Movies I've seen lately

Kameleon · Post by **Kameleon** » Wed Oct 16, 2002 4:47 am

Great stuff - you finally saw Fight Club. Strangely enough, I'm just about to watch The Usual Suspects, a film that criminally I have never seen. Will report back soon.

frogus · Post by **frogus** » Wed Oct 16, 2002 4:51 am

I seem to remember you cracking a Kaiser Sozhe joke not so long ago Kam...

Anyway, enjoy it, and think carefully

Kameleon · Post by **Kameleon** » Wed Oct 16, 2002 5:01 am

Originally posted by frogus
I seem to remember you cracking a Kaiser Sozhe joke not so long ago Kam...

Wouldn't have been me I don't think...see if you can find it, I could just have been using what knowledge I have of the film (unfortunately, I do know the ending but hey...I still enjoyed the Sixth Sense even though some £*$& told me outside the cinema)

Morlock · Post by **Morlock** » Wed Oct 16, 2002 5:07 am

Originally posted by Kameleon
Great stuff - you finally saw Fight Club. Strangely enough, I'm just about to watch The Usual Suspects, a film that criminally I have never seen. Will report back soon.

I envy the expirience you're about to have.

Kameleon · Post by **Kameleon** » Wed Oct 16, 2002 7:10 am

Good film...

Not happy I knew the big secret, which probably spoiled it for me - seeing a film for the second or third time when you know what happens is good, but when you know the first time you see it it detracts somewhat from the whole experience. Saying that though, that was an excellent film. Kevin Spacey was brilliant as always, and the directing was ace. I can see how much I would have loved it did I not know, as it was it was still a great way to spend two hours

frogus · Post by **frogus** » Wed Oct 16, 2002 8:15 am

One thing I thought about that movie was that there was a great contrast between the performances by the Big Names, and the less famous guys...Now I know there is a reason why actors get famous in the first place but....

Mr Sleep · Post by **Mr Sleep** » Wed Oct 16, 2002 3:53 pm

Just saw Road to Perdition, I will write up my thoughts tomorrow but I must say I wasn't dissapointed although the kid tried his best to ruin it

Georgi · Post by **Georgi** » Thu Oct 17, 2002 6:09 am

*spam and run*

Jude Law's performance in Road To Perdition completely eclipses Tom Hanks'. It wasn't a bad movie though, at least they managed to have a kid who wasn't too annoying. I liked the ending too, I was worried it was going to be too sentimental.

Don't have time to list all the movies I've seen recently or review them all, but just saw Donnie Darko today, and it was quite a gem, one of those movies that leaves you thinking for ages after you finish watching it.

Kameleon · Post by **Kameleon** » Thu Oct 17, 2002 6:53 am

Hey G - you'll notice that I finally watched The Usual Suspects...took me long enough

I saw Full Metal Jacket last night - I can't say I enjoyed it, but it was an excellent film, very well made, and I'm glad I've seen it now. There's a good chance I would have loved it if I didn't have an uncle whose life was basically ruined by Vietnam...but still, good film with excellent acting. The best Kubrick I've seen so far.

Morlock · Post by **Morlock** » Thu Oct 17, 2002 8:46 am

Originally posted by Kameleon

I saw Full Metal Jacket last night - I can't say I enjoyed it, but it was an excellent film, very well made, and I'm glad I've seen it now. There's a good chance I would have loved it if I didn't have an uncle whose life was basically ruined by Vietnam...but still, good film with excellent acting. The best Kubrick I've seen so far.

I loved the first half, wasn't thrilled with the second half.

Best Kubrick? I have to give that honor to Dr. strangelove.
"....Stealing are precious bodily flouids...."

I saw Big Lebowski again.
When I said a couple of months ago that Miller's crossing is my fabvorite Coen Bros. movie- I was wrong.
This IMO the best Coen Bros. movie, by far.
I live for any scene with Bridges and Goodman- they are some of the best written and best acted scenes ever.
I'm assuming most people here have already seen it, so it's pointless to quote it.
9.5/10

@Georgi: Who apparantly feels she's too high class for this thread

"Jude Law's performance in Road To Perdition completely eclipses Tom Hanks'"
What are you talking about? I thought Jude Law was totaly wasted on this part, and didn't do such a bang up job at it. Not that Hanks was that great- I thought the acting all around lacked something- I liked it for everything but the acting.

frogus · Post by **frogus** » Thu Oct 17, 2002 5:33 pm

Well I saw Moulin Rouge *spits* today - It was shockingly, surprisingly, appalingly bad.
Nicole Kidman completely embarrassed herself by acting appalingly, and Ewan McGregor embarrased himself by acting a man falling in love with such an abismaly unnatractive woman with nothing to commend herself whatsoever.
Baz Lurhman embarrased himself by making the movie into a 'Play within a play within a play within a play' - a sort of parrallel mirrors idea which served no purpose whatsoever other than to allow him to make a stupid movie seem smart.
Worst crime committed by the film was the sheer quantity of fantastic music which Ewan and Nicole etc absolutely brutally slaughtered. Never have I heard so much good music sound so bad. The Show Must Go On (Queen), Heroes (Bowie) and Smells Like Teen Spirit (Nirvana) were some of the more famous songs to be violently murdered by the cast of mediocre sub-Disney-musical voices.

