I Don't Read the Reviews, The Reviews Read Me!

[Reply #360 on:]

Heheh, Nathan Fillion did a voice in this, he's even funny as a cartoon!

Of course, those of us who watched Justice League Unlimited already knew that.

[Reply #361 on:]

Mum & Dad

It was gory good but the Christmas party sucked at the end and the ending didn't make much sence.

B-

[Reply #362 on:]

Royal Tenenbaums 9.5/10
Rogue 7.5 (Pretty good Crocodile-in-Australia movie, goes awry 2/3'rd's in)
Back to the Future I 9 (I love these movies )
Back to the Future II 8
Back to the Future III 8.5
*Clockwork Orange 8 (Saw it in the cinema, a bit overrated if you ask me)
The Killing of America 9.5 (Fantastic documentary about murders and stuff)
Bender's Game 4 (I really didn't like it at all, no laughs, tedious story)
Dead Ringers 7.5 (Cronenberg)
*
The Savages 9 (Great family drama thingy)
Bender's Game commertary 4
Soldier's Girl 9 (A US army trainee falls in love with a tranny and gets beat in the head with bat and killed)
Milk 9.5 (I loved it!)
Glory at Sea (short) (Mind blowing short, full thing is on youtube)
La Cravat (short) (My first Jodorowsky, I dug it)

[Reply #363 on:]

Transferred from the Watchmen thread.

My impressions (which shall also end up in the review thread).

Over all, it works. I love the original books, and the movie clearly tries very hard to stay true to the spirit of the story. The themes, characters, and general ideas survive the transition mostly intact, and I can say that, as an adaptation, it felt quite successful to me. Oh, there are changes, yes, and a few rewrites to scenes which I feel didn't work anywhere near as effectively as they did in the comic, but overall, it's still definately Watchmen.

As a movie, however....

Firstly, the good points. It is, for the most part, pretty well acted, with Roarshach (who's going to win a new generation of fans with this film) and Nite Owl being standouts. Roarshach for just being Roarshach, and Nite Owl/Daniel for just being exactly as button-down and repressed as he needs to be. And the  Doc still makes me want to cry. The film definately commands attention, with plenty of high-impact fight scenes loaded with slow-mo, really giving the violence a lot of oomph. Speaking of violence, this is not santized Hollywood comic book violence. Bones splinter, limbs shatter, bullets tear bodies apart, and Dr Manhatton rips people to pieces in quite a gruesome fashion. This works for Watchmen, of course, as the effect of violence on people is never flinched away from. It's not exactly realistic, but it's certainly not glorified and that, I think, is the best way to do it. And mad props for no quick-cut fast editing, which usuallys makes me some combination of dizzy and angry. By and large, the music is appropriate sounding period music, with the best example being the opening credit montage set to Bob Dylan's 'The Times They Are a Changing'. It's a great scene-setter, demonstrating the Watchmen universe quite well. The plot is pretty intact, with one major change, but (and this may be a controversial opinion, but anyway) I feel it works quite fine within the context of the orignal story.

Show spoiler

Instead of the giant squid, Ozymandias uses Dr Manhattan's powers to unite the world.

It's more a detail shift than a cast rewrite, and it allows the film to avoid a subplot and still accomplish the same goal within the narrative.

Now, onto the bad. Ozymandias is probably a bit micsast and misued. The actor playing him is way too thin and weedy.

Show spoiler

Worse yet, I feel they overplayed their hand on making him creepy way too early on in the piece. Moore's version never tipped his hand until the last act, and while Adrian isn't mwahahahaing his way from the opening scene, there is a definate air of menace which I found unwelcome. He was fine in the last scene, but leading up to that...

. That may just be my impressions of the book colouring the movie, but never-the-less, it stuck out for me. The middle act sags. Like the comic, this film moves between the over-all story and spending time going into the background stories for these characters. While this worked quite well for the first act, with the Comedian and Dr Manhattan's rendered with just the right amount of revulsion pathos (I've always liked Jon's story, anyway), Roarshach's story is very abbreviated, and suffered for it, which is the main problem with the middle act. Everything is squished and compressed and a lot of detail and nuance is lost. Worse yet, the main story vanishes into the background, and a lot of the feeling of impending doom is lost. The story wobbles back to it's feet in the last act, and still manages to take the gold in the final leg, but the middle part still left a bad taste in my mouth, as the comic fan inside me mourned for what was lost. The sex scene between Dan and Laurie was excessive. I shouldn't be checking my watch and thinking 'is this still going?'

