The Movie Review and Discussion Thread

[kelvin555]

On The Waterfront 9.5 out of 10

[jhiggy23]

Originally Posted by lDlisturb3d

Tbizzle thanks for the happy b-day.
I just bought Days of Heaven and Summer Hours . I hope i like them.

Ohh ive got about 8 CC movies but im waiting to watch them with my wife. Especially Summer Hours. I might check Yojimbo out myself.

Good choices! Hope you like them.

[jhiggy23]

Originally Posted by iam1bearcat

The Diving Bell and the Butterfly (dvd rental)

FIRST TIME VIEWING.

let me get this out of the way first. this is a good film. fresh, original, inspires hope, also extremely sad, touching and memorable. so if i was giving a score based off of just these items, The Diving Bell and the Butterfly would probably get a score around 4/5, or 4.5/5.

but it won't.

because at the end of the 107 minutes, i just didn't like the film very much. i appreciate it for what it is and respect those who do like it and score it highly, but while my score might seem high, personally it is not a favorite and is towards the bottom of my short list, but will likely fall farther down as more are added.

the film follows the true events of Mr. Bauby who awakens after being in a coma for 3 weeks. he suffered a stroke that left him with a rare condition known as "locked in syndrome" which left him only able to communicate by blinking his left eye. the film opens with what feels like shaky cam because it's from "his view" so the camera shakes, moves and swings wildly like it would if you had just woken up in a hospital bed. i loved that. i loved the "what in the hell is happening?" feeling that we the audience had as did Mr. Bauby.

i also like that the film is about hope, perseverance, struggle and the will to live and not let a life altering situation effect you. but, now this may sound strange, i also hated it for that reason. you see, i would never be able to do anything any of the people in the film do. from the specialist who help Mr. Bauby for hours on end to Mr. Bauby himself who learns to live in his imagination and not drown is sorrow and pity. that wouldn't be me. i'd want to die every second of every day if i was in his position.

there were a few moments in the film that made me really enjoy the film and sucked me in, but there were also moments that made me just ansy and anxiously awaiting the end of the film. there were moments i was simply bored by the story and characters who i cared little about. and then there was the most annoying part of the film. something that got so under my skin it almost drove me crazy:

[Show spoiler]the damn alphabet scenes just listening to the specialist and visitors say the same damn letters over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over again made my skin crawl and made me wince. i hated it. absolutely hated it.

and there were so many of these scenes. i couldn't look past them. it got under my skin and made me want to rip my hair out. and unless that was the point of those scenes, it damaged the film for me and quickly made me think "i will probably never be able to sit through this again".

but like i said, a well made, original, depressing yet ambitious and inspiring film. but it just wasn't my cup of tea and didn't click, but i know a well made film when i see one.

acting: A, score: A, directing: B, story: A... and my score?

4/5
i hope i explained myself well enough as to why it has a high score but is not a personal favorite of mine. if not, and if you want me to explain better, please ask and i will try again

Four stars (out of 4) for myself. One of the best directed films of the 2000s and an incredible story. My favorite part is

[Show spoiler]Max von Sydow shaking while on the phone. Great acting.

Can't wait for the domestic blu, which will probably come out around the time of Schnabel's sure-to-be Oscar nom Miral, later this year. He is one of the best pure directors working right now, based on this and Before Night Falls. Even Basquiat was a good film. Being a world renowned artist, who I'm a fan of, I can't wait to see him use his incredible artistic sense to make great movies.

[jhiggy23]

Originally Posted by kelvin555

On The Waterfront 9.5 out of 10

One of the best of the 50s.

[hayes1516]

Last Airbender...6/10

Was disappointed by this. There are some great concepts but the director is not skilled enough at this type of epic filmmaking to make it really work.

Despicable Me...7/10

Funny little family flick. The minions are the best part of the movie.

Earth...5/10

Again, disappointed by this one. Parts are absolutely gorgeous and thoroughly awe inspiring but scenes of young animals being hunted and taken out almost seem gratuitous and out of place.

[jhiggy23]

Originally Posted by hayes1516

Last Airbender...6/10

Was disappointed by this. There are some great concepts but the director is not skilled enough at this type of epic filmmaking to make it really work.

Despicable Me...7/10

Funny little family flick. The minions are the best part of the movie.

Earth...5/10

Again, disappointed by this one. Parts are absolutely gorgeous and thoroughly awe inspiring but scenes of young animals being hunted and taken out almost seem gratuitous and out of place.

Why? That's nature. Did you not like Planet Earth or Life either?

[iam1bearcat]

Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (dvd)

for a very long time, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind was hailed as my #2 favorite movie "of all time". and while i'm not sure where exactly it ranks in my list, it is still in the top 10, but none of that matters because it is a fantastic film in all aspects.

Jim Carrey plays his best role yet, and it's a serious role! much like how i believe Adam Sandler's best roles have been in Punch Drunk Love and Reign Over Me, a comedian going to drama can be achieved if given the proper script and director. you cannot even recognize Carrey. his off the wall spunk is never out of hand here and he seems like a shell of himself. a shell of a man. which he is in a lot of ways.

