Movie News, Reviews, and Discussion Super-Thread

[cool breeze]

transformers 3 is actually not that awful if you remove the entire first hour or so.  It's long enough to be two movies.

first half is like, I don't know, but John Malkovich and Chang are there.  It was so long ago that I can't honestly can't remember much other than CG Kennedy and Random Black Actor with no resembles to Obama except for the fact he's black portraying Obama.

second half is destruction porn with robots fighting.  the action is fun.  you can actually see it and there's little to break up the action other than people dying.

the ending is so abrupt I laughed out loud

spoiler (click to show/hide)

an hour of two or three human squads trying to take down a beacon.  at the last minute, Optimus flies in and blasts it.

and Optimus goes straight gangster in the final moments.  First he's begging for his life, Megatron saves him, and then Optimus murders Megatron with no hesitation.  And then he picks up Giant sawed-off shotgun and does Sentinel execution style.

END CREDITS

there's an hour of build up for the battlez and afterwards it just ends.  the post credit scene is Barton Fink molesting some Government broad.

[close]

[Bebpo]

Hendrickson
Carrie Mulligan

lolz

god i can't sleep right now and i'm being an asshole

Actors/Actresses should make their names easier to remember!  I'm not going to fact check spellings to make a post on a movie thread in a forum

[CajoleJuice]

Hendrickson
Carrie Mulligan

lolz

god i can't sleep right now and i'm being an asshole

Actors/Actresses should make their names easier to remember!  I'm not going to fact check spellings to make a post on a movie thread in a forum

How did you get through law school with such a shit memory? I guess you weren't lying about the hard work. 

[Barry Egan]

probably snorted lots of ritalin. 

[Robo]

You know how I know you're gay?  You can't spell Christina Hendricks name well enough for a google image search.

[Great Rumbler]

I thought Bebpo was talking about Lance Henriksen.

[Bebpo]

You know how I know you're gay?  You can't spell Christina Hendricks name well enough for a google image search.

I probably can't spell her name because I don't find her attractive!

/not gay

[Phoenix Dark]

You know how I know you're gay?  You can't spell Christina Hendricks name well enough for a google image search.

I probably can't spell her name because I don't find her attractive!

/not gay

            /
          /
 

[Eric P]

Mimic - Director's Cut.  This film is 15 years old at this point and in many ways it doesn't hold up.  There are bits that feel like a remake of Cronos, but it's a very enjoyable B Monster Movie with a fun premise.  The story is kind of shallow and the cheap graphics are really obvious in HD, but the practicals look great.  I think it's still worth your time.

I'm currently watching Gamera: Guardian of the Universe.  I bought the Blu-Ray forever ago, but never finished watching the first film.  I'm doing so now.  Last week saw the release of the final movie in the 90s trilogy, so I'm going through the films again.  A few weeks from now is the release of Destroy All Monsters.  Fuck.  Yes.

[Great Rumbler]

Mimic - Director's Cut.  This film is 15 years old at this point and in many ways it doesn't hold up.  There are bits that feel like a remake of Cronos, but it's a very enjoyable B Monster Movie with a fun premise.  The story is kind of shallow and the cheap graphics are really obvious in HD, but the practicals look great.  I think it's still worth your time.

How does the director's cut compare to the theatrical version?

[Eric P]

I haven't seen the original in quite a while so my own memories are faded.  I did find this though

So what's new? Well, first of all a lot of the cheap jump scares have been wisely excised from the film, giving del Toro the opportunity to re-insert most of his original character-based bits of exposition. Instead of the frantic editing you may remember from the theatrical cut, scenes go on longer and come off as much more focused. These elongated moments add a lot of tension and dread to the flick that was sorely missing. In the end everything now feels much more solid. Really good stuff. For those wondering, the theatrical edit clocked in at around 105 minutes, and this newer version runs about 112 minutes. Believe us when we tell you ... every extra second counts.

The Blu-Ray still managed to contain deleted and alternate scenes as well as a gag reel, so there was more footage available, so this isn't a "just dump everything in" cut like the Aliens special edition.

[Great Rumbler]

May have to check out the DC then. I watched the TC a year or so ago and enjoyed it even though it wasn't really all that great.

[Bildi]

The Butterfly Effect - I've passed this up lots of times but finally watched it.  Pretty cool!  My only slight criticism would be that the main hook of the movie only really kicks in after about an hour.

Princess Mononoke - Really nice.  Not quite up there with my favourite Studio Ghibli films but still like 8 or 9 out of 10.

