Films: Rate and Discuss

I also enjoyed First Class. I would say it's just as good as the first X-Men movie.
 
I like it how pre Crystal Skull some people made a point of saying that there are only two Indiana Jones films. Now there's only three!
 
Who the hell said that?
I don't think Temple of Doom was ever near the quality of shit that Crystal Skull is.

And also @ Samon again, as I said... I would need to watch X2 again to fairly judge as I haven't seen it in about 5 years.
 
And also @ Samon again, as I said... I would need to watch X2 again to fairly judge as I haven't seen it in about 5 years.

No, I know. I saw X2 and FC back-to-back, and as much as I enjoyed FC, X2 is definitely the better film, even with its incredibly long finale.
 
I could see X2 being better if only because of the overall feel of it but... it also has Halle Berry in it so it may just lose points for that because of her terrible lines it.
But then again, FC has plenty cringe worthy lines spoken in it too.

We'll see, planning on rewatching X2 this weekend.
 
Harakiri - Yep

Daaaaaaaang, talk about harrowing. Incredibly tense, really well shot and acted, probably a new favourite samurai film for me. Nakadai's performance is amazingly intense, really impressed me after only seeing him in supporting roles. Gonna have to look into more of his stuff.

Cowboys and Aliens - Nope

Oh my god what a formulaic ****ing by-the-numbers piece of trash how terrible.
 
the thing (2011) - 5/10

if you go into it with really low expectations, you can at the very least sit down and watch a bunch of people getting mauled by nasty looking beasties, and if the john carpenter thing wasn't so wonderful for doing so much more than just having a base full of people getting ripped apart, this might of just been able to pass as a ''pretty good monster film'', except there is no way to get the john carpenter thing out of your head when watching this, and especially not when so many of the scenes from this were lifted straight from it. on a number of occasions my house mate, who isn't a big film buff and wasn't aware this was a prequel til i told her asked me whether i was sure this was actually meant to before the american camp. i'm talking flat-out flamethrower malfunction lifted here.

the biggest problem this film has with how unafraid to show the creature it was, and for that it almost became uncomfortable and awkward to watch because if it didn't have the same background or wasn't set in the same universe as the john carpenter film, it would just be a forgettable bargain bin monster film with cheap special effects to boot. in the 1982 thing, the visual effects aren't all that corny to me because i know for that time they were pretty groundbreaking, and hand made to boot, whereas now it was kinda laughable, which i feel kind of bad about considering that when i watch carpenter's thing i'm filled with dread and terror.

oh, and the trailer pretty much ruins what suspense this film might of had, because there were times when i knew who was a thing. that sucks.

eh movie. uncalled for, as presumed, though not entirely the worst thing in the world, heh.
 
A Little Princess - 10/10

By far one of the best movies I've ever seen. I'm terrible at writing reviews and this is all I have.
 
Tora! Tora! Tora! 9/10

The best movie made about the attack on Pearl Harbor, 70 years ago today. Forget that piece of crap starring Ben Affleck. This is the real deal. Historically sound and very balanced. A testament to the latter is that all the Japanese scenes were filmed by a Japanese crew (initially with Kurosawa as the director, but he stepped down before the actual shooting started). The only reason I am not giving it a 10/10 is that it breaks my heart every time to see so many classic planes being busted up. That poor B17. :(
 
Death Ship (1980) - 5/10
It's worth watching for George Kennedy's over the top performance. He's one insane mother****er.
 
The Mist ugh/10

I thought I'd read somewhere that this film was good, but it just pissed me off. 80% of the people you just want to punch in the face (including the main character sometimes), so that already hurts the film considerably, because who cares if anyone dies. I almost wanted everyone to die faster so this movie could be over already. Then there are all the typical horror-movie stupid decisions being made (like standing around gawking instead of running when you're clearly outnumbered by creepy crawlies). And finally, the worst....

(warning huge end-of-movie spoiler)
Never kill yourselves until there is a monster right there about to rip your guts out. That just seems obvious. You could either be guaranteed dead by killing yourself, or you could wait around and maybe be saved while still reserving the opportunity to kill yourself if you need to later.

The only character I really liked in this whole thing was Ollie the grocery store guy, and maybe the blond teacher lady and the old folks up until they all decided to go along with premature suicide. So yeah, just one character. It also pisses me off that all the people left in the store probably made it out alive.


On a happier note, I also watched Searching for Bobby Fisher which is an all-around fantastic 10/10 movie. I don't even play chess. The kid who plays the main character is the best, least-annoying, most likable child actor I've ever seen. I didn't even expect to like him when the movie starts with him doing the narration, but man, how can you not. Great performance. I liked all the characters in the end (even the rival kid whom I just felt sorry for). Very feel-good movie.

[edit] IMDB ratings: Searching for Bobby Fisher - 7.5. The Mist - 7.3. Augh, how?! *facepalms*

[edit again]
So it seems one of the ladies in the military trucks at the end was the one who stupidly left the store at the beginning. Inexplicably, she survived. That just makes The Mist even worse. How did anyone like this movie? It's not like we haven't seen societal breakdowns in other horror films, so it's not like that aspect was novel in any way, which only leaves us with crap. Suddenly I'm reminded of The Happening.
 
