The Movie Review and Discussion Thread

[rkolinski]

Originally Posted by SquidPuppet

Thanks for that.

Have you seen The Island on Bird Street (1997), and The Boy in the Striped Pajamas (2008)? Both are told from a childs perspective, and excellent IMO.

I agree that a film being made that accurately depicts the events of the Holocaust would be good thing. A lot of people would have a hard time sitting through it though.... if it were truly accurate and realistic.

Out of the two films you mentioned, I've only seen The Boy in the Striped Pajamas. That movie had a sad ending but it is a very controversial movie as is the more recent The Reader. I mean, the Nazis used euphemistic language like The Final Solution to cover the true nature of their crimes and in these two films we're supposed to feel sorry for the perpetrators of those crimes. At least that is how I see those two films and I'm not Jewish but (Catholic by I guess this is the latest trend in the Holocaust movie; revise it and/or change the focus so it isn't so much on the mass extermination of Jews. Again, I'm on my soapbox and I apologize for at least trashing a little bit these two films. On a side note, I'm sitting in anxious anticipation for my receipt from the UK of Katyn. I'm interested in seeing this not only for its historical content and for that incident is portrayed in film but I also happen to be a 3rd generation Polish American who had one of his distant Polish relatives rescued by an uncle from a German concentration camp in 1945. Also, I don't think anyone has reviewed that film on this site and that's surprising since it is on a Region Free BD.

Thanks again for your post!

[rkolinski]

Originally Posted by JLant19

The Lovely Bones

This was better than I expected. I knew what the story was about but that didn't matter. It was so good. The acting was great and I really enjoyed Susan Sarandon's role.

4.5/5

I agree and it happens to be one of a number of recent acquisitions where I got so engrossed in the film that PQ and AQ were not important for me.

[SquidPuppet]

Originally Posted by rkolinski

I mean, the Nazis used euphemistic language like The Final Solution to cover the true nature of their crimes and in these two films we're supposed to feel sorry for the perpetrators of those crimes.

Interesting. I felt a stongly opposite message from both. Especially The Boy in the Striped Pajamas. I thought they drew the boys dad pretty accurately as a sinister, evil monster. I hated the guy and I felt like the film was encouraging me to hate him.

[Batman1980]

Enemy at the Gates - 4/5, would've been better with someone else in Law's role.

[jhiggy23]

Originally Posted by rkolinski

Thanks and coming from you, this is a real compliment! I do share your opinion that Downfall and Sophie Scholl are much, much better films than this one (I haven't seen The Lives of Others yet so I can't comment on that one but will make a note to see it). I think it's possible that we might rate films differently even though we might share similar views. When it's a film like this one, I usually rate it on its own merits without comparison to other films, especially if I would like others to see it so they can share the experience too. However, if I were asked to rate Avatar, The Counterfeiters, Downfall and Sophie Scholl all at once, I would say 1.5, 3.5, 5 and 4.5, respectively (and I intentionally placed Downfall where I did just for fun and not because of how I ranked it).

I completely agree with one comment you made regarding the enjoyment of watching a film about a story you may never have heard of. Many critics and fans have constantly stated that there are way too many WWII films. I disagree. Counterfeiters, Sophie Scholl, Flame and Citron, Defiance (which I wasn't a fan of), etc., all show that there are innumerable stories to be told from the most important event of the 20th century.

[jhiggy23]

Originally Posted by CZAR

Hmmm interesting. I wonder what about it didnt click for u? I know u said u didnt have specific complaints but Im still curious of why the low score if u didnt have any real complaints besides stating that it drug on? I mean its not an action film and to me the pacing and dialogue was tremendous. I was really drawn into the film. Anyhoo thanks for sharing your opinion anyway. Got Em!!




Are u serious??? Got Em!!




Good lookin out on your Great Debaters props. As for X, I knew there was sumthin u were against. So how does Spike Lee make the film a failure? Just curious as to me the film was spot on and he was the definite director that shouldve done this film in my eyes. Got Em!!

We've had our debate about Lee and X several times before, so I'll refrain from reciting it again

Keep in mind that I think Denzel was great and the film was good. I simply think there are MUCH better biopics, much better historical figure portrayals, and much better directors.

