Movie News, Reviews, and Discussion Super-Thread

[Robo]

I was hoping for more out of the procedural side, but I thought it was decent, if completely unnecessary given how little changed from the first film.  I was occasionally getting the impression that I was watching a shot-for-shot remake of the Swedish version, down to the locations used.  I'm not sure if it's fair to expect major changes to the plot of a book that's essentially brought to the big screen (again) solely due to its popularity, but I do think it's reasonable to have some expectation of differentiation between a remake and its source.

I guess the worst thing I can say about it is that it's a competent cash-in.

[Great Rumbler]

I'd put it below The Social Network and Zodiac, but it was still a pretty good movie. This is from someone who never read the book and didn't watch the original movie, though.

[Mupepe]

above Benjamin Button though??

[Great Rumbler]

Never saw it.

[Robo]

Alien 3 is better than Benjamin Button. 

[Eric P]

It has been really movie heavy around here since I'm on vacation.

The Tree of Life.  I have issues with the relationship of my parents and the dichotomy between the two parenting styles on display really hit home.  Beautiful movie, beautifully told. 

The Muppets. fucking fantastic.  really top notch.

Infernal Affairs. One of the reasons I bought a region free DVD player.  It still holds up, I think, and it's just so much better than The Departed.

[Eric P]

This is from someone who never read the book

don't. 

I enjoyed it as I read it, but when I went and thought about what I had read with any sort of distance from the material I have come to really dislike it.

[Trent Dole]

You guys suck, Dune is awesome (the books lol)

I've heard nothing but bad things in regards to the film. The first 3-4 Dune books are rad. They get progressively less good. Have you seen Frank Herbert's kid has been writing some novels as well? Apparently they're even worse than his dad's later works. 

[Mr. Gundam]

I saw the new Mission Impossible movie while in Omaha with my father-in-law. It felt really rushed and paper-thin.

Oh well, at least it was only $5. I was floored that a matinee was $5. They're $8 here in Seattle.

[Momo]

You guys suck, Dune is awesome (the books lol)

I've heard nothing but bad things in regards to the film. The first 3-4 Dune books are rad. They get progressively less good. Have you seen Frank Herbert's kid has been writing some novels as well? Apparently they're even worse than his dad's later works. 

Yeah I read winds of dune recently and .. I just didnt feel like being alive anymore. I actually liked the original film, but I have weird taste. Coming back to the books Kevin Anderson and Brian Herbert can go diaf

[Eric P]

I saw the new Mission Impossible movie while in Omaha with my father-in-law. It felt really rushed and paper-thin.

Oh well, at least it was only $5. I was floored that a matinee was $5. They're $8 here in Seattle.

there are no matinee prices in Manhattan or Brooklyn.

the closest thing is if you go to an AMC theater before noon on a weekend your ticket is $6.  Any other showing is full price, which is typically $13.

[naff]

The Muppets - really enjoyed it. A good nostalgia ride as well as a great modernisation, kudos to Bobbin. I could definitely see his work with Flight of the Conchords coming through in some songs like 'Man or Muppet' which was amazing, though sometimes it wasn't so good like the 'me party' song. There were some flat, and straight unfunny moments and they love to break the fourth wall a bit which kinda annoys me, but overall a very good Muppet movie. So happy to see them back

[Mupepe]

I saw the new Mission Impossible movie while in Omaha with my father-in-law. It felt really rushed and paper-thin.

Oh well, at least it was only $5. I was floored that a matinee was $5. They're $8 here in Seattle.

I found an AMC theater here in Houston that still has 5 dollar matinees.  So awesome

[Mupepe]

The Tree of Life.  I have issues with the relationship of my parents and the dichotomy between the two parenting styles on display really hit home.  Beautiful movie, beautifully told. 

Agreed completely.  That's how my family felt.  My mother had more of a hands off approach to raising children and my father was a military career man from Kentucky who very much believed in strict discipline.  It was ridiculous how much Brad Pitt reminded me of my father.  I loved that the story wasn't spelling it out for you, you were just observing it take place.  It kept the 4th wall very much at bay. 

There's apparently a 6 hour cut that he hasn't edited and he wants to release on blu ray.  I want to buy the blu ray so bad but if I do I'm getting the 6 hour cut.  You could tell there was so much edited from Sean Penn's character.

