The Movie Review and Discussion Thread

[Diesel]

Frequency

Frank (Dennis Quaid) is a NYC firefighter in the 1960s. Regular family guy, wife (Mitchell) and kid. We flash forward to 1999 and meet Frank's grown up son, John (Jim Caviezel), who is a cop. John is a bit of a downer when we first meet him. Frank is long since dead and John's got some personal life issues going on. Then one night he hears his father's old ham radio picking up a transmission from someone. The voice on the radio...is his father. DUN DUN DUN.

I'm really not sure why I even DVR'd this when I saw it playing on FX. But I'm glad I did. It's a good, solid movie worth spending two hours on.

The father/son story and what happens because of it was pretty interesting I thought. And it is an aspect of what happened that I'm glad they addressed because some movies leave it untouched. If you

[Show spoiler]save someone from dying in the past

, it will have repercussions...some movies don't understand that It's a nice difference from your traditional time travel movie, but still obviously incorporates a some of the same devices.

It actually got me to be a few times and a couple of reveals made me go, "Whoa..."

For detail sticklers...there's a number of issues with anachronisms and other general "That wouldn't happen..." things, but nothing HUGE, just small/'medium' things like things that weren't around in 1969 (records that weren't out yet for example).


Quaid and Caviezel are just like the film...solid.

Then there is Andre Braugher who just seems to be one of those guys who pops up in EVERYTHING.


If you haven't seen it...I say rent it if you like a crime/drama mix.

Rating - 4/5

[KilloWertz]

Originally Posted by SquidPuppet

What about it puts you off, or doesnt click?

Bearcat likes it.

[Show spoiler]

Seriously though, my cable company took AMC off of our cable package for a while, so I was stuck checking it out via clips and that can only do so much. It didn't do that much for me, but given the fact that I haven't seen a whole episode, I may actually check it out someday. That is saying more than what I thought of Lost. Dexter would come before it, but like I mentioned earlier, that probably won't be for a while either.

[volcomsocal]

Originally Posted by Diesel

I just watched Lost: The Movie.

There's a character named Jack Shepard, Elizabeth Mitchel is in it playing a nurse named Julia (instead of a doctor named Juliet), one of the main characters was a guest star on Lost, it involves screwing around with time.




Review coming

ummmm, WHAT?!?!?!

[Diesel]

Originally Posted by volcomsocal

ummmm, WHAT?!?!?!

This:

Originally Posted by Diesel

Frequency

Frank (Dennis Quaid) is a NYC firefighter in the 1960s. Regular family guy, wife (Mitchell) and kid. We flash forward to 1999 and meet Frank's grown up son, John (Jim Caviezel), who is a cop. John is a bit of a downer when we first meet him. Frank is long since dead and John's got some personal life issues going on. Then one night he hears his father's old ham radio picking up a transmission from someone. The voice on the radio...is his father. DUN DUN DUN.

I'm really not sure why I even DVR'd this when I saw it playing on FX. But I'm glad I did. It's a good, solid movie worth spending two hours on.

The father/son story and what happens because of it was pretty interesting I thought. And it is an aspect of what happened that I'm glad they addressed because some movies leave it untouched. If you

[Show spoiler]save someone from dying in the past

, it will have repercussions...some movies don't understand that It's a nice difference from your traditional time travel movie, but still obviously incorporates a some of the same devices.

It actually got me to be a few times and a couple of reveals made me go, "Whoa..."

For detail sticklers...there's a number of issues with anachronisms and other general "That wouldn't happen..." things, but nothing HUGE, just small/'medium' things like things that weren't around in 1969 (records that weren't out yet for example).


Quaid and Caviezel are just like the film...solid.

Then there is Andre Braugher who just seems to be one of those guys who pops up in EVERYTHING.


If you haven't seen it...I say rent it if you like a crime/drama mix.

Rating - 4/5

[volcomsocal]

Originally Posted by Diesel

This:

i don't get how this "lost:the movie" from 2000 has to do with your review on frequency.

i'm lost

[Diesel]

Originally Posted by volcomsocal

i don't get how this "lost:the movie" from 2000 has to do with your review on frequency.

i'm lost

It was a

[Show spoiler]joke

...because of the reasons I mentioned in the first post (name Jack Shepard, Elizabeth Mitchel, her character name/profession, the guest star and the screwing around with time concept)

[volcomsocal]

Originally Posted by Diesel

It was a

[Show spoiler]joke

...because of the reasons I mentioned in the first post (name Jack Shepard, Elizabeth Mitchel, her character name/profession, the guest star and the screwing around with time concept)

got it. i haven't seen frequency, but probably will in the future, brotha.

