I've been watching the Lone Wolf and Cub movies lately. Collectively, 9.5/10, and they only lose points for being over so quickly. Awesome samurai movies.

Watched the Wicker Man last night. The ending was stupid.

5/10

I havent seen the new Wicker Man... The one that was made back in 1973 is a very fine piece of work.

Unfortunately, everyone I know that has seen both has stated that eventhough Mr. Cage is a fabulous actor, it was a completely bastardized remake. :(

Finally saw "V" for vandetta....not bad, and in fact some pretty good acting. Very much enjoyed the dialogue.

8.5

Sweetness. I have those queued up on Netflix right now. :)

I watched Saw 3 last night. I was a big fan of the first 2, for different reasons. I liked the mystery and atmosphere of the first, while the second was built more around the traps and the idea that people can go against their nature, i.e. the cop that had to restrain himself when all he wanted to do was go nuts.

The 3rd movie somehow managed to tie it all together very nicely for me. In the beginning I thought the traps were getting a little ludicrous and that there was no good way to escape them, but the way they explained it later was great. The effects were ridiculously good for the most part and actually had me wincing a couple of times, especially the rack trap. I think my favorite aspect of the movie was how it tied all three movies together and actually got all the actors from all three, and went back and showed what happened in some of the parts you didn't see when the events originally unfolded. It really helped solidify the story for me. The nature of the game in this one was done incredibly also. I may be biased, since I like the horror and torture movies more than most, but I give it an 8/10.

Pyotr Lutsik: The Outskirts

excellent complex russian film---a parody of socialist realist films (complete with fabulous boy-gets-tractor ending)---a kind of dark story about a group of peasant men/possible sociopaths from the urals who had lived on a collective farm ("the homeland") who find one day that their land has been sold from under them--so they embark on a journey to set things right. which requires killing alot of people. surreal and funny and peculiar and everything else that you'd want from a film you find yourself watching on a saturday night instead of going out.

Pan's Labyrinth

This was a really well done movie, based in Spain during WW2, mostly about the imagination and how it can help you get through hard times. Really well done film, I enjoyed it quite alot. I would give it a minimum of 4/5 stars if that was how I rated films. It had some really good looking creatures, and just a really well written story. All in all it was one of the better fantasy films I have seen recently.

lol, you might like Man Bites Dog.

I just saw "The Illusionist" with Edward Norton and Paul Giamatti. Really enjoyed it. It's about an illusionist (obviously) and a forbidden love between a commoner and a duchess. Even though I could see the ending coming, I still enjoyed watching it.
8/10

Night at the Museum:

While I went into this expecting nothing more than a 5 / 10 overall, I ended up leaving with a good solid 7 / 10. Both my GF and I found it to contain a number of good laughs with a good solid family movie backing to it.

Don't expect anything more than mindless entertainment, and you will leave happy.

Pan's Labyrinth: 8/10

Ktspktsp and I went to see it last night and we couldn't stop talking about it all the way home. From the Spanish Civil War aspects (we spent a long time reading up on it when we got home; thanks Wikipedia!) to the philosophical and almost spiritual complexities of the film, we were either in shock or awe for most of the film. It's not easy to watch... some scenes are utterly gut-wrenching in their violence. It isn't a feel-good movie by any means. But goddamn if it doesn't grab you by the balls (figurative, in my case :) ) and hypnotize you till the end.

And, it's in Spanish with English subtitles, which I think is so cool for a relatively major American-release film. We need more Spanish language movies (foreign movies in general) for American audiences. :thumbsup:


L'enfant (The Child): 8/10

We rented this on Friday night (ktspktsp had heard of it; it won the highest award at Cannes last year) and I was hesitant at first... but I'm so glad we watched it. I'm surprised it didn't get more play at American theatres, but I highly recommend checking it out if you can find it at Blockbuster.

It's about a petty thief 20-something guy who sells his own newborn child (without the mother's consent) to make an extra buck... then spends the rest of the movie waking up to what he's done, and what made it so wrong (he didn't see any problem with it at the time: "We'll have another one," he tells the girlfriend). I'm not doing it justice, but the character development is powerful. The "child" is not the baby... it's the young man facing up to his long-delayed sense of responsibility. A transition worth watching.

Belgian-French, with English subtitles.

Saw Lady in the Water. Very different and original on some levels, a little convaluted on others. Worth a watch though.

Catch and Release.

Meh. OK for a Sunday afternoon movie (which was when we saw it). Two possible subtitles could be the following:

Catch and Release: Oops, I Didn't Mean it That Way - After the first couple of times of this misunderstanding business, you get the point. But this movie takes it into the dozens of times.

Catch and Release: The B List - Everybody in this movie (excepting Juliette Lewis) either looks or sounds like somebody else more famous. You get the feeling the producers had bigger plans for this movie and then couldn't get ANYbody to be in it. Instead of Julia Roberts, we get the other actress with a huge top lip - Jennifer Garner. Instead of the guy from What About Brian, we get somebody close. Instead of Jack Black, we get another fat comic relief sidekick who talks just like him. Instead of Blythe Danner, we get an almost-Blythe-Danner mom figure.

It was still a cute movie, but you'll find yourself wondering how his friends could NOT KNOW he was loaded?

duncan tucker: "transamerica"

a very nice small film featuring a truly excellent acting job by felicity huffman as the main character, bree osborn. it is essentially a road film involving bree and his/her son, who meet for the first time a few days before bree's surgery, which would finalize the male-female transition organ-wise. funny, smart, well written and very nicely acted piece.

lisa cholodenko: "high art"

not much to say about this film. i saw it for a second time last night, more or less by mistake, and thought it flat and tedious. ally sheedy is good, as is patricia clarkson as "greta" the junkie faded actress in fassbinder films (a nice touch, somehow)...curiously, what i ended up enjoying the most were the collective reactions of the stoner crew of friends to the various moments of relationship upheaval that constituted the action of this tiresome film. well that and wondering about the music choices. so there we are.

Epic Movie 8/10 (for laughs alone)

This movie razzes a load of movies...

Click, V for Vendetta, James Bond, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Narnia, Nacho Libre, X-Men, Snakes on a Plane, Star Wars, DaVinci Code, Pirates of the Carribean, Harry Potter, Superman, Fast and Furious 3:Tokyo Drift, Scarface and A Christmas Story. Also TV shows Cribs and Punked. Stifflers Mom plays the "Evil Bitch" and the movie makes fun of Kung-Fu movies as well.

A laugh a minute, youll never see it all coming! Stay for the credits to see more cute scenes. Beware! Michael Jackson will be made fun of on a few occasions.

