What Emmanuelle Movie Did You Just Watch?

[Matt]

Ben and I were in complete agreement on SENNA, so I trust his opinion on THE ACT OF KILLING.

[Anderson]

Ben and I were in complete agreement on SENNA, so I trust his opinion on THE ACT OF KILLING.

I'm not saying it's bad, I'm just saying it's not the best film of 2013.

Last year was a crazy great year for documentaries. If anything, it's an embarrassment of riches. That being said, Act of Killing had flaws.

[Ben Thomas]

Ok, name one better.

[Nathan]

The beginning was badass but the middle was so fucking boring. Wolverine without powers is SNOOZEFEST.

Yup.

[Anderson]

Ok, name one better.

documentary?


Cutie and the Boxer, The Square, Sound City, Blackfish

[gravedigger]

I only have the old Criterion DVD of ROBOCOP and, yeah, it's maybe time to upgrade to the bluray.

THE ACT OF KILLING was good, btw, but I think I got a little overhyped on it. The end was rather affecting but still elicited no sympathy. I don't know how anyone could have sympathy for the people featured but I had the feeling that's what Oppenheimer was going for, at least a little bit.

[Anderson]

"Stories We Tell" was another documentary that was better than "Act of Killing".

[Ben Thomas]

"Stories We Tell" was another documentary that was better than "Act of Killing".

Ok, that's bullshit. I enjoyed Polley's film, but not on this planet or any other.

[BillyG]

Someone's still mad the Canucks broke free. (I have no idea, haven't seen anything but Blackfish this year)

[Anderson]

Ok, that's bullshit. I enjoyed Polley's film, but not on this planet or any other.

Nope. Not bullshit. Just subjectivity.

[Matt]

300: RISE OF THE EMPIRE.

It's superior to the first film from a tech point of view, but it lacks the story elements that made the first one into something involving. Not that 300 is some sort of marvel of storytelling, but it at least develops the main characters (Gerard and Lena) and gives them an emotional connection and arc that you can latch onto. There's nothing even close to that in the sequel...it's all action and attitude, and if you're satisfied with that, you'll have a great time. I was (more or less) satisfied with that and was drawn into the film enough to thoroughly enjoy the visual spectacle.

I saw it in 3D and it was worth every penny.

[Ben Thomas]

Gravity

Holds up beautifully at home. The blu is decent, at times spectacular. The things that didn't work still don't, but the things that did really do - it's as tense, hypnotic and beautiful as it was in IMAX 3D.

The making of docs are nicely exhaustive too.

[Matt]

I dug the 'making of' docs as well. I was even more impressed with what Sandra did after watching them.

[IggytheBorg]

Man of Steel. This wasn't as good as most of its Marvel competitors, or The Dark Knight. But it was at least as good as the other Nolan Batman films, and probably Iron Man 2. The climax of the last fight was a total shock to me. I still kind of can't believe they went there. BATMAN didn't go there. It earns points for having the balls to do that, even if it was totally out of character. But it lost points for that reason. Shannon kind of phoned it in, but the rest of the performances were at least adequate. Fishburne in particular did a nice job as Perry White, keeping him stern & in charge but not devolving into the hackneyed device of the overly gruff newspaper editor. I have to assume he's distancing himself from JJJ, who's gonna be around for awhile w/ this new Spidey franchise in full swing, which was a good idea. This film was also beautiful to look at. I'm definitely looking forward to a sequel, but they kind of shot the wad all at once here. With multiple Superman powered villains and the aforementioned out-of-character climax already out there, one has to wonder what they can do for an encore. I hold out hope of being pleasantly surprised. I mean, hell, I never expected to see Thanos in an Easter Egg. In the right hands, Supes can be as compelling as any Marvel hero, & with this they're off to a nice start, IMO.

[Ben Thomas]

Did Zod ever actually say he would find him?