[jhiggy23]

Originally Posted by surfdude12

Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind

Film: 5/5
-only my second viewing, and I really overlooked this one. Very similar to Vanilla Sky in the sense of

[Show spoiler] you have people going to a company for memory modification, to alleviate the pain of a relationship/partner. In Vanilla, the company takes away negative memories and replaces them with new fantasy memories, in Eternal they just take away the negative memories. So in that sense, Eternal is more realistic, as the subject can keep on living in the real world and there is less hard-core intervention

-the best theme I got from it (and it may be an underlying theme) is

[Show spoiler] that true love resides beyond the mind or in the soul. Hence, even if one could delete my memories of an ex of mine, if I really truly love her, that won't keep me from her. I will instinctively seek her out. In Eternal, Carrey instinctively sought Winslet out, when he instinctively knew to run from train platform 1 to train platform 2, since train 2 was going to the beach, where Winslet would be. This wasn't based on any memory of Winslet, as those had been erased, it was from beyond his memories. Great film!

PQ (Squid wanted to know): 3.5/5
-it was up and down: during bright/day scenes, it was great (20 Mpbs avg, high detail, good contrast). however during dark/night scenes, at times the black-level contrast was a little off and there was a good amount of grain (none during day scenes) that would give a kind of washed out/hazy layer, but it wasn't as frequent or as bad as i'm making it sound.

AQ: 4.5/5 (no real complaints)

overall, very happy with this film for $14

EDIT: 2 other things I forgot to mention: this BD is as bare-bones as they come: (1) no main menu, thus (2) no extras, and (3) no subtitles

You consistently provide the most interesting and insightful movie reviews. I really enjoy reading your takes on the theme(s).

I give Eternal 3 1/2 stars (out of 4).

[jhiggy23]

Originally Posted by BladeRunner2007

Antichrist 4.5/5

I can't believe you subjected yourself to this!

[CZAR]

Originally Posted by jhiggy23

We've had our debate about Lee and X several times before, so I'll refrain from reciting it again

Keep in mind that I think Denzel was great and the film was good. I simply think there are MUCH better biopics, much better historical figure portrayals, and much better directors.

I do remember a few debates about Lee and understand that u dont like him on a professional or personal level, but saying that u still said u like the film and Denzel's performance. I was just wondering if u liked both the film and the performance then that means Lee did a good job if u liked the film right? Thats all I was asking. Got Em!!

[SquidPuppet]

Originally Posted by surfdude12

Walkabout (first viewing)

Film: 5/5
-best film I've seen in a few months
-half way through, I was skeptical, as I thought the film wasn't much different than the Australia-portion of Planet Earth with an aborigine dude hunting every few minutes. Suffice it to say that this film is one you can't gauge half-way through
-I haven't read any movie reviews on this at all, so am giving a wild shot (no pun intended ) at the themes. It seems that a main one is

[Show spoiler] the white man's invasion of the native aborigine territory. But it seemed that the film splits the white man who enter aborigine territory into 2 categories: (1) those who innocently enter through no fault of their own, need to survive and reach out for help from the aborigine people for help, and (2) those who intentionally enter the aborigine land, want to make profit and enslave the aborigine people for their own gain. The brother and sister are in (1), the white hunters and business owners (i.e., statute makers) are in (2). how does the film treat (1) and (2) differently? It seems to suggest that those in (1) are forever branded with a kind of inner-soul love of the land and the aborigine people in a way that is indescribable and which they will be forever haunted (in a good way) if they re-enter the white man's world. I'm not sure what the film says happens to those in (2) (i.e., karma), however the image of the bugs buzzing on the wasted hunted animals is perhaps a metaphor of the parasitic white man in (2), and perhaps a representation that not only does the white man in (2) become a parasite himself to the land, but to his own soul, thereby never having the kind of inner peace those in (1) are granted by their experience on the walkabout

PQ: 4.5/5 (very good overall. I should probably give it 5/5, b/c the only times when it was inconsistent was probably intentional, given the apparent heavy use of PQ for artistic style)

AQ: 3.5/5 (dialogue was hard for me to hear, I had to put the subs on at times)

I just finished this. I stopped half way through a few days ago and was going to abandon it, but I read your post and decided to finish it. It had too much of a Roman Polanski pedo-perv vibe to it for me. The camera spent 140 minutes figuratively undressing an 17 year old girl and boy...and then they literally DID! I got the feeling that it wasnt done for the story, but for the pleasure of the filmmakers "in the name of art" . Dont get me wrong, I am fine with nudity in films when its used correctly. This just had that creepy pedo vibe.

I agree with your ideas about its themes.

I didnt care for the way they did the back and forth cuts when

[Show spoiler]she was swimming and the boy was killing all those animals. It felt so forced ... Like LOOK...SEEE... OPPOSITES...calm pretty serenity vs brutal death. I get it.

I need your thoughts on this. When the boy painted himself all up and put on all the feathers and danced for her,

[Show spoiler]I am guessing that was a mating ritual. He was asking her to be his mate, and because she ignored/refused, thats why he killed himself. And, do you have any idea how he killed himself? He didnt look like he hung himself.

