Movie News, Reviews, and Discussion Super-Thread

[Barry Egan]

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

:stonymason

 

[Great Rumbler]

One of the few stories to break out just before Christmas was the announcement by Walt Disney Pictures that a movie called Frozen will be released on November 27, 2013. At first, there was some confusion about what exactly Frozen is, because November, 2013 had previously been the target date for the untitled Pixar movie in which modern humans and dinosaurs live together (and the Ice Age never happened). It was quickly clarified, however, that Frozen is actually the new title of Disney's next traditionally animated fairy tale adaptation (after 2009's The Princess and the Frog). Frozen is based upon Hans Christian Andersen's fairy tale The Snow Queen. The Snow Queen is an evil witch who travels the world with the winter and abducts a man whose perception becomes twisted by a troll mirror; it is up to his sweetheart Gerda to rescue him from the Snow Queen. Disney has been developing an adaptation of The Snow Queen for over ten years, off and on and then off-again, including a period when long time Disney animator Glen Keane was working on the project. It's currently unknown who are the new creative staff who are working on Frozen. And now a little footnote about that title: In addition to making this movie easily confused with the 2010 thriller about skiiers trapped on a lift, the title Frozen seems like another case of Disney choosing a title that conceals the more famous fairy tale that audiences might find more easily identifiable, just like how their recent Rapunzel movie was actually released as Tangled.

http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/the-snow-queen/news/1924272/weekly_ketchup_disneys_next_animated_film_will_be_frozen/

[Phoenix Dark]

After Tangled I have full faith in Disney

[Barry Egan]

I don't really understand the marketing sense behind renaming the fairy tales.

[Great Rumbler]

I don't really understand the marketing sense behind renaming the fairy tales.

Removing preconceptions to make them easier to market.

[fistfulofmetal]

Tucker and Dale vs. Evil

pretty funny. hot chick. good movie. would recommend.

[Bebpo]

Don't Be Afraid of the Dark

Kind of a fun little creature movie.  The creatures weren't particular scary, but they were smart and the people were stupid.  Guillermo Del Toro wrote the script and so it's pretty solid all around, but didn't like the ending.

Oh and Katie Holmes has aged well.  She looks great as a grown up woman.

[Eric P]

Just watched this as well and really enjoyed it.

Great little creature feature.  I however, did like the end.

[Bebpo]

spoiler (click to show/hide)

I'm not a fan of jesus sacrifice endings    The dad should have died instead since he was a jerk.

Also I wish the creatures were less mini-gollums and more actually creepy monsters.  It was hard to take them seriously when they looked so goofy.  I think Attack the Block is one of the few horror films that's actually made a CG monster look scary and cool.  CG usually just doesn't look scary.

[close]

[Mr. Gundam]

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

:stonymason

It was the epitome of mediocre. Sorry duder.

[fistfulofmetal]

watched Contagion earlier

this is what happens when an awesome director with with an awesome sense of style makes a movie on a cliche idea. take the same premise, same actors, same plot and series of events - put it in the hands of a lesser director and you'll get a lump of shit.

i loved the soundtrack choices. loved the way the story progressed from character to character without feeling jumbled or hard to follow. it's just a very well made movie up and down. thumbs up +++

[Mandark]

Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy.

Liked it a lot.  It's a deceptively fast movie.

It's pretty sparing with the exposition, without any hand-holding dialogue that explains the significance of each bit of information or lays out the new objectives.  I'm not totally sure whether the thinking was "We trust our audience to keep up," or "Everyone who sees this has already read the book."

[Mr. Gundam]

I didn't think Tinker Tailor was hard to follow, but I heard lots of comments along the lines of "you'll have to explain that to me later" as we were leaving the theater.

[Mandark]

Basically the same for me.  I went with someone who hadn't seen it before and they said they got the broad swath of the story but didn't really absorb the details in a way that all fit together.  It's not just the amount of information and the narrative structure, but the way things are pushed forward really quickly even while you're watching middle-aged men have slow conversations.

The Ghost Writer is a good example of a talky mystery thriller that uses its dialogue and cinematography to put more noticeable emphasis on the important plot points so the viewer won't get lost.  I enjoyed both movies, but I really liked the way Tinker Tailor was put together.  I'm not sure anyone would really try to do that if they didn't feel bound by the source material.

