Last Movie You Watched V. 1.0

[terpkristin]

21 5.5/10

Pretty boring. I've never read the book, though I've heard it's a lot better than the movie was. For a movie that could've had a good story and decent action, it fell pretty flat. Guess I shouldn't be surprised, not generally a fan of Spacey.

Watching Multiplicity now. Probably will give it a 7.

/tk

[Autumn]

Moulin Rouge - 9/10: The first 15 or so minutes were a bit strange and off putting IMO (not sure why), but then it was pitch perfect after that (no pun intended).

This is exactly right, I wonder how many people turned the movie off after the first few minutes. I remember thinking, "what is this shit" but the rest of the movie is nothing like those first few minutes. Very odd.

[Groundhog]

Sukiyaki Western Django - 7.5/10<O:p</O:p
<O:p</O:p

OK, this is a pretty ridiculous movie. It's basically a spoof on the Spaghetti Western genre, directed by Takashi Miike, and is a cowboy movie set in Japan. All the actors are Japanese and speak English in horribly accented voices to spoof the Italian movies of the 70s - thank god for subtitles on the DVD release, can't imagine seeing this in the cinema without them - and it even has Quentin Tarrantino playing a gunslinger for about 15 mins of screen time. Completely over the top violence and storyline, but an enjoyable viewing experience.

[ISiddiqui]

This is exactly right, I wonder how many people turned the movie off after the first few minutes. I remember thinking, "what is this shit" but the rest of the movie is nothing like those first few minutes. Very odd.

Indeed... very jarring. But perhaps it is to show how weird and confused Christian's experiences were being a new immigrant to Paris' bohemian culture.

[terpkristin]

Watching Multiplicity now. Probably will give it a 7.

/tk

Multiplicity 7.5/10
Cute, but dragged on a little long. It felt very mid/late-90's.

/tk

[Grammaticus]

Dead Man's Shoes 7.5/10

This is a low budget English movie. No big name actors included. It is about a brother that comes home from the war and finds out his little brother (mentally slow) was terrorized by the local thugs. It has a really good twist at the end. I thought it was going to be a slasher movie as the brother is seeking revenge of sorts. The music is great for the film and the scenes are strange and intriguing. It is interlaced with lots of flashbacks that unfold the backstory as the current action progresses. A lot of the movie takes place out doors. Really good for a low budget flick that you can stream on Netflix.

[Grammaticus]

Sphere 5/10

Not bad, it is watchable. It is one of those movies where the concept is really good and the movie starts out very interesting and progresses building up strong anticipation. But then it just tapers off and you feel like they really screwed up with the ending. Could have went somewhere good. It is disappointing when you look at who is in the cast: Dustin Hoffman, Samuel Jackson, Sharon Stone, Queen Latifah. I think it is a 1998 release.

The movie is about an Alien space craft that is found on the bottom of the ocean and a crew of specialists go down in a sub to an underwater station to investigate the finding.

[Pyser]

Sphere 5/10

Not bad, it is watchable. It is one of those movies where the concept is really good and the movie starts out very interesting and progresses building up strong anticipation. But then it just tapers off and you feel like they really screwed up with the ending. Could have went somewhere good. It is disappointing when you look at who is in the cast: Dustin Hoffman, Samuel Jackson, Sharon Stone, Queen Latifah. I think it is a 1998 release.

The movie is about an Alien space craft that is found on the bottom of the ocean and a crew of specialists go down in a sub to an underwater station to investigate the finding.

great book. horrendous movie.

[thesloppy]

Dead Man's Shoes 7.5/10

This is a low budget English movie. No big name actors included. It is about a brother that comes home from the war and finds out his little brother (mentally slow) was terrorized by the local thugs. It has a really good twist at the end. I thought it was going to be a slasher movie as the brother is seeking revenge of sorts. The music is great for the film and the scenes are strange and intriguing. It is interlaced with lots of flashbacks that unfold the backstory as the current action progresses. A lot of the movie takes place out doors. Really good for a low budget flick that you can stream on Netflix.

This is one of my favorite flicks (and I think it's raved over by both Schmidty and I earlier in this thread), Paddy Considine nails it. I'd also totally recommend you check out Shane Meadows other movie, the semi-biographical 'This is England' about a kid growing up in late '80s England, and getting drawn into the English working-class skinhead culture. Like 'Dead Man's Shoes', it's also helped by an awesome soundtrack.

[boberot]

District 9 [6 / 10]

I agree with much of what's been written here. Reading about how it is the next great entry into the sci fi canon in mainstream reviews and whatnot got me really jacked up for this, and I was ultimately disappointed.

I think setting it in South Africa was a clumsy and heavy-handed nod to Apartheid [although I realize the director is from SA and the no-name actors were a bargain].

I also thought the movie had a bit of an identity crisis, going from documentary-style sociological flick to splatterfest to alien-human buddy film to Rambo-style me-against-the-world impossible mission, etc.

That is not to say I think it's completely without merit. The CGI was impressive and I think the van der Merwe [sp?] character was acted pretty well.

[boberot]

Forgot to mention that this movie made me yearn for real journalism today. I think the last true journalist may have been Ed Bradley, who passed away in 06. I suppose that in today's era of cable and 24-hour news and the internet, it's hard to have real journalism, but I can't tell you how sick I am of Michael Jackson stories, of stories of celebs (or pseud-celebs like reality stars), or octo-mom or Jon & Kate + 8 dominating the "news." Sometimes I think it might have been more interesting to live in a less-connected time.

/tk

There's always Bill Moyers.
I also think Frontline is usually tremendous.

Beyond that . . . . um . . . .

[DataKing]

Slumdog Millionaire (9/10): Finally got around to seeing this one last night, and I really enjoyed it. I can't speak for the authenticity of the movie (what the Mumbai slums are like, etc), but it felt real, and I guess that's the most important thing. I've always enjoyed stories that are told outside of chronological order, and this one uses a series of flashbacks to tell it's story very well. You really develop a sense of empathy with the main character, Jamal. I have a couple of small nit-picks with the movie, but nothing that detracted from what was just a really entertaining story. It tells its story and gets its points across without a lot of cheesy melodrama. Very well done.

[RomaGoth]

Doubt 8/10

Good flick about allegations facing a priest in the Catholic Church. There was one scene in particular that was very....tense. Not a great or exceptional film by most standards, but I enjoyed it and it did what it was supposed to: keep me interested.

[Schmidty]

"Yes, you're very smart. Shut up."

[Big Fo]

I hadn't been to a movie theater in several years but went to see District 9 today, it's really good. I actually kind of liked how the movie changed from semi-documentary to more action as Wikus's circumstances changed. Some of the alien weapons were badass, especially the one that basically vaporized the target and the mech that stopped all the bullets from one of the Nigerian gangs, balled them up, and sent them right back at the shooters. I liked the varying reactions to the alien presence from man on the street disgust and fear to "how can we best exploit them" from both the gangs and MNU to other organizations formed out of concern for their rights and well being. I was delighted to read that a sequel is likely after coming home from the theater, there are a few different ways the director could go with it that would be interesting. The fates of Wikus, Chris, an invasion?, the transition to District 10, and I've also read the director and the actor who played Wikus find the idea of a prequel intriguing.

21 5.5/10

Pretty boring. I've never read the book, though I've heard it's a lot better than the movie was. For a movie that could've had a good story and decent action, it fell pretty flat. Guess I shouldn't be surprised, not generally a fan of Spacey.


Yeah, the movie was kind of disappointing after reading the book.

[RainMaker]

I Love You, Man (3 out of 10) - Everyone seemed to love this movie but I just found it slow and boring. A few decent jokes but nothing gut busting. Surprising too since the cast is very deep with funny people. I like Paul Rudd but this role isn't what he's best at (the super nice guy). Jason Segal was decent but didn't think he meshed well with Rudd.

The majority of the jokes were built around awkward dialogue and situations. I just thought the plot was extremely boring. Storylines that should have been really funny weren't (Andy Samberg as the gay brother for instance). Just seems like an awesome cast put together to work on a movie that didn't know how to use any of them well.

And it's not that I'm against this kind of comedy. I did like Forgetting Sarah Marshall and Role Models a lot.

[NewIdentity]

Inglorious Basterds - 9/10

Am I the only one on the face of the Planet that thought Pulp Fiction sucked? The only thing that kept me away from Basterds was everyone saying it was Tarantino's best work since Pulp Fiction. Thank God this movie was nothing like Pulp Fiction. There was nothing about this movie that I did not like.

I took my 60 year old Dad to this movie and he also really enjoyed it.

[Karlifornia]

Inglorious Basterds - 9/10

Am I the only one on the face of the Planet that thought Pulp Fiction sucked? .
I never thought I would start an ignore list.

[Pyser]

moon - 8/10

i dont even like rockwell and i thought he was fantastic in this. very solid sci-fi movie from david bowie's son.

[molson]

Doubt 8/10

Good flick about allegations facing a priest in the Catholic Church. There was one scene in particular that was very....tense. Not a great or exceptional film by most standards, but I enjoyed it and it did what it was supposed to: keep me interested.

I would concur with that rating - I thought Hoffman and Streep were just terrific and interesting to watch. Just A+ acting.

[Lorena]

Election - 7.5/10

Chinese movie about a couple of gangsters wanting power so bad they'd kill for it. It had sort of a Godfather feel to it. Definitely recommend it for anyone into these types movies. It takes a bit to set up, but worth it.

Undefeatable - 4.5/10

I think Neon Chaos posted this awesome clip

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<embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/uxkr4wS7XqY&hl=en&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" height="344" width="425"></object>

it was so good, I had to see it. Spare yourself the hour 20 minutes, this is the best scene in the movie. I had high hopes for the cheesy lines, over choreographed fight scenes, but was left extremely disappointed. Some parts were so bad, they were good, but the really, really bad acting was too much.

[Crim]

That was 3 min 16 sec well spent. The hair alone made my day complete.

[thesloppy]

Election - 7.5/10

Chinese movie about a couple of gangsters wanting power so bad they'd kill for it. It had sort of a Godfather feel to it. Definitely recommend it for anyone into these types movies. It takes a bit to set up, but worth it.

Undefeatable - 4.5/10


it was so good, I had to see it. Spare yourself the hour 20 minutes, this is the best scene in the movie. I had high hopes for the cheesy lines, over choreographed fight scenes, but was left extremely disappointed. Some parts were so bad, they were good, but the really, really bad acting was too much.

Election is good stuff, there is also a sequel, 'Triad Election' that is also pretty good. I got thrown off in the beginning of 'Election' by how many old, pudgy hong kong gangsters in glasses, called Uncle Something-or-other, I was being asked to remember and differentiate, but that worked itself out eventually.

Also, my favorite part of Undefeatable (aside from the awesome ending fight scene) involves some sort of gangleader trying to intimidate the main character, while shakily balancing on top of a few large cardboard boxes, while squishing an apple in his hand. Frightening!

[stevew]

"Hot Rod"-7/10

Picked this one up out of the walmart bin for 3 bucks a few weeks ago. Finally got around to seeing it. If you like Samberg, you'll like the movie. It's pretty uneven though, but it has some funny parts.

[Honolulu_Blue]

District 9 - 8/10

I finally got around to seeing this. This was only the second movie of the summer I've seen (the other being "Star Trek"). I thought it was quite good. I really loved the documentary framing device used throughout the movie.

The actor who played the main character, Wikus, was fantastic. I guess he'd never been in a movie before, which makes it even that much more impressive. He really captured the essence of a low-level, somewhat nerdy bureaucrat. He was generally a good guy, but obessesed with finding rules violations and while not out right vicious, was still part of the machine and so not above prejudices against the aliens. Having lived in Europe for 3 years and having to deal with bureaucrats a number of times, I felt like he really nailed it.

I noticed some of the earlier comments about how it took a while to get to the good stuff. I would disagree. I think the best part of the film and most original part of the film was the first half or so. I think the movie squandered some of its originality as it shifted into somewhat of a buddy-action movie to fair. Instead of maintaining its originality it fell back a number of action movie/buddy movie cliches. That said, the action during those scenes was really quite cool thanks to some awesome effects they dreamed up for the alien weaponry. As someone noted above, it was like someone had played a bunch of FSPs and wanted to incorporate all the best weapons from games into the movie.

I also really liked the Niegerian gang angle. They act as a great foil to the big corporation. Not to put too fine a point on it, but both sides want to the same thing: consume their enemy to gain his strength. I think it is a very conscious decision by the director to have two distinct sets of oppressors, one essentially black, one essentially white.

The film was so much better than most "sci-fi" crap we get today, that it was refreshing to see something original and at least with a little bit of thought in it.

[Noop]

District 9 (9/10)

I thought the movie was great and I found the main character's plight to be very engaging. The whole premise of the movie as well as the setting was great and I enjoyed it.

[Noop]

World's Greatest Dad (10/10)

I absolutely love this movie. It is dark comedy and has some of the most interesting characters I have ever seen on the screen, especially the son. I thought Robin Williams nailed the role of the father and you kinda feel his pain through out the movie.

I thought some of the minor characters added a lot to the movie as well especially the best friend.

[Greyroofoo]

Watchmen (5/10)

Great visuals but otherwise just a bunch of contrived BS.

[Lorena]

Inglorious Basterds - 8.5/10

Loved the score, Brad Pitt was hilarious, and Christoph Waltz was very entertaining, but I would have liked more Basterd screen time.

