Letter from an Unknown Woman - Max Ophuls

Err... masterful.

Broken Flowers .. Bill Murray was transcendant.. I loved his almost unmoving face.

A Mighty Wind - 8/10 Funny stuff, love all the movies these guys do.

Crash
10/10

One of the most intense movies I've seen in a while...

Just had a triple movie marathon!

Dukes Of Hazzard - I enjoyed this. I mean, it's not gonna win any oscars, but as a piece of mindless fun its pretty enjoyable. Plus Jessica Simpson is HAWT!! - 6/10

Batman Begins - I loved this film, I thought it was awesome. I'm glad it's gone back to it's darker roots. I reall liked the backstory of why he actually becomes Batman and where he gets his suit, gadgets, car, etc. - 9/10

House Of Wax - I enjoyed this too, a hat-trick! I thought this was another mindless popcorner. And there was only one moment when I thought "Yeah, as if!". - 6/10

Unforgiven - Clint Eastwood.

Perhaps the greatest of all Westerns...

Certainly one of the greatest films ever made...

American or Japanese version? I saw the japanese one, and it sucked as as well... boring, and non-scary...A real let down from japanese cinema.

Okay, I finally tivo'd Napoleon Dynamite because I wanted to know what the BFD was, why the shirts? Why the quotes?

It was okay, but not much better than "3 O'Clock High". What's the BFD? Is it 4:20 everywhere? Non-stop?

I would recommend it, especially for LaFawnduh, and Jared Hess had a truly great turn as a writer. His acting... was standard. I got all the little plotlets, but it just wasn't that riveting.

Keep in mind, that I am a film junkie. I devour things like "Pecker".... oh... how bad does that sound? I mean I appreciate films outside of the mainstream. I guess I'm just getting old.

Although, I have the strongest urge to say gosh right now.

Two new reviews. Pardon the legnth but they're taken from my movie review section I do on MySpace.

Review: The Brothers Grimm

Terry Gilliam is just about my favorite director. I've been following the production of this movie, as well as another of his which is already in post-production (Tideland), for a long time now. I recall early-production photo releases, ever-changing slated release dates, and my excitement when the poster was first released. When it finally approached release date, I was confused to see it getting bad critic reviews. I didn't see the movie when it first came out, so I also encountered bad reviews by people on forums I frequent (this is you TFP'ers!), as well as from some real-life friends. Complaints included jumbly story lines, excessive hollywood-ness, etc. I never got my hopes down though and assumed that even if the story and screen play sucked that I'd still recieve a visual treat from Gilliam no matter what. Anyhow, what's to expect ? Almost all of my favorite movies (aka my favorite Gilliam movies) have largely been considered financial flops.

All in all I really enjoyed the movie. I kept on feeling my imagination stirring, similar to the way fairy tales affect youthful minds (the grimm brother's wrote many original fairy tales). This what I expect from Gilliam, and this film proves he's still good at it. My only choice is to ask haters of this film "where's your imagination?" I didn't see subliminal Coca-Cola ads, the main female character wasn't an advertized Scarlet Johansen, nothing was dumbed-down for the general Amerkian public, and everything seemed pretty true to the era. The film was simply about the *film* instead of the money bringer-inners (call ledger and damon what ever you want, I loved their acting). I'm sure any true Gilliam fan will enjoy the film as it's a swirling carnival of goofy actors, goofy situations, and awesome art direction. I mean c'mon, how perfect does this lineup sound? Matt Damon plays a selfish smartass, Heath Ledger is a slow-thinking romantic third wheel, Jonathan Pryce a jaded Nepolianic French leader, and Peter Stormare as Pryce's deranged second-hand man(the German nihilist from The Big Lebowski).

-3/4 stars-

very mild Spoiler: Two things that were Gilliam dead giveaways (both of which I loved) were the "high-tech" stethoscope Damon uses and the Pryce scene with the huge elegant dining hall that turns out to be just a small group of guests surrounded by mirrors.

For more Gilliam info:
http://www.smart.co.uk/dreams/

And a site/magazine with movie reviews I frequently agree with:
http://www.premiere.com/



Review: My Architect

I was recommended this film by a cool guy I recently befriended who's really into industrial design. Anyhow, I stumbled upon it at Blockbuster and had to check it out.

