Movie Review Thread: The Remake

[Reply #240 on:]

"Napoleon Dynamite" 5/5 (Hilarious)

Dynamite TOTPD

[Reply #241 on:]

Right on! I loved Napolean Dynamite! Great movie...though I've seen better.

[Reply #242 on:]

Man On Fire
My brother rented the DVD, curiosity, laziness and gravity made me stay in my seat. 

Not surprising this was from Brian Helgeland (Payback and Assassins), classic revenge and redemption.
Some annoying montages with quick-panning and zoom camera work (by Tony Scott)
Denzel was ok as usual, but Radha Mitchell (Pitch Black, hott!) was better.
Some nifty torture/death scenes, cheesy Gladiator-esque soundtrack (I'll bet my left nut Hans Zimmer scored it).

C+

[Reply #243 on:]

Gladiator also used the song "Blue Bayou" 258 times? 

[Reply #244 on:]

I saw an old classic for the first time.

This is Spinal Tap

Pretty funny but loses a grade because the band's music sucked. Other than  that, it kicked ass.

B+

[Reply #245 on:]

The Amityville Horror (2005)
I don't like to compare re-makes to the original, and in this case I can't, as i've never seen the first version of the Amityville Horror.
But what I can say is this is, without a doubt, the scariest film I have ever seen.

The story is tense, if a little old fashioned,
 

Show spoiler

bleeding walls, indian graveyard in the basement

The acting is better than avererage for this genre, and the effects are fantastic. I literally leapt out of my seat and shouted out loud several times.
Highly recommended!
A

[Reply #246 on:]

Melissa George is hawt, mmmmm Dark City. 

[Reply #247 on:]

Remakes and rip off movies suck ass. I hardly never see them because I know they suck.

[Reply #248 on:]

Then what were you the remake of?!?

Oh zing, yesss. 

[Reply #249 on:]

 

Originally posted by homerjaysimpson:
Remakes and rip off movies suck ass. I hardly never see them because I know they suck.

What! That is often the view of these movies, but I could name you a load of great ones.
Plus, this year looks to have a lot of new ones:
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory
War of the Worlds
Bewiched

 

[Reply #250 on:]

That's one person who's looking forward to a Bewitched movie. Possibly the only one.

[Reply #251 on:]

Kung Fu Hustle kicked some major, major ass.  It ruled.  There wasn't a whole lot of totally inexplicable Stephen Chow comedy in it, either, which probably means a whole lot got cut for the US release, but what was left was a series of really, really long fight scenes that were much more serious than you'd expect, and some awesome physical humor.  And a lot of tongue in cheek melodrama.  And Yuen Wah, who rules extra hard.  Plisonous bess!

[Reply #252 on:]

Just saw

Sin City

It was pretty good.....just a bit too much gore, more than any other Tarantino Film, I've seen at least....and I only haven't seen Jackie Brown.
The changing interlocking story things reminded me a lot of Pulp Fiction....to be expected.

I liked the whole black and white thing.

And Elijah Wood is scary.
He eats people.

B
Just too much gore, so it goes down one grade.

[Reply #253 on:]

I just saw Guess Who.

This wasn`t one of my favorite movies.. It was funny, but some parts were just lame.

2/5

[Reply #254 on:]

I know you've all been waiting for it... and here it is...

Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy.


First of all, it’s not a direct adaptation of the book/radio series. Deal.

Second of all, here are the things that bugged me:

1.Read the book? Then you already know all the best jokes.

2.Unnecessary love story.

3.More Hollywood then it needed to be (there’s a happy ending, for Chrissakes! And not happy as in “at least we aren’t dead!”)

4.Zaphod alternates between pretty cool and highly annoying. Funnily enough, both these attributes disappear when his second head is removed. (The head is annoying, so it’s good, but he becomes highly docile and not at all flamboyant afterwards, so that’s bad).

5.Some scenes from the book just don’t work as well on film. (Like the Vogon poetry bit).

