The Movie Review and Discussion Thread

[Lepidopterous]

Originally Posted by SquidPuppet

[Show spoiler]
But seriously...

- - - -

[SquidPuppet]

Originally Posted by DjMethod

[Show spoiler]
But seriously...

- - - -

Thats funny!!!!!!!!!!

[iam1bearcat]

Smokin' Aces

104 minutes

Year: 2007
Director: Joe Carnahan
Starring: Jeremy Piven, Ryan Reynolds, Ray Liotta, Alicia Keys, Kevin Durand, Ben Affleck, Common, and Andy Garcia

i blind bought Smokin' Aces on dvd on day 1 way back in 2007. i remember watching it with my gf at that time and being very excited about it because the previews made it seem like a high octane, fast paced action film. i remember distinctly being vastly disappointed with the film and disliking it greatly.

about two years later i was with a group of friends and they were talking about it and i talked about how i loved the cast but the final product sucked, a lot. but, we rented it and i watched it again. and i thought it was incredibly awesome. suddenly, many of the flaws were now iconic memorable moments the film is filled with. Piven, who i cannot stand about 99% of the time, was now making me laugh hysterically. and the over the top foul language, glorious carnage, bright shiny colors and deranged, unlikeable characters were now people i couldn't get enough of. instead of sludging through 104 minutes, i was now wishing the film was longer.

weird huh?

then, after the film ended today i read the review on here and found that the reviewer had the exact same reaction i did. strongly disliked it on first viewing. had no intention of EVER watching it again, but slowly fell in love with its ridiculous. and much like the reviewer, while i hate franchises like Statham's Crank, i love Smokin' Aces. both are action films, but action films have a variety of subtleties to them these days.

so watching Smokin' Aces today was a very enjoyable, fun time. i actually liked it even more than i did the last time i watched it about a year or so ago on cable... i think...?). it definitely is a film that i have grown to love and enjoy more and more with each viewing.

for viewers who only give a film one chance, and have already watched and hated Smokin' Aces, i would say give it a shot again, but reading random reviewers across the internet this seems like the definition of a "love it" or "hate it" film. i personally LOVE IT.

great action scenes, tons of over the top violence, classic gruesome, almost cringe worthy lines of dialogue, and some filthy, hilarious characters that contain no soul or an ounce of caring in their body.

the plot of the film for those who don't know is this: Buddy Israel used to be a good friend of mob's, but when he snitches on them, the head of the mob wants him dead, so he puts a million dollar bounty on him and whoever brings him Israel's heart gets the money. Israel has locked himself in a cozy hotel room in Vegas to keep himself alive. and now, numerous assassins are coming for blood and money while a pair of cops try and keep him alive (Reynolds and Liotta).

results? for me, pure awesomeness
you're not gonna learn anything from the film, this is pure cinematic fun for those who understand and get the type of film this is. Joe Carnahan has created a film that is a mix of Michael Bay, Quentin Tarantino, and a dose of Michael Mann. that will make many of you cringe i'm sure, but the results are fantastic.

also, the last scene of the film - with a brilliant score by Clint Mansell (The Fountain, Requiem for a Dream, Moon) is haunting, memorable and well executed. i love and connect with and remember "louder" more over the top performances more than subtle ones, and Reynolds NAILS it.

maybe i'm just on a "adrenaline high" from enjoying it so much, but there is a very likely chance Smokin' Aces will become one of my favorite films. i never thought i'd say that and i barely remember that the film exists sometimes since it's not well known or well received, but now that i own it on blu, i definitely won't forget it. best part? buying this for $6. what an absolute steal

4.5/5

[iam1bearcat]

Originally Posted by djmethod

[Show spoiler]
but seriously...

:sniperr: - - - -

lmao!

