Redbul Posted 17 October, 2009 Share Posted 17 October, 2009 Watched Exiled (Fong Juk), a Chinese gangster film. Has some good gunfight scenes but the film never really gets going, it falters and stutters from scene to scene and never really builds to a crescendo. It was an easy and enjoyable film to watch, but it's not a patch on Hard Boiled. 6/10 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LVSaint Posted 18 October, 2009 Share Posted 18 October, 2009 (edited) Paranormal Activity - A $11,000 movie that puts all other recent big budget horror films to shame....well, all other mainstream horror produced nowadays is crap anyway. Very much like Blair Witch Project but not quite as effective. Great sense of foreboding and dread builds the entire time until the rather OTT climax on the last night. Opens in November over there and well worth a watch. Psychologically scary and clever. 4/5 Edited 18 October, 2009 by LVSaint Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Smirking_Saint Posted 19 October, 2009 Share Posted 19 October, 2009 Watched good will hunting last night, forgot just how good that film was. Fantastic performance from williams Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Seany S Posted 20 October, 2009 Share Posted 20 October, 2009 Watched "The Man With The Golden Arm" the other night, the 1955 Otto Pre*****r adaptation of Nelson Algren's near flawless novel starring Frank Sinatra and Kim Novak. It takes a few liberties and is not quite as gritty as the book, but considering when it came out and the issues it deals with (heroin addiction, primarily) it was considered groundbreaking and made the movie bigwigs in the States change the way they went about classifying films. Sinatra is wonderful in it too, and thoroughly deserved his Oscar nomination. If anyone fancies seeing it, I spotted a copy in Cash Converters in Bitterne the other day for a couple of quid, well worth a search through their shelves if it is still there. Apart from that I also watched the 2004 Punisher movie the other night. I switched my brain off and vegetated through it, but lets face it, it is a pile of gash. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jeff leopard Posted 20 October, 2009 Share Posted 20 October, 2009 In the Loop Very enjoyable stuff, but considering the critical praise it got and how much I love the thick of it, I was left feeling slightly under-whelmed. The way Blair/Campell betrayed this country in regard to Iraq is ripe for political satire, and the scene where they sex-up/rape the war dosier is wonderful, but the thick of it was at its best when they were handling the tiny nitty gritty issues, the kind of things real people couldn't care less about. Still, it delivers a stream of fantastic film-based put-downs, my favourites (both fired at Toby) being 'Oi, baby from Eraserhead' and 'Go f**k yourself Frodo'. Very excited about the new series of TTOI Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Redbul Posted 29 October, 2009 Share Posted 29 October, 2009 Just been to see The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus. I liked it 'cos I like Terry Gilliam films anyway, but I didn't love it and I felt kind of disappointed by that; I think I was expecting so much more. The plot or storyline seemed overly complicated and hidden which made it a bit more hard work than it needed to be and I couldn't find myself feeling that troubled that Valentina (Lily Cole) was potentially going to be taken by the Devil (or Mr Nick, played brilliantly by Tom Waits). I just couldn't warm to the characters. That aside, it's still a good film that (probably more importantly) the kids seemed to enjoy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jeff leopard Posted 12 November, 2009 Share Posted 12 November, 2009 Mesrine: Killer Instinct Enjoyable ultra-violent gangster-biopic in classic Scorsese style with Vincent Cassel in blistering form, switching from charming rogue to truly despicable khunt with ease. I like the fact the film was split into two parts (like Kill Bill and Che) as biopics are as a rule way too long, and part one (Killer Instinct) cracks along at a break-neck pace. But there in lies the problem, we get two hours of key moments in the first half of Mesrine's adult life without getting an understanding of what joins the dots; why did a middle-class lad from a very respectable family turns to violent crime, and later we get no sense of his boredom or frustration when he briefly tries to go straight. There's nothing here we haven't seen before, but Cassel is brilliant as a true cinematic anti-hero (ie a really really nasty piece of work), and there are enough whores and machine guns to even keep Scarface fans engaged. I'm off to see part 2 (Public Enemy #1) in a couple of weeks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