Mike Meyers wasn't even funny but I still laughed.

Quarantine - 6/10

Reporter and cameraman get trapped in a quarantined apartment complex with people whom are believed to have rabies. No power and no outside communication they have to find a way to escape.

The camerawork was similar to Cloverfield with shaky cam throughout.

[ISiddiqui]

I would have liked more Basterd screen time.

It would have taken away from the Shoshanna screen time, so I'd be opposed to such things :mad:

[Lorena]

It would have taken away from the Shoshanna screen time, so I'd be opposed to such things :mad:

She was definitely a great character!

[Chief Rum]

It would have taken away from the Shoshanna screen time, so I'd be opposed to such things :mad:

Bull. I say longer movie, and leave all the Shoshanna stuff in. If a movie's well done, don't much matter how long it is. I coulda watched a longer Inglorious Basterds and been perfectly fine. I think I said after I saw it, too, that (like Lorena), I was disappointed not to see more Basterd footage behind the lines.

[ISiddiqui]

Longer movie? It's already 2 and a half hours long!!

You can wait for the extra scenes in the DVD :p.

[Lorena]

Ong Bak: The Thai Warrior - 9/10

A Buddha head is stolen from a small village and Ting (Tony Jaa) is asked to get it back.

If you're a fan of martial arts and haven't seen this movie, you *must* see it. The action sequences were amazing. There were no stunt doubles, no wires, nothing. The main actor (Tony Jaa) is kicking people in the face, elbowing their heads, and the fire scene... dang. And to think that was really him... wow.

Thanks Yellow5 for the recommendation, it was a seriously awesome film. I'm gonna keep my eye out for Tony Jaa, this guy is goin' places.

[Chief Rum]

Longer movie? It's already 2 and a half hours long!!

You can wait for the extra scenes in the DVD :p.

Heh heh, like I said, if it's quality, make it as long as you like!

[Chief Rum]

Ong Bak: The Thai Warrior - 9/10

A Buddha head is stolen from a small village and Ting (Tony Jaa) is asked to get it back.

If you're a fan of martial arts and haven't seen this movie, you *must* see it. The action sequences were amazing. There were no stunt doubles, no wires, nothing. The main actor (Tony Jaa) is kicking people in the face, elbowing their heads, and the fire scene... dang. And to think that was really him... wow.

Thanks Yellow5 for the recommendation, it was a seriously awesome film. I'm gonna keep my eye out for Tony Jaa, this guy is goin' places.

I think Ong Bak II is coming out next month, IIRC.

Haven't checked this out yet, but I enjoy good martial arts flicks. SOunds like I should take a look at this one.

[Schmidty]

Maybe I just went in expecting too much given what I've heard and how much I like these guys normally, but I watched this Saturday afternoon with a few others and we were all really disappointed. Some funny parts no doubt, but the movie was more awkward and painful to watch than any comedy I've seen recently. Some scenes, like towards the end when Segal's character shows up at the wedding and him and Rudd's character exchange names for each other just went on way too long. It also bothered me how Rudd's character was very gay.

A rare miss from this group, unfortunately. 6/10 for me.

It was supposed to be awkward - That was the entire point of the movie. And I only give it like a 6.

[Schmidty]

Inglorious Basterds - 9/10

Am I the only one on the face of the Planet that thought Pulp Fiction sucked?

NO!!! I hate that movie, but love every other Tarintino movie. I want to see this one, but I think'll take a lot to top Kill Bill for me.

[Alan T]

Wife and I went to see District 9 on Saturday night. I think about 15 minutes into the movie she had her "what in the world did you just take me to see" face on. By the time the movie was over and we were leaving, I think she warmed up to the point of thinking it was an "ok" movie and not complete waste of time and money.

As for me, I thought it was fine. I think I was a victim of too high of expectations. From everyone saying how wonderful of a movie it was, I was expecting greatness. In the end, I felt it was a unique movie, a neat idea that wasn't like the norm. For pure entertainment value though, it was just simply ok. If I hadn't gone in thinking it was so wonderful I probably would have enjoyed it more I think.

[Lorena]

NO!!! I hate that movie, but love every other Tarintino movie. I want to see this one, but I think'll take a lot to top Kill Bill for me.

Just go see it, pretend you didn't read any of the reviews!

[Lorena]

Wife and I went to see District 9 on Saturday night. I think about 15 minutes into the movie she had her "what in the world did you just take me to see" face on. By the time the movie was over and we were leaving, I think she warmed up to the point of thinking it was an "ok" movie and not complete waste of time and money.

As for me, I thought it was fine. I think I was a victim of too high of expectations. From everyone saying how wonderful of a movie it was, I was expecting greatness. In the end, I felt it was a unique movie, a neat idea that wasn't like the norm. For pure entertainment value though, it was just simply ok. If I hadn't gone in thinking it was so wonderful I probably would have enjoyed it more I think.

:+1:

[Lorena]

I think Ong Bak II is coming out next month, IIRC.

Haven't checked this out yet, but I enjoy good martial arts flicks. SOunds like I should take a look at this one.

Definitely. If u have Netflix, it's on their Watch Instantly feature so make sure u add it as soon as u finish reading this post :)

[ISiddiqui]

Heh heh, like I said, if it's quality, make it as long as you like!

Only if you can outfit me with a larger bladder :p.

[larrymcg421]

"No good movie is too long and no bad movie is short enough."
Roger Ebert

[Fidatelo]

Adventureland - 6/10

I got all hyped up about this by listening to the BS Report which had Bill Hader, whom I think is awesome, as the guest. Unfortunately the movie has about 3 minutes of Bill Hader and 100 minutes of some dude trying to be Michael Cera but not pulling it off. Overall a pretty middling movie, standard rom-com type of plot, but without much actual com. Disappointing.

[Qwikshot]

Bull. I say longer movie, and leave all the Shoshanna stuff in. If a movie's well done, don't much matter how long it is. I coulda watched a longer Inglorious Basterds and been perfectly fine. I think I said after I saw it, too, that (like Lorena), I was disappointed not to see more Basterd footage behind the lines.

To me, this is the failure of this movie...it's like a bit Patton Oswalt uses in his stand-up about a heroin junkie who did stand-up, he'd do the set-up and exposition but he would passout during the bit and he's merging three diffent bits into one long rambling bit. But as Patton would say, the guy killed.

Back to Basterds and you see the same thing, there are 3 distinct storylines: Shoshana, Basterds, Operation Kino that all kind of mash-up by the end, but you really miss out on alot of the story. Much like the junkie, the movie is oddly fascinating, I mean you have the 1st chapter as a Western set-up alone, the 2nd chapter was very much in the vein of a WW2 flick, the 3rd act seemed to me at least when the big face is on the movie screen to echo "1984" in a way.

The coolest scene for me was when Eli Roth's character comes out of the darkness with bat in hand and points to the German sergeant about his medal. "For bravery" the sergeant says (mind you before this he was steadfastly defiant in giving away any information), and then Roth proceeds to bash him apart. To me, that was the defining statement aside from Shoshana's kiss-off to the Nazis, which is it doesn't matter who you are, you are going to pay, and it doesn't matter if you are nobel, brave, cowardly or deceitful, if you wore a Nazi uniform you were getting it one way or another.

I liked the movie, I just think that it was just a series of big scenes connected by a rather unimportant plot.

[ISiddiqui]

I liked the movie, I just think that it was just a series of big scenes connected by a rather unimportant plot.

Well that's kinda Tarentino's way.

[boberot]

Tootsie [9/10]

Practically the perfect comedy. Dustin Hoffman's acting is tremendous. And, even though I see it every few years or so, I always seem to forget that Bill Murray is in it and is really damn funny.

[Lorena]

I think Ong Bak II is coming out next month, IIRC.

Haven't checked this out yet, but I enjoy good martial arts flicks. SOunds like I should take a look at this one.

btw, if you haven't seen the movie, check out the making of Ong Bak:

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[RainMaker]

Gran Torino (9.5 out of 10) - Just a great movie with every scene being well done and with meaning. Eastwood is still a legend and the story was perfect for him. Loved every minute of it and it's one of the best movies I've seen in awhile.

[Neon_Chaos]

Ong Bak is the shiznit.
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[Pyser]

informant - 4/10

boring. damon was good though.

[Brownkeg8]

Gran Torino (9.5 out of 10) - Just a great movie with every scene being well done and with meaning. Eastwood is still a legend and the story was perfect for him. Loved every minute of it and it's one of the best movies I've seen in awhile.


Agreed, got a kick out of all his one liners. Favorite was "get me a another beer, Dragon lady! This ones empty."

[Big Fo]

The Lives of Others -

One of the best movies I've seen in recent years. For just over two hours I almost felt like I might know what it would have been like to have lived in the GDR. I really liked the characters, especially Wiesler as he changed/learned more about the mission through the course of the movie.

Inglorious Basterds -

This was also quite good. Lots of tense and dramatic scenes (loved the opening scene at the farm in France and the one in the bar with the actress, soldiers, and officers) with some good action stuff mixed in here and there and some laughs as well. Jackie Brown is still my favorite Tarantino movie but this tied for second with a few others that I enjoyed. Spoiler:

It's a shame Hitler didn't meet that kind of end IRL. Also loved the last scene with the guy who thought he was getting away scot free heading to America with that on his forehead.

[GoSeahawks]

Dear Zachary: A Letter to a Son About His Father [10/10]

I stumbled upon this while browsing Netflix Watch Instantly. I really feel that it is best to watch this documentary knowing as little as possible about the film/case. Basically the story is about a film maker who's friend is murdered. The film maker decides to document his friends life as sort of a last good bye. That's all I will say. The film was astonishing.

[boberot]

Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs [8 of 10]

Well, I'll be damned. I really, really, didn't want to see this. [We were going for a family outing to see "Nine," but my daughter got cold feet at the last minute thinking it would be too scary -- this was the consolation prize.]

I haven't seen a 3-D movie in decades, and it was impressive not in the stuff-flying-at-your-face aspect as much as the amazing illusion of depth that was achieved in the animation.

Beyond that, it was just funny. Likable characters. Brisk pace. Very good vocal performances. James Caan was good and Mr. T was spot-on. This wasn't 'let's throw Mr. T a bone' -- he really sold his character and made him one of the most appealing in the whole movie.

For a movie that I was sure I would despise, it was very pleasantly surprising. The whole drive home and even in the following days, we would randomly throw out our favorite lines from the movie and crack each other up. Can't ask for much more than that.

[Bad-example]

Stardust 7/10

I watched about 40 seconds before saying to myself, "This must be a Neil Gaiman movie". And I was right, which meant slick visuals. Surprisingly, I liked this one. It really felt like they had too much material for a two-hour film. I had the feeling a lot of stuff was left on the cutting room floor, including the majority of Ian McKellans narration.

As always with Gaiman, I was left thinking it could have been much more but was just lacking. The flow was uneven. Still, some fantastic visuals, plus Robert DeNiro in a crazy funny role, make this one worth a look.

[DataKing]

Valkyrie (8 / 10): A really enjoyable experience that was (if my memory serves) stays pretty close to the actual story. My knowledge of the incident comes from reading The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich a few years ago, but I seem to recall the incident being described pretty much as it was portrayed in the movie. Cruise' performance was quite good, but for me it was the supporting cast that really shined. Bill Nighy (Olbrecht) and Terence Stamp (Beck) were good, and Tom Wilkinson (Fromm) was his usual brilliant self (he's rapidly moving up my list of under-appreciated actors). Kenneth Branagh (von Tresckow) and Eddie Izzard (Fellgiebel) were both good as well, but suffered from a lack of screen-time. I really wish they'd found a way to get Branagh on screen more...the guy is amazing. The pacing of the movie felt a little off in spots, but I thought it did a good job of capturing the reasons the key players had in participating in the plot, as well as capturing the tension of the event itself. If you're interested in WW2 history and like a little intrigue, give this one a look-see.

[RainMaker]

Dear Zachary: A Letter to a Son About His Father [10/10]

I stumbled upon this while browsing Netflix Watch Instantly. I really feel that it is best to watch this documentary knowing as little as possible about the film/case. Basically the story is about a film maker who's friend is murdered. The film maker decides to document his friends life as sort of a last good bye. That's all I will say. The film was astonishing.

On your recommendation, I saw this. Absolutely amazing and compelling documentary. It's kind of raw but I think that actually makes it more real. Without giving anything away, I'll say that it's nearly 3am and I can't sleep since I saw it. My jaw was wide open half the movie. I was sad, I was happy, it's a roller coaster ride of emotions that few movies have ever come close to hitting me emotionally.

Dear Zachary: A Letter to a Son About His Father - 10 out of 10

[DataKing]

Changeling (7/10): Normally I'm not a big fan of Angelina Jolie (except in an eye-candy sort of way), but I have to say that she was absolutely Oscar-nomination worthy in this film. A compelling tale that really jerks on your heart-strings in spots, and as a period piece I thought it was extremely well-done. My only real knock on the movie is its pacing (I have issues with pacing in a lot of movies that Eastwood directs for some reason). Worth checking out.

The Eagle Has Landed (8/10): An interesting WW2 movie I caught over the weekend on Netflix On-Demand. Without giving too much away, German intelligence decides that, after the success of Scorzeny's commando raid to bring Mussolini to Germany (a heck of a story in its own right, and one I'm still waiting to see done justice on the screen), an attempt to kidnap Winston Churchill is in order. Two things really stood out to me in this one; first, the story is told almost entirely from the German point-of-view. Second, Donald Sutherland is absolutely brilliant. He completely out-shines a couple of other big names in this one (Robert Duvall and Michael Caine).

