The Movie Review and Discussion Thread

[jhiggy23]

Originally Posted by Romulus

Just to play devil's advocate here... can't you say the same thing about The Cove? There's no denying the footage captured but the film is very one sided as well.

Fair question. The difference to me is that The Cove focused on a much smaller incident: what was happening in the cove. There was/is no other side to what was happening there. Food Inc., however, is on the largest scale imaginable: the food supply in the US (and abroad). It's a contentious issue because although the film focuses on the shady food industry and to a lesser extent on the cruelty of the system and practices, it never proffers a theory on how to help cure the hundreds of millions of ppl starving around the world. There's no such dilemma in The Cove, which makes seeing the other side of it far less important imo.

[Romulus]

Originally Posted by jhiggy23

Fair question. The difference to me is that The Cove focused on a much smaller incident: what was happening in the cove. There was/is no other side to what was happening there. Food Inc., however, is on the largest scale imaginable: the food supply in the US (and abroad). It's a contentious issue because although the film focuses on the shady food industry and to a lesser extent on the cruelty of the system and practices, it never proffers a theory on how to help cure the hundreds of millions of ppl starving around the world. There's no such dilemma in The Cove, which makes seeing the other side of it far less important imo.

While the dolphin slaughter is a very small incident, the film still showed Japan in the International Whaling Commission and presented an argument about their actions.

And while you say that there is no other side to what happened in The Cove, you can't say for certain there isn't one. It would still be interesting to see just what the Japanese people think about the dolphin slaughter... something I wish that would have been explored in more depth. All we got in the film were a couple of citizens commenting on it and a time lapse of Ric O'Berry standing in the world's busiest intersection with very small crowds actually stopping to see what he was showing.

I didn't see a very strong showcase from the other side of the argument. My stance is pretty clear all together, what is happening in Japan is a travesty and I'm 100 percent against it. However, it still doesn't take away the fact that it's a pretty one side film in it's presentation of the argument.

Still a fantastic documentary that everyone should see.

[jhiggy23]

Originally Posted by Romulus

While the dolphin slaughter is a very small incident, the film still showed Japan in the International Whaling Commission and presented an argument about their actions.

And while you say that there is no other side to what happened in The Cove, you can't say for certain there isn't one. It would still be interesting to see just what the Japanese people think about the dolphin slaughter... something I wish that would have been explored in more depth. All we got in the film were a couple of citizens commenting on it and a time lapse of Ric O'Berry standing in the world's busiest intersection with very small crowds actually stopping to see what he was showing.

I didn't see a very strong showcase from the other side of the argument. My stance is pretty clear all together, what is happening in Japan is a travesty and I'm 100 percent against it. However, it still doesn't take away the fact that it's a pretty one side film in it's presentation of the argument.

Still a fantastic documentary that everyone should see.

I've got nothin'

[volcomsocal]

Flipped - 2010

This is a coming of age story that takes place in the late 50's/early 60's. It's story and character driven without any cgi, car chases, explosions, or toilet humor that fills up lots of today's movies. I really enjoyed this movie for it's strong story and acting. It's refreshing to watch a movie that is very basic like this one. Rob Reiner directs, and does a great job at it.

PQ - 4/5
AQ - 4/5

Overall, I really enjoyed this film because of how involved I got with the characters and the storyline.

4/5

[Q?]

Delicatessen

A small french dystopian comedy movie, it definitely is a very funny movie, very imaginative with a great cast. I blindbought it awhile ago but today I got the chance to see it with my cousin, we weren't rolling on the floor gasping for air but we definitely were entertained. If you're not allergic to offbeat quirky european movies you should check it out, I had a smile on my face for most of the movie. It's about a landlord that keeps hiring new people, so he later can prepare them as food for the tenants and himself, in order to survive the scarcity of food. It's not a gory gratuitous movie though it may sound like it.

The Studiocanal release is very solid, it looks faithful to the source so no complaints there.

8/10

[dag]

I enjoyed the long weekend (today is Family Day in Ontario), with its cold weather, inside my condo watching movies. What a weekend!

Enter the Void
Last Tango in Paris
The Dark Knight
Night Train to Munich (Criterion SD)
All the President's Men
Hamlet (the 4-hour Kenneth Branagh version)
Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End

Except for the Batman flick, these were all first time viewings for me. Most of these films were very long; my leather sofa and I were best friends

[Foggy]

Have any of you guys seen a spanish horror film called Timecrimes (Los cronocrímenes)

It's suppost to be rather twisty turny, I'm just wondering if Squid (who's into this sort of stuff) or Jhiggy (who likes his foreign films) have seen it.

[Al_The_Strange]

Originally Posted by Foggy

Have any of you guys seen a spanish horror film called Timecrimes (Los cronocrímenes)

It's suppost to be rather twisty turny, I'm just wondering if Squid (who's into this sort of stuff) or Jhiggy (who likes his foreign films) have seen it.

I saw it a while ago and loved it. I'm hoping it'll come to Blu-Ray some day. For the most part though, I think squiddy saw it first and directed my interest towards it. I don't remember who else saw it.

