The Movie Review and Discussion Thread

[Riff Magnum]

Originally Posted by jhiggy23

Winter's Bone (blu)


PQ and AQ: 4 (out of 5)


Film: 3 1/2 stars (out of 4)


This is a very solid film but falls short of being a great one. Jennifer Lawrence is exceptional here and deserves the Oscar nom she will likely get, but her performance never reaches the level of greatness of Noomi Rapace's in either of the first two films of the Girl trilogy (although the third is the only one she could be nominated for, which sadly does not have nearly as much screentime for her). Lawrence delivers her lines very well and her non-verbal acting is also top notch. Her maturity is what leads me to believe she's going to be a star of gritty pictures, like Hilary Swank. John Hawkes is also great in this film and steals every scene he's in.

My problem with the film, and the reason it doesn't approach greatness, is that it's too linear and straight forward. There's not a surprise to be found in this film.

Despite how much critics love the film, it's unlikely to get an Oscar nom. I think the Academy really needs to start considering these Sundance sensations for awards consideration, because Sin Nombre was screwed last year as well for multiple categories.

Have you read the book? My wife is reading it now and she says it's really good.
I'm still waiting to "Do the squidpuppet" on this movie, but until Netflix ships it, I might have to read the book once my wife is done. I've heard nothing but good things about the book and movie.

[Riff Magnum]

"Have you read the book" would be a good name for a band.

that's my Gandalf Stormcrow post of the day.

[Diesel]

Despicable Me


I didn't enjoy it nearly as much this time around in theaters, but still thought it was not bad (gave it a 4.5/5 first time around). Which really surprised me actually.

The first time I thought it was hilarious and laughed at pretty much everything. This time it was just funny in some places (the very large majority of the laughs were from the minions).

Didn't really care about the story of the little girls or Gru this time at all; it didn't hook me in the slightest. The time between the laughs was filled with boredom.

I'm not really sure what caused such a drop off in my enjoyment of this movie; it's quite strange that my opinion of it would drop so much since originally seeing it in July.

Still though, it's not a horrible movie by any means, because it does have some hilarious moments thanks to the minions and a few to the other characters. But outside of that, tonight I thought it was just

So I'm giving the majority of the film a 3/5 but giving it extra credit because I like the minions so much.

Rating - 3.5/5

[Al_The_Strange]

Originally Posted by iam1bearcat

thanks for the suggestions!
i was thinking of adding fantasy, but most of what i know has that tag (HP series and LOTR, maybe even Star Wars) could also be put in action, and / or adventure. so i don't wanna get stuck having to add 1 movie to like, 15 different categories, but i'll investigate more with and decide what qualifies as "fantasy" and maybe add it.

arthouse / indie i'll have to investigate further as well. figured i would just add them to respective major categories (drama, romance, comedy) but i may add this. of course, then i would have to figure out what "technically" qualifies for 'indie' (budget? studio? ) and figure out what 'arthouse' even means

same goes for Film Noir. don't really know what that is

documentaries i will likely add eventually, maybe biography as well. but not sure. there are some documentaries i am interested in seeing, so i'm sure once i've seen like 5, i'll want a list so i probably should make one lol

I do the same thing; separate by genre. Fantasy does have its own place on my shelf (largely because I have tons of them), but they are merged with historical epics as well. Film-noir pics have their own group under dramas. Arthouse and indie films are scattered all over; most are dramas, some might be comedy, sci-fi, horror, etc.

I got my documentaries in a separate room on its own shelf.

Originally Posted by iam1bearcat

as for why and how i can start all over...

WHY: i'm a big fan of lists. but, because of the hundreds i've seen BEFORE i really started making lists and notes of my favorite things, i don't really feel comfortable with my lists. i know, life is hard when most of my day is feeling incomplete about my lists but it's true

like, i could make a list of my favorite comedies, but there's dozens of comedies i haven't seen in years, didn't review, don't remember a lot of and thus, i could add them and no one else would care, but i do, because i want it to be "complete" and it just doesn't if i just start in the middle of my viewing of films to make lists.

does that make sense?

same for "hey, what's your favorite Edward Norton film?" i'd say Fight Club, but i have no idea where American History X and Death to Smoochy is on that list. i've seen those films, but don't remember them or Norton's performance at all. so by "clearing the slate" and reviewing and making note of things i like / dislike about each film, i can have my lists feel more complete in my eyes.

