Latest movie thread.

[Antares]

I watched the Blood - The Last Vampire live-action version with my brother. It was pretty sucky, but I shouldn't complain because that was already implied. No, that wasn't a vampire -pun.

I also watched Moon, which was pretty good, but not really spectacular. Unsurprising, I suppose. I have Mega-shark vs. Giant Octopus next, but so far I have not managed to summon enough courage to watch it. I think it requires friends present with whom I can share this masterpiece.

[DuelGundam2099]

I have Mega-shark vs. Giant Octopus next, but so far I have not managed to summon enough courage to watch it.

Don't expect a lot and you'll be fine, it's basically a cgi version of Shark Attack 3 with an octopus thrown in. Seriously Giant Octopus gets like a fourth of the screen time Mega Shark has.

[Seraphic]

The Hollywood Video nearby is closing down, so I recently bought 6 dvds for $30, which is pretty decent. Most of them are just movies I really liked but never found the time or money to own. I guess I can talk about each of them as I watch them. But amongst them, there was one I haven't seen yet but bought because I have been meaning to check it out. Here's what it's like:

Curse of the Golden Flower:

Some of you may have noticed that this film is sometimes seen packaged with 'Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon' and 'House of Flying Daggers'. Of the three, I'd say I like Crouching Tiger best and Curse of the Golden Flower least. I picked it up mostly for superficial reasons found directly on the cover: 1) Chow Yun Fat has a beard, lol 2) there is a dude with a guan dao, one of my favorite weapons, and 3) epic boobs. It's not bad by any means, but I guess we can talk about it now.

The story is based on a historical coup that occured in the emperor's royal family some thousand years ago. By god, this movie has so much bling your eyeballs will spontaneously combust. I mean seriously, the inside of the palace is so colorful you could swear that a radioactive peacock must have exploded on your TV. And the armor. Jesus. Quattro Bajeena and Alejandro Corner would cry themselves to sleep in jealousy.

These sorts of royal family affairs aren't typically my cup of tea, but I suppose that's why I didn't like Curse as much as the other two movies. The beginning is fairly slow, but things eventually get moving as more of the family dynamics are developed. I don't know what's up with all the incest and betrayal in every royal family. I mean...they have all the money and power in the world. Why the hell is no one ever happy?

As for the acting, it's all done very well. For characters, I didn't really like the emperor. But he basically serves his role: the big a**hole everyone has to watch out for. The empress becomes more interesting as you learn more about her coup, and I did like the three sons in the family. Except for the little brat. You'll know why. So typical. Lot's of passionate tears in these characters. =p Wan is cool, as you spend a lot of screen time getting to know him and what he's up to. It's just unfortunate that he's so untalented and useless as a son that he can't even kill himself properly. Jai is the best son, but that's obvious because he's the badass military officer with the guan dao.

Anyway, I'm not one to spoil movies no matter the age, so I'll just give some quick notes and highlights. The movie picks up as soon as you see the recon ninja. (And yes, it is extremely hilarious to see a ninja dressed all in black in such a colorful hallway.) Every woman on screen has a nice rack, but it's in the squished Victorian dress sort of way, so I don't know how much merit there is behind that. The fight scenes served their purpose, and overall were good but did not do much to entrall me. But yeah, seeing some guan dao action was great. Seeing everyone's whacked out facial expressions during the big reveal made me laugh pretty good. And this movie contains the greatest "daddy undoes his belt to discipline his son" scene ever filmed. You will love that.

And yeah, I still hate those god damn ninjas.

So, 'Curse of the Golden Flower' is a good movie, but pick it up at your convenience. It's not much to go out of your way for. I think my time would have been better spent rewatching Crouching Tiger than watching Curse for the first time. Oh well. Got some laughs out of it. If you like stories about family affairs and MTV's Cribz, you will like this movie.

[quasadra]

it been a few years since i see it. and the only thing i remember is that Jay Chou is in it. i dont even remember what role he play anymore(but i do remember him wielding a Guan Dao). i watch it during Chinese New Year with my family i think, you know, just burning time away.

[Dark Duel]

Hachiko: A Dog's Story, starring Joan Allen and Richard Gere.
It's an Americanized remake of the 1987 Japanese film Hachikō Monogatari, which tells the story of Hachikō, an Akita Inu who belonged to professor Hidesaburō Ueno of Tokyo University.
The dog used to meet him at Shibuya train station coming home from Tokyo every day and, after Professor Ueno died of a stroke in Tokyo, Hachikō waited there for him, every day for nine years, until his death on March 8, 1934.

