list/discuss/rate - your recently watched movies

Martyrs 9/10

First off; I'm not a horror buff. I don't find enjoyment in seeing people saw their limbs off (unless it's done in the completely over-the-top fashion of Planet Terror) . Movies like Hostel are of very little value to me. Having said that, on some morbidly bizarre level, I found Martyrs a truly purifying experience. It'd be easy to write this off as mindless torture porn, but I do think Laugier captured something more here. The movie tells the story of two girls called Lucie and Anna. The movie starts with young Lucie escaping from her capturers, who had tortured her for quite some time, apparently. She meets Anna in an orphanage and they become friends. Some 15 years later, Lucie interrupts a seemingly random family breakfast with a shotgun. This is just the beginning though...

While I'd be the first to admit that the movie had its fair share of inconsistencies (the ending in particular was a bit far-fetched - even if powerful and fitting) I haven't found this kind of intensity in a horror movie since The Shining. There is plenty of gore to be found, but unlike in so many of these torture flicks, there appears to be a reason behind it. I can't really say that I 'liked' the movie, but it certainly made me ponder about humanity, fear, the purpose of pain, insanity - especially in the light of certain events in Austria.

This is not for all audiences though, I have much sympathy for those on the opposite end of the spectrum.

BroSpence wrote: Vampire's Kiss - This was GREAT! At least for a cheesey, late 80s comedy.  Nicholas Cage's performance is what made the movie so good though.  He really went nuts.  He likes women and ends up taking one home that is a vampire, and thats when his freak out starts.  Kind of like American Psycho but came out well before it was around. 7.5/10

I remember first seeing a preview for that on Siskel and Ebert when it first came out back in the 80s, I've been meaning to see that ever since, but it always slips through the cracks for some reason, I definitely need to put that on my netflix now...thanks for reminding me

that Martyrs movie above ^ sounds interesting too, I'll give that a shot in the future

GitS: Innocence is fantastic! I might even like it better than the first movie (but not as much as the series) there's actually a novel After the Long Goodbye - Written by Masaki Yamada that serves as a prelude to Innocence...also told from Batou's point of view

well I just saw Dark Knight and though very, very good I'm not sure it lives up to the gushing praise, and I think Batman Begins was far better as a profound, almost spiritual story of how a man becomes a hero.  But I'd agree the story in the second film is better and more sophisticated, Ledger is a pleasure, and I'm glad the series is being handled so well.

  

Atavachron wrote: well I just saw Dark Knight and though very, very good I'm not sure it lives up to the gushing praise, and I think Batman Begins was far better as a profound, almost spiritual story of how a man becomes a hero.  But I'd agree the story in the second film is better and more sophisticated, Ledger is a pleasure, and I'm glad the series is being handled so well.

The Dark Knight pointed out to me just how studio-mandated Begins was. "I want to make a film about a man who becomes a hero pretty much against his will and does so only to get over massive trauma." "That's really interesting, Chris, but might we suggest ninjas?"

The X Files: I Want to Believe (2008) - yeah, this was pretty worthless and unnecessary, it might have worked better as a made for TV reunion special or some sh*t, but X -Files (a once great) but now dead franchise has no need to continue, not even a cameo by Mitch Pileggi could save this one 3/10

Juno (2007) - slightly more entertaining than I thought it was going to be, the dynamic and flip between the husband and wife characters was the most interesting aspect of the movie IMO, 2 things I didn't like about this movie: #1 teenagers don't talk like that, they aren't that clever (nor that stupid - "pregnant, like our moms and teachers"...how lame), #2 the music they use for these type of movies is abominable...you know...those alt-folky tunes with the vocals too loud in the mix? so bad...everyone thinks they're Daniel Johnston or something, anyhow...I'd give this a full 6/10 if it wasn't for the music director trying to show us his/her favorite bands throughout the entire movie 5.5/10

Lunacy (2005) -  Jan Svankmajer is a god!  I love all the films Ive seen of his, but this one might be the icing on the cake, all his films are pretty unsettling and disturbing in a way, but this is probably his darkest one yet, there is this one scene (the black mass scene) that may very well be one of the most brilliant things I've ever seen filmed - that specific part all at once was absurd, erotic, disgusting, intriguing, offensive, hilarious....pure genius! I think I'm going to start collecting all Svankmajer's movies, stuff like this is just too good to just watch and not have a copy of your own 9/10


