The Movie Review and Discussion Thread

[jvince]

Ain't Them Bodies Saints (2013)
dir. David Lowery

The Good: Beautiful cinematography—as many have mentioned, it's Malick-esque; beautiful soundtrack—love the rhythmic hand-clapping; beautiful performances—Rooney Mara, Casey Affleck, and Ben Foster are simply sublime; beautiful story—in a year that saw the release of many great romantic films, this is second only to the exceptional Before Midnight.

The Bad: I couldn't understand what the heck Affleck is saying at times.

The Bottom Line: A poignant, poetic ballad of doomed love, Ain't Them Bodies Saints is one of the most beautiful films of the year. Recommended.

[Abdrewes]

Originally Posted by jvince

Ain't Them Bodies Saints (2013)
dir. David Lowery

The Good: Beautiful cinematography—as many have mentioned, it's Malick-esque; beautiful soundtrack—love the rhythmic hand-clapping; beautiful performances—Rooney Mara, Casey Affleck, and Ben Foster are simply sublime; beautiful story—in a year that saw the release of many great romantic films, this is second only to the exceptional Before Midnight.

The Bad: I couldn't understand what the heck Affleck is saying at times.

The Bottom Line: A poignant, poetic ballad of doomed love, Ain't Them Bodies Saints is one of the most beautiful films of the year. Recommended.

Man, you're killing me dude! That was your bad, not the movies'. I understood him fine!

[CoolRanch]

Comments from the Peanut Gallery



Escape Plan

Escape Plan, uniting Stallone and Schwarzenegger for the first time ever (not counting Ahnold's brief appearances in the Expendables movies), tries to bring back feelings of nostalgia for the grand, cheesy action movies of the 80's. An attempt that this enthusiastic 80's action fan is appreciative of, but does it deliver and live up to its stars legendary status? Unfortunately, in this reviewer's opinion, not quite.

Though I can't deny the excitement I felt at the final action scene, or the utter joy that flowed through my veins when Ahnold dropped yet another magnificent one-liner: "Have a nice day...*******!" Everything that led up to said greatness, was lackluster.

What seems like a simple plot at first (Houdini-esque hero breaks out of prisons for a living, then gets sent to a secret, unescapable prison and is actually imprisoned there for reasons unknown), turns out to be unnecessarily convoluted at the very end. Sort of some last minute reveals and explanations tagged on at the end, that felt out of place with the rest of the film.

Another problem I had with the film was its lack of fun during the second act. A surprising lack of action and some generally unpleasant scenes, definitely drained the movie of the energy it could have had.

While not a complete waste of time and definitely worth at least one viewing for Sly and Arnie fans, Escape Plan unfortunately "hits like a vegetarian."

5/10

[Spirit Zero]

Uncommon Valor (1983)

A straight basic plot that doesn't mess around with complications. This flick is more of an action flick really, its set after the Nam war and not within the actual war. I did kinda expect a Nam war flick given the films poster but its not really, whether or not its actually based on any truths again I'm not really sure. I guess its possible, I think there were many US soldiers held after the war had finished and there certainly were many soldiers MIA. Whether anyone actually tried this idea without proper official backing I don't know, possible though.

Lets not beat around the camouflaged bush here though, this premise is ripe for a ripping action flick, a real Rambo style emotional rollercoaster. I will give the film its due it does exactly that, you get exactly what you'd expect, it doesn't try to sugarcoat anything or be overally flashy, its cliched and corny at the best of times but its a real crowd pleaser if you ask me.

Gene Hackman's son is MIA in a remote area of Laos ten years after the Nam war, he believes he's still alive and wants to rescue him but the government aren't interested. So off he goes to find a team of Nam vets to dive into Laos, rescue any POW's and bounce back across the border before anyone knew they were there...oh and kill a whole load of natives.

Cue your obligatory recruitment sequences as Hackman snoops out soldiers from his sons platoon and other war torn troopers. Then cue your obligatory training sequences as the men are brought back up to scratch. Then cue your standard drop into Laos and preparation for taking out the POW camp. Its all very easy and by the numbers plus you have seen this kind of thing many times before. One could almost say its an 'A-Team' version of 'Predator' when Arnie and his boys take out the hostile camp at the start. You know what I mean by that...there's plenty of friendly fire, action is violent but you don't see anything, lots of cuts, little specks of blood and lots of extras leaping through the air.

