Movie opinions thread (what have you seen, what did you think?)

OMFG

The Portuguese Chop
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Control: By Anton Corbijn

Movie based on the life of Ian Curtis (of Joy Division). Done very well.

I have to say that I have a soft spot for Tremors. My two favorite lines by Michael Gross are:

Earl Bassett: What kind of fuse is that?
Burt Gummer: Cannon fuse
Earl Bassett: What the hell do you use it for?
Burt Gummer: My cannon!

and

Valentine McKee: What the hell's in those things, Burt?
Burt Gummer: A few household chemicals in the proper proportions.

The smile he has on his face afterwards is priceless

Viva Le Burt

Burt_Gummer.jpg
 

Magician

A simple man who simply loves gaming.
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The Orphanage: Drama/Horror from Juan Antonio Bayona, produced by Guillermo del Toro. A story about a girl, Laura, who grows up in an orphanage with five other children, goes away, then thirty years later comes back with her husband and adopted child. Laura and her husband, Carlos, decide to reuse the property as a "special needs" orphanage. There was a great story here, though it is a horror movie, it manages to deliver the scares without being overly obvious as it would be in say...a slasher flick. With Del Toro producing, the lighting and sound are used to their maximum to set mood and the pacing of the film to the best it can be. Though not a triumph as Del Toro's Pan's Labyrinth was, but equally entertaining.

4/5


National Treasure: Book of Secrets: All the heroes are back, plus a few new faces. The same roller coaster ride as the first film, all the clues are somehow relative to the proceeding clue. Good guys always win, and bad guys really aren't that bad-type movie. Great popcorn movie. If you liked the first, chances you'll enjoy this just as much as it's just more of what the first movie gave us. And since it's Disney, and we're in the age of trilogies, chances are we'll see a third effort in 2009.

3/5
 

LoneSage

A Broken Man
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Mad Max -- saw it for the first time. it's just so great to see all the things that influenced Fist of the North Star -- costume design, tragedy of the hero, setting, etc. and as a movie on its own it's quite enjoyable. I really oughtta get around to seeing The Road Warrior. I wonder if the very last scene inspired the original Saw movie at all?

I saw Beyond Thunderdome years ago however and thought that was retarded.
 
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aria

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Persepolis: Amazing. I don't know what to think now... I loved Ratatouille, but this is just as amazing an animated feature, only in a completely different style (its based on the excellent graphic novels, it's in no way aimed at kids). This should probably win the Best Animated Film Oscar, but might lose because its going up against Pixar/Disney.

Marjane Satrapi's created something that's both personal and epic, funny and tragic... it's one of the best movies I've seen all year. I saw it with my parents, and they're tough customers (esp. my dad); they also loved it. I can't wait to see it again when it reaches the Twin Cities, I'm going to drag as many people as I can with me.

It's an autobiography of the writer's time in Iran and as an expat. This may also be the best movie made about the Iranian Revolution and subsequent, massive clusterfuck ever made (needless to say, this is banned in Iran). The visual style is different --it's almost like a shadow play; the music and visuals really do a great job. This is a crazy year for movies, because I think both Persepolis and Ratatouille should be nominated for Best Picture, not just Animated film. Persepolis might win Best Foreign Film. It affected me more than any movie this year.

5/5, a must see.


Trailer:
http://www.apple.com/trailers/sony/persepolis/persepolis_lg.html
 

Nesagwa

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Sweeney Todd.

The black couple that came in with us (making a total number of tickets sold 4) walked out shortly after the movie started.

I liked it, but the music didnt really reach out and grab me, sort of mundane.

I did like that Burton decided to go with goofy stage blood rather than realistic gore.

3.75/5
 

evil wasabi

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Bobak said:
Atonement: On a bunch of top-10 lists, but last night I wanted to start a chant of "Oh-ver-ray-ted (clap. clap. clap-clap-clap)..." The movie is competently told and acted, but the story just isn't that interesting. It's based off of a popular novel, but, as one review I read confirmed, it really reduces the book down to a cliff-notes summary that doesn't feel very powerful or compelling. The whole story hinges on a really lame (albeit believable) "mistake" that screws some of the characters. While I was hoping for some interesting resolution (good or bad), you get stuck with an ending that's a let down --an ending that's trying to have more emotional sway, but the problem is the movie never really builds enough care for any of the major characters. The whole thing feels like a bunch of stuck-up British people looking and acting constipated. A complete let down movie.

3/5, should not be nominated --or win, anything save for maybe one or two acting noms

were you watching a bowl game when you wrote this?
 

aria

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Nesagwa said:
Sweeney Todd.

The black couple that came in with us (making a total number of tickets sold 4) walked out shortly after the movie started.

