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

[FoolKiller]

The Visitor - (9.5/10)
I had never heard of this and neither my wife nor myself remember putting this on Netflix, but it showed up so we watched it. I am glad we did. I don't agree with the message, but this film is very heartwarming. A lonesome widower finds an illegal immigrant couple have been living in an apartment that he rents in New York due to a scam that they fell for, but allows them to stay until they can find a place to live. They teach him how to love life again. This is good drama at its best. Reading the summary before watching it my wife and I both were hesitant, wondering what this crap was. Midway through we were interrupted by a phone call and my anger at the interruption made me realize that I was really enjoying this heartwarming story.

Amelia - (8/10)
I do not like Hilary Swank, and worse than her is Richard Gere playing men who date women played by much younger women. Fortunately, I did like Hilary Swank in this. She did a very good job, as did Gere. Unfortunately, Gere played George Putnam, who married Earhart, a woman 10 years younger than him. Gere is 25 years older than Swank and it is obvious, especially when no makeup had to be used to age him as the movie progressed but was necessary to make Swank age 10 years. Removing that pet peeve the only thing that took away from it for me was that her California to Hawaii flight was glossed over in a montage, while both Atlantic flights were shown in detail. This film does not gloss over the fact that she sold herself out for things she didn't like in order to finance her flying, and once she came to terms with the fact that flying was everything she had no problem with it.

 

[Public'sTwin]

Hell yeah, Tom! 👍

Awesome movie! [...] this movie is awesome! [...] Other than that, this movie was awesome. The [...] scene [...] was [...] best scene[...]entire movie. Optimus is just so badass. [...] Optimus seems to own Megatron all over the place [...] And on top of that, he takes on 2 more Decepticons at the same time, and still kicks ass! [...] was great to see Optimus be so ruthless [...] when Optimus arrives he just gets a blade shoved up his ***. Still, epic movie!

Can we just prohibit Michael Bay Movie reviews?

The Visitor - (9.5/10)
I had never heard of this [...] but it showed up so we watched it. I am glad we did. I don't agree with the message, but this film is very heartwarming.

Could you elaborate (for me) on this part?

 

[FoolKiller]

Could you elaborate (for me) on this part?

It got preachy about immigration issues, basically saying that if they do nothing to cause trouble we should just leave them be. I don't agree with that. While the story was about how they affected this man's life it made sure to slide in a political message.

 

[Solid Lifters]

Monty Python: The Life of Brian 1979 Comedy Staring: Graham Chapman, John Cleese, Terry Gilliam, Eric Idle, Terry Jones and Michael Palin

The Monty Python movie based on 'the almost Jesus.' Brian (Chapman) is born in a stable on Christmas 0000 next door to Jesus. Later on in life, he's mistaken for the messiah.

What the movie does is lampoon the birth, life and death of Jesus Christ. It's no wonder so many had a 'problem' with it. It also questions and deconstructs historical accuracy of a very biblical time in history. But, the attacks aren't solely directed at just one, but all religious entities and beliefs.

The jokes, all be-it classic sophomoric Monty Python humor, is also very clever and takes thought and knowledge. This might make the jokes more subtle, but they're all there.

The acting, yet again, by Chapman was just amazing and fantastic. It's no wonder Monty Python stop being after his death.

However, I'm not one for 'religious' films, even if it's a film questioning and lampoon the same. But, it was funny, in it's special and unique way, so I did like it. But, not as much as The Holy Grail.

8/10

 

[Diego440]

Can we just prohibit Michael Bay Movie reviews?

Except for The Rock.... maybe.

Are you serious about Transformers, Bram? I hated it... well, still hate it, rather.

 

[a6m5]

The Visitor - (9.5/10)

I like it, too. 👍

Except for The Rock.... maybe.

Amen. And I'm not gonna lie, I liked Armageddon, too. Just not as much. I haven't seen the second Transformers, but as far as I'm concerned, rest of his works are garbage.

 

[Bram Turismo]

Except for The Rock.... maybe.

Are you serious about Transformers, Bram? I hated it... well, still hate it, rather.

Yes, I'm serious. I didn't care for the typical Hollywood stuff that was still going on, because I knew this movie would contain it. There are just so many robots in this movie, the special effects are top-notch and the robots transforming is just so cool. No really, I did enjoy it.

 

[nk4e]

Hell yeah, Tom! 👍

. How can so many Decepticons be on Earth without arriving unnoticed? Surely the Autobots knew of this all along and would have informed others? I mean, the movie starts and the place is all over Decepticons. It just felt weird. And a big Decepticon is floating just outside of our atmosphere and NASA never saw the thing hanging there? Other than that, this movie was awesome.
​

I am thinking that the Civil War didn't wage during that cut scene and that they just landed there during that time. I really can't explain unless he blocked his sensors like how the Autobots blocked their sensors as well. It did slowly moved towards the military satellite.

