The Movie Review and Discussion Thread

[surfdude12]

Originally Posted by SquidPuppet

Holy CRAP. I checked the prices at Amazon UK and they are good....

But I stumbled onto this...

ROME is £33.97

Band of Brothers £15.99 OH MY GAWD. And yes, its the Bluray.

yeah, you knew about Amazon UK, right? Also, Matrix Collection, Life, Planet Earth, Bourne Trilogy are all in the $30 shipped range.

[surfdude12]

Originally Posted by lDlisturb3d

Revanche

Great review! This is one of my top 3 Criterions (behind only Playtime and Wings of Desire). I watched it twice in a 15 hour period, and three times in a week! This film was insane replay value. A true gem in every sense of the word. If I was forced to live on a deserted island with only 5 from my collection, this would definitely be going with me.

[surfdude12]

The Princess Bride

Film: 3.5/5
-Loved the grandson-grandpa set up at the beginning and throughout the film
-Great storytelling technique with going back and forth to grandpa/gradson randomly
-The story they were telling was also great. My only issue was the layer of parody in the characters of the story. It didn't seem that they were telling a story, but instead were telling a story about characters who would randomly make fun of storytelling I know this was the point of the film, but the comedy-drama mix was hard for me to digest. "Is this scene supposed to be funny or serious?" I'd ask myself. I guess I prefer my fantasy-storytelling films to be straightforward dramas (eg. Big Fish, The Fall) and not being firstly comedies or parodies. Otherwise, I just don't take the story as seriously, and hence it won't have the same emotional impact on me.
-My guess a counterargument to my view is that: if you pick up a storybook and start reading, its not going to all be logical and make sense, and the characters will seem to be doing silly things - they're not making fun of the storytelling process, but just being generally silly. This film perfectly represents a storybook on screen.

PQ: 4/5. AQ: 4/5 . great transfer overall

[jhiggy23]

The Last Emperor (Criterion) (blu)


PQ and AQ: 3.5 (out of 5)

The PQ was as inconsistent as I've seen, ranging from pretty good in some scenes to a poorly upscaled dvd in others. I also found the AQ to be lacking, with very little activity going on and low dialogue.

Film: 2 stars (out of 4)

Highly disappointing. Fantastic set and costume design, pretty good direction, and a good score cannot save this film from being poorly paced, uninteresting, and unfocused. I found the acting to be mediocre at best. Thematically the film says very little despite many opportunities to do so. Peter O'Toole's part seemed as though it should've had some degree of importance, rather than being a complete and utter throwaway.

I can understand winning the technical categories, but how did this film possibly win best picture? Because the nominees that year were unbelievably weak. The best films from that year (Empire of the Sun, Full Metal Jacket, Au Revoir Les Enfantes) were shockingly omitted from the best picture category. Don't waste your time on this one.

[Atreyu]

Avatar again! For the fourth time or so and I love it. Awesome! Awesome! Awesome!

[iam1bearcat]

Originally Posted by surfdude12

another review I 100% agree with! I gave it 4/5 too, and also love dark-animation. Why does it always have to be bright, colorful and cuddly-wuddly? Have you seen COraline? Corpse Bride?

i believe part of my great appreciation with the film is because it is dark, unlike 99% of animated movies.
it was great to see something new, fresh, and different

i have not seen Coraline or Corpse Bride, but definitely looking forward to checking them out since i enjoyed 9 so much.

[iam1bearcat]

Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind

gonna keep this short since i'm super tired

- currently my 2nd favorite movie "of all time"
- love the quirky story telling, the directing, the wonderfully off the wall set designs, and the odd time line structure it follows (definitely realizing how much (500) Days of Summer borrows from here)
- the best romantic comedy / drama i've ever seen (yes, better than (500) Days of Summer )
- i love how it's incredibly sad, bleak, depressing and yet uplifting at the same time
- asks the eternal question, "is it better to remember the good and the bad about something (person, place, job), or nothing at all?" and tells us the story in a very unique fashion
- love the performances. easily my favorite Jim Carrey performance and film
- fantastic score by Jon Brion. one of my personal favorites
- a terrific, heart warming ending

first time i watched this film (many years ago) as soon as it ended, i started it again. the only other two times that has happened has been with Fight Club and The Lives of Others, which, for me, says a lot. easily a 5/5 and one of the 10 films (out of 511 films that i have rated) to receive such a score. and extremely worthy of it.

absolutely wonderful story telling and absolutely no flaws in my opinion. love it.



5/5

[CZAR]

Halloween II (2009) - Where do I begin? What the heck was Zombie thinkin when he made this film? What did I just watch? I didnt know Michael Myers was a hillbilly? What was those clothes he was wearing?

[Show spoiler]Why did he take his mask on and off? WTF??? What was up with the white horse? Why everytime they showed him he was walking through a grass field? Where was Nebraska?

This was plain terrible. I didnt think it could get any worse than the first one. Matter of fact this one made the first one look like a masterpiece........well that is a stretch but yall know what I mean.

