[balistic]

"3:10 to Yuma" is pretty damned good. It's not "Unforgiven", but it's the best western I've seen in quite a while.

"The Heartbreak Kid" is decent if you like the F brothers' other movies. It's the same movie they always make, but with different gags. Very raunchy, as usual. See it with your girlfriend.
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brian.prince|light.comp.paint

[notic]

the fountain - quite weird, but i thought it was interesting.. not the kind of movie you should watch if you're gloomy though

[Returner]

The dance scene in the Adam Sandler movie "I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry" was priceless. Homeless guys doing the kusack dance goes straight for the jugular, comic wise. You have no time to analyze it before it strikes .

The mental level on that movie made it feel like it was made for retards though. Which felt a bit insulting almost. But then u adapt to it or you sit in your movie chair getting more and more angry as the movie progresses like the guy next to me did.

[Returner]

The movie "the kingdom" was really a mixed bag. It felt like nothing more than a regular CSI/Alias episode for a long time. with a few tasty nuts mixed in here and there.

But then the last quarter of the movie came. And you could feel the tension in the cinema going up. When the credits rolled everybody left the theater in the same state of mind. We were all soldiers with a bit more understanding of the spiral of violence and hatred the world harbors when we left. Well it was a GOOD movie.

But that guy from arrested development was really a bad choice for that role.
Like placing Robin Williams in the role as one of the military people in transformers, really bugged me. Good actor but wrong genre.

Rattatoulle was a nice movie. Must have been a real dreamproject for the animators/designers involved. Loved the scene where the reviewer is transported back to a sweet childhood memory when he tastes a REALLY good meal in the restaurant .

[Sumaleth]

[Jabo]

I watched the Hitman movie yesterday. Originally went to watch AVP2, but it was only available as a double feature with AVP1, which I didn't want to watch again for reasons everyone knows.

So, Hitman instead. Good things first: Loved the sounds in the action scenes and the camera work. That's it. The editing was bad, the story was... well there was no story really. The pace was irregular and due to the bad cuts, almost comical when there was another cut from a moody pseudo-romantic scene to a fast-paced vista of the new location. Well... I didn't expect much of the flick really, so I wasn't really dissappointed. It was fun to watch, but the actors kinda ruined it. None of them had a kind of quality to them, it was like watching a movie with just extras and no actors. Especially the guy, Olyphant, who played the Hitman, looks like he's barely 20, and has no chance to look like a bad guy, no matter how hard he tries. Liked the chick, she kinda played the rest of the cast to pieces.

EDIT:
So, AVP2 tonight. It payed out to have low expectations concerning it, because I actually liked watching it. Sure, there were far too many characters introduced who got killed anyway, but at least it wasn't completely messed up like the first one. Maybe a bit too dark overall, by which I mean that I couldn't see a damn thing sometimes and it looked like the film was underexposed. What I liked was that they didn't even try to build a big backstory for most of the characters, kinda felt like the original Alien movies. And of course, it was a gorefest So... I will add this to my DVD collection for sure.
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[Returner]

"I am legend" proved once and for all for me that Will Smith can't carry a serious film all the way. In my opinion he is as gifted as any randomly picked guy would be with a months training in some evening course. He is charismatic and witty as a person and he is a talented guy for sure, but he can't act.

For you who haven't seen the movie it's mostly just Will Smith and a dog alone for the entire movie in an abandoned New York. It's like a mixture of 28 days later and Cast Away. What I don't get is why he even tried his hand at this movie, he most know his limit's pretty well by know. It seems he struggles just with making it through some hard scenes alive, when this movie demands that you own those very scenes.

That I get so worked up about his performance must be because I liked the movie. Best scenes for me was him going after the dog in the dark and the "crawling towards the car" scene (especially the falling on the knife moment ).

[Jimmyjimjim]

Gonna have to disagree with you there, Returner. I thought he was great.

:::SPOILERS::::::SPOILERS::::::SPOILERS::::::SPOILERS::::::SPOILERS::::::SPOILERS::::::SPOILERS:::

You could really feel it when he had to kill his dog, or when he leaves his family. I think the sheer desperation and his slow slip out of sanity and his eventual snap really came across.

My only real issue with the film is when Anna shows up near the end. She kind of just shows up out of nowhere, rescues him, then fucks everything up. Didn't really have a purpose other than being a plot device.

:::END SPOILERS::::::END SPOILERS::::::END SPOILERS::::::END SPOILERS::::::END SPOILERS::

If you want to see him really tentpole a film, you gotta see "Pursuit of Happiness". Good stuff.