Originally Posted by Al_The_Strange

“Los Cronocrímenes.,” aka “Time Crimes.”

As Squiddy previously remarked, this film is a bit like “Triangle.” As such, unfortunately, I found most of this film predictable. Right from the start. All these highly intellectual open-to-interpretation films must be spoiling me.

But this film handled the theme of time travel very well; it is a very well-crafted story with extreme attention to detail. I was very happy with the way it played out, for I felt it was very logical. Wouldn’t say the same for the main character though; I felt he was a total dope. But, he was believable and well-acted.

The film had my attention the whole way through. It is pretty well-filmed. It doesn’t look like it has (or even needs) a high production value, but the film still looks well-made.

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

[Steve46]

Originally Posted by Q?

Delicatessen

A small french dystopian comedy movie, it definitely is a very funny movie, very imaginative with a great cast. I blindbought it awhile ago but today I got the chance to see it with my cousin, we weren't rolling on the floor gasping for air but we definitely were entertained. If you're not allergic to offbeat quirky european movies you should check it out, I had a smile on my face for most of the movie. It's about a landlord that keeps hiring new people, so he later can prepare them as food for the tenants and himself, in order to survive the scarcity of food. It's not a gory gratuitous movie though it may sound like it.

The Studiocanal release is very solid, it looks faithful to the source so no complaints there.

8/10

I love Amelie, Micmacs and A Very Long Engagement, so I'll probably make this a blind buy soon.

[jhiggy23]

Originally Posted by Foggy

Have any of you guys seen a spanish horror film called Timecrimes (Los cronocrímenes)

It's suppost to be rather twisty turny, I'm just wondering if Squid (who's into this sort of stuff) or Jhiggy (who likes his foreign films) have seen it.

I haven't but I've heard good things--it's on my queue.

[Foggy]

The Prestige

I love the atmosphere in this movie, it never feels overly intense, it's just the sense of "what are you actually seeing". Acting is great, Caine I think plays best in it, seeming torn between two obsessed men. And I always like the idea of obsession and rivalry.

But, it just gets all a little bit silly to me, the fact that the film is about creating illusions yet it chucks a bit of a

[Show spoiler]sci-fi

edge in there feels a little bit of cheap cop-out. I've read the more ambiguous

[Show spoiler]"non-sci-fi"

theory, and both come off a little too silly to be played straight.

I enjoyed it a lot, but I feel I could only get a little bit more replayability out of this one.

8/10

[Evra]

Red (2010)

Red is based on a DC Comics graphic novel. I know that after seeing the DC Comics logo at the beginning of the film. I have not read it nor do I know anything about it so I cannot tell you on the faithfulness of this adaptation. Red is everything that The Losers aspired to be and everything The A-Team should have been. All three films centre around a bunch of people getting revenge on parties who want them exterminated. I could tell you the reason why the main characters are hunted down but doing so would be a pointless exercise because neither you nor me would or should be interested in knowing why and if you are interested in knowing why, then this should not be the kind of movie you would want to watch. Red has more starpower than The Losers and the A-Team have and it is the kind of “loud, dumb and lots of fun” that the A-Team or The Losers should have been.

However, I do have my reservations about Red. Karl Urban is not the most convincing of ‘villains’ around and is totally incapable of holding his own against Bruce Willis’ starpower. The action scenes in Red are a mechanical exercise in that they do not evoke any sense of excitement or danger while the plot is as transparent as it is predictable that scenes showing any plot progression holds the film’s momentum back. I did mention that Red seems like a lot of fun but much of the fun is not brought by the film’s action sequences as you may expect but rather it is brought by the chemistry between the lead characters. Such is the talent of the essambled cast that even if Bruce Willis, Helen Mirren, Morgan Freeman, John Malkovich and Mary Louise-parker are phoning-in their performances, they have an effortless ability to strike an instant connection with each other and that chemistry is evident on-screen. Seeing Mary Louise-Parker as charming, sweet and bubbly on the big screen as she is on television makes me wish how nice it would be if we could see more of her and less from the likes of Katherine Heigl or Jennifer Aniston.

With a combined age of three-hundred among the five lead actors (Willis, Malkovich, Freeman, Mirren and Parker), Red is an action movie where experience triumphs over raw youth. With a certain lack of quality action films in 2010, Red is easily one of the better action films you will see in 2010. However tedious you may find the action sequences in Red but with its tongue firmly placed in its cheek, Red is also quite an entertaining film. I mean, how can anyone resist the sight of John Malkovich armed with explosives to his torso charging towards the screen!

3/5

[jhiggy23]

Originally Posted by Foggy

The Prestige

I love the atmosphere in this movie, it never feels overly intense, it's just the sense of "what are you actually seeing". Acting is great, Caine I think plays best in it, seeming torn between two obsessed men. And I always like the idea of obsession and rivalry.

But, it just gets all a little bit silly to me, the fact that the film is about creating illusions yet it chucks a bit of a

[Show spoiler]sci-fi

edge in there feels a little bit of cheap cop-out. I've read the more ambiguous

[Show spoiler]"non-sci-fi"

theory, and both come off a little too silly to be played straight.

