Movie Review Thread

[Alexander the Pretty Good]

Monsters vs. Aliens

Surprisingly good for a Dreamworks summer offering. Relies heavily on you appreciating the cast (who are excellent though maybe predictable - or as predictable as you could get with Hugh Laurie as a mad scientist who turns himself into a cockroach).

I went into this with low expectations, though.

8/10

[econ21]

I caught Oliver Stone's W on Sky Movies Premier last night. I greatly enjoyed it.

Josh Brolin did a very good impersonation of George W Bush and Richard Dreyfuss was just a freaky doppleganger for Dick Cheney. I gather it did not attract much interest on release, because GW was just seen as history at that point and, with awful popularity ratings, rather too easy a target. But as a Brit who is less familiar than US audiences with the subject, I found the material fascinating. (I've never understood the cause of the second Iraq war and even after the film still don't, but find it a compelling subject).

I guess there are two levels on which to judge the film - as accuracy and as drama. In terms of accuracy, with Oliver Stone, one must be cautious. I was bowled over by his film JFK, for example, but then deeply disappointed to discover that in terms of historical accuracy, it was an edifice built on sand. This film was far less dazzling as cinema than JFK and no doubt had many elements that loyal Republicans and the Bush family will find offensively concocted. The "dream" sequences and some of the father-son dynamic seemed crude and lacking credibility. Likewise, the Cheney figure seemed a little too Dr Strangeglove with the lust for oil and a permanent presence in Iraq. However, much of the other material seemed pretty accurate. For example, I remember watching Bush's cringingly embarassing end of term press conference.

As drama, I enjoyed it. I was sufficiently vague about Bush's background to find the pre-presidency events interesting, while the focus on Iraq appealed to my tilt. Inter-cutting the two elements made it more fun that a simple chronological ordering would have been. The central performances were good. Brolin's George W was sympathetic enough to be interesting - especially (and to me, surprisingly) after "being born again". The rest of the ensemble were strong, especially the actor playing his father.

I would give the film about an 8/10. Not nearly as good as his earliest stuff, but Stone's best picture for a long time.

[Fragony]

You know what you are going to get, it´s also as always really good.

[Fragony]

X-Men 3, weakest of the bunch, most of the best characters die. The chick who can see how powerfull a mutant is cute though.

[Fragony]

Iron Man, another fun Marvel adoptation, what you would and should expect, lots of humour, fun characters, great over the top action. It might be by the numbers but by the numbers is a great formula.

[naut]

Iron Man, another fun Marvel adoptation, what you would and should expect, lots of humour, fun characters, great over the top action. It might be by the numbers but by the numbers is a great formula.

It's decent. Very lame in parts. Paltrow is a classy lady.

[Hooahguy]

i saw Red Cliff last night.
one word:
epic.

[naut]

The Darwin Awards. Quirky. Pretty funny.