The Movie Review and Discussion Thread

[Foggy]

Originally Posted by SquidPuppet

Its time for Marwencol.

I've been struggling to find it.

I'm going to have a good hard look for it this weekend

[jvince]

Cube (1997)
dir. Vincenzo Natali

The Good: Fascinating concept and themes. Great character work. Constantly moving plot. Impressive set designs and lighting (the entire movie was shot in a single room using different background colors).

The Bad: Some of the acting and dialogue are shoddy. CGI looks cheap and outdated. The ending. The math.

The Bottom Line: Cube is a flawed but unique little story ala Twilight Zone (In fact, it is quite reminiscent of the episode Five Characters in Search of an Exit). Well worth checking out for fans of character-driven sci-fi/horror flicks.

[Al_The_Strange]

Originally Posted by P@t_Mtl

Slaughterhouse-Five (1972)

Directed by : George Roy Hill
Starring : Michael Sacks, Ron Leibman, Valerie Perrine
Format : HDTV

Story : Billy Pilgrim (Sacks) seem somehow to be unstuck in time and experiences events of his life from the past or the future at random. We seem him as a soldier in WWII or his family life after or even his future life on a distant planet.

Comments : This was actually my first time seeing this movie. I am also very unfamiliar with the work of Kurt Vonnegut who wrote the novel the movie is based on. While it can be a little difficult to keep up as things move from event to event, past, present or future the story is quite interesting. I do not know give's more explanation on the reason on why Billy seem to be jumping in time but the movie leave's it a bit unclear. I may have understood the ending in a different way than what it really is. Still an interesting story and I recommend it

Ratings : 3.5/5

Yeah, this movie's really whack.

It's been years since I saw it, but my impression is that it must be all in the guy's mind. Just a random mess of past memories of the guy's war years (and all its atrocities), his present-day domestic situation, and some random fantasy with aliens. I thought it was pretty weird when I saw it, but it's interesting to think about afterward. I plan on revisiting it sometime down the road.

Overall, Kurt Vonnegut was one weird writer. RIP.

[P@t_Mtl]

Originally Posted by Al_The_Strange

Yeah, this movie's really whack.

It's been years since I saw it, but my impression is that it must be all in the guy's mind. Just a random mess of past memories of the guy's war years (and all its atrocities), his present-day domestic situation, and some random fantasy with aliens. I thought it was pretty weird when I saw it, but it's interesting to think about afterward. I plan on revisiting it sometime down the road.

Overall, Kurt Vonnegut was one weird writer. RIP.

He is one writer I know very little about, from that generation I am more into Asimov, Clark and Heinlein, Would probably like to see it again a little bit later and see what I can make of it on a second viewing

[P@t_Mtl]

The Lost World (1960)

Directed by : Irwin Allen
Starring : Michael Rennie, Jill St. John, David Hedison, Claude Rains
Format : HDTV

Story : Professor Challenger (Rains) as to prove that he saw a lost world populated with dinosaurs and a new expedition take's place. His rival Sumerlee is there as a sort of prosecutor and the leader is Lord Roxton (Rennie) who as other reasons for wishing to find the lost world. Once in the lost world everything goes wrong and soon the expedition as to find a way to escape and survive.

Comments : This movie is a typical Allen movie, tomatoe sauce lava, lizards with horns as dinosaurs, the cute sexy cave girl and tons of other Allen cliche. When you take into account the cast, this movie is far from being that great. Not a bunch of bad actors but most of them seem to just play the characters as cardboard copies. The only thing it does have is nostalgia if it's a movie that you grew up with like myself.

Ratings : 3/5

[Mahatma]

Originally Posted by P@t_Mtl

Slaughterhouse-Five (1972)

Directed by : George Roy Hill
Starring : Michael Sacks, Ron Leibman, Valerie Perrine
Format : HDTV

Story : Billy Pilgrim (Sacks) seem somehow to be unstuck in time and experiences events of his life from the past or the future at random. We seem him as a soldier in WWII or his family life after or even his future life on a distant planet.

Comments : This was actually my first time seeing this movie. I am also very unfamiliar with the work of Kurt Vonnegut who wrote the novel the movie is based on. While it can be a little difficult to keep up as things move from event to event, past, present or future the story is quite interesting. I do not know give's more explanation on the reason on why Billy seem to be jumping in time but the movie leave's it a bit unclear. I may have understood the ending in a different way than what it really is. Still an interesting story and I recommend it

Ratings : 3.5/5

Kurt Vonnegut (RIP) books is pretty much unfilmable.Just gonna be approximation to his universe.

[SquidPuppet]

Originally Posted by Foggy

I've been struggling to find it.