What makes this film so damn fun is the cast, oh boy what a cast! its a classic character actor line up. Under Hackman we have Tim Thomerson playing another Nam vet chopper pilot (before 'Air America'), Fred Ward in his year of recognition with two other major film releases, Harold Sylvester as the typical 80's token black character, Captain America himself Reb Brown, Randall 'Tex' Cobb surprisingly trying to act being a good guy and a very young Pat Swayze. Naturally each man has his own skills for individual moments in the action...Cobb would be the wild strongman type in case you might not have guessed it.

But lets put the action man gung-ho action aside for a mo, its not an all out ham fest by any means. There is a lot of actual emotion and heart in this film, its based on reality, real events and probably struck a cord with many real vets. The action is a bit hokey and tame by today's standards sure, not overally realistic or well coordinated at times but it tries to be gritty and accurate. I do wonder how they didn't all manage to get killed really, they were hardly an example of special ops but hey never mind. The ending is weepy, its gets you, but the most important thing is you care about the characters, the film gets that right, you want them all to make it back.

The whole thing feels very much like a TV movie really, it has moments of good production values with some nice explosions in the finale but overall it felt a bit restricted. The musical score seemed very cheap to me, as though it was a selection that you can rent and has been used in many action films. Hell Hackman's character looks like he's out for a good hike in the Alps when we see him in the jungle for the showdown. Still I can't deny I really enjoyed this film, I got hella pumped for the finale POW bust out, that got me going. I really wanted to see the guys succeed, really liked that team and the film is so heartfelt and sweet. Yeah i know that sounds pathetically lame but its true! such a pleasant Nam war flick.

7/10

[jvince]

Jumanji (1995)
dir. Joe Johnston

The Good: When I was a kid, I didn't play with toys much—I watched movies. I was obssessed. I remember I had one of those TV/VCR combos in my room as well a huge—and I mean huge—collection of VHS tapes. I must have owned every family movie ever released on that format. I especially loved collecting all those Disney films that came in white clamshell cases. (Remember those?) I often even bought blank cassettes to record my favorite shows, Looney Tunes, Tom & Jerry, and later on, Beast Wars. I sometimes also stayed up at night to record some horror films I couldn't buy. But out of all the VHS tapes I owned, there were five that I must have worn out: Jurassic Park, The Empire Strikes Back, The Little Rascals, Homeward Bound, and this movie, Jumanji. I. ****ing. Loved. Jumanji. I watched the shit out of that tape. I haven't seen it in quite some time, so when I saw it on TV, I just had to watch it. I was ready to hate it and pick it apart, but surprisingly enough, it still holds up after all those years. (Would you believe this movie is turning 20 pretty soon? Man, I feel old.) Sure, it's not as great as I used to think of it, but it's still as entertaining and thrilling as I remembered. Some of the visual effects are obviously dated (most notably the monkeys), but for a film of that time, the CGI and even the animatronics look pretty good. The cast is also a delight to watch—you got a still-funny Robin Williams, Bonnie Hunt (What happened to her?), a young Kirsten Dunst (Man, I really feel old), monkey boy (Woah, what happened to him?), David Alan Grier, and Jonathan Hyde in a dual role.

The Bad: It's contrived (and it makes me feel old.)

The Bottom Line: 50% at Rotten Tomatoes, 6.6 at IMDb, and 39% at Metacritic. What the heck? This movie is underrated, and no, that's not nostalgia talking. Jumanji is the best board game movie ever made. Worth a watch.

[jvince]

Originally Posted by Abdrewes

Man, you're killing me dude! That was your bad, not the movies'. I understood him fine!

That wasn't my bad, that was Affleck's bad.

[Abdrewes]

Originally Posted by jvince

That wasn't my bad, that was Affleck's bad.

