The Movie Review and Discussion Thread

[jhiggy23]

Originally Posted by iam1bearcat

shame on you Surf!

[Show spoiler]

you should definitely check it out. it's certainly something else.



i didn't really find the acting all that bad. but that might just be me. here and there it was a little... odd... by some of the cast, but otherwise there was never anything to deter me from the film.

and the directing... i couldn't tell if it was genius or crappy it really kind of felt like directing in a 'made for TV movie', which i hate, but the story kept me so intrigued and gripped and asked a lot of questions to the viewer, which i obviously enjoyed and wow. i haven't read any of King's books, but wow! usually i hear nothing but good things about his writing. at worst i've heard "mediocre" but never "bad" or worse.

No one really says that King is a good writer in terms of the art of writing; people praise his approach to a large cast of characters and his perceived ability to make you feel like you're in a small town (for his town books) and for the range of genres he's been able to be successful in. There's no doubting his success and commercial appeal, but he's far from a good writer. His prose is juvenile, his dialogue is laughable, and his characters are cardboard. BUT his stories are able to translate into film and his quirky nature, especially when he first began, has led to hoardes of devoted fans who have blinded themselves to his lack of literary quality.

As for the film, my opinion is just that--an opinion. I wouldn't place this film in the "films I don't understand how ppl like" category. I can certainly understand ppl liking the film and being moved by the ending. It just didn't work for me.

[iam1bearcat]

Originally Posted by jhiggy23

No one really says that King is a good writer in terms of the art of writing; people praise his approach to a large cast of characters and his perceived ability to make you feel like you're in a small town (for his town books) and for the range of genres he's been able to be successful in. There's no doubting his success and commercial appeal, but he's far from a good writer. His prose is juvenile, his dialogue is laughable, and his characters are cardboard. BUT his stories are able to translate into film and his quirky nature, especially when he first began, has led to hoardes of devoted fans who have blinded themselves to his lack of literary quality.

As for the film, my opinion is just that--an opinion. I wouldn't place this film in the "films I don't understand how ppl like" category. I can certainly understand ppl liking the film and being moved by the ending. It just didn't work for me.

i don't want to be one of those "deliberately against the grain" types, but the books i do read i try to stay away from well known writers because knowing 67 billion other people are reading it makes me feel bland and i'd like to do the same with films, but that's really hard. easier to find good unknown music than find good unknown films.

as for the film, i loved it because of its mix of drama, sci-fi, horror, suspense, thriller and mystery. i felt it did each of those categories correctly - and very, very well. i was amazed by it. but again, that's just my opinion and i enjoy how we both agree 100% on things like The Lives of Others, and then we're at opposite ends with the like of Fight Club. but it should be that way, makes for good conversation

[surfdude12]

Originally Posted by jhiggy23

No one really says that King is a good writer in terms of the art of writing; people praise his approach to a large cast of characters and his perceived ability to make you feel like you're in a small town (for his town books) and for the range of genres he's been able to be successful in. There's no doubting his success and commercial appeal, but he's far from a good writer. His prose is juvenile, his dialogue is laughable, and his characters are cardboard. BUT his stories are able to translate into film and his quirky nature, especially when he first began, has led to hoardes of devoted fans who have blinded themselves to his lack of literary quality.

As for the film, my opinion is just that--an opinion. I wouldn't place this film in the "films I don't understand how ppl like" category. I can certainly understand ppl liking the film and being moved by the ending. It just didn't work for me.

speaking of reading books and King -- I can say with supreme confidence that I read on the order of 1-2 books per year (take that higgy!), and most recently read The Stand - which seems to be King's best. I found it very well written but in general I'd agree with most of your criticism of his writing ability

[jhiggy23]

Originally Posted by surfdude12

speaking of reading books and King -- I can say with supreme confidence that I read on the order of 1-2 books per year (take that higgy!), and most recently read The Stand - which seems to be King's best. I found it very well written but in general I'd agree with most of your criticism of his writing ability

The Stand is usually considered to be his finest novel and is one I'd actually like to read. haha 1-2 a year...I take it you became fed up with reading hundreds of pages a week.

