Recently viewed movie thread - Rental Edition (4 Viewers)

[cosjobs]

The Final Destination: Exactly what I expected and was happy with it. An hour and a half of gruesome, hilarious, entertaining deaths. If you watch this movie for any other reason, you'll be thoroughly disappointed. I kinda wish I had seen this one in the theater in 3D. Watching it on a little tv at home just doesn't work. 3/5

You didn't miss much not catching it in theaters, I was a big fan of the series after the first couple, but I can only watch the same story so many times. I wish they could find a way to switch up the plot a little. Nothing memorable at all as far as the 3d was concerned.Agree with you on your spoiler for Perfect Getaway, but I was along for the ride. Surprised you enjoyed FD4 more than it.

I agree with both of you on the spoiler on Getaway. Really stupid. But it still really worked for me. I wrote a pretty good review of it on the last page. Warts and all, it just entertained me well.

 

[hooter311]

The Final Destination: Exactly what I expected and was happy with it. An hour and a half of gruesome, hilarious, entertaining deaths. If you watch this movie for any other reason, you'll be thoroughly disappointed. I kinda wish I had seen this one in the theater in 3D. Watching it on a little tv at home just doesn't work. 3/5

You didn't miss much not catching it in theaters, I was a big fan of the series after the first couple, but I can only watch the same story so many times. I wish they could find a way to switch up the plot a little. Nothing memorable at all as far as the 3d was concerned.Agree with you on your spoiler for Perfect Getaway, but I was along for the ride. Surprised you enjoyed FD4 more than it.

I agree with both of you on the spoiler on Getaway. Really stupid. But it still really worked for me. I wrote a pretty good review of it on the last page. Warts and all, it just entertained me well.

Both Zahn and Olyphant are great fun to watch.

 

[D_House]

I saw a couple of recently made animated movies this weekend:

9 - This follows a group of rag doll/robot creatures in a post-apocalyptic world in their battle against the sinister robot that is responsible for the elimination of the human race. The animation looked good, but the story wasn't very well fleshed out, and the movie was extremely short - 75 minutes or so.

Bolt - Very entertaining action/adventure that's a play on the old 'lost dog searching for his family' theme. John Travolta as the lead. Lots of fun.

 

[cosjobs]

The Final Destination: Exactly what I expected and was happy with it. An hour and a half of gruesome, hilarious, entertaining deaths. If you watch this movie for any other reason, you'll be thoroughly disappointed. I kinda wish I had seen this one in the theater in 3D. Watching it on a little tv at home just doesn't work. 3/5

You didn't miss much not catching it in theaters, I was a big fan of the series after the first couple, but I can only watch the same story so many times. I wish they could find a way to switch up the plot a little. Nothing memorable at all as far as the 3d was concerned.Agree with you on your spoiler for Perfect Getaway, but I was along for the ride. Surprised you enjoyed FD4 more than it.

I agree with both of you on the spoiler on Getaway. Really stupid. But it still really worked for me. I wrote a pretty good review of it on the last page. Warts and all, it just entertained me well.

Both Zahn and Olyphant are great fun to watch.

And Olyphant's performance towered over his Deadwood acting. He was really, really good. Zahn being good is a given.

 

[Cliff Clavin]

The Final Destination: Exactly what I expected and was happy with it. An hour and a half of gruesome, hilarious, entertaining deaths. If you watch this movie for any other reason, you'll be thoroughly disappointed. I kinda wish I had seen this one in the theater in 3D. Watching it on a little tv at home just doesn't work. 3/5

You didn't miss much not catching it in theaters, I was a big fan of the series after the first couple, but I can only watch the same story so many times. I wish they could find a way to switch up the plot a little. Nothing memorable at all as far as the 3d was concerned.Agree with you on your spoiler for Perfect Getaway, but I was along for the ride. Surprised you enjoyed FD4 more than it.

The stuff I put in the spoiler just really bothered me. Had they cut that out, I would have enjoyed the movie. FD4 is what it is... a bunch of graphic death scenes with a little bit of story built around them. You can't really compare the movies. Completely different expectations from each.

 

[Cliff Clavin]

The Final Destination: Exactly what I expected and was happy with it. An hour and a half of gruesome, hilarious, entertaining deaths. If you watch this movie for any other reason, you'll be thoroughly disappointed. I kinda wish I had seen this one in the theater in 3D. Watching it on a little tv at home just doesn't work. 3/5

You didn't miss much not catching it in theaters, I was a big fan of the series after the first couple, but I can only watch the same story so many times. I wish they could find a way to switch up the plot a little. Nothing memorable at all as far as the 3d was concerned.Agree with you on your spoiler for Perfect Getaway, but I was along for the ride. Surprised you enjoyed FD4 more than it.

I agree with both of you on the spoiler on Getaway. Really stupid. But it still really worked for me. I wrote a pretty good review of it on the last page. Warts and all, it just entertained me well.

Both Zahn and Olyphant are great fun to watch.

And Olyphant's performance towered over his Deadwood acting. He was really, really good. Zahn being good is a given.

I agree with this. Cut out those 3 or 4 scenes and I would have enjoyed it as much as you guys... but they completely ruined it for me.

 

[cosjobs]

I agree with this. Cut out those 3 or 4 scenes and I would have enjoyed it as much as you guys... but they completely ruined it for me.

I completely understand your point.In fact, I do not think i recall a movie ever doing that before. not red herrings- just flat out lying to the audience. weird. I kept meaning to re-watch and see if somehow they framed it to cover the manipulation (like the backpack scene), but never got around to it.

 

[Chaka]

G.I. Joe - Cobra something, something... 7/10

Not sure why they had to call it GI Joe though, as it's clearly not.