List are fun. I've tried many times before to make a top 100 list for myself, but it always seems to change. Since I've been rating all movies on a three-point basis these days, I might have to consider a total overhaul of the list...

Uh oh, you might have gotten me into some kind of list-making craze...

Originally Posted by iam1bearcat

and how can i if i'm only taking a break of around 10-14 days and going in fresh? by not watching so many so quickly. in november i watched what felt like, 3 or 4 movies every day. was it fun? yeah, but i realize it quickly wore me out to the point i wanted nothing to do with films anymore.

so i'm gonna try and keep it to 1 film a day. at least for bigger, "heavier" films. of course, some days i may feel fine watching / reviewing 2 films a day or whatnot, but mainly i'm gonna try and watch like 4-5 films a week, maybe even less.

i would love to see every film (well, 95% let's say) ever made, but realistically, that just isn't possible unless i inherit millions and just sit inside and watch films all day, and even then, there are other things i like doing. so i'm gonna slow down, relax, realize that if i don't see every movie i'm curious about, that's fine, it doesn't ruin or make my life and not try and shove as many films as possible into every single spare moment of free time.

That's happened to me before too. Going through rental after rental gets wearisome for me; some months ago I learned to stretch out the amount of time I hold onto rentals (thank goodness Netflix and LoveFilm are so flexible), and spend some time revisiting old favorites. Less stress, more fun.

[Al_The_Strange]

Originally Posted by Trogdor2010

Valhalla Rising: 4 out of 4

[Show spoiler]
The wish people desire for their religion (or belief) is that there is redemption in the end, or rather in this case, the redemption they desire is wealth and eternal pleasure.

In 1000 A.D. where christian belief is spreading in Scotland, a Norse Warrior named One eye, is a slave who is pitted to fight with his bare fists, escapes and kills his captors, only sparing a little boy that follows him around the land. When he confronts a group of christian vikings that are in the search of the Holy Land and take our Jerusalem. Fearing the one eyed man's reputation of savagery, they follow him, until they realize they are lead to a land that is hell.

The film is about the blindness of people's ideals in beliefs; it is a relevant topic today when compared to the extremism in all religions because of Fundamentalists hostilities (Theocracies and religious extremists groups namely), and for that reason, this is one of the most controversial films of the year (along with some explicit violence in the first chapter). The film is influenced plenty by the work of Ingmar Bergman (Some might call it a Ingmar Bergman version of Braveheart) and Nicolas Roeg, which this is not truly a tale about people, but their own nature; it is told in limited dialogue of their intentions, but it's questions are not expressed in words. Beautifully shot cinematography, showcasing the Scottish highlands, fields and forests worthy to be seen theatrically, which is a shame few people will get to see it in the way it was intended. A visceral work of art.

See...a lot of that didn't even come to mind when I watched the film. That's some awesome stuff to think about; I'll definitely have to revisit this film some day.

Good review!

[Al_The_Strange]

Originally Posted by DjMethod

Perfectly valid! You're always pretty clear about your scores and how you balance them. Judging by your reviews, you seem pretty hard to budge towards polarized scores. Just curious, what are some of your 5/5's that came out in the last few years?

Thank you.

I have noticed I haven't been giving out 5/5s a lot lately (or many 0.5/5s either, thankfully). Hence I was telling bearcat I must have only give so many films a 5/5; 4.5/5 seems to be a more common score.

Some recent movies I'd give a 5/5 to would be:

"The Dark Knight" (now taking its place as my favorite comic-book movie)
"Star Trek" 2009 (for the time being; if the sequel comes out and proves to be better, this might drop to 4.5/5)
"Wall-E"

In the past I gave "Chocolate" and "Wanted" 5/5s, but I'll have to see if they hold up to repeat viewings (the former probably won't; the action's smashing, and I do like the story, but it seriously won't hold a candle to other favorite martial arts films).