[Bebpo]

Sucker Punch

I made it 50 mins, through the 2nd dance sequence.

When it first started I was like "hey, this doesn't seem like the worst movie ever that everyone says it is", then when the first dance sequence started and there was RANDOM CUTSCENE FROM NINJA GAIDEN FOR ABSOLUTELY NO REASON I was like... ohhhhh.  There's absolutely no cohesion between the main story and the overly-long and boring videogame segments.  The videogame stuff lacks even a shred of any substance; between that, the CG, and the mechs and the sailor uniforms you could almost think you were watching your average Japanese action film.  Which I guess was what he was going for, but that's a really low bar to try to imitate.

[recursivelyenumerable]

oh man, I started watching Tinker Tailor years ago and fell asleep in the middle of it even though I LOVED the part I saw (I just hadn't gotten much sleep the previous night). I should watch the whole thing some time.

[recursivelyenumerable]

Werner Herzog's The Cave of Forgotten Dreams

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.

this is wrong, the 3D is integral to the experience. also don't bring an ipad or whatever wtf, the scene at the end is AMAZING

[Mr. Gundam]

oh man, I started watching Tinker Tailor years ago and fell asleep in the middle of it even though I LOVED the part I saw (I just hadn't gotten much sleep the previous night). I should watch the whole thing some time.

We're talking about the new film version, not the TV mini-series.

[Mupepe]

Don't Be Afraid of the Dark

Kind of a fun little creature movie.  The creatures weren't particular scary, but they were smart and the people were stupid.  Guillermo Del Toro wrote the script and so it's pretty solid all around, but didn't like the ending.

Oh and Katie Holmes has aged well.  She looks great as a grown up woman.

I liked the ending.  And I also loved the creature design because they're what would be enticing to a child.  Kind of like gremlins or something.  Just a fun little movie.  I was very surprised and totally ready for it to suck (especially after Splice )

Sucker Punch

I made it 50 mins, through the 2nd dance sequence.

When it first started I was like "hey, this doesn't seem like the worst movie ever that everyone says it is", then when the first dance sequence started and there was RANDOM CUTSCENE FROM NINJA GAIDEN FOR ABSOLUTELY NO REASON I was like... ohhhhh.  There's absolutely no cohesion between the main story and the overly-long and boring videogame segments.  The videogame stuff lacks even a shred of any substance; between that, the CG, and the mechs and the sailor uniforms you could almost think you were watching your average Japanese action film.  Which I guess was what he was going for, but that's a really low bar to try to imitate.

It's hot chicks kicking ass!  What more could you want?  Trying to find some depth (although there is an attempt to create some by Snyder) is pointless.  Watch it for the hot chicks being bad ass.  I liked it.

[Eric P]

I read a defense of Splice as not a creature film but rather a stealth remake of Frankenstein.  I need to watch it as I haven't seen it yet.

[Mupepe]

It has a fantastic premise and starts out great.  But it turns into shock scenes about halfway in and horribly akward scenarios that had people laughing uncontrollably in the theater.  I've seen people defend it as "addressing complicated issues" but it's presented in such a poor manner that you cannot take it seriously as any type of legitimate social commentary.

However I haven't read anything comparing it to Frankenstein so I'll probably read up on that but either way the quality is just not there even if that's what it was going for.

[Joe Molotov]

I wanted to see Cave of Forgotten Dreams in 3D, but it wasn't showing anywhere around here, and since I ain't got no fancy-pants 3D TV, I'll just have to watch it in 2D.

[chronovore]

Sucker Punch

I made it 50 mins, through the 2nd dance sequence.

When it first started I was like "hey, this doesn't seem like the worst movie ever that everyone says it is", then when the first dance sequence started and there was RANDOM CUTSCENE FROM NINJA GAIDEN FOR ABSOLUTELY NO REASON I was like... ohhhhh.  There's absolutely no cohesion between the main story and the overly-long and boring videogame segments.  The videogame stuff lacks even a shred of any substance; between that, the CG, and the mechs and the sailor uniforms you could almost think you were watching your average Japanese action film.  Which I guess was what he was going for, but that's a really low bar to try to imitate.