6.No God disappearing in a puff of logic. 

7.Trillian’s American. Not a huge deal, but slightly off-putting.

8.Marvin’s more like ‘this is how Marvin is supposed to be’, and less ‘this is how Marvin is.’

Now, with that out of the way, understand this: it’s pretty good. There are new jokes, so that’s good. There’s lots of random weirdness, so rock on. The Jim Henson puppets totally own Lucas. The Doors and Eddy are as utterly horrifying as you could imagine (in a good way). Dent is… Dent. He’s a bit more heroic in this then he is in the book (it’s all on account of that love thing… gah). Zaphod is a bit like a cowboy pirate Fabio, with just a bit of Zapp thrown in. He’s going to annoy some people… but I just can’t hate someone who signs the decree for Earth’s demolition with “Love and Kisses, Zaphod.” Trillain is pretty much Trillian… but American. And she’s not always more-or-less on top of things like she often is in the books. Marvin? See above… but he’s still funny, sometimes. He won’t annoy you. Ford is okay. He’s responsible for one of my favourite new gags (in the airlock), but he’s mostly pretty much background.

The Vogon’s look awesome. In fact, the film in general looks great. It’s definitely a worthy visual thing… and there’s just enough quirkiness in the scenery to make you smile. It’s a trip, and actually reminded me of Labyrinth, for some reason. Also, after answering the great question, Deep Thought now spends her (!) time watching evil Gumby. Neat.

The Guide’s interludes are pretty much taken word-for-word from the book, plus, they’re usually accompanied by strange, art-deco style visuals. No complaints there… but the film seems to rush a bit, and it’s going to be highly confusing for some people, with a lot of random segue ways. Which is in the spirit of the book, I guess, but still…

Overall verdict? If you’re a fan of the franchises’ other incarnations, you’ll not be too horrified. You’ll probably enjoy it. People who aren’t fans will probably enjoy it more, because they’ll be exposed to all the wonderful humour for the first time. Lucky bastards.

B

[Reply #255 on:]

Super Size Me

It was an interesting prospect, and a really entertaining one. Plenty of interesting facts and stats, and well presented. It made you think at the end, very good documentary...

B

[Reply #256 on:]

Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy
I thought it was great. A bit hard to pack everything in, and it did miss some things that I would have loved to have seen. Marvin was adorable I thought. I've read the first two books and listened to the radio series - I thought a fan would enjoy this more than just the general public. Too confusing, or something. This review made no sense at all, and nor was it supposed to. Just like Hitchhikers.
A

[Reply #257 on:]

I can't wait for Hitchhiker's. Usually when I can't wait for a movie, it turns out that it opens here three months later than the rest of the world. This is not the exception.

I also saw Hiroshima Mon Amour and Waiting for Guffman recently. Both are pretty great movies, with Guffman being hilarious, and Hiroshima being very interesting in a film essay sort of way.

[Reply #258 on:]

For some reason, the HHGTTG movie won't come out in Denmark until the 26th of august. Arses.

I'd like to read a review written by some of the peopls who were really pessimistic about the movie. Because I mist say that I am one of those, and I'd love to get some indication of whether I'll be turned even the slightest.

[Reply #259 on:]

Hitchhikers...

I thought it was as near to the book as Hollywood is ever going to get, and therefore was pretty enjoyable.  In fact, I loved it.

Martin Freeman was excellent as Dent, and say what you like about Trillian, Zooey Deschanel was adorable.  However, it's Marvin when steals the movie, for me.

A

[Reply #260 on:]

Hitchhikers
As a movie, I enjoyed it. I laughed and had a good time.

AS an adaptation, I had serious issues with it.  To me it felt as thought the writers did not understand the humor of the book.  I felt like someone had given the writers a copy of the book with all the funny bits circled, and they had just sort of blindly tried to put them in.

They refernce towels a lot, but never once explain why towels are important.

