The Movie Review and Discussion Thread

[iam1bearcat]

Originally Posted by Diesel

I think that would be there advice as well

My debate is...some of my friends want to watch it...so maybe I let them rent it later and use my code on something else

good plan

let someone else foolishly toss their money away on it not saying it's bad, but if you don't really wanna see it, no need to spend money on it. especially if someone else wants to

[Diesel]

I think that's what I'm going to do. I've gone back and forth on the matter the last week or so. But I think I'll stick with waiting until they rent it to see it.

Now I just have to find something else to watch that I'm interested in



Edit: Going with 127 Hours, I never got to see that one. Going to wait until the PSN Store is back up though so I can watch it in HD on my PS3 (VUDU only lets you play things in SD on a computer ).

[KilloWertz]

Originally Posted by volcomsocal

Blue Valentine - 2010

[Show spoiler]
Wow. There are some movies that just blow me away. This would be one of them.

I can't say enough of how good this story was. But more importantly, it was the whole package that just took me away. Script? Fantastic. Acting? Fantastic. Directing? Fantastic. Cinematography? Fantastic. And oh yeah, the story was fantastic.

Sure, this was a gut-wrenching film that will tear your heart apart. There ain't no

[Show spoiler]happy ending here folks. While this may not be "THE realistic" journey on how all married life can be, it sure is more spot on than sugar-coated films of the same genre.

Even though I knew I was going to watch a

[Show spoiler]downward spiral

of a film, it was so damn good to watch it all unfold. I believe people take enjoyment in not only happy films but tragic, sad films as well.

It was so beautiful to watch their relationship begin and blossom into something wonderful... but at the same time, seeing it all

[Show spoiler]fall apart

was gratifying too. I hated seeing it all

[Show spoiler]go down the drain

, but it was done so well, so brilliantly.

I just can't say enough about this film. I haven't felt this way about a movie since (500) Days of Summer.

PQ - 4/5
AQ - 4/5

5/5

While I didn't like this upon first viewing as much as I thought I would, I'm still glad I blind bought it and I'm sure I will like it more and more as time goes on. It really is a well done film all around.

Funny you should mention 500 Days of Summer. I actually called Blue Valentine the dramatic version of that after watching the trailer before blind buying this.

Originally Posted by iam1bearcat

I figured you'd enjoy that. Nobody has picked on you about Paul Walker in a while, so I figured it was a good opportunity.

Originally Posted by iam1bearcat

good plan

let someone else foolishly toss their money away on it not saying it's bad, but if you don't really wanna see it, no need to spend money on it. especially if someone else wants to

[Show spoiler]

[Show spoiler]

[Show spoiler]

[Show spoiler]

[iam1bearcat]

Originally Posted by killowertz

While I didn't like this upon first viewing as much as I thought I would, I'm still glad I blind bought it and I'm sure I will like it more and more as time goes on. It really is a well done film all around.

Funny you should mention 500 Days of Summer. I actually called Blue Valentine the dramatic version of that after watching the trailer before blind buying this.

i thought i said that as well when i was telling you about it?

[KilloWertz]

Originally Posted by iam1bearcat

i thought i said that as well when i was telling you about it?

Maybe you did say that about Blue Valentine. I dunno. Either way, I was very unimpressed by what you said about Tangled.

[iam1bearcat]

Originally Posted by killowertz

Maybe you did say that about Blue Valentine. I dunno. Either way, I was very unimpressed by what you said about Tangled.

deal with it

it's still an enjoyable, fun, breezy film. not bad by any means. but it just lacked the magic that most of Pixar's films have imo

[KilloWertz]

Originally Posted by iam1bearcat

deal with it

it's still an enjoyable, fun, breezy film. not bad by any means. but it just lacked the magic that most of Pixar's films have imo

Your opinion stinks!

[Show spoiler]

[CZAR]

Originally Posted by Diesel

IMDB brought this up when I typed in "Zodiac"

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0371739/

Don't think I've ever heard of it.

Originally Posted by iam1bearcat

yes. one is a masterpiece, the other one is more torturous to sit through than eating microwaved horse feces topped with jalapenos.
at least, so i've heard



but seriously. avoid the other one.



you don't want to hear of it! sooo much terribleness

Right on yall. Ill make sure its the Robert Downey Jr. version when I do watch it. Got Em!!

[volcomsocal]

Originally Posted by killowertz

Funny you should mention 500 Days of Summer. I actually called Blue Valentine the dramatic version of that after watching the trailer before blind buying this

Most of the time when I was watching Blue Valentine, I kept on thinking back to (500) Days of Summer and how they're sorta similar.. so I kept on comparing them. They're like total opposites in terms of emotional feelings... even though they both end bad.... sorta.

Both love stories, both excellent.

[KilloWertz]

Originally Posted by volcomsocal

Most of the time when I was watching Blue Valentine, I kept on thinking back to (500) Days of Summer and how they're sorta similar.. so I kept on comparing them. They're like total opposites in terms of emotional feelings... even though they both end bad.... sorta.

