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

[on:]

New Movie Reviews thread. Here's a link to the old one. Review!

[Reply #1 on:]

The first post in a new thread should be on topic, not just done to secure the title you want... hence a change of title

Back to the Future

One would have thought that a film made almost twenty five years ago about somebody travelling back in time thirty years would have dated terribly but it seems just as fresh now as when I first saw in on betamax all those years ago. I'm sure people will be enjoying it for decades to come.

Show spoiler

Michael J. Fox will almost certainly be best remembered for his role as Marty McFly, the eighties teenager who accidentally travels back to 1955 in a converted DeLorean. While much of the humour is derived from the differences between the two eras that isn't over done and it doesn't get in the way of the main plot. Not only must Marty enlist the help of his friend Dr. Brown to get him back to 1985 he must get his parents to fall in love all over again because he accidentally stopped their first meeting. This problem seems to be greater than time travel as his father is the school wimp who is constantly being harassed by the school bully Biff Tannen and his mother has fallen for him.

The supporting cast do a great job too, especially Christopher Lloyd is the archetypal mad scientist Dr Brown and Lea Thompson as Marty's mother who is rather prudish in the eighties but clearly knew how to have a good time when she was a teenager.. much to Marty's surprise. In a time before everything was done with CGI the effects are great and not overused. I'd recommend this film, along with its two sequels to anybody with a sense of humour.

9/10

Back to the Future pt 2

At the end of Back to the Future we were told that the story was to be continued, in 1989 that continuation hit the screens. This time things would get much darker as Marty and the Doc travel to the future and do things that have serious repercussions in the present so they have to go back to the past to set things right... it sounds confusing but makes sense when you watch it.

Show spoiler

The film starts just before the end of the previous film so we see Marty, the Doc and Jennifer take off for the future, this time however we see that Biff has witnessed their departure. Once in the future Marty must intervene to prevent his son from getting involved with a robbery being planned by Biff's grandson. Things might have gone well if that was all that he did however he has an idea to make a bit of money on his return by taking a book of future sports results back with him. Doc tells him to destroy the book but he leaves it it the DeLorean. Having overheard this conversation Biff steals the car while they are picking up Jennifer and returns it before they notice it had gone.

When they return home to 1985 everything has changed, the town of more like a war zone, somebody else is living in Marty's house and Biff is a millionaire living in a casino with Marty's mother. Marty confronts him and finds out that Biff had been given the future sports book by somebody claiming to be a relative back in 1955, using the results inside he had amassed a fortune. The only way to set things right is to go back to 1955 once more and retrieve the book before Biff can use it.

I enjoyed the darker tone of this film although some of the special effects in the future scenes looked a bit ropey by today's standards they didn't detract too much. The film is full of references to the original, in the future we have a hover-board chase around the town square similar to the skateboard chase in the original and when he is back in 1955 we see several scenes from the original film but from a different angle often with both versions of Marty in the same frame. Michael J, Fox and Christopher Lloyd were great once more in the leading roles and Thomas F. Wilson did a good job as Biff and his grandson Griff. If you enjoyed the first film I'm sure you will love this one too.

8/10

Back to the Future pt 3

After the much darker part two things lighten up for the concluding part of the story. Here there are plenty of jokes and some nice references to other films, in particular "A Fist Full of Dollars".

Show spoiler

When the film opens Marty is still trapped in 1955 but the letter he received that the end of part two tells him that Doc is alive and well living in 1885. The letter also informs Marty where the DeLorean has been hidden and how, with the help of 1955-Doc he can get it running and return to 1985. However before Marty can do that he learns that Doc died a few days after sending his letter to instead of returning to 1985 he dresses up a rather camp 1950s cowboy costume and goes to 1885. Here he meets his great-great-grandparents who he tells he is called Clint Eastwood. When he head goes into town he ends up making an enemy of the local gunman Buford 'Mad Dog' Tannen, a descendant of Biff. This is also the person who had been destined to kill Doc. When Marty saves Doc at the party to celebrate the construction of the new town clock he is challenged to a duel. Now he has two days to either prepare to fight or to get the DeLorean up to 88MPH without any suitable fuel. There is also a subplot involving Doc and the town's new teacher Clara Clayton.

