The movie that I watched most recently is Laurel Canyon(2002). Even though it was probably the 20th time I've seen the movie, it was still just as good as the first time I watched it. I've seen no mention of the movie in this forum, which is why I feel it is worth mentioning. Absolutely brilliant perfonances by Kate Beckinsale, Christian Bale, and my favorite, Alessandro Nivola combined with a very original and intriguing story line make this movie a must see.
Posts: 11 | Location: Puyallup, WA | Registered: 06 July 2005
Well I lately saw Hitch on DVD and I thought it was as entertaining as I first saw it in the cinemas. I hoped they released a double disc edition but that was unfortunate. I also recently saw Batman Begins and to be honest, I did not enjoy it that much. I mean the action is good but I didn't like the way things went. And while they managed to make a proper Batman suit, the mask was still an unsolved mystery (unfixed)!
Posts: 2 | Location: VIPer | Registered: 07 July 2005
I rewatched National Treasure last night. I still like it, I thought it was better than people gave it credit for, personally. I actually thought it shared alot of elements with Dan Brown's "Da Vinci Code" and I actually thought that I saw a few unintentional or intentional nods to that book in this movie. I was surprised the first time I saw it and this time at the actual amount of history they menaged to include in this one. There was actaully some history behind some of this. That's nice to see. The acting was actually done pretty well. I'll start with Sean Bean; I think Equilibrium was the only movie that he hasn't been cast in as some type of villian. Nevertheless, he is typecast for a reason, he played his part well and his entourage did a pretty good job in the few parts that they had. Diane Kruger, while hardly beleivable as the National Archives curator, turned in a pretty decent performance, she didn't add much, but she played her part up to standards. She was better in Troy though. It's quite interesting to see "the most beautiful woman in the world" be a loser nerd museum curator in this one. The character of Riley was pretty good, done by Justin Bartha, however he suffered from Disney disease. He only served to act as comic releif. And sometimes the releif was quite poor. At some points I felt like if I would have watched the movie with John Turtletaub he would have been staring at me anxiously waiting for me to laugh. I had the feeling that I should be laughing, but nothing was relaly funny. His character was intrical to the plot, but he served too much as comedic releif. I would have liked less jokes and more down to earth dialogue with him. I certainly understand the part of the wiseass scientist, but the writing for his "humor" was just overwhelming. Nicholas Cage: nothing to say here really, he acted well, he also has Disney's disease, but he was solid, always is. Very good, and actually beleivable as a history buff. I remember hearing that he actually is quite a history buff himself, so that seems liek a good fit. Harvey Keitel was in a pretty minescule role, but he played it adequetly. No chance to steal the show, but he was good and his character had some nice secrets. Jon Voight: honestly, the best actor in the entire movie. His portrayal as the critical and worried dad (probably based on his own experiences with his daughter, Angelina Jolie) was done perfectly. He provided comic releif for the veiwers, delivered in a way that I could actually see my father saying it. In an ironic way that would be funny if you weren't in the situation kind of humor. He also had some serious dialogue which was good. Solid B movie, no doubt. I don't give pluses or minuses, but this is a solid B movie. Nice adventure.
What did the five fingers say to the face?! Slllap!!
Posts: 156 | Location: Boston | Registered: 13 June 2005
I've seen most of the big summer movies this year, and I must say, its been the best summer in a while... I recently went to see Fantastic Four, and I have to say, I cannot believe the critics damn this movie so much! Sure compared to Batman Begins(Which I Loved), it is a cheese-fest with every superhero movie cliche in the book. But,I really enjoyed the amazing FX, and the well choreographed fight scenes. The only thing that made me cringe was Julian Mcmahon as Dr. Doom, who played probably the cheesiest vilain I have seen in a film, but im sure Nip/Tuck Fans will eat it up. I do have to give Kudos to Michael Chiklis who gives a surprisingly believable performance as the blue-eyed ever-loving thing. F4 may not be the deepest film experience this year, but it was more exciting than Star Wars Ep. III, And it looks to be better than The Island....Plus Jessica Alba is Hot.....nuff said.
Posts: 15 | Location: Tennessee | Registered: 06 July 2005
"War of the Worlds" was an excellent movie, I went today and was surprised at what I found. This is more of an emotional piece, instead of one that is plot based. The entire movie rests on the visuals and the excellent acting (Dakota Fanning was as excellent as expected and Tom Cruise showed some real talent). Overall I would give it a B+, 87.5/100
Posts: 3776 | Location: ZZ9 Plural Z Alpha | Registered: 18 October 2004
I agree. War of the Worlds was a very well done film. This is truly a story of family and survival, as opposed to a film like Independence Day that was purely an action flick.