[jhiggy23]

Blow-Out (Criterion dvd--not sure why netflix doesn't have the blu version)

Film: 3 stars (out of 4)

The plot of the film is interesting and it's definitely an entertaining film. The last 20 minutes are simply great filmmaking and I personally love the ending. I also think the directing was good, despite not being a De Palma fan. That being said, it won't be a film that I end up buying bc I don't see a ton of replay value for me (although I admittedly did not catch many of the film references made throughout the film). The biggest negative to me by far is the acting. Travolta was good in his role, but the rest of the cast ranged from bad to terrible, which I found difficult to overcome. It was nice to see Dennis Franz though since I used to love NYPD Blue.

[jhiggy23]

Alien (blu)

PQ and AQ: 4.5 (out of 5)

Film: 4 stars (out of 4)

One of the top 5 horror films of all-time. Admittedly, the sense of wonderment that was so incredible to me the first time I saw the film was lessened during this viewing, but it was still there to a large degree. The sense of confinement is still palpable. The PQ was awesome, especially considering not only the age of the film but how bad it looked on dvd due to the film stock and the darkness.

[jhiggy23]

Catfish (dvd)

Film: 3 1/2 stars (out of 4)


See this film, as it is undoubtedly one of the top 5 documentaries I've ever seen (along with Grizzly Man, Night and Fog, The Cove, and one more). Read ABSOLUTELY NOTHING about it--not even the brief netflix overview--it's the only way to see the film. I knew nothing at all about the film before watching it, and that was part of what made it so effective. A lot of ppl have clamored about it being a faux documentary (especially at Sundance), but I 100% believe it's true. Maybe some scenes were shot after the fact as recreations, but the content and story were not fabricated. The film is too genuine, too moving, and too strange to be fake in any way. See this film.

[AKORIS]

Originally Posted by P@t_Mtl

Love and Death

USA 1975
Directed by Woody Allen
Starring Woody Allen, Diane Keaton, Harold Gould
Format: HDTV

Voici my favorite Woddy Allen movie ever. I am not quite sure how others feel about this one as it's not talked about much and is often over look in many conversation. I suspect that the reason might be that it was the last of the early Allen's movie and was followed right after by Annie Hall. In this one Allen's parody European cinema and litterature but mainly Ingmar Bergman. A sort of re-telling of War & Peace in only a fashion Allen could think about, the dialogue is quite something. Yet I could also see how it may not be for everyone. It's confusing in style. Is it a Max Brothers movie or is it a Ingmar Bergman movie? Plus how can you actually mix the two of them together? Yet for me, Allen's succeded in ways that I am sure he never suspected. If you are ever confused after watching Bergman's The Seventh Seal, watch Love & Death and things might become more clear I never like given numbers to a movie but for me this one is a 10 on 10.

I've always found that to be a hilarious film! Loved the spoofs of Bergman films and such.... "wheat"....

[Steve46]

Here's my latest blog entry:

Unstoppable (action, drama, thriller)
Directed by Tony Scott
Starring Denzel Washington, Chris Pine and Rosario Dawson

20th Century Fox | 2010 | 98 min | Rated PG-13 | Released Feb 15, 2011

Video:
Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 2.40:1

Audio:
English: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1
French: Dolby Digital 5.1
Portuguese: Dolby Digital 5.1
Spanish: Dolby Digital 5.1

Subtitles:
English SDH, Cantonese, French, Mandarin (Traditional), Portuguese, Spanish

Discs:
50GB Blu-ray Disc
Digital copy

The Film 4/5

After directing movies about planes, cars and a submarine, Tony Scott’s last two efforts have involved trains. The Taking of Pelham 1 2 3 used a train as a setting, but Scott goes a step further in Unstoppable, making a train one of the movies’ stars. Trains are big. Scott has Washington walk in front of a few at the start of the movie to show us just how big they are.

An irresponsible worker makes two mistakes that set events in motion, deciding to move a train without connecting the air brakes and then leaving the cabin to pull a lever at the side of the track. The train is moving too fast for him to get back on and pulls away under full power.

Will Colson (Pine) has been a conductor for four months. He reports to work and faces resentment from the older workers. They assume he’s inexperienced and think that younger, cheaper workers may be a threat to their own job security. He’s assigned to work with Frank Barnes (Washington), who has similar feelings. Colson makes a couple of mistakes and Barnes thinks his fears are justified.

