The Movie Review and Discussion Thread

[jvince]

Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai (1999)
dir. Jim Jarmusch

The Good: Ingenious concept; It's about a mafia hitman who lives by the code of the samurai. My favorite Forest Withaker role. Cool. Badass. Has some really great sequences. Like how the cartoons the characters watch foreshadow subsequent events.

The Bad: Gets a little too quirky at times.

The Bottom Line: If you enjoyed Refn's Drive, Kitano's Hana-Bi, or Melville's classic Le Samouraï, you must watch Ghost Dog.

[SquidPuppet]

Originally Posted by DjMethod

I have never ordered HBO but I am joining just to watch this season.

You should catch the first two seasons on Blu-ray, if you havent already.

PQ and AQ

That music gives me the shivers.

[SquidPuppet]

Originally Posted by KilloWertz

Game of Thrones. Overrated. It's not like Episode 9 of Season Two wasn't or anything....

[Show spoiler]

I just watch their shows on Blu-ray though. I have no other use for HBO, and I have no problem owning their shows that I buy, although I'm in the minority about Boardwalk Empire's second season and need an improved third season to keep that one.

Thats my routine as well. Episode 9 was crazy, but I really enjoyed the emotion of episode ten. Plus the bonus of finally seeing the.........

Season One Locations:Most scenes were shot in Northern Ireland. The primary locations being the Paint Hall Studio in the Titanic Quarter of Belfast, Northern Ireland, Among other exterior locations, Castle Ward and Doune Castle in central Scotland served as the backdrop for Winterfell. For the initial shooting of the pilot in 2009, additional filming locations included Cairncastle, Shane's Castle, Castle Ward, Magheramorne Quarry, and Tollymore Forest Park, all in Northern Ireland. The "King's Landing" exterior scenes were shot at various locations in Malta, including the city of Mdina and the island of Gozo.

Season Two Locations:The walled city of Dubrovnik stands in for King's Landing in season 2. The city of Dubrovnik, Croatia, was used instead of Malta for scenes in King's Landing and elsewhere. Scenes set north of the Wall were filmed in Iceland, on the Vatnajökull glacier, in November 2011. New shooting locations in Northern Ireland include Gosford Castle, outside Markethill in County Armagh and at Downhill Strand.

$$$$$$$

[Abdrewes]

This is the Movie Discussion thread, not TV

Going to see Jack the Giant K. Later today, I really have no desire to see it, review coming soon

[Al_The_Strange]

Since we were all talking about sushi not too long ago, my last greatest blind-buys were:

Sushi Girl

Pretty fun little crime flick with some enjoyable performances. It gets a little dry and dreary, especially since it's such a dark and gritty-looking film, but for a film that secludes itself in a single setting with a naked girl being used as a sushi table as the main centerpiece, it's not bad.

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

Recommendation: As a rental.

The Blu-Ray looks and sounds fine and dandy.

PQ: 4/5, AQ: 4/5




Dead Sushi

This is more like it; in a similar vein as Machine Girl, this is a crazy, wacky, super-violent epic of ridiculous proportions, which pits mutant sushi against human beings! It combines culinary art with martial arts. It's so silly and ridiculous, it's often quite funny.

4/5 (Entertainment: Very Good | Story: Pretty Good | Film: Pretty Good)

Recommendation: As a rental.

On Blu-Ray, it looks good and sounds okay.

PQ: 4/5, AQ: 3.5/5

[Al_The_Strange]

Originally Posted by Abdrewes

Going to see Jack the Giant K. Later today, I really have no desire to see it, review coming soon

Sounds like a lot of folks are predetermined to dislike it. I'll be curious to know what your expectations were, and whether or not the film delivered or exceeded them.

[KilloWertz]

Originally Posted by SquidPuppet

Thats my routine as well. Episode 9 was crazy, but I really enjoyed the emotion of episode ten. Plus the bonus of finally seeing the.........

Season One Locations:Most scenes were shot in Northern Ireland. The primary locations being the Paint Hall Studio in the Titanic Quarter of Belfast, Northern Ireland, Among other exterior locations, Castle Ward and Doune Castle in central Scotland served as the backdrop for Winterfell. For the initial shooting of the pilot in 2009, additional filming locations included Cairncastle, Shane's Castle, Castle Ward, Magheramorne Quarry, and Tollymore Forest Park, all in Northern Ireland. The "King's Landing" exterior scenes were shot at various locations in Malta, including the city of Mdina and the island of Gozo.

