Dr. Movie Reviews; Or, How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love Jason Isaacs

[Reply #400 on:]

Grail is one of my favorite films.  My old College roommates & I can pretty much quote the film from start to finish, including the beginning titles (ex - "Those responsible for sacking those previously responsible have themselves been sacked").  Great stuff.  About the only film I can quote that comes close is Blazing Saddles.

Galaxy Quest
It's pretty much a given that every Science Fiction fan has seen this film at one point or another.  Very witty parody of the original Star Trek series, riffing on the iconic features & characteristics of the series episodes and the egomania of Hollywood actors.  Ultimately, it's a love letter to all Trekkers, admitted or not.  Very enjoyable & worth watching.

9/10

Star Trek "Where No One Has Gone Before" dance.

[Reply #401 on:]

 Look! I have ONE job on this lousy ship. It's stupid, but I'm going to DO it. OKAY?

[Reply #402 on:]

Coraline

Having seen "The Nightmare Before Christmas" many times and loving every minute of it I was keen to see Henry Selick's latest stop-go animation story. When I learnt that the film was based on a book by Neil Gaiman I was even more certain that I would enjoy it. When I watched "Coraline" I was not disappointed in the slightest. I hadn't seen a 3D film since the awful Jaws 3D so wasn't sure how the 3D would work here, thankfully it felt immersive rather than just having the occasional item appear to jump out the screen. Watching on DVD meant wearing red/green glasses which obviously had an effect on the colour of the film, while many colours appeared washed out others appeared much more intense such as Coraline's blue hair and yellow coat. Thankfully this just had the effect of making the film slightly more creepy.

The heroine of this film is the eponymous Coraline, her family have moved from Michigan to rural Oregon. She is bored there and her parents are too busy to do anything with her. While exploring the old house they have moved into she finds a small door; at first it is bricked up but later as she is asleep it opens, she wakes up and follows a mouse through the door. When she get to the other side she finds herself in what appears to me her own house but it isn't quite the same, everything is slightly better. When she goes downstairs she finds her mother cooking, at least she thinks it is her mother till she turns around and reveals that instead of eyes she has two black buttons. After initial concern she begins to love the new world and is tempted to stay until she learns what the price of staying is... to have her eyes replaced with buttons. Things then get creepier as her "other mother" is determined that Coraline will stay.

As one would expect from the creator of "The Nightmare Before Christmas" the animation is fantastic, be warned though this is a much darker story which parents might want to watch before letting younger children view it, while many children will delight in its creepiness others might have nightmares. The voice cast did a fine job notably Dakota Fanning as Coraline, Teri Hatcher as her mother and French and Saunders as the two ex-burlesque dancers who live downstairs. I certainly recommend this film for adults and most children, just remember it might be a bit scary for very young or timid children.

10/10

[Reply #403 on:]

I saw Coraline again yesterday in 3D, it didnt really work though. It is terrifying, but in a cool creepy way.

I saw UP yesterday, and its now one of my favourite films-I love all the characters, and I laughed so much. However, I found it very sad, especially at the beginning.

A+++++

[Reply #404 on:]

I think it may have helped that I watched on the computer which meant I was sitting much closer to the picture than I would have it I'd watched it on TV.

[Reply #405 on:]

I loved Coraline. It was very well done and the plot line was very twisty. Unfortunately there was only one theater showing it in 3-D so I will have to save my cash and buy the DVD. My wife is not really big into movies but I took a cinema appreciation course in college (anyone seen Rescued by Rover?), so movies have been a part of my life for 30 years.

Tim Burton is a genius.

A+

[Reply #406 on:]

No that Mr Burton made Coraline, of course.

I'm not one for usually picking up on symbolism in movies (I normally read about it sometime later) but even I couldn't fail to notice that Wyborne was Coraline's 'knight in shining armor' complete with helmet, steed, and a perchant for rescuing her from dire situations.

Wow, has it really been five pages since I had this and then this to say about Coraline.

I'm definately going to get the DVD (when it is eventually released here).

[Reply #407 on:]

What a McGovern I've been. Burton had nothing to do with this.Foolish me.

[Reply #408 on:]

Zombieland

I saw the preview for this in the theater and thought it looked like crap.  Of course, I thought "Oh boy, a Shaun of the Dead take off with Woody Harrelson in it.  I'll never see that!"  I skeptically went along to see it because my brother was interested in the movie.  I must say my initial judgement was completely wrong!  Zombieland is a really fun, light movie (outside of the zombie gore, which is done in a way to add to the comedy) with a really tight pacing.  I'd definitely recommend taking it in.