Crank 8/10

When rating a movie, I try to rate it based on what it tries to be. Crank doesn't reach for the stars, by any stretch of the imagination. It doesn't attempt to be realistic, emotional, smart, or high brow in any way, shape or form. What it does do is entertain the fuck out of you.

The plot goes like this: Jason Statham plays a professional killer who is being disposed of. He is injected with this chemical that slows him down until he just stops, so the only way to counteract it is to keep his adrenaline up. To do that, he seeks out excitement and danger at a breakneck pace, all the while hunting for the people who injected him.

The movie has a very quirky style to it. Leave your sense of reality and old fashioned cinematography standards at home. This movie is like a live action video game. With boobs. And a few good laughs.

In any case, I was thoroughly entertained. I would suggest this movie to anyone who just wants a fun movie to watch.

Clerks II

It should be called, "Clerks for life". Great film. As good as (and maybe better) than the first.

Flyboys - 6/10

This could have been a great movie, but every aspect... the special effects, dialogue, story, screenplay... seemed to have waaay too much of that Hollywood feel to it. Basically, everything seemed incredibly fake and predictable. It's amazing how a film with an original story can still feel like every other movie you've ever seen.

I finally saw Reservoir Dogs. I can't give it a rating, but I loved it. Micheal Madsen is extremely convincing. The movie really is a must see if you can stand violence.

The Descent - 9/10
Superbo horrror flicko. I got really, truly scared and I loved it.

V for Vendetta - 1/10
The one is for the hot chick. Everything else was nonsense. And it sucked when she shaved her head because she looks so much better with long luxurious hair. I hope that wasn't a spoiler.

Jindabyne - 2/10

A group of friends goes fishing and finds a dead girl, nothing happends after this.
I'm not exaggerating the level of boredom of this movie, nothing happends.
When it was finally over the people in the theater just looked at eachother in silence, everyone thinking the same thing: "What a waste of time"

2 points for the scenery though, beautiful landscape.

The Departed - 9/10

Awesome movie with a ton of twists. Usually, I look for any reason to just hate Dicaprio because he annoys the hell out of me and makes it easy to just hate him, but he was really good in this one. The only real drawback was the ending felt rushed, like they knew they had a lot to do but the movie was already going long. Even so, it was pretty decent ending.

Rocky - 9/10

Only loses a point because it is somewhat artless how Stallone explains he doesn't care about winning, only going the distance right before he does not win, but goes the distance. Otherwise, a great movie.

Tamar Halpern: shelf life.

what a dorky film. i use dorky here in the technical sense. it is funny in places, though i thought the acting kinda questionable, particularly from the actress who plays the head librarian--but the premise is interesting and there are alot of sweet, funny moments. and the ending upsets everything. they say it is a "dark comedy"--you can figure out for yourself if it is or not. i'd watch it, if i were you and i being you were once again in the mood for an evening of dorky entertainment.

number rating. what do these things mean anyway?

venus.

utterly heartbreaking, a wonderful performance, a Forest-Whitacker-eclipsing performance - by Peter O'Toole. (and Leslie Phillips turns in a brilliant comic turn as well just for the hell of it).

The focus is "Venus", but the whole movie is about O'Toole's character, who is dying, and wallowing in his last sexual obsession... his timing slowly unravvelung and getting all fucked up, swaggering into his disintegration... it might be marketed as some kind of may - december romance, but it is about death and dying and nothing else escapes from the movie untouched by it.

I'd recomend it to anyone because I dont think you would see a better performance for a long time (and I include in that Whitaker's Idi Amin - which was the most powerful performance I could think of since Ganz's Hitler.)

Hannibal Rising 9.9/10

My only complaint would be that my favorite line from the book didnt make it into the movie. Aside from that ...this movie reaffirms my belief that Hannibal is a God. If I dont stop now, I will gush for hours and hours...

Saw, Saw 2, Saw 3 9/0

I watched the three movies in this series in fairly quick succession. The first one got me because of how clever it was. The second one got me because of how vicious it was and how it tied together so well at the end. The third got me because of the thought behind it all that gave the series a bigger meaning than it had before. I'm sitting here really hoping for a 4th.


Blood Diamond 7/0

Great work from Leonardo DiCaprio. The story was almost epic and the followthrough was a good spot in a time when it's "hip" to end in depressed disaster. I'm sad to admit that Jennifer Connelly's role was a bit cliche and annoying. She's always great to look at, but she needs to bring more to her roles than what we always expect. Though the action in the movie was pretty "hollywood" (tight angles, quick cuts to random things exploding or people getting gunned down) it still did the job. I hope in the future cinematographers can learn a little something from Children of Men.

Idiocracy 5/10

I wasn't too happy with this. The best I can describe it is a few good scenes floating in an otherwise murky swamp of dumbness. The movie takes place 500 years into the future where the world has gone to the lowest common denominator. The movie works best when it subtley criticisizes the world we live in today, but the rest of it is idiocy being played out in full. Velveta the newscaster = funny. Two idiots trying to remember what they were sent out to do = not funny. In any case, this movie has "cult classic" written all over it, as to all other Mike Judge projects.

Delicatessen 7/10

From the director of Amelie and City of the Lost Children. It's a clever and fantastic little story about an apartment building where the landlord is a butcher who chops up his handyman and serves him to his tenants. There are side stories including each of the tenants, as well as little sequences that make the movie more of an art piece than a story. I enjoyed it... most notably the opening scene and the suicidal woman.

Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas 6.8/10

I don't really have much to say. Johnny Depp's strange acting is infectious. I found myself emoting and twitching quite the same way he was for hours after watching.

Closer 8/10

Clive Owen is a badass. Natalie Portman is hot (though, I gotta admit she suffers from "Anglo Ass"). Jude Law is a pussy. Julia Roberts is a mess. I liked this movie because it was so frank, brutal and unapologetic. I found myself bowing down to the greatness of Clive Owen afterwards.


Can you tell I got Netflix recently?

Pan's Labyrinth. 8/10

I wasn't as blown away by this as I thought I would have been. The art direction was excellent and the actors were great also. It took me a while to decide whether the faun was good or evil.

Music and Lyrics 6/10

Not a terrible date movie. It made us laugh out loud repeatedly. The acting was solid but there was no chemistry between the two leads. Sadly there was nothing sexy to me in this movie, though my wife felt like covering my eyes. When it tried to be a bit sexy it came out sad or gross.

I would rather watch any of Hugh Grant's other movies instead of this one.

Overall, I would see it on a date if there were no other good choices.

Full Metal Jacket 6/10

I honestly don't think this movie is particularly great. R. Lee Ermey is shocking as the drill sergeant, and Vincent D'Onofrio does a great job, but the last 80 minutes of the movie are pretty listless. I also feel like the scene where Joker shoots the sniper is overplayed and clumsy.

