The Movie Review and Discussion Thread

[SquidPuppet]

Originally Posted by P@t_Mtl

Modern Times

Year = 1936
Director = Charlie Chaplin
Country = USA
Actors = Charlie Chaplin, Paulette Goddard.

Of couse it's not my first time seeing it but it was my first viewing on Blu-ray. It's hard to say anything about this movie that as not been said a million other times before. A silent film which is not all silent, made almost a decade after sound took over. A movie that even 74 years after being made as a message that still hold's true today. The iconic Little Tramp take's on big business and the modern world. Everyone as seen the images of the Little Tramp with the machinery but there are so many other scenes that are just so funny even after all this time and seeing time countless times. The true genius of Chaplin, the diving in the water, the rollerblade scene..no matter how often you have seen them, you still laugh. Like all other films of Chaplin there is a message, you can agree with it or disagre but one way or another it does not change the appreciation you can have for this movie.

If you haven't seen this movie in a while, then rent it and see it once more on Blu-ray, it's beautiful. If you see this for the first time on Blu-ray, then you are extremely lucky, this movie as not look this good in 74 years. You will enjoy every moment of it.

I didnt know there were Rollerblades in the '30s.

[Batman1980]

Originally Posted by SquidPuppet

Not a lot of people give Sandler a chance in "serious" roles. Since you enjoy him, I strongly recommend Spanglish if you havent seen it. A nice romantic drama with a small spalsh of humor.

I'll get Punch Drunk Love once it hits blu-ray, keep meaning to get Reign over Me and keep forgetting to pick it up when I'm in the movie section at Best Buy.

[Marcus Wright]

Originally Posted by Diesel

That's probably about what I would give Rocky V. 3.5 or 3.75. Need to watch it again to be sure.


Didn't you give Rocky II a 5/5 last time you reviewed it?

I dont remember.
The only problem that I had with Rocky 2 was that it was kind of boring the fact that he was still gonna face the same opponent.
Othwerwise its a good movie.
As I said before, 4.5/5

As for why I give Rocky 4 a 5/5, its because its an incredibly fun flick. One of the best Popcorn flicks out there.

[CZAR]

Originally Posted by Gandalf Stormcrow

I see at least one more boring movie already in your collection, Taken! Feel free to rebut but know that you won't change my mind on that.

Dont need to change your mind but that is one of the most hilarious statements I ever heard! Its not hilarious because u think a very good film is boring but its hilarious because u think "Taken" a very fast action film with no dull points would be boring. Got Em!!

Originally Posted by Diesel

Maybe...but ah well




Are you considering going part time now like me?

Yea what can u do. If u ever change your mind then put that at the top of your list. As for the club I will see what I can do regarding that film first lol. Got Em!!

[SquidPuppet]

Originally Posted by Al_The_Strange

Next greatest rental: “Into the Wild.”

[Show spoiler]Thank you surfdude and squidpuppet for the recommendation. It’s not really the type of film I’m usually interested in. But it is worthwhile seeing at least once.

To get the negativity out of the way, my chief complaint about this film would be the same for any other film of this type (hence the reason I’m not into it that much). As a life’s-journey-type story, there’s not much conflict going on, aside from some man-vs-nature themes here and there, and perhaps man-vs-himself. Stories like these usually don’t keep my interest.

But, I can see some value in it, for sure. The first half-hour or so did remind me of a trip I took last year to Utah; I was on my own, free and independent in the wide-open desert, free to explore. In that respect, I could relate to the main character, his ideals, way of life, and everything else. Heck, it’s hard not to like the guy.

As such, I can also see the parallels between the guy’s journey and life in general, starting off in the safety of home and moving on independently, both literally and figuratively, into the wild. It’s also clear that this is a movement away from society toward nature. I’m sure there are other issues and themes buried beneath.

As a film, it’s pretty slick and stylish. Editing and transitions are interesting, and most of the photography looks splendid. Acting is strong, writing is not bad, and the narration adds a rather poetic flavor to the whole thing. And the music is rather interesting; perhaps even powerful in some parts.