I absolutely loved the movie.

[Eric P]

The Tree of Life.  I have issues with the relationship of my parents and the dichotomy between the two parenting styles on display really hit home.  Beautiful movie, beautifully told. 

Agreed completely.  That's how my family felt.  My mother had more of a hands off approach to raising children and my father was a military career man from Kentucky who very much believed in strict discipline.  It was ridiculous how much Brad Pitt reminded me of my father.  I loved that the story wasn't spelling it out for you, you were just observing it take place.  It kept the 4th wall very much at bay. 

There's apparently a 6 hour cut that he hasn't edited and he wants to release on blu ray.  I want to buy the blu ray so bad but if I do I'm getting the 6 hour cut.  You could tell there was so much edited from Sean Penn's character.

I absolutely loved the movie.

Yeah, I'd watch a 6 hour cut of that.  Probably not in one sitting though.

[Mupepe]

Yeah I'd probably split it up into two viewings but the story flowed naturally enough and was interesting enough that I think I could probably do it in one sitting if I didn't have anything else to do.  That's assuming the rest is equally well paced and egaging

[Jamie]

Infernal Affairs. One of the reasons I bought a region free DVD player.  It still holds up, I think, and it's just so much better than The Departed.

True. I really like Departed, and what it does, it does well but IA was one of my favorite Asian movies to watch (although admittedly I don't see much Asian cinema)

[Himu]

IA is great. I love The Departed but IA is so much more.

[HyperZoneWasAwesome]

I wish to co-sign the IA > The Departed petition.  In fact I made one of my very first GAF threads about it.
also, IA2 is really freaking good and deserves to be more widely seen.  IA3, well, at least there's still the first two.

[ZephyrFate]

You guys suck, Dune is awesome (the books lol)

I've heard nothing but bad things in regards to the film. The first 3-4 Dune books are rad. They get progressively less good. Have you seen Frank Herbert's kid has been writing some novels as well? Apparently they're even worse than his dad's later works. 

Very much disagree. Heretics of Dune and Chapterhouse are better than the first three Dune novels.

[Eric P]

I wish to co-sign the IA > The Departed petition.  In fact I made one of my very first GAF threads about it.
also, IA2 is really freaking good and deserves to be more widely seen.  IA3, well, at least there's still the first two.

I actually told my GF as we watched it that the real reason to watch IA was so you could watch IA2.

[Mupepe]

Watched these last night:

Training Day
I hadn't seen this in years.  Fuuuuuuuu  I forgot how awesome it is.  Awesomely written and acted.  Denzel Washington is amazing in his role.  He pulls off the psychopath shit flawlessly and effortlessly.  I love that it's like watching a heist movie but from an unsuspecting and confused view.  It's great. 

No Country for Old Men
I hadn't seen this in over a year probably.  Goddamn it's still stunningly beautiful to watch.  That's what I believe really holds the movie together.  The pacing and camera work is consistent throughout the entire movie and it holds all the different parts of the story together.  It's damn near perfect.

[BobFromPikeCreek]

Never seen IA, but TD was definitely shitty.

[Joe Molotov]

I watched Heavy Rain yesterday. I like a good detective farce, but it was way too long, and the audience participation bit was forced; you have to let that stuff grow organically. Still, it was okay for a direct-to-video movie.

[Robo]

   Bravo.

[BobFromPikeCreek]

[chronovore]

I watched Dune for the first time last night.  I don't think I've ever seen a movie that was quite as terrible and amazing simultaneously.

Well said. My favorite use of the movie is to supply visuals for the book. I tried reading the book in high school, failed once. Watched the movie, and then was able to make it through the book, using the visuals from the movie in my head. It was fabulous. Not sure how anyone can like that soundtrack though, to be honest. Toto? Come on.

I watched Heavy Rain yesterday. I like a good detective farce, but it was way too long, and the audience participation bit was forced; you have to let that stuff grow organically. Still, it was okay for a direct-to-video movie.

Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol - A solid action movie with well-shot action. That's really all that you need to say about it. If you like good action, it's got good action. If you want story, well, you won't get it here. Tom Cruise is at his best here, suave and in control from start to finish. The other characters fill out their niche roles well enough, and there's some good interplay between them over the course of the movie. Brad Bird gets major props for pulling it all together and keeping his foot on the gas for two hours.

