Please note that new user registrations disabled at this time.

Morlock's 4th movie thread (and counting...)

Anything goes... just keep it clean.
User avatar
Morlock
Posts: 1363
Joined: Tue Jun 19, 2001 10:00 pm
Location: Jerusalem, Israel
Contact:

Morlock's 4th movie thread (and counting...)

Post by Morlock »

I've been away for a while, and posting very rarely, and seeing how all other movie threads are dead- here are my miniature reviews of all the movies I've seen in the theaters in the past 5 months, listed chronologically:

Finding Nemo- fun movie. Although not packed with jokes like Toy Story or a Bug's Life, I was smiling throughout the movie, and felt exhilarated and very upbeat afterwards. I loved the AA sharks and the Bill & Ted turtles.
8.5/10

Bruce Almighty- I liked it a lot more the first time than the second, but it's a good movie. Funny, if reverting to slapstick one too many times, I loved the Jimmy Hoffa bit and the fact that it had some real dramatic moments, and not just something flimsy to fuel the comedy.
7.5/10

Holes- I really liked this one. Significantly better than what I was expecting, I loved the offbeat characters, I loved Jon Voight and Tim Blake-Nelson I loved the whole feel of the movie. The only drawback were the overly sentimental and totally unbelievable flashbacks. IMO one of the finest 'family films' in recent years.
8.5/10

X2- I loved this one. This is a HUGE improvement over the original, and a true model for how a sequel should be done. (A bit more in depth here)
My absolute favorite scene: McKellen ingenious escape scene.
I loved Magneto and Mystique's relationship- especially when they're on the jet and are in the corner giggling about Anne Paquin's hair.
Brian Cox was great as usual. He's really been having a come back, with a bunch of supporting roles in big movies (His best though was 25th Hour).
The opening scene is fantastic, done very well. I loved them using 'Dies Irae' from Mozart's Requiem as the score.
Great John Ottman score.
9/10

Pirates of The Caribbean- Not as good as it could have been, but a very good movie nonetheless.
Depp is every bit as good as everyone has said, and although the comic role in a goofy movie- IMO he deserves award consideration, just for the pure joy of the character.
Rush is great, obviously relishing every second he has the character for. His scenes on the boat with Knightly are fantastic.
Although I think both are best in the scenes they have together.
I loved the shot of the pirates marching underwater.
Terrible Klaus Badelt/media ventures score can be attributed to producer Bruckheimer, who fired Alan Silvestri, the great composer of Back to The Future and Forrest Gump.
A great summer movie, although it could have been a great year round movie with a better director and IMO a better score would have helped it immeasurably.
8.5/10

Identity- A great whodunit, with a twist ending that really works. I remember feeling so satisfied when I left the movie. Nice ensemble work by a cast of good faces.
7.5/10

Confidence- A lackluster, totally ordinary con movie, but the scene with Hoffman are great and IMO worth the admission, even if they are a bit too off-beat at times.
6.5/10

The Italian Job- A great con/heist movie. I was very pleasantly surprised by this one.
The opening heist is great. I liked the different location, and them picking the totally useless, yet stunningly photographed Alps as a meeting place.
I really appreciated the fact that there was no love story, only tons of chemistry.
Theron looks as good as she's ever looked in this movie, and she's generally pretty hot.
I loved Stratham.
The climax was a bit too actiony towards the end, but never-the-less very good. You should have heard the enormous cheer the audience gave they said "…Israeli made safe…" :D
A fantastic heist movie, which I liked much more than Ocean's 11.
8/10

Irreversible- An ugly movie that pretends to be profound. The opening sequence is the most repulsive thing I've seen on screen in a while. The movie might think it's deep- but a naked Monica Belluci is the only reason to see the movie, and even she's not worth the agony of the opening sequence.
2/10

Matchstick Men – A wonderful movie. Simply very intelligent, funny and touching in it's way. Cage and Rockwell are great, as is Bruce Altman.
8/10

Once Upon a Time in Mexico- The Ultimate summer movie. Big, loud, fun, hilarious. Depp and Banderas are great.
My favorite thing- Depp's continually changing wardrobe. I especially loved his C.I.A shirt and the 'I'm with stupid shirt' that point to his genitals.
8/10