:dap

There are so many ways the film could have been better, and easily so. Snyder needs to stick to adapting someone else's comic.

I read a defense of Splice as not a creature film but rather a stealth remake of Frankenstein.  I need to watch it as I haven't seen it yet.

It has a fantastic premise and starts out great.  But it turns into shock scenes about halfway in and horribly akward scenarios that had people laughing uncontrollably in the theater.  I've seen people defend it as "addressing complicated issues" but it's presented in such a poor manner that you cannot take it seriously as any type of legitimate social commentary.

However I haven't read anything comparing it to Frankenstein so I'll probably read up on that but either way the quality is just not there even if that's what it was going for.

I just watched Splice, after realizing it finally came out in Japan. The special effects are good, and it does attempt to tackle tough issues, and mostly fails. It was good, in as much as the main characters were all basically broken, and had their own broken motivations, which stayed consistent. The secondary characters (CEO, liaison, younger brother) were all absolute crap: unbelievable cardboard cutouts who showed up to push the plot forward unnecessarily. I guess it's not a good thing that I found myself laughing uproariously every time something went wrong, and was supposed to be tense.

[Mupepe]

Yeah the dramatic and tense moments are mostly hilarious.  Specifically...

spoiler (click to show/hide)

him banging his alien daughter and getting caught

[close]

Oh god the theater was in an uproar.  People on GAF were offended by others laughing in the theater and were saying shit like "people just don't grasp such a complicated issue :'(  how barbaric!" 

While I get what they were trying to go for the execution wasn't just bad, it was hilariously bad.  It was almost in parody territory.

Like I said, it has some great points.  I love the premise and I still think it's pretty progressive and neat.  But so much of the execution is so terrible that I just can't recommend the film with a straight face.

[Mupepe]

Anyways Chronovore, this should be a Lady in the Water appreciation thread.  OH MY GOD someone else liked it

[Mupepe]

If people see the name "Rapunzel" I think they're less likely to pay for it in theaters because "we already know what happens" but Tangled.  "What the hell is that?  Seems neat!  Oh it's Rapunzel"

[Joe Molotov]

The main reason they renamed Tangled was because The Princess & the Frog underpreformed, presumably because people thought it sounded too girly.

[Phoenix Dark]

Should have named it Black Princess

[Mupepe]

Tyler Perry's Black Princess

[chronovore]

Anyways Chronovore, this should be a Lady in the Water appreciation thread.  OH MY GOD someone else liked it

I KNOW, RIGHT?

[Robo]

I watched Cube.  Awful.

[ZephyrFate]

I love Cube. Great little b-movie horror flick.

[Phoenix Dark]

My brother swears by that movie, but I just can't will myself to watch it

[Bebpo]

I just remember a dude getting cut into pieces before Resident Evil did it.

[Robo]

Even taken as light sci-fi/horror fare, it was pretty trite.  It's a shame, for such a clever idea; it's like a set-up for a sci-fi No Exit, but the result is closer to Saw in a metal box.

[Phoenix Dark]

Speaking of Saw, my parents recently discovered those films and love them. It just baffles my mind. My mom is a big horror fan, I just can't fathom how she thinks torture porn is scary. She says it's scary because "that happens every day" whatever that means 

[HyperZoneWasAwesome]

Saw is even more unlikely then any of the Friday the 13th movies, which is impressive when you think about it.

I'm up too damn late, so I'll just say that the commerical success of Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy makes me very happy as its fucking great and has a plot dense enough to make Inception look like a coloring book, or at least as packed full of incident as the last three Saw movies.

and Tron Legacy was waaaaaaaay better then I'd expected it to be.  Better then all of the Star Wars prequels, wait that ain't saying much.  Lets just say it doesn't dishonor the previous film and it juggles a lot of surprisingly weighty material while still being a lot of goofy, shiny fun, and is the most violent PG film I can recall in recent memory (BOOM! Headshot!).  And Olivia Wilde looks like an anime character made human with the name of a porn star/Oscar Wilde's feminine alter ego.

[etiolate]

Are we bolding the movies now? Fuck that, we going double lines.

Watched Depsicable Me. It was cute and fun. Good flick for a kid or someone just looking for a fun little bit.