:( Maybe they were using the end to set up the COBRA characters, but they didn't even use the phrase "Yo Joe!" in this.

Actually Heavy Duty breaks out a Yo Joe right after the ice fortress is destroyed.

 

[jdoggydogg]

Extract: Good comedy but definitely not on the level of Office Space or Idiocracy. No real laugh out loud scenes but it was pretty funny overall if that makes sense. Mila Kunis . Ben Affleck is so much better in small doses than as a lead. 3/5

Idiocracy has a couple big laughs. But I think Extract was more consistent.

 

[jdoggydogg]

The Watchmen

I never read the graphic novel or comic book or wahtever it was so I had background idea of what this was going to be. And I also have no idea if it stayed true to anything. So this is my opinion based solely on the movie - glad I didn't waste any money to watch it. I don't know what it was trying to be nor did I find any character mildly entertaining. The action scenes rather sucked and when I saw a scene that was in a preview I remembered it felt like that scene was forced into the movie simply to make sure that the previews looked good.

Very disappointing and ungood.

I liked the graphic novel and I liked 300, so I wanted to like this movie. Aside from beautiful visuals, I don't think I'd ever watch this movie again.

 

[jdoggydogg]

Bolt - Very entertaining action/adventure that's a play on the old 'lost dog searching for his family' theme. John Travolta as the lead. Lots of fun.

This wasn't Pixar-quality, but it was close. Good kid flick.

 

[General Malaise]

The Hurt Locker

Just got done watching this and I'll probably be in the minority that didn't love this movie. Just because it does take some guts to make and back a movie with this subject matter while the war is going on doesn't make it a great movie and I think that is what is happening. I'll give it credit - there are some great realistic and tense scenes in this movie. However, I think the plot and characters were a mess. In between the defusing missions (which become increasingly melodramatic) you have the guys beating each other up, holding knives to each other's throats, chasing off the base on a wild goose chase. You just get a skimming of the surface of the two main characters and never really learn or care about why they are acting the way they do. In the end the movie ended up glorifying a soldier who puts others in harms way, acts as a vigilante, and in the end can't show human compassion. All this not for a sense of duty, but seemingly for nothing else but the rush of it. Look past the few cool shootouts and explosions, and you'll find a fairly empty movie.

I watched this yesterday and liked it quite a bit, but I think your review is spot on and very good too. Very fair criticisms, well thought out and my problems with the movie as well. It had it's moments, but I didn't much care for the maverick warrior and thought his renegade mission in the dark of night was foolish and unnecessary.

 

[cosjobs]

The Hurt Locker

Just got done watching this and I'll probably be in the minority that didn't love this movie. Just because it does take some guts to make and back a movie with this subject matter while the war is going on doesn't make it a great movie and I think that is what is happening. I'll give it credit - there are some great realistic and tense scenes in this movie. However, I think the plot and characters were a mess. In between the defusing missions (which become increasingly melodramatic) you have the guys beating each other up, holding knives to each other's throats, chasing off the base on a wild goose chase. You just get a skimming of the surface of the two main characters and never really learn or care about why they are acting the way they do. In the end the movie ended up glorifying a soldier who puts others in harms way, acts as a vigilante, and in the end can't show human compassion. All this not for a sense of duty, but seemingly for nothing else but the rush of it. Look past the few cool shootouts and explosions, and you'll find a fairly empty movie.

I watched this yesterday and liked it quite a bit, but I think your review is spot on and very good too. Very fair criticisms, well thought out and my problems with the movie as well. It had it's moments, but I didn't much care for the maverick warrior and thought his renegade mission in the dark of night was foolish and unnecessary.

But what kind of personality do you think has defused over 800 explosives? Someone normal?

 

[Daywalker]

Choke Saw this a week or so ago, and the story still has me thinking. Not that its all that complex or anything, just found it very intriguing. Didnt have great expectations going in since it seemed most people didnt like it too much, but I really enjoyed it and in retrospect it appears most negative reviews are based on people liking the book more. Sam Rockwell was excellent, and IMO one of the most underrated and underutilized actors going. Plenty of humor, drama, and not really knowing what to expect to happen next. The last 15-20 minutes really surprised me and didnt expect it to go down that way. One of those movies I felt I easily couldve watched for another hour. 8.3/10

...still gotta catch Moon, which Im sure I'll like a lot

You put Brad Pitt in Choke and it's all over the Golden Globes. Entertaining flick. Good book. Good movie.

 

[hooter311]

Choke Saw this a week or so ago, and the story still has me thinking. Not that its all that complex or anything, just found it very intriguing. Didnt have great expectations going in since it seemed most people didnt like it too much, but I really enjoyed it and in retrospect it appears most negative reviews are based on people liking the book more. Sam Rockwell was excellent, and IMO one of the most underrated and underutilized actors going. Plenty of humor, drama, and not really knowing what to expect to happen next. The last 15-20 minutes really surprised me and didnt expect it to go down that way. One of those movies I felt I easily couldve watched for another hour. 8.3/10

...still gotta catch Moon, which Im sure I'll like a lot

You put Brad Pitt in Choke and it's all over the Golden Globes. Entertaining flick. Good book. Good movie.

I guess I need to watch this again. Book is one of my favorites, but I was underwhelmed by the film. Maybe I was being too hard on it, I kept thinking that I should just pull the book off my shelf and shut off the tv.