3/5 (entertainment: 2.5/5, story: 3/5, film: 4/5, intellectual impact: 3/5)

Reccomendation: Yep!

Well I am glad it wasnt a total bust for you. For some reason, I know I can watch this many times again. It's just one of those connection things I guess.

[SquidPuppet]

Originally Posted by Gandalf Stormcrow

What Women Want 4/5
PQ 3.5/5
AQ 4/5
One of the best imports I own, still surprised it will probably never get an American release.

Why do you quote someone who is talking about Rocky, and then add your review for an unrelated flick?

[iam1bearcat]

Slumdog Millionaire

year: 2009
director: danny boyle
starring: dev patel (jamal), freida pinto (latika), madhur mittal (salim)

so this is the film that won "Best Picture" at the 81st Academy Awards, huh?
well, maybe it deserved it, maybe it doesn't. i haven't seen all the selections, but from what i've seen (this and Boring Buttons) then yes, this deserved to win.

however, Slumdog Millionaire is easily an addition to my "once is more than enough" collection

some parts were easily 5/5 material, but then other parts were also 2/5 material and a large portion was very "bleh" and for the love of all that is holy, could this film be any longer? i could have sworn i read it was 120 minutes. that cannot possibly be true, this felt freaking longer than that eight-decade Seven Samurai film!

the story follows jamal, an 18 year old boy from the slums who goes on the Indian version of 'Who Wants to be a Millionaire' and wins. but how?
he's uneducated, he's from a crappy upbringing that taught him nothing of this useful knowledge, yet he gets everything right

for the first 27456 hours of the film, the film is split up into three stories: past, present and game show segments. however, i got sick of his life story pretty damn quickly. how much freaking characterization can one character have in a film?!

there was so much i didn't care about - like the main character himself in most scenes, and what he encountered in life i felt nothing for him. and there was no big twists or turns here. a few tense scenes yes, but all of it was very generic and super obvious.

oh look, 3 small children are treated nicely by a stranger who takes them to his house where they think they are safe and there's 770 other children. this can't possibly go wrong can it?

ugh. and the love story i didn't care or feel anything for it at all. it was in a sense, foolish and something i would never do. and maybe i'm a bit of a pessimist and "i hate love story type when it isn't needed in a story but added for sentimental values" but this relationship didn't move me at all.

i also wasn't a big fan of how jamal

[Show spoiler]literally knows all the answers from his past (most of them come in an obvious fashion to him when he thinks of his life)

, it seemed to cheesy and 'cute' imo.

meanwhile the directing and score were pretty great. i noticed a few scenes that were very reminiscent of 28 Days Later, Sunshine and The Beach in camerawork and feel. and the score, aside from the terribly overused 'Millionaire' music was also a great addition to some of the scenes.

i'm a big fan of atmosphere in film, but Slumdog didn't have it. probably because having scenes in a game show setting ruin that feel and pacing, but aside from that there was atmosphere, but just not a whole lot of it.

the

[Show spoiler]closing montage

when

[Show spoiler]jamal sees latika is touching, but as soon as they speak the scene is ruined

and turns into a generic, uninspired mess imo.

then of course, there is how jamal knows the answers... call me a crabby not-yet-old, old man but i wasn't a fan of how it turned out. and of course,

[Show spoiler]leads in to the love story (gag)

.

i wasn't really hooked into the film, but if i was, i was looking for

[Show spoiler]some type of wild cover-up, set up, sneaky tactics, and you don't get that at all. which was extremely lackluster.

it was worth the rental, but i have zero ambition to ever watch this again.

3/5

[SquidPuppet]

Originally Posted by Diesel

And Room in Rome

Did you see The Departed?

[iam1bearcat]

Originally Posted by Diesel

Today's second movie (more to come, as today is another Saturday Movie Day for me).

Fantastic Four

[Show spoiler]This movie gets some hate but I really enjoy it.

The story is pretty simple and straight forward. Scientist wants to go out into space to do some experiments, him and his buddy can't get funding from anyone so they turn to an old "friend" for the cash. He agrees (with steep stipulations), they go up, things don't go as planned, they come back down and develop powers. And it goes from there.