Joel Barish (Carey) and Clementine (Kate Winslet) meet on a train and start a relationship. little do they know, this has happened before. but when Clementine's eccentric personality and spur of the moment attitude decide to get Joel erased from her memory, he decides to get the same experiment done. but once in the procedure and remember all the good and bad times, Joel decides he wants to keep his memories of Clementine - even if it doesn't end happily between them - and they make a run for it through Joel's memories.

the greatness of the film is the structure. it's off beat, off-kilter and completely fresh and exciting. Joel and Clementine jump from their previous memories to places they've never been so they can try and stay together. it does not flow from "beginning of relationship to end", it jumps in between their relationship. a lot like the structure of (500) Days of Summer. and it raises the question: would you rather forget something entirely (the good and the bad) or remember it for what it was (with all the good and all of the bad)? because we've all had bad relationships. but bad enough to get them erased for good?

most of the film takes place inside Joel's memories while the procedure is taking place. the art direction is fantastic, the score is amazing (by none other than Jon Brion), the characters are real and down to Earth (even Clementine who is off the wall! ) and the film works as both a character study and a rom-com drama.

in a sense it is a sad reality the film lives in. when Joel first visits the company (Lacuna Inc.) you see a wide range of people getting procedures done. from people who have lost a child, a pet to people who simply never want the knowledge of a former lover in their lives. and if given the opportunity, how many people would get the experiment done? what would you have done? anything? it's a tricky question that i don't know i would ever feel comfortable with my answers.

the ending is fantastic! sad, uplifting, hopeful and extremely depressing all at the same time - if that makes sense. a true genius work of art by Michael Gondry and the entire cast. i've watched Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind well over 50 times, and i always laugh at the same moments, get a bit teary eyed at the same moments and always forget how much i love this film until it starts up again the next time.

5/5

[Steve46]

Originally Posted by iam1bearcat

Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (dvd)

Jim Carrey plays his best role yet, and it's a serious role! much like how i believe Adam Sandler's best roles have been in Punch Drunk Love and Reign Over Me, a comedian going to drama can be achieved if given the proper script and director.

5/5

Peter Sellers in Being There is my favorite example of this

[iam1bearcat]

Originally Posted by jhiggy23

Four stars (out of 4) for myself. One of the best directed films of the 2000s and an incredible story. My favorite part is

[Show spoiler]Max von Sydow shaking while on the phone. Great acting.

Can't wait for the domestic blu, which will probably come out around the time of Schnabel's sure-to-be Oscar nom Miral, later this year. He is one of the best pure directors working right now, based on this and Before Night Falls. Even Basquiat was a good film. Being a world renowned artist, who I'm a fan of, I can't wait to see him use his incredible artistic sense to make great movies.

yeah, that scene definitely stood out.
and i enjoyed the directing from Bauby's perspective. some may see it as "awkward and bad" if they don't understand what they're witnessing the perspective from, but it was incredible.

[jhiggy23]

Originally Posted by iam1bearcat

Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (dvd)

for a very long time, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind was hailed as my #2 favorite movie "of all time". and while i'm not sure where exactly it ranks in my list, it is still in the top 10, but none of that matters because it is a fantastic film in all aspects.

Jim Carrey plays his best role yet, and it's a serious role! much like how i believe Adam Sandler's best roles have been in Punch Drunk Love and Reign Over Me, a comedian going to drama can be achieved if given the proper script and director. you cannot even recognize Carrey. his off the wall spunk is never out of hand here and he seems like a shell of himself. a shell of a man. which he is in a lot of ways.

Joel Barish (Carey) and Clementine (Kate Winslet) meet on a train and start a relationship. little do they know, this has happened before. but when Clementine's eccentric personality and spur of the moment attitude decide to get Joel erased from her memory, he decides to get the same experiment done. but once in the procedure and remember all the good and bad times, Joel decides he wants to keep his memories of Clementine - even if it doesn't end happily between them - and they make a run for it through Joel's memories.

the greatness of the film is the structure. it's off beat, off-kilter and completely fresh and exciting. Joel and Clementine jump from their previous memories to places they've never been so they can try and stay together. it does not flow from "beginning of relationship to end", it jumps in between their relationship. a lot like the structure of (500) Days of Summer. and it raises the question: would you rather forget something entirely (the good and the bad) or remember it for what it was (with all the good and all of the bad)? because we've all had bad relationships. but bad enough to get them erased for good?

most of the film takes place inside Joel's memories while the procedure is taking place. the art direction is fantastic, the score is amazing (by none other than Jon Brion), the characters are real and down to Earth (even Clementine who is off the wall! ) and the film works as both a character study and a rom-com drama.

in a sense it is a sad reality the film lives in. when Joel first visits the company (Lacuna Inc.) you see a wide range of people getting procedures done. from people who have lost a child, a pet to people who simply never want the knowledge of a former lover in their lives. and if given the opportunity, how many people would get the experiment done? what would you have done? anything? it's a tricky question that i don't know i would ever feel comfortable with my answers.

the ending is fantastic! sad, uplifting, hopeful and extremely depressing all at the same time - if that makes sense. a true genius work of art by Michael Gondry and the entire cast. i've watched Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind well over 50 times, and i always laugh at the same moments, get a bit teary eyed at the same moments and always forget how much i love this film until it starts up again the next time.