I gave "Inception," "Ip Man," "Red Cliff," "Avatar," and "Antichrist" slighly less-than-perfect ratings (4.5/5, 4.5/5, 4.5/5, 4/5, and 4/5 respectively), but in time they'll probably increase to 5/5s as I rewatch them and get less picky. "Let the Right One In," "Waltz With Bashir," and "Watchmen" are other likely contenders, but I don't remember what score I gave them originally.

Originally Posted by DjMethod

I would confidently add True Grit to that

Haven't seen the new Evangelion films yet.

Haven't seen either version of "True Grit" yet.

I saw the first "Evangelion 1.11," and thought it was fine and dandy. It's almost shot-by-shot the exact same as the series, with just a few interesting changes and a lot of updated artwork (and of course, cramming 5 or more episodes into a sub-2-hour movie means some details got cut out).

I think the next film is supposed to depart from the original storyline, so I'll be very interested to see it when it comes to disc.

[Al_The_Strange]

Originally Posted by Riff Magnum

"Have you read the book" would be a good name for a band.

that's my Gandalf Stormcrow post of the day.

They should sing a song (or make a skit) entitled "Why Read the Book When I Can Watch the Movie?"

[Steve46]

I just did something weird - I bought some DVDs.

The Three Colors Trilogy

and

12 Angry Men

They will make great gifts when the Blu-ray's are eventually released. I hope Criterion gets the rights to all four films.

[SquidPuppet]

Originally Posted by Riff Magnum

Yeah, i'm really surprised "Tangled" is getting so much love around here. The previews left me with a super duper "meh/." Then again, i would never have thought "HTTYD" would give me such a feeling. I'll probably Netflix 'em. Or in other words: "Do the Squidpuppet."

"Hey Blurayers have you heard the news? Ya gotta do the Squidpuppet to avoid the blues!!"

It took me a while to get to the theater for this exact reason. The trailer misses the mark. There is as much adventure in Tangled as there was in HtTYD. At least it felt that way. CRAZY chase scenes and some danger too.

[SquidPuppet]

Originally Posted by Riff Magnum

Yeah, i'm already addicted to "Doing the Squidpuppet."

If you wanna really sass it up you can add a Y'all to the end!!

[SquidPuppet]

Originally Posted by Hep

I totally agree. I tried to think of a way to express that without cheapening the film, and in the end I failed...fictitious documentary? docudrama? mockumentary? Nope, I didn’t want to summon the ghosts of Cloverfield, or even worse, The Blair Witch Project.



Absolutely. I smiled with empathy, in the way people sometimes cry happy tears - very touching.



You’re either hanging on to an antiquated definition of a musical, or I am inventing my own definition. I would say (in a loose way) they are singing dialogue, but in a greatly exaggerated timeline. I mean they don’t have any true back and forth conversations within a single song, but the songs are certainly used to communicate to each other and the audience. This is what I was trying to get at – the way the songs were used is singular, real and true to life while flirting with the surreal. In most films with great music, the music is simply used to provoke the emotions being expressed in the dialogue; in Once the lyrics serve to actively move the narrative forward, and in that sense I believe it is a musical (nouveau musical? musical new wave? I need some classification for films like this and Dancer in the Dark).

I see what you are saying, and its true. If we are to classify Once as a musical, then we really do need a new sub category for it. That would be cool, then I would know which movies to steer clear of and which to see.

[CZAR]

Lottery Ticket - I have been wanting to see this for a while now in hopes of finding a new funny urban comedy. Was hopin Cube would get his magic back like in the Friday days. I have to say it was a pretty good film. Bow Wow is actually a decent actor and I was impressed by Brandon T. Jackson as I never really cared for him. The funny thing is yes it has its funny parts but this was taking more serious than I thought and its actually a well rounded film with some serious moments.

I wouldve liked it to be more laugh out loud funny like a Friday but then again that may be askin to much. I really enjoyed Ice Cube's character and the film had a very good cast and one other good thing I liked was no one went over the top to much and I had been used to that which I hate at times. I have to say with great pleasure that the PQ & AQ were top notch and that was a big surprise.

All in all not a bad comedy at all and I would recommend atleast one viewing of the film. I am still debating if I would like to add it to the collection and Im leaning towards yes. Got Em!!