Man, I bet you hate McCabe & Mrs. Miller, then

[Al_The_Strange]

Just randomly decided to pop in some random Blu-Ray. Before getting into the main feature, I beheld:

The Crimson Permanent Assurance - Monty Python's "The Meaning Of Life" - YouTube

The Crimson Permanent Assurance

Short Review: This is a fun little short just before the main feature of Monty Python's Meaning of Life. And, strangely, this might be the best part of it. It's a cleverly sardonic yarn in which old geezer businessmen become literal pirates who roam around in a skyscraper and pillage larger corporations. The way the film blends the corporate setting with swashbucking pirate stuff is pretty hilarious. And the final shot is just plain wacky.

I actually wonder if this is a precursor to Terry Gilliam's Brazil, which also harped a lot on bureaucracy gone crazy. This neat little flick, however, is a great comedic short that's easy to squeeze in and digest at any time.

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

[Al_The_Strange]

Monty Python's Meaning of Life

Short Review: A totally random series of sketches, which is an extreme hit-or-a-miss. The hits are good: the birth scene, the restaurant scene, the live organ transplants, the music numbers, and other little bits are pretty hilarious. And it's hard to hate the scene where the dude is being chased by a whole hoard of naked women. However, it can get pretty weird, irreverent, and it tends to push the boundaries of what's tasteful or politically-correct. There are a few sketches I couldn't care less about, but overall, the show is pretty worthwhile.

Most frustrating, however, is that they never really explained what the meaning of life is. WTF? Come on, you stupid film! I need answers!

Ah, hell, I guess 42 is it then...

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

Recommendation: Rental.

Been waiting for a Blu-Ray on this for a while. It's very rough around the edges though: lots of grain, lots of specks and print damage, and maybe a bit of EE. Sound quality is okay, not great.

PQ: 3.5/5, AQ: 3/5

[Spirit Zero]

Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides (2011)

We all thought it had ended with the trilogy but no! as in this modern age there had to be a continuation, it had to be milked and a milked it shall be. New director, change of cast line up and a new myth to explore, this franchise has become the Indiana Jones of the era.

This film takes elements from actual real history this time and blends them with classic fantasy. The real bits involve the legendary English pirate Edward Teach and his flagship Queen Anne's Revenge and the Spanish explorer Juan Ponce de Leon. Now this plot has relaxed a bit, its not a complicated mess of sub plots and tonnes of characters. 'Sparrow' is off to sea once again to find the fountain of youth, alongside him is 'Barbossa' who is now a privateer for the British Navy. At the same time 'Blackbeard' is also after the fountain along with the dastardly Spanish and their religious thoughts. Each party has their own reasons naturally which does as usual involve some double crossing and twists.

I must admit to liking the intergration of actual history into the plot this time. The franchise has slowly used various common old fables and sea myths to its advantage which has worked well, this time the inclusion of some real historic figures gives the whole thing a bit more class, credibility and a small sense of realism. Of course old Blackbeard has been given a slightly spruced up look with black leather top to bottom by the looks of it, aiming for the cool factor a bit too much methinks.

Gotta say I didn't really like the whole supernatural power thing Blackbeard had over his ship with the magic cutlass. That seemed pointless if you ask me, if he can control the ship like that then why use a crew?. His galleon has also been given a very fantasised appearance which makes it look like a unique ghost ride attraction in a fairground. Oh and his ship breaths fire out the front? really? did we need that silliness? they'd probably burn their own ship down with it.

Next to that we see mermaids which is about time really if you think about it. The fact they are actually fearsome creatures that kill innocent sailors was a nice touch if rather obvious. But that plot detail causes confusion with the main mermaid character who we are meant to feel for, but that's hard knowing her kind are merciless killers of the deep, plus the 'Splash' finale for her was too much cinematic deja vu.

I think the film in general is let down by totally unrealistic action sequences that just feel implausible when they are suppose to be reasonably plausible. The escape set piece at the start is a good example, its overly long and over the top in every sense. Sparrow is leaping around like an acrobat (clearly a stunt double) and doing things that just wouldn't work, the worst bit is seeing all the English soldiers prat falling about everywhere trying to catch him, its cringing. We all know the franchise is suppose to be fun fantasy but apart from the actual supernatural stuff you do expect a degree of slight realism with some stunts. If it becomes too outrageous then it ceases to be fun and simply becomes a joke, what's worse is the fact its not meant to be that kind of joke.