While I think this is probably the weakest of the trilogy it is still a pretty good film and it wraps the story up nicely. As well as being fun science fiction it also works as a decent comedy western, especially if you are a fan of Clint Eastwood's spaghetti westerns. As in the first two parts Micael J. Fox and Christopher Lloyd were great in the leading roles.

7/10

[Reply #2 on:]

   Back to the Future pt 3

   [spoiler] ... goes to 1885. Here he meets ... Buford 'Mad Dog' Tannen, a descendant of Biff ... [/spoiler]

By descendant do you mean ancestor?

[Reply #3 on:]

As the maker of the thread, I can rename it whenever I like. So I changed it to something more apropos.

[Reply #4 on:]

   Back to the Future pt 3

   [spoiler] ... goes to 1885. Here he meets ... Buford 'Mad Dog' Tannen, a descendant of Biff ... [/spoiler]

By descendant do you mean ancestor?

Oops you are right... goes to fix IMDb post

[Reply #5 on:]

Are you two having fun?
Regardless of the Title Wars, it is apparently spelled Isaacs; so that should be the spelling..

Back to the Future is awesome.
I would probably give the first one 10/10.

[Reply #6 on:]

I have no idea who Jason Isaacs is, I demand a new title!

[Reply #7 on:]

Jason Isaacs is an actor who Mark Kermode nearly always says hello to on his film review programme.

[Reply #8 on:]

The guy isn't even a natural blinding bleach blonde.

[Reply #9 on:]

As the maker of the thread, I can rename it whenever I like. So I changed it to something more apropos.

Dr. Strangelove reference for the win!

[Reply #10 on:]

Jason Isaacs

ooh, the bad guy from The Patriot...

[Reply #11 on:]

Jason Isaacs is an actor who Mark Kermode nearly always says hello to on his film review programme.

As regular listeners will know, Mark Kermode always says "Hello" to Jason Issacs as (a) he knows him from school, and (b) wherever Jason is in the world, he's listening to the podcast and always says "Hello" back.

[Reply #12 on:]

Is it bad that I kept thinking that Jason Isaacs was Jay of Silent Bob fame?

[Reply #13 on:]

That's Jason Mewes.

Meanwhile:

Ice Age 3: Dawn Of The Dinosaurs (3D)

Saw this last night, and the first time I was bothered to go and see one of the latest 3D efforts, since they're trying to resurrect the format (probably to deter pirates, or somesuch).

Anyhoo, Simon Pegg is the standout in this, even if he's doing a kindof Dick Van Dyke English accent (not unlike the Ye Olde Englishe robote frome the Transformers filme - I kept expecting a "shine yer shoes for yer, govnor!?")

That apart, was good clean fun, and while the 3D wasn't as good as the 3D in the trailers, I enjoyed it.

7/10

[Reply #14 on:]

Jealous. I'm thinking I'll probably have to wait for the DVD release to see this one though.

[Reply #15 on:]

I did not know Simon Pegg was in Ice Age 3

Anyway I just got back from seeing Bruno It was very funny and very cringy. Sacha is the man and I love him. There was a few supries at the end of the movie too.

8/10

[Reply #16 on:]

Ice Age 3D

I just got back from this. I love the Ice Age movies and I thought this one was great. Quite funny. I loved Buck so much great character. The accent Pegg gave him was great I think it worked well. Crash and Eddie were great, they are fun characters.

I agree with Melll about the 3D, not the greatest 3D but it was good, though personally I would have rather have saved the extra $2.50 that it cost to get in but as it was the last showing of it for the day I'll live. I can't wait to get it on DVD

8/10

[Reply #17 on:]

I'm not going to any 3D's until the Toy Story rereleases in October, and after that the release of Avatar, which is supposed to revolutionize 3D.

[Reply #18 on:]

I'm not big on 3D, I'd rather just see the movie regularly, I don't care if it looks like the stuff is coming at me or not, I just want to be entertained by the movie.

[Reply #19 on:]

3D is not worth paying the extra money for, so far, in my experience.

Up was awesome, but I didn't see the point for it, anyways

Bruno was pretty shocking, and almost sad, in how much hatred this country has.  I cannot believe that Sacha did not get killed or at least seriously injured.  It got a big reaction out of me, but I will not remember it as a classic I don't think
7.5/10

[Reply #20 on:]

I had to see Transformers 2 today because kciN and earT wouldn't let me and ceB see something a little less meh. So, yeah it was meh and it dragged on quite a bit but it's kinda hard to write a proper review when I've been up for almost 24 hours straight...

