The Movie Review and Discussion Thread

[Diesel]

Originally Posted by iam1bearcat

Yeah, I'm not a huge fan of the films myself.

Well made? Yes, of course.
Do I enjoy them? Not really.

Fellowship of the Ring 2/5
The Two Towers 3/5
Return of the King 3.5/5

You just lost all that credit you earned with Boy Meets World

[Show spoiler]

__________


The Crazies (the new one)

I didn't know what this movie was about before watching it (which seems to be the case a lot lately with my first time viewings ); just that my cousin said it was great and my friends I watched it with tonight said it was....wait for it....crazy.

I ended up really enjoying it

The only character/actor I really cared about was Timothy Olyphant. It's not that I didn't like anyone else, its just he was by far my favorite of the characters/actors in the film. I thought he did really good and, I know this isn't exactly a comedy but some of his deliveries in the movie were freaking hilarious (EVERYTHING...is [bleep] moving! )

The story was quite simple and to the point.

[Show spoiler]Virus gets into the area, people go crazy, military quarantine, time for the heroes to fight their way out.

Nice and easy to jump into and enjoy.

Don't know how many people were actually scared by this movie with the typical quick actions and loud screeches to illicit a cheap scare, but the only time I jumped even a little was when Olyphant

[Show spoiler]got grabbed by his wife after setting the dude on fire.

I don't know why that one got me, but it did. The people I watched it with jumped at every attempt to get the audience to do so.

I'd recommend it for a good Friday/Saturday night viewing with some friends.


Funny story of the night associated with this movie: My friend, when the movie first started, described Olyphant as "the poor man's Josh Duhamel" (because he knew who Duhamel was first); so for the rest of the movie Olyphant's character was known as "K-Mart" to us.

Rating - 4.25/5

[Marcus Wright]

Originally Posted by tbizzle

You lost me at that point....

[Show spoiler]

The main reason I gave this film a 5/5 is that I absolutely dont know of anyone who doesnt adore it.
I think its worth some extra credits for that.

[lDlisturb3d]

Originally Posted by Marcus Wright

The main reason I gave this film a 5/5 is that I absolutely dont know of anyone who doesnt adore it.
I think its worth some extra credits for that.

i robot is a 4 at BEST. 5/5 you are smokin.

[iam1bearcat]

Originally Posted by Marcus Wright

The main reason I gave this film a 5/5 is that I absolutely dont know of anyone who doesnt adore it.
I think its worth some extra credits for that.

a·dore ( P ) Pronunciation Key (-dôr, -dr)
v. a·dored, a·dor·ing, a·dores v. tr.
1. To worship as God or a god.
2. To regard with deep, often rapturous love.

sorry, i don't mean to constantly be "that guy" but i don't 'adore' I Robot.
i enjoyed it, sure. but i have no interest in ever seeing it again 3.5/5 from me

[Marcus Wright]

Originally Posted by iam1bearcat

a·dore ( P ) Pronunciation Key (-dôr, -dr)
v. a·dored, a·dor·ing, a·dores v. tr.
1. To worship as God or a god.
2. To regard with deep, often rapturous love.

sorry, i don't mean to constantly be "that guy" but i don't 'adore' I Robot.
i enjoyed it, sure. but i have no interest in ever seeing it again 3.5/5 from me

Well most of the people than, including blu ray.com reviewer of I Robot than disagree with you.
People dont give a blu ray a perfect 5/5 rating without the consideration weather it has a replay value or not.

But than again, you have right of your opinion. Just letting you know that you are in the minority.

[Show spoiler]

P.S. English is my third language so I hope you "let my mistakes" go.

[Diesel]

I used to really like I Robot, but my opinion of it has waned and I even sold my copy of it.

3.75/5 for me.

[Packerfan75]

Jet Li's Fearless

Opening Statement: The Director's Cut/Blu Ray is light years beyond the theatrical/dvd release. I had just recently watched the unrated cut on standard not long ago and the Blu Ray/directors cut looked and played out so differently, it was like watching a different movie altogether.

