Films: Rate and Discuss

[ktimekiller]

inglourious basterds 4/10

I seen an advance screening of this and it's not a badly made film I think in anyway obvious way but it's tarantino's styling that does, though if you are a tarantino fanboy then i'm sure you will love it.

His presence is felt in almost every scene and not in a good way (like in pulp fiction it doesn't detract from the experience in anyway) it's just blatant pretiousness:

-the seperate chapters thing that he loves doing
-the soundtrack at points just doesn't plain fit, there is a scene where one of the female cast whose name escapes me now is getting ready and over it is some random rock song
-the charicatures of important figures like hitler and churchill
-flashbacks to scenes we saw earlier? why?
-the portrayal of the basterds is extremely annoying and act like fratboys. They are clearly not nice people (which I was already aware of) but they are never at any point cast in a negative light for their actions when at points they are worse than the nazis
-the tarantino patented character intros *rolleyes*
-pointing out critical key figures with arrows they're important but not important enough to actually get their own scenes eh quentin?
ENDING SPOILERS HERE BE WARNED

Spoiler

-he ****ing rewrites WWII! This is just plain idiotic and immature. The film ends with the basterds killing hitler and ending the war whilst 2 of them are shooting the audience in slomo. This is just plain childish and incredibly immature
-there is a scene where a girl from earlier in the film tries to burn down the cinema and relays a pointless 10 second video and the smoke of the fire forms her laughing face? WTF?!

He seems to cast WWII in some sort of teamamerica****yeahesque manner and it is incredibly immature, irritating, disrespectful and done in incredibly bad taste.

One good thing I will say is that the actor who plays colonel lamda is really damn good. The opening scene is what will be rememered from this movie and is basically this movies equivalent of pulp fiction's royale with cheese bit.

But overall this is the equivalent really of tarantino ****ing off for 2.5 hours >_>

I think that was the point though

 

[Sheepo]

I think that was the point though

What an immature thing to say.

 

[Warped]

Hotel Rwanda 8.5/10

this was such a good movie. why have i not seen this yet?? i don't want to spoil anything but if you haven't seen this one yet, go rent it!

 

[Murray]

I watched Falling Down for the first time recently. I'm not sure what genre it is, but imdb says Crime/Drama/Thriller. While it's a bit slow at times I really liked it because of the parts that were good. It's about a guy (William foster played by Michael Douglas) that basically gets in trouble with all the people he meets and instead of just letting it all slip past him, he fights back and if words and arguments doesn't work, he gets physically violent and that's basically how it ends up every time.

8/10

 

[Sparta]

District 9 - 7/10

Lots of original ideas marred by an overall cliched and predictable plot. It's a shame too.

 

[Hobostomp]

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince - 8/10 - large improvement over the previous five in acting skill, however they screwed up the book's ending majorly. I would have sat there for another half an hour to see it done right. Skaadi, who was with me, however would not have been prepared to make that sacrifice.

My Sister's Keeper - 8/10 - beautifully done, touching story, but at times it felt like the makers were actively trying to force you to cry.

The Ugly Truth - 6.5/10 - Decent movie for its genre, Katherine Heigl was amazing as always, however Gerard Butler's unlikeable character was done in such a way that it detracted from the charm of the story.

 

[Harryz]

My Sister's Keeper - 8/10 - beautifully done, touching story, but at times it felt like the makers were actively trying to force you to cry.

I was dragged to see this with some friends. The female to male ratio was something like 9:1. I've never seen soo many chicks sobbing and crying their eyes out. I couldn't help but laugh, I had to go to the toilet because I couldn't hold the laughter in. Didn't care for the movie at all, it was well acted but I felt like cutting my wrists by the end of it. I also got dragged to watch Transformer 2, I was contemplating suicide during the movie, then I fell asleep - bloody hell it was bad.

Tampopo - 8/10. A nice little Japanese gem about cooking noodles, I was pleasantly suprised and hungry by the end of the movie.

 

[Yorick]

Harryz, every time you post I fall more in love with you.

 

[CR0M]

Tampopo - 8/10. A nice little Japanese gem about cooking noodles, I was pleasantly suprised and hungry by the end of the movie.

Yeah great movie, scored about right too.

Day Watch- 5/10

Thought watching again after a year would up my opinion of this sequel but it didn't. Coulda been so much better, as the first film was 8/10 class. Why did those wacky russians have to go all hollywood?? gaaah.

