The Movie Review and Discussion Thread

[jhiggy23]

Rope (dvd)

Film: 3 1/2 stars (out of 4)


Excellent and influential film. Squid recommended it about 6 months ago but I finally got around to seeing it and I'm glad I did. I still can't stand Farley--he's a terrible actor. That being said, this is a very well-directed and structured film, clocking in at only 80 minutes. Hitchcock has an ability to get fantastic, memorable performances out of one actor (at least) in almost every single film (i.e. Ray Millard in Dial M..., Perkins in Psycho, Robert Walker in Strangers...) and this film is no exception. John Dall is fantastic as the highly intelligent and cocky lead. In terms of direction, it's Hitchcock so you know his angles and camera movement are top-notch. Highly recommend this film and a special thank you to squid.

On a concluding note, I think this film (unlike most Hitchcock films) has very strong themes and being a 1948 film, the themes are definitely at least partially about the Holocaust (i.e. superior vs inferior people).

Btw, Ebert does not like this film at all. He gave it 2 stars in 2008.

[lDlisturb3d]

Originally Posted by jhiggy23

I thought I remembered you reviewing some of them? I must've been mistaken. Wait...so you bought 20 Criterions and haven't seen a single one yet???

lol yep well i just finished Yojimbo and im about to write a review on it.

[lDlisturb3d]

Originally Posted by tbizzle

You can watch 8 1/2, The Seventh Seal, Summer Hours and Yojimbo right away, but definitely wait to watch Days of Heaven til you're back home! Haven't seen the others so I won't comment.

I wouldn't say Benjamin Button is the weakest of the Criterions, but it's definitely the most mainstream film they've done in a while. I love it, I think it's a great film... and it's got a killer soundtrack!

Benjamin Button is my sh!t but critics sh!t on it! . I think imma watch all the black and whites here and wait to see the color films later at home.

[Denoku]

Nightmare on Elm Street (Original)

This is my first time seeing this movie and I'm a little over halfway done. I've heard of Freddy Krueger so I know how he works. I'm where the girl now is at the instituiton for Sleep disorder and pulled out Freddy's hat back with her.

A decent horror movie I think and nothing more. The acting isn't the best, but I guess that is to be expected. Johnny Depp and Robert Englund do a good job. I think this is a movie to watch if you want to turn off your brain and watch people die in they're dreams.

I would rate it a 3.75/5

[lDlisturb3d]

Yojimbo

Do you like Samurais or Cowboys? Better yet do you like Originals or Remakes?

First off i would like to say what an amazing movie this was. I dont know why i was so ignorant to not watch black and white films. This Criterion Release was treated amazingly good, I could never imagine a black and white film with no grain and hardly and distortion.

About the film, Perfectly acted and a good story but its sad how so many people love "Fistful of Dollars" and haven't viewed the original. With that said "Fistful of Dollars" either a complete rip off of Yojimbo or its just honoring its Originality

[Show spoiler]either case it kinda killed me how so many parts where performed and re-scripted verbatim

Once again the Criterion Release is superb, Classic action filled with the same suspense you see in modern film making but i little bit better. A film like this is a Highly Recommended film and im proud i purchased it.

4.5/5

[seigneur_rayden]

I saw today:
The Sorcerer's Apprentice: 5/5 Nicolas and Alfred were amazing. I also got to see Teresa Palmer again (I've been in love with her since Bedtime Stories).

Salt:4/5. Great action scenes, beautiful smile of Jolie and nice plot twist.

[Pondosinatra]

This one's not even worthy of a proper review...

2012 = steaming pile of crap

[lDlisturb3d]

Originally Posted by Pondosinatra

This one's not even worthy of a proper review...

2012 = steaming pile of crap

lol it was bad, but the special effects were cool.

