The Movie Review and Discussion Thread

[KilloWertz]

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 love Wall-E too. That is why I gave Diesel's review a thumbs down. It stands as one of my favorite Pixar movies, if not my favorite.

[surfdude12]

Originally Posted by SquidPuppet

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

yeah, I dunno, the PQ definitely seemed less detailed/defined, particularly around the edges of color/object boundaries, as compared to a reference PQ. not bad, but not great = 3-3.5 IMO

[surfdude12]

Originally Posted by SquidPuppet

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

[Show spoiler] i did! i did!

[Show spoiler] i did, didn't i?

[AKORIS]

Originally Posted by killowertz

I love Wall-E too. That is why I gave Diesel's review a thumbs down. It stands as one of my favorite Pixar movies, if not my favorite.

he did give it 4 out of 5 stars....

[Diesel]

I was expecting a little more hate for my Wall-e score

Originally Posted by killowertz

I love Wall-E too. That is why I gave Diesel's review a thumbs down. It stands as one of my favorite Pixar movies, if not my favorite.

G.I. Joe was your favorite movie last year, your opinion is invalid.

[Show spoiler]Don't tell anyone I loved Terminator Salvation or mine will be invalid as well

[Batman1980]

Originally Posted by Diesel

I was expecting a little more hate for my Wall-e score




G.I. Joe was your favorite movie last year, your opinion is invalid.

[Show spoiler]Don't tell anyone I loved Terminator Salvation or mine will be invalid as well

Wall-E, 1/5. Horrible movie, still the only negative experience I've ever had at a Pixar movie.

[lDlisturb3d]

Originally Posted by AKORIS

he did give it 4 out of 5 stars....

Thats bad to me.

Originally Posted by Diesel

I was expecting a little more hate for my Wall-e score

Wall E was great!!! Deep for pixar

[jhiggy23]

Originally Posted by SquidPuppet

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.

I don't remember seeing it?? When was it?

[jhiggy23]

North Face (netflix instant) (foreign film)


Film: 3 stars (out of 4)

Rotten Tomatoes: 83%

Film about two German climbers (and two Austrians) attempting to climb the North Face of the Alps (Geiger) in 1936. Based on a true story.

This is a great film. While I think Touching the Void is a better film and a better story, this is still def worth seeing. The climbing scenes in this film are without a doubt the most authentic I've even seen. It truly feels like you're on the side of the mountain. Ebert, who gave the film 3 stars, had a similar complaint to me--the love story was unnecessary. It was never developed and didn't need to be there. The scenes on mountain are more than enough. Another complaint I had was the score. There were numerous times in which I thought the addition of some good music would've enhanced the drama of a particularly scene, but the score sounded odd to me during those scenes.

Overall, recommended.

[jhiggy23]

Doctor Zhivago (blu)

PQ: 4.5 stars (out of 5)

Many scenes are breathtaking. Amazing transfer after 45 years.

AQ: 4 stars (out of 5)

Perfectly adequate for this type of film.

Film: 3 1/2 stars (out of 4)

Rottentomatoes: 84%


Easy to see why it's considered one of the best films ever, albeit to varying degrees. It's also easy to see why the film, while acclaimed, has led to conflicting views.

Ebert gave the film 3 stars, stating that none of the actors except Rod Steiger really impressed him. He also stated that he thinks its Steiger's best role. I disagree. Steiger's best role is On the Waterfront. Furthermore, the acting in this film is of a very high level across the board. Geraldine Chaplin is radiant in her role. Omar Sharif is an exceptional actor, as always. Julie Christie shows why she's considered one of the most beautiful to ever grace the screen. I also disagree with Ebert about Sharif's final scene. He calls it "inexcusable." I don't think it's nearly that bad, although it is a bit over the top. How else could it have ended?

It's funny, I discussed the film with my mom today who is a big fan of the movie. I told her that I didn't think the film was a great romance, because the love story is never truly developed and never really feels authentic. I also told her that the other main part of the movie--the Russian revolution--is weak, in that it glosses over the harsh reality. I appreciate the fact that a comment was made about starvation, and how Moscow "doesn't have it" (propaganda), a comment about the purge, a comment about the suppression of literature and intellectuals, etc. However, these comments do not go far enough in showing the reality of the time period. My feelings are in large part due to the fact that only a few months ago I wrote a 20 page comparative piece between Russian literature in the 1860s and Russian literature from the time of the Revolution until the 1950s, in which I had to read Solzhenitsyn's harrowing account in the Gulag Archipelago. If it were not for the knowledge I acquired in writing that piece, the movie would've felt more real to me.

You may ask how I can rate the film so high and proclaim it as one of the greatest of all-time if neither the period nor the love story felt real to me. This is attributed to the great acting and even more so to Lean's direction. Watching Lean's films is like watching Coppolla's--they just feel different than everything else. Lean's films are the epitome of epic and even a film with a weak love story can feel like an epic with Lean behind the lens. I was engaged for the entire 200 minutes, in awe of what I was seeing.


Note: The packaging is incredible. Yes, it's a digibook, but it's thick, study, and classy. The pictures and essay inside are amazing. Make sure to check out the retrospective bonus feature on the movie disk. It's extremely good.

HIGHLY RECOMMENDED

[KilloWertz]

Originally Posted by Diesel

I was expecting a little more hate for my Wall-e score




G.I. Joe was your favorite movie last year, your opinion is invalid.

[Show spoiler]Don't tell anyone I loved Terminator Salvation or mine will be invalid as well

4/5 is far from a bad score of course, but I still had to give the review a thumbs down.

G.I. Joe was my favorite movie for a while last year, but it got bumped.

