Grendel
Bill S. Preston, Esq.
But ... why is all the rum gone?
Posts: 17,593
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Post by Grendel on May 11, 2010 13:17:57 GMT -5
Okay, I'm going to do a running tally for you ...
UP -- What can I say about this movie that hasn't already been said? This is superb from beginning to end. Highly Recommended.
Ninja Assassin -- Saw it again and it was so much fun. Highly Recommended.
A Perfect Getaway -- All I have to say is that 5 minutes into the movie I turned to my friend and said, "How am I suppose to care what happens to the main characters when I already loathe them? Strike one against them is Steve Zahn, and strike two against them is Milla Jovovich in a role that doesn't require her to kick someones or some zombie's ass?" I can't recommend it, but if you want to see Timothy Olyphant in what has become truly a Timothy Olyphant staple as of late (the quirky badass), this one is for you.
Kick Ass -- Loved every minute of it. I did feel kind of weird when some really humorously twisted shit was going on and I was the only one laughing in the theatre, but I enjoyed the hell out of it. Highly Recommended.
The Losers -- I went into this one expecting not much, but it wasn't a bad little action film. And for once, Chris Evans being all quirky and goofy and shit makes a role really work in a movie. I'd say his character and the sniper (Cougar) were my favorites. At an hour and a half, not a bad little time waster if you just want to unhook your brain and have some fun. Recommended, but you have to be in a mood for it.
Push -- Okay, this one was pretty dumb. Not the worst thing I've seen, but pretty dumb. And Dakota Fanning and Djimon Honsou deserve better material to work with. It was just okay, nothing else.
Zombieland --- Perhaps one of the best zombie movies I've ever seen. It does so many things right, and the cameo is one of the best in zombie movie history. Highly Recommended.
Ninja -- On the same day that I watched Ninja Assassin, I also watched Ninja (well, on one of the days I watched it). To tell you every thing you need to know about this movie, during the opening credits I exclaimed "You realize that this movie was produced by Nu Image, and pretty much everything they make suck?" Where Ninja Assassin was a fun movie, this one was horrendous. It had the blandest hero imaginable, and the bad ninja got kicked out of the horde for showing ruthlessness, which I would think is something that you would look for in a ninja? Anyway, the action sequences are okay, but the movie itself was lacking for me. Not Recommended.
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Deleted
Deleted Member
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Post by Deleted on May 11, 2010 13:50:15 GMT -5
The Losers: Best "superhero" movie I've seen in a while, it had levity, gravity and Chris Evan doing an action montage to Journey. Nothing really seemed superfluous which gave it great pacing. Fun movie - I'd recommend it to anyone and look forward to the DVD.
Dark City: Okay - Sutherland and Hurt do a decent job, but nothing really made me sit up and take notice. I'd recommend it for the background and fx alone though. The atmosphere of the movie got over more than the characters/plot did - so not so great.
Avatar: I watched two hours of it and turned it off. Once you get past the amazing special effects the movie really falls flat. I've seen this plot before and I could give a crap about most of the characters. It was a really fancy re-imagining of Fern Gully with Wolves. Pterodactyl rape is not cool Cameron!
Ninja Assassin: The movie looked really good. It gets a better rating than Avatar just because its shorter and the action was more my style. The parkour scene was great, but if you're not really into that stuff - its not worth it.
Harry Brown: This film did more with practical light and sound effects than I've seen in years. If you want to see how to get some scares and build tension without tons of special effects, then see this. Caine did a good job.
Brothers Bloom: Cool flick, but nothing really special here for me. I loved Brick, but this was just kind of a fun, kooky film with fun, kooky characters. Fun. Kooky.
An Education: Boo, Nick Hornsby. Boo!
Synecdoche, New York: Terrible, terrible film. Watching PS Hoffman die for 3 hours is just as boring as it sounds. A film where nothing really happens. I guess it would have been a great "acting exercise" for the actors, but as a viewer I just couldn't stand it.