A


Toy Story/Toy Story 2 3-D

My first time seeing Toy Story or Toy Story 2 and my first 3-D movie all wrapped into one!  The movies were excellent as those of you who've seen them know.  Great animation and characters.  I saw a little of myself as a youngster in the evil kid next door who mangles toys.  That brought me back to the days of melting Star Wars figures and blowing up models with fireworks.  That made me chuckle.

As for the 3-D, I was quite impressed at the effect considering all you had to wear was a pair of passive glasses that look like dorkey shades.  The 3-D is quite dramatic, but it fit with the movie so well it seemed like the movies were made for 3-D from the beginning.  Since I never saw the 2-D versions, I wonder if I'd be disappointed now that I've had the 3-D experience? I thought 3-D might just be a short lived abused gimmick,  but I can see this staying around.  I can see why more and more films are having 3-D versions.

Verdict: A Go see 'em!

[Reply #409 on:]

Moon

Yay, finally saw it.

I thought it was really good. Very eerie and claustrophobic. It was very spooky, but not scary. I liked that they were quite forward about everything from the start. Sam Rockwell's performance was brilliant. Also, Clint Mansell's score was great, but I knew that already.

Show spoiler

First, i'm glad GERTY didn't turn out to be the bad guy, very glad that he was so helpful. One thing that i thought was a bit off: When Sam2 was explaining the plan of killing Sam3, and sending Sam1 home, he was still a little bit psycho in my head, and i thought that his actual plan would be to kill Sam1 and send himself home instead, so when Sam1 volunteered to do that anyway, I felt a little cheated by it. They should've let Sam2 grow a little bit more, to show that he'd really gone past his angry stage.

Also, when they went down to the clones pod things, i took the red lights as clones that had already been used (Even though the draw they opened was a red one) and the math doesn't seem to add up, there was like 12 of them used, which would be 36 years, but Eve was only 15. Anywhooooo.

ALSO! Do you think the original Sam Bell ever actually went up? Or was just an employee that let himself be cloned?

Really good film! A+

[Reply #410 on:]

Agreed, fantastic film. I enjoyed it very much. I'm going to go see it again, now there's been a wider release.

Show spoiler

there was like 12 of them used, which would be 36 years, but Eve was only 15. Anywhooooo.

Perhaps the clones only live for a year, and the "three year posting" consists of one year of actual work, and the two previous years are just artificial memories of Sam's time working on the base before his 'accident'. Or maybe the preceding 12 were really accident-prone..

Regarding the original Sam, I got the impression that he was probably initially sent up there for a couple of weeks/months, or a year, without knowing that he would be cloned. He would have been trained in the maintenance of the base for a while, then one day drugged/knocked over the head, had a snapshot of his memories was taken to be imprinted on the clones, then sent home with a fat bonus, iron-clad NDA and a pat on the back. The clones' would therefore just be living out the same process that Original Sam wold have been expecting to live out. Letting him know about the cloning process before the snapshot-taking process had been carried out would possibly impact negatively on the subsequent clones. Maybe... he doesn't even know he's been cloned at all!

Also, the thing about seeing the visions of his daughter seemed to be unusually supernatural to me until Duncan Jones explained in the Q&A session that these were supposed to be along the lines of the ESP that twins sometimes report as sensing between one another (except in this instance, it was between Original Sam and his clones.) Of course, this isn't grounded in hard science, but it is a far more satisfying explanation than "he just magically saw the girl" psycho-thriller nonsense. It makes more sense given the type of film it is.

Did you get that, without the luxury of the Q&A, Chay?

[Reply #411 on:]

Show spoiler

I saw it with my sparkly gif and a friend, and my friend was sort of soured by that connection where as I wasn't. He was saying it was stupid and supernatural, but i kinda was seeing more along the lines of ESP i guess, not like some hard mental connection between the two, but just a vague link. But i'm glad that Zowie did rule the supernatural thing out a little bit. I shall tell my friend!

Also, hmm, that is interesting about only serving the remainder of the contract, like you said, he serves a portion of the contract, then whack him over the head, steal his brainstuffs and the clones wake up after that point. I think i need to rewatch it with all this in mind.

