What's the last movie you watched?

[The Prototype]

I watch a lot of movies when I haven't much else to really do, I'd much rather be doing other stuff but at the moment just got to do with what I have.

I watched Our Idiot Brother again with Paul Rudd in it, pretty good movie has it's funny moments has its serious moments too. I liked it anyway.

[David]

[John Wren]

rewatched "in the loop", a british political satire. made much more sense after having just watched "the thick of it" series which was made between 2005-2009.

[David]

I loved that film. Very funny and sharp satire.

[nomadjack]

Watched Fury with brad Pitt...Brutal depiction of war in a tank. Really enjoyed it.

[stui magpie]

Watched "The Delta Force" tonight. Movie from 1986 about islamic terrorists hijacking a plane.

FMD, the more things change the more they stay the same.

Even though I've watched it several times i still like it, it still gets the adrenalin pumping and when you take a step back it's actually surprisingly balanced. Top movie, I'm going to bed pissed and wound up to break bad guys in my sleep.

Crank this shit up in the clubs after a few E's. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=06Uu4CRKj1o

[think positive]

Love that movie more than just an action flick

[pietillidie]

Just saw American Sniper.

What was the hoo-ha all about? I recall something in another thread but couldn't remember which one. Having not read anything about the actual story, I can't comment on the accuracy of it, but as a movie in its own right I really liked it.

I didn't see a simplistic good and evil portrayal; if anything, the American culture out of which Kyle came was depicted as ignorant, with Kyle's authoritarian father casting a huge shadow over the whole movie.

Also, I didn't detect any any American apologetics; there was a clear horror at the context and impact of that idiotic war, while the usual patriotic Americanism was confined to the local context of the characters. As I say, if anything the complaint would have to run the other way; American heartland culture is cast as simpleton enough to deserve sympathy rather than condemnation.

One gets the impression that Eastwood is one of those people, much like Mel Gibson, who can sound like a complete twit in person (I'm thinking about Eastwood's nutty Romney campaign chair-on-stage debacle), but can then turn around and unleash a different self when directing.

An entertaining and compact movie. Not profound, but better than some of the ratings. And Ms. PTID was more than pleased to spend Valentine's Day with Bradley Cooper; apparently, I was the third wheel!

[David]

^ I suspected that might be the case, also with Zero Dark Thirty (though, as TP will remind us, I haven't seen either!). Not sure why some on the left side of politics can't appreciate nuance in films and other media.

[David]

I just watched an excellent Iranian film last night, The Wind Will Carry Us.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xq1gXC3119A

[stui magpie]

I watched American Sniper the other night. I was surprised how good it actually was.

Certainly didn't glorify war or him in any way the way I saw it, but certainly showed the psychological impact of doing that job in how hard it was for him to adapt to being home.

[Jezza]

I watched American Sniper on Friday.

The movie was enjoyable to watch if you didn't over think the themes of the Iraq War and you don't have a big opinion on what transpired in Iraq or whether it was a just or unjust war to begin with. I found the idea of the American sniper (Chris Kyle) killing people albeit bad people unsettling but I understood the premise of the movie and how it didn't glorify war in any way.

The movie didn't glorify war and actually demonstrated the full brutality that war consists of on the front lines so I'm glad that was clearly visible to viewers of the movie. I thought Bradley Cooper did a good job in his portrayal as Chris Kyle and the physical and mental transformation he underwent throughout the movie.

However the movie wasn't an outstanding 5 out of 5 for various reasons. I don't think enough emphasis was placed on the historical context of the Iraq War. It seemed simplistic enough that Chris would join the US Army following the 1998 US Embassy Bombings in Africa and then later 9/11 was the catalyst for the deployment of forces into Iraq even though what occurred on 9/11 wasn't connected to political issues that were transpiring in Iraq. I also felt the movie was repetitive as we saw Chris go on his tours and then return home withdrawn and not being able to express his emotions and this cycle was repeated throughout the movie three times. Lastly I felt there was not enough exploration of Chris' rehabilitation after he was discharged from the military in 2009 but again that would have meant the movie had to go for another 30 or so minutes for that aspect to be included.

Overall though putting those issues aside it was a solid movie. Yes it had a pro-American slant as I expected but it by no means glorified war and it was a good depiction of how things transpired from the perspective of one man and how his life changed whether it was for the better (supposedly protecting and standing up for his country) or worse (the psychological damages that he suffered as a result of the war). I think that was the ultimate aim of the movie and Eastwood did a solid job in demonstrating that.

The silence of the end credits was very effective and worked brilliantly.

Is he a hero or a "legend" as they call him? That's up to viewers to decide in the end.

[stui magpie]

Nice commentary Jezza, a couple of points from yours,

I'm glad the movie didn't go into any detail of the whys and wherefores of the war, that would have made it very different. The story was about Kyle. How the war came to be, whether it was just or unjust was irrelevant to the story line, the war was there, he went, this is what happened. That part worked for me.

The three tours for me wasn't repetitive. Firstly it happened, he did 3 tours so it needed to be covered and secondly, I found it interesting watching how when he came home he was twitchy and unsettled and seemingly was more at home back on the front lines again.

I did find it interesting that after the early scenes of the two boys growing up, Hyles parents were never mentioned again.

I too wouldn't give it a 5 out of 5, but Id give it 4.

[Jezza]

Good points Stui!

I think maybe the fact that I've done quite a lot of research on the Iraq War and what's transpiring now is the reason for the attitudes I adopted toward the movie about the lack of historical context that was depicted in the movie. You are right in the sense that the movie is about Chris Kyle and the role he played in this particular war whether it was a good or bad thing that he did while he was deployed over there and wasn't necessarily demonstrating the political and moral questions involved with the decision to go to Iraq in the first place.

I definitely agree the four tours needed to be covered but I just felt a sense of repetition when he returned home psychologically damaged by what he saw and experienced in Iraq but I do agree that his homecomings did demonstrate how he felt like he was still on the front lines even at home and how withdrawn and mentally fragile he was with each homecoming. I think that transformation physically and mentally speaking was very well demonstrated for viewers.

I'd give it a 4 as well like you say. The movie didn't blow me away but I enjoyed it for what it was and appreciated watching the story of Chris Kyle unravel on our screens.

[The Prototype]

I watched Dumb and Dumber To, it wasn't bad it had it's funny moments and was much like the first one really. Harry and Lloyd went in search of who they thought was Harry's daughter, they had a few references from the past movie as well and they time between the two movies.

I really like Jeff Daniels and Jim Carey in this movie, and thought it was good. It was way better than Dumb and Dumberer which wasn't honestly that hard.