Lucifer

The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus 8/10. Very Terry Gilliam in the art direction and acting. Very reminescent of both Baron Munchausen and Time Bandits. Heath Ledger is great in his last role, and Christopher Plummer is good, although pretty unintelligible for most of the movie. Jude Law, Colin Farrell, and Johnny Depp do excellent Heath Ledger impersonations in the alternate world through the mirror and Tom Waits is surprisingly good as the devil. You are never quite sure what is going to happen in this film, with Plummer as an immortal sideshow carnie, doing deals with the devil for his daughter's soul. Verne Troyer (Mini-Me) is excellent as Plummer's sidekick, and has some of the film's best lines. Not for everyone, but fans of Gilliam will be pleased.

Knowing 6/10. Nicholas Cage was predictable and quite manic as a single dad, whose son gets a letter from the past (via the plot device of a time capsule) covered in random numbers. Cage gets obsessed very early on (20 minutes into the movie and he's already at the "building a mountain of mashed potatoes in his living room" [Close Encounters reference for anyone who missed it] stage) and figures out that the numbers detail major losses of life over the past 50 years. Only 1 real creepy scene, (in the trailer when they figure out what "EE" means), and the ending is pretty goofy. Good beginning, but the ending doesnt' live up to the promise.

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stevie667

Avatar - 8/10

Absoloutely amazing CGI, go see it for that alone. A few plot points and preachyness bits that let it down, but i'm itching to go back and see it again and spot all the stuff i missed before.

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LoganSnake

I've watched a metric shit ton of movies since I last posted in this thread, but the one I had just finished watching some 20 minutes ago is The Wrestler. Twenty minutes later and I am still affected by the ending. Not too many movies do it to me. It may not be the best movie ever, but to me it was pretty much perfect on the emotional level.

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oliver9184

Are you kidding? I remember going to watch this with no expectations and thinking it was pretty shit at first then it growing and growing on me until the FANTASTIC ending! I think I may have been still drunk from the previous day but I was absolutely agape at the ending of Knowing, and I stayed through the credits to properly digest it. I couldn't. I think I went and got more drunk (day off, probably).

Agreed, the Wrestler is not far off perfect, on that level, and on some others, too.

Sherlock Holmes 6/10 - (sort-of mild spoilers in here) I was quite severely, and unexpectedly, disappointed by this. I remember seeing trailers early in the summer and being very excited; it looked smart, funny and action-heavy and not totally stupid... It is funny to an extent, and some of the action is pretty good but it's not very smart (it should be smart above all things, I think) and the story really sucks. Holmes and Watson have been dumped into a stinking and overripe mad/evil-genius trying to take over the world plot in which there are plenty of chases and set-pieces but which doesn't seem to require Holmes's powers of deduction until the end. The hackneyed climax sees Holmes face off against enemy Lord Blackwood, and in that scene I counted three hoary old cliches that I presumed had been abandoned through overuse decades ago. For instance: we really shouldn't be seeing a character step unwittingly into a loop of rope which then tightens and drags him somewhere thus allowing his opponent to gain the advantage. There's a slight chance that I may have missed the point - some sort of spoof or parody was intended - but if so it was poorly executed. The whole film, and the final scene in particular, had a feel of artificiality that veered between a bit niggly and downright irritating. The performances were generally fine, although I'd like Rachel McAdams to have had more of a forceful presence - and, thinking about it, Blackwood is a really shit villain and a well played Professor Moriarty (played by whom? Paul Bettany perhaps) would have been a more appropriate rival.

The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes 9/10. Having been severely underwhelmed by Sherlock at the cinema I came home and put on my ragged old 3rd or 4th generation VHS copy of this 70 year old Hollywood version starring Basil Rathbone as Holmes and Nigel Bruce as Watson. Most things that get called classic don't deserve it but this does. Everything is as it should be: Holmes is impetuous, brilliant, mercurial; Watson is bumbling, blundering, childlike in his simplicity and petulence but loyal as a dog. The plot involves something about a killer using a primitive Andean throwing weapon and Moriarty stealing the crown jewels, and it is pretty solid - but the real joy comes from watching the two leads racing around Hollywood's idea of 1890s London, which then gradually became the whole world's idea of the same.

