The Movie Review and Discussion Thread

[budious]

Machete Maidens Unleashed! (2010) [Documentary]



Machete Maidens Unleashed! documents the golden age of film making in the Philippines starting in the mid-60s through to the early-80s. Among the interviews are producer Roger Corman, director Eddie Romero, director/write Jack Hill, actors R. Lee Ermey and Sid Haig, actresses Pam Grier, Gloria Hendry, Margaret Markov, and Marrie Lee among many others. The documentary details the film making process, cost incentives, dangers, and inconveniences of filming in the Philippines. Includes many excerpts of hit films produced during the era - The Big Doll House; The Big Bird Cage; Black Mama, White Mama; The Woman Hunt; Savage Sisters; They Call Her Cleopatra Wong; One Armed Executioner; For Y'ur Height Only, among many others. Highly recommended for fans of the golden age of exploitation films.

Overall 9/10

[jvince]

A Moment of Innocence (1996)
dir. Mohsen Makhmalbaf

The Good: The concept of a director (Makhmalbaf, who plays himself) recreating an incident where he stabbed a policeman when he was young is quite brilliant. Story and dialogue is great and very natural, seamlessly weaving its two point-of-views together. The performances by the kids are pretty good and genuine, especially considering they are inexperienced actors. It also works as a fascinating portrait of Iranian culture and society.

The Bad: The cast's inexperience shows at times. The ending, which seems to have a number of fans, is a little cheesy and abrupt (for me).

The Bottom Line: A Moment of Innocence is a solid, slice-of-life film and proof that a big budget is unnecessary; all you really need is a great story. Worth a look for those who are into such films.

[P@t_Mtl]

Soeur Sourire (2009)

Probably very few people remember or recall The Singing Nun from Belgium with her success Domique in 1963, She was even on The Ed Sullivan Show January 1964. Her real name was Jeanine Deckers and unfortunately her life had nothing to sing about. She dies in 1985 by suicide. The movie show's her early life and her entry as nun. The trouble is that her character was not easy one and she even come's across as a selfish person. It seem her entire life was running away from things, from her family to become a nun, from the nuns cause she felt like in a prison, from people that love her cause they seem to prevent her from being free. Overall it's a sad story, about someone who just never found where she belong or what she should have been.

[Al_The_Strange]

Next greatest blind-buy: "Anonymous"

It's a Rolan Emmerich film. But I counted only five or so 'splosions in the whole movie. Just one or two major fight scenes. No gratuitous sex or violence. Just a bunch of Elizabethan characters talking and talking and talking...BORING!

0.5/5

[Show spoiler]Alright, it's more like a 3.5/5; pretty decent drama, with an interesting concept, and it is surprisingly earnest coming from this director. I still felt it dragged on for a little too long, and chances are good that I won't bother revisiting it at any point.

The Blu-Ray looks and sounds awesome.

PQ: 5/5, AQ: 5/5

[Al_The_Strange]

Next greatest blind-buy: "B!&ch Slap"

What an awful movie. The story's all mixed up and doesn't really go anywhere. Nobody can really act and the writing is quite vulgar. The film overall looks like it was made on the cheap. It tries its hardest to be stylish and Tarantino-ish, but I think most will agree that it falls way short.

Above all, it's loaded with lots of gratuitous violence and fan service. Nothing but these three chicks in highly-revealing clothing, strutting around in slow motion. Lots of chest shots. Lots of scenes where these women dig and dig and get dirty and dig and more chest shots and they beat a bunch of people up and strut around in slow motion and make suggestive gestures and then they make out and...






You know what? This movie totally frakking rocks, dude!!!

3.5/5 (Entertainment: Good | Story: Average | Film: Average)

This Blu-Ray looks and sounds great.

PQ: 4.5/5, AQ: 4/5

[Lepidopterous]

Originally Posted by Al_The_Strange

Next greatest blind-buy: "Anonymous"

It's a Rolan Emmerich film. But I counted only five or so 'splosions in the whole movie. Just one or two major fight scenes. No gratuitous sex or violence. Just a bunch of Elizabethan characters talking and talking and talking...BORING!

0.5/5

[Show spoiler]Alright, it's more like a 3.5/5; pretty decent drama, with an interesting concept, and it is surprisingly earnest coming from this director. I still felt it dragged on for a little too long, and chances are good that I won't bother revisiting it at any point.

The Blu-Ray looks and sounds awesome.

