Movie News, Reviews, and Discussion Super-Thread

[chronovore]

How come Australia gets a giant robot, but Canada doesn't?   

Fuck you, del Toro! 

They have one; it's just too polite to grandstand like the other mechs are doing in their posters.

[chronovore]

Looks pretty good for an indie. That kid is going to go far, just you see.

[TakingBackSunday]

omg emma watson

[Barry Egan]

if I wanted to watch an unfunny circle-jerk that goes on way too long I'd read the GAF thread. 

[chronovore]

I dunno, I'm pretty excited about Hollywood movies which take the piss on Hollywood establishment. Looks like it also might be a stab at religion as well, since there were Rapture-like scenes.

[Great Rumbler]

[Momo]

[Great Rumbler]

I generally don't care for all-CG anime, but that looks white-hot.

[Momo]

I like that space anime is making a bit of a comeback with Yamato live action having happened + the anime. Hope they do cobra too

[Verdigris Murder]

That looks fucking awesome.

[BobFromPikeCreek]

Rumble in the Bronx. Forgot about the great montage during the credits. It's just Jackie Chan getting injured and being rushed to the hospital multiple times set to some awful rock song about hanging out with Jackie Chan.

[Eric P]

(Image removed from quote.)

Saw this on Netflix and it was interesting. It's a new take on the found footage genre.  Has anyone else seen it? What's the story on this? Fictional? Semi-fictional? IMDB doesn't have a lot of information.

it's in my queue but i think it's just fictional.  i remember reading about it when it was playing the festival circuit

[Phoenix Dark]

[chronovore]

Looks great! I can only imagine, after Drive, there are going to be a lot of tough expectations to face for this director/actor pairing.

[Great Rumbler]

I've really enjoyed Nicolas Winding Refn's previous two movies, so I'm definitely on-board for this.

[Great Rumbler]

Cosmopolis

It's hard to really judge this movie. I found it compelling, but I can't say why. It's different, there's no through-line of plot other the slow downfall of a man who has everything as he interacts with the people who make up his life but is largely unaffected by the larger events swirling around him. The progression is deliberate and slow, each scene moves at its own pace and what we're mostly treated to is the interplay of dialog between the main character and the people he meets. Dream and surreal, taking place in the real world but the real world in a way that feel...off, something isn't quite right with this world. Barring two key scenes, nothing really happens. People show up, they talk, then they vanish again. It's all steeped in philosophical ponderings, given at least the illusions of depth, often related to economics, capitalism, and wealth.

All I can say is that it found a way to interest me, whether that's just the mood or the way it was shot ultimately doesn't matter.

[The Sceneman]

I love how much they abuse the kid in the wheelchair in that movie. It was so ridiculous I can't see how you can't find it hilarious.

MY CUSHION

[BobFromPikeCreek]

Kid loved that cushion! Yay! Yay! Kyung come here! Yay!

[Eric P]

watched Paris is Burning last night and loved it.  It's strange to me that I'd never seen it.  Then i went looking for more info on the movie and literally almost every person featured in the film is fucking dead.

http://www.nytimes.com/1993/04/18/style/paris-has-burned.html

But it wasn't just Angie. Before filming was even completed in 1989, her "main daughter," Venus, a frail transsexual who in the movie dreamed of marriage and a home "in the Peekskills," was found strangled under a bed in a hotel. Since then, Kim Pendavis, filmed sewing his costumes, has died of a heart attack though he was only in his 20's. Of nine featured players, five are gone or going.

and this article comes just TWO YEARS after the documentary.

I also watched Joe Dante's The Hole which was a pg-13 horror film for kids.  It was pretty enjoyable.  nothing great but not really offensive.

[Dickie Dee]

http://www.ropeofsilicon.com/full-avengers-phase-2-video-preview-iron-man-3-ant-man-thor-2-captain-america-2-and-guardians-of-the-galaxy/

[Eric P]

The Devil's Rock is a fun little B-Movie about a New Zealand special forces team sent to demolish a bunker on an island north of France prior to D-Day.  What they find there is Nazi's dabbling in the occult.  It's kind of earnest but it does a lot with it's budget going for a handful of strong characters instead of over the top effects.  It got EC comics levels of gore but it's also got heart.  Certainly worth watching for horror fans

[chronovore]

Bought Daywatch, realized it's a sequel, bought Nightwatch, am watching it now. Pretty good so far. It's dark and has a great style about it. It has visual and tonal characteristics I associate with eastern European fantasy art.

