| Hobson's Choice |
| Enhcanted haha. It was one TV and the family decided to watched it and the majority of people in the room were girls so i couldn't argue against it. But yeah the film was decent if a little too formal, cliched and dragging on a little longer then it needed to. |
| Enhcanted haha. It was one TV and the family decided to watched it and the majority of people in the room were girls so i couldn't argue against it. But yeah the film was decent if a little too formal, cliched and dragging on a little longer then it needed to. |
| Cromwell (1970) The only film I have watched on TV durring the holidays - Despite its many inarracuracies and Richard Harris portrail of Cromwell maybe overbearing at times, the film is an intrigruing retelling off one the most important events in the formation of modern demorcracy - Alec Guiness who plays Charles the First who seems to knowingly make decisions that can only end in his downfall is great. Cromwell was a puritan fanatic and harris plays the part without sympathy Though this is quite a talky the battle scenes without CGI make a pleasent change if you want too see two great actors at work and intersted in British history 72/100 |
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| who can kill a child (1976) ..i've always thought children were creepy ..but damn |
| Hell Up in Harlem (1973)- A sequel to one of my favorite blaxploitation films ever, "Black Caesar". Sadly, this one was far inferior and totally unnecessary. Why is Tommy's timid, reluctant, law-abiding father a fearsome gangster in the space of two minutes? Why does the film abandon all the humorous, pithy scenes that made it such a delight in the original in favor of incompetent dramatic ones? Why is the editing and directing so awful? (Random cuts, blows clearly not connecting, and an "impalement" scene with colored-in, animated blood...no, I'm not kidding) Hell, why was the badass James Brown soundtrack in the original replaced by generic, stale R&B? Many questions, and in each case, it seems like they wanted to get rid of anything that made the "Black Caesar" good. While it still stars Fred "The Hammer" Williamson, and has some silly action, but it's not even close to the same. A bad watch even for a blaxploitation junkie like myself. 38/100 The Return of Captain Invincible (1983)- Wonderfully silly, funny film with cheesy, hilarious performances by Alan Arkin and Christopher Lee, and music by Richard Hartley, who did the Rocky Horror Picture Show. The editing is lacking, and a few songs are boring, including two in a row that that mess up the film's flow, but it's still enjoyable overall. The evil vacuum cleaners, crazy henchmen, "Julius", and bondage girls are all funny and memorable, but the clear highlight is Christopher Lee's song and dance number, "Pick Your Poison". Entertaining! 65/100 |
YoungVagabond said: Black Swan (2010)- A frigid, naive young ballerina gets the lead in a production of "Swan Lake", only she can't master the dark, sensual "black swan". As she loses herself in the role, and has to cope with Badgirl Ballerina Mila Kunis, Overbearing, Strict Mother, and Lecherous Asshole European Director, "psychological thrills" ensue. I wanted to like this film, folks. I really fucking did. I love fucked up fairy tales, disorientation, horror, everything. And I know most people watching "Black Swan" will piss themselves with how good and "terrifying" it is. Here's the problem; it's the most predictable, routine film imaginable. Every smash cut, every horrifying vision in a mirror...it's so damn cliche, so easy to spot. "Black Swan" raises an awful lot of tension, but nowadays, that's so easy. All it uses are the same quick cuts, focus changes, and scary images of any two-bit, throwaway horror film. And what about the pay-off? The goddamn punch line to it? Nothing...just the simplest, most banal ending. Lots of cheap horror movie tension and little else. The whole time I was watching the clichefest, I was remembering "Perfect Blue". A cheap animated movie from the late 90s, not a star-studded Hollywood $13 million picture with a score by Clint Mansell. But everything that "Black Swan" failed at, "Perfect Blue" succeeded in. 50/100 2010 continues to disappoint! Watched this last night - and equally dissappointed, weak script and story. I suppose the only plus point was it gave me a little insight into the world of ballet which previosly was an art form I didn't really understand 40/100 |
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| Arthur et les Minimoys (2006) Nowhere to Hide (1999) - Korean crime drama. Dark and brutal movie ... |
