The Movie Review and Discussion Thread

[jhiggy23]

Originally Posted by volcomsocal

Changeling - 2008

Wow. Just, wow. Clint Eastwood, you've outdone yourself this time. Angelina Jolie, you actually CAN act well, and John Malkovich, you've proven once again that you're a great actor.

This is one of the best stories I've ever seen. This movie is near perfect. Fantastic acting, script, storyline, cinematography, and pace of the movie itself. Right from the very start, it had a genuine feel to it. I was completely pulled into the movie. For a 2 hour and 20 minute film, I never once thought, "man, this is a long movie." I've never fully enjoyed Clint Eastwood's directing, as I've mentioned here before, except for Gran Turino, but Changeling might take the cake. This movie has all the right pieces and parts to it, to make it a wonderful film.

PQ - 4.5/5
AQ -3.75/5

I highly recommend this film to anyone.

4.75/5

Eastwood's second best film that he directed, behind Mystic River. His best directing job, however, was Letters From Iwo Jima. Jolie should've won the Oscar...and pretty easily, despite Winslet's two great roles.

[Steve46]

The Kids Are All Right

Directed by Lisa Cholodenko
Starring Annette Bening, Julianne Moore, Mark Ruffalo
106 minutes

Nominated for best picture and best screenplay, as well as supporting actress (Bening) and supporting actor (Ruffalo), the Kids Are All Right was less than spectacular.

It's not that any of the actors performed poorly; they were all good. Nobody stood out though. The story itself was pretty standard fare with nothing to distinguish it from the pack.

I didn't find myself laughing or emotionally moved, apart from one scene

[Show spoiler]when Bening was talking about music. As someone who understands why music is hugely important in my life, I connected with what she was saying and portraying.

The story revolves around a family which has two mothers (Bening and Moore). When their biological father (Ruffalo) is contacted by one of the two kids, he starts to become involved in their lives.

It's a puzzle to me how this is among the 10 best picture nominees. It's slightly above average with decent acting. The story is nothing special. I wasn't sitting on the edge of my seat hoping for something and I never felt connected with the characters apart from the scene I mentioned earlier.

Worth seeing, but don't rush out to buy it.

Overall 3.5/5

[Steve46]

The Disappearance of Alice Creed

Directed by J Blakeson
Starring Gemma Arterton, Eddie Marsan, Martin Compston
96 minutes

This is the tale of a kidnapping. Alice Creed (Arterton) is taken and spends a few days tied and handcuffed to a bed while the two kidnappers issue a demand for £2,000,000.

Thankfully there aren't

[Show spoiler]any torture scenes. This was purely done to make money.

During the story the relationship between the three becomes clear. There are several twists; a couple of which are interesting.

The best thing about the movie is seeing how new information changes the actions and motivations of the characters.

It's a decent enough story, but nothing that you'll remember for long or want to keep revisiting. It's not in the same league as something like Hard Candy.

Overall 3.25/5

[SquidPuppet]

Originally Posted by jvince

I saw Taken last night, and I honestly don't know if it's a good movie, a bad movie, or an average movie. Maybe it's a little bit of each. An average, good-bad movie, I guess? I don't know.

There's no doubt the action in Taken is top-notch, but its attempts at drama and character-building is laughable. The dialogue is so cringe-inducing, I don't think I've ever seen Neeson and Janssen give such horrible dramatic performances and delivery in their careers like in this one. Surprisingly, Maggie Grace gave the best dramatic performance in this film, and I never thought of her as a good actress. I found it a much better film when there is limited-to-no-dialogue while Neeson is going around killing people. In fact, if this film shut its mouth the whole way, it would have been much, much better.

Overall, I'd say it's a 3/5 at best. Maybe a 2.5/5. It's undeniably entertaining to see Neeson's journey in finding his daughter, but its dramatic parts drag it down. A 5/5 for action, and a dismal 1/5 for drama. Revenge fans will enjoy this, but there are much better films like it out there. If you're interested in seeing this film, I'm not stopping you. But take my advice and skip the drama parts. Then afterwards, go see Ji-woon Kim and Joon-ho Bong's works, and watch modern revenge masters show you how its really done.

Rating: ***/5 (5/5: action, 1/5 drama)

Thats funny you say that. I thought she was so HORRIBLE that I was rooting for her to get killed. Even before she got kidnapped. A bus crash, a piano falling from above, anything, just kill her please.

[Romulus]

Certainly have a bit of catching up to do here...

