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

[Diego440]

However, I enjoy David Lynch films.

and here I was thinking we agreed on everything

 

[FoolKiller]

Horton Hears a Who - (7.5/10)
It is hard to make a feature length great film out of a children's' book and/or 30 minute cartoon. But this was decently done and cute enough for children to enjoy it. It maintained the message that Dr. Seuss was trying to get across, that a person is a person no matter how small, and no matter how much recognizing that may affect society. I was actually surprised to see Hollywood make this film and have the anti-socialism message remain. However it also managed to equally point out the failure of the "moral right."

Well done and well acted but a smidgen too long. Good enough that I will buy it when it comes out.

Now if we can get a live action film with Jim Carrey, Steve Carell, Seth Rogan, and Will Arnett.....

The Italian Job (1969) - (8/10)
Take Markey Mark Wahlberg and throw him out the window. This movie is fun. Young Michael Caine looks like Jude Law does now and knows how to have fun. His character was also Mike Myers' inspiration for Austin Powers, complete with "baby" and womanizing, just not as over the top. Nothing too complex and nothing overboard, just pure fun and minimal, realistic stunts that they even show them practicing for so they can make their getaway. The new version is glitz and glamor disguised as a Good movie, but this truly is a good movie.

To give you an idea of the feeling of the film; as they are making their getaway, on a sidewalk by a cafe, one of the vehicle's passengers grabs a plate of food from a table and commences eating it, constantly asking the driver if he wants some.

And a huge cliffhanger ending, really.

Sublime - (4/10)
I like Tom Cavanaugh, which is the only reason I watched a Netflix rated two and a half star movie. Is there a law that says thrillers must have a pointless twist that replaces a climax? I saw it coming and even timed it ten minutes before the credit roll. I believe this has become the new form of lazy writing. Throw in the twist and no resolution climax is necessary. It is like thrillers today go: 1) bad stuff happens 2) twist that makes it nothing you thought it was 3) denouement.

It was nice to see Tom Cavanaugh do something other than comedic stuff, but the medical thriller was not a good fit for him. He is a perfect dramedy guy, not so much here. The only thing this thriller did was leave me feeling slight disturbed as one of the things that happened to him in the hospital has actually happened to me.

 

[+44]

C.H.U.D. III: C.H.U.D. Goes To College

It blew.

 

[ferrari_chris]

...

The Italian Job (1969) - (8/10)
Take Markey Mark Wahlberg and throw him out the window. This movie is fun. Young Michael Caine looks like Jude Law does now and knows how to have fun. His character was also Mike Myers' inspiration for Austin Powers, complete with "baby" and womanizing, just not as over the top. Nothing too complex and nothing overboard, just pure fun and minimal, realistic stunts that they even show them practicing for so they can make their getaway. The new version is glitz and glamor disguised as a Good movie, but this truly is a good movie.

To give you an idea of the feeling of the film; as they are making their getaway, on a sidewalk by a cafe, one of the vehicle's passengers grabs a plate of food from a table and commences eating it, constantly asking the driver if he wants some.

And a huge cliffhanger ending, really.

...

You were only supposed to blow the bloody doors off!

One of my favs! 👍

 

[FoolKiller]

You were only supposed to blow the bloody doors off!

One of my favs! 👍

That and:
"You must have shot a lot of tigers, sir."
"Yes, I used a machine gun."

 

[DRIFT4EVA]

Who said "mulholand dr"? ahhhh the lesbo se.... errrr lol

Last movie I saw.... Well movies....
Van Wilder Party Liason
Van Wilder Rise of Taj
Harold & Kumar Go To White Castle

 

[Delphic Reason]

and here I was thinking we agreed on everything

I'm not surprised by your response. David Lynch asks a lot of his audience. You have to know a ton of information going into the film. You need to understand his writing style, and how he uses color/structure/pacing to give you the information you need to understand the story. "Most" of his films are for people who want to unravel a story, rather than have it fed to them. He's not for everyone. You kind of have to be a bit of an intellectual, and a bit eccentric, me thinks.

Lost Highway changed the way we thought of narrative in a story.

City of God

Just watched this again last night with some friends who didn't have the good sense to have watched this fantastic film before. The way the story is broken up into chapters is brilliant and makes a long film more manageable. The no-name actors give more of a sense of reality, and the cinematography was absolutely stunning. Easily a 9/10.

 

[Diego440]

Some fo the actors actually lived in that area, ya know?

As for David Lynch... I can see what you're coming from and I can go as far as saying I've understood a couple of his movies, but they're just not for me. I hate the whole transition style with all the crummy acting and hallucinogen scenes.

 

[Delphic Reason]

Some fo the actors actually lived in that area, ya know?[/b]

Absolutely. I'm a big fan of utilizing local actors.