The runaway train is initially thought to be a “coaster,” but it soon becomes clear that it’s under power and capable of traveling at approximately 70 mph. An early effort to board it fails, so a decision has to be made. Yard Master Connie Hooper (Dawson) suggests derailing it before it reaches populated areas. Her bosses disagree because they are worried about the financial cost.

Various other attempts fail to stop the train and it’s left to our heroes, Barnes and Colson, to try their own solution. They give chase in their train and plan to link up with the runaway and use their own brakes to stop it.

Other factors are also thrown into the mix. A group of children on a school trip are on a train on the same line as the runaway and the threat of a collision is high. The runaway is pulling half a mile of freight cars and several contain volatile chemicals. The track leads to a curve which has a speed limit of 15 mph and it’s close to a heavily populated town.

Just enough time is given to establishing the back stories of Barnes and Colson and it explains their motivations for chasing down the runaway. The tension builds throughout the second half of the movie and the action rarely allows us to take a breather. Failed attempts early in the story show us that our heroes are in danger if they continue the pursuit, but the alternative is a potentially huge disaster should the train derail.

The story doesn’t sound very complicated and it isn’t. The action takes center stage, but what did you expect? I found myself engaged throughout and the three main actors put in good performances. I’m rarely disappointed by Washington and I also liked Pine and Dawson here.

Video Quality 4.5/5
Unstoppable looks good on Blu-ray. Scott seems to have made some of the colors unnaturally bright, making everything stand out. The train in particular looks imposing with its red and yellow paintwork. Detail is excellent throughout and the print is clean. It felt like most of the action was taking place right in front of me.

Audio Quality 5/5
Nominated for a sound editing Oscar, Unstoppable sounds great too. The DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 mix places us in the middle of the action. Trains aren’t just big, they’re heavy. The track makes us aware of that with a pounding rumble that will give your sub a good workout. It’s backed up by the squeal of brakes and metal-on-metal. Dialogue comes across clearly and there’s plenty of supporting effects from the rears.

Special Features 3.5/5

The special features focus heavily on the technical aspects of making the movie. Scott goes into detail about how he likes shots to be real rather than CGI. They include:

Audio Commentary with Tony Scott.

Tracking the Story: Unstoppable Script Development with Scott and writer Mark Bomback.

The Fastest Track: Unleashing Unstoppable (30 minutes)

Derailed: Anatomy of a Scene (10 minutes)

Hanging Off the Train: Stunt Work (14 minutes)

On the Rails with the Director and Cast (13 minutes)

Trailer

Sneak Peaks

BD Live: Feeling the Heat – Unstoppable Pyrotechnics (3 minutes)

IMDb Live Lookup

Digital Copy

Overall score 4/5

Action movies can be dumb and full of clumsy exposition, but Unstoppable isn’t one of those movies. Scott has made a largely believable story which includes characters with a little depth. It has plenty of replay value because I have already watched it three times and it’s still an enjoyable ride. If you like movies such as Speed, you’ll probably get something out of this.

[Steve46]

Originally Posted by jhiggy23

Blow-Out (Criterion dvd--not sure why netflix doesn't have the blu version)

Film: 3 stars (out of 4)

The plot of the film is interesting and it's definitely an entertaining film. The last 20 minutes are simply great filmmaking and I personally love the ending. I also think the directing was good, despite not being a De Palma fan. That being said, it won't be a film that I end up buying bc I don't see a ton of replay value for me (although I admittedly did not catch many of the film references made throughout the film). The biggest negative to me by far is the acting. Travolta was good in his role, but the rest of the cast ranged from bad to terrible, which I found difficult to overcome. It was nice to see Dennis Franz though since I used to love NYPD Blue.

I liked it too. Travolta's was definitely the best performance in the film.

[Lepidopterous]

Originally Posted by SquidPuppet

Thats funny!!!!!!!!!!

Originally Posted by iam1bearcat

lmao!