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theryno665
Grimlock
wants a title underneath the stars
Kinda Homeless
Posts: 13,571
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Post by theryno665 on May 11, 2010 17:57:13 GMT -5
Even though I usually talk about what I watch in my blog (cheap plug), here's a little bit of what I've seen lately:
Kick Ass - Seen this in the theaters twice now (which I hardly ever do) and loved it both times. Personally, my favorite superhero movie of the year and I don't really see anything else supplanting it since the movie I thought would didn't. Speaking of...
Iron Man 2 - Even though I liked it and think its better than most superhero movies, I wasn't into it as much as I was Kick Ass. Much like the first movie, I felt that they dropped the ball with the villains and much of Iron Man's struggles were internal. While that does make for good storytelling, I watch a superhero movie to see an epic battle at the end, not one that's over in five minutes. Plus, just when the first movie had me liking her, this movie made me hate Gwenyth Paltrow again.
On video:
Resurrection of Golden Wolf - Despite being a part of The Sonny Chiba Collection, a 3-disc 4-movie set I snagged at Best Buy for $7, Sonny Chiba is only in it for about a half-hour (of a two hour plus movie) and dies. At least he gets to judo chop someone in the dick a few times. The best way I can describe this is a Japanese version of Scarface (the Al Pacino version, not the original) only feeling way slower. The "protagonist" is pretty much a dick and even though he's screwing over a corrupt organization, you don't really feel like he's doing it for any sense of good. Plus I zoned out a couple times and forgot who people were. Recommended for fans of Asian cinema that don't have ADD.
Death Journey - I love me some blaxploitation and Fred Williamson is badass, but man did this movie suck. It's not even watchable for novelty value either. Basically Fred plays this badass former cop who has to protect a witness on their way to trial. But for the entirety of the movie, it's just "Watch this crappy fight scene where the bad guys are attacking Fred and NOT THE WITNESS THEY'RE SUPPOSED TO KILL" and then "Watch Fred awkwardly pick up some random ho" repeatedly. Not recommended
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The Line
Patti Mayonnaise
Real Name: Bumkiss. Stanley Bumkiss.
Peanut Butter & JAAAAAMMMM!
Posts: 36,698
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Post by The Line on Jun 18, 2010 12:27:23 GMT -5
doesn't seem like bigHead (and a lot of others of the film watching & reviewing crew) aren't around anymore. Let's just get this one to 30 so the next one can be the one lost in obscurity.
Here are the last 3 movies I've watched, according to Netflix.
Cloverfield[/u] I was really hyped about this movie, but didn't get to see it in theaters, and so it got pushed to the back burner(read: the end of my queue) for a while. Finally watched it this week. Quite possibly the most emotionally gripping monster movie. You really felt for a lot of the characters. I recommend the movie. The shaky-cam shouldn't be an issue unless you're watching it in a movie theater.
Fargo[/u] I really enjoy most Coen bro. movie, but had never seen Fargo(most of my friends would respond with "Really?") until recently. I really liked it as a sort of murder story with slice-of-life characters. William H. Macy puts in his usual great performance, and the rest of the cast is superb as well.
This is Spinal Tap[/u] Just like the previous two, this was one I had put off seeing for way too long. If you like Music humor and/or mockumentaries, you'll love this movie. Extremely quotable.
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Post by Alexander The So-so on Jun 18, 2010 12:51:42 GMT -5
Idiocracy
Awesome, hilarious movie. My new favorite comedy. Had me busting a gut the whole way through, but it's also, of course, eerily relevant to today's culture. Strongly recommended.
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The Line
Patti Mayonnaise
Real Name: Bumkiss. Stanley Bumkiss.
Peanut Butter & JAAAAAMMMM!
Posts: 36,698
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Post by The Line on Jun 20, 2010 20:26:27 GMT -5
Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop W[/u]
Actually the 2nd time I've watched this film in the last 3 or 4 days, but I felt it needed a 2nd viewing for proper digestion.