The Hollywood version relocates the story to New England in the 1990s(Richard Gere's character, who fills the role of Hachikō's owner, dies in 1998 in the story), but beyond that is fundamentally the same.

It's a beautiful movie. Probably one of my favorites.

[mcred23]

So yesterday I returned to my film class, and we watched Do The Right Thing. I hadn't seen it before, but I liked it. It took a lot of time setting up the characters, setting, and situation, and did so in a way that kept it interesting, without me constantly wondering when something big would happen. And when that did happen late in the film, while I expected what happened in a general sense, the exact details of it were somewhat surprising to me. Plus, on a personal side of things, with my dads side of the family being New York Italians, I knew a number of the words/sayings that Sal and his sons said, and I had to keep from laughing at a few points because they'd make me think of my grandmother or somebody else (Particularly when one of the sons had his part near the middle of the movie where several people rattle off a bunch of racist comments to the camera).

Next up is Streetcar Named Desire, another classic I haven't seen (Aside from the Stella clip everyone knows), but do know about (Largely from an old Simpsons episode ).

[mcred23]

So this weeks movie was A Streetcar Named Desire, which was... I guess interesting would be the best word. I knew some vauge details about the movie (Thanks to "A Streetcar Named Marge" from 1992 ), but the way it turned out was somewhat surprising. I knew the character of Blanche ended up going crazy, but the way it all developed (Mainly with learning details of her past) was usually intriguing/entertaining, with a few head scratching moments in there as well. This was another one where the acting was very good by basically everyone (With Brando being somewhat funny at points, probably unintentionally). Really, I can't think of any huge faults the film had, but for whatever reason, I wasn't crazy about it. I guess it simply wasn't my kind of movie.

Next is another old classic I haven't seen, Invasion of the Body Snatchers. No idea on whether I'll like it or not.

[Furious Rodimus]

Just watched Horror of Dracula with Christopher Lee from Hammer Studios. Pretty sweet, it looks kind of dated but the plot is good.

Also watched March of the Penguins which was quite the film and I can't imagine the work that went into capturing the footage.

[DuelGundam2099]

Last night I watched 1974's Killdozer, a movie about an alien energy in a rock that possesses a D-9 bulldozer and goes on a rampage. Despite the cheesy dialogue and audio going in and out the entire movie it was pretty entertaining and you do not get to see movies like this often. I thought it was great, even if it occasionally dragged.

[mcred23]

The movie I watched in class yesterday was Invasion of the Body Snatchers. It was another that was kinda typical for the 50's (Overacting, a few goofy errors that half the class instantly spotted, etc) but in the end, was better than most of us in the class (Including me) expected it to be. What was probably most interesting about it was a lot of the subtle references to the time (Stuff like McCarthy and Communists, and American culture in general), which I picked up a lot of watching it (And was the major focus of our discussions and other stuff after it ended). In the end, pretty good for when it came out, but today a nice little view to back then.

No idea on what I'm watching next week.

[Geoxile]

How to Train a Dragon: I don't want to spoil the plot details so...the title is exactly true, a boy trains a dragon and share a bonding experience. It's hard to point out why it's good without spoiling it but basically: you'll be pleasantly surprised. I thought I was going into a children's movie but it was pretty damn good. It may not be on the scale of Disney stuff in terms of family enjoyment but it's definitely made for people of all ages. Even as a young adult I found it great but there were a few families, growing kids and all, just loving it...obnoxiously. The point is, it's worth a watch.

Note: 3D was only a dollar more and it was decent. None of its eyepopping spectacular but if the price difference is almost negligible I think it'll improve the overall experience since it does have quite a few action scenes, I mean dragons right?

[Third Child]

As far as the DVD sector goes, i've seen The Princess and the Frog and the live action Blood: The Last Vampire adaptation.

I really loved the Disney movie. The 2D animation seen in that one was probably the best i've seen them pour out, thus far. I liked the comedic moments, the nature of the plot, as well as the romance between the two co-protagonists. All in all, Disney dug deep back into their roots and came out with the solid proof that they can still make great pieces, both in the animation and plot areas of excellence.

As for the Blood movie, i found it a nice touch that the first half hour basically homaged the original anime movie, and the action throughout was nicely done. However, the CGI blood overuse is not only annoying but it's not even the best display of it. Even Ninja Assassin did a better job in the whole CGI blood aspect. The relationship between Saya and Alice just screamed out possible romance but it was poorly handled. As for the grand finale twist, it's bad enough that the main villainess is not present in the film much but adding to that the twist which doesn't really make much sense nor is solid enough to count as a good twist, just makes it something that would've been better off not mentioned at all.

