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Posted: |
Sep 16, 2012 - 3:25 PM
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By: |
Francis
(Member)
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Well I had to see it. They forced me to 
Get the Gringo
8/10
OK Mel, I forgive you. Spending time in a Mexican jail instead of having a puppet on your arm is a much more suitable punishment All jokes aside, this is a good prison/heist/gangster movie with a decent story, incredible kills and a corny sense of humor, especially with Mel's jokish remarks throughout the movie. I love how it switches from espagnol to englese. I love how everyone in it is smoking (been a while since I've seen that in a movie). I enjoyed it a lot!
Coma 2012
6/10
I've only seen the first half of it (episodes 1 & 2) and overlooking a clunky opening sequence, this tv miniseries remake of Crichton's Coma is very entertaining so far; great cast and some nice nods to those who know the story. The male love interest (played by Michael Douglas in the original movie) gets a lot more to do and the hospital politics are more delved into. The score is actually present from the start here but barely noticeable (it gets a little electronic in the Jefferson institute). I look forward to the second half.
Oh, and Ellen Burnstyn is one mean looking 
ADD-ON: ok, I saw the second half and was a bit disappointed by it. There's too many plotholes and the scenes it redoes from the Crichton movie, it doesn't outdo. Apparently Ridley Scott and the late Tony Scott produced it, I wish it would have been a better adaptation of Cook's novel to dedicate to. Worth checking out for the cast mostly.
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RESIDENT EVIL - RETRIBUTION 0/10
Seriously. Garbage.
"The Umbrella Corporation's deadly T-virus continues to ravage the Earth, transforming the global population into legions of the flesh eating Undead. The human race's last and only hope, Alice (Milla Jovovich), awakens in the heart of Umbrella's most clandestine operations facility and unveils more of her mysterious past as she delves further into the complex. Without a safe haven, Alice continues to hunt those responsible for the outbreak; a chase that takes her from Tokyo to New York, Washington, D.C. and Moscow, culminating in a mind-blowing revelation that will force her to rethink everything that she once thought to be true. Aided by newfound allies and familiar friends, Alice must fight to survive long enough to escape a hostile world on the brink of oblivion. The countdown has begun."
OK, so that describes the plot but it leaves out a few things and the most important being that the facility Alice is in, THE HIVE, is a MASSIVE location in Russia and it is there that the ENTIRE FILM TAKES PLACES and that Moscow, New York, and Tokyo are all danger room/simulations that are populated with humans so that Umbrella can unleash the virus and "study" it but mind you... the whole world is gone to shit so why keep studying it?!
I kept wondering and asking questions but the film has no sense of logic or even...anything. My boyfriend wanted to see it and even he got bored.
The actors all take it seriously but all look RIDICULOUS in their outfits that I suppose are suppose to be cool looking but just look stupid.
The action is rather weak and not at all exciting. Well directed but the constant shooting at zombies got boring really fast.
The plot and film plays WAY too much like a video game and really it is basically "Alice, you must go through Tokyo, Small Town, New York, and Moscow simulations/rooms to reach escape and at each level you get some big baddie.
As for the end... it ends like all these fucking films have... with a pull out and the "its not over yet" bullshit but for this film, we see D.C. basically under attack by billions of Zombies and it is supposedly the last stand but honestly... what is worth fighting for let alone saving.
I've rarely been this bored at a film or had one make me feel as old as I can only imagine that 10 - 15 year old boys might find this cool.
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Posted: |
Sep 18, 2012 - 3:09 AM
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By: |
Francis
(Member)
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I tried to give this new Coma a chance, but felt it lacked the suspense and unsettling mood of the original. The cast seemed to just go through the paces, but the lead actress I especially found lifeless. I was so underwhelmed by Part 1 that I didn't even bother with Part 2. I thought it was even more abysmal than the Andromeda Strain mini-series a couple years ago by the same people.
I watched the original not too long ago and in all honesty that one hasn't dated as good IMO. A lot of it feels corny now and I think ultimately the strength of Crichton's movie was that it starred a female doctor having to combat a male run hospital conspiracy. That said, the famous sequence where Lance LeGault chases Geneviève Bujold through all these rooms and ending up in the corpse meat locker, is repeated verbatim in this tv adaptation and it doesn't work at all. It needed a lot of rewrites. But I did find the lead actress to be good, just having her run all over the place, and doped up for most of the second half, was a bad decision. Still, I was entertained for most of it and I forgot to mention Geena Davis who I enjoyed as well.
Glad you liked Get the Gringo and the Pelham 123 remake, though.
