NOW CLOSED ; List some movies you've watched recently. Theatre, rental, TV... and give a */10

[KeithTalent]

Like Tinto Brass?

I think more like the opposite of Tinto.

KT

 

[slayer202]

I didn't watch anything last night, but I did see Chris Rock at the supermarket. Does that count? :awe: his beard is awesome

 

[shortylickens]

I think more like the opposite of Tinto.

KT

I think I just lost interest.

 

[KeithTalent]

I didn't watch anything last night, but I did see Chris Rock at the supermarket. Does that count? :awe: his beard is awesome

Nice! He is awesome. Heard him on WTF recently and he was great.

KT

 

[slayer202]

I should have asked him if he was really re-making High and Low. And then offered him my girlfriend if he agreed not to

 

[slayer202]

nice quick read

http://www.gq.com/moty/2011/michael-fassbender-gq-men-of-the-year-issue

 

[Locut0s]

Immortals - 4.5/10: Really this film deserves less but I'm rating it for the type of film it is. Think 300 crossed with The Matrix and you get the idea. Cool visuals, and the art direction is quite good in places, but 300 was more consistent in this respect. Some of the costume work seems particularly sloppy here. The power the gods possessed was quite satisfyingly viscerally represented. Your typical slow mo kung fu bloodshed but better executed than in a lot of such films. Instead of a sword ballet they manage to convey a sense of awesome power better than you might expect. Sadly where any film really counts, characters, script, dialogue, plot, Immortals falls flat, sometimes laughably so. Theseus and his companions are mostly flat forgettable characters, and saddled with some horrible dialogue to boot. Mickey Rourke as Hyperion does a better job but that's not saying a lot. And I know his voice is naturally hoarse but by god if I see another film where he plays it up like he has throat cancer I'm going to walk out. Freida Pinto is suitably hot but is little more than eye candy. You have you typical scenes of armies thousands strong running across the desert, throngs of extras thwacking each other with cardboard swords, and yes a "rousing" speech by our protagonist. If all you want to see is comic book Greek mythology it's okay, notice I didn't say good, but even in the genre of comic book art house flicks there are much better films (Sin City for example). If story, character, plot, and the like mean much to you, you won't find much here. Still as a pure popcorn muncher it could be worse.

 

[shortylickens]

I dont know why, but....
http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0691061/
I like this dude.

 

[Locut0s]

I dont know why, but....
http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0691061/
I like this dude.

Like as in like. Or like as in LOL I can't believe it's this bad, OMFG LMFAO at the dialogue, like?

 

[KeithTalent]

Stardust - 7/10: Essentially a kids movie, with a bit of a Princess Bride feel to it, though lacking some of the heart and humour of that film. That said I did enjoy this more than I expected; the story of the main young man chasing down a fallen star, played but Claire Daines who I've always found quite hot, is actually quite similar to most youthful love stories, but it had a fair amount of heart and I was sucked in for the ride pretty early on. Michelle Pfeiffer and Mark Strong were both great in separate bad guy roles, chasing after the main characters; they added some great character to the roles. The ending was kind of silly and as a kids films it was definitely cheesy in parts, but it was definitely more enjoyable than I would have imagined.

Shotgun Stories - 9.5/10: The first feature from Jeff Nichols, the guy who directed Take Shelter, and in my opinion it's a better film. IT stars Michael Shannon again, in a small town drama about a group of brother dealing caught up in a rivalry with the new family of their Father's who abandoned them as youngsters. I loved this movie. Shannon was awesome, as always, but the relationships and the constant tension between the two families just worked better for me in this movie than any of the more difficult moments in Take Shelter. It's slow in parts, but damn, I was wrapped right up in this one and loved every minuted of it. slayer: you need to watch this and post your thoughts. Really looking forward to his next film "Mud".

