Utopia Talk / Movie Talk / Movie Thread

Randy Andy Member	Fri Nov 06 20:11:56 Okay, forum is getting a little cluttered. Let's try to keep our our discussions in this thread from now on. Thanks.
Cherub Cow Member	Sat Nov 07 02:43:22 About new movies and such? :s -=-=- ..Saw "The Box".. {spoilers} Was kind of fun. I *hated* Cameron Diaz's stupid, fake, Virginia accent.. I thought it was funny that altruism was the ultimate goal of the social experiment but was glad that the ending had undertones of failure.. though it could have been much darker. They could have done much more with the story but were delivering to a wide audience, so I suppose it's good at least that they didn't run out of ideas after the premise was set in motion. Not much cause to see this one in the théâtre, but it had a good idea about it :\
Ubes JAC Wildebeest	Sat Nov 07 03:10:09 Have you seen the youtube video thats somewhat like this movie? (youtube was made quite awhile ago) Think its called the Black Button. Short film made by some Aussies I believe.
Ubes JAC Wildebeest	Sat Nov 07 03:10:24 *youtube video
Cherub Cow Member	Sat Nov 07 15:14:14 Just watched it.. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QrKnhOJ-R80 meh.. :p
Cherub Cow Member	Mon Nov 09 20:55:51 Men Who Stare at Goats lawl :p Nice movie. Not super lawlz, but some fun lawlz. Clever circumstances and such. All the same, no reason not to wait until DvD or free unless you need something funny immediately ;)
The Powers That Be Member	Mon Nov 09 21:10:13 Do you work at a theater Cherub Cow? If not, how do you see all these movies?
Cherub Cow Member	Mon Nov 09 21:36:56 I used to be part of an early screening thing, but that's over so right now I'm just going to movies on opening nights to get my fix :)
Cherub Cow Member	Sat Nov 14 02:47:18 Boondock Saints 2: All Saints Day ... I had a bad theater experience with this one.. I wish I'd seen it when the crowds had died down or during the week when the children were in school.. The people in the audience seemed to think that it was important to laugh mechanically at every "inside" joke that had been placed for the benefit of sequel continuity, so much so that it was like sitting in a room of "Da Vinci Code" halfwits who felt the need to assert that they had read the book while never realizing that reading that Dan Brown cliffhanger trash barely raises them above a fourth grade reading level. A silly way to perceive one's intelligence or one's familiarity with material, and in this case it resulted in lots of people laughing at jokes which -- even with their intentions exposed -- were not very funny. With that aside, the biggest flaw of this movie was Julie Benz. She is -okay- for television, but really shouldn't be given roles like this. The least the director (Troy Duffy) could have done is dropped the southern accent thing to minimize the flaws in her acting, but he obviously liked her a little too much for objectivity. He had the benefit of Willem Dafoe's performance in the first film, but Julie Benz was not up to filling in as an eccentric FBI Special Agent. To be involved in the humor of the film requires a self-awareness, but she was falling outside of that like Winona Ryder in "Mr. Deeds" or Drew Barrymore in.... anything, but particularly in the SNL hottub skit :p .. so.. a lot of cheesy jokes.. and the beginning was written of horrible sequel quality. There were moments which glimmered of hope, but by the time the movie took off and became its own idea (not just selling lines and jokes to fill the repeat audience's void) it didn't have enough time *left*; too much had been wasted making sure that the audience could see parallels from the first film. Who cares about the audience? It's one thing for Michael Bay to do nothing but please the empty-minded masses, but for Troy Duffy to cater to a small following seems odd, except when considering the financial troubles he had with the first movie.. whatever the reasons, his vision was only present in select portions towards the end, but masked by the common aside. If this movie could edit out all of those unnecessaries, then it would only be about twenty minutes long, but it would be very good.
McKobb Member	Sat Nov 14 08:24:20 I haven't seen the first.
Cherub Cow Member	Sat Nov 14 13:19:35 It's good :) ... .. I just looked at a local theater to see next week's releases.. the first five showings of "Twilight: New Moon" are already sold out .. oh the world is doomed
McKobb Member	Sun Nov 15 07:48:35 Every sorostitue I bump into coo's over that series and tells me I absolutely must read it...which is why I have not.
Cherub Cow Member	Sun Nov 15 18:54:51 I've had to mentally divide myself from friends who liked it.. I can't believe that they don't see how transparent and culturally backwards it is..
Alexis New Member	Sun Nov 15 19:14:13 It's a girls book.
Cherub Cow Member	Sun Nov 15 19:18:20 *little* girls.. or small-minded girls..