Yes Man 6/10. This is Jim Carrey coasting. Everyone knows by now how good he can be: Lemony Snicket's and Eternal Sunshine are the two recent examples that showcase his formidable range. Exemplary performances taken from opposite ends of the scale. Yes Man is one of those flimsy, trite comedy films featuring Bradley Cooper (Wedding Crashers, The Hangover) in support that seem to have become popular over the last few years: aimed at young adults who laugh whether it's funny or not: nine times out of ten it's not. (It unnerves me no end hearing Carrey say fuck) The whole conceit (say yes to everything no matter what) is intriguing in an abstract don't think about it too long sort of way; as a premise for a film it's simply not up to snuff and seems also to be taken by the writers as a license write... well, to write a lot of bullshit and use it as a film. This would be sort-of ok if Jim Carrey was sometimes a bit mad, etc, but he's plays the most dull, miserable, dislikeable and downright boring protagonist I think I've ever watched in a proper film. (Except for Shrek.) He hardly ever does his Jim Carrey thing - the best we get is him making mad faces by sticking see-through tape all over his face. That said this is still a very very easy to watch film that requires no effort whatsoever. That's what some audiences want. And that's fine. (what is it about Bradley Cooper? He looks like a young, even eviler Ralph Fiennes. I want him to be the bad guy not the smarmy best friend).

Observe & Report 9/10 There's plenty of savage and close-to-the-bone comedy in this film from last year starring Seth Rogen. I really wish I'd seen it in a packed cinema so I could have heard people's laughs and gasps and so on. Rogen plays a different sort of character than in Pineapple Express and Knocked Up - he's the protagonist in this film but he's not as easily identifiable with and sympathetic because he's really a real loser - not a pretend loser like in those other films - he's a real loser, and mentally damaged, in this film. It's really hilarious in parts, it's surprising and pulls none of its punches and for these reasons I'm sure it will reward repeat viewings.

In Bruges 8/10 I really didn't think this would be for me but watched it anyway and was pleasantly surprised. The humour ranges from pretty broad and crass to absolutely inspired, to subtle and touching. There are more hits than misses. and Colin Farrell does his best with a badly written and fairly dislikeable character. Most of the parts involving the dwarf/midget are lousy - this compounded by disastrous acting from the dwarf himself but they aren't so bad as to spoil everything. The best thing about this film is Ralph Fiennes - so far unseen - on the other end of the telephone. But what I liked best about this film I think, is the immature and lighthearted attitude its characters take towards things like life, death, morality, firearms, revenge, honour and the like. They're gangsters but they go about their business as if they were schoolboys playing a game.

What Price Glory 8/10 is a comedy-drama set in WWI from 1952 directed by John Ford and starring James Cagney. I was never a fan of John Ford; he was known to be out of his element with this film and at odds with the studio and so unsurprisingly this is by quite a long way the worst James Cagney film I have seen so far. But he is my favourite actor of all time and I can happily sit through anything he's in. If some other actor played his role in this I probably wouldn't have considered watching it. The film is stagey and rough, it staggers between uneasy and unbalanced comedy and fearful mawk as the old Hollywood wartime situations and cliches you know from hundreds of other films get acted out yet again. Cagney is absolutely the keystone to it all - everything in the film centers on him and he's like a father to his troops, who are young, green and scared. I would certainly have been scared serving as a marine in the First World War but I couldn't hope for a better C.O. than Captain Flagg - aka James Cagney!

oliver9184

The Brothers Grimm 6/10 is a silly pantomime caper notable only for the fact that it manages to squander Matt Damon's talents which is something I haven't ever seen before;
Vanilla Sky 5/10 could be the most self important, self satisfied and self indulgent film I've ever seen. I love Tom Cruise but I fucking hate him in this and I hate Penelope Cruz as well, and Cameron Diaz and the entire rest of the cast. I can picture them all watching the rushes nodding to each other saying "yeah, we've done good work here, uh-huh, we're really onto something great guys". I DON'T CARE about their made-up privileged lives! And it's even made up in the context of the film! STREWTH!

blahblah454

Xmen 3, The Last Stand - 5/10

Pretty weak compared to the first two. Although it does have one of the best scenes ever: "Do you know who I am?!? I'm the Juggernaut bitch!".

Daniel_

Pulp Fiction. 11 out of 10.

