Movie News, Reviews, and Discussion Super-Thread

[etiolate]

So I finally tried watching Avatar today, but couldn't make it through the movie. I wasn't expecting it to be awesome or anything, but I thought a summer blockbuster would have more going on. I think I made it an hour into the film and still nothing had happened. It was like watching someone who sucks at videogames play a videogame. Really boring.

[MrAngryFace]

I got bout that far too- movie looks nice but blah

[Cerveza mas fina]

Avatar it the Star Wars/Lotro for this generation of kids and manbabies.

[Eric P]

i just watched an AMAZING movie over the weekend.

Everyone with Netflix should check out The Landlord on Watch Instantly.

Beau Bridges plays a 29 year old rich kid who still lives with his parents who decides to "run away from home" by buying a brownstone in one of the worst parts of Park Slope in 1970.  It's hilarious to compare the Slope of then (dirty, destroyed buildings, worn down buildings and worn down tenants) to the Park Slope of now.  His intention is to kick everyone out of the building and turn it into his own Xanadu, but first he has to deal with the people living there first.

The movie is funny, dark, experimental, touching and dramatic while providing actual complex views at race relations.  This is truly a forgotten classic of the 70s and should be a part of "canon."  Directed by Hal Ashby (Harold & Maude, The Last Detail, etc) and written by Bill Gunn who wrote another forgotten 70s Classic, the singularly unique Black Vampire movie Ganja and Hess.

[chronovore]

I didn't mind the Jason Statham's The Mechanic.

it was worth a watch because Statham is Stathaming it up and he's gotten really good at doing that. The action scenes were mostly well done. Plus Ben Foster is in it and he's great.

Ben Foster was really good. He was so believable, it made Statham's acceptance of him even less credible. I could have done with more martial arts from Statham when the shit hit the fan, which it did frequently.

Watched Rango this afternoon- was a lot of fun and one of the best looking CG movies ive seen in a while

Its a great animated flick weighed down by a few too many instances of purile humor.  Loved the Eastwood=God stuff.

Recently, I enjoyed Escape from New York.  Video game nerds should recognise the inspiration for Solid Snake immediately.  Also the inspiration for Mad World.  Some of the lighting they use is nuts.  Really did a good job establishing the mood for several scenes, although the vector graphics fetish dates the movie very hard.

It's hard to believe that Namco had the game rights for this character and never managed to ship a damned thing. I would love to work on a Snake Plissken game.

[The Sceneman]

Ben Foster is best in ALPHA DOG

[chronovore]

Stake Land: Superb. I see the various things people will say it has borrowed: Young boy narrator being led by a worldly but broken mentor (Zombieland), fast but unintelligent cannibals (28 Days Later), and a father/son pair traveling to a destination which may or may not be better than the end of the world (The Road)... and of course even those works were not the first to roll through those tropes. But the way it put them together is greater than the sum of its parts.

Ben Foster is best in ALPHA DOG

Yeah, I saw that movie and didn't want to let the kids out of the house anymore.

[iconoclast]

Watched a bunch of movies over the last few days. Pretty much all of them were great.

Ichi the Killer - insanely over the top, but the story was surprisingly good. kakihara > *
Oldboy - one of the best movies I've seen in a looooong time
Audition - a few scenes in this were pretty damn creepy. i can't tell if the girl was yandere or simply yanderu. good movie, anyway.
Battle Royale - really unique concept, and again the story was surprisingly good.
Kairo - weakest movie of the bunch, but it was still decent. again, a few scenes were pretty creepy, but it kinda lost me toward the end.
I Saw the Devil - Batman without the cheesiness. awesome movie.


not sure what to watch next. I haven't paid much attention to movies over the last five or six years, so I've got some catching up to do.

[Dickie Dee]

Green Lantern:

Probably just a result of extremely lowered expectations but it wasn't quite the disaster it was made out to be. A passable superhero flick with a decent budget.

