Films: Rate and Discuss

[Fragalishus]

Law Abiding Citizen - 9/10

I think I reviewed this before but I don't care - I really really like this movie. This is probably my favorite movie of last year hands down. I love movies like this where there is lots of planning to bring someone/something down (hence why The Punisher is one of my favorite movies as well). I also like to applaud Gerard Butler for his North American accent - that guy can be anybody.

While I thought it was ok, it really fails with the suspension of disbelief thing when a DA is constantly going on police raids, or walking around unescorted, with the keys, in a maximum security prison, with a gun, no less. I mean I could buy into the super-spy-normal-guy bullshit, but it's the little things that take me out of it. Still a decent flick, altho I don't care for Jamie Foxx in roles like this.

 

[Deleted member 56031]

Eww I HATED being john malkovich, one of the strangest films I've ever seen and not in a good way D:

 

[Dog--]

While I thought it was ok, it really fails with the suspension of disbelief thing when a DA is constantly going on police raids, or walking around unescorted, with the keys, in a maximum security prison, with a gun, no less. I mean I could buy into the super-spy-normal-guy bullshit, but it's the little things that take me out of it. Still a decent flick, altho I don't care for Jamie Foxx in roles like this.

The one thing I'd change is Jamie Fox - I don't like him very much.

They should've had someone else.

 

[Absinthe]

Inglorious Basterds - 7/10

It's fun, it's tense, and Christoph Waltz is one of the most entertaining things I've watched in cinema for some time. Yet by the end of the film I couldn't say it especially grabbed me. It defied my expectations (what little I had), but I felt it never gelled together cohesively like Tarantino's other films have. Outside of a few key players, nobody else gets much characterization. The British agent shows up for a few minutes and then gets killed in his next scene, and some of the Basterds either get lost in the shuffle or fail to do anything momentous. The movie's defined by a few great scenes, particularly one involving an uncomfortably intrusive and inquisitive SS officer, but... I don't see the overarching direction of where the film is going. Watching Hitler and Goebbels get shot into pulp is great, but I don't know why Quentin included it other than to show he just can.

Maybe it'll fare better after a second watch.

 

[Dan]

The point was to switch the side committing atrocities and get you to cheer for the bad guys.

 

[Shift]

The Wolfman - 7/10

Despite the entire film being one big cliche, it was actually well done and was above my expectations. The CGI was quite poor in parts but the graphics gore wise were top notch, really gruesome kill scenes. The plot was interesting if not extremely predictable. I enjoyed it. Extra mark for the leading lady being gorgeous.

 

[Sulkdodds]

The point was to switch the side committing atrocities and get you to cheer for the bad guys.

Or more than that to problematise the idea of cheering for anyone - of enjoying excessive violence. Although the film was hyped as involving this squad of crazy nazi-scalping badasses,

Spoiler

they stay off-screen for most of the film. When they do appear, they're not blowing up any cool shit: they've already won the fight, and are brutalising the survivors. Other scenes of violence in the movie include: nazi soldiers machinegunning jews and everybody in a bar dying in a couple of seconds. The only thing we see that looks remotely like a traditional war movie is actually a Nazi propaganda film whose premier Hitler is invited to. Basically the film avoid's Truffaut's trap by not actually having much in the way of cool awsome fights. That evaporates at the end as we're treated to a sustained Jewish revenge fantasy that takes the idea of justified savagery (the nazis are evil; let's **** them up) and letting the audience sympathise with it (holy shit killing hitler) while also making it terrifying and grotesque and excessive (they shoot his face into pulp, the woman in the smoke laughs, all the top brass burn to death, and anyway this never actually happened - it's absurd).

The distinct acts with their conspicuous titles and the garish captions that appear on screen to introduce characters are all Brechtian devices to distance you emotionally from the story so you can stand back and consider this stuff. It's interrogating the role of movies in relation to violence and propaganda ("boys, I think that's our masterpiece", Pitt says, grinning into the camera. And so doing it refutes the lies told about war - because after all, "everyone is somebody's son." It's pretty cool that it works using just about the most unsympathetic group of historical villains ever.

