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

[Alex.]

Have you seen the original version, and if so, how does it compare?

I still can't get my head around the idea of remaking a film that was only two years old, however.

All because of 'oh my god a foreign film, I'm not reading subtitles! Someone remake it in my language!' 💡👎

 

[Lucas]

El Rati Horror Show (Enrique Piñeyro, 2010)

January 25th, 2005.

A tragic automobile accident shocks Argentina. Fernando Carrera kills two women and a 6 year old child, while running away from a police car.

Fernando Carrera is driving a white Peugeot 205 in Pompeya, Buenos Aires. Police officers see his car, and start chasing him. They believe the occupants of the car are guilty of a robbery committed some hundred meters away from the scene. One of the officers draws his gun on Carrera's car. Carrera speeds his car up. He is shot from behind, one of the bullets piercing his jaw, rendering him partially unconscious. Carrera keeps driving his car for another 300 meters, running over and killing two women and a child. He crashes against a van a few meters afterwards. The car finally stops. The police officers get out of their car and start shooting at him. Carrera himself shoots at them as well. Fernando Carrera survives. He is convicted to 30 years in prison.

How much of what happened that day is actually true, given the scarce amount of witnesses, is up to the director to find out.

------------

"Based in real events" isn't what I would call this movie. That's like calling one of my home videos "Based on my birthday". Everything in the movie happened. The film itself uses footage from the local TV channels regarding the event.

The movie is fairly interesting, a lot of work was put into it and it really shows. However, I don't know if some of the parts were actually acted, because some of the expressions used by the film maker sound odd. Some scenes are absolutely absurd, and the film would be better without them.

My score: 7/10

Here's the trailer (language warning), however, it's in spanish: CLICKY.

"A movie that will show you in what hands are we..."

 

[BigYoSpeck]

All because of 'oh my god a foreign film, I'm not reading subtitles! Someone remake it in my language!' 💡👎

If I wanted to read my shelves would have something other than a pair of headphones, some batteries and a roll of sellotape on them

 

[Submerged]

All because of 'oh my god a foreign film, I'm not reading subtitles! Someone remake it in my language!' 💡👎

I remember talking to my father about his feelings towards subtitled television shows (as I don't hear particularly well and require subtitles) and he told me that he preferred to listen to the words and see the action as he wasn't quite able to read the subtitles quickly enough and see some of the action that was going on at the same time. To him, he felt that he was missing out on things. Additionally, because there were words on the screen, his eyes was drawn to it, even though he could hear the television and the words perfectly well not to read the words.

So for people who do not like subtitled films, its probably because they haven't mastered fast reading skills combined with widening the field of vision to be wide enough to take what else is going on the screen.

 

[Lucas]

I remember talking to my father about his feelings towards subtitled television shows (as I don't hear particularly well and require subtitles) and he told me that he preferred to listen to the words and see the action as he wasn't quite able to read the subtitles quickly enough and see some of the action that was going on at the same time. To him, he felt that he was missing out on things. Additionally, because there were words on the screen, his eyes was drawn to it, even though he could hear the television and the words perfectly well not to read the words.

I can relate to your father. When Star Wars Episode I (or II, don't quite remember) first came out, I was just a kid. I went to the theather with my family, but I couldn't read the subtitles fast enough (that is, they disappeared before I even finished reading). That way, I missed basically everything up to the first half of the film. I spent the other half just watching the scenes.

Also, for some reason, a couple of films I have watched this year had spanish dub, yet the spanish subtitles were still on. I can relate to your father in that aspect as well: I found myself reading the subtitles. Given that the subtitles didn't say word for word what the dub say, my brain was also confused, even though I knew the explanation was perfectly clear.

So for people who do not like subtitled films, its probably because they haven't mastered fast reading skills combined with widening the field of vision to be wide enough to take what else is going on the screen.

