The Movie Review and Discussion Thread

[Marcus Wright]

Originally Posted by DjMethod

[Show spoiler]

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[Show spoiler]

[Show spoiler]

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Link

Was this a joke post?
I disagree with every part of it.

[Lepidopterous]

Originally Posted by Marcus Wright

Was this a joke post?
I disagree with every part of it.

No it was released by the studios this morning. I really hope Lindsay Lohan gets a nod.

[KilloWertz]

Originally Posted by Diesel

All this talk of sparkling vampire movies might make certain members have an aneurysm

I'm sure you're referring to Mr. "I Don't Do Sparkle".

Czar will be happy to hear that I liked Eclipse. I'm still not sure which of the three I like best out of the series as I like things about all three of them, but Eclipse gets my approval. I always have went back and forth on which I liked best between the first two and now having another one to choose from doesn't help at all.

Going into a slight bit more detail, but still not a review, this was the one with the most action. No, the action scenes do not rival Underworld. Yes, it is still a drama first. All of that was expected, although I probably did expect a little more action given how people were talking about this one.

[Show spoiler]The chase scene near the beginning of the movie where the Cullens and the wolves are chasing Victoria

was pretty good and well done though. The wolves looked better in this movie as well.

Given the fact that it had a little less action than I expected, I won't say it will change your opinion of the series, but you should still like it the best of the three. I didn't expect it would all of a sudden make you a fan though anyways. I'd give the movie a 4/5, but that is coming from a fan of the series.

I saved the biggest not really a spoiler spoiler for last...

[Show spoiler]Michael Sheen is not in it at all.

[Marcus Wright]

Baraka

Movie - 3.5/5
It was nothing like I have ever seen before. It was pretty unique movie.
It has some of the best/breathtaking visuals I have ever seen.
Best way to describe it is meditation.

The problem I have with it? I thought it was too pesimistic. I mean we all now the world is a tough place, but showing how

[Show spoiler]dead people are burned was not necessary.

IMO showing the power of positive rather than negative would me a much more powerfull tool.
This movie definitely is not for everyone. Do as much research as possible before seing it.

PQ - 5/5
I will be objective. This is the best blu-ray PQ wise I have ever seen so far.
The amount of detail and colour accuracy is the best available on any title.
My jaw literally was opened throughout all the movie.
This is now officialy my referance disk for PQ.

AQ - 5/5
It was referance quality. The soundtrack was really engaging and immersive, with some deep bass. I dont think it was short of referance quality.

Overall - 4/5
If you are home a theatre geek, pick this up as soon as possible as I think that this is the best looking blu ray out in the market now. AQ is referance quality as well.
For others, approach with caution as the subject matter may be uninteresting or even insulting for you.

[tbizzle]

Originally Posted by DjMethod

No it was released by the studios this morning. I really hope Lindsay Lohan gets a nod.

[Diesel]

The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford

• 2007 | R | 160 Minutes
  
  
• Director: Andrew Dominik
  
  
• Starring: Brad Pitt, Casey Affleck
  
  
• Biography | Crime | Drama

Recommended to me by the tentacled puppet after I put 3:10 to Yuma among my Top 15 films (which its actually 16 now since I added Forrest Gump) I believe.

I hated it

[Show spoiler]...okay, no I didn't.

I would give a little rundown of the story, but the lays the groundwork quite nicely

I'll probably catch some flack for this but....the movie was too long. WAIT!!! Before you hit the quote button and rip me a new one for saying that....it wasn't too long by a lot. Just say, 15 minutes imo. And just about all of that comes from the second act, which I thought really went slower than it needed to. The beginning of the film is fine; I checked the timer to see just how far into it I was and was that I was already 43 minutes in. After that it was like someone but the brakes on for me as it started feeling like it was dragging a bit. The sequence at Wood's dad's house was definitely the most crawling part for me because I didn't like those two guys so I was waiting for it to move on. The last 50 minutes or so was, for the most part, finely paced again, but with a tad bit of the last 15 minutes or so feeling a little sluggish for me.

So trim about 15 minutes here and there from that middle 70 minutes and last 15 minutes by quickening up a few parts or even excluding some and I'm a happy camper.


Also, from when

[Show spoiler]James brings in the paper and we see the story to when his head slams against that wall

I was
EVEN THOUGH I KNEW WHAT WAS GOING TO HAPPEN.
Now THAT is how you create tension!


Pitt and Affleck were both really good in their roles.

For a while I was thinking, "Okay...when is Pitt just going to SNAP??"

