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

[Danoff]

Again with the spoiler alert

Can you eloborate on that? I can't recall the part you're talking about.

Yea, it's when the chick shows up. Suddenly the premise of "I'm the last guy on earth" becomes "yea, of course millions of people were immune". He knew other people were out there, but we didn't. That being said, he acts throughout the movie like he's the last person alive - even though he must have known that millions of people were immune.

Annoyed me.

For reference (NOVEL SPOILER): ...

Now that sounds good.

 

[FoolKiller]

Now that sounds good.

Yes, the novel does a wonderful job of asking, "What is human and what is monster?



SPOILER for other film adaptations

The Last Man on Earth (1960s) is the closest to the book but there were enough changes, including character name, that Matheson, the novel's author, pulled his name from the writing credits. Some people are infected, but not yet turned. They see the main character as a villain and the theme is the death of humanity.

The Omega Man has the disease create light sensitive cultists. It has a theme of redemption as a cure is found and given to those who are infected but not yet turned.

I Am Legend, ironically, has the least to do with the book. As Matheson didn't like The Last Man on Earth I can't imagine he would approve of this.

 

[Diego440]

Death Proof (2007) -- I liked it... in a B-movie sort of way. I usually don't like Tarantino movies, but I liked how he recreated all the 70s b-movie trademarks. The quality of the film in terms of acting and plot is what you'd expect from a B-movie... but with a Tarantino twist, which is what made me not liked it that much. 7/10

 

[tait]

Death Proof (2007) -- I liked it... in a B-movie sort of way. I usually don't like Tarantino movies, but I liked how he recreated all the 70s b-movie trademarks. The quality of the film in terms of acting and plot is what you'd expect from a B-movie... but with a Tarantino twist, which is what made me not liked it that much. 7/10

Weird. I didn't think it held true to any of the classic traits to b-movie horrors, except for a ridiculous plot line. Tarantino himself said he was trying to stay away from any sort of bad acting, bad dialogue or hokiness (which I feel is at the heart of those movies). I thought it was good for what it was; but it fell a bit short on what it was supposed to be. 7/10.

Now, for real b-movie horrors, I just watched Don't Look In the Basement. It's hilarious. Not much blood and gore but the psychotic characters make up for it. Dialogue is hilarious, and the acting is joke in itself (although surprisingly not that bad for this type of movie). Definitely watch it for a laugh. 6/10

Adaptation for the millionth time. This movie is brilliant; smarter than 90% of everything else out there. It might take a few tries to understand what is going on but when you do it all comes together. Cage is an amazing actor and plays two completely opposite twins perfectly (one being a depressive, self-loathing character and the other a foolish go-getter). I love the way the Charlie (the go-getter) is a representation of basically 'bad' art and the mindset's behind it. You can read the wikipedia page, although it contains spoilers, will help you to better understand and appreciate the movie. 9.5/10

I'm just watching The Shining now.

 

[a6m5]

I've been watching "24", Season 4 - 5. It has it's moments, but it's getting real tiresome. I still like the first season the best, I think.

I saw Tooth and Nail - One of the "8 horror films to die for" or something like that, from 2007. I'm glad I rented from redbox($1). It felt like one of those Twilight Zone rip off shows that went uncut, extended to an hour and half. It barely has enough content for an 15 minute episode. Combined with the low budget and poor acting, even at a dollar, it's just not worth it.

First Blood (1982) -- It's always great to see a movie that starts a franchise of movies, even if the others didn't have much to do with the original. Upon watching it I saw a 20-year-old David Caruso (or at least very young)... John Rambo is as bad ass as they come, and the cops started it! Granted, it's not the best action film ever made; the plot is predictable and formulaic, and often seen as a macho-like movie. But it's a great, fun classic too. 7/10

Aww.. Come on, Diego! Gimme few action flicks that's better than First Blood. I'll go watch it right now!

P.S. 10/10 on Michael Clayton? I really wanna rent it now.

 

[Diego440]

Aww.. Come on, Diego! Gimme few action flicks that's better than First Blood. I'll go watch it right now!

P.S. 10/10 on Michael Clayton? I really wanna rent it now.

I already told you: Dobermann! Also, I may not be the action movie lovah, since after the third I get bored... I'm more of the psychological suspense (like The Game), sci-fi, personal introspection type. Whatever the hell that is. Michael Clayton is one of those, so that's a very personal scoring.