When talking to the wrecking crew, they tell him the plans were on display.  The joke is that they were not at all on display, but thats not what makes it funny.  The book says that they were in a basement with no lights and no stairs, locked in a filing cabinet in a bathroom with a sign saying 'beware of leapord'  In the movie they leave it at, "They were in the basement"  Why leave the joke in and skip the punchline?

Then theres the description of space.  The book talks about how big space is saying "You may thing its a long way down the road to the chemist, but thats just peanuts to space."  The movie has all the lines leading up to the joke, comparing space to something absurdly small, and then they just say Space is really big.

It was pretty funny in its own right though, and a lot of things did make it in, so I say

B- 

[Reply #261 on:]

"Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy" A-

Any changes from the book were honestly no big deal, I thought. A good movie.

[Reply #262 on:]

Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy

I thought it was delightful. I went with a few friends who'd read the book, I hadn't, but I'd seen the cult TV series, so I kind of went "yay!" when original Marvin made an appearence    I really want to go and see it again...!

[Reply #263 on:]

I thought Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy was really funny and it had me laughing. I love the dolphins part and the bit they went to church. I think Marvin and Martin Freeman are cute

[Reply #264 on:]

Anchorman

Let me say I only rented this movie for Paul Rudd. Boy he's hot. But I thought this was a great high-freaking hilarious movie. I didn't fall asleep through it and was very much awake afterwards.

B+

[Reply #265 on:]

Plan Nine From Outer Space

What the hell?!

F-+

[Reply #266 on:]

 

Originally posted by davids:
  What! That is often the view of these movies, but I could name you a load of great ones.
Plus, this year looks to have a lot of new ones:

Charlie and the Chocolate Factory- awesome
War of the Worlds- suck
Bewiched- suck
and not to be a nerd or anything, but those are all more like "reimaginings" that straight remakes. War of the Worlds is now about a divorced dad and his adorable daughter (and possibly less adorable son that no one ever talks about). This sounds like "Signs 2," to me. And Johnny Depp is good in anything (plus they got rid of the singing in this version).

[Reply #267 on:]

The Hitch-Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy:

First, some background. I'm a huge fan of the radio series, the books, the game, and Douglas Adams in general. This film is not the best adaptation of a beloved book out there, but neither is it the worst. It's fair to middling, IMHO.

The main problem for me seemed to be that the film wasn't entirely sure whether it was targeted at newcomers or as an homage to the original story, and thus it didn't really succeed at either.

First off; things which translated well to film:

• The book. Oh yes. It managed to be 21st century while still retaining something of the original TV series' book style (easily the best thing about it). The POV entry in particular made me chuckle.
• The Vogons. We don't see a lot of them in the original books (I believe they turn up in HHGTTG and MH) so it was good to see an expansion of their culture (or lack thereof) onscreen. SJM's right, the poetry scene doesn't really work (for one thing, you don't get the "Poetry Appreciation Chair" joke!), although I thought it was very clever that the hitchhikers are tied to the blocks with what are essentially rubber bands.  ;) There was a hint of Python towards the end with the towel, as well ("Run away!" ).
  
• The Heart of Gold, although strictly not as it should be, was a very well designed spacecraft and the IID animations were very cool. Although technically I thought the cockpit of the HoG was a protected area so the IID wouldn't affect it?
• Magrathea. That was awesome.

Some things that didn't translate so well:

• The pacing. The sequencing of the story was jerked around a little too much for my liking (for instance, why did we need to see the party in Islington at all? It totally removed the joke of the telephone number from the survival in space joke.
• Trillian. While I admit Deschanel did an excellent job I just winced when she said Zee instead of Zed. It's Zed, dammit!  ;) But again, this is largely down to me having the lines and inflections from the radio series ingrained in the neurons inside my head.

It also seemed like the main parts of the book (Magrathea, the destruction of the Earth) were sidelined to make way for the new material, which just didn't compare. Of course I wasn't expect nor did I want a direct translation of the books, but I was suprised by how little was left in.

