At 7/29/12 09:20 PM, Makeshift wrote: About to watch The Fellowship of the Ring for the first time. I don't know if it's a good idea or not.

There are people in this day and age that haven't seen The Fellowship of the Ring yet? 0____0

At 7/29/12 11:40 PM, Makeshift wrote:

At 7/29/12 10:51 PM, Glides wrote: Four words:
The Dark Knight Rises.

Probably the most overrated movie of the last decade. Perhaps of all time.

The metascore is understandable; I can see how it could be a 78/100, but 9/10? How many people gave it a perfect score?

Hold on. It's still out in the cinema so the score will be on the high end on IMDB. I remember Toy Story 3 also came in with a 9.0 and now it's sitting at 8.5. I'm sure TDKR will also end up there somewhere.

At 7/31/12 03:02 PM, ClockworkSpace wrote: I'm going to buy a Blu-Ray player

You mean a PS3, right?

At 7/31/12 01:51 PM, Auz wrote:

At 7/29/12 09:20 PM, Makeshift wrote: About to watch The Fellowship of the Ring for the first time. I don't know if it's a good idea or not.

There are people in this day and age that haven't seen The Fellowship of the Ring yet? 0____0

Still haven't finished watching it too.

Hold on. It's still out in the cinema so the score will be on the high end on IMDB. I remember Toy Story 3 also came in with a 9.0 and now it's sitting at 8.5. I'm sure TDKR will also end up there somewhere.

Yeah, I guess you're right. The people who really want to see it; the true fans have probably already gone to the theatre.

At 7/29/12 11:40 PM, Makeshift wrote:

At 7/29/12 10:51 PM, Glides wrote: Four words:
The Dark Knight Rises.

Probably the most overrated movie of the last decade. Perhaps of all time.

The metascore is understandable; I can see how it could be a 78/100, but 9/10? How many people gave it a perfect score?

Wait, you didn't like it? Sure, it's not the greatest movie ever, but considering the crap that has come out this year, it's currently the best one. Wait till the fall, that's when the Oscar nominees generally release in theaters. Or are you not an action movie guy?

At 8/1/12 01:02 AM, Glides wrote:

The metascore is understandable; I can see how it could be a 78/100, but 9/10? How many people gave it a perfect score?

Wait, you didn't like it? Sure, it's not the greatest movie ever, but considering the crap that has come out this year, it's currently the best one. Wait till the fall, that's when the Oscar nominees generally release in theaters. Or are you not an action movie guy?

I do like action movies, but The Dark Knight Rises lacks an intriguing story and I got quite bored especially because Batman wasn't in the movie much at all. It was interesting to see more of Bruce Wayne I suppose, but why was he such a pussy in the beginning. Seriously, that's not the Batman I thought I knew (I realize I sound really corny right now). There a bunch of questionable things that turned me off of it too; mostly a bunch of small things, for example, the TV with cable being in that prison. One big issue was "you should use your real name: Robin." What the hell? It's cool that he's Robin, but that was a shitty reveal, and why is his first name Robin? I thought of writing up a long review of it, but then I realized it would be a waste of time. There are already some negative reviews that share my thoughts on the film. I think I just really hate Nolan's Batman. I want the franchise rebooted already even though people will complain. It doesn't need to start from Batman's origins. Directed by Darren Aronofsky, starring someone who isn't Christian Bale.

Although I agree there hasn't been much released this year, we've still had The Avengers and The Amazing Spider-Man, which are thought were two superior comic book films. I think I may have overrated Spider-Man a bit, but for some reason I just loved that movie. It didn't have a broken plot (although there were a couple things a little out of place) and the action was enjoyable. Spider-Man was actually in that movie too. The Avengers was just incredible and I don't know how a fan of comics could dislike it.

(More, sorry)

Also, I feel like this Batman trilogy is tailored to an audience of non-fans. They are all suddenly fans of course, which is fine, I'm not a hipster or whatever, but Nolan definitely stayed away from things because they most likely wouldn't appeal to a large audience. I guess that's why it's making so much money. I just don't like this Batman at all; call him Batguy, don't taint the name. That Robin reveal is what made me think of this. If this was a film for the fans of Batman, that lady would have said, "you should use your real name: Dick", that would be a true homage to the fans. Bothers me...