You say it doesn't gel cohesively together like Tarantino's other films but I reckon it's the opposite. This is the first time all of his clever tricks and tics have been organised to bring across coherent meanings.

Being John Malkovich is one of the worst films I've ever seen.

Oh, don't leave us in suspense! Tell us why.

 

[MJ12]

The Wolfman

Despite the entire film being one big cliche

The Wolfman

The plot was interesting if not extremely predictable.

The Wolfman

/char

 

[Top Secret]

Shutter Island

9/10

Fantastic movie.

 

[Warped]

Stargate SG1 Season 1 8/10

love this show. its gets better and better as they go along and its got plenty of variety. i can compare it to Babylon 5 in the respect that the characters and settings grow on you over time and its nice to see more and more. love the cast too, pretty cool bunch of people

 

[Dynasty]

The Hurt Locker - 8/10

Surprisingly good. I liked the new angle perspective on the war, its something you only really hear about on the news once a bomb has gone off, and you never know what its like for those bomb squads that deal with the IEDs.

It was a bit too American in some places.

Spoiler

Like when they meet the British (SAS?) in the desert, and they come under fire from the sniper. The Brit squad leader fires back with the Barrett, misses, and gets shot instead and flies back off the verge into the ditch. Then the yanks crawl up and 'kick some ass!', as if to say they were better, and take out the sniper team up the hill. They're not even trained snipers! One of those *sigh* moments where you roll your eyes. Was expecting an American flag to be fluttering in the background to be honest. Its not that I 'Oh I'm British so I'm annoyed that they were portrayed badly', I was annoyed because I just knew someone said the Brit(s) must die so our main characters can be the heroes in this scene'.

Other than that I couldnt help but feel it was just another film on a war, nothing really new. Yes, still very good, but nothing REALLY stood out.

Maybe I wasnt in the right mind-frame. But then that scene above pissed me off for the rest of the film.

 

[Shift]

/char

There was a plot besides a guy that turns into a wolf you know, I was referring to that.

 

[Sulkdodds]

spoilers

I thought this, but now I consider it I'm pretty sure the Brits were contractors/mercenaries rather than the SAS.

 

[Absinthe]

The point was to switch the side committing atrocities and get you to cheer for the bad guys.

I understand that. I don't think I made a complaint against that aspect of the film in my brief review.

I guess I'm just not convinced that the film is really as clever as it thinks it is. There's a lot that can be read into it, but I'm not sure how much if it was intentional. The same can be said for most of Tarantino's films, but some I enjoy more than others.

 

[Sulkdodds]

But it's all so pointed I don't understand how you could doubt it's intentional????

 

[Dan]

I understand that. I don't think I made a complaint against that aspect of the film in my brief review.

You said that you didn't get the point of the movie so I replied with the point of the movie.

 

[Absinthe]

Maybe I need to go to film critic school, then.

 

[Warped]

The Abyss Special Edition 8/10

Very good movie that has more story and characters than your average slow moving sci-fi movie. the CGI at the time was really good, and even holds well to todays standards. the acting was superb, there was even one point where I almost felt like crying

Spoiler

when they were reviving the annoying bitch (forgot her name)

also this movie made me pee really bad at the end because it was almost 3 hrs long. but overall a great watch, i suggest people rent it before they buy it because i spent about $10 on the dvd and I'm sure theres either a bluray or its coming to bluray.

 

[Dynasty]

I thought this, but now I consider it I'm pretty sure the Brits were contractors/mercenaries rather than the SAS.

Now that you mention it, they could have been mercs considering

Spoiler

He says something about the guys they have captured being worth 500,000

 

[Tagaziel]

12 Angry Men, 1957. Absolute 10/10.

Perfect pacing, perfect story, perfect filming.

I absolutely love films set in a single room and love them even more if they are psychological movies focusing on the characters' feelings, thoughts and motivations.

Absolute masterpiece of courtroom drama.