Cherub Cow Member	Mon Nov 16 01:02:17 A Serious Man ... Urg.. at first I was ready to completely trash this film as drivel meant to spawn religious questions at Hebrew schools, but I had to remove my rant-filled intro because it has quite a bit happening in it. It *was* directed well, and there was a good deal of personal, Coen brothers depth to the movie -- not depth in humanity but depth in attentions paid. If they wanted me to genuinely hate all of the characters, then they did well in delivering that. Howeva! I *was* annoyed by several of their camera work decisions, especially the way that they ended particular dialogues. The scene with Larry Gopnik (Michael Stuhlbarg), Judith Gopnik (Sari Lennick; her only film), and Sy Ableman (Fred Melamed) sitting at a restaurant table is one of them. They ended the conversation at an unnatural close, and although this was of course their intention for character exposition, it really did nothing but show that they were unwilling to examine the issue of human incompetence at its core. If they had stuck with the conversation, then they would have had to address the mental workings of someone who just *let* these things happen to himself, but they never did -- not in this scene and not in any other. This is a film made to be analyzed for personal significance, but what it lacks is in the respect of universality. The character is meant to be related to only by those who have no control over their lives -- it is meant to be related to by the incompetent and the inane. Like some Charlotte Brontë nightmare, at all times the character is at the whim of what is perceived as the uncontrollable and unexplainable nature of the universe. By this it makes total sense that the film should end with a cataclysmic tornado, as what more but chaos could there be in the life of a person who relies on the external to find answers -- what more in the life of a person who can only make the right choices in the subconscious state of dreams? And of course he doesn't sleep well, because like Lady Macbeth he is deprived of "the natural peace of sleep" -- unable to see the mass flaws inherent in the archaic practices of his morality. In that could be the key to this Coen façade, as in all of the searchings of the film, only the main character's son is exposed to any kind of truth in the fumbling darkness of tradition, and it is only a partial truth which cannot be grasped at by a numbered mind. It is not just the Jefferson Airplane lyrics, but it resonates from the quote at the film's start: "Receive with simplicity everything that happens to you" - Rashi In the case of the main character, he was unable to receive the information given to him and to respond in an appropriate manner. He himself confessed that he was unable to manage the truth of life; he was in the same trap as Aronofsky's Cohen -- seeing only the numbered universe but not the human universe. This social gracelessness is something of a cultural oddity portrayed as characteristic of Judaism, but despite this dejected representation, the Coen brothers seem limited by their upbringing and are unwilling to expose these largely academic inadequacies. This was in their quick cuts away from important dialogues and intentional lack of directly stated social expressions. Like Judith Gopnik clinging to her need of sustained religion despite the sect of divorce, or worse, like the irrational condemnation politics of "The Believer" movie, strength was taken away from these characters by writer-created deference. That is why this movie, at close, is worth the general analysis of curiosity, but remains a movie more appreciated by those of Jewish faith, as all of the â??humorâ?? stems from the Woody Allen causelessness identified most readily by its practitioners.
Randy Andy Member	Mon Nov 16 19:43:05 lol @ thread why are you posting in this outrageously nonsensical thread?
Cherub Cow Member	Fri Nov 20 02:27:05 The Twilight Saga: New Moon ... <3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3 <3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3 <3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3 <3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3 <3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3 <3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3 <3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3 <3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3 <3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3 <3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3 <3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3
tumbleweed the wanderer	Fri Nov 20 02:31:17 are those serious or sarcastic <3's?
Cherub Cow Member	Fri Nov 20 03:09:38 I'm not sure :'( They may have lured me in with their soft tones, nice scenery, vignetting, new-rock background music, shiny vampires, and pretty contact lenses :( Everyone at the theater was *crazy* .. that much is true. People *love* watching them not quite make out.. someone next to me was *crying*.. I'm not even sure why. I think it was just *that* beautiful for them, lol :D *emphasis!!* Really though, I wanted to hate this movie because of all of the hype and how popular things are evil.. but I have to consciously remind myself of the flaws.. maybe I've just gotten used to the idea of shiny vampires now, so a sequel seems less crazy.. something's wrong here.. there may be subliminal mind-melting going on.. I know it doesn't make sense for the werewolf people to walk around with their shirts off all the time.. and it's weird that no one questions a shirtless person wandering out of the woods with Bella, and what was Dakota Fanning doing in this? Brazil is the home of vampires? and why can't Kristen Stewart breath? Why can't Taylor Lautner act and how can a nose be that weird? Somehow I really got into it, and even though it's against my better judgement.. emotionally I .. kind of liked it :\ I might just be tired, please disregard all of this
tumbleweed the wanderer	Fri Nov 20 11:24:09 it's ok CC, crowd emotion can be contagious... or maybe its a decent movie despite the 90210ishness®
Firestorm Phoenix Member	Fri Nov 20 13:34:46 Vampires dont sparkle. =P
tumbleweed the wanderer	Fri Nov 20 13:47:44 i'm unclear why he was attending high school at age 100 or whatever... well not completely unclear >.>
Cherub Cow Member	Fri Nov 20 18:49:35 The sparkles are a metaphor for how dreamy he is ;D Oh.. and some kind of diamond-lover ploy..
Cherub Cow Member	Fri Nov 20 21:25:54 I'm thinking of seeing it again :o again and again, forever
licker Sports Mod	Fri Nov 20 23:10:16 Clearly you have been infected. Submit yourself for execution at the nearest sanity center immediately.
Cherub Cow Member	Fri Nov 20 23:37:54 lol :D .. so true.. oh noes...