Synopsis: It's a shame that 'Fearless' was so overlooked in the theaters and was most likely chalked up to being "another kung fu movie". Nothing could be further from the truth. There's a real story here about a real martial arts champion who learns about the downfalls of arrogance, pride and revenge. But he must lose it all in order to understand what's truly important in life, to his father and his country. It's a long, hard road indeed. While it's mostly story, and a good one at that, the fight scenes are excellent as well. They lean towards the fantasy style of kung fu on wires but it's all acceptable if you'll give a little leeway. But it doesn't go nearly as far as others have with flying around and walking on water and such. Otherwise, this is an fine film that'll hold your attention, even the moreso now with the extra 35 min. on the directors cut which fleshes out the story so much more. It allows for more growth of character and context to some scenes that previously had little impact in the other versions. It reminds me of 'Kingdom of Heaven'. I didn't like it very much in it's theatrical cut, but the directors cut made so much more sense of the characters and scenes, that it made it an entirely different movie. I had the same experience here with 'Fearless' and the DC version. It turns a pretty good movie into a very good movie.

PQ: The Blu Ray is also the only way to see it, and I mean "see" it. The standard dvd was servicable at best but compared to the Blu Ray, it's pretty bad. There are so many wonderful sets, costumes and scenery to see here that I feel like I'm also looking at a different movie. The detail is excellent and the print is spotlessly clean. The bold colors pop and everything is clearly defined. The difference is night and day. This is the only way to watch this movie.

AQ: The Blu Ray also offers DTS-HD soundtracks that are also way better than the DD 5.1 tracks on the standard disc. Theres alot more bass from the action and percussion. The quiet scenes are loaded with discrete ambient noise and there's never a problem discerning the voices over the sounds and music. One thing of note though, only a Mandarin DTS-HD track can be found on the Directors Cut. Whereas the other cuts offer a Mandarin DTS-HD track as well as English and French dubbed DTS 5.1. I would've liked the DC to include an english track as well but I had no problem reading the subtitles and the english dubs aren't usually very good anyway,so no harm done.

Closing Statement: 'Fearless' is a great film and is Jet Li's finest performance by far. The story allows Li to show that he's capable of so much more than just punching and kicking. I can't remember seeing him in anything that was nearly as dramatic and polished as this. The Blu Ray makes what was a good movie before, so much better by offering all 3 cuts in beautiful 1080p with an excellent DTS-HD audio track to accompany each. If you have the previous version, don't hesitate for a second on the upgrade if you can and for the curious, give it a try. It's a very well done film with wonderfully choreographed action scenes by the best in the business, Yuen Wo Ping (Drunken Master, Twin Warriors, Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon, Iron Monkey, Matrix, Kill Bill, etc.) Just don't write it off as kung fu with a story, it's a story with kung fu. Enjoy.

Movie: 4.5/5
Video: 4.5/5
Audio: 5/5

[Marcus Wright]

Originally Posted by Diesel

I used to really like I Robot, but my opinion of it has waned and I even sold my copy of it.

3.75/5 for me.

I think it has something to do with aging "maturing" of people.
Some people loose their interest in some particular movies made with a child subconsiousnees in mind, thats why they loose their affection with it when they grow up.
Thats not the case for me. I still remember how good it feels to enjoy thinks from a childs perspective, thats why I still love it.

[Diesel]

Originally Posted by Marcus Wright

I think it has something to do with aging "maturing" of people.
Some people loose their interest in some particular movies made with a child subconsiousnees in mind, thats why they loose their affection with it when they grow up.
Thats not the case for me. I still remember how good it feels to enjoy thinks from a childs perspective, thats why I still love it.

The movie is only six years old.

[iam1bearcat]

Originally Posted by Diesel

You just lost all that credit you earned with Boy Meets World

[Show spoiler]

my apologies for crushing your neanderthal, elf love affair there Diesel

[Show spoiler]

The Crazies (the new one)

[Show spoiler]I didn't know what this movie was about before watching it (which seems to be the case a lot lately with my first time viewings ); just that my cousin said it was great and my friends I watched it with tonight said it was....wait for it....crazy.