[DataKing]

Lots of 7's and 8's for me lately. A lot of decent, entertaining movies, but I haven't seen anything earth-shattering (in a good or bad way) in a while now it seems.

Australia (7/10): I wasn't quite sure what to expect from this one, but the previews I had seen some time ago looked intriguing enough to make me put it into my Netflix queue. What I hoped for was a story that I would find compelling and would teach me something about a nation I know very little about. On both of those accounts the movie delivered some quality, but on neither account did it completely blow me away. The acting I found decent, but none of the performances really stood out to me.

What did impress me, however, was the backdrop. Even just sitting at home in my living room, some of the scenery in the film was awe-inspiring, and the camera work does a good job of showing you just how massive the land truly is. "Wide-open spaces" doesn't even begin to describe it. Makes me wish I'd seen this one in the theater.

[Schmidty]

Kill Bill (1&2) - 10/10

Even though I've seen it like 10 times or more, I still think it's one of the best movies that I've seen. Whenever it's on, I have to stop and watch it.

[Karlifornia]

Capitalism: A Love Story - 9/10

Thanks, Reagan, you dumb puppet.

[Groundhog]

Kill Bill (1&2) - 10/10

Even though I've seen it like 10 times or more, I still think it's one of the best movies that I've seen. Whenever it's on, I have to stop and watch it.

Amen.

I don't think I could ever get tired of either movie.

[Groundhog]

Hrm, actually, on the topic of Kill Bill...

Tarantino Promises Kill Bill 3 | /Film (http://www.slashfilm.com/2009/10/01/tarantino-promises-kill-bill-3/)

[Schmidty]

That would be so fucking awesome.

[NewIdentity]

Anyone going to catch the Toy Story 3D double feature this weekend? Hard to believe it has been nearly 15 years since Toy Story was relased.

[Swaggs]

Zombieland -- 10/10

I posted this in the zombie thread, but will share. First of all, this is probably the first 10 I have given in this thread, so to clarify, Zombieland isn't Citizen Kane or the Godfather, but it was really well acted, had some of the best dialogue in a film that I have seen since in quite awhile, and had me completely engrossed in the movie from the very first scene. I don't know that I have ever seen a movie that had the following two things: 1.) multiple lines that made the entire audience laugh so loud that you actually missed whatever was said afterward and 2.) multiple scenes that made me jump from surprise.

It also had, in my opinion, one of the best cameos that I have ever seen in a movie. I won't spoil it, but I certainly didn't see it coming at all and it completely killed the crowd. And, the Eddie Van Halen (not the cameo -- not much, if any, of a spoiler without context) line was classic.

Woody Harrelson was awesome -- hopefully his career gets a bit of a restart from this. He was perfectly ridiculous without being over the top, in my opinion. There was even some romantic comedy.

Just a really good, entertaining, funny horror movie. I'd recommend it to anyone over the age of 13 or 14.

[Schmidty]

Management - 8

I generally dislike romantic comedies, so I was surprised to find myself really enjoying this one. Very quirky, and kind of creepy in a way, but really interesting and entertaining. Steve Zahn was unbelievable, and Aniston was very low-key in a good way.

My wife and I really liked it. She's going to watch it again later. I won't, but it was still good.

[Lathum]

Whip It- 7/10

Good flick, typical Ellen Page but there were definantly some funny moments and characters.

[stevew]

Lets see-

Adventureland 6.5/10 It was simply okay, but I overrate it a bit cause it was filmed in Kennywood. I knew it wouldn't crack a 7 when the first scene Kristen Stewart was in and should have been naked, she wasn't.

Darjeeling Limited 7/10- I really like Wes Anderson films. I just think maybe there wasn't enough stuff going on. And the idea wasn't fleshed out enough. Hard to explain why it wasn't better, but it did have it's moments. Liked it less than Rushmore, Tennenbaums and Life Aquatic.

Role Models 8/10 Really funny stuff. Although I guess watching it I kept thinking I'd rather be watching 40 Year Old Virgin, or Superbad instead. But still had enough moments to really make me laugh.

Brazil -/- Started a thread about it, but basically, in short, I couldn't finish it. Will revisit it another time.

[flere-imsaho]

Julie & Julia 7/10

Saw this over the weekend with the wife. Obviously it isn't for everyone (including a good number of action-oriented guys), but it was a very entertaining movie with the acting by Tucci & Streep especially good. In fact I think I agree with the NYT review which said they'd have liked the film even more if they dispensed with the "Julie" plot and just did the "Julia" part.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Zombieland 9/10

Maybe the only thing preventing a 10/10 for me was a combination of too high expectations & the run time (81 mins IIRC) being a little short.

I came away thinking the real strength must just be that everyone knew what kind of movie they wanted to make & then they made it. Instead of trying to do too much or reach too far, I feel like they probably came away from the finished product feeling they had nailed what they set out to do.

Well written, effective use of both the voiceovers & the recurring on-screen caption gimmicks, and a good use of simple techniques to allow them to work within a relatively small budget without ever feeling cheap at all. Also a great call on the pretty much instant immersion opening, right down to the choice of background song to get the energy flowing & put the audience in the mood for the ride that follows.

A couple of very small niggles of the goofs variety, which I can mention without spoiling anything. The state patrol cars briefly seen on the abandoned interstate are pretty clearly retired Georgia cars, not Texas (which didn't really bother me) and Abigail Breslin isn't pulling the trigger during most of the "21 gun salute" scene which actually did bother me in that noticing it kind of pulled me out of the movie for a minute.

I see where the writers are already talking about their interest (and reportedly the actors' interest as well) in doing a sequel. That has disappointment written all over it to me, as it would undoubtedly have a much bigger budget which I suspect would lead to the followup feeling a lot more contrived & a lot less crisp, clean, and uncluttered.

[ISiddiqui]

Reservoir Dogs - 6/10: Maybe it was all the hype, but I thought the movie was merely ok. I like other Tarentino films much better, because I think they play with movie conventions much more. There was definitely some great drama in merely the walls of the warehouse. And there was plenty of Tarantino hallmarks, from the trunk shot, to the violence, language, and interesting camera angles. But all, in all, good, but not great.

[Izulde]

Sukiyaki Western Django - 7.5/10<O:p</O:p
<O:p</O:p

OK, this is a pretty ridiculous movie. It's basically a spoof on the Spaghetti Western genre, directed by Takashi Miike, and is a cowboy movie set in Japan. All the actors are Japanese and speak English in horribly accented voices to spoof the Italian movies of the 70s - thank god for subtitles on the DVD release, can't imagine seeing this in the cinema without them - and it even has Quentin Tarrantino playing a gunslinger for about 15 mins of screen time. Completely over the top violence and storyline, but an enjoyable viewing experience.

I thought this movie was terrible and extremely boring. I got that it was supposed to be satirical, but to me, it was just plain bad.

[JediKooter]

Saw Zombieland again at lunch the other day. Still just as good and as funny as the first time.

[thesloppy]

I thought this movie was terrible and extremely boring. I got that it was supposed to be satirical, but to me, it was just plain bad.

I had the same response...and I've made it through plenty of weird/shitty Miike movies. On the other hand, I watched 'Deadly Outlaw Rekka' a couple days ago, and that was awesome....comes off like Miike's take/homage on '80s Hong Kong action/John Woo.

[Groundhog]

I thought this movie was terrible and extremely boring. I got that it was supposed to be satirical, but to me, it was just plain bad.

I don't know if you're familiar with the history of the samurai movie and the western - Kurosawa borrowing heavily from the Westerns (Leone in particular), and then the Westerns borrowing heavily from the samurai films (Magnificent Seven, Fist Full of Dollars, etc.), but this was basically spoofing that, and no doubt my familiarity with all that played a big part in me liking this movie, but also the fact that Miike rather ridiculously set it against the backdrop of the Gempei War as well!

It's not for everyone, certainly. I can't imagine ever lending it to any of my friends to watch, that's fo' sho'.

[thesloppy]

I don't know if you're familiar with the history of the samurai movie and the western - Kurosawa borrowing heavily from the Westerns (Leone in particular)

Spaghetti Westerns, and Leone in particular, borrowed from Kurosawa, but it was pretty much a one way street. Case in point, Fistful of Dollars was Leone's first Western, and Kurosawa sued him for stealing his plot.

[Groundhog]

Spaghetti Westerns, and Leone in particular, borrowed from Kurosawa, but it was pretty much a one way street. Case in point, Fistful of Dollars was Leone's first Western, and Kurosawa sued him for stealing his plot.

Kurosawa was a massive fan of Leone's, and he borrowed various plot settings and scene ideas from some of his films, as well as from other Westerns. Leone, however, just pretty much ripped off Yojimbo. :)

Kurosawa was flattered, but also rightfully peeved as well.

[Honolulu_Blue]

Zombieland - 9/10

I finally saw this over the weekend. I had as good a time watching that movie as I have had in a theater in quite a while. I laughed out loud multiple times and had a smile on my face throughout. Sure, some things didn't make sense and it was a little lite on the zombies at times, but that didn't matter. Great zombie kills. Good characters. Great music. Great dialogue. Definitely a classic and worthy member of the zombie movie cannon.

[DeToxRox]

Zombieland - 9/10

I finally saw this over the weekend. I had as good a time watching that movie as I have had in a theater in quite a while. I laughed out loud multiple times and had a smile on my face throughout. Sure, some things didn't make sense and it was a little lite on the zombies at times, but that didn't matter. Great zombie kills. Good characters. Great music. Great dialogue. Definitely a classic and worthy member of the zombie movie cannon.

Was it at the Pladium? Lately I cannot stand seeing movies there, it just seems like they do everything they can to let obnoxious teenagers in. The 8 on the other hand has always been good. If it's at the 8 I will be seeing this soon, otherwise I'll wait and go during the day at the Pladium.

[Honolulu_Blue]

Was it at the Pladium? Lately I cannot stand seeing movies there, it just seems like they do everything they can to let obnoxious teenagers in. The 8 on the other hand has always been good. If it's at the 8 I will be seeing this soon, otherwise I'll wait and go during the day at the Pladium.

It was at the Paladium. I love the theaters there. Great sound and comfy seats. I have simple rules about going there, however. I never go opening weekend and I always see matinees or go on weeknights. Following these simple rules, the crowd in the theater tends to be very, very sparse and I've never had the obnoxious teenager problem.

I am very wary of the later problem, because ever since I was a teenager I've hated Birmingham because of obnoxious teenagers. Those feelings have not changed.

Apparently, they are going to build a brand new multi-plex/bowling alley right next to the Main Art theater in Royal Oak. I am definitely looking forward to that.

[DataKing]

I saw Zombieland over the weekend, and have to agree with pretty much everything that's been said already. For what it is, it is done extremely well. This has replaced Shaun of the Dead as my favorite zombie humor movie.

[Buccaneer]

I have been following Paranormal Activity since late September. It was filmed for only $15,000 and being hailed as one of the scariest movies ever. Watch this trailer and tell me what you think.

Paranormal Activity (2009) | Official Movie Site & Trailer (http://www.paranormalactivity-movie.com/trailer.html)

Because of the phenomenal demand, it is going into wide release this weekend.

Here's the wiki (with spoilers) on this. It could be the most profitable movie of all time, I think.

Paranormal Activity (film) - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paranormal_activity)

[Swaggs]

I have been following Paranormal Activity since late September. It was filmed for only $15,000 and being hailed as one of the scariest movies ever. Watch this trailer and tell me what you think.

Paranormal Activity (2009) | Official Movie Site & Trailer (http://www.paranormalactivity-movie.com/trailer.html)

Because of the phenomenal demand, it is going into wide release this weekend.

Here's the wiki (with spoilers) on this. It could be the most profitable movie of all time, I think.

Paranormal Activity (film) - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paranormal_activity)

I probably won't get a chance to see this in a theater, due to the newborn, but I've been keeping an eye on this one, as well. It did over $49,000 per screen this past weekend (next closest per screen, that showed on more than 25 screens was Couples Retreat with a little over $11K per) and made almost $8-million on just 160 screens.

[flere-imsaho]

Pretty amazing how it made back its budget in triplicate per screen. That's a pretty massive return on investment there.

[Kodos]

I also thoroughly enjoyed Zombieland. I had a couple issues with it, but they were minor:
1. Not nearly enough zombies around
2. The power didn't seem to be out anywhere

Like I said, minor quibbles. Overall, very enjoyable.

[Karlifornia]

Paranormal Activity- 7.5/10

Glad I saw this, as it had been at the back (ok, front) of my mind for about a week. Whenever I hear reputable people saying how scary a movie is, my ears tend to perk up. I love movies that actually scare me. The Saw movies don't scare me. The 80's franchises, while holding some value, aren't really all that scary anymore (The original Halloween is still a great movie, though).

If I had to think about what movies actually scared me since I was a teenager, the list would look like this:

The Ring- Great atmosphere...had a couple of good "jump" moments (girl in the closet, anyone?), had a kid that talked to ghosts before it got run into the ground, and had probably the most chilling climax of any horror movie I can recall.

High Tension- Simply the best horror movie that has come out in the past 20 years, IMO. The ending is definitely subject to criticism, and I've heard some people say it ruins the movie for them. Forget the ending. I'm all about the buildup, and the title of a movie has never described it more accurately. If you like horror, you have to see this movie. It had me riveted.