Firestorm Phoenix Member	Sat Nov 21 12:26:32 Stake Edward. And now for a vampire movie that WILL be interesting: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ayYiMygqlfo
Cherub Cow Member	Sat Nov 21 16:51:55 I've created a funnier version of my review :D .. pretending to be a crazed Twilight fan :D -- please proceed with sarcasm detector *on* -- -=-=-=- Twilight: New Moon ... <3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3 <3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3 <3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3 <3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3 <3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3 <3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3 <3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3 <3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3 <3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3 <3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3 <3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3 They may have finally lured me in with their soft tones, nice scenery, vignetting, new-rock background music, shiny vampires, and pretty contact lenses ;D Everyone at the theater was *crazy* .. that much is true. People *love* watching them not quite make out.. someone next to me was *crying*.. I'm not even sure why. I think it was just *that* beautiful for them, lol :D *emphasis!!* Really though, I wanted to hate this movie because of all of the hype and how popular things are evil.. but -- somehow.. I really got into it, and even though it's against my better judgement.. emotionally I .. kind of liked it :\ I have to consciously remind myself of the flaws.. maybe I've just gotten used to the idea of shiny vampires now, so a sequel seems less crazy.. something's wrong here.. there may be subliminal mind-melting going on.. I know it doesn't make sense for the werewolf people to walk around with their shirts off *all* the time.. and it's weird that no one questions a shirtless person wandering out of the woods with Kristen Stewart, and what was Dakota Fanning doing in this? Brazil is the home of vampires? and why can't Kristen Stewart breath? Why can't Taylor Lautner act and how can his nose be that weird? Some kind of mystic force definitely came over the audience. As we were all admiring Robert Pattinson's gentle charms, soft face, and non- sexually intrusive relationship with Kristen Stewart, we became completely immersed in this woodland fantasy. Around a half hour into the movie, once we were empathic to the misery of Bella's breakup with Edward and our menstrual cycles were in unison, we all surrendered the physical world so that we could unite to live only as viewers of Bella and Edward's love. So tragic that even when they are together they aren't, because so much is working against them -- but with all certainty they are in the deepest and purist form of passion; no werewolf -- no matter how great his abs -- could stand in the way of that. We, all of us and each of us totally, wished for this perfect love, while all that the boys in the audience could do is *hope* to live up to Edward's beauty. None of them could *ever* be as pale as him, have such a gaze.. like the sea after a storm... or love us so deeply while only being able to kiss us for more than a few seconds at a time! We could never hope for such perfection, yet we were all content only to view it and imagine it at the same time -- an impossibility; watching one movie and creating a thousand more! How could they even *hope* to end a movie like this? It's not possible. There must be sequels until infinity. The world has to end immediately to silence the public outcry. Because *nothing* short of the endtimes could prevent this cosmic consonance. Like "The Fountain" -- when they are finally together with no memories and no struggles between them, the only choice the universe has is to explode and expand to start over, only to let them find each other again. Perfection!!
tumbleweed the wanderer	Sat Nov 21 17:37:11 you saw it again, didn't you? ;)
Firestorm Phoenix Member	Sat Nov 21 20:04:05 I wonder how long I would survive at a showing of it with a Stake Edward shirt? True, the majority of the audience will be 13 year old girls, but they claw and bite. In sufficient numbers, they could be deadly.
tumbleweed the wanderer	Sat Nov 21 20:17:39 they're tough... a cop apparently -had- to taser a 10 year old girl who wouldn't go to bed (UP thread)
Cherub Cow Member	Sat Nov 21 20:50:33 :D
Cherub Cow Member	Wed Nov 25 02:33:43 Ninja Assassin ... Another horrible audience experience. The people in the theatre were beyond any diagnosable mental defect; laughing far too much at things which weren't *that* funny or things which were just part of the stylized action. I felt like I was at "Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon" again; sitting near people who thought it was hilarious every time the characters floated through the air. Whether or not this movie is good or bad has *nothing* to do with realism -- the creators weren't exactly hiding the 'suspension of disbelief,' so please, *move on*! So aside, kind of a silly movie. I really don't think that plots are important -- things happen in life and it's not always Act I, II, III... -- but in this there was only a faint glimpse of a plot, inserted only as an excuse to guide more ninja battles. The ninja battles were clearly the selling point, and how could they not be with this movie title? The "R" rating clearly gave it its only promise, as any other rating would have made the subject matter a children's movie. The visual effects were done like a flickering light over a comic book frame. Even ketchup was given CGI treatment -- really; look for it if you bother. This director doesn't seem to have any of his own style, and may just be reusing things he saw on other movie sets or in other movies: Ninjas creeping out of shadows like Swayze's "Ghost" demons, a scene of a child hitting another was taken directly from "300," comic blood splashes in "Sin City" or "Kill Bill" excess... nothing is necessarily wrong with those things in an original form, but these visuals were all borrowed directly from something else. There was no purpose to any of this "action" and hardly an undertone of any kind of humanity. It was all 'Glamorama' coating without any redeeming qualities underneath. The closest thing this film had to a theme was blanketed by body-part gore and characters who spoke in non-native English to pander to a wider audience. Sadly, as much as they laughed at the movie, the people in the theatre seemed to enjoy it even aside from their Exit-hallway statements, so I imagine that this movie will do well with the 11-14 crowd who will sneak in or be brought in with parents.
the droll dog Member	Wed Nov 25 02:45:54 Did it have a dog?
licker Sports Mod	Wed Nov 25 10:03:59 Ninja Assassin is great lowbrow entertainment. As you say, the point is to watch ninja violence, not to give two shits about dialogue or plot, those are irrelevant to the concept of the film. It's pure violent exploitation for the sake of violent exploitation. I bet you slagged the latest Rambo for the same reason.
Cherub Cow Member	Wed Nov 25 11:20:03 actually.. I really liked the newest Rambo movie, though it's in a better league :p I agree with you about it being violence for violence's sake, but it wasn't really very interesting violence.. sooo... "lowbrow entertainment," yes! :p
Cherub Cow Member	Sat Nov 28 11:58:15 The Road ... Skip it.. :/ It's okay I suppose.. but it's basically just Aragorn wandering around with a hobbit for two hours -- minus all of the Lord of the Rings conflict. The scenery was well done.. but I imagine that the book filled in a lot of the drama of living in a post-apocalyptic world. It might have been nice if there was more narrative spoken over the events to make the book connection, but without this, it was basically just like the last five minutes of "Silent Hill"... only, a two hour long version of that.