To wrap up:

Watchmen, for me, worked. It's as good an adaptation of the source material as could be expected, I think, and while a lot of the detail is lost, it still manages to deconstruct the superhero mythos (now currently riding a wave of popularity due to film) fairly successfully. It tells a very human story in a fantastical setting, and that is what I've always loved it for, so overall, despite it's flaws, I think I shall declare it a success. It's not as deep and well put-together as I sometimes feel it could have been, but for the most part, it entertains, provokes, and enthralls. Only hardcore absolutionist fans with a similar approah to compromise as Roarshach will be disapointed, I think.

8.5/10

[Reply #364 on:]

One-Sentence Movie Reviews

Futurama: Into the Wild Green Yonder
Everything wrapped up into a nice neat cliffhanger.

Doubt
Oh, so it's okay that the priest molested him because he's gay anyway... right?

Transporter 3
See the first two or be baffled by the intellectual complexities of this cerebral thriller.

Taken
If everyone took the law into their own hands as enthusiastically as Mr Neeson does in this film, the world would be a far better place.

The Day the Earth Stood Still
A fairly faithful remake of the original film, which was also boring and pointless.

Australia
Nobody I know has ever said CRIKEY!

Quantum of Solace
Does anybody else want to see him bend Judi Dench over the hood of his Aston Martin and give her a good rogering?

Max Payne
Mark Wahlberg looks about as badass as the elderly eunuch who does my drycleaning.

Eagle Eye
You'd think the superintelligent computer would have noticed the plot inconsistencies.

Tropic Thunder
Like the Three Stooges with gore.

Watchmen
Hahaha - big blue penis!

[Reply #365 on:]

Lets see. I'm sure I've seen a bit recently, it's just trying to remember which ones...ok, here goes:

Benjamin Button:
Very sweet period fantasy drama. It's quite touching, especially in parts I could relate to.

Milk: Really enjoyed this. I knew nothing of the history so the story was completely fresh, and it was v interesting.

The History Boys:
I can't remember much about this at all, as I was really tired at the time. I can recall nothing really, but they go to Fountains Abbey on a field trip. I'VE BEEN THERE TOO.

Saw V. I kinda heard this rather than saw it (hurr hurr) I was reading a book cause I don't like gore. I read up the plot on imdb though. Just shows what some people are really like. Other than that, useless popcorn trash.

Also, coldy re: QoS one sentence thingy: noooooooo! Daniel Craig is mine!

[Reply #366 on:]

Watchmen
Loved it!

spoiler heavy review/thoughts ahead.

Show spoiler

Really really enjoyed this film. I think it was a very good adaptation, it didn't deviate to much from the book (Except for the squid, but as SJM said, they alternate worked well in the context of the film, and it would be too hard to get in all the necessary subplot to fully explain the squid).

Good
 - Rorschach. He was brilliant. I think the actor did a terrific job, when he was unmasked he was brilliant, and the end part with Jon in the snow was absolutely tragic. I really feel for him
 - Music. The music was really well done, as SJM said the opening credits with The Times they are a changin' was good.
 - Opening credits. Again, they were really good with the music, and it helped fill in a few blanks and explain stuff quickly, and it was pretty shocking to see the girl putting the flower in the gun, only to see them all go off.
 -

Not necessarily bad, but not as good/niggling issues
 - Little unnecessary changes. There were a few things that the changed that didn't seem entirely necessary. One big one, was the fact that Rorschach didn't set the child murderers house on fire... what gives?! That was going to be awesome, instead he cleaves his head a bunch of times... I was disappointed.
 - Missing Bits. Obviously they couldn't put EVERYTHING in, and i won't full pass judgement till i've seen the directors cut, cause i felt like some things WERE going to be in it, like Hollis Masons murder, when Rorschach and Dan are in that bar towards the end, i think you do see a Knot-tops head just below frame that dan seems to notice, but you don't see anything more of it, so hopefully in th directors cut, that in it.
Also, it was nice that you did see the two Bernard's at the end, but I'm hoping when they splice in Black freighter, they give those two more lines.
- Ozymandias. Lame. Lame Lame Lame. Too young, too skinny, made him too much a "Cleanse the world!" psycho to early on. Needed to make him seem more arrogant and harmless i thought.
- Not enough Babastis!

Those are more random scattered thoughts then a proper review, but i've got to see it a few more times.

[Reply #367 on:]

How did you see it? It's only thursday. The showtimes start tonight at midnight.

I watched The Thin Red Line today. Possibly my second favourite war movie. Really beautiful, especially the beginning setting the tone and theme for the rest of the movie. You really feel what the character is feeling.

9/10

[Reply #368 on:]

Awww, poor books. It came out thursday in Aus, I saw the 9pm session at imax, some people saw a 12:05am session that morning.

[Reply #369 on:]

One-Sentence Movie Reviews

Futurama: Into the Wild Green Yonder
Everything wrapped up into a nice neat cliffhanger.