So, yesterday I watched the first two Matrix movies, and here are my thoughts:

The Matrix:

What they got right:

-Story and pacing
-Fight scenes and visuals

What they got wrong:

-Very bland characters, including Neo
-Unexplained plot points

OVERALL: Pretty good

Matrix Reloaded:

What they got right:

-Improved fight scenes
-Better story and plot elements
-Hugo Weaving
-Newer, and more interesting characters

What they got wrong:

-Still incredibly bland protagonists

OVERALL: Awesome. Definitely the best of the two.

I went to see Le Prenom today.

It's a French film that reminds me a bit of last year's Carnage. Basically it's about a French family that gets together for a dinner. All's going well, but when a soon-to-be-father reveals the name they have in mind for their son (Adolphe) an argument breaks out which eventually snowballs into all kinds of other fights and arguments between the people.

It's pretty good overall in my opinion. It's definitely well acted, which I think is very important in a film like this. I also liked the twist about 3/4th of the way in. On the negative side, it can be a little tiring to watch people bicker on for half an hour, but fortunately the film does give the viewers a break when I felt that it got a little too much.

Anyway, if you liked Carnage then I think you will appreciate this film as well.

At 8/1/12 01:27 AM, Makeshift wrote: Directed by Darren Aronofsky

I would get pretty psyched for that, but he doesn't seem like the kind of guy who would do superhero films.

Although I agree there hasn't been much released this year, we've still had The Avengers and The Amazing Spider-Man

I agree it hasn't been brilliant this year so far, but indeed, most of the very good films tend to be released around Autumn. Skyfall, The Bourne Legacy and The Hobbit are a few films that I'm still looking forward to.

I do like action movies, but The Dark Knight Rises lacks an intriguing story and I got quite bored especially because Batman wasn't in the movie much at all. It was interesting to see more of Bruce Wayne I suppose, but why was he such a pussy in the beginning. Seriously, that's not the Batman I thought I knew (I realize I sound really corny right now). There a bunch of questionable things that turned me off of it too; mostly a bunch of small things, for example, the TV with cable being in that prison. One big issue was "you should use your real name: Robin." What the hell? It's cool that he's Robin, but that was a shitty reveal, and why is his first name Robin? I thought of writing up a long review of it, but then I realized it would be a waste of time. There are already some negative reviews that share my thoughts on the film. I think I just really hate Nolan's Batman. I want the franchise rebooted already even though people will complain. It doesn't need to start from Batman's origins. Directed by Darren Aronofsky, starring someone who isn't Christian Bale.

Well those are some pretty good points actually. The TV one is probably just an assumption that if Bane was such a powerful crime lord than he could probably afford cable (but not Direct TV!). Should have had more of an explanation. Even the reveal of Robin (instead of Dick Grayson) was a little forced, admittedly. I mean, obviously he couldn't be Dick Grayson since there were too many differences in the origin. Blah blah blah, continuity, I know that you don't want that talk.

So you are completely right when discussing the flaws of the films. The thing I couldn't stand was Marion Cotillard (Talia Al Ghul) because although she's an Oscar winner, she's a terrible actress. And true, Anne Hathaway spent most of her time posing, but she was the best Catwoman in my opinion, I couldn't stand the Tim Burton version. This film was certainly the worst of the three, but in the same way that Return of the King or Prisoner of Azkaban were for Lord of the Rings and Harry Potter. So much could have gone wrong, and to get so much right in a movie this large is impressive. Will it ever be considered a classic? Probably not, although altogether they are among the the greatest trilogies of all time. As for Aronofsky as the director of the sequel/reboot, I'm not sure. I've never actually seen any films of his, but as far as I know, he hasn't done any work that could make him a good choice. Honestly, I don't know who could possibly do it now that Nolan has left. I would love to direct a Batman movie myself, but so would everyone else.

Although I agree there hasn't been much released this year, we've still had The Avengers and The Amazing Spider-Man, which are thought were two superior comic book films. I think I may have overrated Spider-Man a bit, but for some reason I just loved that movie. It didn't have a broken plot (although there were a couple things a little out of place) and the action was enjoyable. Spider-Man was actually in that movie too. The Avengers was just incredible and I don't know how a fan of comics could dislike it.