The Little Greek Godfather (2007)

This Greek comedy follows a boy named Alex as he is sent to the island of Crete to be the Godfather of a newborn baby. Alex's father, is an up and coming politician in the unstable country. His father can't be everywhere at once, so he sends out members of his family to certain regions to gather political support. As Alex is sent to Crete, he learns the differences in culture between the United States and Greece while at the same time discovering his true passion for life and debates whether to follow it or live in his father's shadow.

This certainly isn't a film to sit down with your best buddies and watch. It's perfectly geared towards a family or older people such as your grandparents. Not saying that's a bad thing by any means. It's definitely more a "cute" kind of comedy instead of the comedy that is persistent today.

3/5

Cinema Paradiso (1988)

Cinema Paradiso follows Salvatore, a famous Italian director who finds out his closest friend growing up Alfredo has died. The film flashes back to his childhood in Post World War II Italy. Salvatore has an obsession with the small theater in the center of town called "Cinema Paradiso". He befriends the owner and chief operator of the theater Alfredo. Alfredo over the course of years not only teaches him everything about film, but life as well. Cinema Paradiso explores not only youth, coming of age, and reflection in adulthood but the commitment to people and a location.

Cinema Paradiso for me is without a doubt one of the highlights over the past few weeks. Maybe it's because I'm college right now and I'm in a transition between adolescence and adulthood, but something about this film absolutely struck a cord with me. While I think the film would be difficult for a younger person to watch, the film still applies to almost everyone. This is one of the finest films to come out of Italy.

On a technical level the cinematography was absolutely fantastic. There were definitely some shots that featured a shallow focus that reminded of some qualities found on the popular Canon 5D and 7D models (I'm an owner of a 7D myself).

Overall I really don't think you could go wrong with this film in any way possible.

5/5

While we're in Italy...

The Bicycle Thieves (1948)

One of the first things to come up about this film is the translation of the title. For years the film was called The Bicycle Thief, but I guess somebody that actually spoke Italian was able to look at the title and correct it. While I feel that Bicycle Thieves is the correct translation and makes much more sense in the grand scheme, I can understand why people prefer the original title. But alas...

Similar to Cinema Paradiso, The Bicycle Thieves is set in Post World War II Italy. Antonio Ricci is an unemployed man who is able to obtain a job putting up posters around Rome. The only problem, however, is that he has no bike. His family makes some sacrifices in order to get his bike from the pawnbroker. As you can tell in the title, his bicycle gets stolen. The film follows Antonio and his son Bruno as they search for his bike across the city.

When presented with a tough situation, Antonio and Bruno are absolutely committed to finding the bicycle. This is in stark contrast with George Bailey in It's a Wonderful Life (my next review). This was an aspect of the characters that I absolutely loved. I feel that I have to mention that actor that played Bruno gives the best child performance I've ever seen in a film to date. He was without a doubt the highlight of the show for me.

While many people claimed that this would be the best film I would watch this semester for my classes, I didn't absolutely love it. I still really enjoyed it more than most other movies, I just can't say that I loved all aspects of the film.

4/5

It's A Wonderful Life (1946)

As with all the previous titles, this was my first time to view the film.

George Bailey is a man who wants to travel the world, observe different cultures, not marry, not settle down, not stay in Bedford Falls, and especially not take over the family business.

As you can probably guess, he ends up not traveling the world, marrying, settling down, staying in Bedford Falls, and taking over the family business. It's A Wonderful Life, is it not?

You bet it is.

This film deals with life's expectations and sacrifice. Did George get what he really wanted in his life? No. Did he still have everything around him to make an amazing one? Absolutely.

Seeing as everyone has probably seen this film before, I wont discuss into great lengths. I just found it very fitting that we watched this along with The Bicycle Thieves and the comparisons that can be made between George Bailey and Antonio Ricci. Antonio is a character that is absolutely devoted to finding his bike. He's in a bad situation, but he makes the best of it. George Bailey is in a great situation, but he clouds his perspective with stuff that he never got in life. While I found Antonio Ricci to be the more likeable character, I found It's A Wonderful Life to be the more enjoyable film.

4.5/5

[Steve46]

Winter's Bone

Directed by Debra Granik
Starring Jennifer Lawrence, John Hawkes

Continuing my quest to see the 10 best picture nominees, I picked up Winter's Bone. It's also nominated for best adapted screenplay as well as best supporting actor (Hawkes) and best leading actress (Lawrence). It won the Grand Jury Prize at Sundance.

This is a depressing story. Ree (Lawrence) is responsible for raising her younger brother and sister after her mother is unable to contribute due to clinical depression. Her father is a drug dealer and isn't around. We are left to wonder whether he'll appear at his upcoming trial. He put up their house as collateral to obtain his release on bail so Ree and the rest of the family will be homeless if he doesn't show up at the trial.