Don't watch it, it will only annoy you!

Kameleon · Post by **Kameleon** » Thu Oct 17, 2002 6:13 pm

Originally posted by frogus
Well I saw Moulin Rouge *spits* today - It was shockingly, surprisingly, appalingly bad.
Nicole Kidman completely embarrassed herself by acting appalingly, and Ewan McGregor embarrased himself by acting a man falling in love with such an abismaly unnatractive woman with nothing to commend herself whatsoever.
Baz Lurhman embarrased himself by making the movie into a 'Play within a play within a play within a play' - a sort of parrallel mirrors idea which served no purpose whatsoever other than to allow him to make a stupid movie seem smart.
Worst crime committed by the film was the sheer quantity of fantastic music which Ewan and Nicole etc absolutely brutally slaughtered. Never have I heard so much good music sound so bad. The Show Must Go On (Queen), Heroes (Bowie) and Smells Like Teen Spirit (Nirvana) were some of the more famous songs to be violently murdered by the cast of mediocre sub-Disney-musical voices.

Don't watch it, it will only annoy you!

Heh...and I quite enjoyed it

I do agree with you re:the music murdering...not all of it was...top-notch

Mr Sleep · Post by **Mr Sleep** » Mon Oct 21, 2002 7:55 am

Sorry it took so long; Road to Perdition:

Mendes seems obsessed with telling us the ending at the start, American Beauty and Road to Perdition both feature a prologue that goes someway to giving the viewer the ending. It isn't a serious problem it does however mean there is a loss of tension, it is the same with a long running TV show, for instance the X-Files, every week Mulder and Scully would get into dodgy situations but every week we knew they were going to survive so the series lost all tension.

Regardless Road to Perdition is a classy picture, very cinematic in its stylings, I would put this in the area of some of the classic noir movies, the 30's feel is spot on.

The funeral scene is the perfect example and it is also a great way of initiating the story, there are handy little references to events later such as the Tommy Gun.

The story progresses with a pace that keeps the viewer interested and this pace is only let down by the posturing by the child. This of course was always going to be a let down. Mendes does however deal with the child actor fairly well, I never wanted to gag the kid for his ineptitude, he was a necessary part and acts as the viewers narator but even so he was still sometimes trying of my patience.

Hanks also provides a fairly convincing performance, not exactly setting the screen alight his performance is at least adequate and I think his quiet reflective performance is actually integral to his character.

The rest of the acting is pretty good, Jude Law is satisfactory; again appropriate to his role. Stan Tucci was perfect as always. The only role I was dissapointed by was....Paul Newman. I will go into why later when I get a chance.

The plot is fairly unremarkable, in that it is fairly standard and doesn't really feature much innovation and I think the powerhouse of the actors and director made this movie good, it is good and worth watching but it wasn't quite as inspiring as Mendes other work (American Beauty) and it also didn't quite capture my imagination, my usual method of checking how interested I am in a film is how often I check my watch, I didn't once during Road to Perdition, sterling praise indeed.

Tamerlane · Post by **Tamerlane** » Tue Oct 22, 2002 2:57 am

Re: *spam and run*

Originally posted by Georgi
Don't have time to list all the movies I've seen recently or review them all, but just saw Donnie Darko today, and it was quite a gem, one of those movies that leaves you thinking for ages after you finish watching it.

I got dragged along to see this movie by our dear Georgi. And yes it was a good movie and one worth watching. Heres a blurb for it.

Donnie Darko is a disturbed adolescent who is off his medication, and when his bedroom is obliterated by a falling airliner engine, he becomes increasingly delusional and convinced the world will end in 28 days. Aided by a demonic rabbit, he embarks on an increasingly crazed series of actions, which horrify his teachers, scare his parents and amaze his friends.

@Sleep. I though Newman was one of the shining lights in Road To Perdition, I cared little for Hanks performance. He is effectively a typecast actor however I wouldn't be surprised if he gets nominated for another movie award. And for the record, I was disappointed with Jude Laws performance too.

Mr Sleep · Post by **Mr Sleep** » Tue Oct 22, 2002 3:20 am

Re: Re: *spam and run*

Originally posted by Tamerlane
@Sleep. I though Newman was one of the shining lights in Road To Perdition, I cared little for Hanks performance. He is effectively a typecast actor however I wouldn't be surprised if he gets nominated for another movie award. And for the record, I was disappointed with Jude Laws performance too.

