The Movie Review and Discussion Thread

[Lacit170]

Originally Posted by SquidPuppet

The opening couple of scenes have subtitles (takes place years ago), but thats just a few minutes. The balance of the film is English.

Thank you!

[Al_The_Strange]

Originally Posted by CZAR

Clash of the Titans (2010)

[Show spoiler]- I loved this remake. They stayed true to the original and still stood on its own feet. This is how a remake should be done. They didnt butcher the original but added new ingredients to keep the film fresh. Sam was great in his role as Perseus. I loved Ralph Fiennes as Hades also. Gemma Arterson is very beautiful and I hope to see more of her in films. The effects in this film were excellent and I was involved from beginning to end. I had watched the original not to long ago and it aged badly so Im glad we have this remake to still keep the story and franchise alive. Cant wait for part 2. It will be interesting to see what they do with the story now that it will be original.

Film Rating - 4 1/2 stars (out of 5)

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

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

Got Em!!

I came sooooo clooooose to blind-buying this. I had it in my hands!! All the negative reviews dissuaded me...

Will rent it promptly!!

[surfdude12]

Everlasting Moments
Film: 3.5/5

Pros:
-great film overall
-incredible performance by the wife
-cinematography was spectacular: various shots were jaw-dropping good. from a butterfly walking along a window pane to a shadow suddenly cast by a zeppelin in the sky
-the photography was excellently chosen as

[Show spoiler]a means for the wife to escape the hell of her abusive husband. it was an escape for her, in which she could be free of that hell, if even for a second. her husband chose alcohol as an escape for his problems, but unlike the wife, his escape was destructive, while the wife's was constructive. also, unlike the wife's hell that was created by her husband, the husband was escaping his own issues by drinking, after which he couldn't predict his behavior.

Cons:
-little or no character arc/development: IMO the main characters are relatively unchanged throughout the film.

[Show spoiler]at the beginning, the husband is a violent-drunk. at the end, he is a violent drunk. he's just a more violent drunk. at the beginning, the wife is an innocent, timid, caring mom. at the end, she is an innocnet, timid, caring mom. she did pick up photography, and it did give her the illusion of being free of her problems temporarily, but it was never more than temporary relief, so more of a tease than a solution. the last line in the film: "i don't know why mom stayed with dad...perhaps it was love." actually, it was a combination of fear (that if she left, he'd kill her), but more low self-worth, and stayig with him (i.e., letting him abuse her) reinforces that low self-worth she has of herself. this is confirmed when the photographer is so nice to her and she is shocked and shuns if off, as she doesn't believe that any man could conceivably treat her that nice. this is the hard truth people don't like to swallow. she's not a victim of her husband, but of her own self-image. yes, he's a dispicable human being, but for her life to change, she has to change her own self-image. of course, the film would never come out and be that honest, as it would negatively affect its heroine.

-too conventional:

[Show spoiler]the characters were so conventionally polarized (i.e., male alcoholic villan, female heroine victim) that it deducted from the experience. i'm not suggesting the characters can't be conventional, but they were so polarized to the extent that the viewer feels they're being told what to think and have no room for interpretation. personally, i prefer ambigious characters (i.e., where we see some of the best in the worst characters, and some of the worst in the best characters). they started to do this with the wife's attempted abortion, but beyond that not much. this is more of a personal thing, though.

PQ: 4/5 (NOTE: very pixelated/rough in the apartment, yet unpixelated outside the apartment. I assume this is intentional, to reflect the hell of the apartment life)

AQ: 4/5

[AKORIS]

Paranormal Activity

after hearing all the mixed reviews I netflixed this instead of buying and it was the right choice--


no it wasn't terrible at all, but it also wasn't even close to being as scary as I'd heard from all the early hype--

it was a creepy concept, there were a few eerie moments, there was a good tension and mood going on especially during the last half hour.
The outcome however was lame, the boyfriend was one of the most obnoxious characters I've seen in a long time, and overall the movie seemed to be kind of a cheat since it never really delivers the outcome you're anticipating--

2.5/5.0

[Foggy]