 

[KarmaPolice]

The Hurt Locker

Just got done watching this and I'll probably be in the minority that didn't love this movie. Just because it does take some guts to make and back a movie with this subject matter while the war is going on doesn't make it a great movie and I think that is what is happening. I'll give it credit - there are some great realistic and tense scenes in this movie. However, I think the plot and characters were a mess. In between the defusing missions (which become increasingly melodramatic) you have the guys beating each other up, holding knives to each other's throats, chasing off the base on a wild goose chase. You just get a skimming of the surface of the two main characters and never really learn or care about why they are acting the way they do. In the end the movie ended up glorifying a soldier who puts others in harms way, acts as a vigilante, and in the end can't show human compassion. All this not for a sense of duty, but seemingly for nothing else but the rush of it. Look past the few cool shootouts and explosions, and you'll find a fairly empty movie.

I watched this yesterday and liked it quite a bit, but I think your review is spot on and very good too. Very fair criticisms, well thought out and my problems with the movie as well. It had it's moments, but I didn't much care for the maverick warrior and thought his renegade mission in the dark of night was foolish and unnecessary.

But what kind of personality do you think has defused over 800 explosives? Someone normal?

Other war movies have portrayed guys that aren't right in the head, in fact it's a main theme in a lot of them - watching the horror of war breaking some soldiers down. However, IMO in this movie it was presented less about him breaking down because of the war and more about him getting his adrenaline fix and to hell with everybody else that he encounters. The ending said it all, and I hated it:mytagid = Math.floor( Math.random() * 100 );document.write("

They show him holding his son, looking him in the eye, and telling him that he doesn't love him. I thought this was an ugly way to end the movie b/c the next scene they cut to him going back to Iraq with the hero music playing as he walks down the street towards another IED. As a father, that didn't sit with me at all. Didn't portray it as a sad or tragic thing, but as the cool heroic thing to be doing.

*** SPOILER ALERT! Click this link to display the potential spoiler text in this box. ***");document.close();

They tried to show glimpses of what was going on in his head with the Beckham subplot, but that ended up in an unneeded scene with him hijacking a truck and running off the base again. This scene, the final scene, and the nighttime vigilante mission ruined what could've been a really good movie for me.

Another thing that bothered me:

mytagid = Math.floor( Math.random() * 100 );document.write("

During the sniper scene we see Mr. Fiene's character shot very quickly after manning the gun. However, the other 2 seemingly had forever to kill the other guys (enough time to fix their ammo AND have a juice box) without taking fire at all?

*** SPOILER ALERT! Click this link to display the potential spoiler text in this box. ***");document.close();

 

[SmoovySmoov]

I watched a few movies over the 3 day weekend.

Extract - I put it in the category of "I enjoyed it, but I didn't feel the need to burn it". Agree with Clavin above, in that Affleck is much better as a supporting character than a lead. A couple of laugh out loud moments. (3/5)

Adventureland - I liked it, but as in above, never feel the need to watch it again. The fiancee thought the love story ending was cute. I really like the comedy stylings of Bill Hader. (3/5)

Zombieland - Not great, but better than I thought it would be. Any movie with Bill Murray playing himself has to have something going for it. (3/5)

The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes' Smarter Brother - Caught this on streaming. At first, I was amazed that there was a movie starring Gene Wilder, Madeline Kahn, Marty Feldman, and Dom Deluise that I had never heard of. Then I watched it, and found out why. While it wasn't awful, it was a muddled, boring mess. Feldman and Kahn made me laugh as always, but even they couldn't save this one. (2/5)

 

[BroncoFreak_2K3]

Rented Before the Devil Knows You're Dead...3.5/5. Pretty decent little flick, sort of Tarantino-esque.

 

[joffer]

Rented Before the Devil Knows You're Dead...3.5/5. Pretty decent little flick, sort of Tarantino-esque.

and it's got Marisa in all her glory

 

[hooter311]

Gremlins 2

Watched this at about 3 am last night, not nearly as fun as I remembered, except for Hulk Hogan yelling at them to turn the movie back on, great shtick there. Stick to the first one.

1.5/5

 

[jdoggydogg]

Choke Saw this a week or so ago, and the story still has me thinking. Not that its all that complex or anything, just found it very intriguing. Didnt have great expectations going in since it seemed most people didnt like it too much, but I really enjoyed it and in retrospect it appears most negative reviews are based on people liking the book more. Sam Rockwell was excellent, and IMO one of the most underrated and underutilized actors going. Plenty of humor, drama, and not really knowing what to expect to happen next. The last 15-20 minutes really surprised me and didnt expect it to go down that way. One of those movies I felt I easily couldve watched for another hour. 8.3/10

...still gotta catch Moon, which Im sure I'll like a lot

You put Brad Pitt in Choke and it's all over the Golden Globes. Entertaining flick. Good book. Good movie.

Definitely.

 

[jdoggydogg]

Rented Before the Devil Knows You're Dead...3.5/5. Pretty decent little flick, sort of Tarantino-esque.

Good movie. Phillip Seymour Hoffman + a naked Marissa Tomei = gold, Jerry, gold

 

[Kenny Powers]

The Watchmen

I never read the graphic novel or comic book or wahtever it was so I had background idea of what this was going to be. And I also have no idea if it stayed true to anything. So this is my opinion based solely on the movie - glad I didn't waste any money to watch it. I don't know what it was trying to be nor did I find any character mildly entertaining. The action scenes rather sucked and when I saw a scene that was in a preview I remembered it felt like that scene was forced into the movie simply to make sure that the previews looked good.

Very disappointing and ungood.

I liked the graphic novel and I liked 300, so I wanted to like this movie. Aside from beautiful visuals, I don't think I'd ever watch this movie again.

One of the worst movies I actually watched the whole way thru this year

 

[Kenny Powers]

Rented Before the Devil Knows You're Dead...3.5/5. Pretty decent little flick, sort of Tarantino-esque.

