The "last movie I saw" thread

[Jeff Lebowski]

Please explain what was good about it.

Everything!

Come on man, it won three Oscars and was a strong contender for Best Picture (I liked it way better than Birdman). Currently sitting at the #40 spot on IMDB. That is a remarkably high rating.

I don't know what to add beyond all of the various reviews that have been written. I went in with low expectations and loved it. Including the ending.

[old_gregg]

Whiplash - to those who saw it what was the point? Especially the end. Grade C-

the point is obsession and being great at something. probably my favorite movie of the year.

[Donuthole]

Everything!

Come on man, it won three Oscars and was a strong contender for Best Picture (I liked it way better than Birdman). Currently sitting at the #40 spot on IMDB. That is a remarkably high rating.

I don't know what to add beyond all of the various reviews that have been written. I went in with low expectations and loved it. Including the ending.

Here's the key, right here. I went in with pretty high expectations and just thought it was ok. Let's face it, JK Simmons' character is completely over-the-top ridiculous.

[PaloAltoCougar]

Please explain what was good about it.

I can understand why many wouldn't like it, including the fact that it makes one VERY uncomfortable. But among the reasons why I liked it were, first and foremost, the performances by J.K. Simmons and Miles Teller were absolutely first-rate. I thought the dialogue was great--I loved Teller's dinner table scene in which he explained why he'd be willing to trade longevity for greatness, much to the befuddlement of his school pals. And finally (for me), it caused me to think a lot about whether true greatness is something to be envied or pitied, in that the sacrifices one may have to make to get there are often at such a ridiculously high price.

And J.K. Simmons is one of those actors who pretty much never delivers a dud line. The guy is great.

Edit: Here's the dinner scene:

[youtube]SppJIxjLnpM[/youtube]

[Jeff Lebowski]

Here's the key, right here. I went in with pretty high expectations and just thought it was ok. Let's face it, JK Simmons' character is completely over-the-top ridiculous.

Dude, I had a HS coach just like that. I swear.

[Jeff Lebowski]

I can understand why many wouldn't like it, including the fact that it makes one VERY uncomfortable. But among the reasons why I liked it were, first and foremost, the performances by J.K. Simmons and Miles Teller were absolutely first-rate. I thought the dialogue was great (I loved Teller's dinner table scene in which he explained why he'd be willing to trade longevity for greatness, much to the befuddlement of his school pals. And finally (for me), it caused me to think a lot about whether true greatness is something to be envied or pitied, in that the sacrifices one may have to make to get there are often at such a ridiculously high price.

And J.K. Simmons is one of those actors who pretty much never delivers a dud line. The guy is great.

[creekster]

Please explain what was good about it.

I can only echo what others have said. My favorite movie of the year by a country mile. The acting is superb (I think Teller really seems like an accomplished drummer) the characters make sense and even though there ar a couple of plot issues especially with the ending, you look past them because the story and characters are so compelling.

[Mormon Red Death]

I can understand why many wouldn't like it, including the fact that it makes one VERY uncomfortable. But among the reasons why I liked it were, first and foremost, the performances by J.K. Simmons and Miles Teller were absolutely first-rate. I thought the dialogue was great--I loved Teller's dinner table scene in which he explained why he'd be willing to trade longevity for greatness, much to the befuddlement of his school pals. And finally (for me), it caused me to think a lot about whether true greatness is something to be envied or pitied, in that the sacrifices one may have to make to get there are often at such a ridiculously high price.

And J.K. Simmons is one of those actors who pretty much never delivers a dud line. The guy is great.

Edit: Here's the dinner scene:

I like Jk Simmons too. I wanted to really like this movie but was bored and wondering what was the point? So he's in a massive accident but can still play in the competition? Then JK invites him to be in competition in the end of the movie to embarrass him? I had read reviews and heard it was great but it just did nothing for me. With all you people saying how much you loved it I feel like

.

[Jeff Lebowski]

Come on man. Spoiler tags.

[Mormon Red Death]

Come on man. Spoiler tags.

I tried to edit and put in spoiler tags. Where is the button?

[old_gregg]

trainwreck was really funny, other than the painful lebron cameo.

[Commando]

Straight Outta Compton- I have really been looking forward to this movie more than any in recent memory- other than SWVII coming up-- so I took in a matinee today.

