What movies have you seen lately? Now with reviews!Movies

[a6m5]

So, District 9...Good movie made bad by a stupid shakey camera. Srsly, my eyes and head were killing me by less than half way through the movie. It made it very hard to enjoy the movie unfortunately.

Shakey cam usually bothers me, too. In this one though, I didn't even notice it?

 

[CDailey]

I dunno, maybe it was the theater I was in? They have top-o-the-line HD projectors, so maybe it was the in-your-face clarity coupled with the big ass screen that made my head hurt during the fast action scenes?

 

[a6m5]

Projectors for you, it was the seats for me. My back was sore for few hours after the god darn movie. I went to the newer theater, because their showtime worked out good with my schedule. Their 'newer' seats were deluxe, looked very sweet. The love affair ended before the previews were over.

 

[CDailey]

The theater I go to has really good seats. Their standard seats are cloth, but they recline, and set up in a stadium style. Then they have this pretty nifty setup for 21yr+ called Privé. Full service bar/resturant with each screen having a seating section above and behind the normal section. The seats are divided between huge leather reclining seats and giant leather love seats.

 

[a6m5]

I have seen them, and in fact, the one I saw District 9 was stadium seating. I'm betting that damn chair actually reclined!

 

[livemusic]

What movie theatres have you seen lately.

 

[Diego440]

Yeah, next thing you know, they'll have a movie theater/champagne room

 

[Diego440]

Ran (1985) -- Despite the fact that I'm pretty skeptical about Kurosawa's work, since the movies I've seen, despite being good, are utterly boring and slow, this one is all that, yet managed to be excellent! Then again, this one is very unlike his work of the 50s and 60s (where most of his best work was made). Whereas his previous movies had 2 or 3 main characters and a total cast of around 20 people and were very closed in on a story of these characters, this one's an epic production with whole armies of warriors fighting each other. There's a lot of blood, a lot of violence and very good action. There's also a wee bit of overacting and overmakeup usage and then there's the character of the 'jester' whom I wanted to kill 15 minutes into the movie. Like all of Kurosawa's work, this one could use a bit of editing, or at least less pointless scenes, but all in all, it's a great story of greed, lust for power and ultimate revenge, which would make it very likeable to younger generations... although the movie clocks in at 160 minutes, and there's where I think the movie suffers most; in those pointless or very long scenes. It's #140 in IMDb's Top 250, and I think it's fair to say it's currently my favourite Kurosawa film. 9.5/10

 

[a6m5]

this one could use a bit of editing, or at least less pointless scenes

Many will agree with this, but many will disagree as well.

You know I like his films, but I relate & appreciate even more so than most Kurosawa fans, as I'm Japanese. Very first review of the Seven Samurai I read, it was in English, and it was in the States. I had absolutely no interest in Samurai flicks, and Ran is the only Kurosawa film I had ever heard of when I grew up in Japan. Anyway, the review went along the lines of "like other Kurosawa films, it is so long, but too short for the fans". I saw the film, I felt that it was true.

Sorry, so much about nothing, but discussion like this keeps the thread more interesting than your typical "yeah, I saw District 9, it was good!". I know I enjoy it.

 

[Diego440]

Then again, though I've seen many Kurosawa films, I'm not a big fan of them. I think it's mainly because I grew up watching samurai flicks that had a lot of violence in them, and his mvoies, despite being 'samurai-themed', lack violence. I'm not saying that's a bad thing, but it's just not what I'm used to. Ran has a lot of violence, but the story is also very well taught and that's why I rated it so high. It has the best of both worlds.

Also, the trivia section of Ran, in IMDb is very interesting. I always go into this section when reviewing a movie since there's a lot of curious tidbits in there:

• Akira Kurosawa referred to his previous film, Kagemusha (1980), as a "dress rehearsal" for this film. He spent ten years storyboarding every shot in the film as paintings. The resulting collection of images was published with the screenplay.
• Unlike most other characters in the film, the character of the fool, Kyoami (Peter), has no basis in historic Japan. The most similar position in relation to a historic Japanese warlord would be a page, but would be quite different in responsibilities. Rather Kyoami is based on the Fool or Jester of European medieval times and, of course, William Shakespeare's character of the fool from "King Lear".
• Akira Kurosawa's eyesight had deteriorated almost completely by the time principal photography began. He could only frame shots with the help of assistants, who used his storyboard paintings as guidelines.