PQ: 5/5, AQ: 5/5

Same here. It's an average movie and I found it hard to follow towards the end. I did like the concept though and Rhys Ifans rocks.

[iam1bearcat]

Film #1

The Cabin in the Woods - 4/5

two reviews below. spoiler free and then somewhat detailed...

SPOILER FREE

The film has the majority of individual goods a film needs for me to enjoy it - atmosphere, solid acting, be consistently entertaining, ridiculously filled with "wow" / "wtf?" moments, et cetera.

A horror film to be certain that contains of course some interesting mixes with ideas and genres. What's most surprising is how the film does not hide these differences and actually starts the film with these, constantly building the questions in your mind. as soon as you think you kind of know what's happened and why and get down because you "figured it out" you quickly realize the writers GAVE you that answer and still sneak a new surprise around for you, all in good horror fashion. Very surprised by how well the writers pulled this off but then again it is Joss Whedon who has a knack for smart writing and "different" ideas.

A bit refreshing and a bit of a like Scream was way back when to a fledgling genre. I hope they don't over do though

Needless to say, there's enough material here for a television show to last 3-4 seasons with crammed into 90 very fast minutes.

I'd probably watch it again to see more details and whatnot, but after that I don't think I'd ever revisit this.

------

REVIEW WITH SPOILERS, ACTUALLY MORE OF ONE NITPICKING MOMENT / MOMENTS THAT DOESN'T / DON'T RUIN THE FILM, BUT MADE ME ABOUT HOW A FILM SO SMART COULD HAVE A FLAW SO BASIC...

[Show spoiler]1. so, the pot head derails the entire plan for the company to keep the god's happy? the one girl from the company says something like, "the marijuana is affecting our ability to get to him". really? you never thought of that before? you've NEVER had that happen or come up in conversation before? christ, you control the lighting, temperature, freaking pheromones! and yet, pot, POT, which almost every horror movie contains, brings down this whole deal that's been going on for how long. while easy to overlook or not think much about, it's hard to see this as a logical miss by the company.

2. also, what they should have done, is have the pot head be the virgin! NO ONE WOULD HAVE SEEN THAT COMING! that way, when the girl dies on the dock, THEN the phone call comes saying that the virgin is still alive. that would have been a surprise twist since the guy is never the virgin.

3. i was a little disappointed with how much the company controlled. became very boring almost to see them get locked in their rooms, the cave in, the temperature, pheromones changing their behavior... would be very boring to watch if i was one of the guys in the company. laaaame. if you aren't going to have them be themselves, why set this all up? just kill them anywhere!

4. how ironic that this group of five (of course it's five, just what the gods need ) are best friends and they all each fit the profile. yeah, having the jock be a sociology major was a nice touch () though.

5. i want to see more of the Japanese girls getting attacked by the ghost / spirit in the classroom! suuuuuch dark comedy, i loved it

[P@t_Mtl]

Raiders Of The Lost Ark (1981)

If adventure had a name, it would be Indiana Jones!

Back in 1981 for me and my friends that was very true. We had grown up with certain adventure movies in the 70's, movies like The Golden Voyage Of Sinbad and Sinbad & The Eye Of The Tiger but nothing came close to what we were given with Indiana Jones. Even the James Bond movies with Roger Moore look tame compared to Indy. Just like Star Wars, Indy was made with the idea of old serial from the 30's and 40's but of course with a very different budget.Even now 31 years after it first came out, Raiders Of The Lost Ark can put to shame some of the new action and adventure movies made. This was without a doubt when Spielberg, Ford and Lucas were at their strongest.

[Foggy]

Originally Posted by iam1bearcat

Film #1

The Cabin in the Woods - 4/5

two reviews below. spoiler free and then somewhat detailed...

SPOILER FREE

The film has the majority of individual goods a film needs for me to enjoy it - atmosphere, solid acting, be consistently entertaining, ridiculously filled with "wow" / "wtf?" moments, et cetera.

A horror film to be certain that contains of course some interesting mixes with ideas and genres. What's most surprising is how the film does not hide these differences and actually starts the film with these, constantly building the questions in your mind. as soon as you think you kind of know what's happened and why and get down because you "figured it out" you quickly realize the writers GAVE you that answer and still sneak a new surprise around for you, all in good horror fashion. Very surprised by how well the writers pulled this off but then again it is Joss Whedon who has a knack for smart writing and "different" ideas.