Probably 1 of my 10 favorite movies of the decade...PSH at his best, and the rest of the cast if great as well

 

[fsufan]

family guy something something something dark side

 

[Mr. Mojo]

Rented Before the Devil Knows You're Dead...3.5/5. Pretty decent little flick, sort of Tarantino-esque.

Probably 1 of my 10 favorite movies of the decade...PSH at his best, and the rest of the cast if great as well

Great acting but one of those movies where I stopped caring about anyone in it about half way through.

 

[BroncoFreak_2K3]

Rented Before the Devil Knows You're Dead...3.5/5. Pretty decent little flick, sort of Tarantino-esque.

Probably 1 of my 10 favorite movies of the decade...PSH at his best, and the rest of the cast if great as well

agreed. The Marisa Tomei parts were definitely Also rented The Wrestler last night. Really really liked it. Double dose of Marisa

 

[Andy Dufresne]

The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes' Smarter Brother - Caught this on streaming. At first, I was amazed that there was a movie starring Gene Wilder, Madeline Kahn, Marty Feldman, and Dom Deluise that I had never heard of. Then I watched it, and found out why. While it wasn't awful, it was a muddled, boring mess. Feldman and Kahn made me laugh as always, but even they couldn't save this one. (2/5)

This is one of my dad's and my favorite movies. "Your confidence...being inside of your majesty...is the greatest single joy I've ever known...WHOOOF! "

 

[SmoovySmoov]

The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes' Smarter Brother - Caught this on streaming. At first, I was amazed that there was a movie starring Gene Wilder, Madeline Kahn, Marty Feldman, and Dom Deluise that I had never heard of. Then I watched it, and found out why. While it wasn't awful, it was a muddled, boring mess. Feldman and Kahn made me laugh as always, but even they couldn't save this one. (2/5)

This is one of my dad's and my favorite movies. "Your confidence...being inside of your majesty...is the greatest single joy I've ever known...WHOOOF! "

It had some funny parts for sure, it just didn't do much for me overall.

 

[saintfool]

The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes' Smarter Brother - Caught this on streaming. At first, I was amazed that there was a movie starring Gene Wilder, Madeline Kahn, Marty Feldman, and Dom Deluise that I had never heard of. Then I watched it, and found out why. While it wasn't awful, it was a muddled, boring mess. Feldman and Kahn made me laugh as always, but even they couldn't save this one. (2/5)

i saw this in the theater with my dad as a kid. my dad took us to some really bad movies that were inappropriate for young children back in the day.

 

[El Floppo]

The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes' Smarter Brother - Caught this on streaming. At first, I was amazed that there was a movie starring Gene Wilder, Madeline Kahn, Marty Feldman, and Dom Deluise that I had never heard of. Then I watched it, and found out why. While it wasn't awful, it was a muddled, boring mess. Feldman and Kahn made me laugh as always, but even they couldn't save this one. (2/5)

i saw this in the theater with my dad as a kid. my dad took us to some really bad movies that were inappropriate for young children back in the day.

this.except it was both my parents. at a certain point- maybe around 7 years- they just started taking me to whatever they saw.

and that Sherlock Holmes movie had the ring of Mel Brooks, but the whiffs, not the zingers. but all Feldman has to do is go on screen and I laugh, so wth.

 

[Andy Dufresne]

The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes' Smarter Brother - Caught this on streaming. At first, I was amazed that there was a movie starring Gene Wilder, Madeline Kahn, Marty Feldman, and Dom Deluise that I had never heard of. Then I watched it, and found out why. While it wasn't awful, it was a muddled, boring mess. Feldman and Kahn made me laugh as always, but even they couldn't save this one. (2/5)

This is one of my dad's and my favorite movies. "Your confidence...being inside of your majesty...is the greatest single joy I've ever known...WHOOOF! "

It had some funny parts for sure, it just didn't do much for me overall.

Why don't we all driiiinnnink/Some very seeeeehhhhxy wiiiiiooooiiiine?

 

[saintfool]

The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes' Smarter Brother - Caught this on streaming. At first, I was amazed that there was a movie starring Gene Wilder, Madeline Kahn, Marty Feldman, and Dom Deluise that I had never heard of. Then I watched it, and found out why. While it wasn't awful, it was a muddled, boring mess. Feldman and Kahn made me laugh as always, but even they couldn't save this one. (2/5)

i saw this in the theater with my dad as a kid. my dad took us to some really bad movies that were inappropriate for young children back in the day.

this.except it was both my parents. at a certain point- maybe around 7 years- they just started taking me to whatever they saw.

and that Sherlock Holmes movie had the ring of Mel Brooks, but the whiffs, not the zingers. but all Feldman has to do is go on screen and I laugh, so wth.

my dad took us to a drive-in theater to see a double feature of this and that. It was the 70s and "mistakes were made"...

 

[jdoggydogg]

The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes' Smarter Brother - Caught this on streaming. At first, I was amazed that there was a movie starring Gene Wilder, Madeline Kahn, Marty Feldman, and Dom Deluise that I had never heard of. Then I watched it, and found out why. While it wasn't awful, it was a muddled, boring mess. Feldman and Kahn made me laugh as always, but even they couldn't save this one. (2/5)

i saw this in the theater with my dad as a kid. my dad took us to some really bad movies that were inappropriate for young children back in the day.

this.except it was both my parents. at a certain point- maybe around 7 years- they just started taking me to whatever they saw.

and that Sherlock Holmes movie had the ring of Mel Brooks, but the whiffs, not the zingers. but all Feldman has to do is go on screen and I laugh, so wth.

my dad took us to a drive-in theater to see a double feature of this and that. It was the 70s and "mistakes were made"...

Holy ####.