Also watched Super.  This movie was a bit messed up. I actually didn't catch the start of the film, but most of the middle and end. The movie stuck with me. I kind of like the choices it made.

Watched a tiny bit of Sucker Punch. I just saw two of the game fantasy sequences without knowing the reason for why they exist. All I could think of was Kate Beaton's Strong Female Characters comic.

[Eric P]

I watched Cube.  Awful.

so awful

[chronovore]

I watched Cube.  Awful.

so awful

Huh. I've heard so many good things, now this. Now, sadly, I'm just curious enough to finally watch it.

SOON TO HAVE ACCESS TO NETFLIX

[The Sceneman]

currently watching Scorpion King 3

soooooooooooooo fucking bad

[The Sceneman]

I watched Cube.  Awful.

so awful

Huh. I've heard so many good things, now this. Now, sadly, I'm just curious enough to finally watch it.

SOON TO HAVE ACCESS TO NETFLIX

Cube 2: Hypercube is amazing btw

[Joe Molotov]

currently watching Scorpion King 3

soooooooooooooo fucking bad

It stars Billy Zane, how could it be bad?

[Diunx]

oh shit! downloading now!

[Mupepe]

Cube is so terrible.  It really does have a great idea but the execution is so god awful.  You end up hating each and every character and just want them to die.

[Joe Molotov]

Last time I saw Cube, it was on VHS.

[Great Rumbler]

I watched Cube before, and kinda liked it, but that's probably been 7-8 years ago.

[Phoenix Dark]

wait there's a Scorpion King 3?

[ZephyrFate]

I watched Cube.  Awful.

so awful

Huh. I've heard so many good things, now this. Now, sadly, I'm just curious enough to finally watch it.

SOON TO HAVE ACCESS TO NETFLIX

Cube 2: Hypercube is amazing btw

WOW no it is not.

[Flannel Boy]

Speaking of Saw, my parents recently discovered those films and love them. It just baffles my mind. My mom is a big horror fan, I just can't fathom how she thinks torture porn is scary. She says it's scary because "that happens every day" whatever that means 

It means your parents are kinky freaks.

[Phoenix Dark]

[fistfulofmetal]

Nothing wrong with liking SAW.
and to a lesser extent, SAW II

the rest, I have nothing to say for that.

[Fifstar]

I remember looking forward to Cube and then being disappointed by it, I'm generally not big on horror tho. Would have been better if it had been just a fantastic sci fi movie.

Also saw Cheyenne a couple of days. Ended up having to defend myself because I only liked it and didn't thought it was fantastic like the rest of my group. It's alround good, beautifully shot but I ultimately felt that it lacked something.

[The Sceneman]

currently watching Scorpion King 3

soooooooooooooo fucking bad

It stars Billy Zane, how could it be bad?

well it's probably worth watching just to see a REALLY inept straight to DVD production. The script and characterisations are just bizarre.

Anyhow I just remembered how good the Casshern music is:

[Great Rumbler]

Altered States

What a wild ride. I wasn't blown away by it, but I love these weird, little scifi movies that delve into bizarre imagery and crazy ideas. William Hurt really brings the whole thing together, his portrayal of a man on the cusp of something truly amazing, which leaves him both excited and terrified, makes it all work. The ending was a bit flat, but it was fun getting there.

[The Sceneman]

I'll check that out, I'm a fan of that style of film also.

[Great Rumbler]

I'll check that out, I'm a fan of that style of film also.

It's like David Cronenberg plus 2001: A Space Odyssey plus the end of The Black Hole, crazy stuff.

[Mupepe]

:thumbsup for altered states

the first time I watched that movie I was on shrooms

[Eric P]

Watched Deadly Breaking Sword which is a weird fucking kung fu film.  It's not your standard 70s student seeking revenge for his killed master.  Rather a rascal teams up with the villian of the film to uh do something.  It wasn't really clear.  But lots of good fights and lots of horrible Cantonese Komedy.

edit: holy shit.  here is the full thing with english subs



This dude's channel is fucking amazing!

http://www.youtube.com/user/aumurg#g/u

[Diunx]

Watched Green Lantern, Blake Lively is so fucking hot! I wanna lick her tits and fuck her mouth.

Movie was fucking awful, the effects were laughable and Reynolds was shit as usual.