The film is full of these daft action sequences really, it looks bad because we all know Sparrow isn't that kind of character, we had 'Turner' in the trilogy for that. So now seeing the campy Sparrow mincing about doing these big hero stunts looks stupid as its actually taken semi seriously. As I said earlier the plot does also go down the route of old Indy with the chalices thing and especially the finale for Blackbeard which is pretty much a rip off from 'Raiders' and 'The Last Crusade'.

Altogether the adventure feels a bit flat to me, nothing much happens that we haven't seen before or made me go wow!. Most of the characters are running low on juice now accept for Barbossa who is always brilliantly played by Rush. Cruz was a bad casting choice and did nothing whilst McShane wasn't all that intimidating as Blackbeard if you ask me. Kudos to Àstrid Bergès-Frisbey for being gorgeously cute as the mermaid and Richard Griffiths in a small role as King George II at the start.

On the whole very very average in my opinion, hyper stunt laden action sequences can't divert from the fact the film is actually kinda dull. It all looks terrific and very atmospheric in that Monkey Island kinda way but you can tell the difference in direction with the film, it does stand out. I just feel they have now used up most avenues of pirate legend both real and fantasy, I can't see what they can do in the fifth film without it being a complete rehash, especially with this struggling for a fresh look. Who's left to utilize? 'Long John Silver'? 'Sinbad'? 'YellowBeard'? (lol!) what other old creatures and myths can they possibly crowbar in?? Atlantis?.

The fact they even squeezed in the minute unrelated hobby of ships in a bottle shows how far they were stretched to incorporate anything remotely olde worlde and piratey into the film. I think this film just about manages to be semi acceptable but that's now it, no more can or should be done. I think Sparrow has had his moment in the spotlight, time to retire in the sun matey.

5/10

[jvince]

La Grande Bellezza (2013)
dir. Paolo Sorrentino

The Good: Jep Gambardella (Toni Servillo) has long been searching for "the great beauty," but to his dismay, all he has found is endless ugliness. Jep, the writer of a highly-regarded novel—as well as a stand-in for director Paolo Sorrentino himself—has been saddled with perhaps the worst case of writer's block in the history of writing. For forty years, everyone is still waiting for the follow-up to his legendary debut. You'd think living in Rome and having the best view of the freaking Colosseum would inspire him, but he's only grown more and more disenchanted. The sights may be pretty, but the people here are empty. The high life has bored him—his well-to-do acquaintances constantly spouting complexities that are really just full of bullshit; the cardinal whose only interest seems to be food; the botox injections served like communion in a church; the nightly parties on his rooftop with a conga line that goes nowhere. This is exactly how Jep feels. Everything goes nowhere. Life goes nowhere. Everyone has left him. His friends have left the city and his lovers have all passed away. All he's surrounded with is the vulgar. All he's left with is the mundane. Each day is filled with mundanities. Each day is filled with pointless moments. Life, for Jep, now feels pointless. Toni Servillo delivers an incredible peformance as the lead. In fact, the entire cast is quite strong—Carlo Verdone and Carlo Buccirosso, in particular, are a hoot as Jep's friends, Romano and Lello. The cinematography is simply breathtaking with plenty of gorgeous, symmetrically framed tracking shots. At some points, it feels like you're watching a Ron Fricke film ala Baraka and Samsara. The soundtrack is also just as fantastic with a nice balance of Euro-pop dance music and haunting chorals to contrast the sacredness and the profanity of the city.

The Bad: Some might find it a bit bizarre and pretentious. Not much happens and the parties get repetitive, but that's the point. There are also a few scenes such as the opening that Sorrentino himself admitted has no significance to the plot. La Grande Bellezza is unlike any other film out there, so it can be a challenging watch, but there's no denying its insightfulness and profundity.

The Bottom Line: Life may be full of pointless moments, but in that pile of pointless moments, you might find something beautiful hidden within. Just like a magician makes a giraffe disappear before your very eyes, life is but a trick. One ****ing beautiful trick. La Grande Bellezza comes recommended.

[jvince]

Originally Posted by KilloWertz

Jvince will be happy to know that I watched my copy of Trick 'r Treat today.

I'd give it about a 4/5. It will probably increase with another viewing. While I didn't care for the ending to the story with the young kids, I thought the story with Brian Cox was pretty much brilliantly done.