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Jhon Smitch

1. Sexo, Pudor y Lagrimas (Mexican Movie) 9/10
2. What Happens in Vegas stay in Vegas( or something like that) 6/10
3. Coraline( I dont like animated films but this one rocked me out!) 9/10

hunnychile

"Pi" from 1998. Directed by Darren Aronofsys. A real brain bender, to say the least. This artsy as hell, Black & White Film shows one man's haunting numerical obsession.

I LOVED it and my spouse hated it. Oh well. I rent what I want and I want to see it all!!

(Just needed something totally trippy for a change....)

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oliver9184

The best things about the following, according to me, were...

Brothers 7/10: Natalie Portman!
A Prophet 8/10: the most tense, fraught, real murder scene I've seen for ages. I had to glance briefly away without wanting to
Sideways 8/10: Thomas Haden Church (he's an infant! and a derelict!)
The Contract 4/10: not much was good about this but some things were amusing: the least convincing wilderness sets and night-effects since the 1950s; some of the most hacky dialogue since cinema began; Freeman and Cusack taking the bullshit caper so seriously and treating it with a dignity it absolutely does not deserve
The Bounty 10/10: Anthony Hopkins reaching the top of his game and Tevaite Vernette, the fairest maiden that sailed the seven seas.
Koyaanisqatsi 10/10: Its melancholy and hypnotic music and the fact like you feel like God watching the earth when you watch this.
Powaqqatsi 8/10: The shot of the kids on the little ferris wheel about two thirds through.
The Day the Earth Caught Fire 8/10: The practical effects, and the way the film broaches what was at the time a very serious and pertinent issue, in as accessible and universal a way possible.

ARTelevision

I'm hoping to just slip this in somewhere without making a lot of noise. I have actually been very unwilling to state my simple reactions to the movie called, "Avatar," as it feels downright dangerous and socially problematic to do so within both my real-life and online acquaintances. Yes. It does. Well then, in any event, the story itself struck me as a simplistic predictable comic-book melodrama and, as far as CGI... It just looked like a multi-million-dollar video game to me. Another step forward for "realistic" (whatever that means) cartoons I guess but...a walk in the woods is a lot more amazing and visually spectacular to me than all this expensive artificiality. So there you have it. Sorry about that, friends. As far as I can see, it's just another big-corporation-mass-media product with a token politically-correct storyline.

*

Adding my rating here:

3/10

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MexicanOnABike

The Hangover Blu-ray edition:

Quick recap: Movie about a bachelor party gone wrong in vegas. 3 guys wake up not remembering the previous night and with the groom missing. It's really fun not knowing what happened and seeing the characters start to remember the night. Reminds me a bit of "dude, where's my car?"

I saw this at the cinema when it came out and it was funny but not like everyone said. So seeing it once again by myself made me see what the movie was: A great story but not overly hilarious. I still rate this pretty high for what it is.

Official after 2 viewing rating: 8/10

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LoganSnake

(500) Days of Summer.

I actually watched it twice yesterday. Once for the first time by myself and another time with my sis. Very, very good movie. Not your average, cookie cutter romantic comedy, which I loved. Great acting, great soundtrack and great dialogue. I'm buying this one.

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LoganSnake

Daybreakers.

Eh. I didn't really like it. The trailer was more interesting than the movie. Several points in the film were flat out unnecessary and some of the acting was very spotty. It was okay. Wouldn't watch it again.

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Cynthetiq

Art, nice to see you here again. I agree with the real world being amazing. I still reminisce about the first walk in 2000 on the frozen waterfalls of Goðafoss in the northern part of Iceland and the fjords of eastern Iceland.

I just watched it again, and until I can see floating mountains in person, it's a nice fantasy to see on screen instead of in text in some sci-fi book.

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ARTelevision

Thanks for the greeting, Cynthetiq. It's nice being seen here again.

(Art closes his eyes and sees floating mountains in his imagination. Art opens his eyes and sees floating mountains in his imagination. The floating mountains Art sees in his imagination are quite impressive and memorable to him and they are also free - with a zero carbon footprint to boot!)

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oliver9184

I don't agree that Avatar's story is politically correct. Only ostensibly and insincerely so. The 'noble savage' ideology is really old-fashioned and I felt a little patronised to be presented with that sort of thing, without irony, in a cinema in the 21st Century. There's a big discussion about avatar elsewhere in Entertainment, I didn't read or contribute to that but I expect this sort of thing's discussed in more depth there.