I ended up really enjoying it

The only character/actor I really cared about was Timothy Olyphant. It's not that I didn't like anyone else, its just he was by far my favorite of the characters/actors in the film. I thought he did really good and, I know this isn't exactly a comedy but some of his deliveries in the movie were freaking hilarious (EVERYTHING...is [bleep] moving! )

The story was quite simple and to the point.

[Show spoiler]Virus gets into the area, people go crazy, military quarantine, time for the heroes to fight their way out.

Nice and easy to jump into and enjoy.

Don't know how many people were actually scared by this movie with the typical quick actions and loud screeches to illicit a cheap scare, but the only time I jumped even a little was when Olyphant

[Show spoiler]got grabbed by his wife after setting the dude on fire.

I don't know why that one got me, but it did. The people I watched it with jumped at every attempt to get the audience to do so.

I'd recommend it for a good Friday/Saturday night viewing with some friends.

Funny story of the night associated with this movie: My friend, when the movie first started, described Olyphant as "the poor man's Josh Duhamel" (because he knew who Duhamel was first); so for the rest of the movie Olyphant's character was known as "K-Mart" to us.

Rating - 4.25/5

i agree fully about the scariness of the film. it was more of an action adventure with infected people just skipping through fields in the background. as a horror movie, it failed completely. as an action adventure, it was decent, but like you said, aside from Olyphant, i didn't care about the characters. i gave it a 3/5

and to your last paragraph: that friend needs to see more movies if he thinks the always awesome Olyphant is a poor man's anyone. Duhamel has nothing on Olyphant... except probably a hotter wife (Duhamel has Fergie, and Olyphant has some person who doesn't even have a wikipedia page (what a ))

[iam1bearcat]

Originally Posted by Diesel

The movie is only six years old.

yeah, and unless Diesel is Foggy's age (no offense Foggy, just using you as the example age-wise since you're the youngest person i know on here) of 16, he has no "child-like" attachment to the film but i don't think anyone has a "child-like" attachment to the film, because of the type of film it is. but maybe they do? i remember i saw a lot of films that aren't necessarily aimed at kids so who knows

but i think i understand what you mean by what you said.

[Marcus Wright]

Originally Posted by Diesel

The movie is only six years old.

How old are you?

[iam1bearcat]

Originally Posted by Packerfan75

Jet Li's Fearless

[Show spoiler]Opening Statement: The Director's Cut/Blu Ray is light years beyond the theatrical/dvd release. I had just recently watched the unrated cut on standard not long ago and the Blu Ray/directors cut looked and played out so differently, it was like watching a different movie altogether.

Synopsis: It's a shame that 'Fearless' was so overlooked in the theaters and was most likely chalked up to being "another kung fu movie". Nothing could be further from the truth. There's a real story here about a real martial arts champion who learns about the downfalls of arrogance, pride and revenge. But he must lose it all in order to understand what's truly important in life, to his father and his country. It's a long, hard road indeed. While it's mostly story, and a good one at that, the fight scenes are excellent as well. They lean towards the fantasy style of kung fu on wires but it's all acceptable if you'll give a little leeway. But it doesn't go nearly as far as others have with flying around and walking on water and such. Otherwise, this is an fine film that'll hold your attention, even the moreso now with the extra 35 min. on the directors cut which fleshes out the story so much more. It allows for more growth of character and context to some scenes that previously had little impact in the other versions. It reminds me of 'Kingdom of Heaven'. I didn't like it very much in it's theatrical cut, but the directors cut made so much more sense of the characters and scenes, that it made it an entirely different movie. I had the same experience here with 'Fearless' and the DC version. It turns a pretty good movie into a very good movie.

PQ: The Blu Ray is also the only way to see it, and I mean "see" it. The standard dvd was servicable at best but compared to the Blu Ray, it's pretty bad. There are so many wonderful sets, costumes and scenery to see here that I feel like I'm also looking at a different movie. The detail is excellent and the print is spotlessly clean. The bold colors pop and everything is clearly defined. The difference is night and day. This is the only way to watch this movie.