the stain Posted 12 November, 2009 Share Posted 12 November, 2009 Recently... Public Enemies - Very watchable cops and robbers and a return to some kind of form by Michael Mann, although I couldn't help thinking it was a bit of a retread of Heat Drag Me To Hell - Do you know what? I remember classic Raimi horror-chuckles, and I'm sure that I enjoyed it. But a week later I buggered if I can remember what it was about... Mongol - Russian epic telling of the early years and rise of Genghis Khan. Beautifully shot (think the colour themed landscapes of Hero) and great action sequences. All the pivotal moments in his life seem to have happened in convenient batches, around the same campfire. Last King Of Scotland - Bit late coming to this one, but really really good. Forest Whitaker is gobsmacking as Idi Amin. Amazing soundtrack too. The Time Machine - Recent-ish version with Guy Pearce. Guff. Iris - Iris Murdoch biopic, adapted from her husband's memoirs of her descent into Altzheimer's. Very much more about him and his insecurities, than about her (which I'm sure was the intention). I've read loads of her books and know something of the potency of her thinking, but I think for the lay-person it would be difficult to tell exactly what was great about a woman who was sarcastic at parties and slept around a lot. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
saint lard Posted 12 November, 2009 Share Posted 12 November, 2009 (edited) Surrogates -good movie,Willis plays 'both' his parts well and makes the transition between 'robot' and human quite obvious,ok i know he should do,but it's subtle yet definate. Good concept,well executed IMO. 7/10. Hardwired-very mediocre,really seemed i had seen it before,didn't get too absorbed into it,just washed over me and now forgotten. Cuba Gooding jnr was...well,meh! 4/10 The invention of lying-First half of the movie moved along at a good pace,some good comedy,however second half became just a poor rom- com. Gervais,mmm,i think he's great at what he does and when i saw his stand up it was great,but he is now just a cross between Brent/Andy Millman continuously, i can't see him being capable of not being like those characters. 5/10. Edited 14 November, 2009 by saint lard Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Johnny Shearer Posted 13 November, 2009 Share Posted 13 November, 2009 (edited) Recently... Drag Me To Hell - Do you know what? I remember classic Raimi horror-chuckles, and I'm sure that I enjoyed it. But a week later I buggered if I can remember what it was about... I liked this. I always there's a nod back to his Evil Dead films in his newer films which is a good thing. Up - aimed at kids but a sad film nonetheless I thought. Black Dynamite - Completely stupid and a throwback to the Blaxploitation films of the 70s but funny stuff. "But Dynamite, I serve the community by selling drugs." Edited 14 November, 2009 by Johnny Shearer Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
saint lard Posted 14 November, 2009 Share Posted 14 November, 2009 2012- Go see it,bloody good film. CGI is superb,and they made an effort with some individual storylines also. I hope the Mayans' got their calculations wrong,preferebly out by a couple thousand years would be nice. Highly recomend this film 8 and a bit/10 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rattlehead Posted 14 November, 2009 Share Posted 14 November, 2009 Last King Of Scotland - Bit late coming to this one, but really really good. Forest Whitaker is gobsmacking as Idi Amin. Amazing soundtrack too. Great film. Kerry Washington is very much deserving of benefit as well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
saint lard Posted 14 November, 2009 Share Posted 14 November, 2009 (edited) Law abiding Citizen- Damn good thriller,Foxx puts in a good performance as does Gerard Butler. Butler is a bit of a fruit loop, but at times you can see where he is coming from reference the justice system,but he hardly goes about righting wrongs in the correct manner. One bit in the movie made me jump out of my skin,that has not happend since my first viewing of Alien,it really was quite unexpected. 8/10 Edited 14 November, 2009 by saint lard Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bridge too far Posted 14 November, 2009 Share Posted 14 November, 2009 Just finished watching the new Star Trek movie on DVD that Amazon sent us 2 days ahead of its official release Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Colinjb Posted 14 November, 2009 Share Posted 14 November, 2009 Just finished watching the new Star Trek movie on DVD that Amazon sent us 2 days ahead of its official release Same, but on Blu ray. Loved it! Wanted to hate it, but loved it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