 

[Diego440]

Umberto D. (1952) -- Italian Neo-realism at one of its best films. Directed by Vittorio de Sica, it's the story of Umberto Domenico Ferrari, an elderly pensioner who tries to survive everyday on very littl money. He's old, has no children (or at least none appear in the movie) and his only friends are a pregnant housemaid and his dog, Flike. I really felt identified with the main character, since I am at a point in my life where my best friend is my dog (Mishka) and I could really relate with that. It's like feeling Flike is his only friend and the only one who remains constant. The movie isn't very long (89 minutes) and it doesn't get overtly dramatic. I'd recommend it to anyone looking to try something different movie-wise. It's #186 in IMDb's Top 250. 9/10

 

[a6m5]

• Akira Kurosawa referred to his previous film, Kagemusha (1980), as a "dress rehearsal" for this film. He spent ten years storyboarding every shot in the film as paintings. The resulting collection of images was published with the screenplay.
• Unlike most other characters in the film, the character of the fool, Kyoami (Peter), has no basis in historic Japan. The most similar position in relation to a historic Japanese warlord would be a page, but would be quite different in responsibilities. Rather Kyoami is based on the Fool or Jester of European medieval times and, of course, William Shakespeare's character of the fool from "King Lear".
• Akira Kurosawa's eyesight had deteriorated almost completely by the time principal photography began. He could only frame shots with the help of assistants, who used his storyboard paintings as guidelines.

First trivia, I kind of felt that. Second one, with King Lear being my favorite Shakespeare, I did notice. Third, I think I heard that before. Pretty crazy.

I saw the Infernal Affairs, last night. It was damn good, while I wouldn't think twice about giving it a "A ", it so makes me want to see Departed on my DVD. I honestly can't remember that movie enough to rate against the Infernal Affairs.

I'll be checking out that Oldboy in the near future, but I have very hard time believing that it will be better than Infernal Affairs. I'm also now interested in the Infernal Affairs spin-offs. I guess there are prequel, Part II & III. Could be a disaster though, I realize this.

 

[Diego440]

Nice work, Shintaro 👍 It's always nice to see someone watching a movie because of a recommendation, and even better if that someone likes it. I personally liked Oldboy better than Infernal Affairs, though they are both quite different. If I'd have to say something bad about Oldboy it'd be the extreme length of certain gruesome scenes (reminded me of Takeshi Miike) and also the amount of screaming (male and female). But neither of those make the movie bad.

 

[Eric Demory]

 

[Speedy Samurai]

Then again, though I've seen many Kurosawa films, I'm not a big fan of them. I think it's mainly because I grew up watching samurai flicks that had a lot of violence in them, and his mvoies, despite being 'samurai-themed', lack violence. I'm not saying that's a bad thing, but it's just not what I'm used to. Ran has a lot of violence, but the story is also very well taught and that's why I rated it so high. It has the best of both worlds.

I imagine, like most people our age, their first exposure to japanese film was the chanbara genre of films. These tend to be movies with samurai and lots of fighting. Given japan's long history of war this type of movie is not surprising. Kurosawa on the other hand, while setting his movies in the same era with the same kind of people, makes human drama through good story-telling. Violence is par for the course in the life of the people who lived in that era, but is not the point Kurosawa's trying to make.

 

[Diego440]

And once again, it's proven I know little of how to make an accurate write up. That's exactly how I think it is, Speedy. Though my ignorance is a bit larger, since for a long time I thought Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon was set in Japan, and couldn't believe when someone told me wasn't in Japanese.

 

[McLaren]

So, I saw G.I. Joe.
First off, whoever said it should be called C.G.I. Joe was correct. And it's not even good CGI, it just makes itself so known. I mean, put it this way.

You know Avatar is a fantasy movie going to be filled of CGI, but watching the trailer, it's so well done that it could "appear" real.
G.I. Joe is a movie trying to look real, & yet the CGI is just so obviously fake. I mean, SciFi-channel fake.

To be honest, the only thing I can really give this movie in a positive tone is that it's a good time waster as long as you shut off your brain. I'm not even going to attempt to go into the story as it was probably the most unrealistic plot I have ever seen in an action movie that attempted to make it appear real.

So, really, it's a good time waster & that's about it.

 

[Joey D]

Children of Men - Great film, very Bladerunner meets Half-Life 2. The ending didn't leave much closer, but then again, neither did Bladerunner. The long camera shots were excellent and so was the dark, grainy, dull style the whole film. If you haven't seen it I would recommend it for sure.