Though I rated them both 8/10, Get the Gringo would have been a 9 if it weren't for the corny jokes
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Posted: |
Sep 20, 2012 - 8:35 AM
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By: |
mastadge
(Member)
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Machine Gun Preacher (2011) dir. Marc Forster -- A narcissistic violent asshole is a narcissistic violent asshole whether he's a junkie PA hillbilly or doing God's work in Uganda. Gerard Butler reminds us here that he can actually act, something it's easy to forget, but this Sam Childers biopic is, in the end, not satisfying narratively.
Mr. Brooks (2007) dir. Bruce A. Evans -- A preposterous, overstuffed but amusing and modestly diverting little thriller.
YellowBrickRoad (2010) dir. Jesse Holland and Andy Mitton -- Wow. Another excellent little horror film, one of very few films ever to capture cosmic horror, which is very effective in fiction and much harder to convey, apparently, on film. Recommended.
Revolution: "Pilot" (2012) dir. Jon Favreau, created by Eric Kripke -- Garbage. A truly half-assed bit of speculative fiction that basically seems to be trying to cash in on Hunger Games hysteria. A truly gormless lead character played by a horrible actress.
Hysteria (2011) dir. Tanya Wexler -- A lightweight, frothy comedy about the invention of one of the world's most popular items. Often very amusing, sometimes very funny, but also perfectly predictable. A nice confection that's enjoyable to watch but lacks the bite to be very memorable.
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Posted: |
Sep 22, 2012 - 7:58 PM
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By: |
Sirusjr
(Member)
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The Master (2012) - 8/10
When I left the theater from “The Master,” I think I got a glimpse of how Freddie Quell (Joaquin Phoenix) felt when he was in a constant drunken stupor on his drinks laced with strange chemicals. Whether you leave the theater satisfied depends wholly on what you think makes a great movie. If you need a clearly explained plot with clearly explained messages, you will simply find yourself saying “What…what…what…!?” If you, like most critics, find enjoyment in a film from quality acting alone, you will leave the theater satisfied and entertained.
“The Master” is an attempt to tell the story of the creation of the Church of Scientology through the eyes of Freddie Quell. Freddie is living life confused and without direction after coming home from World War II and wanders into a world led by Lancaster Dodd (Philip Seymour Hoffman). Dodd is attempting to practice his own sort of hypnosis that he claims can take people into the past to re-live past lives and through those experiences find peace in this life. In true Daily Show fashion, the movie doesn’t attempt to directly poke fun at the practices of Scientology but to simply display as raw a picture of it as possible. It is up to the audience to decide if they want to ridicule it later.
The film will absolutely keep your attention throughout, even if it is simply because you spend the entire film trying to figure out what the point of it all is. More importantly, the quality of the acting really does a powerful job of drawing you in to understand the characters. While most people will come for Joaquin Phoenix or Philip Seymour Hoffman, Amy Adams and the rest of the cast give powerful performances as well. We are able to enjoy these performances completely thanks to the director’s use of 65/70mm film in an age where most things are shot digitally. Thanks to the lack of digital, the film also lets the scenes linger so that you can truly soak in all the detail.
Jonny Greenwood, who scored Paul Thomas Anderson’s previous film “There Will Be Blood,” returns to provide another score in the same style, though it manages to reach even greater heights than its predecessor. The score is used sparsely but always to great effect. Greenwood’s score is highly textured and emotional without ever providing melody. The film also uses a few classic songs that fit nicely.
“The Master” is a step below masterful but it does manage to provide audiences a thought-provoking character examination. You may not fully grasp what you see or understand the meaning of it all, but you will likely be sucked in to its world. Just be prepared. This is in no way a happy or uplifting film and is not for the faint of heart.
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Posted: |
Sep 24, 2012 - 4:41 PM
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By: |
mastadge
(Member)
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Bell, Book and Candle (1958) dir. Richard Quine -- Starring Kim Novak, Jimmy Stewart, and Kim Novak's eyebrows. Didn't care much for this one. Didn't like any of the leads, which isn't always a dealbreaker but is probably not a great thing in a romantic comedy.
Bel Ami (2012) dir. Declan Donnellan & Nick Ormerod -- A handsome production collapses under Robert Pattinson's complete inability to convince in this role. Could have been decent with the right actor; as is, horrible. Gorgeous score, though.
The Pirates! Band of Misfits (2012) dir. Peter Lord, co-dir. Jeff Newitt -- A fun, clever and offbeat comedy. I wish I'd seen the original version instead of the redubbed US version, though.
Piranha DD (2012) dir. John Gulager -- Absolute rubbish. The first one, which was awful enough, looks like a masterpiece next to this. Easily and by a wide margin the worst film I've seen this year.
