The Movie Review and Discussion Thread

[Diesel]

Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer


A lot of people tend to hate the Fantastic Four movies it would seem, but I enjoy them.

They are fun movies to watch.

They aren't exactly epic timeless masterpieces though (that was for Higgy ).

The sequel isn't quite as good as the original imo.

The run time is about 90 minutes but they try to fit in a good bit of stuff (Von Doom, Galactus, the Surfer) and there just isn't enough time to go around for those three characters plus the stories of Richards and Storm getting married and Johnny and Ben trying to cope with what they believe will be a change in their life/team.

All those basic premises in the movie could have been very good if they were each given more time to flesh out...and were written better. I mean

[Show spoiler]Galactus shows up at the planet and is defeated in like 2 seconds after the Surfer gets too him

,

[Show spoiler]Victor is defeated in about one maybe two minutes by Johnny

and Sue

[Show spoiler]dies and we are apparently supposed to feel sad about it...yet there really isn't any reason for us to care since whoever wrote that part made her do the stupidest thing possible in stepping in front of the spike with a force field (that she knew it would go through) instead of pushing the Surfer out of the way. Then when she dies, she stays dead for all of what 2 minutes?

Everything is just rushed and doesn't really have time to mean anything significant.

Despite the pacing and writing errors, I thought some of the actors were pretty good. Michael Chiklis is a perfect choice for The Thing and Chris Evans is very fitting for Johnny Storm. Ioan Gruffudd does a solid job as Mr. Fantastic and I don't really have any complaints about his acting in the role but with the material he has to work with. You never really feel like he is actually a very intelligent person, like you might with Tony Stark or Bruce Banner in the Marvel Studios' films. Jessica Alba isn't very good this time around. I liked her in the first movie and thought she did a good job as Sue Storm, but in this one it just didn't work. It also doesn't help that her character seems pretty different in the non-action scenes this time around. She was too annoying. Then there is Julian McMahon, I thought he did a decent job this time, but again like the rest of his movie, his character's writing wasn't that great so he also didn't have much to really work with. He was also much better in the first film. The army guys...yea I'm not going there The combo of Doug Jones and Laurence Fishburne as the Surfer was great (even if he didn't really have much to do ). Fishburne's voice coupled with Jones' look for the character fit perfectly together imo. If only he had a bigger/better part...in a better movie.


But like I said in the beginning, I do enjoy the movie because its a short kick back and watch film. But it is definitely not in the same league as your Iron Man, The Dark Knight, Spider-Man 2, etc.



Rating - 3/5

[Al_The_Strange]

Originally Posted by Diesel

Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer

[Show spoiler]

A lot of people tend to hate the Fantastic Four movies it would seem, but I enjoy them.

They are fun movies to watch.

They aren't exactly epic timeless masterpieces though (that was for Higgy ).

The sequel isn't quite as good as the original imo.

The run time is about 90 minutes but they try to fit in a good bit of stuff (Von Doom, Galactus, the Surfer) and there just isn't enough time to go around for those three characters plus the stories of Richards and Storm getting married and Johnny and Ben trying to cope with what they believe will be a change in their life/team.

All those basic premises in the movie could have been very good if they were each given more time to flesh out...and were written better. I mean

[Show spoiler]Galactus shows up at the planet and is defeated in like 2 seconds after the Surfer gets too him

,

[Show spoiler]Victor is defeated in about one maybe two minutes by Johnny

and Sue

[Show spoiler]dies and we are apparently supposed to feel sad about it...yet there really isn't any reason for us to care since whoever wrote that part made her do the stupidest thing possible in stepping in front of the spike with a force field (that she knew it would go through) instead of pushing the Surfer out of the way. Then when she dies, she stays dead for all of what 2 minutes?

Everything is just rushed and doesn't really have time to mean anything significant.

Despite the pacing and writing errors, I thought some of the actors were pretty good. Michael Chiklis is a perfect choice for The Thing and Chris Evans is very fitting for Johnny Storm. Ioan Gruffudd does a solid job as Mr. Fantastic and I don't really have any complaints about his acting in the role but with the material he has to work with. You never really feel like he is actually a very intelligent person, like you might with Tony Stark or Bruce Banner in the Marvel Studios' films. Jessica Alba isn't very good this time around. I liked her in the first movie and thought she did a good job as Sue Storm, but in this one it just didn't work. It also doesn't help that her character seems pretty different in the non-action scenes this time around. She was too annoying. Then there is Julian McMahon, I thought he did a decent job this time, but again like the rest of his movie, his character's writing wasn't that great so he also didn't have much to really work with. He was also much better in the first film. The army guys...yea I'm not going there The combo of Doug Jones and Laurence Fishburne as the Surfer was great (even if he didn't really have much to do ). Fishburne's voice coupled with Jones' look for the character fit perfectly together imo. If only he had a bigger/better part...in a better movie.


But like I said in the beginning, I do enjoy the movie because its a short kick back and watch film. But it is definitely not in the same league as your Iron Man, The Dark Knight, Spider-Man 2, etc.



