2 films I seen recently

[KamaItachi]

[REC]

A great first person/camera is the character movie. Claustrophobic, vicious, creepy and eerie. Follows a lot of the standard tricks for this sort of film, but does them remarkable well. The last 15 minutes and seeing 'it' for the first time had me thinking of the original version of The Ring in style.

Underworld: Rise of the lycans (shut up)

If you've seen the first Underworld there is a brief summary, approximately 15 seconds long, explaining the events of this film. Rise of the Lycans is that 15 seconds stretched to an hour and a half with no interesting characters, no cool fights and no new information.

It does have Bill Nighy being an evil vampire lord though, and I would watch him being evil washing his socks, never mind killing werewolves. For the record, my missus dragged me to see this one.

[Gerbs]

Underworld was not a total waste of 90 minutes. I went in with zero expectations and was pleasantly surprised when I wasn't bored. Predictable and the action was spastic but werewolves fighting vampires is always cool.

[KamaItachi]

Underworld was not a total waste of 90 minutes. I went in with zero expectations and was pleasantly surprised when I wasn't bored. Predictable and the action was spastic but werewolves fighting vampires is always cool.

I actually think it was the best of the 3, but I had seen the original 2 days before on tv and was genuinely surprised that they didn't retcon anything like I had sort've expected.

[Urizen]

Needless to say, the former sounds more interesting than the latter.

Last couple of movies I saw were Doubt and The Spirit.

Not familiar with Eisner's work, I went expecting something a lot less campy and cheesy. The trailers certainly framed it expectations differently. It was not a good, and the over-acting - though intentional - quickly began to wear. Most importantly, being a fan of the Sin City movie, I was hoping for some interesting camera work and story-telling in that vein that used the presentation and heavy black to do more than accomplish superficial eye candy but provide some interesting ways of telling the story.

Sin City was a true film noir. The Spirit was not.

Doubt was a movie we'll have to watch again. For some reason, I was expecting a more final conclusion. I didn't expect something so interactive and thought-provoking. Streep is fantastic. Amy Adams is the most talented newcomer Hollywood has seen since Kate Winslet. Hoffman is vastly overrated in my book, but he does a respectable job here. Viola Davis, who got an Oscar nomination, played her part like a beast.

It's definitely a character piece that is hedged on nuance. It's not the type of powerful movie that blows you away in its first viewing, but is more likely to do it in the second. It's a slow burn that is built on meticulous directing and editing. It's an exercise in character development as tight and elegant as you would expect in a short story.

Definitely recommended as one to watch with someone as most of the entertainment comes from the conversation after the movie.

[quidmonkey]

I saw Kung Fu Panda last night. It's a kid's movie, but I'll be damned if I didn't have a fun ride. It's crazy how many big names actors are a part of that film.

[civil]

Grammar, people!

[Troggles]

Grammar, people!

He's right. Those are 2 movies that you done saw, not two movies you seen.

[rinichanraar]

I've been wanting to see [REC] for so goddamned long. Everyone I know who has seen it highly recommends it to me.

[Bone]

He's right. Those are 2 movies that you done saw, not two movies you seen.dam how many pots u smokend?

[Philonious]

I watched 8 movies this weekend and most of them were pretty run of the mill (Prom Night, Doomsday, We Own The Night, Babylon A.D., Bangkok Dangerous & The Hitcher). However, I was pleasantly surprised by both Never Back Down (yeah, I know) and The Strangers. I almost feel guilty about liking these two (MMA OC!?), but they were entertaining, so sue me.

Three questions about The Stangers: 1) How did they get in? 2) Why split up? Ever? 3) What's so scary about unarmed women? Seriously. It worked until I turned my brain on after it had finished.

[Krispy]

I've been wanting to see [REC] for so goddamned long. Everyone I know who has seen it highly recommends it to me.

You live in the Bay Area, right? Movie night!

[KamaItachi]

I've been wanting to see [REC] for so goddamned long. Everyone I know who has seen it highly recommends it to me.

i had been complaining in another thread (The cloverfield one?) that i was having a hard enough time finding it at my local video shop. I found it yesterday and snapped it right up. Wasn't disappointed, but one gripe is that there are a lot of points where it's overly mundane/boring, but that's par for the course with these sorts of films.

One thing I was really impressed with is that they handled the psychological degredation of the characters incredibly well with appropriate changes in visibilty/coherence.

The last act, top notch.

[Xerxes]

He's right. Those are 2 movies that you done saw, not two movies you seen.

some folk'll never loose a toe,
but then again some folk'll
like Cletus the slack-jawed yokel

[total]

Three questions about The Stangers: 1) How did they get in? 2) Why split up? Ever? 3) What's so scary about unarmed women? Seriously. It worked until I turned my brain on after it had finished.