The Devil's Rock is a fun little B-Movie about a New Zealand special forces team sent to demolish a bunker on an island north of France prior to D-Day.  What they find there is Nazi's dabbling in the occult.  It's kind of earnest but it does a lot with it's budget going for a handful of strong characters instead of over the top effects.  It got EC comics levels of gore but it's also got heart.  Certainly worth watching for horror fans

It's on iTunes, so I can grab it pretty easily.

Hey, how many of these are actually good?
http://www.pajiba.com/guides/eleven-of-the-best-movies-youve-never-seen.php

[Joe Molotov]

Hey, how many of these are actually good?
http://www.pajiba.com/guides/eleven-of-the-best-movies-youve-never-seen.php

Some of those movies, I wished were good, mainly Mirrormask and Tideland.

[Great Rumbler]

Hey, I liked Mirrormask.

[Mupepe]

Mirrormask is good. Suck it, Joe.

[Polari]

Hey, how many of these are actually good?
http://www.pajiba.com/guides/eleven-of-the-best-movies-youve-never-seen.php

Some of those movies, I wished were good, mainly Mirrormask and Tideland.

Mirrormask sucked, but I really liked Tideland and how unsettling yet beautiful it was.

[Joe Molotov]

Mirrormask is good. Suck it, Joe.

It was beautiful, but dull.

[Mandark]

The best movie you haven't seen (judging by the box office) is The Damned United.

Or maybe Cold Comfort Farm.  It's got Kate Beckinsale, Rufus Sewell, Ian McKellan, Stephen Fry, and Joanna Lumley.  C'mon!

[chronovore]

Hey, how many of these are actually good?
http://www.pajiba.com/guides/eleven-of-the-best-movies-youve-never-seen.php

Some of those movies, I wished were good, mainly Mirrormask and Tideland.

I've had Mirrormask on DVD since it went on sale. Tried to watch it once, got distracted, haven't put it back in. Let's see, that's been... a little over 7 years.

I think I've watched that crap Neverwhere BBC TV series twice in that time.

[Eric P]

Cold Comfort Farm is fun but probably not everyone's cup of tea.
HOWEVER, The Damned United is awesome and is highly recommended

Chopper - great but will probably leave you depressed
Braindead - splatstick.  Like evil dead 2?  you'll probably love this.
Coffee and Cigarettes - i didn't really like this but then i'm not really a jim jarmush fan
Starter for 10 - heard it was good but haven't actually seen it
Tideland - also haven't seen it
The Trip - see if you can find the 6 episode bbc series instead of the edited movie form
Headhunters -  haven't seen this either though it's been recommended by damn near everyone
MirrorMask - Based on a screenplay by Neil Gaiman, NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOPE
Wristcutters: A Love Story, - movie rules. a film about suicide that isn't overly mopey
Sweet Land - haven't seen it
Sound of My Voice - haven't seen it

[Eric P]

aw jeez

the director of Anguish died.

Anguish is probably the best meta horror film about the voyeuristic nature of film watching which you've never heard of.  It was one of those that I'd always seen mentioned but didn't get a chance to watch until recently. 

In Anguish's complex and intertwined plot, viewers watch an audience watching a movie nested inside Anguish called The Mommy, in which much of the story takes place in yet another theater auditorium, where that audience watches yet another movie (the silent classic, The Lost World).

Anguish's main story concerns Alice Pressman (Zelda Rubinstein), a grasping, overprotective and psychotic woman, and her crazed son, John (Michael Lerner), a serial killer who Alice controls through hypnosis and some never quite explicated paranormal domination. Her son is extremely myopic and progressing toward blindness. Alice believes that collecting eyes will mend her son's vision, and believes her own fantasy that he is a well-respected ophthalmologist (he is actually an orderly employed at an ophthalmologist's office). She sends him to collect eyes from living victims, which he does at a local theater showing The Lost World.

When the camera pulls back, a second story is revealed. Alice and Michael are the stars of The Mommy being watched by two teenage girls in a movie theater. In that theater, there is a man watching The Mommy with crazed intent.

