The Movie Review and Discussion Thread

[Al_The_Strange]

Originally Posted by SquidPuppet

Let the Right One In.

Didnt click for me. The good...

The cinematography was really creative and effective. The sound editing and design were superb, really. The growling stomach effect really demonstrated Elis suffering well. The score was really good. Performances, for the most part were all pretty good.

The bad...

The story just didnt capture me. It didnt really go anywhere.

Film 3/5
PQ 4/5
AQ 4.5/5 (for its effectiveness)

I think I felt the same way when I first saw it; it's a pretty slow-going movie and I didn't fully get it.

Second time around, I loved it and totally got it. I guess I gotta be in the right mood or something.

[Al_The_Strange]

Watched "The Lord of the Rings"..........the Ralph Bakshi cartoon. First time viewing (I think I saw part of it before in school, but never got into it at all).

Entertainment: 3/5. Pacing is pretty good. Heck, the movie is very condensed; it almost felt like I was watching the one-man LOTR play again! Also, the imagery is interesting and here is some neat fight scenes.

Story: 4/5. It's LOTR, you can't go wrong! But this adaptation is pretty weird; a little closer to the book in some parts, different in others. It's kind of a hit-and-a-miss, but it is still a familiar story.

Film: 3/5. I'm sure this is well-made for its time. The production design (all the settings, characters, props, etc) is decent. I do find its animation quality pretty weird though; the combination of live-action and rotoscoped animation is kinda off-putting at some parts. The graphics get a little too psychedelic at times. But if there's anything really terrible, it's the voice acting; lame in some parts, pretty darn unintentionally funny in others. There are various other things I can nitpick about (Sam is fugly, Gollum's voice is too normal, the elves look weird (though I gotta admit that Galadriel looks sexier...), Boromir looks like a Viking now, etc, etc).

Intellectual/emotional: 0/5. I don't think this adaptation covered many of the themes of the book or the live-action movies. It certainly doesn't have the same emotional impact. In the words of these orcs...."BLECH!!!"

Total: 3/5 (rounded down from 3.33). Doesn't quite hold a candle to the Peter Jackson films. Parts of this cartoon made me laugh so hard too. But it is alright, and I was surprised as to how close this film is to the newer films, and how well it adhers to the basic story. It's not bad, but not as great as it could have been.

And the Blu-Ray is not as bad as I expected either. There are some specks and artifacts here and there, but the film looks adequately sharp, and the color/contast is awesome. Sound quality is passable.



There is one subtle moment in this movie that made me laugh the hardest: Aragorn was telling the hobbits this ancient immortal love story; Sam and Frodo look into each others' eyes and smile so fondly...

[surfdude12]

Originally Posted by SquidPuppet

Killin' Nazis... lots of 'em.

in fact, the film had the opposite effect that I think Tarantino intended: here you have countless Nazis getting killed/skinned, many of which served w/o knowing of Hitler's plans and/or in fear of Hitler's wrath if they refused to serve. who's the villain? how much sense does it make to engage in the same behavior that you're complaining of? oops yes yes, oops I forgot, its not meant to be taken seriously.

[surfdude12]

Originally Posted by SquidPuppet

Let the Right One In.

Didnt click for me. The good...

The cinematography was really creative and effective. The sound editing and design were superb, really. The growling stomach effect really demonstrated Elis suffering well. The score was really good. Performances, for the most part were all pretty good.

The bad...

The story just didnt capture me. It didnt really go anywhere.

Film 3/5
PQ 4/5
AQ 4.5/5 (for its effectiveness)

yeah, i can see how some think that. but for me, it went great places. the "be me a little" sequence was what did it for me. it summed up the whole film.

prior to this film, every vampire film had been:
(1) over the top cheese (twilight) in which a clicky social vampire club at school were hanging out in the parking lot at H.S. - yeah..that happens every day. Another example - Squid's favorite (30 days of night), in which

[Show spoiler] the vampire dude suddenly can suspend his till-then-neverending-thirst-for blood, provided (a) its the end of a film, (b) a non-vampire chick is available to smooch and (c) a cheesy sunrise is on the horizon

(2) over the top fantasy (eg. Bram Stoker's), in which we're taken to an obvious imaginary world with castles, carriages, transforming wolves, etc.

none of these vampire films convey anything like the idea of a realistic vampire, in the sense of your next door neighbor (yes, where you live right now) being an actual vampire. how would that work? not in the film, but in your neighborhood? write that out and you'll find it closely resembles LTROI. that's the level of realism of this film. i didn't think i was watching some cheesy or imaginary vampire film. i felt i was watching a documentary-like film that could easily be of how my next door neighbor (always thought he was weird ) would live as a vampire. the "be me a little" scene confirms my favorite theme of the film: see things from my side, but not just a vampire, but anyone we may perceive as "weird" "strange", etc, until we overcome our internal walls of prejudice and investigate the person for ourselves, rather than relying on preconceived notions that are inherently unreliable. the film's power came in her and oskar's evolved relationship:

[Show spoiler] from strangers to neighbors to seeming-acquaintances to trusted-friends all the way to the level of secretly bonded human/nonhuman eternally bonded by love.

