movies What's the last film you watched? And rate it!

Saw the Fright Night remake. I was unsure about it, given how much I loved the original, but I liked Marti Noxon's writing on Buffy The Vampire Slayer, and hey, David Tennant, so I thought I'd give it a go. Glad I did. Definitely a good remake; keeps the tone of the original, but updates it. Some fantastic 80's horror moments, with more than a little humor. Colin Farrell is great; charming and inhuman. The effects aren't bad; the vampires are great looking, if you like your vampires to be monsters (which I do). I saw it in 2d, but there were more than a few gimmicky 3d effects (kind of obtrusive, visually). Could have used a bit more David Tennant. I liked the comic-book stylized end credits (I don't know if that was meant to be a nod to the Now Comics Fright Night series, but I loved those comics, so I'm choosing to see it that way!)

Overall, good remake. 7/10

As an aside, the original had one of the most iconic movie posters of my misspent youth. The new one...meh. The poster for the new Conan movie is pretty awesome though.
 
I also enjoyed Fright Night and didn't think I would, so that was a pleasant surprise.

Last film I saw was The Guard which is an interesting little film and definitely worth catching if/when it comes to America.
 
Zach and Miri make a porno was on comedy central a cupple nights ago.....That was like my 100th time seeing it.....Still just as funny as the first time. The movies great!


For comedys 8.5/10
 
Winter in Wartime. Based on a novel by the same title, the film follows the story of a Dutch boy in wartime Europe who stumbles upon and decides to help a stranded British pilot. I thought it was a cool perspective on the WWII drama. The film won a bunch of awards at multiple festivals.

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"Country Strong" 2/10

I want that two hours of my life back! The only reason I gave it a 2 is because I thought that it offered an interesting perspective on the infidelity issue.
 
Last film watched was `Source Code`. interesting although ending a bit off. Rating 6/10. I like Duncan Jones style especially with his use of miniatures in `Moon`
 
Tales From The Golden Age 10/10

The film received Un Certain Regard at Cannes, which is a big deal if you're not familiar. Really incredible stuff. It's a comedy that captures life during the Ceausescu regime in Romania. I have to say - with no prior knowledge of the country before watching, I was really impressed and intrigued. It was a tough time, but even in tough times people always seem to find room for humor. Check it out and you'll see what I mean. Great film!

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Trust

Really powerful film. Slow to start, but it gets better as it goes on. 9/10

Fright Night - Remake

It was all right. Nothing special. Corny dialogue here and there, and the ending was crap compared to the original. 6/10

Visitor Q

What a f***ed up film. So bloody boring. I know the intentions behind the film, but still... it was just boring and a bit unnecessary. Though I did giggle at one point for about 5 minutes. Ichi the Killer was much better IMO. 2/10

The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford

I've seen it before, but I wanted to watch it again. If anyone hasn't seen it... go now. 10/10
 
Winter in Wartime. Based on a novel by the same title, the film follows the story of a Dutch boy in wartime Europe who stumbles upon and decides to help a stranded British pilot. I thought it was a cool perspective on the WWII drama. The film won a bunch of awards at multiple festivals

Sounds like a really interesting film, might have to check that one out.

I watched a bunch of films recently, with Rise of the Planet of the Apes being surprisingly good (I was predicting it to be a flop), although the ending did annoy me somewhat. I'd give it a 7, pushing for an 8.

Captain America was another pleasant surprise. Not the greatest superhero flick, and not even the best I've seen this summer (loved X-Men First Class) but really enjoyable, and Chris Evans really impressed me. Again a 7 or 8/10

Before I went away I also saw Full Metal Jacket for the first time. I wouldn't consider it the best of Kubrick's work, in fact not even the best war film I've seen, and the fact I saw it on tv with constant adverts didn't help with the change from the training camp (or whatever it's called... exposing my lack of military expertise) to Vietnam but it was still a very enjoyable film. I almost feel like due to its director I'd built it up for a fall, whereas I probably would have enjoyed it more going in with an open mind. I also think it probably had much more impact when it was first released. Still, a very good film, and I especially liked the first third or so, set in training. A solid 8/10

I also saw the Inbetweeners Movie :D
 
Sucker Punch - 5 of 10
Umm... yeah.
I'm just conservative enough to find the whole "minors as sex slaves" as entertainment to be distractedly disturbing. This fare is supposed to be fun. That's not fun. That's wrong.
That issue aside, I'm not sure to whom the story is supposed to appeal to. Maybe teens doobied up would understand that these characters are dumb kids themselves with dumb kid plans so of course their silly actions are going to be... silly.
The whole anachronistic combat scenarios were briefly done well although cliché.
Oh, and I understood the story quite plainly. This was all Sweet Pea's mental health coping mechanism for escape, even to the point of imagining the background of her own "angel", Babydoll.

