The Movie Review and Discussion Thread

[LordoftheRings]

Film: 2.75/5
Picture: 4.25/5
Sound: 4.25/5
Extras: 1/5
Overall: 2.75/5

* Last comment: I luv the natural color's palette on this BD. I used it for calibrating my display (by eye). The story is more for a younger audience, but it has some good moments for everyone too. The acting is fine.
I like it for what it is.

[Diesel]

I really like The Day After Tomorrow (4/5).

Its not a great film, and I don't love it, but I very much enjoy watching it.


Independence Day > The Day After Tomorrow > 2012

[Show spoiler]10,000 B.C. > all things in existence

[iam1bearcat]

The Crazies

(first viewing, blind buy, also never saw the original)

originality in horror movies is almost impossible to come by these days. this leaves horror films with a tendency to borrow from other films and hope what they've thrown together clicks correctly. some films excel. some fall by the wayside. some, trudge on and have some die hard fans while others simply forget it once it's finished. sadly, The Crazies, for me, will be one that leaves no lasting impresson.

upon finishing the film about a half hour ago, i realized that the film, while entertaining, fast paced, and exciting for the majority of its quick 93 minutes, has no "wow, remember when ______" moments. a large majority of the story and aspects of the film are borrowed heavily from previous films.

strange epidemic that smothers an entire small town? check.
a large, almost quarantine type situation our heroes must escape? check.
some standard horror cliches thrown in because no one gets enough of them? check.

David (Olyphant) is a small town Sheriff who has a pregnant wife who is the town doctor. when a local townsperson shakes up a baseball game, and it turns out he isn't drunk, the mystery begins as to why he did this. the movie quickly shows us others like him and before you know it the major "twist" of the movie is revealed. i was surprised to see it, and didn't suspect anything like it, but it only lasts for so long.

there are a few good tense scares to be had, but sadly what we're supposed to be afraid of (aka: "the crazies" as they're referred to here, which is a ridiculous title to give a group of people ) isn't very intimidating at all. an extremely less vicious version of the infected from 28 Days Later, but wholly smarter and at some stages they can still talk and plan an attack. but aside from the characters walking into some nicely placed predicaments, there really isn't much to be afraid of.

blind bought this for $20, and the bottom line is i should have waited to till it reach the $13-$15 price range. i don't know how much replay value the film has or how it will hold up over time, but it certainly is far from a classic horror film, but definitely much, much better than most the drivel that is classified as "horror" these days.

PQ: 3/5 - it seemed to get better as the movie progressed. early on very blurry and out of focus, lacking details in a lot of scenes. color palette is your normal range for a horror film (blacks, greys, and browns)

AQ: N/A (tv speakers)

3/5

[Al_The_Strange]

Originally Posted by Diesel

I really like The Day After Tomorrow (4/5).

Its not a great film, and I don't love it, but I very much enjoy watching it.


Independence Day > The Day After Tomorrow > 2012

[Show spoiler]10,000 B.C. > all things in existence

I give "2012" the edge for the immensity of its SFX, but "The Day After Tomorrow" is pretty darn fun too.

Also....

[Show spoiler]10000 BC > Year One > ∞

[kelvin555]

Sea of Love 5 out of 10

[Q?]

Originally Posted by iam1bearcat

The Crazies

[Show spoiler](first viewing, blind buy, also never saw the original)

originality in horror movies is almost impossible to come by these days. this leaves horror films with a tendency to borrow from other films and hope what they've thrown together clicks correctly. some films excel. some fall by the wayside. some, trudge on and have some die hard fans while others simply forget it once it's finished. sadly, The Crazies, for me, will be one that leaves no lasting impresson.

upon finishing the film about a half hour ago, i realized that the film, while entertaining, fast paced, and exciting for the majority of its quick 93 minutes, has no "wow, remember when ______" moments. a large majority of the story and aspects of the film are borrowed heavily from previous films.

strange epidemic that smothers an entire small town? check.
a large, almost quarantine type situation our heroes must escape? check.
some standard horror cliches thrown in because no one gets enough of them? check.

David (Olyphant) is a small town Sheriff who has a pregnant wife who is the town doctor. when a local townsperson shakes up a baseball game, and it turns out he isn't drunk, the mystery begins as to why he did this. the movie quickly shows us others like him and before you know it the major "twist" of the movie is revealed. i was surprised to see it, and didn't suspect anything like it, but it only lasts for so long.

there are a few good tense scares to be had, but sadly what we're supposed to be afraid of (aka: "the crazies" as they're referred to here, which is a ridiculous title to give a group of people ) isn't very intimidating at all. an extremely less vicious version of the infected from 28 Days Later, but wholly smarter and at some stages they can still talk and plan an attack. but aside from the characters walking into some nicely placed predicaments, there really isn't much to be afraid of.

blind bought this for $20, and the bottom line is i should have waited to till it reach the $13-$15 price range. i don't know how much replay value the film has or how it will hold up over time, but it certainly is far from a classic horror film, but definitely much, much better than most the drivel that is classified as "horror" these days.