[AKORIS]

Originally Posted by surfdude12

in fact, the film had the opposite effect that I think Tarantino intended: here you have countless Nazis getting killed/skinned, many of which served w/o knowing of Hitler's plans and/or in fear of Hitler's wrath if they refused to serve. who's the villain? how much sense does it make to engage in the same behavior that you're complaining of? oops yes yes, oops I forgot, its not meant to be taken seriously.

exactly! +1

[iam1bearcat]

Collateral 9.4/10

This was a terrific movie. Yeah, it's not very exciting or fast paced, but I didn't need it to be. The characters, the writing, the cinematography were all top notch. And while I saw the ending coming from a mile away (I mean, obviously the woman had to serve a point right?) it wasn't a let down at all.

Tom Cruise was amazing, Jamie Foxx showed how bipolar he can be while he was absolutely wonderful here (but terrible in Stealth, go figure) and I've watched this film 3 times in 2 days. a great, great film IMO. Glad I blind bought this bad boy.

[Freekman]

Blood Diamond - 5/5
I absolutely loved this movie.

[The New Fury]

Originally Posted by surfdude12

yeah, i can see how some think that. but for me, it went great places. the "be me a little" sequence was what did it for me. it summed up the whole film.

prior to this film, every vampire film had been:
(1) over the top cheese (twilight) in which a clicky social vampire club at school were hanging out in the parking lot at H.S. - yeah..that happens every day. Another example - Squid's favorite (30 days of night), in which

[Show spoiler] the vampire dude suddenly can suspend his till-then-neverending-thirst-for blood, provided (a) its the end of a film, (b) a non-vampire chick is available to smooch and (c) a cheesy sunrise is on the horizon

(2) over the top fantasy (eg. Bram Stoker's), in which we're taken to an obvious imaginary world with castles, carriages, transforming wolves, etc.

none of these vampire films convey anything like the idea of a realistic vampire, in the sense of your next door neighbor (yes, where you live right now) being an actual vampire. how would that work? not in the film, but in your neighborhood? write that out and you'll find it closely resembles LTROI. that's the level of realism of this film. i didn't think i was watching some cheesy or imaginary vampire film. i felt i was watching a documentary-like film that could easily be of how my next door neighbor (always thought he was weird ) would live as a vampire. the "be me a little" scene confirms my favorite theme of the film: see things from my side, but not just a vampire, but anyone we may perceive as "weird" "strange", etc, until we overcome our internal walls of prejudice and investigate the person for ourselves, rather than relying on preconceived notions that are inherently unreliable. the film's power came in her and oskar's evolved relationship:

[Show spoiler] from strangers to neighbors to seeming-acquaintances to trusted-friends all the way to the level of secretly bonded human/nonhuman eternally bonded by love.

Couldn't have said it better myself. It's exactly how I perceived the film as well. Ridiculously good. I need to get the book. I heard it's crazy!

[KilloWertz]

The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring

PQ - 3.5
AQ - 4.5
Film - 4.0

OMG, I just gave the PQ a 3.5 and the film only a 4.0. First off, the PQ did not bother me anywhere near as much as it did some. Yes, there were scenes that were obviously of lesser quality, such as the scenes inside Bilbo's home, but everyone already knew that. Either way, I give The Fellowship of the Ring a respectable 3.5 for PQ. I was never taken out of the movie, which is the most important thing imo. Movies that have PQ that take you out of the movie because the PQ is so bad are discs that warrant horrible scores for PQ. The AQ was great. Not reference quality, but still enough of scenes that gave the subwoofer a good workout. The scenes in the Mines of Moria and the final battle sounded amazing.

As far as the film itself goes, I gave it a 4/5. It starts off slow, but I can excuse that since it's the beginning of a 10 hour trilogy. This is the only movie I saw beforehand out of the trilogy. While I don't love it, I liked it well enough to watch it all over again so I can watch all three together on Blu-Ray. This is a solid start to what I hope I can call an amazing trilogy like so many others can. Frodo and Sam are somewhat annoying, but once the Fellowship was formed, the movie really took off despite them. I look forward to watching The Two Towers and The Return of the King both for the first time.

[jhiggy23]

Moon (blu)


PQ: 4.5 stars (out of 5)

AQ: 4 stars (out of 5)

Film: 3 stars (out of 4)


A good but not great film. Rockwell put forth a very good performance, but one I think has been way overblown on this site (Emile Hirsch's performance in Into the Wild, another one in which there was a great deal of solo acting, was a far better performance and was a much bigger snub). Jeremy Renner's Oscar nom has been much maligned on this site, but I think he put forth a better performance. As for the movie not being one of the 10 nominees, I don't think it should've been. The Cove, The Stoning of Soraya M., Brothers, and Sin Nombre were all better films and didn't get nominated.

My main issue with the film is that it wasn't very original in any regard. Everything in the film is something we've seen before. Furthermore, the themes of the film were not presented all that effectively, and are much better presented in other films of the same genre.

