The Movie Review and Discussion Thread

[lDlisturb3d]

Originally Posted by iam1bearcat

Seven Pounds

I almost don't know what to write here because I don't want to ruin anything for anyone thinking about watching the film, and the way I watched it was by not knowing absolutely anything at all about the story. I think that was for the best for this film. I blind bought it for $11, but didn't read the back cover and never read any reviews about the film so I had no idea what I was going into.

Some things I can say without giving away too much: Will Smith does a phenomenal job as Ben Thomas. What I gathered was that a lot of his emotion was conveyed through his eyes and facial expressions, and he did the job wonderfully expressing every feeling he needed to. Definitely an underrated performance on Smith's part.

Same goes for Rosario Dawson as Emily Posa. I don't think I've seen her in many films, but she did a masterful job here as someone who is guarded, strong but also extremely afraid and vulnerable. And the chemistry between the two characters (her and Smith) feels real.

I thought that the first hour was very well put together. Every conversation, every facial feature, every movement, every object shown seemed to serve a purpose. It's like the film is a puzzle and slowly places all these seemingly random pieces around the table. I believe some will find the cryptic nature of the film to get frustrating as some will want clear cut reasons and answers for why Thomas seems like such a broken man, but I loved it. (but maybe that's because I love very cryptic, mysterious works of art, such as LOST) Trying to figure out what the hell was going on, why all these people seemed to be so moved when they were in contact with Thomas, and what the end game was... even though the opening scene gave us a short glimpse of something that was to come.

In the end, I kind of felt at first that all the cryptic, intriguing dialogue and shots of books and newspaper articles were a bit over the top for the final outcome that came, and can see a lot of people saying, "they didn't need to do that!" but I personally loved it. They could've gone an easier, more bland route, but chances are I wouldn't have liked the film as much.

Great performances, touching story, and a happy but at the same time miserable / depressing ending fill Seven Pounds. I think it will go down as an underrated film for Will Smith and I don't believe it gets the recognition it deserves. Some I'm sure love it (and as I see a few people on here who recently reviewed it enjoyed it as well), and from the reviews - it seems a lot hated it. But I certainly don't know how anyone could not be at least a little bit moved by the story and Will Smith's performance.

4.5/5

Did you read my post earlier about Seven Pounds, i just reviewed that movie. LOVED IT

[iam1bearcat]

Originally Posted by lDlisturb3d

Did you read my post earlier about Seven Pounds, i just reviewed that movie. LOVED IT

haha yeah, actually i just read it now. i saw it earlier but said, "sh!t! i'm watching this tonight, don't read now!" because i didn't know if anything would be given away in the review. great job by the way for not doing that! i hate when reviews detail every part of a film.

haha i also see we gave it the same score!

and i also saw what you wrote to jhiggy about the

[Show spoiler]jellyfish being used to kill him

and i must say, i saw it coming once we

[Show spoiler]kept being shown the jellyfish and after he said in the flashback, "it's the most dangerous thing in the world"

but that didn't ruin anything for me. mainly because

[Show spoiler]that scene was incredibly acted and almost hard to watch as he died in the tub

[surfdude12]

The African Queen

Film: 4.5/5
-wow, what a great film with extended scenes with one of the greatest actors and actresses together. you can't go wrong with this film.
-very serene with the boat/adventure aspect, combined with the WWI background theme (i.e., its a peaceful setting, and yet there is a chilling mood underlying it all)
-the strength comes from the evolution of the characters' development

[Show spoiler] with katherine/humphrey starting out as professional captain/passenger; to partners (plotting against germans); to courtship (swimming/separate sleeping); to boyfriend/girlfriend; to partners in survival

-the film was so simple (in a good way) with a simple script, simple cast, simple setting, and yet I wish even 1-2 films today could get a little inspiration from it, as it seems in 2010 we get $500 million projects with overloaded CGI that don't compare to this little simple gem. my 2 cents

PQ: 4.5/5

AQ: 3.5/5

[iam1bearcat]

No Country for Old Men

I truly believe some films you are not meant to watch until you reach a certain understanding in your personal life. I believe that No Country for Old Men is one of those films. I watched this film when it first arrived on DVD (yes, DVD!) and I found it the following...