We're just kidding wolvie/dalfie/darthie.

[Show spoiler]

[iam1bearcat]

Originally Posted by Steve46

Here's my latest blog entry:

Unstoppable (action, drama, thriller)
Directed by Tony Scott
Starring Denzel Washington, Chris Pine and Rosario Dawson

[Show spoiler]20th Century Fox | 2010 | 98 min | Rated PG-13 | Released Feb 15, 2011

Video:
Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 2.40:1

Audio:
English: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1
French: Dolby Digital 5.1
Portuguese: Dolby Digital 5.1
Spanish: Dolby Digital 5.1

Subtitles:
English SDH, Cantonese, French, Mandarin (Traditional), Portuguese, Spanish

Discs:
50GB Blu-ray Disc
Digital copy

The Film 4/5

[Show spoiler]After directing movies about planes, cars and a submarine, Tony Scott’s last two efforts have involved trains. The Taking of Pelham 1 2 3 used a train as a setting, but Scott goes a step further in Unstoppable, making a train one of the movies’ stars. Trains are big. Scott has Washington walk in front of a few at the start of the movie to show us just how big they are.

An irresponsible worker makes two mistakes that set events in motion, deciding to move a train without connecting the air brakes and then leaving the cabin to pull a lever at the side of the track. The train is moving too fast for him to get back on and pulls away under full power.

Will Colson (Pine) has been a conductor for four months. He reports to work and faces resentment from the older workers. They assume he’s inexperienced and think that younger, cheaper workers may be a threat to their own job security. He’s assigned to work with Frank Barnes (Washington), who has similar feelings. Colson makes a couple of mistakes and Barnes thinks his fears are justified.

The runaway train is initially thought to be a “coaster,” but it soon becomes clear that it’s under power and capable of traveling at approximately 70 mph. An early effort to board it fails, so a decision has to be made. Yard Master Connie Hooper (Dawson) suggests derailing it before it reaches populated areas. Her bosses disagree because they are worried about the financial cost.

Various other attempts fail to stop the train and it’s left to our heroes, Barnes and Colson, to try their own solution. They give chase in their train and plan to link up with the runaway and use their own brakes to stop it.

Other factors are also thrown into the mix. A group of children on a school trip are on a train on the same line as the runaway and the threat of a collision is high. The runaway is pulling half a mile of freight cars and several contain volatile chemicals. The track leads to a curve which has a speed limit of 15 mph and it’s close to a heavily populated town.

Just enough time is given to establishing the back stories of Barnes and Colson and it explains their motivations for chasing down the runaway. The tension builds throughout the second half of the movie and the action rarely allows us to take a breather. Failed attempts early in the story show us that our heroes are in danger if they continue the pursuit, but the alternative is a potentially huge disaster should the train derail.

The story doesn’t sound very complicated and it isn’t. The action takes center stage, but what did you expect? I found myself engaged throughout and the three main actors put in good performances. I’m rarely disappointed by Washington and I also liked Pine and Dawson here.

Video Quality 4.5/5
Unstoppable looks good on Blu-ray. Scott seems to have made some of the colors unnaturally bright, making everything stand out. The train in particular looks imposing with its red and yellow paintwork. Detail is excellent throughout and the print is clean. It felt like most of the action was taking place right in front of me.

Audio Quality 5/5
Nominated for a sound editing Oscar, Unstoppable sounds great too. The DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 mix places us in the middle of the action. Trains aren’t just big, they’re heavy. The track makes us aware of that with a pounding rumble that will give your sub a good workout. It’s backed up by the squeal of brakes and metal-on-metal. Dialogue comes across clearly and there’s plenty of supporting effects from the rears.

Special Features 3.5/5

The special features focus heavily on the technical aspects of making the movie. Scott goes into detail about how he likes shots to be real rather than CGI. They include:

Audio Commentary with Tony Scott.

Tracking the Story: Unstoppable Script Development with Scott and writer Mark Bomback.

