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What Was The Last Movie You Watched?

2075rami

One of the Regulars
Messages
112
Location
Albuquerque, NM
My wife and I watched Bus Stop with Marilyn Monroe the other night. We saw a live actor version of it in our small local theater a few months ago and loved it. The movie was pretty much a train wreck. We were very underwhelmed. I had figured 21 Jump Street would be mindless drivel, which is why I didn't sacrifice 2 hours of my life to watch it.


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12,017
Location
East of Los Angeles
Going to see it on Thursday, and looking forward to it.. I liked the first of this, er 'reboot'. I'm not a trekkie, but I did grow up with it, so have a soft spot for it, cheesy though it is. I think they have captured the characters of the original series very well with this cast.

It will be interesting to see what Abrams does with Star Wars... something I was a huge fan of.
I think they've captured some of the characters well. Zachary Quinto's Spock and Karl Urban's McCoy are about as good as you can get; they represent the essence of their respective characters well without directly mimicking Leonard Nimoy and DeForest Kelley. And I rather like Zoe Saldana as Uhura--it's difficult to make a direct comparison to Nichelle Nichols because they've given Uhura something to do in these movies other than sit at a console and say "Hailing frequencies open, Captain," so Saldana has been able to "flesh out" the character a bit more than Nichols was able to. John Cho's Sulu and Anton Yelchin's Chekov haven't really been given anything to do so far so it's difficult to comment, but from what I've seen so far I think they're on track. I'm undecided about Simon Pegg's Scotty--very different from James Doohan's portrayal of the character, and the movies' writers seem to have decided to make him the "comic relief" character for the most part.

Which brings us to James T. Kirk--Chris Pine has some big shoes to fill. Say what you will about William Shatner's "unique" style of acting, but he helped to make the character a memorable, larger-than-life hero. I think Pine has done a respectable job, but in my opinion the writers dropped the ball in the '09 movie. What I mean is, they showed Kirk is willing to take risks and do whatever it takes to accomplish his mission, but didn't show any of the leadership qualities that would make the crew respect him and want to follow his orders. Again, I'm speaking strictly of the '09 movie here--I don't want to comment on whether or not they corrected this oversight in Into Darkness because it could be spoiler-ish, and I don't want to ruin it for you or anyone else who hasn't seen it yet.

Just for the record, I am boycotting the Star Trek film. I didn't like the 2009 film, and I have no interest in throwing any more money at this new dumbed-down Trek-lite.

I watched Trek since the very first broadcast in 1966 and have been a faithful fan ever since. But Abrahms' Trek just isn't my Trek. I am not interested in another terrorists-on-Earth action movie dressed up as Trek. What happened to the Trek that was about an exploratory vessel at the edge of known space meeting new life forms? The Trek that had philosophical and metaphysical concerns? That showed Starfleet as a meritocracy where it was all about talent and skill, not yet another cult-of-personality action showcase?

Anyway, I'm not surprised to discover that it "underperformed to box office expectations on opening weekend" - I can't be the only old-school Trekker who feels that Abrahms' take on the saga is misguided...

Luckily, the awful Star Wars prequel trilogy soured me on Wars completely, so I really could care less what a mess Abrahms makes of the next Star Wars film... But dismantling Gene Roddenberry's concept of Star Trek is something I take very personally!
Like you, I've watched Star Trek since September of 1966, I've watched at least a little of each of the subsequent spin-off series', and I've seen all of the theatrical movies. In my opinion, with the possible exception of Enterprise, Star Trek hasn't really been Star Trek since Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country (and, admittedly, the first six movies were really only Trek because of the original series' cast members). The Next Generation tried occasionally, but most of it was "Sci-Fi soap opera--now with Technobabble!". I can't really say much about Deep Space Nine and/or Voyager for the simple reason that I found them both so boring that I only watched a few episodes of each. Enterprise looked promising early on, and I still think it's the one series that honestly tried to return to the "wonders of exploring the universe" premise, but it soon devolved into just another "conflict of the week" series and I found the full-season story arcs in the second and third seasons tedious. So it came as no surprise to me when J.J. Abrams' '09 movie, once again, wasn't the Star Trek I grew up watching. Especially since Paramount didn't want it to be. They wanted a "fresh" take on the old classic in an effort to generate new Trek fans and, to a degree, they succeeded.

With regards to Star Wars, again, I've been a fan since May of 1977. I love the Original Trilogy movies, and was initially disappointed by the Prequel Trilogy movies but I've come to accept them for what they are. As for the upcoming "Sequel Trilogy", I'm cautiously optimistic--the Prequel Trilogy movies set the bar pretty low, so J.J. can't do much worse.
 
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Widebrim

I'll Lock Up
I watched Trek since the very first broadcast in 1966 and have been a faithful fan ever since. But Abrahms' Trek just isn't my Trek. I am not interested in another terrorists-on-Earth action movie dressed up as Trek. What happened to the Trek that was about an exploratory vessel at the edge of known space meeting new life forms? The Trek that had philosophical and metaphysical concerns? That showed Starfleet as a meritocracy where it was all about talent and skill, not yet another cult-of-personality action showcase?

