The Movie Review and Discussion Thread

[Foggy]

Lockout

Pretty surprised by this one. Didn't out and out love it, but there's a lot to get behind here. It's reminiscent of a simpler time of action films. It's really gritty yet light hearted enough to not bog you down, it gets a nice enough balance.

Sure, the film could of done with a little more polish, the CGI segments are beyond embarrassing for modern day theatrical release. But it's got a quick enough pace that you don't really question things. I guess the films biggest problem is the fact that really dark reveals around the history of the space jail are too easily shrugged off and not developed enough, ending up just added in to give an illusion of depth instead of any, but like I said, it move to quick to argue with while the film goes down.

I can't argue with the characters either, Leonard Shelby plays Snake Plisscan decently enough, keeping the audience up beat, an old fashioned agent set up on the mission unwillingly and will wisecrack until the films final seconds. That lady from Lost was a tad annoying as well, oh well

The baddies are evil Irish dudes, but they're pretty well fleshed out, and very menacing in most cases. With an odd yet well played bit of dramatic tragedy at the end, which is easy telegraph, but still good to see a mainstream film go full measures with it's set up, no matter how dark it seems.

I was sort of looking forward to this, but also skeptical. It did look like a sheer rip off of Escape from New York, and while it was, they got what made that film great, and tried to run away from getting too close to being a modern day clone. It's not entirely successful, the ending it complete pants, but the huge key chunk of the film entertains.

7.5/10

[Al_The_Strange]

Originally Posted by Foggy

Lockout

[Show spoiler]
Pretty surprised by this one. Didn't out and out love it, but there's a lot to get behind here. It's reminiscent of a simpler time of action films. It's really gritty yet light hearted enough to not bog you down, it gets a nice enough balance.

Sure, the film could of done with a little more polish, the CGI segments are beyond embarrassing for modern day theatrical release. But it's got a quick enough pace that you don't really question things. I guess the films biggest problem is the fact that really dark reveals around the history of the space jail are too easily shrugged off and not developed enough, ending up just added in to give an illusion of depth instead of any, but like I said, it move to quick to argue with while the film goes down.

I can't argue with the characters either, Leonard Shelby play Snake Plisscan decently enough, keeping the audience up beat, an old fashioned agent set up on the mission unwillingly and will wisecrack until the films final seconds. That lady from Lost was a tad annoying as well, oh well

The baddies are evil Irish dudes, but they're pretty well fleshed out, and very menacing in most cases. With an odd yet well played bit of dramatic tension at the end, which is easy telegraph, but still good to see a mainstream film go full measures with it's set up, no matter how dark it seems.

I was sort of looking forward to this, but also skeptical. It did look like a sheer rip off of Escape from New York, and while it was, they got what made that film great, and tried to run away from getting too close to being a modern day clone. It's not entirely successful, the ending it complete pants, but the huge key chunk of the film entertains.

7.5/10

I did blind-buy this some weeks ago, but I don't think I bothered to review it. I pretty much agree with everything here. It had some fun moments.

[Diesel]

Pretty spot on review of Lockout Foggy


I'll likely grab it when it can be had for $10 or less.

[KilloWertz]

Originally Posted by iam1bearcat

High Fidelity is one of the most criminally underrated movies of all time. it's ridiculous how good it is and no one remembers or knows of it. i love it as well and it's been awhile since i've watched it. may have to pick up the blu-ray today (if i remember after work ) and enjoy again

Blind bought that during the Upgrade and Save promotion. I just haven't watched it yet because I'm severely backed up on movies, but soon.

[jvince]

Walk the Line (2005)
The story of Johnny Cash, warts and all. Joaquin Phoenix and Reese Witherspoon turn in some truly incredible performances (Phoenix especially ) as Cash and June Carter. Their love story is quite fascinating and romantic without ever being sentimental. Music is so impressive, I can't believe Phoenix and Witherspoon actually sang all of the songs in the film; they sound absolutely terrific. Really solid biopic and one of the better ones out there. There's just this feeling that, despite being an honest and deglamorized account of the country music legend's life, there still seemed to be some other crucial moments left out. Could have been even better in the hands of a more skilled and refined director.

[jvince]

Originally Posted by iam1bearcat

High Fidelity is one of the most criminally underrated movies of all time. it's ridiculous how good it is and no one remembers or knows of it. i love it as well and it's been awhile since i've watched it. may have to pick up the blu-ray today (if i remember after work ) and enjoy again

I know. It's insane how nobody really talks about this film and how great it is. I only remembered to check this movie out after going through TSPDT's Highly Recommended list. Terribly overlooked and underrated. More people need to see it.

