list/discuss/rate - your recently watched movies

The T wrote: el böthy wrote: keiser willhelm wrote: keeanu reeves is the worlds greatest actor.  No, that´s Hayden Christensen!   No, it's Michael Madsen...

No, it's Antonio Sabato, Jr.

keiser willhelm wrote: keeanu reeves is the worlds greatest actor.

No, that´s Hayden Christensen!

La Dolce Vita

Well hmm. The movie is a lot of talking for a long period of time, with good enough cinematography to keep me interested, but in the end, I don't really get it. ?/10

Saw 2

These films are all about twists and torture porn, and I'm kind of tired of that. This one also has pretty crap cinematography, which boils down to typical passable filming during the normal scenes and frantic Requiem for a Dream-style 5 cuts a second filming for when people die. I suppose this one has one of the more unique premises of the series, with most victims being together in a house and having to work with or against each other to get out in time, but everything else about it was industrial, grim, sick, sadistic and unpleasant, which you may like. The character and motive of Jigsaw is intriguing, but that's better explored in the fourth film. The poorest of the series. 4/10

Altered States

Such an engrossing film, and quite my cup of coffee (f**k tea!)! A man experiments with hallucinogens in an isolation chamber, and the drugs start to take an effect beyond the psychological and into the physical. The film explores the mysteries of life, consciousness, and evolution as William Hurt's excellent character strives to know the ultimate truth that he believes the drugs will reveal. It has that quality that only the 70s (technically 1980) can bring, with giant computer consoles and 2001-esque camera shots. However, the hallucinogenic effects are not conveyed very well in the film, and it seems to have that "throw all these new effect techniques in there" attitude, kind of like Videodrome, but more extreme and typically less gorey. It also has the feel of The Fly to it, though I don't remember which came first. The ending seems to be a bit of a deus ex machina, but I'd have to watch it again to see if there's more below the surface. This is one of those films that I think a Virgin-era Tangerine Dream record would be a brilliant soundtrack to; an odd marraige of science and psychedelia. A perfect movie to get the mind running about God, primordial conditions, consciousness, and all the big questions, even if its aesthetic values are a bit dated. 7/10


Edited by stonebeard - July 28 2008 at 03:02

keeanu reeves is the worlds greatest actor. 

The Dark Knight was very good. i thought heath ledger did a much better job as the joker than Aron Eckhart did as Harvey Dent, though Eckhart didnt do a bad one by any means. The Joker was never supposed to be a tormented lunatic i dont think. He had nothing to be tormented about. he was just an anarchist nut who had hardly any backstory even in the comics, a character who is sadistic, visious and kind of funny. i think ledger nailed it perfectly.

oh and Pi, by Darren Aronofsky (requiem for a dream, the fountain) finally saw it, liked it a lot. particuarly the scene where max is talking to the jewish leaders. really cool, will watch again.

A Poor Boy's Game - a movie about revenge, forgiveness, racial tensions, etc, it was an okay movie till the end which might have been one of the goofiest endings I've ever seen, major lose of points with that one, the fighting scene at the club and the boxing match at the end wasn't choreographed very well either...all seemed kind of slow and awkward,  I'll give an extra point cause Danny Glover is always an enjoyable watch, - 4/10

Rocket Science - not sure what it is about these contemporary teen comedy movies - they start out amusing... then about an hour in I've grown weary of it all yet continue to watch out of obligation to finish what I started but not because I really care to see how it ends. Reminded me of a Rushmore/Election type of movie with the obnoxious over use of sh*tty music, sometimes I feel these films are just a vehicle to get you to sit there for 90 mins while they showcase their favorite songs, ...eh - 4.5/10

Creature - this one was undoubtedly made with the Fangoria audience in mind during the mid 80s, one of those I've been wanting to see for over 20 years now! I remember always seeing the box for this browsing the Horror section when I was young...the cover alone always filled my mind with wonder, as you can expect its of the stalk and slash variety with a post-Alien veneer in mind.  Plenty of the 80s/latex/Savini style gore and done pretty well actually, considering. The bonus of this film happened to be Klaus Kinski making a surprising but brief appearance! I had no idea he was in it, he played a sharp and cocky (and slightly crazy) German Astronaut who's life was cut way too short in the film IMO, Its funny cause even when his character comes back as a Zombie/Alien thing they use a stunt double, This was good blood and popcorn movie and hit the spot in that regard, I'll give it at least a good - 5/10