Ree seeks the help of family and neighbors and all treat her with hostility. It's a risky attempt at a solution, but she has to know the truth about her father. Does anyone know where he is? Will he stand trial? Is he even alive?

Lawrence gives a strong performance. She's ably supported by John Hawkes (The Perfect Storm) as her uncle.

It's a story of bravery, persistence and sheer desperation. This is not a life I would ever want to live. The movie is filled with some pretty scummy characters. Ree and her siblings seem the only ones who aren't drug addicts or criminals.

Not something I would want to watch very often. This shouldn't contend for any of the Oscars.

Overall 3.25/5

[iam1bearcat]

Originally Posted by Al_The_Strange

I don't know how the remake handles this, but in the original

[Show spoiler]they're two boys.

Originally Posted by Marcus Wright

I think in this one they are two boys as well.

Originally Posted by Al_The_Strange

That's the way I see it: comaderie and tender, heartfelt friendship.

what the F are you two talking about?

are you saying that

[Show spoiler]both Abby and Owen (from Let Me In) are boys? and that's how it was in the original as well. i haven't seen LTROI but i cannot see any way as to how Abby from LMI is a boy, but maybe that's just me.

[iam1bearcat]

Originally Posted by SquidPuppet

Thats funny you say that. I thought she was so HORRIBLE that I was rooting for her to get killed. Even before she got kidnapped. A bus crash, a piano falling from above, anything, just kill her please.

how about a

[Show spoiler]gun shot

from

[Show spoiler]Ana Lucia

?

[nolfoc]

Originally Posted by iam1bearcat

what the F are you two talking about?

are you saying that

[Show spoiler]both Abby and Owen (from Let Me In) are boys? and that's how it was in the original as well. i haven't seen LTROI but i cannot see any way as to how Abby from LMI is a boy, but maybe that's just me.

[Show spoiler]remember the scene where shes naked and he has a crazy look on his face.. i think he saw some scars, something may have gotten chopped off

[kpkelley]

Originally Posted by iam1bearcat

what the F are you two talking about?

are you saying that

[Show spoiler]both Abby and Owen (from Let Me In) are boys? and that's how it was in the original as well. i haven't seen LTROI but i cannot see any way as to how Abby from LMI is a boy, but maybe that's just me.

Eli(the name from the original)

[Show spoiler]is a boy, who has been castrated in some way.

Abby(from the remake)

[Show spoiler] is a girl from everything that I could gather.

Owen/Oskar is a boy in both.

[Marcus Wright]

Originally Posted by iam1bearcat

what the F are you two talking about?

are you saying that

[Show spoiler]both Abby and Owen (from Let Me In) are boys? and that's how it was in the original as well. i haven't seen LTROI but i cannot see any way as to how Abby from LMI is a boy, but maybe that's just me.

In the original movie she is shown to be a boy.
As this remake was a copy/paste of original, there is no reason to beleive she is not a boy in this one as well, although they didnt show it explicitely like in the original.

And besides, no offense to anyone, but the girl in the remake seemed like a boy to me anyways.

[jhiggy23]

Originally Posted by Steve46

The Kids Are All Right

Directed by Lisa Cholodenko
Starring Annette Bening, Julianne Moore, Mark Ruffalo
106 minutes

Nominated for best picture and best screenplay, as well as supporting actress (Bening) and supporting actor (Ruffalo), the Kids Are All Right was less than spectacular.

It's not that any of the actors performed poorly; they were all good. Nobody stood out though. The story itself was pretty standard fare with nothing to distinguish it from the pack.

I didn't find myself laughing or emotionally moved, apart from one scene

[Show spoiler]when Bening was talking about music. As someone who understands why music is hugely important in my life, I connected with what she was saying and portraying.

The story revolves around a family which has two mothers (Bening and Moore). When their biological father (Ruffalo) is contacted by one of the two kids, he starts to become involved in their lives.

It's a puzzle to me how this is among the 10 best picture nominees. It's slightly above average with decent acting. The story is nothing special. I wasn't sitting on the edge of my seat hoping for something and I never felt connected with the characters apart from the scene I mentioned earlier.

Worth seeing, but don't rush out to buy it.

Overall 3.5/5

It's nominated because it's about a lesbian couple, and we all know how important gay rights are in the film industry. And that's about the only reason. Benning is good but Moore's performance is better. I like Ruffalo but he does nothing to earn an oscar nom. The script isn't great, yet that's nominated too. Baffling.