[Great Rumbler]

Princess Mononoke - Really nice.  Not quite up there with my favourite Studio Ghibli films but still like 8 or 9 out of 10.

It gets mentioned the most, but I think that has more to do with it coming out at the height of the anime craze and because of the action. Wouldn't be my favorite either, I'd put Porco Rosso, Kiki's Delivery Service, Whisper of the Heart, and Nausicaa over Mononoke.

[Great Rumbler]

She said that it was too real for her: being from small-town Oklahoma, she'd known plenty of smart, pretty girls who fall for guys who have pretty much nothing to offer and realize this so they compensate by being very charming. (I told her it wasn't polite to talk about me like I wasn't in the room. )

[Mr. Gundam]

How bad is Transformers: Please Don't Sue Us, Roger Waters ? The first one was decent, but I found the second one to be absolutely terrible. Wife is out of town and I'm tempted to rent it tonight from Redbox...

Blue Valentine

My girlfriend told me she didn't like it because it was so sad. This made me watch it immediately. I love sad art. Sad music, sad movies, sad photos, sad poetry, sad novels; I eat it up. The film is indeed very sad, and the saddest part is that it's because it's about regular life. It's also beautifully shot, has a great score (by Grizzly Bear[!]), and excellent acting--especially with their faces. This is the type of film I love. A+

But her perspective was interesting because it was so different than mine. She said that it was too real for her: being from small-town Oklahoma, she'd known plenty of smart, pretty girls who fall for guys who have pretty much nothing to offer and realize this so they compensate by being very charming. (I told her it wasn't polite to talk about me like I wasn't in the room. )

Yet, when I was watching it, I didn't sympathize with the female lead, I sympathized with the male lead. Maybe it's pure gender-bias, but I really felt for him. He seemed to have been trying to do the right thing and yet the female lead hated him for basically what was her mistake.

To those that have seen it, I'm curious about your impressions.

You guys should totally watch All the Real Girls together.

As for Blue Valentine, I didn't feel for Gosling at all. I felt terrible for the situation they put themselves in, but he was absolutely not trying to do the right thing. He became incredibly selfish and took her for granted as the relationship carried on. I'm glad she finally left him.

[Mupepe]

The first half is same old boring bullshit, second half is balls to the wall action and very entertaining. 

[Mr. Gundam]

Does it have a lot of peeing/racist robots? I could barely get through that stuff in the second movie.

[Mupepe]

Nah.  Not really.  The robots are still dumb but not obnoxiously so like in the 2nd.  The action in the 2nd half more than makes up for the crap in the first half.  It's pretty decent IMO

[Mr. Gundam]

Watching Transformers 3. 2 1/2 fucking hours?!?!?

They got Buzz Aldrin to be in this?

[Great Rumbler]

Priest

It's mashup of Priest the comic and Vampire Hunter D. That's about it.

[cool breeze]

Watching Transformers 3. 2 1/2 fucking hours?!?!?

They got Buzz Aldrin to be in this?

he hardly acts lol he just stands around and smiles

at least he isn't CG

and yeah, the movie is long and feels long. you won't remember the first half when it's done.  you won't even be the same person.

[Mr. Gundam]

Eh, it only costs me $1.50 and 2.5 hours of my life.

Hooray for multi-tasking.

[cool breeze]

oh, I think it's worth it for the second half.  It's about an hour of almost non-stop action, most of it featuring robots and explosions.

[Mr. Gundam]

JESUS CHRIST ITS JUST BARELY HALFWAY OVER.

The Ferari Autobot looks a lot like Eva 02.

[chronovore]

The Mist
I've been avoiding it for a long time, because I was worried the scenes with the children would mess me up. Good movie. Unfortunately, I was right. Holy shit, harsh.

spoiler (click to show/hide)

When the religious nut is finally playing her endgame, I thought that she'd actually get her way, that the son would be sacrificed, and that would be that.

I let out an actual cheer when Oliver shot her in the gut, and I half-hoped she'd be left to die that way, gut-shot, and wondering why her God hadn't saved her from the bullet, as she assumed she'd been saved from the bug attack earlier.

I honestly thought the movie would end with them pulling away in the Land Cruiser, and leave it up to the audience to wonder what happened to them.

[close]

I would have been happier if that was the way it had ended.

spoiler (click to show/hide)

Instead, the utter hopelessness, and the ultimate pointlessness of the finale was just tremendous and shocking.

[close]

The acting was spot-on throughout, the effects team should have received an award, and bonus points for using Dead Can Dance in the final sequence.

A+ but don't expect to have a smile on your face at the end.