Let's start with the actors. A lot has been said about the actors not being right for their roles and them not doing a good job...but I (mostly) disagree. I discussed this in my review for the second regarding their fit for the role and their performances in that one.

The one who most seem to like is Michael Chiklis. He's definitely my favorite in the films, as I mentioned in my review for the second film. He's great for the role and definitely turns in the best performance in both film.

Evans is a nice fit for Storm and does a good job at the cocky, wisecracking, less-than-mature team member. He delivers the humor lines he has (which is a large portion of his dialog, as he is the least serious character in a not very serious film) very well and succeeds in making me laugh every time. Can't wait to see him in what will likely be an opposite role as Captain America.

Alba has probably gotten the most flack, but again, I like her in the role. It's no secret that she isn't a top quality actor, but she turns in a solid performance in this one. She doesn't have any moments (well no one does) but she also doesn't have any moments in her performance...unless you count the horrible line they make her say at the end of the film, which isn't her fault. More on that later.

My thoughts on Ioan Gruffudd are the same as the second film. He does a solid job as Richards, but just doesn't give the performance (or have the writing) to really make you think he's this brilliant character like you have with Tony Stark or even Bruce Wayne, who isn't portrayed as a genius in the films but you can tell he's a very intelligent man. With better writing for his character he might have done better.

Julian McMahon does (like the others) a good job too. There were complaints about him as Doom, but I like him in the role I like his change as the movie goes on, even though it is not a large jump, from a....well an a-hole....to being an actual villain in the later portion of the film.

Like I said, they all do good or solid, nothing really standout but nothing bad for me. So my complaints are minor. And when you put them all together they work well together. Evans and Chiklis are easily the best combination of the five main actors. They're hilarious together and work good off of each other.


The humor in the film succeeds with me. I laugh at just about all of it. So good marks there.



Like I mentioned a little with the actors, there is definitely problems with the writing. I'm not expecting this to be top tier, award winning writing (and I doubt anyone would)....but can we at least use some basic logic and common sense for it please? I enjoy it overall like I said, but there's just some "What the hell?" moments in this film. First,

[Show spoiler]Jessica Alba's character has to strip down to....do what exactly? They say its to get through the crowd because Johnny and Reed can't get through....yet when she strips down (not without fading back into view so we can see her in her underwear of course ) and goes through the crowd...Reed and Johnny simply walk behind an ambulance and get through without a problem. So why did she have to do that? For us to see Jessica Alba in her underwear of course (I'm not complaining about that though but at least have a real reason for her doing it).

Second, Ben's weight is incredibly inconsistent throughout the film. Sometimes he's heavy enough to bend a steel beam by standing on it, sometimes he is just too heavy to ride an elevator but not too heavy to sit in a booth at a diner, and so on and so forth. How about some consistency? Third, the dialog is mostly fine with me. It's serviceable. But there is one line that never ceases to irk me. Maybe it's not annoying for some people, but for me its just so . At the end

[Show spoiler]Reed kneels to propose to Sue and then he kisses her when she's invisible...but he doesn't kiss her lips, he kisses her on the nose. She turns visible again and says, "That's my nose silly, these are my lips."

Its just such a stupid and annoying line to me, I hate it so. Fourth, there is one part of the movie where a couple scenes are obviously not in the correct order. 1st scene shown - Sue has to flee and take her clothes off and turn invisible to get away, leaving them in the street. 2nd scene shown - they are all at the table for breakfast and Sue is wearing the clothes she just left in the street. They are flip flopped in the film and should be shown in reverse order with the scene that comes after the breakfast scene in the film coming before the street scene. So instead of 1, 2, 3 it should be 2, 3, 1.

The special effects of the film are mostly good. The light bending and force fields for Sue are pretty good looking and the fire effects for Johnny are very nice. The iffy things all come from Reed; but that's expected since his isn't something like fire or light, they had to make it look like this guy's body could stretch and twist in any way he wanted it to, which is pretty difficult to convincingly illustrate.



Complaints aside, its still a fun and entertaining movie overall, which is all it tries to be and all I expect it to be.