Season Two Locations:The walled city of Dubrovnik stands in for King's Landing in season 2. The city of Dubrovnik, Croatia, was used instead of Malta for scenes in King's Landing and elsewhere. Scenes set north of the Wall were filmed in Iceland, on the Vatnajökull glacier, in November 2011. New shooting locations in Northern Ireland include Gosford Castle, outside Markethill in County Armagh and at Downhill Strand.

$$$$$$$

Yeah. What is going to happen with them in Season 3 should be interesting. There's so many of them.

The budget has to be crazy for the show, which is surely the main reason why it's only 10 episodes. They saved a lot of the budget for Episode 9, and all the other 9 episodes still had the same high production values they always do, so it's a good thing this show is as popular as it is.

The CG work is fantastic as well, but shooting on location helps keep the possibility of noticing the CG at a minimum obviously. It's not quite like Boardwalk Empire where you can tell some of the CG shots based solely on the fact that the camera doesn't move as natural as it does during the regular shots.

[Steve46]

The Road (2009)
Adventure, Drama, 111 minutes
Directed by John Hillcoat
Starring Viggo Mortensen, Kodi Smit-McPhee, Charlize Theron, Robert Duvall and Guy Pearce

Some movies are hard to watch, and The Road belongs in that category. But I have chosen to review it because it deserves an audience.The director is John Hillcoat, who was responsible for The Proposition and Lawless. Like both of those movies, this one features music composed by Nick Cave. The bleak nature of the story is a perfect fit for Cave's music.

As you might expect, the movie didn't have much of an impact at the box office. I suppose that most people are reluctant to expose themselves to such a sad story?

When you strip it right down, the film is about the love a father has for his son. We never learn their names; any references made simply refer to The Man (Mortensen) and The Boy (Smit-McPhee). These two actors carry the movie, but we occasionally see people they encounter, and flashbacks of The Man's wife (Theron). Her role is small, but the scenes are effective, and help to frame the story.

There are many reasons to see this movie.

Viggo Mortensen delivers a superb performance that failed to receive the Oscar recognition it deserved. Perhaps the voters never saw the movie either?

We learn that The Man's wife couldn't face life in a world where everything was dying, so he is solely responsible for his son. The reason for the apocalypse is only hinted at, and mentions a sudden light. It leaves the skies permanently gray, and everything covered in a layer of ash. Trees, plants, and insects are dead or dying. The only life remaining comes in the form of a few humans, and many of them aren't too fussy about how they survive.

Perhaps this is what the world might eventually look like if Earth was struck by an asteroid?

The movie could be viewed as a metaphor for life itself. When we face terrible events in our own lives, most of us choose to weather the storm and survive to the best of our abilities. Imagine a life where there was nothing left to achieve. What would you do? The Man decides that he will take his son to the coast. Perhaps things will be better there, and maybe there will be something left alive.

What makes The Road an astounding story is the writing. Cormac McCarthy's book is strangely moving. It succeeds because of the intensity of the brief dialog between father and son. The son asks a lot of questions, and often wonders whether they are the good guys. The father explains as well as he can, and his son accepts all of his words without question.

The Road is nothing like McCarthy's No Country for Old Men, and isn't designed to be a piece of entertainment. It's a study on human character, and what drives us to exist at all. I admire post-apocalyptic stories when they are done well, and this is about as realistic as it gets. If you enjoy seeing how society breaks down when money is meaningless and food is scarce, you'll find the story interesting. If you are a parent, I would be surprised if you aren't moved at the love between father and son.

What would you do to protect the life of your child? How would you justify your actions? Could you kill and still be a good person?

I won't reveal how the story ends, or comment on whether it is uplifting or as sad as the rest of the movie. That's for you to discover. All I will see is that The Road is a significant achievement, and brings to life a book that seemed almost impossible to film. The cinematography is particularly convincing.

If you are a fan of The Grey, The Mist, Children of Men, or The Stand, there's a fair chance you'll find something interesting in The Road. Don't watch it if you are expecting an action movie.

The Blu-ray offers a strong presentation, but it won't dazzle you because the colors are deliberately muted to fit the story. You need to be in the right mood to watch The Road, but it's worth it when that mood strikes. You'll never take another meal for granted.

4/5

[Abdrewes]

Originally Posted by Al_The_Strange

Sounds like a lot of folks are predetermined to dislike it. I'll be curious to know what your expectations were, and whether or not the film delivered or exceeded them.

I hear the bean stalk is fantastically imagined, so there's that I know it won't be Aguirre: Wrath of God, but I'm not totally dreading it either.

I felt tempted to revisit Superman Returns this week, but I guess I'll do that in June.