I'm going to have a good hard look for it this weekend

I looked on Amazon UK and they have the US import which is region free.

[SquidPuppet]

Originally Posted by jvince

Cube (1997)
dir. Vincenzo Natali

The Good: Fascinating concept and themes. Great character work. Constantly moving plot. Impressive set designs and lighting (the entire movie was shot in a single room using different background colors).

The Bad: Some of the acting and dialogue are shoddy. CGI looks cheap and outdated. The ending. The math.

The Bottom Line: Cube is a flawed but unique little story ala Twilight Zone (In fact, it is quite reminiscent of the episode Five Characters in Search of an Exit). Well worth checking out for fans of character-driven sci-fi/horror flicks.

The set up is fantastic, but the wrap up is a big let down.

[Foggy]

Originally Posted by SquidPuppet

I looked on Amazon UK and they have the US import which is region free.

May have to go that route then, but it might be a while with me becoming a full fledged independent student now.

[P@t_Mtl]

Originally Posted by Mahatma

Kurt Vonnegut (RIP) books is pretty much unfilmable.Just gonna be approximation to his universe.

A few things I just was not sure about, like for example was this really happening to him (time shifting) or was it in his mind. The other thing would be

[Show spoiler]are the aliens real and are the cause of the shift or again was all this just imagination and in the end died and just sort of think or imagine that he will spend the rest of time in that bubble getting everything he want's? A sort of paradise in a way.

[P@t_Mtl]

Batman: Year One (2011)

Directed by : Sam Liu
Starring : Benjamin McKenzie, Bryan Cranston, Eliza Dushku
Format : DVD

Story : Detective James Gordon take's on a new job with the Gotham police which is more corrupted than the mafia. At the same time Bruce Wayne return's the Gotham after his 12 years exile ready to beging the clean up. All he is missing is an idea, a symbol to work under. Both Gordon and the new Batman soon fight the police corruption.

Comments : The first scenes sort of scared me as I wasn't to sure on the quality of the animation but it turned out alright. The story was very good even if it was rather short at 64 minutes. This is the type of Batman I like, some reality but some mystery as well. It,s too bad it was so short they could have made a good 90 minutes movie out of this story.

Ratings : 3/5

[SquidPuppet]

God Grew Tired of Us

DVD / 2006 / PG / 189 minutes

This documentary follows Sudanese refugees John, Daniel and Panther on their journey from their civil war torn home, all the way to America. Escaping genocide as young boys by walking 1,000 miles, they lose contact with most of their family members and do not know their fates. They are exposed to insane humanitarian atrocities along the way. Tens-hundreds of thousands are murdered or die of starvation or disease. Millions are displaced.

They make it to a UN refugee camp in Kenya where they live for 10 years. They learn to read and write English and basic math skills and are fed with some (not total) regularity. They live in mud huts and have never seen any form of electricity or running water. Among others, they are chosen for a program where they will relocate to America, and with the help of sponsors, start new and very different lives.

Frankly, while watching their abrupt exposure (seemed almost abusive) to the mayhem and chaos of our "Civilised" world, I wondered how they were even able to cope with the overload of technology and the coldness of our materialistic culture. Even I felt overwhelmed by the sheer amount of new "things" and "ways" they had to adapt to. I kept wondering when they would ask to return home.

Eventually they (most anyway) adapt to the new culture and do very well. Even making return trips to Sudan to help those left behind.

The film stirred many emotions and made me ask myself a lot of questions, about many subjects.

4.5/5

See it.

[Mahatma]

Originally Posted by P@t_Mtl

A few things I just was not sure about, like for example was this really happening to him (time shifting) or was it in his mind. The other thing would be

[Show spoiler]are the aliens real and are the cause of the shift or again was all this just imagination and in the end died and just sort of think or imagine that he will spend the rest of time in that bubble getting everything he want's? A sort of paradise in a way.

Gonna have to get back to you on that one since it's 20+years since I read Slaughterhouse 5.Wasn't that the novel were he gave an (as he sees it)

[Show spoiler]account of holocaust?

Think I'll give it another read.Think he's one of the few genuine american authors along with Tom Wolfe,Salinger and HST.

[Al_The_Strange]

Next greatest blind-buy: Tetsuo: Iron Man

It's like Eraserhead for Japanese people.

This is my expression during and after watching the film:



4.5/5 (Experience: Very Wild | Story: Unknown | Film: Very Vivid)

Recommendation: If you have a really desperate need to make your eyes bleed and your head implode, then heck yeah!

Blu-Ray looks gritty and rough, but still sharp. Sound quality is decent.

PQ: 4/5, AQ: 4.5/5

This UK edition is region-locked.