ARTelevision

Yes, oliver9184. I thoroughly agree with what you're saying here. The Noble Savage is a cliche.

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GreyWolf

Its Complicated.... 6/10 (surprising because I dislike both Meryl Streep & Steve Martin)

The plot is right out of the 1950's/60's. There is way too much Streep/Baldwin interaction and not enough Streep/Martin interaction to really explain the plot. Just not enough plot development... the movie is too short for what it wants you to accept. John Krasinski as Harley almost steals the show with an hilarious performance. The movie wins for showing that it's possible for older people with less than perfect bodies to still enjoy sex, and have passionate relationships.

Overall, worth seeing by men, probably a real treat for women.

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Shell

I agree that John Krasinski as Harley just about stole the show in "It's Complicated"...but then there's Meryl. Despite the fact that this is not Academy Award material, I must say that Meryl Streep delivers exceptional acting as always...whether it be a drama or a romantic comedy as this is, she is always worthy of an Academy Award. She's a natural in a myriad of diverse roles.

Steve Martin, whom I loved in Father Of The Bride, just wasn't doing it for me...lack of chemistry with Streep perhaps. It was a real disappointment for me when Meryl Streep Spoiler: chose him instead of Alec Baldwin at the end but then I thought, hey wait, Alec Baldwin may have had more chemistry with Streep but his character was a real schmuck...not unlike John Edwards...casting the old out for the new. Then he has the audacity to return for "old times"....grrr. Spoiler: So the writers got it right in the end at least. And there were many hilarious moments...one scene almost convinced me to go out and smoke some grass.

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blahblah454

Starship Troopers - 10/10
I love love love this movie!! This is probably the 15th time I have seen this and I still want to watch it again! I don't know what it is about it that is so great, I just can't get enough. It is a real shame the next two are so horrible. And I have also read the book and really enjoyed that as well. To all that have not read it, go do so now!

Taken - 8/10
Really cool movie, Liam Neeson kicks so much ass in this its scary! Go see this!

Avatar (in IMAX) 10/10
Second time seeing it, and it was still amazing. I don't give a damn if the story has been told 10 times before, an enjoyable story is an enjoyable story. The only thing I really did not like about it, and it was cringeworthly, was the main characters "ra-ra" speech near the end. I really did not like that part.

Conan the Barbarian - 3/10 (on the serious scale), 7/10 (on the B-movie scale)
Hilarious!! Hilariously bad!! Oh Arnie so so so cheesy!!

Conan the Destroyer - 4/10 (on the serious scale), 8.5/10 (on the B-movie scale)
Hilarious!!! Ultra cheese!!! Super-fantastic-mega-cheese!! The "sorcery" in this film is so amazing I wanted to shit my pants!! Arnie has some freakishly huge muscles in this, it is no wonder he won all those contests. Gah so awesome!!

Lost Season 5 - 7/10
Okay not really a movie, but its my post I will do what I want! I was not that impressed with this season, the last few episodes were decent but other than that they were too all over the bloody place. If I was watching this on TV and had to wait a week between them I would have been ticked and just given up.

Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure - 8/10
One of the best braindead comedies every made. It set the stage for Keanu's acting. I don't think it ever got any better.

A Bridge Too Far - 8.5/10
I watched this in two sittings as it is really long. I really enjoyed it, anyone who likes war movies should see this. It really shows the brutality of it all.

Troy (extended blu-ray) - 8/10
I know lots of people did not like this movie, but I do. I like the swordplay, and its even better in the extended edition. Its about 40 min extra of pure fight scenes. If you like the movie and don't have it on blu-ray then get it!

oliver9184

Adaptation 7/10 felt a little dated on second viewing and certainly not a classic as I had vaguely thought previously. Nic Cage tries hard in two roles but often feels much less natural than in other roles. Donald Kaufman isn't quite as funny as I remembered and Charlie can get irritating. Both their hairs are exactly like pubic hair. I really dislike Meryl Streep in this but both Chris Cooper and Brian Cox are very good. This is definately worth watching if you haven't ever seen it before but don't expect to be floored by the cleverest movie ever made.

