Printable View
Blood Diamond - pretty good, well produced and semi-believable plot. The thing that made it all worth it though was Di'Craprio's attempted Rhodesian accent. And too be honest it's a huge step forward for him, he's much better acting a role with an actual personality than as a vile heart-throb. I also enjoyed how the characters actually developed and progressed, something that seems to be forgotten in modern movies.
The Hard Way. A good detective/police film. The character of John Moss is one of the... well, funniest and best I've seen (though obviously there are better ones). It's his character that is beutifully displayed by... eh, the guy whose name eludes me at the moment.
Michael J. Fox also partakes playing an annoying actor who is known for his silly action movies.
Basic plot: the actor wants to get a new role and he seeks help of the police (Moss) to get into his role. So an arrangement is set up for them to "be undercover partners". Of course, Moss doesn't like it and the two characters are very opposed to each other.
Just saw Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix and very much enjoyed it.
It is perhaps less magical than earlier films, but moves along at a good pace, focussing on the core characters and plot. No quidditch, thank goodness. The opening few scenes - including a dementor attack and a flight down the Thames - are perhaps the best, but it held my attention throughout. The film is less downbeat than I remember the book - Dumbledore's Army is shown as a more of a mass movement than I recall and Umbridge's detention torture is more underplayed.
The supporting actors and characters are a delight, as always, although the interesting membership of the Order of the Phoenix don't get that much time. Snape, in particular, has little to do but squeezes more dramatic effect out of the word "Obviously" than one would think possible. I guess the next film will be his. There are some impressive additions - a 14 year old playing a perfect Luna Lovegood; Helen Bonham doing a fine Captain Jack Sparrow imitation and of course Imelda Staunton as a blood curdling Dolores Umbridge. I still wish JK Rowling had made the series "Hermione Granger and ..." rather than "Harry Potter and..." though. Hermione's character is so much more engaging, as is the actress who plays her, than HP.
The plot is very much focussed on the Harry vs Voldemort main story arc and really wets your appetite for the final offering in the forthcoming book.
Dead Silence (2007) is a gothic horror from the writer and director of the Saw trilogy. The film gets off to a good start, but quickly becomes tedious since the suspense is undermined by the predictability of most of the scenes some of which are drawn out too long as well. There are a couple of good scares along the way and the ending was good, but the protagonist, played by Ryan Kwanten, is not a very good actor and fails to engage the viewer emotionally. The screenplay and lack of character development are also not helping here. The sets were well done and spooky as was the makeup for Mary Shaw (Judith Roberts who had a small role in David Lynch's Eraserhead (1977) who is very good in the short segment where she gets a chance to act.
Dorm (2006) is a coming of age drama combined with a ghost story. Ton Chatree is a 12 year old boy who is sent against his wishes to a boarding school by his father, and he has trouble fitting in. The boys tell each other ghost stories to scare one another, but there might be something to one of the stories. The film is very well done with very good performances by the actors, and I think successfully combines the two gendres into a emotionally moving story.
Shooter (2007), already recommended by Sasaki Kojiro, is an action/thriller that's far fetched (what action movie isn't these days) but also quite entertaining. A lot of government employees get killed in this film.
Black Snake Moan (2006), also recommended by Sasaki Kojiro, by director Craig Brewer is an allegorical drama about the healing power of being connected to another person, and about the stability that faith, family and community can bring to a person's life. Christina Ricci and Sam Jackson are excellent in their roles, and the supporting actors are also very good. Blues music is well researched and used brilliantly in the film. Sam Jackson learned to play blues guitar for this movie. The production values, camera work and script are all very good.
Fur: An Imaginary Portrait of Dianne Arbus (2006) by writer Erin Wilson and director Steven Shainburg is an allegorical drama which attempts to visualize, using a poetic realism style of film making, the emergence of the artistic impulse in the famous photographer Dianne Arbus. The movie has been heavily criticized for its non-biographical nature, and for the inner transformation of Dianne Arbus being visualized as a romance between her and the imaginary character Lionel. Since in reality Dianne Arbus was very much self-actualized and did not receive her new sense of identity from a romantic relationship with man, I think the film fails if the character of Lionel is taken literally. However if he is viewed as a metaphor for the suppressed aspect of Dianne's personality, I think the film works as a tribute to Dianne Arbus and shows the difficult decision she had to make to pursue her art.
