I'd give it 3.5/5

The only thing that pissed me off was when it decided to switch view points. Made me feel like I was watching a soap opera. But I figure it was good enough to suck me in and make me angry when it switched before I thought that part should have finished.

And, yes, the car chase scenes were nice.

I completely agree. But it was a great movie, I'm waiting for it to hit the dollar show so I can watch it again while I wait for the DVD.

Mamma Mia I would rate a 8/10 but I only enjoyed it that much because of the cast. Musicals aren't normally my thing, and my mom didn't tell me that's what we were going to watch. Watching Pierce Brosnan sing Abba songs with Meryl Streep was funny, though. Pretty much a chick flick, and I think ladies ages 40+ (maybe 35+) would probably enjoy it more.

*note, sit through the credits to watch them sing more Abba songs.

MAMMA MIA! - Official Worldwide Movie Website - Now Playing

The Bucket List

Okay, we all know how this goes. Jack Nicholson and Morgan Freeman find out they're dying and they go and do all the crap they wanted to do but never got around to while they still have a chance. It's sappy and stupid and seems almost calculated to get all the middle-aged housewives misty-eyed.

The characters are bone stock. Morgan Freeman plays the self-educated mechanic who knows everything about everything, and Jack has the role of the egocentric billionaire mogul playboy. Sean Hayes supports them as Jack's long-suffering assistant.

Clearly, I didn't expect much out of this film. It's all so very formulaic, you see.

Yet somehow it does manage to be more than the sum of it's parts. The Bucket List features some truly breathtaking set pieces, and I'm sure that helps it along, and it also includes some interesting philosophical nuggets to ponder over. It is a bit sappy, but in the telling it doesn't feel so calculated. Surprisingly, this seems to be largely Nicholson's doing; I've always considered Freeman the better actor and this role is pretty much custom-built for him, but old Johnny manages to give his character just that right little tinge of regret in order to really bring him to life.

The Bucket List isn't likely to change anyone's life, but it's certainly a much better film than I expected and worth watching.

7.5/10

Star Wars : The Clone Wars

Star Wars: The Clone Wars is, according to George Lucas, intended to be a lead-in to the new television series of the same name. If the film is any indication, the television series will last one season and we'll all bid it good riddance when it's gone.

Ironically, I think the film might've worked on the small screen. The plot, although rather lackluster, might've filled out a miniseries, and the equally shoddy animation would likely have held up a bit better. As a major film release, however, it ends up feeling just a bit lacking. The new characters feel like they've been forced into a narrative where they're not necessary, the plot lacks any real dramatic tension, the animation is slipshod. I made a bit of game out of counting the continuity errors, but quickly bored of it because they are many and obvious.

I want what the editors were on.

The entire film feels like a Saturday morning cartoon. I don't mean the good kind either; I'm talking about the Rocket Robin Hood timeslot-fillers that even the kids don't really enjoy.

The one place where the film holds it's own is in the action sequences. Particularly, the lightsaber duels are strangely quite fluid and well done, and the stylistic animation seems to complement them quite well. They still end up feeling out of place, though, because the film they're surrounded by is so terrible in comparison. It feels a bit like encountering a Rembrandt in a frame made out of scrap lumber and bits of trash.

Readers of my blog will know there's a new lady in my life. This lady was gracious enough to decide that since I chose to take her to see this film, I should have the benefit of being allowed a make-up date. Honestly, I'm surprised she didn't just decide to stop speaking with me entirely.

3.5/10

Taking Lives - and i htink rottontomatoes 23% is being really really kind . . .

Tropic Thunder - 7.5/10

A good Ben Stiller style comedy/action movie. The Les Grossman scenes were phenomenal, the actors making fun of actors was very well done, and the little asian kid playing the Poppy King character was awesome. As always, some of the humor fell flat for me, but when you're trying to make everyone laugh, that happens. The jokes that feel flat for me make someone out there laugh their ass off, and they hate the jokes I loved.

Hancock - 5.5/10

A fun action romp superhero movie, until they started not explaining a damn thing that was going on, for no real good reason. It's as if you were watching a Robin Hood movie, and suddenly Friar Tuck is a kick ass kung fu artist, and it's never explained why. It goes outside what you expected (which is great!) but never gives any context as to how or why. Still, a passable film.

No Country For Old Men - 7/10

Oldboy - 8.7/10

Equilibrium (again) - 8/10

Iron Man - 6/10

Forgetting Sarah Marshall - 8.5/10

Sweeney Todd - 9/10

Harold & Kumar Escape From Guantanamo Bay - 9/10

The Tracey Fragments:

Summary: Tracey Berkowitz is a 15 year old high school student who doesn’t get along with anyone except for her 9 year old brother and narrates this film while describing the events leading up to her brother’s disappearance.

Comments: I was interested in Ellen Page’s acting abilities before Juno hit the big screen and was not disappointed in her performance in this film. The film has style and a decent story, but the fragmented clips are confusing at times while trying to put all the pieces together of how or why her brother vanished. Unfortunately, the viewer is left hanging at the end because the last clip is of Tracey casually walking in the park still searching for her brother.

Rating: 7/10

Smart People
Summary (from imdb): Lawrence Wetherhold is incredibly intelligent yet miserable professor at Carnegie Mellow, an indifferent father to a college student and a high-school senior, and the reluctant brother of a ne'er-do-well who's come to town. A seizure and a fall send Lawrence to the emergency room where the physician, a former student of his, ends up going on a date with him.

Comment:. The film attempted to send a message to the viewer that everyone has flaws and we should accept the person for who they are. Another film with Ellen Page, but in this story she portrays an annoying conservative intelligent high school student that does not get along with anyone. One of her weakest roles to date, but I still have a few of her films to watch before I can officially say that.