Now that's what I'm talking about. I liked Dark Knight Rises slightly more only because there's only so much popcorn action I can take. That isn't to say that Avengers and Spidey sucked, far from it. They were second and third of the movies this year to me, but not by much. Avengers got everything right that movies like "Transformers" got so wrong, and it had just the right amount of action and humor. Spidey, on the other hand, had the best romance that I've seen in a while, and I normally hate that sort of stuff. Plus there was funnier lines and better action in some places, though The Lizard wasn't the best Spidey villain to choose from (Doctor Octopus is still the best one so far, when it comes to Spidey bad guys). I still like the originals more, because of nostalgia, but the reboot was far superior to all others but Batman Begins.

On a side note, I really hope "Iron Man 3" is good. The original was so funny and so creative, and the sequel just didn't cut it for me...
But hey, we actually had a reasonable discussion about our opinions without argument. I think that's pretty impressive.

At 8/1/12 01:02 AM, Glides wrote: Wait, you didn't like it? Sure, it's not the greatest movie ever, but considering the crap that has come out this year, it's currently the best one. Wait till the fall, that's when the Oscar nominees generally release in theaters. Or are you not an action movie guy?

If TDKR is the best film you've seen this year, you need to watch more films. It's a competent summer action film, but it's hardly anything special.

Paul Thomas Anderson's new film the master the trailer has been released online and it features phillip seymour hoffman and joaquin phoenix and Amy adams. It's about a drifter who meets up with a charismatic man Lancaster Dodd and his new faith based self help organisation "The movement". It has caused a lot of controversy with church of scientology even Tom cruise was given a private showing and he had some issues with the film but Paul Thomas Anderson disobeyed Tom's wishes. The wikipedia page

I went to see How I Spent My Summer Vacation (or Get The Gringo), a film starring Mel Gibson.

It's a fairly enjoyable flick, although nothing too special. I think the plot is a little predictable and the bad guys are very stereotypical (the kind of bad guys you see in films like Desperado), but the film has its moments.

I do have to agree with a comment I read somewhere that Mel Gibson might start to get too old for roles like this. I know mid-50's isn't that old yet, but he does really start to look like an old man and it gets less and less convincing to see him running around, guns blazing, dodging bullets and stealing the hearts of young (looking) women.

Anyway, if you're in for a B-ish action flick then this might be an okay choice. Otherwise you can give this a miss.

At 8/1/12 07:27 PM, TheMaster wrote:

At 8/1/12 01:02 AM, Glides wrote: Wait, you didn't like it? Sure, it's not the greatest movie ever, but considering the crap that has come out this year, it's currently the best one. Wait till the fall, that's when the Oscar nominees generally release in theaters. Or are you not an action movie guy?

If TDKR is the best film you've seen this year, you need to watch more films. It's a competent summer action film, but it's hardly anything special.

I've heard that the best one was Moonrise Kingdom, but Wes Anderson's work is so strange that I can't watch that. Fantastic Mr. Fox was pretty good, but everything else of his is terrible.
As long as you don't say that Men in Black 3 or Battleship or something like that is the best. Because both of those were terrible too.

At 8/4/12 04:56 PM, SG3 wrote:

At 8/1/12 05:44 PM, powerdude964 wrote: The Matrix:

What they got wrong:

-Very bland characters, including Neo

Matrix Reloaded:

What they got wrong:

-Still incredibly bland protagonist

This is known as the Keanu Reeves effect. Basically, the point is he's a blank; he's a POV character. As he doesn't have any defining characteristics, it's easier for audience members to project themselves onto him. Whether you agree with it or not, it's still a narrative device, and therefore intentional.

This most often seen in large-scale blockbusters, as having a more diverse protagonist can be seen as a gamble by the studio. The issue is that the character can be unrelatable to certain demographics, thereby loosing the film money. This is also why you rarely see a non-white or non-hetero protagonist in these films.

See also: Sam Worthington in Avatar, Shia LaBaouf in Transformers

And for the ladies there's Kristen Stewart in Twilight. And pretty much any movie made for women. It sounds incredibly sexist to say so, but I've noticed that most movies made for women are terrible. I mean seriously, how many times can you have the same "attractive woman doesn't actually know that she's hot" story starring Katherine Heigl? She's been in some serious stinkers, all of which have been like that, and she is super hot.

