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

[terry.330]

Death Race- A remake of the Corman classic Death Race 2000. Cars went vroom and bang. It stars Jason Statham.

2.5/5

 

[jro]

All the hate (maybe just dislike, I guess) for Black Hawk Down, wow. I love that movie. Honestly, it's sort of hard for me to put my finger on it, but I just love every second of that flick. The atmosphere just seems so well done to me, feels like the grit is just there and in your face. And I dig the characters, I guess. Really like Sizemore's character and Bana's characters, in particular.

Just works for me, I guess. I can see how it would be a love it or hate it thing, though.

 

[aria]

All the hate (maybe just dislike, I guess) for Black Hawk Down, wow. I love that movie. Honestly, it's sort of hard for me to put my finger on it, but I just love every second of that flick. The atmosphere just seems so well done to me, feels like the grit is just there and in your face. And I dig the characters, I guess. Really like Sizemore's character and Bana's characters, in particular.

Just works for me, I guess. I can see how it would be a love it or hate it thing, though.

I enjoyed it when I saw it in theaters, haven't seen it since.

 

[cannonball]

I watched a couple MMA inspired movies this past week and both were beyond horrible. Redbelt and Never Back Down. If you're really bored like I was, give them a watch. You'll regret it.

 

[jro]

I watched a couple MMA inspired movies this past week and both were beyond horrible. Redbelt and Never Back Down. If you're really bored like I was, give them a watch. You'll regret it.

I actually really like Redbelt other than the ending. Mamet at least understands MMA and BJJ.

I wouldn't watch NBD for anything, though.

 

[HeartlessNinny]

Watched Let the Right One in last night, mostly on your guys' reccomend. Sadly, I didn't really care for it. I didnt' hate it or anything, but I thought it was a bit dull. Worse yet, there were some weird plot quibbles I had. Like why the hell is the vampire girl and the dude she's with so terrible at hiding her feeding? That guy must have been a fucking idiot, trying to bleed a guy in plain sight, then in a basement with people around. Stupid!

Plus did we really need to see the 12 year old girl's crotch? I felt like a goddamn pedophile, even if it was just for a split second.

Still. This is mostly just personal dislike. The movie had a great atmosphere and sense of style, I just didn't much like it is all.

I also watched 10,000 BC, mostly for shits and giggles. Quick capsule review: complete waste of time, even if you're watching just to mock it.

 

[HeartlessNinny]

I watched Synecdoche, New York yesterday.

Now. There are two types of abstract films, in my mind: films that you don't understand and get annoyed by, and films you don't understand and are intruiged by.

This is one of the latter. I was pretty much blown away. I won't pretend to get all the ins and outs, but I don't think you really have to to appreciate this gem. Everything about it is amazingly well crafted and thought out. It's bursting with creativity and nuance.

It's not crazy to say it's literally about everything. I always thought Charlie Kaufman was a great writer, but I didn't know if he could direct as well.

He can, and better than most. Check this out if you into this sort of thing. You won't regret it, it's stunning.

 

[Late]

Watched Let the Right One in last night, mostly on your guys' reccomend. Sadly, I didn't really care for it. I didnt' hate it or anything, but I thought it was a bit dull. Worse yet, there were some weird plot quibbles I had. Like why the hell is the vampire girl and the dude she's with so terrible at hiding her feeding? That guy must have been a fucking idiot, trying to bleed a guy in plain sight, then in a basement with people around. Stupid!

Plus did we really need to see the 12 year old girl's crotch? I felt like a goddamn pedophile, even if it was just for a split second.

People like you should be put out of their misery.

If you feel aroused by adolescent nudity the problem is at your end.

Låt den rätte komma in is such a beautiful and sad film.

Pro tip: the "girl" wasn't a girl but a castrated boy, fuckwit.

On topic:

The Machinist, crap "Am I nuts or..." thriller, the arc of drama meant for 10-yo kids.
2/5

 

[mmsadda]

Okay. I had a fair bit more typed up earlier, but shitty keyboard layout and lack of coordination on my part ended up losing everything I had typed.