Sorry I missed your post.

Glad you liked it. Brian Cox's story is also my favorite. It's perfect. The kids is my second fave.

Originally Posted by Abdrewes

Man, I bet you hate McCabe & Mrs. Miller, then

Lol... I haven't seen that yet. I might.

[Spirit Zero]

Zombie Hunter (2013)

A curious blend of a few ideas and genres here, foremostly a clear cut grindhouse approach which appears to be all the rage these days. The film stars Danny Trejo which should give the game away as to what grindhouse type flicks this capitalises on. You only have to look on his filmography (and co stars) to see how many of these flicks are getting churned out!.

The plot is simple and highly unoriginal. An addictive drug has turned some people into flesh eating zombies which has in turn spread. America appears to be an apocalyptic wasteland where 'The Hunter' roams, he kills zombies. He comes across a small settlement with other survivors and together they plan an escape by air to islands in the Pacific. Its your basic flee the zombie plague fare.

What is interesting about this film is the combination of ideas. The main character of The Hunter is basically 'Max Rockatansky' with a classic Clint Eastwood 'man with no name' vibe just for good measure. I mean look at his name for a start...The Hunter/The Road Warrior, close huh. But mainly he drives an all black dirty modified Pontiac Trans Am (I think) which looks identical to the Interceptor in 'Mad Max'. But wait there's more, he even dresses like Max in all black with shades and handles a similar shotgun too, only thing missing is a pet dog. I might also mention the guy in the role (Martin Copping) is Australian too haha what are the odds?!.

So yes the main heroes look is a bit of a rip off but it works, he's cool, grizzled and dispatches zombies with aplomb. You have the main theme of a 70's/80's Mexican grindhouse approach with a Mad Max main lead fighting zombies in a Resident Evil setting with an actual Resident Evil monster too (not sure where they came from though). Trejo is playing 'Machete' again but with an axe, oh and there's a clear cut 'Texas Chainsaw Massacre' homage/rip off too...got all that?.

Being a low budget affair the effects are average, the blood n guts look fine but the CGI monster things aren't. That said the low budget does work for the film giving it that gritty-ish look, as what tends to happen with limited resources. The cast are a mixed bag with Copping coming across pretty hokey with his over macho posturing but he's a fun character. Of course there are a couple hot chicks in the survivor band too, one clearly being some ex-stripper/model/porn star type who is bad at acting but good at being slutty (I liked that). Hated the fact that our hero doesn't take her up on her offer of guilt free sex, dude are you mad?!.

The film is also amusing in places too, intentionally? I don't know, doubt it, but it is. The last three left alive find a locker chock full of machine guns/sub machine guns etc...the zombies are beating the door down, the last sexy chick remaining declares 'there's too many, they're too strong!'. You have just found Rambo's toy chest, are you serious right now? zombies aren't bullet proof.

I actually found myself liking this film mainly because of Copping's hero character, I'm not really a fan of the grindhouse genre/approach but the use of other styles and ideas worked well. Its not fresh and new, we've seen this type of thing a billion times before but I personally liked this films style, the cut of its jib. Gotta love that dialog and the end credits soundtrack has a pretty sweet electronic 80's style rhythm.

'Don't worry about me babe'

5.5/10

[Julietta5]

Originally Posted by Spirit Zero

Zombie Hunter (2013)

A curious blend of a few ideas and genres here, foremostly a clear cut grindhouse approach which appears to be all the rage these days. The film stars Danny Trejo which should give the game away as to what grindhouse type flicks this capitalises on. You only have to look on his filmography (and co stars) to see how many of these flicks are getting churned out!.

The plot is simple and highly unoriginal. An addictive drug has turned some people into flesh eating zombies which has in turn spread. America appears to be an apocalyptic wasteland where 'The Hunter' roams, he kills zombies. He comes across a small settlement with other survivors and together they plan an escape by air to islands in the Pacific. Its your basic flee the zombie plague fare.