 

[El Floppo]

The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes' Smarter Brother - Caught this on streaming. At first, I was amazed that there was a movie starring Gene Wilder, Madeline Kahn, Marty Feldman, and Dom Deluise that I had never heard of. Then I watched it, and found out why. While it wasn't awful, it was a muddled, boring mess. Feldman and Kahn made me laugh as always, but even they couldn't save this one. (2/5)

i saw this in the theater with my dad as a kid. my dad took us to some really bad movies that were inappropriate for young children back in the day.

this.except it was both my parents. at a certain point- maybe around 7 years- they just started taking me to whatever they saw.

and that Sherlock Holmes movie had the ring of Mel Brooks, but the whiffs, not the zingers. but all Feldman has to do is go on screen and I laugh, so wth.

my dad took us to a drive-in theater to see a double feature of this and that. It was the 70s and "mistakes were made"...

closest thing we had was a drive-in trip to see what turned out to be a gay Pirate movie... mid-70s. don't remember it being pRony though. I'm going to bet that thing is campy gold at this point.

 

[saintfool]

closest thing we had was a drive-in trip to see what turned out to be a gay Pirate movie... mid-70s. don't remember it being pRony though. I'm going to bet that thing is campy gold at this point.

these were not my dad's best years as a parent. it took him the better part of 15-18 years of learning on the job to get the hang of it all. the last movie my dad took me to as a kid was this adian zmed vehicle. at the end of it all, my dad took me aside and said,"i didn't expect it to be like that. probably not a good idea to tell your mother that we saw this."

 

[General Malaise]

The Hurt Locker

Just got done watching this and I'll probably be in the minority that didn't love this movie. Just because it does take some guts to make and back a movie with this subject matter while the war is going on doesn't make it a great movie and I think that is what is happening. I'll give it credit - there are some great realistic and tense scenes in this movie. However, I think the plot and characters were a mess. In between the defusing missions (which become increasingly melodramatic) you have the guys beating each other up, holding knives to each other's throats, chasing off the base on a wild goose chase. You just get a skimming of the surface of the two main characters and never really learn or care about why they are acting the way they do. In the end the movie ended up glorifying a soldier who puts others in harms way, acts as a vigilante, and in the end can't show human compassion. All this not for a sense of duty, but seemingly for nothing else but the rush of it. Look past the few cool shootouts and explosions, and you'll find a fairly empty movie.

I watched this yesterday and liked it quite a bit, but I think your review is spot on and very good too. Very fair criticisms, well thought out and my problems with the movie as well. It had it's moments, but I didn't much care for the maverick warrior and thought his renegade mission in the dark of night was foolish and unnecessary.

But what kind of personality do you think has defused over 800 explosives? Someone normal?

Other war movies have portrayed guys that aren't right in the head, in fact it's a main theme in a lot of them - watching the horror of war breaking some soldiers down. However, IMO in this movie it was presented less about him breaking down because of the war and more about him getting his adrenaline fix and to hell with everybody else that he encounters. The ending said it all, and I hated it:mytagid = Math.floor( Math.random() * 100 );document.write("

They show him holding his son, looking him in the eye, and telling him that he doesn't love him. I thought this was an ugly way to end the movie b/c the next scene they cut to him going back to Iraq with the hero music playing as he walks down the street towards another IED. As a father, that didn't sit with me at all. Didn't portray it as a sad or tragic thing, but as the cool heroic thing to be doing.

*** SPOILER ALERT! Click this link to display the potential spoiler text in this box. ***");document.close();

They tried to show glimpses of what was going on in his head with the Beckham subplot, but that ended up in an unneeded scene with him hijacking a truck and running off the base again. This scene, the final scene, and the nighttime vigilante mission ruined what could've been a really good movie for me.

Another thing that bothered me:

mytagid = Math.floor( Math.random() * 100 );document.write("

During the sniper scene we see Mr. Fiene's character shot very quickly after manning the gun. However, the other 2 seemingly had forever to kill the other guys (enough time to fix their ammo AND have a juice box) without taking fire at all?

*** SPOILER ALERT! Click this link to display the potential spoiler text in this box. ***");document.close();

Good stuff. I had issues with both the things you address. The entire shoot-out scene left me with several unanswered questions.

 

[Chaka]

I posted this in the Avatar thread, but I wanted to re-post here just because this is the "official" FFA movie thread.

Avatar

Wow.

Amazing movie. The short story is my friend from Industrial Light and Magic invited me to a private screening at Lucas Ranch. The theater was beautiful, the sound was incredible, and I admit is was cool watching the movie alongside the people that contributed to some of the special effects.

But the movie...just incredible. My first thought after seeing this movie was of George Lucas. Because I don't want to know what Lucas SAYS about this movie. I want to know what he THINKS. How can Lucas watch this movie without envy? In Avatar, James Cameron takes all the promise of the last three Star Wars movies and even some of the same technology and gives us a far better movie than Lucas is capable of creating. There's no doubt that Lucas has a brilliant creative mind. But Lucas simply cannot write a movie or competently direct actors to produce a film this good.

In some ways, Avatar achieves the same effect that WALL•E did so well: Avatar has long stretches that are pure CGI, but the execution is so good you get lost in a story that in 100% simulated. I think that's a special feat. I have long complained that CGI is woefully inadequate in that it takes you right out of the story instantly. But in Avatar, Cameron and the effects groups have succeeded in creating a world where you sometimes forget it's all fake.

The movie has obvious parallels to the current war in the middle east. And the Native American metaphor is also thinly veiled. Avatar is a bit like Inglourious Basterds in that it's almost a fantasy wish-fulfillment about the plight of the Native Americans. Some will dismiss Cameron's politics here as simplistic or even anti-American.

I think Avatar was fantastic.