These sort of questions are exactly why I thought the movie was so fucking terrible. I swear I said, "just hit the bitch with a bat," at least 12 times during the entirety of that waste of a film. I actually spent fucking $30 seeing that stupid movie. Anyways. Rant over.

I watched It's Pimpin' Pimpin' (http://www.amazon.com/Katt-Williams-Its-Pimpin/dp/B001D2WUDO) with my very religious and slightly prudish sister yesterday. Hey, she said it was my birthday and I could pick what we rented. My whole family laughed their asses off.

[Disgustipated]

[REC] sucks. It's overrated and cliche. Don't bother. I've heard the remake is worse.

[Squidbot]

The Queen's English wants to know what it did to deserve this thread.

Also; Rhona Mitra can bite me any day she likes.

[KamaItachi]

The Queen's English wants to know what it did to deserve this thread.


Queens' English done me wrong.

[Squidbot]

It were a fit up, guv!

[rinichanraar]

You live in the Bay Area, right? Movie night!

Oh, man, that would be awesome! It'd have to be a horror movie night or something!

i had been complaining in another thread (The cloverfield one?) that i was having a hard enough time finding it at my local video shop. I found it yesterday and snapped it right up. Wasn't disappointed, but one gripe is that there are a lot of points where it's overly mundane/boring, but that's par for the course with these sorts of films.

One thing I was really impressed with is that they handled the psychological degredation of the characters incredibly well with appropriate changes in visibilty/coherence.

The last act, top notch.

I think I did see your comment in the other thread, and I'm glad to hear that you liked it (for the most part).

[REC] sucks. It's overrated and cliche. Don't bother. I've heard the remake is worse.

Maybe you just feel that way 'cause you're a donkey vagina. :)

[MalReynolds]

Knowing these are older movies and ive seen them a few times ... watched Constantine and The Thing

[Shadowstorm]

No, REC does suck.

A bunch of people are trapped in a fire station. Out of those people, two belong to a news agency, one of them being the news reporter, and her TV camera guy. The dude is basically running around with one of these massive professional video cameras up and down stairs and shit. It's ridiculous. If you were getting chased by a fucking zombie, would you be lugging around one of these cameras? At least in Cloverfield, it was a portable consumer-level camera.

Extremely cheesy acting to boot.

[Telefrog]

Doubt was a movie we'll have to watch again. For some reason, I was expecting a more final conclusion. I didn't expect something so interactive and thought-provoking. Streep is fantastic. Amy Adams is the most talented newcomer Hollywood has seen since Kate Winslet. Hoffman is vastly overrated in my book, but he does a respectable job here. Viola Davis, who got an Oscar nomination, played her part like a beast.

It's definitely a character piece that is hedged on nuance. It's not the type of powerful movie that blows you away in its first viewing, but is more likely to do it in the second. It's a slow burn that is built on meticulous directing and editing. It's an exercise in character development as tight and elegant as you would expect in a short story.

My favorite scene is the one in which Streep's character begins to tell a joke, but abandons it halfway through when she realizes that no one would ever expect her to tell a joke, so why start being amusing now?

[Xerxes]

Queens' English done me wrong.

some folk'll never eat a skunk,
but then again some folk'll
like Cletus the slack-jawed yokel

[muddi900]

I just watched The Wrestler and The Rocker this past weekend. One is an awesome piece about a beat-up defeated man trying to stand up and fight, while the other has that dude who plays Dwight Shrute, playing Will Ferrel, playing Jack Black from School of Rock, playing Dwight Shrute!

[Urizen]

My favorite scene is the one in which Streep's character begins to tell a joke, but abandons it halfway through when she realizes that no one would ever expect her to tell a joke, so why start being amusing now?

OK...so I have a question for you...

Is Hoffman's character guilty?

[Krispy]

Oh, man, that would be awesome! It'd have to be a horror movie night or something!

The only other classic horror movie I have is The Thing unless you count stuff like The Machinist which is more just creepy and weird.

No, REC does suck.

Obviously you've never met a real camera man. They don't put that shit down for anything. It's what gets them the job. Point of view movies will always have haters. Don't pay any mind ;).

[biosc1]

I tried watching Postal this last weekend...tried and actually made it decently far into it. Not sure what Dave Foley thought he was doing, but it was interesting to see that the film was made (at least partially) in Vancouver. It ended up being more fun to "spot the area" than watch the film. Made it about 45 minutes into, maybe less, before I sobered up.

So, I washed that taste out of my mouth with The Dark Knight :)

[Hellbug]

No, REC does suck.

A bunch of people are trapped in a fire station. Out of those people, two belong to a news agency, one of them being the news reporter, and her TV camera guy. The dude is basically running around with one of these massive professional video cameras up and down stairs and shit. It's ridiculous. If you were getting chased by a fucking zombie, would you be lugging around one of these cameras? At least in Cloverfield, it was a portable consumer-level camera.

