What movies made in the last five years are worth watching?

I recently started watching most of Tarantino's films again after going to the cinema for Django. I like Django better than Basterds, and it's the first time ever that I liked DiCaprio in a role And Tarantino has his best cameo yet
Other: I watched the Shawshank Redemption some time ago, it's a classic. It's a great movie, even though it gets way too much hype. Also, aging is for wimps.
Also cool: The Commitments. Awesome, funny book and the movie is pretty decent as well. A few young working-class Irish try to bring Soul to Dublin in the 80s.

 

Let me share something with you -- Aging is most definitely NOT for wimps. That is all.

 

I was just referencing the fact that in the Shawshank Redemption, the characters don't really seem to age over the course of 20 years. I've worked in a hospital for some time and have a dement grandma, so I definitely know how hard aging is :/

 

End of Watch

A very potent realistic cop movie. Probably the best ever done. It moved me. I don't think I'm the only one either, 85% fresh/88% liked at rotten tomatoes.

 

Yes, it was a terrific movie -- one of my favorites of the past year. Everything about it was just great.

Another excellent cop film directed by the same guy (David Ayer) was "Training Day", which you gotta see if you haven't. Those two are probably his best films and it's interesting that both concern a pair of cops (albeit the cops and their relationship, as well as the story in each movie, are SO very different).

 

Just watched Lucky Number Slevin. I think it was mentioned before, but I'd like to recommend it as light entertainment. I found it kinda predictable but enjoyable nevertheless, though Morgan Freeman just can't play a bad guy. He's evidently physically unable or something
Another recommendation would be Tropa De Elite, a Brazilian film about an elite troop (duh) of the Brazilian police force tasked with going into the favelas whenever things go bad. Pretty gritty, a bit too much self-justice, but makes you think and it's also a great movie about crime&punishment (in a way...).

 

(both on netflix)

Batman: Year One - a very faithful adaptation of the comic, which is based on Batman's first year in action. my only qualm is Bruce Wayne's voice actor sounds flimsy compared to the guy who voices Gordon. Otherwise very good. gorgeous animation.

All-Star Superman - decently faithful to the comic storyline, though the short length compresses some stuff so it was a bit stifled. Otherwise not bad. the premise is Superman is dying, so he has to figure out what to do with his remaining time.

 

I just got back from seeing "Side Effects". It's a well-made film, kind of a suspense thriller, the kind of movie that they used to make a lot more of. On the other hand, the story is almost the same as a couple of other very similar films from a decade or two back, only the setup for the story is a bit different. I only am mentioning it in 'movies worth seeing' because as films of this genre go, it's not bad. But if you've seen a lot of films of this genre (as I have) you may want to choose something different.

 

If you like campy action/horror comedy, check out FDR: American Badass

 

I'll see your FDR, and raise you a tag-team JFK + Elvis (ok, in a nursing home but still...).

 

Warning: Bubba Ho-Tep is a very slow-started, tired, boring movie for at least the first 40+ minutes, indeed I quit watching somewhere around there because it just bored me. I'm sure there's some funny highlights later on, and the concept is funny, but it's not a good movie. I say that as a definite Bruce Campbell fan. (If you want to see something decent and recent with him in it, albeit as supporting cast, watch some Burn Notice).

 

Bubba Ho-Tep is a decent but not great B movie, but yes, it is slow moving at first, mostly because it's not going for the expected over-the-top humor. It's a movie about old people in a nursing home at the end of their lives, who may be slightly crazy but are still likable. So yes, it's not the same kind of movie as (I suspect) FDR is (haven't seen it yet, but I do intend to).

I do recommend it, and it's definitely worth seeing, but it's more about the characters than the story or the humor.

 

I just saw Zero Dark Thirty, and I have to say that I definitely recommend it. Jessica Chastain is excellent in it, and the writing is very good.

Keep in mind that this is not a documentary, it is historical fiction. The main character played by Jessica Chastain does not actually exist. Her character is a composite of other characters. (Looking that up was the first thing I did when I got home from the movies).

There is some controversy over scenes in the film of torture, and after seeing the movie for myself, I can understand why. The last thing I want to do is to get this topic locked so the only thing I can say is that, imho, the filmmakers do their best to show it from the point of view of those doing the torturing, without actually taking a stance on it (certainly those being portrayed have a point of view, but that's not the same thing).

The film itself is rather dispassionate as well, which I'm not sure is a good thing, but overall it does serve in the end to quiet any accusations of it being nothing more than propaganda. It is simply a fascinating film about one of the most important manhunts of the past decade.

 

This evening I saw "Silver Linings Playbook", which was very entertaining. I don't generally go to see romantic comedies, but this one interested me because the subject matter sounded interesting (and it was). It's about a man named Pat (played by Bradley Cooper) who has just been released from his court-assigned residence in a mental institution. Essentially, he had caught his wife in the shower with a co-worker, and assaulted him. Now he's obsessed with trying to repair his life, including getting back together with his now ex-wife (who has a restraining order against hem).

Pat is Bipolar, and as it turns out, his father (played by Robert De Niro) is also mentally ill with OCD. And soon after he's back home, he meets Tiffany (Jennifer Lawrence) who also is a bit crazy, (mostly as a result of her husband's recent death just 3 years after they got married).

Anyway, the movie is charming and funny and kept my interest throughout. Even Robert De Niro who I've been a HUGE fan of, but who hasn't had a really good role in ages, does a great job.

BTW, the younger folk out there may or may not be familiar with De Niro's career. His more recent roles have not been all that exciting, but he has had a career that would make nearly any sane actor jealous. All of the following should be on your must-see list if you love movies:
(in no particular order):
Goodfellas
The Deer Hunter (one of my personal favorite Viet Nam films)
Raging Bull
Midnight Run
The King of Comedy
Once Upon a Time in America
Taxi Driver
The Godfather Part 2 (or The Godfather Saga)
Casino
The Mission
Mean Streets
The Untouchables
This Boy's Life
A Bronx Tale
Sleepers
Cape Fear (*a remake, and one of the few that is as good or better than the original)

Not his best roles, but still a lot of fun:
The Score
Ronin
Brazil (it's only a small role, but a memorable one)

 

I watched Dungeons & Dragons 3: The Book of Vile Darkness last night.

In an era where 'traditional' fantasy movies tend to be overblown pointless trash or really bad low budget films, D&D3 is surprisingly good for its budget and lack of real talent. Miss Metalface, Generic Male, Bob, Dr Doom and Silver Man (I gave them names because I never picked up their real ones) were all kinda fun together. What was odd is that it follows the bad guys (except Generic Male) rather than any set of 'good guys'.

Surprisingly good fun. I liked it. Then again, I am pretty much insane.

 

So then it was better than the first one?

 

Darlin', making out with an industrial meat grinder is better than the first film. The second and third films are surprisingly good.

 

I'll have to check it out then.

Personally though, I've always thought that if they were gonna make a D&D movie then they should have based it on one of the published adventure modules, like Great Modron March or Die Vecna, Die or The Rod of Seven Parts; I've never understood why they didn't do that (and those are both second edition adventures, so they wouldn't even have the obvious problem of giving away the plot to a product that they're still selling)

 

D&D3 is loosely based on The Book of Vile Darkness.

 

And D&D itself (the system) is based on everything thrown in a meat grinder and then served in a bucket.
So I think it doesn't really matter what part of it is used to make a movie, for as long as the plot actually makes sense and the characters are good.