[Reply #21 on:]

   Is it bad that I kept thinking that Jason Isaacs was Jay of Silent Bob fame?

And I thought he was the guy who voiced Syndrome in The Incredibles. 

[Reply #22 on:]

Jason Isaacs

ooh, the bad guy from The Patriot...

He's the bad guy from everything.

[Reply #23 on:]

3D is not worth paying the extra money for, so far, in my experience.

Agreed. In fact, in my experience it's far worse than seeing the same film in regular 2D. The glasses are really uncomfortable, the illusion of three dimensional space is at the expense of an annoying staccato effect to all the motion and you completely lose all impression of seeing the film on a huge screen because of the stupid glasses. Plus, nobody has done anything really interesting with technology beyond simple gimmicks.

I'm not a fan of IMAX*, either. There's big, and then there's too-big-to-focus-on-what's-actually-happening big. I got free tickets to see Transformers there last week (horrible, horrible film, not going to waste my time reviewing it), and by the end of the 2 1/2 hours, I felt like I was strung out after a five-day bender. No wonder they mainly only show 30 minute films about fish.

(* - proper IMAX, that is. I haven't seen any films in the new, fake IMAX yet.)

[Reply #24 on:]

The glasses are really uncomfortable, the illusion of three dimensional space is at the expense of an annoying staccato effect to all the motion and you completely lose all impression of seeing the film on a huge screen because of the stupid glasses.

Also, everybody I've talked to has gotten at least a mild headache.

Fake IMAX is actually pretty good - everything is definitely a lot clearer.  I'm not convinced that it's $5 extra worth of clearer, though.  Certainly better than a film print, but I'd like the chance to compare it to a non-Fake Imax digital print.

[Reply #25 on:]

Jason Isaacs

ooh, the bad guy from The Patriot...

He's the bad guy from everything.

No, that's Kevin Spacey.


There's a distinct difference between film and digital prints in quality. I've never seen an IMAX Hollywood film before so I can't compare to them, but I would bet there isn't much difference between the clarity of a digital versus an IMAX as both are digital, although the former really depends on the theater you're seeing it in; some don't seem to run digital too well.

On 3D, the glasses are a pain and the headaches are abounding. However, Ben, I mentioned Avatar earlier, which is supposed to make large leaps with 3D projection. The 3D used in the film has been described as "holograms", so I'm very interested in seeing how that plays out.

[Reply #26 on:]

The Train (1964)

Set in 1944 during the final days of the German occupation of France this film is gripping from start to finish. It was made at what was perhaps the idea time; there were still plenty of railway vehicles from the war time period in use but as they were coming to the end of their useful life they could be destroyed in the film. It also meant they wouldn't be unrealistically clean as they probably would have been if preserves engines were used.

Paul Scofield plays a German colonel with a fondness for fine art, since the artists he favours are considered degenerate by the Nazi regime he argues that they are worth saving for Germany if only for their monetary value. To do this he requisitions a train that is he determined to get out of France whatever the cost. While he is determined that his train will get though Labiche, a French railway worker played by Burt Lancaster, is equally determined that it will not leave France. Labiche has another problem, not only must he stop the train he must also protect its cargo for France. To do this he uses deception, sabotage and even risks the life of himself and fellow resistance fighters to mark the train so it isn't attacked my Allied aircraft.

The two leading actors gave great performances and the supporting cast were good too. The black and white photography really captures the dirty feel of steam railway. This might not be as famous as other war films but it is definitely worth seeing.

10/10

[Reply #27 on:]

Imax isn't digital. It's 70mm film. also, the pictures are on their sides...

EDIT: Well, it's 70mm +

[Reply #28 on:]

Real IMAX or Fake IMAX?

[Reply #29 on:]

I keep hearing about 3d glasses causing headaches, but I've never had a problem, in fact i LOVE 3d. Maybe where you sit plays a role. I always sit dead center in a row about halfway back, so that in stadium seating I can look into the dead center of the screen without having to look up, down, or to either side. I also don't wear the glasses pushed all the way up against my face, i wear them about halfway down my nose. I've seen several 3d movies this way and have never once gotten a headache.