In short, it's a documentary about Louis Kahn, a famous architect of the 1900's. The film is directed by Nethaniel Kahn, Louis' son, and it stars himself. Throught the movie, he traces his father's life, which included three different wives/families whom he disregarded due to extreme focus on his work. Nethaniel never really knew Louis as he died a mysterious death when he was eleven, so the film basically plays off his emotions as he pieces together who his father was through first time interviews of people he worked or had families with.

I don't think I could decide how many stars to give it because the star system is usually in comparison with other films, mostly being "movies." I'll just say that I recommend it to anyone interested in architecture, design, or even family values. It goes into nice detail of how radical Louis was about his work and his complete ignorance to how much he was affecting the loved ones around him.

American version. It was like watching two hours of a normal persons normal day with a couple minutes of horror tacked on to the end. I'm going to have to kick it up to a 2/10 though to make room for fantastic four which I'm giving the 1/10.

Constantine - what a huge waste of time!
I guess that I had thought that Keanu finally learned how to "act".

I was wrong.

Watched King Arthur last night. It was decent...pretty formulaic, a sort of Braveheart lite. I like Clive Owen though, and he did a pretty good job. It seemed too rushed or something, like a lot of important things were just glossed over. 2.5/5

dune
7/10
the movie missed most of the important things about the book...tho the movie would seem incomplete without what was included also
the movie was worth ateast 4 hours but the 'managment' wanted it cut down to 2 hrs :(
worth a watch if u havent read the book

Frailty
2/10

This supposed thriller doesn't seem to realize it's more like a comedy. I'm being generous by giving it a 2/10 because in all fairness, it did make me laugh. However, like a lot of other bad thriller movies, it gets so tangled up in the supposed "twist" that it fails miserably at being an all-around good thriller. And I could go further but I'll just leave it at that because I don't feel like going into the stupid plot.

Crash
9/10

This, unlike the above, was a really good movie. It borrowed its style from a few other movies (especially Magnolia) but that's okay. I wasn't expecting to like this as much as I did. Great movie.

... Of course, I had to take the one point deduction because of the casting of Ludacris.

Finding Neverland

Quite good....made me cry, dammit

8/10 and gave me a new appreciation for Depp

...
 

Requiem For A Dream - I loved it. I can relate to it. Done any drugs lately?

28 Days Later - One of my fav. movies. I DO NOT like horror films. They annoy the hell out of me. This was more of a pshych. thriller. Awesome!!

KILL BILL - OMG. YOU NEED TO SEE THIS IS YOU LIKE KICK ASS MOVIES. VERY VERY GOOD. Alot of violence though. Can you handle blood? Then see it! Tecoyah kind of reminds me of Bill.

This is the 100th time I watched these movies. I don't see new releases. I watch these. :p

I think 28 Days Later could have been a classic, but it does seem like they ran out of money/ideas/both for the ending.

The first hour-or-so is amazingly good.

Caligula, unrated. Hardcore! 9.5

Constantine

6/10

Not too bad - Rachel Weisz was pretty damned good. Keanu was his normal, bland-acting self. Decent scary-factor, the mythology seemed shaky to me...but hey! It's a movie.

I agree with this... it was a good start, a good all around concept. It went into the toilet shortly after they meet the soldiers...

Shawn of the Dead is much better example of a low budget zombie film that worked...



As for what I last saw... Brothers Grimm. I went in with great expectations... but was sorely disappointed.

The special effects were laughable but I could have forgiven that if the story hadn't been such a mess. Gilliam needs to get a better story editor.

"Back to the Future," Just bought the box set. God I love those movies!

Cinderella man 4/5
The last fight was really intense and gave the movie that little bit extra that meant that I really enjoyed it. Crowe delivered a great peformance, I sympathised with the characters and the inspirational story was well put together as a screen play.

Samurai III: Duel at Ganryu Island 5/5

Beautiful and sad. I actually thought Spoiler: that Mushashi was going to die -- Iangaki does a good job of keeping you in suspense.
It was also nice to see Mifune display some emotion besides anger. A good end to the trilogy.

yes..awesome..still have to give best western of all time to "the outlaw josey wales" though

i TOTALLY disagree..Ludacris was FANTASTIC in this movie, was surprised at how good he was...FANTASTIC film all around, one of those ones that has you talking about it afterward, ALOT.