Originally Posted by AKORIS

Paranormal Activity

after hearing all the mixed reviews I netflixed this instead of buying and it was the right choice--


no it wasn't terrible at all, but it also wasn't even close to being as scary as I'd heard from all the early hype--

it was a creepy concept, there were a few eerie moments, there was a good tension and mood going on especially during the last half hour.
The outcome however was lame, the boyfriend was one of the most obnoxious characters I've seen in a long time, and overall the movie seemed to be kind of a cheat since it never really delivers the outcome you're anticipating--

2.5/5.0

Perfect review, I agree with everything

[SquidPuppet]

Originally Posted by piopaul

the black book---based on true events, in german w/ english subtitle, i actually liked this movie, so i'll give it a 4/5, PQ/AQ is excellent

Good movie.

[SquidPuppet]

Originally Posted by surfdude12

National Treasure I

Film: 3.5/5
-fun easy film to watch, I use it as a "Criterion refresher" in between mass Criterion viewings

PQ and AQ: 4/5

National Treasure II

Film: 3.5/5
-I'd say its pretty much even with the first. The only thing I don't like about the NT films is the reduction to the cliche good guy v. bad guy. Why does there have to be a "bad guy"? Can't the film just be about Cage trying to find the treasure? And the hunt/struggle itself be the "bad guy"? It just seems like the historical/treasure hunting aspect alone is more than enough to go on, and it erks me when the film gets sidetracked to more cat and mouse of good v. bad guy that seems forced. The bad guy is just thrown in there like a bone, to fit some kind of worn-out, tired, format. my 2 cents.

PQ and AQ: 4.5/5

To create a sense of urgency. Duh!

[Al_The_Strange]

Originally Posted by SquidPuppet

To create a sense of urgency. Duh!

[wonkavision]

Thanks to all of you for recommending Triangle (2009), which I watched last night (blu-ray)! Love the allusions to

[Show spoiler]The Shining, and of course the Greek story of Sisyphus.

[SquidPuppet]

Originally Posted by Pondosinatra

The Road

5 out of 5

End of the world type movies have always held a particular fascination for me. So when I first saw the trailer for this I couldn't wait to see it. The Road tells the tale of a man and his 11 year old son struggling to survive in a post-apocalyptic world. A world where all the animals are dead, hunger is ever present, bands of cannibals roam the charred countryside, and their only defense is an antiquated gun with only two rounds remaining. While there are other characters - an almost unrecognizable Robert Duvall and Charlize as the wife who gives up hope - the film is really about the father (Mortensen) and the son (Smit-McPhee) and they carry the movie. Both give great performances and thoroughly draw you into the film. While not technically a horror movie, a number of scenes and imagery are particularly horrific and haunting. About the only thing I didn't like was the ending, mostly because in my mind I had a different outcome envisioned. It is however faithful to the acclaimed novel it's based on, so you can't really fault it for that. This is simply terrific filmmaking, it's one of the best of the year, and it will stick with you long after it's over.

Yep.

[Diesel]

Originally Posted by SquidPuppet

To create a sense of urgency. Duh!

Originally Posted by Al_The_Strange

That's why

[Show spoiler]Cage's character was the one to find it, the six generations before him didn't have a bad guy to make them search faster

[SquidPuppet]

Originally Posted by AKORIS

Paranormal Activity

after hearing all the mixed reviews I netflixed this instead of buying and it was the right choice--


no it wasn't terrible at all, but it also wasn't even close to being as scary as I'd heard from all the early hype--

it was a creepy concept, there were a few eerie moments, there was a good tension and mood going on especially during the last half hour.
The outcome however was lame, the boyfriend was one of the most obnoxious characters I've seen in a long time, and overall the movie seemed to be kind of a cheat since it never really delivers the outcome you're anticipating--

2.5/5.0

I thought the boyfriend was too much of a wuss and the girlfriend was too much of a b!tch. I wanted them both to be eaten by a monster.

[SquidPuppet]

Originally Posted by wonkavision

thanks to all of you for recommending triangle (2009), which i watched last night (blu-ray)! Love the allusions to

[Show spoiler]the shining, and of course the greek story of sisyphus.

