The Movie Review and Discussion Thread

[Diesel]

CZAR, I haven't seen that film you asked about.

Originally Posted by SquidPuppet

Are you joining the movie club?

I'm going to pass mostly.

I'm not a movie of the week kind of guy, for me to watch a movie its a choice based on what I'm feeling at the time not something predetermined.


...but if the movie of the week happens to be something I feel like watching at that time I'll participate.

Originally Posted by SquidPuppet

Are you guys having an emoticon usage competition?

He can't keep up with me

Originally Posted by iam1bearcat

no way! Diesel is the king of emoticon usage! i just wanted to use them to express emotion better than words

[iam1bearcat]

Originally Posted by Steve46

My apartment needs a clean if you're in the neighborhood.

I'm starting to appreciate Eastwood's films even more, especially when he directs.

Gran Torino had a mixed reception. A lot of people argue that the acting, with the exception of Eastwood, was poor. I disagree and it worked for me.

I've thought about this often and I think this is close to Eastwood's best acting performance. He's convincing at every point. It rings true because there are people like that in the world. Lots of them. And the vast majority are old and set in their ways, thinking racism is acceptable. Maybe this will make at least one person in the world re-think that ignorant view.

I like Gran Torino and have watched it several times. My local store has a ton of used copies for $4.99 and can't sell them

Gotta love the

[Show spoiler]scenes where he's teaching Thao to act and talk like a man.

to the bolded portion: you know, you wrote in that sentence what i blabbered about for like, 2 paragraphs. i couldn't find the right words, but there they are lol

yes! the

[Show spoiler]barber shop scenes are awesome. i love Thao screws up the wording when he says, "man i my ass hurts, getting pounded by the guys at the construction site"

or something like that hysterical because Thao doesn't understand what it means and where he screwed up

[iam1bearcat]

Originally Posted by Diesel

He can't keep up with me

see?! look at all those emoticons! how can i possibly keep up even if i wanted to try!

[Marcus Wright]

Originally Posted by iam1bearcat

Gran Torino

year: 2009
director: clint eastwood
starring: clint eastwood (walt kowalski), ben vang (thao), ahney her (sue)

it's amazing what some films inspire.

[Show spoiler]i think one thing Gran Torino SHOULD inspire is understand other cultures and races and learning that no matter what nationality you are or what different cultures do, some things are universal. but i didn't expect Gran Torino to leave me wanting to do housework!

as odd as it sounds, learning about Mr. Kowalski, and how he's stern, hard nosed, a prick essentially, no nonsense and determined to finish what he starts, he's the type of guy that doesn't do "fun" things, but does what needs to be done. i'm a lazy person naturally at times (even though i have a propensity for cleaning because i'm OCD with having a dirty house) so during parts of Gran Torino i wanted to just up and just start working, chopping wood, hammering s*** and other stuff odd, i know.

anyway, the film, as most probably know because i'm behind the eight ball here, is a strict, hard nosed "American everything" old man who is a war vet who lives in a neighborhood that has become all Hmong with residents. he doesn't like them, and makes no qualms about it, and they don't like him. hell, he doesn't like any race. and there's no excluding Caucasians as well. but it's not the skin tone, it's how they act: gang bangers, making your car look hideous, using slang terms, not working hard, being a "p****" and being in a gang, and everything under the sun. the best part is he doesn't just grumble about this in the comfort of his home. he says it right to their faces which is kind of awesome, but also kind of sad, because even though the character is written extremely awesome and is a bad ass, there are a lot of people like this is in the world, and they are certainly not awesome. dangerous line to cross because i hope some punk redneck 12 year old doesn't try and imitate Kowalski his whole life because that's not the point of the film.

but when his neighbor, Thao, who doesn't want to be a gang banger and has bigger aspirations, but still pisses of Kowalski when he tries to steal his car forms an odd bond, a friendship is formed between the most unlikely of individuals.

there was one scene in the film that i had to pause and think about and it shocked me a bit how i wasn't surprised when it happened, but only after i thought about it:

[Show spoiler]when Sue invites Kowalski over for their BBQ. and he agrees. it's an awesome scene that shows how far both people have come. but the trick is that, this is 47 minutes in to the film! and with the first 20 minutes, i NEVER would have suspected or believed that he would be in his neighbors house enjoying food with them.