SIN CITY

not a comic book fan, but have always respected the artwork that these graphic novelists are capable of. was a totally original film, unlike any i've seen. granted, it is very graphic and may not appeal to alot of people because of it. but this is a film you have to respect...very innovative. If you get it on DVD, I suggest you watch special features BEFORE watching the movie, so you can really appreciate how much this movie is like the actual graphic novels. most time in film, they come up short of the written work, not here..they surpassed it.

The Excorsism of Emily Rose

8.5 0ut of 10.

Very creepy. And they somehow make it not a horror movie but a courtroom drama. It works.

Grizzly Man...

Werner Herzog is a God amongst men...

Shaun of the Dead

9/10

The best zombie movie I have seen. Who would have thought you could pull off a romantic zombie comedy?

After the Sunset - 8/10

Good humour, lacking some real adventure element

Alexander - 9/10

Awesome movie, sad ending even thou, it was expected of any movies that is based on great leaders

Serenity - 10/10

Excellent movie. Would recomend it to anyone and everyone.

I agree completely.
10/10
Wow. I actually was awestruck coming out of this. It's funny as hell, the effects are great, there are a ton of "Holy Shit!" moments. WOW.

Make that the trifecta...

Serenity 10/10

It's so much darker than the series ever was, which was certainly an unusual direction, but seemed just....so right for the story. Just enough of the cute, the banter and the joking to keep it Firefly, but with a whole lot of grit mixed in to make it Serenity.

I hope this movie does spectacularly, as I would love to see a sequel....or twelve. :)

Flightplan. 3/10 Awful. Like I told my friend last night... "All I wanted was a little excitement for two hours. Now I want a refund."

I'm off to see Serenity in an hour. :D

I just saw Alexander. It wasn't nearly as bad as everyone (including the girl at Blockbuster who said "Do you REALLY want to rent this??) made it out to be. It was a bit dry, and all the Macedonians had British accents (except Angelina Jolie, who I thought was actually pretty weak and I dunno WTF kind of accent she was supposed to have), but the visuals were really great, especially the battle with the elephants, and the story itself was interesting, if a bit drawn out. I'd say it was pretty average. 2.5/5 stars.

Corpse Bride - 7.5/10

Nice little animated movie/musical by Tim Burton, chock full of artistic detail and creativity. Need to see it about 5 more times to come to a final conclusion. So much to take in visually, too much really. Not the roller-coaster ride that was Burton's 'The Night Before Christmas' - that movie had better music, a better screenplay (CB is more subdued - much less frenetic) and more interesting characters. First impression: somewhat disappointed.


A History of Violence - 5/10

Big let down, coming from David Cronenberg - he of: The Brood, Rabid, The Fly, Naked Lunch, eXistenZ, etc, etc. Viggo Mortensen is just wrong wrong wrong for this movie. Scandanavian stoicism has no place in a David Cronenberg movie. Yes, it's a violent movie, but not Cronenberg-violent. Ok, it's a weird movie, but not Cronenberg-weird. The journey to the climax is so damn slow and plodding, you just want to yawn and pray for something cool to happen. The one bright spot in the movie is John Hurt's performance, which I would be willing to sit through the movie again just to see.

House of Flying Daggers - 4.5/5

Beautiful colors, but not obsessively so, like in Hero. Fighting was more believable (for the most part) than the wirework in CT,HD (I'm fine with wirework, but I need some basis in reality, even if ninjas jumping from tree to tree is it) and the characters were compelling. Ending left me bereft.

8/ 10
 

50 First Dates - I think it was excellent. I give it 8/ 10

It made me laugh and had the mushyness that girls love. Rob was great!! Drew Barrymore (sp?) is so cute! She played the part well!


My sister rented some dumb ass movie with Sarah Michelle Gellar - I don't remember the name of it. Anyway, she lives in Japan, does social work - finds that a woman she has been assigned to look after is haunted by a killer ghost. Wow. No. Not wow. Anyone know the name? It gets a 1 / 10. Sarah is hot. I'll give her a point for that.

I saw The History of Violence last night. It was given 4 stars by the local paper (4 stars being the best), and I thought...YES! Finally a decent movie in this year of so many mediocre movies! Well, add this to the mediocre pile. The acting was pretty good, but the story wa drawn out and just...meh. 2.5/5.