I liked it, but the music didnt really reach out and grab me, sort of mundane.

I did like that Burton decided to go with goofy stage blood rather than realistic gore.

3.75/5

Interesting point. I wonder what it would've been like if they decided to redo the music instead of going for the songs written in the late 70s.

wasabi said:
were you watching a bowl game when you wrote this?

Hah. Hey: I'm just glad the reviewers were as divided as I was; I went back and read a bunch and there were a decent number who also though this movie was a so-so flick getting over-hyped by the studio. I really didn't feel this movie, it feels like the cliff's notes of what could've been a good movie.
 

terry.330

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The Last King of Scottland: Not a great movie but some great performances for sure. Also a fairly disturbing film at points, I would definatley reccommend it.

3/5

Sunshine: Danny Boyles first film since 28 days later. Now I had heard that the movies goes downhill in the last 3rd or so but I really enjoyed it all the way through. Amazing visuals and soundtrack really helped to make it an impressive experince.

4/5

The Eye(original): Hmm... another asian horror film, eh better than all that shit from the past few years with creepy little kids. I can only imagine how bad the upcoming US remake is going to be.

2.5/5
 

evil wasabi

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Nesagwa said:
Sweeney Todd.

The black couple that came in with us (making a total number of tickets sold 4) walked out shortly after the movie started.

I liked it, but the music didnt really reach out and grab me, sort of mundane.

I did like that Burton decided to go with goofy stage blood rather than realistic gore.

3.75/5

I liked the music. In a way, I feel like all serial killers are singing, outloud, or on the inside.
 

Steve

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Terry330 said:
The Eye(original): Hmm... another asian horror film, eh better than all that shit from the past few years with creepy little kids. I can only imagine how bad the upcoming US remake is going to be.

2.5/5


Alba's in the US remake, so how bad can it be... ;)
 

talks2wall

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Bobak said:
Persepolis: Amazing....
Thanks for the review Bobak. I didn't even know about this but after watching the trailer I went right out and saw it this afternoon. I really enjoyed the story and the art style. Although I was pretty surprised to hear it in French. Was it common for people to speak French in Iran during that period? :conf:
 

Nesagwa

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wasabi said:
I liked the music. In a way, I feel like all serial killers are singing, outloud, or on the inside.

Well, I liked some of it. The duet with Rickman and Depp was good.

Others just werent very memorable.
 

aria

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talks2wall said:
Thanks for the review Bobak. I didn't even know about this but after watching the trailer I went right out and saw it this afternoon. I really enjoyed the story and the art style.

Awesome! I thought if I could get at least one more person to see this film I would feel like I helped a great movie. I didn't realize it would happen so quickly :)

Although I was pretty surprised to hear it in French. Was it common for people to speak French in Iran during that period? :conf:

Well, the reason its in French is because Marjane Satrapi lives in France and wrote the original graphic novels in French --and the filmmakers are also all French. With that said, French has influences Farsi and a lot of Persians from those years use words like "merci" and others --and she went to the Lycée Français in Tehran.

They are planning to release an English dub with Gena Rowlands, Sean Penn, and Iggy Pop. I don't know when its coming out or if the Writer's strike is affecting it. Its interesting to note that the person playing the voices of young Marji and her mom are actually mom and daughter in real life. Also, the woman playing the grandmother played the mother's mom in a movie 40 years ago (she's 90). Their performances all seem solid, even though I don't know what they're saying in the original French :lolz: (but the French seem to agree that they're all excellent)
 

aria

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Saw Persepolis (see above) again last night with a group here in Minnesota. I was the only one who'd seen it before, but everyone else loved it. The whole theater was silent for about 30 seconds after the credits started to roll --always a good sign.

This year's animated oscar is going to be interesting. Man, I could still see this movie again in theaters, I love the music. Its able to show how kids were talked into killing themselves ("martyr") in the Iran-Iraq war, but not make it too much for the audience.
 

terry.330

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Zodiac- Damn good. It's good to see that Fitchner has subdued his style from past films(Alien 3, Se7en and Fight Club) I think it has really made this a more than solid movie. The cast does a great job and the ST, costumes and settings are very well done considering the amount of time that it covers.

Also if you are considering this movie keep in mind that it is about the people pursuing the case not the actual killer himself.

9/10
 

BIG

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juno - the absolute fucking worst movie i have ever seen in my life. i mean, what is so great about this ultra-pretentious, teen angst-ridden movie? i guess if you're a hipster living the uber-hip lifestyle, then this might very well be your cup of tea. a true waste of good casting. the lead character, juno, is by far the most annoying character in the history of film making. do knocked-up 16 year-olds really spout as much bullshit as she does? might be cute to some, but not for me. on the brighter side, i guess the soundtrack was halfway decent. that, and the 5mins or so screen time cera gets for the entirety of the film.