*when I rate movies, 5 is average.*

Once Very good story here, and wonderful music (which is surprisingly important in this movie) A good story. Heartwarming, a little depressing. Overall enjoyable.
8/10

Cannonball Run Just complete crap. A steaming shitpile of the worst cliches and jokes from the 70s. It doesn't deliver the funny. It doesn't deliver classic car chase action, save for the intro scene. The humor here is so bad, I felt awkward and slightly dirty just sitting around watching it on my own.
2/10

Lakeview Terrace Just fuckin painful to watch. Sometimes people can be assholes and be funny as a result in movies. In this case, Samuel L Jackson is just too much of an asshole to even be funny. The ending would be halfway interesting if I hadn't felt too disgusted with the rest of the movie to even give a damn. Actors' performances weren't completely terrible, but nothing could save this heap from the awful writing and directing. I don[t think I'll do this often, but:
1/10

Quantum of Solace One of the lesser Bond movies in recent memory. Far too heavy on generic action and light on the cool factor. Also lacking in the swankiness department. If you go into it expecting an action movie instead of a traditional Bond movie, though, you may find some entertainment here. What I've said may sound harsh, but it IS a Bond movie that fails to live up to its name. If you take that away, though, it's fun, and has some reasonably cool scenes. Worth renting, if you haven't seen it yet.
5/10

Burn After Reading A comedy, unusual for the Coen Brothers. It works, though. The whole movie seems a little dry, and overly-complicated until you get to the end. Seems like the whole thing is a setup for ong big 10-minute long punchline, though there is definitely some humor throughout. Solid performances all around. I know plenty of people who didn't care for this movie, but I loved it.
8/10

 

[evil wasabi]

Role Models - surprisingly good. The heavy reliance on LARPing works quite well. Good to see that the Apatow influence of R-rated comedy can work for other directors/writers as well, didn't use to see as many comedies like this. Sean William Scott and Paul Rudd both fit the roles really well.

More people should see this movie.

 

[OrochiEddie]

More people should see this movie.

ditto.
I hate most comedies of that nature, but Role Models actually pulled it off.

 

[Lagduf]

All the hate (maybe just dislike, I guess) for Black Hawk Down, wow. I love that movie. Honestly, it's sort of hard for me to put my finger on it, but I just love every second of that flick. The atmosphere just seems so well done to me, feels like the grit is just there and in your face. And I dig the characters, I guess. Really like Sizemore's character and Bana's characters, in particular.

Just works for me, I guess. I can see how it would be a love it or hate it thing, though.

The attention to detail in the film is great. I mean you could probably argue it did for modern combat what Saving Private Ryan did for WW2 action flicks - an unparalleled sense of realism that makes the viewer go "holy shit."

But other than that I just feel like it's nothing more than a dramatic recreation of the events with nothing more to tell.

For a war film I would have liked something that went deeper into some aspect of war.

And as an action film I didn't think it had any characters to make it a cool enough action flick for me to get excited and go "hell yeah that was awesome!"

I guess in some ways I feel similar about We Were Soldiers - thats a pretty good retelling of the battle at LZ X-Ray in 1965...but thats about it. Doesn't get much deeper than that, though they do try to focus on a few characters and put some story spin to it.

Better off reading the book if you're in to that sort of thing.

 

[aria]

Burn After Reading A comedy, unusual for the Coen Brothers.

 

[NeoSneth]

I Love you Man

Without Paul Rudd this movie would have sucked. The other characters seem so forced, except Paul.

He plays a clueless man like no one else. You really feel he is as awkward as his character is supposed to be. I felt awkward just watching him.

There were tons of previews for this movie, so most of the jokes are spoiled. But, there are quite a few highlights from Rudd that were new to me.

 

[Michael Yagami]

Watched Sukiyaki Western Django yesterday and Punisher: Warzone twice today. Had never seen SWD before, really liked it, then again I like Takashi Miike's work in general. Wazone is just a fucking blast of a flick. Loved it when I saw it in theaters loved it the 2 times I watched it today. Its what comic book movies should aspire to be. It knows it's a comic book movie, it embraces it and makes no bones about it. Ray Stevenson made a great Frank Castle. Totally overshadowed Tom Jane's work in the 2nd movie. If they make another Punisher film they should bring in Dolph to play the villain.

 

[HeartlessNinny]

People like you should be put out of their misery.

If you feel aroused by adolescent nudity the problem is at your end.

Låt den rätte komma in is such a beautiful and sad film.

Pro tip: the "girl" wasn't a girl but a castrated boy, fuckwit.

On topic:

The Machinist, crap "Am I nuts or..." thriller, the arc of drama meant for 10-yo kids.
2/5

You have got to be one of the stupidest motherfuckers I've ever encountered.