AQ: The Blu Ray also offers DTS-HD soundtracks that are also way better than the DD 5.1 tracks on the standard disc. Theres alot more bass from the action and percussion. The quiet scenes are loaded with discrete ambient noise and there's never a problem discerning the voices over the sounds and music. One thing of note though, only a Mandarin DTS-HD track can be found on the Directors Cut. Whereas the other cuts offer a Mandarin DTS-HD track as well as English and French dubbed DTS 5.1. I would've liked the DC to include an english track as well but I had no problem reading the subtitles and the english dubs aren't usually very good anyway,so no harm done.

Closing Statement: 'Fearless' is a great film and is Jet Li's finest performance by far. The story allows Li to show that he's capable of so much more than just punching and kicking. I can't remember seeing him in anything that was nearly as dramatic and polished as this. The Blu Ray makes what was a good movie before, so much better by offering all 3 cuts in beautiful 1080p with an excellent DTS-HD audio track to accompany each. If you have the previous version, don't hesitate for a second on the upgrade if you can and for the curious, give it a try. It's a very well done film with wonderfully choreographed action scenes by the best in the business, Yuen Wo Ping (Drunken Master, Twin Warriors, Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon, Iron Monkey, Matrix, Kill Bill, etc.) Just don't write it off as kung fu with a story, it's a story with kung fu. Enjoy.

Movie: 4.5/5
Video: 4.5/5
Audio: 5/5

great review packerfan (ugh. need a new username though for sure )
i think i watched this once a long, long time ago. it was kind of enjoyable, but not my type of film (not a big action guy). i think i had to watch this and Kill Bill Vol. 1 back-to-back. one of the most excruciatingly long days of my life

[lDlisturb3d]

Originally Posted by Packerfan75

Jet Li's Fearless

[Show spoiler]Opening Statement: The Director's Cut/Blu Ray is light years beyond the theatrical/dvd release. I had just recently watched the unrated cut on standard not long ago and the Blu Ray/directors cut looked and played out so differently, it was like watching a different movie altogether.

Synopsis: It's a shame that 'Fearless' was so overlooked in the theaters and was most likely chalked up to being "another kung fu movie". Nothing could be further from the truth. There's a real story here about a real martial arts champion who learns about the downfalls of arrogance, pride and revenge. But he must lose it all in order to understand what's truly important in life, to his father and his country. It's a long, hard road indeed. While it's mostly story, and a good one at that, the fight scenes are excellent as well. They lean towards the fantasy style of kung fu on wires but it's all acceptable if you'll give a little leeway. But it doesn't go nearly as far as others have with flying around and walking on water and such. Otherwise, this is an fine film that'll hold your attention, even the moreso now with the extra 35 min. on the directors cut which fleshes out the story so much more. It allows for more growth of character and context to some scenes that previously had little impact in the other versions. It reminds me of 'Kingdom of Heaven'. I didn't like it very much in it's theatrical cut, but the directors cut made so much more sense of the characters and scenes, that it made it an entirely different movie. I had the same experience here with 'Fearless' and the DC version. It turns a pretty good movie into a very good movie.

PQ: The Blu Ray is also the only way to see it, and I mean "see" it. The standard dvd was servicable at best but compared to the Blu Ray, it's pretty bad. There are so many wonderful sets, costumes and scenery to see here that I feel like I'm also looking at a different movie. The detail is excellent and the print is spotlessly clean. The bold colors pop and everything is clearly defined. The difference is night and day. This is the only way to watch this movie.

AQ: The Blu Ray also offers DTS-HD soundtracks that are also way better than the DD 5.1 tracks on the standard disc. Theres alot more bass from the action and percussion. The quiet scenes are loaded with discrete ambient noise and there's never a problem discerning the voices over the sounds and music. One thing of note though, only a Mandarin DTS-HD track can be found on the Directors Cut. Whereas the other cuts offer a Mandarin DTS-HD track as well as English and French dubbed DTS 5.1. I would've liked the DC to include an english track as well but I had no problem reading the subtitles and the english dubs aren't usually very good anyway,so no harm done.