The Rundown- A fun summer movie. The Rock is surprisingly very good, a definite candidate to be the next Arnold.
Walken is great as usual.
7/10

The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen- The worst movie since 'The Time Machine'.
A truly awful version of a truly brilliant and inspired comic boo…I mean graphic novel.
Everyone was terrible in this, from Connery on down. The stupidest action scene in a long time.
Adding Tom Sawyer is one of the dumbest commercial moves in a long time.
Only positive note- I liked how they did Captain Nemo, and that his first mate goes 'Call me Ishmael'.
1/10

S.W.A.T- Until the last half hour- a totally unoriginal and uninteresting cop movie, that feels totally fake.
The first scene is terribly done, almost sloppy, and seemed to me at least like trying to imitate the sets and locations from 'Dog Day Afternoon', one of the greatest films of all time.
I did not believe for a second that that was a real training episode on a real training field, and the plane take-over seemed ridicules and waaay too colorful.
I did, however, enjoy the climax, which was I found refreshingly new.
6.5/10

Intolerable Cruelty- A very funny, very entertaining Coen Brother's movie. Maybe not as original and fresh as Fargo or The Big Libowski, nevertheless, I laughed the whole way through.
The opening scene is fantastic. Just the first shot of Jeffrey Rush, with a ponytail, trying to sing Simon and Garfunkle sold the movie in my eyes.
I loved the whole Simon and garfunkle theme throughout the movie.
Cloony is fantastic, Zeta-Jones is a bit slower, but still very good.
I loved the scenes with Edward Herrmann, and all the scenes with Zeta-Jones' Lawyer.
The scene with the Asthma hitman supplied the biggest laugh I've heard form an audience in very long time (even bigger than all the laughs 'Attack of The Clones' got!).
A great date movie, especially for Coen Brothers' fans.
8/10

American Wedding- see blow

The Human Stain- I really liked the movie. The entire cast is great, with Hopkins giving his best performance since Titus and Amistad.
I knew of the twist in the movie- but found that it only made the movie better knowing about it, and the twist, ridicules as it may sound on paper, is surprisingly believable in the movie.
The scene where Hopkins and Sinise dance together to Irving Berlin is priceless.
I also loved hearing Hopkins say 'Chutzpah'.
The I found the movie very involving, and done very well. Although Hopkins's character's reason for doing what he did is not dealt with as much depth as I would have liked, it is a very good drama, IMO better than Clint Eastwood's 'Mystic River', which I have still not come to a conclusion about.
8.5/10

Mystic River- As I said, I've yet to make up my mind about- but at least an 8/10. A powerful movie, filled with great performances- but the last 5 minutes threw me off, an I think were totally unnecessary.

Not in theaters:
I've seen many, many new movies at home, but I only specifically want to comment on the following ones:

The Indiana Jones Trilogy. Finally on DVD, the boxet doesn't disappoint. The movies look great, and are as fresh and entertaining as always. The Bonus disc, although presented simply, is fool of gems, including interviews with everybody, and tons and tons of never before seen behind the scenes footage. I also loved the sound and, of course, the fantastic music featurette, which talks about there of the all time best film scores.
10/10

I got last year's movie 'Changing Lanes', and I strongly recommend to everyone. It is one of the best movies of 2002, which was a very good year for movies. I loved how everyone plays someone unlike any of their previous character.
A very unique movie, that I might even go so far as to call one of my favorite movies of all times.
9.5/10

Spirited Away- one of the all time best animated movies. I was turned off by it at first, as I don't like Anime, but I was charmed by it.
It has a great Joe Hisaishi score.
9/10

Cidade de Deus (City of God)- an amazing Brazilian movie, that could almost be called 'Goodfellas 2'. Best foreign film I've seen in a long, long time.
9.5/10

And last (and strangest choice)- The American Pie movies, I resisted these for over 4 years, but I finally gave in. I loved the movies, which are simply too good hearted for not to like. Also, I find them more realistic than any other movie about teenaged, horny boys.
Although the first is the best, by the time the third comes along- I loved the characters so much (even though I saw the three movies in as many days), that the third was also very good.
Pt. 1- 8/10
Pt. 2- 7.5/10
Pt. 3- 7.5/10
The series as a whole: 9/10
"Veni,Vidi,vici!"
(I came,I saw,I conquered!) Julius Ceasar
User avatar
Tamerlane
Posts: 4554
Joined: Fri May 18, 2001 10:00 pm
Location: The land of Oz
Contact:

Post by Tamerlane »

Heya Morlock, glad to see that you liked Spirited Away and finally someone else who has seen City Of God. Saw it at an arthouse theatre and its possibly the best movie I saw last year, its an explosive movie emotionally and I'll love to find the DVD to add to my collection sometime soon.

