The Movie Review and Discussion Thread

[Batman1980]

Originally Posted by DjMethod

Watched Father of the Bride I and II on TV last night.

Excellent movies that wouldn't really work without Martin Short and Diane Keaton, always thought Steve Martin was disposable in those movies.

[iam1bearcat]

Originally Posted by DjMethod

I still do not personally know a single person that has seen the film besides the two I took to see it. It's overhyped in a sense but not due to mass popularity. Besides, why does it bother you so much?

agreed. only 2 people i know and talk to have any interest in seeing it or even know what it is or who made it or who's in it. at best i get is "oh yeah, that dancing (ballet) movie with Natalie Portman and the girl from That 70's Show" but nothing else.

and i'm a big tv fanatic and watch a lot of it and have yet to see a SINGLE Black Swan commercial, or anything remotely close to the media swarming it. i guess Florida does things differently? but not in cold, frigid Wisconsin!

but since we're on the topic, Black Swan actually is in my theater and the gf and i along with some friends might see it next week end. if we do, i'll be super, super to see it. and i know for a fact my best buddy is gonna hate it while i'll more than likely love it, like Aronofsky's other work.

which reminds me, jhiggy's score in the Black Swan review thread shouldn't count! he gave it a 3, but that's off of his out of 4 star ranking system, not the 5 star ranking system that the poll uses! we all told him long ago to ditch Ebert's old as Egypt rating scale, but he didn't listen. he better now because he's gonna have to figure out a proper way to rate films in those types of polls

[Lepidopterous]

Originally Posted by Darth Anakin

Excellent movies that wouldn't really work without Gilbert Gottfried and Diane Keaton, always thought Steve Martin was disposable in those movies.

Gilbert Gottfried?? That's Martin Short! Which reminds me of this obscure childhood favorite of mine:

[two40]

Oh Clifford. I do remember enjoying that.

[Foggy]

Well, watched that Memento movie film thing then.

It's ok, I didn't like how it kept going backwards, it made it hard to follow.
Plus the opening spoiled the ending of the film, what was the point of that
And why were parts in Black and White, everyone knows Black and white films are boring
All in all, it seems like Christopher Nolan was just ripping off Inception (which is the greatest film ever made) really badly

[Diesel]

Originally Posted by Foggy

Well, watched that Memento movie film thing then.

It's ok, I didn't like how it kept going backwards, it made it hard to follow.
Plus the opening spoiled the ending of the film, what was the point of that
And why were parts in Black and White, everyone knows Black and white films are boring
All in all, it seems like Christopher Nolan was just ripping off Inception (which is the greatest film ever made) really badly

[Show spoiler]


I still haven't seen Memento

[Foggy]

Originally Posted by Diesel

[Show spoiler]


I still haven't seen Memento

[Show spoiler]I'm glad you got it

I heavily recommend it, I would watch it again if I didn't have policy's against watching films twice in a row

[Steve46]

Originally Posted by Foggy

Well, watched that Memento movie film thing then.

It's ok, I didn't like how it kept going backwards, it made it hard to follow.
Plus the opening spoiled the ending of the film, what was the point of that
And why were parts in Black and White, everyone knows Black and white films are boring
All in all, it seems like Christopher Nolan was just ripping off Inception (which is the greatest film ever made) really badly

All the scenes in color were told in reverse so that we could get a feel of what it's like to live without short term memory.

All the black and white scenes were happening in correct chronological order (Sammy Jenkis story).

[Al_The_Strange]

Next greatest movie-of-the-week: “The Manchurian Candidate” ’62.

This is probably the third or fourth time I’ve seen this film. First time was a casual library-borrow, and I thought it was just okay. But the imagery and essence of the story really stuck with me.

The movie is a little on the slow side, but the story is inherently interesting and keeps my interest a little better than other older films. There are just a couple of thrilling fights and suspenseful scenes, but for the most part it’s the atmosphere that takes precedence.

It is a decent story that’s well-told and populated with strong characters. And more importantly, it covers some heavy and serious content regarding politics, if not humanity in general. Brainwashing, hypnosis, and turning good people into soulless machines, all comprises the frightening notion that politicians (or perhaps foreign nations) could be puppeteers. For that matter, most political idealisms involve controlling people. By the end of the movie, these constraints are only broken by freedom of the mind and individualism. A little pro-American and anti-Communist perhaps, especially coming from the Cold War era, but there are a lot of interesting concepts and ideas that could apply to any political setting or era (which I suppose warrants the remake…but I still didn’t like it).

The film is well-filmed with plenty of interesting camera angles. Acting is top-notch; I’m not really a huge fan of Frank Sinatra’s music but he seems play Ben Marco very well; Laurence Harvey and Angela Lansbury are perfect in their respective parts. Writing is not bad. Production value looks adequate. Music is okay.