[fistfulofmetal]

The Mist was awesome! I loved the group dynamic shifting as everybody freaked out more and more. that was scarier than the actual monsters.

[chronovore]

Yeah, Darabont said it's basically Lord of the Flies, with some monsters thrown in.

The shifting dynamic was really well handled. William Sadler's character was unfortunately all-too-believable.

[Mupepe]

Yes yes yes.

The Mist is so awesome.  It has an actually believable group dynamic that makes it more terrifying than the plot has any right to be.  Pacing is awesome too.  About the time you start to get tired of the BS going on in the shop, they switch it up.  Loved it.

Scre4m
Eh.  It was entertaining but it was so empty and pointless.  People said it was supposed to do for the slasher genre what the first did.  But because not much has actually changed and instead studios decided to just do remakes there wasn't much to dissect like in the first.  The rules really haven't changed much.  Meh.

Rise of the Planet of the Apes
awwww sheeeeit.  This movie was pretty fucking awesome.  Some dodgy effects aside it was really made and really well paced with some great action and character elements. 

[Great Rumbler]

Planet of the Apes
awwww sheeeeit.  This movie was pretty fucking awesome.  Some dodgy effects aside it was really made and really well paced with some great action and character elements. 

The original movie, right?

[Mupepe]

I've already seen the original!  Remake.  Both are pretty damn awesome but original is better.

[Great Rumbler]

Remake.

[Mupepe]

WAIT

NO! NOT THE TIME BURTON ONE

BRAIN FART!

RISE OF THE PLANET OF THE APES

[Robo]

Whew.  We were ready to disown you.

[Mupepe]

:'(

[Great Rumbler]

CRISIS AVERTED

[MrAngryFace]

Lion King on BluRay- looked incredible, still as great as I remembered.

[chronovore]

Yes yes yes.

The Mist is so awesome.  It has an actually believable group dynamic that makes it more terrifying than the plot has any right to be.  Pacing is awesome too.  About the time you start to get tired of the BS going on in the shop, they switch it up.  Loved it.

What really got me at the end, I was pretty sure that, after the external shot of the Land Cruiser,

spoiler (click to show/hide)

when the shots have been fired... well, first I thought it was going to cut back to an internal shot of the SUV, and have all of them alive, like maybe David fired the shots into the ceiling of the SUV, so no-one would be tempted to use the gun for suicide... clearly I was in denial.

But after the shots went off, and it was clear that he'd killed the others, I was certain when he went outside that he was going to bump into a gasoline pump, and that they'd rolled to a stop just next to, or even right inside the gas stand, since visibility was so low.

I was ready for that level of "you shouldn't have given up" ending, but not the entire military column and lifting of the mist.

[close]

[Enl]

Had a bit of a Clive Barker film night last night:

Nightbreed- I haven't seen this in a while but it held up better than I anticipated. Some of the Nightbreed now look like Buffy monster rejects, but David Chronenberg as Buttonface is still hell of a lot of fun to watch. Wish the director's cut of this would come out with all the deleted footage.

Dread- I went into this with low expectations but it actually ended up being a really good adaptation of the Barker short story. Much better than the more over the top Midnight Meat Train adaptation. The meat scene was handled perfectly and changes the ending up from the story a bit (which I felt works better in my opinion as it ties everything together nicely).

[CajoleJuice]

I love both Blue Valentine and The Mist.

[chronovore]

I saw the release of Midnight Meat Train at the rental shop, was unsure if I should give it a go.

I like suspense, not torture porn. Would I enjoy MMT?

[Bebpo]

It's solid Clive Barker horror.

Directed by Ryuhei Kitamura of METAL GEAR SOLID TWIN SNAKES fame  though he used to be actually good when he made VERSUS and AZUMI.

I give it a thumbs up if you enjoy the genre.

[Cerveza mas fina]

MMT is cool. Worth it for the cinematography alone, which is done really good. Lots of nice shots and footage. Movie is good too.

[Joe Molotov]

Midnight Meat Train is a pretty good movie, and it's not torture porn.

[Mupepe]

Yes yes yes.

The Mist is so awesome.  It has an actually believable group dynamic that makes it more terrifying than the plot has any right to be.  Pacing is awesome too.  About the time you start to get tired of the BS going on in the shop, they switch it up.  Loved it.

What really got me at the end, I was pretty sure that, after the external shot of the Land Cruiser,

spoiler (click to show/hide)

when the shots have been fired... well, first I thought it was going to cut back to an internal shot of the SUV, and have all of them alive, like maybe David fired the shots into the ceiling of the SUV, so no-one would be tempted to use the gun for suicide... clearly I was in denial.