What is interesting about this film is the combination of ideas. The main character of The Hunter is basically 'Max Rockatansky' with a classic Clint Eastwood 'man with no name' vibe just for good measure. I mean look at his name for a start...The Hunter/The Road Warrior, close huh. But mainly he drives an all black dirty modified Pontiac Trans Am (I think) which looks identical to the Interceptor in 'Mad Max'. But wait there's more, he even dresses like Max in all black with shades and handles a similar shotgun too, only thing missing is a pet dog. I might also mention the guy in the role (Martin Copping) is Australian too haha what are the odds?!.

So yes the main heroes look is a bit of a rip off but it works, he's cool, grizzled and dispatches zombies with aplomb. You have the main theme of a 70's/80's Mexican grindhouse approach with a Mad Max main lead fighting zombies in a Resident Evil setting with an actual Resident Evil monster too (not sure where they came from though). Trejo is playing 'Machete' again but with an axe, oh and there's a clear cut 'Texas Chainsaw Massacre' homage/rip off too...got all that?.

Being a low budget affair the effects are average, the blood n guts look fine but the CGI monster things aren't. That said the low budget does work for the film giving it that gritty-ish look, as what tends to happen with limited resources. The cast are a mixed bag with Copping coming across pretty hokey with his over macho posturing but he's a fun character. Of course there are a couple hot chicks in the survivor band too, one clearly being some ex-stripper/model/porn star type who is bad at acting but good at being slutty (I liked that).

The film is also amusing in places too, intentionally? I don't know, doubt it, but it is. The last three left alive find a locker chock full of machine guns/sub machine guns etc...the zombies are beating the door down, the last sexy chick remaining declares 'there's too many, they're too strong!'. You have just found Rambo's toy chest, are you serious right now? zombies aren't bullet proof.

I actually found myself liking this film mainly because of Copping's hero character, I'm not really a fan of the grindhouse genre/approach but the use of other styles and ideas worked well. Its not fresh and new, we've seen this type of thing a billion times before but I personally liked this films style, the cut of its jib. Gotta love that dialog and the end credits soundtrack has a pretty sweet electronic 80's style rhythm.

'Don't worry about me babe'

5.5/10

I think it must be good, thanks for sharing

[Al_The_Strange]

Next greatest rental: Godzilla 2000

...does that make this G2K?

Just a year after Roland Emmerich's version of Godzilla blessed the world with its presence, Toho decided to start all over again. This rendition of Gojira eschews all the previous sequels, and takes directly after the original 1954 film.

The film certainly has its moments. Godzilla does his thing as usual, stomping on buildings and crushing things like it's nobody's business. This time, however, there's also a UFO in the mix, which wreaks even more havoc and transforms into one ugly mother... Inevitably, the two beasties duke it out, and Tokyo is destroyed yet again

The film will appeal to fans the best, because it's all back to basics with this film. There are no gimmicks, tricks, or fads pulled out in this film; it's just a straightforward monster flick with straightforward action. Unfortunately, that also means that the film drags in certain spots, as it focuses on characters who never really amount to much of anything. The story overall is pretty weak and flimsy, and nothing really stands out about it.

The film is also marred horribly by its overall quality: the SFX are terrible by any standard, the monsters and models look dirt-cheap, and the acting and writing are pretty bad. On top of that, if you watch this with English dubbing, you'll expose yourself to some pretty horrible voice-work (I can't keep a straight face anymore, thinking about the line "this missile will go through Godzilla like crap through a goose!"). Photography and editing get the job done, but are nothing worth screaming about. The music (aside from using the classic film's theme) is pretty horrible.

The film has its moments, but at first, I was a little appalled by it, thinking a little too much like some kind of DTV trash. It's not quite that bad, and Godzilla fans might still get a kick out of it. Still, there are better films in the series.

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

Recommendation: For fans.

[Spirit Zero]

Dead in Tombstone (2013)

Not really an original film title is it, mind you its not really an original film lets be fair. But should you go expecting anything fabulous from a straight to DVD western starring Danny Trejo and Mickey Rourke?.

A badass group of outlaws rob a bank...as they tend to do. After they achieve this the group turns on their leader Trejo and guns him down...right down to hell. Yep that's right, just when you think it might be a simple cowboy flick you get a supernatural twist thrown in your face. So Trejo makes a deal with the overweight devil Rourke, the deal? to come back to the world of the living and kill the six other outlaws, six souls for the devil. He must do this within 24 hours to regain his soul and life otherwise he must endure a tubby Rourke torturing him forever, and that's along time.