The Machinist 8/10 really pissed me off for the majority of its length because of how dour, and serious, and humourless (and so well-suited to Christian Bale) it is - and I was getting ready with a 5 or 6 out of 10 score - but it completely pays off in the last 15 minutes. The box said it's like Fight Club and Memento, both of which I know I should like but don't, so I wasn't expecting to feel rewarded afterwards. It was totally rewarding and I kept thinking about it all day, so it's totally recommended. It would be a 9 if it wasn't such a slog to get through.

Rob Roy 9/10 was something I had on VHS for years but never watched, so I stuck it on this week and I totally loved it. It's like a cut-price (but still studio Hollywood) Braveheart with guns. Liam Neeson is a duller-witted but strong as an ox William Wallace, and is wronged by a much better bunch of baddies than there are in Braveheart: Tim Roth is a revelation, wringing every drop of dastardly out of his role and John Hurt camps it up outrageously whilst managing to stay credible. These two have some lines that are far, far better than you'd expect from a film like this and pretty much all of the dialogue is superb - very rare for a period piece. There's an offhand, flippant quality about this film that was brilliant and feels much more immediate and real than Braveheart's earnest, almost endless and ultimately rather insincere pomp. If more people had seen it I think this would be almost as classic and well-loved as Prince of Thieves.

The Electric Cowboy 7/10 is another that had been glaring at me from the shelf for a long time. It's a modern semi-Western from 1979 starring Robert Redford and Jane Fonda. Redford is a former champion Rodeo cowboy gone to seed, sold out and pissed up, whoring himself to advertise a breakfast cereal. He's required by his employers to ride a prize racehorse out onto a stage at Las Vegas for PR purposes but instead rides off into the desert because he's had enough of sucking corporate schlong. Redford may not have much range (imagine him as a baddie!) but he has massive personality and magnetism. This film would probably have bored me stupid without Redford in it, but I was glued and solely because of him I cared about what happened to his character and the horse.

Pearl Trade

The Watchmen 7/10

thought it would be better. high expectations killed the cat.

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Grancey

Edge of Darkness - 3/10
I think that is the name of it. Anyway, it's bad, bad, bad. I thought it would never end. It seemed to last for 3 hours,dragged with so much unnecessary jibberish, and I never cared about Mel or any other character. And the ending was not for me. Mel and Bruce need to give up making films and stick to the golf course.

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oliver9184

Edge of Darkness 8/10 has been slagged off by some critics but not me. It's a very old fashioned and conservative film but the story engrosses and Mel Gibson is perfect playing this sort of character. The extent of my knowledge about this film, and my sole reason for watching it, was that Gisbon starred and I was entirely satisfied. (Grancey: The ending definately was for me! Spoiler: A tear came to my eye!)

Youth In Revolt 7/10 was able to dispell slightly, and probably temporarily, my for Michael Cera. Here he's being slightly daring taking on two roles: main character, and a physical manifestation of main character's id. As expected the id gets him into all sorts of trouble and scrapes and shit we wish we had the balls to do when we were younger.

Jumper 5/10 is a turkey that leads me to think, sadly, that Hayden Christensen, has no future outside of Star Wars. I liked him as angry Anakin Skywalker and I liked him a lot in Shattered Glass. There's a particularly narrow niche of indignant, infantile, pseudo-righteous frustration that he does very well indeed but little of that is displayed in this surprisingly earnest, but brainless, bunkum.

The Eiger Sanction 7/10 is a mid seventies Clint Eastwood (directed by and starring) film in which he stars as a spy-turned-professor: a pair of spectacles is all that's needed, and just like Indiana Jones all the hot young students want a piece of him (but he doesn't pick on students or drunks. Which, he says, is why he didn't "boff that little quiff".) Climbing fans will point to this film for its spectacular and real-life mountaineering scenes but these take an hour and a half to get to and the film's pretty slow until then.

Kalifornia 5/10 is a thoroughly stupid and unpleasant "thriller" from the early 90s starring Brad Pitt as a thigh-slapping lank-haired beer-swilling serial-killing yokel and the endlessly dislikeable Juliette Lewis as his childlike, babbling, pitifully retarded girlfriend. David Duchovny and some stuck-up bitch decide to take a road trip across America stopping at sites of famous serial killings (why not!), and unwisely take along aforementioned actual killers (ironic!)