Rating: 6/10

Tropic Thunder - 7/10

A little disappointing overall, but between Downey Jr and Cruise, it really made up for an otherwise boring story. "A nutless monkey could do your job." He was like a fat, bald, slightly more evil producer version of Ari Gold.

The Quiet Earth - 8.0/10.0

It was an interesting movie that I think could have been taken in a different direction, but I wasn't the one directing it. But for an 80s sci-fi movie, it would have been a 9.5 back then,



Into The Wild - 9.0/10.0

As someone who is torn between the working for the man to live some type of life in society. Or doing something totally different and 'risky' by living your own life controlled by you in the wild. It was well done.



Lars and The Real Girl - 9.5/10.0

I didn't expect it to be anywhere near as good as it was. The acting in it was some of the best I've seen (although it isn't saying much). The story was different from what I had guessed it to be, and I enjoyed watching it.

Now let me ask you something about this movie. Don't get me wrong, I loved it, but didn't it kind of piss you off? All the guy was doing was running away from his problems, not learning anything about what he was going to do, terrain, etc., and just went out with no direction or help save a little book about common plants. I don't know, just seemed to me like he was essentially committing suicide.

I didn't look at it as a guy running away from his problems , i looked at it as a guy making a drastic change in his life to get away from what society expects you to do. The Motorcycle Diaries is a movie that I think you wanted this one to be. In that movie, they set out for an adventure, but had a good purpose. In this movie, the purpose was to live life not knowing what will happen tomorrow. I think he looked at where his life was going and knowing that he was going to live in a cubicle for the next 30-40 years and it scared him.

Yeah you might say he was selfish or had problems fitting in. If things had gone differently in some parts of his life, he probably wouldn't have taken it that far or felt the need to get away and live a non-materialistic carefree life.

But, they had to tell the story of what happened, I wish he would have stayed a little more mobile and not to have it end they way it did. And the movie isn't for everyone, but I know I could have done that 5 years ago.

Wall-E - 9.0/10

Cute, beautiful to watch, had a good message, but not laid on too thick. I really enjoyed it. And the scenes in space with Wall-E and Eve were freaking gorgeous.

The Page Turner - 8.5/10

Great little tale of revenge as only the French can do it. Tres tres bien.

Perfume: A Story of a Murderer - 7/10

Watched it based on the reviews here. I found it interesting and yet not what I expected it to be at all. Odd to because at this point in time in my life, I've not been able to smell anything for the past couple of years at least. Dustin Hoffman's role was well done.

We Own the Night 8/10
Interestingly the same story as The Godfather, but set in the 80's as a period piece, and also from a police officer's perspective.

The Purifiers

This film was painful to watch.

Summary: The story of martial arts clubs who have created their own city infrastructure after tiring of government initiatives.

Comments: What could have been an excellent martial arts film fell flat on its face. The directing, editing, story, dialogue, acting, music, and script were awful. The slow motion karate moves could have been skipped to make the movie intense, but instead it made it appear like the actors were memorizing a bunch of moves they had no idea how to use.

Rating: 1/10

Which film is that? I think you forgot the name of the movie. lol

I'm guess District B-13 maybe?

Death at a Funeral

Great acting ensemble. It had a play feel to it. I found it quite funny and I actually cared about the people.

This cements Frank Oz as a wonderful and superb director.

From the very beginning to the very end it kept a strong onstage pace. There were some very strong performances such as Alan Tudyk playing a drugged Simon, Peter Dinklage as Peter the "mistress" and Matthew Macfadyen as Daniel who holds it all together as the straight man.

It was very reminiscent of Arsenic and Old Lace.

I have to give it a perfect 10.

I'm going to take a stab and say the movie is The Purifiers

The synopsis didn't really sound like B-13. And that movie more than made up for any lacking acting, script, etc with the parkour scenes alone.

You are correct, it is The Purifiers. I just edited my message and add the movie title.

To be entirely honest, I've never seen B-13 and was just taking a wild stab at it haha

10,000 BC - 1/10

The presence of Camilla Belle didn't save this shitfest from stinking. Dumb among dumb--and in so many ways. I want my two hours back. FUCK!!!

The Bank Job - 6.5/10

I was pleasantly surprised. Although not great, this had some good tension and some decent performances. I had expected a crappy crime/action movie, and instead had a good time watching this. A decent evening's entertainment, and that's more than I was looking for from it.

Equilibrium - 8.5/10

I can't get enough of this one. I believe that this was one of the first Bale movies I ever watched, and still one of my favorites.

The Machinist - 7.5/10

Strange one for sure, another Bale film. The dude weighed like 110 lbs in this film, very frightening.


X-Files: I want to Believe - 6/10

Just got back from seeing this one in the cheapies. It was okay, more like a really long episode than a movie. If you enjoyed the TV series you will probably enjoy this, if not then stay away.

Employee of the Month - 3/10

Wow, what a bad movie this was. Just terrible. And does anyone else think that Jessica Simpson looks inbred? She has a rocking body but her face looks like mush.

American Gangster: 8.1/10 This movie had a decent plot but pacing was slow. There were five scenes I could have seen cut out and been fine.

Bangkok Dangerous

Rating: 2/10

If you want to watch a stylish over the top assassin movie, watch Wanted.

This movie was terrible and they should have chosen a different actor for the main character. Nicolas Cage cannot narrate a movie nor can act in this film. What should have been a stylized movie, turned out to a film wasted on an attempt to be unique.

I watched.. well tried to watch 2 movies last night...

