The Movie Review and Discussion Thread

[iam1bearcat]

Originally Posted by surfdude12

I watched it twice in 2 days Can't remember the last film that had me hooked that bad.

definitely a film that hooks ya!
i'm anxiously awaiting what you, jhiggy and squid have to say about my thoughts on the film (that i put in the Traingle (2009) Discussion thread!)

[CZAR]

The Stepfather II - I just realized that I had never seen this movie before. I also think part III is the one I watched and remember the most in the series. Anyhow back to the film, it was a disappointment compared to the first film. I was even a little bit disappointed in Terry's performance as well. I mean he was still good but it was a far cry from his perfect performance in part one. Also didnt care much for the story and the direction. I did however like the climax a little bit and how it was discovered who he was. I did have a plot hole probelm or mistake and if anyone can answer here is the comment and question:

[Show spoiler]He stole the identity of a white male after his escape, but when the bestfriend of his fiance opens his mail and discovers that he isnt who he says he is and shows him a picture of the basketball team..............how come every player is black?

I found that to be a big mistake.

Film Rating - 3 stars (out of 5)

Got Em!!

[tbizzle]

Originally Posted by iam1bearcat

Triangle

oh. what a movie. i have no idea what to write here without giving too much away. i'll simply state that it is a truly great mind bender that will leave you thinking about it well after it ended. incredibly creepy, suspenseful, thrilling, full of energy and full of puzzling moments. also, wholly original unles most of what comes out these days.

one of the best scores i've ever heard

and melissa george hauls major @ss here! she's terrific in the role as Jess...
and that's all i can say about her character

this is one of the definitive "don't judge a book by its cover" films.
an instant classic in my eyes that i will be watching numerous times for weeks to come and will be telling friends to watch as soon as the sun comes up. if you like thinking when it comes to films and want something that really messes with you (mentally, not in a gory / gross way) check out TRIANGLE now. now! it'll be well worth. one of my best blind buys ever.

5/5

Ok now I really need to see this, just bumped it to the top of my queue. Can't wait for this one, I love Melissa George and I haven't seen a mindbender in I don't know how long

[Al_The_Strange]

Got more blind-buys!

First…”Wolfman!” Theatrical Cut

It seems like I’ve heard mostly bad or average things about this film. My standing on it is…..yep, it’s average.

Actually, I’d say it met my expectations and turned out to be quite entertaining. There are a few things I can nitpick about; the story’s a little weak, writing is pretty weak (some dialogue seemed too simple to me), and acting is pretty weak (Del Toro did okay and he definitely has the right look; Hopkins and Weaving seem average, I might as well be watching Hannibal and Agent Smith at work). My bigger complaints would be the cheap scare tactics (sudden stabs of music to make the audience jump), and the lack of atmosphere (as the official BD review described; this movie really does come off more as an action flick and less like horror, and there were moments where I felt the film could be REALLY creepy but just wasn’t due to style, music, etc).

The good news is that the film is entertaining; the action and SFX scenes are decent. It has a pretty slick and awesome style; cameramanship is very good and the production value is high. The bloody gory scenes were wicked too!

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

The Blu-Ray looked darn near perfect to me; couldn’t see any faults on the PQ. AQ seemed decent (maybe a little loud with the music though). And the steelbook is pretty.

Originally Posted by CZAR

The Wolfman - Ok where do I begin?

[Show spoiler]This was a tough film to digest as I couldnt get my overall take on the film after the viewing lastnight. After letting it soak in a bit I have to say I did enjoy the film. I watched the unrated version and it did seem to drag a bit early in the film before things got goin but it helped tie more into the story. Del Toro was good as always as well as Hopkins. Emily Blunt did a good job but I think someone else shouldve played her role as visually it didnt work as much as I wouldve wanted it to.

Again mixed feelings about the story. While it did tie everything together I think they couldve cut it down a bit. I may have to watch the theatrical version next time as I think I may like that version better based off what I read. Also I did love the

[Show spoiler]twist regarding Hopkins being a werewolf also and actually killing his wife and son.

