Movie Review Thread

[Kralizec]

Million Dollar Baby
First rate movie. Put shortly and without spoilers, it's about an elderly boxing trainer who first refuses but eventually agrees to train a woman as a boxer. The plot is predictable for the first half, that changes when later in the movie it focuses on ethical issues. Intensly dramatic, and the acting is superb (starring Clint Eastwood, Morgan Freeman and Hillary Swank)
Also it should be said that despite the obvious association with the Rocky movies, boxing is about the only thing they have in common.

@Mouz: the first Star Trek movie was just terrible (in my opinion), mostly because it expects that you can sit in awe for over 3 minutes looking at special effects that were good thirty years ago without noticing the film is moving at crawl pace. Movies 2 and 6 were top notch though, if you haven't already watch those.

[Mouzafphaerre]

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I agree with the opening scene being stupidly long. But it's not terrible for me; as I say, just another episode but too long.

Million Dollar Baby is a masterpiece. Clint and Freeman are, well, Clint and Freeman; and Hillary Swank rocks!Don't watch if you're addicted to happy endings.
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[MiniMe]

All the king's men (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0405676/) Based on the Robert Penn Warren novel. At least that's what they say.
I'm very disappointed. For me R.P.Warren's "All the king's men" is one of the greatest American novels and I was expecting something very special. Sean Penn as Willie Stark was... pathetic. Not to mention Antony Hopkins as Judge Irwin.
If you love this book as much as I do, don't watch this grotesque. Don't.

[Mouzafphaerre]

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I have a DVD of All the King's Men that I haven't seen yet...

***

Yester-evening we watched Cassandra's Dream. A near-perfect Woody Allen movie (not a comedy) with a brilliant British cast and the story passing in/around London. Colin Farrell and Ewan McGregor (especially the prior) are praiseworthy on the lead while Hayley Atwell and Sally Hawkins no less in the supporting roles, both being gorgeous just to look at notwithstanding. :kiss2:

The plot outline on imdb is inaccurate, ignore it. Wikipedia has a nice plot summary and factoids: Cassandra's Dream. (Beware spoilers!)
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[Puzz3D]

Sally Hawkins had a leading role in the very well done BBC adaptation of the Sarah Waters novel Fingersmith (2005).

[Mouzafphaerre]

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Noted. Thanks. :bow:
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[seireikhaan]

Hmm, just saw Charlie Wilson's War. I'd say it was a pretty good movie, and was rather enjoyable. I particularly like the character of Gus, that was a pretty interesting character, no doubt. Also, the ending was pure classic, though not neccessarily to everyone's taste.

[Puzz3D]

Ace In The Hole (1951) is a very good film noir drama directed by Billy Wilder about a down and out reporter, powerfully played by Kirk Douglas, who is hoping for a disaster or tragedy to happen so that he can use the story to boost his career back on track. It may well be based on events surrounding the 1925 West Virgina mining disaster which trapped Floyd Collins and was reported upon for 17 days. The theme of the news media capitalizing on bad news to boost its business because that's what sells (hot copy) is still relevant today. This film was recently released on a Criterion DVD with excellent picture and sound quality.

Sawdust and Tinsel (1953), original title Night of the Clown, is a drama written and directed by Ingmar Bergman which is set in a traveling circus and deals with the themes of betrayal, guilt and humiliation. The opening sequence which visually and concisely presents the theme has its roots in Sergei Eisenstein's montage style. The bright white lighting in this sequence is intentional and used to convey the harshness of reality. You'll note the sexual metaphor represented by the cannons. Despite the dark theme, I find a positive message about life in this film which I don't think was Bergman's intention. I saw this film in the 1960's and it made a strong impression on me, and, although I had completely forgotten the narrative, that impression resurfaced when I watch the film again recently. The film has recently been release on a Criterion DVD. The musical score under the opening credits is rather jarring, but this doesn't continue in the film. Harriet Andersson is quite stunning, and the black and white cinematography is outstanding.

[Shahed]

Nabbeun namja (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0307213/) - Bad Guy (2001) by Kim Ki Duk, Korean with English subtitles.

http://www.lovehkfilm.com/panasia/aj6293/bad_guy.jpg

Continuing on my quest for a decisive understanding of the female psychology, I watched this movie tonight, by chance. I didn't expect it to be educational, matter of fact I was looking for a night off, after a heavy night. What I found was a pretty frank and upfront analysis of pair bonding between a young college girl and a gangster. Remarkable movie which spans the love-hate relationship between two improbable lovers (by the traditional sense). I cannot really say much more at this time, since there really isn't much to say, the movie speaks for itself... it is excellent.


TRAILER (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PmH1c_LheuI&feature=related)

[Mouzafphaerre]

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These jap/korean girls will kill me someday. :shocked:
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[Puzz3D]

Maybe I missed it because I didn't understand the significance of the picture that she finally pieces together on the beach, but I don't think the college girl was in love with the Bad Guy (2001) even at the end of the film. I think director Kim Ki Duk is pointing out a social problem, and the psychology is that of the bad guy rather than the victimized college girl.

[Bijo]

Meh... I never liked those Asian movies, though they often have good or interesting topics. The overall movie quality is usually lacking. Reminds me of that Japanese movie about school teenagers sent to an island to kill each other. What was that name again? AH, Battle Royale! What terrible acting it has.

Anyway, I saw a classic (again this one) yesterday: The Longest Day. It is decent, it is decent. And it never ceases to entertain me. War movies is the bomb, and it is nice to hear them speak in the original languages instead of English with an accent (unless they're REALLY supposed to speak English).

[Mouzafphaerre]

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Hemingway's For whom the Bell Tolls with Garry Cooper & Ingrid Bergman*
Guess Who's Coming to Dinner with Spencer Tracy, Katherine Hepburn and Sidney Poitier
The Last Mitterand with whomever playing old Frankie doing it monumentally

*Haven't checked the names; might have confused somebody else with her.
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[Martok]

.*Haven't checked the names; might have confused somebody else with her.
[COLOR="Wheat"].
No you're right; it's Bergman. :yes:

[Mouzafphaerre]

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Mr. & Mrs. Smith. Coincidentally saw a moment of Angelina on the Azeri state channel while zapping. :kiss2: Fun, lightweight, pointless movie. Brad Pitt looks like a man (thought it was somebody else at first). Add the fact that the dialect of Turkish spoken in Azerbaijan sounds hilarious to us, their western cousins, and it wasn't really a waste of time.
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[Caeser The III]

watched "The Godfather" recently.(can ever get enough of it!)awsome movie

[econ21]

Anyway, I saw a classic (again this one) yesterday: The Longest Day. It is decent, it is decent. And it never ceases to entertain me.

Yes, it's treasure chest with lots of memorable vignettes. The paratrooper trapped on the steeple of St Mere Eglise is my favorite.

The film is very like A Bridge too Far, although the latter is the better movie IMO. What both films catch is the sheer scale of WW2, with even individual scenes of heroism or horror dwarfed by the vast size of the conflict. Modern war films tend to focus too much on the action hero and despite their technical virtuosity (e.g. Saving Private Ryan), don't catch the essence of the thing.

[InsaneApache]

The Longest Day is a very good war movie. Once again I find myself agreeing with Econ.

My favourite part is the bit with the Free French troops attacking the jerries in the casino. The way it starts looking over the shoulder of one guy and then pans out to reveal several battalions rushing through the town, blasting away, is one of my all time fav scenes in a movie.

Simply breathtaking.

:2thumbsup:

[Bijo]

Sounds fair, but a film like SPR is not just about WWII: it goes into detail about a certain subject and so on. The lack of the portrayal of the large scale of war is only good in this case as the movie is highly effective. It shows more drama.

By the way, that early scene in TLD when the paratroopers just hit the ground and they look up into the sky as they hear planes and this other passing unit does so too... that one's also memorable! It is actually almost funny how they don't recognize the enemy.

[Fragony]

Still got a trauma of the poor guy landing in a well.

[ajaxfetish]

National Treasure 2
Very similar to the first. It doesn't bring anything particularly new to the table, so it's not as original, but it shares the first show's strong points and did not disappoint. Not bad as sequels go.

Ajax

[Mouzafphaerre]

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Yazı Tura*

It makes me glad finally to see Turkish movies which are, well, movies at all! ~:) Still in a moderate, maybe cowardly way; this one shows you a little part of what the glorious Turkish army and the ugly war going on for a generation will do to two unrelated, ordinary, simple youths. Both get crippled in a landmine explosion, but the real trouble will begin when they are back.

Very well played, well written -with a few glitches here and there- and well filmed. The music drowns though, and is at times alienating. There are some moments that would best be kept dead silent.

Usage of language (Turkish, Greek) and local accents (that of Kappadokia) is impressive. Successfully and correctly done with real speakers or excellent actors.

No happy ending. Cold, real life.

* head or tail
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[Warmaster Horus]

Philadelphia, with Tom Hanks and Denzel Washington. Made in 1993.
This is a movie about a lawyer (Becket, played by Hanks) who is a homosexual and has AIDS. He's fired from his job in a big lawyer firm because of this (although his employers say it was because of sloppiness at work; Becket did have a clearly visible mark on the right side of his forehead). He goes to see another lawyer, Miller (played by Washington), who is homophobic, and at first does not want to defend Becket. After seeing him being discriminated at a public library, he agrees to do that. Between the beginning of the film and the beginning of the trial, about 10 months have elapsed (more or less).
In the end, Becket suffers an attack in court (because of AIDS), and has to be rushed to the hospital. The trial continues, and Miller wins the case. However, Becket dies before the end of it.

The last five minutes (approximately) of the film shows pictures of Becket's childhood. In the movie, Becket's family completely supports him.

A beautiful movie. Touched me right to my heart.
Everything is great; the story was well written, Hanks and Washington acted superbly, the music (Springsteen, Streets of Philadelphia, at the beginning and especially Neil Young at the end, with Philadelphia), the rest of the actors (Banderas plays the gay lover of Hanks with credibility; even the 'evil' characters had some humanity in them)... A must see for everyone, although it really is emotional.

----------------------
Another few good movies I've seen recently are The Terminal, Road To Perdition (both with Hanks) and Runaway Jury (John Cusack, Dustin Hoffman and Gene Hackman).

The Terminal , directed by Steven Spielberg, with Tom Hanks who plays Viktor Navorski, a Krakozhian (fictional ex-USSR country in Eastern Europe) who goes to New York. However, his country suffers a revolution and civil war (that goes on for nine months or so). This means that Navorski can't go to New York, but he can't go back to Krakozhia either. He becomes stateless, and lives in the Terminal for as long as it takes. He befriends the airport staff (except Immigration Officer Dixon, played by Stanley Tucci) and eventually meets Amelia Warren (Catherine Zeta-Jones). He explains to her why he's in New York. His now-dead father, a jazz fan, saw the "Great Day in Harlem" photograph and vowed to get a signature of all 57 jazz players. 40 years later, all but Benny Golson have signed, and Golson plays at the Ramada Inn, 161 Lexington. That's where Navorski wants to go, to get Golson's autograph, because of a promise he made to his father. He eventually gets there, meets Golson, who's about to play. Musical interlude, after which Navorski exits the Ramada Inn, hails a cab, and "goes home".
A nice little movie, just perfect for Hanks to play, I think.

Road to Perdition is a gangster movie, kind of like The Godfather, but which concentrates more on the father/son relation. Hanks, the father, doesn't want his offspring to become a hitman, like him. It's good too.

Runaway Jury is a courtroom drama, in all basic terms. There is a twist though. Hoffman plays a lawyer in a woman against gun industry case. He advocates the woman's side. Hackman plays a jury consultant for the gun industry side. His typical methods are to find everything on the potential jurors, so he can pressure them, as "everybody has a weak point", into giving Hackman the verdict he more or less wants.
What he doesn't know is that John Cusack, one of the jurors, is influencing the jurors in a way as to vote for the woman, and against the gun industry. Meanwhile, Cusack hustles Hackman into giving him 15 million dollars, because Cusack says he will give Hackman the verdict he wants. Of course, it's a con, and Hackman loses the case.
Another good movie, with some measure of suspense.

All four of those I've seen in the past week; all of them are, in my humble opinion, must-sees.

[Mouzafphaerre]

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Seen Philadelphia and the last part of The Terminal. The latter was, IIRC, loosely based on a true story, too much loosely as is the habit of Holywood. Didn't strike me much; all available drama stuff dumped into a single story. ~:wacko: Philadelphia was good, except being too melodramatic, which is also a Holywood pattern. Worth the time nevertheless for Hanks & Washington if nothing. :rtwyes:
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[mrdun]

Jason Bourne, what a character. Great movies. From start to finish they are full of twists and turns, action packed, mind-blowing!! :rtwyes:

[Mouzafphaerre]

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Just seen the Hitchcock classical The Man Who Knew Too Much (the 1956 remake with Jim Stewart and Doris Day) on TV (for upteenth time). :rtwyes:
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[doc_bean]

Into the Wild was, quite simply, the best new movie i've seen in over a year.