First off, a deep comedy. Although there is quite a bit of sex and bathroom jokes, it is by no means a lowbrow comedy. It moves a lot slower than the comedies of today that most of us are accustomed to. But I still enjoyed it immensely. Stanley Kubrick does what he's known for and that's making great films. The acting is great,too. Peter Sellers captivates in three different roles (the titular character, Royal Air Force Group Captain Lionel Mandrake, and US President Merkin Muffley).George C. Scott also does magnificently as the macho General Buck Turgidson (fun fact: many of the scenes involving Scott were 'rehearsal' scenes deliberately done in an over the top fashion. Kubrick used these scenes rather than the "real" ones, which caused Scott to vow to never work with Kubrick again). Sterling Hayden as the deranged Jack D. Ripper also gives a show stealing performance. I'd recommend the Blu-Ray. It really recreates the atmosphere.
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Grendel
Bill S. Preston, Esq.
But ... why is all the rum gone?
Posts: 17,593
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Post by Grendel on Jun 20, 2010 21:57:31 GMT -5
Copied directly from the posting I did in the A Team thread:Okay, I just got back from watching this movie. I went in with rather low or neutral expectations, and I didn't know what to expect. Now I never really do this in my posts, but I have to do this, and I apologize in advance ... THIS ... IS ... AWESOME!!!!!!!Okay, I went into it being a fan of the old series. I'm one of the few people on this board old enough to have watched the series in it's original run, even when they ruined it when they started working for Robert Vaughn, which I believe was a skill that he parlayed into being a pitchman for some s***ty law firms later in life. In my area, it's Woods and Thompson. May be something else in yours.So anyway, I was skeptical when I saw the first trailer for the movie. But the more I saw it and the other trailers for it, I realized that this movie looked like some good cheesy, dumb fun. So I ended up going this afternoon to the early matinee and got the soda and popcorn, because with a movie like this I figured I'd need it. Sat through some horrible trailers for some crappy movies I have no intention of seeing except for The Expendables. And the newest of The Expendables trailer just sucks ass compared to the earlier ones. Anyway, the movie started and about 10 minutes in I had this look on my face. Except I didn't look anywhere near that douchey ...Now don't get me wrong, this isn't really a smart movie by any stretch of the imagination. But are we really going to a movie based off of a cheesy 80's television series and expecting The English Patient? No, we go to a movie called The A Team to unhook your brain and have a good time. And a good time was had by me, I can tell you that. I thought the casting was excellent. The only problems I had going in was Brian Bloom playing the part of Pike and Patrick Wilson playing the part of Lynch. I shouldn't have worried, because I think they nailed their roles. I would have never thought of Brian Bloom as a bad ass type until I saw this movie. And I had no problem with Jessica Biel playing the part of Charisa Sosa, and I didn't mind the interaction between her and Bradley Cooper's Templeton Peck. Liam Neeson was of course awesome in his role as Hannibal, and Quinton Jackson wasn't really horrible as Baracus (even though I've heard him slammed in some media outlets). But the stand out for me was Sharlto Copley as Murdock. I wasn't really blown away by him in District 9 as so many others were. He was okay, but the character was just kind of meh for me. And seeing some of that stupid s*** they had him do on last week's Raw didn't really give me a lot of confidence. But he played Murdock very well I thought, and brought a bit more craziness to the role. I don't know about you, but I think critics expect too many things to be serious. Sure there were parts of this movie where you had to suspend your belief, but you expect that going to a movie like this. The interaction between our leads is great, and there were a bunch of times I found myself laughing at various lines and situations. There were some great explosions and gunfire and good dumb action sequences. Just like Hannibal Smith, I love it when a plan comes together. This one came together for me, and was probably the 3rd funnest movie I've seen this year behind Kick Ass and Iron Man 2. Wait a minute, snork that, I think the for me it's tied with Iron Man 2 or just edges it out a bit. Could be because I was in a mood for a good dumb movie that I could just chill at, but this one was really fun for me and fit the bill.
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The Line
Patti Mayonnaise
Real Name: Bumkiss. Stanley Bumkiss.