Cherub Cow Member	Mon Dec 07 00:40:53 Armored ... Quite hilarious! This movie was *made* for MST3K. It pretends to be an actual movie for the first half hour or so, but quickly falls into craziness. The part of Jar Jar Binks was played by Columbus Short, whose visible lack of intelligence borders on lazy eye. He receives a character buildup that tries to show how he's a decent person in need of money and so is driven to theft, but with all he is still just a silly Gungan. He doesn't want anyone to get hurt and will prove it by causing everyone in the movie to die. Because of his military training, he is such a team player that when his friends need him he is fully willing to lock himself in his room and not play with them until they say sorry, thereby sabotaging any chance this movie has of going anywhere. Be ready for a car chase that is so self-contained that it manages to end exactly where it started -- keeping the scene in perfect tangent. There is also quite a bit of humor in Jar Jar's quick willingness to drag and carry Peter Petrelli away from danger, as well as in the background sense that one is watching a bunch of boys playing 'clubhouse' until their parents get home. So, not worth seeing to *see* it.. but.. maybe worth seeing to make fun of it?
McKobb Member	Mon Dec 07 04:07:04 wait...you're being sarcastic, right?
Cherub Cow Member	Mon Dec 07 18:32:46 Well, it was a horrible movie, and was painful to watch.. so, probably? :p
Cherub Cow Member	Wed Dec 09 01:09:43 Brothers ... Not as bad as I thought it would be.. I spent most of the movie smiling quietly at the "tense" moments and trying not to laugh at the melodramatic character play, but because I was entertained with the spectacle idea of anyone making a movie this stereotypical and unbalanced, I did end up finding that it was worth watching (from a caustic perspective). The movie itself was a drama that showcased the havoc of loss, emotional distance, and post traumatic stress disorder, but none of that was really important -- what was funny is that these themes were so obvious and obligatory that their very presentations were comic revivals of themselves. It was nice to see Jake Gyllenhaal looking a little more grown up, but I did find that Tobey Maguire was quite a joke in this role.. so maybe fitting of the 'Marine Captain' character? I found it fun also that Private Joe Willis was played by the 26-year old Patrick Flueger, though this character was supposed to be 22 and with a mind much smaller. Kind of unlikely for a Private to exist in this situation, but maybe he had been demoted. Really though, I think they just wanted Tobey to be able to call him "Private" over and over again -- which he did. So a pretty funny movie, though for the more easily entertained it's probably a drama or something.
Cherub Cow Member	Wed Dec 09 02:01:30 really looking forward to this movie, btw: Season of the Witch http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0479997/ {preview} http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_eL7-6zv-oY&feature=related it seems almost like a story I've been writing in my head for years.. those mind thieves :| ;p
McKobb Member	Wed Dec 09 02:05:36 You just like Cage!
McKobb Member	Wed Dec 09 02:08:13 and sparkly vampires :P
licker Sports Mod	Wed Dec 09 10:52:35 Holy fucking shit that movie will suck donkey balls. Nic Cage???? Jesus christ.
Cherub Cow Member	Wed Dec 09 16:13:15 What's wrong with Nicolas Cage? He was an *angel* ;D This preview makes it look -slightly- better .. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qLoKm_vUsFY&feature=related I can see the ridiculous, but I think they might have gotten a couple things right.. or maybe not
licker Sports Mod	Wed Dec 09 16:29:24 Well I can see potential, but only if they dub over everything Cage says. Damn, he is the shittiest actor ever.
licker Sports Mod	Wed Dec 09 16:35:55 I'm having flashbacks to Kenau playing Neo (or anyone else for that matter, Johnny Neumonic???)... fuck fuck fuck I can't stand Cage and his whiny self serving attitude, the way he plays every single character he has ever played in a film. Seriously. This movie will probably be unwatchable for me, which is a pity, because I do like the look of it.
licker Sports Mod	Wed Dec 09 16:37:28 And to continue my rant... From the looks of that Trailer they have given everything away already. Which makes me think the movie might just suck completely even if cage were not in it.
Cherub Cow Member	Wed Dec 09 16:59:41 It does have a good look about it, but yesses.. plenty to worry about :\ This is the same director as "Whiteout" .. which was pointless.. and Ron Perlman has been steering towards crazy for years now. I'll just lock this in a box until March :\
Cherub Cow Member	Thu Dec 10 23:59:34 The Bad Lieutenant ... lol
licker Sports Mod	Fri Dec 11 14:42:06 The french version or the Keitel version?
Cherub Cow Member	Fri Dec 11 20:02:57 ..the one with your favorite actor ;D
Cherub Cow Member	Sat Dec 12 01:29:37 Invictus ... Really good movie. :) It's not pure amazing or anything :) .. but really good. Clint Eastwood knows how to direct and it shows in the performances; Morgan Freeman was accurate -- not truly weighty or inspiring (at least for me), though this is where the praise will naturally rest -- but Matt Damon was really surprising in the way he took on the role. Aside from some minor scenes with crowd dynamics, everyone seemed to have been given a lot of attention. It seems like the film direction was carried in the right way as things progressed from Morgan Freeman to Matt Damon; and I especially enjoyed the triumphant dialogue about moving beyond what is expected.. The best part of this is that the ultimate goal wasn't some altruistic principle of doing well for the greater good; it was presented as accomplishing more when greater reserves of purpose exist. In this case it was with the greater prosperity of the nation well in mind, but with a wholeness attached to it; not a selfless and mindless devotion. It was a rare opportunity for many to unite behind such an ideal.. even if, of course, you can still get robbed blind in South Africa.. before you've even left the arrivals gate ;D So, worth the theater experience.. just don't sit next to people who think they need to say the rugby scores aloud after each point.. as though addition is an invaluable rarity which must be shared aloud...