After graduating from college Christopher McAndles (or something like that) gives away all his money to charity, changes his name to Alexander Supertramp and heads off across the US, trying to find purity and a life far away from consumerism. The end point of his journey is Alaska, where he tries to live off the land. Based on a true story.

This really is a great movie. The main character isn't exactly likable, at least not to me, since he is just a little to naive and idealistic. But he is understandable. He's just another flawed human being like the rest of us. Possibly the best thing about this movie are the characters he meets along the way. Just normal people leading their lives and trying to find happiness.

And the cinematography is fantastic.

:2thumbsup: :2thumbsup: :2thumbsup: :2thumbsup: :2thumbsup:

[sapi]

I just have to say that Into the Wild was quite easily the worst movie I'd seen in over a year.

The plot was utterly predictable and in parts cringeworthy, and it dragged on for at least an hour longer than necessary.

Otherwise, what doc_bean has said about the story is entirely correct...it just isn't particularly interesting, and drags on and on and on.

~:)

[doc_bean]

I just have to say that Into the Wild was quite easily the worst movie I'd seen in over a year.

The plot was utterly predictable

I knew the story beforehand, the plot wasn't the point of the movie.


and in parts cringeworthy,

Hmm, depends on how you look at it, I can certainly see why you'd think that. If you refer to the rambling of Alex himself, I feel that that was mostly the point, he's naive and maybe just a little bit stupid when it comes to life.


and it dragged on for at least an hour longer than necessary.

The three of us that went to see it all agreed that it didn't feel overly long, while it was a long movie.




Otherwise, what doc_bean has said about the story is entirely correct...it just isn't particularly interesting, and drags on and on and on.

~:)

It's certainly not for everyone. I do dislike pretty much anything released in the last few years, so 'm probably not the average movie goer.

[sapi]

I knew the story beforehand, the plot wasn't the point of the movie.

Hmm, depends on how you look at it, I can certainly see why you'd think that. If you refer to the rambling of Alex himself, I feel that that was mostly the point, he's naive and maybe just a little bit stupid when it comes to life. Yeah, I think you're right in saying that it was mostly intended; I just tend to have a thing against movies which do rely on such things as a plot device (as true as they were in this case). I think it was especially true in the case of Alex, as you said, as he persevered in carrying through a plan that everyone knew from the beginning would turn out to be a mistake. As true as it might be to life, I find it very difficult to emphasis with, for lack of a better word, 'stupid' (probably more correctly naive), characters, and in a film like Into the Wild, which was focused so much around the one person, that can be a bit of a game breaker.


The three of us that went to see it all agreed that it didn't feel overly long, while it was a long movie.I guess it's a matter of taste; of the three of us who saw it, two thought it was too long. If the movie had had a more coherent plot rather than just being a collection of memoirs (based, I assume, on those people that the original author of the book had been able to track down, and on Alex's diaries), it might have been a bit easier to justify the length, but as it was it was hard to definitively say that each section 'added' something, imho.


It's certainly not for everyone. I do dislike pretty much anything released in the last few years, so 'm probably not the average movie goer.:beam:

[Strike For The South]

There Will Be Blood.

Best Movie Ever. Dainel Day-Lewis deserves an oscar

[Fragony]

lol.

The Island.

This must have started as a good idea at some point.

This conversation took place;

Someone: 'But that makes no sense!'
His superior 'They don't want that, feed it'

Way to screw up a good idea.

[Shahed]

I watched "The Big Lebowski" again recently. That is one excellent movie. Just look at that guy's attitude. It's hilarious and at the same time it's so cool. Excellent film, watch it for good karma.

[Proletariat]

There Will Be Blood.


Such a classic..

I.. drank.. your.. milkshake!

[Good Ship Chuckle]

Pirates of the Carribean 3.

*ducks several smacks to the head*
I'm just kidding! ;)

[econ21]

The Island.

This must have started as a good idea at some point.

The two nasty operating room scenes where the main protaganists learn the reality of their situation were rather impressively distressing. And the mercenary hunting the lead characters was quietly effective. But the rest of the movie was pretty dire, suffering from the usual action movie vice of assuming the audience has attention deficit disorder and must be constantly plied with shootouts, chases and crashes.

[Ramses II CP]

Is The Island the movie where the exceptionally dull and generic blond actress plays an exceptionally dull and generic blond clone/sex doll?

I think I remember that movie. Wasn't there like a button they had to push, and as soon as they pushed it the whole place blew up? And people say there are no quality engineers left in the future!

:egypt:

[Fragony]

Is The Island the movie where the exceptionally dull and generic blond actress plays an exceptionally dull and generic blond clone/sex doll?

The exceptionally hot, rrrrrrrrrrrrr. Could have been a good movie because the idea is interesting, and the first half is great entertainment. Once they escape it becomes a total mess.

[Geoffrey S]

Yeah, quite enjoyed the first half, probably up to the point where Buscemi dies.

What I loved about the movie, perversely enough, was the incessant focus on product placement. I think the high(low?)point was in the middle of the big motorized chase sequence, when the camera randomly zoomed in on the makes of the vehicles or tires. It made me laugh at least.

[Mouzafphaerre]

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***Mona Lisa Smile***
:2thumbsup: :barrel: :cheerleader: :jumping: :yes:
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[Puzz3D]

For Korean movie reviews check out this site: koreanfilm (http://www.koreanfilm.org/).

[Quirinus]

The exceptionally hot, rrrrrrrrrrrrr. Could have been a good movie because the idea is interesting, and the first half is great entertainment. Once they escape it becomes a total mess.
Agreed. I put The Island in the same category as Mr. & Mrs. Smith. Both are interesting premises undermined by generic action scenes. Though the latter wasn't so bad-- it was only after they blew up their house that everything went downhill.

Anyone watch Atonement?

[Puzz3D]

Mr. & Mrs. Smith (2005) is a metaphor for marriage difficulties. I certainly enjoyed viewing it that way since I could relate to the marital conflicts depicted rather than viewing it as an action picture. I think the unrated version is better than the theatrical release. In contrast, I found War of the Roses (1989) to be far too mean spirited to be enjoyable.

Shoot 'em Up (2007) is the same kind of thing in that if you view it as an action picture it's too silly, but as a spoof of action pictures I found it to be very entertaining especially with the three leads playing their parts straight and Paul Giamatti being crosscast as a bad guy.

[Fragony]

Brad Pitt is always fun to watch and whatshername is hot, I liked that movie, it doesn't take itselve very serious and there is tons of chemistry between the characters and that is always a joy.

[Mouzafphaerre]

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A few pages ago I confessed watching Mr. & Mrs. Smith solely for getting caught up by an Angelina shot. Downloaded the film too, for exactly the same reason. I'm a dirty old ORGah. :pimp: OK, I'm not old but I'm an ORGah and I'm dirty.

Another one I'd stashed for eye candy (not the babe thread way, mind you) was Ginger Snaps (being the first of a trilogy). I watched it for sake of Katharine Isabelle but more so Emily Perkins yet quite liked. :yes: I'm done with the usual werewolf stuff and this one is different. Recommended in free time.
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[Shahed]

RAMBO ! is back ! Anyone seen it yet ?

[Dutch_guy]

RAMBO ! is back ! Anyone seen it yet ?

I most definitely will. If it's like the other films (lot's of mindless violence and cliché one-liners) I just have to go see it :beam:

:balloon2:

[Kralizec]

Das Leben der Anderen (Lives of the others)
Best movie I've seen in 2008 so far ~;)
It takes place in the later years of the DDR and focuses on a Stasi agent and a couple of subversive artists that he's shadowing. Very good.

[Quirinus]

I just watched Eastern Promises and then No Reservations. Both were pretty good in their own way. Viggo Mortenssen's laconic performance is the most magnetic performance I've seen since Hannibal Lector. I mean, he puts out a fricken' cigarette with his tongue! I'd take Nikolai over super-vanilla Aragorn anyday.

[Mouzafphaerre]

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Eastern Promises
Anything with Naomi Watts is mine. :smitten:
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[Shahed]

I watched Gothika (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tx_ytqjajOc) a short while back.


http://gothikamovie.warnerbros.com/html/images/gothika_poster.jpg

Excellent movie. You get to see Halle Berry and Penelope Cruz in pyjamas for the most of the movie.
If any further incentive is needed, then let me say it's an excellent thriller, one of the best I've seen in a while.

[Fragony]

Gawd that movie sucked :thumbsdown:

[Puzz3D]

Pathfinder (2007) is an action film set in North America circa 900 AD. The Vikings (the bad guys) invade and want to kill all of the native Indians (the good guys). You see things from the Indian's perspective and the Vikings are just suddenly there. The protagonist is a Viking from a previous failed expedition who has lived with an Indian tribe. The film is visually dark which gives it a consistent atmosphere of taking place in a dark forested, northern latitude geographic area. The action scenes are well done in mostly closeup shots, but the ease with with the protagonist dispatches an almost endless stream of Vikings, who are all much larger physically and armored and often on horseback, is fantasy. The story itself is simplistic and predictable. You can figure out the whole narrative after the first 15 minutes.

[Vladimir]

ZOMG! I just saw the best movie EVAR!!! Commando with Arnold Schwarzenegger.

Could you think of a better script? I couldn't.

Could you film better action sequences? I didn't think so.

Why, oh why did he make more movies after that? He could have retired off the royalties alone!!! Thank you people of California for electing such a wise and strong man to lead you. YOU HAVE RESTORED MY FAITH IN THE AMERICAN SYSTEM OF GOVERNANCE!

I'm so proud to be a republican right now. :unitedstates: :elephant:

[Puzz3D]

Based on Quirinus' recommendation I watched Eastern Promises (2007) which is a drama featuring very good acting by a strong cast directed by David Cronenberg. He's a director who likes to investigate a moral or ethical question and leave it unresolved so that the viewer makes his or her own judgement. You might think this film ends without resolution or climax, but that's his intent. He also leaves scenes out that are peripheral to the question he is exploring which means you have to do a little extra work to connect the scenes together. Inititally I thought there were some illogical scenes near the end, but after some thought they do fit together in a sensible way. In this film, Cronenberg explores the same territory he did in A History of Violence (2005) which is the morality and consequences of using violence. The drama, which is probably purposely low key, is punctuated with very graphic scenes of violence I would imagine to emphasize the contrast between the people who use violence and those who live without using it. I think David Cronenberg is an interesting filmmaker, and this one gets a lift from some very good acting.

[The Spartan (Returns)]

Step Up 2, expected trash; got trash.

Think of Tokyo Drift, but remixed with dancing. (Mostly b-boying)

BTW, really psyched for the next Indiana Jones!

[Fragony]

ZOMG! I just saw the best movie EVAR!!! Commando with Arnold Schwarzenegger.

Liked it untill he throws a saw into someone head and he looks up, that just wasn't realistic.

Anyways, Fragile

Cool ghost-movie with the Ally macBale chick, who is as abolutily adorable imho, cute. I like the more recent horror movies, enough with the Halloween clones, more things like The Others svp merci.

[Mouzafphaerre]

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Man on Fire

Some moments in which you say "good riddance" but a uselessly stupid ending.
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[Puzz3D]

AZUMI
by Ryuhei Kitamura
Starring Aya Ueto
Action drama
128 minutes
Japanese
1/10

(this movie is not based in any particular manga or anime)
The movie is based on the highly regarded AZUMI manga which won an Excellence Prize at the 1997 Japan Media Arts Festival, and the Shogakukan Manga Award in 1998. The film apparently does not explore all of the themes that are in the manga. Kitamura is perhaps limited as a dramatic director, but he's good with action scenes.

Azumi (manga)

The manga Azumi, like the movie, focuses upon the life of the female assassin Azumi. The manga begins an indeterminate number of years after the Battle of Sekigahara.

Plot (quoted from Wikipedia):

Azumi is raised by an old man known as "Jii" (grandfather), who's name is later revealed to be Gensai Obata, as the only girl among eleven other small boys. They are secluded from the rest of society in a tiny valley called "Kiridani" (Fog Valley) to such an extent that they do not know the difference between men and women, what a baby is, or customs like marriage. Early in the manga, as part of their training, Azumi and her comrades are allowed to go to a small community of ninjas to learn the basics of ninjutsu.

The manga sets a chilling tone early on. The 12 "erabareta senshi" (chosen warriors), who are all young children are told by Jii that they have completed their training. For their first mission, they are to form a pair with whomever among the 12 that they feel the closest. Azumi pairs with Natchi, and all ten others pair with their closest friends. Having formed the pairs, Jii tells them their first mission is to kill their partner--whoever is too weak to kill their partner is too weak to fulfill their life's missions, and without any means of independent survival, there is no way to live other than to kill their partner. The twelve children each fight their respective duels, and Azumi slays Natchi, an event which appears to deeply traumatize Azumi, but she hides her feelings, as do the others.