@tait: As a rule, I usually avoid watching Tarantino films... alright, I've seen them all, but I don't go running to the movie theatre the week they're out and come out praising it like a fanboy. I'll usually wait 'til they come out on video and if there's nothing else available, I'll rent it or download it. With that said, I really didn't look into it, I knew it was a b-movie adaptation and that there were a few cool cars... that was about it.

But even with that, I was reminded of many b-movies from the 70s from watching it. Even some of the 60s, like Faster Pussycat! Kill! Kill!, which I reviewed a few pages back. The movie changing name at the beginning (from Thunderbolt to Death Proof), the sound misshaps, the endless lines of inane dialogue that have little need in the movie, like the two cops walking through the hospital hallways, even passing twice through the same door.

I usually like those acknowledgements to other movies, as long as it's done in a non-parody style. Because of that I enjoyed the movie, but had it been a new concept itself (not paying homage to anything else) it would've gotten a 2 or 3 in the rating.


Half Baked (1998) -- It's a stoner movie. Very funny. Dave Chapelle-style, which I usually don't like, but this one had an 80s-b-movie ring to it that made it worth the while. 6/10

 

[xAkirax2004]

I Am Legend - 5/10

Straight middle-of-the-road review for this one. It had a promising start, but didn't finish well. Parts of the plot were painfully predictable, and parts were just inferior to other options. Plus, the story changes rather abruptly 3/4ths of the way through or so, and that change is somewhat incompatible with previous facts (I hate when that happens).

Fun movie overall though. Interesting thought experiment, nice shots of new york with grass growing and antelopes running. Would have been better if it didn't feel like the plot was trumped up for the purpose of creating those shots.

Spoiler Alert Below
The introduction of new characters is really what bothered me. I was hoping that he would cure some of the infected people and start building civilization from them rather than simply finding other humans that are alive (especially since he knew that a certain number of humans were immune). I just got frustrated by the failure to seize an excellent opportunity.

If you really didn't like the movie, the book is simply amazing.

 

[Year.Zero]

Vantage Point: ***k**g bloody terrible movie; it was the first movie I've ever sincerely considered walking out of. It took my girlfriend and her whole cup of Yogen Fruz just to keep me there.

Acting problems. Continuity errors. Logical errors. Highly-unlikelyness. Poor direction. Poor editing. Terrible sound. Almost no intellectual, artistic/creative or entertainment value to be found.

Just really ridiculously bad. I'd go so far as to say it's the worst movie I've ever seen in a theatre with a Hollywood budget.

 

[Delphic Reason]

Adaptation for the millionth time. This movie is brilliant; smarter than 90% of everything else out there. It might take a few tries to understand what is going on but when you do it all comes together. Cage is an amazing actor and plays two completely opposite twins perfectly (one being a depressive, self-loathing character and the other a foolish go-getter). I love the way the Charlie (the go-getter) is a representation of basically 'bad' art and the mindset's behind it. You can read the wikipedia page, although it contains spoilers, will help you to better understand and appreciate the movie. 9.5/10

Absolutely. 👍

One of my all time favorite films. Most of my acquaintances either cannot decide if they like it or not, or they just completely missed the point. Your use of the "Bad Art" analogy fits perfectly. I think this is what a lot of people didn't catch. Not to mention, a lot of people can't figure out why the last half of the film is so cheesy (see description of brothers for a clue. Don't want to give away anything).

 

[Delphic Reason]

Hmm, my friend was talking about Adaptation. It sounded really interesting.

Strange that Nick Cage is doing something well, though.

Exactly. I always hated Nicholas Cage. He always played very wooden characters, in overly simple Hollywood action films. I never thought he actually could.... wait for it...... Act! (gasp). Before Adaptation, there was only one other film I had seen him in that he wasn't just another action clone. "Leaving Las Vegas", which was quite good. Then comes Adaptation and destroys my misconceptions. He does have the ability, he just has to get his head out of his a$$ sometimes and pick the right roles. An actor is only as good as his material, after all.

 

[Slicks]

Watched No Country for Old Men a couple days ago.

One of the best I've seen lately. It ended a little abruptly, but in a way that I've seldom seen.

 

[Diego440]

Watched No Country for Old Men a couple days ago.

One of the best I've seen lately. It ended a little abruptly, but in a way that I've seldom seen.

I agree... I found that whole "uhh, you got a bone sticking out of your arm" sequence very funny, in a Coen sort of way.