Both love stories, both excellent.

Yeah, Blue Valentine is definitely the more gut wrenching of the two.

Probably my favorite scene of the movie was

[Show spoiler]the ukulele scene out in front of the bridal shop during their first date.

I take it you'll be adding Blue Valentine to your collection at some point now too.

[iam1bearcat]

Originally Posted by volcomsocal

Most of the time when I was watching Blue Valentine, I kept on thinking back to (500) Days of Summer and how they're sorta similar.. so I kept on comparing them. They're like total opposites in terms of emotional feelings... even though they both end bad.... sorta.

Both love stories, both excellent.

i tend to think of Blue Valentine as the "add 10-15 years to the characters of (500) Days of Summer and take away all the funny scenes and bright colors" film. later on in life when Tom and Summer maybe aren't so happy. or should i say

[Show spoiler]Tom and Autumn

[Diesel]

SPOILER TAG DUDE!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Show spoiler]

[iam1bearcat]

Originally Posted by Diesel

SPOILER TAG DUDE!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Show spoiler]

$h*t. maybe i should
my heart actually stopped and i was like, "WTF?! what did i spoil?!"

i will just to be safe

[Al_The_Strange]

Originally Posted by jvince

Now, where's Thanksgiving?

I'm personally looking forward to "Werewolf Women of the SS."

Originally Posted by CZAR

Yea man bloody is an understatement haha. Got Em!!

I figured it would be.

[Evra]

Just Go With It

Just Go With It is an awful movie. It is a romantic comedy that completely foregoes the elements of romance and comedy. It revolves around Dr. Danny Maccabee (Adam Sandler), a plastic surgeon who uses his wedding ring as a tool to manipulate the feelings of beautiful young women into bed for possibly decades until he finally decides that enough is enough and wants to settle down with a beautiful young school teacher named Palmer Dodge (Brooklyn Decker). Unfortunately, Danny feels that the best way to win the heart of Palmer is to lie to her and for that, he needs the assistance of his nurse, Katherine Murphy (Jennifer Aniston).

It is such a shame that Adam Sandler continues to star in films such as these when he clearly has the talent and chops to take on meatier roles as proven by his performances in Drunk Punch Love, Spanglish and Funny People. The same cannot be said about Jennifer Aniston who has gone from one horrible romantic comedy after another to find herself in another horrible romantic comedy. One could argue that Sandler has been let down by poorly written material but I genuinely fail to see how Aniston has continuously managed to get starring roles in movies after her last three films; Love Happens, The Bounty Hunter and The Switch with each possibly being worse off than the other. Joining Sandler and Aniston is Sports Illustrated swimsuit supermodel, Brooklyn Decker who fulfils her role as eye-candy with aplomb by looking like a Greek goddess whenever she is on screen so much so that I cannot help but feel profound boredom and disappointment when Decker is off-screen.

There are numerous flaws with this film. It is bad enough that the film has an incredibly unlikable main character that lies to win the affections of young ladies, but to actually want us to believe that a forty-two year old Jennifer Aniston could be more physically attractive than a twenty-four year old supermodel is preposterous no matter how or which way you look at the two women. It is reasonable to lead us into believing that a person could want to end up with Aniston due to mutual interests or compatibility but it just becomes unintentionally funny to see the cameras panning down Aniston’s relatively unattractive figure with characters ogling over her ‘bikini body.’ Even with the tons of unfunny reused and recycled jokes from the Sandler archives in Just Go With it, I still do not think that it is the worst part of the film which is the film mocking the vanities of men and women pursuing perfect bodies while at the same time, placing beautiful women on pedestals.

It is incredibly unfortunate that Just Go With It is such a bore that when the two lead characters end up falling for each other, I cannot help but to consistently look at my watch wanting the film to just get on with it without a care in the world for the lead characters.

Note: It is an achievement for the film to butcher two of my favourite songs in Every Breathe You Take and Chasing Cars in a horrible mesh-up in a horrible montage. To those thinking that good music makes good montages, watch this film and compare it with a Cameron Crowe film.

2/5

I would appreciate comments or feedback on how to improve my writing style and thoughts on the movie. Cheers.

[Diesel]

Originally Posted by iam1bearcat

$h*t. maybe i should
my heart actually stopped and i was like, "WTF?! what did i spoil?!"

i will just to be safe

Now that you mention it...it probably should have one to be safe

[Steve46]

I revisited a classic for today's blog entry:

Papillon (drama, biography, crime)
Directed by Franklin J. Schaffner
Starring Steve McQueen and Dustin Hoffman

Warner Bros. | 1973 | 151 min | Rated PG | Released May 24, 2011

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

Audio:
English: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1

Subtitles:
English SDH, French, Spanish

Disc:
Single 50GB Blu-ray Disc

The Film 4/5

Papillon is a film I hadn't seen for approximately 30 years, so I was eagerly awaiting this Blu-ray release. I was a different person back then and my tastes have evolved a great deal since first seeing the film. What was a masterpiece in my memory is now simply a good film.