Melancholia - 9/10: First off I have to say I'm a huge Lars Von Trier fan, with Dogville being one of my favourite movies of all time, so this movie was probably my most anticipated film of the year and while it's no Dogville, it was a very impressive piece of film-making. The cast is fantastic; Kirsten Dunst (hell of a body!) as the bride, Kiefer Sutherland as the brother-in-law, and a tonne of others who you'll recognize (Gainsbourg, Skarsgård (2 of them), Hurt, Udo Kier, Rampling) and the film overall is just beautiful to look at. It starts similarly to Antichrist, with a music montage compiling various images about 10 minutes long, then a scrawled titled card, but the film itself, while still exploring the difficulties of a woman's life and getting into the pain of depression, does not get as graphic as Antichrist, which I think is a good thing for this particular film. Using the world of Melancholia as the metaphor for Dunst's depression as it slowly approaches Earth and it's imminent destruction worked very well; you get the contrast of the family dysfunction with the slowly approaching planet and the end of the world. Everything I've said has made it sound like an extremely depressing film, but there are some very funny scenes and throughout there are a tonne of amazing things to look at; so many beautifully framed scenes and brilliant shots, there is really never a point where you are wanting for something to look at. Definitely up there with my favourite films of the year and while it's not for everyone, it is most assuredly more accessible than Antichrist.

Kiss Me Deadly - 7/10: A 1955 piece of film noir from Robert Aldrich which takes a Mickey Spillane novel (one of the many Mike Hammer stories) to the screen. It started very strong, but it slowed down after the first 15 minutes or so and stayed that way until about an hour in when things started to pick up again. I did like the character of Hammer and his gruffness as he tried to uncover why the woman he encountered at the beginning was killed, I just wish some of the dialogue was as snappy as some of the other noir I've watched. It did have a few good lines, but I was hoping for more. That said it was a good movie and loved some of the technological advancements shown here (this has to be the first movie I've seen where someone had an actual answering machine). Oh and while I'm not a car guy at all, I absolutely fell in love with Hammer's 1954 Corvette; good lord I want one now.

KT

 

[KeithTalent]

Cold Souls - 8/10
What if you could sell your soul to the Devil, at a crossroads? Of course you wouldn't do that. But, what if your soul was weighing you down, and you could have it removed and safely stored by an upstanding doctor running an upscale practice, who's name sounds Jewish, and has an ad in the yellow pages? Well, that doesn't sound so bad, anymore. Sadly, the business is not regulated yet, and there is a black market for souls. Luckily, it does not turn into a spy or gangster caper, but rather a light comedy of errors with a side dish of self discovery. If you like Terry Gilliam movies, and/or Neil Gaiman's novels, consider giving it a watch.

I thought this was an interesting film, with an awesome concept, but the actual execution of it all left me a bit flat. Good movie, but a bit disappointing to me.

Immortals - 4.5/10: Really this film deserves less but I'm rating it for the type of film it is. Think 300 crossed with The Matrix and you get the idea. Cool visuals, and the art direction is quite good in places, but 300 was more consistent in this respect. Some of the costume work seems particularly sloppy here. The power the gods possessed was quite satisfyingly viscerally represented. Your typical slow mo kung fu bloodshed but better executed than in a lot of such films. Instead of a sword ballet they manage to convey a sense of awesome power better than you might expect. Sadly where any film really counts, characters, script, dialogue, plot, Immortals falls flat, sometimes laughably so. Theseus and his companions are mostly flat forgettable characters, and saddled with some horrible dialogue to boot. Mickey Rourke as Hyperion does a better job but that's not saying a lot. And I know his voice is naturally hoarse but by god if I see another film where he plays it up like he has throat cancer I'm going to walk out. Freida Pinto is suitably hot but is little more than eye candy. You have you typical scenes of armies thousands strong running across the desert, throngs of extras thwacking each other with cardboard swords, and yes a "rousing" speech by our protagonist. If all you want to see is comic book Greek mythology it's okay, notice I didn't say good, but even in the genre of comic book art house flicks there are much better films (Sin City for example). If story, character, plot, and the like mean much to you, you won't find much here. Still as a pure popcorn muncher it could be worse.

