Millie D
El Dandy
Something VERY special.
I Love Glee!
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Post by Millie D on Mar 25, 2008 13:49:50 GMT -5
NATIONAL TREASURE BOOK OF SECRETS
Ok I saw it FINALLY and I liked it up to a point..adored Nic Cage's quiet humor and i loved watching them go from England To France To Washington DC but the pessimist in me kept saying YOU KNOW THEY CAN'T REALLY DO THAT even though i KNEW it was only a movie..
So they find out that there is a secret President book that has all the conspiracies in it and all the current prez wants is page 47 So the gang( along with ben's annoying dad jon voight along the ride) goes hunting for clues to a city of lost treasure but all ben wants is to clear his great great grandfather's name when its brought up that Thomas Gates was a conspiritor in Lincoln's death..Ed Harris plays a goofy bad guy with a heart at the end and i really enjoyed Helen Mirren's small role as ben's mom
after 2 hours of clue hunting and such, it finally ends BUT what was on page 47? We don't know.
I did like this movie and its worth seeing so out of 5 i give it a modest 3.5
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4real
Wade Wilson
Posts: 28,702
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Post by 4real on Mar 25, 2008 18:11:52 GMT -5
Meet The Spartans
Yep, it really is as bad as people say. I don't think it deserves a rating. I lost the will to live within around 20 minutes.
The Cottage
Now this i liked. British horror comedy with Jennifer Ellison (hello!) and the guy from League Of Gentleman who's name escapes me. Quite funny and with some real gruesome bits. Takes a while to get going mind, but all characters (with the exception of Ellison) are likable, which helps.
****
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Post by Big DSR Energy on Mar 25, 2008 21:50:48 GMT -5
Okay, I am currently watching DOA. You should really clarify that. At first, I thought you were referring to the classic Film Noir starring Edmund O'Brien. I got what you meant later in the paragraph, but still...
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Post by ronnierocketago on Mar 26, 2008 0:13:02 GMT -5
DOOMSDAY (2008) - ***1/2 out of 5I never start reviews with such crude bluntness, but for "Doomsday," I must make an exception. Go see "Doomsday." Go watch it now, before it disapears from theatres. Do whatever it takes to make this happen. Hitchhike, steal a car, stowaway, the police will understand. Don't Wait for DVD. Now goddammit before I cook and eat ya! With the blacklisting conducted by the Internet "Nerd Clique" ranging from C.H.U.D. to AICN, they're practically ignoring the very sort of movie that they proudly would "geek" over. Without the Clique's sponsorship, and the mixed/negative mainstream reception, I fear that many good people will miss out on the great matinee trash experience of 2008 that is Neil Marshall's "Doomsday,"which is surely destined for cult glory. The raw gritty acceleration of "Doomsday" harkoned me back to my high school years, where my teenage self fell in love with the "post-apocalyptical" action cinema of the late 1970s and early years of the Reagan Decade. From George Miller's "Mad Max"epics to Walter Hill's "The Warriors" to James Cameron's immortal "The Terminator," they delivered such a brutal potency, their heroes fighting with desperate bravado, against a society that's dying or already has collapsed. Writer/Director Marshall must be a fan too, for his "Doomsday" is a dramatic synthesis of that entire genre, a fan love letter. Its creative lynchpin though is clearly John Carpenter's "Escape From New York" which lifts the plot, the smoking stone cold protagonist racing against the clock, and the armies of mutants and criminals to fight through. People will complain, but its fitting considering Carpenter ripped off Sergio Leone for "Escape" and Howard Hawks for "Assault on Precinct 13." Funny enough, "Doomsday" is a better "Escape" remake than the aborted Lens Wiseman/Gerald Butler "reimagining" could have ever been. This is the movie that "Planet Terror" so desperately