The Legend Of The Black Scorpion-
an excellent period piece in feudal japan(?) that features the same choreographers who did The Matrix and Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon....exceptional fight scenes that actually make the spray of blood artistic/beautiful.....a very dramatic and very tragic story overall, but kept me gripped until the very end.  great sleeper of a hit!  I had never heard of it before walking into my video store!   8.5/10

Ghostbusters-
you all know the drill.  great special effects for the time.  excellent performances by most of the actors, and a great occult subject!  overall, it still holds up years and years later.   7/10

(although it would be nice to see a film where the "bad guys" win for once and take over the earth!)

Wall-E-
wow.  extremely potent story with nary a sound, save that of robots and the Artificial Intelligence.  extremely touching and tear-inducing at points.  well worth seeing in theaters!     9/10

just saw The Dark Knight
definitely passed expectations which were admittedly not astronomical

tardis wrote: It wasn't bad actually, worth seeing...don't expect it to be an exact copy of the 78 version though, it has a few adaptations, but it was good.

tardis wrote: Fight Club wrote: The Dark Knight - 9/10 This film has fulfilled all of its hype and exceeded my expectations. I enjoyed Batman Begins, but would not have considered it a landmark comic-hero adaption. Never, would have I thought Chris Nolan's new take on the Batman saga would evolve into th...(read more) e intense and clever crime drama that is The Dark Knight. As far as summer blockbuster go - this has it all. Car chases, explosions, sinister villains, fist fights, and climax after climax of sheer edge-of-your-seat entertainment. However, it takes the stereotypical mindless summer action movie, and takes it way beyond anything it was ever expected to be. We get all that tense entertainment, but it's so well crafted, and so well thought out, that it becomes no longer a summer hero movie, but the type of crime drama that's remembered and admired for years. Yes, there is action - is it mindlessly thrown throughout without care? No. Yes, there are explosions - are they used merely for visual appeasement? No. Every action sequence is carefully built up to. Every explosions, car chase, or murder is originally thought out. There are twists and turns in every direction, each sequence unfolds in ways one would never see coming, and Nolan does it all one step at a time until the movie reaches its conclusion. Maybe the overall plot (I stress the word overall) is a little predictable and the pacing is a little odd in places (at times I like there were three climaxes and I wasn't sure when the movie was over). However, each move within the overall plot is clever and non cliched. No one should find themselves groaning at rehashed aspects and redundancy in this film. Anyone looking for a breath of fresh air in the often boring and repetitive genre of summer blockbusters will find satisfaction in The Dark Knight. It may not be as genius as Memento or as emotionally engaging as Requiem for a Dream, but it's one hell of a ride and the adrenaline rush accompanying it definitely leaves me willing to give it go after go. I'm interested to hear your review of Heath Ledger's performance as the Joker...it's one of the main reasons I want to see the movie, actually!

Yeah I guess I didn't really cover the performances much.

Well, Heath Ledger does not disappoint, I can say that much. Is he worthy of receiving an Oscar for his performance? I don't know about that. Joker definitely comes across as a genuine madman causing chaos for no discernible reason at all, but at times I felt like he was more of a trigger-happy clown than a tormented lunatic. I'm not that familiar with the Batman comics though, so I'm not sure if that's how he's supposed to come across. He plays the character very well, my only complaint is that I found some of his remarks humorous when I think they were supposed to cause more of a "what the hell is wrong with this guy?" reaction.

I actually found the character of Harvey Dent (played by Aaron Eckhart) more interesting. In my opinion he was the deepest and most fleshed out character in this movie. You felt everything from his perspective, his performance was impeccable, and by the end of the movie (I won't spoil it for anyone who doesn't know Harvey Dent's story) I really felt his pain. The Joker was portrayed very well, but I didn't really get in the head of the psychopath as much as I connected with Harvey Dent. I'm not saying Aaron Eckhart's performance was better, as Heath Ledger definitely pulled off some tough stuff; it's more of the writing of the movie than the actor's performances. In this case I think the movie (was meant to?) connected the audience more with Harvey than the Joker.