Spot on. 👍


Also, saw just now on TV:

Rocky Marciano (Charles Winkler, 1999)

In short words, from my friend Wikipedia, the movie tells the story of the rise to fame of legendary boxer Rocco Marchegiano. At first I expected a Rocky Balboa kind of movie, but I was very wrong. Had a lot of funny moments that didn't rely on the main character speaking like an eight year old kid. Moreover, I found the ending particularly moving, which is odd, since after seeing all Rocky movies, Rocky Balboa didn't bring a tear to my eye.

My score: 7/10

 

[Prodigy122]

I saw "SawII" few days back and were suprized about how well it managed to avoid the crappy sequel syndrome.

Yeah, "Saw" and "Saw 2" were both good IMO. But after that it just all went down the drain. They should have stopped at 2.

I have watched these recently:

• 300
• Dinner for Schmucks
• Despicable Me

 

[blaaah]

Just watched True Grit at the cinema the Coen Brothers remake.
Really like it, but the first 5 minutes thought I wouldn't.
Cracking actress lead role, will have to look up her name, and of course Jeff Bridges is great, but I couldn't understand him talking in the beginning which is when I thought I would get bored. Lovely visuals and camera work.
I was glad I haven't seen the original as the story was new to me. And I have a feeling I don't like the old fashioned style of film making when John Wayne was the one eyed Marshall of the law.
Good character interaction with nicely timed humour and sensitivity.
Not sure about the time skip ending.
Another 9/10.

 

[Diego440]

In the Valley of Elah (Paul Haggis, 2007) -- A retired military investigator works with a police detective to uncover the truth behind his son's disappearance following his return from a tour of duty in Iraq. I really liked that despite being a police/crime/mystery type of movie, it rated so high when it came out, even meriting an Oscar nomination. Also, it's one of the few Iraq-related movies that capture so well the national mood regarding not only the war, but the way veterans are treated and seen when they return to the US. Fortunately the movie dishes out the melodrama and concentrates on keeping the solid acting to be the main focus. My only problem with it is that the complexity of the crime seemed too grand to be explained and after a certain moment the movie apparently stops trying and lets the viewer make up his own mind, thus in the end it really didn't get solved for me, but just was a causal conclusion. The epilogue was a bit too American as well. 7.5/10

 

[DKLion3s]

TriggerMan ~ Terence Hill

Bangkok Adrenaline ~ Daniel O'Neil

RED ~ Bruce Willis

Buried ~ Ryan Reynolds

 

[Diego440]

Criss Cross (Robert Siodmak, 1949) -- Burt Lancaster plays a romantic and obsessive man drawn back to Los Angeles trying to regain the love of his exwife, who now belongs to the L.A. underworld. He believes he can rescue her, ignoring the advice of the people who would try to save him. Lancaster's performance is outstanding as a man trying to regain his lost love, and Yvonne De Carlo (better known as Marilyn in The Munsters TV series) as a cold manipulative woman is also perfect as the typical film noir femme fatale. And as with most film noir types, the lighting and black and white photography is superb. Plotwise, the movie falls short of being grand due to too many pointless scenes and lack of importance given to major scenes. 6.5/10

 

[FoolKiller]

The Mutant Chronicles - (3/10)
What can I say, this was a mistake. Movies should not be made off of table-top and collectible card RPGs. It leaves little real story to use as a basis. Basically, an ancient machine from space designed to turn men into mutants was stopped thousands of years ago. And then in the future, which looks suspiciously like World War II (just look at the picture), war releases the machine. Earth is believed lost and humanity is evacuating to the planetary colonies. Hey, but we quit killing each other, bonus right? So, then Ron Perleman, as the head of a secret brotherhood to defend against this menace (where were you guys when the battle was on top of the thing?), gathers together a dozen of the best soldiers in the world to stop the machine. Thomas Jane is the American hero type who doesn't blink an eye at battle and speaks mostly in grunts. I swear he thinks he is the next Christopher Lambert. So you know, from there it is bloodshed and death with plotholes. I had to read the synopsis for the RPG to know why the future looked like the past (the race that built the machine found a way to prevent computer technology from working) and that the whole machine concept was done all weird and out of place.

Anyway, I thought Ron Perleman and Thomas Jane would at least equal popcorn fun, but it was incredibly boring.