[Reply #412 on:]

Paranormal Activity

  Yeah it was made for $15,000 and it's raking it in (including my $8.50), but it's still just a standard "get you when you least expect it" type of horror film.  You've seen it all before; a well timed bang, some creaking stairs, and some shadows.  Suspenseful in some spots, but dreadfully slow in others.  It definitely matches Hollywood films of the same type that cost a 1000 times as much to make.  That's an indictment of Hollywood though, not a reason to ignore that this is an average, somewhat boring film.

I recommend everyone buy into the marketing machine so I don't have to be the only one who spent money on this.

C

[Reply #413 on:]

Up 3D

First time I've seen a movie in the cinema for a good couple months, the 3d worked well which seems to mimick the eye squint 3d effect. Good movie, although it seems to fail as a kids movie.

B+ due to the fact that it is supposed to be a kids movie but it doesn't fell like a kids movie.

[Reply #414 on:]

It doesn't have to just be a kids' movie...

Galaxy Quest

I just got that dvd and watched it last night for the first time in years. Awesome. Little Justin Long, I forgot he was in that movie, but the main surprise which had me laughing for ages was Rainn Wilson with his white face...he just looks like Dwight Schrute with make-up and without glasses.

Whip It
This was actually really cute. I think I have a girl crush on Kristen Wiig. I inadvertently watched a couple of movies with her in them recently and she just makes me smile.

2 skates out of 2.

[Reply #415 on:]

   Up 3D

   First time I've seen a movie in the cinema for a good couple months, the 3d worked well which seems to mimick the eye squint 3d effect. Good movie, although it seems to fail as a kids movie.

   B+ due to the fact that it is supposed to be a kids movie but it doesn't fell like a kids movie.

What grade would it have got if it wasn't supposed to be a kids movie?

[Reply #416 on:]

Predator

This is a classic '80s "Arnie" film with plenty of violent action so if you liked previous films like "The Terminator" and "Commando" you are bound to like this too. Once again there is a large body count as our heroes first wipe out a rebel camp then find themselves hunted by the predator of the title.

The film opens with a short scene where a spaceship drops off a smaller craft which we see descend to Earth... we are not shown what it contained. We then join Arnie and his team of military experts who are given the job of flying in to a war torn Central American country to rescue a friendly local politician from the rebels. They are joined by CIA officer Dillon, played by Carl Weathers, who seems to know more about the mission than he is saying. It is soon clear that this isn't going to be a routine mission when they find the remains of the previous rescue mission skinned and hanging from a tree. When they find the rebels they kill them all apart from Anna, a young woman who they take with them. It is after this that the Predator really joins the story as it starts to pick off members of the team. At first they don't believe Anna when she tells them that "the jungle came alive" but soon realise that while that isn't literally true there is something out there that isn't human.

The action is pretty exciting throughout the film, it is also fairly violent with people dying after being shot, blown up, set on fire or impaled by a thrown machete.. and this is just the early scene where our heroes take on the rebels. As well as Arnie doing well in the lead role as Dutch the other actors do a decent job, especially the always good Bill Duke as Mac. The special effects are great for a pre-CGI film, especially the look of the predator's chameleon-like armour.

Even though I don't think this was as good as "Alien" in the space-monster genre I'd recommend this to any fans of '80s action movies as this is a great example of the type.

8/10

[Reply #417 on:]

   Up 3D

   First time I've seen a movie in the cinema for a good couple months, the 3d worked well which seems to mimick the eye squint 3d effect. Good movie, although it seems to fail as a kids movie.

   B+ due to the fact that it is supposed to be a kids movie but it doesn't fell like a kids movie.

What grade would it have got if it wasn't supposed to be a kids movie?

A definate A


Gamer

Interesting concept, similar to Death Race but just with out cars and everyone is controlled by someone else. Not the best movie around, but if you liked Death Race you may like Gamer. It's pretty much a typical Sci-Fi Action movie set at least a decade into the future.


C

[Reply #418 on:]

Cleaner
Samuel L. Jackson as a single dad ex-cop turned crime scene blood and guts cleaner-upper!
Anyway, he gets sent to clean a homicide at a big fancy house, but then later finds the key of the house in his pocket, so he goes back the next day to return it but the woman of the house (Eva Mendes) is all like "Wat? We were away yesterday what kind of cleanup service do you do? Wait, where's my husband?"
Oh snap, so it gets messy with corrupt cops and stuff.

Pretty good movie, Ed Harris and Luis Guzman also in it, not very actiony though.