0/5
 
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aria

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BIG said:
juno - the absolute fucking worst movie i have ever seen in my life. i mean, what is so great about this ultra-pretentious, teen angst-ridden movie? i guess if you're a hipster living the uber-hip lifestyle, then this might very well be your cup of tea. the lead character, juno, is by far the most annoying character in the history of film making. do knocked-up 16 year-olds really spout as much bullshit as she does? might be cute to some, but not for me. on the brighter side, i guess the soundtrack was halfway decent.

0/5

Just don't pout if it wins a well-deserved Oscar :p
 

BIG

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Bobak said:
Just don't pout if it wins a well-deserved Oscar :p

The academy is a fucking joke.


crash?
the departed?

lol even scorsese knew they gave it to him out of pity.
 

evil wasabi

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Bobak said:
Saw Persepolis (see above) again last night with a group here in Minnesota. I was the only one who'd seen it before, but everyone else loved it. The whole theater was silent for about 30 seconds after the credits started to roll --always a good sign.

This year's animated oscar is going to be interesting. Man, I could still see this movie again in theaters, I love the music. Its able to show how kids were talked into killing themselves ("martyr") in the Iran-Iraq war, but not make it too much for the audience.

There are adults in Iran today who still think that it's great to die a martyr for their country, protecting their land from outsiders.

But they get all defensive when you ask them who they would be protecting the land for...

I like Persepolis a lot. The first book was really a good thing for Iranians. The movie will be too. Particularly because it shows how ridiculous the authority figures are, and especially Iranian men. Despite how ridiculous the plurality is, the audience is reminded that there are still a lot of really bright good people in the country who are powerless to fight the shaven apes above them.
 

Hot Chocolate

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Persepolis
-Really good movie, went with a friend who'd been going nuts over it for a while
 

aria

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wasabi said:
There are adults in Iran today who still think that it's great to die a martyr for their country, protecting their land from outsiders.

But they get all defensive when you ask them who they would be protecting the land for...

I like Persepolis a lot. The first book was really a good thing for Iranians. The movie will be too. Particularly because it shows how ridiculous the authority figures are, and especially Iranian men. Despite how ridiculous the plurality is, the audience is reminded that there are still a lot of really bright good people in the country who are powerless to fight the shaven apes above them.

Its awesome Iran felt the need to issue a statement during the Cannes Film Festival denouncing the film as "an unrealistic face of the achievements and results of the glorious Islamic Revolution." That's when you know you made a good movie.

NPR story

My parents thought it was the best movie made about the Iranian Revolution and subsequent cultural clusterfuck (not quite their words) they'd seen.

Minor spoiler (but not if you've read the book): it was chilling to watch the kids run across the minefield, arms raised for god. There was an excellent documentary on the Discovery-Times channel that traces modern suicide bombing to the Iran-Iraq War, when a similar young fighter decided the best way to demolish a tank was to run up to it strapped with explosives and become a martyr. It "worked" and there you have it.
 
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I have a recommendation: Mother Night
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0117093/

I'm really tired of WWII movies, which is why I'm not exactly thrilled about seeing Atonement. Mother Night however is different and artsy enough to be worthwhile for someone seeking a non-typical WWII flick, there aren't any combat scenes, it's virtually all dialogue.

Raspy voiced Nick Nolte gets suckered into being a spy for the Americans during the War as a Tokyo Rose type character. His character has a strange duality. As someone working for the Nazi's, he's required to broadcast Jew hate on his radio program, but in these 30 minute long anti-Jew diatribes contains a secret code (deciphered by certain words and pronunciations of words) that allegedly helps the Allies.

He has a shitty life, you should watch it. Great performance by Nolte, along with a nice little appearance by John Goodman in a serious role.
 

evil wasabi

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Bobak said:
Its awesome Iran felt the need to issue a statement during the Cannes Film Festival denouncing the film as "an unrealistic face of the achievements and results of the glorious Islamic Revolution." That's when you know you made a good movie.

NPR story

My parents thought it was the best movie made about the Iranian Revolution and subsequent cultural clusterfuck (not quite their words) they'd seen.

Minor spoiler (but not if you've read the book): it was chilling to watch the kids run across the minefield, arms raised for god. There was an excellent documentary on the Discovery-Times channel that traces modern suicide bombing to the Iran-Iraq War, when a similar young fighter decided the best way to demolish a tank was to run up to it strapped with explosives and become a martyr. It "worked" and there you have it.

One thing about the movie was how French it felt. I never felt that when I was reading the books. I wonder if the dubbed version will still feel French, American, or Iranian-American.
 
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