As for David Lynch... I can see what you're coming from and I can go as far as saying I've understood a couple of his movies, but they're just not for me. I hate the whole transition style with all the crummy acting and hallucinogen scenes.

Some of his older films do contain some bad actors (Blue Velvet springs to mind), and they suffer for it. However, his later work contains some incredible acting talent. Any soupy, over-the-top, or otherwise acting in his later work is actually intentional (Mulholland Dr. for example), as it is one of the tools he is using to try and "show" you what is really happening in the reality of the situation. As I said, I was not surprised by your response. The films are tough, sometimes depressing, and always hard to follow. Hell, I'm surprised I like them.

 

[a6m5]

Michael Clayton - I didn't like it as much as Diego did.



The film is well acted, shot well, has interesting plot, etc., etc., but I'm just not too fond of twists that are very hard to believe. For example, without giving the story away, how Clooney character survive the attack, or how his friend "loses it"(and completely) after six years or whatever on the case. I just didn't buy it. Still, it has neat ending, and kind of makes you want to go back and watch it again. It is very good. "B+"

 

[ferrari_chris]

Rambo IV

I thought it was good for what it was - a Rambo movie. It had more storyline than I remember the others having. Mind you, it's been a while since I saw any of the others.

Lots of shooting and lots of violence. And, it even had a bit of a sequence at the end to make you think about things.

I liked it.

Rated according to expectation:

 

[Diego440]

For example, without giving the story away, how Clooney character survive the attack, or how his friend "loses it"(and completely) after six years or whatever on the case.

Spoiler

the part where he stops to look at the horses? In the part where Clooney's kid is talking about this book and he says "oh really, you should lend it to me so I can read it" or something like that and the kid says "it's on the table, where it's been for the last 3 months" or something to that effect, and Clooney eventually opens it, the book cover (or something inside it) has a picture of three horses, standing by a tree... the horses Clooney stops to see are standing exactly like the ones in the book. Call it moment of despair.

Where the other guy loses it, I think at some point they mention he hasn't has his medication or just forgot to take it... right?

That's how I found it believable.

@Chris: Dude, you gave Rambo more stars than Donnie Darko! Too bad the rep system is out

 

[under18carbon]

I watched Juno in class today. It was a pretty good film I think, not great, but good. Overall I enjoyed it.. a 7 out of 10!

 

[F1KimiFreak]

King Kong couple of days ago on TV 👍 only little bit too long

 

[FoolKiller]

King Kong couple of days ago on TV 👍 only little bit too long

As you mentioned length I can only assume you mean the new version. There are three versions.

And if you think what you saw was long, I own the extended edition on DVD. Add on another 45 minutes.

 

[livemusic]

^Are the extra minutes worth watching?

 

[FoolKiller]

^Are the extra minutes worth watching?

Depends. If you thought the Lord of the Rings Extended Versions were worth it then most likely yes.

Basically it flushes out minor details and story points, plus extending some of the action sequences.

Plus, watching Jack Black on the special feature documentaries is a hoot. That is when I discovered that he knows he is insane. You know it is bad when your shtick is over-acting and you have to constantly watch dailies to make sure you didn't go too over the top.

That's right, Jack Black is actually having to hold it back.

 

[livemusic]

I haven't watched the extended versions of the LOTR trilogy, they were never released over here.

But I like Jack Black and I liked the movie so I think I'll look for this version sometime.

 

[YSSMAN]

Ohhh, I forgot to talk about one of my "epic" movies from a week ago...

Grand Prix

This is one of those movies that you're always like "I need to see it, but I'll do it later" type things, and finally it came around in my Netflix list. I have to say that this movie is shockingly awesome, way beyond what I had expected it to be. I can clearly see why it won an academy award for editing, its absolutely mind-blowing what they were able to accomplish in 1966. The sounds, attitudes, story, etc is just awesome... Straight-up '60s glorification of all things wonderful and dangerous.

I'll be putting it back on the Netflix list soon, despite its length, I'd like to watch it a few more times to get back into that classic racing feeling...

9/10

 

[a6m5]

I love Grand Prix. I actually signed a petition for its' DVD release few years ago. You should check out Frankenheimer's "BMW Film", which I'm sure can be found on youtube. I believe it was called the "Heist" or something like that, about a diamond heist. 👍

Edit:
It was "Ambush".

Diego: I must've missed the part in relation to the book. On the guy's illness, Clooney character does make all sorts of excuses for him. I don't know, I just don't buy it. Could be just me though.

 

[YSSMAN]

I've actually got the DVD version of all the "first season" BMW films down in my bedroom. My favorite was the one with the M5 (still one of my top-five cars that generation is) and Madonna. That one's just plain fun.

Of course, it always makes me ask "Why was Clive own not invited to do Bond?"