Dunno if I would've chosen to watch it if I wasn't home sick though, was prepared to turn it off if was as bad as it's reputation but I made it through without regretting watching it. Dunno if that's damning it with faint praise but there you go.

[cool breeze]

[youtube=560,345]PZ6SkdkXjAQ[/youtube]

Nike is making those BTTF2 shoes


I want them

[Groogrux]

I've never liked anything Whedon's done.  Dollhouse started out with a good premise but fell off so quickly. 

Just read this.  You're close to dead to me. 

[BobFromPikeCreek]

Irreversible

Oh man. Wow. So fucking excellent. Must must must must watch Enter The Void asap.

[iconoclast]

Just watched No Mercy (2010). Pretty good revenge movie, but it wasn't as good as Oldboy or I Saw the Devil.

[BobFromPikeCreek]

Superman Returns

It was on TV, saw it with my dad who's the biggest Superman fan in history. Anyway I like it a lot more now, but I still feel that there are big flaws and problems. But since you guys know what my problems with it were I'll just name the things I like, the look of the film is perfect honestly, Kevin Spacey was a great pick for Lex Luthor, I think Lex stabbing Superman was pretty shocking, Superman carrying that huge chunk of kryptonite to space was awesome to watch, and the sequences where Superman used his powers were awesome.

I couldn't give half a shit about Superman and even I thought him lifting an entire island made of Kryptonite out of the sea was distinguished mentally-challenged.

[BobFromPikeCreek]

Someone recommend me some awesome documentaries. I'm in that mood.

[Joe Molotov]

Decline of Western Civilization: Part 2 - The Metal Years
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=4689920637100527225

[Eric P]

The soundtrack to that and Iron Maiden's Power Slave were the first ever CDs I ever bought.

[HyperZoneWasAwesome]

speaking of distinguished mentally-challenged, stupid, and awesome, I've got no better intro for Hatchet II then that.  



A lot of crappy blockbusters seem assembled by a committee of producers, assemble marketable elements X(cute penguins), big stars Y(Jim Carrey), and Z(recognizable property) and presto, hope the audiences show up (for Mr. Popper's Penguins they did not).  Hatchet II seems made to please those same producers if only there were all subscribers to Fangoria and organized horror conventions.  The level of slasher/horror fanservice here is impressive, its the movie's greatest strength and occasional weakness is its biblical adherence to the blueprints set by say, Friday the 13th Part VII.

But unlike a less ambitious slasher flick, this one is chock loaded of intentional humor.  In fact other then Tony Todd's fantastic, serpentine performance (gosh, that guy deserves a better career) there's pretty much nothing here that you can take seriously.  Your affection for this film will hitch upon how much you like aggressive stupidity and some pretty good gore gags.  As near-splatstick, its alright, but its awfully thin.  Its fast pace and short running time help.

3/5

[Cheebo]

Has anyone else seen Contagion that just opened this weekend? It was a really solid little thriller. Fantastic cast too.

Marion Cotillard. 

[Mr. Gundam]

Thought about seeing it, but we ended up watching The Guard instead.

[Eric P]

watched Paul last night.  It was ok. 
watching Your Highness now.  Pretty funny.

[chronovore]

Watched 2008's Doomsday, which I'd held out hopes for for a long time. I don't think it had a Japanese theatrical release, or if it did, it was probably for a week only. I would liked to have seen this on a larger screen, for sure, but it was passable entertainment.

The movie can be summarized most simply as a hodgepodge of someone's favorite scenes of other movies they liked, most frequently Aliens, Escape From New York, The Road Warrior, and a bit of medieval faire thrown in for no apparent reason. Rhona Mitra makes a pretty good Snakie Pliskette, but the ending to EfNY is so, so much better.