it's a sign of terrific writing, realistic writing, great pacing and a believable story. a lot of other films could have fudged this up and i would have said, "oh come on..." but how Eastwood directs and writes the film is wonderful.

there are some great scenes of humor in the film too, of course, because of how racist and uncaring Kowalski is. i love how Kowalski

[Show spoiler]always screws up names, especially calling Thao, "Toad"

the directing is great, as is most of the acting (all except for when some characters try and express anger and yell). nothing too flashy, which is probably vintage Eastwood (only seen like, 4 of his films) and seems to fit his personality.

one character i couldn't stand though was

[Show spoiler]the Priest

ugh i hated how he was so smothering and always there. like, every 10 minutes he would just be wandering through the neighborhood :choke: he was extremely annoying imo.

i did enjoy the relationship between Sue and Kowalski though. she was great and didn't take his racist comments to heart and actually made jokes out of them. they were like complete 180's of each other, but both enjoyed each others company.

the only thing i can really think as to being a flaw would be the lack of surprise in the film and the typical portrayal of the characters and story. Kowalski is a hard edged bad ass who learns to enjoy and accept other cultures (or at least some people FROM other cultures) and then

[Show spoiler]learns to be at peace.

and of course Thao

[Show spoiler]learns what hard work and determination gets you and learns to stand up for himself and be strong

among other things. it's not really a flaw, but it's one of those things you know is coming, but doesn't wreck the film at all.

although i must say i was a bit surprised by the ending, but i guess i should have see something like that coming. tricky, tricky Eastwood!

PQ: 4.5/5 - a lot of dark, shadowy scenes, but scenes that are well lit are very well detailed
AQ: 3.5/5 - not a lot of sound going on, but sometimes the dialogue was hard to hear, almost like people were too far away from their marks, had to constantly turn up the volume.

4.5/5

I would give it a 5/5

[lDlisturb3d]

Originally Posted by SquidPuppet

Five Star Sci-fi/horror

Pitch Black is really good!

[lDlisturb3d]

Originally Posted by SquidPuppet

Each member gets a turn at selecting the movie. I am guessing that it will be all over the place.

Um when did this start? Details?

[iam1bearcat]

Originally Posted by SquidPuppet

It would be good to have you aboard.

+1

remember Q!, you don't have to join in every week (technically 2 weeks) if time doesn't allow.
that's what Diesel might be doing, joining in if he sees something he's interested in

[Diesel]

But if you're part time like me you don't get full benefits that a full timer has

[iam1bearcat]

Originally Posted by Diesel

But if you're part time like me you don't get full benefits that a full timer has

full time jobs = medical benefits. full time review club = ability to choose a film

[Marcus Wright]

Originally Posted by Diesel

But if you're part time like me you don't get full benefits that a full timer has

Sure you dont.
And also, being full time, you can do this.

[CZAR]

Originally Posted by Diesel

CZAR, I haven't seen that film you asked about.

Oh wow man u should check it out. Its an excellent film and I was very surprised how good it was when I first saw it. Definite recommendation for u man real talk. The film stars Paul Walker, Cameron Bright, Vera Farmiga, Chazz Palminteri. Got Em!!

[Batman1980]

Originally Posted by Marcus Wright

Sure you dont.
And also, being full time, you can do this.

Maybe you can answer me this. I get that Marcus Wright is a big part of Terminator 4 but what character is he, if any, from the previous 3 films?

[Marcus Wright]

Originally Posted by Gandalf Stormcrow

Maybe you can answer me this. I get that Marcus Wright is a big part of Terminator 4 but what character is he, if any, from the previous 3 films?

He is a character thats stronger than Gandalf Stormcrow.

[Batman1980]

Originally Posted by Marcus Wright

He is a character thats stronger than Gandalf Stormcrow.

I don't think so. Marcus Wright is a very strong android but he is still human, Stormcrow is an immortal, one of several living in the Undying Lands with the Valar.
Terminator Salvation 4.5/5
PQ 5/5
AQ 5/5
Second best Terminator film to date behind only Judgment Day I think, even if the great Arnold Schwarzenegger wasn't in it.