The plot just doesn't make much sense to me, why would the devil allow this one guy to have a chance at killing his murderers?. Surely in that age in the west there would be hundreds of deaths at the hands of bad people, does he allow everyone this deal? or was it just for his own amusement because he liked Trejo's character?. I just don't see why the devil would be that bothered about six souls when he probably gets ten times that every day, I guess I'm thinking into this too much.

The plot is pretty similar to 'The Crow' really but lets be frank its a generic commonly used theme in most genres. The best thing about the film is the visuals I guess, it does look quite authentic with good locations and the town of 'Tombstone/Edendale' is actually quite big and impressive looking. It looks like they spent all their budget on the sets and costumes if you ask me. Gun slinging wise the action is crude and a bit hokey really, there is plenty of that old 90's John Woo style nonsense going on with no shortage of explosions...big explosions. Its also a bit too dark at times for me, way too much shadow as they clearly attempt a more dramatic artistic look, hey kudos for trying.

I find the whole thing swings in appearance from TV movie level visuals to full blown movie level visuals. The horse/carriage chase sequence looked stupid simply because you can easily tell nothing is moving very fast, in fact they are all 'galloping' very slowly behind a very slow carriage hehe. Sometimes you can see the pistols aren't really doing anything and the actors are whipping them around a bit unconvincingly, oh and I love how they keep on shooting way past their six bullet limit. The devils lair of hell seems to be a simple medieval stonewalled basement with an open fire and the devil himself in Rourke looks very errr...normal but fat.

Its definitely better than your average trashy flick and it could become a bit of a cult western thriller for sure. The acting is good enough, reasonable amounts of claret on display, decent atmosphere and some nice eye candy. It is of course completely cheesy, corny, cliched and somewhat artificial throughout.

5.5/10

[KilloWertz]

Originally Posted by jvince

Sorry I missed your post.

Glad you liked it. Brian Cox's story is also my favorite. It's perfect. The kids is my second fave.

It's alright. At least you noticed it eventually.

At first I thought it was silly to

[Show spoiler]have Brian Cox's character live through that battle with Sam, only to get killed in the end by the kids from the bus. That was until I realized he was the bus driver.

The story with the kids was my second favorite as well. I just didn't care for the ending to it. That's all.

[Show spoiler]I get the one girl was beyond scared by the time the others wanted in so they could all escape, but if she could operate the thing, she could have opened the door for them.

[Jowiko96]

Here lies a film that had so much potential and a lot going for it, but It overall falls flat within it's own ambition. Now, I wouldn't say that Man Of Steel is one of the worst films of 2013 as there were some bright spots throughout the entire film. But, would I ever say that it was a great film? Not on my life. Casting wise, the film is quite impressive with the likes of Russell Crowe, Amy Adams, Diane Lane, and Kevin Costner joining newcomer Henry Cavill (in the title role). Lane and Costner steal (no pun intended) the show as Clark Kent's caring earth parents who take up much of the film's emotional scenes (which are the also most complex and sincere, plus, they nearly save the end product).

Now, we get to the bad aspects. Overall, the screenplay was hugely disappointing. Just lazy dialog that mostly contains cheap, unneeded comedic relief that made no sense in the first place. For example, after Lois Lane (Adams) gets to her bunker at a camp with only a bed and bucket, she asks the guy leading her to the room, "what if I need to tinkle?" Are they that desperate to a laugh out of the audience? The musical score by Hans Zimmer was also a mixed bag with an incredible main theme (which captures the wonderment feel pretty well and easily one of my favorite tracks from Hans), but the rest was a very overpowering, tired, and quite frankly, bland composition of music filled with typical cliches from the composer. The cinematography and direction are not much better with tons of very darkly lit shots and "shaky-cam", making the film very unpleasant to watch.

I really wanted to like Man Of Steel. I am a fan of the original Superman character, the 1979 film by Richard Donner, and the newer Batman films by director Christopher Nolan. So, I thought this would be right up my ally. I wasn't completely wrong as much of the acting by the A List cast and the excelent main theme saved this film for me. Do I regret watching it? No, not at all. Do I wish it was better? Yes please! We shall see what happens with Batman Vs. Superman.