 

[Diego440]

@Mclaren: That's the kind of review I was expecting. I'll just put it in my list of not necessarily-ies

I just watched another movie:



Coraline (2009) -- I watched it after a recommendation of a workmate... a workmate I won't speak to tomorrow. I thought it'd be 'Nightmare Before Christmas'-like, but it's much more dumbed down. Then again, I'm not the target audience for this one, so maybe that has a lot to do with it. But I'm not the target audience for Toy Story, and I like that one too. I realise this movie tied in with a videogame as well, but at times I was expecting the intro movie to stop and the game to start... really, some parts are just too video-game-oriented. Great work on the effects; some parts appear to be stop-motion animated, though I can't be sure. I liked the semi-nod they did towards Alice in Wonderland, plus the cat that talks makes it obvious, but I feel it got too dumbed down... and I know animation like this should appeal to younger generations, but this one is for 5 year olds, with a theme that's heavy enough for 12 year olds. 6/10

 

[CDailey]

Mou gaan dou (a.k.a Infernal Affairs) (2002)

The Departed was really a remake of Infernal Affairs? Wow. I loved The Departed...in fact it's one of my favorite movies. Looks like I definetly need to check out Infernal Affairs then...

Have you seen Oldboy? Probably among the best Asian flicks around.

So, I just watched Oldboy and...wow. Such an odd but very very good movie. To be honest, I was very confused as to what was going on up until the very end, and then it all finally made sense. I'm going to watch this one again.

 

[Blitz187]

Saw Inglourious Basterds during the weekend... I was impressed... very good dialogue in the movie despite half the movie being in German and French.... Very good move by Tarentino... gives it an authentic feel... Big fan of Hans Landa and Hugo Stiglitz Enjoyed it from the beginning til the end... 👍

8.5/10

 

[Diego440]

Before Sunset (2004) -- What if you could have a second chance with the one that got away? That's a question that always crosses my mind and it is only as I get older (and somewhat wiser), that that question may be even more important... provided you've fallen out of love in your relationship. And it all ties in with the fact that life's hard. It's supposed to be. If we didn't suffer, we'd never learn anything. These are all facts you never realise when you're younger, and if you are I wouldn't recommend this movie at all, because when you're young, you just believe there'll be many people with whom you'll connect with. Later in life, you realize it only happens a few times, and why you should really 'go for it' when you think you've found the right one. This movie made me think a lot, and it's why I'd recommend it to the people who fall within the category I mentioned previously. It's also quite short, at 80 minutes, so you shouldn't get too bored watching it. 9/10

 

[Terronium-12]

Halloween 2.

Best thing I've seen all year next to Friday the 13th.

 

[a6m5]

Before Sunset (2004)

This is a sequel to "Before Sunrise", right? Do I need to see that first?

Reason why I ask; "Sunset" is available on instant watch, where I can watch it right now if I wanted to, on my Xbox 360. "Sunrise" on the other hand, it's a DVD rental only, which would have to mailed to my apartment.

 

[Diego440]

This is a sequel to "Before Sunrise", right? Do I need to see that first?

Yes, it's a sequel. No, you don't need to see the original.

I hadn't seen it and got into this one quickly. Then again, I didn't know it was a sequel until about 15 minutes into the movie. There's a bit of catching up you need to do, but I think the IMDb synopsis may fill you out. Otherwise, the movie does a fair bit of it too.

 

[Speedy Samurai]

Before Sunset (2004) -- What if you could have a second chance with the one that got away? That's a question that always crosses my mind and it is only as I get older (and somewhat wiser), that that question may be even more important... provided you've fallen out of love in your relationship. And it all ties in with the fact that life's hard. It's supposed to be. If we didn't suffer, we'd never learn anything. These are all facts you never realise when you're younger, and if you are I wouldn't recommend this movie at all, because when you're young, you just believe there'll be many people with whom you'll connect with. Later in life, you realize it only happens a few times, and why you should really 'go for it' when you think you've found the right one. This movie made me think a lot, and it's why I'd recommend it to the people who fall within the category I mentioned previously. It's also quite short, at 80 minutes, so you shouldn't get too bored watching it. 9/10

Your timing sucks, Diego!

 

[Diego440]

Your timing sucks, Diego!

Meh, better late than never?

 

[Speedy Samurai]

Meh, better late than never?

If I am too late, than it might end up being never.....

 

[Diego440]

Late, maybe. Too late, hardly.

 

[Sage]

I know this is old hat, but just saw District 9 and loved it. The armor bit was kind of unimaginative, but otherwise… brilliant movie.