I suppose it might be another case of a film overwhelming popular culture so that its impact is lessened by imitation, but I don't know.

Confidence - $4.2 million out of $5 million

I didn't have very high expectations for this, mainly b/c I hadn't heard of it before and I couldn't remember why I put it on my Netflix queue... but I'm very glad I did. The plot was great, acting was superb, and the suspense was at a prime level throughout. Ed Burns is a complete badass in this movie... he reminds me of Vincent from 'Collateral', but the way Vincent should have been played.

Wicker Park - 9 obsessed stalkers out of 10 obsessed stalkers

I liked this movie a lot because it starts out going one direction, then shifts focus halfway through... but by the end, everything is tied together perfectly. I don't really want to give away much more, but I do highly recommend it.

I'm not sure what to say about Pan's Labyrinth.
I wouldn't be able to give it a rating.
It's definitely intense, and I love the crossings between the fantasy world and reality. If you're squeamish, or don't like violence, this movie has a couple of scenes that will really gross you out. I usually don't mind gore and violence, but this was filmed in such an intense way I felt a bit uncomfortable.
It is a beautiful movie, however. I liked it a lot, and it had been a while since I'd seen a European movie.

The Departed:
Theres something weird with this movie. it was good but it seemed to try too much to be a mafia movie. I still liked it overall especially the acting of almost everyone. But the ending seemed just a bit too much. "I'm here to help you! BOOMHEADSHOT!" ... oh well. I still recommend it to anyone who wants to see a good 2:30h long mafia/police movie.

8/10

Taxi Driver - 7/10

I'll give this movie the benefit of the doubt. I'm sure in its time, it was great. It was interesting, but I gotta stop watching these "important" movies at 4am if I am gonna extract their real essence, I guess. The character progression was suspect... I mean, I knew what was going to happen, but I didn't see any real evidence that what was going to happen was within the logical realm of possibilities. In any case, instead of explaining things, the movie kept going right along and that's really what saved it.

GoodFellas - 7/10

Perhaps a good 45 minutes too long. We Americans will never get tired of the mobster genre and this movie gets deep into it. Low on action, high on drama and deft storytelling. The last bit of the movie is anti-climactic. The whole movie was smooth, without much suspense or emotion. I guess I was looking for something a little more biting.

The Bridge to Terabithia

I never read the book as a child, and only glanced at the reviews before going, so I really had no idea what the story was really about. Talk about an emotional film that just comes out of nowhere; even hubby was holding back tears. We took our son to see it and he enjoyed it, but we had to have a talk on the way home about Spoiler: life and death and how movies are just pretend. It was a pretty good movie and I enjoyed it for the most part. 3.5/5


The Queen

Loved it. I suppose it's probably a movie that you'd really have to be interested in seeing or it could be fairly boring. Helen Mirren and Michael Sheen (who played Tony Blair) were both fantastic. In fact, all the acting was really good. I don't really know how historically accurate it was, I didn't pay much attention when the actual events were taking place, but it was an interesting look into a completely unknown world. 5/5

Lost in Translation 10/10 - Didn't follow the cliched path. Surprisingly good. Made me cry. Watched it more than once now.

In honor of Monday being Presidents Day I took my girlfriend and myself to see Eddie Murphy’s new comedy Norbit, as we both thought it looked funny and had nothing else to do. The movie is funny because of Eddie Murphy, he is the one who holds it all together. In the movie he plays three completely different characters ala the Nutty Professor and Coming to America, and something should be said about Rick Baker’s makeup and effects helping to achieve this. The movie is funny, not hilarious, just funny. At times, yeah the movie was really funny, we were repeating lines walking out of the movie and later at dinner, but compared to his other multiple role movies it was just okay. I say that because it is hard to find a funnier movie than Coming to America. In the end I did like it and will watch it again when it comes to video.

After the movie and during the credits a young boy named Justin, I knew his name was Justin because halfway through the movie his mother repeatedly asked if he was alright, said “Eddie Murphy was Norbit?” I just thought this was funny, the one character who looked like Eddie Murphy this boy was amazed at, not the woman or the Asian man he also played.

Lucky Number Sleven 7/10

I enjoyed this movie a lot. I wouldn't recommend it to everyone in the world, but it is a must see for fans of this type of movie. (Grosse Pointe Blank, The Whole Nine Yards, Mr. & Mrs. Smith (2005)).

So if you're a fan of antihero hitmen, you will love this one. It is not quite as funny or touching as the others I mentioned, but it is a lot more surprising. It is not as surprising as Momento or the Usual Suspects but the characters are a lot more likeable. Sadly, <span style="background: white; color: white;">Lucy Liu kicks no ass at all. But it has a happy if hard to believe ending.</span>

Speaking of spoilers, DO NOT READ THE BACK OF THE DVD CASE. It gives away one of the key surprises.

Ben Kingsley nailed his role, an absolutely convincing crime boss. Josh Hartnett was hilarious and believable, hard but friendly.
Lucy Liu played a perfect romantic lead. The movie would have been much better if it had revealed her character more. Or if she had <span style="background: white; color: white;">hit someone with a stick.</span>

There is no fighting and only a little gunplay. There is very little sexiness (mostly Lucy Lui looking hot but all covered up). Still it manages to be a very fun and likeable action comedy.

Number 23 - Grancey and I saw it Friday afternoon and enjoyed it. I wish more cool/freaky things had been done with the numerology about 23, but the movie was solid enough without it. There were a small cluster of goofs a couple of rows behind us who were expecting Ace Ventura and they began the movie by laughing wildly at nearly everythng Jim Carrey did or said. It took them about half an hour to realize he was serious this time. Great acting by both Carrey and Virginia Madsen. Good story, good acting, enjoyble time. 8.5/10.

The Number 23 is also the last movie I watched. I enjoyed it. I agree that they could have done more with the numerology and such, especially the "blessing or a curse" thing. Jim Carrey is good...maybe his best acting to date. Virginia Madsen also is very good. Even the son (Robin Sparrow, for crying out loud), played by Logan Lerman, does a pretty good job. It's not the acting that bothers me though...maybe it's how it's wriiten, or the direction...I don't know, but I wasn't good enough for me to go watch again, or even to rent. It was was worth watching once, though. 6.5/10 :expressionless:

Frogs (1972) - 8/10
Group of rich people stuck on an island in a mansion come under siege from just about every phylum, genus, species, family, class and order in the animal kingdom. Effective and well done. Pretty high gross factor. An eco-proletarian classic.

Night of the Demon (1957) - 9/10
Awesome horror flick...ridiculously scary, with not a drop of blood in the movie. It's a simple, solid ghost story, but with a ton of mojo sauce poured all over it. One of the scariest movies I've ever seen, one of my alltime favorite movies. This one's a lot of fun.