Red Ridinghood - 5 of 10
A - It made money, which in and of itself is fine and good and better than any filmmaker could hope for.
B - It's a wonderful example of how casting and set design can ruin a film. Seyfried was fine. Oldman was... perfect for stage, not for film, that was a director's problem. This was Oldman rehashing his character in The Fifth Element. All the other actors were downright horrible. The sets, while expensive and extensive, had that "plasticy" feel to them. At first I thought it was the lighting, but eventually I settled on the just-built-yesterday appearance. Which is tragic because the director got her start in set design. I just kept thinking "Why do the POTC sets not look this plasticy"?

Which gets to mixing your visuals with your story: they should match.
If the story is fun then the set should be fun. Same issue I had with Sucker Punch, Fun story with disgusting premise - not good.
If the story is serious then the sets should be serious.

Maybe I'm a sexist pig (I doubt it, but I think it's funny when people claim both gender equality - AND - individuality simultaneously), but the director of Red Ridinghood did a wonderful job with Twilight's love story, tried to drag that over to here, but I can't imagine women finding the "love story' in this as being anything they'd want to watch much of. It's like it's trying to be a "chick flick for the guys"
It ain't working for me.
IDKWTH was up with that elephant pot. Not unique and intriguing. Just retarded.
 
I'm re-watching David Fincher's "Panic Room" as we speak on TV (there's a commercial. I'd give it a 6. It's a solid thriller that doesn't really bring anything new to the table. But Fincher's staple visual style is always great to watch.

And I watched Bergman's "Persona" for the second time two days ago. That movie makes my head spin in every direction.
 
You know, I totally understand why most people didn't like this movie, but the more I hear people talk about it, the better I liked it. And I think you really hit the nail on the head here:

Sucker Punch - 5 of 10
Umm... yeah.
I'm just conservative enough to find the whole "minors as sex slaves" as entertainment to be distractedly disturbing. This fare is supposed to be fun. That's not fun. That's wrong.

Yes, it is disturbing. It's supposed to be. The movie looks like it's going to be a fun action film with sexy girls and dragons, but it's a movie about dissociation and rape. At first I thought it was horrible mis-marketing, but then I realized, it's right there in the title. That jarring transition from the expectations of fun action to young women being exploited in the most literal sense is the "punch" they were going for. If you knew what to expect, it wouldn't work.

But then, I am fond of uncomfortable movies, as well as movies about dissociation. For most people, that does not make for a fun movie experience!
 
Yes, it is disturbing. It's supposed to be. The movie looks like it's going to be a fun action film with sexy girls and dragons, but it's a movie about dissociation and rape. At first I thought it was horrible mis-marketing, but then I realized, it's right there in the title. That jarring transition from the expectations of fun action to young women being exploited in the most literal sense is the "punch" they were going for. If you knew what to expect, it wouldn't work.

But then, I am fond of uncomfortable movies, as well as movies about dissociation. For most people, that does not make for a fun movie experience!

You've got it all wrong I'm afraid Josh.

Sucker Punch has nothing to do with disassociation and rape. Perhaps, if they used that basic storyline, but it was directed by Gaspar Noe then there'd be some merit to that suggestion, but the film is directed by Zach Snyder. Where 300 was a shameless attempt to stir up dormant homoeroticism and get squads of Rugby players who shower together to go to the pictures, Sucker Punch is the same thing just with scantily clad girls.

The biggest question Snyder faced during pre-production was how to get them half naked. It was easy with topless warrior men but women don't fight as much, and don't fight topless. So it has to be an 'escape' movie but how can he make such a crass and eroticized escape movie? Well, he can't. So he instead scrambles together the vague and slightly perverted images he has in his mind of girls holding samurai swords and machine guns and cobbles that into a screenplay.

You should mistake the mental asylum/brothel setting for anything more meaningful. Short of dumping Victoria's Secreet angels on a desert island it's hard to get girls naked and fighting each other. Nobody in modern film has done as little for gender equality as Zach Snyder.

AND... this isn't even my problem with the film. To quote my own review of it, I had assumed it would be 300 for heterosexuals. Given that I'm the creator of the concept Gash (further details available via the Super Summer Contest) I actually have no problem with getting attractive people to undress onscreen. But this film was just so technically and story wise inept that it makes the dubious moral politics all the more difficult to ignore.
 
Blue Valentine FTW!! 9/10
ending scene always make teary-eyed

Great film! Guessing from your username you're a fan of Ryan Gosling? Personally, I can't wait for Drive!

In response to the 'Sucker Punch' debate, I haven't watched it but I'm hoping to soon now it's on DVD. I don't really know what to expect, so I'll be curious to see how it turns out. Maybe I'll try to catch it tonight and post my 2 cents on the issue at hand
 
In response to the 'Sucker Punch' debate, I haven't watched it but I'm hoping to soon now it's on DVD. I don't really know what to expect, so I'll be curious to see how it turns out. Maybe I'll try to catch it tonight and post my 2 cents on the issue at hand

Please don't, you would be handing Zach Snyder money that he does not deserve.

And, having seen Drive, I can assure you that it's quite extraordinary.
 
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