Well his role wasn't exactly any more complex than anyone elses, he is the father who loves his son etc etc etc. I think he was generally okay but I was dissapointed because he didn't really do much, I know he is old and can't exactly sing or dance but his performance while adequate was also a bit to by the numbers for my liking.

Tamerlane · Post by **Tamerlane** » Tue Oct 22, 2002 3:40 am

Well I was never one to argue very long on such matters. I will keep your comments in mind when I see the movie again, most likely on DVD as I can't see any reason to watch it again at the theatres. I still think that his performance was better then that of his compatriots. I say we just agree to disagree in the end.

Mr Sleep · Post by **Mr Sleep** » Tue Oct 22, 2002 5:01 am

Originally posted by Tamerlane
Well I was never one to argue very long on such matters. I will keep your comments in mind when I see the movie again, most likely on DVD as I can't see any reason to watch it again at the theatres. I still think that his performance was better then that of his compatriots. I say we just agree to disagree in the end.

That is fair enough by me, I must admit I also didn't watch Road to Perdition with a critical eye, I actually just sat and watched it, which makes a change, perhaps that is part of the reason I feel the way I do, perhaps when I re-watch it with an analytical eye my feelings will change.

Morlock · Post by **Morlock** » Sun Nov 03, 2002 3:10 am

I know very well that people have had quite enough of this thread, but this seems to be the only thread in which I can post something that is not 100% spam, so, I apologize in advance.

Heist
I didn't really want to see this, but I just felt like seeing something fun, and any crime movies worth a damn have at least a couple of entertaining scenes.
I think this movie was totaly unneccesary, especialy from someone like David Mamet, who has delivered such great scripts like Glengarry Glenn Ross and Wag the Dog (one of my favorites).
Hackman seemed a little too worn out, even for his character. IMO he was much, much better in the Royal Tannenbaums.
The most annoying thing about the movie was that I was always one step ahead of them. Usualy it was because I've seen so many movies, that very little gets by me. But A couple of times it was because the movie was trying to be so clever, that it was a bout five steps ahead of the audience, but I missed steps 2-5, which resolved themselves, so I was still ahead of the movie.

A cute crime caper (Although heavier than most), might be worth a watch, don't worry if you can't see it.

Red Dragon
Being the huge Hannibal Lecter fan that I am, I saw this the first chance I got.
I'm still a bit confused about how much I liked it (another viewing should clear that up

), but I did definatly like it.
My favorite scenes were probabaly the first and last ones.
The first ones, while Hannibal is still a free man are really great. I loved the loved the look in his eyes, saying that he really didn't like this musician.
The last one IMO is brilliant, if simple. The tie in to Silence of the lambs is really great. I also loved that they had all the actors from Silence reprising their roles at the institution.
Edward Norton was pretty good as Graham, although it seemed pretty obvious to me that they had to write extra sharp lines for him in his scenes with Hopkins, because there's no way he could hold his groud against one of the most feared and loved movie characters of all times.
Hopkins was fantastic, back in the imprisoned Lecter's persona, not like in Hannibal. This Hannibal is a direct extension of the one in the original.
Fieness was very good. It's funny to see how he really lives up to his reputation of rarely smiling on screen, which he even joked about in the Golden Globes. It was scary to see how the only time did really smile was when he was in full character, totaly immeressed in the Red Dragon.
Phillip Seymour Hoffman was great as usual, He really did fit his character- he had the slobbish look right on, his expresion was perfect.
I was happy to see an original ending, and this one really had me guessing where it would go next.

For the more negative part- I found the movie a bit too gruesome. Not that I mind it, but what was so great about silence was that all the fear, tension and nervousness was psycological. it was in looks, sounds and the dialogue, unlike Hannibal which relied only on blood and guts.

I definatly like this movie. Better than Hannibal on virtualy every level. See it if you liked Silence of the lambs (Which IMOis impossible not to)

I plan on seeing in the next couple of days

Jackie Brown andBreaking the waves, both for the first time.

Mr Sleep · Post by **Mr Sleep** » Sun Nov 03, 2002 10:01 am

Originally posted by Morlock
I know very well that people have had quite enough of this thread, but this seems to be the only thread in which I can post something that is not 100% spam, so, I apologize in advance.

Not at all, I always read what you post in here, and I post when I can; when I have seen a movie that is, it has been somewhat of a barren spell the last few weeks.

Jackie Brown is great in my opinion, stylistically brilliant.

Nightmare · Post by **Nightmare** » Sun Nov 03, 2002 12:22 pm

Originally posted by Morlock
I know very well that people have had quite enough of this thread, but this seems to be the only thread in which I can post something that is not 100% spam, so, I apologize in advance.

Don't worry.

I enjoy reading the various movie reviews in here...