The Fall 3/10 (My rating is sure to be lower than other people's..)
I couldn't finish this one.. It had a few cool visuals that were dreamlike but it was so damn slow and the story sucked.. The front of the DVD said "David Fincher and Spike Jonze Present:" and I mistakenly read "a film by Fincher and Jonze.." Well.. yeah.. People shouldn't be able to put their name on shit they had nothing to do with! My fault though.. I've seen the tactic done all too often and I shouldn't have fell for it.

Forbidden Kingdom 6/10
It gets 4 points just for Jackie Chan doing Drunken style against Jet li. To me, this movie felt almost like The Never Ending Story where the modern day protagonist is bullied then sucked into a magical story.. It just wasn't as good.. I gotta give it 2 more points because Yifei Liu is hot! The rest is forgettable...

Fierce People - 8/10

A charming, quirky, satirical, romantic and dark-edged little gem. It manages to miss the mark of great but still quite worth watching. :thumbsup:

Diane Lane plays the mother of a teen boy who spend the summer at wealthy Donald Sutherland's 10-mile square town/estate, but this ain't no summer camp movie.

21 - 7/10

Far better than I thought it would be. A little slow, but enjoyable all the same.


What happens in Las Vegas (or something like that) - 4.5/10

What a terrible movie. My roommates boyfriend rented this and so I watched it with them, talk about a dumb movie. The only thing that it gets points for is miss D's amazing smile.


The Punisher - 8/10

Thomas Jane is unstoppable! Great movie. Its a shame he is not the Punisher in the new one coming out.

The Pick of Destiny - 7.5/10

Meat Loaf! Dio! and all that in the first five minutes! Whats not to love? Okay the whole movie isn't that good, but its still an enjoyable movie. Ultra-cheesy movie with lots of original music by Jack Black and company. If you like JB then I highly recommend it. Master Exploder is one of the best songs out there.

Elephant 6/10

This was an odd movie by Gus Van Sant (Director of Gerry, Drugstore Cowboy, Good Will Hunting.) It's a very quiet and uniquely filmed movie, By unique, I mean it's filmed almost exactly like Gerry and Last Days in that there wasn't any dialog that really progressed the film. The film observes average high school students on a day that ends with a school shooting.(spoilers ahead, but movie isn't really a surprise as much as witnessing of events) What I liked about the film is that it's kind of how I remember school. The friends with so little in common they have nothing to do except bicker about how much time they spend with each other, Some kids getting mocked and bullied, other completely normal people going though their normal day. I really liked John's reaction to seeing the shooters. It was very child-like reaction. He saw a problem but didn't know how to react. The heroes of the movie, if there were any, weren't your typical rescue the people, stop the badguys, get the girl type. They were just scared kids that couldn't do anything against people with guns.

I think the movie could have been better. I think a little more dialog, a better ending, and.. I don't know what else.. Maybe a little more time spent on the shooters. Their relationship was interesting.

Shine a Light- 8/10

If you're a Rolling Stones fan you'll likely love this flick. It's a concert/documentary film. Directed by Martin Scorsese and filmed during two performances at the Beacon Theater in NY. Yes the Stones are old. At the time of the filming I think Mick was 64 and Watts was 67, I hope if I get there I'm half alive as these guys appear. And while Kieth looks near dead, probably should be dead, he isn't. It's been said conventional weapons can't kill Richards, I starting to think that not just a joke. I'm a fan. I've seen them 14 times (a number I thought was a lot until I met a couple in Hawaii in the second row on the second night seeing them for the 63rd time.) Anyway I liked it. I would have preferred a few changes to the set list. Factory Girl was discussed and I would have liked to of heard Sweet Virginia live again. Also I think this is the first time I've ever seen a Stones performance that didn't include Gimme Shelter. Then again can't remember the last concert I went to and didn't leave thinking "why didn't he/she/they play______"

Hot Fuzz 7.5/10
It's a spoof of police buddy films. I really like Simon Pegg and Nick Frost, but I didn't love the film.

Nim's Island 6.5/10
I'm always on the lookout for children's movies with female protagonists. (I watch them with my daughter). So, I thought with Abigail Breslin (the girl from Little Miss Sunshine) and Jodie Foster, it should be decent. It wasn't. The girl was not particulary convincing. Gerard Butler was bad. Jodie Foster was great, but not in the movie enough.

Lassie (2005) 8.0/10
Starring among others, Lawrence of Arabia (Peter O'Toole), it was decent. Excellent acting, just a bit slow at times. There are better movies that focus on the home front in England during WWII.

Doomsday 2/10

I'm sure someone out there somewhere will like this flick. My guess is it's a video game or comic book made into to film. For me this film SUCKED. The only redeeming quality, in my opinion, was Rhona Mitra and who ever designed her costumes. The plot seems like a complete rip off of Mad Max and Escape from New York. The FX's are a joke, often you can clearly see the use of dummies etc... Several actions shots are so poorly done it made me think of the Sci-Fi films of the 50-60's- minus the campy fun.

IMHO, Bad, just simply fucking awful.

Since my last review in this thread, I have seen a bunch of movies. I just didn't have much time to post.
Here they are in mixed order.


Hancock
I liked this movie till about 3/4 when the feel of the movie turned for the worst. It was still good but the story was never that good in the end. good acting overall.
rating of 6.9 out of 10


Tropic Thunder
This is now my favourite comedy! man this was good. The only actor I hated in this was jack black. Bad acting and really not needed. Plus having tom cruise in that role was awesome!! really recommended as a comedy.
I rate this a high 8.5 out of 10 possibly less as a 2nd viewing but I think it will hold strong.