A bit refreshing and a bit of a like Scream was way back when to a fledgling genre. I hope they don't over do though

Needless to say, there's enough material here for a television show to last 3-4 seasons with crammed into 90 very fast minutes.

I'd probably watch it again to see more details and whatnot, but after that I don't think I'd ever revisit this.

------

REVIEW WITH SPOILERS, ACTUALLY MORE OF ONE NITPICKING MOMENT / MOMENTS THAT DOESN'T / DON'T RUIN THE FILM, BUT MADE ME ABOUT HOW A FILM SO SMART COULD HAVE A FLAW SO BASIC...

[Show spoiler]1. so, the pot head derails the entire plan for the company to keep the god's happy? the one girl from the company says something like, "the marijuana is affecting our ability to get to him". really? you never thought of that before? you've NEVER had that happen or come up in conversation before? christ, you control the lighting, temperature, freaking pheromones! and yet, pot, POT, which almost every horror movie contains, brings down this whole deal that's been going on for how long. while easy to overlook or not think much about, it's hard to see this as a logical miss by the company.

2. also, what they should have done, is have the pot head be the virgin! NO ONE WOULD HAVE SEEN THAT COMING! that way, when the girl dies on the dock, THEN the phone call comes saying that the virgin is still alive. that would have been a surprise twist since the guy is never the virgin.

3. i was a little disappointed with how much the company controlled. became very boring almost to see them get locked in their rooms, the cave in, the temperature, pheromones changing their behavior... would be very boring to watch if i was one of the guys in the company. laaaame. if you aren't going to have them be themselves, why set this all up? just kill them anywhere!

4. how ironic that this group of five (of course it's five, just what the gods need ) are best friends and they all each fit the profile. yeah, having the jock be a sociology major was a nice touch () though.

5. i want to see more of the Japanese girls getting attacked by the ghost / spirit in the classroom! suuuuuch dark comedy, i loved it

On number 3, yeah it probably would be quite boring working in that office, but isn't that the point. To show how dull and repetitive the horror genre has become, with characters acting out of character so they'd be killed off and what not.

Other than that, a few good points and nitpicks, but it's just so AWESOME

[KilloWertz]

Originally Posted by iam1bearcat

Film #1

The Cabin in the Woods - 4/5

[Show spoiler]two reviews below. spoiler free and then somewhat detailed...

SPOILER FREE

The film has the majority of individual goods a film needs for me to enjoy it - atmosphere, solid acting, be consistently entertaining, ridiculously filled with "wow" / "wtf?" moments, et cetera.

A horror film to be certain that contains of course some interesting mixes with ideas and genres. What's most surprising is how the film does not hide these differences and actually starts the film with these, constantly building the questions in your mind. as soon as you think you kind of know what's happened and why and get down because you "figured it out" you quickly realize the writers GAVE you that answer and still sneak a new surprise around for you, all in good horror fashion. Very surprised by how well the writers pulled this off but then again it is Joss Whedon who has a knack for smart writing and "different" ideas.

A bit refreshing and a bit of a like Scream was way back when to a fledgling genre. I hope they don't over do though

Needless to say, there's enough material here for a television show to last 3-4 seasons with crammed into 90 very fast minutes.

I'd probably watch it again to see more details and whatnot, but after that I don't think I'd ever revisit this.

------

REVIEW WITH SPOILERS, ACTUALLY MORE OF ONE NITPICKING MOMENT / MOMENTS THAT DOESN'T / DON'T RUIN THE FILM, BUT MADE ME ABOUT HOW A FILM SO SMART COULD HAVE A FLAW SO BASIC...

[Show spoiler]1. so, the pot head derails the entire plan for the company to keep the god's happy? the one girl from the company says something like, "the marijuana is affecting our ability to get to him". really? you never thought of that before? you've NEVER had that happen or come up in conversation before? christ, you control the lighting, temperature, freaking pheromones! and yet, pot, POT, which almost every horror movie contains, brings down this whole deal that's been going on for how long. while easy to overlook or not think much about, it's hard to see this as a logical miss by the company.

2. also, what they should have done, is have the pot head be the virgin! NO ONE WOULD HAVE SEEN THAT COMING! that way, when the girl dies on the dock, THEN the phone call comes saying that the virgin is still alive. that would have been a surprise twist since the guy is never the virgin.