Rating - 4/5

i bought this on dvd like, 5 years ago and could barely finish it. alba was great (of course ), but of course, i'm not a big superhero fan film as is, so this definitely didn't work for me

I just realized how long that is....I feel like freaking Bearcat....

Originally Posted by Diesel

It's not about caring for his daughter...it's about caring that HE cares for his daughter. This guy retires from a job he loved with friends he loved just to move out and live a pretty boring and mundane life to be in the city as her; even though he barely gets to see/interact with her. Her being taken is a HUGE thing for this character, so you're supposed to want him to beat the snot out of these guys and get his daughter back and be happy.

It works for me very well, I give it a 4.75/5. My #2 of last year.

exactly. it's about his daughter BEING KIDNAPPED. that's the connection. i don't have kids or ever want kids, but if my daughter was kidnapped, fudge, i'd be doing my best Liam Neeson / Taken interpretation possible.

it's not about liking the daughter, it's about cheering on the dad for kicking in some skulls

[iam1bearcat]

Originally Posted by SquidPuppet

Why do you quote someone who is talking about Rocky, and then add your review for an unrelated flick?

i asked this like 3 hours ago, and still no response. someone has some explaining to do

[iam1bearcat]

Originally Posted by SquidPuppet

Not a lot of people give Sandler a chance in "serious" roles. Since you enjoy him, I strongly recommend Spanglish if you havent seen it. A nice romantic drama with a small spalsh of humor.

i always forget about this film added it to the queue

[Batman1980]

Originally Posted by iam1bearcat

i asked this like 3 hours ago, and still no response. someone has some explaining to do

I'm random, sometimes I'll quote someone for the heck of it and then add a review, like this. How to Train Your Dragon 5/5 all around. 5th time I'll be watching this since I got it, may even watch it again Sunday or Monday, favourite animated movie since Up. PQ and AQ are outstanding and the aerial scenes are even better than Avatar's, not to mention the main character and his pet are easy to connect with and feel for.

[SquidPuppet]

Originally Posted by iam1bearcat

Slumdog Millionaire

[Show spoiler]year: 2009
director: danny boyle
starring: dev patel (jamal), freida pinto (latika), madhur mittal (salim)

so this is the film that won "Best Picture" at the 81st Academy Awards, huh?
well, maybe it deserved it, maybe it doesn't. i haven't seen all the selections, but from what i've seen (this and Boring Buttons) then yes, this deserved to win.

however, Slumdog Millionaire is easily an addition to my "once is more than enough" collection

some parts were easily 5/5 material, but then other parts were also 2/5 material and a large portion was very "bleh" and for the love of all that is holy, could this film be any longer? i could have sworn i read it was 120 minutes. that cannot possibly be true, this felt freaking longer than that eight-decade Seven Samurai film!

the story follows jamal, an 18 year old boy from the slums who goes on the Indian version of 'Who Wants to be a Millionaire' and wins. but how?
he's uneducated, he's from a crappy upbringing that taught him nothing of this useful knowledge, yet he gets everything right

for the first 27456 hours of the film, the film is split up into three stories: past, present and game show segments. however, i got sick of his life story pretty damn quickly. how much freaking characterization can one character have in a film?!

there was so much i didn't care about - like the main character himself in most scenes, and what he encountered in life i felt nothing for him. and there was no big twists or turns here. a few tense scenes yes, but all of it was very generic and super obvious.

oh look, 3 small children are treated nicely by a stranger who takes them to his house where they think they are safe and there's 770 other children. this can't possibly go wrong can it?

ugh. and the love story i didn't care or feel anything for it at all. it was in a sense, foolish and something i would never do. and maybe i'm a bit of a pessimist and "i hate love story type when it isn't needed in a story but added for sentimental values" but this relationship didn't move me at all.

i also wasn't a big fan of how jamal

[Show spoiler]literally knows all the answers from his past (most of them come in an obvious fashion to him when he thinks of his life)

, it seemed to cheesy and 'cute' imo.

meanwhile the directing and score were pretty great. i noticed a few scenes that were very reminiscent of 28 Days Later, Sunshine and The Beach in camerawork and feel. and the score, aside from the terribly overused 'Millionaire' music was also a great addition to some of the scenes.