[Show spoiler]and then he did when he started beating that kid up

Then as he started getting more paranoid and teeters on the edge of insanity Pitt starts to do some even better acting. The scene where he

[Show spoiler]is choking Robert and then just starts laughing

was very

I didn't think Affleck was quite as good as Pitt. He does very well at bringing the characters journey to the screen, from this

[Show spoiler]young guy who idolizes James

to the one who eventually pulls the trigger. (I figure since its in the title, I don't need to tag that )

The rest of the cast was solid enough, but these two were the only ones worth mentioning specifically.


I rarely mention more than than acting and the story/pacing/etc. but I have to mention that this movie was BEAUTIFUL.

That shot of

[Show spoiler]just NOTHING and then the train's light illuminating the screen

was probably my favorite moment visually speaking. Gorgeous film.


Overall, not great for me, but still pretty good.


Rating - 4/5

[Batman1980]

So, I just saw Social Network.

[Show spoiler]Not sure what I thought about it but it seemed to be a really good movie, especially considering the source material. Had no idea FaceBook was worth that much or that there was that much controversy about it. Jesse Eisenberg's best performance to date, at least the best one I've seen. Was a pleasant introduction to Andrew Garfield and a very good performance by Justin Timberlake.

Rooney Mara and Brenda Song are both quite good-looking and only made it even better I think, I'm going to give it a 4.5/5 for now, pending another viewing. Will say it was definitely good enough to be in the same conversation as Inception.

[tbizzle]

Squid, glad to hear that you liked Black Swan so much. I can't wait, hopefully this weekend!

[tbizzle]

Originally Posted by DjMethod

Tyler Bates - Message for the Queen

Tyler Bates - Goodbye My Love

Thanks, I never realized how good the score was. Now if only the film were a bit better

[Steve46]

Little Miss Sunshine

Directed by Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Farris
Starring Greg Kinnear, Alan Arkin, Steve Carell, Paul Dano, Toni Collette and Abigail Breslin
102 minutes

Little Miss Sunshine was nominated for four Oscars, with Alan Arkin winning for best supporting actor and Michael Arndt taking home the award for best original screenplay. Abigail Breslin was also nominated and the film was included in the best picture category.

I listed so many of the cast because this dark comedy is filled with good performances.

Olive Hoover (Breslin) qualifies for a beauty pageant which is set to take place 700 miles away. The family includes a heroin addict grandfather (Arkin), an aspiring motivational speaker father (Kinnear), a brother who has taken a vow of silence (Dano), a suicidal uncle (Carell) and a mother who tries to hold everything together (Collette).

As several of the family members can't be trusted to survive alone, the entire family decides to make the trip in their old Volkswagen van.

The comedy isn't dumb, despite the highly unlikely and sometimes unbelievable situations. The story is mainly driven by dialogue with the exception of a couple of situations.

The conclusion shows what happens when they finally arrive in California for the pageant.

It's R-rated for language, drug references and references to sex. Perhaps the most offensive thing was seeing how little girls are presented as women in the pageant. It's just a grotesque world.

It's not easy to make me laugh and I am typically wary of any movie involving Carell, but this style of humor worked for me. Nobody put in a bad performance and I did laugh out loud a couple of times. I enjoyed every minute.

The presentation was excellent for such a low budget movie. Picture quality was good throughout and deserves a 4.5/5. Audio did the job and dialogue was clear (4/5).

I would recommend this intelligent comedy to anyone who doesn't need to be bullied into laughter with slapstick.

This is the type of story that has plenty of replay value as it will be fun to revisit these people and spend a while in their dysfunctional lives.

Overall 4/5

[menaceuk]

Has been great reading all the positives for Black swan on the last few pages

Am glad many loved it like I Did.

[Hep]

Originally Posted by Marcus Wright

Baraka

[Show spoiler]Movie - 3.5/5
It was nothing like I have ever seen before. It was pretty unique movie.
It has some of the best/breathtaking visuals I have ever seen.
Best way to describe it is meditation.

The problem I have with it? I thought it was too pesimistic. I mean we all now the world is a tough place, but showing how

[Show spoiler]dead people are burned was not necessary.

IMO showing the power of positive rather than negative would me a much more powerfull tool.
This movie definitely is not for everyone. Do as much research as possible before seing it.

PQ - 5/5
I will be objective. This is the best blu-ray PQ wise I have ever seen so far.
The amount of detail and colour accuracy is the best available on any title.
My jaw literally was opened throughout all the movie.
This is now officialy my referance disk for PQ.

