The Movie Review and Discussion Thread

[Al_The_Strange]

Originally Posted by SquidPuppet

Some images....

[Show spoiler]

Why do they always have to be the pretty ones?

[SquidPuppet]

Originally Posted by Al_The_Strange

Why do they always have to be the pretty ones?

They are all pretty.

I tried to find some inside the warehouse or at the sushi bar or hospital, but no luck.

Edit: Even those are pretty..... Lens flare

[Show spoiler]

[jvince]

The Piano Tuner (2010)
dir. Olivier Treiner

The Good: Brilliant concept -- A failed prodigy works as a piano tuner while pretending to be blind, seeing things he shouldn't see. Well executed. Tight pacing. Suspenseful. Nice cinematography. Perfect piano score. The ending.

The Bad: Should be longer; I'd gladly pay to watch a feature-length version of this in the theaters.

The Bottom Line: Despite clocking in at a mere 13 minutes, The Piano Tuner is one intense thriller that rivals most others released in the past years. Recommended.

[thenexus6]

Originally Posted by Al_The_Strange

Why do they always have to be the pretty ones?

I am watching this on my Nexus 7 when i'm travelling. When I go cross country next week i'll finish it. Beautiful animation, 5cm per second was the first I saw in this style and its so great.

Watched Chinese Zodiac 2012 (CZ12). Wanted to see this for a while now, big Jackie Chan fan and like his others this was great fun. He's just such a likeable guy!!

[SquidPuppet]

For those of you who enjoy Planet Earth type films, check this trailer out. The footage is utterly remarkable from a techniacl perspective.... and stunningly artistic and beautiful. Amazing.

It's Disneynature's flick "Wings of Life".

Butterflies, Hummingbirds, bats and bees

https://www.blu-ray.com/news/?id=10651

[SquidPuppet]

Originally Posted by jvince

The Piano Tuner (2010)
dir. Olivier Treiner

The Good: Brilliant concept -- A failed prodigy works as a piano tuner while pretending to be blind, seeing things he shouldn't see. Well executed. Tight pacing. Suspenseful. Nice cinematography. Perfect piano score. The ending.

The Bad: Should be longer; I'd gladly pay to watch a feature-length version of this in the theaters.

The Bottom Line: Despite clocking in at a mere 13 minutes, The Piano Tuner is one intense thriller that rivals most others released in the past years. Recommended.

Where/how did you see this?

[SquidPuppet]

Originally Posted by jvince

To This Day Project - Shane Koyczan - YouTube

To This Day (2013)
by Shane Koyczan

The Good: Fiery and emotional spoken word poem by Shane Koyczan. Wonderful collaboration of different animators producing an awe-inspiring blend of various styles. A remarkable manifesto against bullying. Fitting musical score.

The Bad: Nothing major.

The Bottom Line: Amazing. Powerful. Watch it now.

Heavy duty stuff man.

[Abdrewes]

Oz: The Great and the Powerful (2013)

I'm just going to push the fact that this is a naked cash grab and judge the film on its own merits. Off the bat, we are given an ingeniously designed fun house credit sequence. I got chills and was more than ready to visit Sam Raimi's vision of Oz. Thereafter we see, in black and white in academy ratio, Oz as a magician in serious dire straits as only loose change is ever hurled his way. His womanizing self manages to get trouble with a massive body builder and off he goes in his hot air balloon as stormy weather only worsens.

As he enters the other side, One cannot help but be in awe of the CGI spectacle that is Oz. Its evident were in the hands of much more accomplished visual artists than that of last week's laughable Jack the Giant Slayer. So far so good.

As soon as it became clear what was to transpire in the magical world of Oz, a certain inert quality took over the picture in a very baggy middle. The story is predictable and too episodic. Matters are not helped as James Franco is at the center of it. It's a passable performance and not bad by any stretch. It easily outshines Nicolas Holt's turn in the aforementioned Jack, but there was absolutely no reason to care for him. Where's the charisma? Where's the heart?

A stronger lead is what this film desperately needed. Bruce Cambell circa Army if Darkness would have sufficed, maybe even something akin to Liam Neeson's manic performance in Darkman. Having nothing to invest in emotionally, only brings out the fact that the script is a mostly tired adventure narrative retread.

However, Michelle Williams and Rachel Weiss were definitely highlights as both the good witch and the bad witch, they held my attention in each of their scenes.

So, if you were okay with Tim Burton's Alice in Wonderland and can appreciate a film on retina searing spectacle alone, it's worth a matinee or a day 1 rental.