The Bank Job 8/10 is a surprisingly good British crime thriller starring Jason Statham and lots of other British people you'll recognise but not know the names of if you watch British TV. The story is bigger and wider than is usual for the crime caper (sub-) genre, and is based on a real life incident that happened in 1970 but was instantly hushed-up because of supposed National Defense reasons and/or MI5 involvement. Some of the dialogue is pretty awful and some of the content is very dark considering how light the tone of the film is, but the photography's unusually nice for a film of this sort and there's some good action.

Syriana 8/10 is a big, complex and detailed geopolitical thriller with four or five different interlinking stories and a big ensemble cast that includes George Clooney and Matt Damon. It's like Traffic but about oil instead of cocaine, and it was written and directed by the writer of Traffic. It's fiction but based on the memoirs of a real ex-CIA man who was based somewhere in the Middle East.

The Mosquito Coast 6/10 apparently is the only Harrison Ford film to have made a loss at the B.O. He was never one of my favourites and as of 2010 he's a complete joke but back in 1986 he was probably at the peak of his stardom. He's acceptable and believable in this story of a genius but unreasonable and unhinged father who tires of the USA and takes his family to live in the jungles of Honduras - he couldn't have gotten any bigger, acting wise, in the role without becoming ridiculous but this film needs a monster and I think in 1986 there were actors who could have made it work, and made the film work better: Jack Nicholson (who turned it down), Michael Douglas, Jon Voight? Anyway as it is with Ford it doesn't really do the novel justice though River Phoenix is great as Ford's son.

The Wolfman 6/10 had some very good moments but something was not right somewhere deep in the story mechanics. It's only about an hour and a half but I felt extraordinarily restless in all of the non-action and non-Anthony Hopkins scenes. I couldn't care a jot for the female lead or her relationship with Del Toro and I'm not really sure that I was supposed to considering the scant amount of attention she and it got. The film had a troubled pre and post production so I expect a lot of romantic stuff may have been cut. The best scenes in this film are when the American werewolf is in London but it doesn't come close to the classic film An American Werewolf in London.

Grancey

Crazy Heart - 2/10

For me, current films have been falling flat lately. I really hated this one. The performance by Jeff Bridges was boring and Maggie G. was also lacking in interest. However, Colin Farrell who I am really not fond of, had an amazing performance. If he had starred and not Jeff Bridges the film would have had a little umph.

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oliver9184

The Devil Wears Prada 5/10 is a female-targeted fashion-based comedy/drama with Anne Hathaway, Meryl Streep and Emily Blunt. It has an Ugly Betty-ish setup wherein an unfashionable woman lands a job at a very fashion-conscious establishment. Hathaway isn't good looking or charismatic enough to enthrall me by herself, and has a voice and mannerisms that irritate me, Streep might as well be asleep inside this role so the only thing left - if you don't know or care about fashion - is Emily Blunt, who's good but not in it enough.

Vicky Cristina Barcelona 9/10 is another arguably female-targeted comedy/drama, this time with the far better-looking and better-generallyScarlett Johansson, Penelope Cruz and Javier Bardem. It's a very laid back, liberal and effortlessly smart comedy set in Spain with loads of lovely Spanish Guitar music, wine-drinking and bedroom shenanigans with physically sublime females. Javier Bardem comes close to being the ultimate alpha-male in this, using nothing but innate charm and wit, without a shred of machismo. I can't remember when I wanted to be someone more than I did him in this film, and not just for the obvious reasons.

Into the Wild 9/10 is the true story of Chris McCandless, aka Alexander Supertramp (Emile Hirsch), who after graduating college decides to give his entire savings to Oxfam, leave behind his family, friends and unwanted 'things', and go (indirectly) Into The Wild. Hirsch is an absolute revelation in this role, and he immediately brings to mind River Phoenix or a Beach-era DiCaprio. He and the gorgeous location photography are what makes this film great not good, and almost all the supporting cast is also strong.

Mission: Impossible III 7/10

Pom Poko 7/10

Trick 'R Treat 6/10

Kingdom of Heaven 6/10 (extended Director's Cut)

Naqoyqqatsi 1/10 I cannot remember ever being more disappointed by a film. I know Koyaanisqatsi like the back of my hand, and I love it dearly; and I found Powaqqatsi, whilst not AS strong, to be powerful and just as watchable. Naqoyqqatsi is a disaster. At first I thought there was something wrong with the DVD player or the disc. There's all sorts of lamentable CGI nonsense throughout, and the 'real' shots have almost all been treated with some sort of horrible process, like a shitty photoshop effect, fucking up the colours or the contrast. It's like what you can do, but wouldn't for any good reason, when you film things on your camera phone's camera.

dd3953

Paper Heart: 9.5/10 - Very well done. Yeah, just very well done, and it was a great movie.