Then, their second mission was to slay every person in the ninja commune, including women, children, babies, and their longtime teacher. Azumi hesitates, and is unable to kill a baby, a task which one of her comrades quickly accomplishes for her telling her "I'll keep this secret from Jii" but with a reprimanding glare.

The remaining six warriors proceed to go on assassination missions of the various important supporters of the Toyotomi Faction. Azumi gradually begins to feel doubts about the morality of killing, but is repeatedly told, quite truthfully, that if her targets remained alive, the coming war between the Toyotomi and Tokugawa will be that much more horrible and result in even more innocent deaths.

Azumi (2003) the movie exists in a 142 min Japanese version and a 128 minute international version. Aya Ueto was born in Tokyo, Japan in 1985, and at the age of 12 won the Special Jury Prize at the 7th All-Japan Bishoujo Contest (beauty pageant) in 1992. After her passionate portrayal of a high school student with Gender Identity Disorder in the 6th series of the long-running classroom drama Kinpachi sensei, she was able to pursue a solo music career in August 2002. It was this performance that also convinced cult movie director Ryuhei Kitamura to cast her in the title role of Azumi (2003).

After the Battle of Sekigahara, a samurai is tasked by the Tokugawa shogunate to raise a band of assassins to finish off Toyotomi's allies and other ambitious warlords, to prevent another civil war.

Plot (quoted from Wikipedia):

Azumi (played by Aya Ueto) is discovered as a 7–8 year old girl kneeling without visible emotion next to the body of her dead mother by the samurai master Gessai and his entourage of young students. Azumi is raised in the martial skills of samurai and shinobi sword fighting, and the art of assassination. Azumi and her fellow classmates, now at young adult age, are constantly being told about a "mission" they must accomplish, though they have no idea what this mission is yet.

Prior to setting out on their mission, their master orders his students to "pair up" with each others' best friend and proceed to kill each other, thus out of 10 students only five will remain to proceed with the mission. Questions and internal conflicts begin to arise amongst Azumi and her comrades as it seems their mission even prevents them from saving a village of mostly women and children from being massacred at the hands of a group of bandits, as their primary mission is to kill the warlords Asano Nagamasa, Masayuki Sanada and Kiyomasa Kato.

I've seen the 142 minute Japanese version, and while it's not a great film I found it to be entertaining. Although long, the film builds to a satisfying and spectacular climax. I think that Ryuhei Kitamura's style in shooting action sequences is quite good. Some of the sentimentality might be somewhat overdone, but it's moving just the same unless you are a callous person. Some of the swordplay choreography is flawed, although, I only noticed two instances that were really obvious, but there is flawed action choreography in even great samurai films such as Samurai Rebellion (1967). There are some continuity errors with blood on walls and clothes. As a viewer, I make the concession that they don't have the time or money to reshoot a scene with many extras involved just because one person makes a mistake. Aya Ueto gave a good performance, and Jô Odagiri was excellent in his portrayal of the mercenary adversary. Ueto's movements during the sword fights were dancelike, and for me that conveyed how superior her skills were compared to most of her opponents. She handled herself much better than I expected in the action scenes, although, if I'm not mistaken she did get injured in one of these scenes. There is limited use of CGI in this film which I appreciated, and no character has superpowers or uses magic skills which I also appreciated. There is a wide difference of opinion on this film, so I wouldn't necessarily write it off out of hand.

From an interview with Kitamura posted at Hoga Central:

Kitamura: Now the cast look all-star, but back when we started, all the young cast members were under the radar. Even the main actress Ueto was still less-known, and many people opposed to the choice, telling us to use a then-bigger name girl. But all three of us, Mr. Yamamoto, the original comic writer Yu Koyama and myself, believed in her.

Interviewer: The lack of experience was not only about Ueto or Kitamura. Samurai period films have long dead for the past 20-30 years, so the young actors in Japan don't normally train the swords play like the older generation used to do. Actresses are even further away from any action opportunity. In case of "Azumi", Kitamura did not have the luxury of keeping actors for a long time for training either. So what did he do?

Kitamura: I wish I had 1 year, but the budget and schedule only allowed me 2-3 months. On the first day of the training, I took all the young assassin team actors, except for Ueto, to the action coordinator. I told them to go out running a little bit, then they came back and did other things like swinging wooden swords or front rolls. These recent Japanese young men were too thin and weak, and I was so discouraged. I even went to Mr. Yamamoto and complained, 'I can't do it!' But the action coordinator told me they were all within the range and I don't have to worry.

These young people actually toughed it out. I told all of them, 'Your roles are the assassins who trained for ten-something years only to kill people, quite unordinary guys. So this training will be rigorous, but can you do it? I cannot make the casting decision right now. If you drop out of the training, you cannot get the role. Half of you will die early in the story, but everyone will go through the same training and you have to compete one another. If you don't like to play a small part after all, you can leave right now.' But nobody left, and nobody gave up during the training. So even the guys who die early on acted well, and I tried to film their short appearances carefully. The filming of that scene to kill each other was a dark day for me. Everyone stayed and trained together for 3 months, yet half of them had be gone that day.

Ueto had to be trained separately, as she was working on a TV drama at that time. I sent the action coordinator to the studio and she swung the sword when she had time. But she has to be the strongest assassin, so even when the filming had started, we had special trainings for her. I almost felt sorry for her. We would start filming at dawn, and after sunset, she went back to the hotel, took a shower, ate and then trained outside. We shot almost all the scenes sequencially, so she became more skilled towards the end of the film. We did not enough time and that was the only way. She took some weight trainings also, but that was still not enough. We asked her to do the image training, so she could act like she was cutting the bone, with devilish emotions.

Interviewer: It is difficult to make action movies in Japan in general, because the budget is usually limited and there aren't many action-trained actors. So what was your motivation to do this film?

Kitamura: That is exactly the purpose of this movie. When I made my first film "Versus", I did not know Mr. Yamamoto and nobody else in Japan agreed with me. They all said 'such a theme has to be animation, because we don't have a huge CG or explosives like Hollywood, or kung-fu stars like Hong Kong.' But if we keep avoiding this genre, we will not catch up with them forever. I felt that the important thing is how you fight. Azumi's budget is considered very low in Hollywood level, but that is not the point. I have a pride on my way of directing. I have my own style. So I made 'Versus", very edgy film, and brought it to international film festivals. International industry people and press told me it was a great Japanese action, the first one they saw since 'Lone Wolf'. I was happy, but at the same time, I was sad to realize nobody tried to make this type of film for 30 years. Because it is too risky. For actors, it is much more secure to do TV dramas, so the feature films have become TV-like, and lose the scale and entertainment factors. I wanted to do differently, and got the chance to direct 'Azumi', so I felt destined to do it. For example, people were surprised to see the 360-degree rotation scene. I saw it in U2 music video 15 years ago, but nobody in Hollywood would do it. They would not try. I have always thinking how to do it, and this time we developed the method to do it with our staff members.

I was not trying to revive the old style. I wanted to make the film which can be enjoyed 10, 20 years later. Now it is released in the U.S. 3 years later than Japan, but I don't think it got outdated. I wanted to make the mainstream entertainment film like Japan used to make, with a little edginess here and there.

Note: There was a Zatochi film made in 1989 which has spectacular sword fighting scenes, and there is also Samurai Fiction from 1998 which has some classic, samurai film, choreographed sword fighting.

[Fragony]

Kruistocht in Spijkerbroek, pretty fun. It's about a boy that screws up with a time-machine, he wants to redo the lost footballmatch against belgium but gets thrown in the medieval time instead and joins a kid-crusade. Good movie but it isn't very realistic, I mean us losing from Belgium?

[Quirinus]

Watched Dodgeball last weekend. Hilarious stuff-- it's become my third favourite comedy, after Monty Python and the Holy Grail and Austin Powers. Ben Stiller shows why he's my favourite among the Hollywood comedy troupe.

Anybody else watch this movie, and, if so, what did you think of it?

[Martok]

Watched Dodgeball last weekend. Hilarious stuff-- it's become my third favourite comedy, after Monty Python and the Holy Grail and Austin Powers. Ben Stiller shows why he's my favourite among the Hollywood comedy troupe.

Anybody else watch this movie, and, if so, what did you think of it?
Gah! I *hate* Ben Stiller with the fire of a thousand novas. Just like Will Ferrell, he's one of the least funny actors I know, yet somehow keeps appearing in movie after movie. :wall:


Now with that said, I admittedly enjoyed Dodgeball quite a bit. Vince Vaughn is in his usual droll comedic form, and Rip Torn as Patches O'Hoolihan is hillarious. :laugh4: Gary Cole & Jason Bateman as the announcers were great as well ("Ladies and gentlemen, I have been to the Great Wall of China, I have seen the Pyramids of Egypt, I've even witnessed a grown man satisfy a camel!"). Overall, it's a pretty solid physical comedy.

Of course, my favorite scene is where Lance Armstrong has that little talk with Peter. Truly classic. :smash:

[Fragony]

Babel, meh. I am getting a bit tired of the multiple storylines omg they are connected how smart trick. It was genius in Magnolia, 21gram was good Crash was absolutily terrible and this is really nothing at all.

[ajaxfetish]

Just like Will Ferrell, he's one of the least funny actors I know, yet somehow keeps appearing in movie after movie. :wall:

I was actually quite impressed with Will Ferrell in Stranger than Fiction. The comic star of questionable talent really came alive for me in a more dramatic role. With Emma Thompson and Dustin Hoffman, the movie already had plenty of quality acting outside of Ferrell's character, but he made an IRS agent of all people a sympathetic and likeable character, and showed he can act with subtlety as well as his usual over-the-top style. I'd like to see him in more dramatic roles and fewer comic ones.

Ajax

[Geoffrey S]

Babel, meh. I am getting a bit tired of the multiple storylines omg they are connected how smart trick. It was genius in Magnolia, 21gram was good Crash was absolutily terrible and this is really nothing at all.
No, Crash was great! It set out to be melodramatic and thoroughly over-the-top, and succeeded marvelously. Some very memorable scenes, but o did it go for the cheap tricks!

[naut]

Saw the Bucket List. Wasn't bad as a "feel good" type of movie, but then again it wasn't much more. Morgan Freeman is always excellent though.

[Fragony]

No, Crash was great! It set out to be melodramatic and thoroughly over-the-top, and succeeded marvelously. Some very memorable scenes, but o did it go for the cheap tricks!

So incredibly patronising and cheap, hated it. It wasn't clever or anything just pushy and annoying. It also messes up with the seperate storylines because there isn't really a conclusion, if you want to see it done right watch 'The Hours'.

[Martok]

I was actually quite impressed with Will Ferrell in Stranger than Fiction. The comic star of questionable talent really came alive for me in a more dramatic role. With Emma Thompson and Dustin Hoffman, the movie already had plenty of quality acting outside of Ferrell's character, but he made an IRS agent of all people a sympathetic and likeable character, and showed he can act with subtlety as well as his usual over-the-top style. I'd like to see him in more dramatic roles and fewer comic ones.

Ajax
As a matter of fact, I do want to see this one as well. In addition to it being generally well-reviewed, I admit I'd still be curious to watch it just for the novelty of watching Ferrell play a serious role for once.

(Sort of like watching Jim Carrey in non-comedies. I love The Majestic. :2thumbsup: )

[ajaxfetish]

As a matter of fact, I do want to see this one as well. In addition to it being generally well-reviewed, I admit I'd still be curious to watch it just for the novelty of watching Ferrell play a serious role for once.

(Sort of like watching Jim Carrey in non-comedies. I love The Majestic. :2thumbsup: )
I'd highly recommend it. It's one of my favorite new movies of the last couple years. Quirky, funny, and touching as well.

Ajax

[Vladimir]

Leben der Anderen, Das (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0405094/)

Nazi Communists

.
.
.

and boobs.

Plus, you'll learn a bit about socialism (but not enough to know whether or not to capitalize the "S").

[Shahed]

LMFAO! I loved that movie! it was great.

Has anyone seen: Akbar (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hVNVFqY0yFI&feature=related) ?
I'm sure I'll enjoy it throughly but I wanted some other views of those who have seen it.

edit: For those who haven't seen or heard of it there was no subtitled trailer on youtube that I could find, there is one on the official site: http://www.jodhaaakbar.com/

JAI HIND ! JAI JAWAN !

[rajpoot]

?You watch Indian movies? ~:)

The local Rajput groups didn't let them release the movie in Rajasthan, but I don't think its such a loss, the movie isn't very good, I mean, it's basically your well beaten love story plot. No where accurate or anything. Good enough when you're just bored and have got nothing to do, not otherwise.

[Shahed]

Thanks for you feedback. I'm taking that you did in fact see the film.

Well I have never seen a perfect historical movie so I'm not too fussed about if it's historical, or not.
Personally I think it will be a great movie, and I can judge that by the trailer, it should be very entertaining.