AQ - 5/5
It was referance quality. The soundtrack was really engaging and immersive, with some deep bass. I dont think it was short of referance quality.

Overall - 4/5

[Show spoiler]If you are home a theatre geek, pick this up as soon as possible as I think that this is the best looking blu ray out in the market now. AQ is referance quality as well.
For others, approach with caution as the subject matter may be uninteresting or even insulting for you.

I am happy you at least enjoyed the technical aspects of the movie. It is a marvel on that level, but I suppose I found the message to be more introspective. For me it is as much an exercise in self-examination as it is commentary.

The problem I have with it? I thought it was too realistic.

I fixed this issue for you . The people filmed in Baraka are not actors. What is shown is selective, but that doesn't lessen the reality of it. In fact, I find it optimistic that many people in the film are seemingly concerned for our future.

[CZAR]

Originally Posted by killowertz

I'm sure you're referring to Mr. "I Don't Do Sparkle".

[Show spoiler]Czar will be happy to hear that I liked Eclipse. I'm still not sure which of the three I like best out of the series as I like things about all three of them, but Eclipse gets my approval. I always have went back and forth on which I liked best between the first two and now having another one to choose from doesn't help at all.

Going into a slight bit more detail, but still not a review, this was the one with the most action. No, the action scenes do not rival Underworld. Yes, it is still a drama first. All of that was expected, although I probably did expect a little more action given how people were talking about this one.

[Show spoiler]The chase scene near the beginning of the movie where the Cullens and the wolves are chasing Victoria

was pretty good and well done though. The wolves looked better in this movie as well.

Given the fact that it had a little less action than I expected, I won't say it will change your opinion of the series, but you should still like it the best of the three. I didn't expect it would all of a sudden make you a fan though anyways. I'd give the movie a 4/5, but that is coming from a fan of the

series.

I saved the biggest not really a spoiler spoiler for last...

[Show spoiler]Michael Sheen is not in it at all.

Yea I gave it a 4/5 also. It was the best so far in the series with part one right behind it. Got Em!!

[Al_The_Strange]

Have half a mind to go out and watch "Black Swan" in the cinema...but it's not playing in the nearest theater.

Have half a mind to blind-buy "The Social Network," but I talked myself out of it, opting to rent it first and buy the $17 copy from Amazon if it's buy-worthy.

Feels like I'm missing out on something...

On the plus side, I found a copy of "The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo" in the library, and I'll definitely watch it within the next 7 days. Reading about the life of Stieg Larsson made me psyched about it.

[SquidPuppet]

Originally Posted by DjMethod

No it was released by the studios this morning. I really hope Lindsay Lohan gets a nod.

Dry like the Sahara...

[SquidPuppet]

Originally Posted by Marcus Wright

Baraka

Movie - 3.5/5
It was nothing like I have ever seen before. It was pretty unique movie.
It has some of the best/breathtaking visuals I have ever seen.
Best way to describe it is meditation.

The problem I have with it? I thought it was too pesimistic. I mean we all now the world is a tough place, but showing how

[Show spoiler]dead people are burned was not necessary.

IMO showing the power of positive rather than negative would me a much more powerfull tool.
This movie definitely is not for everyone. Do as much research as possible before seing it.

PQ - 5/5
I will be objective. This is the best blu-ray PQ wise I have ever seen so far.
The amount of detail and colour accuracy is the best available on any title.
My jaw literally was opened throughout all the movie.
This is now officialy my referance disk for PQ.

AQ - 5/5
It was referance quality. The soundtrack was really engaging and immersive, with some deep bass. I dont think it was short of referance quality.

Overall - 4/5
If you are home a theatre geek, pick this up as soon as possible as I think that this is the best looking blu ray out in the market now. AQ is referance quality as well.
For others, approach with caution as the subject matter may be uninteresting or even insulting for you.

Thats your bestest, fairest review of all.

[SquidPuppet]

Originally Posted by Diesel

The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford


[

[Show spoiler]LIST][*]2007 | R | 160 Minutes

[*]Director: Andrew Dominik

[*]Starring: Brad Pitt, Casey Affleck

[*]Biography | Crime | Drama[/LIST]

Recommended to me by the tentacled puppet after I put 3:10 to Yuma among my Top 15 films (which its actually 16 now since I added Forrest Gump) I believe.

I hated it

[Show spoiler]...okay, no I didn't.

