The Movie Review and Discussion Thread

[SquidPuppet]

Originally Posted by tbizzle

I just had a big DUH! moment and I laughed my ass off! I was talking with a friend about some upcoming films and we got on the topic of Transformers. He said that he just watched the first one for the first time recently and that it's one of the best movies he'd ever seen. So I jokingly used the Ebert quote on him, and just as I was saying the words "not sufficiently...." I was like OMG, that's where NSE came from!!!

We need a :slow: smilie.

[SquidPuppet]

Originally Posted by DjMethod

Something threw me off at the beginning of this film, and ruined the entire first act for me. I kept thinking how awful the subtitles were but was appalled and disappointed in myself when I realized that the prostitute is simply a non-native. Having seen tons of foreign films, this has never once been an issue (a foreign, foreign accent). I replayed the first 10 minutes after the film and it was painfully obvious and embarrassing . However, the remainder of the film more than made up for this mishap on my part.

Revanche is a grueling and thought-provoking character study about vengeance, guilt and contemplation. Subtle and metaphorical, it explores man's tendency to dwell on the past and the coping of vengeful thoughts. Spielmann's direction was excellent. The film moves very slowly, but so does time after something traumatic happens to you. It's also very sexy. One sex scene in particular was done incredibly well (

[Show spoiler]when Alex and Susanne first have sex, both for dishonest reasons, as Alex aggressively thrusts his revenge on her husband into her

). Great cinematography as well.

This is my favorite type of movie. A character study with layers of depth that give viewers something to reflect on and loads of replay value. I can't wait to rip open that blu and give it another watch. This one's a keeper.

4.5/5

Susanne's motives were so . I loved the ending....poignant.

[KilloWertz]

Originally Posted by SquidPuppet

That guy looks invincible.

Damn right. I'd be scared of a Scott Pilgrim figure too.

[SquidPuppet]

Originally Posted by iam1bearcat

anny Boyle - The Beach, 28 Days Later, Sunshine - enjoyed them all. but need to see more of his

No Slumdog yet? Its a fabulous film, when you get the chance.

[SquidPuppet]

Originally Posted by Diesel

Troy - Director's Cut

I wasn't particularly interested in the story either. Enough so to keep me watching a 3 hour movie, but not enough to be engaged by it or to want to revisit it. (So yes, it is now among the One and Done Collection)

Rating - 3.5/5

Hmmm. Sorry. For me, since the events changed history, I was well engaged.

[iam1bearcat]

Originally Posted by SquidPuppet

No Slumdog yet? Its a fabulous film, when you get the chance.

nope, not yet it's in the queue... somewhere ...

[SquidPuppet]

Originally Posted by iam1bearcat

since everyone else already made their lists (and i swear to god we better not have 55154372 pages of everyone reposting their scores again ) i'll post mine because it's super easy

Gladiator - incomplete. started watching it once about 4 years ago, never finished. wasn't really into it Why?

Kingdom of Heaven - never seen it. You should

Braveheart - no interest in seeing it. Why?

The Last Samurai - 4/5. almost afraid to watch this again since every time i do the score drops

Troy - no interest in seeing it (don't even start Squid ) Why no interest?

that was pretty easy

^^ The low/no interest. Is it a war thing? Or a hero thing?

[Al_The_Strange]

Finally got enough free time to revisit a timeless classic epic masterpiece…

“Shichinin no Samurai,” aka (“The Seven Samurai”).

Clocking in at three-and-a-half hours, this is one of those movies that seems long and daunting, but really isn’t (you know, like “LOTR,” “Red Cliff,” “Lawrence of Arabia,” “Gladiator,” and other fine lengthy epics; I rank this film about as high as all of those). “The Seven Samurai” is long, but it hardly has a dull moment. Its story is simple, but the movie has so many characters and subplots that it becomes one thing after another. Combined with some wonderful photography and plenty of kick-butt action scenes, this movie succeeds at being rather entertaining, despite everything.

Even though I said it’s a simple story, it’s one well told, with an excellent cast of characters. The story serves as an excellent platform to present ideas about war and society that could easily apply anywhere in the world; the villager’s rebellion against the bandits might as well be a retelling of the American revolution, or the French resistance, or any other case where a population rises against tyranny. The issues get even more intriguing in this film, because it deals with samurai specifically, which are a class of their own; the clashes between them and the lower-class peasants make for additional drama. This is not just a bunch of guys fighting; it’s a very thick story.

As I said above, the film is very well-made with splendid cinematography, quality writing, and some fine acting. Toshiro Mifune stands out in particular; his character is easily the most likable in the group, and his acting is phenomenal. Takashi Shimura is cool too. Production value is adequate. Music is pretty swell too.