Now who would say Crouching Tiger is historical, or the more recent Chinese movie with the beautiful Zhang Ziyi, the one about the Chinese court. That's not historical either. I'm not much surprised that it's banned in Rajasthan, after all it shows a Raja's girl falling in love with a Muslim king, and being bartered to the King in return for political promise. There are other aspects of the film which probably insult the Rajas such as Akbar's persistence and desire for a great unified India. The Rajas would prefer to see him as a foreigner to preserve the idea of a purely Hindu India. Bombay (the movie) also had a lot of heat because of it's theme of love between a Hindu woman and a Muslim man.

I'd watch Akbar just for the whole costume drama, just like Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon, I wouldn't watch that for history either.

[doc_bean]

Saw I, Robot recently. I expected it to be bad based on what i had heard on the internets, but it was surprisingly good for a 'blockbuster' movie. Quite a few dumb action scenes, but also a story that digs just a little deeper than most (hyper commerical movies).

[Vladimir]

LMFAO! I loved that movie! it was great.

Has anyone seen: Akbar (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hVNVFqY0yFI&feature=related) ?
I'm sure I'll enjoy it throughly but I wanted some other views of those who have seen it.

edit: For those who haven't seen or heard of it there was no subtitled trailer on youtube that I could find, there is one on the official site: http://www.jodhaaakbar.com/

JAI HIND ! JAI JAWAN !

So like a typical idiot I looked at the title and thought: "Gee, wonder if anyone's head gets chopped off by a Muslim." Then I saw the clip, liked it (even though the emir/sultan guy looks like Borat), thought of Broken Crescent, and thought: "Interesting, it would be nice to see someone's head get chopped off." :shrug:

Looks interesting. Very powerful if you're from the region.

[Puzz3D]

Shui hu zhuan (The Water Margin) (1972) is an excellent chinese martial arts film set in 12th century China based on several chapters of a chinese literary classic. Originally released in the USA in a hacked down 81 minute version as Seven Blows of the Dragon, this film has been beautifully remastered in widesceen and restored by Dragon Dynasty to its full 124 minutes. The story, acting and fighting sequences are all very good and believable. There is hand-to-hand fighting and fighting with lots of different weapons. You won't see people flying through the air in this film or goofy comic relief. The only dodgy thing really is the opening sequence which briefly shows some obviously motorized boats. There are a lot of characters of which to keep track, but they are each introduced by their name in text when they first appear in the film.

[Fragony]

The Bourne Ultimating, fine and all but it's so silly. Especially the scene in the terminal, Bourne is telling the journalist how to be unnoticed while holding his cell-phone as if it was a walky talky or whatever they are called.

[The Wandering Scholar]

Does he not have ear pieces or does he drop them for that scene?

[Vladimir]

More importantly: Why is Mr Superspyninja using an unencrypted cell phone?

[Kralizec]

Death at a funeral

Black comedy, setting is a funeral of some British guy where thing after thing goes wrong. Good acting, some truly hilarious moments and a midget wrestling scene. What more could you want?

[The Wandering Scholar]

I won't say

[Fragony]

I-robot, really enjoyed it. Too heavy on the action but the camara-work in these sequences is truly amazing, the way they camara swirls around the action, up, down, under, wherever, is simply dazzling. Not a shabby plot either, Hollywood at it's best, first class entertainment. They could have fleshed out the main character some more, his aversion for robots isn't all that believable but it doesn't distract from an overall very enjoyable movie.

[Conradus]

Considering that most of the plot is based on Asimov's tales, I wouldn't call it Hollywood at its best :grin3:

[The Wandering Scholar]

How does that effect a Hollywood production?

[Craterus]

How does that effect a Hollywood production?

Well, if you're going to be picky, I may as well join in. Affect is the verb. Effect is the noun. ~;)

I feel I should make a movie related post. So, I've had the film about Ian Curtis and Joy Division for a while but I haven't got around to watching it yet. Has anyone here seen it? What did you think? I think it's called Closer but I'm not 100%

[Conradus]

How does that effect a Hollywood production?

Well if you consider it Hollywood at it's best because it doesn't have a shabby plot, and Hollywood hasn't got anything to do with the plot, then the movie isn't that great because of Hollywood, but rather despite Hollywood.

[ajaxfetish]

Two things.

1)
Why does Hollywood have to come up with the plot for a movie to be 'Hollywood at its best'? Perhaps recognizing that talented writers can come up with better plots than most movie producers, and making a quality movie based off such a plot, is more laudable than repeatedly producing trash. Many of the best movies are made using plots that did not originate in Hollywood. I would happily call such effective borrowing 'Hollywood at its best.'

2)
In regards to affect vs effect. Both spellings can function as either a noun or a verb;
however, the most commonly used meaning of affect is a verb and the most commonly used meaning of effect is a noun.

affect
verb--2 major definitions (and several less common ones)
-To make a material impression on; to act upon, influence, move, touch, or have an effect on
-To put on a pretence of; to assume a false appearance of, to counterfeit or pretend
noun--used most commonly in psychology
-The way in which one is affected or disposed; mental state, mood, feeling, desire, intention

effect
noun
-Something accomplished, caused, or produced; a result, consequence
verb
-To bring about (an event, a result); to accomplish (an intention, a desire)

Definitions above are courtesy of the OED online, and here's a little XKCD comic on the subject:
Effect an Effect (http://xkcd.com/326/)

Ajax

[Craterus]

:gah2:

Why, Ajax, why? :sad:

[ajaxfetish]

:gah2:

Why, Ajax, why? :sad:
Because I really am that geeky.

:holmes: :book: :pokemon: :study: ~;p :stupido: :book2: :scholar: :idea: :smart: :clown:

Ajax

[The Wandering Scholar]

Is that for me or against?

[Big_John]

ooof. in case anyone was wondering, don't waste your time watching "vantage point".


ooof.

[Fragony]

Horror goodness.

The descent, starts out harmless enough, a group of thirty-something female friends goes spelunking (I think that's what it's called you know enter caves), when a tunnel collapses they have to find a way out. Small passages you can hardly move trough, a consistantly close-up camara to emphasise the claustrophobiaand raised tensions between the friends could be enough for a 1,5 hour of terror. But that turns out to be the least of their worries. There is something there........ how original you think. It never gets silly though because of the believable characters, characters that are going to die in rather nasty ways, but never in a wouldn't-it-be-cool-way thought up by people with odd glasses. One nailbiting ride, you will need a strong stomach for this one because it's quite gory!

[Vladimir]

Is there any sex?

[Puzz3D]

No sex in The Descent (2005), but there are relationships which are important to the character development in the story. Make sure you see the unedited version because the ending is different. The USA distributor, Lion's Gate, forced the director, Neil Marshall, to edit the ending for USA release. This greatly diminished the emotional impact of the ending, and changed the apparent fate of the main character.

[Mouzafphaerre]

.
I don't like movies in which chicks are slain. :no:
.

[The Wandering Scholar]

I thought that Cloverfield lacked the neccesary movie essential required to enthrall the modern audience. Namely the fact that it was obviously not an amateur camera.

[Decker]

Saw 10,000 BC. Weird movie all around. It was goofy in the way things happened which kinda gave it a realistic feel to it in more ways then one. And there is no real main bad guy from what I could tell or no anti-hero jibberish although at first it would appear so...that is not the case (thank god).
7/10

See it for yourself. I still don't know what to make of it

[Lemur]

Horror goodness.

The descent.
I'm quite fond of The Descent (http://www.apple.com/trailers/lions_gate/thedescent/large.html). I'm going on Saturday to see that director's latest outing, Doomsday (http://www.apple.com/trailers/universal/doomsday/large.html). We'll see if it's any good ...

[The Wandering Scholar]

Saw 10,000 BC. Weird movie all around. It was goofy in the way things happened which kinda gave it a realistic feel to it in more ways then one. And there is no real main bad guy from what I could tell or no anti-hero jibberish although at first it would appear so...that is not the case (thank god).
7/10

See it for yourself. I still don't know what to make of it

Whoops, not liked by Metacritic (http://www.metacritic.com/film/titles/10000BC)

[The Wandering Scholar]

Still not as bad as Meet the Spartans (http://www.metacritic.com/film/titles/meetthespartans) you would be embarrassed to make it.

[Ronin]

I'm quite fond of The Descent (http://www.apple.com/trailers/lions_gate/thedescent/large.html). I'm going on Saturday to see that director's latest outing, Doomsday (http://www.apple.com/trailers/universal/doomsday/large.html). We'll see if it's any good ...

you guys should check out the directors earlier movie...

Dog Soldiers (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0280609/)

one of my favorite horror movies of all time......the Descent is good...but I think "Soldiers" is better....

still have to check out Doomsday

[Mouzafphaerre]

.
Arachnophobia

Not bad for a b-movie. Entertaining and not too stupid except a few necessary Holywood idiocies here and there.
.

[The Wandering Scholar]

What did everyone think to http://www.american-gangster.net/? Personally I turned it off after 40 minutes, I just couldn't get interested. The plot and the fact that it was a true story was a huge plus point and Washington is one of my favourite actors, dissapointment.

[Lemur]

you guys should check out the directors earlier movie...

Dog Soldiers (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0280609/)
You just like that one because the lead actor (http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0675730/) also did the voice work in Medieval: Total War. I gotta admit, Dog Soldiers (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R_0Ej5N-hFQ) didn't really do it for me. Just a little too silly.

But The Descent was pretty hard-core, even if there were lapses of logic and sense. (I like my horror films to play tennis with the net up, if you don't mind.) I'll be heading out to see Doomsday with a bunch of guys on Saturday -- we'll see what we see. If nothing else, it's an excuse for all of us to get away from our wives and kids for two to three hours.

[Fragony]

Oh boy. Threads, so a nuclair attack isn't fun after all. Even more ghastly then the excellent The day after. Still have nightmares of the scene where the rockets are being launched.

[ajaxfetish]

.
Arachnophobia

Not bad for a b-movie. Entertaining and not too stupid except a few necessary Holywood idiocies here and there.
.
Arachnophobia was a blast. I'm not a huge fan of spiders myself, it didn't require much thinking, and the exterminator was hilarious.

Ajax

[Mouzafphaerre]

.
Saw Payback and the last half hour of Godzilla tonight on TV.

Mel Gibson should have stuck to making action/crime movies. :no: (Add: This means I liked Payback. He should be banished from making pseudo-historical trash.)

Godzilla was a fun, silly, entertaining nonsense.

Coincidentally, both movies feature pretty lasses named Maria (Bello and Pitillo respectively). ~D
.

[Puzz3D]

Gojira (1954) directed by Ishirô Honda is a sci-fi film which acts as social commentary on the danger of the atomic bomb and future technologies that governments would use for making war. Godzilla himself is clearly a metaphor for the atomic bomb, and he possesses a radioactive fire breath to incinerate people and buildings which he does indiscriminately. The ship which is incinerated at the beginning of the film has a life preserver with the number 5 on it. This is a reference to the Daigo Fukuryū Maru (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daigo_Fukury%C5%AB_Maru) (Lucky Dragon 5) incident. In another scene which was removed from the USA version of the film, people on a train during the morning commute discuss the radioactive contamination of their food and water. Most of the anti-atomic bomb sentiment was removed in the bastardized USA version with stupid scenes featuring Raymond Burr added to make up for the 25 minutes that was removed from the original Japanese version.

This film was the basis for a long series of Godzilla films which deteriorated in quality and lacked the strong social commentary. The acting in this film is quite good, and there is also a sub theme concerning the social difficulty of a woman breaking an arranged marriage engagement, and another scene where a women's delegation has difficulty getting their collective voice seriously considered at a government meeting. The original Japanese version (98 minutes) has been released on a nicely restored DVD.

[Fragony]

The Omen, pointless remake of one of the scariest movies ever made. Complete waste of time.

[Lemur]

Got back from seeing Doomsday (http://www.apple.com/trailers/universal/doomsday/large.html). It's a very silly movie. The exploding bunny near the beginning is a big tip-off. I lost count of the beheadings, but there were about four hands chopped off. I think a total of three people get squished, with guts flying everywhere. Only one person gets cooked alive and eaten, with gratuitous close-ups of the cannibals pulling flesh from the cooked body.

An enjoyable bloodbath, for all that. It also suffers from eight-films-in-one syndrome. It's a techno-thriller, no, it's a Mad Max homage, no, it's Robin Hood, no, it's Excalibur, no, it's Mad Max again. Reminded me of Brotherhood of the Wolf, which was by far the best French Language period martial arts werewolf buddy film I've ever seen.

I think I might have enjoyed it more if I were drunk. Still, not a bad way to spend an afternoon with some other dads.

[Quirinus]

Is that for me or against?
Only Sith deal in absolutes. :no:

;) Sorry. Had a Star Wars moment there.