I just saw:

Menace II Society (1993) -- Alright.... the film itself is good. However, I'm a bit tired of all this "growing up in the 'hood" mentality where you have to kill to survive and living past 24 is a miracle... I mean come on, it's all about choice, and the movie even shows that, but still justifies the actions of the black people as life in the mofo hood! All this 'white man keeping me down' attitude is so backwards. 6/10

 

[ssfsx17]

I just saw Le Mans (1971) starring Steve McQueen

One of the most beautifully straight-to-the-point movies I've ever seen. Now I wanna see similar stuff...

 

[Turbo Lag]

Mad Max - 7/10

The story line isn't too shabby, although I wasn't expecting much. The overall character stupidity is just too far, they do some of the most stupid acts I've ever seen in a movie. Would get about 8.5>9 if the character stupidity wasn't that bad.

 

[Diego440]

It's also probably the sole reason why the rest of the world knows Australia exists

 

[Revheadnz]

I just watched Rambo 4 tonight (technically this morning) and I was fairly entertained, or at least I think so.
The whole movie was captivating and exciting but there was some stuff in it which you can't help but feel slightly uncomfortable watching and then enjoying the rest of the movie. At some points verging on Brain Dead or Evil Aliens levels of gore (or even more so) is nothing new but some scenes felt quite a bit out of place in this movie. The tone shifts during the movie, it doesn't operate around anywhere near as good a concept as Rambo: First Blood, sometimes you feel as if Stallone was trying to make a anti-war film ,harking back to the first, but then you get to the final scene and all hell breaks loose and it feels like a mindless action film.
I'd say (like many action films) it works better when you don't think too much about it because as a OTT action flick it mostly works.

Leaving your brain behind (7.5-8 stars)
Thinking about it (5-6 stars)

 

[Diego440]

The Darwin Awards (2006) -- Wow... this is one of the worst movies I've ever seen. For starters, it was sold on three names: 1) Winona Ryder, who apparently can only act whenever she's playing a 20 year old drama queen with a fake English accent... anything else and she's worthless. 2) Joseph Fiennes, who's the Fiennes that can't act; not that his brothers are that much better, but this one was terrible. 3) Frank Capra III, who's merely a co-producer, but the name sells.

The only thing saving it are cameos by Metallica, who oddly enough recommend you should stay off drugs! That's like Jenna Jameson saying you should stay off sex. Also, the guys from Mythbusters have a cameo and they're pretty funny in it... all 20 seconds of it. The movie also treats Europeans (more specifically Brits) as complete ignorants whodon't know what Cruise Control is, and when told it's "something like auto-pilot", just engage it and leave the driving to it... so they proceed to have sex in the car. To top it all off, the movie received an R rating, but it's just because of the insane amount of unnecesary cursing... And finally, the Darwin Awards cases portrayed in the movie are from at least ten years ago.
1/10

 

[V1P3R]

^ Darwin Awards? that didn't tip you off?

The Neverending Story - 9/10

Ya know... I'm sorry but the people that made the Neverending Story were on something when they made it. I thought that when I first saw it and even more again now that I have.

Gotta say though I think this movie was DEFINITELY ahead of it's time. A lot shorter movie that I remember as well. Still, I definitely remember going WTF? though most of the movie... xD

 

[ferrari_chris]

Donnie Darko

I didn't really get it. The three of us that watched it had a discussion afterwards about it, which was good and helped clear a few things up, but I still didn't really get it. One of my friends suggested "you're not supposed to get it, that's the point!"... :bandhead:

A weird movie, didn't really like it. The most interesting point for me is that the hot sister is played by Maggie Gyllenhaal, Jake Gyllenhaal's sister in real life.

I might rate this one higher if I discuss it more, or do some research into understanding it, but meh...

 

[tait]

Donnie Darko

I didn't really get it. The three of us that watched it had a discussion afterwards about it, which was good and helped clear a few things up, but I still didn't really get it. One of my friends suggested "you're not supposed to get it, that's the point!"... :bandhead:

A weird movie, didn't really like it. The most interesting point for me is that the hot sister is played by Maggie Gyllenhaal, Jake Gyllenhaal's sister in real life.

I might rate this one higher if I discuss it more, or do some research into understanding it, but meh...

You should read the wikipedia article as it explains the plot very clearly. I thought it was an ok movie. Original idea, and some of the little things like score and cinematography were really well done. It has become a staple for every damaged teenager to love this movie, why? I don't know.