50/50 - 9.5/10

Haven't been on such an emotional roller coaster in one movie before. The director, Jonathan Levine, has done like 6 films in his career, and this one is going to rake him huge praise.

It's meant to be a comedy, and there are definitely veins of that running throughout, but ultimately, this film is about all the bad news you would hear if you were to get cancer, and Joseph Gordon-Levitt just shines. Last film I saw him in was Inception. He was great then, and he's even better here. Somehow you just feel his emotions coming through the screen at you or something. Truly great performance, as well as the gorgeous Anna Kendrick, who considering she stared in the Twilight films, like Joseph has a truly great performance.

The whole feel of the film is generally depressing, wouldnt be right if it wasnt I guess, and maybe I cried...maybe...I've never had a family member or myself have cancer *knock on wood*, but I imagine that what this film goes through; the sudden appearance of the cancer, the numbness and almost shellshock ringing in your ears when you get told you have it, is completely on the money in terms of what those that do get it, feel.

The comedy itself comes in the form of Joseph and Anna, but mainly from Seth Rogen who you either love or hate I find, but at times he felt a little out of place and easily replaceable, but I guess he brings a good amount of honesty to the role, just saying it like it is at times (a pretty hilarious shaving scene comes to mind).

Matt Frewer made a surprise appearance, in that I havent seen him in ANYTHING since he played that fly-fishing lover husband in Honey I Shrunk The Kids, and his role with Philip Baker Hall make some of the standout emotional moments, where the hammer of reality drops, but also some of the funniest scenes in the film.

It is a very quiet film, with a subtle score and some well-known classics (Pearl Jam, Radiohead), and you come to realise how important the humour actually is in the film. It feels out of place at times, a bit like ''you shouldnt really be laughing at that.'', but at the same time it's what helps Joseph's character get through it all, and even though your friends become everything to you, and your emotions are running high and you start to feel alienated when, in reality, they are all there for you without you maybe knowing it, you begin to see that if it weren't for your friends and the mum you hate because she worries so much and keeps nagging you, you probably wouldn't make it through.

I think everyone owes it to themselves to see this movie, as cancer is something that can/will affect us all either directly or indirectly at some point in our lives, and this movie really does the roller coaster justice.
 
Requiem for a Dream - All of my tears / 10

What an amazingly powerful film.
 
The Mist ugh/10


Personally I would've liked the movie a lot more if it focused on the fight going on outside (ya know military guys versus monsters from parallel universe), instead of the "societal collapse" bull crap.
 
Rise of the Planet of the Apes - 2/10

The characters are paper thin, Caesar is not likeable, and the script is cliche to the core.
Oh, Caesar's being taken to a sanctuary? I'm sure this will be a lovely, charming little retirement home. Queue Brian Cox (uh oh), a sadistic teenager, and a stammering bloke with a heart of gold. Gee, I wonder what will happen. You are never surprised. And how many scenes are there where the apes line up in formation, stare for 5 seconds, and then perform an action?

Freida Pinto is hot, but her character is beyond pointless, and James Franco couldn't play an intelligent character if his stoner existence depended on it.
 
Freida Pinto is hot, but her character is beyond pointless, and James Franco couldn't play an intelligent character if his stoner existence depended on it.

is this for real a thing people think about James Franco? Have you seen Milk? Or Howl? and I haven't seen it but I've heard his 127 hours performance is pretty excellent.

Planet of the Apes was okay at best, but to write off franco as a bad actor is, like, objectively wrong. is it pineapple express that put him as the stoner persona, is that what's up?

i dont understand
 
Personally I would've liked the movie a lot more if it focused on the fight going on outside (ya know military guys versus monsters from parallel universe), instead of the "societal collapse" bull crap.

"I would have liked this movie better if it was a different movie."

Haha actually never mind sarcasm I'm going to save this to use as an honest criticism later.
 
Man, 12 Angry Men would have been so much better if it was about that kid murdering his dad.
 
the mist would of been a better movie if it was starship troopers
 
the mist would of been a better movie if it was starship troopers

Why yes, yes it would have.

Or better yet, The Mist would have been better if it was Half Life the movie.
 
is this for real a thing people think about James Franco? Have you seen Milk? Or Howl? and I haven't seen it but I've heard his 127 hours performance is pretty excellent.

Planet of the Apes was okay at best, but to write off franco as a bad actor is, like, objectively wrong. is it pineapple express that put him as the stoner persona, is that what's up?

i dont understand
It's just his voice. It's the same with Keanu Reeves and Brad Pitt. I never said he was a bad actor.
 
I watched this for the first the other day and I really enjoyed it.

I'm not sure how we've both gone so long without seeing it, since I've only ever heard good things. But man, people weren't kidding when they said it was one of the most depressing movies ever. I really liked it, I thought it was well acted and well shot and the soundtrack was glorious, but I still can't get over the film itself.
 
I never said he was a bad actor.