The other night, I saw this with the wife. We were both very impressed. I agree with your points, though I'll say Tom looks like he's getting a little long in the tooth. His skin looked weird in all the close-ups. It's possible the carrot-juice-and-baby-blood baths that Scientology requires are giving him a strange lustre. Simon Pegg and Renner's interaction was great. Renner was able to do a lot of hemming and hawing -- whining that they couldn't really put on Ethan Hawke. This was also more of a "group effort" MI than previous ones; I'm happy to see it reflect the ensemble nature of the original TV show, instead of The Fabulous Ethan Hawke Show!

[The Sceneman]

Never seen IA, but TD was definitely shitty.

yeah, Training Day fucking sucks. Overratedest movie evar

[Mr. Gundam]

Just got back from The Artist. Absolutely fantastic. If you don't enjoy this film you're dead inside.

[magus]

being christmas they are doing random disney christmas movie,and one of these was the winnie the pooh 2011 movie and it was so good good good,i couldn't believe it was made in 2011 until i checked on wikipedia

[chronovore]

I woke up at 05:30 yesterday, so with a few hours to kill before people woke up, I watched some videos:

Wonderful Days: Japanese and Korean anime collaboration, seemingly targeting a remake of Æon Flux, except unbearably boring. The pacing was miserable for the first half hour, and the rendered CG/cell CG integration was half-assed, so I gave up. Not wonderful.

Behind Enemy Lines: Pretty good for a Top Gun which takes place mostly on the ground! Actually, that's unfair; Top Gun is just a love story about an emotionally stunted pilot and the minimal amount of combat in it is implausible, ill-defined, and only serves the pilot's emotional growth. Behind Enemy Lines is actually a war movie which at least attempts to make a point about international politics, and the validity of interference, at least where genocide is taking place.

The editing, though, is straight out of the Top Gun/MTV school of being artsy but without any particular need or meaning, so... failing at art. I was happy to have a 1.5x speed to rush though a couple of "montage" sequences which served no purpose.

Probably the biggest surprise was seeing GTA IV's Nico Bellic appear. I knew Nico was supposedly from the Croat/Serb ethnic region, but I didn't know that Rockstar had lifted Nico's appearance wholesale from this film's "Sasha." Seriously, it has to be intentional.

spoiler (click to show/hide)

[close]

Gone in 60 Seconds (2001): Almost entirely worthless action flick. This movie attempts to be playful, but it looks like it wasn't much fun to make; just a weird vibe. Robert Duvall pulls a fair turn as an aging mechanic, but everyone else is chewing the scenery. Giovanni Ribisi cannot act, at least he couldn't in 2001. A young, blonde-dreadlocked Angelina Jolie wears blue contact lenses and bounces around in a tank top, so watching it was worth at least that much.

[Bebpo]

Hugo 3D

Saw it again, this time in 3D and I have to say the 3D does add to many of the scenes.  In 2D it's a good movie, in 3D it's a very good movie.  Holds up really well in repeat viewings as well.  Everything about the film is well made.  Great musical score too.  I think this and Drive are the two best films I've seen in 2011. ****.

Fright Night 2011

Ok popcorn Vampire Flick.  Not really worth watching, but if you want a vampire movie and are bored there's nothing terribly bad about it.  It doesn't try to be scary so it's just a non-scary sorta-action versus movie about teen kid vs Colin Farrell vampire dude. **1/2.

Winnie The Pooh 2011

Kind of disappointing.  The animation is good and some of the songs are fun, but it really is for kids and not that much of a family film for people over 10.  Doesn't feel like a Pooh movie, feels like a tv special.  There's some clever use of breaking the 4th wall and good scenes throughout, but overall was kind of whatever.   Also I realized that Homestar Runner is Tiger. **1/2.

Lawrence of Arabia

Despite being long as an entire Uncharted game, the pacing was pretty good and it only dragged a bit towards the end.  Movie was not what I was expecting.  Was expecting Braveheart, got a movie about an already half-crazy man mentally falling apart for 3 and 1/2 hours.  Very well done and interesting, though Lawrence being a completely neurotic lead made it kind of annoying to watch at times.  It could have almost been a Tomino script.  ***1/2.