 

[ferrari_chris]

You should read the wikipedia article as it explains the plot very clearly. I thought it was an ok movie. Original idea, and some of the little things like score and cinematography were really well done. It has become a staple for every damaged teenager to love this movie, why? I don't know.

Thanks, I'll shoot over to Wiki now.

As for the score... We watched it on an older TV, and everytime the bass track came along (there's a couple of occasions where steady bass is held) we got a brain invading droning with some great TV/speaker vibration to boot!

*EDIT* - OK. That explains a few things, but not everything. What I don't get is, why Donnie? Why does Frank visit him? Why does he blindly do what Frank tells him? Why does he all of a sudden see the 'trails' coming out of people? And why does he start seeing portals? And finally, how does he know the portal opening over his house will be the one to fix all? It doesn't seem he can control time at all, yet he knows what's about to happen.

I really like this to:

Gretchen turns up scared because her mother has disappeared, and she is worried her stepfather, who had stabbed her mother a few years back, has come back to finish the job. Donnie and Gretchen go up to his mother's room to have sex.

So matter-of-fact. Brilliant! Although, it's not accurate.

 

[555]

Donnie Darko is basiclly a mind**** film. T'is generally what its discribed as. I like it, but i think its generally over-rated. Theres only one thing i didnt entirely get, but its better for it. I dont want everything explained all the time.

 

[Delphic Reason]

I didn't really get it. The three of us that watched it had a discussion afterwards about it, which was good and helped clear a few things up, but I still didn't really get it. One of my friends suggested "you're not supposed to get it, that's the point!"... :bandhead:

Your friend is wrong.

I might rate this one higher if I discuss it more, or do some research into understanding it, but meh...

I would suggest going to IMDB and reading what others have said. It's actually a pretty straight forward movie. It just has a lot of window dressing to distract you. Also, you have to think in metaphors. This film is full of symbolism and metaphors. If you don't understand where they're coming from, doing some research on the meaning of the metaphors/symbolism (IMDB is a good source, among others) should help you understand more clearly.

However...

In my honest opinion, I think "Donny Darko" was trying way too hard to be profound. The ideas in the film are actually quite simple and rudimentary. They just put the ideas forth in an enigmatic way as to appear esoterik, and thus meaningful.

Not a bad film, but more shallow then advertised.

 

[Diego440]

Y'all might want to use the spoiler text when talking about the plot, me thinks

 

[555]

Harry Potter & the order of the phoenix - I think this is the best of the Potters. Mainly because its the only one i wasnt bored in. the 1st three films i enjoyed them for about half then got bored. 4 was passable. But this one i actually liked. I realise i am going against most people with this. But thats me, i agree that i disagree.
Oh and this is also the 1st Potter i have watched twice.
7/10

 

[Nitrof1]

I dont want everything explained all the time.

that word reminds me mullholland dr and lost highway

 

[Nitrof1]

I've just watched Vantage Point. I was wondering that movie since I saw the trailer. It's a good action packed movie. it will be a good choice for a weekend movie at home!

 

[Diego440]

The Maltese Falcon (1941) -- Much better than the 1931 version, and Bogart is the perfect private detective for this kind of movie, much like the countless others that cloned his words and actions from there on. There's also some great lines in the movie... all in all, a very good movie that is the genesis of one of my favourite genres: Film Noir. 8.5/10

It's a Wonderful Life (1946) -- Directed by none other than Frank Capra, and starring James Stewart... You could call it the typical Christmas time movie, and it probably is, along with Miracle on 34th Street; but this one holds value through the rest of the year as well. Amazingly acted by everyone in it and with a plot that was copied by almost every Yule movie made since, the old "what if...?". This one is really one of the best I've ever seen. 10/10

 

[Delphic Reason]

that word reminds me mullholland dr and lost highway

Great movies!

If you can half understand them.

If not, absolutely unwatchable.

I fall into the former category, so I absolutely loved them.

However, I enjoy David Lynch films.

The Maltese Falcon (1941) -- Much better than the 1931 version, and Bogart is the perfect private detective for this kind of movie, much like the countless others that cloned his words and actions from there on. There's also some great lines in the movie... all in all, a very good movie that is the genesis of one of my favourite genres: Film Noir. 8.5/10

I'd give it an 8, but overall I absolutely agree. 👍

 

[Turbo Lag]

Mad Max 2: The Road Warrior - 9/10

Much better than the first film, an easy 9/10. The plot was great, character stupidity is gone too.