Strange Days - 8.5/10

Again another re-screen for old times sake, one of my all time favourites. Let down only slightly by the redundant millenium dateline and 'futuristic' styles, but if you ignore that it's still a fantastic concept, well acted and filmed.

 

[CptStern]

great movie, how often do you get to see ralph fiennes in a sci fi flick. Angela Basset as a kick ass body guard was awesome/hot. the movie is definately underated.

 

[VictimOfScience]

Tokyo! - 9/10
3 short films by 3 great directors--all very different, all very awesome.

District 9 - 9/10
Interesting quirky take on aliens coming to Earth.

 

[CR0M]

uh oh, all the old geezers have turned up. Is it pension day already?

 

[Harryz]

Harryz, every time you post I fall more in love with you.

I aim to please.

Strange Days - 8.5/10

Again another re-screen for old times sake, one of my all time favourites. Let down only slightly by the redundant millenium dateline and 'futuristic' styles, but if you ignore that it's still a fantastic concept, well acted and filmed.

I passed on this hearing mixed things about. I probably pick it up this week since Kathryn Bigelow did a great job with The Hurt Locker, and also James Cameron wrote Strange Days hmmm.

 

[Zephos]

Coraline - 8.5/10 - I loved Nightmare Before Christmas. I loved James and the Giant Peach. I loved Corpse Bride. No doubt I was going to love this just solely based on its stop motion animation and art direction, and it delivered incredibly on those two points. I found the story to be more than adequate, given its darker than usual material (though I'm not sure how it fairs in comparison to the Neil Gaiman novel).

 

[Warped]

Breaking Bad: Season 2 8.5/10

Another great season with plenty of twists, turns, bumps, and crazy shit. you never know whats around the corner when you watch this show. Very addicting to say the least

 

[CptStern]

The Longest Day 10/10

a classic war film with a cast that had pretty much every male actor of the time; from sean connery to henry fonda to paul anka to John Wayne and Robert Mitchum. even real life German and allied generals and soldiers played themselves in the film. what sets this apart I think from most war films is that it recounts events but doesnt any political or social subtext ..oh sure there's the occasional war is hell moment but it's definately not a one sided account as was the norm at the time. this is a must see for all war/film fans

 

[Lucid]

That's one of my favorite WW2 movies.
I highly recommend it as well.

The Blues Brothers - 8.5/10...
Hilariously over the top with fantastic tunes.
Can't believe I waited so long to see this film, I saw it at Walmart for $5 along with a few other flicks which I'll be watching soon and figured what the hell.
I loved the antics and the completely random(and occasionally hilarious) cameos by some actors, actresses, and musicians.
This is one film that I'll definitely be watching again.

 

[knut]

The Longest Day 10/10

a classic war film with a cast that had pretty much every male actor of the time; from sean connery to henry fonda to paul anka to John Wayne and Robert Mitchum. even real life German and allied generals and soldiers played themselves in the film. what sets this apart I think from most war films is that it recounts events but doesnt any political or social subtext ..oh sure there's the occasional war is hell moment but it's definately not a one sided account as was the norm at the time. this is a must see for all war/film fans

Love that film so much. I might have to watch it tonight now.

 

[Adrik_Senturu]

Dont know if it counts but

Rifftrax Live! : 10/10

It was basically a live riffing of Plan 9 From Outer Space from the original MST3K crew and its possibly one of the funniest things Ive seen all year.

 

[MJ12]

The Garbage Pail Kids Movie.

2/10

Yes, I know what I was getting into. Me and some friends decided to rent this last night because we wanted to see some bad, lame 80's movie.

It was bad alright, but still amusing in it's crapiness.

I can confirm that if I were a child I would not have enjoyed this film at all. Aside from it being very creepy, the film would often get very slow as it attempted to make reflections on societal perceptions on people who were different.
It went as far as to have a very sudden plot change that revolved around a.. police force(?) that specialized in capturing ugly people or people who were strange and locking them up in The Home for The Ugly.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0lXmuXVGidY

 

[Qonfused]

District 9: 8/10

An emotional and action packed sci-fi thriller. Everything was well done, even with the sometimes shaky camera. I was really starting to doubt this movie in the beginning due to the use of the mockumentary feel. Only one film has done this well, The Blair Witch Project, while others like Quarantine and Cloverfield were mediocre at best. This film style changes later on while still keeping the shaky handheld look which works well. All actors were unknown which really adds to the feel of the movie.