[legendarymatt92]

Originally Posted by Steve46

The Road (2009)
Adventure, Drama, 111 minutes
Directed by John Hillcoat
Starring Viggo Mortensen, Kodi Smit-McPhee, Charlize Theron, Robert Duvall and Guy Pearce

Some movies are hard to watch, and The Road belongs in that category. But I have chosen to review it because it deserves an audience.The director is John Hillcoat, who was responsible for The Proposition and Lawless. Like both of those movies, this one features music composed by Nick Cave. The bleak nature of the story is a perfect fit for Cave's music.

As you might expect, the movie didn't have much of an impact at the box office. I suppose that most people are reluctant to expose themselves to such a sad story?

[Show spoiler]When you strip it right down, the film is about the love a father has for his son. We never learn their names; any references made simply refer to The Man (Mortensen) and The Boy (Smit-McPhee). These two actors carry the movie, but we occasionally see people they encounter, and flashbacks of The Man's wife (Theron). Her role is small, but the scenes are effective, and help to frame the story.

There are many reasons to see this movie.

Viggo Mortensen delivers a superb performance that failed to receive the Oscar recognition it deserved. Perhaps the voters never saw the movie either?

We learn that The Man's wife couldn't face life in a world where everything was dying, so he is solely responsible for his son. The reason for the apocalypse is only hinted at, and mentions a sudden light. It leaves the skies permanently gray, and everything covered in a layer of ash. Trees, plants, and insects are dead or dying. The only life remaining comes in the form of a few humans, and many of them aren't too fussy about how they survive.

Perhaps this is what the world might eventually look like if Earth was struck by an asteroid?

The movie could be viewed as a metaphor for life itself. When we face terrible events in our own lives, most of us choose to weather the storm and survive to the best of our abilities. Imagine a life where there was nothing left to achieve. What would you do? The Man decides that he will take his son to the coast. Perhaps things will be better there, and maybe there will be something left alive.

What makes The Road an astounding story is the writing. Cormac McCarthy's book is strangely moving. It succeeds because of the intensity of the brief dialog between father and son. The son asks a lot of questions, and often wonders whether they are the good guys. The father explains as well as he can, and his son accepts all of his words without question.

The Road is nothing like McCarthy's No Country for Old Men, and isn't designed to be a piece of entertainment. It's a study on human character, and what drives us to exist at all. I admire post-apocalyptic stories when they are done well, and this is about as realistic as it gets. If you enjoy seeing how society breaks down when money is meaningless and food is scarce, you'll find the story interesting. If you are a parent, I would be surprised if you aren't moved at the love between father and son.

What would you do to protect the life of your child? How would you justify your actions? Could you kill and still be a good person?

I won't reveal how the story ends, or comment on whether it is uplifting or as sad as the rest of the movie. That's for you to discover. All I will see is that The Road is a significant achievement, and brings to life a book that seemed almost impossible to film. The cinematography is particularly convincing.

If you are a fan of The Grey, The Mist, Children of Men, or The Stand, there's a fair chance you'll find something interesting in The Road. Don't watch it if you are expecting an action movie.

The Blu-ray offers a strong presentation, but it won't dazzle you because the colors are deliberately muted to fit the story. You need to be in the right mood to watch The Road, but it's worth it when that mood strikes. You'll never take another meal for granted.

4/5

There's that, but also the fact that it's not anything like the blockbuster fodder that manages to earn an extreme profit. It's an amazing film but you see it more for the emotional experience rather than the visceral thrill, and I think that's what destroyed its chances in cinemas.

What a sad, sad world we live in...

[Show spoiler]

[Pondosinatra]

Originally Posted by Steve46

The Road (2009)
Adventure, Drama, 111 minutes
Directed by John Hillcoat
Starring Viggo Mortensen, Kodi Smit-McPhee, Charlize Theron, Robert Duvall and Guy Pearce

...

One of the best, if not the best post-apocalyptic movies. Period.

[Abdrewes]

Originally Posted by Pondosinatra

One of the best, if not the best post-apocalyptic movies. Period.

I really liked it, but it doesn't compare to McCarthy's novel

[Lepidopterous]

Originally Posted by SquidPuppet

You should catch the first two seasons on Blu-ray, if you havent already.

PQ and AQ

That music gives me the shivers.

I saw the first season on blu and the second through my friend's HBO On-Demand service. The first season is just a notch better than the second, though S2 Episode 9 blew me away. I've mentioned the show on here before, but it's hard to expand on it without derailing the thread as Abdrewes mentioned. It's my favorite show on television and in my top 5 all time. Many series begin losing momentum at the third season, but that trailer looks very promising. And a big George R.R. Martin fan at Comic Con told me the best of the books is yet to come. I didn't want to know more than that.