Breathless (1960) - as I watch this I can't help but think...so this must be what hipster sh*t was in the 60s? no offense to the innovations of Mr Godard...but one has to admit this was the cooler-than-thou type of movie back in the day, it was rather enjoyable although the characters weren't very likable, (the main character was a moralistic sh*t, I wanted to knock his teeth in), the girl was a flighty rich liberal too caught up in the glamorous beat-hip "life-style" that was all pretty much financed by daddy overseas, she also wasn't capable of an original thought and pretty much got everything handed to her on a silver plater (she was pretty but god, lose the Mia Farrow haircut! bleh) I did like the old progressive style of filming though - jump-cuts, fractured musical score, and the half an hour apartment scene of casual conversation was intriguing - I don't know, my tastes in Godard leans more toward the abrasive absurdity of Alphaville, I still need to see Contempt and I have Masculine, Feminine to watch this weekend as well, I don't subscribe to the laws of sacred cows 6.5/10

Gone Baby Gone (2007) - directorial debut of Ben Affleck! haha! actually there was no directorial discrepancies between this and any other ol' modern Police Drama, the main actor Casey Affleck, was obnoxious and was an impractical "Gary-Sue" character, the entire plot we pretty unrealistic but at least it was written in a way to keep you watching and the ending was pretty unpredictable (at least it was for me) I don't want to be too generous nor too harsh, but Ed Harris playing a tuff intimidating cop earns this an extra point 6/10

I'm pretty sure Batman/Bruce Wayne was trained in the art of ninjutsu-like martial arts in the comics.  So that element of the story was not a studio push.

1. Batman (2nd of 3 instructors listed)

A. Dick Grayson (Robin I)

B. Jason Todd (Robin II)

C. Tim Drake (Robin III) (1st of 2 instructors listed)

D. Stephanie Brown (Robin IV, Spoiler)

E. Cassandra Cain (Batgirl IV) (1st of 5 instructors listed)

2. Cassandra Cain (4th of 5 instructors listed)

3. Lady Shiva (2nd of 3 instructors listed)

A. Tim Drake (Robin III) (2nd of 2 instructors listed)

B. Cassandra Cain (3rd of 5 instructors listed)

4. The Mad Dog

David Cain is one of the world's premier assassins. He is one of the people who trained the young Bruce Wayne in the skills that he would use as Batman. A lonely but thoughtful man, and a member of Ra's an Ghul's League of Assassins, Cain came up with the idea of creating a perfect martial artist. Al Ghul, wishing to have a perfect and completely loyal bodyguard, assisted Cain, giving the assassin a number of infants to raise. When the early "experiments" proved unusable, Cain decided that the answer to his problem lay in genetics."

Edited by BroSpence - January 03 2009 at 08:15

Touchez Pas Au Grisbi - A brilliant, classic French gangster film.  About growing old and being greedy and tough.  I loved it.  French gangsters are probably the best.  Classy and totally badass. 9/10

Toaster Mantis wrote: Also, the way he delivers the speech that kicks off the plot is some of the greatest deadpan black comedy ever.... it's almost Pythonesque. Or maybe it's not meant to be funny and I'm just a really sick person.

yeah, I couldn't figure if it was supposed to be a comedy or what? it was humorous in some parts (even the "situation" itself) but it also got pretty heated and uncomfortable as well....spolier>> ...spoler > by the way I didn't understand how buttheads wife got a pass at the end there, ...she knew exactly what was going during those "events of the past" yet chose to ignore it all, if you ask me she was a willing accomplice for never doing anything about it and allowed it all to continue...therefor she deserved the same treatment as butthead


Edited by mithrandir - January 06 2009 at 21:46

Watched The Kite Runner a couple nights ago. Interesting story, gets you involved in the characters, especially the young "Hazara" servant boy...certain scenes of injustice were difficult to watch, but certainly realistic. Beautiful soundtrack as well. 8/10

On a more trivial side, I couldn't resist watching Death Race (the pseudo-remake) because of enjoying the original...although this was full of some pretty cool action sequences, the cheesiness of the original is what made it endearing...this movie comes across as more of a redemptive tale, which in itself is fine. But I loved the killing of the fisherman, the outrageous costumes (Frankenstein and his cape lol!...the Nazimobile!!), and the point system for killing babies and women/children etc. in the original Death Race 2000. Sylvester Stallone in a typical 70s style love scene. The remake had to be politically correct of course, it's perfectly acceptable to see prisoners getting their heads exploded etc., but not the "innocent" citizens, oh no! Anyway, still was fun to watch, Joan Allen played the perfect bitch, loved the "crotch-target" shotgun under her desk. Was very satisfying to see her death in the end, though I would have loved to see her slowly tortured. No, I'm not a vengeful person. Just in my mind, ha ha. 6/10


Edited by tardis - January 08 2009 at 11:51