Official Film Discussion and Last Movie You Watched

[Rocky]

Looks like the consensus is that despite the money it's made the film sucks. Shame.

I watched 'Once Upon a Time in America' last night - Sergio Leone's swansong. Was good but not great. Far too long and just watching the meandering shots which were unnesecarily drawn out did make it drag a little. Acting was good as you'd expect from the cast and it was an interesting take on childhood friends growing up in that situation but not as good as his dollars trilogy.

 

[Pain]

 

[Line]

Little Children- this was a great movie, such a deep dramatic film, the characters were all amazing, and the actors were chosen superbly.

I'm not sure how I feel about this one because it seems like the director has some sort of contempt for suburban America. While I understand that the title actually refers to the actions and behaviors of the adults in the film, we're left with this feeling that it's trying to be more commentative than simply telling a story. It's fairly well acted and Kate Winslett showing her tits is always welcome but it's so hard to determine the motive for the simplified suburban residents that judging it on a thematic scale becomes quite difficult.

Notes On A Scandal- another amazing movie, great story, great acting.

Here I'll agree. Very well written (though the screenwriter obviously favored Dench's character) and Dench's performance was pretty remarkable. No big flaws and very well realized. The film didn't go out of its way to provide us with some false sense of importance nor did it come off as smug; just not much depth below the actual story.

The Three Burials Of Melquiades Estrada- another very good movie, it was a bit long but it needed to be. Also i would like to say that Tommy Lee Jones spoke spanish amazingly, he truly sounded Mexican.

Far, far better than the other two above films. One of the best of 2005

Cinderella Man- very touching story, great bio epic.

A well-acted, cute film. And that's coming from someone who generally loathes Ron Howard.

Million Dollar Baby- another very touching story, great performances, and damn it was pretty sad at the end.

My #4 of 2004.

Blood Diamond has to be one of the best movies i think thats EVER been made

Wrong

 

[MexicanMuscle]

I'm not sure how I feel about this one because it seems like the director has some sort of contempt for suburban America. While I understand that the title actually refers to the actions and behaviors of the adults in the film, we're left with this feeling that it's trying to be more commentative than simply telling a story. It's fairly well acted and Kate Winslett showing her tits is always welcome but it's so hard to determine the motive for the simplified suburban residents that judging it on a thematic scale becomes quite difficult.

Here I'll agree. Very well written (though the screenwriter obviously favored Dench's character) and Dench's performance was pretty remarkable. No big flaws and very well realized. The film didn't go out of its way to provide us with some false sense of importance nor did it come off as smug; just not much depth below the actual story.

Far, far better than the other two above films. One of the best of 2005

A well-acted, cute film. And that's coming from someone who generally loathes Ron Howard.

My #4 of 2005.

Wrong

i too loved Blood Diamond, i thought it had great actors, it was a good story and had it's abundant share of action, why didn't u like it Line?

 

[Line]

i too loved Blood Diamond, i thought it had great actors, it was a good story and had it's abundant share of action, why didn't u like it Line?

I didn't say it was bad. I just think calling it one of the best movies EVER been made is laughable.

 

[MexicanMuscle]

I didn't say it was bad. I just think calling it one of the best movies EVER been made is laughable.

oh i see! my bad.

 

[Line]

Another set of review blurbs from films I've watched recently...


Spider-Man 3 (Raimi, 2007) - Laughably bad at times, its only saving grace are the overly dependent CGI and its brilliant sound mixing. Basically, this flick is for fanboys only; any objective criticism is going to expose how bad it actually is. ** (out of ****)

The Rules of the Game (Renoir, 1939) - Perhaps one of the greatest screenplays ever written, this French dramatic comedy is witty, complex, and fascinating. The multiple characters and themes are all presented with incredible clarity and distinction and not a moment is wasted. If you enjoy classic cinema at all, see this film. If I can find the Criterion Collection DVD for it at a store I would immediately pay full price for it. **** (out of ****)

Hot Fuzz (Wright, 2007) - A purposefully cliched and amusing spoof on action movies done by the creative minds that brought us the more completeShaun of the Dead. Fuzz is stylistically impressive and has moments of hilarity but after "the twist" is revealed it becomes nothing more than a stock "shoot 'em up" flick, which, while entertaining, gets old as we see nothing but missed shots and ricochets. While this was intended as a mock-homage it takes the excessiveness a bit far at times and becomes repetitive; the pacing is what suffers. Still very much worth a look though. *** (out of ****)

The Virgin Suicides (Coppola, 2000) - An underseen, underdiscussed character dissection about a group of five mysterious adolescent daughters and the boys who fascinate themselves with the aura surrounding them. Sophia Coppola's directorial debut is incredibly atmospheric and oddly affecting. **** (out of ****)

Bridge to Terabithia (Csupo, 2007) - A fairly well executed adaptation of that gains incredible momentum at the beginning of the last act. While the first two are riddled with the seemingly stock-book children's story problems, the finale becomes remarkably poignant and relatable; something the rest of the film lacks. After the turning point though, this tale of childhood escapism and discovery becomes real making it worth a watch. **1/2 (out of ****)

The Philadelphia Story (Cukor, 1940) - With names like Hepburn (Katherine...the better Hepburn), Grant, and Stewart, one really doesn't need to make a case for the rest of the film. The screenplay is exceptional, showcasing for us the questionable motives and morals of a high-societal family and the paparazzi sent to report on their wedding. **** (out of ****)

28 Weeks Later (Fresnadillo, 2007) - Not nearly as interesting or plotted as it's predecessor, Weeks focuses its attention more on pacing and action, spliced with militarily commentary. While it is certainly more graphically intense than 28 Days Later, some flaws, including a series of plot-moving, melodrama-inducing conveniences, will keep the audience from becoming lost in it. The ambiguous ending also was unnecessary here. Still, a stirring "zombie-esque" picture that still stands as gripping and worthy of a viewing. **1/2 (out of ****)

 

[Rocky]

The ambiguous ending also was unnecessary here.

