The Movie Review and Discussion Thread

[SquidPuppet]

Originally Posted by jvince

Yeah, I've seen it before but I didn't like it. Raising Arizona is the only Coen movie I enjoyed. I guess they did something on this one that clicked for me. It felt like one of those old cartoons, and the acting and dialogue were hilarious.

Thats a good description. Like a live action Looney Tunes from the 40's.

[Diesel]

Super 8 review coming later today.

[Al_The_Strange]

"X-Men: First Class" review coming later this week.

[Lepidopterous]

Originally Posted by Diesel

Super 8 review coming later today.

Originally Posted by Al_The_Strange

"X-Men: First Class" review coming later this week.

[Lepidopterous]

Originally Posted by tbizzle

In Time and Harold and Kumar, you're on a roll!

Volver better end this streak tonight!

[Foggy]

Originally Posted by Diesel

Super 8 review coming later today.

Originally Posted by Al_The_Strange

"X-Men: First Class" review coming later this week.

Ah, Al will like it because I liked it

[Al_The_Strange]

Ah, what the Hell, here it is...

Next greatest blind-buy: “X-Men: First Class.”

No, I did not get this as part of the B&N Criterion sale. But I sometimes wonder how it’d be if Criterion released more blockbusters like these.

This prequel plays out the same way “The Phantom Menace” contributed to the “Star Wars” saga. That is to say that “XM:FC” goes about introducing the classic characters from the beginning, shows their origins, and explains how everything came into being before the first “X-Men” film. It’s also pretty darn thrilling, as mutants get to use their powers in imaginative ways and wreak mass destruction. The action and special effects in this film might be some of the best of the “X-Men” saga, with plenty of decent fights, lots of ‘splosions, buildings collapsing, massive sea vessels flying through the air, and more!

My only complaint is, this is one of those films that is just jammed-packed with scenes. The scenes are short, so the film has an even and constant pacing. But at two full hours, with so many scenes, the film manages to cover so much ground, and it feels way longer than it should. Maybe not a terrible thing, as the story manages to fill up the entire space sublimely, but I feel it’s really dense that way.

It’s the story that I found most impressive. I have no real clue as to how this compares to the comics, nor am I really conscious of any discontinuity with the other four “X-Men” films. In fact, I was impressed as to how well everything fit into place; we get to see exactly how Charles and Erik became friends, how they got into their positions, how they got their fancy tech, among many other things. The film even managed to cover aspects that seemed relevant to the (arguably atrocious) third film. I was also intrigued to see the film’s connection with Cold War events (the

[Show spoiler]Cuban Missile Crisis has always intrigued me

. Above all, the characters are deeply explored and portrayed in a manner that is true and proper. And for most of the film, the same themes are evident that were in the first three “X-Men” films, in regards to human prejudice, violence, and war. The film must spend most of its time debating whether or not mutants should be siding with the human race; it’s a question that drives the characters, drives the plot, and ultimately drives the franchise.

As a film, it looks splendid, with superb photography and editing. There may have been one or two spots where I felt more shots should have been added for a smoother scene (specifically, when the

[Show spoiler]plane crashes into the beach

. Most of the acting comes off as fine and dandy, but as expected, I did enjoy James McAvoy, and Michael Fassbender was surprisingly badass. And I was thrilled to see Michael Ironside in a brief role. Writing is pretty good. This production has decent-looking sets, props, costumes, and special effects, all of which fit into the franchise pretty well. Music is awesome.

4.5/5 (entertainment: 4/5, story: 4.5/5, film: 4.5/5)

Recommendation: Sure, why not?

This Blu-Ray looks darn near perfect, save for some scenes with a lot of grain/noise. Sound quality is good.

PQ: 4.5/5, AQ: 4.5/5



Notes:

• I thought I read somewhere that there would be two sequels to this, forming a prequel trilogy or something? But as near as I can tell, this one movie covered all the major bases; I think you could easily watch this as the one and only prequel before getting into the main three “X-Men” films. However, I’m still interested to see “The Wolverine” and “Deadpool” and more when they come out.
• Like I said, I'm not seeing any glaring continuity errors. I suppose there could be some if you analyze it next to "X-Men Origins: Wolverine," but at this point, I doubt it'll be regarded as a true prequel anymore.
• I laughed pretty well when they briefly showed
  [Show spoiler]Wolverine...