[cool breeze]

Before Sunrise / Before Sunset

Watched both back to back the other day when I saw they'd be off Netflix Instant Stream.  Both were really good.  I like bittersweet romantic movies, and as far as romance movies go, it maybe might possibly be my favorite pair now.  It's weird because I think I liked Before Sunset more, but that's entirely because I watched Before Sunrise, so it's hard to judge them separately.  It's easier to relate to Sunrise, since I'm younger and haven't personally experienced anything like Sunset yet, but I still very much enjoy all that regret and adult awkwardness.

[ZephyrFate]

Before Sunrise/Sunset have, by far, the best dialogue of any films I've ever seen. Partly because of the magnetic chemistry, partly because it looks almost exactly like they're just talking to one another rather than reading a script. The only time I've ever felt that watching movies.

[Mr. Gundam]

A lot of Before Sunset was improvised and done on the fly. An absolutely perfect film.

spoiler (click to show/hide)

And one of the few films where I want the male character to cheat on his wife.

[close]

[ZephyrFate]

I'm curious as to what the third film will cover.

[Mr. Gundam]

Maybe one of them moving out of their place?

[Tucah]

spoiler (click to show/hide)

And one of the few films where I want the male character to cheat on his wife.

[close]

I definitely agree with this.

For thoughts on a third movie:

spoiler (click to show/hide)

I'd like to see Celine and Jesse meet up in some American city. I love the settings of the previous two films but I feel like a movie set in NYC or something could be an interesting switch from the European setting of the other movies.

[close]

But hell, what do I know, that could be an awful idea. The third movie is easily one of my most anticipated films and I'll watch it no matter where it's set.

[ManaByte]

[G The Resurrected]

I smell straight to bluray

[Joe Molotov]

No, I need to see this in IMAX 3D.

[chronovore]

No, I need to see this in IMAX 3D.

I think you mean, "IMAX 3 Double-D"...

[Eric P]

watched a few movies recently

Midnight In Paris - Awesome.  Loved it.  I especially loved the fate of the private detective. 
 
36 Hours - From the writer/director of Miracle on 34th St, is the tale of James Garner trapped in a hospital where all is not as it seems.  It's based off of a Roald Dahl short story "Beware Of The Dog" where an injured soldier wakes up in a strange hospital.  The story has a pretty neat little sting and is superior (duh) to the movie, but the movie taken independently of the short story is still pretty good on its own, though really radically different.  The DVD from netflix has probably the absolute worst transfer I've seen on an American film.  Just an absolute mess of artifacts, edge enhancement and ghosting in every other shot. 


Fright Night - GREAT first hour.  Horrible final half.  Re-watch the original instead.

[Robo]

Watched Shade on Netflix last night while going through some Stallone movies I hadn't seen.  Really awful.  The "poker" in this is plainly idiotic; recognizably so to anyone with even the slightest knowledge of the rules.  There's a point near the end where Stallone's character, the best card cheat in the world (?), places an enormous bet, his opponent calls with about every last cent he owns, and Stallone makes a quibble about how he could simply raise the bet from there and take the pot.  You can't re-raise on a call, dumb fuck, nor can you just take the damn pot by throwing in a pile of cash your opponent can't match -- have you never played this game before?  I don't quite understand how they could so flagrantly ignore the basic rules of the game they're using in all the central moments of tension and expect the audience to go along with it.  I was dumbfounded.

So then I watched The Specialist to make up for it; maybe my favorite non-franchise Stallone movie after Cliffhanger.

Sharon Stone, hnnnnnngggggg, and James fucking Woods

[Great Rumbler]

Watched Shade on Netflix last night while going through some Stallone movies I hadn't seen.  Really awful.  The "poker" in this is plainly idiotic; recognizably so to anyone with even the slightest knowledge of the rules.  There's a point near the end where Stallone's character, the best card cheat in the world (?), places an enormous bet, his opponent calls with about every last cent he owns, and Stallone makes a quibble about how he could simply raise the bet from there and take the pot.  You can't re-raise on a call, dumb fuck, nor can you just take the damn pot by throwing in a pile of cash your opponent can't match -- have you never played this game before?  I don't quite understand how they could so flagrantly ignore the basic rules of the game they're using in all the central moments of tension and expect the audience to go along with it.  I was dumbfounded.