It's cos they had already planned 28 months later.

Watched 'Cronos' last night. The debut feature of Guillermo Del Toro. Good film, a slow burning tale of an old mexican story of a brooch which grants eternal life at a cost. Considering it's only 90 mins long it is a slow burn of a film which doesn't really reach a crescendo but you can see where this is the step off towards stroy telling which can be seen in the follow up film 'The Devil's Backbone' and as I understand it 'Pan's Labyrinth'..

 

[pretzeL]

I was wondering guys...surely one of you must know this movie. It's about 4 characters i think (a guy and a robot and the other 2 were also something non-human). That are in some sort of an experiment and they have to watch and comment and old movie with aliens and stuff. And 90% of the movie is with them in the theather commenting that old movie and you cand see their heads in the dark and that's about it. I remeber it being a really funny comedy. Any title suggestion would be appreciated. Ty

LE: just found it...i think it's called MST3K The Movie.

 

[Pain]

Gonna go watch Night of the Living Dead.

 

[Arcane1129]

I don't get to see movies that often, so I usually wait until they're on tv and then record them.

I've recently seen 28 Days Later- Pretty enjoyable, kept my attention throughout the movie.

I have The Butterfly Effect recorded and I'm planning on watching it this weekend hopefully. I also had Caddy Shack but my mom ended up recording something stupid over it before I even got to see it...

Going to watch Dodgeball (for the 4th time) tonight and The Transporter tomorrow.

 

[tim290280]

I was wondering guys...surely one of you must know this movie. It's about 4 characters i think (a guy and a robot and the other 2 were also something non-human). That are in some sort of an experiment and they have to watch and comment and old movie with aliens and stuff. And 90% of the movie is with them in the theather commenting that old movie and you cand see their heads in the dark and that's about it. I remeber it being a really funny comedy. Any title suggestion would be appreciated. Ty

Mystery Science Theatre 3000.

I found it annoying. The commentary they give for films is below what my friends and family are able to come up with when we watch something boring with the sound off. Being that this was the crux of the film's humour it got old very quickly.

Going to watch Dodgeball (for the 4th time) tonight and The Transporter tomorrow.

If you have Dodgeball on DVD watch the directors commentary version. Quite funny.

And I don't get the Transporter. The first time I saw it in the cinema and thought it sucked, especially Shu Que's acting (much better in the Young and Dangerous films). The next time I loved it.

 

[Glex]

I also just got back from Spider-Man 3. Talk about a blown opportunity. What started off as piece that took it's time developing characters and creating viable arcs ended up a mess by the second act when it's concern for needless multiple sub-plots completely overwhelmed Raimi. The rest is driven by conveniences that are hollow and annoying. By the end, the once calculated emotional tone began resorting to soap opera drama and there are several points throughout the film where you just want to throw your arms up in the air and say, "Come'on, they didn't really think this was a good idea, did they?"

This might be old news, but I've got to agree with Line. There were so many unnecessary connections between the characters it just got comical. If we had followed one or two of the subplots that could have made a very good movie on their own the director still would've had a hard time making it plausible, but it would've been doable. As it was, they rushed to get things wrapped up in the last 20 minutes and they just barely and unsatisfactorily did so.

The fight scenes weren't bad, although a few of them (especially the first one) were a little hard to follow.

They needed to make Maguire look more BA when he was connected with Venom. I know that's hard, but they could've done something better than brushing his hair onto his forehead. Was it supposed to be a joke or was he supposed to be sexually appealing, it seemed like half and half

Also, Harry's motivation for going to help Peter at the end was based off completely unconvincing evidence

 

[Arcane1129]

You find Maguire half sexually appealing?

 

[Glex]

^^ Haha, not exactly...

He was 'strutting his stuff' down the street pointing at girls, and we weren't really sure if the girls liked it or not. Some of them obviously didn't, but others seemed to like it. The really hot chick, Gwen, certainly liked it

 

[Paulie]

^ The was funny when he took his coat off and Gwens hair went with the wind, Tech made a gif with that footage

 

[Glex]

Really? Where?

 

[Line]

HUGE SPIDER-MAN 3 SPOILER, DO NOT READ BELOW IF YOU HAVE NOT SEEN THE FILM!!!



What the fuck was the dealer with how things played out with the Butler. He appears semi-steadily throughout the film (aka whenever there's an interior shot at Harry's) but he turns out to be arguably one of the four most important people in the series by the end of the movie...

"Harry, your father killed himself and I love you."

I was like...wow...and I'm not sure why Harry wasn't thinking, "Umm...where the fuck was this information three years ago before I decided to plot against my best-friend and become a super villian?"

 

[Pain]

Night of the Livin Dead(1968) > any of todays horror movies.

Gonna watch Day of the Dead or Dawn of the Dead tonight. Right now i'm gonna go watch Grilled with Kevin James.

 

[Glex]

Also a Spiderman 3 spoiler

It's not really clear if the butler was aware Harry was a supervillain until he presumably finds Harry's mostly lifeless body next to all of his father's equipment. But yes, I'm sure the butler heard more than once that Harry hated Spiderman because he killed his father, so you think the butler would've spoke up. Maybe he was worried about his job security?

And just because his father's own weapon killed him it doesn't mean that he killed himself.