What actually caused Dianne Arbus' transformation is unknown. Shainburg has said that Lionel's upstairs apartment represents Diane's subconscious, and that Lionel, at least partly, represents people who had influenced Arbus. Since Lionel is never seen in the movie without Arbus present, I think he can be viewed as the suppressed aspect of Diane's personality. Fur is used throughout the movie as a metaphor for what is blocking Dianne's suppressed inner self, and Shainburg says that in some sense the whole movie takes place down inside that fur as the initial shot of the movie implies. Indeed, the first time we see Nicole Kidman as Arbus she is wearing a fur coat, but it's unlike the fur coats her father sells. It's her own fur that she now inhabits before the movie jumps back 3 months to show what her life was like before her transformation.
The visual references to Alice in Wonderland seem appropriate to me because Dianne Arbus likened her journey to that of Alice since her favorite thing to do was to experience things that she hadn't experienced before, and the fable was a favorite of hers. Although there is some visual reference to Jean Cocteau's Beauty and the Beast (1946), this film is not a retelling of that fable. The art direction and cinematography are outstanding in this film, and Nicole Kidman and Robert Downey Jr. give very good performances. I thought the soundtrack was fine for the mood of the film, but some think it's overbearing. The film could be considered as exploitative of Dianne Arbus' name, but it does contain many facts about her and it influenced me to buy Patricia Bosworth's unofficial biography of Dianne Arbus to learn more about her. Her photographs can be quite unsettling since they are confrontational (the subject usually stares directly back at the viewer), and most of her subjects were people on the fringes of society.
The Hidden Blade (2004) by director Yôji Yamada who did The Twilight Samurai (2002) are very similar films about a low level samurai, but this time more elements such as social caste, morality and the transition to western methods of warfare come into play. The characters are less extreme and therefore I felt more believable, and there are no children, demented mother or dead wife to ratchet up the sentimentality. The film is slow moving, but I liked it better than the earlier film. The hidden blade itself is awesome when you finally see the technique used.
Sunshine (2007), just released, is a philosophical sci-fi movie by director Danny Boyle which I found to be visually impressive. The movie incorporates a number of ethical paradoxes into the story. The visuals are worth seeing on the big screen, and the character development is just enough to give the story some emotional impact by the end, although, the ending was rather disorientating. The science doesn't stand up to scrutiny, but it's a pretty interesting premise just the same. The films 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968), Dark Star (1974) and Conquest of Space (1955) are all referenced, and it has a hybrid plot similar to Alien and Event Horizon. So, if spurious science or non-sci-fi elements are not to your liking you might want to skip this one.
TRANSFORMERS THE MOVIE (2007 live action version)
Bloody fantastic! If you were a fan of the cartoon this film has it all and thats all that needs to be said. As soon as you hear Prime's voice- its like coming home.
If you were not a fan or have not had much exposure, this is simply a great action movie with some good comedic moments for good measure, a good 2 and a half hour of action, adrenaline, explosions and a hot chick as well- what more could a man want in a movie?
Blood Diamond, oh boy. Isn't africa a fun place or what? DiCaprio is great, I am close to forgiving him for being dragged to the movies to watch Titanic no less then 3 times, and he doesn't sound like a backstreet-boy anymore, phew. Movie, cynical and violent, like Hotel Rwanda strangely not very engaging but worth watching for that glad I am not you that goes so well with a beer.
Now here's a little gem. Princess mononoke
Go watch this asap, I can only describe it as magical. Animation is so good it leaves you breathless, full of japanese folklore, shogun, gods, warriors, all things that makes orgers happy. It's funny, it's an english dvd and it's pg, but it is pretty violent and quite graphic at times, would most definatly been a 12+ here. Amazing amazing amazing, did I mention that it is amazing?
GO.WATCH.THIS. :2thumbsup: :2thumbsup: :2thumbsup: :2thumbsup: :2thumbsup: :2thumbsup: :2thumbsup: :2thumbsup: :2thumbsup: :2thumbsup: :2thumbsup: :2thumbsup: :2thumbsup: :2thumbsup: :2thumbsup:
Another excellent Japanese anime is Spirited Away (2001). It won the Oscar for best animated feature of 2003. The animation is superb, and the coming of age story of a 10 year old girl is enchanting. The english dubbing is outstanding in quality, so if you understand english you can use that option without it detracting from the quality of the movie.