The Wasp Woman (1960) - 8/10
Solid 1960's Roger Corman "B" horror flick. Starts out innocuous and innocent. Turns intense and scary...the foreboding buzzing sounds are brutal. Some might find the makeup and special effects campy, I found them unnerving in the extreme. This flick haunted my childhood for years.

until when... Dahna Abourahme

an excellent documentary about palestine that focuses on the situations of a sequence of families who live in refugee camps around bethlehem and hebron, who have been there since 1948. it does what a documentary can do well: blasting apart omissions in the dominant information streams simply by showing something of what is omitted.

marie antoinette: sofia coppola

any film about the middle 18th century that opens with a gang of four song playing is ok by me. like gang of four, the film provided entertainment. sofia coppola does baz luhrman on a smaller scale and in a less adventerous way.

to my surprise, i enjoyed the film. kirsten dunst is good in it. the costumes and sets are amazing. the music is interesting.

in the end, i almost didnt mind (a) the politics behind the antonia fraser book it's based on, which are kinda creepy in a royalist sorta way and (b) that the film tried to cover too much chronological ground and so ended up with sequences that seemed just tacked on. like the whole of the french revolution. but this was made up for by the film's portrayal of lous 16 and marie as something of what they are reputed to be: not terribly bright, not at all ready to be king and queen of france....interesting.

like most "making of..." docs, the one that is on this dvd made me want to drive tacks into my head. i watch them anyway. i do not know why.



hunger: Henning Carlsen (1966)

now this is an excellent film, shot in glorious black and white, about a writer who is starving to death.
just see it.
dont argue----just go out, find it and watch it.
it's great. .

Ghost Rider 7/10

Good for laughs and is (Pan says) very true to the comic book. The effects were fabulous and aside from having to verbally abuse some guy on his cell phone, I thoroughly enjoyed it!

Does Nicholas Cage's voice remain the same when he transforms?!

The Prestige 8/10

After a slow start the movie starts making you rethink what you have just seen. It was fabulously written to mess with your mind and spoon feed you bits of information that you dont even realize youre beeing fed. What you are being given causes you to marvelously jump to wrong conclusion after wrong conclusion and when you finally figure it out.....

When watching the closing scenes of the movie only one thought came to my mind... I really DO want to watch it all over again as soon as it is over.

Saw Ghost Rider on Saturday night. 6/10. Even though we knew what it was going to be, it was still fun to watch Nick Cage on fire. I think for a comic book movie, the end battle scene could have been a little more exciting, and it would have been nice to have the gravedigger help out.

Over the weekend I saw Factory Girl , and I went to see the Number 23 with my girlfriend. I was really looking forward to seeing this two films, and I was glad I saw them.

rian johnson: brick

great little film--a kind of noir thing that happens at a high school---great fun as a film to watch when other folk are over for dinner, say, should your level of social dullness be compatible with mine such that this kind of thing would occur to you. the only caveat is that the sound is strangely mixed and the dialogue is always delivered at high filmnoir speed--i watched most of it with subtitles on, but felt somehow like that was cheating.

a ton of fun though: highly recommended (assign whatever number you like to that)

Rented "The Prestige" last night. 8/10. quite the hook on the ending for anyone who hasn't seen it. I saw the ending coming but not the twist. Thoroughly fun and entertaining.

Incredible
 

The last movie I watched was the "Hot Fuzz" ^_^ I could rate it as 8/10 :)
I watched it two times in cinemas and I just loved it mate!
And for now, I'm going to watch the film 300 now hehehe.. What could be my rate of that movie? hmm :orly:

And after that I'm looking forward for the movie Outlaw on March 09, 2007 so I have 2 days only to have a break in watching the film.. :paranoid:

See yah mate for my rate for the two movies!!

Best regards!

Watched The Thin Red Line last night. It was an excellent war film (Pacific Theatre, WWII) with an all star cast. Sean Penn and Nick Nolte did a fabulous job. I liked the fact that it had a constant narrative element overlaying the action, but to me it did not paint the American troops in a particularly sympathetic light. If I recall, that was part of the controversy when it first came out.
I don't think I was wrong in seeing a distinctive anti-war theme as well. 9/10

i saw pedro almodovar's volver last saturday. if you like almadovar's films, you will like volver. he's kind of got a lock in quirky spanish films with lots of big themes.

i also saw letters from iwo jima early last week. solid film. very sad. but i didn't think it was great. interestingly my japanese assistant told me she cried through the whole film. it was just too much for her.

jan svankmajer: lunacy

first off, i am a hopeless devotee of svankmajer.
and there is alot of....um...meat in this
which is a perverse film: really bitter, really angry. a kind of riff on marat/sade complete with a black mass. and meat. lots of meat running around.
most curious. i would recommend it.

Can't wait for the 300 mate.

I can recommend this movie below. It talks about putting the law into their own hands. Are you curious of what I'm talking about? hehehe
____________________________________
OUTLAW

Directed by
Nick Love

Writing credits
Nick Love

Genre:
Action / Crime

Plot Outline:
A group of people who feel betrayed by their government and let down by their police force form a modern-day outlaw posse in order to right what they see as the wrongs of society.

i just watched Taxidermia directed by György Pálfi

it was excellent! a little out of the ordinary but entertaining. check it out if you are lucky enough to find it.

On Saturday I went to the theater and saw, "The lives of others." (Original Title: Die Leben der Anderen) The movie is in German, with English Subtitles.

This movie, set in East Germany in the mid 1980's, follows a writer and playwright as he comes under suspicion from the STASI (East German secret police). And portrays how two people who never meet (the writer and the STASI officer watching him), irreversibly impact the life of the other person and changing the course of both their lives.

And extremely interesting take on life in the Former German Democratic Republic. 4.5/5

Finally!
It was last March 09 when I went to the cinema t wathced the movie Outlaw by Nick Love.
This movie set in Englandand it talks about vigilatism against the government.
Based on the story of the movie and the casts as well as the director, I could rate that movie 9 out of 10 (9/10)

I like movies that is having a high quality standard!

Saw 300.

Awesome action flick. It's loosely based on a Frank Miller comic. He's the guy who write Sin City, as well as Batman: The Dark Knight Returns, and wrote for the DareDevil comic.

Recommended :thumbsup:

Loosely? They went through hell (or rather dined there) to make the movie be an exact representation of the graphic novel. In fact, many of the slow-shots throughout, and during battle sequences are almost exact frames from the novel.