[Lunatique]

[Ben Mauro]

Just saw 'There will be blood' the other day. Can't stop thinking about it, really powerful film. Highly recommend it.

on the will smith thing, i thought he did a good job in that film up till the Anna character comes into the story and he does his whole Shrek thing.

[Drunken Monkey]

Agree completely with Returner.

I am really surprised to see positive opinions of this guy. Personally i always saw him as this self loving, pompous duche who really needs to continually let us all know how awesome he is. All the time. In every movie he does. Little boy on a constant hollywood ego trip. There is nothing there but an attempt at acting well (and mainly looking cool to himself). A vanity footage akin to that of a long session some narcissist is having in front of a mirror except the mirror happens to be a movie camera.

This is a quality you dont see from classically trained actors who aim to excel at the role. Hopkins, De Niro, Crowe etc... and less known ones like Michael Wincott or Roy Dupuis. These guys would have more presence and charisma sitting on a chair and reading a newspaper than will smith would trying to survive an emotional scene.

My submission for a good movies:

Seraphim Falls
Fracture

I liked hitman too, but i also loved the video game. That sword scene was completely out of place however.
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"A fear of weapons is a sign of retarded sexual and emotional maturity" - Sigmund Freud

[Returner]

A shame with the tragic death of Heath Ledger. In Sweden suicides makes for more than twice as many dead people every year than traffic casualties does.

A shame nobody looked out for Heath more. If there is a risk for suicide during a big depression friends/family should in my opinion have worked out beforehand that the depressed one should be locked up in a hospital until it goes away, straight away. Of course some people are hard to "read", then it's up to the person themselves to say they are before it's to late.

Maybe he was able to get deeper into his character/more sensitive than he would otherwise have been had he not been disposed that way. John Belushi might not have been as great had he not been a certain way as well. Not saying it's a good thing having depressions but trying to see something good in all that dark stuff it brings.

[Joe84]

yeah i really admired his acting talent, its a shame we wont get to see him at work anymore. Although im not surprised that he died of an overdose, have you ever seen heath in an interview? He never stops scratching himself, shifting his weight and overall just seems very restless.

[Jabo]

What a shock. Still can't believe it. I was thinking of him as one of those young actors who will save cinema and will constantly get better when they mature.
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[Jabo]

Went to watch The Kite Runner today with my parents. It's about two boys who grow up in Afghanistan in the late 70s. When the soviets take over the country, the wealthier of both has to leave with his father, while the poor one has to stay and see the country fall into the hands of the Taliban.

My mother is into arabic culture and had already read the book the film is based on, so I wanted to do her a favour and go watch the movie with her. Well, I have to admit that this movie was fabulously well done. Almost all of the actors are laymen, but damn there was some great acting. Also some really nice landscape photography, even tho it was not filmed in Afghanistan, but in China.

This is not a movie about what happened after 911, but about the reasons for the state Afghanistan is in. It's a really fresh experience concerning Afghanistan related media in the past years.
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[Returner]

As many of us I saw Iron man this weekend. And low and behold it didn't suck at all.
Robert Downey Jr and his deadpan delivery method + a suit of metal and some rock n roll music hit the "cool spot" just right if u ask me .

Jon Favreau might be stuck doing Iron man movies for a decade now.
Hard to find something to complain about, Robert Downey Jr might lack some real acting skill when it come's to more serious parts. But he pulled through anyway. Well it's a must see. Equal or better to X-men and Batman. And Thats a FACT!!!!

[Drunken Monkey]

Yeah that was pretty damn good for the type of movie that it is. I don't know about being equal to the new Batman, but definetly one of my favorite superhero movies.

I am still not convinced by his portrayal of a 40-50 something tech nerd. Just too much charisma and personality for the type of person he tries to play, but its just my opinion.

Product placement was also not crammed down your throat like in will smith flicks.

Anyone catch the M. Night Shalayamalayaman's new horror flick trailer? Scaring you with loud noises! BAM! KABOOOM! omg... what is that rustle? BADAAAAM! Failsauce.
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"A fear of weapons is a sign of retarded sexual and emotional maturity" - Sigmund Freud

[B0b]

so can't wait to see Iron Man!!, or Hulk, or Batman, or Wolverine, etc etc

[Jimmyjimjim]

[Drunken Monkey]

[Returner]

[neff]

Beside that. Has anyone seen an (non historic) Movie in the last 3 Years without Apple in it?

yikes!
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[B0b]

thats what happens when you make aesthetically pleasing computers tho'

[Drew]

[Returner]

Indiana Jones and the kingdom of crystal skull. Hard to judge this movie. Your own childhood memories gets in the way really. To compare it fairly a revisit to te old movies before would have been needed.
But to be straightforward the pacing could have been better. Maybe some more risktaking form Lucas/Spielberg regarding the story could have been justified. Sure it has to be an Indy movie but first and foremost a GOOD movie.