3/5

[Foggy]

Ah man, I can't wait to pick up PTA's The Master on Blu-Ray on Monday, I didn't know Lee Van Cleef was in the film...

Classics - The Master (1984) TV series - YouTube

[L-Rouge]

Originally Posted by Abdrewes

Oz: The Great and the Powerful (2013)

I'm just going to push the fact that this is a naked cash grab and judge the film on its own merits. Off the bat, we are given an ingeniously designed fun house credit sequence. I got chills and was more than ready to visit Sam Raimi's vision of Oz. Thereafter we see, in black and white in academy ratio, Oz as a magician in serious dire straits as only loose change is ever hurled his way. His womanizing self manages to get trouble with a massive body builder and off he goes in his hot air balloon as stormy weather only worsens.

As he enters the other side, One cannot help but be in awe of the CGI spectacle that is Oz. Its evident were in the hands of much more accomplished visual artists than that of last week's laughable Jack the Giant Slayer. So far so good.

As soon as it became clear what was to transpire in the magical world of Oz, a certain inert quality took over the picture in a very baggy middle. The story is predictable and too episodic. Matters are not helped as James Franco is at the center of it. It's a passable performance and not bad by any stretch. It easily outshines Nicolas Holt's turn in the aforementioned Jack, but there was absolutely no reason to care for him. Where's the charisma? Where's the heart?

A stronger lead is what this film desperately needed. Bruce Cambell circa Army if Darkness would have sufficed, maybe even something akin to Liam Neeson's manic performance in Darkman. Having nothing to invest in emotionally, only brings out the fact that the script is a mostly tired adventure narrative retread.

However, Michelle Williams and Rachel Weiss were definitely highlights as both the good witch and the bad witch, they held my attention in each of their scenes.

So, if you were okay with Tim Burton's Alice in Wonderland and can appreciate a film on retina searing spectacle alone, it's worth a matinee or a day 1 rental.

3/5

That very much encapsulates my thought on the movie as well awes inspiring visit but as events transpire it becomes a borrowed retread narrative. accept I gave a half mark more , nice review.

[SpartanX]

Currently watching Mulholland Drive. On paper it's one of the worst movies ever made but due to David Lynch's direction and style it is one of the best.

[thenexus6]

The Man with the Iron Fists

Meh probably won't ever watch this again.

[legendarymatt92]

No film in recent memory has polarized audiences as much as V/H/S seems to have. People either seem to love it or hate it, and there does not appear to be any middle ground. The problem is, given the influx of "found-footage" horror, it's easy to think that they all just blend in with each other: what's the difference between one demon-possessed house over here, and that demon-possessed girl over there? Not a hell of a lot, really.

Thankfully, V/H/S provides some minor relief, though isn't as completely original as it believes itself to be. Directed by a group of horror enthusiasts, including House of the Devil's Ti West, the framing narrative is the offer, to a group of petty criminals and thugs, of extreme money for breaking into a house and stealing a VHS tape. From there, various members view the segments of the tape, only to then go missing inside the house.

As with all anthologies, the course never runs true, and some segments are always going to be worse than others. This happens here, too, but, thankfully, everything is of at least good quality, so it's not as noticeable as it could have been. But, in order to at least give everything the same amount of time and thought, and review them on their own merits, I shall review each segment separately without spoilers:


Tape 56 (dir. Adam Wingard)

This is the framing narrative, and focuses on, as stated above, an offer to retrieve a videotape. Whilst in the house, various members watch parts of each tape, which comprise the bulk of the film, with a cut back to this in between each short. It's an impressively made, albeit contrived and unoriginal, short, and makes full use of tension and clever dialogue to make it work and seem realistic.

Amateur Night (dir. David Bruckner)

Shane, Patrick and Clint are three friends who have rented a motel room with the sole intention of picking up girls for sex. Shane and Patrick have outfitted Clint's glasses with a camera in the hopes of making an amateur porn film, and they begin to bar-hop around the town. Whilst there, Clint begins to talk to a strange and ominously aloof girl who refuses to talk to his friends and is seemingly alone in the bar.

The first short, for me, is also the worst; it has an interesting idea behind it, and it works quite well for the majority of it, but there is something lacking in how it's done. I liked the idea of how it was filmed through the glasses, but the dialogue is poor and the decisions by some of the character's, towards the end, are stupid and only help in the advancement of the plot. The ending is completely ridiculous, also, and kind of ruined the impressive ominous and suspenseful atmosphere the short had worked to create.

