Movie Review Thread

[bluebell]

The Lookout: Jeff Daniels and Joseph Gordon-Levitt. It's not the most horrible movie I've seen (my god, my brain is bleeding just thinking of the back catalog of bad movies I've amassed. Step away, step away!), but it's not worth going out of your way for either. Kid with past head injury who can't remember things well gets involved with the wrong crowd. Wrong crowd want to rob a bank. Kid's friend is put in the middle. Guns. Scary Todd Rundgren clone shoots people. Etc.
It falls into these screenwritery traps. Where you just know what's gonna happen because it's happened in lots of other movies. Still, even that is forgivable if the characters and acting are good. But the big problem is the movie wanted to be a character study without giving the viewer any character to hold onto. The bad friend was excellent, but not enough to save the whole film.
Not terrible, but I say pass on it.

I also agree with Charley that Spiderwick is really charming and good. Very worth it.

 

[jomar]

Those of you who liked 3:10 to Yuma might want to check out The Proposition starring Ray Winstone, Guy Pierce and Richard Wilson.

...19th-century tale begins with the proposition of the title, as Captain Stanley captures fugitive brothers Charley and Mikey Burns at a scene of bloody rape and murder. Informing Charley that he must kill his older brother, Arthur, in order to be set free. The slow, meandering pace of the film is peppered with brutal jolts of unremitting violence, and there are fine performances from the entire cast. Cave's screenplay is tight and focused, leaving little room for sentiment--or anyone for the audience to root for--by giving all his principal characters plenty of grimly undesirable personality traits. But it works perfectly...

It does work perfectly. A stark, gritty movie that stays with you for awhile. Makes me want to check out Cave's and Hillcoat's 1989 movie Ghosts... of the Civil Dead.

 

[Belegon]

Those of you who liked 3:10 to Yuma might want to check out The Proposition starring Ray Winstone, Guy Pierce and Richard Wilson.



It does work perfectly. A stark, gritty movie that stays with you for awhile. Makes me want to check out Cave's and Hillcoat's 1989 movie Ghosts... of the Civil Dead.

noted...

 

[OhMissScarlett]

Into The Wild-Whoa, just...whoa. A truly beautiful, tragic, and inspiring film. I still can't stop thinking about it.

Nancy Drew-Kind of cheesy in parts, but still one of the best kid movies I've seen in a while. It made me wish this would've been out when I was ten.

 

[ABSTRUSE]

Into The Wild-Whoa, just...whoa. A truly beautiful, tragic, and inspiring film. I still can't stop thinking about it.

Was that the one directed by Sean Penn?

 

[jomar]

Sweeny Todd - Everybody's crazy. Everybody sings, including Borat and Severus Snape. What's not to love?

By the way, have you seen Eating Raul?

Two Days in Paris - Drink heavy. Quirky fun for the first half hour. After that, if you pass out you're not missing much.

 

[TheeGoatPig]

Lucky You: 8/10

Great poker movie. Maybe even has better poker in it than Rounders, but will never take its place in my heart. The love story didn't impress me though. I don't like Barrymore's stroke-mouth thing. It really bugs me. And I thought he deserved to lose her (though he could have, I turned it off when that part of the movie was concluding). I also enjoyed spotting which casinos they were in for each scene

 

[OhMissScarlett]

Was that the one directed by Sean Penn?

Yeah, and he adapted the screenplay too, he did a great job. WTG, Spicoli.

 

[ABSTRUSE]

Yeah, and he adapted the screenplay too, he did a great job. WTG, Spicoli.

I'll have to see it then.


*snicker* Spicoli.

 

[oggbashan]

Leni Reifenstahl's: Triumph of the Will and Olympia

The first might have you persuaded to become a Nazi Party member and the second to go all out to be an Olympic Athlete.

Despite the black and white and their age they are really powerful films - for the wrong cause. Appreciate them as great works of cinematic art.

Another documentary worth seeing: Night Mail by the Post Office film unit. The words and music are classics of their kind.

Og

 

[ABSTRUSE]

I watched "Female Trouble" last night.
Gotta love John Waters.


I miss Divine.

 

[Nirvanadragones]

Things we lost in the fire

No review from me - just, watch it.

 

[jomar]

Lions for Lambs - It doesn't suck. Watch professor Robert Redford care about...something, watch journalist Meryl Streep struggle with her conscience, watch Senator Tom Cruise channel John Edwards, watch good men struggle to survive on an Afghanistan mountain. This is heavy-handed liberal Hollywood propaganda, so if you watch it wear your Sunday-go-to-church clothes 'cause you're gonna get a sermon.

Aleins vs. Predator: Requiem - I enjoyed the first Predator. Predator vs. Alien was fun because I expected nothing. As for this? Just don't.

 

[lesbiaphrodite]

"Funny Games"--starring Naomi Watts, Tim Roth

Excellent film with disturbing insight into the cinema of violence. Two young sociopaths take a family hostage and torture them in various ways. The violence takes place off camera, but you hear everything. It's jarring and intriguing cinematically. Enter with caution.