At what point did I say I was aroused? I was disturbed, fucktard. I saw a shot of a prepubescent crotch, so I looked away in disgust and horror. What an odd reaction for a movie about vampires! That's probably not what the filmmakers had in mind at all.

Secondly, I said I thought it was a good movie, just not really my thing. Try not to take it so personally when someone doesn't like exactly what you like, you insecure fucking idiot.

Grow a brain before you talk to me again. Unless you have more dazzling insight on how the Watchmen comic isn't that great — I could use a good laugh.

(Finallly, here's a protip from me: referring to a foreign film's title in its original language is pretentious. Do you call The Good, the Bad and the Ugly Il Buono, il brutto, il cattivo? Fuck.)

 

[GregN]

Watched the first half of the 3-hour documentary of Kraftwerk. It goes into a lot about the Krautrock scene on the late 60s & 70s and Tangerine Dream. Interesting stuff. I'll watch the rest probably Thurs.

 

[mmsadda]

Okay. It was much more straightforward about being comedic than most of their movies. I wouldn't call Fargo or No Country For Old Men comedies, even though they had some funny moments.

 

[SouthtownKid]

Okay. It was much more straightforward about being comedic than most of their movies. I wouldn't call Fargo or No Country For Old Men comedies, even though they had some funny moments.

O, Brother, Where Art Thou
Big Lebowski
Raising Arizona

I think what Bobak means is that the Coen bros. are not unknown for the funny.

 

[jro]

Synecdoche, New York - Liked it quite a lot. Weird as hell, of course, as per the usual for Kaufman. Actually, probably even weirded that normal for him, at least weirder than Eternal Sunshine, I'd say. Ending kind of goes a little awry, but it still works, and it's probably the only way it CAN end, really. Hard to describe, but good. Like it or hate it, nothing in between, I don't think, no "meh" on this one. 8/10

Punisher: Warzone - So Thomas Jane jumps ship because he hates the script when the Punisher is finally done right? Whatever, whiny bitch. Movie is generally pretty terrible, far as actual movies go, but it's pretty fucking awesome, far as Punisher goes. Brutally violent, just crazy violent. Awesome, sick violence. Plot is shit, but the Punisher is the RIGHT FUCKING PUNISHER. Finally. Make a million sequels exactly like it and I'll happily love every one for all the wrong reasons. Critically, it sucks, and if I was reviewing it for, like, Variety or something it would be a star and a half. As a fan, it's great, and it's, say, 7/10. So, I gotta split the difference here and go 5/10

 

[mmsadda]

O, Brother, Where Art Thou
Big Lebowski
Raising Arizona

I think what Bobak means is that the Coen bros. are not unknown for the funny.

Gotcha. It's been a long time since I've seen O Brother or Big Lebowski... I didn't remember either of them being especially funny, and I know I didnt' really care for Big Lebowski... but I remember O Brother being good. Anyhow, that was years ago; I should go back and watch 'em both again.

 

[aria]

I didnt' really care for Big Lebowski...

So... um... What's your view on midichlorians?

 

[SouthtownKid]

Punisher: Warzone
Plot is shit, but the Punisher is the RIGHT FUCKING PUNISHER. Finally. Make a million sequels exactly like it

Not going to happen. The movie tanked. Cost 22m and made 8m.

 

[jro]

Not going to happen. The movie tanked. Cost 22m and made 8m.

Oh, I know- Stevenson (sp?) loved it, wanted to do sequels, says he wants Barracuda to be the villain in the next one, basically (which would be sweet, IMO), but I know it won't happen.

Lowest-grossing Marvel property-film ever! Look for Stevenson (sp, again?) just wasn't as good as Jane's, I don't think, admittedly- if Jane had had Stevenson's attitude and killed a bunch of mofo's, that would have been the best of both worlds, for me, at least. Too bland.

Marketing also sucked for Warzone. And I don't really think the bizarre vibe of the Jane flick helped it out at all. Emo Punisher probably didn't really set too many people as eager to see Warzone- put another way- if Warzone had come out first, and Emo (my subtitle for it) never had existed, I'd say Warzone would have done far better. Even though I like Emo better than most people probably do.

Yeah, I'm putting way too much thought into this.

 

[HeartlessNinny]

Gotcha. It's been a long time since I've seen O Brother or Big Lebowski... I didn't remember either of them being especially funny, and I know I didnt' really care for Big Lebowski...

Just stop right there. You didn't like the Big Lebowski? Seriously?

Like, for real? I find this impossible to believe.