| Departures (2008) Brothers (2009) WALL-E (2008) Let the Right One In (2008) I Am Legend (2007) Hot Rod (2007) |
| I Saw the Devil ( 2010)..another Korean revenge film...highly recommended for people that liked oldboy, sympathy for mr vengence, a bitter sweet life and so on..actually its directed by the same guy that directed a bitter sweet life and the good, the bad, the weird, mister Ji-woon Kim. |
Touka said: Departures (2008) Brothers (2009) WALL-E (2008) Let the Right One In (2008) I Am Legend (2007) Hot Rod (2007) So, how were they? The only one I have seen was "I Am Legend", which was rubbish. |
| Departures is brilliant. It actually won the Oscar for the best foreign language film in 2009. It's about an unemployed cellist who takes a job as an encoffiner, which is considered a very lowly job in Japan. It is quite a moving film with a lot of subtle beauty and the soundtrack by Joe Hisaishi is wonderful as usual. I enjoyed Brothers, it is by no means phenomenal but nonetheless still a very engaging drama worth checking out. Tobey Maguire delivers a fantastic performance and I felt he pretty much carried the film. I also enjoyed WALL-E, first time I had seen it and as usual Pixar more than live up to their reputation. Let the Right One In is one of my favourite foreign language films. Superbly directed along with an engaging story and a wonderfully eerie atmosphere. Out of all the films listed in my post, I recommend this one the most. Hot Rod and I Am Legend were, as you say, quite rubbish. Although Hot Rod was good for a few cheap laughs. The last film I saw was Spring, Summer, Autumn, Winter... and Spring. It is the first film in a while to leave me absolutely speechless. It is a beautifully shot film that follows two monks through the changing of the seasons as they live on a floating temple in the middle of an isolated lake. This is a Korean film that is up there with Oldboy in my opinon. Recommended. |
| Let the Right One In is top notch film certainly my favorite film I watched that year Thanks for the head up on Spring, Summer, Autumn, Winter... and Spring - see if I can find it |
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Touka said: Reviews Thanks, dude. The last two things I watched were I had heard the ESPN 30 for 30 documentary The Two Escobars (2010), about drug kingpin Pablo Escobar and Andres Escobar (not related), a member of the national soccer team, both killed in 1994, pimped by Jason Reitman, so I decided to check it out. It starts off excellently, with fascinating link between drug-lords, money laundering, and soccer constantly played up. The interviews with jailed hitmen, Pablo's drug associates, and soccer team members that hung out on his personal ranch are nothing short of riveting. But pretty soon, major cracks start to show in this documentary. For starters, they never address what happened to Pablo's soccer club after he made open war on the government. Here he is running around, and meanwhile, what happened to his club soccer team containing many of Colombia's best players? And I could have done without SO much "soccer united the country" rah-rah BS, complete with inspirational music. Yeah, we get that people in shit-hole nations only have soccer to escape the violence and misery of their life, and I say that as a significant football fan who was born in a country where it's the most popular sport. But most egregiously of all, I hate that the documentary never points out that siccing drug lords against one another is the ONLY way to rid oneself of these terrorists. That the rival drug lords that brought down Pablo and his reign of murder (killing thousands of people, including hundreds of police officers, judges, and politicians) were in turn killed or arrested themselves once the main evil, Pablo Escobar was finished. And no, dumbass documentary, my heart does not go out to the people who worked for Pablo or were closely associated with him that were murdered. Their blood is equally on the head of Pablo Escobar. Oh, and FUCK them for trying to elicit some sympathy for the damned butcher. The wonderful interviews and brutal, archived portrayal of drug violence only partially redeem this, but it's probably still worth checking out. 58/100 Baseketball (1998)- Two losers, played by Trey Parker and Matt Stone (Orgazmo, South Park), invent a new game, baseketball, where players take basketball shots while being distracted by opponents ("psych-outs"), and then run around bases depending on what range they shoot from. A pro league is founded, and hilarity ensues. It's a throw-back, retro comedy which reminds me of other classic Zucker pictures like "The Naked Gun" and "Airplane". Parker and Stone are great here, and there are plenty of terrific scenes, crazy non-sequiters, and gags throughout. The "psych-outs", featuring a mix of dirty insults and insane sight gags, are comedic gold. The rival pro teams, all absurd stereotypes like the Miami Dealers, New Jersey Informants, and San Francisco Ferries, are funny, too. Surprisingly, "Baseketball" is also an effective parody with its critique of pro sports, expansion, and free agency. And the hospital rampage is one of the funniest things I have ever seen in a movie. It gets noticeably more straightforward and less funny in the last twenty minutes, but still excellent overall. 77/100 |
| Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children Complete (2009) Space Battleship Yamato: Rebirth (2009) |
| Heaven Can Wait (1943) |
| I watched the infamous hilariously bad film Deadly Prey (1988) A group of mercenaries kidnap normal people from LA and then hunt them. They're so skilled that it takes 20 mercs with machine guns closely trailing a fat Mexican to take the "prey" down, and even then, they manage to lose a merc. Hilarity ensues. It's one of the worst, most idiotic films of all time. The hero, Danton, collects dozens of machine guns only to kill enemies by lifting and smashing them against trees. Nothing makes sense, the "dialogue" was written by a drooling Mongoloid, the "acting" would embarrass a junior high drama student, and the same extras keep getting killed over and over again. However, the highlight clip for Deadly Prey is one of the funniest Youtube videos ever, and there is comedy throughout. But the actual film doesn't live up to that classic; too much idiotic talking, lots of boring, slow, plain crappy editing, and boring "action" scenes. Has its moments, but is not as unintentionally hilarious as "Dolemite", for instance. 31/100 AAAARRRGGHHH!!!!! |
| The King and I |
| Part 1 in Masaki Kobayashi's The Human Condition trilogy |
| Finally got around to True Grit (2010)- A determined, sharp-tongued young girl hires an old, alcoholic, one-eyed US Marshall (Bridges) to go after her father's killer in Indian country, while a rival Texas ranger (Damon) tracks the same man for the death of a state senator. The film is terrific; in parts, it's very funny, during others, it's suspenseful, and there's a perfect mix of action and story throughout. Most importantly, it has an unflinching, harsh realism; at no point does the movie succumb to cliches or a Hollywood ending. In a lesser film, for instance, Damon's character The acting and verbal wise-cracks are great, but so is the whole recreation of the West; the sallow, ugly faces, rotting teeth, dusty clothes, and dirty bags of tobacco. Oh, and I absolutely love the ending. Maybe the best film of 2010. 80/100 |
| Shimotsuma monogatari (2004) Crazy japanese comedy. |
| The 2000s weren't the first decade to see quality films remade into shit. Bedazzled (1967)- Stanley, a loser working as a short-order cook (Dudley Moore) lusts after an average-looking waitress at his job, and being unable to confess his feelings, decides to hang himself, a decision played purely for laughs. After he fails at even that, the devil (Peter Cook) makes an appearance and grants him seven wishes. Each wish Stanley makes has to do with him getting the waitress, but in each case, something goes horribly wrong, as the devil keeps fucking with him. And while the script is nothing special, it's Moore and Cook, two exceptional comedy pros, that make this funny. Cook is flat-out amazing, playing the devil as a suave, calm, charming rogue. During the course of the movie, he goes around committing various sins, like throwing a beehive at hippies enjoying a picnic, or talking a pigeon into taking a crap on a bald-headed man. There's a major mistake when he tears out the pages of an Agatha Christie book as part of his daily sinning, but whatever. He owns a club in London manned by the Seven Deadly Sins, and provides the vast majority of the humor throughout. The final resolution is clever and doesn't ruin the tone of the work, unlike the 1997 remake turd starring Brendan Fraser and Elizabeth Hurley. The movie isn't a classic, but is very funny and stands up well to this day. 73/100 |