Anyway, back to Paranormal Activity. It had my attention throughout, but it didn't truly scare me. The leads did a pretty good job at keeping the dialogue sounding real, and I never got taken out of the movie because of it. My complaints about the movie are as follows:



-There weren't many unexpected scares. We basically had to wait for them to talk during the day, and then get the good stuff when they were asleep. I was hoping to see more things happen while they were running around with the camera. Maybe even things that the actors don't notice, but the audience might see. The only time that happened was the rather hokey Ouija Board sequence.

-It followed a pretty steady pattern of escalation, and instead of getting caught off guard, it was just "what is it going to do now? Last time it just walked up" Then it would walk up the steps turn on a light, fade to black. Then it fucked with the sheets. It couldn't go back to just walking up the steps and turning on the light. It painted itself into a bit of a corner.

-The whole demon thing kind of rang cheesy to me. "It's happening again" doesn't have the impact of "What the fuck is happening?".

Did she just get possessed by a demon, or was she a demon the whole time? I'm guessing the former.



I thought the ending was decent. I'm definitely going to at least rent the dvd to see the alternate endings. I'm sure this will go into the pantheon of great scary movies for a lot of people. I'll give it this, it was scarier than most. It may stay with me the rest of the night, but by tomorrow any chills will be gone.

One awesome thing was that when my roommate and I got back from the theater, our front door was wide open. Our door has some trouble fully closing sometimes, but upon arrival we were both like "Haha...that's perfect to come back to".

[KWhit]

Karl,

Have you seen Quarantine? I thought that was pretty damn good. The beginning is pretty interesting, but kind of goes on too long. Not much happens for the first 15-20 minutes. Stay with it and it gets much better.

[Butter_of_69]

On your recommendation, I saw this. Absolutely amazing and compelling documentary. It's kind of raw but I think that actually makes it more real. Without giving anything away, I'll say that it's nearly 3am and I can't sleep since I saw it. My jaw was wide open half the movie. I was sad, I was happy, it's a roller coaster ride of emotions that few movies have ever come close to hitting me emotionally.

Dear Zachary: A Letter to a Son About His Father - 10 out of 10

If you want to cry for an hour, see this movie. Holy shit.

[Karlifornia]

Karl,

Have you seen Quarantine? I thought that was pretty damn good. The beginning is pretty interesting, but kind of goes on too long. Not much happens for the first 15-20 minutes. Stay with it and it gets much better.

No, I haven't seen that. Thanks for reminding me about it. I had wanted to when it came out, but it slipped my mind. I'll give it a rental.

[stevew]

Invention of Lying-6.5/10. It could have/should have been a lot better, but it had some very funny moments. My main issue was that I don't find Jennifer Garner attractive enough to merit leading woman status. Let alone, lusted after leading woman status. And also the plot was kind of thin, and they missed a lot of golden opportunities. Instead of focusing on the "oops I invented religion" part of the plot, I'd have maybe gone a few other directions. Another part, he goes into a casino and lies to win at games like roulette. Where they should have had him bluff his way in poker, which would have had to be a lot more funny than what they did.

This one should have been a 10/10 movie, and they fouled it off into the stands.


I'd like to see Ricky Gervais get a lot more opportunities in the states. And the amount of cameos he was able to get was very impressive, as well. I think it's worth renting.

[DataKing]

I saw Zombieland over the weekend, and have to agree with pretty much everything that's been said already. For what it is, it is done extremely well. This has replaced Shaun of the Dead as my favorite zombie humor movie.

I forgot to mention...if you're going to see Zombieland, be sure to wait all the way through to the end of the credits. You get a nice little reward if you do. :D

[Doug5984]

Observe and Report 0/10. It was painful to watch, it actually made Paul Blart seem funny...

[Groundhog]

Shaolin Soccer - 8/10
Funny and pretty awesome.

Kung Fu Hustle - 7/10
Funny and pretty awesome, but not quite as good as Shaolin Soccer, and a bit more serious in parts.

[Buccaneer]

Shaolin Soccer - 8/10
Funny and pretty awesome.

Kung Fu Hustle - 7/10
Funny and pretty awesome, but not quite as good as Shaolin Soccer, and a bit more serious in parts.

Shows how different people see different things. I love Kung Fu Hustle, giving it a 8.5 or so but absolutely hated Shaolin Soccer, giving it a 2. I know Chow did soccer before Hustle but the production, comedic and acting in Hustle were far better, imo.

Karl, coming from someone as jaded as yourself, I would say that's a pretty good score for PA.

[Pyser]

year one

one star. zero plot.

[Schmidty]

I haven't seen it yet, but I'm pumped about watching "Black Dynamite".

[Lathum]

Couples Retreat 8/10- If you like Vince Vaughn type movie you will like this, if not stay away.

A funny aside, it was directed by Peter Billingsly.

[Swaggs]

Peter "Ralphie" Billingsly? :)

[Lathum]

Peter "Ralphie" Billingsly? :)

I assume so

[Groundhog]

I haven't seen it yet, but I'm pumped about watching "Black Dynamite".

x2

[DataKing]

Stalingrad (6 / 10): I've been waiting all my adult life for a film that brings home the scale, feel, and ferocity of the conflict between Germany and Russia during World War II. Unfortunately I'm still waiting. I was really looking forward to Stalingrad since it's the same production team that did Das Boot, but I was left wanting. What could have been a really compelling story was unfortunately ruined by some pretty poor acting, to the point of distraction in spots. I found myself not particularly caring about any of the individual characters and whether they lived or died. That being said, the movie does offer a few bright spots as well. One battle scene and one other scene (when the Germans are attempting to escape the Russian encirclement) do a good job of making you feel just how desperate the situation was. One other thing that does come across pretty well (but would have been enhanced with quality acting) is just how "used up" the soldiers are by the end of the movie; physically, mentally, and emotionally.

If you're interested in World War II and the Eastern Front, it may be worth your time to give this one a look. But if the subject matter itself doesn't appeal to you, don't bother.

[Karlifornia]

8 out of 10 for Couples Retreat? Looks like someone is trying to get their name on the DVD cover

[Honolulu_Blue]

High Tension- Simply the best horror movie that has come out in the past 20 years, IMO. The ending is definitely subject to criticism, and I've heard some people say it ruins the movie for them. Forget the ending. I'm all about the buildup, and the title of a movie has never described it more accurately. If you like horror, you have to see this movie. It had me riveted.

Is this the French movie? It starts off with a girl in an insane asylum or such and then goes to a flashback? Two college aged girls go to own of the girls' family's house out in the rural country-side. A crazy ass giant dude shows up, kills the family and takes the girls hostage? That's as far as I got. I wasn't all that into it. Does it get better after that?

If you're talking horror movies in the last 20 years, I'd have to go with either "The Ring" or "The Descent."

[DeToxRox]

Is this the French movie? It starts off with a girl in an insane asylum or such and then goes to a flashback? Two college aged girls go to own of the girls' family's house out in the rural country-side. A crazy ass giant dude shows up, kills the family and takes the girls hostage? That's as far as I got. I wasn't all that into it. Does it get better after that?

If you're talking horror movies in the last 20 years, I'd have to go with either "The Ring" or "The Descent."

High Tension was meh. Ring was meh. Descent was solid.

I just watched Dead Snow. It's a Norwegian movie about kids attacked by Nazi Zombies. It's an entertaining watch, but not that amazing. Still good for some mindless fun.

[Karlifornia]

High Tension was meh. Ring was meh. Descent was solid.

I just watched Dead Snow. It's a Norwegian movie about kids attacked by Nazi Zombies. It's an entertaining watch, but not that amazing. Still good for some mindless fun.

High Tension was wayyyy better than the Descent, IMO.

[Chief Rum]

High Tension was wayyyy better than the Descent, IMO.

The book by Dean Koontz was excellent. Oh, but the film makers denied the film had anything to do with the book. :)

[Pyser]

where the boring things are

4/10

[Neon_Chaos]

Red Cliff - (7/10)

If you're a fan of the Romance of the Three Kingdoms story, this John Woo movie will definitely tickle your fancy. If not, you might doze off in the 2:20 it takes for the movie to run its course.

[DeToxRox]

Zombieland: 9/10

Amazing, amazing, amazing. The fact it starts off with a zombie eatin' montage to "For Whom the Bell Tolls" is boss enough, then add in one of the best movie cameos ever and some great dialogue mixed in with your usual zombie killing greatness and you have a gem.

Cannot recommend this movie enough.

[heybrad]

Paranormal Activity - 9/10

Saw this last night and really enjoyed it. They did a great job of building up to the big finish. I'd say you need to see this in the theater with a fairly packed house to really have a good time. Lots of screaming going on in the theater.

[Ronnie Dobbs2]

A Serious Man - 8.5/10

Big Coen fan here, and this was darkly darkly funny. Well acted by mostly unknown actors. Retelling the story of Job in a 1960's Jewish suburb of Minnesota.

[DataKing]

High Tension was meh. Ring was meh. Descent was solid.

I just watched Dead Snow. It's a Norwegian movie about kids attacked by Nazi Zombies. It's an entertaining watch, but not that amazing. Still good for some mindless fun.

Where did you find Dead Snow? I've been looking for it but haven't found it on DVD yet.

[DeToxRox]

Where did you find Dead Snow? I've been looking for it but haven't found it on DVD yet.

My buddy burnt me a copy. I am assuming he just DL'd it, but he works at a video store so he might have ordered it through there.

[Groundhog]

Red Cliff - (7/10)

If you're a fan of the Romance of the Three Kingdoms story, this John Woo movie will definitely tickle your fancy. If not, you might doze off in the 2:20 it takes for the movie to run its course.

2:20? Man, I sat through the 4 hour Chinese version. Seriously, good luck to anyone making it through that cut without knowing much about RotTK. :D

[Groundhog]

Up - 9.5/10

Despite all the positive reviews I still didn't expect much from this one because the previews really didn't do much for me. Boy was I wrong. A great, sometimes bittersweet and touching, movie for folks of all ages.

[Neon_Chaos]

2:20? Man, I sat through the 4 hour Chinese version. Seriously, good luck to anyone making it through that cut without knowing much about RotTK. :D

I wish I'd gone through the 4 hour version.

This one was the US version release (coming to the States in November 2009) compressed like hell. Still, it was good enough.

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[flere-imsaho]

If you want to cry for an hour, see this movie. Holy shit.

I just looked up the real life story on wikipedia and I now feel I'm scarred for life. What an insanely tragic story.

[Lathum]

8 out of 10 for Couples Retreat? Looks like someone is trying to get their name on the DVD cover

shrug

it was very funny, some good LOL moments, let me turn my brain off for a few hours and had us talking about specific scenes as we were leaving.

All I ask from a movie is to be entertained and feel my $40 was well spent.

I don't need a movie to be some indie flick from Indonesia that 4 people have ever see to give it an 8. I just need it to get the job done.

[NewIdentity]

Surrogates 7/10

Nothing new here, but still a very enjoyable movie with a couple of nice twists thrown in. I enjoyed the PG-13 rating. Could have used a few more fat man in the hot chick body laughs.

Although I don't understand why there would be less crime with surrogates? Seems that crime levels would go through the roof if murder and everything else was always reduced to "destruction of private property". Like when he murders that guy in his living room; that case is probably a $50 fine and timed served.

[Neon_Chaos]

Taken - 9/10

Excellent action movie. They actually turned Liam Neeson into a bad-ass combination of Shaft, Bourne, and Bond. There aren't really any dull moments once the action begins... and you'll be rooting for Neeson's character all throughout the movie.
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[KWhit]

The Host - 6/10

Korean monster movie. Pretty good flick. Not perfect, but there was a lot to like there. It's subtitled, which doesn't bother me. It's on Netflix streaming if you're interested.

[Kodos]

I think The Ring was the last truly scary movie that I've seen.

[DataKing]

Nuremberg (7.5 / 10): As made-for-TV movies go, this one was pretty good. As a courtroom drama about the Nuremberg trials (obviously), it had an impressive cast and a number of noteworthy performances. Alec Baldwin was rather 'meh' as the lead, and the romantic interest between himself and Jill Hennessy felt forced. But Christopher Plummer was excellent and Brian Cox was absolutely brilliant as Goering. He does a fantastic job playing Goering as a charismatic, yet unapologetic character.

The subject matter itself should not be foreign to anyone here, so no need to go into detail on that. But there are two things worthy of note. First, the movie does include real footage taken of the concentration camps by the allies as they were liberated, so fair warning there. Second, the premise behind the trials themselves is a significant part of the movie. The idea was not just to "round up the losers and hang them." Instead, and the movie goes into great detail on this, the idea was to make such activities as were performed by the Nazis during the war punishable by moral (if not international) law. The hope was to make sure that such things never happened again. Draw your own conclusions as to whether or not they were successful, but this one is worth checking out for history buffs.

[Honolulu_Blue]

While, not a movie I've seen, I didn't think this required its own thread. So...

They are fiming the (totally unnecessary) re-make of "Red Dawn" in Detroit. Between the tax credits available to filmmakers and the fact that Detroit already looks like a city that has been invaded by a hostile force, it's a good choice.

A large part of whatever they are filming is going on about a block from where I work. Over the last three days, there have been a number of sporadic explosions and sounds of small arms fire that can be heard (and sometimes felt) from my office. They also have made up one of the buildings across the way to look like the occupying force's (the Chinese) local police station.