Finally saw Batman. It was THE Batman film that needed to be made right now. Absolutely beautiful. Can't wait for the next two.
I also finally saw Sin City (I know, I'm a little behind). Groundbreaking film in terms of photography. Marv is probably one of the coolest characters I have ever seen on film. And you will never look at Frodo the same again after seeing this movie.
A couple others I'll mention: Sword of Doom is a 60's samurai flick that was supposed to be "one of the greatest". It was ok, but not nearly enough action for me. Maybe I wasn't in the right mood, but I could have cared less about what was going on with the characters...I just wanted to see some body parts fly!
Overnight This is another flick I heard about and grabbed from Netflix. It's a documentary about the quick rise and equally quick fall of Troy Duffy, the writer/director of The Boondock Saints. If you want to watch a pretty compelling film and learn how NOT to make a movie, check this out.
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Yea, well you see this one? This was my dream, my wish....and it didn't come true. So I'm taking it back, I'm taking them all back. -Face
"Hustle and Flow" -I was able to see an advance screening of "Hustle and Flow" last week. Not too sure how many people have heard about this, it's being promoted on MTV and supposedly was a big hit at Sundance...I wasn't really sure if I was going to like it, but a friend won the tickets and I didn't want to disappoint...I actually came out thinking it was pretty entertaining...It's about a pimp-turned-rapper and it plays with a lot of the typical stereotypes, but kind of messes with them too in a funny way...Strong ensemble cast and good lead by Terrence Howard...
Dark Water -Also saw Dark Water and it was what I expected......a well-done, creepy movie. Jennifer Connolly was superb, as was the rest of the cast, especially Tim Roth, John C. Reilly, and Ariel Gade, who played Connolly's daughter.
Posts: 176 | Location: Washington, DC | Registered: 02 May 2005
FInally saw Star wars 3. I liked it. It was clearly the darkest of all 6, but I really liked seeing Anakin going into the dark side and his transformation. I was also a Darth Vader fan, so seeing him created was cool, if not a little fanboyish in it's presentation. There were too many scenes however, that just made me say, "why?" There should have been less stupid CG and more realism or just toned down scenes. The whole scene creating anakin and trying to save padme/get the babies. Every was cg robots! Why? Why not humans? It's going to be cheaper to get people in costumes and acting it out rather than paying for the CG to be created. Also that bullshit water opera that they were at when Palaptine essentially turned anakin. Why not just meet in his office george? R2D2 was foolish in the beginning also. Typical GL copout, at least Jar Jar was fucking quiet finally. Other than that though, it was good. Very good story lines in this one.
What did the five fingers say to the face?! Slllap!!
Posts: 156 | Location: Boston | Registered: 13 June 2005
Life Aquatic- This movie was a very strange one for me. Now it has a very slow beginning which is about 20 to 30 minutes when I was bored out of my mind! After that it turned into a very entertaing movie with great acting by Bill Murray and Owen Wilson! A very sad and funny movie and I would probably recommend it!
I'll give it 7.5 out of 10
The Bad News Bears- Now this movie I was expecting to be laugh out loud hillarious! It's not. The first 30 minutes are pretty funny but I got bored the rest of the way through! Good acting by Billy Bob Thorton, but I didn't like one of the kids!
I'll give it 4 out of 10
Last Movie Seen: There Will Be Blood 9/10 Now Playing: COD4
Posts: 394 | Location: Minnesota | Registered: 25 June 2004
Recently watched Oldboy, an entertaining Korean film that managed to be original enough while still displaying obvious influences. Tamer than say Takashi Miike's comparable work, and a good starting point for someone interested in bizarre asian cinema. Ong Bak was another recent one, the asian release, not the North American cut(which I heard is basically the same anyway). Typically bad Jackie Chan style plot, but Tony Jaa is captivating to watch in action! The Muay Thai style looks fabulous on screen with all the flying knees and elbows, I'd recommend this to any fan of martial arts movies, strictly based on the fighting. The Jacket surprised me, it still could've been better with more upfront confidence in the presentation of the script, but it was far superior to what I was expecting. Million Dollar Baby was very enthralling for the first half of the film but I cared less and less as it went on. Visually compelling, and great work by Eastwood and Freeman, but the latter became too much of a plot device towards the end of the film, which devalued the character in my opinion. Rewatched Minority Report and Close Encounters and both came out feeling like better films than I remembered them as! I didn't think that would be possible with CE as I had always regarded it very highly, and MR was an initial disappointment that has more going for it than I originally gave it credit for. The wooden balls are still stupid though! Dogtown & The Z-Boys and Stoked in the same week, both great skateboarding related documentaries that made great viewing, especially when watched in the above order reflecting the chronology of the periods. Picked up a copy of The Warriors, man I love that film!