There are missed opportunities for deeper meaning, subtext which each of the movies from which this borrowed, had. But it's a fun enough way to spend Sunday morning when you're hungover. Which I am.
[youtube=560,345]mJMjiCxHLdg[/youtube]

Also watched Sexy Beast immediately following it. It was superb. No complaints, other than Ben Kingsley being a bit of a showboat. A fantastic script, perfectly edited and beautifully shot. I really liked it.
[youtube=560,345]zqDBAvWdHgE[/youtube]

[Great Rumbler]

Watched 2008's Doomsday, which I'd held out hopes for for a long time. I don't think it had a Japanese theatrical release, or if it did, it was probably for a week only. I would liked to have seen this on a larger screen, for sure, but it was passable entertainment.

The movie can be summarized most simply as a hodgepodge of someone's favorite scenes of other movies they liked, most frequently Aliens, Escape From New York, The Road Warrior, and a bit of medieval faire thrown in for no apparent reason. Rhona Mitra makes a pretty good Snakie Pliskette, but the ending to EfNY is so, so much better.

There are missed opportunities for deeper meaning, subtext which each of the movies from which this borrowed, had. But it's a fun enough way to spend Sunday morning when you're hungover. Which I am.

Wilco and CHOW CHOW raved about Doomsday. 'nough said.

[Eric P]

Doomsday was a lot of fun. 

[chronovore]

I would liked to have seen tatoo-faced girl's tits, but other than that, I have no complaints about how my time was spent with that movie. It was good fun. I would have paid money to have had Snakie Pliskette walk away from the President/Prime Minister's press announcement while some analog of Cabbie's cassette plays over the PA system instead of a "message of peace"/cure for the virus.

I mean, Jesus, they even gave her one eye, and named her "Eden" instead of "Snake"...

[iconoclast]

Watched a few more movies

Crows Zero - I almost x'ed out of this in the first 30 minutes because I was almost sure I wouldn't like it, but it picks up after while. The ending scenes in particular were great. I'm glad I stuck with it.

Memories of Murder - One of my favorites so far. Great characters, good story, and surprisingly, there were a lot of funny moments. Great movie all around.

Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance - Another really good movie, but I didn't enjoy it as much as Oldboy. I found it hard to really get behind any of the characters, because all of them were stuck in a shitty situation. It was still really good though.

Cold Fish - The pacing could've been better (it gets repetitive - maybe it was a little too long), but it was good. Great acting from the three main characters, especially Denden.

The Chaser - There was one very important scene in this movie that I didn't like at all because they expect you to believe in an absolutely enormous coincidence, but it was good other than that. Some funny moments as well.

Phone - Basically Ringu with cell phones instead of a video tape. It was okay.


Out of all of the movies I've seen recently, only two of them were decent (Kairo & Phone), and the rest were good-to-great. Guess I'm on a roll.

[Mupepe]

Is Phone like the movie they make fun of in Forgetting Sarah Marshall?

[iconoclast]

No, I think that joke was referring to Pulse, which (coincidentally) is the western remake of Kairo, not Phone. I haven't seen it, but it sounds completely different from the original.

[Great Rumbler]

Memories of Murder - One of my favorites so far. Great characters, good story, and surprisingly, there were a lot of funny moments. Great movie all around.

I think that might be my favorite Korean movie. Everything about it just works so well, and that ending...wow.

[Mupepe]

No, I think that joke was referring to Pulse, which (coincidentally) is the western remake of Kairo, not Phone. I haven't seen it, but it sounds completely different from the original.

Ah cool.  Thanks.  I'll have to check that out then.

[Bebpo]

Contagion

Great film.  Loved the neutral non-dramatic style the story was told in and the minimalism and subtleness employed.  Everyone I went with didn't like it though because it was OMG WE GONNA DIE RACE THE CLOCK dramatic hollywood movie.  They suck.

Attack the Block

Another good one.  Really fun movie.  Good tension, monster design was awesome (wtf at the review on rotten tomatoes that says the monsters look stupid??!), liked the actor kids, they all did good.  Had a satisfying ending and was fairly unpredictable as well.  If you like monster movies and British slum accents, this movie is for you.

[Great Rumbler]

[youtube=560,345]jVabHVw4dMc[/youtube]

[Great Rumbler]

That honestly looks like it could be the worst movie ever made.