i'm a big fan of atmosphere in film, but Slumdog didn't have it. probably because having scenes in a game show setting ruin that feel and pacing, but aside from that there was atmosphere, but just not a whole lot of it.

the

[Show spoiler]closing montage

when

[Show spoiler]jamal sees latika is touching, but as soon as they speak the scene is ruined

and turns into a generic, uninspired mess imo.

then of course, there is how jamal knows the answers... call me a crabby not-yet-old, old man but i wasn't a fan of how it turned out. and of course,

[Show spoiler]leads in to the love story (gag)

.

i wasn't really hooked into the film, but if i was, i was looking for

[Show spoiler]some type of wild cover-up, set up, sneaky tactics, and you don't get that at all. which was extremely lackluster.

it was worth the rental, but i have zero ambition to ever watch this again.

3/5

Wow. Just WOW.

First, go back to bed. Second, get out on the RIGHT side.

Your review reads like an angry, bitter old man.

What do you mean the love story wasnt needed? Thats practically the driving force in his life. Thats why he pushes forward. The movie isnt about the game show, its about his life, his relationship with his brother, and his one true love.

Cranky old bastard.

[Batman1980]

Originally Posted by SquidPuppet

Wow. Just WOW.

First, go back to bed. Second, get out on the RIGHT side.

Your review reads like an angry, bitter old man.

What do you mean the love story wasnt needed? Thats practically the driving force in his life. Thats why he pushes forward. The movie isnt about the game show, its about his life, his relationship with his brother, and his one true love.

Cranky old bastard.

The whole movie wasn't needed. I get what they were going for but it was completely disjointed, the "looks into his past" felt sloppy and didn't really seem to add anything to the movie. Not to mention he won a game show, does it really matter why? One of the most over-rated movies I've ever seen, so glad I trusted my instincts and rented for once instead of blind buying in that case.

[Al_The_Strange]

Originally Posted by iam1bearcat

aww shucks sorry you didn't enjoy it more Al, but since this type of film isn't your usual cup of tea at least to still watched it and least somewhat enjoyed, and that's all that matters

No worries; it is worthwhile.

Originally Posted by SquidPuppet

Well I am glad it wasnt a total bust for you. For some reason, I know I can watch this many times again. It's just one of those connection things I guess.

I read the official review here, and the guy there said it's very rewatchable too. I'll have to see if I get an urge to rewatch it too...

[iam1bearcat]

Originally Posted by SquidPuppet

Wow. Just WOW.

First, go back to bed. Second, get out on the RIGHT side.

Your review reads like an angry, bitter old man.

What do you mean the love story wasnt needed? Thats practically the driving force in his life. Thats why he pushes forward. The movie isnt about the game show, its about his life, his relationship with his brother, and his one true love.

Cranky old bastard.

i just went back and re-read my review and it is a tad 'cranky' i suppose

well, to be fair, we don't know

[Show spoiler]why he goes on the show until he runs into Latika at the rich guy's house. and he asks why people watch the show and she says to get a new life.

before that we don't really know, and by the time we do know, it felt like we were being smothered with the love story of it. just my take

[Al_The_Strange]

Originally Posted by Gandalf Stormcrow

The whole movie wasn't needed. I get what they were going for but it was completely disjointed, the "looks into his past" felt sloppy and didn't really seem to add anything to the movie. Not to mention he won a game show, does it really matter why? One of the most over-rated movies I've ever seen, so glad I trusted my instincts and rented for once instead of blind buying in that case.

It matters because he could have cheated. How the heck could a slumdog know so much?

This actually is one life-story movie I did enjoy for the most part. I think because of its structure, with the flashbacks and everything. It's very slick.

[iam1bearcat]

Originally Posted by Gandalf Stormcrow

The whole movie wasn't needed. I get what they were going for but it was completely disjointed, the "looks into his past" felt sloppy and didn't really seem to add anything to the movie. Not to mention he won a game show, does it really matter why? One of the most over-rated movies I've ever seen, so glad I trusted my instincts and rented for once instead of blind buying in that case.

to what i bolded: are you serious? "didn't really seem to add anything to the movie" did you even watch the movie? of course they were needed and necessary. they were there to show why he shouldn't know the answers, and how far he's come. if they didn't show that we'd just think he was some smart, wealthy kid or something.

they were completely necessary, for numerous reasons.