wanted to be but failed to pull off, so much that I fear Robert Rodriguez would cry if he ever watches "Doomsday." It wipes its ass with "Terror," then mocks it for being so crappy. While both are Carpenter-inspired highlight reels, what prevails for "Doomsday" beyond the homages and geek references is that Marshall delivers an organic urgency towards the threat, a convincingly dangerous world for his heroes to march through, and enough ground-level balls-to-the-walls action to make for a good testosterone, chest-pounding time at the movies. It helps too that unlike recent would-be action heroines like Milla Jonovich and Angelina Jolie, "Doomsday"'s lead in Rhona Mitra is a tough badass customer, regardless of her sex. "Doomsday" may be a son of a hundred movies, but like Freddy Krueger, it's still a sharp deadly mother. Blood and violence is literally everywhere, with decapitations and gruesome but awesome kills that put Eli Roth to shame. When a rabbit explodes from gunfire, you know fans of splatter cinema will be very pleased indeed. Forget "Rambo." What is really compelling is that there is a scene where the heroes drive by abandoned wrecked homes, all spray-painted with numbers, to signify to the cavalry that would never come how many residents in each complex needed to be save. A rare break from this fantasy, and an eerie intentional echo of New Orleans in 2005 after Katrina flooded the city, when many within the Federal government seriously considered simply abandoning the city and its residents. What put "Doomsday" over the wall for me was Marshall's moments of pure crazyness within such a typical action plot, the "Shoot'Em Up" or "The Last Boy Scout" for this year. Cannibalistic urban survivalists fire up a victim, and then gruesomely rip him to shreds this side of a turkey. Mitra using her glass-eye as a helpful camera, among other uses. Naked beautiful women wielding shotguns. Malcolm McDowell ruling as a feudal lord over the Scottish Highlands of 2035 from the remains of a castle. Yet they all are nothing compared to when the psychotic leader of the punk/glam rock maniacs in Sol finds out that his woman literally was cut down to size by the heroine. He promptly tapes her body back together, tying her to his passenger seat as he and an armed convoy of cars head off for revenge against the heroes in a highway finale this side of "The Road Warrior." Now that's love. While I have some slight problems with "Doomsday," from the lack of characterization beyond Mitra to an uninspired climax also borrowed from "Escape," I other wise really enjoyed the hell out of "Doomsday." It's an unjust world where lousy mediocrity like "Resident Evil" can make a profit, but "Doomsday" met its own armageddon on opening weekend. It's a taunt masculine satisfying throwback to my adolescence, and I at least appreciate Marshall for the free time travel. It's practically a movie made for us.
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Post by Bob Schlapowitz on Mar 27, 2008 19:56:42 GMT -5
The Godfather Part III
Derided by many (unfairly, IMO) as one of the worst sequels ever made. But come on, it's not that bad! It's true that it's not anywhere even close to the same league as the first two films. I only had two really big complaints about it. One is the fact that Robert Duvall is sorely missed. The other is (more of an observation, really.) Sofia Coppola is much, MUCH better off on the other side of the camera.
6/10.
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Post by Virt McGirt on Mar 27, 2008 21:26:17 GMT -5
I saw two movies recently, so I'll do this alphabetically:
Movie 1: The Break-Up = *** and a half Not really sure if they were going for a full comedic movie, but just got lost on the way, or just messed up a pretty good drama. In any case, though, I really liked it. (Though, I'd have liked it a lot more if they showed Jeniffer Aniston's "Full 'Telly Savalez'" ;D)
Movie 2: Enchanted = ***** What's there to say that really hasn't already been said? Amy Adams is really pretty, the movie's funny, and, to borrow a phrase, "they all lived happily ever after."