[Foggy]

Pffft, it looks like Japan completely missed the point when it came to their big screen adaptation of Iron Man

[jvince]

Campfire Tales (1997)
dir. Matt Cooper, Martin Kunert, David Semel

The Good: Nice collection of urban legends. Hands down the best segment is the one with the little girl.

The Bad: Mediocre acting. Cheesy and sloppy in some parts. Ill-executed ending. The hookman story is kind of pointless in hindsight (it's also the weakest).

The Bottom Line: Campfire Tales is nothing you haven't seen (or heard) before, but it's a decent enough movie to pass time if you're in the mood for some horror anthologies.

[P@t_Mtl]

Snow Flower and the Secret Fan (2011)

Directed by : Wayne Wang
Starring :Gianna Jun, Li Bingbing, Vivian Wu
Format : DVD

Story : In 19th century Huan province two young girls are bound as laotong (sisters). As they grow older their lives take different paths due to their different social ranks but the bound remain. In Shangain of the 21st century, the decendants of these young girls Nina (Bingbing) and Sophia (Jun) are told the story and also decide to form their onw sister bounding. As events in their lives seem to parallel those of their ancestors will this bound remain.

Comments : The story is quite interesting if very sad. The two stories sort of parallel one another in both past in present. I don't tink the story of the movie is one that can be well understood by a western audience. I remember way back when this movie was first mention western movie expert mentioning that the stroy was about lesbians That only show the total lack of understanding of certain Asian customs. I personally enjoyed it but it's a very sad story.

Ratings : 4/5

[jvince]

Dead Alive (1992)
dir. Peter Jackson

The Good: Super fun. Funny. Gory (probably the goriest ever). Gross (very, very, very gross). The second half is the best 40 minutes of any horror film I have ever seen; I'd give it a bajillion stars. High repeat value.

The Bad: Acting and writing is kind of bad (good thing it's not the type of movie that relies on those). First half doesn't quite match the second half's glorious brilliance.

The Bottom Line: Despite its shortcomings, Dead Alive has all the ingredients of a great horror flick, and it more than makes up for it through its raw, unhinged, and irreproducible energy. This is one of the best (and sickest) horror films you'll ever see.

[Al_The_Strange]

Originally Posted by jvince

[Show spoiler]

Dead Alive (1992)
dir. Peter Jackson

The Good: Super fun. Funny. Gory (probably the goriest ever). Gross (very, very, very gross). The second half is the best 40 minutes of any horror film I have ever seen; I'd give it a bajillion stars. High repeat value.

The Bad: Acting and writing is kind of bad (good thing it's not the type of movie that relies on those). First half doesn't quite match the second half's glorious brilliance.

The Bottom Line: Despite its shortcomings, Dead Alive has all the ingredients of a great horror flick, and it more than makes up for it through its raw, unhinged, and irreproducible energy. This is one of the best (and sickest) horror films you'll ever see.

I kick ass for the lord!

[Al_The_Strange]

Next greatest movie seen on TV: War Horse

Well, the "War" part of this movie's title interested me, as always, but wasn't so sure about the "Horse" part. Fortunately, the film manages to entertain throughout its entire lengthy runtime. Granted that the actual war scenes aren't too extenensive or overbearing, it strikes a perfect balance between showing too much and too little. War Horse shows just the right amount of war scenes to emphasize its events, its horrors, and its triumphs.

For the most part, it's the story that counts. It's a very unique narrative structure that breaks down into several episodes, as the protagonist traverses across war-torn France. The real twist here is that the protagonist is not human, but is the actual War Horse. That's the real beauty of the story: it brings the horses to life and personifies them in a manner that's realistic and makes you actually care for them. It may be just as heart-wrenching to watch the same events occuring with humans, but having the horses as characters helps expand the story's scope in interesting new ways.

As expected, the film looks gorgeous, with solid photography and quality editing. Acting is pretty good all around, and is especially impressive for the horses on screen. Writing is decent. This film has great-looking sets, props, costumes, and locales. If any special effects were used, they were seamless. Music tends to be a bit sappy at times, but other times it's not bad.

Some may dismiss this film as manipulative or "sappy," but frankly I've seen worse. As it is, this may stand as my second-favorite WWI film of all time (sadly, WWI seems underrepresented on film; Lawrence of Arabia will always be my top favorite, but the only other ones I've seen are Paths of Glory (which is good), All Quiet on the Western Front (which is good), and Flyboys (which is pretty iffy). Pickings for this era in history are slim, so I'll take what I can ).

4.5/5 (Entertainment: Good | Story: Very Good | Film: Very Good)

Recommendation: Sure, why not?

Chances are good that I'll be getting this as a Christmas present.