 

[Touring Mars]

Se7en (David Fincher, 1995)

Gripping, gruesome but ultimately predictable thriller, and IMO, massively overrated at #30 on IMDB's list of Top Films! I enjoyed it though, and performances throughout were convincing and well-played. Perhaps it was ground-breakingly original in '95, but as a newcomer to the film, I don't quite get what all the fuss was about. 8ight/10

 

[Diego440]

Mars should know better than to hotlink from crappy websites.

I have to disagree with Se7en (or with Mars, rather)... granted, it does not stand the test of time; since 1995 moviemaking has turned much more violent and bloody, but in 1995 it really tuned stomachs and made a lot of people queasy, especially with such a gripping ending. Until Kevin Spacey arrives, it's a very dark and mysterious film. It still stands in my favourite movie list.

 

[Danoff]

Hell yeah, Tom! 👍

Awesome movie! I didn't care that it was not like the original Transformers, partly because I have never seen or read it, but the sheer action in this movie is awesome! SPOILERS REMOVED
​

Saw this one last weekend.

Transformers - Revenge of the Fallen 👎👎

I was ready for bad, and it delivered. This movie had absolutely no thought behind it whatsoever. Plenty of good effects, but there was so much unwanted junk in this movie that it overpowered any redeeming quality. They managed to make Megan Fox look bad during the second half - which isn't that easy to do.

If you're going to make an action movie that costs $200 million, how about dropping $1 million or so to hire good writers! I seriously do not know why some parts of Hollywood cannot realize that your budget really needs to include writers. With good writers this series of movie has the potential for dozens of blockbusters. With crappy writing (like was done), the series is doomed.

Things that sucked:
- Sector 7 guy (as usual)
- The twins
- The riddle in the desert
- The matrix of leadership (w...t....f)
- Sam's mom
- Sam ordering around a blowing off robots the size of a building that he had bonded with in the previous movie.
- That government guy who's job it was to drum up drama. He made absolutely zero sense.
- Sam not responding to Myrtle or whatever her name was in a believable fashion (eg: blowing her off, putting up with the evil sorority chick)
- Trumped up relationship tension between Sam and Myrtle (I know it started with an M and sounded ugly)
- Sam's T-shirt getting fried to bits but leaving his skin protected
- The evil plot (seriously, you couldn't come up with anything better?)
- Inconsistent Matrix of Leadership (that's hard to say with a straight face) behavior

Ok, there's more, but you get the point. Tons of poorly-motivated, paper-thin conflicts that existed for the sole purpose of begging you to stay awake.

 

[Bram Turismo]

- Sam's mom
- Sam not responding to Myrtle or whatever her name was in a believable fashion (eg: blowing her off, putting up with the evil sorority chick)

I have to agree with these points. What kind of mom does possibly walk into a college, buys pot and gets high? I do agree that was a very annoying scene. Also, what's up with Sam's mom and the term swearing? It seems many of GTP's members who have seen the movie thought the twins were very annoying. I didn't find them that annoying, to be honest. Probably because there weren't so many scenes with them annoying each other. But, you have to admit, the robots in themselves were done very good, and the special effects were awesome as well.

Also, what kind of concept car took out the R8 Decepticon? That thing looked awesome! Also, the plane looking like a Concord that bombed the stage at the end, what kind of a plane was that?

 

[a6m5]

Se7en (David Fincher, 1995)

Gripping, gruesome but ultimately predictable thriller, and IMO, massively overrated at #30 on IMDB's list of Top Films! I enjoyed it though, and performances throughout were convincing and well-played. Perhaps it was ground-breakingly original in '95, but as a newcomer to the film, I don't quite get what all the fuss was about. Se7en/10

Oh my god, you didn't like the #30? It's in my all-time top-10!

On the acting, I pretty much became a fan of the four stars, after seeing this film: Pitt, Paltrow, Freeman, Spacey. They are fine actors, but I think their performances in this film was their very best of their careers. Yes, even counting the Usual Suspects!

Predictability, I didn't find much of that in this film. I'm usually pretty good at guessing the twists & turns, too. Se7en kept me guessing, and I think I was as anxious, and nervous as Somerset and Mills on that last drive.

How hammered were you when you watched this? Come on Chris, you can tell your uncle a6m5.

 

[TB]

Come on Chris, you can tell your uncle a6m5.