| American Movie (1999)- "On the northwest side of Milwaukee, Mark Borchardt dreams the American dream: for him, it's making movies. Using relatives, local theater talent, slacker friends, his Mastercard, and $3,000 from his Uncle Bill, Mark strives over three years to finish "Coven," a short horror film. His own personal demons (alcohol, gambling, a dysfunctional family) plague him, but he desperately wants to overcome self-doubt and avoid failure." That's what the IMDB description says, at least. In reality, it follows a 30-something, drug-addicted, redneck loser and "budding filmmaker" who leeches off his relatives while arrogantly preaching to them about his brilliance and future success. He lives with his parents, counts on them to pay his rent, has them cook his meals, and essentially steals their money to make his shitty film, all while putting on airs and blowing smoke up their asses. It's not funny and it's not educational. The only thing more pathetic and dull than a chemically dependent loser pissing away his life is to WATCH him pissing away that life. I held out for 25 minutes, but that was all the torture I could take. Fuck this garbage. 15/100 |
| 127 Hours (2010) |
| -Fixing- |
| Survive Style 5+ (2004) |
| How to Get Ahead in Advertising (1989)- A brilliant, high-strung, borderline insane young advertising executive develops a boil on his neck with a face, mouth, and mind of its own. No huge spoilers here, but it's the embodiment of the evil and soullessness of his profession. It's pretty good, not great, and suffers from a weak ending. The problem is that it's not half as intelligent as it wants to be, delivering pothead cliches about "The Man", "greed", and "advertising consumer culture" as if they were some brilliant insights. It soon grows old. However, the comedy, horror, and delicious insanity still make this an exciting, noteworthy film. Richard E Grant's performance is nothing short of superb; his razor-sharp tongue, intelligence, manic speaking style, and barely concealed madness is a joy to watch. Worth checking out. 70/100 |
| Laurence Olivier's Hamlet To Have and Have Not The Man Without a Past chumlum said: CityLights said: Part 1 in Masaki Kobayashi's The Human Condition trilogy how was it? i've been thinking of seeing the whole trilogy for years, haha. Well, part 1 is only 1/6 of the entire thing so it's hard to really form any opinions on it yet. However, there wasn't anything about it so far that would lead me to believe it's as good as his later stuff like Harakiri for example. |
| Last film i saw was requiem for a dream. that film is terribly good film in the sense that it's well filmed and edited. but my god, that film was a serious case of the bad side of life all in one film. it's definitely not a film that one can watch continuously unless your into that kind of thing. but yeah i'd say watch it because it's brilliant, but just be aware you'll be in for one crazy ride. |
| Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid The Shootist |
CityLights said: Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid The Shootist First one is a masterpiece, the second one is pretty good. Focus- Three the Hard Way (1974)- An evil white supremacist group comes up with a special drug designed to only kill blacks. The three most popular blaxploitation stars of the era, Jim Brown, Fred Williamson, and Jim Kelly come together to stop them. I had big expectations coming in, but the first twenty minutes were a disaster. There were too many scenes of Jim Brown trying to "act" (and miserably failing, just like in all his roles), producing a Motown act, or driving around in his fucking car. I don't know what the hell the producers and director were thinking. You make a blaxploitation film about whites trying exterminate black people and you insert long romantic interludes of Jim Brown driving around with his girl? Luckily, things pick up from there. Jim Brown meets Fred Williamson, and from there, bodies start dropping! Chase scenes, cars exploding, wild fights, and shoot-outs on the streets of big cities...now that's what I came (well okay, sat at home) to see! Still could have used some more action though, and there are some moments of nothing later on in the film. Also, they get lazy near the end, with Neo-Nazi mooks falling down without any bullets even being shot. At that point though, our evil white group doesn't pose even the slightest threat to our black heroes, which makes it anti-climactic. Still, the cinemaphotography was neat, and topless Asian, white, and black girl torture trio was a neat B-movie touch. Entertaining, but a missed opportunity to do something special. 62/100 By the way, both Brown and Williamson were former NFL players with no acting background whatsoever...so why the hell is Williamson so much better at it? |
| The Producers |
| Black Swan, and just like Darren Aronofsky's other films is dark, creepy, wonderfully crafted and leaves you thinking after you leave the cinema. |
hiruma55 said: Black Swan, and just like Darren Aronofsky's other films is dark, creepy, wonderfully crafted and leaves you thinking after you leave the cinema. It's not quite as crappy, derivative, and hilariously stupid as "Requiem for a Dream"...I'll give it that much. But still pretty weak. |