"If it were beneficial, their father would produce children already circumcised from their mother. Rather, the true circumcision in spirit has become profitable in every respect." -Jesus, from the Gospel Of Thomas
Just saw The Island. Entertaining film. Better than I was expecting. I would say Bay has definitely redeemed himself after Pearl Harbor. This film had great action and at least a half way decent, thought provoking story line. Recommended.
Also saw Highwaymen. I know you can't expect much from a story line like that, but I still expected more from a Jim Caviezel pick.
Speaking of Jim, a couple of his films I recently saw that I highly recommend are Bobby Jones Stroke of Genius and I Am David. From Bobby Jones, I expected another Bagger Vance, but got so much more than that. And the story told in I Am David was excellent. More people need to hear about that film.
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Yea, well you see this one? This was my dream, my wish....and it didn't come true. So I'm taking it back, I'm taking them all back. -Face
The War of the Worlds- Sorry to say it did not nearly meet my expectations even though it was a decent movie. Hated the ending though. around a 6,500/10,000.
Mad Hot Ballroom- Funny, well done and unique. I enjoyed it from the beginning to end. 7,900/10,000.
Miss Congeniality 2- Would have never saw it, yet it was on the airplaine. Surprisingly I laughed a lot throughout it. Even though it hurts me to say that. Well exceeded my expectations. 6,900/10,000.
In Good Company- Alright. It seemed like it tried to be better than it was (touching ect.) but it really wasnt that good. Alright though. 7,000/10,000.
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory- Better than I expected. A few good laughs. A little too childish for me. And a little too weird. But still good, 7,300/10,000.
Caught Sky High over the weekend. It was good. It was a psuedo-coming of age drama with an amazing cast that really performed top notch and some pretty cool FX and superpowers thrown in the mix there. Good stuff. Definitely recommended.
What did the five fingers say to the face?! Slllap!!
Posts: 156 | Location: Boston | Registered: 13 June 2005
Hello! I saw Must Love Dogs over the Weekend. There were a few laugh out loud funny dialog moments, but not enough to make me love the entire film. On Flixster, I rated it 4/5, but now that I've had a few days, I would probably drop my rating to 3/5. I figure a movie that doesn't stick with you isn't worth four stars.
This is a little late, but I recently saw "Million Dollar Baby." Excellent movie. The acting was superb, the plot executed the proper doses of both humor and drama, and it has a vast amount of depth to it. I will certainly watch it again in the near future to try to look into some of the themes and the way they are presented; euthanasia and religion namely. 90/100
Posts: 3776 | Location: ZZ9 Plural Z Alpha | Registered: 18 October 2004
I haven't seen the Wedding Crashers (and would rather wait for the DVD than see it on the big screen) but I did see In Good Company a while ago and I agree with you, it was a very good movie. Dennis Quaid is terrific in it, we definitely don't see enough of him. Plus the film had Scarlett in it The trailer wasn't very engaging so I hesistated to go and see it but after reading a few good reviews I gave it a shot, and was pleasantly surprised.
Saw Four Brothers last night. It was very entertaining. It wasn't a good movie, but it was entertaining, which is all is set out to be. The actors and writers did a really good job in making the brothers actually seem close and get along something like brothers do. That was a very nice touch but there were some wierd parts of the movie, like the absence of police that kind of made it all mindboggling.
What did the five fingers say to the face?! Slllap!!
Posts: 156 | Location: Boston | Registered: 13 June 2005
Sin City- Well I saw this movie in the theaters but I wanted to see it again. So I rented it and the second time I saw it, I thought it was better! The visuals in this movie are incredible! The only thing that i didn't really like about this movie was the over the top gruesum violence, but it was ok! I thought this was a very entertaining movie and would recommend it to someone who liked pulp fiction.
I would give it a 8 out of 10
Last Movie Seen: There Will Be Blood 9/10 Now Playing: COD4
Posts: 394 | Location: Minnesota | Registered: 25 June 2004