Would you be the cool uncle with all the guns and lots of land or the creepy one with hard candy?

True to my usual form, you don't want to know the last movie I watched.

 

[a6m5]

I forgot to mention my movie:

Drag Me To Hell - When the trailer of this movie had just come out, my and my coworker buddy(big Raimi fan), our take on it was that it was a throwback horror flick. The trailer reminded us of the crappy(in a good way) 80's horror movie. Having finally seeing it, I'd say that we were right. For a good, or bad, this one is a throwback.

The good, there are lots of good. This thing not only has the charm of the 80's horror, it sort of winks at you while they poke fun at the dumb parts of those movies, turning them into in-jokes.

The bad, for me, there was one huge bad + minor, but annoying bad. The final twist, it was so flipping obvious and pointless, I was very disappointed by it. Enough to drop one whole letter in my grading. Another, the minor one was acting. Regardless of if it was done on purpose or not, acting should never be annoyingly bad. I'll cut it little slack, it's a horror flick after all. "B-"

 

[Public'sTwin]

*hates transformers, says something about writers

I may be mixing the actual numbers, but if I recall correctly:

-2 weeks
-3 writers
-$8 million
-$832,747,337.00 gross to date


. . . and not one dollar on an academic consultant.

I forgot to mention my movie:

Drag Me To Hell - The good, there are lots of good. Regardless of if it was done on purpose or not, acting should never be annoyingly bad. I'll cut it little slack, it's a Sam Raimi flick after all. "B-"

*Fixed*

To understand Sam Raimi and his films, you have to have first seen Evil Dead and Evil Dead 2. Evil Dead: Army Of Darkness can be left out, but it'll show you his more humorous side. Furthermore you should witness some of the Bruce Campbell (a close friend of Raimi's) films:

-Sundown: The Vampire in Retreat (also featuring the late David Carradine)
-The Hudsucker Proxy (co-written between brothers Cohen and Sam Raimi, features Bruce briefly)
-Escape from L.A. (not least for BC)
-From Dusk Till Dawn 2: Texas Blood Money (Warning: Cheese factor high; while ridiculous and utterly retarded, you'll probably like it)
-McHale's Navy
-Man with the Screaming Brain (I really don't need to describe or warn about this one)

 

[a6m5]

Those two, I've been familiar with their films for something like two decades. I do realize how they operate, and where they are coming from.

This wasn't some clueless, ignorant review. Trust me on this.

 

[Danoff]

I may be mixing the actual numbers, but if I recall correctly:

-2 weeks
-3 writers
-$8 million
-$832,747,337.00 gross to date


. . . and not one dollar on an academic consultant.

...and a fatal blow to the franchise.

 

[Touring Mars]

Oh my god, you didn't like the #30? It's in my all-time top-10!

On the acting, I pretty much became a fan of the four stars, after seeing this film: Pitt, Paltrow, Freeman, Spacey. They are fine actors, but I think their performances in this film was their very best of their careers. Yes, even counting the Usual Suspects!

Predictability, I didn't find much of that in this film. I'm usually pretty good at guessing the twists & turns, too. Se7en kept me guessing, and I think I was as anxious, and nervous as Somerset and Mills on that last drive.

How hammered were you when you watched this? Come on Chris, you can tell your uncle a6m5.

Hehe, I think I was a little harsh and too keen to be able to give it a "Se7en" rating, so I have changed it up a bit, since a 7 rating is "highly watchable but nothin' special", and 8 is "pretty darn good, but not a favourite of mine", and I reckon it is actually an 8.

 

[Diego440]

Gake no ue no Ponyo (a.k.a. Ponyo on the Cliff) (2008) -- No one ever asks Miyazaki to make sense of his movies, and this one's certainly not the exception. It's about an adventure centered on a 5-year-old boy and his relationship with a goldfish princess who longs to become human. Still with me? Good! I have to say this one's one of his best. I'd put it as his 4th best, the previous three being #1 Spirited Away, #2 Princess Mononoke and #3 My Neighbor Totoro. One thing I've always enjoyed of Miyazaki's stuff is that he makes kids act like kids, but this one has a bit of a problem (IMO) shared with other Japanese animes like Whisper of the Heart; and it's that they attribute 5 year olds to make decisions on love.