[SquidPuppet]

Originally Posted by jhiggy23

It's nominated because it's about a lesbian couple, and we all know how important gay rights are in the film industry. And that's about the only reason. Benning is good but Moore's performance is better. I like Ruffalo but he does nothing to earn an oscar nom. The script isn't great, yet that's nominated too. Baffling.

Room in Rome should have swept them all.

[jvince]

Originally Posted by SquidPuppet

Thats funny you say that. I thought she was so HORRIBLE that I was rooting for her to get killed. Even before she got kidnapped. A bus crash, a piano falling from above, anything, just kill her please.

Well, that had more to do with the writing, imo. All the characters were created in such a way that you couldn't really care much for them. Acting-wise, she was decent; nothing special.

[iam1bearcat]

Originally Posted by nolfoc

[Show spoiler]remember the scene where shes naked and he has a crazy look on his face.. i think he saw some scars, something may have gotten chopped off

if i recall correctly

[Show spoiler]at least in LMI, Owen never turns his head and looks. so while that maybe happens in LTROI, i don't think that was ever the intention in LMI.

i plan on listening to Reeves' commentary some time this weekend so i'll pay close attention during that scene and see what he has to say

Originally Posted by kpkelley

Eli(the name from the original)

[Show spoiler]is a boy, who has been castrated in some way.

Abby(from the remake)

[Show spoiler] is a girl from everything that I could gather.

Owen/Oskar is a boy in both.

yeah i definitely think

[Show spoiler]Abby is a girl. i don't think there was ever an issue about it

Originally Posted by Marcus Wright

In the original movie she is shown to be a boy.
As this remake was a copy/paste of original, there is no reason to beleive she is not a boy in this one as well, although they didnt show it explicitely like in the original.

And besides, no offense to anyone, but the girl in the remake seemed like a boy to me anyways.

what? lol i don't understand what you mean by this.

[jvince]

Originally Posted by Romulus

Cinema Paradiso (1988)

Cinema Paradiso follows Salvatore, a famous Italian director who finds out his closest friend growing up Alfredo has died. The film flashes back to his childhood in Post World War II Italy. Salvatore has an obsession with the small theater in the center of town called "Cinema Paradiso". He befriends the owner and chief operator of the theater Alfredo. Alfredo over the course of years not only teaches him everything about film, but life as well. Cinema Paradiso explores not only youth, coming of age, and reflection in adulthood but the commitment to people and a location.

Cinema Paradiso for me is without a doubt one of the highlights over the past few weeks. Maybe it's because I'm college right now and I'm in a transition between adolescence and adulthood, but something about this film absolutely struck a cord with me. While I think the film would be difficult for a younger person to watch, the film still applies to almost everyone. This is one of the finest films to come out of Italy.

On a technical level the cinematography was absolutely fantastic. There were definitely some shots that featured a shallow focus that reminded of some qualities found on the popular Canon 5D and 7D models (I'm an owner of a 7D myself).

Overall I really don't think you could go wrong with this film in any way possible.

5/5

I love this movie. This one needs a Blu-Ray release.

[Al_The_Strange]

Next greatest rental: “À l'intérieur,” Aka, “Inside.”

There’s something inherently creepy about having a life form growing inside the human body, before it bursts out in a shower of blood and placenta and withering to painful life. As I contemplated just how agonizing and grotesque pregnancy can be, I couldn’t help but to consider films like “Rosemary’s Baby” or “Alien.”

“Inside” deals with that same subject, only instead of something trying to get out of the body somebody’s trying to get in. As such, this film is just plain sick! Once it gets going, it’s a nonstop killing spree of an extremely wicked nature, with gallons of blood. I think I spent a quarter of this film squirming and cringing as characters get stabbed in the eyes and necks, get their heads blown off, perform tracheotomies, and ultimately perform a C-section with a pair of scissors. It’s easily as gory and intense of a film as most “Saw” movies.

As far as the story goes, it’s short (only 79 minutes long), it’s simple, and rather small-scale. I feel there’s a lot of thematic territory that remains totally unexplored, but as it is the story is okay. My biggest complaint are with a few stupid scenes (how much blood does the human body have again? Can a person really perform a tracheotomy on herself? How can these people still live after being stabbed in the head?). I found myself disliking the main character at first (but given her circumstances her demeanor can be understood). But about halfway through, I realized that the villain shines the best here. This tall dark figure shows remorseless resolve and manic rage as she rends and rips her way through everybody standing in her way. She’s creepy, badass, and cold.

