Movie Review Thread

[Hooahguy]

Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen
Not sure why I even sat through any of this. It was so horrible.
2/10 because of the decent special effects.

Austin Powers (1 and 2): Meh. Not as great as everyone said it was. Pretty dumb, if you ask me.

The Town
I actually liked this. A bit too much talking, but it was ok.

[Fragony]

'Precious', seen it before but it didn't make the impact it made now. I was the type of prick that would make her life hell, and the harder she would cry the harder I would laugh. No idea why I was so cruel, I'm not a cruel person just flawed

[Tuuvi]

I say Unknown last night. I liked it. The plot twist towards the end took me by surprise but it was also kinda lame because the movie ended up being just another spy action flick. The acting of the Main character's wife Liz (I don't know the actresses' name) was really bad in the end also. I give it a 7 out of 10. Enjoyable but not spectacular.

[Prussian to the Iron]

Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen
Not sure why I even sat through any of this. It was so horrible.
2/10 because of the decent special effects.

Austin Powers (1 and 2): Meh. Not as great as everyone said it was. Pretty dumb, if you ask me.

The Town
I actually liked this. A bit too much talking, but it was ok.

Despite disagreeing about Transformers, I can let that go.

But Austin Powers? Really Hooah? Some of the funniest movies ever.


And The Town? Best movie of last year. Lots of talking? Maybe. But it wasn't like Inglorious Basterds, where 99% was talking/skipping through time, and 1% was shooting Hitler in the face. There was a pretty good amount of action, and very good action I might add. Loved the movie.

[Hooahguy]

But Austin Powers? Really Hooah? Some of the funniest movies ever.

Really? I didnt laugh once.
But at least I now get the whole mini-me thing.

[Beirut]

A Man for all Seasons

Just saw it last night. About Sir Thomas Moore vs. Henry VIII. Excellent movie. Got the 1965 Oscar for Best Picture, and easy to see why. Paul Scolfield as Moore is incredible. I'm a sucker for movies about European history, but Scofield easily does one of the best portrayals of a historical character I've ever seen.

I'd be delighted to hear about any other good movies in this genre.

[Major Robert Dump]

The movie where the Rock (Dwayne Johnson) goes on a revenge shooting spree was actually quite decent. Can't remember the name. Had some good faux plot twists and was certainly not a happy ending. Watched it on a bus, so maybe my judgement was impaired.

[Crazed Rabbit]

A quick review of what I've watched on Netflix over the past couple months:
Predators: alright action movie, but nothing special.
The Social Network: a great movie.
The Kids are All Right: A good drama
Clash of the Titans (remake): argh, terrible. Devoid of plot and acting.
Heat: I love this movie. One of my top five films of all time.
The Blind Side: A good, enjoyable movie
Shutter Island: Interesting, until the horrible ending basically ruined the movie
The Rocketeer: A nice little film. Terrible picture resolution though.
The Town: a very good movie.
Leon; The Professional: a very good film, another favorite of mine
Bad Lieutenant; New Orleans: from Werner Herzog comes another great film, with a great performance from Nicholas Cage
Ong Bak 2: Who needs a decent plot when you have so much amazing martial arts action?
Despicable Me: mildly enjoyable, but noticeably below Pixar quality.
Knight and Day: An enjoyable action-comedy movie
Edge of Darkness: A good revenge film
A Perfect Getaway: I enjoyed this and the unconventional set up for a movie in this genre.
Casino: Well made, but it didn't really grab me
Seven: A good movie that certainly kept my interest
The Crazies: a very good zombie movie
Conan the Barbarian: despite its flaws, I love this film, due in no small part to the excellent score.
Willow: An enjoyable fantasy adventure movie
The Descent: A great movie - probably one of the scariest movies I've ever seen - and that was before the monsters appeared.

CR

[Monk]

Bad Lieutenant; New Orleans: from Werner Herzog comes another great film, with a great performance from Nicholas Cage

What are these iguana doing on my coffee table?