I love Finding Nemo, saw it twice after my partner got overly distracting the first time. :o It holds really well as a film especially after watching it a second time and apparently there were sneak peaks of characters from the next up-coming Pixar flick "The Incredibles". Couldn't pick them out though, but I love the Pixar guys and gals for putting all the little easter eggs into their movies.

Pirates Of The Caribbean was another decent movie, I had low expectations of it at first. I knew it fared well in the States but judging from the trailers I kept getting reminded of Cutthroat Island... :eek: Depp's a great actor and hopefully the sequels give him more chance to star in bigger roles.

No Kill Bill? I haven't seen it yet but I wouldn't mind hearing your opinion of it or anyone elses for that matter before seeing it ;)
!
User avatar
Georgi
Posts: 11288
Joined: Sat Apr 21, 2001 10:00 pm
Location: Can't wait to get on the road again...
Contact:

Post by Georgi »

IIRC @Tam, The Incredibles tease is pre-film, not actually during the movie.

Kill Bill... well, I reckon you'll like it. The thing I love about Tarantino's movies is that they're so idiosyncratic. Nobody else could possibly have made this movie. If you like his style, you'll like the movie I guess. Someone said to me that they thought it was too gory, and certainly you do see a lot of amputated limbs, and blood spraying everywhere... but it doesn't really feel realistic, and I don't think it's meant to. To me, the whole movie had the feel of a live-action anime (which is why the anime section of the movie doesn't really disrupt the flow). With Tarantino, you get the whole package - witty scripting (although this one is heavier on the action), dynamic directing, killer soundtrack.

Spirited Away is a great movie. Tammy did quite a good job of converting me to anime, I've liked all the anime movies I've seen. Although I'm still not convinced about the tv series.

Pirates of the Caribbean was a great fun summer movie. But do all pirates really wear that much eyeliner? :confused: Where is Frogus when you need him? :D

@Tam Johnny Depp... bigger roles... :confused: He is already a leading man. He just picks his movies, and tends to go for the more interesting ones than the bigger formulaic blockbusters - and frankly, they wouldn't suit him either. He's too oddball for that. ;)

@Morlock I feel I have to agree with you about something - dig the CIA shirt. :D

When I was at the cinema last week, I saw the Matrix Revolutions trailer... and frankly it looks like a must-see, no matter how dubious the last one was. I will be off to see that this afternoon.

Now, back to work... ho hum.
Who, me?!?
User avatar
Morlock
Posts: 1363
Joined: Tue Jun 19, 2001 10:00 pm
Location: Jerusalem, Israel
Contact:

Post by Morlock »

I just saw Master and Commander, and IMO it's the best film of the year so far. I can't really go into it- but a truely fantastic movie, reminicent of David Lean at his best.
It has some very good music too.
I recommend it to all.
I have to see it again, but at least a 9/10, probably more.

I also saw Love Actualy- and it's a great romantic comedy. I liked it more than Four Weddings and a Funeral, more than Notting Hill, and much more than the overrated Bridget Jones' diary.
I especialy liked Liam Neeson and his son, Bill Nighy, and the stand-in couple.
Great Craig Armstrong score.
8.5/10
"Veni,Vidi,vici!"
(I came,I saw,I conquered!) Julius Ceasar
User avatar
Georgi
Posts: 11288
Joined: Sat Apr 21, 2001 10:00 pm
Location: Can't wait to get on the road again...
Contact:

Post by Georgi »

Originally posted by Morlock
I also saw Love Actualy- and it's a great romantic comedy. I liked it more than Four Weddings and a Funeral, more than Notting Hill, and much more than the overrated Bridget Jones' diary.
Well I thought Four Weddings was rubbish and really enjoyed Bridget Jones, so should I see Love Actually? Is it sickly sweet rom-com stuff?