Thinly veiled? They hit the audience over the head with early and often, right down to Wes Studi as the voice of the native chief.Visually this movie is everything you say and much more but artistically it is pretty much a one dimensional remake of Dances With Wolves on an alien planet. At least Costner's characters had layers and depth, Cameron's are about as one dimensional as they get (irredeemably evil military commander, 100% money driven corporate representative, completely benevolent indigenous species and a main character who is about as conflicted in his allegiance as a fat person choosing between a Twinkie and another Twinkie.

Visually this is, without question, the most stunning movie I have ever seen, everything else is as formulaic as it gets.

 

[KarmaPolice]

The Hurt Locker

Just got done watching this and I'll probably be in the minority that didn't love this movie. Just because it does take some guts to make and back a movie with this subject matter while the war is going on doesn't make it a great movie and I think that is what is happening. I'll give it credit - there are some great realistic and tense scenes in this movie. However, I think the plot and characters were a mess. In between the defusing missions (which become increasingly melodramatic) you have the guys beating each other up, holding knives to each other's throats, chasing off the base on a wild goose chase. You just get a skimming of the surface of the two main characters and never really learn or care about why they are acting the way they do. In the end the movie ended up glorifying a soldier who puts others in harms way, acts as a vigilante, and in the end can't show human compassion. All this not for a sense of duty, but seemingly for nothing else but the rush of it. Look past the few cool shootouts and explosions, and you'll find a fairly empty movie.

I watched this yesterday and liked it quite a bit, but I think your review is spot on and very good too. Very fair criticisms, well thought out and my problems with the movie as well. It had it's moments, but I didn't much care for the maverick warrior and thought his renegade mission in the dark of night was foolish and unnecessary.

But what kind of personality do you think has defused over 800 explosives? Someone normal?

Other war movies have portrayed guys that aren't right in the head, in fact it's a main theme in a lot of them - watching the horror of war breaking some soldiers down. However, IMO in this movie it was presented less about him breaking down because of the war and more about him getting his adrenaline fix and to hell with everybody else that he encounters. The ending said it all, and I hated it:mytagid = Math.floor( Math.random() * 100 );document.write("

They show him holding his son, looking him in the eye, and telling him that he doesn't love him. I thought this was an ugly way to end the movie b/c the next scene they cut to him going back to Iraq with the hero music playing as he walks down the street towards another IED. As a father, that didn't sit with me at all. Didn't portray it as a sad or tragic thing, but as the cool heroic thing to be doing.

*** SPOILER ALERT! Click this link to display the potential spoiler text in this box. ***");document.close();

They tried to show glimpses of what was going on in his head with the Beckham subplot, but that ended up in an unneeded scene with him hijacking a truck and running off the base again. This scene, the final scene, and the nighttime vigilante mission ruined what could've been a really good movie for me.

Another thing that bothered me:

mytagid = Math.floor( Math.random() * 100 );document.write("

During the sniper scene we see Mr. Fiene's character shot very quickly after manning the gun. However, the other 2 seemingly had forever to kill the other guys (enough time to fix their ammo AND have a juice box) without taking fire at all?

*** SPOILER ALERT! Click this link to display the potential spoiler text in this box. ***");document.close();

Good stuff. I had issues with both the things you address. The entire shoot-out scene left me with several unanswered questions.

I hate to say it, but it reminds me of the hype behind Brokeback Mountain. People say that it wouldn't be getting the acclaim if it wasn't for the gay cowboy angle - ie take that out and it's really not that great or groundbreaking of a movie. I think the same about Hurt Locker, while being OK/good, it's getting all the acclaim because it's about an ongoing war and it's directed by a woman. It's an above average movie, but not my idea of an award winning movie.

 

[jdoggydogg]

closest thing we had was a drive-in trip to see what turned out to be a gay Pirate movie... mid-70s. don't remember it being pRony though. I'm going to bet that thing is campy gold at this point.

these were not my dad's best years as a parent. it took him the better part of 15-18 years of learning on the job to get the hang of it all. the last movie my dad took me to as a kid was this adian zmed vehicle. at the end of it all, my dad took me aside and said,"i didn't expect it to be like that. probably not a good idea to tell your mother that we saw this."

Dude, I live in Northern California in the Wine Country. Anyone that lived out here in the 70s may remember the drive in that existed on the Petaluma / Novato border. Nothing remarkable about a drive in, right? Wrong. This drive in showed nothing but porn. Hardcore porn. Seriously. In high school, a few of us one night. It was weird.

 

[jdoggydogg]

I posted this in the Avatar thread, but I wanted to re-post here just because this is the "official" FFA movie thread.

Avatar

Wow.

Amazing movie. The short story is my friend from Industrial Light and Magic invited me to a private screening at Lucas Ranch. The theater was beautiful, the sound was incredible, and I admit is was cool watching the movie alongside the people that contributed to some of the special effects.

But the movie...just incredible. My first thought after seeing this movie was of George Lucas. Because I don't want to know what Lucas SAYS about this movie. I want to know what he THINKS. How can Lucas watch this movie without envy? In Avatar, James Cameron takes all the promise of the last three Star Wars movies and even some of the same technology and gives us a far better movie than Lucas is capable of creating. There's no doubt that Lucas has a brilliant creative mind. But Lucas simply cannot write a movie or competently direct actors to produce a film this good.

In some ways, Avatar achieves the same effect that WALL•E did so well: Avatar has long stretches that are pure CGI, but the execution is so good you get lost in a story that in 100% simulated. I think that's a special feat. I have long complained that CGI is woefully inadequate in that it takes you right out of the story instantly. But in Avatar, Cameron and the effects groups have succeeded in creating a world where you sometimes forget it's all fake.