Peanut Butter & JAAAAAMMMM!
Posts: 36,698
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Post by The Line on Jun 21, 2010 22:58:47 GMT -5
The Girlfriend Experience[/u]
This is a film that was almost great on many levels, but just lacked enough skill to take it to the next level. The actors were decent, but never really were too engaging(The main character's boyfriend Chris is probably the most engaging) and a few instances were wooden(even though Ms. Sasha Grey did put on a surprising performance, she struggled in some scenes and was often out-acted). The story was an attempt to tell a story in a Memento or Pulp Fiction type fashion, but serious pacing issues really hampered the story(it didn't help that with the exception of maybe a 3 or 4 characters, no one has more than about 10 minutes of screen time, so with all these new characters randomly popping up, trying to establish where and when you are in a story becomes more difficult, and the director Soderbergh failed). Soderbergh did an ok job, but its obvious to any viewer with a cinematic background that a more talented director could have easily made this film a cult classic or more.
All-in-all, it really isn't a bad movie. In fact, its pretty good considering its a movie shot on a semi-professional camera on a budget under $2 million and stars a porn star. But it also left me somewhat frustrated because I really think this project had a lot of unreached potential. Good movie, but this easily could have been one of the best indie films ever in the right hands.
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The Line
Patti Mayonnaise
Real Name: Bumkiss. Stanley Bumkiss.
Peanut Butter & JAAAAAMMMM!
Posts: 36,698
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Post by The Line on Jul 3, 2010 14:06:38 GMT -5
Black Dynamite[/u] Maybe its just because I was in a great mood when I watched this movie, but I'd be willing to go out on a limb and rank it with great comedies such as Airplane! and Anchorman. I found it literally having a laugh a minute, it seemed. Maybe I'm just a fan because my friend Nathan and I made what could be considered Whitesploitation/Jewsploitation films for about 6 years, so it felt a lot like watching (a funnier version of) one of my own movies.
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Post by Arturo Classico on Jul 4, 2010 15:58:43 GMT -5
Roger Corman's Gunslinger.
Man where do I start with this move? This could potentially be the worst Western I have ever seen. Either on film or as a tv show. The plot concerns the murder of the town marshal. Two men murder him however his wife grabs the gun and kills one of them and later kills the other at his funeral. She basically makes herself marshal after the woman of the town which seems to include 5 people bully the men into it. So she becomes the law and order of the town but the evil no-good immoral female saloon owner disagrees so she hires someone to kill her, because she's trying to buy up land before the railroad comes in but the marshal wants her out!
Honestly I can't go on describing the plot it hurts too much! Most of the movie is just pointless horse riding scenes which is one of the best qualities of this movie because when in the town it becomes obvious it's on a very poorly conceived set and maybe the oddest designed hotel room I have ever seen. also watch a lot for people that seemingly disappear on screen and appear somwhere else that is impossible for them to be at. The plot mostly is a mish-mash of other westerns except not as good and the bad guys apart from Caine Miro (John Ireland) are just too obvious that their bad to make it interesting. In some ways being pathetically bad makes this a fun movie except with the lack of compelling characters, on screen chemistry and clique story makes it barely watchable. Seriously I wonder what Corman was thinking when making this, sure I know Corman made movies on the cheap but this is horrid. I mean Little Shop of Horrors and Death Race 2000 are great movies. This is utter crap!
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The Line
Patti Mayonnaise
Real Name: Bumkiss. Stanley Bumkiss.
Peanut Butter & JAAAAAMMMM!
Posts: 36,698
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Post by The Line on Jul 23, 2010 10:26:12 GMT -5
Last night was a long night at the movies watching movies alone in my bedroom. I watched two cornerstones of American Cinema. First up... RAGING BULL(1980)It might be because some of his latest performances aren't quite my cup of tea, but I sometimes forget just how great an actor Robert De Niro really is. - Story & Plot
Possibly the ultimate sports movie, even though it tells a fairly standard story (or at least it has now). Robert Di Nero plays the tough but perpetually down-on-out Jake LaMotta, a punchy boxer with a little more brawn than brain. Just when you start to think of it as another generic sports movie, Scorsese knocks you on you on your ass with its gripping reality. Scorsese's direction of this is movie is unique and one of a kind, thanks to many of the parallels between LaMotta and his own lives. His use of ambiguity (especially at the end) really makes it more haunting and depressing. You also remember that its all based on a true story, and it makes you think.