Originally Posted by KilloWertz

Blind bought that during the Upgrade and Save promotion. I just haven't watched it yet because I'm severely backed up on movies, but soon.

Cool. Hope you like it as much as we do.

I really want to own it on blu-ray, but it looks like a lackluster one. I hope they give it a proper release with a ton of extras.

[MikeCL]

Just watched the movie The Hunger Games it was a blind buy for me I wont lie the first hour and a half was a little slow but after that it picked up pretty good I picked up the target version of it.

The fighting was pretty good, and I swear with my sound system I thought the bugs were outside since I had my window cracked.

[volcomsocal]

Originally Posted by lDlisturb3d

Warrior

Wow, this is the best fighting movie in the last 4 years. Really enjoyed this flick. Almost cried about 3 times but i was a big boy!! The last 30 mins of the movie is really crucial, i dont think i was breathing. Great movie, i would recommend this to ANY movie lover.

4.5/5

Yeah, such a great film. Just watched this for the second time last night. Just awesome.

Originally Posted by Tony208

Blue Valentine (2010) Ryan Gosling, Michelle Williams

This makes you feel like a little kid watching the parents marriage disintegrate before your very eyes. You don't know why it's happening, what went wrong, only that it is real. You're left wondering how it came to this when they seemed so happy not long ago.

8.5/10

Yet another excellent film. I've only watched this once, but I plan on revisiting it again. Such a great movie.


-----------------

A couple nights ago, I watched Drive for the second time.

It wasn't as "shock and awe" the second time around, but I still loved it. Atmosphere, acting, soundtrack, and action are the key elements to this movie. I'll never get bored of this one.

[BladeRunner2007]

The Cabin in the Woods 4.5/5

Amazing film! Don't read anything about it and just watch it. It'll blow you away!

Total Recall (1990) 5/5

I know 5 stars seems to be a bit over the top, but I love this movie to death.

[Foggy]

The Expendables 2

Back in 2010, I was an Expendables apologist. I laughed my ass off at how ridiculous it was, leading into nothing but an orgy of bullets, 'splosions and gore, it had it's problems, but I guess it struck me in the right places at the right time.

Expendables 2 is better, but also worse at the same time...I know it doesn't make sense but give me a chance to explain.

The ways that The Expendables 2 work is that it's action is better choreographed and way better shot, in the original, Stallone decided the best way to show if his action scenes where to zoom in as close as possible, so all you could see was an arm, a few teeth, nose and an eye at most. Here, the camera is pulled back and the choreography, is actually choreography.

And I'll admit, while I wasn't into the film at all, the final 30 mins, are flat out superb. Each actor is trying there hardest to chew the scenery, bad puns are a flying and practically every has a decent kill, will probably thousands of identify-less Russians with guns (who come out of nowhere) are reduced to slush puppies

Some of the puns are great, like Statham's "I now pronounce you man and knife", some are pretty generic, like Van Damme's "I see you're all tied up" and some are pretty bad and don't even make sense. Probably the weakest, but the one you'll end up forgiving, is Arnie, who at the end, I wasn't sure if it was bad writing or if he had a sudden sprout of dementia.

While it's all fun and games, the film for the most part blows. The biggest problem being the fact it's too self referential and camp. In the original, the film was unbelievable stupid, but it played itself straight faced serious, making it more akin to those 80's films it was resurrecting, over being reminiscent. The film played a lot of serious moments, but you were forgiving because it at least gave you the illusion it was too naive to know it wasn't very good, and of course, made the cheese more hilarious.

Here, it knows straight up it's dumb, yet it still plays these serious scenes with an attempt at emotion, and they happen so much through the first part of the film. And the serious dialogue is the most generic and dull dialogue you could imagine up, and it's played serious.

In a film, where the villain is literally called "Vilain", they still try to get emotional resonance out of you. In a film, where they use about three different renditions of the "I'll be back" line, they still try to get emotional resonance out of you. IN A FILM, which features Chuck Norris making a Chuck Norris joke, THEY STILL TRY TO GET EMOTIONAL RESONANCE OUT OF YOU!!!!

It seems like I'm making a big deal out of this, but this makes up an entire hour and fifteen minutes of the film, you'd not believe how pain-achingly boring it becomes. That is the greatest crime an action film can do to me!