Wanted - (6/10)
Way behind here, but I finally saw this. Why was this popular again? It's coherent and for some reason people Angelina Jolie is hot, but it's stupid. I spent half the movie watching a guy get trained to kill in various different ways, and even have to endure a drawn out speech about how knives are more versatile than guns, only to have everything else be purely about gun play after the training is over. Heck, it basically becomes a writer's challenge to see how many cool things we can do with curving bullets.

It is good for a cheap, fun movie, but there are far better assassin movies out there. Or, just play Assassin's Creed if the concept of bloodline assassins sounds cool to you.

(500) Days of Summer - 8/10
Joseph Gordon Levitt can act...too bad he was also Cobra Commander in GI Joe. I am not much on romance, but this is a good one. I was actually surprised by how much I enjoyed it. Watching a man deal with losing the girl he was in love with and then having her toy with him a bit afterward sounds depressing, but it was done in an interesting way and his reactions were done in a way to still entertain. Definitely worth checking out.

 

[livemusic]

Buried - Bad movie, awful ending. 5/10

 

[Lain]

Just got done watching Rabid. The writing isn't the best, and the premise of the disease originating from skin grafting is totally absurd, but it's a watchable flick. The "armpit penis" I read about on IMDB turned out not to be as silly as I thought it was gonna be, which is good.

 

[Terronium-12]

The Losers - (8/10)

Let's start off with one thing: after having seen this I went onto Wikipedia to see if a sequel was in the works, and upon reading some of the reviews a lot of people compared this to the A-Team and I simply can't understand why. Where are the parallels? Is it the being framed for a crime they didn't commit ordeal, or is the....well, that's really all I can even come up with. I don't see the ambiance in relation to the A-Team whatsoever. Onto the review, never having read the books I have a genuinely unbiased opinion on the film and as you can see from the score given, I loved it. The cast had great chemistry and there was plenty of humor and action and was a pretty well put together movie from where I'm standing. A shame it didn't do too well in the box office though but if there's a second movie in the woodwork that will continue where this one left off, I'll definitely be seeing it in theaters. I'm sure I'm forgetting to mention some things as most of it has just left my mind at this point, but it's a great movie and I definitely recommend seeing it at least once.

 

[Diego440]

Jeux Interdits (a.k.a. Forbidden Games) (René Clément, 1952) -- A 5-year-old girl is orphaned during an air raid in France during WWII. She is befriended by a boy after she wandered away from the other refugees, and is taken in for a few weeks by his family. The children become fast friends, and the film follows their attempt to assimilate the deaths they both face, and the religious rituals surrounding those deaths, through the construction of a cemetery for all sorts of animals. The movie is abut the two children and their friendship. Never do they submit to the pressures of responsibility or authority. They slowly build a cemetery throughout the movie is their passion, and no adult is going to get in their way. The movie commits itself to portraying children in their true form, during a dramatic time. 8/10



The Big Combo (Joseph H. Lewis, 1955) -- Police Lt. Diamond is told to close his surveillance of suspected mob boss Mr. Brown because it's costing the department too much money with no results. Diamond makes one last attempt to uncover evidence against Brown by going to Brown's girlfriend, Susan Lowell. It's a sleazy film-noir tale of crime and revenge which has befeited greatly from the reissuing of lesser known movies from the 50s, and this one certainly is one of them. It's little more than an entertaining crime movie with some really odd scenes that really suprised me about passing the censors, including scenes of sadism, homoeroticism and downrigth nastyness. Certainly a movie that should be seen if you're afan of the genre, but which is forgettable enough in any case. 6.5/10

 

[Joel]

Apocalypse Now: Redux 9/10

I've never seen the original, but something makes me think it's probably better than this extended version. This version adds 49 minutes to the movie, making the running time over 3 hours. The extra scenes, the big scene at the French plantation in particular, drag on a little too long and make the plot more tedious. It's a fantastic movie and shows the dark side of human nature really well, as well as a grittier look at the Vietnam War than is shown in most war movies, but I think it dragged on a little (well, a lot) too long. That being said, it's still a fantastic movie, but I'd like to watch the original without the 49 extra minutes. I think I'd get more out of it, because I lost focus and just started making that's what she said jokes at one point due to how long and dragged out the movie was.