Edward Cullen Member	Mon Dec 14 05:14:23 VAMPIRES DO SPARKLE!!!! *sparkles*
McKobb Member	Mon Dec 14 05:24:03 Nu-uh! They are all jaundiced fangs and kitty breath.
Firestorm Phoenix Member	Mon Dec 14 09:42:19 Or Sam Neil. Sorry, I am looking forward to Daybreakers a lot.
McKobb Member	Mon Dec 14 11:38:57 Ah'm just ribbing CC :P
Cherub Cow Member	Mon Dec 14 12:36:20 :p
McKobb Member	Thu Dec 17 11:02:00 Vampire chick of the year. http://rheinschau.displace.net/patricia_piccinini.jpg
Cherub Cow Member	Thu Dec 24 02:52:33 Did You Hear About The Morgans? ... Don't bother - it's not even really worth a viewing when it comes on the telly in a few years. Sadly, even the scarce, moderately entertaining portions were spoiled by the preview, as the rest of the movie doesn't have much more to offer... Sarah Jessica Parker's melodramatic acting style didn't transfer to the screen very well, and Hugh Grant has been much more interesting... So not a *horrible* flop or anything; just nothing new or interesting.
The Revealer New Member	Thu Dec 24 22:33:37 +1 it sucks
Cherub Cow Member	Sat Dec 26 03:42:50 Up In The Air ... Yay! :D George Clooney did very well! He's really a lot of fun to see. There was also a great supporting cast through the small parts of people like J.K. Simmons, Jason Bateman, Jeff Galifianakis and many more. All of this was well-placed in a movie that emphasized characters and relationships so much. I even found that Anna Kendrick's character was developed well from the post-college, over-accredited "visionary" to a more humbled but more truthful page. It still seems funny to me that people can be caught in that mess, but the idea was moved along nicely and without a traditional demeanor in which to capture it all.. As in, it didn't all fall back on some obscure, unattainable commercial enterprise. The dialogue was a treat - as can be expected from the director of Juno - and it was all very organic and clever. The story itself was well played, as it didn't embellish itself with a cathartic speech in the near-end conference, but instead left Clooney to wander and find a less traditional reality for himself. I found this was a much more intelligent means than Clooney simply dissolving the story with some sort of rooted love. This produced a lot of good cross themes and makes the movie worth further looks at the personal level. Anyways, so a fun linguistic and situational adventure for the engaged viewer ;)
Formerly Fred Member	Sat Dec 26 14:15:11 Horrible fucking piece of shit.
Cherub Cow Member	Tue Jan 05 21:24:30 Sherlock Holmes (2009) ... A fun Guy Richie movie for the masses. It had a lot of Richie's stylized work with dialogue and character background so it was a good view - even if less intelligent than "Revolver." There wasn't much mystery for the audience as all is explained in Sherlock Fashion, but the characters are still interesting and the cine-play was well done. I had more but my browser ate it :(
Formerly Fred Member	Tue Jan 05 21:33:13 Horrible fucking piece of shit.
Cherub Cow Member	Fri Jan 08 02:46:33 Daybreakers ... Yay for vampire fun! :D It was a nice revival of the vampire genre, which I think a lot of people were hoping it would be. Ethan Hawke was a good leading character and was surounded by a good supporting cast (Sam Neil / Willem Defoe / Claudia Karvan). The tone of the whole picture was very surreal and dark with a nice amount of attention paid to peripheral details, translating to an immersive context - it was easy to get into the movie :) .. I'm thinking that this will be somewhat more of a cult movie down the way, but a larger audience will still enjoy some of it's more obvious features: great vampire gore effects, fiery people combustions, and a few shock attempts. Though I tend to dislike looking for political undertones in this sort of movie, it does look like vampirism was a pretty specific metaphor for oil in this case... <mild spoiler> Even becoming more explicit in the ending portions when Ethan Hawke offered a cure almost to the audience -- 'if they were ready for it'. So overall a good watch; it pushes a bit beyond a simple movie of the week, and though I can be critical of a few scenes (Like after finding their slaughtered friends there's an intentionally iconic shot of Willem Defoe, Hawke, and Karvan; the vampire fire drag scene went a bit overdramatic showing the burnt chains again, the Senator's introduction at the winery was a bit choppy, and the vampire scavenger house attack was a bit awkward) it's still easy to enjoy the rest of it :)
Formerly Fred Member	Fri Jan 08 09:18:42 Horrible fucking piece of shit.
tumbleweed the wanderer	Sun Jan 17 22:28:51 John Lithgow got a golden globe for his performance on Dexter, yay!
tumbleweed the wanderer	Sun Jan 17 22:38:03 Woooo! Dexter himself won too
Cherub Cow Member	Mon Jan 18 02:17:28 !!!!! \:D/ !!!!!