5/5 (entertainment: 4/5, story: 5/5, film: 5/5, intellectual impact: 3/5)

Recommendation: Hell yeah!!!

This Blu-Ray is the best thing since rice. The image does show some flickering here and there, and a few scratches and specks here and there. One scene in the last third of the movie had an extraordinary amount of print damage and iffy contrast. But other than that, the movie has superb contrast and about 90% of it looks absolutely clean and darn near perfect. Sharpness and detail are excellent. Sound quality seemed a bit noisy and muffled at the beginning, but proved to be very clean and crisp as it went on.

PQ: 4.5/5, AQ: 4.5/5

[iam1bearcat]

Originally Posted by SquidPuppet

^^ The low/no interest. Is it a war thing? Or a hero thing?

definitely a war thing. i'm not one of those "anti-war, anti-military" types or anything, i just don't really 'connect' with those types of films. the 'war' film i like best is easily Apocalypse Now, but that's because it's not really a war film. there are no war segments, so i don't personally count it as a 'war film'.

same goes for more "up to date" war films like Black Hawk Down, Pearl Harbor, Band of Brothers, et cetera. i either have very little interest in seeing them, or i do see them but have no real feelings / involvement with the characters / setting, which kind of distracts me and takes me out of the environment of the film. i give BoB a 5/5 and BHD 4.5/5, but was i engaged in these like i am with other films? no. not even close for whatever reason.

i am revisiting Gladiator again, eventually, but the rest, if i ever do watch, i have no real urge to watch them immediately.

[SquidPuppet]

Originally Posted by surfdude12

dude! I didn't know you owned ROME. how awesome is that show? Squid told me about it. So glad I snagged it. INfinite replay value, no? I love how its simultaneously (1) small-scale: 2 soldiers, and (2) large-scale: shows empire-sized battles. have you watched both seasons?

He loves Rome, but has no interest in Troy.

The kidnapping of King Menelaus of Sparta's wife (Helen of Troy) which triggers the EPIC battle between the Trojans and the Spartansis kind of a big thing. Not to mention The Trojan Horse.

[iam1bearcat]

Originally Posted by Al_The_Strange

Finally got enough free time to revisit a timeless classic epic masterpiece…

“Shichinin no Samurai,” aka (“The Seven Samurai”).

[Show spoiler]Clocking in at three-and-a-half hours, this is one of those movies that seems long and daunting, but really isn’t (you know, like “LOTR,” “Red Cliff,” “Lawrence of Arabia,” “Gladiator,” and other fine lengthy epics; I rank this film about as high as all of those). “The Seven Samurai” is long, but it hardly has a dull moment. Its story is simple, but the movie has so many characters and subplots that it becomes one thing after another. Combined with some wonderful photography and plenty of kick-butt action scenes, this movie succeeds at being rather entertaining, despite everything.

Even though I said it’s a simple story, it’s one well told, with an excellent cast of characters. The story serves as an excellent platform to present ideas about war and society that could easily apply anywhere in the world; the villager’s rebellion against the bandits might as well be a retelling of the American revolution, or the French resistance, or any other case where a population rises against tyranny. The issues get even more intriguing in this film, because it deals with samurai specifically, which are a class of their own; the clashes between them and the lower-class peasants make for additional drama. This is not just a bunch of guys fighting; it’s a very thick story.

As I said above, the film is very well-made with splendid cinematography, quality writing, and some fine acting. Toshiro Mifune stands out in particular; his character is easily the most likable in the group, and his acting is phenomenal. Takashi Shimura is cool too. Production value is adequate. Music is pretty swell too.

5/5 (entertainment: 4/5, story: 5/5, film: 5/5, intellectual impact: 3/5)

Recommendation: Hell yeah!!!

[Show spoiler]This Blu-Ray is the best thing since rice. The image does show some flickering here and there, and a few scratches and specks here and there. One scene in the last third of the movie had an extraordinary amount of print damage and iffy contrast. But other than that, the movie has superb contrast and about 90% of it looks absolutely clean and darn near perfect. Sharpness and detail are excellent. Sound quality seemed a bit noisy and muffled at the beginning, but proved to be very clean and crisp as it went on.

PQ: 4.5/5, AQ: 4.5/5

great review Al (even though this is another one i haven't seen )
everyone tells me to watch it, but i don't know if i really have that much of an interest in it. and then i just looked at the review on here and it says:

"I thought for a long time how to approach Akira Kurosawa's Seven Samurai. When one is asked to critique a film of this magnitude, one naturally feels uneasy. After all, what is it that one could write about Seven Samurai that has not already been written? Everyone knows the story, everyone has seen images from the film, and everyone knows how influential the film has been for generations of different directors."