Now I did have a question if anyone can answer........

[Show spoiler]After Del Toro goes on his first killing spree then the next day he gets captured, why do they just assume he isnt a werewolf and that its all in his head after all the victims the night before and the way they were slaughtered?? Do they assume he did that as a human?

I found that about out there.

Other than that I did enjoy it and I think a 2nd time around and maybe even the theatrical cut will do it even more justice.

Film Rating - 3 1/2 stars (out of 5)

PQ - 4 1/2 stars (out of 5)

AQ - 4 1/2 stars (out of 5)

Got Em!!

Thank you for the recommendation.

Regarding your question

[Show spoiler]about the Wolfman’s capture, I think the main focus in this scene was more in the typical human reaction to disbelieve all things fantastic or unbelievable in favor of science or rationalization. It really didn’t surprise me that nobody believed Del Toro was a werewolf.

They probably would have rationalized his previous killings in some dumb way, or they simply never heard of them. Or it could just be a gaping plot hole.

In any case, I thought it was an awesome scene; I loved watching everyone’s reaction when Del Toro started turning…

[Foggy]

I watched...

A Few Dollars More

What can I say it's awesome, I like it more than A Fistful. I think it loses it's humor to become a darker film, which disapoints me as the humor and charm of Eastwood is one of the best things about A Fistful, but the suspensful duels are magnificent, and there are more memorable parts in this than the first, I'll be getting around to watching The Good, The Bad and The Ugly pretty soon.

9/10

[LordoftheRings]

Film: 4/5
Picture: 3.25/5
Sound: 4.75/5
Extras: 0.5/5
Overall: 4/5

* Last comment: A real treat on Surround Sound.

[ajvdbg]

Originally Posted by LordoftheRings

Film: 4/5
Picture: 3.25/5
Sound: 4.75/5
Extras: 0.5/5
Overall: 4/5

* Last comment: A real treat on Surround Sound.

What prevented the perfect score for audio because I have never heard a better BD ever!?

[iam1bearcat]

Friday the 13th (2009)

i'm a sucker for horror films. as bad as they are, i usually find them vastly entertaining - even though i rip them apart as they progress - although certainly rarely is one worth mentioning anything original for.

while Friday the 13th (2009) is just another in a long line of remakes. it has some redeeming qualities. those looking for a horror movie that doesn't excercise torture and gore, this is pretty standard stuff. sure, there's blood and some twisted deaths, but the film doesn't linger on these like the many Saw or Hostel films do.

with typical horror films - the characters don't matter, it's pretty much about the demented killer and how he will end up slaughtering the cast members. and the same can be said here. attractive teens (very attractive females i might add) have sex, drink beer, smoke pot and get sliced and diced. and what else would you expect or want?

kudos to the film for having some inventive, fresh kills and the big "twist" with the first 25 minutes of the film. that was a nice touch that i wasn't expecting.

it looks good (almost too good for a horror film with its slick shine) and sounds solid (at least through a tv), and the film is passable entertainment. but, because this is a horror movie, you know how it ends, you know where the scares come from and you know all the mistakes that the characters will make. but for some new kills and a wicked great beginning, Friday the 13th (2009) stands above many of the other remakes / horror films of the last 10 years, but it still doesn't come close to The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (2004) which i believe is the best horror remake in a very long time.

2.5/5

[surfdude12]

Baraka (2nd time I've watched it in 2 weeks - visitors have never seen it so I keep popping it in - I've watched it over a dozen times now, never gets old)

Film, PQ and AQ: 5/5

[SquidPuppet]

Originally Posted by tbizzle

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!

47 of these and 99 of these

[SquidPuppet]

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.

Agreed. I'll add that the makers of How to Train Your Dragon, and Dragon Hunters owe me a bundle. I shamelessly pimped those movies to anyone who would listen to me. For weeks.

[SquidPuppet]

Originally Posted by surfdude12

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!!!

Dont be modest. You discoverd the

[Show spoiler] corpse loading in the trunk and the baton.