RedBelt
This was weak. Good start but very predictable. and it never explains a few key part. I was dissapointed in this movie.
rating of: 6 out of 10



damn. I thought I could remember more... I'll post more if I remember the ones I've seen since then.

Burn After Reading 7.5/10

I'm not gonna lie. I laughed a lot at this movie. A LOT. It has some superb, pure Coen brothers moments. But at the end of the day, as a movie, it doesn't hold together in a very meaningful way and I left the theater feeling fairly unsatisfied. Also, while it's marketed as a comedy, this is definitely more of a Blood Simple or Barton Fink affair than it is a Hudsucker Proxy or Big Lebowski.

The Holiday - 7.5/10

Ok so I'm a sucker for a good chickflick. I thought the film a good flow and chemistry between the characters. It just leaves you with that aww feeling at the end.

Death Race: 1/10
It got one point because it was short, 1.5 hours. It didn't work for me. The plot was disjoined and you didn't real care about anything: not the characters, not the races, not the death, nothing.

The Island: 9/10
Watched this again after 2 years. Crazy amount of explosions but not graphically done. Ewan McGregor is hot!

Taken 7-10

Burn After Reading - 8/10
Its hard to go wrong with the Coen brothers. Its a funny movie with great acting from a list of recognizable names and faces. It starts off slow and disjointed, but once the storylines start to merge, the pace picks up considerably. I enjoyed it.

Good Luck Chuck - 5/10
Mediocrely funny....and it's only because I watched it with some friends. Movies tend to be more enjoyable when watched in groups.

I actually really enjoyed it because it was campy fun. Then again I also enjoyed Dog Soldiers (same director in Neil Marshall) for the exact same reasons. Doomsday wasn't great but I'd rate it way higher than 2, more in the 6 range. Fun but ultimately forgettable.

Doomsday - 6/10

Mama Mia = a BIJILLION and 1 out of 10!!! :)

Burn After Reading - 8/10

My first Coen brothers film and I liked it. It didn't make any god damn sense in the traditional style of story telling but that's fine with me. There's plenty of odd humor and hijinks to go around. Spoiler: Brad Pitt was funny as expected but he entered the movie a bit late and died a too early. I want to see more of him.

God is great, I'm Not

Story: Michèle, 20 years old, feels terrible after having broken up with her boy-friend. She meets Francois, who's a veterinarian and jewish. Michèle decides to convert into Judaism because she has to believe in something, if not in someone.

Comment: The overall story was decent, but didn't really go in any direction. I thought Francois acted childish and immature while in a relationship with Michele, who just wanted to have a stronger connection with his faith.

Not Audrey Tautou's strongest performance, but I have been a fan since her performance in Amélie.

Rating: 6/10

Sex and the City Movie... OK for you guys, here's a summary.
Cell phone conversation
Dinner conversation
Sex focusing on guy's butt
Cellphone Conversation
Sex focusing on guy's butt
Dinner conversation
Sex focusing on guy's butt
Cellphone Conversation
Dinner conversation
Seriously, How many dinner conversations can you stuff into a movie!? No wonder Kim Catrall(yumm.. Porky's..) was getting fat by the end of the show! Oh wait was that a spoiler? Who cares, Every woman in the world has already seen it and no man is actually paying attention to the movie..

On a lighter side, Leatherheads was pretty funny. It was slow but I liked it. Especially Stephen Root's character. I just wish he was in more of the film.. George Clooney and John Krasinski fit together pretty well too.

Cinema Paradiso

Story (imdb.com): A famous film director returns home to a Sicilian village for the first time after almost 30 years. He reminisces about his childhood at the Cinema Paradiso where Alfredo, the projectionist, first brought about his love of films. He is also reminded of his lost teenage love, Elena, who he had to leave before he left for Rome

Comment: This is such a beautiful film.

If you are a fan of films, then you will definitely have a strong connection with the main character. He has such a passion for movies that when he was a young lad, he decided to be a projectionist from 10 years of age until his mid 20’s. Toto (the main character) didn’t choose to be a projectionist, it was part of him, a “calling” or his "first love"

Rating: 10/10

Burn After Reading: 8/10 - Just plain brilliant comedy of errors that slaps conventional storytelling in the ass and tells it to keep up.

Black Christmas (2006): 3/10 - Bad, bad, BAD movie. The producers should be ashamed. Oh, and the twist is that there is no twist. Brilliant.

976-EVIL: 6/10 - 10,000 times better than expected. Stephen Geoffreys needs to get his ass back into some prosthetics.

976-EVIL II: 6/10 - Great B-grade horror like the first. My only problem is the villain isn't sympathetic in the least and the characters are much more forgettable than the first movie's.

A Better Tomorrow II: 7/10 - Not nearly as great as the first, but infinitely better than Broken Arrow.

Alright. The movie festival in my town just ended today.
here are the movies ive seen with a rating by me. Click on the Title to go to the movie's IMDB's page.