B-

[Reply #419 on:]

Withnail & I

I had of course heard of this film but somehow I'd managed to avoid watching it until today... having just finished watching it I must say I regret waiting so long; it is the funniest film I've seen for a long time. The laughs don't come from gags and slapstick but from a genuinely witty script delivered brilliantly by Richard E. Grant and Paul McGann as their characters struggle to find food and a way to keep warm in London and later in a farmhouse near Penrith... somehow they don't have a problem acquiring alcohol or drugs.

Set at the end of the 1960s the film follows the lives of two out of work actors; Withnail played by Richard E. Grant and the unnamed narrator (I) played by Paul McGann. They live in a squalid north London flat where they are cold and hungry. They have the idea to go out of town for a bit and talk Witgnail's uncle Monty into letting them stay in his farm house in the Lake District. When they get there it is pouring with rain, they have no food or firewood. Their attempts go feed themselves include dealing with a live chicken, a run in with the local poacher and hunting for eels with a shot gun... all laugh out loud scenes which all manage to seem like something that might happen rather than something included as a gag. It seems that they are saved when Uncle Marty turns up and provides food... unfortunately he has come up because he has taken a liking to I and is determined to bed him.

The film has a great cast all of whom deliver their lines perfectly, even minor roles are memorable. Normally when I watch a comedy alone I just smile or occasionally giggle at the funny scenes but here I found myself laughing out loud many times. Like many great comedies there is an feeling that it could easily switch to tragedy.

If you haven't seen this already don't delay like I did, watch it at the first chance you get.

10/10

[Reply #420 on:]

I tried watching Withnail & I, couldn't finish it, some great quotes and all that but, meh. 

50 Dead Men Walking
Best Northern Ireland thriller since In The Name of the Father (I didn't see Bloody Sunday btw), Jim Sturgess was great as the real life Martin McGartland who became a spy for the British special branch, infiltrating the IRA and trying to save lives of their targets, but trying to keep a double life and a family takes its toll.

Gritty feel, Ben Kingsley is great too.

B+

[Reply #421 on:]

G.B.H.


The absolute best 10 hours you will ever spend in front of a television. From 1991, I saw this when I was imprisoned in Finland. It stars Robert Lindsay from Citizen Smith as an ambitious union leader with a dark secret and Michael Palin (from Monty Python) as a special needs school principal and Lindsay's nemesis. Lindsay Duncan is excellent as the party girl with a tape recorder.
Politics, street warfare, cross and double cross. This has the lot.

Unfortunately unavailable in the US on DVD. I will remember this series for the rest of my life.


10/10

[Reply #422 on:]

10 Hours?
Prison?


Can't be better than The Wire!

[Reply #423 on:]

7 part miniseries. My Finnish sweetie had my heart locked up in Lahti Finland.
G.B.H. won several BAFTA awards and should have won drama but in a supposedly rigged selection, it finished 2nd.
Showed Palin and Lindsay could do drama.

[Reply #424 on:]

Paranormal Activity

  Yeah it was made for $15,000 and it's raking it in (including my $8.50), but it's still just a standard "get you when you least expect it" type of horror film.  You've seen it all before; a well timed bang, some creaking stairs, and some shadows.  Suspenseful in some spots, but dreadfully slow in others.  It definitely matches Hollywood films of the same type that cost a 1000 times as much to make.  That's an indictment of Hollywood though, not a reason to ignore that this is an average, somewhat boring film.

I recommend everyone buy into the marketing machine so I don't have to be the only one who spent money on this.

C

Show spoiler

The best part was when almost everyone dies. I got to see it for free and it wasn't worth that.

[Reply #425 on:]

Moon

A big disappointment because the first have was ok.

[Reply #426 on:]

One-Sentence Reviews

Adaptation
Not as weird as Being John Malkovich, but still kooky enough to make pseudo-intellectuals feel better than everyone else for having watched it.

The Night We Called it a Day
If nothing else, it’s worth checking out for Dennis Hopper’s spot-on portrayal of Old Blue-Eyes.

Duplicity
A complex web of lies hiding a truth you can’t bring yourself to care about.

Heat
DeNiro and Pacino play themselves in an over-long slow-paced and oddly frustrating crime drama.

Undercover Brother
Quite the black comedy.

Caddyshack
Disappointingly pointless with the only amusing parts being Rodney Dangerfield’s one-liners.

Angels and Demons

Show spoiler

Yes, but the gamma-ray burst from the antimatter detonation would still have killed everybody through severe radiation poisoning, so Dan Brown loses at science.

