Official Film Discussion and Last Movie You Watched

[onebigeric]

It likely won't. Guardsmen/women getting eviscerated by unarmed cannibals=lame stereotypes on full display, including the 'I can't hit a thing with my friggin M-16.'

The first one was okay, but I feel this will be a run-of-the-mill crap sequel.

 

[Line]

300 received an emphatic thumbs down from me. *1/2 (out of ****)

Anyone want to argue?

 

[Chesticles]

I haven't seen it yet Preppie.

 

[Chesticles]

It likely won't. Guardsmen/women getting eviscerated by unarmed cannibals=lame stereotypes on full display, including the 'I can't hit a thing with my friggin M-16.'

The first one was okay, but I feel this will be a run-of-the-mill crap sequel.

We can go see it together if you like Eric

 

[Clint]

I doubt Zodiac will be better than Spiderman 3.

I'm actually looking forward to Spider Man 3

I like most of the movies based off Comic Books, I wasn't too fond of Hell Boy though, that movie was pretty boring.

 

[Paulie]

300 received an emphatic thumbs down from me. *1/2 (out of ****)

Anyone want to argue?

Yes

Why didnt you like it? Hopefully your not like all the other critics and expected it to be historically correct. Actually I probably already know why you dont like it, but go ahead and tell me your thoughts anyway.

 

[Clint]

Yes

Why didnt you like it? Hopefully your not like all the other critics and expected it to be historically correct. Actually I probably already know why you dont like it, but go ahead and tell me your thoughts anyway.

Paul it was a really entertaining movie and I would watch it again, but even I didn't think it was THAT great. I myself give it a 6/10.

As for Lines thoughts, just read the reviews here, and he basically thinks the same way as most of the reviews ( I asked him last night what he thought )

http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/300/

 

[Paulie]

Paul it was a really entertaining movie and I would watch it again, but even I didn't think it was THAT great. I myself give it a 6/10.

As for Lines thoughts, just read the reviews here, and he basically thinks the same way as most of the reviews ( I asked him last night what he thought )

http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/300/

It was like a 8.9/10 for me. I try not to look at the bad parts of the movie and just focus on the good parts.

 

[Clint]

It was like a 8.9/10 for me. I try not to look at the bad parts of the movie and just focus on the good parts.

I'm waiting for Line to tear this comment apart

I didn't look into the movie with much detail, I just sat down and enjoyed it and didn't think too much about anything.

 

[Paulie]

I'm waiting for Line to tear this comment apart

I didn't look into the movie with much detail, I just sat down and enjoyed it and didn't think too much about anything.

I dont think about most of the movies I watch, I just sit down and enjoy. But when they're so bad like one of JLo's movies I saw a couple years ago, I cant help but notice all the bad parts.

 

[Line]

It was like a 8.9/10 for me. I try not to look at the bad parts of the movie and just focus on the good parts.

There were good parts?

SPOILERS WITHIN
I tried to have a discussion with my roommate about it (he loved it) and his only argument was that it was gory and people got killed so it was cool and that's all it tried to be. Honestly, there are gorier, more entertaining, and, more importantly, better made movies out there which would fit this description but yet still aren't great or even good films.

The first 45 minutes of the film are almost unbearable and things never get much better. The over-use of slow motion isn't dramatic but serves to over-emphasize far too many trivial matters and the constant breaking of the fourth wall (when the actor stares directly into the camera as if interacting with the audiences) is only purported to create an atmosphere that's "in your face" but the mood it creates is silly and arrogant in the sense that Snyder (the director) feels he can break the rules of film when nothing he does is worthy of calling him a decent director. For perfect examples of the problems I had in the first act, look at the scene with the oracle. Sure, an all-but-naked young redhead showing her tits is great but the scene lasted way too long, was accompanied by melodramatic music which set no tone at all, and despite the nudity lasted way too long. Some argue that this is the style Snyder intended because it is based off of a graphic novel and he's just being faithful but I counter that there is no "slow motion" or "unnecessarily long frames" in such works.

Another problem was the acting. I won't even touch our lead's performance or the narration because both were laughable at times but I will comment on the problem between the other actors, Snyder, and the CGI backgrounds. Snyder did an awful job of getting his actors to work with the scenery that he was going to eventually project behind them and it shows. You can tell these actors are merely performing commands (walk this way, pretend to step over something, pretend you're falling) and it only serves to make bad supporting performances look worse.