I would love to join this club, it sounds great.

**SPOILERS**

Just saw Fahrenheit 9/11. As a quick summary of the movie it's really good and if you have an interest in politics this is a must have. Yes a must have not a must see.

I'm a fan of documentaries and this is amazing. I regrettably saw this 7 years late but it's better since in 2004 I only would've understood some of this. If I wouldn't of seen this I would I've thought 9/11 was 9/11, but with this film Michael Moore gives an amazing new perspective telling us the people in detail how the Bush family and the Bin Laden family were actually business colleagues who together made billions from oil in Iraq and for defense systems for the U.S that profited from 9/11.

I went to see Seeking A Friend For The End of The World today, starring Steve Carell and Keira Knightley.

Personally, I really like it. I think it contains a good mixture of comedy/light-heartedness and drama/melancholy (noted that I like a 1:2 ratio). Steve Carell again does well playing a tragic character and I think Keira Knightley is very good in this as well. The overall plot is a bit predictable, but that didn't bother me much.

I can understand people might not really like the last hour. From there the comedy becomes kind of absent and the plot takes a turn to something more serious. I've read some people just thought it got boring from there on and I can imagine some might feel that way. I was fine with it though. It felt like natural progress to me, keeping the "incoming apocalypse" in mind.

Anyway, I think it's key not to go in with the wrong expectations. It's really not much of a comedy overall and it won't focus on everyone going crazy either. For the most part it's just a drama film and if that's what you expect then I think you'll find it decent at least.

I think I'll be adding this to my favourites of the year thus far.

At 8/4/12 08:43 PM, Glides wrote: It sounds incredibly sexist to say so, but I've noticed that most movies made for women are terrible.

Honestly, I think the whole idea of gearing films specifically towards men or women is kinda stupid and most of such ones I've seen are shit because they're primarily based on age old cliches and stereotypes.

At 8/4/12 08:43 PM, Glides wrote: It sounds incredibly sexist to say so, but I've noticed that most movies made for women are terrible.

Honestly, I think the whole idea of gearing films specifically towards men or women is kinda stupid and most of such ones I've seen are shit because they're primarily based on age old cliches and stereotypes.

Very true. Flicks aimed at men like "Transformers" are also horrible, but films like "Twilight" are so very worse.

I would like to be in!

Recently saw this - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l8vtRjJxypg&feature=plcp It is a parody review but I find it funny.

I will talk later about my favorite movies.

I made a new video that parodies an iconic scene from Citizen Kane. I know people here would appreciate it.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jGjwbCPGQNQ

Watched Sucker Punch last night and enjoyed it more than I thought I would. The plot was thin and the characters fairly bland, but the stunning visuals made up for it when it came to the action sequences.

Took a little while to figuring what was actually going on as the film shifts between reality and two fantasy worlds. One's so different that it's easy to see but the other doesn't stretch the truth too far and could easily have been actually happenning.

Apologies if that sounds confusing, I don't wanna ruin things for anyone who hasn't seen it.

Overall if you liked 300 you'll probably enjoy this. Not a deep or moving flick but if you're in the mood for mindless OTT action, you could do much worse.

At 8/15/12 06:35 AM, DannyIsOnFire wrote: Overall if you liked 300 you'll probably enjoy this. Not a deep or moving flick but if you're in the mood for mindless OTT action, you could do much worse.

The action sequences are a bore, though. There's no threat involved for any of the characters since they just bounce off walls harmlessly, and the CGI feels weightless and looks awful. The green screen sets are particularly bad.

Really disliked the film.

At 8/15/12 06:47 AM, TheMaster wrote:

At 8/15/12 06:35 AM, DannyIsOnFire wrote: Overall if you liked 300 you'll probably enjoy this. Not a deep or moving flick but if you're in the mood for mindless OTT action, you could do much worse.

The action sequences are a bore, though. There's no threat involved for any of the characters since they just bounce off walls harmlessly, and the CGI feels weightless and looks awful. The green screen sets are particularly bad.

Really disliked the film.