I would give a little rundown of the story, but the lays the groundwork quite nicely

I'll probably catch some flack for this but....the movie was too long. WAIT!!! Before you hit the quote button and rip me a new one for saying that....it wasn't too long by a lot. Just say, 15 minutes imo. And just about all of that comes from the second act, which I thought really went slower than it needed to. The beginning of the film is fine; I checked the timer to see just how far into it I was and was that I was already 43 minutes in. After that it was like someone but the brakes on for me as it started feeling like it was dragging a bit. The sequence at Wood's dad's house was definitely the most crawling part for me because I didn't like those two guys so I was waiting for it to move on. The last 50 minutes or so was, for the most part, finely paced again, but with a tad bit of the last 15 minutes or so feeling a little sluggish for me.

So trim about 15 minutes here and there from that middle 70 minutes and last 15 minutes by quickening up a few parts or even excluding some and I'm a happy camper.


Also, from when

[Show spoiler]James brings in the paper and we see the story to when his head slams against that wall

I was
EVEN THOUGH I KNEW WHAT WAS GOING TO HAPPEN.
Now THAT is how you create tension!


Pitt and Affleck were both really good in their roles.

For a while I was thinking, "Okay...when is Pitt just going to SNAP??"

[Show spoiler]and then he did when he started beating that kid up

Then as he started getting more paranoid and teeters on the edge of insanity Pitt starts to do some even better acting. The scene where he

[Show spoiler]is choking Robert and then just starts laughing

was very

I didn't think Affleck was quite as good as Pitt. He does very well at bringing the characters journey to the screen, from this

[Show spoiler]young guy who idolizes James

to the one who eventually pulls the trigger. (I figure since its in the title, I don't need to tag that )

The rest of the cast was solid enough, but these two were the only ones worth mentioning specifically.


I rarely mention more than than acting and the story/pacing/etc. but I have to mention that this movie was BEAUTIFUL.

That shot of

[Show spoiler]just NOTHING and then the train's light illuminating the screen

was probably my favorite moment visually speaking. Gorgeous film.

Overall, not great for me, but still pretty good.


Rating - 4/5

I warned you that it was long and contemplative. I'm glad you found things to enjoy.

[SquidPuppet]

Originally Posted by tbizzle

Squid, glad to hear that you liked Black Swan so much. I can't wait, hopefully this weekend!

I hope you dig it too.

[SquidPuppet]

Originally Posted by Steve46

Little Miss Sunshine

[Show spoiler]Directed by Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Farris
Starring Greg Kinnear, Alan Arkin, Steve Carell, Paul Dano, Toni Collette and Abigail Breslin
102 minutes

Little Miss Sunshine was nominated for four Oscars, with Alan Arkin winning for best supporting actor and Michael Arndt taking home the award for best original screenplay. Abigail Breslin was also nominated and the film was included in the best picture category.

I listed so many of the cast because this dark comedy is filled with good performances.

Olive Hoover (Breslin) qualifies for a beauty pageant which is set to take place 700 miles away. The family includes a heroin addict grandfather (Arkin), an aspiring motivational speaker father (Kinnear), a brother who has taken a vow of silence (Dano), a suicidal uncle (Carell) and a mother who tries to hold everything together (Collette).

As several of the family members can't be trusted to survive alone, the entire family decides to make the trip in their old Volkswagen van.

The comedy isn't dumb, despite the highly unlikely and sometimes unbelievable situations. The story is mainly driven by dialogue with the exception of a couple of situations.

The conclusion shows what happens when they finally arrive in California for the pageant.

It's R-rated for language, drug references and references to sex. Perhaps the most offensive thing was seeing how little girls are presented as women in the pageant. It's just a grotesque world.

It's not easy to make me laugh and I am typically wary of any movie involving Carell, but this style of humor worked for me. Nobody put in a bad performance and I did laugh out loud a couple of times. I enjoyed every minute.

The presentation was excellent for such a low budget movie. Picture quality was good throughout and deserves a 4.5/5. Audio did the job and dialogue was clear (4/5).

I would recommend this intelligent comedy to anyone who doesn't need to be bullied into laughter with slapstick.

This is the type of story that has plenty of replay value as it will be fun to revisit these people and spend a while in their dysfunctional lives.

Quirky, quirky and more quirky. But realistic as well. I enjoyed it a lot.

[SquidPuppet]

Originally Posted by Al_The_Strange

Have half a mind to go out and watch "Black Swan" in the cinema...but it's not playing in the nearest theater. :

Dont you know? That is not an acceptable excuse around here.