The casting was pretty inspired. Dre and Eazy are spot on- SPOT on. ( Even though I thought that Dre stayed a little too skinny throughout, since he was pretty pudgy after Straight Outta Compton came out until he decided to get jacked around 2004 or something). Eazy was played as the charming and razor sharp mind everyone says he was that was never shown in front of the cameras or on record. Ice Cube's son was pretty good as well but didn't really capture him as well as I thought he might. Yella is pretty spot on and Ren is the only one who really doesn't look like ren or talk like him at all, but sounded quite a bit like him when rapping in the studio without using the real-life overdubs.

I really enjoyed it overall and have quite a bit of commentary about the film, which I'll add below.


----------

The story was really even-handed- especially toward Jerry Heller, whom Ice Cube has openly maligned uniformly over the years. One thing that bugged me is how they portray Eazy and Jerry's first meeting. They show Jerry ambushing Eazy at a record factory and offering his services hat in hand when the true story-- that Eazy paid Lonzo $750 to introduce him to Jerry-- is much better, and the forming of Ruthless was done on the spot. No mention of Arabian Prince, which is understandable since that would be a quite unnecessary detour. I thought they handled D.O.C.'s character really well, not allowing him to get in the way while showing his relationship with Suge Knight and his antipathy toward Jerry as well. I'm surprised they showed Ice Cube getting a beat down from Above the Law at the New Music Seminar and even more surprised that they intimated that Eazy orchestrated it as reprisal for No Vaseline since 1. the beatdown occurred long before NWA even put out A Message to Benedict Arnold or Real Niggaz, much less No Vaseline, and 2. Eazy and Ice Cube agreed to deescalate the beef in the interest of business since it was getting too many street types involved. Tomica Wright got the star treatment in the movie, which in my opinion is a joke but is understandable since she holds all the cards in Eazy's estate and her signing off on the movie was crucial.

There could have easily been another hour of footage about Ruthless Records and how it remained extremely profitable (with Bone Thugs, etc.), doing at one point about 10 million dollars a month, under Jerry and Eazy even after Dre left, but instead they made it seem like the label limped along after N.W.A. because of intimations of Jerry embezzling money. That part bothered me-- there is zero evidence that Eazy ever fired Jerry, kicked him off the label, or any untoward behavior other than some unhappiness at the cut Jerry got. A clever part of the movie is where they quote Jerry from his own book in order to damn him in a way when Eazy approaches him with discrepancies in the books that Tomica caught (lol): "If I have been stealing, then why haven't I been sued? Why hasn't anybody come to collect? Have I covered my butt? Of course. But don't say I haven't looked after this business" or something to that effect. In fact, they portray a private conversation between Jerry and Eazy when they did not consult Jerry at all (at least not outside his book) for the movie and Eazy was obviously unavailable to debrief for the movie as well. I did notice another thing they lifted from Jerry's book, which is that Eazy confided in Jerry that he wanted to have Suge Knight killed and Jerry talked him out of it.

They did use the movie as a device to show what a POS Suge Knight is, though. I think that's Dre's personal revenge-- Suge openly stole from a lot of people- Vanilla Ice, Dre, etc and it seems like he is getting his comeuppance. I don't ever think Eazy was ever physically beaten up, though, like it shows in the movie. He was "persuaded" with bats according to the court documents that secured Ruthless Records about 50% of Dr. Dre's profits from his Death Row output. Jerry also says that Eazy was forced to sign under duress, with the bats of course and Suge telling him they had Jerry in the back of a van with a gun to his head and dudes out at his mom's house as well ready to do whatever. Funny how they didn't show that Suge never got the best of Eazy and Jerry, who promptly sued and recovered profits since Dre was under contract at Ruthless as an exclusive artist, even though Dre was allowed to produce at Death Row.

[creekster]

I watched a documentary titled "Pantani" which was about Marco Pantani. It was a very sympathetic treatment which put his documented and proven PED Use in the most favorable light possible. He was a fascinating character and his death at the age of 34 was tragic. Nonetheless it seems to me that it is a mistake to ignore or sanitize the fact that much of his amazing success was likely due to EPO. If you like cycling you will like this movie. Otherwise probably best to avoid. It's on Netflix.

[TripletDaddy]

Straight Outta Compton- I have really been looking forward to this movie more than any in recent memory- other than SWVII coming up-- so I took in a matinee today.

The casting was pretty inspired. Dre and Eazy are spot on- SPOT on. ( Even though I thought that Dre stayed a little too skinny throughout, since he was pretty pudgy after Straight Outta Compton came out until he decided to get jacked around 2004 or something). Eazy was played as the charming and razor sharp mind everyone says he was that was never shown in front of the cameras or on record. Ice Cube's son was pretty good as well but didn't really capture him as well as I thought he might. Yella is pretty spot on and Ren is the only one who really doesn't look like ren or talk like him at all, but sounded quite a bit like him when rapping in the studio without using the real-life overdubs.