I am considering Master and Commander though. Does Paul Bettany act Russell Crowe and everyone else off the screen again? Actually, that's a silly question... :D
Who, me?!?
User avatar
Morlock
Posts: 1363
Joined: Tue Jun 19, 2001 10:00 pm
Location: Jerusalem, Israel
Contact:

Post by Morlock »

I dunno- it's worth a try. Overlong, but I loved it.

About M&C- Bettany is actualy not his usual character. Much less attractive than usual, but everyone's good in it. I found Crowe significantly more impressive than I did after Gladiator.
"Veni,Vidi,vici!"
(I came,I saw,I conquered!) Julius Ceasar
User avatar
Georgi
Posts: 11288
Joined: Sat Apr 21, 2001 10:00 pm
Location: Can't wait to get on the road again...
Contact:

Post by Georgi »

Originally posted by Morlock
About M&C- Bettany is actualy not his usual character. Much less attractive than usual


You think? *drool* :D

I was impressed by M&C, if only because it was a very brave movie to make. Not to mention the complete lack of women in it (a film without a token romance?!?), but just making seafaring movies is fraught with difficulty... plus there's a whole section in the middle where nothing really happens!

I did enjoy it. The only thing is, I'm not sure whether Russell Crowe was quite the right person for the role. He was good, he played it to the best of his abilities, but I'm not sure that someone else couldn't have been more convincing in that role.

I am saving my "best movie of the year" tag for a few weeks' time though ;)
Who, me?!?
User avatar
Aegis
Posts: 13412
Joined: Sat Dec 30, 2000 12:00 pm
Location: Soviet Canuckistan
Contact:

Post by Aegis »

Russell Crowe, I feel, makes avery good epic actor. He was one in Gladiator, and he appears to be one in Master and Commander. Thats one reason I want to see it.
User avatar
Georgi
Posts: 11288
Joined: Sat Apr 21, 2001 10:00 pm
Location: Can't wait to get on the road again...
Contact:

Post by Georgi »

Originally posted by Aegis
Russell Crowe, I feel, makes avery good epic actor. He was one in Gladiator, and he appears to be one in Master and Commander. Thats one reason I want to see it.


Oh, don't get me wrong. I don't think Russell Crowe is lacking in skill. Anyone who has seen his turns in Gladiator, The Insider and LA Confidential (not to mention Romper Stomper, because I haven't seen it) would know that. He obviously has talent and a wide repertoire. However, I just didn't feel he fitted this character. He's too much of a rebel... and not enough of a real Englishman , which is, above all, what the role calls for.

You should see it though, it's still better than all the rest of this year's blockbuster movies. ;)
Who, me?!?
User avatar
The Z
Posts: 4451
Joined: Sat May 11, 2002 7:42 pm
Location: Canada
Contact:

Post by The Z »

Latest movies: Reloaded, Psycho (the original), Pulp Fiction, The Hulk, Pleasantville.

Out of that bunch, I would pick The Hulk as being the worst (not that it was bad, just not as good as the rest) of them.
"It's not whether you get knocked down, it's if you get back up."
User avatar
C Elegans
Posts: 9935
Joined: Thu Mar 15, 2001 11:00 pm
Location: The space within
Contact:

Post by C Elegans »

My latest movies:

Haneke's The pianist A very quiet, simple and surpringly realistic movie about a psychiatrically ill middle aged women who is still living with her mother. The woman is a respected piano teacher at the Vienna conservatory, but in the evenings she secretely watch pornography and spy on other people having sex. She then meets a young student, and through their unhealthy relationship her illness accelerates. The deterioration of both the relationship and her condition, is wonderfully described, and the acting is impressing. I really recommend this movie, although sensitive people may find it very disturbing to watch some scenes.
8/10

Bright Future: A Japanse movie about two young men with lousy jobs, no future and a wonderful pet jelly fish in a tank. Both guys are quite weird people, and like many contemporary Japanese movies, their oddness is presented as totally natural and not even commented on. Their acts and choices are never explained, but still you get an intuitive understanding for them by their actions. Most of the movie is about the developing relationship between one guy and the other guy's father, and how to build a life and a future. A beautiful but melancholic movie about hope.
6/10