[Reply #30 on:]

last few movies i watched since july 5th:



The Curious Case of Benjamin Button - 8/10
a bit lacking in character development for everyone but the main character, else a great story

Big Fish - 8/10
fantastic story, nothing more, nothing less

Citizen Kane - 10/10
all hail hy... Orsen Welles

The Battle over Citizen Kane - 7.5/10
very intresting documentary over Orsen Welles and his works


Kaze no tani no Naushika (Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind)
Tenkû no shiro Rapyuta (Laputa - Catsle in the Sky)
Tonari no Totoro (MY Neighbour Totoro)
Majo no takkyûbin (Kiki's Delivery Service)
Kurenai no buta (Porco Rosso)
Mononoke-hime (Princess Mononoke)
Sen to Chihiro no kamikakushi (Spirited Away)
Hauru no ugoku shiro (Howl's Moving Casle)
Hotaru no Haka (Grave of the Fireflies)
Omohide Poro Poro (Only Yesterday)
Mimi o Sumaseba (Whisper of the Heart)
Neko no Ongaeshi (The Cat Returns)
Heisei Tanuki Gassen Ponpoko (Pom Poko)
Gedo Senki (Tales from Earthsea)
they all toghether get more than a solid 10/10


Alien [Theatrical Version] - 8/10

Aliens [Theatrical Version] - 8.5/10

Alien³ [Theatrical Version] - 6.5/10

Alien Resurrection [Theatrical Version] - 7/10

Predator - 8/10

Predator 2 - 6/10

Alien vs. Predator [Theatrical Version] - 4/10
could have made way more with the two franchises...


Night of the Living Dead (1968) - 9/10

Dawn of the Dead [Extended Version] (1978) - 8/10

Day of the Dead (1985) - 6/10

Land of the Dead (2005) - 5.5/10


via the home cinema Projector:

Sweeney Todd - 8/10

2001: A Space Odyssey - 10/10
oh how fantastic this one works on the big screen, especially Jupiter and Beyond

The Incredible Hulk - 7/10

Iron Man - 8.5/10

Léon [Directors Cut] - 9.5/10

Monty Python and the Holy Grail - 10/10
watching this at 4am surely leaves you in stitches

[Reply #31 on:]

Enemy At The Gates:

A decent little war film, it would have been much better without the rubbish love triangle crap and cartoony German Villain (spoilers,

Show spoiler

he loses his son during the battle BUT kills a kid? the hell?).

It loses half a point for not even making an effort with learning how to do the right accents. Still, the war stuff was pretty.

7.5

[Reply #32 on:]

I like that movie, I remember the part when they're in the train, and need to jump across the gap, but there's a sniper, the first guy who jumped gets shot. Good movie.

[Reply #33 on:]

I liked it too, gave it 8/10 in my IMDb Review

[Reply #34 on:]

Bruno - 1/10
This movie is an affront to comedy, it relies purely on shock value rather than any actual wit. What was the point of the swinging, talking penis on screen? If the objective of the movie was to make me spit my drink all over the people in the row in front of me then mission accomplished.

[Reply #35 on:]

Bruno - 1/10
This movie is an affront to comedy, it relies purely on shock value rather than any actual wit. What was the point of the swinging, talking penis on screen? If the objective of the movie was to make me spit my drink all over the people in the row in front of me then mission accomplished.

the swinging penis had me in fits of laughter.  also the bit were he was mining giving a blowjob also made me stop breathing.

[Reply #36 on:]

Sheesh. Sounds pretty gay.

[Reply #37 on:]

Yep it is so gay.

[Reply #38 on:]

Heat - another viewing, good as ever - 10/10
Leon - Natalie Portman was 9/10
Encounters at the end of the world - <3 Werner Herzog. This was on blu ray but it kept skipping and stuff. I missed like 25 minutes of it.
Castle in the Sky - Maybe my new second favourite Ghibli, right after Nausicaa. 10/10

[Reply #39 on:]

Bruno - 1/10

…

If the objective of the movie was to make me spit my drink all over the people in the row in front of me then mission accomplished.

I've changed my mind about Freddy after reading this post. If we're going to have trolling, then we may as well have clever, amusing trolling.