Gomorrah
This follows the story of about 6 people linked with the Camorra mafia in italy. It's not your usual gangster movie but it really shows you what the mafia does in that part of the world. Very violent movie.
Italian with english subtitles.
Rating of 8 out of 10


Blindness
I didn't really want to see this one but my gf convinced me to check it out. It started out like a low budget movie and it seemed like it wasn't gonna get better but once they reach the "prison", it really picks up. The basic story is: someone goes blind without any physical damage to his eyes. It then spreads like a contagious disease. I felt like the acting was good and the overall camera was good but the blurs on the big screens made me want to stop watching. I really recommend this if you like "end of the world-type" of movies.
Rating of 8 out of 10


Animation shorts
9 short animated films. 1 stop motion, 1 3d, 1 computer animation with sand animation, and the rest were low end drawings. there was also 1 which to me wasn't animation. nice effort but nothing worth recommending or buying.
I was really disappointed this year.
Rating of 5 out of 10


[Rec]
Now here we have what I now consider my favourite horror movie. The quick synopsis is: A tv journalist is filming some firemen for a tv show when they're called to a disturbance. once inside, things get bad. I cannot recommend this one enough.
Spanish with english subtitles.
Rating of 9 out of 10

Humour Me: Afternoon of shorts
This was essentially 15 shorts from around the world. All dealing with comedy.
I was really happy with these ones. a few had a bad punch line but most shorts were great!
About Face 9/10, Ascension 7/10, get off my land 6/10, Golden Egg 6.5/10, Hot Dog 8/10, How much to you love me? 8.5/10, I am Bob 7/10, No Coke 7/10, Occupations 5/10, Souvenir 9/10, The Heist 7/10.
mixed english/french with english subtitles
Overall: Rating of 8 out of 10


Waltz With Bashir
This one is a documentary about the war in Lebanon in the early eighties.
This is done like a flashback/documentary all in animation. I really enjoyed this one. If you get a chance, check it out.
hebrew/german with english subtitles.
Rating of 8.5 out of 10

If you can't see my signature, then click HERE to see how I rate my movies

Burn After Reading - 2/10

I liked Fargo, but didn't see Brother Where Aret' Thou'?, so I guess I'm 1 for 2 on Coen brother movies. Burn just wasn't funny for either my wife or I... can't really explain it but it got nothing more than a smirk from either of us. Perhaps we were just having an unfunny night.

Man on Wire - 10/10
Documentary about tightrope walker who walked on a line between the two WTC towers in 1973. I highly recommend this one. Its an inspiring (true) story about defiance, dreams, luck, and determination.

Pathology 7/10

I didn't expect much from a direct to dvd psychological thriller but this was actually a pretty solid movie. Basically follows a Doctor(Peter Petrelli from Heroes(sorry dude you shoulda changed your name when you moved to hollywood)) that gets pulled into a game of murder by his co-workers.

I saw a few documentary about him on discovery channel but this looks like a great movie. He was actually suppose to come to my town to walk between 2 smoke stacks but it was too windy.... anyways, that's what I heard. I wouldn't mind seeing Man on Wire.
-----Added 21/9/2008 at 10 : 02 : 01-----
edit: I think it was a different person. oh well.

Agreed. This is one of my favorite films of all time and I feel it is highly underrated. Absolutely beautiful film. Wonderful pacing and lovely movement.

Did you see the director's cut as well? It is an interesting take.

People, go rent this film now. It is a gem.

11/10

Young & Restless in China

It checked in on 9 people every few months over the course of a few years. It looked at what they were doing with their career, their aspirations, their emotional state, their love life, their quality of life... In other words, their daily lives. I read a whole lot about China, but this documentary made it seem a lot more close to home. Very very good.

Scream - 8/10

Great, great, GREAT film. Whenever Jamie Kennedy is funny, you know something magical has happened.

Scream 2 - 7/10

Solid sequel. The original surpasses it greatly, but whatever. The movie admits early on that sequels are generally worse than their predecessors.

Ghost Town - 7/10

Very funny, however far from original film. Had some solid emotional moments and the directing was handled very nicely by Mr. Koepp.

Speed Racer - 8/10

Got it on blu-ray and watched it with my latest lady acquaintance and actually stopped with what I was doing to watch some of my favorite scenes. I love this film.

The Incredible Hulk - 6/10 - Just forget the first Hulk by Ang Lee ever happened. This was better than expected, actually entertaining.

Forgetting Sarah Marshall - 9/10

Just watched the unrated version.. Oh man... It's possibly the funniest movie I've seen in years. Any guy that can go from Kristen Bell to Mila Kunis with about 10 un-named hotties between them has to be doing something the rest of us don't know about.. Or maybe he's also the movie's writer... Russell Brand's character wasn't as annoying as I thought he was going to be. I actually liked him. Especially when Jonah Hill was on screen with him.

Turistas 4/10

not even gyrating brazillian hips and boobies could have saved this movie

You dont mess with the Zohan 7/10

This movie was one huge 'yo mama' joke, but it made me laugh with its classic stupidity. PS adam sandler, if you ever read this, I will never forgive you for what you were wearing in the beginning!!!

American Gangster - 8/10

Sure, it's historically inaccurate, but damn if it didn't keep me entertained. This was a great crime saga, as directed by that king of kings, Ridley Scott.

The Fast and the Furious - 6/10

The cars were nice, the action was nice, the acting was on-par, and the story was godawful. Still, I was only in for the action.

speed racer 8-10
hellboy 2 7-10
stuck 6-10
war inc. 5-10

Cash Back 8/10

Nice little movie. Plenty of nudity, but wasn't "dirty". The story was good, with entertaining characters and good acting.... What more would you want?

Eagle Eye - 7/10

Ludicrously unbelievable, but if you can look past that and just enjoy the ride, it's a fun rollercoaster ride and contains more flying, crashing cars than I've ever seen before. Think of it as your worst technological nightmare.


Hard Candy - 8/10

Parts were difficult to watch, although there's no gore, but superb performances and much controversy will follow.

Across the Universe. 6/10

i liked how they incorporated certain aspect of that era into the movie Spoiler: like the marry pranksters and the roof top performance

but, for some reason, the movie just lost me at times. it could be the lack of sleep, it could be the drugs wearing off, hell i dont know.

ill watch it sober again one of these days and do a re-review.

oh, yeah.

some of the music was done well...but not all of it. for some reason it bothered me that others were doing Beatles tunes.

alright, time for me to catch some potential z's

Eagle Eye - 7/10

Almost had it, but between the pedestrian plot and the terrible ending, could have been a whole lot better.

