Constant Gardener 8 / 10

I'm not going to spoil the ending... But why?

Watched two Netflix DVDs last night.

Tale of Two Sisters -- 9.5/10
Wow. That's a very good movie. People who haven't seen it should.

Shaolin Soccer -- American Theatrical Version(Miramax Cut) -- 7/10
Funny, although it seems now I should have watched the original Chinese version because the US version has some stuff cut out. It was still subtitled, and I got to see the Thriller dance scene, but the ending song was the worst abortion I've ever heard in my life. Funny movie, though.

Once Upon a Time in the West...

One of the few serious contenders for Best Ever Western, and one of my all time favourites.

Underworld Evolution

Sequel to underworld. Dealing with Vampires and werewolves and a hybrid. I am an action film junkie and was impressed with the first movie. The sequel however does not match up to the original However overall I still enjoyed the movie and would rate it at 3 1/2 stars out of 5.

The best action movie I have seen is The long Kiss Good Night. I highly recommend this movie to any action junkie.

Just saw Brokeback Mountain again today. **** our of four.

This is a much deeper movie than I'd first realized, and Ang Lee has left a lot of things for the audience to discover, or to reinforce on a second viewing. Such as:

Spoiler: Jack's parents knew he was gay and knew Ennis was his lover when he came to visit. Jack's mother accepted this, and was making a gesture of friendship by suggesting he go to Jack's room and suggesting that he visit from time to time. Jack's dad knew and resented it, which was why he refused to have the ashes scattered on Brokeback. There are a dozen scenes filled with nuances like this, unspoken dialog that fills the silences.

Gilda

Scarface...

It might be perhaps a little over the top to call this an Opera of Violence, but hell if it isn't one of the most enjoyable movies ever!

I saw The Hills Have Eyes on Friday. I thought it was excellent. If you liked High Tension, you will most likely like The Hills Have Eyes. Great atmosphere, great tension, and when I saw it the audience was really into it. That always helps.

I'm kind of disgusted by the theme of the movie "The Hills Have Eyes". The bad guys are mutated victims from a nuclear explosion, right? I'm probably going to sound like a "pansy" or whatever, but I feel uncomfortable that people would choose to make victims of nuclear contamination seem evil in that movie..I dont know, it just seems...weird, for a reason.

I watched Amistad for the second time yesterday morning. It seemed like a much better movie than I remember it being the last time. It was much more powerful, and the imagery was more vivid.

Just be ready to sit down for a heavy, mostly sad, and often disturbing movie if you too would like to partake of the beautiful movie that is Amistad.

Raging Bull...

I don't know which I like better De Niro's acting or Scorsese's direction, eiher way a classic.

We watched Pixar's Monsters Inc. again last night. I realize it's a kids film, but it might just be a perfect one. It has so many wonderful details, the concept is clever and original, and the characters are fully realized. I think this sets the standard for modern kids films.

As I understand it, the point is that the government's neglegence caused these mutations, so it's more of a government=evil while the mutants=can't help it

It's not just that they are victims of nuclear contamination that makes them evil....they kill people...that makes them evil. It's thier choice to be evil.

They (the mutants) beleive that anyone that comes to where they live is responsible for thier mutations.

I guess I just saw it as a horror movie that spooked me and was a lot more gruesome than a lot of the other supposed Horror movies out there.

I agree, but despite how good a film it is, I still think it is inferior compared to Toy Story 1/2.

I'm currently in the middle of watching Sorority House Massacre on the Horror Channel.
It's a crappy B-movie, but one of those 'so bad it's good' movies.
A perfect example just happened:
The girls are in their underwear because they were getting ready for bed when the killer struck. They can't get their clothes cos the killer is upstairs, so they run out in the rain. But the killer is then outside, so they run back inside, and have spent the remainder of the film is their soaking wet underwear.

Though, this may just be cos I'm on my 9th beer.

I just saw North Country. GREAT movie. I LOOOOOOOVE Frances McDormand!