 

[Diego440]

[Rec] 2 (Jaume Balagueró, Paco Plaza, 2009) -- Starting out where the previous movie left off, this movie centers on the medical officer and a SWAT team outfitted with video cameras that are sent into the sealed off apartment to control the situation. What follows is more of the same awesomeness that made the original one such an instant hit. The problem is that they went on to explain the why of the infection, and I think screwed up the whole zombie thing by trying to make it logical and give it some religious significance. The fear factor has been lost for me on this one. There are scary parts, but it's not as extreme and scary as I found the first one to be. 5/10

 

[Joel]

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button

Forrest Gump backwards. It's a good movie, but it's too long (2 hrs 40 mins), and again seems to just drag on towards the end. It's only 20 minutes longer than Forrest Gump, but it seems much longer than that because it isn't nearly as humourous. Pitt did a great job, but the movie ultimately fell just a tad short in my opinion.

7/10

 

[Danoff]

Toy Story 3 👍👍

It's good, but not nearly good enough to be nominated for best picture. Give me a break. Also, a scene at the end of the movie is nearly enough to prevent me from recommending it. Talking toys don't stretch reality as much as the behavior of a college-aged boy. Despite shortcomings, it still gets two thumbs up, but isn't nearly as good as the next movie vv.

How to Train your Dragon 👍👍

If you're going to watch a kids movie, leave Toy Story 3 on the shelf and pick this one up instead. The plot was a bit predictable, but overall I was very impressed with this movie. I have no reservations about recommending this film to anyone of any age above like... 6 (not sure when they'd stop being scared by angry looking dragons).

Inception 👍👍

Very well done film. Matrix-esque in its ability to set up a paradigm which is conducive to provocative imagery. I also really enjoyed the soundtrack by my man Zimmerman. I think the movie oversteps its own premise a time or two and doesn't completely close all of the plot holes, but it's very entertaining none-the-less. Not a hall of fame film for me, but still highly recommended.

The Dreamers 👎👎

Didn't make it all the way though this one. I love Eva Green, and was excited to see her in what I thought would be a steamy role. I don't know how this movie managed to present sexuality in such an unappealing light, but it does. Green is far more sexual and interesting in Casino Royale.

 

[JohnnyBravo]

Last movie I've seen in cinema was TRON: LEGACY 3D. It was quite enjoyable thanks to 3D effects and well-done action sequences. On the other hand story is totally shallow.
And I've also finally managed to watch RocknRolla. This movie fullfilled everything I wanted an expected it to be. I've enjoyed watching it. If you liked Snatch or Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels, then it's a must-see for you.

 

[Minty]

Legend of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga'Hoole.
Right, so this movie was by far the most surprising thing I've ever seen. I was expecting to be bored out of my mind but at the end of the movie all I could think about was wanting more. This movie may just be the most bad ass thing I've seen in a long time. If the only reason you haven't seen this is because it's a movie about owls, you really need to watch it. I have nothing bad to say about this movie other than it was too short.

Inception
What Danoff said.


I also agree with Danoff on HTTYD and TS3.


Am I the only one who noticed that the Animated movies have recently become really, really good?

 

[Diego440]

La Jetée (Chris Marker, 1962) -- A 26-minute short about time travel, still images, a past, present and future and the aftermath of World War III. The tale of a man sent back and forth, in and out of time, to find a solution to the world's fate. To replenish its decreasing stocks of food, medicine and energies, and in doing so, resulting in a perpetual memory of a lone female, life, death and past events that are recreated on an airports jetty. If you're still reading and your mind is working, you might find this plot somewhat familiar, and it's because this is the original movie from which 12 Monkeys was made. The difference being that Terry Gilliam remade so much more from it and actualyl turned it into a full-length movie. This one is just a serioes of still images with a narrator voice-over, tells the story of the future and the central characters going to the past (and then to the future) but just works on the airport scene; Gilliam added so much more to it. In general it's a very avant-garde/art-house flick about the emotions that arise in this man sent in time-travel experiments. But it works out perfectly and the movie has stood the test of time (no pun intended). 8.5/10

 

[BigYoSpeck]

Am I the only one who noticed that the Animated movies have recently become really, really good?