 

[Acepilotf14]

Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen
shit/14

THIS IS A TERRIBLE MOVIE

I COULD NAME OFF SO MANY THINGS THAT MAKES IT A TERRIBLE MOVIE BUT MY GOD I DON'T EVEN FEEL LIKE REALLY TALKING ABOUT IT ANYMORE

THE ONLY REDEEMING QUALITY IS THAT STARSCREAM IS STILL AWESOME.

 

[ríomhaire]

12 Angry Men, 1957. Absolute 10/10.
...
Absolute masterpiece of courtroom drama.

[pedantic] It isn't actually set in a courtroom.[/pedantic]

Mikael, have you seen Rope? It's a Hitchcock film based on a play. Very good. Only takes place in one room and there's only a handful of camera cuts in the entire film, and he even tries to hide those. Supposedly he wanted to do it in one take but he couldn't because the film reels weren't long enough.

 

[kineaesth]

Transformers the second one

like 3 out of ten

THIS FILM IS BAD

IF IT HAD COST ME ANY MORE MONEY TO SEE I WOULD BE MAD

Ace we are the same peopleperson

 

[Solaris]

12 Angry Men, 1957. Absolute 10/10.

Perfect pacing, perfect story, perfect filming.

I absolutely love films set in a single room and love them even more if they are psychological movies focusing on the characters' feelings, thoughts and motivations.

Absolute masterpiece of courtroom drama.

Try, the man from earth, that is my favourate one room film of all time.

 

[CR0M]

The Lovely Bones - 8/10

Gripping, sad, unsettling and very original. Fantastically directed by Peter Jackson with superb acting all round.

Hideously disturbing ending scene (18+) in true Jackson gore-a-vision that will stick in your mind, didn't know whether to go 'yaaay!' or 'sss, eew, ow, argh, ouch, eeeeeeeew'.

Great film.

 

[xcellerate]

Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen
shit/14

The best scene in that movie was when the military guys are calling in the airstrike:

"I hope those f16s got good aim"
"why is that?"
"because I told them to hit the orange smoke"
*orange smoke blows over them*
"It wasn't one of my better tosses alright!"

 

[Shift]

Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief - 8/10

I went expecting a shit fest but I actually REALLY enjoyed it, especially for it being a film aimed at the younger audience. The comic relief failed many times, but the CGI was superb, and some of the battle scenes were intense. I was also surprised by the lack of cheesiness, I thought this film would be ripe with it but I was wrong. Enjoyable.

 

[VictimOfScience]

Revanche - 10/10
An incredibly well-done look at revenge--Austria-style.

Hunger - 10/10
Describes the events surrounding the Maze Prison IRA hunger strike of 1981 and no matter what your politics, Michael Fassbender is AMAZING as Bobby Sands and the 17 minute still-shot scene in the middle is among the best scenes ever put to film.

 

[Solaris]

Hunger - 10/10
Describes the events surrounding the Maze Prison IRA hunger strike of 1981 and no matter what your politics, Michael Fassbender is AMAZING as Bobby Sands and the 17 minute still-shot scene in the middle is among the best scenes ever put to film.

Yes, I thought it was very well done and very fair. One of the best scenes I thought was when the prison guards are all in riot gear waiting to beat the prisoners beating their shields, one of them in hiding behind a pillar crying, overwhelmed by it all.

 

[jimbo118]

The Hurt Locker - overrated?/10

Not sure what all the spooge over this film is for tbh. I didn't find it particularly suspenseful or engaging at all bar a few of the defusal scenes. Didn't really care about any of the characters. Felt meh overall.

 

[knut]

i was expecting the hurt locker to be much more tense than it was, or at least to me anyway. for a film that has a fair few scenes around bomb disposal, i can't say i felt myself biting my nails much.

still a good flick like, just was expecting a bit more suspense.

 

[Warped]

Shutter Island 7/10

good story, good characters, but dry movie. i noticed things here and there that were good, and it kept my interest but to me it wasn't that suspenseful and it was pretty damn predictable too. maybe if the ****tards didn't bring a damn crying baby into the movie i'd enjoy it more but overall this was a good one to watch.