We rented Broken Flowers the other day. It was an interesting movie, and Bill Murray did a good job. The main problem I had with the movie was the ending. I felt so unfulfilled. I want to know if he found his son or not!
3.5/5 stars

Finally got around to seeing The Day the Earth Stood Still. There was some unavoidable 1950's cheesyness, but overall an excellent film that stands the test of time. The message is still every bit as relevant today as when it was made.

hukkle

it's a strange hungarian film that i stumbled across--really excellent sound design and a very smart film. try to find it--it's worth the search.
it's the most sonically busy silent film i have ever seen.
you'll see.

V for Vendeta: 8/10. Very power to the people. But well acted. I was impressed. Good entertainment, awesome fight scenes, great dialogue. :thumbsup:

Just saw "Walk the Line"....it was a very well done, interesting movie, I'd say it deserves three & 1/2 stars out of four stars and I liked the music waaaay more than I expected. I had no idea how hard and long Johnny Cash worked on his music.

Great acting & singing all around, too!

History of Violence:

I thought it was a really good movie. The scenes with violence were amazing, even though they were few in quantity. I didn't expect this movie to be nearly as good as it turned out to be because I believe I read some reviews—in this very thread actually—mentioning it as a disappointment. Anyway, another thing I liked about the movie was the dialogue, and not just through words. The movie also contained a lot of good themes in it as well.

Anyway, I neglect to give this movie an actual rating, such as x/10 simply because I don't want to. I'm finding it harder and harder to do with the more movies I see. So, instead, I'll just say that I recommend the movie, but keep in mind that for a movie with "Violence" in the title there is not a large quantity of it, but the quality makes up for it.

Oh, and technically this isn't the last movie I've seen, but I already gave my comments on V for Vendetta in another thread and don't feel like repeating them. :)

Just Like Heaven 7/10

Cute, it was the wifes turn to pick on blockbuster.com. Reese Witherspoon is hot.

Intacto.

I thought it was fantastic. Plays with the notion of "luck" and whether or not it is real and if it can be controlled or not.

Great imagery, lots of depth.

<b>Primer</b> (2004)
(not to be confused with Prime, a romantic comedy)

It's a conceptual Sci-fi, about two engineers who invent a backwards running time machine in their garage. What happens next (yesterday?) is utterly original and also a bit confounding. The story unfolds for you, as it does for the characters, without any exposition and explores themes of want, power and friendship.

This film is also a masterful puzzle that doesn't easily lay out the answers. If you were confused by Memento, this is not for you. On the other hand, it's not purposely (irritatingly) confusing like Mulholland Drive. This is no acid trip, it just that paradoxes are a bitch.

Part of the enjoyment for me, was going online afterwards and reading some theories about the plot points.

10/10, with the caveat that this is a conceptual film, that won't wait for you to figure it out.

Yeah, that was a weird one but I also liked it. It got kind of difficult to make out some of the paradoxes involved. Confusing, no dout about it, but in a good way.

Primer was awesome!

Watched it several times, just trying to get my mind around it.

Jarhead. 7/10

I thought the movie had a great view on the war, it was a totaly different angle that was pretty neat to see. I also like Jake Gyllenhaal so thats always a bonus. The movie did get a little draggy at times near the end, but overall I enjoyed it. But if you are looking for a big shoot em up special effects movie then don't bother with this one.

V for Vendeta" Quite a good movie! Tight plot and a quick pace. 8/10

Rent I love everything about this movie! I am a huge musical movie fan so it is perfect. The characters are just campy enough to be fun but not so over the top as to be unrealistic. 10/10

RoboCop 2 Not what I would consider a masterpiece but it is a really fun movie to watch with friends. I give it a 7/10.

Domino 6/10. Thought the plot was a bit weak. Was that a true story or not? At the beginning it says "Based on a True Story"... "Sort of"

"Good Night and Good Luck" : 7.2 / 10

I liked it, but it was definitely a renter. A period piece about McCarthyism? Hmmmm. I like history lessons, but more exciting ones, thank you very much.