What's sad is that the guy who wrote and directed the movie was a real life card shark, so you'd think he'd have known better.

[Robo]

I'm sure he knew and decided to obfuscate the rules intentionally.  Maybe chasing the "Because you enjoyed: Maverick and Casino Royale..." Netflix streaming audience.

[chronovore]

I'm sure he knew and decided to obfuscate the rules intentionally.  Maybe chasing the "Because you enjoyed: Maverick and Casino Royale..." Netflix streaming audience.

Yeah, the conclusion of the poker game was my only real quibble with that movie. Otherwise, I loved it.

[Timber]

So incredibly 

[Himu]

Great movie, Timber

[Timber]

Yeah, it is. It's sad as hell when you're just watching this one family, almost impossible to process that this is happening to 100mil+ people.

[Robo]

I'm sure he knew and decided to obfuscate the rules intentionally.  Maybe chasing the "Because you enjoyed: Maverick and Casino Royale..." Netflix streaming audience.

Yeah, the conclusion of the poker game was my only real quibble with that movie. Otherwise, I loved it.

Nitpicking aside, I still didn't find it to be very good.  Fittingly enough, the plot threads ultimately resolve in a sleight-of-hand trick; I saw that it happened, but leaving me to guess how and why doesn't work when the characters can't even keep their motivation consistent.

[Bebpo]

Werner Herzog's The Cave of Forgotten Dreams

More like a museum exhibit and less like his normal documentaries, this movie spends 90 mins telling and showing you everything you could possibly know about 2 or 3 rooms in a cave with the oldest historical cave art in them.  It's really interesting but like an exhibit, after a while you're ready to move on.  I think Herzog really wanted to show this in the theater because it's pretty damn important but he didn't think (and rightly so) that you could release a 40 min movie in the theater, so he had to stretch it out to 90 mins and you reaaaally feel it around halfway when he brings in a guy talking about imagining what the cave smelled like and looking at art found in nearby caves.  It's interesting enough, but I think he loses focus at times in the latter half.  Absolutely was worth watching, but I dunno you might want to keep an ipad handy in the last 40 mins.  As a film not one of his best imo.

Also worth noting the 3d is hilarious.  He wanted to shoot the movie in 3d, but obviously this wasn't going to get the budget of doing an Avatar style fancy 3d shoot.  So he just taped 2 cameras together for the whole thing.  The result is that in motion there is 3d depth but it's really blurry at times and can sometimes be hard on the eyes to watch.  However, when he sets the camera still to basically show a 3d depth photograph of the walls of the caves it's pretty neat as you get a nice feel for the curves and shape of the rocks.  I think I'd recommend watching it in 2d though just because of the jankyness during motion.

[Vertigo]

MI4: Ghost Protocol

Fun. Cruise is still a boss. Two sets of glorious tits (black & white). BMW product placement all over the place. Too short.

Saw it in IMAX Patton and Seydoux were sexy as hell on that big screen.

Seydoux lhas that semi sullen sexiness that i just love about french chicks.

[Bebpo]

Was Seydoux the assassin?  She was definitely cute. 

[chronovore]

MI4: Ghost Protocol

Fun. Cruise is still a boss. Two sets of glorious tits (black & white). BMW product placement all over the place. Too short.

Saw it in IMAX Patton and Seydoux were sexy as hell on that big screen.

Seydoux lhas that semi sullen sexiness that i just love about french chicks.

"semi sullen"? Girl was the definition of sullen. What is more sullen than Seydoux in that movie?

[Mr. Gundam]

MI4 wasn't bad, but I didn't think it was all that great either.

[Bebpo]

MI3 is still the best.  I don't remember it much, but it was exciting, gritty, had good tension and Hoffman was excellent. 

J.J. Abrams

[Great Rumbler]

MI3 was pretty good, but I'd put MI4 over it.

[Robo]

Watched Nighthawks last night.  Pretty basic thriller; nothing noteworthy, but entertaining enough, credit due entirely to the cast: Sylvester Stallone, Billy Dee Williams and Rutger Hauer, of course, and I was surprised to see Joe Spinell makes an appearance as well.  Bonus points for hilarious cross-dressing Stallone reveals.

[Phoenix Dark]

MI4 wasn't bad, but I didn't think it was all that great either.

:stonymason