The film shows excellent photography. Editing shows a few interesting techniques. Acting is good, all things considering; Beatrice Dalle was exceptional as the villain (so I think), and Alysson Paradis was okay as the main character. There isn’t a whole lot of exposition or dialogue (and by extention, not so many subtitles), so I think the writing is average at best. Production design is not particuarly high, but it hardly matters. Music is pretty erratic, and can probably be seen as annoying.

4/5 (entertainment: 4.5/5, story: 3.5/5, film: 4/5) Might be 4.5/5 at the highest.

Recommendation: Yes. Don’t worry, the subtitles aren’t that intense. The blood and gore might be though (obviously, not recommended to the squeamish).

I think CZAR and other horror fans might like it.

This movie looked really good upscaled. A BD would be sweet!

[SquidPuppet]

Originally Posted by Al_The_Strange

Next greatest rental: “À l'intérieur,” Aka, “Inside.”

[Show spoiler]There’s something inherently creepy about having a life form growing inside the human body, before it bursts out in a shower of blood and placenta and withering to painful life. As I contemplated just how agonizing and grotesque pregnancy can be, I couldn’t help but to consider films like “Rosemary’s Baby” or “Alien.”

“Inside” deals with that same subject, only instead of something trying to get out of the body somebody’s trying to get in. As such, this film is just plain sick! Once it gets going, it’s a nonstop killing spree of an extremely wicked nature, with gallons of blood. I think I spent a quarter of this film squirming and cringing as characters get stabbed in the eyes and necks, get their heads blown off, perform tracheotomies, and ultimately perform a C-section with a pair of scissors. It’s easily as gory and intense of a film as most “Saw” movies.

As far as the story goes, it’s short (only 79 minutes long), it’s simple, and rather small-scale. I feel there’s a lot of thematic territory that remains totally unexplored, but as it is the story is okay. My biggest complaint are with a few stupid scenes (how much blood does the human body have again? Can a person really perform a tracheotomy on herself? How can these people still live after being stabbed in the head?). I found myself disliking the main character at first (but given her circumstances her demeanor can be understood). But about halfway through, I realized that the villain shines the best here. This tall dark figure shows remorseless resolve and manic rage as she rends and rips her way through everybody standing in her way. She’s creepy, badass, and cold.

The film shows excellent photography. Editing shows a few interesting techniques. Acting is good, all things considering; Beatrice Dalle was exceptional as the villain (so I think), and Alysson Paradis was okay as the main character. There isn’t a whole lot of exposition or dialogue (and by extention, not so many subtitles), so I think the writing is average at best. Production design is not particuarly high, but it hardly matters. Music is pretty erratic, and can probably be seen as annoying.

4/5 (entertainment: 4.5/5, story: 3.5/5, film: 4/5) Might be 4.5/5 at the highest.

Recommendation: Yes. Don’t worry, the subtitles aren’t that intense. The blood and gore might be though (obviously, not recommended to the squeamish).

I think CZAR and other horror fans might like it.

This movie looked really good upscaled. A BD would be sweet

!

Al....

[Show spoiler]you are strange

[jvince]

This is the second film I've seen from the Vengeance trilogy (the first being Oldboy, which I'm not entirely sure I liked; definitely deserves a rewatch though). Chan-wook Park is my least favorite among the big Korean directors since his works come off a bit too pretentious for me. And Mr. Vengeance was no different. The story is quite fresh and the structure is somewhat unorthodox, which I liked. The cinematography, as always, is beautiful. What I wasn't fond of was his choices of longs shots and his choices of which scenes to cut off/not show. Because of this, it became quite hard (for me) to follow. I didn't have a clear view of who's who and what's going on until about 1/4 into the movie. I'm not sure if I liked this over Oldboy or not. His works are quite odd for me to give an exact rating. But for now...

Rating: ***1/2 out of 5

[Al_The_Strange]

Originally Posted by SquidPuppet

Al....

[Show spoiler]you are strange

Originally Posted by jvince

[Show spoiler]This is the second film I've seen from the Vengeance trilogy (the first being Oldboy, which I'm not entirely sure I liked; definitely deserves a rewatch though). Chan-wook Park is my least favorite among the big Korean directors since his works come off a bit too pretentious for me. And Mr. Vengeance was no different. The story is quite fresh and the structure is somewhat unorthodox, which I liked. The cinematography, as always, is beautiful. What I wasn't fond of was his choices of longs shots and his choices of which scenes to cut off/not show. Because of this, it became quite hard (for me) to follow. I didn't have a clear view of who's who and what's going on until about 1/4 into the movie. I'm not sure if I liked this over Oldboy or not.

His works are quite odd for me to give an exact rating. But for now...

Rating: ***1/2 out of 5

They are odd indeed.