[Tapper]

Battle Plaptypus, on 02 May 2011 - 05:24 AM, said:

So, the Immortals were that elite masked unit that the Spartans faced in 300 right?

Historically, it was the elite infantry corps of the Persian Empire, said to be 10.000 strong by Herodotus. The name Immortals comes from the fact that it was kept at that number as casualties were replaced with new recruits, very unusual for most of our history.

[Coco with marshmallows]

Pirates 4:

very much a movie done by the numbers.
5 and a half buckles swashed out of ten.

Hangover 2:

Basically IS the first movie done over again in a slightly different way. Still, made me laugh a fair bit.
seven alka-seltzers out of a twelve pack.

[Gothos]

I watched Shutter Island and I liked it.

[Beezulbubba]

[worry]

Watched Bridesmaids and it was the funniest thing I've seen in ages. Balanced drama and comedy pretty much perfectly, as Paul Feig does best.

At home I watched the Fearless Vampire Killers. Nowhere near as funny as, say, Young Frankenstein, but it still had its charms. There's an especially good bit about a Jewish vampire's reaction to a cross. Also, Sharon Tate was beautiful: (gif so I'm not embedding it, but SFW)
http://www.mercia.bi...Sharon-Tate.gif

[amphibian]

worrywort, on 30 May 2011 - 05:22 AM, said:

Watched Bridesmaids and it was the funniest thing I've seen in ages. Balanced drama and comedy pretty much perfectly, as Paul Feig does best.

The large redhead - she's amazing, isn't she? One of the best comedians I've ever seen at turning terrible lines into laugh out loud moments. I was essentially forced to watch The Backup Plan with Jennifer Lopez and the large redhead lady was the only reason I did not grumpface the whole way through. She turned that movie into something sort of watchable.

[QuickTidal]

Saw Pirates 4 on the weekend.

Enjoyed it actually more than 2 & 3, as it stands as a more complete and straightforward film with a tighter pace and story.

Good fun, if not as great as the first one.

[Tiste Simeon]

Just watched an Aussie film called "West" it was pretty good - a dark & violent film about a small time drug dealer and his cousin. Quite a depressing ending though!

[amphibian]

Winter's Bone is one of the finest movies I have ever seen. It is a masterpiece and so scarily accurate in some parts to some of my experiences that I think that it is basically impossible to do a backwoods mystery movie better than this.

It should have won any and every Oscar relating to Best Picture, Best Director and Best Supporting Actors.

[HoosierDaddy]

I recently watched True Grit and Fanboys.

True Grit was entertaining, and I really enjoyed the acting, and most of the story. It just seemed to come to a very abrupt end. That said, I still quite enjoyed it, and would give it a 7 out of 10.

Fanboys was a nice glimpse back at how me and my friends were before the Prequels came out, and continue to be still to some degree. Lots of nerdery and comedy and a great cast. Subject matter immediately bumps this up a lot, despite it having some rather stupid parts. 7.5 out of 10.

[worry]

Agreed on Winter's Bone! Total perfection. And on True Grit. Coens have been really playing with what makes a climax lately, so I appreciated it. Fanboys I do want to see cuz of jay baruchel and k bell, but have always been hesitant due to dan fogler. But that review is heartening.

I watched Super 8 yesterday. It was quite good for the first 2/3 or so, but the final third kinda blew it. Still a pretty good movie. But in terms of the risks I'd expect JJ Abrams to take, and the cliches I'd expect him to avoid, it was a disappointment.

[Binder of Demons]

Saw "HANNA" tonight and I was pleasantly surprised. It's a good ol' action flick. Like a mix of LEON and THE BOURNE IDENTITY. The young girl (Saoirse Ronan) was very good, and for me the only annoyance was Cate Blanchett's american accent. I enjoyed the Chemical Brothers soundtrack too, though it did make it seem like a music video at times.

But overall, I'd give it 7/10. Good solid entertainment.

[Morgoth]

Recently watched both the newest Rambo and Rocky movies. Stallone has surprisingly turned into a fairly good actor in his old age. Rocky I thought was surprisingly well done. Rambo, though not a good movie certainly held a higher standard than the previous two of the series.