Film Rating - 3 1/2 stars (out of 5)

PQ - 5 stars (out of 5)

AQ - 5 stars (out of 5)

[SquidPuppet]

Originally Posted by jhiggy23

Winter's Bone (blu)


PQ and AQ: 4 (out of 5)


Film: 3 1/2 stars (out of 4)


This is a very solid film but falls short of being a great one. Jennifer Lawrence is exceptional here and deserves the Oscar nom she will likely get, but her performance never reaches the level of greatness of Noomi Rapace's in either of the first two films of the Girl trilogy (although the third is the only one she could be nominated for, which sadly does not have nearly as much screentime for her). Lawrence delivers her lines very well and her non-verbal acting is also top notch. Her maturity is what leads me to believe she's going to be a star of gritty pictures, like Hilary Swank. John Hawkes is also great in this film and steals every scene he's in.

My problem with the film, and the reason it doesn't approach greatness, is that it's too linear and straight forward. There's not a surprise to be found in this film.

Despite how much critics love the film, it's unlikely to get an Oscar nom. I think the Academy really needs to start considering these Sundance sensations for awards consideration, because Sin Nombre was screwed last year as well for multiple categories.

I agree. There was something missing, but I couldnt identify what it was exactly. Its as if all the pieces fit together neatly.

[SquidPuppet]

Originally Posted by Riff Magnum

"Have you read the book" would be a good name for a band.

that's my Gandalf Stormcrow post of the day.

Cheerios are good.

[SquidPuppet]

Originally Posted by Al_The_Strange

I do the same thing; separate by genre. Fantasy does have its own place on my shelf (largely because I have tons of them), but they are merged with historical epics as well.

I am sensing some oxymoronic irony there.

[iam1bearcat]

Originally Posted by Diesel

I saw the first Shrek. Thought about seeing the second and third; even had them set to DVR one night. But I decided to skip them since I'm not a fan of the first one, so I figured why continue.

i'm not a big mike meyers fan or eddie murphy fan so finding out these two were the voices for the main characters didn't help me enjoy it at all an i was dragged to the theater for Shrek 3. on opening day surrounded by 7 year olds one of the worst theater atmospheres ever.

I highly approve of this post

You have one week after the blu-rays are released to give your review for at least the first film

you got it
i was gonna maybe rent them a few months ago, but there's rumors bubbling about them coming out in 2011, and since i'm in no rush to see them, i can wait for if in fact they do.

I've been putting a little thought into finally coming up with an official Top 10 list for myself, and I think the first and third films are likely to end up on that list once I finally do create it (along with 3:10 to Yuma).

i wanna see this bad boy if it ever comes to creation!
just don't get burned out or aggravated over it. then it's not fun anymore

Like I said...one week after the blu-rays are out you have to have at least one review in

i got it

[Show spoiler]

You and your list fetish

last night after creating the wall the gf asked, "do you have a list for everything?" and i said, "well, probably not EVERYTHING, but in due time my dear". she then asked, "do you have a favorite friends / favorite girlfriends list?" and i said, "of course". she then asked to see it, to which i jokingly responded, "you can't. i don't feel like sleeping in the car or my parents house tonight". then she stomped her foot, scoffed and marched away mumbling under her breath

Originally Posted by Al_The_Strange

I do the same thing; separate by genre. Fantasy does have its own place on my shelf (largely because I have tons of them), but they are merged with historical epics as well. Film-noir pics have their own group under dramas. Arthouse and indie films are scattered all over; most are dramas, some might be comedy, sci-fi, horror, etc.

I got my documentaries in a separate room on its own shelf.

so on your shelf you have them separated huh? that's pretty cool. if i ever get around 200 blus, i might do that. right now sitting at 43 i have them as tv shows / pixar / blu-rays. a year ago when i was at like, 155 i had everything together just as alphabetical order, which was fine, but seeing how nice and bright the pixar spines / covers are, they look better together so i keep them together now.

and if i would do this, i would have to decide for sure where each film goes as it's main genre.

i also completely forgot about genres such as crime, and mafia / gangster. so like, when The Town shows up today () would i put that with crime? or action? or drama? i would never make it through my entire collection without being driven mad

List are fun. I've tried many times before to make a top 100 list for myself, but it always seems to change. Since I've been rating all movies on a three-point basis these days, I might have to consider a total overhaul of the list...