Aye, same maker. Howl's moving castle is also great, but Princess Monomoke is heaps above these two.
Man, really great. Puts even classics like Akira and Ghost in the Shell to shame.
Aw, hell, ALL of Miyazaki's movies are great, and you should check them out.
Nausicaa was also among my favourites, although I really liked Kiki's Delivery Service a lot, as well.
Like I said: y'all should check them all out, they're really really good.
I'll sleep when I am dead.
I slept a whole lot sooner, ohhhh nothing happens how incredibly clever!
meh.
Agreed. An outstanding movie. Cost $35 to buy the DVD but it was worth it. Incredibly imaginative. I have yet to hear from anyone, kid or adult, who didn't think it was five-star.Quote:
Originally Posted by Puzz3D
Saw Cashback last night. A standard (British) love affair movie but with enough twists, humour, and interesting film technique to make it worth watching.
Rush Hour 3: Best of the series I think. Funniest.
The Great Silence or Into Great Silence: it's a documentary about life in a chartusian monastery with those monks who have taken 'a vow of silence' the movie is about as silent as the monks. relatively austere living compared to the rest of the modern world and use of a lot of repetition and doing the same things over and over. interesting look on how other people choose to live but at 3 hours i feel it was a little bit too long of a snapshot, though i could understand if the filmmaker made it that long to pound into the viewer's conciousness the totality of the experience.
De Lift For its time not so bad. Still, I must find things to criticize it.
It has lousy Dutch actors (which is obvious for it is a Dutch movie -- good Dutch actors do not exist). Huub Stapel, who plays the main role, is not that bad however... in any case he is a Dutch actor, so I rest my case on it there.
The music is of very poor quality -- almost too cheap I would say, though it more or less fits the film. The sound effects are simple and poor.
The start of the movie is horrible. There is a party of few people (of whom two are female and two male) in an elevator. The apparatus ceases to function and they are trapped. Life support ceases and they commence to perish slowly. Of course they are foolish so one man and a woman start to **** each other (though the scene is not that expressive). That's real smart, ain' it? You are running out of air, the room is hot, and you start to ****.
Anyway... the acting is bad. It is so.... so.... bad and... BAD. The actors hardly show any body language (which may be on purpose but still... argh). They speak in manners that are so "neat" or "clean" as if they have trouble to remember their lines and correct pronunciation limiting their efforts to actually ACT out their roles properly.
It also shows a womanly role who is just.... arrgh. So someone, a man, has been seen with another woman and this information is passed to the wife so it automatically implies to her he's cheating on her? Oh ******* please. Women.
And the fact that this man is left by her as she takes the kids is silly. Actually, what is silly is that the film doesn't work it out more. Man is left by wife who takes kids to stay at her mother's place. After this occurrence there is hardly anything in the film that shows anything of it like a DEVELOPMENT. Perhaps this is good as it shows the role of the actor who is obsessed with a certain case, but at first sight is bad.
Anyway, enough ranting. I will purchase this old movie which is a bad product, a piece of ****, and utilize a hammer on it just so I can say honestly that I have destroyed a tape of it. Yes, it will be a tape, no DVD: the cheaper the better. A tape will also provide more gratification as I reduce it: a DVD can hardly be satisfactorily destroyed.
American Ninja (series).
I used to watch this film as a kid. I adored it much, but when I see it now... well, I might enjoy it due to nostalgia but I would certainly criticize it. I often criticized it in the past because I simply enjoy it. That is sufficient reason. It is a terrible movie.
It's about an amnesiac called Joe Armstrong who does not know where he is from nor what has happened to him. He is forced to join the army. As the silent type he doesn't speak much and is an outcast soldier disliked by his fellow soldiers.
He occasionally gets strange flashbacks to what happened to him before which are cheaply displayed and so cliché-like. You even see him as a kid as he trains in martial arts. Indeed, martial arts. He is a ninja. An "American Ninja" who does ninja stuff.
All the actors in this movie are bad. They are so bad I... well, I don't know, but they are so bad I cannot think of anything worse that could transcend it. Well, perhaps Dutch actors are worse. Yes, they are worse indeed.
But this movie has it all, though: hero, hero's sidekick, villain, henchman of villain, girl, girl's father, bad story.