Although the main focus of Anguish is the story of The Mommy, all the stories eventually intersect to gruesome effect.

if damage to eyes is a trigger for you, then this movie will probably fuck you up in a way you haven't been fucked up since Fulci's Zombie

[Eric P]

The Damned United is a great choice.

EDIT: Now I'm wondering if I saw Braindead or not, was it made by Peter Jackson? Cause that one was sick! or was that called Dead Alive?

same movie

[Steve Contra]

The Damn United is sooooooooo good.  I need to watch Tideland, I can't remember a movie where people I've talked to have been so viscerally turned off by watching it.

[Don Flamenco]

watched Cloud Atlas  and it's pretty darn good. 

[recursivelyenumerable]

The best movie you haven't seen (judging by the box office) is The Damned United.

Or maybe Cold Comfort Farm.  It's got Kate Beckinsale, Rufus Sewell, Ian McKellan, Stephen Fry, and Joanna Lumley.  C'mon!

I once told a girl she looked like Kate Beckinsale, she acted really flattered and I realized she probably had a different image of what that meant since I was thinking of Kate Beckinsale in CCF, but I wasn't sure what the protocol would be for correcting that

[Cerveza mas fina]

Django Unchained

Showing how fucked up slavery was to a new generation. Shit should never be forgotten. I thought I was tired of Tarantino but he does it again. Would be nice if he could not try to have so many funny gimmicks for once though, like that ending with the horse...

[Verdigris Murder]

I think Foxx was probably molested when he was little.

[Verdigris Murder]

It didn't affect his performance afaik.

[Mandark]

The best movie you haven't seen (judging by the box office) is The Damned United.

Or maybe Cold Comfort Farm.  It's got Kate Beckinsale, Rufus Sewell, Ian McKellan, Stephen Fry, and Joanna Lumley.  C'mon!

I once told a girl she looked like Kate Beckinsale, she acted really flattered and I realized she probably had a different image of what that meant since I was thinking of Kate Beckinsale in CCF, but I wasn't sure what the protocol would be for correcting that

I saw CCF when it came out and was totally smitten.  Years later it occurred to me to look up the actress on imdb and see what else she did, and I was pretty disappointed that my unique, mysterious crush had been subsumed into the already-existing Kate Beckinsale.

[Freyj]

First 15 of Evil Dead  :krs

Next hour (minus Mia moments): 

Last 15 of Evil Dead  :babylawd

Loved the nods to the original, loved the sequel or remake ambiguity.

[Polari]

Just watched The Hunt with Mads Mikkelsen. There are certainly critiques that could be made, but in the end the performances are so excellent that I would rate it among the best films I've seen for a long time.

[chronovore]

Cosmopolis

It's hard to really judge this movie. I found it compelling, but I can't say why. It's different, there's no through-line of plot other the slow downfall of a man who has everything as he interacts with the people who make up his life but is largely unaffected by the larger events swirling around him. The progression is deliberate and slow, each scene moves at its own pace and what we're mostly treated to is the interplay of dialog between the main character and the people he meets. Dream and surreal, taking place in the real world but the real world in a way that feel...off, something isn't quite right with this world. Barring two key scenes, nothing really happens. People show up, they talk, then they vanish again. It's all steeped in philosophical ponderings, given at least the illusions of depth, often related to economics, capitalism, and wealth.

All I can say is that it found a way to interest me, whether that's just the mood or the way it was shot ultimately doesn't matter.

I just realized that this is the Cronenberg movie with Pattinson. I'm stunned to hear that it is a slow-paced movie, from what the trailer showed, it looked crazed.

[Don Flamenco]

ooh, cosmopolis sounds good.  I'll check that out next.

[Great Rumbler]

I just realized that this is the Cronenberg movie with Pattinson. I'm stunned to hear that it is a slow-paced movie, from what the trailer showed, it looked crazed.

It has some crazy parts to it, but they're more surreal and dreamlike.

[BlueTsunami]

Evil Dead:

Spring Breakers:

[Positive Touch]

watched Paris is Burning last night and loved it.  It's strange to me that I'd never seen it.  Then i went looking for more info on the movie and literally almost every person featured in the film is fucking dead.

NOOOOOO :'( :'( :'( :'(

you ruined it

[BobFromPikeCreek]

I, on the other hand, thought Cosmopolis was like getting nails slammed through my penis.