So, the rating. As a fan of the radio and TV series I'd give it a B-, but if I'd never seen either I'd be generous and bump that up to an A-.  :)

[Reply #268 on:]

Girl with a Pearl Earring (2003)

I have wanted to see this film but didn’t get the opportunity till recently on DVD I recorded from Canal Plus (Digital TV in France). It is different than what I expected. The story took me by surprise. This film reflects social class, the barrier of master and maid, of 17th century Holland very well. I feel the characters lack development; there are lots about the characters that I think should be more elaborated. It is a fairly slow pace, almost quiet movie. You need to capture the feelings and sensations through the looks and expressions of the actors and actresses which explain most part of the story since they don’t speak much. I like how they portrayed 17th Century Holland. I learnt how clothes used to be washed, how paints were made at the time, which I find very interesting.

B

[Reply #269 on:]

I laughed all through Kubrick's Lolita. Not because it was a bad film... it was just funny.

...

Don't look at me that way!

[Reply #270 on:]

Napoleon Dynamite

I don't think I can say much that hasn't been already said in this thread but I thought that this film was excellent, one of those films where you can just sit down and lose yourself in the overall silliness.

I especially liked the dialogue between Kip and  Napoleon:

"Just borrow some from the school nurse, I know she has like five sticks in the drawer."
"I'm not gonna use her's, you sicko...urggh...idiot."

[Reply #271 on:]

Elektra

Two words: Question Mark
I've never read an Elektra comic and that migh be why I'm screwed with this movie. But actions not impressive, why Jennifer Garner isn't a normal character and knows exactly when and where anyone is is too unreal. This only proves why Spider-Man is the best comic series ever. He's the only one who has an actual life that doesn't envolve dark sides or anything, it's only reality. So this movie gets a halfway mark between D+ and C-

[Reply #272 on:]

"Two words: Question Mark"
You mean this: ?

You wasted valuable milliseconds on useless characters! Your Internet-fu is weak. 

[Reply #273 on:]

Too bad Elekktra got knocked up by Daredevil, that blind bastard I'LL KILL YOU!

[Reply #274 on:]

 

Originally posted by Spacedal11:
This only proves why Spider-Man is the best comic series ever. He's the only one who has an actual life that doesn't envolve dark sides or anything, it's only reality.

I guess that you haven't been reading Amazing Spider-Man lately.

Thankfully, neither have I.   

[Reply #275 on:]

Saw Hitchhiker's last night. Cute movie. I really don't see what all the hype was about. Parts of the plot were kinda hokey.

Spent half of the movie being confused by Trillian's huge eyes. How the hell do they fit on her face? On a side note JBERGES parody fic makes a lot more sense to me now.

[Reply #276 on:]

I say Hitchhikers on Friday and I've been mulling it over for a few days, granted I missed the start due to traffic (I walked in at the bit when Arthur says "What the hell are those things?!?".
I pretty much agree with CK, although I've only read the books, it was kind of rushed.
Ford was a bit odd, maybe a bit too odd, in the way he talked.
All the characters were cool, and the Magrathea factory floor was awesome.
At least a B, possible an A.

[Reply #277 on:]

 

Originally posted by David A:
 I guess that you haven't been reading Amazing Spider-Man lately.

Thankfully, neither have I.   

I withdraw my statement and say, Elektra still was no Spider-Man but than he's out on a limb now too. Damn...damn indeed. 

[Reply #278 on:]

On Kingdom of Heaven:

1) Try to hide it all you like with a beard, Orlando Bloom is STILL too pretty to be a blacksmith.

2) The Siege of Jerusalem rivals the Siege of Minas Tirith.

3) Speaking of, it struck me as more Braveheart than LotR.

4) I'm interested in just how historically accurate it was.

4) Loved the casting.  Dr. Bashir!

[Reply #279 on:]

Crash
This movie is all kinds of awesome.
Racism? Check.
Tony Danza? Check.
Jennifer Esposito's nipples? Check. Check. (Or maybe just check. I can only remember the left one. hmm.)

A+