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Post by marvelocity on Mar 27, 2008 21:30:27 GMT -5
U2 3D (2008)First of all, let me say that it lives up to its acclaim. It's definitely a must-see movie, for U2 fans, for music fans, and for movie fans. I've never had an experience at the theaters quite like I did at U2 3D. At times, I completely forgot I was in a movie theater, and I was fully immersed in the show. You get an unbelievable sense of depth while watching this movie. Directing and cinematography - believe it or not, it uses a technique that is also used, and made famous, in Citizen Kane(!), where one shot dissolves into another seamlessly. Fans of Kane will understand this. And even the close-ups are pretty cool. The movie is a certifiable work of art, and at times it will make your jaw drop. The visuals during certain parts are so beautiful, it would make for a great 2D movie. But the 3D close up shots, while showed off a lot in the beginning, is toned down for the rest of the show, and only used when a visual point needs to be made. For those close ups, it really feels like Bono and the boys are feet away from you. Because the background is shown in the proper depth, it's not like they jump out at you, but like you are standing on the edge of the stage. Audio - this should really win an Oscar next year (or a few for that matter), you get a distinct feeling of being on the stage at certain parts with rear and side speakers kicking in at the appropriate times. I also enjoyed the parts where the front row singing is audible (it only happens a few times). Theater/audience experiences - the two guys in front of me were the most enthusiastic in the whole crowd. They even pulled out a lighter and waved it during "One". There was a smattering of applause at the end of the movie. It was about 1/4 full, maybe 30 people (which was better than I expected for my town). I took off the glasses a few times during the movie, and the picture on the screen is very blurry, much more than a traditional "cardboard 3D glasses" movie such as Jaws 3D. And then there's The Fly.......oh boy, what an experience that is. Mind-blowing visual experience, set to some pretty damn good music. I think I may have saw a 4th dimension somewhere during this song! While live-action 3D concert movies are only in their infancy, U2 3D has made a very impressive first step. And for U2 fans, it is an excellent way to put an official bookend to the Vertigo Tour (much like the SuperBowl XXXVI performance was a bookend to the Elevation Tour). It made me fall in love with many HTDAAB songs that I had become bored with, after listening to them performed so many times. A few songs I missed, that would have looked great in 3D, were City of Blinding Lights, Mysterious Ways, and Elevation. But oh well, maybe we'll see them as DVD extras when it is released. 9.5/10
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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 Mar 27, 2008 22:08:30 GMT -5
Okay, I am currently watching DOA. You should really clarify that. At first, I thought you were referring to the classic Film Noir starring Edmund O'Brien. I got what you meant later in the paragraph, but still... Noted. I will remember that for future postings.
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Post by pixiesfan on Mar 28, 2008 14:41:11 GMT -5
Art School Confidentialimdb.com/title/tt0364955/Jerome, a kid from the suburbs who loves to draw, goes to New York City's Strathmore College for his freshman year as a drawing major. Competition and petty jealousy consume faculty and students, with an end-of-first-semester best-student award held out as a grand plum. Worse, a strangler is on the loose, killing people on or next to campus. The idealistic Jerome falls in love with Audrey, a student who models for life-drawing classes and who responds to his sweetness. But he has a rival: the clean-cut, manly Jonah, also a first-year drawing student, whose primitive work draws raves and Audrey's attention. As cynicism seems to corrode everything, Jerome is desperate to win.Art School Confidential is the 5th film by Terry Zwigoff, who previously directed two of my favorite films in Crumb and Ghost World. It's a satirical look at the world of art that never gets boring, because of the subplot (the strangler) that provided quite a few surprising elements to the whole story, including a wonderful ending that left me thinking in the end. The interactions between the students and the professors and their philosophies about art were fun to watch. Max Minghella was compelling as the main protagonist Jerome and John Malkovich is brilliant (as usual) as Sandi, plus Steve Buscemit had a small, but funny role in it as well. While there's some great acting, there are still actors like the dreadful Joel Moore. And some overacting, even though they were trying to portray stereotypes. Just too over the top. The humour isn't typical dry Hollywood slapstick comedy but well thought in a way real human beings would interact with. 4 out of 5 stars
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Post by REDUNBECK~! on Mar 29, 2008 1:50:06 GMT -5
Rocket Science
This one ranks right up there with The Breakfast Club and Dazed and Confused on the list of great high school movies. It might even surpass them. Rocket Science captures the sheer agony of high school so perfectly that you don't know whether to laugh or cringe as it's hero, Hal Hefner, wends his way through a puppy-dog crush, the quest to conquer his stammer, and climbing the ladder to debate team greatness. Every little detail of high school - all the numerous minor-but-magnified embarrassments of any given school day, all the quirky, weird classmates, all those crapty cafeteria lunches - are fully realized, and they're all so true it's almost impossible to believe. Making a movie like this is a high-wire act and you can easily fall off into the void of "quirky for quirky's sake", but Rocket Science, miraculously, stays on balance and never ever goes wrong.
It's frigging fantastic every step of the way, and easily one of the best movies from 2007.
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Post by lucaspunkari on Mar 29, 2008 13:44:17 GMT -5
No Country For Old Men
Underwhelming to me, it was good, but to me nowhere near American Gangster at all. Some parts were really good and then some parts were meh. Woody Harleson suprised me though in his part
Mild recomendation.
3.5 out of 5.