[Diesel]

Originally Posted by volcomsocal

got it. i haven't seen frequency, but probably will in the future, brotha.

If you catch it on FX check it out, or through Netflix...though I don't think it is on blu-ray, brotha.

[Show spoiler]Desmond!

[volcomsocal]

Originally Posted by Diesel

If you catch it on FX check it out, or through Netflix...though I don't think it is on blu-ray, brotha.

[Show spoiler]Desmond!

yea, dvd only. i just checked it out. i actually don't get tv right now. but i actually never watch tv, except for sports, so i'll probably never catch it on fx. i just queued it up on netflix.

[Al_The_Strange]

My dad picked up a DVD copy of "Gojira," with both the Japanese and US cuts on them. My review for the original Japanese version still stands, but its score should be raised to 4/5.

We watched the US cut(otherwise entitled "Godzilla: King of the Monsters") on the weekend, and it sucked! It looks to me like they very overtly screwed up the original cut to pander to American audiences; most scenes are severely truncated, most dialogue has horrid dubbing, and they spliced in all kinds of footage, trying to pass off Raymond Burr as the main character, even though he's just a spectator for most of the film. The movie's real main characters get pushed to the side in some scenes, and when they take the stage in others, it just feels too much at odds with Burr's presence and narrative. Ugh, I felt it was cheap and stupid, and would rate it a 3/5.

Patiently awaiting the alleged Criterion release...

Originally Posted by Al_The_Strange

“Gojirra.”

Another fine sci-fi monster epic from the 50s, I think easily comparable to other flicks like “Them!” or “The Blob.” And by today’s standards, the original “Godzilla” has its cheesy moments; the monster itself moves agonizingly slowly, stomping on the fakest-looking model ever built. Combined with some over-the-top acting, the movie has quite a few laughable moments.

Regardless, I still think it’s one of the better movies of this type. The plot’s not very inspiring, but it is populated with fairly decent characters. There are a few parts that seem a little unreasonable (

[Show spoiler]I’m not sure if I get why the one-eyed dude felt the need to sacrifice himself in the final scenes

), but it’s never overly convoluted. The film overall is meant to convey an allegory to nuclear warfare, and as the monster leaves behind a trail of fire throughout Tokyo, it is fairly apocalyptic.

As noted above, the production value is very limited. But, it is well-filmed, acting is decent (even if it does have some over-the-top moments). Pacing can be a little slow, but this time around I thought it was alright. The music score is pretty cool.

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

This Blu-Ray is a prehistoric monstrosity brought back to life via radiation. That is to say that the image quality is pretty bad; the film is loaded with scratches, dirt, and print damage galore. Most of it looks really soft; the first ten minutes or so are especially bad, and then it sharpens up slightly. It's still nowhere near as sharp as other great classics. Some parts of the screen wavered inexplicably. The only good things that can be said are that the OAR is the most complete it's ever been, and contrast levels are superb. Sound quality is not terribly great either; dialogue is a little fuzzed out, and there is a lot of noise (pops, clicks, scratches, hisses, etc). This film needs a restoration really badly (for US releases anyway).

PQ: 2/5, AQ: 2/5

[Al_The_Strange]

“Gojira, Mosura, Kingu Gidorâ: Daikaijû Sôkôgeki,” aka “Godzilla, Mothra, and King Ghidorah: Giant Monsters All-Out Attack!!!”

Why does my dad buy this crap?

So this is the 10,341st sequel to the original “Gojira” (well, more like the 25th; the number of films in this series is still ungodly ). This time around, they pit the giant lizard against not one, not two, but three other gigantic monsters! Baragon (some red-skinned tunnel-digging thingy), Mothra (you know, the giant moth), and King Ghidorah (an awesome three-headed dragon) take on Godzilla in multiple stages, wreaking mass destruction all along the way. The beasties fight pretty darn intensely, hurling and slamming themselves into each other, and often times crushing small communities, the occasional skyscraper, and thousands of hapless civilians in their wake. Some of the most impressive moments have Godzilla zapping everything with a freaking nuclear laser beam coming from his mouth! Yep, the monsters and model/CGI effects still look a little cheap and cheesy, but the action is very well-executed; there’s enough ‘splosions here to put Michael Bay to shame!