---------- Post added at 10:35 PM ---------- Previous post was at 10:26 PM ----------

The very reasons I will not be watching it.

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ObieX

Død snø (Dead Snow)
Død snø (2009)

9/10




Basically its a Norwegian "Evil Dead" with Nazi Zombies. If ya like Evil Dead, Nazi Zombies, blood and gore, and/or Norwegians you will like this movie.



Its on Netflix instant watch, so go fucking watch it right now.

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oliver9184

So I Married an Axe Murderer 6/10 is very tepid comedy with Mike Myers from 1993. I don't think I laughed once, but you might if you like Mike Myers or are more easily amused than I. Some nice San Francisco locations.

Back to the Future 10/10 - I'm not sure why but I wasn't fully aware of how perfect this film is so it only had a 9 in my head until I watched it again. I didn't realise just how clever the script is and all sorts of subtle stuff with the camerawork and sound had me rewinding and marvelling. The part where George and Lorraine finally get the ball rolling at the Enchantment Under the Sea dance, and save Marty from non-existence, is phenomenal. Jaws notwithstanding Back to the Future's better than anything Steven Spielberg ever directed.

Taxidermia 7/10 was, as I'd been led to believe by a previous post in this thread, like nothing I'd ever seen before. I have absolutely no idea what to make of it, though I'm pretty sure there was a point, i.e. there were legitimate artistic intentions and it wasn't just being contraversial for controversy's sake. A man's penis emitting fire like a flamethrower is just one of the outrageous treats the film contains.

Clash of the Titans 5/10 is a very dull ancient Greek adventure in the style of the far more fun Jason and the Argonauts.

Heartbreak Ridge 7/10 is a standard Clint Eastwood vehicle from 1986 in which he plays a grizzled Gunnery Sergeant in the Marines who makes proper soliders out of a unit of slackers, then takes them to invade Grenada and saves the day. Clint scowls, says "fuck" more than usual and does a lot of fighting. Mario van Peebles also features.

Man on Wire 8/10 is about the guy who tightrope walked betwixt the two WTC towers in the 1970s. It's an absorbing story but why on earth didn't they film him doing it?

Jesus' Son 7/10 is a worthy road movie starring Billy Crudup as a good-hearted drifter who gets involved in drugs, damaged girls, Jack Black and caring for the elderly all over the Midwest. It's disjointed and non-linear, and quite difficult to watch but Crudup is great and there's an excellent cameo by Dennis Hopper who has the line, "talk into my bullet hole and tell me that I'm fine".

The Boss of it All 6/10 is a tedious and pretentious "comedy" (speech marks definately necessary) from Lars Von Trier, whose other films Breaking the Waves, Dogville and Dancer in the Dark I like a lot. An actor gets hired to pretend to be the boss of a company for some reason I didn't pay attention to. If you work in middle management, or are Danish, or both; or if you care about things like companies taking each other over, you might get something out of this.

blahblah454

Ong Bak 2 - 7/10

I loved the first On Bak, this one had pretty much nothing to do with it in any way. The filming was really really strange as well, whoever did it took the whole slowdown and zoom in on something thing way too far.

But the last 40 minutes or so were 100% fighting, and serious fighting! Tony Jaa must kill at least 100 people in this time. Oh Snap!

Grasshopper Green

Surrogates - 0/5. A movie has to be pretty damn bad for me to give it 0 stars. I didn't even finish watching it. It was boring, the acting sucked, the plot was non-existant. Horrible.

Carriers - 1/5. Chris Pine is hot, which is the only thing going for this movie. Generic movie about a killer virus and the people trying to escape it, but not nearly as good as similar films.

The Damned United - 4/5. Based on a true story of an English soccer manager in the 70's. Lead character is played by Michael Sheen, whom I love. Good acting, engaging story. If you are a soccer/football fan, it's a must.

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Formerly Medusa

Bacchanal

Munich - 8/10

I liked it, lots of action and parts where I was on the edge of my seat.