[jhiggy23]

Originally Posted by iam1bearcat

i don't want to be one of those "deliberately against the grain" types, but the books i do read i try to stay away from well known writers because knowing 67 billion other people are reading it makes me feel bland and i'd like to do the same with films, but that's really hard. easier to find good unknown music than find good unknown films.

as for the film, i loved it because of its mix of drama, sci-fi, horror, suspense, thriller and mystery. i felt it did each of those categories correctly - and very, very well. i was amazed by it. but again, that's just my opinion and i enjoy how we both agree 100% on things like The Lives of Others, and then we're at opposite ends with the like of Fight Club. but it should be that way, makes for good conversation

I say the same to surf as I do for you--while I may not always agree, you both always provide well-written and reasoned analyses and you both support your reviews well, so I can't hate on you that much

But we do agree most of the time.

[iam1bearcat]

Originally Posted by jhiggy23

I say the same to surf as I do for you--while I may not always agree, you both always provide well-written and reasoned analyses and you both support your reviews well, so I can't hate on you that much

But we do agree most of the time.

have you already forgotten?! you can't hate on me anymore anyways after my Solaris review!

[surfdude12]

Originally Posted by jhiggy23

[Show spoiler]I'm pretty sure Lisbeth never said there were two Anitas, and if she did, then you're taking it out of context--there's no hole there. The whole point of all that is that Harriet used all that as a cover and then escaped to Australia.

[Show spoiler]
Just watched it this morning so I'm almost positive: it was the printout Lisbeth left on her computer that he found. Lisbeth asked her hacker friend to investigate Anita. The printout said there are 2 Anitas: one who died in London and one who lived in Australia since '66.

how do they know its Harriet posing as Anita and not merely Anita who went to Australia after faking her own death? Surely this is in the book. I was just a little "WTF?" when he showed up in Australia, came up behind her and said "Harriet?". According to my sis who read the book, they hacked into Harriet's phone to confirm it was her? Not a big deal. Loved the film, this was a rare "huh??" moment.

[surfdude12]

Originally Posted by jhiggy23

The Stand is usually considered to be his finest novel and is one I'd actually like to read. haha 1-2 a year...I take it you became fed up with reading hundreds of pages a week.

ahhh, but I forgot a caveat: I commence to read - and don't complete- 20-25 books per year. How much does that count?

seriously (tryin not to get off topic): how do you manage reading and watcing? It seems like I can only either read books or watch movies. Hard to do both during the same time period.

[lDlisturb3d]

My favorite Stephen King movie is Storm of the Century. I love this movie

[jhiggy23]

Originally Posted by iam1bearcat

have you already forgotten?! you can't hate on me anymore anyways after my Solaris review!

[jhiggy23]

Originally Posted by surfdude12

[Show spoiler]
Just watched it this morning so I'm almost positive: it was the printout Lisbeth left on her computer that he found. Lisbeth asked her hacker friend to investigate Anita. The printout said there are 2 Anitas: one who died in London and one who lived in Australia since '66.

how do they know its Harriet posing as Anita and not merely Anita who went to Australia after faking her own death? Surely this is in the book. I was just a little "WTF?" when he showed up in Australia, came up behind her and said "Harriet?". According to my sis who read the book, they hacked into Harriet's phone to confirm it was her? Not a big deal. Loved the film, this was a rare "huh??" moment.

[Show spoiler]When Anita died in London, Harriet assumed her identity in Australia. The fact that Anita died in London and someone was posing as her elsewhere is what led them to Harriet, because of the obvious discrepancy. There was never any reason for Anita to fake her death. The book does get into it more and it's always a bit easier when seeing words and being able to read a paragraph multiple times than it is with fleeting images.

[jhiggy23]

Originally Posted by surfdude12

ahhh, but I forgot a caveat: I commence to read - and don't complete- 20-25 books per year. How much does that count?

seriously (tryin not to get off topic): how do you manage reading and watcing? It seems like I can only either read books or watch movies. Hard to do both during the same time period.

haha just like movies, I refuse to stop reading/watching something before I've seen/read the whole thing. The reason being that there have multiple instances in both film and literature where the ending or last third has blown me away and transformed what has previously been mediocre or poor into good or great.