[Marcus Wright]

Originally Posted by Gandalf Stormcrow

I don't think so. Marcus Wright is a very strong android but he is still human, Stormcrow is an immortal, one of several living in the Undying Lands with the Valar.
Terminator Salvation 4.5/5
PQ 5/5
AQ 5/5
Second best Terminator film to date behind only Judgment Day I think, even if the great Arnold Schwarzenegger wasn't in it.

I agree with your rankings of terminator films.

[Batman1980]

Originally Posted by Marcus Wright

I agree with your rankings of terminator films.

Terminator 2 5/5
Terminator 4 4.5/5
Terminator 4/5
Terminator 3 3.5/5
At least I'm pretty sure that's what I think of them.

[two40]

Originally Posted by Steve46

Gran Torino had a mixed reception. A lot of people argue that the acting, with the exception of Eastwood, was poor. I disagree and it worked for me.

I'm one of those people. I think this film was in stark contrast to his better direction in Million Dollar Baby, Mystic River, Letters From Iwo Jima, Unforgiven etc. The support acting in this film was downright awful. I just couldn't get past it. It ruined the film for me. Many people obviously did not mind the acting, or saw something I missed since it gets some pretty high scores. If you ask me, the scores have more to do with Eastwood's past reputation than the merits of the film itself.

[Al_The_Strange]

Next greatest rental: “The Last Airbender.”

I’ve never really seen the original cartoon, so this is entirely on its own merits.

I went into this understand that it’s a poorly-received film, but with M Night Shyamalan directing I had some hope. At the start, the film seemed somewhat promising. But as it went on…

Truthfully, it’s not really as bad as I expected. The visuals truly did not disappoint; the SFX are wonderful and some of the action scenes are neat (although I have certainly seen better). I really love the production designs; the sea ships look cooler than s**t, the cities/villages/backgrounds are brilliant (sometimes looking distinctively Asian in style, and other times looking a little Narnia-style), and many of the sets, props, costumes, etc. look decent. The film has its share of coolness and brilliance in some spots.

Unfortunately, the quality visuals aren’t enough to propel the film to greatness IMO. My biggest complaint is the writing; it seems very simplistic, with way too much exposition and way too many ideas being repeated over and over again (

[Show spoiler]Okay, I get it, the fire-prince dude’s trying to impress his daddy! Killing the one fish disrupts the harmony! I know, I know! Sheesh!

). I halfway wonder if they wrote a first-draft and never bothered to flesh it out or proofread.

And by extension, the acting suffers somewhat; maybe not the absolute worst I’ve seen, but a lot of it does feel flat and lifeless to me. Even more disappointing though is the impact on the story. The story has its share of promising ideas and themes (very strong content regarding the four natural elements, and some hints on the philosophies of Taoism, Buddhism, maybe even Hinduism). But with the writing the way it is, these ideas either come off as over-emphasized or underused. As for the story, its pacing is a little uneven, sometimes using a voice-over narrative to skip over things to get to the next scene. And other scenes seem to drag, with characters that hesitate too much. And other parts yet feel tacked-on (especially

[Show spoiler]the whole spiel with the northern princess girl; would have been better if she was a major character all the way through, instead of somebody who just popped in for the last twenty minutes

). But most unforgivable about this story is that it’s simply too unoriginal. Good vs evil, some kid is a “chosen one” who will bring balance to the force, gotta rally an army to fight bad guys…surely, we’ve seen all these elements before in myriads of other better movies!

Well, the film has its share of entertainment, even if the story and writing suffers. I’d say it’s better than “Dragonball: Evolution,” and on the same level as “Eragon,” “The Golden Compass,” “The Forbidden Kingdom,” or the ever-immortal classic “10000 BC.”

3/5 (entertainment: 3.5/5, story: 2/5, film: 2.5/5)

Reccomendation: Nope!

This would be my least-favorite Shyamalan film. I'm not even sure if I'd want to buy a copy; I'll wait and see if it grows on me...

[Batman1980]

Could someone explain to me how Terminator 4 means Terminator 3 didn't happen? For some reason my brain's just not making the connection there for some reason. Oh and I'm Asian and I think Gran Torino is awesome, even if it meant I got a few "friendly" racist comments for awhile.

[SquidPuppet]

Originally Posted by Al_The_Strange

Next greatest rental: “The Last Airbender.”

I’d say it's on the same level the ever-immortal classic “10000 BC.”
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