Extremely cheesy acting to boot.

Ignore what Shadowqueer said. The first sentence of his so called spoilarz are simply a lie. A lie!

REC is great, and I'd advise anyone to go watch it before even reading a summary of what it is about.

[muddi900]

I tried watching Postal this last weekend...tried and actually made it decently far into it. Not sure what Dave Foley thought he was doing, but it was interesting to see that the film was made (at least partially) in Vancouver. It ended up being more fun to "spot the area" than watch the film. Made it about 45 minutes into, maybe less, before I sobered up.

So, I washed that taste out of my mouth with The Dark Knight :)

Best way to watch a crappy movie. Grimagine it!

http://i385.photobucket.com/albums/oo299/muddi900/421.jpg

[digitalErich]

I checked out Underworld 3 as well, again mostly because I like Nighy's character. The rest of the movie was bland.

I also caught the Wrestler to keep up the snob cred. It was a great, if depressing (and not just because it takes place in Jersey....zing), piece of cinema.

[mister slim]

Not familiar with Eisner's work, I went expecting something a lot less campy and cheesy. The trailers certainly framed it expectations differently. It was not a good, and the over-acting - though intentional - quickly began to wear. Most importantly, being a fan of the Sin City movie, I was hoping for some interesting camera work and story-telling in that vein that used the presentation and heavy black to do more than accomplish superficial eye candy but provide some interesting ways of telling the story.


Eisner's work tends to be humanistic, with witty dialogue and visuals. Frank Miller is a misanthrope without a sense of humor. As you can see he might not have been the best choice for the tone of the material. And as The Spirit makes clear, he's an incompetent director. Bah.

[astranoir]

Eisner's work tends to be humanistic, with witty dialogue and visuals. Frank Miller is a misanthrope without a sense of humor. As you can see he might not have been the best choice for the tone of the material. And as The Spirit makes clear, he's an incompetent director. Bah.

(emphasis mine)

Agreed, unfortunately. The Spirit was an awful movie and felt like more of a smear on Eisner than an "homage."

[Shadowstorm]

Ignore what Shadowqueer said. The first sentence of his so called spoilarz are simply a lie. A lie!

REC is great, and I'd advise anyone to go watch it before even reading a summary of what it is about.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v628/Agentstorm/Forums/WW-bitch-please-1.gif

REC is terrible, but to each their own, I guess.

[Mike Kelehan]

[REC] is a good movie. I enjoyed it a lot. The Spirit sucked. I saw it with some cousins, and at the end one of them turned to me and said, "We all make mistakes. At least we made it together."

[rinichanraar]

[REC]:

Rotten Tomatoes (http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/rec/) - 94% Fresh (17 Fresh, 1 Rotten)
IMDb (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1038988/) - 7.8/10 (18,840 votes)

Yeah... I think I still want to see it.

[quidmonkey]

[REC]:

Rotten Tomatoes (http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/rec/) - 94% Fresh (17 Fresh, 1 Rotten)
IMDb (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1038988/) - 7.8/10 (18,840 votes)

Yeah... I think I still want to see it.

I watched it last night based on this thread. It's a good one. Rawr, zombies!

[Gerbs]

Wtf is [REC]? Is it shakeycam like Quarantine?

edit: Doesn't matter it seems it's not showing in my area.

[KamaItachi]

Wtf is [REC]? Is it shakeycam like Quarantine?

edit: Doesn't matter it seems it's not showing in my area.

[REC] was Quarrantine before Quarrantine. It's an older film, out 2007 I believe, so search your local video shop.

[Gerbs]

[REC] was Quarrantine before Quarrantine. It's an older film, out 2007 I believe, so search your local video shop.

Thanks I'll check it out, I thought this thread was about theatrical releases.

[KamaItachi]

Thanks I'll check it out, I thought this thread was about theatrical releases.

Nah, sorry. I had just been hankering for that one film for a while and there was some talk about it in another thread.

Any impressions about recent films you seen be welcome.

[MalReynolds]

not really interested in alot of the horror i see today .. lots of crap

[biosc1]

not really interested in alot of the horror i see today .. lots of crap

It's not as suspenseful as it used to be. They seem to be shooting more for gore than the overall feel of horror and suspense.

[Gerbs]

It's not as suspenseful as it used to be. They seem to be shooting more for gore than the overall feel of horror and suspense.

I'm usually still entertained, just shut off your brain and have a good time. This does not apply to Unborn, cause that movie was awful.

[Krispy]

I'll go ahead and stick my head out there and say I really liked the original Saw. I thought it was a well written horror movie that could have used better actors, but they weren't terrible.