The evil black ninja, who is Japanese, carries a secret small ninja gun on his arm or hand that he can sneakily use unexpectedly. When I saw it the first time I was thinking "What the **** What is this???! A ninja who has a secret firearm (!)"
Some scenes are very bad. For instance, I remember a scene where people suddenly randomly start fighting each other, shooting each other. An army jeep roles in and this Jackson guy operates its machine gun. He aims at a couple of guys in the distance to the side and shoots as they stand there on some platformish surface with the side thing to lean your hands on. Instead of showing their deaths properly, if you look carefully, you see one of them actually CLIMB over the thing (with difficulty) to fall down. It's like the actor was thinking: "Oh! Arrrgh! I'm hit! I must play dead, but **** I forgot... I'll just climb over the thing while I'm being shot at and fall down, even if I was supposed to drop dead already.... this looks better." They don't even show bullet impact damage as he was hit (!) Arrgh!
This movie is terrible.... simply terrible, but enjoyable and funny if you watch it with a buddy and criticize it. Part 1 was the best of the series, and if part 1 is bad, you don't want to know the rest. (I think they went up to part 5, situated in Africa or something with the same stupid idea... creating an army of super ninjas for evil purposes. What the ****! Super ninjas!! They die so easily! They aren't super ninjas! In part 2 I think they were even genetically enhanced super ninjas where the evil villain even said they were as powerful and strong as steel in their arms.... and STILL they died so easily by mere military soldiers, mere men, humans, who have no martial arts training at all! Arrrrgh!)
Well, at least it's not Dutch actors or a Dutch film (or worse.... Belgian TV) :clown:
(Language - Beirut)
De Lift still manages to frighten me, very effective little horror-movie. And Bijo there are tons of great dutch movies, Simon, Karakter, Offscreen, Lek, Van god los, Zwartboek just to name a few recent ones, all fantastic movies with great acting.
Had to entertain a little one, so we went to see Ratatouille: predictable and rather lame story, with a couple of all too convenient plot devices and 2dimensional characters (the animation in animated movies might improve, the scriptwriting took a step backwards here). Still, some funny scenes and despite being a rather lengthy movie it didn't feel 'too' long.
Go see it if you need to take kids to a movie, there are probably worse options.
I have discovered how to determine if a movie is any good or not.
Just put it on the shelf in the video store and let my gf go in.
If she picks it then it will be awful.
I let her go down on Friday and she came back with three howlers.
First NORBITT a truely horrible experiance.
Eddie murphy should have put the fet suits to bed after The Nutty Professor, this one is just weak with a few (minor) laughs.
Second MAN ABOUT TOWN while Ben Affleck was okay is was just boring. Plain boring.
Third OPEN SEASON whislt probably infair to call it poor I was so depressed after the first two that I had to go and play RTW. It was pretty standard stuff really and having the dude out of that70's show as the deer was irritating.
But the worst bit was my gf then telling me that my taste in movies was off becasue I made her sit through BIG TROUBLE IN LITTLE CHINA AND ABSOLUTE CLASSIC!!!
Huh - I never win!
Alas, my friend, there might not be any hope left for her if she could not enjoy Big Trouble in Little China. An enjoyable movie, imo. My guess is she probably does not enjoy other classics, such as Liar Liar, and Austin Powers.Quote:
Originally Posted by El Diablo
Mind you I also made her sit through the hillarious FLASH GORDON The one with Brian Blessed as the King of the Hawkmen and the sound track by Queen.
I just live the way Flash runs around with a t-shirt with "Flash" on it. I may have to get me an "El Diablo" t-shirt to impress the ladies :laugh4: :laugh4:
Classic line of that film is the evil queen or whatever she was ..
"WHAT DO YOU MEAN, FLASH GORDON APPROACHING"
Cracks me up everytime.
I think it is probably better if you just break the relationship off right on....I mean....how can you trust someone that is not into the adventures of Jack Burton??????:inquisitive:Quote:
Originally Posted by El Diablo
This is Jack Burton in the Porkchop Express and I'm talkin' to whoever's listening out there. :laugh4: :2thumbsup:
"Just Remember what ol' Jack Burton used to say..It's ALL in the reflexs"
That and the end when he gets asked
"Are you not even going to kiss her" [Kim Cattrell]
"Nope"
Ha ha what an acting god.