Examples:
http://www.therobert.info/imgblog/300_movie_hq07.jpg
http://goodcomics.comicbookresources...ads/300/03.jpghttp://images.google.com/imgres?imgu...%3Den%26sa%3DNhttp://goodcomics.comicbookresources...ads/300/07.jpghttp://www.payvand.com/news/07/mar/X...racter-300.jpghttp://goodcomics.comicbookresources...ads/300/09.jpghttp://www.top100comics.de/images/leseproben/62_1.jpghttp://www.payvand.com/news/07/mar/L...racter-300.jpg

This movie is not, however, a true retelling of the actual Battle of Thermopylae (which should go without saying). I agree with you though, great movie :thumbsup:

I've got four...

The Departed - Good, except for the ending, which was total and utter shit. Seemed like it was tacked on just to end the damn movie. Some of the dialogue seemed a bit too...I don't know...Gilmore Girl-ish? Especially, Wahlberg's character. It seemed sometimes other characters were put in the scene just so Wahlberg could say something snappy about fucking some guy's mother. 5/10

The Illusionist - Good movie. Biel was a bit stiff, but Norton, Giamatti and even Jude Law are more than make up for it. The story is pretty good as well and even though you know how the story's going to end, the "Usual Suspects" ending is still quite enjoyable. 7/10

Borat - I think this movie could have been really, really funny. Unfortunately, the constant stream of dick jokes and shit gags completely overshadowed the good stuff. 5/10

Casino Royale - Finally, the good stuff. This movie was awesome. It drug a bit near the end with the love story, which really slowed down the end of the film, but other than that...wow. Just a really great movie and nice change of pace from the Bond films. Good stuff. Really good stuff. 9/10

Hills Have Eyes = The film starts out with the nuclear bomb test-radiation disclaimer.,This film is not for the squeamish, and it is my opinion that it will suppress the doubts of any skeptics who, upon seeing this film, may have badmouthed horror movie remakes in the past.

Now I'm looking forward of the horrro movie WAZ.. I got interested of this movie because of this synopsis..
Do you love someone enough to die for them?

A serial killer is cutting an equation into the victims’ corpses: ‘wz = Cov (w.z)...’ And loved ones of the victims, who’ve been brutally tortured, are tormented and suicidal.

When cynical, unorthodox Detective Eddie Argo learns the killer’s identity, he understands the awful truth. He is responsible for what drives the murders. And he will be the next target.
He, and someone he loves.
Do you love someone enough to die for them?

I completely agree with you about the ending... how Matt Damon's character reacts in the last scene is SOOO out of character and contradicts everything he did the entire movie. It really pissed me off. For that, I give it a 7/10.

15 Minutes - 8/10 - I didn't have very high expectations for this movie, but it was actually pretty decent. The characters were very well developed and each one was unique and interesting. They did a lot more with the storyline than I expected and wrapped it up nicely at the end.

Crank - 4/10 - The concept of this movie sounds like something that was thought up by some stoner... "Dude, wouldn't it be cool if we take the guy from The Transporter and blah blah blah." The acting was fairly lame, action was okay, and the ending was just awful... I was unaware that helicopters could ascend to roughly 40,000 feet in less than a minute. However, the cinemetography was actually pretty interesting during the action scenes... so I'll at least give it that.

The Perfect Crime - 2/10 - Some Spanish film... not really sure how it got on my Netflix queue. It was very, very weird.

300 - 9/10 - I enjoyed nearly everything about this movie, even the diplomatic scenes that weren't in the original comic. They weren't as great as the battle scenes, but I'm glad they included them so that the characters on that side of things could be developed fully.

No kidding. I was kind of irritated the rest of the night. It was like reading a Dean Koontz book.

One more..

An Inconvenient Truth - I think this "movie" would have been better if they had just stuck with Gore and his presentation. Gore playing voiceover while being visually assaulted by hurky-jerky, black and white, odd angled shots of Gore's boyhood home and such made the whole thing seem like some high school art project. It reminded me of that episode of the Simpsons where Homer makes the dating video for Flanders..."And star-wipe to Flanders..."

300 8/10

Braveheart + Gladiator + a bit of Matrix Cinematography = Good Stuff

Guys will love the action, girls will enjoy the rock hard abs, both will enjoy the story, however little of it that there was.

http://us.movies1.yimg.com/movies.ya...ndo_bloom5.jpg
Stellan Skarsgaard as Bootstrap Bill and Orlando Bloom as Will Turner in Walt Disney Pictures' Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest - 2006

No movies can compare to my favourite movie POTC:)
I just watched the movie 300 and it was great one too.

Any new movie from Orlando Bloom? I wish you can share to me.
For Stellan Skarsgaard, I heard that he's making a new horror movie called WAZ.
Do you have any information about this movie?
Thanks ^_^

Unbreakable - (6/10)

Movie staring Bruce Willis and Samuel L. Jackson as the two main characters.

The ending was quite predictable. The "action sequences" were drawn out. The plot was was pretty simple and did not have many thrilling turns. The movie is supposed to leave the audience with a supernatural feel, but it does not really have the lasting impact the creator intended. However, for such a simple concept, it was portrayed well.

Brotherhood of the Wolves. A French film, I saw it with English subs. Bet 'The Village' drew inspiration from this.

I liked that movie a lot.
As for The Village, I think they got inspiration from Brotherhood of the Wolves, and also Sleepy Hollow (small village in the woods, with tons of secrets).

fantastic
 

I just posted about the Pirates of the Carribean but...............!!!!!!!
Ooops what is this? I can see again Johnny Deep as Jack Sparrow of the movie
Pirates of the Caribbean 3: At World's end. I'm so excited on it.
Plus, Johnny Depp played himself on the documentary film called Joe Strummer:
The Future Is Unwritten. I'm wondering what Depp told about Joe Strummer's life.
Let me check that film.

Do you know the answer why Depp was on that documentary film?

Blood Diamond:
great movie and story about the wars in africa and how the diamonds they mine help fund their wars. Even though it's not based on real life events, it's still very well done. I had the feeling this was like black hawk down: Diamonds. if you like action, check it out!
9/10 ps: Jennifer Connelly is extremely pretty in this movie!

300 - 9/10

Like wow man. Im afraid to see this movie twice because the first watching was such an overwhelming cinematic experience. The word "inspired" comes to mind, everything about this movie is "inspired", very ambitious, and worthy. I left not being able to hear very good for a while, I could barely walk, my mind and body was awash in sensory overload. See it while its still in theaters.

Pan's Labyrinth - 9/10

It is first of all a cool story with great acting. Some very memorable and fantastic scenes, my favorite was the food dude. LOL...just crazy.

(Good enough for me....*pencils in blood diamond*)

Rating dump!...

The Illusionist: 5/10 Could have been a lot better if they hadn't tried so hard to make it a love story. Once the focus shifted to the rivalry between the prince (who was *not* Jude Law by the way) and Ed Norton's character, it started to get decent. Before that, I was just waiting for the movie to end.