I enjoyed it a lot, but I feel I could only get a little bit more replayability out of this one.

8/10

Definitely a good film and a great character study of obsession, but it still loses major points for its unnecessary cop-out

[Show spoiler]sci-fi ending.

If they had just stuck with the them of obsession, in realistic sense, then it could've been a great film. The non

[Show spoiler]sci-fi

theory is without a doubt the most ridiculous theory I've ever read regarding a film--I still can't believe how fervently Gremal defended it.

[Q?]

Originally Posted by Steve46

I love Amelie, Micmacs and A Very Long Engagement, so I'll probably make this a blind buy soon.

Then there's a good chance you'll enjoy this, haven't seen Micmacs and A Very Long Engagement.

[SquidPuppet]

Originally Posted by Foggy

Have any of you guys seen a spanish horror film called Timecrimes (Los cronocrímenes)

It's suppost to be rather twisty turny, I'm just wondering if Squid (who's into this sort of stuff) or Jhiggy (who likes his foreign films) have seen it.

Yep. A lot of similarities to Triangle. Worth a look.

Originally Posted by SquidPuppet

Timecrimes (Los Cronocrímenes)
(2007) R 89 minutes

DVD


Its a Mexican on land.

Seriously, its a twisted little time travel movie where the protagonist tries to change the outcome of events that have already set in motion. He accidentally enters a LOOP () and tries to navigate his way home. Some of the people () he has to deal with just dont want to cooperate, so he has to do what he has to do.

Worth a watch as a mild headscratcher.

Spanish with English subtitles.

[Foggy]

Originally Posted by SquidPuppet

Yep. A lot of similarities to Triangle. Worth a look.

Originally Posted by jhiggy23

I haven't but I've heard good things--it's on my queue.

Originally Posted by Al_The_Strange

I saw it a while ago and loved it. I'm hoping it'll come to Blu-Ray some day. For the most part though, I think squiddy saw it first and directed my interest towards it. I don't remember who else saw it.

Good, I'll try and check it out as soon as I can

Originally Posted by jhiggy23

Definitely a good film and a great character study of obsession, but it still loses major points for its unnecessary cop-out

[Show spoiler]sci-fi ending.

If they had just stuck with the them of obsession, in realistic sense, then it could've been a great film. The non

[Show spoiler]sci-fi

theory is without a doubt the most ridiculous theory I've ever read regarding a film--I still can't believe how fervently Gremal defended it.

I can kinda see people look at it as Hugh Jackman's character being so obsessed he becomes delusional, that he imagines the

[Show spoiler] ludicrous machine

up himself, but there is too much in terms of imagery, plot and character decision that it can't be backed up.

[SquidPuppet]

Oh my goodness. I hadnt visited the Triangle thread for quite some time and I missed a couple posts.

Check this out. A new post finds a few really cool things that ALL of us TOTALLY missed.

Good stuff man....check it out.

Originally Posted by jcflman

Happy this thread is active since I just watched it for the first time last night. My take is...

[Show spoiler]The entire movie she is dead. Don't stop reading quite yet, here's why. During the movie we find out her watch has stopped at 8:17 (the time I believe she died) and she was on her way to the harbor to meet Greg at 8:30. (that was the time of the post-it note that's on the fridge). I believe she and her son were on the way to the harbor when the accident occurred killing them.

The driver represents death (Thanatos in Greek mythology). She is in hell and this is her punishment for her sins. This seems a bit harsh for being a bad mother & person. However, she is willing to kill her friends (and herself) just to get back home to her son. A home that doesn't even exist anymore. A noble soul in some respects for wanting to change but failing in not doing so. She is now bound to this endless cycle for eternity.

There are some neat clues through the movie that reflect the day she died. When she died in the car crash the high school band across the street was playing. When they board the cruise ship the same band instruments are on the ship. The bird that caused the accident shows up repeatedly during the movie. Her house number is the same number as the cabin on the ship.

Just my take on the movie.

[SquidPuppet]

Originally Posted by jhiggy23

Definitely a good film and a great character study of obsession, but it still loses major points for its unnecessary cop-out

[Show spoiler]sci-fi ending.

If they had just stuck with the them of obsession, in realistic sense, then it could've been a great film. The non

[Show spoiler]sci-fi

theory is without a doubt the most ridiculous theory I've ever read regarding a film--I still can't believe how fervently Gremal defended it.

Pfffft. You are so negative.

I was at the mall yesterday and there were 7 guys there that looked exactly like me. Exactly!!! Another hundred wouldnt be so difficult.

[jhiggy23]

Originally Posted by SquidPuppet

Pfffft. You are so negative.

I was at the mall yesterday and there were 7 guys there that looked exactly like me. Exactly!!! Another hundred wouldnt be so difficult.

Seven...that look like you????

[jhiggy23]

Originally Posted by SquidPuppet

Oh my goodness. I hadnt visited the Triangle thread for quite some time and I missed a couple posts.

Check this out. A new post finds a few really cool things that ALL of us TOTALLY missed.

Good stuff man....check it out.

Some nice catches by him.