[caravel]

Predators: alright action movie, but nothing special.

I had the misfortune to see this at the cinema - it turned out to be a hideously tacky rehash of the first film with a "plot" straight out of video game land. Even the underrated Predator 2 was better than this. Yet another nail in the coffin of the Predator and Alien franchises. Stick to the first 2 films of each franchise.

[Prussian to the Iron]

Battle: LA

Holy ****. Definitely the best movie I've seen in a long time. Comparable or even better than Black Hawk Down.

Plot-wise, it definitely tried not to be super far out there with the whole alien thing, and it ended up really believable actually. The feeling of "OMG WTF ARE THOSE THINGS" is conveyed really well early on when it tries to be, as you are unsure of whether they are aliens, robots, robot aliens, or what. You sorta feel the same way the Marines do in the beginning.

Characters, with the exception of maybe the overly-cocky air force chick, were also very believable, and real in a way. The acting was great and certainly added to the immersion of the plot.

Action? Epic. Not too over-the-top (which doesn't bother me, but some people), but certainly not lacking in total awesomeness and, funny enough, realism. Apparently there was a HUGE amount of effort given to create realism in the movie, and it shows. Just the way the Marines act (a big thing for me was firing only semi-automatic) in combat feels very real.


All-around freakin awesome movie. Love it.





Now, just gotta find someone to see Suckerpunch with...

[Subotan]

That's interesting, as I saw a poster for it in the cinema the other day and my immediate thought was "Oh dear, another Connect-The-Tropes "Sci-Fi"/Action/Disaster movie for Americans. Ho hum.". I'll pay attention to reviews for it now though, although the guys they had in charge of international marketing must have been absolutely dense

[Hooahguy]

I saw Battle LA and I have no idea how you can even begin to think it was comparable or better than BHD.

[Monk]

I had the misfortune to see this at the cinema - it turned out to be a hideously tacky rehash of the first film with a "plot" straight out of video game land. Even the underrated Predator 2 was better than this. Yet another nail in the coffin of the Predator and Alien franchises. Stick to the first 2 films of each franchise.

I heard the original ending intended to be a true call-back to the first, including a god-tier cameo.

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

according to rumors, the ending was supposed to be a ship lands and a line of predators come out, forming a line to either side as a larger predator steps forward to present the survivor with a trophy. A call back to Predator 2. After presenting the trophy, The predator removes his helmet to reveal himself to be Dutch, the survivor sole survivor of the first movie. He says, "Not too bad." as the credits hit.

Tacky fan service? Sure. Awesome? Yes.

[Prussian to the Iron]

I saw Battle LA and I have no idea how you can even begin to think it was comparable or better than BHD.

Because it totally was.

[Hooahguy]

Oh please. Ill take real courage and sacrifice over some made up storyline any day of the week.

[Fragony]

I had the misfortune to see this at the cinema - it turned out to be a hideously tacky rehash of the first film with a "plot" straight out of video game land. Even the underrated Predator 2 was better than this. Yet another nail in the coffin of the Predator and Alien franchises. Stick to the first 2 films of each franchise.

Predator 2 was pretty good, period. Mentally blocking everything after Predator 2 and the equally underrated Alien 3. Scarier than it's older brothers, but it's a crime that Aliens had better special effects. Computers were simply not yet up to the task.

[Prussian to the Iron]

Oh please. Ill take real courage and sacrifice over some made up storyline any day of the week.

Just because one is based off real events and one isn't doesn't affect the movie quality.

[Vuk]

Just saw Klinktverhall. It was disappointing to say the least.

[Centurion1]

PI im going to slap you for saying bhd is even comparable to battle la.

battle la. sucks.

and so does suckerpunch ridiculous plot and im tired of small females kicking everythings @$$ ala kickass

[Prussian to the Iron]

and so does suckerpunch ridiculous plot and im tired of small females kicking everythings @$$ ala kickass

umm hot chicks in miniskirts jumping around shooting people how is that not a good movie?

