January Movie Dump

[tsmith15]

So has anyone seen any movies that were dumped into January and have any thoughts?

I have seen Gangster Squad, The Last Stand, and Parker. They're pretty much all stupid action movies that were pretty good fun but didn't make an impression or raise themselves to another level. Typical January fare but I'm not complaining too much, I enjoyed myself.

I think I liked The Last Stand the most, but it's honestly hard to rank them they were all so similar. Gangster Squad was the most stylized and had the best cast, but the story is overlong and its extremely derivative. The Last Stand had the best action scenes but one of the two main plotlines was laughably bad (looking at you Forrest Whittaker). Parker was stuck between taking itself seriously and being a fun action/heist b-movie but had a few thrilling scenes and the single best action scene involving hand to hand combat with Jason Statham.

I see about 50 movies a year and I like that some of them are light, turn-your-brain-off stuff like this. There's no way I could see Les Mis and The Master and Beasts of the Southern Wild and stuff like that without having these movies in the mix to balance them out. And every once in a while you hit a great January movie like The Grey, which made it on my top10 list for 2012.

[stubadub]

I saw Mama and The Last Stand. I thought Mama was a pretty strong horror film. I loved Jessica Chastain and her boyfriend (can't remember the actor's name), thought the girls were perfectly creepy, and overall liked where the film took us.

The Last Stand was ok. It had some strong action moments, and I liked Johnny Knoxville more than I expected. The movie took a long time getting going, the dialogue was terrible, and the plan was kind of idiotic. Maybe my expectations were too high since Kim Ji-Woon was at the helm.

[darth-ed]

I was just lamenting how there's been a dearth of anything good being released in theaters this January. Usually, there are a couple hidden gems, oddball movies that the studios have no idea how to market. The Grey last year is an excellent example, but Dark City pretty much defines it. Anyway, nothing this month has really excited me enough to go to the theaters, and that's depressing. I see on average 1.5 theatrical films per week over the course of a year, and I've only seen a couple movies this whole month (Zero Dark Thirty and Amour), both of which were technically December releases that I wasn't able to see until January.

I almost went to see Gangster Squad. It doesn't look good, but I find Emma Stone pretty attractive. Haven't gotten around to it though, and I probably won't. I almost went to see Parker. I like Jason Statham and movie adaptations of Donald Westlake novels, usually. I'll probably see it at some point, but the reviews have been kind of so-so. Not good enough to excite me.

[tsmith15]

At least we can look forward to A Good Day to Die Hard in a couple short weeks!

[darth-ed]

Not me. I gave up on the Die Hard franchise after Live Free and Die Hard. I hated every minute of that movie!

[stubadub]

Originally Posted by darth-ed

Not me. I gave up on the Die Hard franchise after Live Free and Die Hard. I hated every minute of that movie!

Me too, and this does not look any better to me.

[jtv]

I watched Ruby Sparks this weekend, and I realized something I am going to miss about TRS.

For years now, whenever I watch a movie at home, one of the first things I do after is rewatch the TRS review to be reminded of what the guys liked or didn't like about it. In fact, for a movie like Ruby Sparks, I would have never even checked it out if the TRS guys didn't review it.

Soon, my Netflix queue will reach a point where I'm watching movies that came out after TRS ended and I won't be able to do that.

[tsmith15]

Originally Posted by stubadub

Me too, and this does not look any better to me.

You guys shock me! I thought the trailer for Die Hard 5 looked like a lot more fun than 4, like they went back and tried to capture the joyous tone of the previous movies. I think the "fun" stuff in 4 really flopped which made the rest of the movie seem like it was trying to be too serious which doesn't work for Die Hard. Maybe its just really good cutting of the trailer but I'm hoping the movie lives up to it. If it's as good as #2 I'll be tremendously happy.

[stubadub]

Originally Posted by tsmith15

If it's as good as #2 I'll be tremendously happy.

I do not like Die Hard 2. The first one is one of the best action movies ever made and Die Hard With A Vengeance is pretty solid most of the way through.

Die Hard 2 was definitely better than Live Free or Die Hard.

[tsmith15]

Originally Posted by stubadub

I do not like Die Hard 2. The first one is one of the best action movies ever made and Die Hard With A Vengeance is pretty solid most of the way through.

Die Hard 2 was definitely better than Live Free or Die Hard.

I like 2 more than most people but I think the consensus is generally 1 > 3 > 2 > 4 although there are a few people who think 4 > 2. I rewatched one a few days ago and was reminded why it's one of the best action movies ever made and it makes me disappointed McTiernan never had much of a career beyond Die Hard 1 & 3.

edit: much of a career AFTER Die Hard 1 & 3.