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Ricky's Movie Log: March 2016
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Showing 6 items
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Rating:
List Type:
556
7.8
7.9
In the Heat of the Night (1967)
March 1, 2016
Watched on DVD
First Time Viewing
Watched on DVD
First Time Viewing
Ricky49er's rating:
13
7.1
5.1
High School Musical 2 (2011)
March 5, 2016
Watched on Netflix
Rewatched
I remember watching this a long while ago on Netflix but I didn't finish it and completely forgot about it. So I decided to just get this one out of the way so I don't have to worry about it anymore. I honestly don't know what I was expecting. I was never the biggest fan of the High School Musical films, especially during their peak in popularity during the late 2000s. But years after irrevelance, I decided to give their second film a shot as I thought it was an slight improvement over the absymal first film. It's not amazing but I enjoyed it for the most part. Some of the music I thought was really catchy and fun to listen to in a guilty pleasure kind of way. Highlights include "What Time Is It?", "I Don't Dance", and "Fabulous". The plot is still uneventful but the whole aspect of avoiding a potential scholarship in place of your friends really doesn't resonade with a concerned young adult like myself. I liked most of the first half but the second half just dragged on and the rest of the songs in the film didn't really interest me. Overall, this was yet another cheesy Disney live-action straight-to-TV film and while it wasn't amazing, I have definitely seen much worse from the Mickey Mouse Corporation.
Watched on Netflix
Rewatched
I remember watching this a long while ago on Netflix but I didn't finish it and completely forgot about it. So I decided to just get this one out of the way so I don't have to worry about it anymore. I honestly don't know what I was expecting. I was never the biggest fan of the High School Musical films, especially during their peak in popularity during the late 2000s. But years after irrevelance, I decided to give their second film a shot as I thought it was an slight improvement over the absymal first film. It's not amazing but I enjoyed it for the most part. Some of the music I thought was really catchy and fun to listen to in a guilty pleasure kind of way. Highlights include "What Time Is It?", "I Don't Dance", and "Fabulous". The plot is still uneventful but the whole aspect of avoiding a potential scholarship in place of your friends really doesn't resonade with a concerned young adult like myself. I liked most of the first half but the second half just dragged on and the rest of the songs in the film didn't really interest me. Overall, this was yet another cheesy Disney live-action straight-to-TV film and while it wasn't amazing, I have definitely seen much worse from the Mickey Mouse Corporation.
Ricky49er's rating:
250
7
7.2
Dope (2015)
March 12, 2016
Watched on Netflix
First Time Viewing
Netflix Instant Project 2016
Recommended by the giraffe
This movie honestly surprised me. I was not really that impressed by the trailers for this film. Didn't help that it starred the annoying kid from the god-awful "Incredible Crew". But I decided to give this film a chance and was surprised at the experience I got. First off, the film has a lot of charm which comes mostly from Rick Famuyiwa's quirky directing-style, the plethora of awesome '90s hip-hop jams, and the surprising grand performance from the up-and-coming Shameik Moore. But Shameik was not the only actor that surprised me with their performances, A$AP Rocky does a good job playing the street thug that puts our nerdy main character onto the dark path. He's already reached Eminem levels of rapper performances that were not awful. But even beyond all the quirks and the humor, the film does instill a great amount of tension that comes from the dangerous 'hood lifestyle along with providing poignant moments of social commentary on education in poor areas and racial stereotypes. So yeah, this was a great movie, highly recommended, and I'm interested to see how Famuyami's and Moore's careers takes off after this spectacular flick.
Watched on Netflix
First Time Viewing
Netflix Instant Project 2016
Recommended by the giraffe
This movie honestly surprised me. I was not really that impressed by the trailers for this film. Didn't help that it starred the annoying kid from the god-awful "Incredible Crew". But I decided to give this film a chance and was surprised at the experience I got. First off, the film has a lot of charm which comes mostly from Rick Famuyiwa's quirky directing-style, the plethora of awesome '90s hip-hop jams, and the surprising grand performance from the up-and-coming Shameik Moore. But Shameik was not the only actor that surprised me with their performances, A$AP Rocky does a good job playing the street thug that puts our nerdy main character onto the dark path. He's already reached Eminem levels of rapper performances that were not awful. But even beyond all the quirks and the humor, the film does instill a great amount of tension that comes from the dangerous 'hood lifestyle along with providing poignant moments of social commentary on education in poor areas and racial stereotypes. So yeah, this was a great movie, highly recommended, and I'm interested to see how Famuyami's and Moore's careers takes off after this spectacular flick.