[Al_The_Strange]

Originally Posted by iam1bearcat

Slumdog Millionaire

[Show spoiler]
year: 2009
director: danny boyle
starring: dev patel (jamal), freida pinto (latika), madhur mittal (salim)

so this is the film that won "Best Picture" at the 81st Academy Awards, huh?
well, maybe it deserved it, maybe it doesn't. i haven't seen all the selections, but from what i've seen (this and Boring Buttons) then yes, this deserved to win.

however, Slumdog Millionaire is easily an addition to my "once is more than enough" collection

some parts were easily 5/5 material, but then other parts were also 2/5 material and a large portion was very "bleh" and for the love of all that is holy, could this film be any longer? i could have sworn i read it was 120 minutes. that cannot possibly be true, this felt freaking longer than that eight-decade Seven Samurai film!

the story follows jamal, an 18 year old boy from the slums who goes on the Indian version of 'Who Wants to be a Millionaire' and wins. but how?
he's uneducated, he's from a crappy upbringing that taught him nothing of this useful knowledge, yet he gets everything right

for the first 27456 hours of the film, the film is split up into three stories: past, present and game show segments. however, i got sick of his life story pretty damn quickly. how much freaking characterization can one character have in a film?!

there was so much i didn't care about - like the main character himself in most scenes, and what he encountered in life i felt nothing for him. and there was no big twists or turns here. a few tense scenes yes, but all of it was very generic and super obvious.

oh look, 3 small children are treated nicely by a stranger who takes them to his house where they think they are safe and there's 770 other children. this can't possibly go wrong can it?

ugh. and the love story i didn't care or feel anything for it at all. it was in a sense, foolish and something i would never do. and maybe i'm a bit of a pessimist and "i hate love story type when it isn't needed in a story but added for sentimental values" but this relationship didn't move me at all.

i also wasn't a big fan of how jamal

[Show spoiler]literally knows all the answers from his past (most of them come in an obvious fashion to him when he thinks of his life)

, it seemed to cheesy and 'cute' imo.

meanwhile the directing and score were pretty great. i noticed a few scenes that were very reminiscent of 28 Days Later, Sunshine and The Beach in camerawork and feel. and the score, aside from the terribly overused 'Millionaire' music was also a great addition to some of the scenes.

i'm a big fan of atmosphere in film, but Slumdog didn't have it. probably because having scenes in a game show setting ruin that feel and pacing, but aside from that there was atmosphere, but just not a whole lot of it.

the

[Show spoiler]closing montage

when

[Show spoiler]jamal sees latika is touching, but as soon as they speak the scene is ruined

and turns into a generic, uninspired mess imo.

then of course, there is how jamal knows the answers... call me a crabby not-yet-old, old man but i wasn't a fan of how it turned out. and of course,

[Show spoiler]leads in to the love story (gag)

.

i wasn't really hooked into the film, but if i was, i was looking for

[Show spoiler]some type of wild cover-up, set up, sneaky tactics, and you don't get that at all. which was extremely lackluster.

it was worth the rental, but i have zero ambition to ever watch this again.

3/5

You know what...these arguments (can't get into the love story, can't relate to the character, long runtime), I think that's how I felt about "Into the Wild!"

[Batman1980]

Originally Posted by iam1bearcat

to what i bolded: are you serious? "didn't really seem to add anything to the movie" did you even watch the movie? of course they were needed and necessary. they were there to show why he shouldn't know the answers, and how far he's come. if they didn't show that we'd just think he was some smart, wealthy kid or something.

they were completely necessary, for numerous reasons.

Sure Mr. I hate the movie too. I dunno, I guess the idea that a kid who lived a horrible life and then through that horrible life won a game show and became obscenely rich is just too far fetched to me. I didn't like the characters, the writing, the plot, etc. As Diesel would say, it's one and done for me, don't think I've met another person who actually liked it.