The movie has obvious parallels to the current war in the middle east. And the Native American metaphor is also thinly veiled. Avatar is a bit like Inglourious Basterds in that it's almost a fantasy wish-fulfillment about the plight of the Native Americans. Some will dismiss Cameron's politics here as simplistic or even anti-American.

I think Avatar was fantastic.

Thinly veiled? They hit the audience over the head with early and often, right down to Wes Studi as the voice of the native chief.Visually this movie is everything you say and much more but artistically it is pretty much a one dimensional remake of Dances With Wolves on an alien planet. At least Costner's characters had layers and depth, Cameron's are about as one dimensional as they get (irredeemably evil military commander, 100% money driven corporate representative, completely benevolent indigenous species and a main character who is about as conflicted in his allegiance as a fat person choosing between a Twinkie and another Twinkie.

Visually this is, without question, the most stunning movie I have ever seen, everything else is as formulaic as it gets.

I pretty much agree with everything you said except I think Avatar is a better movie than Dances With Wolves.

 

[cosjobs]

Pandorum

I would categorize this as Horror more than sci-fi. Similar in many ways to Alien, but I liked it better (I must admit I was not a huge Alien fan). Really solid male leads - Dennis Quaid and especially Ben Foster.

3.7/5 stars

 

[cosjobs]

Inglorious Basterds

I reviewed this the day it came out. My expectations were sky-high, which can be a problem.

At the time, I reviewed it positively, but thought too much screen time was spent on long, self-indulgent dranatic scenes and too little time was spent watching the Basterds killin' natzees.

While I enjoyed the movie more than I did the first time- I have the same opinion that the screen time was disproportionately drama over action.

It was still a very, very good movie. But not nearly as good as it could have been.

4/5 stars

 

[SmoovySmoov]

The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes' Smarter Brother - Caught this on streaming. At first, I was amazed that there was a movie starring Gene Wilder, Madeline Kahn, Marty Feldman, and Dom Deluise that I had never heard of. Then I watched it, and found out why. While it wasn't awful, it was a muddled, boring mess. Feldman and Kahn made me laugh as always, but even they couldn't save this one. (2/5)

This is one of my dad's and my favorite movies. "Your confidence...being inside of your majesty...is the greatest single joy I've ever known...WHOOOF! "

It had some funny parts for sure, it just didn't do much for me overall.

Why don't we all driiiinnnink/Some very seeeeehhhhxy wiiiiiooooiiiine?

That was funny as well.

 

[Chaka]

I posted this in the Avatar thread, but I wanted to re-post here just because this is the "official" FFA movie thread.

Avatar

Wow.

Amazing movie. The short story is my friend from Industrial Light and Magic invited me to a private screening at Lucas Ranch. The theater was beautiful, the sound was incredible, and I admit is was cool watching the movie alongside the people that contributed to some of the special effects.

But the movie...just incredible. My first thought after seeing this movie was of George Lucas. Because I don't want to know what Lucas SAYS about this movie. I want to know what he THINKS. How can Lucas watch this movie without envy? In Avatar, James Cameron takes all the promise of the last three Star Wars movies and even some of the same technology and gives us a far better movie than Lucas is capable of creating. There's no doubt that Lucas has a brilliant creative mind. But Lucas simply cannot write a movie or competently direct actors to produce a film this good.

In some ways, Avatar achieves the same effect that WALL•E did so well: Avatar has long stretches that are pure CGI, but the execution is so good you get lost in a story that in 100% simulated. I think that's a special feat. I have long complained that CGI is woefully inadequate in that it takes you right out of the story instantly. But in Avatar, Cameron and the effects groups have succeeded in creating a world where you sometimes forget it's all fake.

The movie has obvious parallels to the current war in the middle east. And the Native American metaphor is also thinly veiled. Avatar is a bit like Inglourious Basterds in that it's almost a fantasy wish-fulfillment about the plight of the Native Americans. Some will dismiss Cameron's politics here as simplistic or even anti-American.

I think Avatar was fantastic.

Thinly veiled? They hit the audience over the head with early and often, right down to Wes Studi as the voice of the native chief.Visually this movie is everything you say and much more but artistically it is pretty much a one dimensional remake of Dances With Wolves on an alien planet. At least Costner's characters had layers and depth, Cameron's are about as one dimensional as they get (irredeemably evil military commander, 100% money driven corporate representative, completely benevolent indigenous species and a main character who is about as conflicted in his allegiance as a fat person choosing between a Twinkie and another Twinkie.

Visually this is, without question, the most stunning movie I have ever seen, everything else is as formulaic as it gets.

I pretty much agree with everything you said except I think Avatar is a better movie than Dances With Wolves.

At the time people were enamored with DWW for many reasons, not the least of which was its stunning visuals. Nowadays many people say DWW has not survived the test of time. I think it is possible the same will be said about Avatar. In fact, aside from the visual effects I can't think of one reason to watch it again. That's not true actually. After I saw it I read that Sigourney Weaver used Jim Cameron as the model for her character (mannerisms, speech pattern etc), I might be interested to rewatch it with a special focus on her character.

 

[Daywalker]

DWW is a great movie. Very entertaining.

Avatar has changed the movie experience. The plot of Avatar is very generic but the special effects are game-changing. If a movie is shot in the same fashion you have to see it in the theaters. No longer can you get by with a bootleg. It is a milestone in the motion picture industry. Titanic was a historical event that included a love stroy with Leo Dicaprio and Kate Winslett. No one is crying over Avatar like they did Titanic. They are marvaled with the CGI. Movie takes you to another world like no movie before.

Avatar is amazing because it's a window to what movies will become. Will win Best Picture Oscar.