[CZAR]

The Wizard of Oz - I loved this film as a kid, but watching it now I dont have the same vibe. Its way to musical and kiddish for me now but I will always have love for the film and the importance of it. I just out grew the film so to speak, simple as that. I wont give a film rating on this one because I dont feel the same as before but I dont think its because the film is bad but just not in my taste anymore.

PQ - 3 stars (out of 5)

AQ - 3 stars (out of 5)



Hot Tub Time Machine - I was hopin this wouldve been a lot better but oh well. I am a big fan of Craig Robinson but this film wasnt really that funny. Maybe a couple of parts but thats about it.

Film Rating - 3 stars (out of 5)

PQ - 4 stars (out of 5)

AQ - 4 stars (out of 5)

Got Em!!

[Aerodude73]

The 4th film in the DIRTY HARRY series. Also, the only one Clint Eastwood was the Director on (also Producer). It's been a while since I'd seen this one, and I've watched the first 3 in the past few weeks (DIRTY HARRY, MAGNUM FORCE, THE ENFORCER) which, story wise, were all better than this one. Sondra Locke - Clint's one-time GF - stars in this as a Piece of Wood, errr, her Acting is like a piece of wood, that is. Guess it doesn't matter when you're doing the Director/Star/Producer, now, does it?

Movie: 2.5 of 5
Audio: 3.5 of 5 (mostly Front-heavy but clear)
Video: 3.5 of 5 (very good looking film, for 1983)

Will prob. watch the 5th/final of the series, "The Dead Pool", this week.

[Big-byrd]

Observe and report

the ending. i was expecting paul blart... and the ending is what gives it a high rating.
8/10

[tbizzle]

Dear John - 3/5

It was ok. Acting was all right, dialogue wasn't all that great, the story was ok, the military aspects of the film were kinda ridiculous, but then again this film is (mainly) for females. Richard Jenkins was excellent, as always. He and Henry Thomas were the best parts of this film

Man... Nicholas Sparks really has a thing for letters

[Foggy]

Originally Posted by Big-byrd

Observe and report

the ending. i was expecting paul blart... and the ending is what gives it a high rating.
8/10

yeah, I found the film really funny mainly as it plays a huge element of suprise.

[Diesel]

The Matrix Revolutions


I enjoyed this one on the rewatch just like Reloaded.

It didn't suffer from the things I mentioned for Reloaded...as there was hardly any traditional fight sequences in this one.

This one definitely felt farther away from the original movie than Reloaded did, but I think I liked this one more than Reloaded because it wasn't complex just to be complex. This one was pretty devoid of the philosophical nature of the first. But I still enjoyed it as a simple action movie.


Rating - 4/5



Though I enjoyed watching the sequels this time around, I still like the ending of the first film as the much better ending for the story.

[Foggy]

Originally Posted by Diesel

Rating - 4/5

I hate this movie, it's very dull, it removes all the really cool elements of the original with all the really cool kung fu with boring real world battles, the last fight tries to hard to be epic and huge that it's just silly and there are a ton of other things I could go into

[Show spoiler](like Trinity's death and that huge face robot that looks like the Mirror from Snow White)

[Batman1980]

Originally Posted by Foggy

I hate this movie, it's very dull, it removes all the really cool elements of the original with all the really cool kung fu with boring real world battles, the last fight tries to hard to be epic and huge that it's just silly and there are a ton of other things I could go into

[Show spoiler](like Trinity's death and that huge face robot that looks like the Mirror from Snow White)

[Show spoiler]
The final battle in the movie is one of the most epic climactic one on one battles ever. Also Trinity's death was kind of necessary, that was a one-way trip.

[Foggy]

Originally Posted by Gandalf Stormcrow

[Show spoiler]
The final battle in the movie is one of the most epic climactic one on one battles ever. Also Trinity's death was kind of necessary, that was a one-way trip.