The actors follies when working with the CGI wasn't the only visual problem of the film. While there were a few examples of beautiful backgrounds and coloring, many added effects came off as misplaced or sloppily done. The blood splattering looked horrible from the very first time we saw it (when young Leonidas was beating up on another young Spartan in training), and so did any other overlayed image such as birds flying or snow falling. Then you have other shots like a whip coming straight back at the screen as if it's some cheap 3-D effect, but, oh wait, we don't have 3-D glasses

Even the fighting scenes would only be what I would call slightly above average. I was semi-impressed with the choreography of slow-to-fast-to-slow sequences where one Spartan was running and killed about six enemies within a series. However, even these aren't that difficult to set-up as 80% of the actors in this shot are merely running by the action and camera to make the battle scene look more crowded. If you want impressively choreographed longer-takes in battle scenes buy Children of Men this weekend and check out the last half hour.

Finally, the movie is stupid to the point that it's insulting. We're never given a reason to feel empathy for Leonidas and his family yet apparently we're supposed to at the end of the film. Personally, I felt the character unrelatable. Also, when The Queen stabs the traitor in the forum and Persian gold spills out of his pockets we here cries of "it's gold, he's a traitor!" Not that this a problem, but 90% of the dialogue points out the obvious and offers nothing to actual character development or the progression of the story. Then towards the end, where Leonidas bows down before Xerxes, are we really supposed to believe he's going to surrender when every other sentence out of his mouth is "Spartans never surrender!" or "Spartans never retreat!"? Also, we should know that Xerxes isn't killed by Leonidas so there's no real suspense or surprise when the spear he throws only grazes Xerxes.

Oh, and the ending. The movie should have ended as a rain of arrows descending upon Leonidas but it didn't. Then it should have ended on the shot of him and his men stuck with arrows lying on the ground as the camera slowly pulls upwards away from him but it didn't (and by the way, did anyone else appreciate the Jesus Christ connection of him lying with his arms outstretched, one leg slightly bent towards the other while he has just "died for his people"?). Instead we're left with another boring scene of two characters we could care less about (The Queen and her son) and then more sloppy narration and finally more Spartans charging into battle (I thought they fought as a unit, each shield guarding the soldier from neck to foot on both their right and left sides?) and an awful swooping shield shot which covers the camera to end the film. Wow.

*1/2 (out of ****)

 

[Paulie]

^ did you copy and paste that?

 

[Line]

^ did you copy and paste that?

Huh? No. I wrote that.

 

[Paulie]

Huh? No. I wrote that.

Nice. I cant argue with you because you make very good points. I still enjoyed on what it offered me, and that was entertainment. Some of the parts in the movie did bore me like when the girl was dancing a showing her tits, it was nice and everything but a little to long and not very necessary. I thought the slow to fast motion was awesome in the fighting. However, I did notice it was very hard for them to act as if they were traveling in those actual conditions, and for the most part they covered it up decently well throughout the whole movie.

Anyway, I really thought the scrip was amazing. Especially Leonidas script, it was pretty bad ass if you ask me. The narration was also really good, when young Leonidas was encountering the wolf, then I thought it was really good and described what was going on really in depth.

Ok that is all.

 

[Glex]

^^ Seriously? The narration was the single worst part for me. I have no idea what kind of accent he was trying to pull off, maybe Popeye? Makes sense given what happens to him at the end.

 

[Chesticles]

I have a question for Line, it's bugging the hell out of me. I saw this Ice Cube movie when I was a youngin (It probably sucks, but you own Gigli, so you've probably sat through this) where these gangs go into a newly built prison, and they get locked inside and weapons get dropped from an open roof and the last person standing wins a certain amount of cash. Can you try and find what it's called for me please?

 

[Line]

^^ Is it Thicker than Water, Trespass, or The Glass Shield by chance?

Thicker than Water

Trespass

The Glass Shield

 

[onebigeric]

We can go see it together if you like Eric

Only if you don't try to tounge my ear when the inevitable 'cannibal molestation' scene is thrown in.....

 

[Chesticles]

I think it might be trespass Line, not 100%. Can you find a trailer, I had a look but no luck

 

[Line]

http://imdb.com/title/tt0105636/trailers-screenplay-E12389-10-2