Spoiler

And while in this movie the 5 year old boy is asked to love Ponyo, I'm pretty sure during most of the time that it's some sort of fraternal, sibling love, though it's never clarified and at a certain point in the movie it could go both ways. Whisper of the Heart is quite odd since the 14 year old boy asks the 12 year old girl to marry him at some point and that freaked me out

In the end it's a very beautiful story, like most of Miyazaki are. Good to see he's still on top of his game and he can still turn out lovely stories. 8.5/10

 

[Public'sTwin]

In the end it's a very beautiful story, like most of Miyazaki are. Good to see he's still on top of his game and he can still turn out lovely stories. 8.5/10

I've been meaning to see some Miyazaki films, but they don't seem to wind up on Blu-Ray/DVD here. Maybe I'll have to (shudder) make a trip out to Wal-Mart one day. . .

 

[Diego440]

When you find them, I'd recommend you check out the ones I mentioned. I think there's a consensus that they're the best ones, though it doesn't mean the others are not.

I never got around to making my comments on the Transformers, though I did review it a few pages back. I have to say the incident with Sam's mom buying mary jane in college really had me rolling my eyes and it was enough to almost close the movie right there.

 

[Public'sTwin]

When you find them, I'd recommend you check out the ones I mentioned. I think there's a consensus that they're the best ones, though it doesn't mean the others are not.

Yes, I know Spirited Away is a very critically acclaimed film. I think it surfaces on MPIX from time to time, too. I'll have to keep an eye out for it on IFC as well. I really do have to brush up on my asian cinema; my goal right now is to wrap up watching Akira Kurosawa's films and start experiencing some Wong Kar Wai.

 

[Joel]

I saw This Is It today. Although I'm not a huge MJ fan, I do like some of his music, and he puts on a great show. The film is a hybrid of a concert movie, and a behind-the-scenes show. It works very well, and through the whole movie, you can't stop thinking "Man, if he didn't die, that would be one EPIC show." 9/10.

 

[breakpoint]

Vanishing Point

Hooper

Original Dawn Of The Dead

Good stuff, vanishing point is in my top 5 favorite movies ever:tup:

[URL="http://s16.photobucket.com/albums/b40/jerkmonster/?action=view&current=hooper.jpg"][/URL]

 

[Danny]

I'll apologise to everyone in advance...

I'll keep this short. It's more than passable. I think the Saw films (Saw II excluded) have been pretty...mediocre. Not brilliant, but not nearly as bad as people would have you believe. Shawnee Smith and Tobin Bell once again are brilliant. My main criticism of the Saw series is that none of them work as 'standalone' films. You need to have seen all the previous films before one of them will make sense. And even then, the entire storyline of the Saw series can get a little hazy and confusing in places. And it's one of very few series' with enough plots twists to ensure you can't spot what's going to happen a mile away, like with so many other horror films. As usual, it's a gorefest, though not as much as the previous films. The Saw series was intended to be a bi-trilogy, and Saw VI finishes it off very stylishly.
(For reference)

Saw 7/10
Saw II 9/10
Saw III 7/10
Saw IV 5/10
Saw V 6/10
Saw VI 8/10

 

[Diego440]

Danny, how much of sex and violence is in this movie? I saw it was rated X in Spain and there's a law there that X-rated movies are only shown in a handful of theatres, thus a lot of people were pretty mad about not being able to see the usual Halloween period film.

 

[Diego440]

Doubt (2008) -- Set in 1964, Doubt centers on a nun who confronts a priest after suspecting him of abusing a black student. He denies the charges, and much of the play's quick-fire dialogue tackles themes of religion, morality, and authority. It's a good take on what happens when a priest is apparently innocent of the charges of molesting a younger child. As a society and in the way things have gone lately around the world, the priest is usually guilty without a doubt. As usual Phillip Seymour Hoffman acts superbly and Meryl Streep is impressive as well. Other than that, it's just another movie. 7.5/10

 

[Bram Turismo]

Danny, how much of sex and violence is in this movie? I saw it was rated X in Spain and there's a law there that X-rated movies are only shown in a handful of theatres, thus a lot of people were pretty mad about not being able to see the usual Halloween period film.

Whatever it is, I can't watch it. What kind of sick-minded people write this kind of stuff? You've got to be a total wacko to even come up with all those scenes. I watched Saw III, but only a little piece because it was far too extreme for me.

 

[FoolKiller]

Whatever it is, I can't watch it. What kind of sick-minded people write this kind of stuff? You've got to be a total wacko to even come up with all those scenes. I watched Saw III, but only a little piece because it was far too extreme for me.

I would have no problem with it if there was a halfway decent movie built around it. But it became obvious that when Hollywood recognized people are more into it for the gore porn that they don't actually need decent actors, writing, or story.

By the way, never watch House of 1,000 Corpses. My wife walked out of the theater crying. I warned her three times in advance, but she was determined that she could hang out with me and her brother.