Everyone knows the story - i don't.
everyone has seen images from the film - i haven't.
everyone knows how influential the film has been for generations of different directors - um. not i.



to be honest, before about 2 months ago, i never even heard of this film.
so maybe the joke's on me about how legendary this film is because i see 5/5's across the board but have heard nothing about it. ever

[SquidPuppet]

Originally Posted by tbizzle

After years of not getting around to Pi, I agree! I just bumped it up in my queue so it should be here next Wednesday

If Black Swan is playing at the Century in Roseville, I'm definitely goin!

You will see/hear things/styles/influences that made their way to Requiem for a Dream.

[iam1bearcat]

Originally Posted by SquidPuppet

He loves Rome, but has no interest in Troy.

The kidnapping of King Menelaus of Sparta's wife (Helen of Troy) which triggers the EPIC battle between the Trojans and the Spartansis kind of a big thing. Not to mention The Trojan Horse.

i just looked up Troy and i think i know why i have (or at least, had) very little interest.
for christmas like, 4 years ago i got a double dvd package from my aunt and one of the movies was Alexander. i couldn't even make it 45 minutes into it, it was so bad. and that had Pitt in it. so i think i may have confused the two. but looking into Troy it still doesn't pique my interest that much, but i added it to the queue in case i have the urge to see it and so i didn't forget about it

[Al_The_Strange]

Originally Posted by iam1bearcat

great review Al (even though this is another one i haven't seen )
everyone tells me to watch it, but i don't know if i really have that much of an interest in it. and then i just looked at the review on here and it says:

"I thought for a long time how to approach Akira Kurosawa's Seven Samurai. When one is asked to critique a film of this magnitude, one naturally feels uneasy. After all, what is it that one could write about Seven Samurai that has not already been written? Everyone knows the story, everyone has seen images from the film, and everyone knows how influential the film has been for generations of different directors."

Everyone knows the story - i don't.
everyone has seen images from the film - i haven't.
everyone knows how influential the film has been for generations of different directors - um. not i.



to be honest, before about 2 months ago, i never even heard of this film.
so maybe the joke's on me about how legendary this film is because i see 5/5's across the board but have heard nothing about it. ever

Isn't it weird how all the best films are the ones nobody ever heard of?

I probably would have never heard of this or any other Akira Kurosawa film if I had never taken the chance to blind-buy the DVDs some years ago. Back then, I heard that "Star Wars" was based on Kurosawa's "The Hidden Fortress," so I took it upon myself to get it along with "The Seven Samurai," "Yojimbo," and "Sanjuro." I could definitely see how "The Hidden Fortress" influenced "Star Wars," it's practically the exact same plot and characters! Same could be said for "Yojimbo" influencing "A Fistfull of Dollars." It kinda blew me away seeing how it was all interconnected.

Same could be said for "The Seven Samurai." Even if you never seen or heard of the story, you might recognize it from "The Magnificent Seven" or "A Bug's Life," since both films have the same basic story. I actually discovered it via the anime series "Samurai 7," a more direct remake of the original film (and it rocks too ). And now that I think about it, "300" is thematically the same as well.

As for the imagery...I don't really know specifically, but I suppose there is a bit of "The Seven Samurai" in some westerns and some epics perhaps. And I can certainly see how Kurosawa influenced folks like George Lucas and Sergio Leone.

So by all means, rent it and see what you think!

[SquidPuppet]

Originally Posted by Diesel

How to Train Your Dragon

[Show spoiler]I wasn't sure what to expect from this one, I didn't really know what it was about. I knew there were Vikings, there were dragons and then there would be Craig Ferguson
But that's about it.


The first half hour or so was pretty
The main guy was annoying, I didn't laugh more than twice at the "funny stuff" (both were from Ferguson's character) and was just generally disinterested, it didn't pull me in.
But to fair, I was still sleepy when I started the beginning, so perhaps on a rewatch I would enjoy it more.

But once he found Toothless and started befriending him it was uphill big time.

Toothless was easily the best character for me
He was hilarious and at the same time cool.

The rest of the characters and the story grew on me after that point as well, so Toothless elevated the entire movie for me

I liked Gerard Butler as the dad and as I've already mentioned, Craig Ferguson as...well whatever his name was with no leg.

The fat kid with the stats was pretty funny the rest of the movie.


The flying sequences were VERY well done, it looked great and was very fun to watch. Great job on those.
Those spawned my favorite line of the entire movie that made me bust out laughing,

[Show spoiler]"Thanks for nothing you useless reptile!!"

Going in to the ending portion, I thought, "

[Show spoiler]Oh great, here comes the predictable when all of the dragons are going to show up to help fight the big one

"....BUT IT DIDN'T HAPPEN! And I was sooooo happy that it didn't because what we actually got was great.