[Monk]

battle la. sucks.

Why does Battle of LA suck? I haven't seen it and have barely seen any commercials or hype in relation to it.

Come on guys. Talk about the movies, don't just state random opinions, some of us like to know why movie A is opinion B.

[Hooahguy]

PI im going to slap you for saying bhd is even comparable to battle la.

battle la. sucks.

Thanks Centurion for backing me up.

Im also a bit tired of the Marines being the only branch that can do anything in the movies. Pretty annoying, especially since there are many other units out there, many of which are just as good as the Marines.

[Centurion1]

thank you hooah for pointing out hollywood and to a similar extent the publics perennial hard on for marines. not that its wrong its always good for the military of any branch to get some love but the marines are obviously the favored child haha

............

Why does Battle of LA suck? I haven't seen it and have barely seen any commercials or hype in relation to it.

Come on guys. Talk about the movies, don't just state random opinions, some of us like to know why movie A is opinion B.

A. All the reviews it received were bad to average being the epitome of success.

B. I saw it. It sucked.

umm hot chicks in miniskirts jumping around shooting people how is that not a good movie?

its a ridiculous dumb concept meant to attract fanboys and teenage geeks. no offense to teenage geeks but thats the fanbase they are gunning for with that ridiculous movie.

Sources.

A. personal opinion using my suck o meter.

B. reviews

[Crazed Rabbit]

No one gets to talk about which branch is better until you've been in one of them.

PI's got the best review here on Battle: LA.

Some people may not share his opinion; http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/...IEWS/110309992

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

There is a lazy editing style in action movies these days that assumes nothing need make any sense visually. In a good movie, we understand where the heroes are, and where their opponents are, and why, and when they fire on each other, we understand the geometry. In a mess like this, the frame is filled with flashes and explosions and shots so brief that nothing makes sense. From time to time, there'll be a closeup of Aaron Eckhart screaming something, for example, and on either side of that shot, there will be unrelated shots of incomprehensible action.

When I think of the elegant construction of something like "Gunfight at the OK Corral," I want to rend the hair from my head and weep bitter tears of despair. Generations of filmmakers devoted their lives to perfecting techniques that a director like Jonathan Liebesman is either ignorant of, or indifferent to. Yet he is given millions of dollars to produce this assault on the attention span of a generation.

But PI shared his opinion and the reasons behind that opinion, and that's the whole point of reviewing a movie.

Also, a trailer;

Tacky fan service? Sure. Awesome? Yes.

I don't think the word awesome captures how awesome that would've been.

CR

[Centurion1]

In a more helpful manner i would like to discuss two films ive seen recently ish.

!. The town. BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

damn i cant even lie i liked it. My dad is from the boston area and i love the city. But i do not want to like this movie. It is yet another movie glorifying criminals like public enemy (which i also liked ) it was well made but i cannot condone it for its message of oh crime is okay and i hope this hardened criminal gets away even though hes been shooting at cops and robbing banks all movie long. because hes a tragically misunderstood hero!

B. Restreppo.

Good. Watch it. End. Of. Story.

Edit: true CR.

No one gets to talk about which branch is better until you've been in one of them.

but good luck getting hormonal teenage boys to stop.

[Hooahguy]

No one gets to talk about which branch is better until you've been in one of them.


CR

Fair enough. Edited post.

[Subotan]

im tired of small females kicking everythings @$$ ala kickass

Sacrilege! Hit-Girl is by far the best character in Kickass. Not only is she a totally unstoppable force of nature in the same mould as Samus Aran and Ellen Ripley, but she's also a brilliant subversion of the typical superhero. Hit-Girl was the most effective character in the film because she has the combination of of physical finesse and strength needed to kill bad guys, but she's also an emotional desert. Were a real superhero to exist, they would have to be as detached from their actions as Hit-Girl is and as brilliant in murdering everyone in their path, and completely unlike Superman, Batman, Spiderman, Wonder Woman etc. Regardless of whether you agree with that analysis, the likes of characters similar to Hit-Girl are so much more refreshing than either the stupid stereotypical action girls who are riddled with weakness (I.e. womanly emotions) and the painfully ludicrous perceptions of "feminists", who I think PI alluded to with the air-force girl.