Goodbye, Lenin: German movie is soooo good atm. Goodbye Lenin is however not one of these raw, brutal social realistic movies with strong individuals that manage to change their lives for the better, instead, it is actually a comedy. It is set in former East Germany before the wall fell, and its about a young man who tries to protect his ill and fragile mother from realising Germany has changed. (The mother was in a coma when the wall fell and Germany was united). It is a typical European social realistic comedy, but at the same time it is also a warm and fairly fair depiction of the most important event in modern Europe.
7/10

Tiresia: A French movie about a priest who kidnaps a transsexual prositute and keep her imprisoned in his cellar. Without hormone treatment, she slowly regain her male characteristics. A very special relationship between the two develop, and movie is quite good up to the point where the priest decides to dump Tiresia at the countryside and mystical things start to happen. That totally destroyed the movie.
3/10 (6 before the mysticial stuff)

All tomorrow parties: Chinese movie set in a post Apocalyptic world where a cult has taken control over the country and keep people in brain-washing camps. One day the prisoners become free due to some political changes, and the movie is about their new life in a deserted world. A big problem for me was that I kept confusing who was who, so I sort of missed a lot of points because I didn't realise that was the same person etc. The movie appeared quite fragmented to me, but I guess I would give it about 5-5.5/10. It is beautifully shot, but the story could have contained more force, and don't expect to see anything close to the famous Chinese master directors like Keige or Yimou, but it's still 10 times better and more interesting than 99% of the Hollywood movies.

Ascension: Canadian movie set in a dystopic future. Dottie talked me into seeing this one, and he paid the price for it, too. At first, I thought the ridiculous way of speaking in bad cliches and using stereotypes worse and less original than in a bad CRPG, was a parody. 15 minutes later when nothing else has happened than the parody getting worse and worse and 3 women n black capes were walking up a staircase exchanging pathetic lines like: "I do not fear death"with pompous voices, I fell alseep and I spent the rest of the movie sleeping fast at Dottie's shoulder. Since I was leaning most of my weight against him, he sat so uncomfortable so he couldn't sleep and had to suffer through the whole movie :D (Nothing more happened, the 3 women finally reached the top of the staircase and continued to speak even more pathetic lines.) Don't see this movie, you will only get angry because it's a waste of time.
1/10
"There are in fact two things, science and opinion; the former begets knowledge, the latter ignorance." - Hippocrates
Moderator of Planescape: Torment, Diablo I & II and Dungeon Siege forums
User avatar
Ubik
Posts: 1035
Joined: Tue Dec 12, 2000 11:00 pm
Location: Greece
Contact:

Post by Ubik »

Only two movies I really enjoyed in the last couple of month, so I should only post about those (don't get me started about those I didn't like... I can be extremely vitriolic at times...).

Dogville

Certainly the best film I've seen in quite a lot time (2-3 years, maybe). Great cinematography, a minimastilic and distanced approach, resembling an ancient tragedy in it's development and structure, a nihilistic story and message, many sublte levels of digging "between the lines", and also stunning performances by the (all-star) cast. Expecially Kidman... she must be, along with J. Moore, the best actress of the post-Streep era.

Von Triers is a true genious - one of the extremely few directors who can actually claim the title "genious" nowadays.

Pirates of the Carribean

The most entertaining film I've seen in ages... Depp is certainly an extremely gifted actor, to deliver such an extraordinary performance while (as is obvious in the film) having a great time playing that caricature of a notorious pirate, the rest of the staff is just amazing, the humour (self-degenerating, sarcasm, witt) is present in every scene, the action is what it should be... this is a truly enjoyable film. Rush is stunning as well, enjoying every bit of his character, just like Dep.

And Depp is, along with Brad Pit and Ed Norton, the best actor in the past decade. Add Ed Harris to that trio... oh, probably Depp is better than those two. Actually he is the best actor, period.