[Show spoiler]

Erik Lehnsherr: Excuse me, I'm Erik Lehnsherr.
Professor Charles Xavier: Charles Xavier.
Logan: Go f**k yourself.

• Still prefer Rebecca Romijn as Mystique.
• My "X-Men" film ranking now are...

"X2: X-Men United" 5/5
"X-Men: First Class" 4.5/5
"X-Men" 4/5
"X-Men: The Last Stand" 4/5 (3.5/5 lowest)
"X-Men Origins: Wolverine" 3/5

[Al_The_Strange]

Originally Posted by Foggy

Ah, Al will like it because I liked it

The man speaks sense.

Too bad it doesn't work the other way around.

[Diesel]

I haven't done this in a while...I might be a bit rusty


Super 8


The trailer sparked a little interest in me, but not enough to get me to the theater. And I must admit, I became a tad worried when I found out the focus of the movie was mainly the children. Soon after beginning the movie, I found that that worrying was not justified.

I didn't know anything about the movie besides the trailer and that was a very long time ago that I watched it, so I was pretty blind going in.

For anyone who doesn't know, the story is about these kids making a film about zombies to enter into a contest shot on 8mm film. Well...at least that's all I'll tell you it is about outside of spoiler tags

I must say that I quite enjoyed Super 8. It's got funny characters, it's got suspense about what exactly is going on, it's got good character interactions, it's got a

[Show spoiler]monster

, it's got

[Show spoiler]one hell of an explosion scene,

it's got the

[Show spoiler]monster reaching out of the shadows and snatching people up (I love that...why? I don't know, I just do )

...but most importantly of all, it DOESN'T have anything major for me to complain about.

There's a few things I'd have liked to see a bit more.

A little more time between Jack and Joe.

A little more time with Jack in general.

And possibly a little bit more time with

[Show spoiler]the monster/alien. I'm not completely sure on this one, because on one hand I'm glad we didn't see too much of him, just enough to keep up about it...but then on the other hand I would have enjoyed seeing a little bit more of his doings.

All small complaints though, that don't hinder the enjoyment of the film very much at all.


I thought the cast did a pretty good job.

I must be a fat kid at heart because once again, the fat comic relief was my favorite person. Charles

And the sheriff guy, he's one of those people when you see him it's, "Hey, it's that guy from...um...something..."


One thing that did bug me is something that bugs me in any movie it happens (and it happens VERY often) that hug/kiss/let's chat for a minute heart-to-heart scene right in the middle of the WORST POSSIBLE TIME to have it.

There's also the issue that the

[Show spoiler]train crash

sequence is completely and utterly absurd. But it's one of those "Eh...just go with it." scenes like the bank safe in Fast Five.


If you're on the fence, give it a shot. It's not a perfect movie, or even a great movie, but it is a pretty good movie that is worth the hour and 45 minutes.

Rating - 4.25/5

[KilloWertz]

Uh oh, Diesel liked a good movie. Quick, go put on a Transformers movie before people start thinking you don't like crap like me too.

[Lepidopterous]

Originally Posted by KilloWertz

Uh oh, Diesel liked a good movie. Quick, go put on a Transformers movie before people start thinking you don't like crap like me too.

I guess the rest of us are Jaded Movie Friends

[iam1bearcat]

Originally Posted by DjMethod

I guess the rest of us are Jaded Movie Friends

for some reason i thought this was gonna be linked to my 12 Angry Men review

[Lepidopterous]

Originally Posted by Diesel

I haven't done this in a while...I might be a bit rusty


Super 8

[Show spoiler]The trailer sparked a little interest in me, but not enough to get me to the theater. And I must admit, I became a tad worried when I found out the focus of the movie was mainly the children. Soon after beginning the movie, I found that that worrying was not justified.

I didn't know anything about the movie besides the trailer and that was a very long time ago that I watched it, so I was pretty blind going in.

For anyone who doesn't know, the story is about these kids making a film about zombies to enter into a contest shot on 8mm film. Well...at least that's all I'll tell you it is about outside of spoiler tags

I must say that I quite enjoyed Super 8. It's got funny characters, it's got suspense about what exactly is going on, it's got good character interactions, it's got a

[Show spoiler]monster

, it's got

[Show spoiler]one hell of an explosion scene,

it's got the

[Show spoiler]monster reaching out of the shadows and snatching people up (I love that...why? I don't know, I just do )

...but most importantly of all, it DOESN'T have anything major for me to complain about.