The Prestige: 9/10 Great movie. Superb cast and direction, and while it's not a "true" adaptation of the book, it seems to me that the choices made for the film were appropriate.

Underworld: Evolution: 2/10 And only because Kate Beckinsale is hot.

The Island: 4/10 Setting aside the fact it's essentially a loose re-imagining of Logan's Run, the movie just wasn't that great.

Equilibrium: 7/10 Not exactly the best movie, but it's a lot of fun to watch.

Little Miss Sunshine: 8/10 Funny, cute, generally good.

Now for a little David Cronenberg...

Scanners: 8/10 There's some shady computer stuff, but 1) the movie came out in 1981 and 2) it's Cronenberg, so when it comes down to it anything's possible. Nothing like exploding heads, bulging and popping veins, and self-immolation for the purpose of taking over another person's body! :lol:

eXistenZ: 7/10 Not quite as good as Scanners, but it makes up for it with its twisting of reality and transparent sexual symbolism. Came out the same year as The Matrix - the year of "what is reality?" films - but eXistenZ is unmistakably Cronenberg.

A History of Violence: 8/10 More mainstream than most of his other films, this one is still very good. An entertaining and captivating exploration of the darker capabilities in all of us.

Casino Royale 9.5/10 - (in Blu-Ray on my 60" DLP screen) - kicks ass! On par with Sean Connery's Bond. It would have been 10/10 except when they changed Baccarat to "Texas Hold 'em" it was a huge disappointment. It may be a small issue for most but it smudged the elegant sheen of the picture when I wanted to suspend disbelief.

Poker has also been filmed more convincingly in other films. The elementary use of "the tell" as a plot device is a tired one and has been done better in "House of Games", "The Cincinnati Kid" and other movies where card games are depicted with more complexity, suspense and authenticity. It's not a completely trivial issue because the whole plot of Casino Royale revolves around a card game.

In a nutshell - exotic story, action, plot, women and drama revolving around a popular game that can be played online - OK that's being harsh.

Eragon. In my opinion, the book was way better than the movie. The movie just leaves out so much. If you watch the deleted scenes on the DVD, they actually cut out alot of the best parts.

Just popped in to say I saw Das Boot, directors cut (4hrs) and it kicked ass.
What an absolutely amazing and absorbing piece of cinema.
I recommend it to anyone, war film buff or not, it is just a wonderfully crafted piece of work.

Breached


I enjoyed this movie but i thought there would be a bit more action in it then anticipated. I was originally planning on going to go see Pan's Labyrinth but my girlfriend wanted to see breached because she did not get ot finish it last time she went to the movies.

Any one see Pan's Labryinth yet? Give me a rating

The Prestige: good movie, kinda slow at the beginning and also a bit confusing but I understood once the movie was over. 3.5/5

I will rate the last two movies I watched:

Fast Food Nation: Shitty movie, should have been called "How America's Immigration Policy is Broken" since it had only slightly to do with the fast food industry. The stuff it did have shouldn't be news to any human being, low quality meat, shitty "McJobs", profit over people, etc.

300: If you are a fan of violence, go see this movie.

I just watched The Karate Kid for the first time since I was in grade school. It was a kick-ass movie then...it's not quite so kick ass 20 years later. In fact, a little wine would have gone along well with all of the cheese.

Saw "BABEL" finally. I give it a 6 out of 10.
Apptly named for a movie that could have been great but just wasn't edited well enough to rise above 2 hours of babel.

SIDEBAR: Brad Pitt acts like he has started desintegrating right before our eyes, as if he's had the life and spark sucked out of his being. /Sad to see...

Serenity - 9/10

This is such a good movie. The dialogue, the acting, the humor, the world... even if you have no idea what Firefly is, you should see this movie. You'll love it.

Downfall - 5/10

One of those movies that is only interesting if you're interested in the subject matter. It's a story about Hitler's last days. It goes like this: We're invincible! Oh, we're not? Well we're still great! Then, one by one.. and sometimes six by six, people kill themselves. This happens over the course of 2 and a half hours. Still, the acting is good.

Stranger Than Fiction - 9/10

Just a cool story. If you like movies like Adaptation where the story is more than just "something that happened once" then you'll love this.

Thank You For Smoking - 10/10 (Dripping with charisma. You've never heard of a better reason to get away with bad things.)

The Descent - 2/10

The Illusionist - 7/10

25th Hour - 7/10

Brokeback Mountain - 6/10

Y Tu Mama Tambien - 8/10 (Watched this whole movie with an erection)

The Devil's Advocate - 6/10 (If you can stand Keanu Reeves with a bad southern accent.)

12 Monkeys - 7/10

300 - 9/10 (This movie is exactly what you think it is.)

Grindhouse - 9/10 (Go see it in a packed theater, you'll thank yourself.)

I saw:
Stranger than fiction. I don't know how to give it a score, but it was a really good movie. It's nice to see Will Ferrel in a role that's more serious yet still funny. I like his display of emotion in it, and I can't think of any other actors right now that'd be appropriate for the role. Anyway, I recommend this movie.

Running with Scissors. I still don't know if I liked it or not. Let's just say it's one of those movies that can make you uncomfortable. And it's one of the only movies that actually made me cry, because some elements of it seemed somewhat related to a personal situation.
Overall, it had good acting, a good plot...just...weird.

Running with Scissors the book was fantastic. I can't imagine the movie doing it justice but I'm willing to have a look at it.

Europa Europa, I remember when this movie came out in the 80's and now having seen it I see what all the fuss is about. It was an amazing movie based on a true story of a jewish kid that ends up in the German Army in WWII. 10/10.

I just saw 300. I would rate it a 8 out of 10. The action scenes almost earn it a 10, but there was just too many other parts that didn't wow me.

heres the last few weeks for me:

Grindhouse
I saw this last night and i was expecting so much more from tarantino's movie! The 1st part was a bit slow but overall fucking awesome. best zombie movie of the last few years. 8.5/10
The 2nd part was allright and i thought we'd get to see some awesome pulpfiction dialogue but it was mostly yelling and bitching. and when the good parts came, we get the "missing reel" joke that was already done in the other movie. what a waste. after the 2hrs of talking, we FINALLY see some action for 5min or so. i loved the crash scene atleast and i thought it was great that they'd use some of the same characters like the doctor but if you keep the same setting, then keep em all the same. also seeing the cop from killbill was cool! the other half of death proof started of slowly and i was about to leave seeing as it didn't seem to have the killer from the previous part. and once again, the hot cheerleader was completely out of the scene after she was left by her friends. I wanted to see her more! blehh... i give this one a 4/10. also, more than half the ppl left before the end of this one. that's not good.
OVERALL: 7/10