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

[Lepidopterous]

Originally Posted by iam1bearcat

agreed. only 2 people i know and talk to have any interest in seeing it or even know what it is or who made it or who's in it. at best i get is "oh yeah, that dancing (ballet) movie with Natalie Portman and the girl from That 70's Show" but nothing else.

and i'm a big tv fanatic and watch a lot of it and have yet to see a SINGLE Black Swan commercial, or anything remotely close to the media swarming it. i guess Florida does things differently? but not in cold, frigid Wisconsin!

but since we're on the topic, Black Swan actually is in my theater and the gf and i along with some friends might see it next week end. if we do, i'll be super, super to see it. and i know for a fact my best buddy is gonna hate it while i'll more than likely love it, like Aronofsky's other work.

which reminds me, jhiggy's score in the Black Swan review thread shouldn't count! he gave it a 3, but that's off of his out of 4 star ranking system, not the 5 star ranking system that the poll uses! we all told him long ago to ditch Ebert's old as Egypt rating scale, but he didn't listen. he better now because he's gonna have to figure out a proper way to rate films in those types of polls

Dude, I live in Cali and have a group of artsy-indie friends that I know would love this movie... none of which have seen it.

Let the man vote for what he wants and leave him alone!

[Show spoiler]3/5 is even less than 2.5/4 though.

Enjoy it, it's a trip.

Originally Posted by Hep

Black Swan is getting media coverage on its own merit. It won over the sceptics. It had a limited release in what I assume was a strategy to gauge reaction before it went national, and even then it had fairly limited coverage. It is only now with all the positive reaction that it is getting its deserved coverage. To me, over-hyped is when people praise it relentlessly before release; that is not this movie.

True. I was personally very excited for it because I love Aronofsky's work and character studies are his niche (which is why I am not as excited about his next flick). But other than tbizzle and myself, nobody else really gave a sh!t about it until word of the lesbian scene was leaked. It deserves all the critical acclaim it's received and met my personal expectations (which were high). The only thing I observed that I would remotely consider overhyped is its IMDb ranking, which is unremarkable in serious discussions anyway.

[Foggy]

Originally Posted by Steve46

All the scenes in color were told in reverse so that we could get a feel of what it's like to live without short term memory.

All the black and white scenes were happening in correct chronological order (Sammy Jenkis story).

[Show spoiler]I was kidding, I didn't want to add a , or because I thought it might of killed the joke

[Lepidopterous]

Originally Posted by two40

Oh Clifford. I do remember enjoying that.

What a twisted movie! Why did I watch it so many times? It was one of those 'always had it in the VCR' type movies for me.

[Steve46]

Originally Posted by Foggy

[Show spoiler]I was kidding, I didn't want to add a , or because I thought it might of killed the joke

So, did you like it or really think it was just OK?

[Foggy]

Originally Posted by Steve46

So, did you like it or really think it was just OK?

I loved it man, it was really gripping and twisted. It's very cool how twists in a storyline can work out backwards, and I especially liked the end, how we see Lenny place the piece for the whole film, every time we see something new we instantly question what we've seen beforehand and taken for granted.

[SquidPuppet]

Originally Posted by DjMethod

True. I was personally very excited for it because I love Aronofsky's work and character studies are his niche (which is why I am not as excited about his next flick). But other than tbizzle and myself, nobody else really gave a sh!t about it until word of the lesbian scene was leaked. It deserves all the critical acclaim it's received and met my personal expectations (which were high). The only thing I observed that I would remotely consider overhyped is its IMDb ranking, which is unremarkable in serious discussions anyway.

I have been waiting over a year for this!!!!!!!!!!

[Steve46]

Originally Posted by Foggy

I loved it man, it was really gripping and twisted. It's very cool how twists in a storyline can work out backwards, and I especially liked the end, how we see Lenny place the piece for the whole film, every time we see something new we instantly question what we've seen beforehand and taken for granted.

Excellent.

I thought the humour was great too.

[Foggy]

Originally Posted by Steve46

Excellent.

I thought the humour was great too.

Yeah, like the scene when

[Show spoiler]he's getting chased by Todd

[iam1bearcat]

Originally Posted by SquidPuppet

I have been waiting over a year for this!!!!!!!!!!

bazinga!

[Diesel]

Originally Posted by Foggy

[Show spoiler]I'm glad you got it

I heavily recommend it, I would watch it again if I didn't have policy's against watching films twice in a row

I'm going to see it one of these days...when is the question

Originally Posted by iam1bearcat

bazinga!

[Show spoiler]

[Steve46]

Originally Posted by Foggy

Yeah, like the scene when

[Show spoiler]he's getting chased by Todd

That was the one I had in mind.

I showed it to three friends and they all hated it