You don't care for these characters, mainly because it never ever tries to make them characters. They're actors, you'll know them as those actors, the only characters name you'll remember is Vilain, and that's because it's a name so stupid a stroke patient probably came up with it (a bit mean I know, but come on, it's dumb!!!). So why does the film find it necessary to bog itself down with this crap.

The original had a novelty, but it tried and nobly failed, and yet delivered what you oddly enough wanted (by the way, that films final 20 minutes features more explosions than this films entire runtime). Here, they know what you want, it laps up that novelty, and it delivers. But you have to swim through a lot of crap to get to it. It's like an excellent punchline to the worlds worst set up.

But when they hit that punchline, I can't deny that I had a smile the size of a cheshire cat through it all.

5/10

[KilloWertz]

Originally Posted by jvince

Cool. Hope you like it as much as we do.

I really want to own it on blu-ray, but it looks like a lackluster one. I hope they give it a proper release with a ton of extras.

Thanks. Obviously I hope I do too.

True, there aren't very many special features, but they did port everything from the DVD release. Obviously new features are great, but I'd still blame the fact that the Blu-ray doesn't have much on the fact that the DVD didn't. The PQ doesn't seem to be anything special either judging by the review, but I'm still happy to own it since I obviously never have before. Also, it only cost me $8 because of the recent Upgrade and Save promotion Best Buy had.

[lDlisturb3d]

Expendables 2

First off the movie is strictly about the cast. The story is ok but its mostly seeing all these 80's action heroes. I highly recommend anyone that likes the cast to watch this movie. Its pure awesomeness. There's something special about all these guys being on the screen. The jokes they crack are vintage but well worth the breath. Van Damme is such a Bad A$$ and Chuck........ lol ill let you see for yourself. Stallone, Van Damme, Lundgren, Norris, Schwarzenegger, and Willis. This is a MUST SEE!

4/5

[lDlisturb3d]

Originally Posted by foggy

the expendables 2

[Show spoiler]back in 2010, i was an expendables apologist. I laughed my ass off at how ridiculous it was, leading into nothing but an orgy of bullets, 'splosions and gore, it had it's problems, but i guess it struck me in the right places at the right time.

expendables 2 is better, but also worse at the same time...i know it doesn't make sense but give me a chance to explain.

the ways that the expendables 2 work is that it's action is better choreographed and way better shot, in the original, stallone decided the best way to show if his action scenes where to zoom in as close as possible, so all you could see was an arm, a few teeth, nose and an eye at most. Here, the camera is pulled back and the choreography, is actually choreography.

And i'll admit, while i wasn't into the film at all, the final 30 mins, are flat out superb. Each actor is trying there hardest to chew the scenery, bad puns are a flying and practically every has a decent kill, will probably thousands of identify-less russians with guns (who come out of nowhere) are reduced to slush puppies

Some of the puns are great, like statham's "i now pronounce you man and knife", some are pretty generic, like van damme's "i see you're all tied up" and some are pretty bad and don't even make sense. Probably the weakest, but the one you'll end up forgiving, is arnie, who at the end, i wasn't sure if it was bad writing or if he had a sudden sprout of dementia.

While it's all fun and games, the film for the most part blows. The biggest problem being the fact it's too self referential and camp. In the original, the film was unbelievable stupid, but it played itself straight faced serious, making it more akin to those 80's films it was resurrecting, over being reminiscent. The film played a lot of serious moments, but you were forgiving because it at least gave you the illusion it was too naive to know it wasn't very good, and of course, made the cheese more hilarious.

here, it knows straight up it's dumb, yet it still plays these serious scenes with an attempt at emotion, and they happen so much through the first part of the film. And the serious dialogue is the most generic and dull dialogue you could imagine up, and it's played serious.

In a film, where the villain is literally called "vilain", they still try to get emotional resonance out of you. In a film, where they use about three different renditions of the "i'll be back" line, they still try to get emotional resonance out of you. In a film, which features chuck norris making a chuck norris joke, they still try to get emotional resonance out of you!!!!

It seems like i'm making a big deal out of this, but this makes up an entire hour and fifteen minutes of the film, you'd not believe how pain-achingly boring it becomes. That is the greatest crime an action film can do to me!

You don't care for these characters, mainly because it never ever tries to make them characters. They're actors, you'll know them as those actors, the only characters name you'll remember is vilain, and that's because it's a name so stupid a stroke patient probably came up with it (a bit mean i know, but come on, it's dumb!!!). So why does the film find it necessary to bog itself down with this crap.