I also have been a Star Trek fan (not a "Trekkie") since that first broadcast in 1966 (which we had to watch on a black and white TV set), and echo your sentiments fully. In addition, for me there is no Star Trek without the original members of the cast. A very purist position, I admit, but that's how I feel...
 

jlee562

I'll Lock Up
Messages
5,103
Location
San Francisco, CA
Zombie, I would try starting Deep Space Nine at season 3 or 4. The first two seasons are kind of dreary and dealing with some of the religious/metaphysical undertones. The show really hit its stride when Worf joined the cast and the long arc of the Dominion war kicks in. DS9 is my favorite Star Trek series.

And as it so happens, Into Darkness was the last time I saw.

I really, really, really enjoyed this film. Don't want to spoil it for anyone, but I think this was a better outing than the 09 film. I think it answers some of the criticisms that I heard about the first film. The cast did a great job, and I the story brought back some of the show's social consciousness.

Would definitely recommend it.

I also saw it in a Dolby Atmos equipped theater which was really great. This new system has 200 speakers in the theater and 13 subwoofers. So it's surround sound on steroids. It does a fantastic job of now only moving the sounds around you, but creating auditory environments to match the things you're seeing on screen. Worth the premium ticket price and the 3d (which I am generally not a fan of), IMHO.
 
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1,184
Location
NJ/phila
Angels with Dirty Faces.

Cagney, Obrien and Deadend Kids.

A great line at the end of the movie.

O Brien ( Father Tom) to deadend kids after Cagney gets the electric chair.

" Lets go say a prayer for a boy who couldn't run as fast has I could"

Classic Cagney/Pat O brien movie.

CCJ
 
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12,017
Location
East of Los Angeles
Zombie, I would try starting Deep Space Nine at season 3 or 4. The first two seasons are kind of dreary and dealing with some of the religious/metaphysical undertones. The show really hit its stride when Worf joined the cast and the long arc of the Dominion war kicks in. DS9 is my favorite Star Trek series.
Thank you for the suggestion, but it's not likely to happen any time soon. Reruns of DS9 aren't currently being aired anywhere that I know of, I don't know anyone who has the DVDs, and I'm not going to spend that kind of money to buy DVDs of a series I have little to no interest in; I can't even afford to buy DVDs of shows that I know I like. :lol:
 

Worf

I'll Lock Up
Messages
5,207
Location
Troy, New York, USA
Zombie, I would try starting Deep Space Nine at season 3 or 4. The first two seasons are kind of dreary and dealing with some of the religious/metaphysical undertones. The show really hit its stride when Worf joined the cast and the long arc of the Dominion war kicks in. DS9 is my favorite Star Trek series.

Finally! Someone else get's it as well. DS9 was some of the greatest television ever done. It tackled EVERYTHING, bravery, cowardice, lies, deceipts, life, death, betrayal all the things revealed in the human character when subjected to a long protracted war. I agree totally.

Worf

PS and I have ALL the DVD's if you're really interested.
 
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Worf

I'll Lock Up
Messages
5,207
Location
Troy, New York, USA
The "Mad Dog" killer Duke Mantee in "The Petrified Forest". There's soooo much to love about this film, but my fave parts are the verbal bi-play between the Black Chauffeur and his gangster counterpart, who ever wrote that dialogue was really laying it between the lines so to speak. For years I used to say...

"Boss let's lam outta here!"

whenever I went with friends to lunch. Brilliant.... just plain brilliant.

Worf
 

Feraud

Bartender
Messages
17,190
Location
Hardlucksville, NY
I watched The Petrified Forest last night too.
It is rare in old films to see black characters have interesting (if too short) dialogue. Both characters work for other men but they have completely different attitudes. I loved their interaction.

Bogey was as wooden as hell but Leslie Howard's graceful performance made up for it. I never liked Dick Foran's dopey character.
 

djd

Practically Family
Messages
570
Location
Northern Ireland
I watched We're no Angels with Bogart earlier this week. Bizarrely I've never seen this before on tv despite being a Bogart fan. What a great movie! Odd but really very funny. Peter Ustinov was superb in it.
 
Thank you for the suggestion, but it's not likely to happen any time soon. Reruns of DS9 aren't currently being aired anywhere that I know of, I don't know anyone who has the DVDs, and I'm not going to spend that kind of money to buy DVDs of a series I have little to no interest in; I can't even afford to buy DVDs of shows that I know I like. :lol:
:rofl: You didn't miss anything. It stunk.
 
Philistine!!!! Scourge the infidel defiler!!!!

Worf

:rofl:
I am sure there are a few people who liked it---for instance:
th
 

Worf

I'll Lock Up
Messages
5,207
Location
Troy, New York, USA
Ha! :D

I still contend that it was the best spin off on balance. And that Garak is the most interesting character in the Trek universe.

Forget that resident curmudgeon Jlee... he's never happy unless he's throwing hand grenades in peoples cereal bowls!!!! (mumble grumble).... But he does live near you so examine your Capt. Crunch carefully...

Worf
 

Stearmen

I'll Lock Up
Messages
7,202
Finally! Someone else get's it as well. DS9 was some of the greatest television ever done. It tackled EVERYTHING, bravery, cowardice, lies, deceipts, life, death, betrayal all the things revealed in the human character when subjected to a long protracted war. I agree totally.

Worf

PS and I have ALL the DVD's if you're really interested.
Actually DS9 was the closest to the cerebral experience that Roddenberry had in mind for the original series back in 1964!
 

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