PQ: 3/5 - it seemed to get better as the movie progressed. early on very blurry and out of focus, lacking details in a lot of scenes. color palette is your normal range for a horror film (blacks, greys, and browns)

AQ: N/A (tv speakers)

3/5

I've given it 2/5, simply not good imo. I hate those

[Show spoiler]BAM!

music scores, cheap cheap shots! Not even scary...

[J.Cornelius]

Not really sure what all the fuss was about. The movie to me was mediocre at best, there were a few laugh out loud moments and a couple of scenes were quite poignant but for the most part it was just rather “ehh” to me. Definitely would have zero repeat viewing appeal for me but I am happy that I watched the movie, just very indifferent towards it. I found it to be very predictable especially

[Show spoiler]that Alex was married with a family what a shocker.

I thought the direction was done quite well, I was impressed with the wedding scene the color pallet seemed to fade a bit to resemble a home movie, well done. I guess I never really cared about Clooney’s character one way or the other,

[Show spoiler]at the end of the movie, again fairly predictable I really did not care that he was picking a random destination to travel. Good for you, it is called a vacation live a little.

Film: 3/5

PQ: 4/5

AQ: 4/5

[Dreemworx]

Originally Posted by iam1bearcat

i have no problem with you giving the rating you did. and i am absolutely SHOCKED you have never seen Toy Story before (thought it was a requirement to see it when it came out ) but saying that Cars (Cars?!) is better than Toy Story?! man oh man, now i've heard it all

imo Cars is the "worst" Pixar film BY FAR. it is way, way, way too cheesy and over the top feel good ending. i almost gagged. still good, but just was way too kiddie. and of course, i think Toy Story is the best film Pixar has done yet so of course i have to rag on you for what you said

Cars is a decent flick. The story itself is a bit 'cheezy' but we all need to bear in mind that animation is for CHILDREN primarily.
My little girl loves Cars and I have it on DVD but have not not got the BR...yet, I will.

I agree with CZAR, Cars is better than Toy Story. The PQ and colours is VERY artsy on old Route 66.

[jhiggy23]

Here's an example of how Triangle has creeped into my everyday life:

As I was driving to work this morning, getting off the off-ramp at 60 mph, a black bird that was about 100 yards away took off from its perch and flew head first into my windshield, never changing course. I knew it was going to be a good day.

[Show spoiler]Am I in a loop that I don't know about? Does my sleeping at nite reset things I would be better off forgetting?

[SquidPuppet]

Originally Posted by surfdude12

Regarding 9,

[Show spoiler]Yes, I hadn't thought of it the way you put it, but yes! That describes it perfectly! I was a little frustrated at first since they weren't providing much context to the story (other than the intro talk about "life must go on..." and then later when #1 says machine and man fought and machine won. I had to tell my brain to shut the f&*k up and wait for context/themes

9 seemed to be a quasi-leader from almost the get-go though, after 2 got kidnapped. I think he formed a bond with 2 after 2 saved 9's butt, or maybe 9's "soul part" is just more leader-like than the others. I remember when he went up to 5 and said "we gotta go get 2", which seemed to be pretty early in the film. but you're right: he was very timid at first.

Yes, the "Over the Rainbow" sequence was AWESOME!!!!! At first like you, i was like "cool, not bad, decent, alright, blah", then came the smoke in the distance, then the blurred image in teh smoke, then the clear "red eye" machine, then with "Over the Rainbow" still playing in the background, it was a mis-match that was chillingly awesome (like "Singin' in the Rain" during Clockwork Orange) - so out of place that it is in place!!!

Still a few unanswered questions: so the machine piece that 9 brought is like a "soul trap" in the same way the ghostbusters have ghost traps? What was the inventor's intention for 9? To just go down to the machine and push the sequence and it would destroy the machine? Ideally, before any dolls-souls got sucked into it and killed? So, if the dolls' souls did get sucked in (as they did), the machine piece would (a) suck them out/free them and (b) kill machine?

I'll have to rewatch it in order to comment on your final paragraph. Details fuzzy at the moment.

Regarding

[Show spoiler]Somewhere over the rainbow, your description of "so out of place" that it worked, is perfect. Its so Facked up, that it fits.