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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 Mar 30, 2008 10:50:32 GMT -5
Serenity. A movie that came about years after the cancellation of one of my favorite series. While I can't say with any certainty that I am a Browncoat, I was a fan of the series Firefly. And once again Fox axed a series well before it's time. Anyway, onto the movie. It follows the crew of the space ship Serenity, which is a Firefly Class vessel. I loved this movie, and when I saw it the first time I went with people who didn't know that it was based on a canceled series. They loved it as well. If you like Sci Fi with a little western feel for it, this is the one for you. Personally I think it has deeper characters than there were in the George Lucas Prequels, which was an argument that I had with one of my friends, and argument that I won. She should have stopped arguing with me about Sci Fi movies when we had the parsec argument while watching Star Wars one night. Anyway, onto the rating ... 4.5 out of 5.
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El Pollo Guerrera
Grimlock
His name has chicken in it, and he is good at makin' .gifs, so that's cool.
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Post by El Pollo Guerrera on Mar 31, 2008 1:35:39 GMT -5
Black SabbathBoris Karloff introduces a trio of tales from director Mario Bava. In "The Telephone", a woman is frightened by a telephone stalker and calls a friend for help. In "The Wurdalak", a traveling nobleman encounters a family whose father has gone away to kill a Wurdalak (vampire) and fears that he will return as one. In "A Drop of Water", a nurse steals a ring from a corpse and is haunted by it's spirit. Apparently, the version I saw was the original Italian version, as the order of the stories is as I listed above... the American version has "A Drop of Water" first. There are also scenes cut from "The Telephone" that imply a lesbian affair between the two women. Well, "The Telephone" wasn't bad, but not really scary. "A Drop of Water" was better, but for me "The Wurdalak" was the best of the three, with a classic horror feel. The whole movie was in colour, and the colour was bright. Bava made it so that the movie had an almost psychedelic look to it (but it didn't really work in "The Telephone" because nearly the entire story takes place in a small apartment). Like "Black Sunday", I highly recommend this for fans of old horror movies (like "Frankenstein" or "Dracula") or to film students (if you haven't studied this already). EDIT: Yes, apparently the band did get their name from this movie.
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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 Mar 31, 2008 6:54:24 GMT -5
Aqua Teen Hunger Force Colon Movie Film for Theaters
Okay, I started watching this on the Cartoon Network last night, and I came to one conclusion. ATHF works for a 15 minute cartoon, but not for an 86 minute movie. I sat through it and at the end, I had a what the smurf look on my face.
1 star out of 5, because I'm being generous.
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Deleted
Deleted Member
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Post by Deleted on Mar 31, 2008 11:01:51 GMT -5
The Last Boy Scout Well if you haven't seen this movie already you're either under 18 or probably had a life in High School. Nevertheless if you're ever in the mood for a buddy action flick so corny its on the verge of parody - then this is the movie for you. Considering its from the writer of Lethal Weapon and the director of Top Gun, it should be no surprise that its chock full of explosions, headshots and funny things being said right before someone gets knocked out. The Last Boy Scout is the best kind of action movie - the kind that doesn't take itself seriously, but doesn't become silly. Bruce Willis delivers the most quintessential Bruce-Willis-in-da-1990's performance as a gritty detective. Think John McClane in Die Hard with a Vengence except more haggard, if you can fathom it. And the girl who plays his foul-mouthed daughter is hilarious. Anyway, much like PCU and Young Guns. This was a mid 90's flick that was completely under-appreciated in its time. I think the last few lines of the movie sums up the movie best: Willis:This the 90s. You can't just go around punching people. You've got to say something cool first. Like if you hit a guy with a surfboard, you say . . . Wayons: 'Surf's up, pal!' Willis: Yeah, something like that. Wayons: That's all you gotta know huh? Willis: Water's wet, sky's blue and ol' satan claus, jimmy, he's out there and he's just getting stronger. Wayons: Oh yea so what do we do about that? Willis: Be prepared son. Thats my motto. Be prepared.
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Post by REDUNBECK~! on Apr 2, 2008 7:39:13 GMT -5
Enchanted
I think I'm starting to love musicals. I adored every second of Once and now here's Enchanted, and I loved it so much that I literally shed tears of joy watching it. I can't remember the last time I saw a movie this happy and this in love with life - the ups AND the downs of it. I have to respect any family movie that reminds the kids it's just as good to feel sad or angry once in a while as it is to feel happy, and Enchanted's fairy-tale princess Giselle learns that lesson well when she stumbles out of her cartoon movie and into the real world of Manhattan.
