The Movie Review and Discussion Thread

[iam1bearcat]

Originally Posted by SquidPuppet

Dude. Is it just "On" in the background while you are there, or are you actually sitting there "watching" it....paying attention?

i'd say there have only been 2 times while watching (500) that it was just "on" and i was doing other stuff. otherwise, yes, i am sitting down and watching it. i may get up and go to the bathroom or get a snack without pausing, and maybe a quick check on here or going through emails for a few minutes, but otherwise, i'm sitting there watching intently

[SquidPuppet]

Originally Posted by iam1bearcat

i'd say there have only been 2 times while watching (500) that it was just "on" and i was doing other stuff. Otherwise, yes, i am sitting down and watching it. I may get up and go to the bathroom or get a snack without pausing, and maybe a quick check on here or going through emails for a few minutes, but otherwise, i'm sitting there watching intently

h o l y s m o k e s

[tbizzle]

Originally Posted by Q!

Damn dude...

Seriously, don't you get tired of them? The movies I love, quite ironically, I try to not watch too often because I don't want to ruin the magic, if that makes sense...

Not saying what you're doing is wrong of course, but I just never understood it myself, watching a movie over and over again.

Same here. I can't watch my favorite films more than once or twice a year.

[Al_The_Strange]

Time to watch some movies that I remember enjoying but haven’t seen in a long time.

Starting off with “Starship Troopers.”

This timeless masterpiece motion picture is approved by the Federation, detailing the epic struggle between man and bugs. You too can join up with the Mobile Infantry and do your part in the war effort. Would you like to know more?

[federal] [galaxy] [top news] [enlist]

[Show spoiler]

Yeah, I know this is cheesy and absurd. It’s one of many films I didn’t like on the first go.

After subsequent viewings, I grew to seriously enjoy the exaggerated over-the-top lifestyle the film portrays, as well as the violent battles. It’s every bit as wild and crazy as Paul Verhoeven’s other great sci-fi works (“RoboCop,” “Total Recall,” etc). As a consequence, some parts are funny or silly (possibly intentionally), but I think that’s all part of the fun.

The story is not bad; not a particularly strong arc, but the framing technique is interesting, and the characters are likable. The film has a lot of interesting satire, especially with the (somewhat ridiculous) commercial segments.

It’s all rather fun!

[exit]

4.5/5 (entertainment: 5/5, story: 4/5, film: 4/5)

The Blu-Ray looks decent. Detail and sharpness is great; some of the SFX are starting to look dated, but many of the starships, spaceports, backgrounds, bugs, etc hold up to this day. Most scenes show a fine layer of film grain; some have visual noise as well, which can be a little gaudy. DNR is hardly noticeable, if used at all. Color and contrast are mostly good; I wonder of EE was used, since some edges seem noticeably pronounced. Sound quality is pretty good; some dialogue could be clearer though. But for both sound and video, I could notice a lot more detail than before.

PQ: 4.5/5, AQ: 4/5

[BladeRunner2007]

The Shining 5/5

I've watched this movie countless times and it still scares the hell out of me. An absolute perfect horror movie. I watched the International Version btw. I have never seen the US Cut.

[LordCrumb]

Evangelion 2.22 You Can (Not) Advance

Certainly a lot has been changed in this feature. The first film stayed close to the original series, but this one was a big surprise, heaps of changes, which made it slightly more difficult to follow. Will need repeated viewings, but is still certainly entertaining.

[Big-byrd]

Hot tub time machine.

i freaking love this movie never gets old... i'm going to say... better than hangover. as a comedy.
10/10 perfect

[surfdude12]

The Lives of Others

Film: 5/5

PQ: 4.5/5

AQ: 4/5

[Diesel]

Originally Posted by surfdude12

The Lives of Others

Film: 5/5

PQ: 4.5/5

AQ: 4/5

Brilliant review Surf

[Al_The_Strange]

Originally Posted by KaiGusto

Evangelion 2.22 You Can (Not) Advance

Certainly a lot has been changed in this feature. The first film stayed close to the original series, but this one was a big surprise, heaps of changes, which made it slightly more difficult to follow. Will need repeated viewings, but is still certainly entertaining.

Oooh, can't wait to see it on disc!

[jawsfan1975]

BATMAN & ROBIN

Absolutely terrible! Only good thing about the blu ray was the great picture and sound quality!