Rating - 3.5/5

Excellent review! I agree; not the greatest film, but halfway fun. I wish they would make a Silver Surfer spinoff movie (last I heard, they won't ).

[Diesel]

Originally Posted by Al_The_Strange

Excellent review! I agree; not the greatest film, but halfway fun. I wish they would make a Silver Surfer spinoff movie (last I heard, they won't ).

Fox is rebooting the Fantastic Four series so that means they keep the rights to the Silver Surfer I suppose.

If only they wouldn't and the rights would be reverted back to Marvel

Marvel Studios could make a hell of a Surfer movie.

[Batman1980]

Originally Posted by Diesel

Fox is rebooting the Fantastic Four series so that means they keep the rights to the Silver Surfer I suppose.

If only they wouldn't and the rights would be reverted back to Marvel

Marvel Studios could make a hell of a Surfer movie.

I don't think Surfer is easy to do, considering where most of his adventures take place and the kind of villains he usually goes up against.

[jhiggy23]

Originally Posted by Diesel

Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer


A lot of people tend to hate the Fantastic Four movies it would seem, but I enjoy them.

They are fun movies to watch.

They aren't exactly epic timeless masterpieces though (that was for Higgy ).




Rating - 3/5

[Romulus]

The Godfather Part II

I definitely prefer Part II to Part I. I think the first Godfather is fantastic, but I feel that II is a little more fleshed out. What I really like is the backstory to Vito Corleone. Whenever I watched the first Godfather I always wanted to know how the family got to that point. The second film adds a lot of depth to his character that I found he was somewhat lacking in Part One.

On a whole I like the characters better. John Cazale is one of my favorite actors now. Whenever his character was on screen I felt he stole the show from everyone else. Cazale definitely has a lot of range and it's a damn shame that he died as early as he did in real life.

The Godfather Part Two basically takes everything that made the first film great and expands on it.

Film: 5/5
PQ: 4.5/5
AQ: 3.5/5

The picture quality I thought was fantastic. There are a few instances when the PQ isn't up to par, notably the darker scenes where the blacks show a lot red. All the original film grain is present, which is perfect. The audio I was pretty disappointed with. I thought the dialogue was mixed a little low. I have a small feeling that I need to re-calibrate my sound system, but I haven't had this problem on other films yet. Needless to say I always had to turn down the volume when an action sequence occurred, only to turn it back up when it got quiet again. A second opinion on the AQ would be much appreciated.

[jhiggy23]

Originally Posted by Romulus

The Godfather Part II

I definitely prefer Part II to Part I. I think the first Godfather is fantastic, but I feel that II is a little more fleshed out. What I really like is the backstory to Vito Corleone. Whenever I watched the first Godfather I always wanted to know how the family got to that point. The second film adds a lot of depth to his character that I found he was somewhat lacking in Part One.

On a whole I like the characters better. John Cazale is one of my favorite actors now. Whenever his character was on screen I felt he stole the show from everyone else. Cazale definitely has a lot of range and it's a damn shame that he died as early as he did in real life.

The Godfather Part Two basically takes everything that made the first film great and expands on it.

Film: 5/5
PQ: 4.5/5
AQ: 3.5/5

The picture quality I thought was fantastic. There are a few instances when the PQ isn't up to par, notably the darker scenes where the blacks show a lot red. All the original film grain is present, which is perfect. The audio I was pretty disappointed with. I thought the dialogue was mixed a little low. I have a small feeling that I need to re-calibrate my sound system, but I haven't had this problem on other films yet. Needless to say I always had to turn down the volume when an action sequence occurred, only to turn it back up when it got quiet again. A second opinion on the AQ would be much appreciated.

I love both, but I prefer 1 because I don't particularly care for the flashbacks and I really don't think Deniro's performance is that great, aside from it being in Italian.

Btw, if you like Cazale that much check out the documentary about him on HBO on demand. It's about 45 minutes long and includes touching interviews with Pacino and Streep, among others.

[Romulus]

Originally Posted by jhiggy23

I love both, but I prefer 1 because I don't particularly care for the flashbacks and I really don't think Deniro's performance is that great, aside from it being in Italian.

Btw, if you like Cazale that much check out the documentary about him on HBO on demand. It's about 45 minutes long and includes touching interviews with Pacino and Streep, among others.

It's funny, I loved the backstory Vito Corleone but I was surprised to learn that he won an Academy Award for his performance.... There were a lot better performances than his. He had a good performance, but the best? That's definitely arguable.

As for that documentary, I don't have HBO sadly so I'm going to have to find another way to watch it. I wonder if Netflix has it...

[jhiggy23]

Originally Posted by Romulus

It's funny, I loved the backstory Vito Corleone but I was surprised to learn that he won an Academy Award for his performance.... There were a lot better performances than his. He had a good performance, but the best? That's definitely arguable.

As for that documentary, I don't have HBO sadly so I'm going to have to find another way to watch it. I wonder if Netflix has it...

Personally, I think Cazale should've been the nominee from the film and prob should've won.

If at all possible, check out that documentary. It's def really good if you like Cazale.