I think I will head over and take a closer look during lunch.

[KWhit]

I think The Ring was the last truly scary movie that I've seen.

The Host wasn't really that scary. There were some cool parts though. I mentioned a post upthread that was fairly scary though - Quarantine. It was pretty freaky. It's on Netflix streaming as well.

Also, The Strangers was pretty good, I thought.

[Honolulu_Blue]

The Host wasn't really that scary. There were some cool parts though. I mentioned a post upthread that was fairly scary though - Quarantine. It was pretty freaky. It's on Netflix streaming as well.

Also, The Strangers was pretty good, I thought.

The trailer for "The Strangers" freaked me out. I'd like to see it at some point. Quarantine looked promising as well.

"The Host" was more a monster movie than a horror movie. I liked the beginning of the movie, while the family still together, because their interactions were great, but after they got separated (which happened pretty quickly), the movie lost a lof of its juice for me until the climax.

[Pyser]

sugar - 7/10

dominican kid struggles in the minor leagues in iowa. pretty awesome.

[Groundhog]

I think The Ring was the last truly scary movie that I've seen.

When I was in Japan I read a translation of the original The Ring novel. Man, let me tell you, the movies (Japanese and American ones) have NOTHING on the book. Creepiest thing I've ever read.

[stevew]

While, not a movie I've seen, I didn't think this required its own thread. So...

They are fiming the (totally unnecessary) re-make of "Red Dawn" in Detroit. Between the tax credits available to filmmakers and the fact that Detroit already looks like a city that has been invaded by a hostile force, it's a good choice.

A large part of whatever they are filming is going on about a block from where I work. Over the last three days, there have been a number of sporadic explosions and sounds of small arms fire that can be heard (and sometimes felt) from my office. They also have made up one of the buildings across the way to look like the occupying force's (the Chinese) local police station.

I think I will head over and take a closer look during lunch.

This post made my night btw.

Love that they're making the Chinese the Baddies this time as well.

[RainMaker]

While, not a movie I've seen, I didn't think this required its own thread. So...

They are fiming the (totally unnecessary) re-make of "Red Dawn" in Detroit. Between the tax credits available to filmmakers and the fact that Detroit already looks like a city that has been invaded by a hostile force, it's a good choice.

A large part of whatever they are filming is going on about a block from where I work. Over the last three days, there have been a number of sporadic explosions and sounds of small arms fire that can be heard (and sometimes felt) from my office. They also have made up one of the buildings across the way to look like the occupying force's (the Chinese) local police station.

I think I will head over and take a closer look during lunch.
That's pretty cool. I remember when Dark Knight filmed a few blocks from where I worked. Would walk down and see the Batmobile and other stuff. They had some cool stunts late at night.

Public Enemies was also filmed a block from my house.

[Groundhog]

I wasn't allowed to walk out the front of my building after finishing my shift one night because they were filming a helicopter scene looking down on the street for the first Matrix film, which I thought was pretty cool.

[Groundhog]

dola

And I tell you what, anyone who lives in Sydney and watches the chase at the end of that movie with Neo and Agent Smith will find it very amusing as the actors run past a familiar building, take a turn, and are suddenly 15 minutes down the road. :D

[Neuqua]

Everytime I drive down Lower Wacker I think about the new Batman films.

Oh, and I've seen the new Batmo-hummer.

[Chief Rum]

When I was attending Cal Poly Pomona, they shut down access to the distinctive administrative building on the campus (for those in SoCal, it's the big pointy-topped tower building you can see from the 57-10 interchange) for the film Gattaca.

Much of the movie was shot at the building, as its odd look was thought to look futuristic for the movie and was used as the "outside" of the housing complex Ethan Hawke and Jude Law stayed in.

[SackAttack]

While, not a movie I've seen, I didn't think this required its own thread. So...

They are fiming the (totally unnecessary) re-make of "Red Dawn" in Detroit. Between the tax credits available to filmmakers and the fact that Detroit already looks like a city that has been invaded by a hostile force, it's a good choice.

A large part of whatever they are filming is going on about a block from where I work. Over the last three days, there have been a number of sporadic explosions and sounds of small arms fire that can be heard (and sometimes felt) from my office. They also have made up one of the buildings across the way to look like the occupying force's (the Chinese) local police station.

I think I will head over and take a closer look during lunch.

Turns out...it's not a movie. The Chinese have invaded Detroit!

Never mind the pesky why would they WANT Detroit matter. Wolverines!

[Chief Rum]

Paranormal Activity-- (9/10) Scared the piss out of me, of course. Definitely best to catch this in a theater with a packed house.

[DeToxRox]

Wrong Turn 3 (2/10)

Was bored, and gave it a whirl. Stayed bored the entire time. At least some of the deaths were humorous.

[KWhit]

Rachel Getting Married - 4/10

I only give this a 4 because Anne Hathaway was really good in it. But the movie itself was horrible. It was so freaking SLOW. I told Lisa that it was like the filmmaker made a movie while accidentally taping over someone's actual wedding video and kept hitting fast forward after every scene.

Seriously. There was one part where about 20 people got up and gave toasts - one after the other. And it showed all of them, before getting to Anne Hathaway's cliche "bad toast." And then at the reception, they showed maybe 10 minutes of nothing but people dancing. Holy christ, this movie needed an editor BADLY.

After thinking about it some more, I've changed my mind:

3/10

[sabotai]

Quarantine - 6/10

Decent single-POV (ala Cloverfield) zombie movie, except they're not zombies, there's another explanation....but they're pretty much zombies. Very aggressive zombies. Worth watching, but not owning.

[Dodgerchick]

Paranormal Activity - 5.5/10

It was ok. The scary parts were indeed scary but there weren't many of 'em. I did leave the movie theater pretty freaked out though. Antmeister wasn't shaken one bit so I thought it was just me, but it seems a lot of you were pretty scared too.

[JetsIn06]

The Damned United: 9/10

In the middle of watching this now, but I'm LOVING this movie so far. I haven't heard of it before today, but for anyone who remotely likes soccer, you'll likely love it.

The Damned United - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Damned_United)

Edit: Just finished. Amazing.

[DeToxRox]

Maniac (9/10)

I have seen this movie countless times but it has been a while since I last watched it, so last night I popped it in and just was amazed at how well it holds up. It's probably the most underrated slasher/splatter movie ever, and features a lot of amazing and relatively realistic looking death scenes for a movie from 1980.

If you have not seen it, track a copy down and get busy.

[Bad-example]

Death Sentence - 6.5/10

A pretty standard vigilante-type story in the Death Wish tradition. Kevin Bacon was fine as the executive that sees his son butchered in a gang initiation. John Goodman was pretty good in a minor role. A perfectly watchable movie if you don't expect too much (there are a few eye-rolling moments but not too bad). Currently airing on premium cable.

[judicial clerk]

While, not a movie I've seen, I didn't think this required its own thread. So...

They are fiming the (totally unnecessary) re-make of "Red Dawn" in Detroit. Between the tax credits available to filmmakers and the fact that Detroit already looks like a city that has been invaded by a hostile force, it's a good choice.

A large part of whatever they are filming is going on about a block from where I work. Over the last three days, there have been a number of sporadic explosions and sounds of small arms fire that can be heard (and sometimes felt) from my office. They also have made up one of the buildings across the way to look like the occupying force's (the Chinese) local police station

how can you be sure the sporadic explosions and small arms fire are from filming? Im just sayin

[Dodgerchick]

Zombieland - 6.5/10

It was entertaining and the cameo was great. But I wouldn't go out of my way to watch again.

Dead Snow - 8/10

Norwegian movie about Nazi Zombies. Very funny and definitely has the watch-ability factor.. I actually preferred it to Zombieland.

[MrDNA]

Drag Me to Hell 7/10

If you liked Evil Dead/Army of Darkness, you'll like this. Had some weak parts, but IMO the strong parts way outweighed them. The parking lot and graveyard scenes were worth the price of admission.

Black Sheep 8/10

Just for clarification, this is the killer zombie sheep "Black Sheep." As a piece of film making, it was dreck, but entertainment wise it was pure gold. You need to watch this with a group of people. Several "Ew" and laugh out loud moments.

[KWhit]

I just watched Drag Me To Hell also. I hated it.

If you're into bodily fluids being forced down someone else's throat, this movie was for you (as there were about 6 different scenes where that happened). It's not like it really grossed me out or anything, but man! How about a little variety?!

And the ending was horribly obvious and I could see it coming about 20 miles away.

Drag Me to Hell - 3/10

[KWhit]

The Exorcist 6/10

This used to be my favorite horror movie, and I've seen it a couple of times before. It definitely still has some great scenes and a lot of scares, but I found it incredibly slow in the beginning this time around. I didn't remember it being that way before. I swear the movie went for about an hour before anything really happened. I loved the rest off it, but it started very slowly.

[Dodgerchick]

Blazing Saddles - 8.5/10

I didn't know what to expect and at first I didn't know if I should laugh, or be offended. There was a scene in the movie that was so wrong but I kept rewinding a few times it was so ridiculous and I couldn't stop laughing.

I'm gonna watch it again to fully appreciate the ridiculousness of it. "Excuse me while I whip this out".. hahaha.

[thesloppy]

Where the white women at?

[Groundhog]

Where the white women at?

:D

Barely a week goes by that either me or one of my friends uses that line.

[ISiddiqui]

It's the greatest line ever :D.

[Greyroofoo]

Blazing Saddles - 8.5/10

I didn't know what to expect and at first I didn't know if I should laugh, or be offended. There was a scene in the movie that was so wrong but I kept rewinding a few times it was so ridiculous and I couldn't stop laughing.

I'm gonna watch it again to fully appreciate the ridiculousness of it. "Excuse me while I whip this out".. hahaha.

Don't worry, it was partly written by a black guy so there is no need to get offended.

[Lathum]

Finally got around to Netflixing Watchmen. My wife and I watched the first 40 minutes of it and were like WTF? Neither of us are sci-fi fans at all but like X-Men, etc.. We just didn't get it.

[sabotai]

:D

Barely a week goes by that either me or one of my friends uses that line.

Same here. It's a very useful phrase. Can be used in just about any situation.

[Dodgerchick]

Finally got around to Netflixing Watchmen. My wife and I watched the first 40 minutes of it and were like WTF? Neither of us are sci-fi fans at all but like X-Men, etc.. We just didn't get it.
You guys didn't miss anything, the movie was pretty bad.

[JetsIn06]

The Fourth Kind: 2/10At least somewhat interesting for the first half of the movie. They start getting into some Ancient Astronaut Theory stuff which I always find interesting. Plus, they go on and on about how it's a true story and the footage is real, so that part was pretty cool.

Then, it completely nose dives and turns into one of the absolute worst movies ever. Everything that kept you thinking it was real goes out the window. You get home and realize that none of this ever happened in real life. The main character wasn't a real person. It's complete and total bullshit.

Edit: If you know nothing about the movie, my review probably doesn't make sense.

[Schmidty]

Finally got around to Netflixing Watchmen. My wife and I watched the first 40 minutes of it and were like WTF? Neither of us are sci-fi fans at all but like X-Men, etc.. We just didn't get it.

You had to have read the graphic novel to get it. It's actually a great read.

The movie was pretty good taking all that into account.

[terpkristin]

The Hammer - 8/10
I had very low expectations for this movie, given that it was written by and starred Adam Corolla. It was surprisingly good. It had some great laugh-out-loud moments and though there was one massive plot hole, it was really entertaining. Gotta say, never thought I'd really enjoy a movie about boxing (well, Million Dollar Baby is an exception, too...).

/tk

[Dodgerchick]

The Mist - 7/10

Based on a book by Stephen King, story about a creature lurking in a mist who kills anyone it finds. A group of people get stuck in a grocery store and do everything they can to survive.

Has the usual "What the hell are they doing" scenes but there were some scenes that really grabbed me. So much that once the movie was over I felt like my brain needed some rinsing.

[Grammaticus]

High Tension - 10/10

This is a combination horror / thriller movie. Not just blood and gore, but lots of suspense with a cool twist. It is a French movie, but the version I watched is English language. Very well done. It got some criticism the story was largely copied from a Dean Koontz book. Not sure if it was a copy or not, the movie is great. If you like the genre, this is an awesome flick.

The premise is two girls that are college friends go to one of the girls homes during a school break. While at the home, a serial killer murders the girls family and takes the girl away in his van. The friend hides during the slaying and stowes away in the truck as she tries to free the abducted girl.

[Dodgerchick]

2012 - 8.5/10

Completely predictable and crazy ass action scenes, but still an awesome ride. Some people were crying, some people were jerking in their seat from the action, I noticed a person laughing at inappropriate times. Yeah, I was one of the people who shed a few tears. This is a movie to be enjoyed at the movie theater because of the incredible action sequences.

Edit - oh yeah, I had no idea Woody Harrelson was in it! Made it that much more enjoyable.

[stevew]

Surviving the Game

Cheese Grade 9/10
This movie meets my Criteria of "So cheesy it is good".
Ice T plays a homeless man recruited to be a "Survival Guide". Once he is out to the hunting camp, though, he realizes he is the hunted.

Actors in this flick are remarkably known. You have the guy from Blade Runner. Roc. The head doctor from scrubs. And best of all. F. Murray Abraham.

Anyways this has all the cliches you know you wanna see. Only negative is that there is no nudity.
Plus it is streaming on Netflix.