"Capote" : 7.5 / 10

Okay. I didn't know very much about the guy before I watched the movie, and only the stuff that you see in mid '80s pop culture. I knew about the book "In Cold Blood", but never read it.

I respected Phillip Seymour Hoffman, I also thought he did a good job. Just, it wasn't my kind of movie. Go figure.

Jin-Roh: The Wolf Brigade 9/10

Just great. The soundtrack, the clean, simple drawing style, the melancholy plotline. A very affecting and impressive anime.

V for Vendetta
Sweet movie, nothing has been his good for a while in the movies. beautful fight scenes, and great plot. 8.5/10

V for Vendetta

Incredible movie. Almost everything about it was awesome. I do have to admit though, the first time V talked, all I could think was, "shit, this movie's gonna suck!"

9/10

I had a weekend movie binge recently...

The Weatherman - Pretty solid movie, I thought. Just a movie about a guy trying to get his shit together. It took some odd paths and had a few laugh out loud moments, so, I guess, it was worth the rental. ;)

A History of Violence - Like fresnelly said, the few moments of violence in the movie are spectacular, it's just the shit in between that really drags this movie down. That and Maria Bello (?). Normally I like her stuff, Viggo is an excellent actor and William Hurt's role (as brief as it was) was pretty fantastic stuff, but just not enough to make this one a great movie.

Good night and good luck - I like the period pieces. I just think this one was kind of confused. Is it about the CBS newsroom? McCarthy? Murrow? the threat of the 'Red Scare?' or the relationship between Friendly and Murrow or Murrow and Pealy? Just a whole bunch of stuff kind of slapped together with no real structure. I like that it was filmed in black and white. I like that they stayed fairly true to the words of Murrow, but the rest just seemed to be filler in between Murrow soliloquies (gosh, I hope I spelled that right...)

Derailed - An excellent movie. I knew what was going on from the get go and knew how I thought it was going to end. I was pleasantly surprised. Anniston in her knickers on the bed is almost worth the price of admission. :)

Inside Man

Finally! A suspense movie that actually takes it's time. You know, to build suspense?

The character interactions were very natural, and all of their motivations where believable and grounded. Likewise, the plot twists were never cartoonish or cheats.

Please go see this movie.

This is just a totally random thought....

I don't smoke. However, I had the weirdest urge to start smoking after watching this film.

V For Vendetta - I don't have a lot of time, so I'll just say that I liked it, but I found that the dialogue had some pretty cheesy parts. It wasn't a perfect movie, but it was nice watching it in the middle of the day, in an empty theatre on my March Break.

6.5/10

Speaking of smoking...

We went to see "Thank you for Smoking" on Wednesday night and I was pleasantly surprised (for some reason I thought it was going to be a documentary, a la "Super Size Me" or something). Very entertaining and well-done. I was roaring my way through most of the satire, while at the same time groaning at how accurate they were at nailing issues on the head. It also made me very glad that I didn't smoke, though after the movie I had a desire to eat/consume something that would be equally as unhealthy for me (I settled for fries).

8.5/10

The Squid and the Whale

Excellent portrait of a family's divorce and the relationships between the two adults and children involved.

While there's certainly some uncomfortable and cringe inducing moments, there's humour and comic absurdity too. I loved the scenes between the older son and his girlfriend. It's hard enough being a clueless teenager trying to figure out how to have a relationship. Having lousy role models as parents on top of that, is the icing on the cake.

I'm curious how a viewer who has gone through a family break-up would experience the movie. The unblinking and naturalistic tone could be very difficult to watch if you see yourself too strongly in these characters. Apparently, the film is somewhat autobiographical of the director, Noah Baumbach. I'm fortunate not to have been through the same ringer as these people, so perhaps I was able to enjoy it more from a safe perspective.

Special Features: Definitely watch the interview of Noah Baumbach by Phillip Lopate. It's very insightful and I liked what he had to say about the Brooklyn setting.