Cherub Cow Member	Fri Jan 22 01:13:19 The Book of Eli ... Lawl.. So pretty much what was expected. I was hoping that the book would be a copy of "Atlas Shrugged," ;) but there was no attempt at concealing the obvious. It was a "paired movie" release - the spinoff from its companion movie "The Road" being that there was a Super Jesus Zatoichi Swordsman in the post apocalypse who was bringing a Bible to the West. Yeah pretty awesome right? :p If you wished that there was more action and Jesus in "The Road," then this is your answer ;) Mila Kunis was the next big flaw behind all of the religious invincibility stuff. I'm not sure why people allow her to cross genres. Michael Keaton can cross into Batman from comedy, but Kunis from "That 70's Show"? Not so much. This isn't a terrible movie if you can tune out its theme and just watch the direction of the action sequences - all in iconic style - but if movies are expensive for you just wait for your Netflix queue to catch up ;)
Formality Fred New Member	Fri Jan 22 01:34:10 Honorable fucking piece of work.
Cherub Cow Member	Fri Jan 29 03:32:12 The Lovely Bones ... A good movie :) Peter Jackson is at it again, but this time it was with a more personal type of story; not a "King Kong" attempt to make you love a monkey but instead more of a human issue ;) For this one I was actually able to feel emotion and empathize with the characters. It was very well done by that. Even the subtler moments like when Marky Mark was holding Rachel Weisz following the bad news.. Real emotion was conveyed in the storytelling - as opposed to just seeing actors carry a plot or just detachedly watching emotional circumstances. There was a connection that was brought on screen effectively; a simple thing that is rarely done well. As for the acting, this is why I'm only going to say it was good or above average - not great or amazing. First, casting Susan Sarandon is a terrible idea; she's a diva remnant who overdoes any role that's thrown at her. I was liking the movie quite a bit when I thought that her part was over, but then she comes back and brings her ruin. Also, the "Holly" character really could have been someone more interesting. She distracted from the story and should have been replaced by Charleton Heston's Gordon Street monologue :( <Very minor spoiler> There was also this odd scene where all of the murder victims were hanging out by a tree - totally odd. Jackson must have wanted to make sure that everyone got screen time because they were just bumbling around without purpose. Their expressions were out of place and not given any character direction. Oh, and pretty poor effect in the ending fall scene - but they just covered up the bad physics with darkness. Think that's it for my complaints :) not as visually directed as "What Dreams May Come," but very beautiful scenes and very artistic ideas were brought to life. It was well-encapsulated and gives a lot of credit to the viewer to fill additional details with thought <3
Cherub Cow Member	Tue Feb 09 00:36:49 From Paris With Love ... <3 Luc Besson :D Lots of fun and callous violence with a pint of intrigue ;) .. I really don't like Jonathan Rhys Meyers, but they managed to keep his ego more or less subdued. Travolta was fun and did well in his over-the-top role .. This was really just about quick-whitted thriller violence and entangled plot lines. It was bubble-gum cinema -- light-hearted and simple -- but in a good way :) It's nothing that *needs* to be seen in the theatre, but if you enjoy the candy-action of "The Transporter" as well as its fun character play, then you may know what to expect with this one :)
The Powers That Be Member	Tue Feb 09 05:22:51 The Transporter had character play? :P
Cherub Cow Member	Tue Feb 09 16:26:19 Sort of :D .. Like... The way that Robot Chicken is character play ;)
licker Sports Mod	Tue Feb 09 22:56:40 I hate Travolta, though seeing a fat bald travolta pretend to be bad ass might be entertaining.
Cherub Cow Member	Fri Feb 12 06:56:33 The Wolfman ... So off the start I have to say that Emily Blunt is a bit too "theater." It seems that she would be much better suited to play rolls where her acting is seen only from a distance. I'd almost forgotten why I disliked "Sunshine Cleaning;" mostly her I think. :p Benicio and Hopkins how-evah! = <3's Very nice cast aside from the premier listed. Elrond was there, there were "kill the beast!" mobs, and a gypsy that would make Sam Raimi's flop quite jealous. No flaws on that front, except maybe that they were under-used, as I would not have minded more background into their lives before all of this. That raises the big issue of the movie. It was very iconic (even more so than "Eli") where even setting shots or walking through the woods or just hanging out shots were all really great angles. The visuals were very striking, with the special effects certainly not coming up short in the balance between true gore effects and modern CGI stylings. All of it was well managed to where any frame could probably be used as a movie poster. But.. Not much depth there.. Thank the gods it was "R" so that it wouldn't be a waste of time, as there were a lot of links into greater meaning which were cut short in favor of the movie's monster image. It wanted to say "This is Wolfman!!! Dun dun, dun dun!!" without raising any issues. On that it delivers and meets the mark that it intended -- as a rebirth of the classic wolf story that general audiences will find quite watchable. I wish only that it had taken more risks at being something other than a weekly special effects update movie. Maybe I should pretend that a director's release will have expanded lore footage.. But that's wishful thinking Worth a watch on a larger screen, but not necessarily theatre sized..
Cherub Cow Member	Sat Feb 13 03:21:11 The Time Traveler's Wife (2009) ... :'( :'( :) :'( <3 This just made my favorites list..
The Powers That Be Member	Sat Feb 13 11:02:53 You can't be serious.
McKobb Member	Sat Feb 13 11:29:56 I'm pretty sure that's a chick flick.
Cherub Cow Member	Sun Feb 14 01:49:27 You didn't like it? :(
Dakyron Member	Tue Feb 16 16:25:18 ************SPOILERS******************* ************SPOILERS******************* ************SPOILERS******************* ************SPOILERS******************* ************SPOILERS******************* ************SPOILERS******************* The Wolfman was good. I didnt particularly like two of the scenes. The end was sort of lame, and the the mass killing of the gypsy camp also kind of lame. The removal of the powder in the silver bullets was retarded. In a shell that big, you would notice how light the shells felt immediately. The wolfman on wolfman fight was also kind of lame. The first half of the movie though was very good and so I forgave the second half flaws.