It's funny and sweet, but it's not dumbed-down for little kids at all. In fact, adults will probably get the little jabs at older Disney flicks much easier than kids will. The acting is great, especially Amy Adams as Giselle (she's so darn lovable), and the music is fun and beautiful. I don't know how Disney makes movies this great, but God bless them for doing it. I feel like I've been walking on air since I saw Enchanted.
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bigHEADinc
El Dandy
Wanted Conway Twitty as a special title.
lest we forget...
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Post by bigHEADinc on Apr 3, 2008 17:23:19 GMT -5
DRILLBIT TAYLOR
Three kids who are incessantly bullied hire a bodyguard named Drillbit Taylor. Taylor is a homeless man looking to make a quick buck to move to Canada and sees the kids as easy marks but, as they "train", he starts to actively care for the kids and their plight.
It's cookie cutter and the twists and turns are mapped out better than a GPS device, but there are some genuinely funny moments in between. Most of the laughs come from the two main players Nate Hartley and Troy Gentile (Wade and Ryan, respectively) who have a great sense of comedic timing but wouldn't be there without their bully Filkins (Played awesomely by Alex Frost). Their scenes together (Alongside the other bully Ronnie, played by Josh Peck of "Drake & Josh" fame, surprisingly) compile some of the best scenes in the movie.
Sadly, when the only person who is credited in the movie poster starts showing up (Owen Wilson as Drillbit) the movie starts to become boring. While he had a few good scenes, he seemed to actively be the downer of the movie. Then again, he does also bring the beautiful Leslie Mann on-screen with him a lot of the time, and I can never complain about that.
Overall, the movie wasn't great, it wasn't bad, just "Meh".
**1/2 out of *****
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Post by Virt McGirt on Apr 3, 2008 17:41:35 GMT -5
Since the guy two above me already reviewed "Enchanted", I'll go with:
The TV Set
More of an inside look at how "pilot season" works (or doesn't reather) than a comedy, but there's a few choice moments in there. (IE - David Duchovny's take on his agent having not even heard of or seen "Taxi Driver" and "the cameo")
*** and a half out of *****
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Post by Bob Schlapowitz on Apr 4, 2008 20:09:25 GMT -5
No Country For Old Men
I was seriously underwhelmed by this. Sure the acting was top-notch, but the overall story was unnecessarily complicated. Without getting into spoilers, I'm just going to say that I just don't see it as the masterpiece it's made out to be.
**1/2 out of *****
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El Pollo Guerrera
Grimlock
His name has chicken in it, and he is good at makin' .gifs, so that's cool.
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Post by El Pollo Guerrera on Apr 7, 2008 1:30:53 GMT -5
The Girl Who Knew Too Much (La Ragazza Che Sapeva Troppo)An American girl (Leticia Roman) flies to Italy to spend time with her aunt. On her first day, she: 1) is given a pack or marijuana cigarettes on the plane by a smuggler, who is promptly arrested at the airport. 2) meets a handsome young doctor (John Saxon). 3) watches her aunt die. 4) is mugged and knocked unconscious. 5) wakes up in a groggy state and sees a murderer dragging the body of a young woman into the darkness. Not bad for one day of sight-seeing, eh? After reporting to the police, she decides to stick around and find the truth, which may have something to do with a series of murders ten years ago... and a strange man who is following her. Beautifully filmed in black and white, lots of wonderful scenery from Rome... and a really good story. She thinks that for some reason she's 'looked back in time', the police think she's a nut, the young doctor is in love with her and doesn't want her to be hurt, and the end of the film where the truth is revealed is very creepy. You can see how this one movie inspires the generation that followed it. There's a few bits of comedy that seemed to me to be out of place, but they didn't really slow the movie down, either (apparently, the comedy was 'played up' in the version that was released in the US, "The Evil Eye". The version I saw was the original Italian version). Great movie, but not for all tastes. If you like older horrors or 'film noir', then watch this. P.S. - I want to voice my eternal love for Anchor Bay Entertainment. Every movie that they re-release (that I've seen, that is) is cleaned up beautifully and usually with great features. They take time to restore movies to their full and most complete versions.
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