Doubt
Oh, so it's okay that the priest molested him because he's gay anyway... right?

Transporter 3
See the first two or be baffled by the intellectual complexities of this cerebral thriller.

Taken
If everyone took the law into their own hands as enthusiastically as Mr Neeson does in this film, the world would be a far better place.

The Day the Earth Stood Still
A fairly faithful remake of the original film, which was also boring and pointless.

Quantum of Solace
Does anybody else want to see him bend Judi Dench over the hood of his Aston Martin and give her a good rogering?

Max Payne
Mark Wahlberg looks about as badass as the elderly eunuch who does my drycleaning.

Eagle Eye
You'd think the superintelligent computer would have noticed the plot inconsistencies.

Tropic Thunder
Like the Three Stooges with gore.

Watchmen
Hahaha - big blue penis!

You should do this for a living.

Australia
Nobody I know has ever said CRIKEY!

Then you clearly aren't trying hard enough! I get up every morning, put on my cowboy hat, have Coke and apple pie for lunch, drive to work in my Ford F-350 and then come home to enjoy chicken wings and beer while watching football. Where's your respect for stereotype, man!?!

[Reply #370 on:]

The Wackness

Overall good movie. I was pretty much raised seeing Josh Peck on nothing but Nickelodeon Movies and the Amanda Show and it was very weird and awkward hearing him say stuff like "I fucked a girl in Battery Park" and "I got mad love for you" and seeing him deal pot. And, another thing, I don't know if it was because I was too young to remember 1994 or the fact that I grew up on the other side of the country with our different slang and all, but I felt they overused mid-90's slang and made too many "Giuliani sucks" references. I know some think Giuliani "Disneyfied" NY, but I don't think that many people hated him for doing this like the movie portrayed it. It just felt like the movie was trying too hard to cram the fact that we were in 1994 New York down my throat. Lastly, the music is mostly 1994 hip-hop, I like SOME hip-hop/rap, and if you want a view of the music from that perspective, it was OK. Nothing great, nothing bad.  All that aside, I thought Josh Peck surprisingly did a great job at handling his character and shows that he has some good range. Add an entertaining and kind of sweet coming-of-age story, and some jokes peppered here and there and it ended up being a pretty good movie.

(B+)

[Reply #371 on:]

Just watched The Good The Bad And The Ugly and loved it. Classic, also it had an amazing soundtrack.

9.4/10

[Reply #372 on:]

It is going on 3:00 AM here in Colorado and I just got back from seeing Watchmen. Big surprise: I had to sneak in to see it!!!

Basically...I orgasmed for 3 hours. I mean when I watch a movie there's usually something that might bother me but I cannot think of one thing that I didn't like with this adaption. I mean there are things that I can comment on like the lack of develope with the New Yorkers such as the newspaper stand guy and the lesbians, but it still worked!

I definitely want to see it again...I fucking loved this movie.

A+^Muthafuckin' 503939842309843098 power!!!!!

[Reply #373 on:]

oooh im going to go see it tonight. I CANT WAIT.

[Reply #374 on:]

I'm seeing it in around 1 and a half hours

[Reply #375 on:]

Just watched The Good The Bad And The Ugly and loved it. Classic, also it had an amazing soundtrack.

9.4/10

My all-time favorite film.

[Reply #376 on:]

Watchmen

I never did read the novel, and I read that some who have never read the novel have left the theatre underwhelmed or bailed early. That was not the case for me. I thought the cinematography worked perfectly, the plot was interesting enough to hold me for 3 hours, and the action scenes were quite intense. The opening sequence was great as well with the perfect song in the montage. Since I haven't read the novel, I probably don't have as many complaints with the movie as some other people, but my main drawback for me was the music. Using Bob Dylan for the opening was absolutely perfect, but some of the soundtrack choices for me from then on were kind of weird and questionable, and the soundtrack hit rock bottom with the horrible song (don't know what it's called) at the end credits. But otherwise, that was a very awesome movie. I'll definitely watch this movie again.

Also, the inner Futurama fan in me couldn't resist a chuckle when Nixon and Kissinger came up. All it needed was an Agnew, and my inner Futurama fan would've been totally satisfied.

(A)

[Reply #377 on:]

The only bad thing about the soundtrack was the end credit song. The rest of the soundtrack was absolutely perfect.

[Reply #378 on:]

Last song was Desolation Row covered by My Chemical Romance...

I don't know why they did that either.

[Reply #379 on:]

The cover version is an anachronism for 1985. They should either have used the original, or a different song entirely. My vote would have been for Blue Oyster Cult's 'Don't Fear the Reaper'.