McKobb Member	Fri Feb 19 12:02:01 What does a Cherub Cow do to have fun? Go to the Moooovies! Zing!
Cherub Cow Member	Tue Feb 23 06:36:39 Hey! :D I do other stuff too!! Disregard what I'm posting here in proof of this ;p ------ Youth in Revolt ... Pretty clever/funny :) The dialogue was what it was about, with a fun bit of artsy teen craft being in a natural style parallel to Juno. There were fun extras (Steve Buscemi, Ray Liotta, Fred Willard) too.. Very entertaining character decisions (let's do mushrooms! \:D/ ). And it's nice to see that someone is aware that not all teenagers are dimwitted hormone bombs and can actually produce articulate sentences, so movies of this Juno sub-genre are welcome, even if using the same characters in similarly wild situations garners less attention for being less of a breakthrough at this point. And even though it's not super high-minded and it did suffer from its main character caring too much about some hussy :| , it's still worth a watch for peeps who have their clever switched on :) Shutter Island ... A good, dark psychological adventure. It wasn't particularly scary as I somewhat expected that it might be, but it was paced with a lot of dramatic tension. The camerawork, transitions, editing, and sound all spoke of Scorsese's intentional and purposeful style. I really think that had it been most any other director it would have been horrible and ridden with a pointless collage of plot devices. Direction really saved it from slipping into those sorts.     Unfortunately I had seen the preview for this before viewing, so I already had a good idea about what the ending would entail. It may not have surprised me anyhow, but I don't think I was able to see it as it was meant :/ .. (hence my normal avoidance of previews!) < < <SPOILERS > > >    In the preview they show a scene where Mark Ruffalo says to DiCaprio something along the lines of "what if while we were looking into them they were looking into us, and now they've got us both here -- now!!" ... So from the preview alone it (should) already be know that they're probably both patients or both being experimented on or both being gathered for some sinister purpose. Soes, In the first scene of the movie it's immediately an "on guard" moment where it seems appropriate to think: "All of this is under question as 'reality;' nothing they present is necessarily true. They're making DiCaprio the clear leading character, so it's just him; he's already sick and seems unhealthy, he hasn't even *met* his 'partner' and yet they've been on this boat and are on their way to the island."  From there -- only the first scene -- it seems most likely that the movie will be either him finding out that he's part of an experiment, or that he's a crazy patient. It's just a question of how it will be revealed and whether it will mean anything. So! Again, *saved* by direction. If it had been some horror film director the rest of the movie would be pointless shocks and a sudden, painfully obvious "realization" scene where the main character -- as a symbol of the audience -- is shown the truth and must face it in horror or surprise or whatever. What saved it from that is that this *wasn't* a "shock you" horror movie. With Scorsese directing there was more characterization behind the events; the revelation scenes were more lingering. When DiCaprio finds out what's happening it's not "dun dun duuuun! [door swings open];" it is given the treatment of experience.. The audience is shown what could cause such events in vivid, psychological detail. Against all this is the deficiency of the horror moments. If Scorsese had taken opportunities to scare he would have been able to do so, as there was an edginess to be used. The audience was pretty scared at a couple moments but those moments seemed predictable to me.. Even so, Scorsese's talents aren't meant for that sort of thing, though he would be good at it...  So it lacked as a horror, wasn't quite a thriller, and was barely a drama. Mystery is what it had in store, but the preview hurt that.. The movie was well-done, and probably above 90% in class, but it would best be shown as fantasy.. As the island and its surrounding patient experiences were more something of tragic worths which can be seen and revisited in mind. Avoid the preview if it's not too late, and enjoy the pretty island and the nice camera play :)      Â
McKobb Member	Tue Feb 23 11:45:12 Oh yeah? What does a Cherub Cow do to have fun?
Cherub Cow Member	Wed Feb 24 06:12:07 ... I'm drawing a blank just now but I do have many adventures! :D
The Powers That Be Member	Wed Feb 24 09:04:47 Like that time you went to find the treasure of the legendary pirate One-Eyed Willy?
Cherub Cow Member	Fri Feb 26 18:36:15 And moving on, :p The Crazies (2010) ... Fun for kill your whole family! :D Proof that zombie drama doesn't have to be copy and paste, the movie is a well-drawn version of the whole "town gone bad after military weapon is released." Based on the true story of something that never happened, Timothy Olyphant continues to have the walk he had in "Hitman," only this time he serves his cheers in the form of shooting people who have turned mindlessly malicious -- like "The Happening" only not suicidal or a waste of time. Radha Mitchel continues to proove that American actresses are mostly useless and represents on behalf of Aussie-land, and the supporting cast all were given more screen time -- even in minor roles -- so that the viewer doesn't get to just look away and miss the creepy. It's not bad actors trying to be creepy, it's creepy people being creepy. From there is a much more interesting "Resident Evil 2" scenario as the military figures are much better at killing the unruly townspeople ;D The special effects were a treat to the genre -- not the kind of "quickly pan away on a dark, rainy day so people can't see the corners we cut right there" effects that usually appear when zombies are being served wholesale, but "'Lord of the Rings,'" look at our nature video" effects. All in good fun, this may be the type of movie you prioritize when it's the middle of the night and you're craving zombies. Not campy and pointed at Sam Raimi's new fans, or cheesy and meant for the teens, and not meant for "Snakes on a Plane" cheers from the audience; it's just the right level of creeper horror drama. I'll look forward to this director's "Flash Gordon" remake, and may forgive why anyone would remake such an amazing film.. Hopefully Queen will still be there :p
licker Sports Mod	Sun Feb 28 22:31:48 You fail to mention that The Crazies is a remake of a 70s(? early 80s?) film by the same name with the same plot. The first was quite good actually, what I hear is that this remake is also worthwhile.