I think 9 always had leadership skills and qualities, but he was unaware of them and had never been tested in the begining. And thats why it was fun to watch him blosson and gain confidence, like when he started backtalkin' #1. Question authourity man!!!

[Diesel]

Originally Posted by jhiggy23

Here's an example of how Triangle has creeped into my everyday life:

As I was driving to work this morning, getting off the off-ramp at 60 mph, a black bird that was about 100 yards away took off from its perch and flew head first into my windshield, never changing course. I knew it was going to be a good day.

[Show spoiler]Am I in a loop that I don't know about? Does my sleeping at nite reset things I would be better off forgetting?

[Show spoiler]

[SquidPuppet]

Originally Posted by jhiggy23

And I see it as being unoriginal

Who else does it?

Your appropriate response should be

[Show spoiler]"Touche Mr. Puppet, touche"

[jhiggy23]

Originally Posted by Diesel

[Show spoiler]

[SquidPuppet]

Originally Posted by jhiggy23

4 Months, 3 Weeks, and 2 Days (netflix instant)

.

So, at that time were abortions legal in Romania? If so, yeah, whats the big deal? Like you said, where is the tension?

[Michael1989]

Memento. My head hurts.

But it was good, 3.5/5.

[jhiggy23]

Originally Posted by SquidPuppet

So, at that time were abortions legal in Russia? If so, yeah, whats the big deal? Like you said, where is the tension?

It was Romania, and no they were illegal. You would think that would create tension but it doesn't, trust me. The movie involves them simply getting a hotel room and someone helping out with an abortion (that's not a spoiler, it's the plot). You could argue the tension is if they get caught, they'd face 5 years in jail, but to me that's not enough tension to drive the story. In other cultures, death would be the punishment. Not to mention, and this gives nothing away either, there is almost no chance they'd get caught. There is only one extremely brief, fleeting instance of tension and that's it. I'm honestly dumbfounded about the acclaim for the film, and you know how much I love foreign films and those involving important issues.

I've been reading Ebert for almost 15 years, with 10 of those being obsessively. As I've stated before, one reason I like him so much is that my rating and his rating is almost always within 1 star, with only a few exceptions. In the past week and a half, I've had the two greatest deviations I've ever had from him, that I can remember. He gave 4 Months 4 stars, I gave it 2. He gave Lovely Bones 1 1/2, I gave it 3 1/2.

[SquidPuppet]

Originally Posted by Diesel

I really like The Day After Tomorrow (4/5).

Its not a great film, and I don't love it, but I very much enjoy watching it.


Independence Day > The Day After Tomorrow > 2012

[Show spoiler]10,000 B.C. > all things in existence

Your spoiler is correct. Now, if you exactly reverse the order of the other three, your post will be Sufficiently Evolved.

[SquidPuppet]

Originally Posted by J.Cornelius

Not really sure what all the fuss was about. The movie to me was mediocre at best, there were a few laugh out loud moments and a couple of scenes were quite poignant but for the most part it was just rather “ehh” to me. Definitely would have zero repeat viewing appeal for me but I am happy that I watched the movie, just very indifferent towards it. I found it to be very predictable especially

[Show spoiler]that Alex was married with a family what a shocker.

I thought the direction was done quite well, I was impressed with the wedding scene the color pallet seemed to fade a bit to resemble a home movie, well done. I guess I never really cared about Clooney’s character one way or the other,

[Show spoiler]at the end of the movie, again fairly predictable I really did not care that he was picking a random destination to travel. Good for you, it is called a vacation live a little.

Film: 3/5

PQ: 4/5

AQ: 4/5

LOL at me. I never saw your first spoiler coming. It gave me a good emotional gut punch. Made me care about/relate to Clooneys character. I must be naive or slow or both.

[Diesel]

Originally Posted by SquidPuppet

Your spoiler is correct. Now, if you exactly reverse the order of the other three, your post will be Sufficiently Evolved.

[Show spoiler]

[SquidPuppet]

Originally Posted by jhiggy23

Here's an example of how Triangle has creeped into my everyday life:

As I was driving to work this morning, getting off the off-ramp at 60 mph, a black bird that was about 100 yards away took off from its perch and flew head first into my windshield, never changing course. I knew it was going to be a good day.

[Show spoiler]Am I in a loop that I don't know about? Does my sleeping at nite reset things I would be better off forgetting?

Only if you hit the bird again tomorrow. But heck, even if you do, you wont remember that you hit it today, or that you posted here about it. The question is, do you take a NAP at work?????? Do you remember the NAP?????????????