In order not to make one long post that fills the page, I shall post the last 4 shorts in the next post.

[jvince]

As I Am (2012)
dir. Alan Spearman

The Good: Chris Dean, the narrator, relates his story and observations of life in an impoverished Memphis neighborhood like a poet/philosopher. Gorgeous cinematography. Great musical score. Love the end. That little boy... Damn, can he sing.

The Bad: Lags a bit in the middle.

The Bottom Line: As I Am is the kind of film Beasts of the Southern Wild tried to be, executed more effectively in only 13 minutes.

[Abdrewes]

Originally Posted by L-Rouge

That very much encapsulates my thought on the movie as well awes inspiring visit but as events transpire it becomes a borrowed retread narrative. accept I gave a half mark more , nice review.

Honestly, if someone with more gravitas was at the center, my score would be much higher, but ultimately scores are relative, fluctuate frequently and are completely arbitrary.

I can imagine it to a great rental, as you can pause it, walk around and prepare yourself to soak in awe inspiring sights. The pastels, primary colors, the textures, etc. all under Raimi's superlative camera movement and blocking make it an impressive watch.

I only wish I cared more for the story and characters, because let's be honest, that's it's primary goal.

[Abdrewes]

Originally Posted by jvince

As I Am (2012)
dir. Alan Spearman

The Good: Chris Dean, the narrator, relates his story and observations of life in an impoverished Memphis neighborhood like a poet/philosopher. Gorgeous cinematography. Great musical score. Love the end. That little boy... Damn, can he sing.

The Bad: Lags a bit in the middle.

The Bottom Line: As I Am is the kind of film Beasts of the Southern Wild tried to be, executed more effectively in only 13 minutes.

More punches aimed at Beasts, Ignatiy is that you?

[legendarymatt92]

Second Honeymoon (dir. Ti West)

I liked Ti West's films -- I like his style, the way he writes and directs such great horror films, and the atmosphere he creates -- and I think that helped me greatly in going into his short. For those who don't like his style, he doesn't do anything drastically different here, so you might want to skip it.
This short focuses on a married couple, Stephanie and Sam, who go to the West for their second honeymoon (geddit? ) and rent a motel room for their visit to an Old West-style tourist attraction. In the middle of the night, after being asked by a "college-age girl" for a lift the next morning, a mysterious figure breaks into their motel room and uses their camera to film the couple as they sleep, caressing Stephanie's backside with a switch-blade and stealing money from Sam's wallet...
I don't want to give too much away, but the ending is incredible and I never saw it coming. The mood of the whole piece is quite uneven, and things escalate too fast for my liking, but it's worth watching for the original story and good foreshadowing (although some is a bit too "in-your-face").

Tuesday the 17th (dir. Glenn McQuaid)

Featuring the teenage-camping trip, it isn't the most original or well thought-out short, but concerns three friends who accompany their newest friend, Wendy, to a remote place in the woods. After various, ominous utterances of "accidents" that took her friends, Wendy eventually tells the group that a murderer killed all her friends when she came here last. Laughing it off as a joke, the other members begin experience terrible things.
It's a well-made and attention-holding short, and contains an impressive premise in regards to its villain, but there is nothing great about the story or the dialogue, and that lets it down.

The Sick Thing That Happened to Emily When She Was Younger (dir. Joe Swanberg)

A substantially long title that describes the most original, but certainly not the best, short in V/H/S. Taking the premise of a young woman, Emily, and her doctor-to-be boyfriend, James, who engage in a series of webcam chats of increasingly strange things that are happening to Emily both now and that she is remembering in the past.
It definitely works for the most part, as the chemistry between the two leads is believable, but where it really gets going is the strange and ominous twists the narrative takes. Unfortunately, for me, it gets a bit ridiculous by the end, as you'll notice if you watch it, but there's an undeniable use of unsettling imagery and dialogue that works very much in the film-maker's favour.

10/31/98 (dir. Radio Silence)

Set on Halloween night, four friends head to a house party, each dressed in fancy dress costumes. Despite not knowing exactly where the house is, they manage to get lucky and find it eventually; no one seems to be home, and they sneak in the back to find increasingly strange things happen, only to put it down to it being a haunted-house attraction...
Probably the best short in the whole film, it's an incredible mix of routine Halloween clichés and actual scares. It feels extremely realistic, although slightly improbable at times, and the acting and dialogue is actually top-notch (which is something I never expected from the end episode in an anthology!). It is an extreme credit to Radio Silence in that they have crafted something disturbing and creepy without succumbing to the call of extreme gore.