But after the shots went off, and it was clear that he'd killed the others, I was certain when he went outside that he was going to bump into a gasoline pump, and that they'd rolled to a stop just next to, or even right inside the gas stand, since visibility was so low.

I was ready for that level of "you shouldn't have given up" ending, but not the entire military column and lifting of the mist.

[close]

That's what I thought.  It was like they went all out with a big F U.  One of the few in your face twists that didn't make me roll my eyes.

[Great Rumbler]

Yes yes yes.

The Mist is so awesome.  It has an actually believable group dynamic that makes it more terrifying than the plot has any right to be.  Pacing is awesome too.  About the time you start to get tired of the BS going on in the shop, they switch it up.  Loved it.

What really got me at the end, I was pretty sure that, after the external shot of the Land Cruiser,

spoiler (click to show/hide)

when the shots have been fired... well, first I thought it was going to cut back to an internal shot of the SUV, and have all of them alive, like maybe David fired the shots into the ceiling of the SUV, so no-one would be tempted to use the gun for suicide... clearly I was in denial.

But after the shots went off, and it was clear that he'd killed the others, I was certain when he went outside that he was going to bump into a gasoline pump, and that they'd rolled to a stop just next to, or even right inside the gas stand, since visibility was so low.

I was ready for that level of "you shouldn't have given up" ending, but not the entire military column and lifting of the mist.

[close]

One of the few in your face twists that didn't make me roll my eyes.

I think it worked because it was a twist that actually made the situation even worse than you thought. Most twists are just convenient plot turns that ease the tension in a "Oh, things actually aren't that bad" kind of way.

[Mupepe]

True.  It was a slap in the nuts to the guy.  It was amusing, entertaining and astonishing all at the same time.  And also, within the context of the movie it was actually tame.  It wasn't some weird convenient twist that came from nowhere.  We knew it would happen at some point probably, but it just happened at a really bad time

[The Sceneman]

Monster Mutt

C-grade straight to video family thing. Really fucked up hand had no really memorable scenes. The special effects (guy in giant dog costume) are quite fun. Would only really recommend to die hard watchers of SHIT like myself. Still, was enjoyable enough. 2.5/5

[Mupepe]

It's BEETHOVEN meets HONEY I BLEW UP THE KIDS

[The Sceneman]

LOL, the actual title is: "Honey I Blew Up the Kid", singular.

[Great Rumbler]

LOL, the actual title is: "Honey I Blew Up the Kid", singular.

Yep, it is. Only the first one had "Kids" plural in the title.

[Joe Molotov]

Mupepe annihilated.

[Mupepe]

Mupepe annihilated.

F U

spoiler (click to show/hide)

That's what it says on the back of Monster Mutt

[close]

[cool breeze]

Submarine

it was good

[Mupepe]

Scream
Man, such a fun movie.  Even if some aspects are a little dated, it's still so good.  It's funny right on cue (and not awkwardly so like Scre4m) and serious when it needs to be.  But it always has a lighthearted tone.  It stays in that grey area and never gets too silly or too serious.  I thought maybe my teenage self was just stupid when I loved Scream, but it's clear that Wes Craven has just lost it in the last 10-15 years.  So sad.

[The Sceneman]

people can lose it in 10-15 years. Just look at Obama

[Eric P]

Submarine

it was good

I liked it.

[Mupepe]

people can lose it in 10-15 years. Just look at Obama

[Mupepe]

I liked Scre4m too.  But it really felt jumbled.  Maybe it was commentary on how most modern sequels don't know where to go so they stumble and fall flat on their faces (lololol yeah right).  No really.  The rules haven't changed enough to make a movie with an impact like Scream.  Oh god, and everyone looked like they were just phoning it in.  Except maybe Hayden but her butch haircut was too distracting for me to decide.  It was just a mess of a movie on every level.  Still solidly entertaining for one viewing but I'll never watch it again.  What's the point?  I'll watch Scream and get the superior version.

[chronovore]

OK, looks like Midnight Meat Train gets a "go."

It's solid Clive Barker horror.

Directed by Ryuhei Kitamura of METAL GEAR SOLID TWIN SNAKES fame  though he used to be actually good when he made VERSUS and AZUMI.

I give it a thumbs up if you enjoy the genre.

I've seen Versus, and thought Kitamura comes off as a BIG "fan" of Sam Raimi. It was fun, but I hope it's not as Raimi-esque. Never saw Azumi, but I've always meant to. Aya Ueto is uber moe.