Watched Philadelphia yesterday. I wouldn't rate it as a great movie as some critics have labeled it, but it's a solid, effective movie. Denzel Washington does a good job as Miller the homophobe lawyer, but the kudos belongs to Tom Hanks. His acting is low-key and understated, but undeniably effective. One reason for that is that Andy never comes across as an archetype, whether it's the sick dying man or the gay, but as a real, multi-faceted person. One big bonus for me is the lack of theatrics in the courtroom scenes. No juries applauding or the lawyer convincing the judge with an outrageous passionate speech here. The proceedings are dignified. A worthy investment of my time.


I recently rewatched two very different comedies, South Park (the movie) and Monty Python and the Holy Grail. When I watched it alone, I considered the latter the best comedy ever made (or, at least, my favourite). I watched both with friends recently, and I found that South Park was pretty funny after all. I had found it to be merely okay before, watching it alone, but watching it with friends improves teh experience. In contrast, Monty Python and the Holy Grail was only okay when watched with friends-- while the jokes are still funny, they're not the sort of outrageous humour that makes South Park so fun to watch in groups. The point is that I think some movies simply work better in a group audience.

[Marshal Murat]

Monty Python and the Holy Grail is a classic, but now its very cliche, and not as humorous as it was before. You don't get the same laughs you could from it.

[Beefy187]

ooof. in case anyone was wondering, don't waste your time watching "vantage point".


ooof.

I personally enjoyed it. That black guy was a champion. :2thumbsup:

The intro to the middle bits maintained really high energy and intensity. But the ending was a little rush. Couldved slowed it down a bit to give the full story including the terrorist fellows (And Enrique fellow.. My favourite dude)

Nice story line with a twist. I hope theres a directors cut coming out with more scenes

[Crazed Rabbit]

Saw John Carpenter's The Thing recently. A classic, full of terror and paranoia, that everyone should see, and the special effects have aged well.


Only Sith deal in absolutes.
You're a Sith! ~;p

CR

[Sasaki Kojiro]

I enjoyed Drillbit taylor a lot.

[Fragony]

It also suffers from eight-films-in-one syndrome. It's a techno-thriller, no, it's a Mad Max homage, no, it's Robin Hood, no, it's Excalibur, no, it's Mad Max again. Reminded me of Brotherhood of the Wolf, which was by far the best French Language period martial arts werewolf buddy film I've ever seen.

You might want to look into 'Mayhem', it pulls the multiple-movies-in-one thingie of gloriously. You are never really sure what kind of a movie you are watching, it's full of surprises. And it has Kathy Bates, who does an even better job then she did in her oscarwinning performance in 'Misery'.

[Conradus]

Seen Sweeney Todd, enjoyed it very much:2thumbsup:

[InsaneApache]

I had the pleasure to watch Life is beautiful (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Life_is_beautiful) last night, What an amazing film. Even in Italian and subtitled in English it is an emotive, funny and thought enhancing movie.

Right at the end when the American tank enters the camp, the little lads face lights up because he thinks he's won first prize for getting to a 1000 points, it's worth watching for that alone. Fantastic movie I heartily recommend. :2thumbsup:

[Lemur]

Saw John Carpenter's The Thing recently.
Wait a cotton-pickin' minute -- you only now saw The Thing? What's the matter with you, son? That's a horror classic, a must-see for anyone interested in paranoia or snow.

As for the effects, if I could do one thing to that film it would be to scale back on the gore a little bit. The best moments in it are psychological, and we don't need the full Grand Guignol (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grand_Guignol) treatment.

[Crazed Rabbit]

Oh, I saw it years ago, but recently I saw it again.

CR

[Puzz3D]

Wait a cotton-pickin' minute -- you only now saw The Thing? What's the matter with you, son? That's a horror classic, a must-see for anyone interested in paranoia or snow.
The original The Thing from Another World (1951) is quite good in terms of psychological suspense and paranoia as well. Of course, it doesn't have the special effects of the newer film version.

[Conradus]

Saw 3:10 to Yuma and Shoot 'em Up recently.

Yuma's a nice western with great acting by Bale and Crowe. The end was predictable and worsened Crowe's character, but all in all it was a very decent western -not as good as Unforgiven, but good anyhow.

Shoot'em up was just an hour and a half hilarious action with the most badass Clive Owen I ever saw (even more so then in Sin City). The action was fast, hilarious en surreal. One hell of an action movie although the plot of course was terrible.

[naut]

Last King of Scotland Intense. Very intense. Good movie.

[Kralizec]

Last King of Scotland Intense. Very intense. Good movie.

Agreed :balloon2:

[Fragony]

Way too butcher a perfectly fine book. Forest Whitacker is terrifying as Amin though, perfect casting.

[Geoffrey S]

Hmm. Whitaker is brilliant, he carries the film - but, as with Hotel Rwanda, it felt all too much like an over-dramatization of what were terrible times, almost too slick. In particular, in the Last King of Scotland, it's almost ironic that the writers of the film decided to place the emphasis on the drama and excitement of the white man (with the laughable link to the hijack business at the end) rather than, like the book, letting implications gradually build and speak for themselves. They remind me of the style of Crash, except that film doesn't have any pretensions about what it is.

[Fragony]

Thank god I am not alone, everybody keeps raving about Hotel Rwanda. Didn't do it for me.

[Lemur]

Sign me up to the "what's so great about Hotel Rwanda" club. I thought it was way too slick, way too bloodless, and somehow made one of the most horrifying events of the 20th century boring. Maybe I've just read too much about what actually happened, but the film didn't even come close to capturing the scale, the brutality or the horror.

[Puzz3D]

Elizabeth: The Golden Age (2007) is a well made film with some striking visuals, but suffers the usual distortion of historical facts to fit a preconceived dramatic story. The film stays focused on Elizabeth's character which is romanticized but inspiring none the less due to the fine portrayal by actress Cate Blanchett. The mandatory heroic deed during the Battle of Gravelines which the filmmaker gives Sir Walter Raleigh is far fetched in the extreme, and glosses over the contribution of the historical commanders. The Battle of Gravelines is presented in more of a symbolic fashion than entirely realistic fashion as is the assassination attempt which is fine as long as you understand that's what is being done.

[Martok]

Elizabeth: The Golden Age (2007) is a well made film with some striking visuals, but suffers the usual distortion of historical facts to fit a preconceived dramatic story. The film stays focused on Elizabeth's character which is romanticized but inspiring none the less due to the fine portrayal by actress Cate Blanchett. The mandatory heroic deed during the Battle of Gravelines which the filmmaker gives Sir Walter Raleigh is far fetched in the extreme, and glosses over the contribution of the historical commanders. The Battle of Gravelines is presented in more of a symbolic fashion than entirely realistic fashion as is the assassination attempt which is fine as long as you understand that's what is being done.
I do really want to see this movie, despite the gross historical inaccuracies. I only saw the original Elizabeth movie for the first time this past summer, but I really enjoyed it. Blanchett really is superb (of course, that seems to be pretty standard for her).

[Puzz3D]

I do really want to see this movie, despite the gross historical inaccuracies. I only saw the original Elizabeth movie for the first time this past summer, but I really enjoyed it. Blanchett really is superb (of course, that seems to be pretty standard for her).
I have the earlier film, but haven't watched it yet. The new film juxtaposes Elizabeth's duty as queen against her emotional human nature very effectively. Since I've never had a previous opinion of her emotional disposition, I can buy into what the film is presenting it to be since Cate Blancett is so convincing in the role even though it's no doubt embellished and made to appeal to modern sensibilities. Her portrayal does produce an emotional impact on me, and I suppose that's what I'm looking for when I watch a film. Realistically, none of the main characters could have been as flawless as presented, and they were stern by today's standards. It's true that Philip II is portrayed with no depth, but the film isn't about him.

[InsaneApache]

I saw another non-english language movie t'other night called the 9th company (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/9th_Company) again with subtitles. Also again a very enjoyable flick, the finale battle scene was very well done with men crying for their mums/mates when they'd been shot/blown up/bayonetted.

Not a Rambo in sight!

[naut]

Babel. What the hell was with the Japanese part?!?!

[Mouzafphaerre]

.
Once Upon a Time in the West

Without hesitation I can claim it to be the best work of Leone, at least untill the mood passes. :grin2: The camera angles, sequences, character portrayals, everything is superb. :2thumbsup:
.

[Fragony]

Babel. What the hell was with the Japanese part?!?!

And the rest? I am getting a bit tired of all these Magnolia wannabe's. This one doesn't even lead to a conclusion, omg the events are connected the genius!

next

[Quirinus]

Babel. What the hell was with the Japanese part?!?!
It wasn't too bad. I liked three of the four stories, the only one that didn't work for me was the Mexican babysitter one-- it relies too much on contrived circumstances. But even that wasn't bad. The plot connecting all the stories was pretty flimsy, but so what? The individual stories worked, and did so without theatrics and melodrama.


Watched Casino Royale yesterday. When I first watched it, I didn't enjoy it very much-- I was expecting something else, so I was disappointed, but this is my fourth time watching it, and it gets better every time. Daniel Craig is great as James Bond. Sure beats anything Brosnan had to offer. And Eva Green is..... Eva Green. https://i118.photobucket.com/albums/o100/mr_cereal/teach.gif

[Fragony]

Best Bond ever but I didn't like the bond girl, too girly needs to be a femme fatale. Great movie I love the darker tone, and Daniel Craig is just perfect, sexy and dangerous like a good Bond should be.

[Adrian II]

Best Bond ever [..]
Say whut??:furious3:


Last time we discussed this movie I was the only one who thought teh world of Craig.
You, Fragony, stuck to Connery. And don't you deny it! :stare:

Great movie I love the darker tone, and Daniel Craig is just perfect, sexy and dangerous like a good Bond should be.Good. Now where did I read that before? Oh wait... Anyway, good to have you on board.

[Fragony]

NoOO, I said Roger Moore and Daniel Craig. Roger Moore for the funny dry oneliners and Craig is a wild beast. And being able to cruise the Amsterdam channels doesn't necesarily make you gay just a uberyup :beam:

[Adrian II]

NoOO, I said Roger Moore and Daniel Craig.Well alright, I have some egg on my face.

And being named the 'world's sexiest man' in a british Durex poll does not mean you surpass George Clooney's status as same. Not juuust yet...

[Evil_Maniac From Mars]

Last time we discussed this movie I was the only one who thought teh world of Craig.

aHEM!

:candle:

[scottishranger]

Saw Run Fat Boy Run, Simon Pegg is a genius...

[Adrian II]

aHEM!

:candle::surprised: really?

Alright, more egg.

Enough to make a decent omelet. :shame:

[Lemur]

Saw Run Fat Boy Run, Simon Pegg is a genius...
I'm a huge Pegg fan, got throbbing love for Spaced, Shaun of the Dead and Hot Fuzz (in that order). But for whatever reason, I just couldn't get through Run, Fat Boy, Run. Somewhere around the gym scene I just got irritated and popped the disc out. Can't defend my reaction, can't explain it, but the Pegg magic was not happening for me. In a major way.


It wasn't too bad. I liked three of the four stories [...]

Watched Casino Royale yesterday.
My misreading of this post made a shocking amount of sense ...

[Fragony]

Well alright, I have some egg on my face.

And being named the 'world's sexiest man' in a british Durex poll does not mean you surpass George Clooney's status as same. Not juuust yet...

Well not entirely I seem to remember that I put Roger Moore above Daniel Craig but I changed my mind. The Moore-period is pure camp which I love, but with Casino Royale bond becomes more human, and it's faster much like the Bourne movies. Since Pierce Brosman took over it was all bond by the numbers with a bigger budget and more explosions, I like the direction Casino Royale takes. Incredibly slick movie with great characters minus the bondgirl who is hot but too vulnerable, not as mysterious and dangerous as a proper bondgirl should be. Can't wait for the next one.

[Adrian II]

Since Pierce Brosman took over it was all bond by the numbers with a bigger budget and more explosions, I like the direction Casino Royale takes.Yeah, just compare the chase sequences. Over the years we've had chases in (invisible) cars, speedboats, planes, Russian tanks and Hugo Drax™ space flight suits. So what did they do next - a quantum vortex chase? No. Instead of more gizmos Casino Royale had a Parkour chase (http://www.boreme.com/boreme/funny-2007/casino-royal-chase-p1.php). That's hip. It's back to basics. And it was very well done, too.

[Fragony]

All or nothing.

Genuinly moving. I don't like Mike Leighs movies, I can see why they are good but that finding beauty among the misery thing he loves so much always ends up like me feeling like he's mocking the one redeeming aspect, and that it the end everything is just as ugly afterall. See 'Naked' for example gimme a break, too much sadness.

Not here, a lot of sadness yes but a lot of beauty as well.

[Geoffrey S]

Stranger than fiction. Charming film, starring Will Ferrell. Who'd have thought it? Ferrell plays Harold Crick, a boring man who one day starts hearing a voice narrating his life. When it announces his imminent death he attempts to find out who is writing his life. Nice idea, well worked out, some excellent parts (Emma Thompson and Dustin Hoffman) made for an enjoyable movie.