[Reply #380 on:]

They used that in the The Stand movie. I thought it was the only good part, it's one of my favourite songs.

[Reply #381 on:]

I agree with both of you completely.

[Reply #382 on:]

it's one of my favourite songs.

Mine too!! Let's sing it together!!

[Reply #383 on:]

* Books accidentally starts singing Monorail.

[Reply #384 on:]

I'd rather sing the solo.

[Reply #385 on:]

cowbell!
I like that song too.
(Also, it's used in Halloween, as well).

[Reply #386 on:]

cowbell!
I like that song too.
(Also, it's used in Halloween, as well).

It's also used in Scream which pretty much suggests that Halloween is the greatest movie of all time. And then Halloween 20 Years Later went and used some of the same music from the Scream movies just to cash in on the update slasher franchise. I've wasted many a night on Wikipedia learning this...

 

Why doesn't 'Cities on Flame with Rock and Roll' get any cred? I love that song!

[Reply #387 on:]

Watchmen

What the hell is going on? Did you people watch the same movie I did?
It went on for too long and the story was ok at best and it had too much of a strange time line.

[Reply #388 on:]

Go away. Forever.

[Reply #389 on:]

Watchmen

I would have preferred the squid...

Maybe they'll do an alternate ending for the DVD release.

Otherwise though, it was very good. Nothing will ever compare to the comic in my mind, but Snyder did the best with what he had at his disposal. If they had done the movie frame by frame from the comic, the final result would have been around 7 hours long, and would have been a confusing, convoluted mess that even Quentin Tarantino wouldn't understand. Plus, the original ending that I miss would have instantly confused and alienated everyone who hasn't read the comic.

Did you notice though, right when Ozzy says that he activated the device, the monitors say "SQUID Launched". Nice little touch there...

All in all, a very respectable effort by Mr Snyder.

8.5/10

[Reply #390 on:]

I can't be bothered writing much about Watchmen (cause I have an essay to do and really shouldnt be on here), but I loved it. The only discrepancy I wasnt too keen on was the choice of song during teh sexytime. It just seemed too out of place.
But other than that, I absolutely loved it
A+

[Reply #391 on:]

The Good, The Bad, and The Weird (Joheunnom nabbeunnom isanghannom)
Korean movie, The Good guy, a bounty hunter is chasing after The Bad guy a murdering bandit, who in turn was hired to steal a supposed treasure map, which The Weird has already stolen just before him and runs off with it.
Also, the Japanese Army, some independence fighters and at least one other group of bandits are also after the map, so they chase each other all over the Manchurian deserts having gunfights and ending up in an epic horse/motorbike/truck chase towards the treasure for a final standoff.
And what a chase, really fantastic, awesome camera work!
The Weird guy was kinda funny in it.
A

[Reply #392 on:]

So is it a remake of G,B & U?

[Reply #393 on:]

More of a tribute I reckon.

[Reply #394 on:]

The Mist

The book was 500% better than this crapy pile of poo.

F--

[Reply #395 on:]

I somewhat agree. I hated the ending. Things are always better in your mind. I just watched Doubt. It was alright, acting was good I guess.

[Reply #396 on:]

The Mist 2 will be more action-orientated and will star The Rock as a US Marine going up against the Mist monsters. His catch-phrase, after shooting a creature, will be: "Mist? Hell no - I never miss."



In reality, there will be no such film.

[Reply #397 on:]

Very nice idea Coldangel.

I just watched Lilo and Stitch. Bianca likes it. I thought it was pretty charming and cute at times. The Elvis thing was a little weird and half-baked. It wasn't even 80 minutes long.
8/10
It makes me want to have a friendly furry companion of my own that doesn't sleep all the time.

Edit: Neat, I just discovered the director of Lilo and Stitch also directed the sigur ros movie Heima. And it's the only things he's done

[Reply #398 on:]

Swing Vote

Does Hollywood even try to hide its biases anymore?  I guess I don't watch enough movies.

Though I have to admit, Dennis Hopper's anti-abortion ad was fucking awesome.

Role Models

It's like eating a chocolate-covered truffle that you've expected to be filled with shit, but when you bite in you realize that it's not filled with shit but is, in fact, solid chocolate.  So, you're not really disappointed but at the same time kind of are.  Also the chocolate is kind of waxy and grainy, but there is a hot chick in glasses who bares her boobs for a few seconds.

I think there were some laugh-out loud moments, but the boobs really were the high points of the film.

[Reply #399 on:]

   Neat, I just discovered the director of Lilo and Stitch also directed the sigur ros movie Heima. And it's the only things he's done

I was going to mention the whole 'replaced as the director of Bolt' thing but I take it you mean Dean DeBlois rather than Chris Sanders (the other director co-director of Lilo and Stitch).