The story for this is rather thin at best. I have no idea how it places itself in the series; the characters indicate that this is the first attack in Tokyo since 50 years ago (the original film?), with a slight reference to an attack on NYC (the ’98 Roland Emmerich film?) . Assembling the monsters together constitutes the first half of the film, using some weakly-described spirituality to bring the beasties to life. The characters go on to express all kinds of drama, as one of the leading characters unravels the mystery and risks her life to document the battles, and another main character risks his life to destroy the monsters. Lots of melodrama ensues. But...whatever! It’s just a fine excuse to have a bunch of monsters beating the crap out of each other!

The film is pretty darn cheap and cheesy. Photography and editing are generally okay. Acting and writing are ridiculously bad, and will likely induce a lot of laughter (especially with English dubbing turned on ). Production value is a bit mixed; the monsters still look fake (you can tell that two of Ghidorah’s three heads are somebody’s hands in a rubber suit), some scenes are obviously models, others have pretty weak CGI, but it’s all executed in a way that emphasizes size and intensity, and is generally enjoyable. Otherwise, most sets, props, and costumes are passable. Music is kinda bad.

3.5/5 (entertainment: 4.5/5, story: 3/5, film: 3/5)

Recommendation: For Godzilla and kaiju fans, and a rental for anybody else who’s interested in seeing big freaking monsters duking it out!

This one is pretty darn silly and cheesy, but it’s not quite as bad as “Rebirth of Mothra.”

[jvince]

Originally Posted by iam1bearcat

Originally Posted by iam1bearcat

if you like your shows deliciously dark, super addicting and incredibly amazing, check it out!

Sounds like something I might like.

Originally Posted by iam1bearcat

yeah, he was excellent! i believe the first two seasons are the best (so far) but the show does not really fall off by any means. i rank the seasons from favorite (best) to least favorite as: 2, 1, 4, 3 & 5. no season of Dexter has gotten less than a 4/5 from me.

I'll try to catch up. There are lots of TV shows I wanna check out. Twin Peaks is another one.

[SquidPuppet]

Originally Posted by killowertz

Bearcat likes it.

[Show spoiler]

Seriously though, my cable company took AMC off of our cable package for a while, so I was stuck checking it out via clips and that can only do so much. It didn't do that much for me, but given the fact that I haven't seen a whole episode, I may actually check it out someday. That is saying more than what I thought of Lost. Dexter would come before it, but like I mentioned earlier, that probably won't be for a while either.

Gotcha.

I see in your sig that you just watched Sheryl Crow: Miles From Memphis - Live at The Pantages Theatre. How was it?

[SquidPuppet]

Originally Posted by volcomsocal

got it. i haven't seen frequency, but probably will in the future, brotha.

Hahahahaha

[KilloWertz]

Originally Posted by SquidPuppet

Gotcha.

I see in your sig that you just watched Sheryl Crow: Miles From Memphis - Live at The Pantages Theatre. How was it?

I enjoyed it. The concert itself is about 1 hour and 50 minutes and is a good show. Her backing band is quite impressive.

If you are interested in buying it, Best Buy sells it for $14.99. Eagle Rock did a pretty nice job with the disc in terms of PQ and AQ.

[iam1bearcat]

I like how a select few of us have rocked the boat in this thread with TV talk and now some concert talk!

Speaking of which. Taking a short break from The Wire (finished season 1 yesterday) to re-watch Fringe: season 2 in high anticipation of Fringe: season 3!

[KilloWertz]

Originally Posted by iam1bearcat

I like how a select few of us have rocked the boat in this thread with TV talk and now some concert talk!

Speaking of which. Taking a short break from The Wire (finished season 1 yesterday) to re-watch Fringe: season 2 in high anticipation of Fringe: season 3!

It's called mixing things up.

I'm really looking forward to Fringe as well. The second season of The Vampire Diaries will be up first since it comes out tomorrow, but Fringe will be waiting for me on my shelf once I am done with that.

[Steve46]

I'm looking forward to Stephen Malkmus and the Jicks in three weeks...

[Lepidopterous]

Pretty bummed I'm going to be out of the States for the theatrical re-release of my favorite Disney movie of all time.

The Lion King 3D Trailer - YouTube

[Foggy]

The Big Lebowski

Well known to be loved by me already, so I'll save my huge loving review for when I get a new blu-ray player that plays the film, it took me an hour to sort out the digital copy, pain in the ass, and the quality looked abysmal, but as long as I got my fixture of The Dude.

10/10