[surfdude12]

Originally Posted by Diesel

Brilliant review Surf

haha, yeah I know! I guess I've posted so much about this film already I don't know what more I can say.

[Show spoiler]The pervasiveness of the human spirit -- that will rise up against any odds. Wiesler rocked back and forth between sympathizer and merciless idealist about 3 times:
(1) upon learning that this whole mission was a farce (to help Minister Hempf get a piece of as@), and not to help to GDR, Wiesler started to sympathize with Dreyman, and helped him discover the truth about the affair [SS idealist to sympathizer]
(2) upon finding the Brecht book and hearing the Sonata piano piece, Wiesler went from a mere sympathizer to defender of Dreyman [sympathizer to defender]
(3) however, once he heard about typewriters being taken across borders, he, in essence thought "sorry Dreyman, I think you're a cool dude and all, but I can't cover for this. this is over the line". so he goes to Grubitz with the written report of the typewriter. [from defender down to sympathizer all the way back to SS idealist]
(4) upon hearing Grubitz talk about imprisoning directors for 10 months straight, and how upon release, they can't even write ever again, Wiesler instantaneously changes suit once again and hides the report he brought to the office [SS idealist to sympathizer to defender]

here we see how Wiesler changed back and forth, based on how the "lives of others" flowed into this conscience/spirit, and changed him forever.

[Romulus]

Days of Heaven

This is actually the first time I've watched it on Blu. I couldn't believe how fantastic it looked and how much of an upgrade it was over the DVD. Definitely my favorite Criterion I own. That's mostly due to the fact I'm a Malick fan.

Film: 4/5

The New World

That being said however, I think this is his weakest film. The cinematography once again is outstanding. I think it got snubbed for Best Cinematography that year, where the awful Memoirs won instead. As fantastic as the Blu looked, I can't say that I particularly enjoyed the film. I felt absolutely 0 connection to the story and the characters. I know that Malick puts his visual touch in favor of a narrative structure, but here I just don't think it worked well. This could be a film that takes many years for me to like.

Film: 2.5/5

Restrepo

This is a fantastic documentary about the 503rd Infantry Regiment in the Korangal valley of Afghanistan. It was the Grand Jury Prize Winner for Documentary at Sundance. I honestly don't know much about the specific fighting in Afghanistan, but the Korangal Valley is deemed by the military as the most dangerous valley in the world. The film will put you on the edge of your seat, more so than The Hurt Locker because lets face it: this is real. This is without a doubt the best documentary since The Cove. I really don't want to go into great detail about it because I don't want to ruin it for others, but if this is playing near you I highly suggest you go see it.

Film: 4.5/5

[SquidPuppet]

Originally Posted by Diesel

Brilliant review Surf

I was pondering my smartass comment for his post, then scrolled down and saw yours and had to laugh.

Whats up with Mr. Chatty Kathy being so brief?

I do agree with his review though.

[SquidPuppet]

Originally Posted by SquidPuppet

Whats up with Mr. Chatty Kathy being so brief?

Originally Posted by surfdude12

haha, yeah I know! I guess I've posted so much about this film already I don't know what more I can say.

[Show spoiler]The pervasiveness of the human spirit -- that will rise up against any odds. Wiesler rocked back and forth between sympathizer and merciless idealist about 3 times:
(1) upon learning that this whole mission was a farce (to help Minister Hempf get a piece of as@), and not to help to GDR, Wiesler started to sympathize with Dreyman, and helped him discover the truth about the affair [SS idealist to sympathizer]
(2) upon finding the Brecht book and hearing the Sonata piano piece, Wiesler went from a mere sympathizer to defender of Dreyman [sympathizer to defender]
(3) however, once he heard about typewriters being taken across borders, he, in essence thought "sorry Dreyman, I think you're a cool dude and all, but I can't cover for this. this is over the line". so he goes to Grubitz with the written report of the typewriter. [from defender down to sympathizer all the way back to SS idealist]
(4) upon hearing Grubitz talk about imprisoning directors for 10 months straight, and how upon release, they can't even write ever again, Wiesler instantaneously changes suit once again and hides the report he brought to the office [SS idealist to sympathizer to defender]

here we see how Wiesler changed back and forth, based on how the "lives of others" flowed into this conscience/spirit, and changed him forever.

Oh, theres my answer. I thought Floridude was gittin' soft on us.