I actually liked the beginning of the film and

[Show spoiler]found out it was a dream

then the film went to hog doodoo. I guess Zombie that that making Michael more vicious and stabbing people with emphasis would make the film great! Oh I almost forgot,

[Show spoiler]Michael eats dog now??

WTF????? Man I can go on and on! This film was horrendous. How did he not use the great

[Show spoiler]Halloween theme music?

The only positive was the chick who played Laurie Strode did a very good and believable job. Also it was nice seeing the gorgeous Danielle Harris again. I am gonna leave it at that as I think yall get the point! Stay away from this crap!

Film Rating - 1 star (out of 5)

PQ - 4 stars (out of 5)

AQ - 5 stars (out of 5)

Got Em!!

[Chaotic]

Trick 'Treat 5/5

my favorite movie to watch in October. The atmopsphere in this is incredible. Dylan Baker just owns this movie.

[iam1bearcat]

Originally Posted by CZAR

Halloween II (2009) - Where do I begin? What the heck was Zombie thinkin when he made this film? What did I just watch? I didnt know Michael Myers was a hillbilly? What was those clothes he was wearing?

[Show spoiler]Why did he take his mask on and off? WTF??? What was up with the white horse? Why everytime they showed him he was walking through a grass field? Where was Nebraska?

This was plain terrible. I didnt think it could get any worse than the first one. Matter of fact this one made the first one look like a masterpiece........well that is a stretch but yall know what I mean.

I actually liked the beginning of the film and

[Show spoiler]found out it was a dream

then the film went to hog doodoo. I guess Zombie that that making Michael more vicious and stabbing people with emphasis would make the film great! Oh I almost forgot,

[Show spoiler]Michael eats dog now??

WTF????? Man I can go on and on! This film was horrendous. How did he not use the great

[Show spoiler]Halloween theme music?

The only positive was the chick who played Laurie Strode did a very good and believable job. Also it was nice seeing the gorgeous Danielle Harris again. I am gonna leave it at that as I think yall get the point! Stay away from this crap!

Film Rating - 1 star (out of 5)

PQ - 4 stars (out of 5)

AQ - 5 stars (out of 5)

Got Em!!

i felt the exact same way you did. i also hated how they made Dr. Loomis such an over the top egotistical ass when he was the character most fans could connect with in the original series.

and i personally feel Scout Taylor-Compton (Laurie) did a fantastic job here that gets overshadowed because it is:

a) a horror film and
b) a very bad horror film.

however, for some reason, with repeated viewings (friends wanted to watch it) i found that i enjoyed it a little more each time, but as far as a rating goes, it's still a very badly made film with tons of "that is f****** ridiculous" moments. but you may not watch it again or think it gets a little better - especially if you're a big fan of the original series. i've seen all the first series films, but i have no 'emotional attachment' to them (as a lot of people that hate the Zombie films seem to do) so i don't know if you do as well, but even i had major issues with what you addressed in your review.

by the way, did you watch the unrated version or the theatrical cut?

[Foggy]

Originally Posted by lDlisturb3d

I thought the movie is a silly horror? I hope i wont be upset, Evil Dead is 100% on Rottentomatoes and Evil Dead 2 is 98. That amazing, this is how i blind buy movies. I look at this site and if its good on here (70% or higher) i end up usually really enjoying the movie.

Selling movies on amazon is easy, just set up an account. Its very user friendly!

To be honest, Anything past about 2001 is a bit of a strech to look at on RT, as they usually struggle to find anything that reviews it, but they are still great films (I give Evil Dead 2 9.5/10, I need to check out Evil Dead 1 again sometime soon).

I don't know what Czar means by Bruce Campbell's character being silly, he has his slapsticky moments, but he doesn't really seem that silly.

[Batman1980]

Originally Posted by Foggy

To be honest, Anything past about 2001 is a bit of a strech to look at on RT, as they usually struggle to find anything that reviews it, but they are still great films (I give Evil Dead 2 9.5/10, I need to check out Evil Dead 1 again sometime soon).

I don't know what Czar means by Bruce Campbell's character being silly, he has his slapsticky moments, but he doesn't really seem that silly.

I wouldn't pay it any mind, CZAR isn't the best person to turn to when trying to gauge a particular character's qualities and fallacies.

[Al_The_Strange]

Originally Posted by jhiggy23

The Last Emperor (Criterion) (blu)

[Show spoiler]

PQ and AQ: 3.5 (out of 5)

The PQ was as inconsistent as I've seen, ranging from pretty good in some scenes to a poorly upscaled dvd in others. I also found the AQ to be lacking, with very little activity going on and low dialogue.

Film: 2 stars (out of 4)

Highly disappointing. Fantastic set and costume design, pretty good direction, and a good score cannot save this film from being poorly paced, uninteresting, and unfocused. I found the acting to be mediocre at best. Thematically the film says very little despite many opportunities to do so. Peter O'Toole's part seemed as though it should've had some degree of importance, rather than being a complete and utter throwaway.

