list/discuss/rate - your recently watched movies

mithrandir wrote: The Shipping News - eh, not even worth writing about, Kevin Spacey in an uninteresting roll and uninteresting story, I must be harsh - 2/10

Ooh, that is harsh ; personally, I liked the movie; not the most exciting in the world, sure, but well written, well acted (would you expect anything else from Spacey...?) & I thought beautifully filmed, despite the fact it portrayed Newfoundlanders as ignorant inbreeds & Newfoundland itself as an ugly wasteland; not true - just goes to show the camera does lie.

Toaster Mantis wrote: mithrandir wrote: Solaris, the original Tarkovsky masterpiece is one of may all time favorite movies - at least top 10, very meditative and contemplative film definitely not for everyone! of course the Staninslaw Lem novel is a must too if you haven't already!   Solaris is one of my all-time favourite science fiction novels and I don't think either movie version did it justice, but Tarkovsky's came closest. At least it got the themes right even if the end result was a little confusing and Tarkovsky made some really weird decisions. Most notably, the prologue on Earth was dragged out too much, screentime better spent on what went on on the space station so that part of it actually felt rushed.   Soderbergh's, however, just ended up subverting the book, so I felt a bit cheated when I had finished watching it.   I don't think Solaris should ever have been made into a movie in the first place, though, because most of its conflicts are so abstract that it's not a very "cinematic" novel.

thats part of Tarkovsky's style though, those long single shot takes...I think it was intended to force the mundaneness(or connection) to the Earth before going out into Space...I just love the trance-like vibe to that film... its a flick I can watch only once every few years though...if that, but I agree, most good Science Fiction novels aren't translated very well into film without loosing much of the greater depth, (Dune, Lathe of Heaven, A Scanner Darkly, etc)


Edited by mithrandir - June 01 2008 at 13:12

Saw Blade II yesterday.

Was a fun action movie, even if some of the twists (especially the big one) were extremely obvious. Some of the ambiguity was well-handled, though. Haven't seen the first, mean to watch the third on Wednesday.

6/10

Snow Falling on Cedars - movie about a small town the has a good sized Japanese immigrant community, set before and after WW2, the more interesting part of the film was the portrayal of the prejudice and internment camps at the time, which was depressing and very enraging, oh yeah there's a murder mystery in here somewhere too, but over all really kind of a dull movie - 4/10

The Shipping News - eh, not even worth writing about, Kevin Spacey in an uninteresting roll and uninteresting story, I must be harsh - 2/10

Ever Since the World Ended - I like the idea of this movie, a mock documentary about a plague that wiped out the majority of the population and a group of people going around interviewing the few that remain on their feelings and experiences and how they manage to currently survive, I only wish it was a bit more rugged looking and the acting was improved upon, it definitely wasn't a professional job the cast pretty much consisted of a group of art/film school students, another thing I noticed is that none of the takes were ever filmed at night...it would have enhanced the mood a bit more if they did I think, I do like the shots they got of a seemingly desolate Golden Gate Bridge and some panoramic shots of the city apparently abandoned (Im assuming most of this was done in the wee hours of the morning) oh yeah...Adam from Mythbusters is also in this movie WTF? ha! - the idea of this movie a 10/10 but the over all finished product I'll have to just say about 5/10

The Strangers: What a well done horror movie.  A genre that is pretty tough to accomplish.  I believe this was a remake, but nevertheless it was brilliantly done.  I don't know if it was just my theater, but the bass was quite loud which actually complimented the movie.  8/10.  

I very much enjoyed it. Eastwood was excellent, and the film had that swagger and charm (probably because of the lens and camera angles as well) that you don't see very often these days. The tense moments were gripping, and amidst the somewhat predictable plot there were some unexpected...means to ends rather than ends themselves. Also directed by Eastwood. Nothing really elevated it to excellence, it was just a good film.



Words cannot describe how awful this film is. It is essentially Natural Born Killers with the camera perspective of Cloverfield, but beyond worse than imagination. The acting is awful, the plot is predictable and boring, the "special effects" consist of the worse computerized blood for gunshots anyone can imagine (and for the really realistic moments, maybe strawberry syrup is used), and like putting salt in a gunshot wound, the characters speak in the most hillbilly annoying accents for the entire film (all 150 minutes of it!). This is not even one of those fun "bad" movies. It's a bad bad movie. Possibly the worst thing I've ever seen. No value here whatsoever.




Edited by stonebeard - May 31 2008 at 02:58

its a shorty, you could probably read it in like a 3 hour sitting, they usually have it pared with a bunch of his other short stories these days:

well read it than brother! then you'll understand why feel so strongly, 

Richard Matheson brain probably melted at what they did with his classic, there's a reason why the story is called "I Am Legend" and they dont even get that right haha! I'll never see that movie,

Pan's Labyrinth was good, I preferred The Devils Backbone, the stories were awfully similar though, I can't wait to see his new one The Orphanage,