Closing Statement: 'Fearless' is a great film and is Jet Li's finest performance by far. The story allows Li to show that he's capable of so much more than just punching and kicking. I can't remember seeing him in anything that was nearly as dramatic and polished as this. The Blu Ray makes what was a good movie before, so much better by offering all 3 cuts in beautiful 1080p with an excellent DTS-HD audio track to accompany each. If you have the previous version, don't hesitate for a second on the upgrade if you can and for the curious, give it a try. It's a very well done film with wonderfully choreographed action scenes by the best in the business, Yuen Wo Ping (Drunken Master, Twin Warriors, Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon, Iron Monkey, Matrix, Kill Bill, etc.) Just don't write it off as kung fu with a story, it's a story with kung fu. Enjoy.

Movie: 4.5/5
Video: 4.5/5
Audio: 5/5

Its not Kung Fu is Mushu. I love this movie and your are correct, its Jet Li's greatest performance and greatest story. I loved it in every way!!! Great review bud.

[Packerfan75]

[QUOTE=iam1bearcat;4054061]great review packerman (ugh. need a new username though for sure )

Thanks, but it's PackerFAN. As in the Green Bay Packers and I'm a fan of them. They way you put it, yeah, I would need a new username. No harm no foul.

[tbizzle]

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1 - 4/5

Pretty good Harry Potter film, and following tradition, this is the darkest one yet. Lots of action, drama and suspense with a bit of mood-lightening humor thrown in here and there. The ending promises for an exciting showdown in the final film.

[iam1bearcat]

Originally Posted by Packerfan75

MOTHER F*****!!!!
dammit. i even looked twice because i thought i wrote it wrong
oh i know who the packers are (i live in WI ) and i cannot stand them

[tbizzle]

Originally Posted by Diesel

That's because it isn't very good.

[Show spoiler]

But seriously, I didn't care for it

It's a better film than The Pursuit of Happyness, though it's not nearly as likeable.

[Lepidopterous]

Originally Posted by SquidPuppet

I love films with all that attention to detail. The sets, the hair style, the clothes. My soft spot is the 1940s. The clothes for both men and women were so cool. And everyone wore hats.

Nice, the 1940's are great. What I especially liked about Coco & Igor is how the clothing complements the set design.

[Lepidopterous]

Originally Posted by jhiggy23

Breathless (Criterion blu)


PQ and AQ: 4 (out of 5)

Film: 3 stars (out of 4)

[Show spoiler]Synopsis:

There was before Breathless, and there was after Breathless. Jean-Luc Godard burst onto the film scene in 1960 with this jazzy, free-form, and sexy homage to the American film genres that inspired him as a writer for Cahiers du cinéma. With its lack of polish, surplus of attitude, anything-goes crime narrative, and effervescent young stars Jean-Paul Belmondo and Jean Seberg, Breathless helped launch the French New Wave and ensured cinema would never be the same.


Review:

This is my fourth Godard film, after Vivre Sa Vie, Pierrot Le Fou, and Le Petit Soldat. However, this is the film that is usually considered Godard's best and it is the first I've seen that hasn't starred my love, Anna Karina. Many people say that you have to see multiple Godard movies to really "get him" and I agree. The more Godard films I see, the more I see the common motifs and themes.

I definitely liked Breathless, although it is my least favorite of the four I've seen so far, although that's more of a testament to those four films than it is a negative to this film. I thought Belmondo was great and exuded cool, albeit in a generally inappropriate way. I really enjoyed the dialogue of the film, which is a Godard trademark.

I can understand why many ppl don't like Godard and don't like this film. However, it is indisputable that this is one of the most influential movies of all-time. I wondered exactly why this is, so I watched one of the special features which got into the influence of the film. After watching that, I now know why, and it's mainly due to the camera work. Prior to this time, cameras were usually used in a stagnant way, but in Breathless the cameras are much more free flowing and follow the actors, while also using closeups. This is a style that is hugely influential on Scorsese, for example.

Overall, I enjoyed this one and am glad to own it. Let's hope the rumors are true and Le Petit Soldat is next.

Glad you enjoyed his style in this one. I thought you would. Different not having the lovely Karina around. I think Seberg will grow on you in repeat viewings, just watch.