- slow
- boring
- useless conversations
- long drawn out scenes
- uninteresting characters that never changed
- a horrible ending

and i thought to myself, "this was terrible, and i'm never watching it again". My, my, my how a few years time changes some things. So when I saw this for $13 at Best Buy i said, "what the hell" and bought it. and after viewing it tonight for the first time since my only previous viewing, all i can say is while i don't believe this is a 5/5 film, it's certainly a hell of a lot better than i originally gave it credit for.

sometimes, with age, comes wisdom. and i think No Country is a film that i shou;d've originally waited on, because i was too young and naive to comprehend some of it. not to say i "know it all" now, because the end still kind of makes me grumble, but i respect - and enjoy - it a hell of a lot more.

it's a pretty simple story when you get down to it. 'good vs evil' and how it never ends, always continues and the "power" (or "control") swings back and forth. i feel the characters are necessary to tell the story (as they are in any film / story) but they don't need to experience any growth or have a drastic change because of what they represent. man is given a choice for how he plays out his life, some things you will never understand and some things just happen because people want them to. certainly, not everyone will like this. certainly not everyone will want to watch a two hour movie where the 'villain' gets away at the end and a conversation ends the film. but i did.

standing applause should be given to the Coen's for their directing here. top notch. along with the scenery / cinematography, dialogue, and suspenseful, tense building scenes. so many classic moments in this movie, and it feels like it was pulled right out of the era it represents.

the film is kind of a "slow burner" so come prepared. just because there is a murderous 'lunatic' on the run after a large sum of money does not mean this is going to play out like a Die Hard or Smokin' Aces action film. No, no, no. this is a slow moving, methodical, ambitious film that is much like its main character.

there were many things i didn't understand or care for when i watched this years ago, and watching it again now i understand more pieces to this quirky puzzle that the Coen's were putting together. the Coen's never hand anything out on a platter and say, "this is what we mean by this" and they aren't going to start now. if you're patient, open to a film that you can be happy with leaving it open to interpretation, then this gem must be viewed. i'm definitely glad i gave it another chance.

4/5

[Diesel]

I finally saw Wall-e today.


It didn't start off so hot for me, but it got better as it went. Once EVE showed up it really started to pick up. And it was pretty good from there on.

Wall-e him(it?)self was hilarious.


I don't think it was as fantastic as a lot of other people thought it was, but it was still pretty good overall, despite the slow start.


Rating - 4/5

[KilloWertz]

Originally Posted by Diesel

I finally saw Wall-e today.


It didn't start off so hot for me, but it got better as it went. Once EVE showed up it really started to pick up. And it was pretty good from there on.

Wall-e him(it?)self was hilarious.


I don't think it was as fantastic as a lot of other people thought it was, but it was still pretty good overall, despite the slow start.


Rating - 4/5

[Show spoiler]Yeah, I know not everyone can like Wall-E as much as I do.

[bingtau]

Ang Lee's The Ice Storm is teriffic. Many of the cast give their best performance that I've seen. The whole tone of this film was spot on and the score was great. Defitnitly caught me be by surprise. This film tops Brokeback for me. A 8.5/10. I don't understand why this film didn't get the Blu treatment but Ride with the Devil did? C'mon Criterion.

[BladeRunner2007]

Predator 4/5

[lDlisturb3d]

Originally Posted by killowertz

[Show spoiler]Yeah, I know not everyone can like Wall-E as much as I do.

Dude i love Wall E, deepest pixar movie ever, really targeted toward the adults, probably pixar's only political movie, i would give it 5/5 across the board.

[AKORIS]

ALICE IN WONDERLAND

a classic example of style over substance. Loved the sets and look of the movie. Loved seeing the actors in their bizarre outfits and appearances.
The visuals alone kept me entertained throughout the movie.
Yet the story was so unmemorable I've already forgotten most of it just 2 days after seeing it!

3.0 out of 5.0


EDGE OF DARKNESS

liked this one quite a bit but I'm a big Mel Gibson fan. Mel was great as always, the story was a fairly low key revenge thriller that didn't always deliver the action and thrills but boy did the ending deliver the goods! The last half hour was perfect and did everything right-- it made the overall movie very satisfying--

4.0 out of 5.0

[Foggy]

Originally Posted by lDlisturb3d

Dude i love Wall E, deepest pixar movie ever, really targeted toward the adults, probably pixar's only political movie, i would give it 5/5 across the board.

I agree, It's excellent, I patucualrly disagree with Diesel with the opening being slow, slow it is, it's also the deepest and spine-chilling opening I've ever seen.

[ajvdbg]

Originally Posted by iam1bearcat

No Country for Old Men

I truly believe some films you are not meant to watch until you reach a certain understanding in your personal life. I believe that No Country for Old Men is one of those films. I watched this film when it first arrived on DVD (yes, DVD!) and I found it the following...