[SquidPuppet]

Originally Posted by Diesel

That's why

[Show spoiler]Cage's character was the one to find it, the six generations before him didn't have a bad guy to make them search faster

I wanna know what was on those pages!!!!!!

[Diesel]

Originally Posted by SquidPuppet

I wanna know what was on those pages!!!!!!

You, me and

[Show spoiler]Elvis

are dying to find out


I can't wait for the third

The director said the script is being worked on.

[CZAR]

Originally Posted by Dreemworx

By my scale yr giving it 9/10 which is what I'm saying.

This movie rocks.

Yep your scale is equivalent to mine! Got Em!!

Originally Posted by killowertz

It's Gemma Arterton.

[Show spoiler]

Glad to see you really liked it. I watched this on Tuesday and enjoyed it as well. I decided to rent it rather than blind buy it, but I may be adding it to my collection soon.

Haha my bad for the misspell but she is gorgeous and yes the movie rocked and I will be adding to my collection as well. Got Em!!

Originally Posted by Al_The_Strange

I came sooooo clooooose to blind-buying this. I had it in my hands!! All the negative reviews dissuaded me...

Will rent it promptly!!

Yea man I loved every minute of it. The story was great to me and I had heard the story wasnt that good. It pieced everything together. Let us know what u think when u view it. Got Em!!

[Diesel]

I thought Clash was good when I first saw it and initially gave a 4.

But I eventually settled on a 3/5. Decent but not that good.

Still wish we would be able to see the director's original version that sounded SO much better

[SquidPuppet]

Originally Posted by Diesel

You, me and

[Show spoiler]Elvis

are dying to find out


I can't wait for the third

The director said the script is being worked on.

They are fun. I hope the third has some really heavy secret stuff.

[surfdude12]

Originally Posted by SquidPuppet

To create a sense of urgency. Duh!

yeah, a sense of urgency to be another's lapdog in the words of Ed Harris after hitting a roadblock

[Show spoiler] when he realized he only had 1 of 2 native-american wood pieces from the resolute desks: "its okay, ben gates will find it soon, let's just wait."

. we had sufficient urgency before any bad guys came on the scene. would you honestly try harder after they showed up, knowing they'll just

[Show spoiler]kill you, kidnap your hot girlfriend (a definite no-no for squid) and/or take the treausure from you? just wait it out, say a year, in the tennessee mountains, until bad guy finds someone else to be his b&tch in another heist

[SquidPuppet]

Originally Posted by surfdude12

yeah, a sense of urgency to be another's lapdog in the words of Ed Harris after hitting a roadblock

[Show spoiler] when he realized he only had 1 of 2 native-american wood pieces from the resolute desks: "its okay, ben gates will find it soon, let's just wait."

. we had sufficient urgency before any bad guys came on the scene. would you honestly try harder after they showed up, knowing they'll just

[Show spoiler]kill you, kidnap your hot girlfriend (a definite no-no for squid) and/or take the treausure from you? just wait it out, say a year, in the tennessee mountains, until bad guy finds someone else to be his b&tch in another heist

Waiting it out for a year makes for zero urgency.

So...lets just look for the treasure at a liesurely pace. No sense in hurrying, since there are no consequences for arriving tomorrow, or the next day, or the next. Oh, and we are facing ZERO danger, so yeah, we are in a really slow, mellow, peaceful treasure hunt movie. We'll get around to it when we get around to it. Maybe we'll take a nap first though, since there is no reason to act briskly. After the nap, we'll stop for lunch, because, you know, the treasure has been hidden for hundreds of years and it aint going anywhere anytime soon. Lets catch a movie after lunch too.

The Treasure HUNT is a RACE because you have an opponent. If you remove the opponent, what happens to the race? It goes bye-bye. If your opponent is a nice guy, who does the audience root for?

Bad Guy = A reason to root for good guy + A reason to race + Creates a sense of Urgency + adds danger + adds action scenes.

Without the villian you have a PBS documentary.