Real grade is like 4/10ish.

[JS19]

Men Who Stare At Goats. It was "meh". Wouldn't recommend it, but it's something to watch if you have nothing else to do. Not gonna lie, had a pretty crazy night out the night before, so I was beat and extremely tired while watching it, so maybe that had something to do with it. There was this one part though that I found real interesting and wonder if there's any truth to it. There is a scene and they are in Vietnam, a sniper just took a few guys out and reveals himself in the field. At first, nobody is shooting, then they start firing on him, but they are all missing high. In his narrative voice, Jeff Bridges says something along the lines of, "85% of soldiers will intentionally miss their targets because they are afraid of killing another human". The scene was exaggerated and meant to be funny, but that line really stuck with me.

EDIT: Just did a quick search, found this (http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=536561) in case anyone was interested.

[Mr. Sparkle]

I'm 10 minutes into Crash. I haven't seen it in a long time. If I didn't know any better, I'd say this movie is about racism.

[Karlifornia]

I'm 10 minutes into Crash. I haven't seen it in a long time. If I didn't know any better, I'd say this movie is about racism.

Jesus. I liked Crash when I saw it in theatres, but now I think about liking it and I cringe.

Oof..Whoever told me (on this board, and in the flesh) that this movie sucked was right. Good call. It was a complete lack of judgement on my part.

It's cloying, heavy-handed, and seems like a couple writers got together and jerked each other off when they finished this, thinking it was amazing. The "Academy" fell for it, and I fell for it at the time. Then I actually developed standards for movies, rather than eating whatever bullshit Hollywood fed me. It was a real epiphany.

[rowech]

Jesus. I liked Crash when I saw it in theatres, but now I think about liking it and I cringe.

Oof..Whoever told me (on this board, and in the flesh) that this movie sucked was right. Good call. It was a complete lack of judgement on my part.

It's cloying, heavy-handed, and seems like a couple writers got together and jerked each other off when they finished this, thinking it was amazing. The "Academy" fell for it, and I fell for it at the time. Then I actually developed standards for movies, rather than eating whatever bullshit Hollywood fed me. It was a real epiphany.

When I finally saw this movie, I couldn't believe it had won best picture. However, the other nominees were: Brokeback Mountain, Good Night and Good Luck, Munch, and Capote.

[Mr. Sparkle]

I'm in the exact same boat. Remember liking it when I first saw it, but now...not so much. It's too bad because there are some really great individual scenes in that movie, but it's so over the top with the racism. We get it. Okay? WE GET IT.

It must be a Paul Haggis thing. I remember liking In The Valley of Elah, which he also wrote/directed...until the last scene. Then it was pure facepalm.

[stevew]

Crash was utter garbage. I think Imran was the one who led the "this movie sucks charge"

[Chief Rum]

2012 - 8.5/10

Completely predictable and crazy ass action scenes, but still an awesome ride. Some people were crying, some people were jerking in their seat from the action, I noticed a person laughing at inappropriate times. Yeah, I was one of the people who shed a few tears. This is a movie to be enjoyed at the movie theater because of the incredible action sequences.

Edit - oh yeah, I had no idea Woody Harrelson was in it! Made it that much more enjoyable.

Pretty much in the same boat. I would give it an 8.

One of those visual spectacles sorta things. You do want to see this in the theater. Plotting, dialogue, odd "no way that could happen" moments aside, it's pretty much a thrill ride, and that's all it promised to be really.

If you can't turn your brain off, I guess you wouldn't want to see it. And it is overly long, which is quite the while to keep the adrenaline going.

[Chief Rum]

When I finally saw this movie, I couldn't believe it had won best picture. However, the other nominees were: Brokeback Mountain, Good Night and Good Luck, Munch, and Capote.

Good Night and Good Luck was really good.

[Matthean]

You had to have read the graphic novel to get it. It's actually a great read.

The movie was pretty good taking all that into account.

I read the graphic novel and yet I still didn't get "it." It was long and felt it. It was as good of an adaptation as you'll about see, but there are just far more entertaining comic book movies.

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[larrymcg421]

When I finally saw this movie, I couldn't believe it had won best picture. However, the other nominees were: Brokeback Mountain, Good Night and Good Luck, Munch, and Capote.

I didn't care for Capote, but the other three movies were infinitely better than Crash.

[rowech]

I should clarify...I liked Good Night and Good Luck and Munich. (How important was the i that I forgot in my original post?) Thought they were both better. What I meant was that it just wasn't a great year for a standout movie.

[Pyser]

When I finally saw this movie, I couldn't believe it had won best picture. However, the other nominees were: Brokeback Mountain, Good Night and Good Luck, Munch, and Capote.

i like thinking munch is the porn version of munich.

[stevew]

I didn't care for Capote, but the other three movies were infinitely better than Crash.

I tried to watch Capote. I just don't do the Flamboyant accent thing. Big fan of Phillip Seymour Hoffman too.

[sabotai]

Crash was utter garbage. I think Imran was the one who led the "this movie sucks charge"

I thought it was garbage too. All you have to do is watch the first 10 minutes since the whole movie is the same 2 scenes with the same two character archetypes on repeat.

I thought Good Night and Good Luck was the best of the movies nominated, and that Walk The Line should have been nominated for (and then should have won) Best Picture.

[stevew]

Hustle and Flow should have won the year Crash did. Terrence Howard was amazing.

[rowech]

i like thinking munch is the porn version of munich.

Either that are it's a Disney movie about a fat kid.

[Chief Rum]

Either that are it's a Disney movie about a fat kid.

Or the long awaited prequel life story of John Munch, SVU detective.

[Swaggs]

I thought Good Night and Good Luck and Brokeback Mountain were both really good.

[Groundhog]

Did nothing but watch DVDs all day sunday.

Wall-E - 9/10
Didn't really know what it was about but had heard the praises, so I expected good things, and wasn't dissapointed. Some amazing animation, and a solid story line. Really dug the end credits animation too.

Hell Boy 2 - 7.5/10
Liked it a heck of a lot more than the first one. Only watched it because it had del Toro directing it, but glad I did. The other people I watched it with didn't enjoy it much, so maybe it was more del Toro's style that kept me interested rather than the movie itself.

Land of the Lost - 7
This movie got slammed by everyone, but I got exactly what I was expecting - a big, dumb, funny Will Ferrell movie. I LOL'ed a number of times, but for some reason completely lost it during the mosquito scene.

Bruno - 7
Man. Some cringe worthy scenes, especially the finale. The hit/miss ratio was worse than Borat though.

[Young Drachma]

Netflix has resulted in me watching all sorts of movie I missed before. I'm not including any of the documentaries I've watched, just the movies.

Traitor: Don Cheadle does good work, but I found the whole thing a bit too unbelievable and slogged through it. What they got right, I liked. (5/10)

I'm Through With White Girls: It's an indie flick that was originally called something else, but they gave it a provocative title to think it'd help it sell. It's a pretty basic indie romantic comedy with a guy who thinks his dating choices are the problem, not himself. It's kitsch, but cute enough to make it worthwhile and a pretty accessible flick. (6/10)

Medicine for Melancholy: A beautifully filmed, but slow moving film about a one night stand. The filmmaker, Barry Jenkins, called it his 'love letter to San Francisco', so it's full of imagery of that city. I think all of that was a bit lost on me, because it's one of the few major U.S. cities I haven't
visited yet, but...save for that, I thought the story was a bit too politically overt and obscured whatever was going on between the characters. So I loved the cinematography, the soundtrack is kickass, but..the story was a bit plodding and yet, it works okay. (7/10)

Rachel Getting Married: Anne Hathaway is amazing. And the lead singer from TV On The Radio is in it, too. Overall, it's well acted but as others have said before it's a complete mess otherwise and so slow that I had to stop watching it. (4/10)

Serenity: I remember all of the hype about it, but because I don't watch movies "like that" I didn't really ever figure out what it was about. But I watched it today and even though I'd never seen the TV series, I found it generally entertaining. I think it'd have been better for someone who knew what they were getting into and it was a movie I almost would've had to watch again to figure out precisely what the storyline was, but...it was generally well done and the heaps of praise seem fairly well founded to me. (8/10)

[Honolulu_Blue]

Serenity: I remember all of the hype about it, but because I don't watch movies "like that" I didn't really ever figure out what it was about. But I watched it today and even though I'd never seen the TV series, I found it generally entertaining. I think it'd have been better for someone who knew what they were getting into and it was a movie I almost would've had to watch again to figure out precisely what the storyline was, but...it was generally well done and the heaps of praise seem fairly well founded to me. (8/10)

Put the TV series on your que. It's even better.

[NewIdentity]

2012 gets 9/10 A great movie, I don't get the bad publicity.

A solid 8 for the action adventure side, but gets another point for the added humor. This is a pretty funny movie with a lot of good laughs in it.

I wonder who was opriginally cast for the lead, I bet it wasn't Cusak and all the great comedy in the movie was added later.

Wood Harelson was hilarious as the wacked out conspiracy nut.


Car, Start....... That was freakin hilarious.

[cubboyroy1826]

2012 - 8/10

A solid entertaining movie with some funny moments and some tear jerkers as well if you have kids. I thought the movie was very well done but it does require a bit of suspension of reality. This is not a complaint of course because if you go to see this movie you should probably know that already. Gotta go make my plans for 2012.

Oh yeah the car start part is confirmed as one of the funnier movie moments in a while.


All Fixed

[Honolulu_Blue]

2010 - 8/10.

2010 some sort of webispide prequel (that apparently borrows the same jokes) to 2012?

[watravaler]

Saw Fargo for the first time. Don't think it's a 10/10 like many others seem to, but it was certainly entertaining. 8.5/10

[endemicFOF]

Two music documentaries, both were amazing and both featured ridiculously talented musicians who suffered from serious mental illness. I can't believe I had never heard of the 13th Floor Elevators before viewing, what an euphoric sound.

You're Gonna Miss Me(2005) profiles Roky Erickson, lead singer of the 1960's band 13th Story Elevators. Groups like Led Zepplin were clearly influenced by this band, and Roky's singing voice is on par with the best of the best in the rock n roll world. Don't want to spoil anything, but check it asap...amazing show. 8/10

The Devil and Daniel Johnston: Profiles Dan Johnston, who pretty much lived in his garage making music. Obviously crazy, but the music speaks for itself. A better film than You're Gonna Miss Me due to main character. 9.5/10

[Matthean]

Scanning back on the reviews for 2012 I don't exactly get it. To me it wasn't nearly humorous as some people seem to think it was. There were a couple of times where I chuckled, but generally speaking I was fairly bored outside of the action sequences, which pretty much all of the early ones were already shown via the previews. Since they bounced around to so many different characters, it felt like it took a long time to really get going. I won't even mention the head scratcher moments. The action sequences were awesome though, but since the movie was so long, they felt too spread out.
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[Kodos]

Quarantine 8 out of 10. A zombie movie featuring the Blair Witch shaky camera, although the camera was not nearly as bad (perhaps because I watched it on TV rather than at the theater) as it was in BWT. The acting was good, and it was a fairly intense movie. Outside of a few too many instances where people who've seen zombie attacks put themselves in a vulnerable position with someone who is obviously about to turn, it was very enjoyable. I recommend it for any zombie fans out there.

[Kodos]

dola

And I tell you what, anyone who lives in Sydney and watches the chase at the end of that movie with Neo and Agent Smith will find it very amusing as the actors run past a familiar building, take a turn, and are suddenly 15 minutes down the road. :D

I had the same feeling watching Breaking Away. They were biking around Bloomington with no regard to continuity.

[DataKing]

Tropic Thunder (8 / 10): One of the funnier movies I've seen in quite a while. There were a few parts that were "meh," and frankly it could have done just as well without Nick Nolte, but it was pretty funny. But what pushed this to an 8 was Tom Cruise. I never thought I'd find myself typing this, but he was absolutely hilarious. Completely stole the show IMO.

Cross of Iron (7 / 10): A pretty good Sam Peckinpah piece about the Eastern Front during World War 2. I could have done without the obvious anti-war aspects, but it was still a pretty good flick with good action sequences for its day. I wish we could see what Sam could have done with modern movie effects.

Fast and Furious (5 / 10): Completely unrealistic with plot holes you could drive a Chevelle through. I am now officially sick of Dom Toretto (who has apparently replaced Superman as the Man of Steel, based on the events of this flick). Still, if you like hot cars and scantily-clad chicks, this might be worth your time.

[NewIdentity]

Since they bounced around to so many different characters, it felt like it took a long time to really get going. I won't even mention the head scratcher moments. The action sequences were awesome though, but since the movie was so long, they felt too spread out.
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I think the bigest problem with your idea of too many characters is the fact that the lead character is a Joe Nobody. Every other Disaster movie out there has the main character as a somebody, Scientist, Engineer, Politcal Leader, Conspiracy Nut. But, not this movie, hell this character is not even a Top in his field; actually truth be told pretty much the opposite.

The main characters role has nothing to do with story development in this movie. The main character has no role what so ever in the Big Picture. Just an extremely ordinary guy trying to get his family through a crisis. This is what makes this "disaster" movie different from most of the others I have seen.

[DataKing]

Milk (6 / 10): A compelling enough story, and Penn was his usual brilliant self acting-wise (the man should stick to acting, and leave the politics to the people who know what they're doing), but I had one significant issue with this movie. I found a lot of the characters to be annoying. I understand that they were very much trying to tell these peoples' stories in a truthful way, and I appreciate that, but some of the characters were really obnoxious to the point of distracting from the story.