I dunno. I'm terrible at describing movies and picking out little things. It's a very well done movie. This idea hasn't been explored before which makes it better than most things being released. The pure emotional tie you have to these CGI aliens is crafted so secretly. You realize your eyes are becoming teary for these monsters. But they're not monsters at all.

Go see it.

 

[Warped]

Miss March 7/10

I wasn't expecting much out of this raunchy movie but it turned out pretty well but not over the top funny. there were an insane amount of boobies and they came in all shapes and sizes.

 

[Raziaar]

I Love You, Man 8.5/10

This is a really good bromance movie. I rather enjoyed it.

Who doesn't like a good bromance movie?

 

[Ennui]

Inglorious Basterds - 8/10

Enjoyed it greatly. Not going to bother reviewing it because I have no desire to defend it from the Pretentious Patrol. Tarantino goes as far as he possibly can in being Tarantino and succeeds. Funny on its own straightforward, humorous gory killin' Nazis merits, made all the more delicious by the fact that it's clearly an intentional act to completely turn the tables on history and reverse the paradigm - the humanized Nazis being terrorized, brutalized, and victimized by their supremely evil, inhuman American Jewish aggressors.

A bit too long though. Favorite scene: cellar bar shootout.

 

[Kadayi]

Not going to bother reviewing it because I have no desire to defend it from the Pretentious Patrol.

No desire, or no ability? I'd hazard the latter rather than the former. I find it amusing that not automatically loving Tarantinos latest masturbatory efforts qualifies as being pretentious. Bravo on such bold asides :dozey:

 

[Cormeh]

I just watched Karate Kid 3 on TV for the first time in fecking YEARS. It's TERRIBLE, but in the same regard, it's BRILLIANT. Miyagi kicking the shit out of the Cobra Kai? Awesome. I suppose this is just because I loved these movies as a kid, but I'd give it a good, solid, workman-like 7/10.

No desire, or no ability? I'd hazard the latter rather than the former. I find it amusing that not automatically loving Tarantinos latest masturbatory efforts qualifies as being pretentious. :dozey:

Jesus you're so goddamn defensive, lighten up for Christ's sake. WAAHHH everyone likes Tarantino's films but I don't! WAAAHHHHH.

 

[Kadayi]

Jesus you're so goddamn defensive, lighten up for Christ's sake. WAAHHH everyone likes Tarantino's films but I don't! WAAAHHHHH.

But Cormeh I do like Tarantino films, just not this particular one, or those who blindly champion it :dozey:

 

[Cormeh]

But Cormeh I do like Tarantino films, just not this particular one, or those who blindly champion it :dozey:

I know you said you enjoyed previous films from Tarantino before, but from the Inglorious Basterds thread and your first post in it I just don't understand the venom in the statements. It's not a film; sheep will go and see it.

I mean, so what? A film like this is coming out - it looks entertaining, why the huge point of picking on people who just want to enjoy a film. Don't get me wrong! I would have absolutely no time for people simply defending a movie for the sake of defending it, but I mean come on man, lighten up. It might not be your cup of tea but let us sheep follow as we may.

I really do apologise for the post though. It was quite unnecessary.

 

[Ennui]

No desire, or no ability? I'd hazard the latter rather than the former. I find it amusing that not automatically loving Tarantinos latest masturbatory efforts qualifies as being pretentious. Bravo on such bold asides :dozey:

Bravo on your stupendous reading comprehension. You can hazard [a guess to] the latter, which would truly break my heart - oh noes, some combative tard on the internet thinks I'm incapable of understanding film! - but foremost I want to point out that I didn't say not liking it makes you pretentious, nor did I call YOU pretentious. Nor am I "blindly championing" it, I enjoyed the goddamn movie, sue me.

I'm not running around with my cock out spraying cum all over my poster of Tarantino's face whilst shrieking NO DIRECTOR ON THIS EARTH DESERVES TO LICK THE BLOODY SOLES OF MY BEAUTIFUL QUENTIN'S BOOTS and throwing handfuls of fecal matter at everyone who dares to suggest Tarantino isn't the super-awesome God certain segments of pop culture have made him out to be. I'm saying that I enjoyed the film more than any Tarantino film since Pulp Fiction and that it was a solid, entertaining 8/10 movie. There are still literally hundreds of movies I've seen that I liked better for whatever reason.