- slow
- boring
- useless conversations
- long drawn out scenes
- uninteresting characters that never changed
- a horrible ending

and i thought to myself, "this was terrible, and i'm never watching it again". My, my, my how a few years time changes some things. So when I saw this for $13 at Best Buy i said, "what the hell" and bought it. and after viewing it tonight for the first time since my only previous viewing, all i can say is while i don't believe this is a 5/5 film, it's certainly a hell of a lot better than i originally gave it credit for.

sometimes, with age, comes wisdom. and i think No Country is a film that i shou;d've originally waited on, because i was too young and naive to comprehend some of it. not to say i "know it all" now, because the end still kind of makes me grumble, but i respect - and enjoy - it a hell of a lot more.

it's a pretty simple story when you get down to it. 'good vs evil' and how it never ends, always continues and the "power" (or "control") swings back and forth. i feel the characters are necessary to tell the story (as they are in any film / story) but they don't need to experience any growth or have a drastic change because of what they represent. man is given a choice for how he plays out his life, some things you will never understand and some things just happen because people want them to. certainly, not everyone will like this. certainly not everyone will want to watch a two hour movie where the 'villain' gets away at the end and a conversation ends the film. but i did.

standing applause should be given to the Coen's for their directing here. top notch. along with the scenery / cinematography, dialogue, and suspenseful, tense building scenes. so many classic moments in this movie, and it feels like it was pulled right out of the era it represents.

the film is kind of a "slow burner" so come prepared. just because there is a murderous 'lunatic' on the run after a large sum of money does not mean this is going to play out like a Die Hard or Smokin' Aces action film. No, no, no. this is a slow moving, methodical, ambitious film that is much like its main character.

there were many things i didn't understand or care for when i watched this years ago, and watching it again now i understand more pieces to this quirky puzzle that the Coen's were putting together. the Coen's never hand anything out on a platter and say, "this is what we mean by this" and they aren't going to start now. if you're patient, open to a film that you can be happy with leaving it open to interpretation, then this gem must be viewed. i'm definitely glad i gave it another chance.

4/5

I just came to this thread to say very similar things since I watched last night. I also didnt like this first time but gave it another shot, and liked it much better the second time around (much like King Kong).

[SquidPuppet]

Originally Posted by surfdude12

No, 3.5 PQ. I'd give the AQ 4.5

I cant type, or maybe its reading I am having a problem with. I meant to type PQ.

[CYMBOL]

Moon

To keep the review short - I am now a Sam Rockwell fan.

[jhiggy23]

Originally Posted by lDlisturb3d

Dude i love Wall E, deepest pixar movie ever, really targeted toward the adults, probably pixar's only political movie, i would give it 5/5 across the board.

I've gotta disagree. I think it's arguably Pixar's weakest film (Cars being its competition) and is very cliche thematically.

[jhiggy23]

Originally Posted by SquidPuppet

I cant type, or maybe its reading I am having a problem with. I meant to type PQ.

I wrote my long Triangle review for YOU and you didn't even read it

[tbizzle]

Originally Posted by bingtau

Ang Lee's The Ice Storm is teriffic. Many of the cast give their best performance that I've seen. The whole tone of this film was spot on and the score was great. Defitnitly caught me be by surprise. This film tops Brokeback for me. A 8.5/10. I don't understand why this film didn't get the Blu treatment but Ride with the Devil did? C'mon Criterion.

Thanks for the review, Ride With the Devil gets here tomorrow from Netflix, can't wait to see it. I'll be getting The Ice Storm soon

[tbizzle]

Dakota Sky - 4/5

This was pretty good, I was really impressed with the young talent in this movie. It's a Watch Instantly on Netflix

Universal Soldier: Regeneration - 4/5

When I first saw the trailer, I was kinda surprised that it actually looked pretty decent. I still wasn't expecting much until I started hearing lots of good reviews about, but I'm generally picky about military movies. I can pick on a few things here and there, but for the most part this movie was pretty well done and I thought everyone did a good job. It was awesome to see Van Damme back in action, especially against the fighter Arlovski, who was pretty good. The hand to hand combat in this movie was awesome, and brutal too! I'd recommend this to anyone that was on the fence about it.

I definitely like the direction that the Director took with this movie, and I really hope he can make a sequel. It's already listed on IMDB so I've got my fingers crossed

America's Sweethearts - 4/5

Saw this on Watch Instantly last night, it was actually pretty good. I didn't know that it was more comedy than romance, but it was really funny. Everyone was great

[ajvdbg]

Originally Posted by jhiggy23

I've gotta disagree. I think it's arguably Pixar's weakest film (Cars being its competition) and is very cliche thematically.

I agree with you, I really did not like it after they get to the Axiom.

[SquidPuppet]

Originally Posted by jhiggy23

I wrote my long Triangle review for YOU and you didn't even read it

I'm thinking about it. You know, like you think about a movie afterwards.

Collecting my thoughts before commenting.

[Show spoiler]You never commented on my Hurt Locker review , which suprised me because it was 180 degrees to yours.