Cocaine Cowboys (8 / 10): I don't remember if this was recommended by someone in this thread or not, but if it was, I have to say "thank you." This was a very well put-together documentary about Miami in the late 70s and early 80s, during the height of the city's cocaine immersion. It is largely told through first-hand accounts of people who were there and were heavily involved, including two of the city's biggest drug-runners as well as a confessed hitman for one of the cartels. It really brought home just how awash the city was in drugs at the time, and how the massive amount of drug-money involved completely altered the city's economy.

[whomario]

Watched Into The Wild last night again and still got chills, again ... Maybe it´s the story more than the movie itself, but i won´t let that spoil it for me regardless. Of course it´s melodramatic at some points and isn´t critical about the "bad" aspects at all, but so what ?
The book is different in that aspect, but i still found the film amazing.
If anyone is interested, the original story by Jon Krakauer published in Outside Magazine back in 1993 : Into The Wild - The Story of Chris McCandless by Jon Krakauer | Outside Online (http://outside.away.com/outside/features/1993/1993_into_the_wild_1.html)

9.5/10

[ISiddiqui]

Fantastic Mr. Fox - 10/10: Saw it yesterday and loved it completely. Then again, I'm a huge Wes Anderson fan (quirkier the better), so this was right up my alley, and it obviously has his fingerprints all over it. The animation was absolutely gorgeous - it was stop motion with puppets. And if there is one (voice) actor who really seems to fit in perfectly with Anderson's type of movie, George Clooney is it and he does a fabulous job. There are a lot of cute things in the movie as well, as replacing all cuss words with "cuss" and the way the foxs' eat. Highly recommended.

[RainMaker]

The Crusades (8 out of 10) - This was a History Channel special and I thought extremely informative. They used historical accounts from both sides and I thought it was relatively even-handed. Always been a fan of the historical shows that involve re-creations and some acting. 3 hours in length and available on Netflix. Definitely a good experience if you're into history type stuff.

Star Trek (9 out of 10) - Never really watched Star Trek but liked the movie a lot. Wish I had seen it at the theater. Ton of action, interesting story, and some good acting (I liked Spock). Total guy movie and right up my alley.

Thin Blue Line (8 out of 10) - A documentary from the 80's that helped release an innocent man from jail for a murder he never commited. Sad and moving story that shows that thin line that exists between our police and its citizens. Despite the attention given to the police at times, this seemed more about an ambituous sociopath District Attorney than bad cops.

[Bad-example]

Star Trek - 5/10

Ouch. Not sure why they decided to make the Enterprise bridge look like the place I buy glasses but I think I saw a Sunglass Hut sign in the background. The love story with Uhura and Spock was completely lame. The guy playing Scotty was embarrassingly bad.

Swing and a miss.

[rowech]

The Wrestler -- (7/10) -- I was expecting a bit more to be honest. Still a good movie. Somewhat sad to think so many of the wrestlers I watched growing up might have ended up in similar situations.

[Schmidty]

[B]The guy playing Scotty was embarrassingly bad.

You are now on my ignore list.

Simon Pegg is a god.

[Dodgerchick]

The Road - 6/10

Haven't read the book so this rating is based on the movie. I might have liked it more if I saw it before 2012 because I thought the movie moved really slow. So slow in fact that Antmeister actually fell asleep. My mind drifted a few times and it wasn't until the father started getting really sick that the movie started going somewhere.

Ink - 8.5/10

The acting wasn't the best but it made up for it with great story telling, cinematography, editing and visual effects. It's on Netflix Watch Instantly if anyone's interested.

[JediKooter]

2012 - 5/10

Movie should have been called, "This Movie Seriously Needs an Editor". Almost 3 hours long and not directed by Stephen Jackson are two red flags. I'm fine with exposition as long as it's not done 3 or 4 or 5 times before the shit hits the fan. Roger Murtock does good transitioning from LA cop to American President and John Cusack isn't too bad either. It is amazing though how one book that was only bought by a couple hundred people can get you out of so much trouble. Not a BAD movie per se, but, could have been edited down to about an hour and a half, so that's why it only gets 5 out of 10.

[Dodgerchick]

Precious - 6/10

Powerful story but I just didn't feel it.

[Julio Riddols]

Monster Camp - 8.5/10 - If you know what LARP means, this documentary will likely either be amusing or inspiring. If you do NOT know what LARP means, or if you know what it means and think its silly, this will be hilarious.

Word Wars - 8/10 - Follows 4 scrabble players through their preparation for a big tournament. All 4 characters are incredibly diverse, down to the street wise pot smoker, who steals the film, IMO. Nice sappy ending and intriguing all the way through if you're into Scrabble at all. I play about 5 times better now after watching this.

Both of the above were recently available for instant viewing on Netflix, not sure if they still are, but they're fun and entertaining.

[thesloppy]

The Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans - 8/10 lucky crack pipes - Werner Herzog directs Nicholas Cage, as he chews up everything in sight, going batshit insane. From the beginning, it's pretty obvious that neither Herzog or Cage are trying to make a masterpiece, or any kind of artistic 'statement' and would rather just see how far off the rails they can take the police-procedural. I enjoyed it thoroughly from start to finish, and there are some awesome scenes, even if it falls on its face more than a few times along the way, in typical Herzogian fashion.

[bob]

Funny People (5/10) -- Most of my thoughts have already been touched on, but an overall disappointing film for me. It had the makings of a good movie with good characters, some good laughs (the standup routines, George's movies, the interactions with real celebrities), and an interesting premise, but I think introducing the love interest's family was the mistake that keeps this movie from being really good. We really didn't need to see Leslie Mann's family/house/husband -- all it did was add an extra 45-minutes to the movie. Bana was pretty awful (I cannot believe that is his real accent, it sounds worse than a fake to me) and it felt indulgent, to me, for Apatow to feature his children and wife so much. I didn't like that we had to go the extra mile to see how Bana and Mann's marriage situation is resolved (I don't think anybody really cared why their marriage was falling apart, beyond the easily explained career travel) -- seeing how she affected George's life should have been the goal.

Anyway, not terrible, but not worth seeing in the theatre. I actually think there was probably a pretty good movie in there if Apatow (or someone not so attached to the actors) edited it down to 90 or 105 minutes.

I finally got around to watching this movie on DVD last night. I watched the extended version, and have to agree with everything Swaggs says here. The last 45 minutes with her family seemed out of place, enough so that I checked to make sure that this ending wasn't added on only in the extended edition.

[JS19]

Just finished The Wrestler. Pretty good, I was expecting more interaction and whatnot with him and his daughter, but I thought it was good how they stuck with the reality of the situation and shit doesn't always have a happy ending.

Oh yea, Marisa Tomei.... good for you.

[DanGarion]

Oh yea, Marisa Tomei.... good for you.

Good for all of us!

[Mustang]

Ninja Assassin - 4/10 : Ok, I'm a sucker for stupid fight scenes, lots of blood and swordplay. Bonus points for Ninjas or Vikings (the non-football version) being involved. If there was a Ninjas vs Vikings movie, I'd probably crap my pants. I should have loved this movie, but the 'plot' involving the forensic investigator.. ugh. Why must you ruin a good blood and gore movie with trying to put in words and plot beyond 'HIIIIIIIIIIIIII YAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!' and vengeance is beyond me.

[Groundhog]

Where the Wild Things Are- 6/10

Hmmm... Not nearly as good as I had hoped. Very "childish", which I should've figured. There were a few moments that hinted at something darker underneath the surface, but it never really got deep enough into it, which again is probably fine for a kids movie.

[sabotai]

Star Trek - 4/10

*sigh*

And I was perfectly fine with all of the changes. I was perfectly fine with a reboot. I wanted a reboot. But this...this was just a bad movie. It was like the writer(s) had some really cool ideas, but they didn't know how to get from cool idea A to cool idea B, so they just forced it like they didn't care. And it really showed in the characters' decisions. None of them made the least bit of sense.

[Pyser]

world's greatest dad - 7/10

what a black comedy should be. dark, funny in spite of the tragedy, and often because of it. i like robin williams much more when he isnt playing stuff for laughs. this was a solid movie, way to go bobcat goldthwait.

[Julio Riddols]

world's greatest dad - 7/10

what a black comedy should be. dark, funny in spite of the tragedy, and often because of it. i like robin williams much more when he isnt playing stuff for laughs. this was a solid movie, way to go bobcat goldthwait.

Agreed. A little awkward here and there, and I was waiting for a shoe to drop.. I liked not getting what I expected after that point. Bobcat has some skills I wouldn't have expected.

[Julio Riddols]

Cloudy With A Chance Of Meatballs - 8/10 - I laughed my ass off because the silly humor and the sight gags were right up my alley.. Great film to rent for the family, IMO. Mr. T kicks ass as the overzealous cop, and the whole voice cast is awesome.

[JediKooter]

Avatar 8.5/10

Very good movie. Great, no...outstanding work done on the avatar characters. I had a really hard time trying to figure out what was computer and what was 'live' sometimes with the faces. I gave it an 8.5 instead of something higher due to a little too much exposition and what looked like showing off of the CG elements that really didn't add to the story.

I'll leave it at that for now as to not ruin it for anyone.

[Chief Rum]

Avatar 8.5/10

Very good movie. Great, no...outstanding work done on the avatar characters. I had a really hard time trying to figure out what was computer and what was 'live' sometimes with the faces. I gave it an 8.5 instead of something higher due to a little too much exposition and what looked like showing off of the CG elements that really didn't add to the story.

I'll leave it at that for now as to not ruin it for anyone.

Was the theater crowded? I'm really curious to see how this one does at the box office.

[JediKooter]

Was the theater crowded? I'm really curious to see how this one does at the box office.

It wasn't crowded, BUT, that was due to our company renting the theater for us. So, we weren't mixed in with the public. However, I got there right at 9 in the morning (showing was at 9:30) and there were already people lined up outside waiting to see it, or at least I am assuming they were waiting to see it.

[Honolulu_Blue]

Was the theater crowded? I'm really curious to see how this one does at the box office.

Apparently the box office estimates aren't all that high for this movie. They are projecting a good, but not massive opening weekend.

[Chief Rum]

Apparently the box office estimates aren't all that high for this movie. They are projecting a good, but not massive opening weekend.

Yeah, that's what I was thinking.

I put up a theory in Pyser's Box Office Prediction thread in the Dynasty section that this movie has Hollywood a lot more excited than actual fans/the paying public. Reasons being, Cameron's return, the ginormous budget and all of the techno innovations and claims that went into this one, and that all of that has also fueled a lot of the media gloss (hey, critics make their living off of this stuff, too).

But from actual people I know, not so much buzz. Everyone's heard of it, of course, and seen the commercials, and my guess is most will have it at or near the top of their list of movies to see (which will definitely help around Christmas), but I don't hear much buzz or excitement, like you might see with a long awaited sequel or a reboot in a series that has a set fanbase.

Not so many are running to go see it right now, like with other big time openings, from what I have seen. And some of those who might are actually less likely to go this weekend because they all think the theater will be packed end to end and would rather wait for a holiday break or something to try it out.

Pyser guessed $60 M this weekend, and I tend to agree with him on that one.

[Tasan]

Just got back from Avatar.

My very first reaction was that Lucas should have waited 10 more years to do the prequels. The visuals are absolutely stunning, and all meld very well together. I will mention at this point that I saw it in IMAX 3D, so YMMV when watching it on a lesser screen.

Besides a little heavy handed preaching and a bit over the top military commander, I really enjoyed the movie I think. I'm still going over it in my head though, so I'm not totally locked in yet.

[Tasan]

Oh and to answer the "fullness" question.

There were a lot more folks there than an average noon movie, even for blockbusters. I've been to a few with the way my work goes. I expected half full for noon on what is for most people still a work day, and it was 3/4 to 4/5 or more full, even at the high IMAX+3D price.

[Honolulu_Blue]

Yeah, that's what I was thinking.

I put up a theory in Pyser's Box Office Prediction thread in the Dynasty section that this movie has Hollywood a lot more excited than actual fans/the paying public. Reasons being, Cameron's return, the ginormous budget and all of the techno innovations and claims that went into this one, and that all of that has also fueled a lot of the media gloss (hey, critics make their living off of this stuff, too).

But from actual people I know, not so much buzz. Everyone's heard of it, of course, and seen the commercials, and my guess is most will have it at or near the top of their list of movies to see (which will definitely help around Christmas), but I don't hear much buzz or excitement, like you might see with a long awaited sequel or a reboot in a series that has a set fanbase.

Not so many are running to go see it right now, like with other big time openings, from what I have seen. And some of those who might are actually less likely to go this weekend because they all think the theater will be packed end to end and would rather wait for a holiday break or something to try it out.

Pyser guessed $60 M this weekend, and I tend to agree with him on that one.

I've been getting more and more excited about this movie over the last week or so. I think I will definitely end up catching it in the theater.

[Tasan]

And one more Avatar note for me.

Count me as one of the skeptical viewers going into this. Basically I was sent to the movie for the rest of my family to gauge my reaction. I had been 50/50 on whether I wanted to see it until I got a good deal on going today.

[Pyser]

Yeah, that's what I was thinking.