I don't know, it can possibly be any worse than this:

[youtube=560,345]cRT93a8xE5s[/youtube]

[Joe Molotov]

Woody Harrelson, Ron Perlman, Demi Moore, and Gackt.

At first I was like  but then I 

[chronovore]

No, I think that joke was referring to Pulse, which (coincidentally) is the western remake of Kairo, not Phone. I haven't seen it, but it sounds completely different from the original.

Kairo has a few good scenes in it, has several very tense sequences and one very nice shot of a human falling from a tower. Other than that, snoozeville.

[Great Rumbler]

No, I think that joke was referring to Pulse, which (coincidentally) is the western remake of Kairo, not Phone. I haven't seen it, but it sounds completely different from the original.

Kairo has a few good scenes in it, has several very tense sequences and one very nice shot of a human falling from a tower. Other than that, snoozeville.

You and I are enemies now.

[chronovore]

Playing Red Faction Guerrilla made me hot to re-watch Total Recall. When I saw it in theaters, and probably a few times on VHS, I didn't realize how intentionally funny it's trying to be. Verhoeven manages this in Robocop and Starship Troopers; not sure why I missed it here.

No, I think that joke was referring to Pulse, which (coincidentally) is the western remake of Kairo, not Phone. I haven't seen it, but it sounds completely different from the original.

Kairo has a few good scenes in it, has several very tense sequences and one very nice shot of a human falling from a tower. Other than that, snoozeville.

You and I are enemies now.

:'( :'( :'(

[Great Rumbler]

You and I are enemies now.

:'( :'( :'(

I'll forgive you if you go watch Kiyoshi Kurosawa's Doppelganger and Charisma.

[Dickie Dee]

Johnny Depp in the next Burton movie:



 

[Great Rumbler]

Will somebody please stop Tim Burton from making anymore movies. 

[Phoenix Dark]

I'm hoping that's a mask or something, since it's a vampire in daylight and all... 

[Diunx]

Looks like Johnny Depp in a Tim Burton movie.

[Joe Molotov]

Is this from Beatlejuice 2?

[Cheebo]

The character on the television show this is based on didn't  have weird white make up if I remember right.

Oh Tim Burton. 

[Mupepe]

Holy fucking shit.  Depp and Burton are seriously just caricatures of themselves now.  They're both on fucking autopilot.

[Mupepe]

Ay-o.  I know we've been through this.  But Titanic from the iceberg on is fucking phenomenal.  Suck it, suckas. 

[Great Rumbler]

The first half is pretty terrible.

[Cheebo]

[youtube=560,345]
[/youtube]
Rashida Jones

[Mupepe]

I haven't seen Armageddon in years.  I didn't care for it when I was younger.  I saw the opening scene in Spanish the other day.  But I have never have the urge to stick with it.  Disaster movies in general don't interest me.  They all usually follow the same pattern of awesome opening scene, slow and painful buildup and a climax that is either way too short or way too long and a ridiculous "we survived" closing.  Bleh.  I really can't stand that genre.

[The Sceneman]

ID4 > *

[Mupepe]

Nah.  ID4 is the same thing for me.  If they move was 30-40 minutes long it would be awesome. 

[The Sceneman]

do you like Con Air?

[Mupepe]

haven't seen it in years but I used to love it

[The Sceneman]

are you a real american? Or a filthy communist slut?

[Mupepe]

ewww  i'm no commie!

[The Sceneman]

then get real fuckface. enjoy a fucking decent motion picture or eat sperm coated popcorn. your choice

[Mupepe]

ew, homo.  I bet you like Deep Impact too!!  and 2012!

[Great Rumbler]

2012
2001

[Mupepe]

Hell yeah, GR!

2012 is an agonizing fucking movie. 

[The Sceneman]

2012

Deep Impact

Day After Tomorrow

Cyborg

[youtube=560,345]YtucFzeLg18[/youtube]