- Characters & Acting
As I mentioned in the intro, De Niro really was at his best here. He put his all into this role, mind and body, and it shows, as his portrayal of LaMotta will most likely go down as his greatest acting achievement. We also were treated by a great, amazingly believable performance by Joe Pesci (I also forget how great he can be.)
- Audio & Visual
I was lucky enough to view this on Blu-Ray. Wow! An amazing atmosphere was created. I urge you to watch this one Blu-Ray on a decent TV in a dark room. You will be in the ring with every punch. That smoky quality that the film also has also seems to have a way of permeating through the room.
Although the score is not original pieces, it is great. In fact, the fact that it was period music rather than an original score really adds to the authenticity of it. The main theme, the Intermezzo from Cavalleria Rusticana is also one of my favorite musical pieces, so that helps. Unfortunately, I don't have any sort of home theater sound system, so I probably didn't come near to doing it justice.
Overall Recommendation: Highly Recommended. Keep in mind that this is a violent movie. Not what I would really consider 'graphic', but a large amount of realistic violence. Just didn't want anyone to think they were renting a movie like Rocky. ///////////// APOCALYPSE NOW/APOCALYPSE NOW REDUX(1979)To be fair, I only watched the Redux version. I've never seen the original, so I am only judging the movie based on the extended Redux version. - Story & Plot
Its Vietnam.A Colonel located in Cambodia(Marlon Brando) has seemingly gone insane. A fellow Special Ops Captain (Martin Sheen) is sent to "terminate his command with extreme prejudice".
Coppola tells this Vietnam War-era adaptation of Conrad's Heart of Darkness in a very surreal fashion, juxtaposing images of brutality and beauty. I didn't find the extended run time to drag.
- Characters & Acting
It is incredibly difficult to pick out one or even two performances to discuss about this movie. Sheen and Brando were great as the protagonist and antagonist, respectively, but you also had show stealing performances by individuals like Dennis Hopper. Coppola was still very much in his prime and could still get the best performances from his entire cast.
- Audio & Visual
Too bad this has yet to be released on Blu-Ray. The DVD was still incredibly sharp, visually. The soundtrack was great; a mix of period music and score.
Overall Recommendation: Highly Recommended. It is a Vietnam movie, and really has nothing more shocking or gory than any other Vietnam movie. Expect a lot of violence and blood, and disturbing imagery.
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polexia
Don Corleone
keep bleeding love...
Posts: 1,760
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Post by polexia on Jul 23, 2010 23:31:26 GMT -5
salt-- not as bad as i thought it would be. it is NOT a bourne idenity rip off. it has a very unique plot twist.
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darthalexander
Hank Scorpio
I have a feeling I may end up getting banned soon.
Posts: 7,030
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Post by darthalexander on Jul 26, 2010 16:02:36 GMT -5
I just saw Avatar and I have to say it's not a bad movie, but it's nothing spectacular story-wise.
Visually the movie is amazing (looks amazing on Blu-Ray). I felt like I was watching a moving painting most of the time. Story-wise, it really didn't blow me away. I felt most of it was stuff I had already seen elsewhere. It did feel like a Dancing With Wolves rip-off. A good movie, but not a great one.
Paranormal Activity - an ok film, but nothing spectacular. It's suffers from overblown press. It's like Blair Witch, promoted to be the most scariest movie ever made but in reality it's no where near as thrilling as it should be. Interesting concept, but nothing great.
Armored - A filler of a movie. Something to watch in-between doing chores or watching other movies. Felt like a student made heist movie more than anything else. Plot holes, idiotic logic, etc. Wait till it's on TV.
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