The story is set in a prison in French Guiana and is based on the true story of Henri Charriere. He was known as Papillon because of the butterfly tattooed on his chest. Steve McQueen plays the role and does an excellent job.

The other key character is Louis Dega (Hoffman), who is a forger and not well-equipped to fend for himself in prison. He hires Papillon for protection and promises to finance Papillon's escape attempt. It proves to be a wise decision.

On reaching the prison, the new inmates are given a welcome speech. They are told that their first escape attempt would result in two years of solitary confinement being added to their sentence. A second attempt would mean five more years in solitary. Extreme cases would result in death by guillotine.

Nearby islands contain prison work camps and Dega and Papillon are sent there. The swampy conditions are full of natural dangers such as crocodiles and snakes. Any escapees are hunted by former prisoners for a reward. Papillon makes an early attempt and is quickly recaptured, resulting in the promised two years in solitary confinement.

The rations in solitary are barely enough to support human life and Dega bribes guards to smuggle Papillon extra food. When this is discovered, the warden wants the name of the person sending him food. Papillon refuses and is put on half rations. This is equivalent to a death sentence, but Papillon eats whatever creatures stray into his cell and manages to survive the two-year ordeal.

When he recovers his strength, Papillon makes another escape attempt. Dega and another prisoner join him and they arrange to leave the swamp by boat. The three set sail for Honduras. On reaching land they eventually become separated and Papillon is forced to fend for himself. This leads to an extended sequence, largely without dialogue, where Papillon lives with some of the indigenous population. It's a happy time for him and is a stark contrast to his life in prison.

I won't reveal any more of the story, but there are a few more twists and turns before it ends.

The story is essentially about the strength of the human spirit and the desire to be free. Papillon has to endure harsh conditions, but something inside him makes him go on. It also shows that some criminals are not all bad. The friendship between Papillon and Dega is powerful and lasting. The final sequence shows both the friendship and Papillon's determination to live as a free man.

Video Quality 3.5/5
The opening scene contains heavy grain and looks terrible, but isn't representative of the remainder of the film. It soon settles down and delivers a fairly pleasing transfer. The film is nearly 40 years old and doesn't look like a recent release, but the Blu-ray offers a big upgrade over previous releases. Just take a look at the trailer to see how the original film must have looked. Although the detail isn't as strong as I would have liked, it's adequate. Brighter outdoor scenes benefit the most. Colors are strong and accurate and the print looks fairly clean.

Audio Quality 4/5
An early conversation between Papillon and Dega aboard the prison ship is problematic. The dialogue appears rather distant and there are minor synchronization issues. This is an isolated incident and the quality quickly improves. The DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 mix does a good job of adding to the brooding atmosphere of the film. Heavy rain sounds like it's supposed to and jungle sounds come across in the rear speakers. The Oscar-nominated score sounds impressive and it's a good presentation overall.

Special Features 2/5

Aside from a trailer, there's only one additional feature:

The Magnificent Rebel (12:19) is brief and shot in SD, but explains some of the problems involved in shooting the film. Some of the locations were hard to reach and had never been seen on camera before. There's also a sequence showing the reaction of the real Papillon, Henri Charriere, visiting the set and talking about how authentic it was.

34-page digibook

Papillon is a long film at 151 minutes, and some of it isn't pleasant to watch. It's not supposed to be. If you have seen Midnight Express, you'll have some idea of what to expect. The story takes its time to develop, but the payoff is worth it. McQueen may have been chosen because of his character in The Great Escape, but he has to show more range here and pulls it off well. Hoffman is familiar as the nervous Dega and the friendship is believable. While imperfect, the Blu-ray presentation offers a considerable upgrade and the digibook looks great. Fans of the film shouldn't hesitate to pick it up.

Overall score 4/5

[Foggy]

Originally Posted by Diesel

Edit: Going with 127 Hours, I never got to see that one. Going to wait until the PSN Store is back up though so I can watch it in HD on my PS3 (VUDU only lets you play things in SD on a computer ).

Awesome, loved that film, it's very unique in it's presentation so I'll be interested into what you think

[Foggy]

Originally Posted by jvince

Will the US blu-ray's price ever drop?

Originally Posted by Diesel

I gave it a 4.75/5...9.5 if you will...and named it my #1 of 2007 when I watched it.

Originally Posted by iam1bearcat

i'll be the third to give you a

as Diesel did, with ranking it (right now at least) #1 for his 2007 list of favorites, it is also (i believe) my #1 as well that year, but that may change when i go through that list again. either way, a great film and a great blu. and a great film. love it

[SquidPuppet]

Originally Posted by Diesel

Yikes!



So I have a $5 VUDU rental from when I bought Unstoppable...thinking of using it tonight. Haven't decided on what yet though, maybe Tangled, maybe not.