| The Day the Earth Stood Still Breakfast at Tiffany's |
| Police Story, man besides that film just being pure awesomeness. I'm just loving that song at the end its so epic!! |
| Persona |
| Redline. It was mind-blowing. |
Touka said: Redline. It was mind-blowing. I conquer... It was totally out of this world. But then i should know because i was there watching it with you lol. |
| The Lady from Shanghai |
hiruma55 said: Touka said: Redline. It was mind-blowing. I conquer... It was totally out of this world. But then i should know because i was there watching it with you lol. Is it the one with the low score? |
 |
hiruma55 said: Touka said: Redline. It was mind-blowing. I conquer... It was totally out of this world. But then i should know because i was there watching it with you lol. I sure hope you mean concur. I'm not quite ready to be conquered yet. :P Slykain said: hiruma55 said: Touka said: Redline. It was mind-blowing. I conquer... It was totally out of this world. But then i should know because i was there watching it with you lol. Is it the one with the low score? Not the live-action Redline, the anime Redline. It has quite a high score here on MAL (8.24). |
| The Terminal. I had been meaning to watch this film for years, but never really knew anything about it, but was surprised at how good that film was, good stuff. |
| 20th Century Boys 2: The Last Hope (2009) Finally decided to watch it after having it sit on my shelf for about a year and it wasn't half as bad as I thought it would be. The pacing was really messed up, some of the acting is rather wooden and unless the viewer has already read the manga they could have a bit of trouble trying to follow the story. However, despite all that I thought it was great fun, mainly because it reminded me how good the manga was pretty much throughout. I was a bit disappointed to find some of my favourite scenes left out and some unfortunately changed, but they did a pretty good job of sticking to the source material. Nevertheless I still don't think they should have made 20th Century Boys into a trilogy, it needs at least a tetralogy, if not a pentalogy or more. I'll probably watch the last installment tomorrow. I wonder if the original ending is something to look forward to or not. |
| Dr. No Bonnie and Clyde Star Wars IV: A New Hope High Noon |
MahleriteMar 4, 2011 2:05 AM
| Fantastic choices CityLights! The last films I saw were... - 20th Century Boys: The Last Chapter - Our Flag (2009) - Donnie Darko (2001) - Paul (2011) The climax of 20th Century Boys was quite disappointing. Overall it was a very rushed film with a mish-mash of new and original material that just left too many holes open. |
Touka said: - Donnie Darko (2001) What did you think? I've had it sitting on my hard drive for over a year now, but haven't gotten around to it. Anyways, I've hardly watched anything during the last 6-7 weeks, but finally saw a film I wanted to since high school; The Foul King (2000)- Korean comi-drama about pathetic bank clerk Dae-Ho who gets physically bullied by his boss and is a failure both personally and professionally. One day, he signs up to become a wrestler at a local gym, and becomes the crazy, masked "Foul King", who bites, eye gouges, and stabs his way to victory. It's understated, somber piece which is more successful as a drama about an adult loser finding something to be passionate about than it is as a physical comedy. Many of the workplace scenes, especially those involving Dae-Ho's sadistic boss (played wonderfully) are as visceral and intense as anything in the ring. However, it all builds towards an unbelievable climax; one of the dirtiest, most desperate, drag-out fights I've seen, with Dae-Ho and opponent both crumpled, bloody messes. Good stuff. 70/100 |
| In a Lonely Place First time seeing this one. Humphrey Bogart plays a screenwriter with an anger management problem bordering on paranoia. He's suspected of murdering a girl who was found dead after leaving his house one night and his violent personality starts to take a toll on everyone around him and makes them question his presumed innocence. |
| Lolita! Yay! |
|
| Just watched Ghost in the shell 2 and yesterday watched "The Sea Hawk" 1940 with Errol Flynn. It was interesting as this film being a wartime film there was a strong message of fighting tyranny and of England being defiant against these tyrants. The movie is about English privateers harassing the Spanish armada who are seen as the forces of Tyranny. Spanish inquisition is never on the side of freedom and justice. |
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