 

[tickledkitty]

Atonement

It's really a beautiful movie. Definitely worth seeing. How can you NOT love Keira Knightley and James McAvoy? They're both gorgeous.

I have to say I didn't much care for the ending, though. All was well up until the last five minutes or so. I just wanted to say, "So where's my freaking atonement?"

 

[Nirvanadragones]

The Lives of Others

It takes a lot for a movie to grab, and hold my attention firmly. This did. A reviewer said: " Even in an oppressive society, individuals are burdened with free will. You never know, from one moment to the next, what course any of the characters will choose."

The suspence is riveting.

 

[Gizzmotick]

As I said, hilarious. A live action cartoon.

If you look at all the extra goodies on the DVD for The 300... you'll see that a live action cartoon is exactly what that movie supposed to be.

 

[slyc_willie]

So I found a rare gem a while back, and didn't have a chance to watch it all the way through until recently.

A Boy And His Dog

Based on a Harlon Ellison story, this movie was released in 1975 and stars a very young Don Johnson. Correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe this was his first role ever. Johnson plays Vic, a post-apocalyptic nomad wandering through what was once Arizona following WWIV. His companion is a smart-ass telepathic sheep dog named Blood, who occasionally refers to Vic as "Albert," just to tick him off.

The premise of the story is that, apparently, there aren't too many women left in the world, and Vic is basically out to score as much pussy as he can. Then along comes a gorgeous young lady who lures Vic to an underground city . . . well, I won't spoil the movie.

Directed by L.Q. Jones.

 

[jomar]

So I found a rare gem a while back, and didn't have a chance to watch it all the way through until recently.

A Boy And His Dog

Based on a Harlon Ellison story, this movie was released in 1975 and stars a very young Don Johnson. Correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe this was his first role ever. Johnson plays Vic, a post-apocalyptic nomad wandering through what was once Arizona following WWIV. His companion is a smart-ass telepathic sheep dog named Blood, who occasionally refers to Vic as "Albert," just to tick him off.

The premise of the story is that, apparently, there aren't too many women left in the world, and Vic is basically out to score as much pussy as he can. Then along comes a gorgeous young lady who lures Vic to an underground city . . . well, I won't spoil the movie.

Directed by L.Q. Jones.

I remember that one!

 

[slyc_willie]

I remember that one!

Yeah, it's a good one. Classic sci-fi at it's (weird) finest.

I like the jacket on the DVD case: "A rather kinky tale of survival"

Pretty much sums up the whole movie.

 

[TheeGoatPig]

The Forbidden Kingdom - 9/10

I don't care what studio from what country paid to have this filmed in what backlot where. With Jackie Chan and Jet Li on the screen together, this is a Hong Kong movie through and through. The only thing that Hollywood influenced, from what I could tell, was that they speak English for most of the time. This is one of the best martial arts movies I have seen in a long time. The only thing that comes close is Tony Jaa's The Protector, international version.

If you like martial arts movies, do yourself a favor and go see this. Now.

Although someone on one of my gaming forums was arguing with me about this, it sounded to me like he likes more pretension in his films than I do

 

[ABSTRUSE]

The Forbidden Kingdom - 9/10

I don't care what studio from what country paid to have this filmed in what backlot where. With Jackie Chan and Jet Li on the screen together, this is a Hong Kong movie through and through. The only thing that Hollywood influenced, from what I could tell, was that they speak English for most of the time. This is one of the best martial arts movies I have seen in a long time. The only thing that comes close is Tony Jaa's The Protector, international version.

If you like martial arts movies, do yourself a favor and go see this. Now.

Although someone on one of my gaming forums was arguing with me about this, it sounded to me like he likes more pretension in his films than I do

I'm so jealous!

 

[TheeGoatPig]

I'm so jealous!

Wasn't even planning on seeing it when I did. I was just going to buy some shirts and khakis. I was walking through the mall when I smelled popcorn. This is one of my favorite smells ever, so I thought through all of the movies that I knew were coming out this summer, trying to find something worth watching so I could go get me some popcorn and watch a movie along with it. Then, it struck me like a brick. I fell over there in the corridor of the mall as if having a seizure (total lie). I ran up to the theater on the 4th floor, and checked show time. I had over an hour to waste until the next showing. So I went back down to the 1st, bought a DVD of Ronin, was tempted by the Pirates trilogy (they had special editions of the second two, not the first), and then ran out to my car, and back up to the theater and enjoyed the show

Next on my list is probably Iron Man, then Batman, Hellboy 2, and whatever else I feel like

 

[slyc_willie]

The Forbidden Kingdom - 9/10

If you like martial arts movies, do yourself a favor and go see this. Now.

Thanks for reminding me about this one, Thee.

Jackie and Jet in the same movie. Who the hell cares about story?

 

[slyc_willie]

bought a DVD of Ronin

That's another great one. Too bad Sean Bean was such a wuss in it, though.