The Midnight Meat Train - 9/10

Instant classic. I was on the edge of my seat the entire time, which rarely happens and needs to more often.

How to Lose Friends and Alienate People - 6/10

Very disappointing albeit hilarious movie. The plot was just too predictable for the subject matter.

Religulous - 9/10

Bill Maher was brilliant in presenting a comedy for Atheists and hopefully an eye-opener for Theists.

Nick and Norah's Infinite Play List

Comment: I have been a big fan of Michael Cera since Arrested Development and although he has been type-casted to portray an awkward shy teen with an interest in indie music, I still like what he is doing. I thought Cera and Kat had excellent chemistry and the movie’s soundtrack is fantastic.

Rating: 9/10

Plot (from RT): Nick and Norah’s Infinite Playlist is a comedy about two people thrust together for one hilarious, sleepless night of adventure in a world of mix tapes, late-night living, and, live, loud music. Nick (Michael Cera) frequents New York's indie rock scene nursing a broken heart and a vague ability to play the bass. Norah (Kat Dennings) is questioning pretty much all of her assumptions about the world. Though they have nothing in common except for their taste in music, their chance encounter leads to an all-night quest to find a legendary band's secret show and ends up becoming the first date in a romance that could change both their lives.

How to Lose friends and alienate people

Saw it today. I'm a fan of Simon Pegg, and he is equally funny in this as his other movies. The story was interesting, acting pretty good, dialogue good, pacing good, nice soundtrack, somewhat predictable ending (it's all pretty predictable, isn't it?) but still, a solid movie. Kind of a devil wears prada for guys, with the love angle for chicks. 8 out of 10. I can't give it a 10 out of 10 because it wasn't super cream my jeans awesome, I don't need to see it again.

Fear - 7/10

Surprisingly good obsessive lover movie from 1996. Mark Wahlberg, despite his lack of kissing ability, stood out nicely as the psycho and ate up a fair share of screen time. Reese Witherspoon was OK, and William Peterson as her father kicked ass (especially at the end, fucker must have been quite the football player). The roller coaster scene is classic. Recommended, despite a generally unfavorable rating on IMDb.

Gonzo: The Life and Work of Dr. Hunter S. Thompson

5/5

Let me get this out of the way, I am a huge fan Thompson.
Anyway, Gonzo. Dr. Thompson really led quite the life, and this film focus's mainly on his writing of Hell's Angels, Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, and Fear and Loathing on the Campain Trail '72.
It also features the major people in his life, from a section devoted to Stedman to Pat Buchanan, from Jann Wenner of Rolling Stone, to both his wives and some fantastic readings of Hunter's work by his good buddy Johnny Depp

Religulous - 5/10
I shoulda waited for HBO.

Better Off Dead - 8/10

Absurdist comedy at it's best. "I WANT MY TWO DOLLARS!"

Funny Ha Ha - 3/10

I'll man up and say I have yet to actually finish this "film", but halfway through I already know I can honestly give my rating. I'm all for artistic films and I'm all for plot-less, character-driven films, but this is just ridiculously lazy. Not to filmmakers: you have to put in some amount of effort beyond the script if you want the film to feel real or, for that matter, good.


And Hal, what's with the Religulous hate?

Quarantined

I enjoyed this film because of the super diseased cannibalistic individuals that attack at super speed in the apartment complex. The film was shot similar to Cloverfield, but the camera was more stable and when the camera man is running, you can still see everything.

I found one of the main character's rather annoying around the end, but I am sure I may have the same reaction if I were in a similar situation.

Several tips to survive in a building that were infected with a super unknown virus where people turned into zombies are:

1. Equip yourself with a weapon and take your time getting to each location. If you are impatient and think you can take out 5 beings at one, you will die.

2. If a zombie is running after you, run the other way because they are super powerful and you are not.

3. Carry a flashlight.

4. Keep night vision goggles in stock.

5. Stay away from glass doors and open windows.

6. If anyone is infected and have not turned into a zombie, kill them before they kill you.

Rating: 8/10

Well it was bad.

No Country For Old Men - 10/10

I read the book about a month ago, and I don't know how the movie could be any more faithful. The Coen's created a 2 hour masterpiece that was almost exactly how I imagined the story when reading it. Fantastic.


Saw IV - 3/10

I really liked the original Saw, thought Saw II was pretty meh, but thought Saw III was pretty decent. Saw IV was the worst one so far. If nothing else, you watch these movies for a) the Traps and b) the Twist. Saw IV had the worst traps and the worst twist. My faith in Saw V is waning.

That's a shame. I guess the should have left it at a trilogy. Like you, I liked 1, hated 2 (because it didn't stick to the "saw" M.O.), and liked 3 again (because they explained why 2 sucked ;) ). Maybe Saw has "Star Trek movie Syndrome", where the odd numbered ones are the better ones.

well Saw V has some explaining to do, because the twist at the end is completely out of left field.

Body of Lies - 6/10

I wanted to love it but not even the good, not great, second half could make up for the slow and boring (I actually fell asleep) first hour of setup. DiCaprio's starting to earn my respect, though.

burn after reading 3/10

recognisable names. some funny scenes, but just didnt do anything for me. didnt really get me involved, and i didnt care much about the storyline because i knew at some point the individual stories would collide. definately not Crash!

acting was mediocre. cloony playing a paranoid loony just didnt fit. i didnt mine brad pitts character. unexpected, but was ok. i expected a lot more out of john malkovic too, although he was probably the strongest character in the movie.

plot - confusing ramble that ended too quick. everyone walked out saying "was that it?"