5/5

Great film. I think it's a bit overrated, but still 3 1/2 or 4 stars (out of 4) for me.

[jhiggy23]

Originally Posted by iam1bearcat

yeah, that scene definitely stood out.
and i enjoyed the directing from Bauby's perspective. some may see it as "awkward and bad" if they don't understand what they're witnessing the perspective from, but it was incredible.

Check out Before Night Falls, which is directed by Schnabel and stars Javier Bardem, who got a best actor Oscar nod. See if you can spot Johnny Depp, btw. The film is about the great Cuban poet Reinaldo Arenas, who was openly gay during Castro's reign, before coming to the US. Phenomenal movie.

[Freekman]

The Wolfman
Film - 4/10
PQ - 8/10
AQ - 10/10

[SquidPuppet]

Originally Posted by Diesel

I'll let you guys know what I think of it after I watch.


Some of the next few I knock out will probably be The Island, Into the Blue (I'm sure JHiggy, Surf and Squid will be waiting on the edge of their seats for that one! ),.

That movie sucks.

I own it and love it.

I love the Jet-ski scenes. Oh, and the bikinis.

[SquidPuppet]

Originally Posted by iam1bearcat

Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (dvd)


Jim Carrey plays his best role yet, and it's a serious role! much like how i believe Adam Sandler's best roles have been in Punch Drunk Love and Reign Over Me, a comedian going to drama can be achieved if given the proper script and director.

Have you seen Spanglish? I really like Sandler in that, and the movie touches a lot of different emotions. Good stuff.

Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind is great.

[iam1bearcat]

Originally Posted by SquidPuppet

Have you seen Spanglish? I really like Sandler in that, and the movie touches a lot of different emotions. Good stuff.

Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind is great.

ironically enough i was going to put "(and no, i have not yet seen Spanglish)" in my review haha but forgot to. i had a bunch of friends who screamed about how terrible it was and it kind of dropped off my radar. off to netflix to add it to the queue

[jhiggy23]

Originally Posted by SquidPuppet

Have you seen Spanglish? I really like Sandler in that, and the movie touches a lot of different emotions. Good stuff.

Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind is great.

I need to see Spanglish.

[CZAR]

Originally Posted by iam1bearcat

i don't know if you know or not Czar, but someone was telling me this was made by the same people who made Saw (or one them). i don't know if it was a writer / director / producer, but friends said this had a very "Saw feel" to it. any truth to that? otherwise what horror films (feel / plot wise) would you say this resembles?

Actually it was supposed to be a prequel to Saw but then they scrapped that idea and just made it its own film. I wouldnt compare it to Saw, as Saw was more of mind games and such. There are elements that I can see why people would compare it to Saw but to me its more of a hardcore slasher, but the killer has a great mind and actually sets up his plans. With that said and I dont want to give to much away, I guess u could compare it to Saw but lets just say that in this film the

[Show spoiler]Jigsaw killer is more hands on.

Maybe that will help but u should check it out. Got Em!!

[Diesel]

Originally Posted by SquidPuppet

That movie sucks.

I own it and love it.

I love the Jet-ski scenes. Oh, and the bikinis.

That's my favorite part.

....the jet ski scenes of course


I picked it up a while back for $8 on Amazon so I figured even if I didn't like it it was just barely more than a rental would have cost.

It's not very good, but fun

[SquidPuppet]

Originally Posted by iam1bearcat

ironically enough i was going to put "(and no, i have not yet seen Spanglish)" in my review haha but forgot to. i had a bunch of friends who screamed about how terrible it was and it kind of dropped off my radar. off to netflix to add it to the queue

Originally Posted by jhiggy23

I need to see Spanglish.

I'd buy it on Blu in a heartbeat. It's so warm and touching.

Family struggles and new loves and tabboo relationships.

Sandler is a chef/restaurant owner....since I love to cook and enjoy looking at beautiful women, it really worked for me.

[Al_The_Strange]

Next greatest rental: “Bill and Ted’s Bogus Journey.”

Yep, still pretty silly, absurd, campy, etc. This story is probably a little more ridiculous than the first film. But it’s still quite entertaining with plenty of comic moments (I think I laughed about as much as I did for the first film). Even though the story’s a little wacky, I do admire its direction as if effectively spoofs the Divine Comedy (and a little bit on “The Seventh Seal”). SFX and production value are still pretty effective; if anything, I think this film is a little more visually excellent than the first.

Party on dudes!!

3.5/5 (entertainment: 4/5, story: 2.5/5, film: 4/5)