[Martok]

Stranger than fiction. Charming film, starring Will Ferrell. Who'd have thought it? Ferrell plays Harold Crick, a boring man who one day starts hearing a voice narrating his life. When it announces his imminent death he attempts to find out who is writing his life. Nice idea, well worked out, some excellent parts (Emma Thompson and Dustin Hoffman) made for an enjoyable movie.
This is one movie I really want to see. I normally can't stand Ferrell, but this film has intrigued me since I first saw the trailer for it.

[Geoffrey S]

It's certainly worthwhile. A personally badly timed moment towards the end of the movie ruined my enjoyment, but objectively it's an excellent movie, and certainly not in line with Ferrell's usual tripe.

[Fragony]

Watched the pilot of Battleship Galactica. I am not really into science fiction but it's ok I guess. Homeworld:the movie sums it up.

[Mouzafphaerre]

.
Battlestar Galactica is splendid. :2thumbsup: Sci-fi is merely a setting.
.

[Fragony]

Ya it is well acted and the blond robot-chick is hot. Glad my sister pressed me to watch it because I wouldn't have otherwise, had the same with Brokeback Mountain.

[Mouzafphaerre]

.

blond robot chick
Tricia Helfer :smitten:
.

[Martok]

.

Tricia Helfer :smitten:
.
Even more so: Grace Park. Gods that woman is beautiful. :sweetheart:

[Mouzafphaerre]

.
D'Anna and Starbuck ain't no bad either. :kiss2:
.

[Fragony]

I love the actress that plays the president, and no not in that way bit too old for me, but she is an extremily attractive woman, very strong and dignified, perfect casting.

[Martok]

.
D'Anna and Starbuck ain't no bad either. :kiss2:
.
Of course, Kandyse McClure (http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0565973/) -- I love her character Dualla -- and Rekha Sharma (http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0788907/) are also very attractive.

Heck, we might as well just say that pretty much all the actors on BG are a bunch of hotties. Even McDonnell looks good for being what -- 55 or so? :yes:



I love the actress that plays the president, and no not in that way bit too old for me, but she is an extremily attractive woman, very strong and dignified, perfect casting.
Mary McDonnell (http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0001521/). Between her Laura Roslin and Olmos' Bill Adama, they're my probably my two favorite characters on the show. :2thumbsup:

[Mouzafphaerre]

.
Adama tops for me, with Baltar as the favourite antagonist. :yes:

I agree about Roslin on both of your accounts. :yes: :yes:
.

[Beirut]

Y'all can start a Battlestar thread if you like. Please keep this one for the flicks.

Thanks. :sunny:

[Crazed Rabbit]

Awakenings:
A marvelous film, great acting by Robin Williams and Robert De Niro. About comatose patients awakening after years. Really wonderful drama.

Heat:
Another great film, this a crime thriller with a great plot.

CR

[Kralizec]

Awakenings:
A marvelous film, great acting by Robin Williams and Robert De Niro. About comatose patients awakening after years. Really wonderful drama.

Good movie. If you like that one, you might also want to see Rain man (don't be put off by the fact that Tom Cruise is in it)

[Fragony]

Transformers. It's............

[Fragony]

Yes, my second movie tonight.

Songs from the seond floor.

To put it in smiley's;

:laugh4: :laugh4: :laugh4: :laugh4: :laugh4: :laugh4: :laugh4: :laugh4:

Absolutily hilarious 10/10

[Beefy187]

The Kingdom

Good movie overall. A little dull at the middle but had a decently good endling. But I swear those FBI agents are invincible:sweatdrop:

[seireikhaan]

Awakenings:
A marvelous film, great acting by Robin Williams and Robert De Niro. About comatose patients awakening after years. Really wonderful drama.
I will agree that it was pretty well done. Rather unfortunately, though, I and my friends who were watching it couldn't stop laughing over the fact that Williams looked like an exact clone of one of our Chemistry teachers.

[Crazed Rabbit]

Heh. Funny thing, in another Robin Williams as a doctor movie, Patch Adams, I'd swear one of the review board members when he's on 'trial' near the end looks exactly like one of my chemistry professors.

CR

[caravel]

Saw The Orphanage last weekend, brilliant, chilling, tragic, well acted, can't fault it.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Orphanage_(film)

[Conradus]

Saw "The assassination of Jesse James by the coward Robert Ford" recently. Brilliant movie. Brad Pitt plays his part superb.Only downside is Casey Affleck. I really can't stand his face, nor his pronounciation. Which makes it all the weirder that I find this movie so great.

[naut]

Got forced into seeing Prom Night, HORRIBLE! Garbage movie and I would like my money and time back. Predictable, cliché and absolutely rubbish film.

[Quirinus]

Went on a romantic-comedy binge last weekend, and watched 27 Dresses and Knocked Up. Both were pretty good in their own way-- the former was well-done cliche, the latter was hilarious but was like Taming of the Shrew in reverse. Poor guy.

[Fragony]

30 days of night, vampire goodness in an unusual setting, an artic town. Not every scene works but overall great fun and pretty damn scary. The vampires aren't the sexy monsters you are used to, they are disgusting and cruel, no suave bite in the neck but savagily tearing it apart. An entire town is butchered in a truly horrific scene, birdeye view on the carnage it feels kinda epic.

Rambo! Must say I enjoyed it, more grim then previous movies. It's rather, well violent, lots of explosions with bodyparts flying and .50 calibre bullets tearing people to pieces. Leaves a bit a sour taste, it can't decide between violence is so terrible and violence is so cool, I don't really need to see a small kid being bayonetted in a movie that is such obvious gung-ho entertainment. Still worth seeing.

[seireikhaan]

Forbidden Kingdom.

Rather not quite what I was expecting, but I found it extremely enjoyable. Seemed to kind of rotate between humor and action for a good portion of it, but did it rather well, I thought. Jet Li and Jackie Chan played their parts well, I thought. Overall, I thought acting was fairly decent at least across the board.

[Sasaki Kojiro]

Felt an urge to watch E.T. again for some reason. Good movie, dvd went bad on me before the end though :wall:

[Fragony]

Apocalypto. I mean we have rambo with inca's, we have human sacrifice, how did they screw this up??

The Kingdom, is ok, opening credits are more then a little bit pushy. Big plus is that cop-chick from The Shield, a H&K mp5-PDW looks so good on her. prrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrt mamma I want one

[InsaneApache]

I watched Million Dollar Baby last night. Fantastic movie, not what I expected at all, (a sort of Rocky with birds :dizzy2: ), the ending was especially poignant. Recommended.

On t'other end of the scale I saw a Mike Leigh movie over the weekend called Career Girls, a very moving study on personalities and friendship. Again recommended.

[Beefy187]

Can anyone recommend me a good movies similer to Vantage point but more meaningful

[Kralizec]

I watched Million Dollar Baby last night. Fantastic movie, not what I expected at all, (a sort of Rocky with birds :dizzy2: ), the ending was especially poignant. Recommended.

I had the same idea when I started watching it :balloon2:
Excellent movie.

[Andres]

Alles moet weg, from Jan Verheyen, based on a novel of Tom Lanoye.

Has some really hilarious scenes in it. Probably only funny if you can watch it in Dutch (don't know if there's an English version of the movie).

I can really recommend it to every Dutch speaking Orgah.

[Geoffrey S]

@Beefy: Rashomon. Syriana. Courage Under Fire.

Watched Starman yesterday. Dated, but such a sweet film. They don't make them like this anymore.

[Quintus.JC]

Scorsese and De Niro are the greatest Director and Actor ever! Just seen Taxi Driver, Raging Bull and Goodfellas. Abusloutly pure Genius.:2thumbsup: Trust me, watch their films!:beam:

[woad&fangs]

Leatherheads: Clooney's attempt to recapture the feel of 1920s/30s screwball comedies. It had some funny parts but as a whole it tended to drag on for too long. I hope more people start making movies in this style but....better.

I saw a trailer for Get Smart before leatherheads started. I'm looking forward to that one.

[Fragony]

Some more good political thrillers (and don't we all love them)

The Breach, The good sheppard, The Murchurian(sp?) candidate, The Contender

[Conradus]

Scorsese and De Niro are the greatest Director and Actor ever! Just seen Taxi Driver, Raging Bull and Goodfellas. Abusloutly pure Genius.:2thumbsup: Trust me, watch their films!:beam:

I'd go for Francis Ford Coppola (the Godfather I, II, III and Apocalypse now) and Al Pacino (the Godfather, Heat)

[Quintus.JC]

I'd go for Francis Ford Coppola (the Godfather I, II, III and Apocalypse now) and Al Pacino (the Godfather, Heat)

Al Pacino V.S Robert De Niro
This isn't the first time I asked people on this issue. Most people around my age hardly know the duo, those who do mostly prefers Pacino. But I'm a big De Niro Fan, his extreme method acting. Including learning how to box and put on 30kg weight for Raging Bull, lived in Sicily for Godfather II, worked as a Taxi Driver for real for Taxi Driver, learned how to play Saxophone for NewYork NewYork.... He appeared in so many dynamic films in his career. His collebration with Scorsese was possibly the best partnership in history. De Niro also played comedy character showing his acting talent is not just limited as a typecast mobster. Don't get me wrong, Al is a superb actor as well but De Niro just beat him to it.:yes:

looking forward for their new film, Righteous Kill, their last two patnerships were world class as well.:2thumbsup:

[Martok]

Al Pacino V.S Robert De Niro
This isn't the first time I asked people on this issue. Most people around my age hardly know the duo, those who do mostly prefers Pacino. But I'm a big De Niro Fan, his extreme method acting. Including learning how to box and put on 30kg weight for Raging Bull, lived in Sicily for Godfather II, worked as a Taxi Driver for real for Taxi Driver, learned how to play Saxophone for NewYork NewYork.... He appeared in so many dynamic films in his career. His collebration with Scorsese was possibly the best partnership in history. De Niro also played comedy character showing his acting talent is not just limited as a typecast mobster. Don't get me wrong, Al is a superb actor as well but De Niro just beat him to it.:yes:

looking forward for their new film, Righteous Kill, their last two patnerships were world class as well.:2thumbsup:
I'm more of a De Niro fan as well -- although that's admittedly a little like saying I prefer Porsches over Ferarris. ~D My two favorite De Niro movies are actually ones that I don't see mentioned very often: A Bronx Tale and Sleepers.

[ajaxfetish]

I think my personal De Niro favorite is The Score, also starring Ed Norton and a small role for Marlon Brando. De Niro plays a professional safe breaker trying to steal a priceless antiquity from the customs house in Montreal. Picture The Italian Job but with a sense of reality. It seems most clever criminal type flicks (there's got to be an actual name for the genre) go over the top (like the aforementioned The Italian Job or Ocean's Eleven), and while they may be very entertaining, they tend to lose me on the whole 'suspension of disbelief' front. The Score is more modest in its scope, and I think it's the better for it, as I feel much more engaged with the characters. As one small example, all of De Niro's tools and gear look like stuff you could actually buy at a local hardware store and/or manufacture in a domestic workshop with a little knowhow.

Ajax

edit: and the way they overcome the customs house safe is a brilliant and elegant triumph of simple physics over high-tech security solutions. The simplicity and realism were most satisfying.

[Beefy187]

@Beefy: Rashomon. Syriana. Courage Under Fire.


Ill try Syriana. Thanks for the tip.:2thumbsup:

[Geoffrey S]

Serpico, Carlito's Way, Scarface, Dog Day Afternoon, The Merchant of Venice... all films in which Pacino has shone. Both are fantastic actors and in my opinion of pretty much equal skill - DeNiro has had more parts, and is perhaps more memorable because of it. His best part? Brazil.

Of course, you want to see both you watch Heat.

[Quintus.JC]

The De Niro Classics:
Bang the Drum Slowly (1973)
Mean Streets (1973)
Godfather II (1974)
Taxi Driver (1976)
New York, New York (1977)
The Deer Hunter (1978)
Raging Bull (1980)
The King of Comedy (1983)
Once Upon a Time in America (1984)
Brazil (1985)
The Mission (1986)
The Untouchables (1987)
Midnight Run (1988)
Goodfellas (1990)
Awakening (1990)
Cape Fear (1991)
A Bronx Tale (1993)
Casino (1995)
Heat (1995)
Sleepers (1996)
Cop Land (1997)
Meet the Parents (2000)
The Good Shepherd (2007)
Stardust (2007)
:beam:

Key: Bold=collaboration with Scorsese
Underlined=All time Classics

[Martok]

So I finally watched Stranger Than Fiction yesterday. I have to admit I really enjoyed it -- it's a funny and wonderfully quirky film that demonstrates that Will Ferrell can actually act if/when he feels like it. Maggie Gyllenhaal does very well playing the romantic interest, Emma Thompson is fantastic as the eccentric author/narrator, and Dustin Hoffman puts in a solid performance as the literature professor who helps guide Harold Crick (Ferrell) through this strange turn in his life.

