the right notes as the villain. 

I don't know why I wasn't interested in First Class when it first came out; maybe because I didn't know any of the actors at the time. Now James McAvoy is one of my favorites, and I like Nicholas Hoult from Warm Bodies. I wasn't really on the Michael Fassbender boat before I saw First Class, but now I think he's good. I was a little confused about the casting of Kevin Bacon for the villain, but he did a good job with it. His nose was insanely distracting, though. I guess it's always been like that and I just haven't seen him in a lot of movies. Maybe they could've shot from a more flattering angle. Or maybe it didn't bother anyone else.

I always thought of the title "First Class" as like "elite fighters for the government" or something, and I don't think I realized until I saw the movie that it meant "the first class that Professor X trains." I still don't like Jennifer Lawrence as Mystique; or I don't like the way they're styling this version of her, or both. The suit is just unattractive, and the hair looks so fake. What they did with Rebecca was so much better. And I'd love for them to spring on some CGI or something to soften the look of the greasepaint. My #1 X-Men pet peeve, greasepaint; especially glaring for Azazel this time.

A Walk Among the Tombstones

A Walk Among the Tombstones is interesting for the atmosphere. Liam Neeson gives a great performance, most of the side characters are done well, and the setting ties everything together nicely.

I wasn't that into A Walk Among the Tombstones from the trailer, but Roeper kind of got me interested in it. The title's a little clunky, and I'm still not really sure how it relates to the movie. The movie itself is pretty straightforward, but it's interesting. Liam Neeson gives a solid performance.

Inherent Vice

 Inherent Vice is one of the best movies I've seen in a long time. Josh Brolin, Joaquin, and Benicio all give standout performances. It's definitely confusing, it does drag on a bit, and the ending isn't completely perfect, but the humor is so refreshing and spot-on that I'm giving it 4.5/5.
Inherent Vice looked interesting from the trailer. I don't remember what Roeper said about it, but he gave it a B, so I guess he didn't hate it. I think Chris liked it more after thinking about it than he did right after he saw it. All that put together, and I still wanted to give it a shot, but I went in prepared to just enjoy the ride and not have everything wrapped up at the end.

I was surprised by how funny it was. It's subtle humor; they don't beat you over the head with it, but it's good. I'd say it's the funniest movie I've seen in a year, so that should count for something. I love that they shot it on actual film. It looks amazing; it has character without looking dated - although since it is set in the 70s, you could probably allow some dated-ness leeway. I liked how most of the women didn't look like they were wearing makeup. They all looked clean and natural. I'm sure they were wearing some makeup, but it just wasn't over-the-top like usual.

Young Detective Dee: Rise of the Sea Dragon

Young Detective Dee: Rise of the Sea Dragon has some gorgeous settings, a fairly interesting plot, and likeable characters, but the atrocious CGI and bizarrely unrealistic action sequences are a little distracting.

The first Detective Dee movie was pretty disappointing, but I only watched it in the first place because this one looked interesting, so I was hoping it would be better. It was better, but not amazing or anything. I felt like the first one was a little hard to follow; this one was less confusing. The Empress' headdresses were supposed to be a big deal in the first one, but I feel like they were more impressive in this one. Dee didn't seem to do much "detecting" to me in the first one, and I think they did a better job of that with this one, too. This one is actually ranked slightly lower than Phantom Flame on IMDb, so I guess they don't agree with me.

The CGI was horrid in this one. It looked like a video game. It was tough to reconcile it with the live action stuff going on. The stunts were also pretty ridiculous; more like a cartoon than live action. There were some really beautiful shots of some of the sets, though. The scene at the dye shop with all the fabric was cool, although it took me a while to figure out why there was all that fabric hanging up; at first it seemed like they were just doing it to have an interesting set.

I thought Angelababy was in the first one; I must've been getting that mixed up with the Tai Chi Hero series. I was really confused about how Yin Ruiji got to the position she had in Phantom Flame, and why it didn't seem like Dee recognized her in that one. But it turns out Yin Ruiji wasn't in Phantom Flame, Shangguan Jing'er was, so now it makes sense.

X-Men: Days of Future Past

X-Men: Days of Future Past is a nice addition to the series. The themes are consistent, the characters are interesting, and there's some cool stuff going on. Considering all the material they have, it seems like they could keep doing episodes like this forever. 

My X-Men exposition feels a little familiar since I just talked about it for the last Wolverine movie, but I'll say it again. I've never read the comics, but I liked the X-Men: Evolution animated series, and the first X-Men movie; I skipped the second one and First Class. I love James McAvoy, so that's pretty much all I needed to be interested in this one. The 70s kitsch might have seemed novel, too, but in practice it wasn't actually very interesting.

Mystique really bugged me. I don’t like Jennifer Lawrence, and I don't get why Mystique has to be naked all the time. It just looks weird. I don't remember how Mystique looked in X-Men, but in this one it really seemed like Jennifer was just wearing a nylon suit. Her hands were so obviously painted, it just didn't work; it made all the wrinkles in her hands stand out so much. I didn't like her hair, either. I don't like seeing her feet, and her body looks bizarre. It seems like she wears clothes a lot in the comics, so I don't see why they couldn't have put some clothes on her.

I have a problem recognizing Michael Fassbender, too. I feel like I just haven't seen him in anything. I kept thinking, "Am I supposed to know who that actor is? I know it's not Jude Law." And that was about as far as I could get with it. 

I loved the opening sequence. It brought you right into what's so cool about the X-Men; all the mutants' powers are so unique, and they can all do such cool things. I wasn't familiar with any of the characters, but I liked Blink's look. She had a lot of cool stuff going on. I wish they could've just stopped and shown us what she looked like. I don't think I like Ellen Paige as Kitty, but I never seem to like Ellen Paige in much of anything.

Rob the Mob

Rob the Mob has a lot of things going for it: great dialogue, charismatic actors, interesting characters, and an engaging plot. Unfortunately, it's all nearly negated by some fairly confusing scenes, pacing issues, and the incredibly short-sighted decisions of the main characters.

Rob the Mob is one of the few movies I've looked into that actually got favorable reviews. That doesn't seem to happen often. It started off pretty interesting. The dialogue was well-written, and all the characters were interesting. I liked all the different people at the collection agency. The boss was a little hard to get a handle on, though.

Detective Dee: Mystery of the Phantom Flame

Detective Dee: Mystery of the Phantom Flame is visually interesting, but the story is somewhat confusing and the action falls flat.

I saw a trailer for Detective Dee: Rise of the Sea Dragon that looked cool, so I requested it from the library. When it came in, I checked IMDb to see if it was any good or not, and I found out it was actually a prequel. I figured I had better watch the original one first. I love the  Huayi Brothers movies. They're always so gorgeous. The costumes in this movie were great. The sets were beautiful; I loved the use of different colors of light. It was cool how the eyes of the Buddha looked out over the city; it was such an interesting shape to look out of.

The action was confusing, though. I had no idea what was going on half the time. I think I'd like to see fewer movies choreographed by Sammo Hung. It just gets boring when you can't follow what's going on. I had a hard time following the characters and the plot, too. I could've used some of the pop-on character names from the Tai Chi movies here.