 

[cstu]

Pandorum

I would categorize this as Horror more than sci-fi. Similar in many ways to Alien, but I liked it better (I must admit I was not a huge Alien fan). Really solid male leads - Dennis Quaid and especially Ben Foster.

3.7/5 stars

Loved Pandorum, one of the most original sci-fi movies in a long time.

 

[El Floppo]

closest thing we had was a drive-in trip to see what turned out to be a gay Pirate movie... mid-70s. don't remember it being pRony though. I'm going to bet that thing is campy gold at this point.

these were not my dad's best years as a parent. it took him the better part of 15-18 years of learning on the job to get the hang of it all. the last movie my dad took me to as a kid was this adian zmed vehicle. at the end of it all, my dad took me aside and said,"i didn't expect it to be like that. probably not a good idea to tell your mother that we saw this."

Dude, I live in Northern California in the Wine Country. Anyone that lived out here in the 70s may remember the drive in that existed on the Petaluma / Novato border. Nothing remarkable about a drive in, right? Wrong. This drive in showed nothing but porn. Hardcore porn. Seriously. In high school, a few of us one night. It was weird.

wierdest thing about that particular drive-in... the house on the hill directly above it with straight-shot views of the screen. full moons every night.and strange that it never occured to me- but if I'm going to actually go see porn in person, a drive-in makes a hell of a lot of sense. I'm betting the trips to the concession stands were real

 

[El Floppo]

I posted this in the Avatar thread, but I wanted to re-post here just because this is the "official" FFA movie thread.

Avatar

Wow.

Amazing movie. The short story is my friend from Industrial Light and Magic invited me to a private screening at Lucas Ranch. The theater was beautiful, the sound was incredible, and I admit is was cool watching the movie alongside the people that contributed to some of the special effects.

But the movie...just incredible. My first thought after seeing this movie was of George Lucas. Because I don't want to know what Lucas SAYS about this movie. I want to know what he THINKS. How can Lucas watch this movie without envy? In Avatar, James Cameron takes all the promise of the last three Star Wars movies and even some of the same technology and gives us a far better movie than Lucas is capable of creating. There's no doubt that Lucas has a brilliant creative mind. But Lucas simply cannot write a movie or competently direct actors to produce a film this good.

In some ways, Avatar achieves the same effect that WALL•E did so well: Avatar has long stretches that are pure CGI, but the execution is so good you get lost in a story that in 100% simulated. I think that's a special feat. I have long complained that CGI is woefully inadequate in that it takes you right out of the story instantly. But in Avatar, Cameron and the effects groups have succeeded in creating a world where you sometimes forget it's all fake.

The movie has obvious parallels to the current war in the middle east. And the Native American metaphor is also thinly veiled. Avatar is a bit like Inglourious Basterds in that it's almost a fantasy wish-fulfillment about the plight of the Native Americans. Some will dismiss Cameron's politics here as simplistic or even anti-American.

I think Avatar was fantastic.

Thinly veiled? They hit the audience over the head with early and often, right down to Wes Studi as the voice of the native chief.Visually this movie is everything you say and much more but artistically it is pretty much a one dimensional remake of Dances With Wolves on an alien planet. At least Costner's characters had layers and depth, Cameron's are about as one dimensional as they get (irredeemably evil military commander, 100% money driven corporate representative, completely benevolent indigenous species and a main character who is about as conflicted in his allegiance as a fat person choosing between a Twinkie and another Twinkie.

Visually this is, without question, the most stunning movie I have ever seen, everything else is as formulaic as it gets.

very, very ... as in, I agree with everything 100%.subtlety not exactly Cameron's forte. if the movie had any of it, I think it had enough of a story to have made this thing transcendent instead of just a fun watch. but it actively frustrated me while I watched as each point of possible plot-turn went with the hammer instead of the wiggle. but as I said, still thought it was fun to watch and have no regrets about shelling out $16(!?) per to see it.

I really wish the story had turned like this:

Sorry- my spoiler isn't working... but I'm not really giving anything away here.

drop the corporate suit character and the "unobtainium" ... pointless. have the story be about Weaver's biological research- she's trying to find something to help cure some disease or whatnot on earth. the work she does may lead to a cure, but will irrevocably damage/kill pandora. not brilliant, and doesn't even change the overall structure of the film much since her bio-pharm bosses will fill in as Ribisi's character, but at least there's some point of conflict and moral uncertainty in where it goes from there.

 

[BroncoFreak_2K3]

closest thing we had was a drive-in trip to see what turned out to be a gay Pirate movie... mid-70s. don't remember it being pRony though. I'm going to bet that thing is campy gold at this point.

these were not my dad's best years as a parent. it took him the better part of 15-18 years of learning on the job to get the hang of it all. the last movie my dad took me to as a kid was this adian zmed vehicle. at the end of it all, my dad took me aside and said,"i didn't expect it to be like that. probably not a good idea to tell your mother that we saw this."

Dude, I live in Northern California in the Wine Country. Anyone that lived out here in the 70s may remember the drive in that existed on the Petaluma / Novato border. Nothing remarkable about a drive in, right? Wrong. This drive in showed nothing but porn. Hardcore porn. Seriously. In high school, a few of us one night. It was weird.

wierdest thing about that particular drive-in... the house on the hill directly above it with straight-shot views of the screen. full moons every night.and strange that it never occured to me- but if I'm going to actually go see porn in person, a drive-in makes a hell of a lot of sense. I'm betting the trips to the concession stands were real

Grew up close by the Crest Drive In Theatre in Okemos, MI. For along time it was an adult drive in theatre. Then ironically in the late 1990s, the Catholic church bought the property and demoed the site. The site is now St Mary's Catholc Church.