[polishgenius]

I thought Hanna was great. Only thing I thought it could have done with was having one person play both the antagonistic roles- separating them into Blanchett's cool menacing character and Hollander's more dangerous but never more than vaguely irritated one meant that, for me, neither really had the iconicness, of, say, Stanfield in Leon or Chigurgh in No Country for Old Men. That would have made the movie close to perfect for me...



A film I saw recently which I really liked was The Consequences of Love- an Italian film that falls somewhere between crime flick and Lost in Translation. Massively slow burner that works best if you know nothing about it, but I thought it was a masterclass of understatement.

This post has been edited by polishgenius: 16 June 2011 - 02:58 PM

[McLovin]

Caught Outland on TV. A classic sci-fi flick of the early 80s. Some reflections:

1. WTF is up with all the shotguns? Doesn't anybody on Io carry a handgun?
2. Why chase a perp through the corridors of a moonbase? Where are they gonna go? Just call ahead to seal them in somewhere, then stroll in and apprehend them.
3. And, if you want to kill someone who's outside the moonbase, you don't have to go out after them. Eventually, they gotta come back in, so just wait at the airlock.

Just saying.

[Binder of Demons]

Watched the revenge movie "FASTER", starring Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson. About a guy getting out of prison and hunting down the people who double crossed him and his brother. Not in any way original, but effectively done. heavily indebted in feel to "Vanishing Point" from the 70's and "Payback" (the Mel Gibson movie) from the late 90's.

I'll give it 7 dead criminals out of 10.

[Gothos]

Hearthened by your opinions I watched Winter's Bone. And...

It's incredible. Didn't think I could sit through 1.7 hours of the Deep South, but the film proved me wrong. I'm going to reccommend it to people.

[amphibian]

Gothos, on 27 June 2011 - 07:51 PM, said:

Hearthened by your opinions I watched Winter's Bone. And...

It's incredible. Didn't think I could sit through 1.7 hours of the Deep South, but the film proved me wrong. I'm going to reccommend it to people.

I'm super pumped you enjoyed it. Winter's Bone is indeed incredibly good. The descriptions of it may sound boring or off-putting, but it's gripping in a way that's truly special.

[HoosierDaddy]

Two reviews:

1. Battle: Los Angeles. Too horrible to be bad, not horrible enough to be funny. It has gloriously reached the rank of terrible movie that you have no reason to see, ever. Special effects? Nah, they are shit too. 2 out of 10. Awful movie.

2. Winter's Bone. I'm conflicted. I watched it straight through. I enjoyed it. I was engaged by it. I was brought in by its story line. It is a very nice and concise piece of film, which I think hits every piece of my cinema hit-list. Yet, it builds slowly. Never really explains what is going on, but makes up for it. How? Great characters, despite their limited view. Great setting and plot, which Amph I think has nailed as being on point. Great acting, frankly, really sets this movie apart. Without the acting it'd be a terrible movie, but they do a great job of conveying the atmosphere without needing it to be described. Despite how much I enjoy those aspects, the plot didn't ring enough, despite how true it might be, for me to really care. Yes, that plot is probably very true, but.... it missed out somewhere. The Uncle/Niece relationship is by far the best part of the movie for me. I'm going to throw an 8.0 out of 10 at it, but I can see how others could easily put a 6.5 or 9.5 on it.

The acting is probably the best part of the film.

[worry]

Well, while a lot of it rings true in terms of character and setting, in terms of plot it is deliberately trying to transplant noir style storytelling to that novel setting, so that explains the slow-ish, wandering feel of it. Like (mild spoilers) when the protagonist visits that house with the musicians, and despite the ostensibly wholesome events taking place, there's still a palpable unease and a sense of danger there. It's nowhere near as mannered as Brick, for example, but it's just as much about wandering/exploring the underbelly, even in tangents, than simply solving the big mystery. Which I suppose is one of the main things that distinguish noir from other types of mysteries.