Really? Because I find that 'couldn't play an intelligent character if his stoner existence depended on it' thing pretty hard to interpret any other way. I mean, even if it's solely his voice that keeps him from being capable of that (which I rather doubt is what you were actually thinking), I'd say that's about the definition of a bad actor.
 
Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows - 8.5/10

The first one was quite good, but I really, really enjoyed this one. Great characters, good humor, good mix between action, suspense and dialog, some mystery and overall just really fun.
 
Hugo 8/10. Pretty cool movie. Gave me the impression that it was smart. 3d is only worth it to see the classic movie footage in 3d. Had a long argument with GF about whether Johnny Depp was the guitar player. Apparently he wasn't, but I still kind of think he was.
 
Decided to go on a Batman binge this weekend and rewatched a few of them.

Batman Begins - 7.5/10...
Definitely a formulaic comic book super hero film but endlessly entertaining nonetheless and sets the stage for the Nolan Batman series.
I also felt that it moved far too fast and could've focused more on his literal beginnings traveling the world and training rather than just cutting almost immediately to his heroics in Gotham.
Also, **** Katie Holmes, god damn they should've had Maggie Gyllenhaal to begin with.

The Dark Knight
- 8.5/10...
A near perfect adaptation that captures the very essence of Batman and even the Joker(RIP Heath, would've loved to see him return in TDKR).
Weighed down slightly by some occasionally seriously awful dialogue(Jesus, I wanted to punch the guy in Dent's SWAT van) and extremely bizarre and out of place pieces of technology clearly brought into the movie only for those single instances(the shattered bullet and the cellphone sonar system)

Batman Returns
- 8/10...
Before TDK came out, this was probably my favorite Batman film ever.
Captured the atmosphere of the comics extremely well and handled the characters except for Penguin pretty masterfully.
Tim Burton's signature art style married with the Batman universe amazingly well and I wouldn't say no if he were to return to the series again.
Also, Michelle Pfeiffer as Catwoman, dear God yes.
We'll see if Anne Hathaway can beat her, though she obviously already wins on looks alone but the suit and actual performance remains to be seen.
 
Powaqqatsi - snooze/10

Second in the "qatsi" trilogy by Godfrey Reggio with score by Philip Glass. They're supposed to have good cinematography and music and provoke some kind of deeper thought or reaction about life and technology. Supposedly. I mostly made it through the first one (Koyaanisqatsi) with a few breaks, and thought it was ok but slow. This second part seemed to focus more on people, but was also slow. By slow, I mean there were shots which might've been interesting at 100% speed, but had been put in slow motion.

About 40 minutes in it got a little better as there were people dancing which gave it a little more motion.

Around 50 minutes it became a little trippy (80's "futuristic" special effects).

Then I fell asleep.

A note on the score: Philip Glass reused one of the themes within about 10-15 minutes of using it earlier in the film. Then he went and reused this same theme 10 years later in The Truman Show. Seeing as most Philip Glass is pretty the same anyways (chord change - rhythm change - repeat), would it really have been difficult to come up with a different set of chord changes? It's been a couple of years since I saw the first one, but I think he at least never repeated music there. Hopefully this isn't some kind of trend because then Naqoyqatsi would probably be one single theme repeated ad infinitum. Actually that could be pretty amusing, because then it'd be obvious Philip Glass is just trolling us whereas the Powaqqatsi-Truman Show thing just seems lazy.

I don't know if I'll even attempt to watch the half I slept through.
 
Batman - Under the Red Hood - deliciously brutal/10

An animated batman movie that game with my copy of Arkham City, it follows the story arc of the rise of a 'new' Red Hood and his taking of the drug trade from Black Mask and his cronies.

Really good watch I thought, quite violent too, various headshots and blood splatters, as well as brutal crowbar beatings. It doesn't feature Mark Hamill or Kevin Conroy, but I didn't mind. It was a refreshing change from the norm, and was especially good to see a darker more serious joker, but similar to hamill's at the same time.
 
I'm not sure how we've both gone so long without seeing it, since I've only ever heard good things. But man, people weren't kidding when they said it was one of the most depressing movies ever. I really liked it, I thought it was well acted and well shot and the soundtrack was glorious, but I still can't get over the film itself.

Yeah it's powerful stuff. If you like crazy flash days stuff you should check out the films official website also: -

http://www.requiemforadream.com/
 
Frailty: 7/10

Exam: 8/10

Cube: 7/10

Triangle: 10/10 for me...that was an absolute mind**** like i've never received
 
Batman the animated series: 9/10

Watched a few episodes to jog my nostalgia, but I am reminded Mark Hamil is the best Joker... ever. And how I miss that Bruce Wayne is humorless but SRS BSNS... because's the ****ing batman.
 
Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol: 9/10

Nice suspense and of course Tom Cruise's charm. I knocked a point off for the story. My thought before seeing the movie was "please not russians and nukes, please not russians and nukes" and it was about russians and nukes.
 
Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol: 9/10

Nice suspense and of course Tom Cruise's charm. I knocked a point off for the story. My thought before seeing the movie was "please not russians and nukes, please not russians and nukes" and it was about russians and nukes.

Nice suspense + Tom Cruise's charm = 9/10? THAT'S NOT HOW MATH WORKS.
 
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