 

[a6m5]

I've actually got the DVD version of all the "first season" BMW films down in my bedroom. My favorite was the one with the M5 (still one of my top-five cars that generation is) and Madonna. That one's just plain fun.

Of course, it always makes me ask "Why was Clive own not invited to do Bond?"

I have that one too. And yes, Guy Ritchie one's awesome. That one along with the Ambush are the only two I like on that disc. I got the idea of Owen/New Bond after watching the short film also. Too bad!

 

[F1KimiFreak]

As you mentioned length I can only assume you mean the new version. There are three versions.

And if you think what you saw was long, I own the extended edition on DVD. Add on another 45 minutes.

Yeah the one with jack black and others but it was 3,5 hours (including 30 minutes of commercials) 3 hour version , didnt know there are more version of 1 movie

 

[V1P3R]

I have a bunch of BMW films. One I got from a Car show here in SF I think.

I believe it was called the "Heist" or something like that, about a diamond heist. 👍

Would've been even better if the diamond dealer got run over as he was walking across the street...

 

[ferrari_chris]

...

@Chris: Dude, you gave Rambo more stars than Donnie Darko! Too bad the rep system is out

I rated Rambo on what I was expecting - a Rambo film. I went in expecting guns, explosions and death. It's no Saving Private Ryan, but it was never trying to be.

Back on the Donnie Darko thing, we've been discussing it some more at work. I finally got my mate to give up his "you're not supposed to get it" theory. We've now narrowed it down to

Spoiler

either the whole thing was a dream/nightmare showing him the future, or it's a sci-fi movie about time travel.

Both approaches are discussed on the Internet, and the only thing that's known for certain is that it's explained on the Director's Cut version. So we're going to source that and solve the mystery of this damn film!

 

[Turbo Lag]

I have a bunch of BMW films. One I got from a Car show here in SF I think.



Would've been even better if the diamond dealer got run over as he was walking across the street...

I love the BMW films. I watched one on youtube...accidently. I though they were awesome and watched em' all. The second film with the 5-series is kinda funny too.

 

[V1P3R]

I think I like Superstar the best.

 

[Diego440]

Saw IV (2007) -- Does what it says on the box. I liked it better than 2 and 3, but only because it gives some sort of closure to the previous ones... the gadgets are less creative here and I could certainly do without the screaming. It's cool that the first Saw, back in 2004 was so successful with just a $1 million budget, and the concept at the time was really fresh, but after the second part, it got a bit old. 6/10

Vertigo (1958) -- I've seen so many movies starring Jimmy Stewart in the last month it's not even funny. This one could very well be Hitchcock's best, although I haven't seen them all. Amazing movie for the time it was made, plot twists, impressive camerawork, complexity that easily outdoes many movies made today, and this was 50 years ago! The intro of the antihero and the "decide for yourself" approach make this one a masterpiece 10/10

 

[FoolKiller]

Yeah the one with jack black and others but it was 3,5 hours (including 30 minutes of commercials) 3 hour version , didnt know there are more version of 1 movie

3.5 hours with commercials? Now imagine that without commercials. That is the extended edition. Peter Jackson loves making long movies, cutting what can be cut for time to have a still long, but not as long movie, and then putting out a special edition DVD with all the original parts put back in.

It is a remake of a remake.

1) King Kong 1933, starring Fay Wray. The special effects were all stop-frame claymation. The recordings of Fay Wray's screams are still used in movies today she screamed so well. She is the true scream queen.

2) King Kong 1976, starring Jeff Bridges. This one was almost comical in comparison to the other two, yet it won awards. Story was slightly changed to be greedy oil men at the time of a real-world oil crisis. I feel it kind of misses the point.

3) King Kong 2005, starring Jack Black. Despite a few akward green screen moments I felt this one was very good and lived up to the original.

 

[Delphic Reason]

Saw IV (2007) -- Does what it says on the box. I liked it better than 2 and 3, but only because it gives some sort of closure to the previous ones... the gadgets are less creative here and I could certainly do without the screaming. It's cool that the first Saw, back in 2004 was so successful with just a $1 million budget, and the concept at the time was really fresh, but after the second part, it got a bit old. 6/10

*Facepalm*


I can't believe you actually like this crap, Diego? Say it aint so. The first film, while fresh in concept, was filled with plot holes, horrendous acting, and cheesy one liners. It was awful. Yet, everyone praises it because it was a "small budget". Crap is crap, no matter the budget, and the Saw films are the most formulaic Hollywood crap in the business. I gave up after the first one.

Grand Prix

This is one of those movies that you're always like "I need to see it, but I'll do it later" type things, and finally it came around in my Netflix list.

You know, I have done exactly that.

I have been meaning to see the film for years, but I have never made the time. I'll give it a go.