[Freyj]

Evil Dead:

Spring Breakers:

I cannot convince anyone to see Spring Breakers. 

[chronovore]

I, on the other hand, thought Cosmopolis was like getting nails slammed through my penis.

Which, in and of itself, would be well within Cronenberg's oeuvre.

[Eric P]

The Corridor - ok little indie gem about  a group of friends who find something in the woods they can't begin to comprehend which tears them apart with ultimately tragic consequences.  It's a pretty good late Lovecraftian tale in that nothing is explained and that the humans are just pawns affected by madness and ego.  Not GREAT but good.  I thought it was worth my time.

[Don Flamenco]

So what's the general consensus on Cloud Atlas?   I don't really keep up with movie criticism or what people are generally saying about movies.   But I'm curious to see how my opinion matches up.   I don't mean to sound cliche but it was the first movie in years and years that really hit me with a "cinema magic" feeling...suspended disbelief, hanging on to every last word, happy as hell that it was 3 hours long---just 110% immersed for the whole thing and completely satisfied at the end.  The last highly produced film to do that was Kill Bill 1 and before that, the Matrix in theaters.  And is it just me or is compelling sci-fi rare these days?


*I haven't read the book and didn't even know it existed before this movie, so that didn't factor in at all.

I, on the other hand, thought Cosmopolis was like getting nails slammed through my penis.

hehe, i never get sick of that phrase.

[Flannel Boy]

Why was Skyfall praised so much?

[fistfulofmetal]

Evil Dead: pretty good. great effects and some really good cinematography. wasn't scary but had a lot of fun "horror" movie moments.

specific spoilery stuff:

spoiler (click to show/hide)

I found the transition from "stuff is ok" to "stuff is fucked up" to be a little awkward. this seemed to be from a poor script and an inexperienced director.

Mia as the possessed patient zero was pretty darn good however i felt we didn't get enough of her. there's a line they could have cross where she's overexposed however I didn't feel the movie even approached it. some of the specific trailer scenes with her peaking her head out from the basement trap door seemed to have been cut, which was disappointing. maybe they were trying to cut down on the cheese? i wanted more of her.

damn those effects! gore, blood, limbs, all accounted for. they really went for broke here and it pays off in spades.

I appreciate they didnt attempt to create an "Ash" character but the movie kind of suffered because of it.

THE FINAL CONFRONTATION in the RAIN OF BLOOD. Damn that was amazing. and one of the final shots with Mia stabbing a chainsaw through the monsters mouth in front of the burning cabin while it's raining blood. IT WAS AWESOME.

[close]

I really hope the inevitable unrated directors cut adds some of the cut scenes back in.

[BobFromPikeCreek]

I, on the other hand, thought Cosmopolis was like getting nails slammed through my penis.

Which, in and of itself, would be well within Cronenberg's oeuvre.

It's too bad we lost THAT Cronenberg long ago. :'(

[Don Flamenco]

no guns being pulled out of vaginas that are growing on James Woods' body in cosmopolis, i take it

[BlueTsunami]

Evil Dead:

Spring Breakers:

I cannot convince anyone to see Spring Breakers. 

Its definitely a movie that's pretty depressing to see by yourself. Kidnap someone.

[BobFromPikeCreek]

no guns being pulled out of vaginas that are growing on James Woods' body in cosmopolis, i take it

No, more like characters with nothing to say talking in a limo for two hours.

[chronovore]

Why was Skyfall praised so much?

It, perhaps better than other Bond movies in quite some time, captures just how broken the Bond character is. If you like Roger Moore's flawless and cheesy Bond, or Pierce Brosnan's impervious, dickish Bond better than Sean Connery or George Lazenby's violent, self-hating, on the edge Bond, this turn probably doesn't work very well.

The womanizing and alcoholism aren't meant to be cool, they're symptomatic of his problems. Here we saw Bond at past the end of his rope, failing, but never giving up, and willing to sacrifice everything for the job.

Also, Javier Bardem is a very good bad guy, which also goes a long way.

Lastly, it didn't suck as bad as Quantum of Solace, so everyone is relieved to see we're on the upswing again.

[Cormacaroni]

in other words, deconstructing another adolescent fantasy

[Barry Egan]

Goldeneye was also attempting something like this by way of 006.