The Fastest Track: Unleashing Unstoppable (30 minutes)

Derailed: Anatomy of a Scene (10 minutes)

Hanging Off the Train: Stunt Work (14 minutes)

On the Rails with the Director and Cast (13 minutes)

Trailer

Sneak Peaks

BD Live: Feeling the Heat – Unstoppable Pyrotechnics (3 minutes)

IMDb Live Lookup

Digital Copy

Overall score 4/5

Action movies can be dumb and full of clumsy exposition, but Unstoppable isn’t one of those movies. Scott has made a largely believable story which includes characters with a little depth. It has plenty of replay value because I have already watched it three times and it’s still an enjoyable ride. If you like movies such as Speed, you’ll probably get something out of this.

maybe i watched this with too much of a serious face? i don't know but even when i tried to turn my brain off Unstoppable still made me go "WTF. how effin' stooooooopid"

i think films like Unstoppable walk a fine line: executed well, the flaws can be hidden. too many flaws, or executed in a lackluster manner and the film sinks quickly. i love Speed, but that has some truly dumb, cheesy moments, but they don't effect my enjoyment that much. i love Varsity Blues, but that is almost all cheese. but Unstoppable, which appeared to be a great idea and the trailer was awesome, ended up being an abysmal film for me to sit through

weird.

[Steve46]

Originally Posted by iam1bearcat

maybe i watched this with too much of a serious face? i don't know but even when i tried to turn my brain off Unstoppable still made me go "WTF. how effin' stooooooopid"

i think films like Unstoppable walk a fine line. because i love Speed, but that has some truly dumb, cheesy moments, but they don't effect my enjoyment that much. i love Varsity Blues, but that is almost all cheese. but Unstoppable, which appeared to be a great idea and the trailer was awesome, ended up being an abysmal film for me to sit through

weird.

There was only one moment that made me shake my head

[Show spoiler]when the train was traveling on one rail.

[Lepidopterous]

Originally Posted by jhiggy23

Alien (blu)

PQ and AQ: 4.5 (out of 5)

Film: 4 stars (out of 4)

[Show spoiler]
One of the top 5 horror films of all-time. Admittedly, the sense of wonderment that was so incredible to me the first time I saw the film was lessened during this viewing, but it was still there to a large degree. The sense of confinement is still palpable. The PQ was awesome, especially considering not only the age of the film but how bad it looked on dvd due to the film stock and the darkness.

This is one of the best upgrades over DVD I've witnessed, though definitely partly attributable to the terrible PQ of the DVD as you said. Fantastic film... one of my favorites.

Originally Posted by jhiggy23

Catfish (dvd)

Film: 3 1/2 stars (out of 4)

[Show spoiler]

See this film, as it is undoubtedly one of the top 5 documentaries I've ever seen (along with Grizzly Man, Night and Fog, The Cove, and one more). Read ABSOLUTELY NOTHING about it--not even the brief netflix overview--it's the only way to see the film. I knew nothing at all about the film before watching it, and that was part of what made it so effective. A lot of ppl have clamored about it being a faux documentary (especially at Sundance), but I 100% believe it's true. Maybe some scenes were shot after the fact as recreations, but the content and story were not fabricated. The film is too genuine, too moving, and too strange to be fake in any way. See this film.

I've wanted to see this, and now seeing your praise, curious to see why it's so good.

[iam1bearcat]

Originally Posted by Steve46

There was only one moment that made me shake my head

[Show spoiler]when the train was traveling on one rail.

i had a lot of moments that made me shake my head...