--

As with all "found-footage" horrors, there's an element of incredulity towards the aspect of the camera being taken everywhere, even when the character is in extreme danger, and this does happen with V/H/S (especially in the Tuesday the 17th and 10/31/98 shorts [in which he puts a video-camera in the head of his costume but for what reason?]) but I guess it's pretty easy to ignore it after a while.

8.5/10

[thenexus6]

Looper

Finally, not quite what I expected but very good.

[Al_The_Strange]

In a frevored anticipation of getting the latest video game in the mail, I decided to pop in:

Lara Croft: Tomb Raider

Since its initial release in 1996, Tomb Raider is one of the most prominent video game franchises. It did to games what Indiana Jones did to movies and what Clive Cussler did to books: they all tap into a certain sense of adventure, with ties in archeology and ancient history, and with liberal amounts of action and peril, to immerse the audience in a thrilling experience. Lara Croft may be well-known for her...ahem...bodily proportions...but she is an action heroine who could stand shoulder-to-shoulder with Indy and Dirk Pitt, in terms of physique, confidence, knowledge, and wit.

Inevitably, the live-action film for Tomb Raider was released in 2001, with enough hype to build it up as one of the biggest action hits of the year. The film definitely tries its hardest to be cool and hip; right from the start, it's loaded with unusual camera tricks and movements, with lots of frivilous time-lapse shots and fast cuts. A high-tempo soundtrack accentuates the small wealth of shoot-outs, chases, fights, and athletic stunts. The film does entertain, and there are moments where the action does come off as being "cool" and still holds up. A lot of it is pretty senseless and frivilous, and there is an underlying impression that the film is merely emulating a game experience, boss fights and all. Regardless, the film is successful at being stylish and fun.

On the other hand, the style becomes so heavy-handed that it does bring down the experience a notch. Frequent flashbacks and other random scenes disrupt the flow of the film. Some scenes, especially toward the end, become so surreal and weird, they further disrupt what should otherwise be a straightforward adventure flick.

With these random scenes, however, the film does try its best to dig up some solid substance. The story is not bad, per se, and it does its best to add some backstory and relevance to the characters and plot. I'm certain the filmmakers (and some audiences too) geeked out when they saw John Voight playing Lara Croft's father. The actual plotline, however, is pretty screwy, and follows the exact same structure as a video game (cut-scene, enter new area, fight bad guys, fight boss, obtain artifact, continue to next zone). Lara Croft is a two-dimensional character at best (there's just not enough backstory to flesh her out into a full three dimensions, to say nothing of a fourth), while everybody else around her are flat and static.

As mentioned above, the film has style, for better or for worse. Acting is a strange animal to judge here; Angelina Jolie is easily the centerpiece of the show, and she fits the part physically (with what must be some implants ). She also does inject her character with a certain playfullness and wit that suits the character. Now that the game has evolved in so many different ways, however, I can't help but to regard Jolie's performance as an antiquated one-dimensional portrayal of Lara: it's the same as it was in the 90s, Lara as a hot and sexy action star, but not as anybody with nuanced depth or emotion. Emulating the classic Lara Croft, Jolie does a good job, but in the future, I'm certain that she'll be supplanted very easily (a reboot is surely inevitable). As far as everybody else goes, they're servicable at best. Except for a few witty lines, the writing is pretty bad. This production has decent sets, props, and costumes, but also some rather aged and bad special effects. Music tries its best to seem cool; the soundtrack is a favorite of mine, but it can serve as a distraction during the actual movie. The score is alright.

With all the style and action, and with the promise of seeing the classic video game character brought to life, the Tomb Raider movie seemed like a big movie event of my generation. It did its part well enough, but not without issues.

3.5/5 (Entertainment: Good | Story: Average | Film: Average)

Recommendation: As a rental.

I have the double-feature set from Germany, and I believe it's the same transfer as the US release. The Blu-Ray looks adequately sharp, but is prone to noise, grain, and weak contrast levels. Sound quality has its moments, but just doesn't pack the punch that it should.

PQ: 3.5/5, AQ: 3/5
-----
I'm still psyched to get the new game. Reviews have been phenomenal, but for months, I've geeked out at the possibility of actually having Lara Croft as a vulnerable, fully-fleshed-out character.

[thenexus6]

Wreck it Ralph

I missed this in cinemas and it was a such. I thought it was great - very well done and many nods to other games. Ralph looked and reminded me of Arnold Schwarzenegger haha