Also while I didn't have you specifically anywhere near my mind when referencing the "Pretentious Patrol", it does seem like you had decided about this movie before you ever saw it (at least judging from your initial post in the IG thread), and limiting your own enjoyment of something due to other people's opinions (whether good or bad, but especially when its good) is pretty much how I define pretentiousness, so yeah, I guess you can go ahead and take that personally although it's still funny how you bristled like a stuck porcupine despite that I didn't fire that salvo off anywhere close to in your direction.

 

[Kadayi]

I mean, so what? A film like this is coming out - it looks entertaining, why the huge point of picking on people who just want to enjoy a film. Don't get me wrong! I would have absolutely no time for people simply defending a movie for the sake of defending it, but I mean come on man, lighten up. It might not be your cup of tea but let us sheep follow as we may.

I find it an objectionable film, because of the subject matter & the manner and treatment of the characters in the film. Sure one could argue that its Tarantino making a clever statement by reversing the characters around, so the Basterds are the bad guys, but personally I find that a hollow argument, and I don't think it holds up, or that it serves any good purpose in doing so save being clever (he reversed the torture scene in PF in the shop basement tbh). The audience are meant to enjoy the barbarity, and personally that's not my scene.

The dirty dozen (which inspired IB) was made in in 1967, when the war was still fresh in a lot of peoples minds and they weren't akin to a bit of mindless violence in films against the Germans simply for the sake of them being Germans and they could indulge in a bit of vicarious nazi killing. The culmination of the film is a scene where having successfully assaulted a German high command Chateau and shepherded the surviving Officers, their wives and assorted servants into the cellar, the remaining members of the team pour gasoline down onto them and then drop live grenades into it. Everyone in the cellar dies, either blown up or burnt alive. Really tasteful cinema.

As Roger Ebert wrote rather sarcastically about it at the time:-

I'm glad the Chicago Police Censor Board forgot about that part of the local censorship law where it says films shall not depict the burning of the human body. If you have to censor, stick to censoring sex, I say...but leave in the mutilation, leave in the sadism and by all means leave in the human beings burning to death. It's not obscene as long as they burn to death with their clothes on

Films like the Dirty Dozen are tbh a bit of an embarrassment, they herald from a time and a culture when for example you didn't get Native Americans in films, you got Indians and their sole purpose was to die from the gunfire of righteous cowboys. You were either good or bad, there was no in-between. Personally I see no good reason to revive a film that operates along the lines of that kind of mentality or attempts to celebrate it, esp 40 years + on (what is the point tbh). To me it would be as tasteful as reviving something like the Black & white Minstrel show:-

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3zj6o_DZfSw

Personally I'm disappointed in the director because I think he's capable of much much more, but he seems to be stuck in a rut creatively in terms of how he works and unfortunately he is becoming increasingly formulaic as time goes on. What are the odds that his next film is cut up into chapters, features a soundtrack that consists of a bunch of other movie references (rather than an original soundtrack), and Sam Jackson either stars in, makes a cameo or does some voice over work in it? I'd say on present form pretty bloody good odds tbh.

That IB is a 'Tarantino movie' I think speaks volumes about it, in the same way that a 'carry on movie' in England conveys exactly to the viewer the entirety of what to expect, and I think unfortunately QT has begun to deliver on those expectations, rather than trying to break them.

Sure we could argue the merits of whether 'Carry on up the Kyber' is a better film than 'Carry on at your convenience' or 'Carry on camping', but at the end of the day they are all just carry on films.

Likewise people will argue whether IB is a better film than KB1, or DP or RD, but its a case of people arguing about the films as if they were a sub genre, rather than in the wider context of films as a whole. Personally I think its ****ing sad that QT has become his own sub genre.

I mean when say Avatar comes out, people aren't going to be exclusively comparing it to Jim Camerons back catalogue are they? Sure they might throw a mention or two to Aliens, T2 and the Abyss, but overall people are going to be assessing it against District 9, and other movies of that ilk.

Other directors films are assessed against other directors. QTs films are almost exclusively assessed against his own these days. You know who else has his own sub genre of films? Woody Allen. Now don't get me wrong I've enjoyed watching a few of Woody's films over the years, but lets be honest..once you've seen a couple, you know what to expect (though at least Woody has collected a few gongs in his time).

QT has become cinematic comfort food. Is that necessarily a bad thing? No, but it is a rather sad thing imho, given what he promised with PF.

I don't want a WW2 shaggy dog story with a twist from QT, I want something genuinely compelling.