3/10 - 2 of them to john malkovic.

Quarantine

9 out of 10.

I was conned into seeing this by my brother. I assumed it would be another horror movie with creepy imagery and a ridiculous, thrown together at the last minute plot. But I was really surprised.

This movie scared the shit out of me. I can't remember the last time a movie had me on edge for such a sustained period of time.

Funny Games
9.5/10
It's a remake of a 1997 movie.
This movie would be pretty depressing and perhaps too weird if one did not understand the point of the film. It's a critique and examination of how violence is portrayed in movies today. The two antagonists(Michael Pitt and Brady Corbet) do a very good job of being overly creepy and truly disturbing. In fact, one of my favorite aspects of this movie is the acting; Naomi Watts and Tim Roth portray true anguish like I've never seen. The only reason I couldn't give it a 10 was Spoiler: there is about a 20-25 minute sequence after the "villains" kill the 10 year old son of Naomi Watts and Tim Roth where the two just cry and be miserable together that, in my opinion, could have been cut short, but then again, perhaps that was a point the film maker was trying to make.
Overall great movie, and you have to keep in mind that it is not just a thriller for thriller's sake; it has a point, and to enjoy this movie to its fullest, and not just get turned off by it, you have to remember this point: violence is portrayed gratuitously in our movies, instead of there being any sort of emotion attached to it. Sometimes it is much more necessary for the impact of a character's death if the on-screen death is not glorified. The on-screen death should not be the movie's "reward" for that character's death, rather the implications of that character's death and how it affects the environment of the movie should be the point of that death.
ok, said death way too many times there, but hey in this movie (and you'll see why), it's appropriate.

deathrace 8-10

The Woods

6 out of 10

A not-too-bad supernatural thriller/ horror flick done old-school (i't a pun) style in the vein of the original versions of The Shining, The Omen, Ametyville Horror, etc. There's no hip-hop or heavy metal soundtrack, and while there is a small amount of gore it's only on the screen for a few seconds at a time. This is definitely not one for the jaded ADD horror fan.

Burn After Reading... 2/5

Best moment: Spoiler: Brad Pitt gets shot right in the head. And the top CIA official says that the situation is fucked, and everyone agrees with it, thats a bad movie...

Max Payne - 5/10

Outside of some fantastic visuals thanks to the DP and a quality performance by Mark Wahlberg, there's nothing very good about this movie. The plot is very simple but is portrayed as being very complex, the twist is spottable a thousand feet away, and for some reason the game's plot was thrown out with only a few characters and locations ported over. Very disappointing.

The Happening - 5/10

Great and original concept as usual, but doesn't quite work in what's become another typical M Night Shyamalan film.

Wanted - special effects almost as good as Equilibrium. Story line is OK, script, horrendous, eye candy for my boys, one word "Si-El-FANTASTIC".
7/10

Silent Hill 7.5/10

Surprisingly not bad! Can't really say much about it other than I enjoyed it a lot more than I thought I would!

W. - 7/10

Nothing spectacular, but it did paint a relatively unbiased and realistic portrait of our president. For making him seem much more human and giving us some damn good performances, I thank Mr. Stone. Good job, but not what I was expecting.

Hellraiser 8: Hellworld

Very interesting movie. Pinhead still looks great, the movie was decent, definitely saw some Saw influences in it. Wonderful storyline.

I'm a Pinhead junkie as stated in another post so of course I will rate this 8.5/10.... more Pinhead talking needed though.

Hellraiser 7 is next..... Netflix should have it here by Saturday. Can't wait....

Iron Man - 4.5 / 5

I wasn't expecting much from this, seeing as it's a comic book movie and it's a character I'm not too keen on, but it was actually really good. Decent story, great special effects, and good humor. Oh, and Robert Downey, jr is great as Tony Stark.

Saw V - 5/10

Wow, big letdown. "You Won't Believe How It Ends" is a terrible tagline for a movie without any real twist. The whole film is about filling in gaps and tying up loose ends, so as to make Saw VI tighter. So it's a prologue.

Behind the Mask: The Rise of Leslie Vernon

Story: On the surface, Leslie Vernon seems like your average small town, nice guy. He has goals, ambition and aspirations to follow in the footsteps of his long-time hero Freddy Krueger, Michael Myers and Jason Vorhees, and be the world's next great psycho-slasher. A true self-promoter, Leslie gives documentary filmmaker Taylor Gentry and her crew exclusive access to his life as he plans and executes his next great reign of terror over the sleepy town of Glen Echo, all the while deconstructing the constructions and archetypes of the horror genre for them.

Comment: If you are a fan of horror films then you will get all the references of other horror films in this story. I thought the story was well done and documenting a sociopath doing his job was an interesting twist.

Rating: 8/10

Diary of the Dead

Story: A group of film students are making an independent horror film when they become trapped in a world being consumed by flesh-eating zombies. With an obsessive, unflinching eye, one filmmaker documents each death on camera. As the lucky survivors take final refuge, the film continues to roll, recording every detail for future generations...if any survive.

Comment: If you like one of the main characters holding the camera to document the findings, like in Cloverfield and Quarantine then you might like this film. The camera is stable in the hands of the character, which is better than what I have seen in Cloverfield. The special effects and the story were decent, but some of the characters are a bit whiny, but I guess I might be in their situation where zombies were attacking everyone.