The original had a novelty, but it tried and nobly failed, and yet delivered what you oddly enough wanted (by the way, that films final 20 minutes features more explosions than this films entire runtime). Here, they know what you want, it laps up that novelty, and it delivers. But you have to swim through a lot of crap to get to it. It's like an excellent punchline to the worlds worst set up.

But when they hit that punchline, i can't deny that i had a smile the size of a cheshire cat through it all.

5/10

Froggy this movie is meant for those who like those 80's all star action guys. Its the same cheese except its aged a little (Which I Love) If you dont like them then everything will seem corny to you. I grew up watching all of these guys so i thought it was awesome! In addition this is kinda an American thing. Mindless action with an awesome vintage cast. You cant go wrong in my eyes.

[Foggy]

Originally Posted by lDlisturb3d

[/spoiler]

Froggy this movie is meant for those who like those 80's all star action guys. Its the same cheese except its aged a little (Which I Love) If you dont like them then everything will seem corny to you. I grew up watching all of these guys so i thought it was awesome! In addition this is kinda an American thing. Mindless action with an awesome vintage cast. You cant go wrong in my eyes.

I love 80's action film, I did say in my review that I had a great time with the first one, but this was just boring me for the most part, with the exception of the fantastic climax. The film has it's great moments, I just wished it had cut the BS and gone all out. It become more frustrating than anything.

[Foggy]

Man on a Ledge

I know Diesel gave it a good review, but that wasn't the reason I wanted to check it out. A friend of mine who likes everything (He said that I should check out Green Lantern...see how that turned out) said that this was "The worst film he had ever seen"

Well I have to see it now

Personally, the last truly awful film I saw was In Time (a film which fell apart at every conceivable level) and this is nowhere near as bad as that. But I won't say it's good. It's just completely by the book bland filmmaking.

Sam Worthington is terrible in it, his Australian accent kept butting through every 10 minutes, I'm surprised the director didn't tell him to re-do the take. Jamie Bell is terribly written in it, and the lady with him is the worst actress I've seen in a film for a while. Almost any supporting character in this film has the most generic dribble to say.

The heist part of the film is tedious, as it's basically "people doing stuff" without any real set up. Plus, for a family that seems to be completely broke, they don't half have some expensive gear to break into an unbreakable vault.

The thriller part of the film is decent and only manages to keep the film watchable, as Elizabeth Banks attempts to keep Worthington on a ledge, but even then, you already know Worthington isn't going to jump, so they play that up too much. The only interesting thing is how are they going to use the suicide thing well, and there are some cool stuff thrown in, like people holding banners telling that they love Worthington. Although is everyone that cynical in New York, wanting him to jump and betting on his life. I guess it was some half arsed social commentary that they gave up on halfway through the film

And I will admit, it is kinda interesting seeing what they can do with just a ledge, as you wonder how they're going to push it above and beyond. But then this leads to the ending...

the absolute god awful ending that would require a dissertation from me to truly explain why it sucks. It's the laziest way to wrap up the film. Heck, the entire idea of him stealing a diamond to prove he didn't steal a diamond is stupid...

Wait, yeah, that entire thing doesn't make any sense, this film is a pile of crap. I don't know why I was thinking this wasn't too bad, **** this film

2/10

[lDlisturb3d]

Originally Posted by Foggy

I love 80's action film, I did say in my review that I had a great time with the first one, but this was just boring me for the most part, with the exception of the fantastic climax. The film has it's great moments, I just wished it had cut the BS and gone all out. It become more frustrating than anything.

Ok I see your point. In all honesty they could of left out the emotioal (well attempt) parts. That was just too lame

[jvince]

Back to the Future (1985)
Haven't seen this in about ten years. Still loads of fun. Christopher Lloyd/Doc Brown is still awesome (and so is his DeLorean). So many plot holes though, like how come nobody remembers Marty anymore?!

[P@t_Mtl]

I will be coming here from now on. I use to go in the thread of the movie I had just saw to talk about it but that seem to only draw negativity from certain people, so today I just saw

Hugo (2011)

Enough time as pass since the release for me to received conflicting comments on this movie. From what I have heard in the last 9 months, you either got it or you did not. Not in the sense that the movie is one of those with a hard message to follow but in the story itself. It seem some people liked it and others did not. You can count me in as one who liked it, liked it very much. It's a wonderful movie, well acted and rather well directed by Scorsese. I would never call myself a huge fan of Scorsese but from time to time he does manage to touch me with one of his work, Hugo was one of those. Kingsley was amazing as Melies. The one little detail that sort of bother me was the background CGI which sometimes felt to "cartoonish" compared to the real action in front. However even some of the sets elements do seem at time a little too cartoonish and I suspect this may have been maybe done on purpose, maybe for the 3D viewing. In any case it's a small matter that really does not take anything away from the rest of the wonderful story. I recommend it if you have not seen it but I suspect most people have by now.