[Show spoiler]

• showing the picture of the guy that caused all this to happen? really? come on now lol
• showing the helicopter pilot dangling dead / unconscious on live tv? cut away. come on now lol
• the whole absurd helicopter guy idea!
• the cop "we shot shotgun shells at the emergency off switch. so yes... shots were fired." uuhhhhh... really?
• the drunk boss (at like, noon) who just fights with his employees lol

i know there's more, but these instantly came back to mind.

eventually i'll go back and watch it again and see if i can overlook these annoyances

[Cowboy]

Originally Posted by jhiggy23

Blow-Out (Criterion dvd--not sure why netflix doesn't have the blu version)

Film: 3 stars (out of 4)

The plot of the film is interesting and it's definitely an entertaining film. The last 20 minutes are simply great filmmaking and I personally love the ending. I also think the directing was good, despite not being a De Palma fan. That being said, it won't be a film that I end up buying bc I don't see a ton of replay value for me (although I admittedly did not catch many of the film references made throughout the film). The biggest negative to me by far is the acting. Travolta was good in his role, but the rest of the cast ranged from bad to terrible, which I found difficult to overcome. It was nice to see Dennis Franz though since I used to love NYPD Blue.

I saw this in the theater in 1981 as a huge John Travolta fan. The film was not all that appealing to me back then but has since grown on me over the years. You are spot on with regards to the acting. Most of it is just terrible (uhmm Nancy Allen). Nice review jhiggy

[iam1bearcat]

Into the Blue

106 minutes

Year: 2005
Director: John Stockwell
Starring: Jessica Alba, Paul Walker, Scott Caan, and Ashley Scott

so stupid it's pretty good.

so this is what Walker and Caan did after they graduated high school (reference to them co-starring in Varsity Blues together )

Jessica Alba is as always

not as entertaining as i remember it being when i last watched this about three years ago

still glad i bought it

only "used" blu-ray i have ever purchased. from our buddy Diesel.

that has nothing to do with the film does it?

i don't care

3/5

[Diesel]

I think is the only description I can think of for Alba in that movie.


My favorite part of that movie is when Paul Walker says, "We get the boat? We get the boat?! -jumping up and down- WE GET THE BOAT!!!!!!!"






I was thinking about it and I believe in the time I had that disc (over a year, bought it in either late 2009 or early 2010) I only watched it two times...and it was two days in a row, once alone and once with my cousin and his wife. It has lived such a neglected life

[KilloWertz]

Originally Posted by iam1bearcat

Into the Blue
106 minutes

Year: 2005
Director: John Stockwell
Starring: Jessica Alba, Paul Walker

[Show spoiler]

, Scott Caan, and Ashley Scott

so stupid it's pretty good.

so this is what Walker and Caan did after they graduated high school (reference to them co-starring in Varsity Blues together )

Paul Walker is as always

not as entertaining as i remember it being when i last watched this about three years ago

still glad i bought it

only "used" blu-ray i have ever purchased. from our buddy Diesel.

that has nothing to do with the film does it?

i don't care

3/5

Fixed it for you to show how you really feel...

[Show spoiler]

[Foggy]

The Godfather Part II

I think I gave The Godfather 10/10, a lot of people are in distributes over which is better, so I've been eager to see this for ages but never found the time.

Part I is a whole lot better as far as I'm concerned.

Now that isn't saying I didn't like Part II, everything that made Part I great is still here as well, superb acting, excellent cinematography in a lot of cases and some very tension-matic scenes. My big problem with Part II is that it seem to get caught up and lingerers on specifics instead of moving on with the plot, it seems far more grounded and just not as interesting as the original. In the first one you're introduced to a whole gangster community, and you see if through it's ups and downs for a good 3 hours, it covers about 20 years through that time. Part II feels like it covers a few months at the most (not including flashbacks), and therefore you feel as if you're not watching something as interesting as it seem to be on a far small scale. The most interesting thing about in Vito Corleone rise into power, which I wanted to see more of, yet most of that is made out to be about Michael's paved path to being The Godfather.

However, it really starts to pack an emotional punch until the final 30 mins, with Michael's wife confessing to him that she had an abortion because she didn't want him to continue his gangster family. I think that's why people like this more, it's more emotional seeing how the family gets torn apart by the end of the film. It's strange how Part I and II seem to end with a cliffhanger, although it holds up on its own. You are left wanting to find out what happens next, although they end with just someone sitting alone in a room by themselves

Also, I think it's less memorable than the first Godfather, more scenes stick with me than with this.

I don't think it's as good as Part I but I understand why some would, and I still think it was time well spent

9.5/10