2.5/4

[jvince]

The Purge (2013)
dir. James DeMonaco

The Good: Great opening credits.

The Bad: Ethan Hawke fulfills his yearly shit movie quota with this idiotically executed dystopian thriller where the idiotic government passes an idiotic law that lets the idiots of America kill each other for one day. Oh, and because keeping the home locked for 12 hours is obviously an idiotic idea, his idiot son idiotically lets a stranger in, and idiotic psychos wearing idiotic masks break in, and everyone starts killing each other. I don't know why. Welcome to the year 2022 of the idiot timeline. I could totally see this happening in the future. Mr. DeMonaco, you sir, are a genius.

The Bottom Line: Because everyone threw their hard-earned Hamiltons at this amateur shit, well, meet your new horror franchise for the next ten years. I miss Jigsaw now. Avoid this like a purulent snatch.

[bunkz323]

Originally Posted by jvince

Oldboy (2013)
dir. Spike Lee

The Good: This is not a remake. This is a reimagining. Spike Lee and writer Mark Protosevich (The Cell, Thor) get plus points for not copying Park Chan-wook's cult classic shot for shot like most American adaptations. They did their own thing. Not all of their changes work (I'll get into that later) but what they tried to do is admirable without being disrespectful to the original. The one thing I liked the most about this version is the development of the main character, Joe (played by Josh Brolin). His imprisonment is handled much better here than in Park's film in that it is meatier and more detailed with some dark humor tossed in for good measure. Another strong point is the lead actor himself. Brolin really brings his A-game to the table, delivering a performance on par with Choi Min-sik's without mimicking his Oh Dae-su character. Joe Doucett isn't Oh Dae-su. Joe Doucett is Joe Doucett. He makes it his own. Elizabeth Olsen does a fine job and Samuel L. Jackson is Samuel L. Jackson (i.e., his usual mother****ing awesome self). Oh, and the tooth-pulling scene may not be in this version, but it is replaced with an even more squirm-inducing torture sequence that I don't want to spoil. All I'll say is you won't feel like eating salt after seeing that scene. Ouch.

The Bad: As someone who has seen the original several times, it's hard to top all those memorable scenes and shocking twists. For instance, let's take the hallway scene. Everyone loves the hallway scene. Lee takes it up a notch (or two) by adding two floors, so that's three(!) levels of hallway hammer bashing shot in one long take. Sadly, the studio cut the last floor—one of the many cuts made as Lee revealed a total of 36 minutes of footage were left out—so what you'll be seeing in the theaters is only two floors of epic fighting. What's even more disappointing is that due to budgetary constraints, they ditched their original plan which was to shoot the fight sequence on a spiral staircase spanning three floors. Imagine the hammer fight in a spiral staircase.*****. That sounds really awesome. It's too bad we'll never get to see it. Lee also went with a different approach, getting rid of the surreal feel as well as the hypotism stuff and opting for a more grounded style. The idea of making the story more realistic is great, but in doing so, they made it nearly devoid of that crazy, otherworldly energy of Park Chan-wook's original. As for the cinematography, I expected better from Sean Bobbitt. You wouldn't be able to tell this was shot by the same guy who did 12 Years a Slave. Now, Sharlto Copley. I didn't like him. He nearly ruined the film for me. Because of the grounded feel that they went with, Copley sticks out like a sore thumb; like he belongs in one of those cheesy, direct-to-video B-movies. And lastly, the twists and the ending. I could see Protosevich's changes being a deal-breaker for most fans of the original film. He completely altered the first twist, took out the tongue cutting scene as well as the elevator scene (which is my favorite part in the original), and as a result, the ending kind of misses the point. It's just not quite as tragic nor poetic.

The Bottom Line: Spike Lee's take is one of those films that are entertaining at the moment, but once you start contemplating about it, it's not quite as good. Those who haven't seen the original might enjoy this, but as for the fans of Park Chan-wook's cult classic, it's a toss-up. Still, it's worth a look.

I was going to watch this but then had changed my mind to watch maybe Thor, but now reading yout review makes me want to see it more, i love the 03 film but i think i could still enjoy this.