There's a few things I'd have liked to see a bit more.

A little more time between Jack and Joe.

A little more time with Jack in general.

And possibly a little bit more time with

[Show spoiler]the monster/alien. I'm not completely sure on this one, because on one hand I'm glad we didn't see too much of him, just enough to keep up about it...but then on the other hand I would have enjoyed seeing a little bit more of his doings.

All small complaints though, that don't hinder the enjoyment of the film very much at all.


I thought the cast did a pretty good job.

I must be a fat kid at heart because once again, the fat comic relief was my favorite person. Charles

Fat kid was the best!

And the sheriff guy, he's one of those people when you see him it's, "Hey, it's that guy from...um...something..."

Early Edition. Only apparent to me because my mom used to watch it religiously.

One thing that did bug me is something that bugs me in any movie it happens (and it happens VERY often) that hug/kiss/let's chat for a minute heart-to-heart scene right in the middle of the WORST POSSIBLE TIME to have it.

[Show spoiler]

There's also the issue that the

[Show spoiler]train crash

sequence is completely and utterly absurd. But it's one of those "Eh...just go with it." scenes like the bank safe in Fast Five.


If you're on the fence, give it a shot. It's not a perfect movie, or even a great movie, but it is a pretty good movie that is worth the hour and 45 minutes.

Rating - 4.25/5

Hate those.

So far, Super 8 is still the best film I've seen this year.

[Lepidopterous]

Originally Posted by Al_The_Strange

Next greatest blind-buy: "Kuroneko,"aka "Black Cat."

[Show spoiler]
This is probably one of the very few samurai movies I've seen that doesn't focus on any clan warfare, epic fights, or complicated politics. Using these things as a backdrop, this film is basically a ghost story; the combination of folklore and the feudal Japanese setting makes for a rather classy story and a visually interesting film. By only big gripe is that, despite an excellent first act and a decent final act, I felt the middle dragged quite a bit.

The story for this is pretty easy to follow and sensical, with quality characters. Its implemenation of folklore is great, and the film has a genuine quality to it. It can be especially tragic to watch the ghost characters become demonic, and the main character become a samurai that the ghosts hate so much, and inevitably they all turn on each other.

The film is quite slick, with quality photography and editing, all in glorious black-and-white. Some of the cutting may seem cheap, but it has an extraordinary theatrical flair, especially when the ghostly characters float around majestically with their clothes fluttering in the wind. Acting seems decent, and the writing is okay. This production has good-looking sets, props, costumes, and special effects. Music is good.

4/5 (entertainment: 3.5/5, story: 4/5, film: 4.5/5)

Recommendation: Sure, why not?

This Blu-Ray has a few soft spots here and there, but other parts look darn near perfect. Sharpness and detail are great most of the time. Contrast is quite high; the black levels look great, but I felt the white levels seemed a little too high, almost to the point of appearing washed out. I can spot some occasional specks, damage, and some strange patterned flickering; it's still quite clean, but not immaculate. Sound qualtiy seems good.

PQ: 3.5/5, AQ: 4/5

Have you seen Kwaidan?

[Lepidopterous]

Originally Posted by iam1bearcat

for some reason i thought this was gonna be linked to my 12 Angry Men review

Nice. Who can forget that one? It stirred up more controversy than the students that got pepper sprayed at my university. A bearcat classic.

[KilloWertz]

Originally Posted by DjMethod

I guess the rest of us are Jaded Movie Friends

I guess so.

BTW, they really should make Boner Soup.

[tbizzle]

Originally Posted by Diesel

And the sheriff guy, he's one of those people when you see him it's, "Hey, it's that guy from...um...something..."

Originally Posted by DjMethod

Early Edition. Only apparent to me because my mom used to watch it religiously.

I only remember him from this

[Show spoiler]

[Lepidopterous]

Originally Posted by KilloWertz

I guess so.

BTW, they really should make Boner Soup.

[Show spoiler]

[Lepidopterous]

Originally Posted by tbizzle

I only remember him from this

[Show spoiler]

Nice. Early Edition is a good show! Watch an episode.

[iam1bearcat]

Originally Posted by DjMethod

[Show spoiler]