To much nostalgia and relishing in old relationships, nobody cares THAT much. Had it been a "normal" action movie and not a matine styled one, cute jokes and nostalgia taking up half the screen time would not have worked. Now we are supposed to buy this, well nobody in the audience I sat in did.

[Lunatique]

A couple of good films I watched recently:

Gone Baby Gone - Excellent directorial debut by Ben Affleck. I was never a fan of his acting (particularly after that embarrassing monologue in Jersy Girl, but I suspect it was more Kevin Smith�s fault), and I hope he�ll stick to directing more from now on. This film was a bit of a relief for us because Elena and I had watched a few stinkers in a row and finally got out of the funk with this thought-provoking film.

*SPOILER*
We both agreed that we were on the side of the cops when the film ended. I know plenty of people who could�ve turned out much better had they been given a decent, loving home, but because of the horrible environment they grew up in, their fate was sealed before they even had a chance to walk away from all the misery and chaos. We do not believe that all human beings have the same rights, because some people are just so poisoned by their own demons and ineptitude that they end up poisoning everyone else around them�especially the helpless and the innocent. How many children are physically abused or have died accidentally because of their drunken or junkie parents? If you can�t get your act straight, you should not be allowed to raise children. Although I partly agree with the protagonist when he said that instead of taking the child, she should�ve simply been sent to a foster home of some sort, but I would venture to say that Morgan Freeman�s character displayed the kind of moral ground that I feel is much higher than the average foster home parents (I have heard plenty of horror stories about foster homes).
*END SPOILER*

3:10 to Yuma - One of the best westerns I�ve seen, starring two of the best actors of their generation.

*SPOILER*
Elena felt the way Wade shot his own people in the end was too forced and unrealistic, and I disagree (and I think this is where we divert in the way we watch films�her being a very casual movie watcher, and me being a PITA film buff. She tends to not see the stuff between the lines that the writer and director hopes more discerning viewers would, and I tend to pick up on those things as soon as they�re introduced). I feel that Wade�s action was completely logical and the entire film was building up to that act. Throughout the film, Wade�s outlaw nature was constantly constrasted against Evans�s character�s upstanding sense of morals and values, and more than once we were hinted that Wade was not as bad as he wants the world to believe he is�he�s simply a man who learned to take what he wanted an be ruthless about it, but there is a line somewhere, just that we don�t see it until the end of the film. Having gotten to respect and sympathize with Evans, and also witnessing the courage of his son and their bond, along with seeing a good natured doctor die for his sake, something clicked in Wade�s mind when seeing Evans gunned down, and that something is simply this:

The people Wade surrounds himself with are a bunch of jackals�the worst that society has spawned. All of them together aren�t worth of the life of one decent and upstanding man who he�s come to respect and admire and empathize with. To see a good and courageous man like that die in front of him, killed by people he knows are nothing but scum of the earth made him snap, and his first and purest reaction was outrage and the desire to avenge the death of a noble man. That was the moment we see Wade�s good side surface and a line drawn, and the tragedy is that it was too little and too late. Wade could�ve called off his people before but didn�t�he was still riding high on his sense of superiority over the �common folks,� and it wasn�t until when it�s too late did he realize Evans is anything but a common folk. Evans was the kind of man that could�ve been Wade�s salvation�to steer Wade away from evil and bring him into the light, and in the end, Evans did, but at the cost of his life.
*End SPOILER*

[Sampster]

I think that's a great explanation... I'd been musing over that movie since I first saw it and I still want to see it with directors commentary, but that makes a lot of sense.

[balistic]

In addition to being jackals, Wade realized that they were also completely inept without his leadership.

I think that had as much to do with him killing them as anything. He seemed disgusted with how funking *stupid* they were.
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brian.prince|light.comp.paint

[Jabo]

Both great interpretations, Lunatique and balistic. I felt it was little of both. The way he shot them looked random at first glance, but after some minutes, something in my mind said "wait, there IS a reason it was so peculiar". Still, besides them being stupid blokes, my first thought was also that he was just pissed off by them in a very casual, straight way. They simple pissed him off, stood in his way, as if he realized after a long time how worthless they are.

Also, imagine an alternative ending where Wade intercepted the bullet and Evans lived. I'm still breeding over that. The idea came to my mind the moment it was clear that Evans was dead. Not too sure if I liked that more. Anyway, it was one great film.
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[Lunatique]

Brian - that's an interesting take. I wasn't under the impression that Wade felt his men were stupid or incapable though--in fact he seemed to have a very high opinion of their ability and commented on it a few times--stuff like "If those were my men you'd all be dead by now."