3. i was a little disappointed with how much the company controlled. became very boring almost to see them get locked in their rooms, the cave in, the temperature, pheromones changing their behavior... would be very boring to watch if i was one of the guys in the company. laaaame. if you aren't going to have them be themselves, why set this all up? just kill them anywhere!

4. how ironic that this group of five (of course it's five, just what the gods need ) are best friends and they all each fit the profile. yeah, having the jock be a sociology major was a nice touch () though.

5. i want to see more of the Japanese girls getting attacked by the ghost / spirit in the classroom! suuuuuch dark comedy, i loved it

I look forward to watching my copy very soon.

[bluearth]

Another Earth 2011

I really dislike movies like this. Movies that create large, complex problems in which you are very interested in, but at the end no attempt is made to satisfy the audience, instead we're left in the dark in some sort of lame cliff hanger cop out ending. Another Earth is such a movie.

The movie starts out strong, but eventually gets tiring and even creepy (not in a good way). Great example of a unique premise without a director or screenplay writer talented enough to give it all justice. They should look to Jodie Foster's Contact for how to give a satisfying ending to a much larger then life plot. It didnt' have to be spectacular, expensive, mind bending or anything of that, yet "Another Earth" doesn't even try to tie any knots or give any answers.

2/5

[Diesel]

Originally Posted by P@t_Mtl

Raiders Of The Lost Ark (1981)

If adventure had a name, it would be Indiana Jones!

Back in 1981 for me and my friends that was very true. We had grown up with certain adventure movies in the 70's, movies like The Golden Voyage Of Sinbad and Sinbad & The Eye Of The Tiger but nothing came close to what we were given with Indiana Jones. Even the James Bond movies with Roger Moore look tame compared to Indy. Just like Star Wars, Indy was made with the idea of old serial from the 30's and 40's but of course with a very different budget.Even now 31 years after it first came out, Raiders Of The Lost Ark can put to shame some of the new action and adventure movies made. This was without a doubt when Spielberg, Ford and Lucas were at their strongest.

I requested to work an afternoon shift this past Saturday so that I could go and catch Raiders on the big screen since I am far too young to have seen it originally (it premiered 10 years before I did ).

Raiders and Crusade, for me, are the shining examples of how to make fantastic adventure flicks.

[Lepidopterous]

Originally Posted by jvince

A Moment of Innocence (1996)
dir. Mohsen Makhmalbaf

[Show spoiler]

The Good: The concept of a director (Makhmalbaf, who plays himself) recreating an incident where he stabbed a policeman when he was young is quite brilliant. Story and dialogue is great and very natural, seamlessly weaving its two point-of-views together. The performances by the kids are pretty good and genuine, especially considering they are inexperienced actors. It also works as a fascinating portrait of Iranian culture and society.

The Bad: The cast's inexperience shows at times. The ending, which seems to have a number of fans, is a little cheesy and abrupt (for me).

The Bottom Line: A Moment of Innocence is a solid, slice-of-life film and proof that a big budget is unnecessary; all you really need is a great story. Worth a look for those who are into such films.

Have you seen A Separation?

[jvince]

The Seventh Seal (1957)
dir. Ingmar Bergman

The Good: Great performances by Max von Sydow, Gunnar Björnstrand, Bibi Andersson, and Gunnel Lindblom. Thought-provoking screenplay. Excellent cinematography.

The Bad: Dull and unengaging (even for a fan of such philosophical films like me).

The Bottom Line: An allegorical meditation on death and the meaning of life, The Seventh Seal is worth a watch for those who are into existential films.

[jvince]

Originally Posted by iam1bearcat

Film #1

The Cabin in the Woods - 4/5

[Show spoiler]two reviews below. spoiler free and then somewhat detailed...

SPOILER FREE

The film has the majority of individual goods a film needs for me to enjoy it - atmosphere, solid acting, be consistently entertaining, ridiculously filled with "wow" / "wtf?" moments, et cetera.

A horror film to be certain that contains of course some interesting mixes with ideas and genres. What's most surprising is how the film does not hide these differences and actually starts the film with these, constantly building the questions in your mind. as soon as you think you kind of know what's happened and why and get down because you "figured it out" you quickly realize the writers GAVE you that answer and still sneak a new surprise around for you, all in good horror fashion. Very surprised by how well the writers pulled this off but then again it is Joss Whedon who has a knack for smart writing and "different" ideas.