FlyBoys
I wasn't expecting much and i got even less than i thought. This is a generic action/war movie in everyway possible. i wont go in details but as far as story + acting goes, this movie failed totally. now the action is the part that interests me in this: 99% of the action is done in planes in the sky so it's pretty short but since they seem to be CGI, they can do some pretty crazy things. I loved most of the scenes where they're learning to fly or in the sky.
overall: 5/10

Pan's Labyrinth
This movie was so great that I watched it twice in the same weekend!
I suggest you don't read any of the synopsis because they're all flawed.
this is what REALLY is going on:"little girl goes with her mother in a village where the army setup base camp. little girl then has an encounter with a fairy which leads her to discover a whole fantasy world. while this is happening, everyone at the camp is dealing with the war".
The mix of fantasy and War/action is so well done! and the acting is right on even though it's all in spanish with english subtitles.
overall: 9/10

300
I'm not sure how to review this movie since i read the comics before seeing the movie so i know where it's comming from. i think if i had no idea what to expect, i would still love this movie because it has everything needed to be a great popcorn flick. The action is great but you might get bored of the slowmotion shots even though they're perfect with the comic book. And as far as feeling unrealistic, you have to remember that this is told after the events by the guy with 1 eye. so exageration comes in his story a bit.
overall: 8/10

The Brain That Wouldn't Die
Under no circumstances should one subject themself to the migraine-inducing torture that is this horrible 60s horror film. I don't even want to mention the plot or subsequent details thereof for fear of curiosity getting the better of you, and then you dying because you didn't listen to me.
IT IS ATROCIOUS! Do not watch it! Not even as a joke! There are countless other movies that serve a better purpose to entertain you than a story about sadistic bitch whose grandiose doctor-fiance accidentally kills her for driving too fast on a winding road(I mean, who the fuck does that?), then resuscitates her with his unconventional evil doctor methosds, yet this time as an-all-but-helpless head fed by tubes that doesn't stop bitching about her predicament, not even stopping her talks with a ignorant, incoherent monster in a closet that she convinces to wreak havoc on the 'good doctor' because she is too fucking hell-bent on her "revenge" for allowing her to live as a stupid head. BULLSHIT! Too long and too shitty to be worth your time. But a funny premise; chuckleworthy even. Head without a body. Heh. But don't watch it!
Be forewarned: this is one that you should not even touch with a 14.5-foot pole.
Disregard this entire post if need be. JUST DON'T FUCKING WATCH IT!
It is too late for me, but not for you!

Score: :dead:

careful: spoiler alert.
Flushed Away:
After seeing the stopmotion of walace and gromit, I wanted to see what they could do with some 3d animation instead. This movie is about a rat who's rich and wealthy that gets flushed and is in the sewers with the other rats. he then tries to get back to his home on the surface.
Sounds kinda fun? well it's not. I'll talk about the story 1st: it drags and drags and all the jokes, it's just more of the same. Dialogue is flat and lifeless. I was actually falling asleep while watching this. Now the 3danimation is allright but considering it's almost the same as what they would have done in stopmotion, then I don't give em much. So maybe a rental for the kids but that's it.
overall: 4/10

Deja Vu
I felt like watching a pure Hollywood movie and this did the job. The story is simple but not even close to what the previews say. "theres a terrorist explosion so theres a special force that hires Denzel washington(a ATF agent) to help them catch the killer. " but heres the fun part: they're using a satellite system that can watch images from 4 days before in real time. (anywhere they want). So it's a bit slow on the sci-fi but when they get into detail with the camera, then it gets fun. Just remember to close your brain on this one because there is some time travel paradox that just don't make sense. Watch it for the crazy action and intense suspense.
overall: 7.5/10

Alpha Dog
I wasn't sure this would be a good movie just from the preview. And i was right. This movie drags on and on and when it picks up, it's just not good enough to save the movie. heres the story: "Johnny is a drug dealer. Jake owes money to Johnny but can't pay so Johnny and his crew(like 5 other guys) decide to do something about it. later that day, they see Jake's brother walking down the street(Zack) so they kidnap him in exchange for the money.
things get messy when they talk to a lawyer who explains that kidnap + ransom = life in jail. Even though the kid(Zack) gets to party and all with the crew, he's still stuck in the middle and when Johnny gets scared that the kid would talk to the cop if he was released, they decide to kill him.
This Would have made a cool movies if they didn't give ALLL that info in the fucking preview. I'm sick of seeing the full movie play out in 30sec before i even see it. Anyways, if you want to see a bunch of stoned guys who do stupid things, then go for it.
overall: 5/10

edit: if my reviews are helpful in choosing your next movies, let me know!

I will be more interested in seeing Deja Vu now, Mexican....if we get time to rent it.

BTW, there is a town in Utah called Moab...

Movie Review
 

For anyone reading my reviews; if you want to know how my ratings are done, this is how it goes:

you can use these ratings for your own TFP movie reviews.

the queen:
Not much to say about this movie. it was allright but theres only talking. not a comedy or action. The acting is pretty great and the story is simple but entertaining.
overall:7.5/10

Tenacious D and the pick of destiny
I can now say I'm not a fan of tenacious D. the movie started off slow and boring and never really picked up. Unless you're the biggest JackBlack fan, you shouldn't waste your time on this movie.
overall:4/10

Stranger Than Fiction
This one was surprisingly good. It's a simple story but it gets weird and funnier as it goes on. Some guy has a super average life. almost boring. and then one day, someone starts to narate(describe) his life in his head. after the voice says something alarming, he searches for a way to stop w/e will happen to him. I'm not a Will Farrel fan really but in this movie, he was a good actor and he fit the role really well. If you want to see a light comedy, this one is for you.
overall:7.9/10

The Guardian
This movie is the classic American hero crap movie they've been doing since forever. I do not recommend this movie. I was so fucking bored by the end!
The story is simple enough: (Ashton Kutcher) is a dude at the coastguard training school. He's the usual "I'm awesome but misunderstood for w/e reason. and (Kevin Kostner) is the retired old guy who's a jackass but ends up being the best buddy in the end. The movie fails on many ways: They start by showing a scene with unknown characters so w/e happens to them is not important to the viewer.
The school part seems to be the main part of the movie so when they graduate, i expected it to end like that. (that would have made it better). but instead, they add another little section to show some actual coast guard duties with the dude and the old guy. and OFCOURSE! the old dude must die to give place to the young one. remember that crappy scene at the end of armageddon where bruce wilis makes ben affleck stay on the ship so he can be the hero and save the young dude? well similar crap here. Do not watch this horrible movie. save yourself 2hrs of your life.
overall:3.5/10

stranger than fiction:

i like recursive films. i like charlie kaufman. this was not charlie kaufman, but it easily could have been, and it reminded me of kaufman mostly in that (a) it is yet another film about writers' block and (b) it was really quite well done. the cast is excellent, particularly will ferrell and emma thompson (her voice over in particular i enjoyed)--the only irritant really was dustin hoffman's performance, which seemed a collection of twitches. but yes, a good, funny engaging bit of film, yes.