Gothika
How can you have a women’s prison naked shower scene with Halle Berry and Penélope Cruz without showing so much as a single solitary tit!?

[Reply #427 on:]

Caddy shack had several other reasons to recommend it.
Bill Murray as the slob asst. groundskeeper.It's a Cinderella story, a Cinderella boy. He's standing on the 18th green at the Augusta National, with tears in his eyes.
And when they drain the swimming pool, he reaches down to eat the Baby Ruth and all the women faint. Priceless.
Chevy Chase as the existentialist golf pro. See the ball, be the ball.
You got to admit Lacey Underall was kinda hot, right?

[Reply #428 on:]

Yes, Chevy Chase was also good, but I found most of the humor to have aged badly. It was predictable and low-brow by today's standards, and like reviewers at the time of its release, I couldn't help but notice the absence of any real narrative - like they were just throwing in random stuff as they went along. Comedies always fare the worst as they age.

[Reply #429 on:]

Pseudo-intellectual
Not at all useful as a term outside of bitchy insults, but useful enough to make pseudo-intellectuals feel better than everyone else for having used it in a sentence.

[Reply #430 on:]

It worked!

And also, you just used it in a bitchy insult.

[Reply #431 on:]

Yes, Chevy Chase was also good, but I found most of the humor to have aged badly. It was predictable and low-brow by today's standards, and like reviewers at the time of its release, I couldn't help but notice the absence of any real narrative - like they were just throwing in random stuff as they went along. Comedies always fare the worst as they age.

Dangerfield was the king of low-brow comedians and Ted Knight's humor was none too cerebral either.
The writer Harold Ramis at least honed his craft and did write Ghostbusters 1, 2, and 3, Stripes and Groundhog Day. I guess you see a Ramis-Murray relationship here.
Ramis was in the Second City comedy group with Eugene Levy and the dearly departed John Candy.

[Reply #432 on:]

I still laugh when I see both Dangerfield & Knight in that film.  From what I understand, they didn't get along at all on the set.  Ted Knight was a classically trained method actor who tried to stay in character during the shoot; Rodney Dangerfield really wasn't an actor at this point.  He (admittedly) pretty much did his Vegas stand up act on camera, and he constantly goofed around & told jokes all the time off camera.  It supposedly drove Ted Knight insane. 

[Reply #433 on:]

I must admit that when I finally got around to watching Caddyshack I couldn't see what was so great about it. Too unstructured, perhaps. Maybe if Mel Brooks had done it or something, I dunno.

[Reply #434 on:]

It worked!

And also, you just used it in a bitchy insult.

I know, right? I'm totally meta.

[Reply #435 on:]

   I know, right? I'm totally mental.

Spelling.

[Reply #436 on:]

Moon

A big disappointment because the first have was ok.

Go away.

[Reply #437 on:]

Paranormal Activity

Stupid fucking movie. The last 15 or so minutes were okay (because something vaguely resembling a plot finally kicked in), and that whole improvised feel was kind of cool, but the movie's about 90% filler. Boring, vaguely creepy filler.

Show spoiler

Also: I saw a pirated version of this at a friend's house--I know, I know, shame on me--but the ending I got seemed a bit cooler than the ending that I hear is in the theatrical version. Equally as abrupt, and perhaps a bit more nonsensical, but twisted and "What the fuck?"-worthy indeed: basically, the cops shoot the demon-possessed chick for no real reason (unless carrying a big knife and muttering your murdered boyfriend's name now justifies the use of deadly force).

C-

[Reply #438 on:]

The Goods: Live Hard, Sell Hard
Oh goodie a Will Ferrell movie without Will Fer... AW FUCK NEVERMIND, HE'S IN IT!
Basically they take Ari Gold and make him a mercenary car salesman and throw in all the comedy actors of the day under the flimsiest of premises, to try and sell all the cars off the lot before something or other happens.

Meh, a few funny parts but a bit of a let down.

D+

[Reply #439 on:]

Beer League
Stars Artie Lang and Ralph Macchio (Ugly Betty).Combines all the great things men love. Softball, beer, and nekkid women.Two of these three can be safely enjoyed together. Drinking til you puke and softball are not the safest combo.
As a buddy movie and a slub sports movie it gets full marks. Seeing multiple displays of hurling (not of the sports variety), not such a pleasant 2 hours spent.


A pleasant wast of time.

7/10