Moon - 9/10

Great flick, and it seems to be fairly unheard of. For a movie with only 1 actor throughout most of it, it kept me entertained though, admittedly, some parts were pretty slow.

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Poppinjay

The Crazies. 100% suck. Save your money.

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I think the Apocalypse is happening all around us. We go on eating desserts and watching TV. I know I do. I wish we were more capable of sustained passion and sustained resistance. We should be screaming and what we do is gossip. -Lydia Millet

Jove

Alice in Wondering: a continuation of the classic children’s story, but now Alice has aged 8 years and decides, in her delusional state of mind, to escape reality and travel back to Wonderland. Wonderland is not as wonderful as it once was due to a series of events that occurred during Alice’s departure as a young girl, but this is all lost in memory to the present Alice, who assumes this is all a dream. Adventures and battle ensue throughout the 120 minutes movie and I was disappointed with the ending.

Rating: 7.5/10

Frosstbyte

Alice in Wonderland:

I'd say that Jove's review sums up a lot of it for me, but I think I liked the movie better. I've never actually read the books, so I don't have major issues with this movie "corrupting" the purpose of the books or anything like that. The art direction and costuming in this movie are simply magnificent. I'd say it's almost worth the price of the ticket to see Alice's wardrobe change throughout the movie, especially the plate armor she wears at the end of the flick. The girl didn't do a whole lot for me for the rest of the movie, but when she put that shit on...wow.

It wasn't a wholly coherent or perfectly conceived movie, but it certainly cleared my entertainment threshold for the two hours I was watching it.

8/10

ASU2003

The Hurt Locker - 4/10
It wasn't anything original, it had no plot, I never connected with any of the characters. I felt like I was there, but it was just going about a normal day for the bomb disposal team. The sound was good, but that is because my sound system makes up for a lot (I feel the helicopters and explosions). I watched it right before the Oscars and have no idea how it won. It should be a rental at best.

I haven't seen Up In The Air, but that looks like it would be twice the movie this was. And I can't see why anybody would want to watch Precious.

I watched District 9 last weekend and would say 7/10. I wish the aliens were more alien, and I think it should have been more Half-Life video game style filming.

pan6467

Alice in Wonderland:

The movie was done well and for the most part entertaining. As a big fan of American McGee's Alice, I had seen on a few forums that Tim Burton had bought the rights and was going to make a movie of it.

I must say though, if this is Tim's version of the game, he never played or saw it. I was disappointed in this aspect. I think the plot lines and action would have been far better.

Once the movie started and the scenes leading up to Alice being in Wonderland made me think of Wizard of OZ and that the people in Alice's life were going to be characters in Wonderland. I think THAT would have made a good storyline, if done right.
This wasn't a bad movie and they in a way left it open for a sequel, which if done right could be interesting but in all honesty, I think it would be hard to do.

The 3D versions at our cinema were sold out all weekend but the 2D was selling only half full. I saw it in 2 D and didn't see many places 3D would have added to the movie that much except as a sales ploy. But 3D seems to be the trend now to get people into the cinemas.

Johnny Depp and Helena Bonham were good as ever. The actress playing the White Queen seemed a good fit and Alice herself was surprisingly good. The scenery for the most part was very colorful and light, not the usual dark we get from Burton.

Great kids movie... so so for adults.

9.5/10 for kids 7.5 maybe 8/10 for adults.

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I just love people who use the excuse "I use/do this because I LOVE the feeling/joy/happiness it brings me" and expect you to be ok with that as you watch them destroy their life blindly following. My response is, "I like to put forks in an eletrical socket, just LOVE that feeling, can't ever get enough of it, so will you let me put this copper fork in that electric socket?"

Frosstbyte

The movie version of American McGee's Alice got stuck in dev-hell and died a quiet death, sadly.

The premise of the Burton version and the American McGee version are essentially identical (older Alice returns to fucked up wonderland to save it from evil Red Queen), but Burton never claimed to be using American McGee's vision as a direct inspiration or source material for his movie.

m0rpheus

I didn't hate it, but I wouldn't recommend paying theatre prices to see it (I used a free pass). I have, for some reason, never seen the original dispite being a Romero fan. The entire time I couldn't help but think that Romero probably did it better.

Spoiler: The car wash scene was pretty good though and one of the few actually nerve racking scenes in the movie.

6/10

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