Some people may not share his opinion; http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/...IEWS/110309992

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

There is a lazy editing style in action movies these days that assumes nothing need make any sense visually. In a good movie, we understand where the heroes are, and where their opponents are, and why, and when they fire on each other, we understand the geometry. In a mess like this, the frame is filled with flashes and explosions and shots so brief that nothing makes sense. From time to time, there'll be a closeup of Aaron Eckhart screaming something, for example, and on either side of that shot, there will be unrelated shots of incomprehensible action.

When I think of the elegant construction of something like "Gunfight at the OK Corral," I want to rend the hair from my head and weep bitter tears of despair. Generations of filmmakers devoted their lives to perfecting techniques that a director like Jonathan Liebesman is either ignorant of, or indifferent to. Yet he is given millions of dollars to produce this assault on the attention span of a generation.

From what I've seen from the trailer, Ebert seems to be pretty accurate. Sure, there needs to be a sense of confusion because after all the Earth is being attacked by aliens, but it seems to me that rather than making the motives of the aliens obscure, they're making the actions of the aliens obscure by filling the screen with CGI and making it "so dense".

I've never been able to watch a humanity vs. aliens movie in quite the same way after seeing Starship Troopers though. It is an absolutely brilliant film, and probably the best satire of fascism since The Great Dictator. The key to its genius is that it dehumanises the enemy without you even realising, so at the end of the movie you find yourself cheering for the fascists, precisely identifying the seductive nature of fascism.

No one gets to talk about which branch is better until you've been in one of them.

but good luck getting hormonal teenage boys to stop.

Hehehe this made me laugh

[Subotan]

Double post, but only because I watched a film tonight.

Summer Wars was pretty good. It's by the same director as The Girl Who Leapt Through Time, and it feels a little less sentimental than TGWLTT. The characters are great, and I could definitely see aspects of myself in the main character, which was hilarious to watch, and the badass old grandma is a welcome far cry from how old women are usually portrayed in movies. The plot's clever, although towards the end especially it felt rather tongue-in-cheek, as the internet was being treated as SERIOUS BUSINESS by everybody to a degree which seems a bit unrealistic. Overall, a solid 4/5.

Unfortunately, I can't find a Japanese trailer with English Subs, so you'll have to put up with the horrific dub

[Prussian to the Iron]

Im also a bit tired of the Marines being the only branch that can do anything in the movies. Pretty annoying, especially since there are many other units out there, many of which are just as good as the Marines.

As if. Name 3 other movies in the last 5 years in which Marines are the only branch doing anything.

There is a lazy editing style in action movies these days that assumes nothing need make any sense visually. In a good movie, we understand where the heroes are, and where their opponents are, and why, and when they fire on each other, we understand the geometry. In a mess like this, the frame is filled with flashes and explosions and shots so brief that nothing makes sense. From time to time, there'll be a closeup of Aaron Eckhart screaming something, for example, and on either side of that shot, there will be unrelated shots of incomprehensible action.

When I think of the elegant construction of something like "Gunfight at the OK Corral," I want to rend the hair from my head and weep bitter tears of despair. Generations of filmmakers devoted their lives to perfecting techniques that a director like Jonathan Liebesman is either ignorant of, or indifferent to. Yet he is given millions of dollars to produce this assault on the attention span of a generation.

I agree partially with this, but not in a negative view. Firefights are chaotic. Ask anyone who's been in one. I think it portrays this very well, especially since the enemies are not stupid and do not simply advance from one side out in the open like is sometimes portrayed in movies.

But PI shared his opinion and the reasons behind that opinion, and that's the whole point of reviewing a movie.

Danke shön mein gut freund :)