A bit refreshing and a bit of a like Scream was way back when to a fledgling genre. I hope they don't over do though

Needless to say, there's enough material here for a television show to last 3-4 seasons with crammed into 90 very fast minutes.

I'd probably watch it again to see more details and whatnot, but after that I don't think I'd ever revisit this.

------

REVIEW WITH SPOILERS, ACTUALLY MORE OF ONE NITPICKING MOMENT / MOMENTS THAT DOESN'T / DON'T RUIN THE FILM, BUT MADE ME ABOUT HOW A FILM SO SMART COULD HAVE A FLAW SO BASIC...

[Show spoiler]1. so, the pot head derails the entire plan for the company to keep the god's happy? the one girl from the company says something like, "the marijuana is affecting our ability to get to him". really? you never thought of that before? you've NEVER had that happen or come up in conversation before? christ, you control the lighting, temperature, freaking pheromones! and yet, pot, POT, which almost every horror movie contains, brings down this whole deal that's been going on for how long. while easy to overlook or not think much about, it's hard to see this as a logical miss by the company.

2. also, what they should have done, is have the pot head be the virgin! NO ONE WOULD HAVE SEEN THAT COMING! that way, when the girl dies on the dock, THEN the phone call comes saying that the virgin is still alive. that would have been a surprise twist since the guy is never the virgin.

3. i was a little disappointed with how much the company controlled. became very boring almost to see them get locked in their rooms, the cave in, the temperature, pheromones changing their behavior... would be very boring to watch if i was one of the guys in the company. laaaame. if you aren't going to have them be themselves, why set this all up? just kill them anywhere!

4. how ironic that this group of five (of course it's five, just what the gods need ) are best friends and they all each fit the profile. yeah, having the jock be a sociology major was a nice touch () though.

5. i want to see more of the Japanese girls getting attacked by the ghost / spirit in the classroom! suuuuuch dark comedy, i loved it

Originally Posted by DjMethod

Have you seen A Separation?

Yup, I've already seen A Separation. I believe I gave it 4/5. A Moment of Innocence has a more original and intriguing concept, but A Separation is tighter and, overall, a better-made film, imo.

[Al_The_Strange]

Originally Posted by jvince

[Show spoiler]

The Seventh Seal (1957)
dir. Ingmar Bergman

The Good: Great performances by Max von Sydow, Gunnar Björnstrand, Bibi Andersson, and Gunnel Lindblom. Thought-provoking screenplay. Excellent cinematography.

The Bad: Dull and unengaging (even for a fan of such philosophical films like me).

The Bottom Line: An allegorical meditation on death and the meaning of life, The Seventh Seal is worth a watch for those who are into existential films.

"Dull and unengaging" is exactly how I felt on the first viewing.

The second time around, something happened. It clicked with me, and it felt a lot less "dull and unengaging" and more like how I feel watching a Kurosawa film.

So I give it the high points now.

[Lepidopterous]

Originally Posted by jvince

Yup, I've already seen A Separation. I believe I gave it 4/5. A Moment of Innocence has a more original and intriguing concept, but A Separation is tighter and, overall, a better-made film, imo.

Good to hear. I found it a fascinating portrait of Iranian culture, as you described A Moment of Innocence. Another thing I love about the film is how inherently flawed everyone is. I remember having empathized with every single character.

[Lepidopterous]

Originally Posted by Al_The_Strange

"Dull and unengaging" is exactly how I felt on the first viewing.

The second time around, something happened. It clicked with me, and it felt a lot less "dull and unengaging" and more like how I feel watching a Kurosawa film.

So I give it the high points now.

I had a similar take. I think most of Bergman's films are better the second time around. I suggest another viewing down the road Vince!

[BladeRunner2007]

The Boondock Saints 5/5

The Boondock Saints II: All Saints Day 4/5

[P@t_Mtl]

Spartacus (1960)

I'm Spartacus!

This is probably the most un-Kubrick movie ever made by Kubrick, just doesn't feel the same as some as is other movies. In fact it sometimes feel like it could have been done by almost any other director from that time. Last time I saw this movie was at least 30 years ago. Three reasons for that

1. I am not a fan of Stanley Kubrick even if I can like certain of his movies.

2. I am really not a fan of Kirk Douglas, mister over acting.

3. I am really, really not a fan of Tony Curtis, a pretty boy who's talent was more about selling that he was good than having any talent at all.

The rest of the cast is quite impressive. The movie is epic in style and production. Maybe I will see it again in another 30 years?