A very strong movie overall (even with my for the first portion).

One and Done collection? No. I want to watch it again, and would consider buying it one day if I found a very good price on it. We'll see.

Until I rewatch it at a later date and reevaluate the first segment of the film, I'm going with:

Rating - 4.5/5

*If I rewatch it and the first portion is better than I found it this time, I'll bump it up to a 4.75/5 as long as I enjoy the rest of the film as much as I did this time.

I was very

[Show spoiler] when it looked like Toothless was going to drown.

[Al_The_Strange]

Originally Posted by iam1bearcat

i just looked up Troy and i think i know why i have (or at least, had) very little interest.
for christmas like, 4 years ago i got a double dvd package from my aunt and one of the movies was Alexander. i couldn't even make it 45 minutes into it, it was so bad. and that had Pitt in it. so i think i may have confused the two. but looking into Troy it still doesn't pique my interest that much, but i added it to the queue in case i have the urge to see it and so i didn't forget about it

I couldn't ever get into "Alexander" either. I blame Oliver Stone; don't seem to like his films much.

Also...I thought it had Colin Farrell in it? I think he only looks like Pitt because he has blondish hair in the movie, and the two have very similar-looking faces.

Anyway, "Troy" is way more entertaining. Rent it...along with "The Seven Samurai."

[SquidPuppet]

Originally Posted by Al_The_Strange

Finally got enough free time to revisit a timeless classic epic masterpiece…

“Shichinin no Samurai,” aka (“The Seven Samurai”).

This Blu-Ray is the best thing since rice. .

PQ: 4.5/5, AQ: 4.5/5

I see what you did there, thematically.

[iam1bearcat]

Originally Posted by Al_The_Strange

Isn't it weird how all the best films are the ones nobody ever heard of?

[Show spoiler]I probably would have never heard of this or any other Akira Kurosawa film if I had never taken the chance to blind-buy the DVDs some years ago. Back then, I heard that "Star Wars" was based on Kurosawa's "The Hidden Fortress," so I took it upon myself to get it along with "The Seven Samurai," "Yojimbo," and "Sanjuro." I could definitely see how "The Hidden Fortress" influenced "Star Wars," it's practically the exact same plot and characters! Same could be said for "Yojimbo" influencing "A Fistfull of Dollars." It kinda blew me away seeing how it was all interconnected.

Same could be said for "The Seven Samurai." Even if you never seen or heard of the story, you might recognize it from "The Magnificent Seven" or "A Bug's Life," since both films have the same basic story. I actually discovered it via the anime series "Samurai 7," a more direct remake of the original film (and it rocks too ). And now that I think about it, "300" is thematically the same as well.

As for the imagery...I don't really know specifically, but I suppose there is a bit of "The Seven Samurai" in some westerns and some epics perhaps. And I can certainly see how Kurosawa influenced folks like George Lucas and Sergio Leone.

So by all means, rent it and see what you think!

wow! interesting with the Star Wars and A Bug's Life taking things from these films. very interesting. thanks for that info
and i just added it to the queue. it's on instant right now so i may watch it sooner than i ever envisioned.

[iam1bearcat]

Originally Posted by Al_The_Strange

I couldn't ever get into "Alexander" either. I blame Oliver Stone; don't seem to like his films much.

Also...I thought it had Colin Farrell in it? I think he only looks like Pitt because he has blondish hair in the movie, and the two have very similar-looking faces.

Anyway, "Troy" is way more entertaining. Rent it...along with "The Seven Samurai."

you're right it is Farrell, not Pitt shows how much i remember from the film
i don't know how much i've seen of Stone's work, about to look him up now, but yeah, Alexander was a major dud.

[SquidPuppet]

Originally Posted by iam1bearcat

great review Al (even though this is another one i haven't seen )
everyone tells me to watch it, but i don't know if i really have that much of an interest in it. and then i just looked at the review on here and it says:

"I thought for a long time how to approach Akira Kurosawa's Seven Samurai. When one is asked to critique a film of this magnitude, one naturally feels uneasy. After all, what is it that one could write about Seven Samurai that has not already been written? Everyone knows the story, everyone has seen images from the film, and everyone knows how influential the film has been for generations of different directors."

Everyone knows the story - i don't.
everyone has seen images from the film - i haven't.
everyone knows how influential the film has been for generations of different directors - um. not i.



to be honest, before about 2 months ago, i never even heard of this film.
so maybe the joke's on me about how legendary this film is because i see 5/5's across the board but have heard nothing about it. ever

Its kind of the Citizen Kane of Japanese films. Influentially speaking. I am not a Japanese film history buff, but thats the impression I get.