The Movie Review and Discussion Thread

[surfdude12]

Originally Posted by jhiggy23

Good review and I agree with almost everything (haven't seen the blu). I think it's a thought provoking film and an interesting take on the genre with some important themes and questions. My complaints are the same as yours: the film feels long (I rarely complain about length) and is a bit sappy at parts.

Yeah, I liked it also, 3.5/5 stars. I only gripe was the inclusion of the religious wackos. It was so over the top that it dragged the quality of the whole film down. really??? rob lowe as some religious nutjob in the oval office? i thought my Contact blu-ray was accidentally writen over with some chapter from an SNL skit. It kind of ticked me off because I was thoroughly engaged until those few sequences. my 2 cents.

[SquidPuppet]

Originally Posted by jhiggy23

For whatever reason, Mystic River and Sean Penn get a bad wrap on this site. .

And whatever that reason is, it's invalid.

[jhiggy23]

Originally Posted by surfdude12

Yeah, I liked it also, 3.5/5 stars. I only gripe was the inclusion of the religious wackos. It was so over the top that it dragged the quality of the whole film down. really??? rob lowe as some religious nutjob in the oval office? i thought my Contact blu-ray was accidentally writen over with some chapter from an SNL skit. It kind of ticked me off because I was thoroughly engaged until those few sequences. my 2 cents.

It was a bit over the top, but the religious aspect of it I think is absolutely vital. The movie wasn't so much about space, or aliens, or any of that, but rather, it was about faith. I consider it more a religious film than a sci-fi film and I absolutely believe that if a situation such as that presented itself, there would be clamoring from religious wackos. A PERFECT literary example of that is the novel "Blasphemy" by Douglas Preston, which essentially involves a machine (particle accelerator/super-collider) that can speak with God (trust me, it's much more realistic in a scientific sense, than that sounds) and the religious nutjobs who converge in an attempt to stop it. For me, it would be a reality of such a situation and while I think both Contact and Blasphemy do a great job of exploring what might happen.

That being said, I give Contact 3 stars (out of 4), as it was a good but not great film.

http://www.amazon.com/Blasphemy-Doug.../dp/0765311054

[jhiggy23]

Originally Posted by SquidPuppet

And whatever that reason is, it's invalid.

haha...what do you think of Mystic River, squiddy?

[JLant19]

Originally Posted by jhiggy23

For whatever reason, Mystic River and Sean Penn get a bad wrap on this site. I can understand ppl not liking Penn because of political beliefs and personality, but it's absolutely undeniable that he's one of the best actors working today, and remarkably consistent. I cannot understand complaints about Mystic River, however. I also do not understand one poster, can't remember who, who continually argued with me regarding Tim Robbins' performance. Imo, it's without a doubt one of the very best supporting actor performances of the 2000s and one of the best in a very long time. He fully deserved the win.

It's funny, I'm not an Eastwood fan as an actor, but I am as a director. I appreciate how iconic his acting performances are, but I just don't care for his films. Directing is different, as I feel that Changeling and Mystic River are incredible films, and Iwo Jima and Flags are fantastic directing performances, although not quite great movies.

Totally agree about Mystic River. It is a great film.
&
I also agree on the Clint Eastwood comments. Clint is a great director!

[SquidPuppet]

Originally Posted by jhiggy23

haha...what do you think of Mystic River, squiddy?

That reasons for disliking it are invalid!

I liked everything about it. The story, the directing and all the performances. It felt very emotionally organic, very raw and real.

My sister is getting Triangle from Netflix in a couple days. It will be fun to talk to her about it because she is a "thinker" by nature and likes mental gymnastics. She is one of those people who saw the ending of The Sixth Sense coming from about the 20 minute mark. Which bugs her, but she cant put her mind into first gear, its always cranking along in overdrive.

[surfdude12]

Originally Posted by jhiggy23

It was a bit over the top, but the religious aspect of it I think is absolutely vital. The movie wasn't so much about space, or aliens, or any of that, but rather, it was about faith. I consider it more a religious film than a sci-fi film and I absolutely believe that if a situation such as that presented itself, there would be clamoring from religious wackos. A PERFECT literary example of that is the novel "Blasphemy" by Douglas Preston, which essentially involves a machine (particle accelerator/super-collider) that can speak with God (trust me, it's much more realistic in a scientific sense, than that sounds) and the religious nutjobs who converge in an attempt to stop it. For me, it would be a reality of such a situation and while I think both Contact and Blasphemy do a great job of exploring what might happen.

That being said, I give Contact 3 stars (out of 4), as it was a good but not great film.

http://www.amazon.com/Blasphemy-Doug.../dp/0765311054

Great points. I agree 100%. It was more about casting/delivery than message/script. That book sounds fascinating, and you dont have to convince me that such a machine is possible.

[surfdude12]

Originally Posted by SquidPuppet

That reasons for disliking it are invalid!

I liked everything about it. The story, the directing and all the performances. It felt very emotionally organic, very raw and real.

My sister is getting Triangle from Netflix in a couple days. It will be fun to talk to her about it because she is a "thinker" by nature and likes mental gymnastics. She is one of those people who saw the ending of The Sixth Sense coming from about the 20 minute mark. Which bugs her, but she cant put her mind into first gear, its always cranking along in overdrive.

Dude! I'm shocked! Your sis is a thinker by nature?? DOes she have any idea that she is walking into a hailstorm of massive proportions when she tries to debate her theories with you?

[Show spoiler]no, I'm not bitter

[Show spoiler]over the Shining

[SquidPuppet]

Originally Posted by surfdude12

Dude! I'm shocked! Your sis is a thinker by nature?? DOes she have any idea that she is walking into a hailstorm of massive proportions when she tries to debate her theories with you?