Also, I saw Changing Lanes on video, and allthough I don't find it as great as Morlock does (I got extremely annoyed by the cathartic uber-happy ending) it is a very good movie... until the last scenes, that is. If it ended 3 minutes before the end titles, it would be Extremely Good. Very interesting (and smart) scenario, decent cinematography, very good performances by the leading duo.
Ubik
Elder God B.P. Pervert
User avatar
Dottie
Posts: 4277
Joined: Sun Sep 30, 2001 11:00 am
Location: Mindlessly floating around.
Contact:

Post by Dottie »

@Morlock: Regarding Irreversible, have we seen the same movie? I thought the opening scene showed two men sitting on a bed and chatting with each other? :confused:

Also, I thought that despite the 2001 reference the movie did not present it self as profound at all, but more like a somewhat violent but ordinary drama, which it was imo.

I didn’t think the violent scenes was pornographic it the sense of exploiting and excessive either, so I don’t think he was out to shock or something.
While others climb the mountains High, beneath the tree I love to lie
And watch the snails go whizzing by, It's foolish but it's fun
User avatar
Morlock
Posts: 1363
Joined: Tue Jun 19, 2001 10:00 pm
Location: Jerusalem, Israel
Contact:

Post by Morlock »

I think Russel Crowe is a great actor. He is much better in M&C than in Gladiator- but then again, M&C is a much better movie. I like Gladiator less everytime I see it. He was great in L.A. Confidential and The Insider and also in A Beautiful Mind- but the whole movie was too much.

@Goodbye Lenin: I've heard alot about it. It's sounds like a fun premise.

@Dogville: I really want to see this- but everything I hear describe it as a slow, depressing bleak movie.
I've only seen Von- Trier's Braking the Waves, which is one of the hardest movies I've ever watched. A really great movie.
"Best actress post-Streep era"? I've never liked Streep. I've seen her in fives movies- and I find her performances extremely repetetive. But I do think that Moore and Kidman are at the top of the barrel.

@Changing Lanes: I didn't mind the ending so much. I think the rest of the movie is so great and so right on, that I didn't mind an uber-happy ending- especialy since you know that they're lives aren't exactly gonna be perfect, with Affleck and his wife, and Jackson and his drinking.
I minded that Minority Report had a happy ending- but also there, the rest of the movie I thought was so great, that it's still my favorite of 2002. Although I do cringe every time seeing the precogs with fake curly hair (I've seen the movie 11 times to date- and it just keeps getting better).

@Irreversible: I meant the whole scene where Cassel is on the street, in the car and then the whole scene in the club. It is the worst possible use of film. And I think the movie thinks it's an art film. The only positive thing about the movie is that it shows a realistic rape scene. I found the rest of the movie despicable, a word I've never used to describe a movie before.
"Veni,Vidi,vici!"
(I came,I saw,I conquered!) Julius Ceasar
User avatar
Tamerlane
Posts: 4554
Joined: Fri May 18, 2001 10:00 pm
Location: The land of Oz
Contact:

Post by Tamerlane »

I recently saw School Of Rock at the theatre. Pretty good flick, Jack Black seems to hog a lot of the limelight but I figure that would of been the case since the majority of the other actors are kids. Oh and I didn't mind them, generally I loathe child actors, every single last one of them, but these were pretty good and they could rock! :cool: Plus any movie that has samples from the likes of AC/DC, Doors, Hendrix, Led Zepplin etc has got to be a great movie. :D The closing credits simply hilarious also.

Also saw Phone Booth, my partner got it since it has Colin Farrel in it :rolleyes: Its a really good movie, considering that the majority of it revovles around Farrel being stuck in a phone booth. Things do become a bit implausible towards the end, but Kiefer Sutherland adds the sinister element of being the voice on the other end of the phone, its a short but very intense movie.

Trying to bug my partner to see Elf with me, it looks absolutely hilarious. :o :D

EDIT - Also saw Usual Suspects today, but we all know what a great movie that is ;)
!
User avatar
Ubik
Posts: 1035
Joined: Tue Dec 12, 2000 11:00 pm
Location: Greece
Contact:

Post by Ubik »

Morlock

I do pay attention to a film's ending - it's an indication to me how much the film creator (usually the studio, in extreme cases - european cinema, for instance, the director) respect their audience and think of it as mature enough to handle a fitting ending, be it good or bad.