[Shea]

Saw Bill Maher : But I'm Not Wrong

Funny as hell. There were some parts where I was tempted to stand up in my chair and yell "Preach, you magnificent bastard!"

[Dark Duel]

I have recently been watching the Fanny trilogy, a series of very old French films by Provence-born filmmaker/author Marcel Pagnol.
Series of three film adaptations based on Pagnol's books, each named after one of the main characters: Marius, the main male lead, Fanny, main female lead and love interest, and Cesar, Marius's father.
The main female lead's melodramatic overacting makes me want to strangle her, and Marius is basically a nitwit. Cesar is a great character, as are many of the supporting cast as well.
Amazing movies.

[charlhussey]

The last movie I saw in theaters was Clash of the Titans. In 3D. I could have done without the 3D, as my eyes needed to readjust after leaving the theater and besides, it wasn't that great. The movie itself, though it was less than accurate with the Greek mythology, was a lot of fun, and Io made for a strong female character. I had fun, so I'd give it a 7/10.

[Shea]

Saw Predators.

I don't think it was worth the long wait, but it still a great movie.

[Mu La Flaga]

Got Death Race remake movie, going to watch that soon.
Literally the live action movie which inspired Carmageddon series, should enjoy this one

[ZeroBusterXX]

Scott Pilgrim VS The World was pretty good. It was a little too fast-paced but it was a great movie. The cast was great, soundtrack was awesome, the movie itself looked good... Pretty much everything I usually ask for.

Even if Michael Cera is a little on the bland side, I think the rest of the actors would've overshadowed him no matter what he did.

Seriously, Brandon Routh and Chris Evans were awesome in this movie.

[MrMarch]

Got back from a late showing with some friends of Scott Pilgrim vs. The World. This is a movie that defines what "fun" should mean when you go to the theatre. So many films promise it, yet so few deliver: Scott Pilgrim vs. The World delivered fun and then some. There were so many hilarious gags hurled at the audience almost relentlessly that I often found myself laughing over the next joke in line. The performances were spot on and I liked every character from the leads all the way to the minor characters. Chris Evan's over-acting action hero was a favorite of mine. The editing of this film is particularly notable for it's high-bandwidth pace and brilliant sense of comedic timing. This is definitely one really tight flick with barely any moment wasted. The comic book and video game elements of this movie are used to incredible effect, such that they confidently transition the audience from dramedy into the effects-laden, over-the-top martial arts action sequences (each of which are very inventive and powerfully kinetic). The film is rife with anime references: every member here should at least see the movie to appreciate the homages. Edgar Wright definitely has his game on with this film!

I also must say I was blown away by how Canadian this film was, however regional. I had heard about Toronto being a notable element of the film, but was completely unprepared for the unapologetic use of Canadiana throughout the movie. Not only did they shoot Toronto-for-Toronto, but I recognized almost every part of the city in which they shot, from street cars and buses to pubs and landmarks. While I'm sure many Americans have been used to watching their homes on screen for years, it was surreal watching my city on the big screen in such a big way. The film didn't stop there and included a soundtrack full of great Canadian bands like Metric and Broken Social Scene as well as hilarious T-Dot homages such as Scott's t-shirt emblazoned with the word "SARS"

While I didn't have the same "religious" experience after watching the film as those of my fellow internet denizens and geeks, I will say Scott Pilgrim vs. The World is one of the best films this year and certainly one of the MOST FUN. It'd give it a 4.5 out of 5.

A ridiculous and unexpected bonus...the trailer played for M. Night Shayamalan's next film Devil. Halfway through, a girl in the audience bust out laughing at the awfulness of the trailer and the crowd went wild. We laughed until our stomachs hurt and at the end, someone in the audience yelled, "first negative score on rotten tomatoes!"

[liubei013]

@trailer: Yeah, I just saw that recently. I'm not a fan of suspense/horror films, but stuff like that was more lame than freaky.

@topic: I just watch 'The Expendables' yesterday...roll your eyes if you want. It's pretty much what was expected: All-star action hero cast (for the most part, with some amusing cameos... IT'S THE GOVERNATOR!), shallow plot involving some militaristic central/south america pseudo-nation, lots of guns, blood, knives, and kickassery (<--- not a real word, I know). Basically a straight up popcorn action movie. (though the popcorn's too damn expensive nowadays... ;o; )