The Movie Review and Discussion Thread

[Batman1980]

IF I can get over the animation style and the movie drops to $10-, I may consider Legend of the Guardians for a purchase. Glad to hear Rango is getting rave reviews, that one will most likely be a day 1 or 2 purchase.

[SquidPuppet]

Originally Posted by CZAR

Damn only a 2.5?? U say poor decisions by the protagonists but to me especially compared to some other horror flicks, I thought they actually did ok with their decisions especially in their situation. Trust me Ive seen worse including films like The Strangers & Funny Games etc....Got Em!!

Oh for sure there are much much worse and dumber protagonists in other horror films. The funny thing is, its so realistic (possible) that I wasnt feeling scared at all, I was getting really angry instead. I wanted to kill that Ricky kid.

[CZAR]

Originally Posted by Darth Anakin

IF I can get over the animation style and the movie drops to $10-, I may consider Legend of the Guardians for a purchase. Glad to hear Rango is getting rave reviews, that one will most likely be a day 1 or 2 purchase.

Huh??? Dude that is the best animation to date and easily has the best PQ of any animated film to date. U need to scoop that up and u will see what I mean. Got Em!!

[CZAR]

Originally Posted by SquidPuppet

Oh for sure there are much much worse and dumber protagonists in other horror films. The funny thing is, its so realistic (possible) that I wasnt feeling scared at all, I was getting really angry instead. I wanted to kill that Ricky kid.

Well I would figure the more realler it felt the more it would bother u or scare u if that makes sense. That kid was great though u have to admit haha. It seems u enjoyed most parts of the film but your score just doesnt add up lol. I do agree the chick was cute also. Got Em!!

[SquidPuppet]

Originally Posted by CZAR

Well I would figure the more realler it felt the more it would bother u or scare u if that makes sense. That kid was great though u have to admit haha. It seems u enjoyed most parts of the film but your score just doesnt add up lol. I do agree the chick was cute also. Got Em!!

It was technically very well made and the acting was damn good all around. I just kinda knew where it was going the whole time. I felt like I had seen it many times before. Especially when she

[Show spoiler]ends up crashing the car at the VERY SAME house they were at earlier in the film where the VERY SAME evil boy lives. Sheesh. Didnt see that coming from a MILE away.

[CZAR]

Originally Posted by SquidPuppet

It was technically very well made and the acting was damn good all around. I just kinda knew where it was going the whole time. I felt like I had seen it many times before. Especially when she

[Show spoiler]ends up crashing the car at the VERY SAME house they were at earlier in the film where the VERY SAME evil boy lives. Sheesh. Didnt see that coming from a MILE away.

Haha yea I hear u but I still liked the ending though as they didnt play it safe and go out with a hollywood ending lol. Got Em!!

[Batman1980]

Originally Posted by CZAR

Haha yea I hear u but I still liked the ending though as they didnt play it safe and go out with a hollywood ending lol. Got Em!!

Well with the end of Stepfather,

[Show spoiler]I was surprised that the bad guy got up and fled the scene without first killing the family that he had been there the whole time to take out. Seemed like an odd decision to me.

[CZAR]

Originally Posted by Darth Anakin

Well with the end of Stepfather,

[Show spoiler]I was surprised that the bad guy got up and fled the scene without first killing the family that he had been there the whole time to take out. Seemed like an odd decision to me.

Are u referring to the remake? I just assumed

[Show spoiler]he left as he was struggling with the kid and didnt want to get caught. He tried to kill them though.

Got Em!!

[Batman1980]

Originally Posted by CZAR

Are u referring to the remake? I just assumed

[Show spoiler]he left as he was struggling with the kid and didnt want to get caught. He tried to kill them though.

Got Em!!

Yeah I am referring to the re-make, which I enjoyed and will get sooner or later on blu-ray, maybe with my tax rebate money.

[CZAR]

Originally Posted by Darth Anakin

Yeah I am referring to the re-make, which I enjoyed and will get sooner or later on blu-ray, maybe with my tax rebate money.

The remake was solid but it doesnt compare to the original. Have u seen it? If not u need to check it out forreal. Got Em!!

[Batman1980]

Originally Posted by CZAR

The remake was solid but it doesnt compare to the original. Have u seen it? If not u need to check it out forreal. Got Em!!

I'll check it out if it ever comes to blu-ray, my days of buying DVD releases that are not TV seasons are long over. Watching the Incredible Hulk and still think people judge the 2003 Ang Lee film too harshly, do wish they would stop recasting/rebooting this franchise, they're going to run it into the ground.

[CZAR]

Originally Posted by Darth Anakin

I'll check it out if it ever comes to blu-ray, my days of buying DVD releases that are not TV seasons are long over. Watching the Incredible Hulk and still think people judge the 2003 Ang Lee film too harshly, do wish they would stop recasting/rebooting this franchise, they're going to run it into the ground.

Dude it is on bluray. Go get it now! Haha. Got Em!!