I'm with you on that. That film was one of the worst in recent memory, just plain old sexist pandering to the horny teenage guy crowd. Hell, I'm 17, I should have liked this movie. But Zack Snyder is nothing but a hack. 300 and Watchmen were OK, but Sucker Punch made me hate him.
And the same guy is making the new Superman film...needless to say, it's going to suck.

Just went on a bit of a marathon and watched Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, Being John Malkovich, Cube and Donnie Darko. Definitely some of the most unique films I've seen, but I enjoyed Eternal Sunshine the most.

Just saw Zombi 2 is getting a Blu-ray release, under the UK title of Zombie Flesh Eaters.

Fulci's masterpiece. The Citizen Kane of Italian horror.

Can't wait.

That's not until the end of November though, so I'm still way more excited for the Jaws Blu-ray out in a few weeks. It's got The Shark Is Still Working on it. I've been waiting FOREVER to see that. Had festival screenings in 2009, but never saw wide release.

And then there's that 15 film Hitchcock box and the Universal monsters box both due out October. I am going to have no money at all for the foreseeable future.

I didn't even finish Sucker Punch when I rented it. hated it.

At 8/18/12 05:42 PM, TheMaster wrote: Just saw Zombi 2 is getting a Blu-ray release, under the UK title of Zombie Flesh Eaters.

Fulci's masterpiece. The Citizen Kane of Italian horror.

If anyone is on the fence about watching that, I have only four words for them. "zombie wrestling a shark". 'nuff said.

Despite currently working my way through the TV series My So-Called Life and having fifty of so films in my "can't believe I haven't watched this yet" backlog, I went on something of a DVD spree recently and picked up a bunch of old, cheap films I liked the sound of. They are:

Hotel Rwanda
Legends Of The Fall
My Left Foot
Somersault
The Boxer
The Life of David Gale
The Running Man
True Lies
True Romance

At 8/20/12 02:39 AM, EclecticEnnui wrote: Filmmaker Tony Scott apparently killed himself. Holy shit. RIP. My heart goes out to his family and friends. I've seen a few films he directed, like Unstoppable, which I love.

At 8/20/12 07:57 AM, DannyIsOnFire wrote: True Romance

Bit of a weird coincidence...

I went to see The Expendables 2 today.

I kind of enjoyed it. It's about on the same level as the first Expendables film in my opinion. You'd expect more from a film with all these big action film stars, but you do get your explosions and cheesy one-liners and basically everything you wish for.

All in all it's nothing too great, but I had a good time watching this.

At 8/19/12 09:55 PM, EclecticEnnui wrote: I saw The Raid: Redemption. For the little amount of character development it has, it did a decent job. The action is thrilling, the acting is good, and the film's generally unpredictable. I don't know why it's called Redemption, though. What redemption?

I didn't get it either :p

Like I said, I didn't really like how the film is just one long action sequence and doesn't give the viewer much time to breathe.

At 8/20/12 02:39 AM, EclecticEnnui wrote: Filmmaker Tony Scott apparently killed himself. Holy shit. RIP. My heart goes out to his family and friends. I've seen a few films he directed, like Unstoppable, which I love.

RIP indeed.

I see he directed Beverly Hills Cop II, a film series that I loved as a kid. I also liked True Romance.

A whole ton of movies I watched recently that I want to share thoughts on:

Matrix Revolutions:

Much better than I expected, but still the least recommendable in the series. 3/5.

Justice League: The New Frontier:

It was okay. Shortest review ever. 3/5.

Superman Brainiac Attacks:

Pretty good, by Superman standards. I will admit, however, that there is something that I personally don't like. At one point in the movie, Lois Lane accidentally gets hit by a Kryptonite beam that is able to not only weaken Superman, but regular people as well. Superman realizes that there is a rare substance that can cure it, but it's within the phantom zone. At first it seems like he finds the substance and cures Lois, but then he realizes that it's just an illusion, and that he's still in the phantom zone, which pretty much means that we have to sit through it all over again. Flaws aside, good movie. Check it out. 4/5.

ParaNorman:

Now THIS was a really fun movie. I had seen it in the theaters earlier today, and sadly I don't really have much to say aside from, if you get the chance, checking it out. 4.5/5.