You can't go wrong with a Pixar or DreamWorks flick.

 

[livemusic]

How to Train your Dragon 👍👍

If you're going to watch a kids movie, leave Toy Story 3 on the shelf and pick this one up instead. The plot was a bit predictable, but overall I was very impressed with this movie. I have no reservations about recommending this film to anyone of any age above like... 6 (not sure when they'd stop being scared by angry looking dragons).

I liked it better than TS3 too, in fact this was the best animated film I've seen in 2010.

I hope it gets the trophy this sunday.

 

[PeterJB]

Downfall. 8/10. It's fascinating how the film gives such a good insight into Hitler's psyche whilst down there, as he was basically going insane. The loyalty of his accomplices is almost robotic, and yet it still seems as if they secretly oppose his decisions and everything he stood for. Also, for the lead character, Hitler has a surprisingly small amount of airtime in the film.

 

[Diego440]

La Strada (a.k.a. The Road) (Federico Fellini, 1954) -- The story of a woman called Gelsomina, who is sold by her very poor mother to Zampanó, a traveling circus-like strongman. She follows him along the road and helps him in his shows, while in exchange he treats her like dirt. Gelsomina is a very confused woman who doesn't know right from wrong, apparently and even when given a chance to live differently, still goes on with her tormentor. This movie is unpredictable and is interesting to watch, since it keeps the mind afloat with the different scenes which are packed with symbols and metaphors, as wonderful puzzles to decipher.

One thing this movie has is that fellini's touch is almos like Midas', he develops his characters perfectly and makes the viewer like them even when they do little to be liked for. Despite how hard all the relationships may be, Fellini lets the viewer see there is love among the characters, even if none of them act as such. Still, the movie seemed a bit too sad for me, especially because nothing good comes of it, though in the end, Gelsomina gets ultimiate peace, which is more or less what we were hoping for her.

 

[SuperShouden]

Batman: Mystery of the Batwoman - In all honesty, this movie has NOTHING to do with the ACTUAL character of Batwoman whatsoever. In fact, there isn't even a character named Kate Kane or Kathy Kane. There's a Kathy and Batman creator Bob Kane, but no Kate Kane. Which sucks 'cause I want to actually see a current era Batwoman cartoon. She could team up with Wonder Woman or something. Good thing: Kara Sedwick does the voice of Batwoman

Batman/Superman: Apocolypse - The title of this is rather stupid since it's really about Supergirl. (Odd how they kept true to her character for that, but not for Batwoman...whatever.) I mean, sure they travel to Apocolypse, but that's really not what it's about. In fact, Apocolypse and a couple of the characters feel tact on....And Ed Azner plays a woman...creepy. Good thing: Summer Grau does the voice of Supergirl.

 

[AOS-]

Just finished Origins: Story of the Past... again, like Black Rock shooter, too much content in 50 minutes for my liking....

 

[TB]

Reign of Fire - The sole reason I started watching this is because in passing it on Netflix, I saw that Gerard Butler was in it. I kind of remember watching this, likely in 2003, but really didn't remember Butler.

As soon as I saw him I should have turned it off.

5/10

 

[nk4e]

Batman/Superman: Apocolypse - The title of this is rather stupid since it's really about Supergirl. (Odd how they kept true to her character for that, but not for Batwoman...whatever.) I mean, sure they travel to Apocolypse, but that's really not what it's about. In fact, Apocolypse and a couple of the characters feel tact on....And Ed Azner plays a woman...creepy. Good thing: Summer Grau does the voice of Supergirl.

I always though that there was only one Supergirl. But there are many Batwomen/girls in the DC universe. ( To my knowledge )