Blah Blah Blah

Actually I'd prefer it if you did genuinely review it. That you aren't (and still haven't risen to the bait to do so) but instead leapt to your own defence is the worrying thing. I'd like you to convince me that it's a worthwhile film to see despite my reservations. You've seen what I've written in response to Cormeh. Maybe now perhaps you'll understand where I'm coming from. I'd like to know what makes this a must see cinematic experience. What makes this an 8/10 movie. Is it really an 8/10 movie Vs everything else out there, or is it an 8/10 movie Vs the 10 of PF Vs the 3 of DP? You think you are capable of doing that perhaps? :dozey:

 

[Asknoone]

Ahem, gentlemen.

 

[Yorick]

Speaking on behalf of the aforementioned "Pretentious Patrol", Kadayi is 100% correct.

 

[Zephos]

No desire, or no ability? I'd hazard the latter rather than the former. I find it amusing that not automatically loving Tarantinos latest masturbatory efforts qualifies as being pretentious. Bravo on such bold asides :dozey:

Hah, yeah. Considering Tarantino is the kingpin of pretentiousness, that strikes me odd.

Looking forward to it regardless.

 

[Kadayi]

Speaking on behalf of the aforementioned "Pretentious Patrol", Kadayi is 100% correct.

Thank you. I'm glad to hear its not just myself and Lambda who don't believe that everything that drops out of QTs arse is instant cinematic gold. Personally I'd like to see him do something a bit more challenging and outside his comfort zone of 70s mashups, because in all honesty given the 70s was 30+ years ago I'm not really sure how much more he can mine from that era without rendering himself completely culturally irrelevant as time moves on.

 

[joule]

Ratatouille - 9.4/10

The best animated film of 2007 once again points out Brad Bird's excellence. Working with that man has been the best move Pixar has made in the last decade! Ever since he created "The Iron Giant," his stories and direction have built rich characters and emotions that many believed animated films could never establish. Nothing short of extraordinary.

 

[Sparta]

Inglourious Basterds - 7/10

A good film. I honestly expected it to be much worse given how atrocious the trailer is. It does have some hideously painful flaws:

-the caricatures
-far too many masturbatory film/filmmaking references
-scenes of humongous length with segments of conversations that didn't need to be in there at all.
-The witty asides and genre subversion don't add much (if anything) to the film and I think most of them actually detract from it.
-a few really weird cuts from one scene to the next (which really stand out considering the film is essentially one of...7 or so set pieces)

Fortunately, for all it's flaws it's pro's far outweigh them:

- Fantastic opening scene.
- Colonel Linda makes the film. Without him, it would suck. Plain and simple. Almost every scene he's in, he steals.
- The bar scene (save for the card game, that was pointless). Also, it was great seeing Michael Fassbender after a stellar performance in Hunger.

So, I'd say it's definitely worth seeing if you like good villains because Colonel Linda is a great one.

 

[Shift]

The Longest Day 10/10

a classic war film with a cast that had pretty much every male actor of the time; from sean connery to henry fonda to paul anka to John Wayne and Robert Mitchum. even real life German and allied generals and soldiers played themselves in the film. what sets this apart I think from most war films is that it recounts events but doesnt any political or social subtext ..oh sure there's the occasional war is hell moment but it's definately not a one sided account as was the norm at the time. this is a must see for all war/film fans

I thought it was bloody awful, John Wayne is so incredibly overrated. Its got nothing on A Bridge Too Far.

 

[Lucid]

I thought it was bloody awful, John Wayne is so incredibly overrated. Its got nothing on A Bridge Too Far.

:O....

 

[Deleted member 56031]

Fortunately, for all it's flaws it's pro's far outweigh them:

- Fantastic opening scene.
- Colonel Linda makes the film. Without him, it would suck. Plain and simple. Almost every scene he's in, he steals.
- The bar scene (save for the card game, that was pointless). Also, it was great seeing Michael Fassbender after a stellar performance in Hunger.

So, I'd say it's definitely worth seeing if you like good villains because Colonel Linda is a great one.

I'd certainly agree with you on that but I didn't feel it made up for the cons :|

 

[Warbie]

Before the Devil Knows You're Dead - 8/10

A real dark story of greed, desperation and guilt. Well acted - no one does creepy sliminess quite as well as Hoffman - and genuinely uneasy to watch at times.

Outlander - 5/10

This was right at the threshold of unbearable for me. Just good enough to watch from start to finish, but still shite.