Uh oh, you might have gotten me into some kind of list-making craze...

uh oh what have i done! that'd be a big list to overhaul! if you would, i'd say just go back and re-watch (with the new scale) like 3 movies a month or so, and focus on ones that you gave a 3.5/5 or higher to the first time. no need to go back and rewatch a movie you gave a 1/5 to just so you know the "official" new score. especially since it might not be fun or worthwhile since it probably won't make your top 100

That's happened to me before too. Going through rental after rental gets wearisome for me; some months ago I learned to stretch out the amount of time I hold onto rentals (thank goodness Netflix and LoveFilm are so flexible), and spend some time revisiting old favorites. Less stress, more fun.

yeah, i don't know how film critics do it. i have no idea how many films Ebert watches a year, but i wonder if it ever gets tiring for him? i wonder, "does he watch films in his free time? or, because it's his job, does he do other things and stay as far away from films as possible?" especially after writing reviews and whatnot, lots of time spent on films. but then again, it is his job, and we all get sick of our jobs but keep going, so maybe it effects him less or just like the rest of us.

[iam1bearcat]

Originally Posted by SquidPuppet

I am sensing some oxymoronic irony there.

i didn't even catch that. but maybe he means they are just next to each other? F for Fantasy, H for Historical?
if not, i wanna know every title on that shelf!

[Romulus]

Tron (1982)

With plans to see Tron: Legacy this weekend, I thought it might be worth the effort to actually watch the first film to get a sense of the Tron diegesis. Tron has always been that film that many of my buddies have talked about and referenced, especially the bike racing scene.

Tron turned out to be a drastically different film then what I had anticipated. With the countless cultural references to the games played inside the world of Tron, I felt like they made a small portion of the film. There was only one bike race and two gladiator type games. The rest focused on the story, or the complete lack of one. The writing of Tron is definitely it's weakest point. Plot points seemed to be skimmed over and not given any attention. Themes are majorly underdeveloped and the romantic sub-plot is basically non-existent even though we see results. I guess the only romantic encounters the writer had were at college parties.

We all know that the plot and characters were not the focus for Tron. The special effects, while groundbreaking for the early 1980s, are a little harder for anyone to digest if they have never seen the film. Tron as a whole reminds me of visiting my grandparents house and booting up the old Atari system. Sure, the games are playable and it will pass the time but would you really play it if there are better alternatives out there?

2.5/5

[Romulus]

Originally Posted by Steve46

I just did something weird - I bought some DVDs.

The Three Colors Trilogy

and

12 Angry Men

They will make great gifts when the Blu-ray's are eventually released. I hope Criterion gets the rights to all four films.

12 Angry Men is without a doubt one of my top 10 films of all time. I'm very interested to see what you think about the Three Colors Trilogy. They are in my Netflix queue right now but probably won't get around to seeing them until March or April. How great are those three films?

[Romulus]

Originally Posted by jhiggy23

Winter's Bone (blu)


PQ and AQ: 4 (out of 5)


Film: 3 1/2 stars (out of 4)


This is a very solid film but falls short of being a great one. Jennifer Lawrence is exceptional here and deserves the Oscar nom she will likely get, but her performance never reaches the level of greatness of Noomi Rapace's in either of the first two films of the Girl trilogy (although the third is the only one she could be nominated for, which sadly does not have nearly as much screentime for her). Lawrence delivers her lines very well and her non-verbal acting is also top notch. Her maturity is what leads me to believe she's going to be a star of gritty pictures, like Hilary Swank. John Hawkes is also great in this film and steals every scene he's in.

My problem with the film, and the reason it doesn't approach greatness, is that it's too linear and straight forward. There's not a surprise to be found in this film.

Despite how much critics love the film, it's unlikely to get an Oscar nom. I think the Academy really needs to start considering these Sundance sensations for awards consideration, because Sin Nombre was screwed last year as well for multiple categories.

I saw this in theaters back in August and I desperately need to revisit it. At two crucial scenes during the film the audio cut out for 3-4 minutes at a time. I got my refund for the film but I haven't bothered to go back and see it. I definitely agree that the plot is way too linear. While it does it very well, it would have been nice to see some variety.