But, yes, it was a very good film. Much better than I anticipated.

As for Irreversible goes... It is one of the few "artsy" films I haven't been able to watch to the end (actually, I got nausea in the first 10 minutes, and even the gorgeous sight of Monica - Goddess - Belucci couldn't ease my dizzines).

Well, Breaking the Waves is an extremely good - and also extremely demanding - film, but Dogville is even better. I consider it better than Europa, which is my favorite Von Triers film.

But it is equally more demanding - very depressive and very dull and very hard to decipher. And it hasn't got a cathartic happy-ending, on the contrary.

Watch it on your own risk. ;)
Ubik
Elder God B.P. Pervert
User avatar
C Elegans
Posts: 9935
Joined: Thu Mar 15, 2001 11:00 pm
Location: The space within
Contact:

Post by C Elegans »

Originally posted by Ubik
Well, Breaking the Waves is an extremely good - and also extremely demanding - film, but Dogville is even better.


I actually don't like Breaking the Waves at all. Also, I found myself surprisingly untouched by it, although the subject and the events certainly invite to emotional responses.
I think the reason I don't like it much, is similar to why I don't like the Latin American literary style "magical realism" as you can see in the works by Garcia Marquez or Allende. The mix between realism and magical events has an alienating effect on me. To me, it does not add anything that somebody suddenly gets green hair or levitate towards the sky. In the same manner, Trier's flirting with religious mysticism and psychic abilities, does not add anything to me, instead, mixed with the naked and brutal social realism I normally like in movies, it seems like a cheap way to create ambiguity and interest to the stories and charaters.

Regarding "best actress post Streep", I never liked Streep much since she was always so type casted in these tear-streaming roles so you couldn't really assess her acting ability, but an actress who can really act, anything, is Emma Thompson and a young upcoming favorite of mine is Franka Potente, I just love her.
"There are in fact two things, science and opinion; the former begets knowledge, the latter ignorance." - Hippocrates
Moderator of Planescape: Torment, Diablo I & II and Dungeon Siege forums
User avatar
Aegis
Posts: 13412
Joined: Sat Dec 30, 2000 12:00 pm
Location: Soviet Canuckistan
Contact:

Post by Aegis »

Went to see 'The Last Samurai' last night. Now, I'm not a huge fan of Cruise's acting. Something about him, in most films, just bugs me, he is decent in his own right.

Anyway, I'm a huge fan of Japanese history, especially the Samurai, and was honestly expecting something somewhat different from what I saw. Now, it did still have the awesome Samurai action, even including a sweet battle between the Samurai and some Ninjas. Definatly good time there. I digress on that, though. The movie itself occurs in the late 18th century, in which relations between Japan and America are first being discussed. There is a rebel uprising of the Samurai, opposed to Western influence and interaction, and Tome Cruise is hired to come from the States to train the Japanese army how to fight. He does so, but is told to engage the enemy to soon, and a bloody battle ensues, in which Tome Cruise is the only survivor. He is taken captive, and that is where the story begins to pick up.

Anyway, I enjoyed the movie, and would recommend anyone into that sort of movie to see it.
User avatar
Georgi
Posts: 11288
Joined: Sat Apr 21, 2001 10:00 pm
Location: Can't wait to get on the road again...
Contact:

Post by Georgi »

I saw Intolerable Cruelty this afternoon, and was laughing the whole way through, it was great. Maybe not as kooky as you'd expect from the Coen Brothers, but still incredibly funny and entertaining, and definitely one of the best rom coms I've ever seen! (Ok, that is not saying much...)

I must say though, the other 5 or so people in the theatre didn't seem to be laughing quite as much as us. :confused: There were so many little things to laugh at... :D
Who, me?!?
User avatar
Morlock
Posts: 1363
Joined: Tue Jun 19, 2001 10:00 pm
Location: Jerusalem, Israel
Contact:

Post by Morlock »

I saw IC again, and loved all over again. I can see why some people don't think it's that great- but I honestly don't understand how someone can't laugh at the movie.
But then again, us Coen Bros. fans- we have a different take on things than most people. All I can say is- Sucks for them!!!
"Veni,Vidi,vici!"
(I came,I saw,I conquered!) Julius Ceasar
Post Reply