I found it way too odd that when their Dad

[Show spoiler]killed himself in the begining that the brother and sister never freaked out, never wept, never discussed it...they just walked away. I thought that was super weird. And the same thing when the boy killed himself. That kid had pretty much saved their lives and returned them to their "road" and they just looked at his corpse like it was a kangaroo. There had been a lot of serious bonding in the prior days. Why didnt they cry? Seems like they should have been crying their eyes out. They were so cold and detached from it. If they were trying to make her look like a cold evil white person, then why did she have that fond dream of him at the very end?

Why were the weather scientists in the movie?

Another question. When their dad

[Show spoiler]killed himself, why did they wander into the boonies? Why didnt they follow the tire tracks going back the direction from where they came?

I had the same problem with the audio that you did. I felt it was fairly poor. The picture was darn good though.

[BladeRunner2007]

Originally Posted by jhiggy23

I can't believe you subjected yourself to this!

It was a blind buy and I didn't hear about it before Very sick movie though!

[surfdude12]

Originally Posted by jhiggy23

You consistently provide the most interesting and insightful movie reviews. I really enjoy reading your takes on the theme(s).

I give Eternal 3 1/2 stars (out of 4).

thanks bro, I also get great insight from your reviews! I do love this film also, I'll have to re-think my top 100

[surfdude12]

Originally Posted by SquidPuppet

.

great questions! ebert's review will help you some:

http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/...401010372/1023

I read it after my above-review. He makes similar arguments as you, namely, that the film is about

[Show spoiler] communication barriers, not the obvious themes I laid out. you argued above how could the girl and boy be so detached from the aborigine's death? and you briliantly (i didnt get get it) figured that the dance was a mating ritual, which, again, miscommunication, led to the aborigine's suicide. i'm not sure if he hung himself or what. i agree with you. i'm not sure what he did. i'd need to see it again. as far as the cutting back and forth between analogous sequences, I personally didn't mind it, but now that you made the argument, I can totally see how anyone could have a "DUH! WE GET IT!" reaction to it. I personally loved the butcher/aborigine cutting the game cut. Also, great insight about the kids seeming very unrealistically calm after the accident. Perhaps the girl was protecting her younger brothers emotions?

. I'll answer your questions as best I can later on (gotta run to meet a friend). these are just quick answers.

[jhiggy23]

Originally Posted by CZAR

I do remember a few debates about Lee and understand that u dont like him on a professional or personal level, but saying that u still said u like the film and Denzel's performance. I was just wondering if u liked both the film and the performance then that means Lee did a good job if u liked the film right? Thats all I was asking. Got Em!!

I think its a good film because I find Malcom X to be interesting figure and I think Denzel did a great job. However, I think Lee's direction and sometimes lack of focus turned what could have been a great film into merely a good film.

[rkolinski]

Originally Posted by SquidPuppet

Interesting. I felt a stongly opposite message from both. Especially The Boy in the Striped Pajamas. I thought they drew the boys dad pretty accurately as a sinister, evil monster. I hated the guy and I felt like the film was encouraging me to hate him.

Well, I guess we have to disagree on this point but that is what makes life interesting, especially the debate. I will admit to you that I initially liked The Boy in the Striped Pajamas a lot (I think it would be a great tool in a high school classroom so long as other films or documentaries were used, as well as the original source book, The Diary of Anne Frank ,etc.) but the more I viewed it, the more it bothered me, as did my viewing of The Reader. I'll just throw out a sample of articles critical of The Boy in the Striped Pajamas so you'll see that I'm not the only one who has problems with the film.

http://movies.nytimes.com/2008/11/07/movies/07paja.html

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/...g/6099373.html

http://www.nypost.com/p/entertainmen...91F183CDCA890D

http://www.chicagoreader.com/chicago...lm?oid=1054736

I also noticed that the novel is Amazon's 'Top 10 Irish Books of the Decade' and "[t]he release of the Amazon top 10 yesterday upstaged the Irish Book Awards' online vote to find its own 'Irish Book of the Decade'. See: http://www.independent.ie/national-n...e-2198129.html

Again, I'm not saying the movie is total trash but I really do have a problem with revisionist history, especially when it begins to focus on those other than the true victims of the Holocaust!