[Show spoiler]no, I'm not bitter

[Show spoiler]over the Shining

Without telling her about the movie itself, I told her about my discussions with you and Jhiggy. Thats part of what made her want to see it. She loves a good debate.

[Rinzler]

TMNT-

Blind bought this months ago, haven't been able to attentively watch it yet, I enjoyed it alot, the story was a bit confusing to me, but a very fun movie. PQ was great, hope I get a home theater setup to experience the TrueHD 5.1 mix.

Recommended 4.5/5

[Al_The_Strange]

Originally Posted by jhiggy23

It was a bit over the top, but the religious aspect of it I think is absolutely vital. The movie wasn't so much about space, or aliens, or any of that, but rather, it was about faith. I consider it more a religious film than a sci-fi film and I absolutely believe that if a situation such as that presented itself, there would be clamoring from religious wackos. A PERFECT literary example of that is the novel "Blasphemy" by Douglas Preston, which essentially involves a machine (particle accelerator/super-collider) that can speak with God (trust me, it's much more realistic in a scientific sense, than that sounds) and the religious nutjobs who converge in an attempt to stop it. For me, it would be a reality of such a situation and while I think both Contact and Blasphemy do a great job of exploring what might happen.

That being said, I give Contact 3 stars (out of 4), as it was a good but not great film.

http://www.amazon.com/Blasphemy-Doug.../dp/0765311054

I agree; I do believe that if any event like this occurs, the fanatics will come out of the woodwork. The terrorist scene in "Contact" seemed especially harrowing given this day and age.

"Blasphemy" sounds fascinating. I'll have to check it out some day.

[Al_The_Strange]

“Lesbian Vampire Killers,” a rental. I think it’s just called “Vampire Killers” in the US.

The movie has its fun moments; plenty of lesbians and plenty of vampire killing. Some over-the-top scenes, some decent comedy, and some action keep it interesting. It is a stylish and well-made movie. But, it’s not really my mind of comedy; it didn’t really make me laugh all that much. And for the most part, it’s short, silly, and simplistic.

3.5/5 (entertainment: 3/5, story: 3/5, film: 4/5)

Recommended to those who enjoyed “Shaun of the Dead” or “Zombieland.”

[jhiggy23]

Originally Posted by SquidPuppet

That reasons for disliking it are invalid!

I liked everything about it. The story, the directing and all the performances. It felt very emotionally organic, very raw and real.

My sister is getting Triangle from Netflix in a couple days. It will be fun to talk to her about it because she is a "thinker" by nature and likes mental gymnastics. She is one of those people who saw the ending of The Sixth Sense coming from about the 20 minute mark. Which bugs her, but she cant put her mind into first gear, its always cranking along in overdrive.

Go sis!

[tbizzle]

Originally Posted by jhiggy23

For whatever reason, Mystic River and Sean Penn get a bad wrap on this site. I can understand ppl not liking Penn because of political beliefs and personality, but it's absolutely undeniable that he's one of the best actors working today, and remarkably consistent. I cannot understand complaints about Mystic River, however. I also do not understand one poster, can't remember who, who continually argued with me regarding Tim Robbins' performance. Imo, it's without a doubt one of the very best supporting actor performances of the 2000s and one of the best in a very long time. He fully deserved the win.

It's funny, I'm not an Eastwood fan as an actor, but I am as a director. I appreciate how iconic his acting performances are, but I just don't care for his films. Directing is different, as I feel that Changeling and Mystic River are incredible films, and Iwo Jima and Flags are fantastic directing performances, although not quite great movies.

I agree with everything you said, but I'm also a fan of Clint as an actor, though I haven't seen too many of his movies. I haven't seen The Changeling yet, so that's in my queue now. I need to revisit Flags of Our Fathers as well, I saw it when it came out and wasn't impressed, but my taste and knowledge in film has come a long way since then.

All this talk about The Triangle, I think I'm gonna have to rent this!

[jhiggy23]

Originally Posted by SquidPuppet

Without telling her about the movie itself, I told her about my discussions with you and Jhiggy. Thats part of what made her want to see it. She loves a good debate.

I personally think it's the single best movie discussion I've had on this site--you and surfdude deserve full credit!

[jhiggy23]

I think myself, surf, and squid should be getting a cut of Triangle's profits! To think, it was essentially a straight to dvd. I've never seen a film so well reviewed by critics basically go straight to dvd.

[Foggy]

Originally Posted by jhiggy23

I think myself, surf, and squid should be getting a cut of Triangle's profits! To think, it was essentially a straight to dvd. I've never seen a film so well reviewed by critics basically go straight to dvd.

Trick or Treat?

Also Triangle got a release over here, fairly wide aswell, but it wasn't well advertised, it just looked like another cheap horror flick though the ads. to the marketing campaign!

[surfdude12]

Originally Posted by jhiggy23

I personally think it's the single best movie discussion I've had on this site--you and surfdude deserve full credit!

puuleeze. you and squid developed the best interpretation IMO. I was playing catch-up!

[Show spoiler]ahhh we've involuntarily invaded the review thread again!!!

[tbizzle]

Originally Posted by Foggy

Trick or Treat?

Guys, what are your opinions on this movie? I've heard a lot of good things about it, but I'm a bit hesitant to rent it because I'm generally disappointed with the crap that is passed as horror nowadays

[MyBlu-rayBrotherEd]

Originally Posted by tbizzle

Guys, what are your opinions on this movie? I've heard a lot of good things about it, but I'm a bit hesitant to rent it because I'm generally disappointed with the crap that is passed as horror nowadays

I have it. I was kind of about it.