To be sure, Stranger Than Fiction won't change your life. I liked it enough, however, that I'll probably pick up the DVD in the not-too-distant future....and I don't say that about too many movies these days. A solid "kudos!" from me. :thumbsup:

[Fragony]

When you talk about pacino doing his thing you just can't forget about The Devil's Advocate. Not that good a movie, but pacino makes it worth watching.

[naut]

Don't usually watch horror flicks, but I decided to watch White Noise and White Noise: The Light since they were meant to be decent All in all pretty average movies, and for horror movies their plots kinda hung together. The buzzing white noise did get irritating after a while though. And as far as the sequel goes, the ending sucked, so cliché/lame.

[Martok]

When you talk about pacino doing his thing you just can't forget about The Devil's Advocate. Not that good a movie, but pacino makes it worth watching.
Indeed. I enjoyed that film, if only because Pacino so clearly relished the character he was playing. :yes:

[Fragony]

Planet Terror, go watch this. A loving hommage to the truly terrible action-movie. Brilliant jokes when you least expect them, insane gore, a striptease dancer with a m16 for a leg, how could this not be a win. Haven't laughed this hard at a movie in a long time. ' What the hell happened to him' ' seems like a no brainer to me, his brains are gone'

[Sasaki Kojiro]

Planet Terror, go watch this. A loving hommage to the truly terrible action-movie. Brilliant jokes when you least expect them, insane gore, a striptease dancer with a m16 for a leg, how could this not be a win. Haven't laughed this hard at a movie in a long time. ' What the hell happened to him' ' seems like a no brainer to me, his brains are gone'

I liked the mini-bike especially.


Harold and Kumar II is excellent.

[Kralizec]

Red Dragon

A prequel to silence of the lambs, intense and (at some points) genuinely frightening. I had read the trilogy wich the movies are based on years ago so I knew how everything would turn out, but it was good watching how they implemented everything on screen. It could have been better but it's still well worth watching. The FBI agent is played by Edward Norton (I love that guy) and Lecter of course by Hopkins. Whimsical rating: 7.5/10

[Fragony]

There will be blood. I knew I was going to see something good but I wasn't quite expecting something of this magnitude. Best movie to come from the states in a long long time, could just be the movie of the decade.

[Geoffrey S]

Vantage Point. Confused and predictable. Confused, because it can't decide whether to be a Clancy-esque political thriller or a Bourne Identity styled action movie - thus, halfway through it suddenly ditches the first aspects and focuses on the second, which it does poorly. Predictable, because the narrative tricks (rewind time to a new view of events) don't hide the fact that everything is clear from the first two segments and the rest of the movie is merely uninteresting filler. Flat performances don't help much.

Iron Man. It knows what it wants, and does it well. Funnily enough, it's not about Iron Man - it's about Tony Stark, who is represented perfectly by Downey Jr., who delivers the sharp script with ease. The movie contains very few action scenes, and what there is is brief. A good thing in my opinion, because the movie doesn't really need them and can easily rely on the strong cast (Paltrow, Howard and Taub especially) and the excellent writing. Special effects are incredible too, very well integrated.

And the best part? The whole family loved it.

[Mouzafphaerre]

.
Goya's Ghosts

Pretty well done. Milos Forman at work with his brilliant ironies and all. Natalie Portman is really good.
.

[Vladimir]

Trainspotting (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0117951/).

I never saw a train but there were some nice boobies. It's good to see that Scotland hasn't changed much since Braveheart.

[Fragony]

Serenity, man I enjoyed this. No-nonsense entertainment, pure camp, with a space-battle scene that needs to be seen to be believed, greatest action scene ever absolutily brilliant.

[naut]

Harold and Kumar II is excellent.
That's good to hear, I was afraid that it wouldn't live up to the first.

[Geoffrey S]

Serenity, man I enjoyed this. No-nonsense entertainment, pure camp, with a space-battle scene that needs to be seen to be believed, greatest action scene ever absolutily brilliant.
Ever watched the tv series? Movie didn't quite live up to my expectations - missed the charm of the series.

[Fragony]

Guess what I have right here :beam:

[naut]

Is Superbad worth watching?

[Fragony]

Das leben der anderen, awesome. Paints a grim picture of socialist germany and how dangerous it is to have doubts. Sucks the air right out of your lungs, good stuff :2thumbsup:

[Beirut]

Is Superbad worth watching?

Yes! :yes:

[Martok]

Serenity, man I enjoyed this. No-nonsense entertainment, pure camp, with a space-battle scene that needs to be seen to be believed, greatest action scene ever absolutily brilliant.
Agreed. A very enjoyable flick.

"I am a leaf on the wind. Watch how I soar." ~D

[Sasaki Kojiro]

Super troopers is excellent :yes:

[Fragony]

Ever watched the tv series? Movie didn't quite live up to my expectations - missed the charm of the series.

Just finished series, yes I most definatily agree.

[Fragony]

Oh BUMP

Cloverfield, meh to the ending, I strongly doubt that was the ending the makers wanted, if there ever is an director cut it will probably end when they leave with the helicopter, feels tagged on by suits. If you want to go independent please do so. As for the rest, great fun, a realistic Godzilla-clone. Ah what? Well that.

[Martok]

The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian

Well it didn't flat-out suck, but neither was I impressed. The dialog, the acting, the action/battle scenes were all....okay. Eddie Izzard as the voice of Peepicheek (leader of the Talking Mice) was among the few standout performances, if that gives you any indication. I can claim a modicum of enjoyment from watching the movie, but I wasn't even remotely pulled in as much as I was with 2005's The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe. Adamson definitely seems to have lost his touch this time around.

Also, I have to say that as a book-to-film adaptation, Prince Caspian (to be brutally honest) blew chunks. :thumbsdown: For reasons I can't begin to fathom, the movie makes Peter needlessly headstrong and arrogant, especially with regards to Caspian. Even worse, one of the major scenes in the movie never happened in the book at all -- it seems like the sole reason it was included was to highlight Peter's sudden personality shift (again, as portrayed in the film) -- and all it really does is add an unnecessary 20+ minutes to an already-long movie.

Bottom line: I'd say just rent this when it comes out on DVD, if at all. Fans of C.S. Lewis' Narnia series may still enjoy Prince Caspian, but I wouldn't bet on it.

Rating: 1.5 out of 5 stars

[Puzz3D]

The Golden Compass is another big budget adaptation of a fantasy novel. I haven't read the novels, but I didn't think much of the movie due to the story telling technique which amounts to hand holding as though the audience is incapable of following a story without everything being spelled out in the dialog beforehand. The drama lacks suspense, and just about every dire situation is resolved with deus ex machina to an extent that even that is predictable. The cinematography is excellent and the acting is fine.

[Beirut]

The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian

Rating: 3 out of 5 stars

The woman and the kids went to see it today. None of them liked it. They all said 2+ hours of swordfights got really boring.

[Gaius Scribonius Curio]

The Golden Compass is another big budget adaptation of a fantasy novel. I haven't read the novels, but I didn't think much of the movie due to the story telling technique which amounts to hand holding as thought the audience is incapable of following a story without everything being spelled out in the dialog beforehand. The drama lacks suspense, and just about every dire situation is resolved with deus ex machina to an extent that even that is predictable. The cinematography is excellent and the acting is fine.

I have to say that I have read the books and agree entirely with Puzz3D's assessment. As a visual spectacle it is impressive and the realisation of the fantastical world of Phillip Pullman's novel is exceptional. However, the storyline from the book is almost ignored, and many of the layers that Pullman inserts into the story are removed. The movie ends two-thirds of the way through the book, which removes most of the suspense and all of the tragedy of Lyra's unwiting betrayal (won't go into details and ruin it).

I highly recommend Pullman's books, but the movie itself is flashy and disappointing. 2 out of 5, at best.

[Martok]

The woman and the kids went to see it today. None of them liked it. They all said 2+ hours of swordfights got really boring.
See my revised score & review. :book:

I'd originally decided to be kind and try to be more objective (particularly for the sake of those who've not read the books), but then I decided screw it -- I'll be as subjective as I want to be. In terms of both unfulfilled expectations and overall quality, this is easily one of the more disappointing movies I've seen in the last few years.



Re: The Golden Compass: I watched the movie before I read the books -- I'm actually in the middle of reading The Subtle Knife as we speak -- so I was (fortunately) free from the burden of any expectations. Having recently finished the first novel, however, I'm now retroactively outraged that I paid money to watch such drivel. What's a real shame is that the film had such an excellent cast, but their talents were mostly wasted.

[naut]

Oh BUMP

Cloverfield, meh to the ending, I strongly doubt that was the ending the makers wanted, if there ever is an director cut it will probably end when they leave with the helicopter, feels tagged on by suits. If you want to go independent please do so. As for the rest, great fun, a realistic Godzilla-clone. Ah what? Well that.
I found that Cloverfield didn't live up to the hype, and I'm thankful that it was incredibly short. Sort of lame Godzilla/Alien/War of the Worlds(crap movie btw), mix that was ok in some parts, but so boringly predictable I wanted to claw my eyes out at parts. And in all honesty the ending was so lacklustre, it left me wanting my money back.

I've got Juno here, and I'm gonna watch that tonight, it's meant to be good, and as it's got Michael Cera in it I have high expectations.

[Fragony]

Juno is great, very moving, and the lead character is simply adorable.

As for War of the Worlds, I must be the only orger who liked it, it's a genuinly frightening movie with a few scenes that border on genius. The burning train, abandon all hope, brrrrrr. The machines were as creepy as can be, a great nightmare, I love the apocalypse genre.

[Geoffrey S]

Nah, not the only one. That film is riveting. One major set-piece action sequence after another. Rarely seen a movie that can be quite that scary - often it really did feel like there was no hope at all. Special effects were, and are, incredible.

[Conradus]

Nah, I rather liked that movie too. It's perfectly scary especially the lightning scene and everything with the tripods.

[Puzz3D]

I also thought War of the Worlds (2005) was well done. The machines are visualized as H.G. Wells describes them in his novel as is the blood farming by the aliens. The breakdown of society is also conveyed very well, and Tom Cruise is well cast as a whack-o. However, one thing I couldn't swallow was the high tech way the machines were re-inhabited by the aliens. Also, try walking from Albany, N.Y. to Boston, MA sometime. It was a very neat touch to have Ann Robinson and Gene Barry in the final scene.

I made sure to see this new version of War of the Worlds in the theater because I saw the 1953 version in the theater as a kid and it made a big impression on me. That version is also very well done, and it was one of the better sci-fi films released during the 1950's. A recent commemorative DVD release of that version has a good full length commentary by Ann Robinson. The machines, while different than those in the novel, are imaginatively created and the special effects are well done. Movies produced by George Pal always had well done special effects. You also get to see Jack Northrop's Flying Wing drop an atomic bomb which was rather advanced technology at the time. The method the Martians use to travel to earth is as described in the novel, although, their purpose is simply to wipe out all human life from the planet which is not consistent with the novel. The novel, written in 1898, is actually a criticism of Britain's imperialistic foreign policy at the time, and the idea that more technologically advanced cultures have a right to dominate less technologically advanced cultures.

H.G. Wells was incorrect regarding the pathology of the recently discovered existence of germs. Germs which evolve over time in a symbiotic relationship with a species develop methods for infiltrating specific cell structures. It's not simply a matter of a species not having immunity to a microorganism because there is no need to have immunity to microorganisms that haven't developed a method of attacking the cells the species.

[naut]

Wow, I'm the only one who didn't like War of the Worlds. So nobody found it cliché and the storyline obvious. The bit with the girl peeing by the stream, my mate said "I bet bodies will float down", obviously they did, "oh wow I didn't see that coming". The boat part, obvious too. I'm not denying it had its moments, but they were few and far between. But to be honest, the ending sucked, the plot sucked too, bacteria, bah, rubbish.

The beginning/end was funny with the bacteria, they looked like sperm. Me and my mates couldn't stop laughing, aliens killed by sperm! :laugh4:

Juno was excellent, damn funny, with good character development and believable characters. Had me cracking up, especially:
Dad: Did you see that coming?
Step-mum: Yes, but I was hoping she was going to tell us she got expelled or was into hard drugs.
Dad: Yeah, me too!
:laugh4:

[LittleGrizzly]

Juno was excellent, damn funny, with good character development and believable characters. Had me cracking up, especially:

im more into my action films so it was a bit slow for me but still a funny film, that line had me cracking up as well...

[Fragony]

Spunk. Meh. Another futile american attempt at the english vigilante genre.

Get it into your head:

english lowlifes : cool :yes:
american lowlifes : not cool. :no:

Stop trying.



The Bucket List. Morgan Freeman. Jack Nickelson. Should be win right? Well it isn't.

[Crazed Rabbit]

Narnia: Prince Caspian
Very enjoyable. Nearly 2 1/2 hours long, but certainly didn't feel like it.