Take the credit.

[surfdude12]

Originally Posted by SquidPuppet

Agreed. I'll add that the makers of How to Train Your Dragon, and Dragon Hunters owe me a bundle. I shamelessly pimped those movies to anyone who would listen to me. For weeks.

I just got Rome in the mail, per your recommendation. Cant wait to watch it!

[SquidPuppet]

Originally Posted by Diesel

A lot of people in here have been drinking the Triangle kool-aid!


I have a gift card from an Amazon trade in coming on Friday...I might use it to watch it on their instant service ($4)

Just buy it. Once you see it you will NEED to see it again, and again, and again. You will understand what I mean once you are 2/3s of the way through.

[surfdude12]

Originally Posted by SquidPuppet

Dont be modest. You discoverd the

[Show spoiler] corpse loading in the trunk and the baton.

Take the credit.

yeah at first they just seemed like pebbles in the lake, but like you said everyone pitched in, which is cool!

Squid: have you seen Harry Potter 3? Its like Triangle-lite

[Walts Ghost]

Watched the Jackie Chan movie The Spy Next Door last night. Wasn't that bad actually. I had very little hopes for it, but it was better than I expected. Its actually a good family movie, and it has a lot of fun, slightly cheesy action. I was very surprised that I was actually enjoying it and not wanting to slam my head against a wall. The plot was by the numbers and the bad guy ridiculous and over the top, but its a kids movie so I wasn't terribly surprised. Overall, entertaining family movie.

7/10

[SquidPuppet]

Originally Posted by jhiggy23

Howards End (blu)


PQ: 3.75 (out of 5)

I've never given a .75 before, but I had to here. The first half of the film was a 3.5 because it lacked any depth, had little detail, and clarity was severely lacking. In short, it immediately placed itself with Glory as the most disappointing transfer I've seen. However, the second half of the film was a solid 4.0, with clarity and detail improving. Very odd.

AQ: 4.5 (out of 5)

Audio was very solid throughout. Usually I'll give a film 4 stars for audio if it's dialogue driven and the dialogue is clear, but the crispness her warrants an additional 0.5.

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

This film is a favorite of my mother's and I know surfdude loves it. However, I did not love it...at all. This is a strange one for me. I think the directing, acting, cinematography, scenery, set design, and score were all outstanding. I thought the editing was mediocre. So, how did it get a low star rating? Because the story was completely uninvolving, uninteresting, and lacked any sort of excitement or intrigue. At this point, many of you know my taste so you know it takes a lot for me to use these words to describe a film. I just found the whole film bland and I will not be revisiting it.

You are just Not Sufficiently Evolved enough to undestand the THEMES.

[Show spoiler]Man, that was fun typing that. I razzed you and Surf in the same comment.

Oh, and I agree about the film. Many excellent components, but the sum just didnt grab me. I kept waiting for the moment when it would take flight, but it never came.

[SquidPuppet]

Originally Posted by tbizzle

Ok now I really need to see this, just bumped it to the top of my queue. Can't wait for this one, I love Melissa George and I haven't seen a mindbender in I don't know how long

You have no idea how poignant that phrase is right now.

@ those of you who are in-the-know.

[SquidPuppet]

Originally Posted by Foggy

I watched...

A Few Dollars More

What can I say it's awesome, I like it more than A Fistful. I think it loses it's humor to become a darker film, which disapoints me as the humor and charm of Eastwood is one of the best things about A Fistful, but the suspensful duels are magnificent, and there are more memorable parts in this than the first, I'll be getting around to watching The Good, The Bad and The Ugly pretty soon.

9/10

I am in the minority, I think. I just cant enjoy the Spaghetti Westerns. I feel like, even though I "get it", I dont like it. Not sure why.

[SquidPuppet]

Originally Posted by surfdude12

Baraka (2nd time I've watched it in 2 weeks - visitors have never seen it so I keep popping it in - I've watched it over a dozen times now, never gets old)

Film, PQ and AQ: 5/5

Bakaka is like an excellent album.