[Show spoiler]I feel as if they felt, "we've really got make this big, lets have it when they punch each other rain flies everywhere so they have big bubbles of rain explode" it comes off more silly than epic, and Trinity's death is more of a flaw with the 2nd one than the 3rd but affects them both, you bring her back from the dead in number 2, and then she gets a lame death in number 3.

[Al_The_Strange]

Originally Posted by Foggy

Ok it's time for me to get critical.

Jackie Brown (AKA The Tarantino movie everyone forgets about)

[Show spoiler]
I'm say it here first, this is Tarantino's smartest film, but it's also he weakest (I haven't seen Death Proof). The plot is the best part of the movie, it's a cool crime movie, if it wasn't so damn long, this is on the longer side of 2 hours and a half, there isn't a need for it to be so long, but it's the fact it's a very slow moving movie, it never really gets round to the plot until to 40-50 min mark. It spends most it's time introducing the characters, none of which are very intresting, and all do very boring things, Sam Jackson plays Sam Jackson, Robert De Niro doesn't do much, he just sits around looking happy he's in a Tarantino flick. Jackie Brown is quite a badass but she's never really given a moment to shine. And the acting is good, it's just actors aren't really stretched very far.

I think Tarantino really falters as he's adapting something which causes him to wear restraints, it doesn't have everything that makes his movies work, there is very little memorable dialogue and characters, the soundtrack isn't up to his standards, there's very little humor, which makes the film seem very downbeat and dull, and sucks the life and unpredictability that QT's movies usually have. If this was done by someone else, this could of worked, but QT just wasn't right, he tries to make everything like his usual standards, but is bogged down by source material.

I know a lot of people really like this film, some even say it's his best, and watching the first few mins I had really high hopes for it, the gun conversation with De Niro and Jackson is great. But after an hour I started to regret starting to watch this one. As it dawned on me why no one seems to talk about this movie, or remember it, it doesn't feel like a Tarantino movie and doesn't work as a Tarantino movie.

I did like the part where you saw the money laundering scheme go though step-by-step, it was the only part I felt was inspired.

6/10

Good review. I agree; this is my least favorite QT movie (and I have seen "Death Proof" ).

Originally Posted by Diesel

I forgot to mention that.

It struck me as...complicated for the sake of being complicated.

Agreed; it could have been written better (less big words please ). Darn you Watchowski Brothers and your overdeveloped brains!

Originally Posted by Diesel

The Matrix Revolutions

[Show spoiler]

I enjoyed this one on the rewatch just like Reloaded.

It didn't suffer from the things I mentioned for Reloaded...as there was hardly any traditional fight sequences in this one.

This one definitely felt farther away from the original movie than Reloaded did, but I think I liked this one more than Reloaded because it wasn't complex just to be complex. This one was pretty devoid of the philosophical nature of the first. But I still enjoyed it as a simple action movie.


Rating - 4/5



Though I enjoyed watching the sequels this time around, I still like the ending of the first film as the much better ending for the story.

"Revolutions" used to be my favorite of the trilogy; now I'll concede that the first film is the best. But I still love "Revolutions" as a grand finale.

Dang, now you've seen all three "LOTRs" and all three "Matrixes;" two out of my top three favorite franchises!

[Diesel]

Well to be fair...I have seen all 6 of those movies for quite a while now

Its just that I now ENJOYED all of them


What would the other of the three be? Star Wars? Indiana Jones? Back to the Future?

[Al_The_Strange]

Originally Posted by Diesel

Well to be fair...I have seen all 6 of those movies for quite a while now

Its just that I now ENJOYED all of them


What would the other of the three be? Star Wars? Indiana Jones? Back to the Future?

"Star Wars" is it! That plus "LOTR" plus "The Matrix" is my personal Holy Trinity of films!

Glad you enjoyed them!

"Indiana Jones" comes at #4, "The Terminator" at #5, "Kill Bill" #6, "James Bond" #7, and "Star Trek" #8. Everything else just goes from there ("Back to the Future" is lower on my top 100 list).