Cherub Cow Member	Sun Feb 28 23:37:20 Yes sorry; I settled for just specifying that this was the 2010 version -- but maybe misleading to say that it's a refreshing change from normal zombie movies since the idea isn't new or anything. Definitely worth while though :)
McKobb Member	Fri Mar 19 16:55:58 You sick CC? Why no reviews?
tumbleweed the wanderer	Mon Mar 22 02:19:40 CC is following the Twilight cast around i think
licker Sports Mod	Mon Mar 22 11:49:03 No movies have been released in the last 3 weeks anyway. Well at least no movies worth seeing.
tumbleweed the wanderer	Mon Mar 22 22:26:32 Tron is the next movie i'm looking forward to
Cherub Cow Member	Mon Mar 22 22:41:25 It's been a boring bit.. "Season of the Witch" was pushed back to "???, 2010" and that's all I was interested in this month. For April I'm still avoiding "Clash of the Titans" previews though! :D Here's my really long review of Repo Men... :p Repo Men ... Repo Men I'm still a bit undecided about whether or not it was horrible, "okay," a moderately campy nightmare, or more likely some unintentional variation. It definitely had a lot about it that makes it very easy to pick apart. The only hope I had was that it would be an alternative to "Repo! The Genetic Opera," but it was hardly an improvement over that. It was mostly just a cringy gore-fest of organ removals and knife shanking set against a futuristic background. There were plenty of strange plot decisions which did at least make it clear that the writers are all insane. A strange insanity though.. Like, if the killer from Se7en had written a screenplay. <<Minor Spoilers>> From that, I have to say that the writers have a poor respect for relationships. Jude Law's wife was totally diminished into less than a stereotype. She had been married to him for some years and must have become at least somewhat used to his profession, but when Law fails to change professions for her she immediately preps for divorce and changes the locks. The event which catapults this makes sense for her actions initially, but Jude Law's interactions with her from there are entirely plot driven; her character is not allowed to behave reasonably. Would she not even show up to the hospital following his accident? Does she not even help him afterwards? And there's a scene where she complains that she's raising a kid by herself in his absence, yet she herself is a cause of his absence and she is preventing him from aiding them. It could have been the perfect excuse to fix things between them, but instead Jude Law's character somehow finds it okay to court a lounge singer whose composed largely of repo organs. And of course this new character is perfectly willing to fall in love with him on the grounds that they're both being hunted. Yep, just help someone with their drug withdrawal and everything else falls into place. It is somewhat romantic in a creepy way that their real organs amount to one person, but their journey there was a bit too easy. Almost like there was no emotional drama in leaving his family. I'll have to list the rest.. It's pretty bad: - The organs are made out of what looks like metal. I can't see that working medically, but it drives the drivel and we can pretend that "it's the future so it just works" - Absent any talk of legal issues with killing large numbers of people so that their organs can be claimed (not murder in the future?), the realism line was definitely crossed and burned behind them when Jude Law and Forest Whitaker moved from non-lethal tazers to knives in an early fight. If they can get away with repeatedly stabbing people then the tazer thing becomes less causal. - How is it that such a huge number of people have fake organs? Suspension of disbelief "on," I suppose it could be a society callousness that allows people to mistreat their bodies knowing that there are such quick fixes, and if this is a subtle horror show of the result of privatized health care then showing large numbers of estranged people supports the idea.  <<bigger spoilers, kind of>> - If Forest Whitaker just wanted to keep Jude Law from changing departments originally, then it seems strange that he wouldn't help Jude Law make his payments before, but afterwards pays for both his heart and his neural net thing. Making him a target doesn't seem to align with his plans, but this wouldn't be the first shortsighted person in the world  - How is it that Whitaker would be able to predict organ failure from a defibrillator malfunction? That's not something that can be planned. The heart doesn't just stop and demand replacement. It might just stop though..  - I liked that Jude Law was able to pull two giant tubes from his chest while in the hospital. Very dramatic and yet I can't see that that can be survived. - Would it be called "surgery sex"? - They go through all the trouble of cutting each other up for scans but blow up the mainframe anyways... "Please don't tell us that we didn't have to do that" -- "oh it was a dream? I guess it can be devoid of sense then" - Unanswered question: I guess Beth (Alice Braga) may have been helped by Whitaker in the end, or probably just processed? Unaddressed but I'm sure it doesn't matter at that point - Interesting tribute to "Oldboy" of "The Vengeance Trilogy" at the end. The hallway fight scene was an homage, even going so far as ending with a hammer. Really silly that the executives all pulled out knives though, and stranger still that Jude Law wouldn't just use one of the loaded weapons at his feet.. So kind of an insane movie.. Interesting at least, though the writing is either a cult favorite or an indecipherable barrage of plot conflicts. I think that it can be enjoyed if seen humorously, but wait until it's on dvd :)
Cherub Cow Member	Mon Mar 22 22:53:25 *-who's- composed largely of repo organs ... lol... I haven't taken Twilight *that* far, tw ...well.. ;D
McKobb Member	Tue Mar 23 01:42:16 I'm looking forward to the remake of Clash of the Titans as it was a childhood favourite. Claymation ftw!
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