Originally Posted by SquidPuppet

Season One Locations:

[Show spoiler]Most scenes were shot in Northern Ireland. The primary locations being the Paint Hall Studio in the Titanic Quarter of Belfast, Northern Ireland, Among other exterior locations, Castle Ward and Doune Castle in central Scotland served as the backdrop for Winterfell. For the initial shooting of the pilot in 2009, additional filming locations included Cairncastle, Shane's Castle, Castle Ward, Magheramorne Quarry, and Tollymore Forest Park, all in Northern Ireland. The "King's Landing" exterior scenes were shot at various locations in Malta, including the city of Mdina and the island of Gozo.

Season Two Locations:The walled city of Dubrovnik stands in for King's Landing in season 2. The city of Dubrovnik, Croatia, was used instead of Malta for scenes in King's Landing and elsewhere. Scenes set north of the Wall were filmed in Iceland, on the Vatnajökull glacier, in November 2011. New shooting locations in Northern Ireland include Gosford Castle, outside Markethill in County Armagh and at Downhill Strand.

$$$$$$$

This reminds me how loaded the blu-rays are with special features.

[Lepidopterous]

Dr. Svet's review of the British release of Amour is out. And I couldn't agree more with his last paragraph:

Originally Posted by Dr. Svet Atanasov

Michael Haneke's Amour is the most honest, most brutal yet genuinely uplifting film about love that I have ever seen. I think it is fair to say that it is also Haneke's best film to date.

[Abdrewes]

Originally Posted by DjMethod

Dr. Svet's review of the British release of Amour is out. And I couldn't agree more with his last paragraph:

I think Amour is a great film, But Hidden is his masterpiece.

[iam1bearcat]

The Perks of Being A Wallflower - 3/5

what the f*ck was this?

i had no idea this was going to be so depressing. what a great way to spend a Sunday afternoon

i like how they deliberately made the film look cloudy and sh*t just like from the 90's, nice touch. not that i really wanted to see that again since i hate that "look" but it fit the film very well.

solid acting by the cast, especially the tall stringy dude who's name i cannot recall.

the main character, Charlie did okay. Paul Rudd was underutilized and didn't even come of as Paul Rudd so i wonder why they got such a well known actor for that role.

the story was waaaaaaaay badly paced. serious whiplash from the frantic mood changes. ah, just like teenagers i suppose

but seriously, wtf. a weird, quiet sad kid apparently had bad things happen to him, or someone he know. or both. or something. they don't tell us. and they have no build up to it or conclusion. just felt... weirdly tacked on. did not translate to film well at all imo.

like Method said, maybe i'm just too old to connect to this mopey, "woe is me" high school stuff anymore although KilloWertz enjoyed it and he's old than i am so who knows

some neat scenes and an at times touching ending with the graduation, but in the end this was barely passable and i almost turned it off numerous times. i thought this was going to be quirky, like the title was / is. i wasn't expecting such a bleak, whiny film. i guess i should have expected it since it contains teenagers but oh well

[Steve46]

Originally Posted by iam1bearcat

The Perks of Being A Wallflower - 3/5

what the f*ck was this?

i had no idea this was going to be so depressing. what a great way to spend a Sunday afternoon

i like how they deliberately made the film look cloudy and sh*t just like from the 90's, nice touch. not that i really wanted to see that again since i hate that "look" but it fit the film very well.

solid acting by the cast, especially the tall stringy dude who's name i cannot recall.

the main character, Charlie did okay. Paul Rudd was underutilized and didn't even come of as Paul Rudd so i wonder why they got such a well known actor for that role.

the story was waaaaaaaay badly paced. serious whiplash from the frantic mood changes. ah, just like teenagers i suppose

but seriously, wtf. a weird, quiet sad kid apparently had bad things happen to him, or someone he know. or both. or something. they don't tell us. and they have no build up to it or conclusion. just felt... weirdly tacked on. did not translate to film well at all imo.

like Method said, maybe i'm just too old to connect to this mopey, "woe is me" high school stuff anymore although KilloWertz enjoyed it and he's old than i am so who knows

some neat scenes and an at times touching ending with the graduation, but in the end this was barely passable and i almost turned it off numerous times. i thought this was going to be quirky, like the title was / is. i wasn't expecting such a bleak, whiny film. i guess i should have expected it since it contains teenagers but oh well

I loved it (4.5/5) and I'm 50, but it's just another way that I'm weird.

[Madman2112]

Is "Sushi Girl" worth a blind buy? I missed out on this when it was released.

[legendarymatt92]

Originally Posted by Pondosinatra

One of the best, if not the best post-apocalyptic movies. Period.

A Boy and His Dog has to take that award. What a remarkably strange and twisted film.

[SquidPuppet]

Originally Posted by Steve46

I loved it (4.5/5) and I'm 50, but it's just another way that I'm weird.

That makes me wonder if I should give it a shot.