Rating: 7/10


Otis

Story: In the midst of a serial abductor/killer's rampage, a beautiful young teen, Riley Lawson, goes missing. When her desperate parents, Will and Kate, are contacted by her kidnapper, an insufferable FBI Special Agent takes charge of the case.But, from deep within the psychopathic subterranean world created by Otis, Riley turns the tables on her tormentor, manages to escape and to contact her parents. And, fed up with the tragi-comic inability of the FBI to find their girl, Will, Kate, and Riley's brother, Reed decide to take matters - and justice - into their own hands.

Comment: A very dark comedy where the main characters actually torture someone until they discover they tortured the wrong person, which is relatively funny if you have an odd sense of humor.

Rating: 8/10

Hellraiser 7: Deader

I love the series, it was one hat for me kept me interested each movie.

This one stars Kari Wuhrer as a reporter sent to Budapest to investigate and write a story for the "London Underground" on a suicide cult where the leader "brings back the suicide victim".

It was a great concept, an interesting work and new way to work a story around the box.... but there was much misdirection and a poorly written script. This movie could have been truly the best one based on the premise and idea behind it.... but the writer lacked a true focus on point A to point B to the ending.

That said, if you like the series this is by far the weakest, but not as bad as some of the Halloween/Friday the 13th/Chucky/Freddie/Candyman/etc series. This series is still the greatest of them all. By their 7th {if they made it that far..... they were a dead franchise that was just looking to milk as much as they could..... hell a couple of them were dead by their third movie.....}, this series is still in my eyes very strong and could keep having a future to it.

All that said, this movie still goes back to the direction and writing and it lacked. The acting was strong, a very good ensemble. I can't stress enough nor repeat it enough.... this movie premise and idea was a truly great one.... but the direction focus and writing just did not do it.

5/10 the worst in all the Hellraiser movies.

The Incredible Hulk (2008)
On Blueray

for anyone who doesn't know who the fuck the hulk is, this movie sucks. For everyone else, it's fun but there is nothing spectacular about the movie. There is almost no backstory to any of the characters. I didn't care about anyone. Betty(liv Tyler) was probably the worst actress in the movie. Really bad!!

For the action and continuing of the marvel story(avengers/ironman), i will give this movie a 6 out of 10. It would be a 4 if I had no knowledge of the back story.

I caught the NC-17 version of Bad Lieutenant on IFC last night. It's definitely a 10/10 in my book! Seeing Harvey Keitel's evil character pretty much break down and seek redemption as the 'miracle' of the Mets coming back to beat the Dodgers in the National League Championship unfolded in front of him. It's a crazy film and definitely deserving of it's NC-17 rating.

Get Smart: Good movie. Interesting take on who Maxwell Smart and 99 are. Not as original as I would have hoped and Steve Carrell, while very impressive is no Don Adams. Overall a great movie and very fun to watch.

9/10 Only because the original was one of my favorite tv shows and again no Don Adams {may he rest in peace} otherwise a strong 10.

The Happening: Personally next to Lady in the Water, my favorite M Night movie. Very strong, Marky Mark was a decent actor. Somewhat original movie. Very good watch.

7.5/10

Hellboy 2: A very good sequel and unlike other comics turned into movies, very strong acting from actors who seem to take their roles seriously and like the characters they play.

As always, Ron Perlman shows he is a strong capable actor, as does Selma Blair and Doug Jones. I like, someone else here mentioned earlier, would have liked David Hyde Pierce to have voiced Abe Sapien.... however, I can also understand the actor playing the character wanting to have his voice used, plus I'm sure production costs may have been a consideration. Don't get me wrong, Doug Jones did a great job.

To me the best part was the drunken Hellboy and Abe singing Barry Manilow over their love for their women. It added a sense of humanity to the characters, showed their sensitive sides, it was truly a great addition to the film.

I would have liked to have seen more of the "underworld", but that maybe saved for Hellboy 3.

Overall, it was one of the better movies I have seen in awhile.... I have to give it a 10/10, simply because it was everything I looked for in a movie. Great mindless entertainment that when it ended left me wanting more. Very few movies do that for me anymore.

Zombie Strippers - 6/10

If it wasn't intentionally made to be bad, this movie would be ranked in the negatives. As it stands, it was entertaining for what it was.

The Strangers 7-10 ,real creepy movie.

Twilight

I went in with low expectations because of the reviews it received on Rotten Tomatoes and the fact that everyone seemed to over hype this film. Since I read the series, I was trying to compare the book to the movie and found very little changed, which is fantastic because I dislike when a movie doesn't do a book justice. Besides that, I thought certain parts of the film were very stylish and the actors/actresses did an excellent job looking like their characters.

Just to warn you, the movie is about a 17 year old girl falling in love with a vampire, so the movie is a paranormal romance and if you are in to that kind of thing, or you are a big fan of vampires, then you should watch this film.

Rate: 8/10

Twilight - 4/10

I think it was Jimmy O on JoBlo.com who said "see Let the Right One In instead", and I couldn't agree more. What a terrible excuse for a film. I haven't read the books, but if the character relationships are as shallow, badly paced, and tedious as in the film, I'm glad I didn't spend the money. Wooden acting and an awful script really put the nail in the coffin. Kudos to the guy who played Carlisle, the chick who played Alice, and the dad though, they were pretty good.

Return of the Living Dead Part III - 7/10

Not quite as great as I expected, nor was it as good as the original, but still a worthy successor with a nice human/zombie love story and some fan-fucking-tastic FX.

Serial Mom - 7/10

A very cheap affair, but Kathleen Turner going demented over suburban imperfections and beating a woman to death with an overcooked turkey leg gets my vote any day. Also, Matthew Lillard plays a character similar to his role in Scream which is equally entertaining. Plus, it's John Waters.