What is the movie of the year?

[Moros]

Seen it? Best action-movie since, and maybe even better, than The Matrix and without a shadow of doubt the best comic-hero movie ever made. It really is that good it will blow you away.

Well I found Watchmen and V for Vendetta to be better comic-hero movies. Of course both aren't as good as their paper versions. One just can't deny the genius of Alan Moore. Then again while the X-men, spidermen,... movies aren't really anything special, personally I find them to be brainless yet great feel good time killers. Personally the Dark Knight seemed to me a movie that while certainly more than decent in it's genre not make much feelgood, nor did it succeed to be the opposite either. Even the dark athmosphere typical for Frank Miller wasn't perfect. Still a good watch with a well played Joker, yet not as fantastic as sometimes said. However I find Sin City and 300 better adaptations for miller, while a big plot might be missing their direction is almost art.
Be that as it may The Dark Knight is surely a more than averag movie, worth a view. But it wouldn't be a movie I'd buy on DVD and watch more than once or twice.(Unless commercial tv forces me too that is)

Also what did you guys think about: 'the curious case of benjamin button'? Personally I'd love the starting idea and it's base. However personally I feel as if it doesn't go much further than that. Which is a shame. Still a decent movie though.

Oh and my favourite movie of this year? Well as you could have guessed: Watchmen.

[||Lz3||]

The case of Benjamin Button was quite interesting actually. Some of the ideas they show in the film are quite... touching like the old lady who wanted to cross the English channel.

[Crazed Rabbit]

So, The Hurtlocker came out today I think. Anyone got anything to say about it before I drop money to go see it?

A review from John Nolte @ Big Hollywood.

Katherine Bigelow’s direction of “The Hurt Locker” is masterful and might very well place her back where she belongs, at the top of anyone’s list looking for a top-shelf action director. But that’s not enough to save the film from episodic plotting, jarring and unnecessary political statements, a troubling depiction of our troops and an even worse portrayal of the Iraqi people. This is a movie you want to like, but an unsettling after-taste lingers long after the thrill of the set-pieces fades.

I haven't seen it, and this is from a site with a conservative tilt. I just figured I'd play Devil's Advocate.

CR

[Lemur]

That's strange, CR, every other review I've seen has mentioned how politics-free the film is. Now I have to see it, if only to figure out what this dude was reacting to.

[naut]

The Hurt Locker.

Damn Australia and delayed releases. I really want to see that.

Movies in 2009? Well personally I enjoyed Up. Decent Pixar flick, but they've done better. Watchmen was alright. Still, the year's not over, so there's bound to be some good ones to come.

I'll never understand why people liked Transformers. Different strokes, and all that.

[Prussian to the Iron]

i think we might see public enemies tomorrow, not sure but i think.

when we do see it ill post a review, as well as when i see the hurt locker.

*resists urge to read the entire plot on wikipedia*

[Lemur]

Katherine Bigelow’s direction of “The Hurt Locker” is masterful and might very well place her back where she belongs, at the top of anyone’s list looking for a top-shelf action director. But that’s not enough to save the film from episodic plotting, jarring and unnecessary political statements, a troubling depiction of our troops and an even worse portrayal of the Iraqi people. This is a movie you want to like, but an unsettling after-taste lingers long after the thrill of the set-pieces fades.

I want some of whatever this reviewer is smoking, 'cause it's good stuff. I just came back from seeing The Hurt Locker, and the only way you could make a more apolitical film would be if you made a nature documentary. "Jarring and unnecessary political statements"? Where? When? Point me to the scene, hell, point me to a single line of dialogue that would qualify as political. Seriously. I'm forced to wonder if this pointy-headed wingnut even saw the movie.

And "a troubling depiction of our troops"? What the heck? The film shows young men who are well-equipped, well-armed, well-trained and under extreme stress. I'm so terribly sorry this wasn't Top Gun, but I think maybe the director wanted to make a less gay film than that. So after a really awful episode they drink some liquor. I'm sure that's just a Hollywood fantasy that soldiers might smuggle alcohol onto base. And when a bad call gets a comrade wounded, a team leader climbs into a shower fully-clothed and has a freakout. Which part of this is troubling?

As for the Iraqis, we get a gamut in the film: some want to profit from us, some hate our guts, some welcome us. Why is this "troubling"?

CR, take my advice and never read a review by that pencil-shafted idiot again. He must believe that he is required to blow the dog-whistle labeled "Hollywood Bias" whether it's needed or not. What a complete and utter tool of a man.

The film is just as amazing as I heard. I'll be eager to hear what someone who has done rotations in Iraq thinks of it. Yes, the squad portrayed does some things that are not appropriate, but it's all part of the character and the central question of the film, which has jack-all to do with politics. Not gonna say anymore for fear of spoilage, but I will say this:

If you live within an hour's drive of a theater playing The Hurt Locker, just go see it. No excuses, no delays.

-edit-

I just skimmed the entirety of the idiot's review. If you have not seen the film, skip it, please. He spoils major scene and plot points, and all to advance his claim of "leftist bias." So he writes a spoiler-filled review that misses the entire point of the film, all so that he can cram a work of art into his left/right myopia. I'd say more but then I'd have to move this thread to the Backroom. Let's just leave it at the simple fact that the brain-dead writer wanna-be who penned that review missed the arc of the movie, misunderstood the most basic dramatic elements, and should not be allowed within fifty meters of the Internets ever again.

[Hooahguy]

i saw the trailer for hurt locker. looks amazing. but didnt it come out in 2008?

[Hooahguy]

not what IMDB says.... unless its a different movie were talking about.

[Prussian to the Iron]

yah, it also says the halo movie is coming out in 3 years.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0464037/

fat chance.

BTW:

just saw Public Enemies yesterday. my parents didn't like it very much, i really liked it though. nice story, plot elements, though the bank robberies were extremely under satisfying.

[Hooahguy]

nope, its the same one....

[naut]

nope, its the same one....

That's because they showed it at the Venice film festival. That doesn't count.

[Prussian to the Iron]

i see the source of confusion here. go to the release date and click on 'More'. there are a bunch of release dates, one for USA which says 26 June (???). but it also says limited so maybe it hasnt been updated?

[Ronin]

Good movies this year:

Watchmen
Star Trek
The Hangover

[Crazed Rabbit]

Another Hurt Locker review, from the other side of the spectrum from the first one I posted:

That is the purpose of good direction and good camera work: not to draw attention to itself, but to enhance the story.

Which is a little ironic, because The Hurt Locker is not a story at all, but a character study. It is rare that a character study is carried out with so much expert attention to making a truly engaging and entertaining picture. The Hurt Locker is an apolitical and very entertaining movie about a very interesting man.

CR