[Al_The_Strange]

"Cat in the Hat"

It's a classic. Dammit.

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

Recommendation: Yes, especially for families and kids and stuff.

The Blu-Ray looks and sounds good.

PQ: 4.5/5, AQ: 4/5




"The Dark Half"

Had this as part of a Stephen King DVD box set I got a long time ago, but never gave it a full viewing until now. For good reason; the movie feels long and bloated. Some freaky stuff happens, but not nearly enough to warrant such a long runtime (much less repeat viewings). The story's kinda interesting, but I never felt fully invested in the events or characters. I'm sure King made it into a fine and dandy book; the movie's just alright.

3/5 (Entertainment: Average | Story: Average | Film: Pretty Good)




Next greatest blind-buy: "Frankenhooker"

Uh, yep. The title should say it all. It's one of those cheesy, dumb, silly, over-the-top horror comedies, and it's quite successful. It's got some over-the-top violence, but it's not an outright splatter film (which is probably for the better). It does have plenty of nudity, which is nice. The story seemed sound, until I realized it was the exact same thing as "The Brain That Would Not Die!" Still, it's a fun one.

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

Recommendation: As a rental.

The UK Blu-Ray has good picture and alright sound, as I recall. The PQ might have some grain, noise, and color issues, but it's still pretty sharp most of the time, with decent colors and contrast. Packaging is awesome.

PQ: 3.5/5, AQ: 3.5/5




Next greatest blind-buy: "Maniac Cop."

It's a fine and dandy slasher film with some good consideration to its story and a few standout cinematic moments. Still, I expected something more gruesome or silly, I dunno. The story's not bad, and either are the performances.

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

Recommendation: As a rental.

Once again, the quality looks and sounds good, with just a few nitpicks. Some grain/noise/drabness, but still sharp. Packaging is great.

PQ: 3.5/5, AQ: 3.5/5




"Metropolis" 1927 Giorgio Moroder Version

Mostly background viewing while I was working on stuff. The original (complete) "Metropolis" gets a 5/5, best silent film ever! This rock 'n roll version seemed a little off-putting, considering the color tinting (which I've never been a fan of in any silent film), the strange mash-up of 80s rock with the old-fashioned visuals, or the fact that this cut is only 90 something minutes long. Anti-revisionists might be ticked. Still, I learned to accept it, and it has some moments that make it striking in its own little way. Just not quite as complete, coherent, or sublime as the complete cut.

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

Recommendation: Sure.

The PQ doesn't look anywhere near as clean as the Complete Edition, but it's still good and sharp. Sound quality is decent.

PQ: 3.5/5, AQ: 4.5/5




"Aeon Flux"

Reviewed the original TV show in the TV show thread, if anybody remembers or cares. It's hard not to judge the movie to the show, and the show blows everything in the movie out of the water in terms of substance, plot, and intellect. But, the movie has a damn slick style, Charlize Theron is awesome, the action doesn't disappoint, and it still manages to squeeze in enough weirdness and artistry to make it stand out. They kinda took some elements of the series (eyelashes catching a fly, woman with hands for feet, vibrating suit leading to an invisible office space, etc), and incorporated it with some interesting new things. Above all, they made a story with some intrigue and some interesting aspects of genetic memories, but it's also a little off-putting (and it's another thing that jives against the original series). In the end, it's not bad, but not great either. Some might say that it's a butchery of the original series and a missed opportunity, but sci-fi fans should still get a slight kick out of it.

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

Recommendation: As a rental. The TV series comes highly recommended to all though.

Don't see much wrong with this Blu-Ray. The picture looks incredibly sharp and detailed, with superb colors and contrast. Sound quality disappointing me; it sounds good and clear and all, but never had enough oomph like it should.

PQ: 4.5/5, AQ: 3.5/5

[Al_The_Strange]

Oh yeah, I saw one more...

"Puss In Boots"

I'm not a "Shrek" fan. Fortunately, that didn't matter in this spin-off. I understood who/what the PiB character's archetype was, and the movie plays on it very well. It's got some funny parts, lots of adventurous action and peril, and some gorgeous animation quality. The story's pretty solid, and does an amusing job of tying in a bunch of other fairy tales. It also helps that the voice acting is great.

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

Recommendation: Sure, why not?