[tbizzle]

Originally Posted by jhiggy23

Four stars (out of 4) for myself. One of the best directed films of the 2000s and an incredible story. My favorite part is

[Show spoiler]Max von Sydow shaking while on the phone. Great acting.

Can't wait for the domestic blu, which will probably come out around the time of Schnabel's sure-to-be Oscar nom Miral, later this year. He is one of the best pure directors working right now, based on this and Before Night Falls. Even Basquiat was a good film. Being a world renowned artist, who I'm a fan of, I can't wait to see him use his incredible artistic sense to make great movies.

Max von Sydow is awesome in everything! In Robin Hood (film is meh) he pretty much stole every scene he was in I really need to see Diving Bell again, it's been a while

[tbizzle]

Originally Posted by jhiggy23

Check out Before Night Falls, which is directed by Schnabel and stars Javier Bardem, who got a best actor Oscar nod. See if you can spot Johnny Depp, btw. The film is about the great Cuban poet Reinaldo Arenas, who was openly gay during Castro's reign, before coming to the US. Phenomenal movie.

Just added this to my queue (constantly maxed I tell you! ), thanks for the rec. Speaking of Bardem, I haven't watched No Country since I bought it last year, I need to get on that!

[KilloWertz]

Originally Posted by Diesel

My next first time viewing will be 500 Days of Summer, my cousin is loaning it to me this weekend and I'll try to watch it Sunday.

Nice. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did and a lot of other people here did. I really want to watch that again, but not until I'm done with my unwatched Blu-rays.

Originally Posted by iam1bearcat

i don't really have high expectations for this, but i didn't think it could be THIS bad! it's somewhere in my queue... around the 350 mark, so i'll get to it eventually

Green Zone isn't anywhere near that bad in my opinion. I actually rather enjoyed it and would at least give it a 4/5. I blind bought it and didn't regret it. To each their own though of course.

[Al_The_Strange]

“Legion,” on DVD.

It has its moments (a few good fights and shootouts, some neat SFX, some creepy demonic-possessions), but it is a pretty dumb story. Some parts feel like they were borrowed from other films (including, obviously, “Maximum Overdrive”). And even though it has steady cameramanship and a slick production value, the film seems very lacking in terms of acting, writing, or editing.

Meh…

2.5/5 (entertainment: 3.5/5, story: 1.5/5, film: 2.5/5)

[Q?]

There hasn't been much activity here.

Anyways, I just bought The Road on BD today, super excited. I don't know much about it, but I just know it'll be good. Will watch tomorrow...

[tbizzle]

Originally Posted by Q!

There hasn't been much activity here.

Anyways, I just bought The Road on BD today, super excited. I don't know much about it, but I just know it'll be good. Will watch tomorrow...

I can't wait to get this from Netflix, but it's been on Long Wait since it was released. All I know is that it's a dark and depressing film and lots of people have said it's great

[Freekman]

12 Angry Men - 10/10

[lDlisturb3d]

Originally Posted by Freekman

The Wolfman
Film - 4/10
PQ - 8/10
AQ - 10/10

Yeah this is a guilty pleasure for me. Wasnt that good but i still enjoyed it.

[lDlisturb3d]

Originally Posted by Al_The_Strange

“Legion,” on DVD.

It has its moments (a few good fights and shootouts, some neat SFX, some creepy demonic-possessions), but it is a pretty dumb story. Some parts feel like they were borrowed from other films (including, obviously, “Maximum Overdrive”). And even though it has steady cameramanship and a slick production value, the film seems very lacking in terms of acting, writing, or editing.

Meh…

2.5/5 (entertainment: 3.5/5, story: 1.5/5, film: 2.5/5)

Yeah i agree, it was just a little entertaining but thats about it.

[lDlisturb3d]

Originally Posted by Romulus

The Godfather Part II

I definitely prefer Part II to Part I. I think the first Godfather is fantastic, but I feel that II is a little more fleshed out. What I really like is the backstory to Vito Corleone. Whenever I watched the first Godfather I always wanted to know how the family got to that point. The second film adds a lot of depth to his character that I found he was somewhat lacking in Part One.

On a whole I like the characters better. John Cazale is one of my favorite actors now. Whenever his character was on screen I felt he stole the show from everyone else. Cazale definitely has a lot of range and it's a damn shame that he died as early as he did in real life.

The Godfather Part Two basically takes everything that made the first film great and expands on it.

Film: 5/5
PQ: 4.5/5
AQ: 3.5/5

The picture quality I thought was fantastic. There are a few instances when the PQ isn't up to par, notably the darker scenes where the blacks show a lot red. All the original film grain is present, which is perfect. The audio I was pretty disappointed with. I thought the dialogue was mixed a little low. I have a small feeling that I need to re-calibrate my sound system, but I haven't had this problem on other films yet. Needless to say I always had to turn down the volume when an action sequence occurred, only to turn it back up when it got quiet again. A second opinion on the AQ would be much appreciated.

I truly dont understand why some people dont like this film. Yes 1 and 2 are better but i think this completes the story, in addition i thought it was done wonderfully.

[lDlisturb3d]

Something is truly wrong with me I just watched The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly 3 times within 72 hrs.

5/5

This movie is so d@mn good.