As mentioned, quite different from the books. Re-reading the books will probably lessen my enjoyment.

Iron Man was very good.

No Country for Old Men: Didn't like this as much as I thought I would. From what I hear, the script adhered very closely to the book, but there were some parts that couldn't transfer as well to a movie. I shouldn't say I didn't like it, because I thought it was a good movie, but the absence of one key scene just doesn't seem right. It was very well done though, and I think a rewatch would help me to better appreciate it. Not something that you just pop in for 2 hours of entertainment and forget about afterwards.

27 Dresses - definitely not my choice to watch. Super predictable chick-flick.

I really liked Heat as well. A great thriller.

CR

[woad&fangs]

Iron Man
Attention all Hollywood movie makers. This is how action/superhero movies are supposed to be done.

[rajpoot]

Just saw Forbidden Kingdom, pretty good. A lot better than the Myth. Jackie Chan is back to his comic antics, and Jet Li and the kid complete the picture well. Furthermore, it's short enough to not make it boring. I'd give it 3.5 out of 5.

[seireikhaan]

Iron Man
Attention all Hollywood movie makers. This is how action/superhero movies are supposed to be done.
I totally agree...

Except for the very end. That irritated the absolute hell outta me.

[Csargo]

Watched Untraceable tonight it was alright.

[Csargo]

Watched There Will Be Blood tonight. It's the best movie I've seen in a while.

[Fragony]

Incredible movie indeed. I want that guys face.

[Fragony]

Schhultze get the blues. Ok I finally know what I want for my birthday, a fat german. Great german comedy, lovingly pokes fun at the homo-sapiens germanicus. Humor along the lines of ' Songs from the second floor', semi-tragic and absurd, really recommended I laughed untill I cried.

[Geoffrey S]

Bridge to Terabithia. Heard good things about it, so watched it. What I thought might turn out to be just another children-fantasy movie turned out to me significantly more. Great kids in the lead parts, particularly the really little one, and a moving story with a genuine message. Really charming film, and certainly recommendable even without kids.

[naut]

Iron Man is great. I love the following line:

Impressive Toni I see you've upgraded your armour.... I've made some upgrades of my own.

Indiana Jones was ok, very cliché. And the fact it became wacky towards the end was annoying and had me groaning in displeasure. I did like the references to the Ark of the Covenant. Overall, very tacky, but not in a good way, as is with the earlier movies.

Anthony Zimmer, I enjoyed it, even if I had to read the subtitles.I sat there for most of the movie thinking the woman was the man, and turns out I was wrong.The ending was a bit tacky, and too happy for my tastes.

[Spartan198]

Rambo. Bloodiest Stallone flick yet. Period.
(think .50 caliber machine gun at point blank range, then you'll get the picture)

[Fragony]

yup. hehe

Talking of blood, yay for Doomsday. More apolcalypse goodness with an incredibly sexy lead-actress. I just can't get enough from this kind of thing. Mad Max meets 28 days later meets Gladiator meets Planet Terror.

[Mouzafphaerre]

.
Finally saw the infamous 300. Great photography, brilliant pictures, very well done choreography and good acting especially in the stunts' parts.

The story, the crappy political undertones and all that kind of stuff suck big time. Add excessive plagiarism from Alexander and The Lord of the Rings trio and it almost renders the good sides of the work void.

2.5 over 5
.

[Crazed Rabbit]

Watched Fido, and, as you would expect, told a story about a boy who loved his Zombie. Yes, indeed. Billy Connolly stars as the domesticated zombie in this movie set back in the atomic family 1950s, except there was a global war between mankind and the undead in the recent past. A funny little movie with some great laughs (like the magazine the dad reads in bed).

Night Watch and Day Watch - both very good movies and I would recommend them. A fantasy good vs evil struggle set in modern Moscow. I read that the third movie will likely be filmed in the US and with different actors, which made me sad, due to Fox Searchlight financing. Both of these movies had less than 5million USD budgets, and had special effects just as amazing as anything I've seen from Hollywood.

American Gangster; long, (2.5+hrs) but good. A drama about the rise to power of Frank Lucas. Good acting by the leads Denzel Washington and Russel Crowe.

CR

[Martok]

Mouza: You're far kinder to 300 then I am. For myself, it was one of the crappiest movies I've ever seen -- it easily makes it onto my "Worst 10" list. Aside from the (admittedly superb) cinematography, I can't see anything good about that film.

[Fragony]

Mouza: You're far kinder to 300 then I am. For myself, it was one of the crappiest movies I've ever seen -- it easily makes it onto my "Worst 10" list. Aside from the (admittedly superb) cinematography, I can't see anything good about that film.

It intentionally awful it's awful in the first degree. I was actually dissapointed that it wasn't worse, I was expecting pure testosteron after the THIS IS SPARTA!!! jokes on youtube and it didn't deliver but still a hilariously homosensual RAAAAAAAAAAAWR

[Mouzafphaerre]

Mouza: You're far kinder to 300 then I am. For myself, it was one of the crappiest movies I've ever seen -- it easily makes it onto my "Worst 10" list. Aside from the (admittedly superb) cinematography, I can't see anything good about that film.
.
Actually that's what I say with the much better wording of yours. :bow:
.

[Fragony]

Infection. Is green goo in a japanese hospital scary?

yes.

[Spino]

It intentionally awful it's awful in the first degree. I was actually dissapointed that it wasn't worse, I was expecting pure testosteron after the THIS IS SPARTA!!! jokes on youtube and it didn't deliver but still a hilariously homosensual RAAAAAAAAAAAWR

I'm glad I'm not alone on this. I found 300 to be highly entertaining but not in the 'quality cinematic' sense. 300 was a pre-teen/teen action flick to the nth degree, so much so that it became a showcase of cheesy absurdity wrapped in a unintentional comedy. Not that the movie was a total writeoff; the direction was quite good, the visuals were stunning and the writing was ok at times. The director's insistence on having Gerard Butler scream out many of his lines only pushed the movie deeper into the realm of silliness.

Iron Man - I loved the 1st half/two thirds of this film only to be seriously let down by the underwhelming & terribly cliched final act. I don't know if I'm completely sold on Downey as Tony Stark but he did a fine job and proved especially adept with the humor. Overall I did enjoy it, much more than the Spider Man flicks.

I was expecting a climactic battle of titans in the third act; Iron Man's brains & speed versus Iron Monger's brute force and toughness. Instead I was treated to a terribly predictable console boss battle where the protagonist relies on a tired plot device to win the day. And Tony Stark revealing Iron Man's true identity during the press conference was too much to bear. I'm not a purist but could we please try and follow the comic a little more closely?

There Will Be Blood - Great film and superior to "No Country For Old Men" but it sports one hell of a strange ending that feels completely out of place.

I have yet to have someone offer an adequate explanation as to why Daniel Plainview would even bother to murder Eli once the former revealed he, once again, had the upper hand over the latter. Eli proved once again he had no prayer of competing with Daniel on his Machiavellan home turf. Even for the brief moment when Eli did have the upper hand it was due entirely to Daniel's murderous 'indiscretion' which led to his public confession, the outcome of which ultimately led to a pivotal moment that brought about a positive turn in Daniel's life (the return of his adopted son). I guess what I was expecting a more appropriate ending, perhaps one that dealt in greater detail with Daniel's tragic disownment of his adopted son, as as opposed to a scene that felt tacked on and smacked of a writer's desperate bid to end the film with a bang.

[Puzz3D]

There Will Be Blood - Great film and superior to "No Country For Old Men" but it sports one hell of a strange ending that feels completely out of place.

I have yet to have someone offer an adequate explanation as to why Daniel Plainview would even bother to murder Eli once the former revealed he, once again, had the upper hand over the latter. Eli proved once again he had no prayer of competing with Daniel on his Machiavellan home turf. Even for the brief moment when Eli did have the upper hand it was due entirely to Daniel's murderous 'indiscretion' which led to his public confession, the outcome of which ultimately led to a pivotal moment that brought about a positive turn in Daniel's life (the return of his adopted son). I guess what I was expecting a more appropriate ending, perhaps one that dealt in greater detail with Daniel's tragic disownment of his adopted son, as as opposed to a scene that felt tacked on and smacked of a writer's desperate bid to end the film with a bang.

I thought the ending was great because

it reveals how completely ruthless an entrepreneur Daniel Plainview was. When he was talking to Henry he could think of no reason why he despised people, and didn't see that it was a subconscious repression of empathy for other people so that he wouldn't feel guilt about exploiting them. In Daniel, this repression was so complete that that he had no regard for human life, and he didn't even care about the kid. He only raised the kid because the presence of a young "son" would give him leverage in negotiations with people by making it appear that he was a "caring" person. This is why he got so mad at the Union Oil man who suggested that Daniel take the $1 million offer and get out of the business to spend time doing things with his "son". It's also why he could so easily disown his "son" once the kid wanted to establish his independence and become an insignificant competitor in the oil business. Daniel would now have no family to leave his money to, but he didn't care about that since he was a completely self centered individual.

I don't think that Daniel wanted the kid back after he sent him away to boarding school, but Eli's congregation forced him to take him back. He had to take him back to get the rights to the land for the pipeline, and you could see by the end of the film that the son's return wasn't the positive turn in Daniel's life that it appeared to be. You could see that the kid despised being used by Daniel and that he wasn't going to buy back into the charade in that scene the day he returned, and he continued to fake not being able to talk most likely from shortly after the time of the accident. Remember, Daniel left the kid and went back to work on the burning well even though the kid was seriously injured. There was nothing Daniel could do about the burning well at that moment, but to Daniel the well was more important than making sure that his "son" was going to be ok. I think at that moment the kid realized that Daniel didn't really care about him, and he became spiteful of Daniel's acceptance of Henry. Lack of empathy is also why Daniel could kill Eli for almost no reason with no remorse whatsoever. Ironically, he killed Eli because he got mad that Eli tried to hustle him the same way that he had hustled countless other people, and he will get away with it because his butler will help him cover it up. This film is full of people who are out for personal gain. I believe that, in general, selfishness goes a lot deeper in people than they are willing to reveal, and that's the theme of this film.

[Kamakazi]

Post your movie reviews on any movie you like/dislike. I'll start off with the movie Underworld.

I watched Underworld over the weekend on TBS and I thought it was absolutely great. I think some parts were edited (more gory parts), which is a bit disappointing, but hey, it was still great.

Beckinsale in the tight leather suit helped to make this movie better! ;)

Something about the plot makes me love it and craving more. Fortunetly I saw Underworld right after the theater release of Underworld: Evolution (new one).

It's rated R, but I'll find a way in!:2thumbsup:


Now you guys think of a movie you've seen rescently and tell us about it.


Lol if you like here in that movie see the 2nd one.... =)

I recently watched the kingdom.....It was really good except some of the blood and guts parts looked totally fake...overall thoughg it had a good plot and a lot of action

[seireikhaan]

The Happening.

Utterly insane movie. Gotta say, if I got caught in something like that, I would be scared as hell. Acting was pretty good, I thought, but I'm still trying to decide as to whether or not to recommend. It definitely wins my vote for most bizarre movie of the year award, though.

[Kralizec]

Indiana Jones 4
It had its good moments but they were completely overshadowed by the bad plot, the cliches, sheer lack of plausibility (even when measured against the other Indie movies) etc, etc. 4.5/10

The Getaway
Crime flick with a great cast, good dialogue and pretty thin plot (well, the last is to be expected with this kind of film) 7/10

[Fragony]

The Happening.

Utterly insane movie. Gotta say, if I got caught in something like that, I would be scared as hell. Acting was pretty good, I thought, but I'm still trying to decide as to whether or not to recommend. It definitely wins my vote for most bizarre movie of the year award, though.

From what I heard of it my kind of movie, love the we-are-so-screwed genre.

Something different, Realm of the senses, or why porn can be classy. Incredible movie, great camara great actors great everything, and you will never look at a hardboiled egg in the same way that I promise.

10/10 :yes:

[Puzz3D]

From what I heard of it my kind of movie, love the we-are-so-screwed genre. Well, a lot of people are going to feel like they're the ones who got screwed paying $10 to see The Happening, but I actually liked it because it has a 1950's sci-fi feel to it due to the B level acting, the mysterious nature of the threat and the human interest aspect that M. Night Shyamalan always puts in his movies. There is quite a bit of symbolism in the film concerning man's relationship to nature. The small amount of graphic violence in the film is there for shock value, but I don't think the film succeeds as a thriller. There is almost a complete absence of drama except right at the end, and no scenes of panic. Everyone seems very well behaved in the midst of this life threatening situation unlike 1950's sci-fi films. The premise has a weak scientific basis and is hard to swallow, but it's a thought provoking if simple minded story.


Something different, Realm of the senses, or why porn can be classy. Incredible movie, great camara great actors great everything, and you will never look at a hardboiled egg in the same way that I promise.

10/10 :yes:
Check out the film Tokyo Decadence (1992) as well.