I really enjoyed it overall and have quite a bit of commentary about the film, which I'll add below.


----------

The story was really even-handed- especially toward Jerry Heller, whom Ice Cube has openly maligned uniformly over the years. One thing that bugged me is how they portray Eazy and Jerry's first meeting. They show Jerry ambushing Eazy at a record factory and offering his services hat in hand when the true story-- that Eazy paid Lonzo $750 to introduce him to Jerry-- is much better, and the forming of Ruthless was done on the spot. No mention of Arabian Prince, which is understandable since that would be a quite unnecessary detour. I thought they handled D.O.C.'s character really well, not allowing him to get in the way while showing his relationship with Suge Knight and his antipathy toward Jerry as well. I'm surprised they showed Ice Cube getting a beat down from Above the Law at the New Music Seminar and even more surprised that they intimated that Eazy orchestrated it as reprisal for No Vaseline since 1. the beatdown occurred long before NWA even put out A Message to Benedict Arnold or Real Niggaz, much less No Vaseline, and 2. Eazy and Ice Cube agreed to deescalate the beef in the interest of business since it was getting too many street types involved. Tomica Wright got the star treatment in the movie, which in my opinion is a joke but is understandable since she holds all the cards in Eazy's estate and her signing off on the movie was crucial.

There could have easily been another hour of footage about Ruthless Records and how it remained extremely profitable (with Bone Thugs, etc.), doing at one point about 10 million dollars a month, under Jerry and Eazy even after Dre left, but instead they made it seem like the label limped along after N.W.A. because of intimations of Jerry embezzling money. That part bothered me-- there is zero evidence that Eazy ever fired Jerry, kicked him off the label, or any untoward behavior other than some unhappiness at the cut Jerry got. A clever part of the movie is where they quote Jerry from his own book in order to damn him in a way when Eazy approaches him with discrepancies in the books that Tomica caught (lol): "If I have been stealing, then why haven't I been sued? Why hasn't anybody come to collect? Have I covered my butt? Of course. But don't say I haven't looked after this business" or something to that effect. In fact, they portray a private conversation between Jerry and Eazy when they did not consult Jerry at all (at least not outside his book) for the movie and Eazy was obviously unavailable to debrief for the movie as well. I did notice another thing they lifted from Jerry's book, which is that Eazy confided in Jerry that he wanted to have Suge Knight killed and Jerry talked him out of it.

They did use the movie as a device to show what a POS Suge Knight is, though. I think that's Dre's personal revenge-- Suge openly stole from a lot of people- Vanilla Ice, Dre, etc and it seems like he is getting his comeuppance. I don't ever think Eazy was ever physically beaten up, though, like it shows in the movie. He was "persuaded" with bats according to the court documents that secured Ruthless Records about 50% of Dr. Dre's profits from his Death Row output. Jerry also says that Eazy was forced to sign under duress, with the bats of course and Suge telling him they had Jerry in the back of a van with a gun to his head and dudes out at his mom's house as well ready to do whatever. Funny how they didn't show that Suge never got the best of Eazy and Jerry, who promptly sued and recovered profits since Dre was under contract at Ruthless as an exclusive artist, even though Dre was allowed to produce at Death Row.

the previews look like a lot of the movie was lifted from jerry's book. Looked like it was going to be terrible. If you say so, maybe it is worth checking out.

any michel'le?

[Commando]

the previews look like a lot of the movie was lifted from jerry's book. Looked like it was going to be terrible. If you say so, maybe it is worth checking out.

any michel'le?

There are a lot of nice looking women in the movie, but none of them with that trademark nails-on-chalkboard voice. I think they said her name once, but they completely left her out as well when Suge demanded Eazy sign over the rights to Dre and D.O.C. since she was the third artist Eazy "released" from Ruthless under duress. Since the movie is produced by Dre, Cube, and Eazy's estate, they tread lightly on some of the more controversial subjects like Michele mothering children from both Dre and Suge, Dre beating up Michele and Dee Barnes, etc.

They do show Dre meeting his virginal current wife, Nicole, at a party with her being uncomfortable with the debauchery going on. They do show a scene where Jerry is advising Eazy to keep it in his pants or he'll end up with 40k a month in child support-- which I think he did anyway.

One thing the movie included that I didn't know is that Suge Knight was in the car when D.O.C. got in his accident. Don't ever get in the car with Suge Knight.