the seventh continent

i love michael haneke's films. this one is truly fucked up---quite disturbing even--but filmed with such precision and with none of the american-film-typical assumption that you, viewer, are stupid.

the only rub with this is that you really cant talk about what happens without wrecking the film, so i would just say: go ye forth and find it. watch it. it'll do bad things to you.
which is the strongest recommendation i can give to a film.

elegy for a voyage

i really like alexandr sokurov. this film is visually beautiful--as the narrative is a dream, it makes sense that the images would be dream-like-and the effect of shooting on the surface of water is quite nice--and is not over-used in this context.
but it has this existentialist thing--you know the drill---what's it all about man? what's my place in the Scheme of Things? i dont know why it is that this sort of angst bores me stupid when it is someone else's, particularly when i watch a film that is preoccupied with such questions.
on the other hand, the film is 45 minutes and visually lovely from start to finish. so maybe let it run with the sound off at the next event you have that would seem to require curious visuals.
like making dinner or sitting around with your pet bong or a party or some such.

Next 4/10

Entertaining, not too bad. No blood and gore, which is a plus for me. I really enjoyed the swat assault. Cage was ultra cool in those scenes. And, of course, Jessica B. is there for the guys.

Smokin' Aces
This movie was - from the preview - something i didn't really want to see but i was wrong. The story is simple enough: "The mob boss of vegas hires a hitman to kill someone and recover his heart all for the sum of 1million dollars. the target is another mafia guy who's now under police protection before trial. News of the hit and bounty finds many other hitman/woman so now it's: who gets there 1st: hitmen or the cops?"

I found it very entertaining by the way everyone was trying to get to the target in their own way with their own weapons. It's not a massive kill fest throughout the movie so don't expect too much to happen. I noticed it was a bit slow but for a setup, it's pretty good. I recommend a rental.
overall:7.9/10

Blades of Glory 4/5

Perfectly stupid. Perfect for a 12:05 matinee on a Sunday afternoon.
Perfect for what it was... a silly, mocking, brainless 97 minutes.
I actually liked it for awhile. Until I had to see Will Ferrell without his shirt.
Again. *shudder*

The Science of Sleep: 7/10

No, I did NOT go see this movie just because it stars Gael Garcia Bernal... :rolleyes: Who would have thought such a thing? ;)

Anyway, ktspktsp and I went last night for the matinee showing here in Reykjavik (a steal, at about 7 bucks... regular shows are about $15), and were pleasantly surprised. The main character struggles with distinguishing between his (very colorful) dreams and real life... which becomes a real problem when he tries to hold down a job and woo the woman next door. The guy's imagination, and the way the movie captures it, is the highlight of the show. The surrealness is beautiful, even if it doesn't make a lot of sense most of the time. I liked Michael Gondry's previous film, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, but I don't think this was quite as good as that one. Worth a matinee price, though. :)

My boyfriend saw this and really liked it. We're going to watch it together when I visit him at the end of the month.

I haven't rated any films in a long, long time...stuff I've seen recently:

Marie Antoinette - 8/10 - very enjoyable flick and Kirstin Dunst is so precious you could eat her with a spoon

The Illusionist - 7/10 - I LOVED the photography in this film which is the only reason I didn't give it a five (that and it has Paul Giamatti in it :hearts:), but the story left me kind of "huh? is that all?" - very predictable

Amelie - 10/10 - so good it has made my all-time top ten...well, if I had an all-time top ten it would anyway...just delightful in most all ways

Little Miss Sunshine - 7/10 - eh...great performances all around but the movie itself left me wanting...gave me a whole new perception of Steve Carrell, I loved seeing him in that role

Jarhead - 9/10 - excellent performances, great cinematography, enlightening insights into the first Gulf War

Flags of Our Fathers - 9/10 - Clint Eastwood is awesome when he wants to be...also a very enlightening look at a subject I knew little about

Babel - 9/10 - Still feeling the after-effects of this one...prompted my 18-year-old daughter to say "I don't know about these movies about people's suffering." I know what she means. But I enjoy a well-told story even if it's sad. Empathy can be very painful though and I understand what makes her say that. Some people just want their movies to be an escape from all that.

American Hardcore - 8/10 - A highly enjoyable look back at the twilight years of the LA punk scene in the early '80s. Lots of present day commentary from band members and bad video of live performances. Too bad the scene wasn't as well documented as LA punk's earlier years.

In the Realms of the Unreal - 9/10 - Interesting and well-crafted documentary about Henry Darger, a reclusive janitor who wrote a 15,000 page illustrated novel about a war between children, led by the angelic and surprisingly brutal Vivian Girls, and the evil adults of Glandelinia who would want to enslave them.

Running with Scissors - 8/10 - I enjoyed this movie very much. Annette Bening was fantastic. But there was about a 15-20 minute stretch that was almost too excruciating to watch. Masturbatorium. :lol:

The Devil Wears Prada - 8/10 - Probably the most entertaining and well-acted piece of fluff I've seen in a long, long time. Like cotton candy.

The Good Girl - 4/10 - I didn't enjoy anything about this movie.

The Family Stone - 6/10 - Fun to watch if a little blase. I enjoyed Sarah Jessica Parker's drunk scene.

Nice list there MM! i'll surely check out a few of those.

has anyone seen spiderman3? I'd love to see a tfp review.

Dear Sam Rami,
Spoiler: You sick son of a bitch. All I wanted to see was a reasonable facsimile of the Spider-man I read about every day in my youth. I would spend hours a day drawing pictures and talking about the comics with my friends. You've ruined that. You've ruined Spider-man worse than Joel Schumacher ruined Batman, and that's saying A LOT. I will never watch another of our movies again, and I hope that when you're burning in hell, you manage to find an old issue of Spider-man, the REAL Spider-man, in the hellfire so that you'll finally understand what the fuck Spider-man is all about.

Spider-man 3:
-3/10, and that's being VERY generous.

Really, will?
I haven't seen it yet, but I really want to, because I've been a fan of spidey forever and liked the two previous movies. I haven't looked at the spoiler-tagged text.
But I feel sad, since I've heard from several people that they've been very disappointed, and I generally trust your reviews. Maybe the 3rd comic book adaptations have to suck, for whatever reason (i.e X-men 3). :(

willravel: thanks! that pretty much confirms what I thought. 1st was allright but not really good. and the 2nd was horrible! if they keep going, i'm not suprised it gets a -3! haha. too bad. spiderman is a cool comic book character.