MOVIE RATING THREAD 2012

[Ian Larsen]

Yeah, this summer was a bit of a pooch-screw. Back in early 2010, it looked like it was going to be the summer to end all summers. It was supposed to be the movies that came out, plus STAR TREK 2 and Aronofsky's WOLVERINE, with the outside possibility of GHOSTBUSTERS 3, 24 and DIE HARD 5 maybe also coming out. Then all those other movies didn't happen in time/didn't happen and everything but AVENGERS was disappointing. Maybe FAKE BOURNE and EXPENDABLES will provide some 11th-hour redemption.

Would you really expect new GHOSTBUSTERS, 24 and DIE HARD to make the year better for movies?

[BrianLynch]

Obviously he did from his post, I'd wager.

[Wolfe]

Would you really expect new GHOSTBUSTERS, 24 and DIE HARD to make the year better for movies?

I'm not saying that any of those movies would be any good, or that I'd even expect them to be, but it's pretty safe to say that if they all came out the same summer, I would become a being of pure light.

[Shawn]

I have been slacking

MARVEL'S THE AVENGERS
THE RAID: REDEMPTION
THE CABIN IN THE WOODS
JOHN CARTER
PROMETHEUS
THAT'S MY BOY
THE DARK KNIGHT RISES
21 JUMP STREET
WANDERLUST
SOLOMON KANE
DARK SHADOWS
HAYWIRE
CHRONICLE
GOD BLESS AMERICA
MEN IN BLACK 3
GOON
THE SECRET WORLD OF ARIETTY
THE GREY
TIM & ERIC'S BILLION DOLLAR MOVIE
COMIC-CON: EPISODE IV - A FAN'S HOPE
JOURNEY 2
RED TAILS
THE HUNGER GAMES
AMERICAN REUNION
A THOUSAND WORDS
ABRAHAM LINCOLN: VAMPIRE HUNTER
THIS MEANS WAR
PIRANHA 3DD
GHOST RIDER: SPIRIT OF VENGEANCE

[Brandon]

Moonrise Kingdom
The Avengers
Brave
Cabin in the Woods
Jeff, Who Lives At Home
Ted
Spider-Man
Seeking a Friend For The End of the World
Beasts of the Southern Wild
Safety Not Guaranteed
Prometheus
Wanderlust
The Dark Knight Rises
Casa De Mi Padre
The Dictator
The Watch - New
21 Jump Street
Tim and Eric's Billion Dollar Movie

The Watch - Saw this this afternoon, and by 11 PM I'd almost completely forgotten that I'd seen it. It had a few moments, and Richard Ayoade was hilarious, but the whole thing felt really by the numbers and uninteresting. Also, this is the first Vince Vaughn movie I've seen since, I think, Wedding Crashers and I found him to be insanely grating throughout the entire film. Will Forte had a very small part, and he felt like he was in another, far weirder and more interesting movie, and I kinda just wanted it to be about his character.

[BrianLynch]

The Raid: Redemption
Marvel's The Avengers
Moonrise Kingdom
Men in Black 3
First Position
The Hunger Games
Jiro Dreams of Sushi
The Cabin in the Woods
Brave
The Amazing Spider-Man
21 Jump Street
The Watch
Wanderlust
The Dictator
John Carter
Red Tails
Comic-Con Episode IV: A Fan's Hope
The Dark Knight Rises
The Three Stooges
American Reunion
Rock of Ages
Prometheus
Battleship
Dark Shadows
To Rome With Love
Chronicle
Friends with Kids
Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance
Tim and Eric's Billion Dollar Movie
Project X

COUNTERPOINT!  Cons: The movie was completely predictable, the alien stuff felt tacked on.  Pros: I laughed out loud a lot.  Weird, awesome cameos.  Will Forte.  Everyone was good, it felt like 85% of the non-alien stuff was ad-libbed, but not in a bad way.

Vaughn was amazing.  He has a bit with a Russian nesting doll that I want to watch over and over again.

The movie had a very 80's feel to it.

[Brandon]

COUNTER-COUNTER POINT WHILE ALSO KIND OF AGREEING!: I think you're right about the alien stuff, and it did have a very 80s vibe to it, which I did appreciate. I feel like these characters would make for an awesome TV series, but by nature of it being a single contained film it felt like it got too bogged down in the kinda dull alien stuff. All these guys are usually really great, but it felt like the material wasn't quite up to par, and their ad-libs, while fun sometimes, never felt like they fit. The film felt oddly too married to a dull plot while the scenes themselves were a little too meandering.

Pretty much everything Richard Ayoade said made me laugh really hard, though it was mostly his delivery as opposed to the lines themselves.

SPOILERS!!
He had my favorite line in the film: ".....that was incredibly stressful."
Also really enjoyed the Lonely Island cameo. I didn't catch what film they were talking about, though. Anybody get it?

[DerickA]

Vaughn had a silent moment with a potato chip that made me laugh very loud. And Jonah Hill kind of has a weird talent for screaming things like "His goo is getting in my mouth!".

[BrianLynch]

Vaughn had a silent moment with a potato chip that made me laugh very loud. And Jonah Hill kind of has a weird talent for screaming things like "His goo is getting in my mouth!".

I know exactly the shot with the potato chip you're talking about.  I do believe it was a fancy cracker though. 

The movie could have used some editing, and I think it would have worked as a PG-13 movie (the cursing and nudity added nothing to it), but I was really pleasantly surprised by the whole thing.

[Wolfe]

Now I kind of want to see it. I had passes for it last Tuesday, but didn't really care about it and assumed that no one else did, either, so I thought I could get there at the very last minute and breeze right in. Turned out it was at full capacity and I got turned away. I wasn't too upset about it because I expected it to be terrible, but now it sounds like it's not?

[ExpendablesFan]

I liked the improv exercises in The Watch a lot, but everything else felt like a made for TV movie. This could have been great if they built up the alien stuff into a real movie.

[DerickA]

It kind of burst my dream bubble that an Apatow style GHOSTBUSTERS or what have you movie would be easy to pull off.

[BrianLynch]

But I wanna see the British guy as a Spengler.

[Shawn]

Wait.  Brian, have you not seen the IT Crowd?  "the British guy" is hillarious on it.

[BrianLynch]

I have not, but I have seen him in Garth Marenghi, which is one of my absolute favorite things ever.  I just didn't feel like looking up how to spell his name so I said "British guy".  My apologies.