[biosc1]

I'll go ahead and stick my head out there and say I really liked the original Saw. I thought it was a well written horror movie that could have used better actors, but they weren't terrible.

I actually really enjoyed Saw 1 as well. I never got around to seeing the sequels because I felt that Saw 1 was enough for me...I really didn't need more than that. Was a well done movie that I think they've over-exploited now.

[ShivaX]

I actually really enjoyed Saw 1 as well. I never got around to seeing the sequels because I felt that Saw 1 was enough for me...I really didn't need more than that. Was a well done movie that I think they've over-exploited now.

Toss me in this boat as well. I liked the first one and never watched any more since I thought the story had been told and would only go downhill. Then they milked it like crazy.

[Krispy]

I watched the first sequel and never got suckered into another one. It was just all gore and no wit. Completely drained the interesting elements from the original film and left a withered husk. What got me to go was these online comics they published on the Jigsaw's history too. I was tricked into thinking there would be a plot.

[MalReynolds]

i cant just shut off my brain even tho i like some of the cheesy stuff more

[Gerbs]

I loved Saw 1, and I have seen and own on DVD all other Saws. They're good gory fun.

[Scull]

Just saw Taken, and Liam Neeson was fantastic. The rest of the cast was pretty blah, but Liam was worth the price of admission.

[Kagger]

I saw Kung Fu Panda last night. It's a kid's movie, but I'll be damned if I didn't have a fun ride. It's crazy how many big names actors are a part of that film.

That made me thint about how that is so often with animated movies. Some people just play certain parts in real life (Jack Black, Jackie Chan) that a plot involving them as people would be nuts. Animated films just let a new body have their voice, letting very different people come together.

[Hellbug]

Just saw Taken, and Liam Neeson was fantastic. The rest of the cast was pretty blah, but Liam was worth the price of admission.

There isn't really a person in the entire movie that avoids getting punched or shot in the face by Liam Neeson, which almost makes up for the rest of the cast's performance. :D

[muddi900]

There isn't really a person in the entire movie that avoids getting punched or shot in the face by Liam Neeson, which almost makes up for the rest of the cast's performance. :D

I still can't believe Liam Neeson pulled off a bad-ass as good as he did!

[Variable Gear]

I saw some films recently...

City of Ember (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0970411/)

At first, I thought that City of Ember was simply a Harry Potter wanna-be, but, in the end, it wasn't that bad. It wasn't as bad as The Seeker (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0970411/), anyway, which I unfortunately saw in a local theater weeks after its release. Ember is based on a children's novel (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_City_of_Ember), as are The Seeker (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Dark_Is_Rising_Sequence#The_Dark_Is_Rising) and Harry Potter (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harry_Potter_and_the_Philosopher%27s_Stone), which I'm planning to read soon. The acting is strange at times, perhaps intentionally, and the camera cuts are odd at times, perhaps unintentionally, which made the entire film kind of unbalanced. Eventually, though, it turned into a fairy predictable movie, and I couldn't wait for it to be over. If any other book in the Ember series got the movie treatment, I'd at least rent it or stream it via Netflix.

Bangkok Dangerous (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0814022/)

I went into this movie with no expectations, since it appeared to be a pure action movie and because I think Nicolas Cage is a poor excuse for an actor. However, I was impressed with the story of retribution and revitalization, given my initial mindset. That's not to say that it's a great movie or anything, as a great many of the scenes in the second half of the film will leave the viewer scratching his or her head and wondering how no citizen of this burgeoning burg could have seen or heard gunfire. The default ending kind of pisses me off, though, because Nic's character's bank account money doesn't get passed on to anyone. This is addressed in the alternate ending. However, the message of the movie is, in my opinion, diluted by the fact that one specific character cheats death in the alternate ending. Point being, you can't win. If that was the message the movie tried to instill in me, it did a great job of it.

[Ancalagon]

I, uh, just watched the wrestler. I thought it sucked. It was just so.... random. Just few months in the life of an old wrestler. I liked the "insider look" into how wrestling works, cos I used to dig that shit. So it was nice to see that the wrestlers all got on well and looked out for each other, despite what it looked like on stage. Other than that, it just wasnt interesting.

[Bone]

Wow. The first dissenting opinion. I can't wait to see it, since everyone else considers it a masterpiece character study.

[Adam Blue]

Rec is great. I really just love the story. A very good idea.

[Krispy]

I, uh, just watched the wrestler. I thought it sucked. It was just so.... random. Just few months in the life of an old wrestler. I liked the "insider look" into how wrestling works, cos I used to dig that shit. So it was nice to see that the wrestlers all got on well and looked out for each other, despite what it looked like on stage. Other than that, it just wasnt interesting.

I've met people who thought The Dark Knight sucked also so this isn't the strangest opinion I have read.