[Todd_Gaines]

Originally Posted by Al_The_Strange

Next greatest rental: “The Losers.”

Wow. It starts off looking exactly like the “Battlefield: Bad Co” video game! In both cases, it’s all about a group of misfit soldiers wreaking havoc and goofing off. After the prologue, “The Losers” veered away from that premise and turned into a pretty standard action flick. It does have plenty of thrilling action scenes, lotsa big ‘splosions and car wrecks, and some rather amusing comic relief. Parts of it are downright cool.

The story is mildly interesting at best, but it felt very standard to me, with a group of poorly developed one-dimensional characters. A fine excuse for all the big dumb unrealistic action we see, but overall it felt very average.

The film also feels…average. Photography is okay. Acting and writing are okay for this kind of movie. Production value is okay. Music is okay.

This review is okay.

3.5/5 (entertainment: 4/5, story: 3/5, film: 3/5)

Recommendation: Action fans can rent it.

Just a difference in opinion. This is my review for The Losers taken from my Netflix account.

2 star film that had all the potential of a 4 star flick (Cool actors JD Morgan, Zoe Saldana, and Idris Elba). However this film suffers from terrible writing and editing. Jeffrey Dean Morgan and Zoe Saldana would have had great chemistry if the editing was better. Chris Evans who I normally enjoy was annoying (bad writing). Jason Patric was either miscast or decided to stop being a good actor for one film and overact as one of the most annoying villains in recent memory (bad everything). I knew this film was in trouble when my favorite character was the guy I never heard of (Oscar Jaenada) with the cowboy hat who had 5 lines in the entire film. If you really enjoyed The Expendables I would suggest you stay away from this one. By far my biggest disappointment of 2010.

[CZAR]

Originally Posted by Todd_Gaines

Just a difference in opinion. This is my review for The Losers taken from my Netflix account.

2 star film that had all the potential of a 4 star flick (Cool actors JD Morgan, Zoe Saldana, and Idris Elba). However this film suffers from terrible writing and editing. Jeffrey Dean Morgan and Zoe Saldana would have had great chemistry if the editing was better. Chris Evans who I normally enjoy was annoying (bad writing). Jason Patric was either miscast or decided to stop being a good actor for one film and overact as one of the most annoying villains in recent memory (bad everything). I knew this film was in trouble when my favorite character was the guy I never heard of (Oscar Jaenada) with the cowboy hat who had 5 lines in the entire film. If you really enjoyed The Expendables I would suggest you stay away from this one. By far my biggest disappointment of 2010.

I fully agree with u there and that was my only gripe about the film actually. I thought it was still a solid film and enjoyed the other characters. I do agree the Expendables is better just as Takers is also but I can still enjoy this film in its own right. Got Em!!

[Al_The_Strange]

Originally Posted by Todd_Gaines

Just a difference in opinion. This is my review for The Losers taken from my Netflix account.

2 star film that had all the potential of a 4 star flick (Cool actors JD Morgan, Zoe Saldana, and Idris Elba). However this film suffers from terrible writing and editing. Jeffrey Dean Morgan and Zoe Saldana would have had great chemistry if the editing was better. Chris Evans who I normally enjoy was annoying (bad writing). Jason Patric was either miscast or decided to stop being a good actor for one film and overact as one of the most annoying villains in recent memory (bad everything). I knew this film was in trouble when my favorite character was the guy I never heard of (Oscar Jaenada) with the cowboy hat who had 5 lines in the entire film. If you really enjoyed The Expendables I would suggest you stay away from this one. By far my biggest disappointment of 2010.

If "The Losers" wasn't as entertaining as it was, I probably would give it the same rating as you.

[Al_The_Strange]

Next greatest random selection: “Chocolate.” Not to be confused with “Chocolat.”

The touching story of an autistic girl struggling to support her dying mother. The latent and unspoken sorrow of an absent father. The tragedy and despair of relentless hardships and broken hearts. Could this be a neglected gem of forgotten visual poetry and heartfelt storytelling?

Nah! It’s all a good excuse for JeeJa Yanin to kick some serious butt! And boy does she deliver!

Following in the wake of “Ong Bak” and “The Protector,” “Chocolate” is another fine Thai martial arts film that showcases a myriad of brilliantly choreographed fight scenes. In every fight, the stuntwork is fantastic; the kicks and punches are strong and varied, the movements are cleverly calculated, and the sets provide excellent environments for these performances (complete with all kinds of nice weapons and obstacles). The fight scenes in “Chocolate” are my favorite of all martial arts movies, and can easily stand abreast with the fights in “Ong Bak.”

The film gains strong momentum once it gets going, but it’s not completely nonstop. I do find the first ten minutes or so a little dull, and from there the story spends some time winding up and presenting the dramatic aspect. I believe most of this “filler” is solid though, effectively generating the requisite plot and building a quality character to supplement and give some backing to the wicked action. It’s not realistic, and certainly not a deep story, but it does have some rather heartfelt moments. Some folks may find this pretentious, or boring, but I feel the film strikes a good balance between action and storytelling.