[jhiggy23]

Originally Posted by rkolinski

Well, I guess we have to disagree on this point but that is what makes life interesting, especially the debate. I will admit to you that I initially liked The Boy in the Striped Pajamas a lot (I think it would be a great tool in a high school classroom so long as other films or documentaries were used, as well as the original source book, The Diary of Anne Frank ,etc.) but the more I viewed it, the more it bothered me, as did my viewing of The Reader. I'll just throw out a sample of articles critical of The Boy in the Striped Pajamas so you'll see that I'm not the only one who has problems with the film.

http://movies.nytimes.com/2008/11/07/movies/07paja.html

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/...g/6099373.html

http://www.nypost.com/p/entertainmen...91F183CDCA890D

http://www.chicagoreader.com/chicago...lm?oid=1054736

I also noticed that the novel is Amazon's 'Top 10 Irish Books of the Decade' and "[t]he release of the Amazon top 10 yesterday upstaged the Irish Book Awards' online vote to find its own 'Irish Book of the Decade'. See: http://www.independent.ie/national-n...e-2198129.html

Again, I'm not saying the movie is total trash but I really do have a problem with revisionist history, especially when it begins to focus on those other than the true victims of the Holocaust!

I think the Boy with the Striped Pajamas is a WONDERFUL, WONDERFUL film. I watched it with my roommate, whose grandparents are Holocaust survivors. My mother loves the book as well--one of her favorites.

On the other hand, I despise The Reader and hate its themes. I actually got into a friendly debate with someone about it the other day.

[jhiggy23]

Originally Posted by Al_The_Strange

I watched a bunch lately, so I'll keep these short...

"Chaplin," a rental. Very decent film; very interesting biography (I'm assuming that most of it is true), and superb acting. Not sure if I'll ever want to re-watch it, but it is definitely worthwhile (thanks guys for reccomending it ). 4/5 (entertainment: 3.5/5, story: 4/5, film: 4.5/5)

"Raiders of the Lost Ark." Still my 4th favorite film of all time; fantastic action, cool story, fresh and original filming style. Heck, it's nearly perfect. 5/5 (entertainment: 5/5, story: 4.5/5, film: 5/5).

"Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom." Never considered it as great as #1 or #3, but still fun and very well-made. Spielburg described this film as "Indiana Jones goes to Hell," and with that in mind, the film is pretty darn wicked. But it is still a fun adventure, especially with all the comedy and absurd stunts. 4.5/5 (entertainment: 4.5/5, story: 4/5, film: 4.5/5)

"Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade." Used to be my favorite of the series; I love how much depth they put into the characters at this point. The story is excellent, and it's awesome as a film. 5/5 (entertainment: 5/5, story: 5/5, film: 4.5/5)

"Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull." Yep, definitely the worst of the lot, but still entertaining. I think the story suffers (it's unfocused, and above all very outlandish, even compared to the others). There's probably some other things to nitpick about, but in general I can forgive the film more readily of its flaws than other viewers. 4/5 (entertainment: 4/5, story: 3/5, film: 4/5)

Chaplin is a good but not great film. Solid 3 stars but nothing more. The writing and directing are iffy, but its def worth seeing for Downey Jr's incredible performance. It does differ from history a decent amount.

I'm not a fan of Indiana Jones.

[rkolinski]

Originally Posted by jhiggy23

I think the Boy with the Striped Pajamas is a WONDERFUL, WONDERFUL film. I watched it with my roommate, whose grandparents are Holocaust survivors. My mother loves the book as well--one of her favorites.

On the other hand, I despise The Reader and hate its themes. I actually got into a friendly debate with someone about it the other day.

Well, I will probably purchase this if it ever comes out on BD. I hope you and SquidPuppet aren't going to gang up on me! And I feel so DUMB. In one of my other post on this issue, I mentioned the genocide in Ruanda and feel so dumb about it because I should have written Rwanda. Sadly, that's a combination of my British Colonial and African History affecting my judgment and OLD AGE.

Now I'm going to go watch the Best Years of Our Lives on TCM HD. I have to just watch it every time it's on!

[jhiggy23]

Originally Posted by rkolinski

Well, I will probably purchase this if it ever comes out on BD. I hope you and SquidPuppet aren't going to gang up on me! And I feel so DUMB. In one of my other post on this issue, I mentioned the genocide in Ruanda and feel so dumb about it because I should have written Rwanda. Sadly, that's a combination of my British Colonial and African History affecting my judgment and OLD AGE.

Now I'm going to go watch the Best Years of Our Lives on TCM HD. I have to just watch it every time it's on!

hahaha

Nah, I think your complaint is completely valid. When it was over, I had to debate with myself whether I could accept not only the implausibilities but also the blatantly manipulative structure. I decided that the power of the movie and its conclusion was enough to warrant forgiveness for those two things

[jhiggy23]

Btw, Squiddy, I'm 40 minutes into Triangle and on the edge of my seat.