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Posted: |
Sep 25, 2012 - 12:57 AM
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By: |
Francis
(Member)
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Piranha DD (2012) dir. John Gulager -- Absolute rubbish. The first one, which was awful enough, looks like a masterpiece next to this. Easily and by a wide margin the worst film I've seen this year.
Ah come on! Admit you've enjoyed the first one on some level else you wouldn't have bothered checking out this terrible sequel (especially given DD's ultra bad reviews).
Ok, some more flicks I saw
30 Days of Night
7/10
Starts out very good by showcasing daily life in a northern town where the sun goes away for 30 days. From the first night however vampires attack the town and from that point on it's survival of the fittest. Couple of problems I have with this movie; the stretch of time (30 days) isn't convincing, all throughout it felt like I was watching the same night; yes the lead actor grows a stubble and then beard, but that was about the only thing indicating days had gone by. The concept of being trapped at the wrong place at the wrong time was done better in "Pitch Black", where the creatures were at least beatable. Here, these vampires look invincible and I'm not entirely sure why they'd stay 30 days to kill this town when they could easily do it in one night... If you don't think too much about the premise it's still entertaining.
30 Days of Night Dark Days
4/10
This sequel takes the horror outside of that town and into the city. It's like a cross between Carpenter's Vampires and Blade, but the head vampire wasn't menacing enough IMO and the new characters not as memorable as the first one. If you like vampire hunting flicks, might be worth checking out but otherwise skip.
The Island of Dr. Moreau
8/10
I decided to re watch the 1996 version, it came out on blu ray. Yes, this movie is flawed and let me get it out of the way first; cold and unemotional characters, B-movie effects, 'Animal farm' ripoff, a fat Brando walking around in a bed sheet. YET, for some unexplainable reason, it works for me! The political subtext is there, be it minimal, and I can not help admiring this movie for at least trying to create this freak world, this forbidden island that feels like Jurassic Park meets the Fraggles. The scene where the freaks confront Brando is so tense, the freaks themselves have that POTA charm and Val Kilmer plays a great a-hole. The movie looks good on blu-ray and for me worth revisiting.
The Fog
3/10
With the upcoming soundtrack release, I decided to finally, after all these years, watch the 2005 remake (unrated version). Mixed feelings here; It is a redundant remake that follows the Carpenter original too close and as a result feels as longwinded and boring as that one, not to mention 'dated', but there were scenes and shots that looked cool and menacing and worked better than the Carpenter. The problem is as many scenes this movie has that truly look menacing, it has an equal amount of laughable ones and a cast that feels so out of place for a bayside town; It's also too pre-occupied with showing the backstory which we all should know by now. The Carpenter version was more subtle and had some acting and pacing going on, this one is all over the place. Revell's score is decent, but not nearly as memorable as what Carpenter did (in probably half the time). For me a missed opportunity, as the Carpenter version can be improved upon, but as far as creatures in the fog is concerned, do yourself a favor and watch "The Mist" instead.
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Posted: |
Sep 28, 2012 - 3:14 PM
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By: |
mastadge
(Member)
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The Raid: Redemption (2011) dir. Gareth Evans -- Liked this more than I was expecting to -- I tend to get bored during arm-breaking bone-crunching martial arts action sorts of things, but this was really well done. It did finally slow down a bit too much during the closed room fights towards the end, but up until then it admirable maintained good pacing and high intensity. Very enjoyable action flick.
Battleship (2012) dir. Peter Berg -- I didn't hate this like I expected to. It was chock full of stupid and made some serious miscalculated when it came to the creature design, but it captured the Transformers: Pearl Harbor vibe it was shooting for, it had a few modestly clever sequences, and it was far less obnoxious than at least two of the Transformers films. It was also at least 25 minutes too long. So I didn't hate it, but will likely never return to it either.
Emergo (Apartment 143) (2011) dir. Carles Torrens -- This movie's not really sure whether it's found footage or mockumentary. It's got a couple jump scares but is mostly just much too familiar by now. If you really love Paranormal Activity sorts of things you might as well give this one a try, but if you're tired of those tropes it's not bringing anything new to the table.
The Game (1997) dir. David Fincher -- I saw this years ago but wanted to check it out again on the new Criterion BD release, which does look fantastic. The movie is preposterous, but Fincher is good enough at his craft and Douglas convincing enough that it's definitely watchable, even if it doesn't bear much thinking about.
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LOOPER
I was actually dissapointed with it... gonna let it sit a few hours before I decide where I fall on it
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