[surfdude12]

Originally Posted by jhiggy23

Doctor Zhivago (blu)


HIGHLY RECOMMENDED

great review! I posted mine in the "Movie of the Month" thread (before it died a horrible death). I gave the film 3/5 stars. My biggest issue was

[Show spoiler]that while the Doc-Lara affair could be tolerated from Lara's perspective (her husband expressly chose country/politics over marriage, so screw him!), I couldn't endorse the affair from the Doc's wife and Doc's children's perspecitve..what did they do to deserve it?? What's the message here? That as long as you're in a secluded villa, write romantic poetry to your mistress, its okay to keep banging her and not seek out your wife and kids? Yes, my tone is quite cynical but I think you see my moral dilemma signing on to this script (which seemed to push/moralize the affair). Even the Doc's kid (from the affair) says at the end: "i had no parents...i wanted to die" (from memory, not sure if that's word for word), which tells me that the affair didn't bear good fruit But seriously, you seem to be much more versed in this period. I'd like your take as this is in my "I really want to love it, but can't seem to" category, if you know what i mean

[surfdude12]

Originally Posted by Gandalf Stormcrow

Wall-E, 1/5. Horrible movie, still the only negative experience I've ever had at a Pixar movie.

I'm between you and Diesel: 3/5 stars. meh. overrated.

[Show spoiler] if I hear "evaaa...walleeee" one more time i'm gonna jump off a balcony"

[jhiggy23]

Originally Posted by surfdude12

great review! I posted mine in the "Movie of the Month" thread (before it died a horrible death). I gave the film 3/5 stars. My biggest issue was

[Show spoiler]that while the Doc-Lara affair could be tolerated from Lara's perspective (her husband expressly chose country/politics over marriage, so screw him!), I couldn't endorse the affair from the Doc's wife and Doc's children's perspecitve..what did they do to deserve it?? What's the message here? That as long as you're in a secluded villa, write romantic poetry to your mistress, its okay to keep banging her and not seek out your wife and kids? Yes, my tone is quite cynical but I think you see my moral dilemma signing on to this script (which seemed to push/moralize the affair). Even the Doc's kid (from the affair) says at the end: "i had no parents...i wanted to die" (from memory, not sure if that's word for word), which tells me that the affair didn't bear good fruit But seriously, you seem to be much more versed in this period. I'd like your take as this is in my "I really want to love it, but can't seem to" category, if you know what i mean

Ahh, you basically said what I forgot to add into my review. Thanks! As you point out, the other problem with the love story is that it's very hard to be sympathetic for an adulterer, especially when Chaplin's character so effectively conveys her love of Doctor. It's of great importance imo that Doctor's

[Show spoiler]"last" visit to Lara, where he tells her he's cutting things off, leads to him being captured and forced to be a doctor for two years in war. I love this development because it shows that Doctor cannot escape what he did. Yes, he cut things off, but as punishment he has to serve for two years and as a result, he loses Chaplin. Think about that for a minute, because it's something that really made the film great to me. While the lack of sympathy for Doctor seems to be a major problem, and it is a problem, the fact that he's punished rectifies it a bit. So, his affair leads to him having to serve for two years, lose his family, and then only get a brief time with Lara before she leaves again.

[jhiggy23]

Originally Posted by surfdude12

I'm between you and Diesel: 3/5 stars. meh. overrated.

[Show spoiler] if I hear "evaaa...walleeee" one more time i'm gonna jump off a balcony"

Or EEEEEEEVE.

[surfdude12]

Originally Posted by jhiggy23

Ahh, you basically said what I forgot to add into my review. Thanks! As you point out, the other problem with the love story is that it's very hard to be sympathetic for an adulterer, especially when Chaplin's character so effectively conveys her love of Doctor. It's of great importance imo that Doctor's

[Show spoiler]"last" visit to Lara, where he tells her he's cutting things off, leads to him being captured and forced to be a doctor for two years in war. I love this development because it shows that Doctor cannot escape what he did. Yes, he cut things off, but as punishment he has to serve for two years and as a result, he loses Chaplin. Think about that for a minute, because it's something that really made the film great to me. While the lack of sympathy for Doctor seems to be a major problem, and it is a problem, the fact that he's punished rectifies it a bit. So, his affair leads to him having to serve for two years, lose his family, and then only get a brief time with Lara before she leaves again.

Thanks bro, I missed that last part, especially after reading what you wrote, as I don't recall anything close to that. I obviously was emotionally distracted in anger of what had already been going on (with seeming passivity on the directors part) . This is probably worth a second look, as I loved the cinematography/direction: (1) window-branch tapping scene (when the doc is laying in bed as a kid), and my favorite: (2) the upward shot of the train smoke, with the moon cutting in and out of the shot, as the train smoke gets between the moon and the camera. jaw-dropping good direction. I hope I'll concur on your assessment of the last part.

[Starman22]

last movie was Smokey and the Bandit (1977) rated: 5/5

excellent performed by Burt Reynolds and Jackie Gleason and the both most funniest. also this one of my favorite.

[Diesel]

Originally Posted by surfdude12

I'm between you and Diesel: 3/5 stars. meh. overrated.

[Show spoiler] if I hear "evaaa...walleeee" one more time i'm gonna jump off a balcony"

Originally Posted by jhiggy23

Or EEEEEEEVE.

Make it stop! Make it stop!

[Al_The_Strange]

Originally Posted by surfdude12

I'm between you and Diesel: 3/5 stars. meh. overrated.

[Show spoiler] if I hear "evaaa...walleeee" one more time i'm gonna jump off a balcony"

Wha?! That was soooo cute!

[surfdude12]

Originally Posted by Al_The_Strange

Wha?! That was soooo cute!

yes, the first 38 times