 

[SpotEnemyBoats]

Dragon Ball: Evolution - 4/10

I heard all the bad things of it, which made me think... could it be good like TF1-ish since the critics hate it? It came on Showtime so I was hoping that it would at least have a good Shenron (the eternal dragon on Earth) and Ozaruu (the great giant ape that all Saiyan's with tails transform when there is a present moon out) and it disapointed to that, Kakarots Ozaruu form was pathetic and he looked like a wolfman... and the same for Shenron. I also wondered what a live action kamehameha wave would look like, and the CGI just plain SUCKED.

On the flipside, I know many hardcore DB/Z fans were infuriated when they found out what Goku was, everyone said that he should have been asian and not white. Personally I don't give a shit what he is or what he isn't, so its left open to interpretation since Kakarot/Goku is an alien so whatever. I think people need to stop concentrating on the choice of race, and concentrate on the billion of other flaws of this movie making a complete mockery of a great manga.

I personally think a live action DB movie will never work, and seeing that it completely bombed in the box office - that just proves my point that it never will. Just the mere thought of the choice of Vegeta or what a SSJ would look like gives me headaches.

 

[the cow says moo]

Shutter Island 8/10
The acting was above par, the music was good(I've always loved cellos), and the story was engaging. It started out well and reached a high point in the middle when Daniels goes to Ward C. The ending certainly wasn't the worst twist I've seen(remember Lady in the Water?). Overall I enjoyed it quite a bit.

 

[Bad^Hat]

Drag Me To Hell - 5/10
Idunno. I can see why people might have liked this one, but it mostly just annoyed me. It struck me as - and don't take this comparison too literally if you liked the movie - the Meet The Parents of horror. It just... it seems like it tries everything to get on your nerves, including honest to god screamers (thanks, I thought I only had to worry about those on the internet). That said I did enjoy the second half a lot more than the beginning, it seemed to tone itself down just enough to be a fun watch, and I actually found myself cheering on the heroine in the end instead of wishing her to her fate.

Kudos, though, for featuring Justin Long in possibly his least obnoxious role yet. He fit into the rich, stuffy business guy role a lot better than I'd have thought.

 

[Unfocused]

The Hurt Locker - overrated?/10

Not sure what all the spooge over this film is for tbh. I didn't find it particularly suspenseful or engaging at all bar a few of the defusal scenes. Didn't really care about any of the characters. Felt meh overall.

Same here.

The main character was a douchebag and annoyed me most of the time he was on the screen.

Also, wtf at the sniper scene. So a guy grabs the sniper rifle and immediately gets shot. Why not replace him in the same position and without taking any additional cover stay there for a bit, cleaning the bullets from the clip, cause they've got blood on them? Magically nobody gets shot this time.

 

[Shift]

From Paris With Love - 7/10

Very enjoyable. Charlie Wax is an absolute legend, played extremely well by JT, and actually an excellent performance from JRM too as his partner. Plot is basic but decent, action is fun, and the humor is excellent.

 

[Shift]

Green Street 2 - 7.5/10

Nowhere near the caliber of the first but still very enjoyable. A very interesting plot and I feel it progresses well, although it is ridiculously far-fetched. The acting is actually top notch for the most part, Millwall's main man gave me the chills everytime he was on screen, amazing portrayal of an absolute nutter. The fight scenes were absolutely brutal, even more so than the first. I was overall pleasantly surprised, and that was after a mate of mine slated it.

 

[Warped]

Wall Street 8.5½/10

older movie with balls, must see. new one will probably be shit with shia but at least i can say finally i saw this movie!

 

[Lucid]

G.I. Joe: Rise of the Cobra - 6/10...
Immensely entertaining popcorn flick.
Stupid as hell but it is based on toys and a cartoon so I let it slide.

Underworld: Rise of the Lycans - 6/10...
I can't believe that they managed to make 3 Underworld movies and with the third they go and make it a prequel?
Entertaining with decent acting and fun action but it wasn't really a good film by any count.