I have a strange compulsion to watch this movie. I like Tarsam's previous stuff, but it looks so much like 300, a movie I found very boring, that I'm unsure. I guess it will just be a rental.

KT

 

[Locut0s]

Melancholia - 9/10: First off I have to say I'm a huge Lars Von Trier fan, with Dogville being one of my favourite movies of all time, so this movie was probably my most anticipated film of the year and while it's no Dogville, it was a very impressive piece of film-making. The cast is fantastic; Kirsten Dunst (hell of a body!) as the bride, Kiefer Sutherland as the brother-in-law, and a tonne of others who you'll recognize (Gainsbourg, Skarsgård (2 of them), Hurt, Udo Kier, Rampling) and the film overall is just beautiful to look at. It starts similarly to Antichrist, with a music montage compiling various images about 10 minutes long, then a scrawled titled card, but the film itself, while still exploring the difficulties of a woman's life and getting into the pain of depression, does not get as graphic as Antichrist, which I think is a good thing for this particular film. Using the world of Melancholia as the metaphor for Dunst's depression as it slowly approaches Earth and it's imminent destruction worked very well; you get the contrast of the family dysfunction with the slowly approaching planet and the end of the world. Everything I've said has made it sound like an extremely depressing film, but there are some very funny scenes and throughout there are a tonne of amazing things to look at; so many beautifully framed scenes and brilliant shots, there is really never a point where you are wanting for something to look at. Definitely up there with my favourite films of the year and while it's not for everyone, it is most assuredly more accessible than Antichrist.

Added to the list. Thanks. Having had clinical depression for a long time I'm quite curious to see some artistic takes on it.

 

[KeithTalent]

Added to the list. Thanks. Having had clinical depression for a long time I'm quite curious to see some artistic takes on it.

Honestly, having dealt with my wife who was/is clinically depressed, and who was ultimately diagnosed bipolar, I really related to some of the family members here, particularly the husband. Some tough scenes for me actually.

KT

 

[Locut0s]

I have a strange compulsion to watch this movie. I like Tarsam's previous stuff, but it looks so much like 300, a movie I found very boring, that I'm unsure. I guess it will just be a rental.

KT

There's a real sense here that this COULD have been a great film. There's hints of some great stuff lurking under the surface. A few scenes feel like they have been lifted from a MUCH better film, I'd call this ghost film "an art house dirge on Greek mythology". One example off the top of my head is the beginning scene showing the caged Titans. Another very brief example is one shot where a soldiers head transitions into a skull like boat rowing on a sea of oil. But you only catch glimpses of this other film.

 

[busydude]

I just watched The Independence Day again after a long time. Cannot believe how cheesy it is! Yuk!

 

[Locut0s]

Honestly, having dealt with my wife who was/is clinically depressed, and who was ultimately diagnosed bipolar, I really related to some of the family members here, particularly the husband. Some tough scenes for me actually.

KT

Sorry to hear that. It's something that's kind of screwed up my whole life. Don't worry I won't post any more than that here

 

[Locut0s]

I just watched The Independence Day again after a long time. Cannot believe how cheesy it is! Yuk!

You mean Independence Day, minus the 'The', right? The one staring Will Smith? Yeah, but then it was meant to be cheesy from the beginning. It's tongue in cheek campy through and through.

 

[busydude]

You mean Independence Day, minus the 'The', right? The one staring Will Smith? Yeah, but then it was meant to be cheesy from the beginning. It's tongue in cheek campy through and through.

Yeah just Independence day.

 

[Cerb]

I thought this was an interesting film, with an awesome concept, but the actual execution of it all left me a bit flat. Good movie, but a bit disappointing to me.

While it definitely had the low budget rough edges, I thought it was fairly well done. The described plot of losing and gaining back the soul, and any exploration of that concept beyond the superficial, though, was very much a McGuffin.