Ricky49er's rating:
359
7.7
8.2
Inside Job (2010)
March 30, 2016
Watched on DVD
First Time Viewing
I've watched this documentary for an Political Economy class and this is the type of film that requires an understanding of economics to truly understand. Besides that, the film goes in-depth on the '08 economic crisis that started in the United States before inflecting the international climate as a whole. The crew managed to interview some strong economic figures whom relate to or were directly responsible for what happened in the '08 crisis. Some of my favorite moments in the film is when the guy interviewing this big wigs directly calls them out on their bullshit. It's cathartic to see. However, the overall tone is cynical in showing how the irresponsibility of the government caused a damaging crisis that ruined many people's lives, lost billions of dollars, and seemingly resulted in no significant changes. But does present the possibility of future generations learning from today's mistakes in the hopes that this crisis will never happen again. But then again, that's what they thought about the Great Depression...
Watched on DVD
First Time Viewing
I've watched this documentary for an Political Economy class and this is the type of film that requires an understanding of economics to truly understand. Besides that, the film goes in-depth on the '08 economic crisis that started in the United States before inflecting the international climate as a whole. The crew managed to interview some strong economic figures whom relate to or were directly responsible for what happened in the '08 crisis. Some of my favorite moments in the film is when the guy interviewing this big wigs directly calls them out on their bullshit. It's cathartic to see. However, the overall tone is cynical in showing how the irresponsibility of the government caused a damaging crisis that ruined many people's lives, lost billions of dollars, and seemingly resulted in no significant changes. But does present the possibility of future generations learning from today's mistakes in the hopes that this crisis will never happen again. But then again, that's what they thought about the Great Depression...
Ricky49er's rating:
6602
8.2
8.6
March 31, 2016
Watched on DVD
Rewatched
I definitely heard a whole lot of accolades about this movie, especially with it winning every major Oscar category. But still, I was a bit surprised by how high quality this cinematic experience was. Full of incredible performances, disturbing moments of horror, and thrilling moments of tension. Jodie Foster gives a rather underrated performance as Clarice Starling. Foster's presence and subtleties was greatly missed in the sequels. Equally phenomenal was Ted Levine's performance as Buffalo Bill who honestly steals the show with his freaky depiction of a disturbed serial killer who wants to be a woman. Honestly, I will admit I found Anthony Hopkin's performance as Hannibal Lecter to be a tad overrated. It is certainly an iconic performance but I was not quite as intimidated or unnerved by the man as many others have. This film has one of the most well-constructed stories I've ever seen with a whole bunch of layers, symbolism, and really uses the visual language to explore its' story. This is a classic modern-horror film full of brilliant storytelling, incredibly disturbing content, and phenomenal performances.
Watched on DVD
Rewatched
I definitely heard a whole lot of accolades about this movie, especially with it winning every major Oscar category. But still, I was a bit surprised by how high quality this cinematic experience was. Full of incredible performances, disturbing moments of horror, and thrilling moments of tension. Jodie Foster gives a rather underrated performance as Clarice Starling. Foster's presence and subtleties was greatly missed in the sequels. Equally phenomenal was Ted Levine's performance as Buffalo Bill who honestly steals the show with his freaky depiction of a disturbed serial killer who wants to be a woman. Honestly, I will admit I found Anthony Hopkin's performance as Hannibal Lecter to be a tad overrated. It is certainly an iconic performance but I was not quite as intimidated or unnerved by the man as many others have. This film has one of the most well-constructed stories I've ever seen with a whole bunch of layers, symbolism, and really uses the visual language to explore its' story. This is a classic modern-horror film full of brilliant storytelling, incredibly disturbing content, and phenomenal performances.
Ricky49er's rating:
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