That being said, I did like the film in large part because of the performance, some of the direction, the music, and the cinematography. Mansell proves once again that he is one of the best composers working today and arguably the most underrated. His trio of scores, Requiem, The Fountain, and Moon are incredible. Not only are they good scores, but they go beyond merely enhancing a scene--they're an entity in and of itself.

It's hard to believe the film was made for less than $10 million. The moon shots were extraordinary.

Overall, recommended.

[CZAR]

Girlfight - Michelle Rodriguez first film and my first time viewing. Not bad. Although she has that manly thing about her she has always looked good to me. I wouldnt want to get into the ring with her either. Maybe the sack though haha. Ill rate this film 3/5 Got Em!!

[lDlisturb3d]

Originally Posted by Suntory_Times

I second the ?

i don't get it, im lost???

[Al_The_Strange]

Watched "Throne of Blood" via Netflix.

Entertainment: 4/5. Movie moves at a good pacing. Lots of interesting scenes.

Story: 4.5/5. Can't go wrong with a Shakespeare adaptation! Strong characters and a decent plot.

Film: 5/5. Can't go wrong with Kurosawa! Excellent photography and cameramanship. Lots of strong imagery. Good acting and writing. Sets, props, costumes, etc look phenomenal. Music is interesting.

Emotional/intellectual: 3/5. Pretty interesting seeing how a lord and lady descend into madness.

Total: 4.5/5. Great stuff.

[groundgamer]

I watched Clash Of The Titans at the cinema. It was pretty good.

7/10

[Q?]

2012 on Blu-ray I borrowed (luckily)

PQ 4.5/5 I guess, for you who has seen the Blu, did you notice the documentary look?
AQ 5/5 I guess, a lot of BANG & BOOM!!!!

This movie was just so incredibly stupid, not a single moment of plausibility, the action scenes, the characters and their dialogue.

And not one moment during the action scenes did I believe the characters were actually being there where all the havoc was. It all felt fake and like they were using blue or green screen (which they did obviously), and the actors performances never felt real either, they weren't sweating or showed any real fear in their eyes.
Every single action scene, and I mean every single action scene the characters were ONE SECOND AWAY FROM THEIR DOOM OR ONE INCH CLOSE TO IT AND BARELY ESCAPED EVERYTIME.

2/10, I had a few laughs and the effects were great.
I was actually looking forward to the movie, had hoped for some entertainment value, but not really much to be had.

[Al_The_Strange]

Originally Posted by Q!

It all felt fake and like they were using blue or green screen (which they did obviously), and the actors performances never felt real either, they weren't sweating or showed any real fear in their eyes.

It's especially disasterous considering that the Earth was supposed to be getting hotter and hotter...

[Q?]

Originally Posted by Al_The_Strange

It's especially disasterous considering that the Earth was supposed to be getting hotter and hotter...

But more importantly, they should sweat bucketloads! Imagine the huge amount of stress and the fear of dying and fighting frantically to survive. And a few moments later after surviving they act like nothing insane has happened.

0% believability there.

[CZAR]

Originally Posted by Q!

2012 on Blu-ray I borrowed (luckily)

PQ 4.5/5 I guess, for you who has seen the Blu, did you notice the documentary look?
AQ 5/5 I guess, a lot of BANG & BOOM!!!!

This movie was just so incredibly stupid, not a single moment of plausibility, the action scenes, the characters and their dialogue.

And not one moment during the action scenes did I believe the characters were actually being there where all the havoc was. It all felt fake and like they were using blue or green screen (which they did obviously), and the actors performances never felt real either, they weren't sweating or showed any real fear in their eyes.
Every single action scene, and I mean every single action scene the characters were ONE SECOND AWAY FROM THEIR DOOM OR ONE INCH CLOSE TO IT AND BARELY ESCAPED EVERYTIME.

2/10, I had a few laughs and the effects were great.
I was actually looking forward to the movie, had hoped for some entertainment value, but not really much to be had.

Thats unfortunate. I loved the film! Got Em!!

[SquidPuppet]

Originally Posted by surfdude12

Another example - Squid's favorite (30 days of night), in which

[Show spoiler] the vampire dude suddenly can suspend his till-then-neverending-thirst-for blood, provided (a) its the end of a film, (b) a non-vampire chick is available to smooch and (c) a cheesy sunrise is on the horizon

I am confused about your term "vampire dude". Who are you referring to? If you are referring to Josh Hartnett,

[Show spoiler]he was only just recently infected and had not made a complete transormation yet

. And the girl was his romantic interest all along. I liked the sunrise and found it quite appropriate because we knew going in that a seasonal period would render the town/region dark for 30 days. Having that period come to an end at the end of the movie was quite fitting to me. And it left me with the question,

[Show spoiler]because he was only recently infected, and not yet 100% vampire, would the sun kill off the vampire part of him, or all of him? Would he survive as a human, or as a vampire, or die?

[Q?]

Originally Posted by CZAR

Thats unfortunate. I loved the film! Got Em!!

Ah well... Win some lose some

I watched it with my cousin who's also a movie nerd, we just laughed at all the stupid stuff that happened, so it was a fun experience in the wrong way.

Glad you enjoyed it