 

[slayer202]

Shotgun Stories - 9.5/10: The first feature from Jeff Nichols, the guy who directed Take Shelter, and in my opinion it's a better film. IT stars Michael Shannon again, in a small town drama about a group of brother dealing caught up in a rivalry with the new family of their Father's who abandoned them as youngsters. I loved this movie. Shannon was awesome, as always, but the relationships and the constant tension between the two families just worked better for me in this movie than any of the more difficult moments in Take Shelter. It's slow in parts, but damn, I was wrapped right up in this one and loved every minuted of it. slayer: you need to watch this and post your thoughts. Really looking forward to his next film "Mud".
KT

Pushed to the top of my Netflix DVD queue. Looking forward to it, thanks! Hope we aren't split on it like Take Shelter. Not sure if I've seen anything about Mud, I have to look that up.

And very nice review on Melancholia. It's on-demand here for $7, so I think I'll probably just watch it at home since I can't find a theater anyway.

 

[lykaon78]

Battle: Los Angeles - 7/10 - I was expecting very little but was presently surprised. Movie is sporadically running on the STARS network if you want to catch it.

 

[slayer202]

Insidious - 6.5/10:
Not a good movie, tough one to rate. You've heard it before, the first half is great, the second half is total junk. This 103 minute movie felt at least two hours long, but maybe that's because I started to fall asleep about three quarters through.

I gave it a decent rating because most horror movies do suck, and you get a decent amount of a good movie here. The beginning is interesting, and it is scary. After that it gets ridiculous, but horror fans might not mind, I'm not sure.

Rose Byrne probably adds at least a half point as well.

 

[lokiju]

Immortals - 4.5/10: Really this film deserves less but I'm rating it for the type of film it is. Think 300 crossed with The Matrix and you get the idea. Cool visuals, and the art direction is quite good in places, but 300 was more consistent in this respect. Some of the costume work seems particularly sloppy here. The power the gods possessed was quite satisfyingly viscerally represented. Your typical slow mo kung fu bloodshed but better executed than in a lot of such films. Instead of a sword ballet they manage to convey a sense of awesome power better than you might expect. Sadly where any film really counts, characters, script, dialogue, plot, Immortals falls flat, sometimes laughably so. Theseus and his companions are mostly flat forgettable characters, and saddled with some horrible dialogue to boot. Mickey Rourke as Hyperion does a better job but that's not saying a lot. And I know his voice is naturally hoarse but by god if I see another film where he plays it up like he has throat cancer I'm going to walk out. Freida Pinto is suitably hot but is little more than eye candy. You have you typical scenes of armies thousands strong running across the desert, throngs of extras thwacking each other with cardboard swords, and yes a "rousing" speech by our protagonist. If all you want to see is comic book Greek mythology it's okay, notice I didn't say good, but even in the genre of comic book art house flicks there are much better films (Sin City for example). If story, character, plot, and the like mean much to you, you won't find much here. Still as a pure popcorn muncher it could be worse.

I saw this as well. It was entertaining for what it was meant to be, eye candy.

There was pretty much no character development and some pretty laughable moments though it might of just been following the Greek mythology on those points.

Oracle and Zeus's daughter were both pretty smoking hot but otherwise added nothing to the films like almost every single actor.

Still if you go into it knowing these things and just want to turn your brain off and enjoy the visuals it's still worth seeing at some point IMO.

 

[busydude]

Hugo looks like a winner.

 

[slayer202]

Yeah. Seems like one of those cable movies you can just watch whenever, but nothing to get overly excited about.

KT

I just watched the first 30 minutes of Red Riding Trilogy Part 1(1974) and I'm awfully close to cutting my losses and quitting now. It's a very beautiful movie, but the acting is so-so, the dialogue is bordering on bad, and it just isn't very interesting. It seems like it's going down the path of being "it's 3 movies, so you get somewhat invested in the story, so the twists are cool" but I don't really want to waste my time with that :/ Then again, it could be methodically building to something great, but since KT has watched it already, I don't think I'd be missing much.

Oh, and it's really hard to believe the baby-faced andrew garfield as a drinking, smoking, hard-hitting and experienced journalist. And I'm having a hard time with the accents