One thing that really stands out to me is this: most martial arts films (with folks like Bruce Lee, Jet Li, Jackie Chan, Tony Jaa, etc) always present a character who’s perfectly invincible and spends his time wreaking havoc. In “Chocolate,” the character (a girl for a change) is vulnerable from the start. Each fight presents a new challenge each time. Even though the character predictably wins each round, the challenges she faces are much more intimate and thrilling than simply having her smash her way through each opponent.

Cinematically, there are parts of “Chocolate” that look gorgeous, and other parts that look iffy. But I believe the good outweighs the bad; the photography is strong all around, and there are enough striking images to give the film greater weight. I believe that Yanin Vismitananda is perfect in the lead role, whether fighting or acting, and most of the other actors are not bad. Writing seems okay. Production value is probably not particularly high, but it doesn’t stop the film from having good sets, props, or costumes. All of the stuntwork is performed for real without any trick photography, CGI, or extensive wirework (these actors really hurt themselves bad making this film, and I think it took them four years to complete as they waited for bones to mend and wounds to heal). Music has some cool parts.

It seems like this films gets written off often as just another average martial arts flick. But I believe that “Chocolate” offers a decent enough story, enough heart, and loads of quality action to elevate it above and beyond the average fare. The only other film I know of that offers this much story and action is “Unleashed.” But with its incredible action, “Chocolate” remains my favorite martial arts film to date.

4.5/5 (entertainment: 4.5/5, story: 4.5/5, film: 4/5) Lowered from 5/5, but this is still a pretty darn high score.

Recommendation: Yes. Ah heck, even if you’re not interested, check these out!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6DeOirzG91g

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Oj3X-_tEKsw (this one's gotta be my favorite! )

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WJ-wJY4op98

This Blu-Ray is sweet. The image is very sharp and detailed, and at times it looks darn near perfect! The only thing that really holds it back is the level of noise that appears in most indoor scenes, and there are a few scenes with iffy color/contrast. A couple of scenes looked a little soft, despite the overall sharpness. Sound quality seemed okay.

PQ: 4/5, AQ: 3.5/5

[iam1bearcat]

just signed up for my free trial of amazon prime. always told myself i wouldn't because it seems like it's too good to be true, and to counter the $79 yearly fee (if i decide to keep it) i'd have to order at least 26 items (standard shipping is $2.98 for 1 blu). which is about 2 items a month. which... i'm sure i can do

but now i'm worried this is gonna get out of hand just pre-ordered Tangled and Black Swan and ordered three more blus just because i was so giddy to see no shipping charge and 2 day delivery. first amazon ropes me in with their credit card and now this... oh dear

in thread related news though lol...

_______________

Idle Hands (dvd)

what an awesome film

comedy, horror, action and more comedy and horror. and the gorgeous jessica alba

would LOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOVE to see this on blu sometimes very, very soon. it's a film i love, but always forget about when someone asks me of my favorite comedies

4.5/5

[Marcus Wright]

Originally Posted by CZAR

Huh??? Dude that is the best animation to date and easily has the best PQ of any animated film to date. U need to scoop that up and u will see what I mean. Got Em!!

Agree.
An amazing visual spectacle with good enough story.

[CZAR]

Originally Posted by Marcus Wright

Agree.
An amazing visual spectacle with good enough story.

Yea I think folks short change the story. To me it was a very good story and I was intrigued. It was funny because the first time I watched it I was sleepy and I wasnt sure if it was the movie or me being sleepy but I had to give it another try. The 2nd viewing was beautiful and I knew that I was just sleepy before and I loved the film. Got Em!!

[Diesel]

For my first review in a while:


Good Will Hunting

• 1997 | R | 126 Minutes
  
  
• Director: Gus Van Sant
  
  
• Starring: Matt Damon, Robin Williams
  
  
• Drama
  
  
• First Time Viewing

I'll start off by saying I missed probably a good 10 minutes of dialog in the first half of the film because one of my friends was pissing and moaning about how boring the movie was and got up and started walking around the room and playing with a ping pong ball...I kid you not
My other buddy had enough of it and gave him a laptop to amuse himself with for the second hour of the film and we got to watch that in mostly peace.

Even still, I did manage to enjoy it. The story was pretty interesting to me, especially the interaction between Damon and Williams. Easily the best part of the film imo. It didn't start off too hot for me; the stuff with him and his friends early on made me think I wasn't going to enjoy it very much. I understand their place in the film and why they were needed, but at that point I was about them. Once Williams showed up it kicked off for me and the rest of the film was very good.

There were some parts that were because I really was into the characters and there is also a fair amount of humor that had me rolling at times (almost literally).


Matt Damon was pretty good in the lead. I wouldn't say great though.

Williams was definitely my favorite in the film and gave the best performance I thought (I see he won an Oscar for his role).


I would recommend it for at least a one time watch, as I will add it to my One and Done Collection.


Rating - 4/5