I put up a theory in Pyser's Box Office Prediction thread in the Dynasty section that this movie has Hollywood a lot more excited than actual fans/the paying public. Reasons being, Cameron's return, the ginormous budget and all of the techno innovations and claims that went into this one, and that all of that has also fueled a lot of the media gloss (hey, critics make their living off of this stuff, too).

But from actual people I know, not so much buzz. Everyone's heard of it, of course, and seen the commercials, and my guess is most will have it at or near the top of their list of movies to see (which will definitely help around Christmas), but I don't hear much buzz or excitement, like you might see with a long awaited sequel or a reboot in a series that has a set fanbase.

Not so many are running to go see it right now, like with other big time openings, from what I have seen. And some of those who might are actually less likely to go this weekend because they all think the theater will be packed end to end and would rather wait for a holiday break or something to try it out.

Pyser guessed $60 M this weekend, and I tend to agree with him on that one.

nice plug, thanks! (check the sig, ya'll)

[rowech]

Invictus (7/10) -- This one is a perfect example of a good but not great movie. Be warned this movie is more about Mandela than the sports aspect of things. Some of the Rugby action is brutal. Morgan Freeman will win the Oscar for lead actor. Damon was solid. The support cast was good. I have two problems about it...some of the stuff is a little too overboard and there is a lack of focus on the players which makes you not care about the sports outcome as much as you should.

[Grammaticus]

Here is my take on Avatar, I give it a solid 7.5 / 10 and recommend watching it.

I saw it yesterday. I skipped the IMAX. It is an extra $5 tacked onto the ticket price for 3D and the IMAX was something like $14 extra. I did IMAX for Batman and it didn’t have anything extra in my opinion. There are some aerial scenes in this one that may have some benefit for IMAX, not sure. Maybe google it and see if other people think the IMAX is worth it or not.

The CGI is awesome and the 3D is very nice. The story line is good. Nothing really original and it is very predictable. Heavily laced with a specific political opinion and even takes some shots at a past presidential administration and of course spews hatred for corporations in general.

I give it a solid 7.5 out of 10, strongly based on the great special effects and the fantasy element.

I definitely recommend seeing it. The entertainment value was there. Even though the story line is average and predicable, it is well delivered. Also, I’m guessing if you want to do IMAX, you probably won’t be disappointed.

[RainMaker]

Yeah, that's what I was thinking.

I put up a theory in Pyser's Box Office Prediction thread in the Dynasty section that this movie has Hollywood a lot more excited than actual fans/the paying public. Reasons being, Cameron's return, the ginormous budget and all of the techno innovations and claims that went into this one, and that all of that has also fueled a lot of the media gloss (hey, critics make their living off of this stuff, too).

But from actual people I know, not so much buzz. Everyone's heard of it, of course, and seen the commercials, and my guess is most will have it at or near the top of their list of movies to see (which will definitely help around Christmas), but I don't hear much buzz or excitement, like you might see with a long awaited sequel or a reboot in a series that has a set fanbase.

Not so many are running to go see it right now, like with other big time openings, from what I have seen. And some of those who might are actually less likely to go this weekend because they all think the theater will be packed end to end and would rather wait for a holiday break or something to try it out.

Pyser guessed $60 M this weekend, and I tend to agree with him on that one.

I think that's because it's Sci-Fi. Just not that many people who are thrilled about that kind of stuff. It doesn't make it a great date movie and women are probably a tad reluctant to go.

I wanted to see it but the girl I'm dating wasn't really thrilled about going. Since she went to a Bulls game with me the other night it was kind of like asking her to do two dates that she didn't really get much out of. So I passed for now but will probably end up seeing it with someone or her after the holidays.

[ISiddiqui]

Invictus (7/10) -- This one is a perfect example of a good but not great movie. Be warned this movie is more about Mandela than the sports aspect of things. Some of the Rugby action is brutal. Morgan Freeman will win the Oscar for lead actor. Damon was solid. The support cast was good. I have two problems about it...some of the stuff is a little too overboard and there is a lack of focus on the players which makes you not care about the sports outcome as much as you should.

I guess it depends on what you expect from the movie. I never saw the previews as showing it as a sports movie that has aspects of Mandela, but always the other way around (a Mandela movie that has aspects of sport).

[RendeR]

I think that's because it's Sci-Fi. Just not that many people who are thrilled about that kind of stuff. It doesn't make it a great date movie and women are probably a tad reluctant to go.

I wanted to see it but the girl I'm dating wasn't really thrilled about going. Since she went to a Bulls game with me the other night it was kind of like asking her to do two dates that she didn't really get much out of. So I passed for now but will probably end up seeing it with someone or her after the holidays.


Its a love story. not that anyone actually knows that.

[RendeR]

Here is my take on Avatar, I give it a solid 7.5 / 10 and recommend watching it.

I saw it yesterday. I skipped the IMAX. It is an extra $5 tacked onto the ticket price for 3D and the IMAX was something like $14 extra. I did IMAX for Batman and it didn’t have anything extra in my opinion. There are some aerial scenes in this one that may have some benefit for IMAX, not sure. Maybe google it and see if other people think the IMAX is worth it or not.

The CGI is awesome and the 3D is very nice. The story line is good. Nothing really original and it is very predictable. Heavily laced with a specific political opinion and even takes some shots at a past presidential administration and of course spews hatred for corporations in general.

I give it a solid 7.5 out of 10, strongly based on the great special effects and the fantasy element.

I definitely recommend seeing it. The entertainment value was there. Even though the story line is average and predicable, it is well delivered. Also, I’m guessing if you want to do IMAX, you probably won’t be disappointed.


Shots at a past administration? Your the second person I've seen tag this as some sort of politico-statement movie. I never got that at all. It DOES focus on the evils of greed and money, but there is nothing political in this film.

[Honolulu_Blue]

The whole anti-big corporation thing is pretty consistent in Cameron's work. Weyland-Yutani, the corporation in Aliens, was definitely evil as personified in Burke, the scumbag who tried to get Ripley and Newt face-hugged to bring the alien back to earth for their bio-weapons division.

Sarah Connor was none too kind to Cyberdine and poor Miles Dyson, essentially blaming "big corp" for the end of the world in T2.

Then you have the whole, upper class is evil/lower class is good dynamic going on in Titanic.

[RainMaker]

My Dad said he thought it was somewhat political in nature but thought it mirrored the Native Americans more so than the recent stuff.

[Grammaticus]

Shots at a past administration? Your the second person I've seen tag this as some sort of politico-statement movie. I never got that at all. It DOES focus on the evils of greed and money, but there is nothing political in this film.

The love story part is true, so there is definately a possible apeal to female viewers. It is not just Sci-Fi action.

As for the Politico, read the spoiler. I don't really think I'm giving up anything that would really spoil the movie, but better safe than sorry.

The Political aspect can be seen in the "pre-emptive strike" scenario. It is hugely anti-military. The only positive military personnel are the lead male character and Michelle Rodriquez's character. The entire backdrop was environmentalist. Drilling for oil versus the product in this movie, etc. With Global Warming, cap and trade and the carbon credit mess on the table, this is definately political. It's all about our evil civilization destroyting the earth and our arogance towards other cultures. At least that is the Hollywood POV.

That said, you may agree with the politics in the movie. Personally, I don't and generally that doesn't bother me. Although I do get tired of the same old drum beat from Hollywood. A little variety every now and then is nice. I took it as a fantasy backdrop and generally enjoyed the movie.

HB, the first thing I thought of was the whole Aleins thing and Paul Reisner (I think that was the actor) as the corporate evil thug.

[Fidatelo]

Saw Avatar in 3D last night. 7.5/10.

This was my first 3D experience and it was kind of cool, although I think directors need to study this film well and learn some do's and don'ts. There were many cases where the 3D actually detracted from the experience and kind of pulled me out of the film, so to speak. Now, there were also a tonne of places where it was totally awesome, don't get me wrong, but it's not 100% goodness.

[ISiddiqui]

Sherlock Holmes - 9/10: Exceedingly good movie, though more of a summer blockbuster type. Lots of action, but with some great buildup and demonstration of Holmes' analytical mind. There was concern that it wasn't like the books, but I think those people will be pleased with how the Adler story turned out (Holmes avoided any romantic overtures). The story was quite good as well and a great set up for future sequels. Downey Jr was great as Holmes and Law brilliant as Watson. There was also some very good humor in the interplay between the two principal characters.

[Chief Rum]

Sherlock Holmes - 9/10: Exceedingly good movie, though more of a summer blockbuster type. Lots of action, but with some great buildup and demonstration of Holmes' analytical mind. There was concern that it wasn't like the books, but I think those people will be pleased with how the Adler story turned out (Holmes avoided any romantic overtures). The story was quite good as well and a great set up for future sequels. Downey Jr was great as Holmes and Law brilliant as Watson. There was also some very good humor in the interplay between the two principal characters.

I enjoyed it, although I think I will need to see it again to catch up with some of the quick dialogue, especially between Holmes and Watson.

It's funny, though, while I would describe the movie as a whole as nothing much more than a functionally well done blockbuster actioneer, I find myself drifting back to the scene a lot, thinking back on the movie. The 1880s London the set and costume designers built up felt very real and well done. I found it to be fascinating (although again, it's in perspective; while watching the movie, although I certainly noticed the well-designed sets/feel, I didn't think much on it more than anything else until well after the end of the movie).

[RainMaker]

Mongol (8 out of 10) - For a somewhat low budget epic, this really was well done. The story of Genghis Khan in his early life. Not really historically accurate and plays on some of the myths surrounding his life, but still really good. This is apparently going to be a trilogy with the next movie coming out next year. Looking forward to it as this hit the mark. The only negative I have is that it did tend to drag a bit from time to time and they probably could have cut a scene or two.

[terpkristin]

Avatar 6/10

I didn't care for it. The scenery is the only reason it got 6. The story has been told before, and been told much better. I didn't find that I cared at all about any of the characters. I thought the "acting" was flat. Really, I was bored during the movie. This seems like a good time to also mention that I can't stand Star Wars, so my movie preferences are not in line with what most people like (apparently). A solid "meh" from me.

/tk

[rowech]

Christmas Edition

A Christmas Story (10/10) -- It's quirky and I think it's definitely more of a 25-40 male movie but it still gets me every time the dad starts talking about what's in the corner there. I still think the kid did a fantastic job of acting throughout this movie and shines in many scenes.

It's a Wonderful Life (10/10) -- Classic. I can't help but wonder everytime they are singing at the end if they were thinking they had just made the all-time holiday classic movie.

Elf (8/10) -- Not at the level of the others but still very funny at times. Is it wrong that I think this is Will Ferrel's only good movie? (other than his cameo in Wedding Crashers)

National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation (9/10) -- In a way, watching this so much has made it lose a notch for me. Still funny and still laugh at several places but people are constantly quoting it while it's being watched. So much to the point that it's bordering annoying.

Scrooge (10/10) -- Probably my favorite Christmas movie. It's a little known version from 1970 starting Albert Finney and Sir Alec Guiness. It to me is the most realistic portrayal of England at the time and Finney's performance is nothing short of brilliant. Be warned it is a musical but all the songs except one are great.

[rowech]

Extract (5/10) -- Some chuckles here and there. Mila Kunis and all of her hotness. Just not much of a movie here though. I just don't think as much was pulled out of the cast as there should have been. Just fell flat for me.

[Groundhog]

The Orphanage - 8/10 - Mental Note: Do not watch these kind of movies home alone at 2am. Very creepy and, best of all, after seeming pretty straightforward and predictable for most of the middle-section of the movie, it has a pretty "neat" ending.

Inglourious Basterds - 8/10 - Out of all the Tarantino movies I've seen, this is probably the only one where I went into it expecting not to think much of it for some reason. Instead, I loved it. Some great Tarantino dialogue, but I found myself forgetting it was a Tarantino movie at times due to the setting, and then the music would kick in... His stamp is all over it, despite being a very unusual movie for him.

[Lathum]

Extract (5/10) -- Some chuckles here and there. Mila Kunis and all of her hotness. Just not much of a movie here though. I just don't think as much was pulled out of the cast as there should have been. Just fell flat for me.
Totaly agree . Given the cast and the fact it was mike judge I expected alot more.

[Dodgerchick]

Saw Memento, gotta watch it again though to understand it. Great concept but a little confusing for me.

Avatar - 6.5/10

Although I really enjoyed the interconnectedness of nature, land and people the movie portrayed, it was exactly what I thought it was - an awesome visual effects movie with little story.

[Dodgerchick]

District B13 (http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/district_b13/) - 8.5/10

Action packed from the moment the movie starts until it ends. Story about a vigilante and a cop joining forces to retrieve a bomb ready to detonate on one of the city's most dangerous ghetto. Great action scenes.

Half Light - 5.5/10

Demi Moore plays a successful novelist whose son dies and she goes to a cottage to try and write a novel but some weird stuff starts happening around her.

I admit I was a little scared during some scenes but thought the movie was predictable.

[sabotai]

(500) Days Of Summer - 9/10

It's not often that I will watch a movie more than once when I rent it. I watched it twice and have it on as background noise as I write this. Can't add much more than what others have said. The best movie of 2009 that I have seen so far (not that I have seen all that many yet).

[ISiddiqui]

Up in the Air - 8/10: A very good film about the importance of other people. Clooney does a wonderful job, as always, with the lead character who feels totally content living a transient lifestyle, always on the road, until he realizes there is more to life than that. The movie is very serious at times (Clooney does play a guy who goes around the country firing people), but can be extremely hilarious. And the acting is just top notch.