[SquidPuppet]

Originally Posted by Romulus

[Restrepo

This is a fantastic documentary about the 503rd Infantry Regiment in the Korangal valley of Afghanistan. It was the Grand Jury Prize Winner for Documentary at Sundance. I honestly don't know much about the specific fighting in Afghanistan, but the Korangal Valley is deemed by the military as the most dangerous valley in the world. The film will put you on the edge of your seat, more so than The Hurt Locker because lets face it: this is real. This is without a doubt the best documentary since The Cove. I really don't want to go into great detail about it because I don't want to ruin it for others, but if this is playing near you I highly suggest you go see it.

Film: 4.5/5

Thanks. Added to my Netflix queue.

[surfdude12]

Originally Posted by SquidPuppet

Oh, theres my answer. I thought Floridude was gittin' soft on us.

Chatty Kathy? I lose control once I start typing, what can I say? I need to learn better from Terse Tom over here. Short sentences. Keep it brief. Less is more. Etc. Etc.

BTW, half way through Rome, Season 2 and had an epiphany:

[Show spoiler]the women back then, especially Atia, are a rarity: they're (1) promiscuous, (2) materialistic and (3) intelligent. You usually get (1) and (2) in today's movies/shows, but never get (1), (2) and (3) together.

Kick ass show! Thanks again for the recommendation.

[SquidPuppet]

Originally Posted by surfdude12

Chatty Kathy? I lose control once I start typing, what can I say? I need to learn better from Terse Tom over here. Short sentences. Keep it brief. Less is more. Etc. Etc.

BTW, half way through Rome, Season 2 and had an epiphany:

[Show spoiler]the women back then, especially Atia, are a rarity: they're (1) promiscuous, (2) materialistic and (3) intelligent. You usually get (1) and (2) in today's movies/shows, but never get (1), (2) and (3) together.

Kick ass show! Thanks again for the recommendation.

Yes. Correct. A good plan. Works very well.

I am glad you are digging Rome. Have you found yourself feeling a connection to Lucius and Titus and there bond?

Oh and about the gals, you forgot

[Show spoiler]VOLUPTIOUS

[surfdude12]

Originally Posted by SquidPuppet

Yes. Correct. A good plan. Works very well.

I am glad you are digging Rome. Have you found yourself feeling a connection to Lucius and Titus and there bond?

Oh and about the gals, you forgot

[Show spoiler]VOLUPTIOUS

On Lucius/Titus, yes absolutely! The guy playing Titus does out-perform the guy playing Lucius, IMO. The guy playing Lucius seems to try too hard at times. But their bond is incredible. I'm just at the part where

[Show spoiler]Titus found out Lucius' kids are alive, and he rode out to get Lucius and they both retrieved the kids. Titus' mentoring Lucius about not killing his son (bastard = certain death, per Roman custom, I presume?) was emotionally gut-wrenching. The evolution of their bond is incredible, and what I find most fascinating is that, initially, Titus seemed the more emotionally immature (no family, no kids, whoring, a drunk, etc), and yet he ends up being the "big brother" to Lucius. Just goes to show that "immature" is just one more premature judgmental label.

dang it! I went on chatty kathy mode again

[Al_The_Strange]

Watched “Die Hard.”

I was reading up earlier on how a story can raise the stakes to create tension and suspense. These kinds of techniques seem perfectly implemented in “Die Hard.” It seems like everything that can go wrong does go wrong, and the hero is an average dude forced to cope with each evolving situation, and put up with a whole microcosm of stupid selfish people. A lot of these scenes are tense, suspenseful, exciting, and downright incredible.

Parts of it are a bit cheesy, but it is all well-filmed. There are a lot of great lines. The story is simple, but well-told and loaded with detail and elements that come together extremely well. And of course, there’s no shortage of action.

I forgot how much fun this one was!

4.5/5 (entertainment: 4.5/5, story: 4.5/5, film: 4./5/5)

The Blu-Ray looked better than I remember; very sharp with plenty of detail. There are a few soft spots, and there is some subtle grain and noise, but it's pretty decent overall. Sound quality is awesome; some parts have a mono sound to them, but most gunshots and explosions sounded awesome, and the vault scene showed some decent bass. I also think I could make out a lot more dialogue than before (like people cussing under their breath while fighting).

PQ: 4/5, AQ: 4.5/5



"This is Agent Johnson....no, the other one."

“I guess we need more FBI guys, huh?”

“I hope that’s not a hostage…”

“Oh yeah, the quarterback is toast!”