I can understand winning the technical categories, but how did this film possibly win best picture? Because the nominees that year were unbelievably weak. The best films from that year (Empire of the Sun, Full Metal Jacket, Au Revoir Les Enfantes) were shockingly omitted from the best picture category.

Don't waste your time on this one.

Too late!

I might have overrated it beforehand; I felt it was a pretty good film, just not one I'd want to see again.

[Al_The_Strange]

“Halloween IV: The Return of Michael Meyers”

For whatever reason, I find this film one of the more appealing ones of the series. It is splendidly shot, with plenty of interesting and thrilling scenes. Acting is pretty good (for a horror flick); Danielle Harris was quite the splendid child actor.

But more importantly, I like the direction of the story. Even if it does have some ridiculous or unintentionally funny moments (I love it when

[Show spoiler]the posse shoots up the one area, then look it over and the one guy says “s**t Earl!” What a great response!

), I like the addition of Danielle Harris’ character and some of the other characters. I have no flippin’ clue how Dr Loomis survived “Halloween II,” but I love how hysterical his character gets in this film and the next. Above all though, the (paranormal) connection between these characters and Michael Meyers manages to mix it up in an interesting way.

Altogether, it’s quite entertaining.

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



“Halloween V: The Revenge of Michael Meyers”

Last year when I saw this for the first time, I thought it was so-so. Too many ditzy characters. Jeez.

But this time around, I found that it has about as many fun moments as the last film. Still a lot of dumb parts and unintentionally funny parts, but it is rather entertaining. And I do like the direction of this story too, continuing where the last one left off, and adding on even more paranormal intrigue. And Dr Loomis seems the craziest here.

Photography is quite strong in this film, it is well-paced, and it still has decent acting. There are only a couple of things that I feel take away from the film (one of them being the goofy music used for the goofy cops; both a little too over-the-top imo).

One question remains though (and I ought to watch #6 some day to find out)…

[Show spoiler]who is the mysterious man in black?!!

3.5/5 (entertainment: 3.5/5, story: 3/5, film: 3.5/5)

[sunny85]

Street Dance 3D
7/10

[CZAR]

Originally Posted by iam1bearcat

i felt the exact same way you did. i also hated how they made Dr. Loomis such an over the top egotistical ass when he was the character most fans could connect with in the original series.

and i personally feel Scout Taylor-Compton (Laurie) did a fantastic job here that gets overshadowed because it is:

a) a horror film and
b) a very bad horror film.

[Show spoiler]however, for some reason, with repeated viewings (friends wanted to watch it) i found that i enjoyed it a little more each time, but as far as a rating goes, it's still a very badly made film with tons of "that is f****** ridiculous" moments. but you may not watch it again or think it gets a little better - especially if you're a big fan of the original series. i've seen all the first series films, but i have no 'emotional attachment' to them (as a lot of people that hate the Zombie films seem to do) so i don't know if you do as well, but even i had major issues with what you addressed in your review.

by the way, did you watch the unrated version or the theatrical cut?

Yea man way to many negatives in my eyes. I actually dont know which one I watched as I just put in the blu and hit play movie and it didnt give me an option. Got Em!!

Originally Posted by Foggy

I don't know what Czar means by Bruce Campbell's character being silly, he has his slapsticky moments, but he doesn't really seem that silly.

I just dont care for the character. I mean I know people like those films but just not my cup of tea. Got Em!!

Originally Posted by Gandalf Stormcrow

I wouldn't pay it any mind, CZAR isn't the best person to turn to when trying to gauge a particular character's qualities and fallacies.

And u are??? Got Em!!

[iam1bearcat]

Originally Posted by CZAR

Yea man way to many negatives in my eyes. I actually dont know which one I watched as I just put in the blu and hit play movie and it didnt give me an option. Got Em!!

a big "duh" moment to me. the blu only has the unrated version.
i've heard there's some differences between 'em, but certainly not enough to make it worth watching again to notice

[surfdude12]

Originally Posted by jhiggy23

The Last Emperor (Criterion) (blu)

.

you trying to get me back for American Beauty?

like The Leopard, I like how this shows the internal struggle/emotions of a monarch, as the socio-political landscape of his country undergoes vast change, and his struggle to accept his new role. Most people can relate to this, especially in today's economy, like a dude who just lost his job and has to learn how to live without his house he's lived in for 20 years. Accepting a new role forced by a new set of circumstances. Prefer the Leopard by a nose.

[CZAR]

Originally Posted by iam1bearcat

a big "duh" moment to me. the blu only has the unrated version.
i've heard there's some differences between 'em, but certainly not enough to make it worth watching again to notice

Haha its all good. That movie will do that to u sometimes lol. I wouldnt watch that film again no matter which version it is. It could be called the nudity version and I wouldnt watch it. Got Em!!

[iam1bearcat]

Originally Posted by CZAR

Haha its all good. That movie will do that to u sometimes lol. I wouldnt watch that film again no matter which version it is. It could be called the nudity version and I wouldnt watch it. Got Em!!

i don't know... if there was a nudity version i may have to check that out