Die-Hard 4, IMHO it was good. I really enjoyed when he said his catchphrase:
Too much:
Nice special effects though.
Romeo is bleeding (1993).
Wow. I loved this; haven't seen a movie that I enjoyed so much in a very long time.
Excellent plot, lots of twists, and amazing play by the two leads (Gary Oldman and Lena Olin). The female lead is by far one of the most ... striking, and certainly unforgettable characters I've seen.
I don't have enough thumbs and toes to give it.
I saw a lot of movies, the last month, so I'll highlight some of them.
Taxi Driver
One of De Niro's best films, so they say. I must admit his acting here is superb, but the film left me a bit confused. Especially the end.
I mean, he just killed three people, without any reason, and still gets a medal for it?
Scarface
It was the first time I saw this movie, and because I heard a lot of great comments of some friends, I had high expectations. Too high, apparently. Al Pacino can't convince me with Montana, like he could with Michael Corleone. If you've seen the Godfather, this one looks pale in comparison, imo.
Eragon
It's a pity that not every fantasy movie can be a LotR. That has never been more clear than with Eragon. Jeremy Irons acts convincingly, but he's the only one. The others are just too inexperienced, or don't get enough screentime. Saphira looks beautiful, but it's a shame the movie was done in such a hurry. A shame because the books are actually quite well.
Fantastic 4: Rise of the Silver Surfer
Obviously, you don't watch this movie for its plot or its acting. But the special effects were nice. Jessica Alba was gorgeous and I enjoyed its humour better than I did the Simpsons'.
Starship Troopers
I don't know why, but I loved this movie. Perhaps because it has been quite a while since I've seen a good sf-film. The story wasn't anything like Heinlein's book, but I didn't expect that. They keep the central point of the book, but the battles are off course more highlighted. And the aliens looked really nasty. And Denise Richards :love:
I'll quit my review here, though I still have other films left to viewed and rated...
The final scene can be interpreted as a fantasy that Travis Bickle is having as he lay dying. Martin Scorsese has said that the ending is open to interpretation.Quote:
Originally Posted by Conradus
The Invasion (2007) is a sci-fi/thriller remake of Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1956), (1978) and (1993). The plot is highly predictable. If director Oliver Hirschbiegel, who made Downfall (2004), was able to create something new out of this story it has been largely lost because the producers brought in another director to do massive reshooting on this film. I suspect that Hirschbiegel's version was done as a dark psychological thriller, but the producers wanted over-the-top action sequences that you get in Hollywood movies these days. The movie ends up having a schizophrenic feel to it. The cast is very good, and the three main characters, a psychiatrist and two medical doctors, act in an understated way which would fit in with a thriller rather than the more exaggerated acting that you get in a horror film. Nicole Kidman is particularly well cast as the psychiatrist who has to hide her emotions to conceal that she isn't one of them. If you are looking for a scary film, this isn't it. If you like Nicole Kidman, you get to see her in every scene since the story is told from her perspective.
Hmm, I never thought of it that way, thanks for bringing this up, Puzz3D.~:cheers:Quote:
Originally Posted by Puzz3D
Stardust: Surprised me by being really funny.
Premonition (2007) is a nicely filmed psychological thriller/drama with very good performances by all the actors. It's non-linear story telling mixing dream/premonition scenes, reality scenes and a couple of flashbacks with the transitions between these scenes very well done. It's a difficult movie to figure out in one viewing. However, there is a serious logical error apparently introduced inadvertenly by the director when he made changes to the script while filming the movie. This error causes confusion in trying to make sense of the movie. The story covers a 7 day cycle from Sunday to Saturday. The real timeline days are shown in linear sequence except for Sunday which is shown to the audience between the Tuesday and Wednesday scenes. Unfortunately, the main character, Linda (Sandra Bullock), is shown knowing and doing some things on Sunday in the real timeline that she couldn't know about and therefore act upon before Monday. They make sense logically if they occur on Tuesday afternoon and evening, but they end up in the Sunday scene because that scene immediately preceeds the movie's dramatic conclusion on Wednesday. So, it appears that the director got confused with the sequence of events in the real timeline, and for dramatic reasons put things in Sunday that shouldn't be there. It's unfortunate because I don't see any other logical mistakes in the movie.