As for your question, lots of practice

During my first semester of law school I was asked that very question: how do I manage to read a book a week, watch 2-3 movies, and keep up with all the reading and work? The answer I gave then is the same as it is now (although it's more like 2-3 weeks per book at the moment, because of what you know I'm doing at the moment): I simply make the time because to me, it's a priority. I still go out with friends and still play sports and still go to the gym. I simply sacrifice sleep, in that I sleep about 5 1/2 hours a nite currently, and I multi-task. For instance, I'm currently eating pasta, working on a direct examination, and filling out a worksheet.

[lDlisturb3d]

Before the Devil Knows You're Dead

Director: Sidney Lumet
Writer: Kelly Masterson
Mains: Phillip Seymour Hoffman, Ethan Hawke, Marisa Tomei

Gritty Thriller, Great Acting But it fail short.

To be honest i dont know why i couldnt connect with this film. The last 45mins was great but leading up to that point i never made any connections. This is also my 2nd time trying to watch this movie and credit it for what its worth but i just cant find any liking in the film. The acting was great and the story was good but i think what killed it was the Direction. I really cant put my finger on it but i wanted to like this movie but i just can cope with it.


3.5/5

[Psychonaut]

The Omega Man - I'm sure it was decent in its day but now feels highly dated to me. They did an awesome job making the city feel empty, though. 3/5

Frozen - This was done in the ocean not long ago. I didn't feel the tension at all. People behaving stupidly to move the plot. 2/5

[jhiggy23]

Originally Posted by lDlisturb3d

Before the Devil Knows You're Dead

Director: Sidney Lumet
Writer: Kelly Masterson
Mains: Phillip Seymour Hoffman, Ethan Hawke, Marisa Tomei

Gritty Thriller, Great Acting But it fail short.

To be honest i dont know why i couldnt connect with this film. The last 45mins was great but leading up to that point i never made any connections. This is also my 2nd time trying to watch this movie and credit it for what its worth but i just cant find any liking in the film. The acting was great and the story was good but i think what killed it was the Direction. I really cant put my finger on it but i wanted to like this movie but i just can cope with it.


3.5/5

agree completely. lumet is one of america's best directors and the acting was top-notch, but it was a hard film to connect to.

[lDlisturb3d]

Originally Posted by jhiggy23

agree completely. lumet is one of america's best directors and the acting was top-notch, but it was a hard film to connect to.

urrhhh i thought you were gonna correct me so i would find a liking in the film but i guess im not alone

[Piollo]

Originally Posted by iam1bearcat

...just finished watching The Mist (2007 - colored version), review will be coming along in a little bit once i can gather myself... wow...

I enjoyed this movie and a big wow on the ending, really sad, really good movie imo.

[seigneur_rayden]

Resident Evil After Life
3.5/5

It was good to see Milla and hot Jill again. I didn't like the slow motion scenes. I wish they were at normal speed. Nonetheless, I enjoyed it.

[Diesel]

Watched Kingdom of Heaven to reassess my 5/5 rating I gave the Director's Cut upon first viewing.

I've decided to lower the score slightly to a 4.75/5 after a repeat viewing.


So my scores for the discussion spurred by Higgy's Gladiator review are now as follows:

Gladiator - 5/5
Kingdom of Heaven DC - 4.75/5
Braveheart - 4.5/5
Last Samurai - 4/5

Haven't gotten to Troy yet.

[surfdude12]

Requiem For A Dream - Director's Cut

Film: 5/5
-a top 30-35 film on my all-time list
-can't say enough good things about Aranofsky's direction. I keep forgetting how good he is until I watch one of his films again. Him and PTA are neck-and-neck for my favorite active director
-everything about the film is A+: one of the greatest performances I've ever seen in Burstyn, a fantastic soundtrack, incredible direction with new techniques that really keep it interesting (split screen, walking/running cam - mounted in front of person looking at their face as they run/walk, speed up/slow down technique, I could go on forever...and EVEN ONE of these techniques would make the direction A+)
-loved the climax ending of

[Show spoiler]4 characters crashing and burning from drug use. It matters not what your age/sex/race/gender is, as each of the 4 did not have the same of each, drug addiction won't discriminate - it just wants to destroy you. The film is a great reminder for those who've never used drugs on why never to start and a greater reminder for those who have why never to re-start.

PQ: 3/5
AQ: 3/5