equalizer Posted 14 November, 2009 Share Posted 14 November, 2009 War starring Jason Statham and Jet Li and also watched Step Brothers with Will Ferral, both films were cack! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bentley Posted 14 November, 2009 Share Posted 14 November, 2009 2012- Go see it,bloody good film. CGI is superb,and they made an effort with some individual storylines also. I hope the Mayans' got their calculations wrong,preferebly out by a couple thousand years would be nice. Highly recomend this film 8 and a bit/10 It's truly awful. The acting is hammy, the script is predictable and it's actually boring! You think seeing the trailer it's going to be amazing non-stop thrill ride but after seeing them escape the same falling piece of ground underneath their car... you get a bit tired. I was sitting in the back row with no-one else with me surprisingly, so I got the I-Phone out (making sure it was on silent, and the light wasn't distracting for other members of the public of course) and was looking at the rugby and football scores instead. I preferred that. It gets 1 for the quality of the CGI and 1 for having an end. 2/10. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nexstar Posted 15 November, 2009 Share Posted 15 November, 2009 The men that stare at goats This 'comedy' with George Clooney and Ewan McGregor had a terrible storyline - both boring and confusing - and very nearly sent me to sleep. Was it worth £6.60? HA. 2.3/10 (it gained the 2 for making me laugh once in 98 minutes) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jeff leopard Posted 15 November, 2009 Share Posted 15 November, 2009 The men that stare at goats 2.3/10 (it gained the 2 for making me laugh once in 98 minutes) what was the 0.3 for? I was thinking about seeing this, but peoples' reaction hasn't been at all good. Its a shame as the book and tv series that came out a few years ago were both great. Silent Running This classic hippy sci-fi used to be on tv all the time back in the 80s and i remember loving it as a child. Twenty-odd years later though and its aged badly. The special effects look very poor, its main character is far too annoying and selfish to be sympathetic, its Joan Baez soundtrack is laughably twee and the narrative possesses zero dramatic tension. But the droids are cool and without them we wouldn't have had R2D2 or Wall*E. 4/10 Open Your Eyes Brilliantly creepy mixture of sci-fi, horror and conspiracy thriller that truly gets under your skin and has great fun phuqing with your head. It loses a point for its mildly ridiculous last scene which tries too hard to tie up all the loose ends and feels like a bit of a cop-out. But still, infinitely better than the US remake (Vanilla Sky) and a very highly recommended piece of recentish spanish cinema. 9/10 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nexstar Posted 15 November, 2009 Share Posted 15 November, 2009 what was the 0.3 for? Having decent actors. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Saints1980 Posted 15 November, 2009 Share Posted 15 November, 2009 Let The Right One In. Another superb European (Swedish) Horror. Watched this last night, thought it was great.. 8.5/10 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Colinjb Posted 15 November, 2009 Share Posted 15 November, 2009 Watching 'Hard Candy' right now. Ellen Page is a remarkable young actress. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LVSaint Posted 16 November, 2009 Share Posted 16 November, 2009 Originally Posted by manji View Post Let The Right One In. Another superb European (Swedish) Horror. Watched this last night, thought it was great.. 8.5/10 Looking forward to this one. I've ordered a UK copy that I'll have by Xmas. The US distributors of this film thought they'd cut costs and decided not to purchase the rights to the official theatrical subtitles track. They got their own in-house monkeys to write a newly translated one...which I am lead to believe is worse than a Babelfish translation. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
saint_stevo Posted 19 November, 2009 Share Posted 19 November, 2009 Watching 'Hard Candy' right now. Ellen Page is a remarkable young actress. No need for the faked castration! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
saint_stevo Posted 19 November, 2009 Share Posted 19 November, 2009 Harry Brown Quality, a bit slow getting started, but important to get to know the characters etc. But very very good thereafter. 8.5/10 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
St Landrew Posted 21 November, 2009 Share Posted 21 November, 2009 Star Trek Ok, I succumbed. I dashed into Sainsbury's this evening to get a box of Hardy's Shiraz-Cabernet, and as I passed the DVDs, there it was staring out at me with an introductory price tag. I liked it. In fact I liked it a lot. It didn't draw the emotions in any way, but it was effective and had it's moments. I thought for a moment I was going to get loads of cliches from Shakespeare, as are flung about in the previous films. But young Spock did a little Sherlock Holmes quote and that was about it. All was rather original and quite well done, given the filmic history this one has weighing it down. Dare I say 7/10, or is that being too kind..? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Johnny Shearer Posted 21 November, 2009 Share Posted 21 November, 2009 Star Trek Ok, I succumbed. I dashed into Sainsbury's this evening to get a box of Hardy's Shiraz-Cabernet, and as I passed the DVDs, there it was staring out at me with an introductory price tag. I liked it. In fact I liked it a lot. It didn't draw the emotions in any way, but it was effective and had it's moments. I thought for a moment I was going to get loads of cliches from Shakespeare, as are flung about in the previous films. But young Spock did a little Sherlock Holmes quote and that was about it. All was rather original and quite well done, given the filmic history this one has weighing it down. Dare I say 7/10, or is that being too kind..? It is a good film but for Trekkies (not that I am one but do watch most of the shows!) it ruins continuity. Meaning everything that happens in Star Trek: Next Generation may not happen. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sheaf Saint Posted 21 November, 2009 Share Posted 21 November, 2009 Just been to see A Serious Man Latest film from the Coen brothers and possibly the best one they have ever made. A tale about a jewish university professor living in a suburban hell in the 1960s whose life is falling apart around him, seeking answers from the experience of the Rabbis. Genuinely hilarious in parts, with a lot of the subtle humour that is a trademark from the Coens' previous films as well. Michael Stuhlbarg is superb as the lead character who struggles with his own morality. Highly recommended. 8.5/10 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dog Posted 23 November, 2009 Share Posted 23 November, 2009 Finally got around to watching Slumdog Millionaire, cracking film, really enjoyed it. Have to agree, love the bit when Chris Tarrant falls down the stairs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Master Bates Posted 23 November, 2009 Share Posted 23 November, 2009 Tim Burtons Sweeney Todd x2 Fercking cracking film, not for the gore, but for the singing, the damn right atmosphere, bl00dy amazing film. Another fine partnership by Tim Burton & Johnny Depp, if not the best. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hamilton Saint Posted 24 November, 2009 Share Posted 24 November, 2009 In the past week I've watched two very similar films: 1) Grizzly Man - an excellent documentary directed by Werner Herzog. It tells the story of Timothy Treadwell, a young Californian who spent 13 summers in the wilds of Alaska hanging out with grizzly bears. For the final five summers he videotaped many of his encounters with grizzlies and other animals. Herzog got access to Treadwell's tapes (over 100 hours of footage) and filmed interviews with some of the people who knew him. What emerges is a fascinating portrait of an obsessed, very troubled, naive guy. The soundtrack music was written by Richard Thompson (with the support of a small ensemble) and produced by Henry Kaiser. Highly recommended. 2) Into the Wild - a feature film, based on the book by John Krakauer, written and directed by Sean Penn. It's also set in Alaska ans tells the story of another self-absorbed, obsessed loner (Chris McCandless, who adopts the alias Alexander Supertramp) who wants to get away entirely from civilisation (even avoiding all communication with his family) and live by his own wits in the pristine Alaskan wilderness. This film also provides a lot of "back-story", and we meet some interesting characters that "Alex" hooks up with on his long journey from home to Alaska. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
St Landrew Posted 24 November, 2009 Share Posted 24 November, 2009 ... it ruins continuity. Meaning everything that happens in Star Trek: Next Generation may not happen. Mr Data aside, I'm not sure that's too bad a thing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
St Landrew Posted 25 November, 2009 Share Posted 25 November, 2009 Hanco.ck What can you do with the weather..? So I watched this Will Smith film a couple of nights ago. Anything with Will Smith in it has a chance of being watchable, and this one's no different. The story is pretty wafer thin, but then that's not what it's about. It's about the actors looking good on screen, which they do, and the masses of CGI mean that they are able to do some impressive things too. It's also a bit of a moral tale too. Have faith in your neighbour, because there is good in surprising places. But that's about it. It was fun, and I can sort of understand why it was extremely successful. Isn't everything involving Will Smith successful..? 6/10 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
norwaysaint Posted 25 November, 2009 Share Posted 25 November, 2009 The Boat that Rocked Fun and lightweight film with a cast that makes you keep saying "Ooooh look it's that bloke from Spaced/The IT Crowd/Flight of the Concords... etc" The music was pretty good and it told the story of pirate radio well, while making it pretty clear it was making most of it up. 7/10 Juno I loved this film. It was sharp, funny, beautifully understated and well acted. It also had a lovely soundtrack. 9/10 Over the Hedge I borrowed this thinking I'd show it to my kids. I had a quick preview first and thought it was so poor that I didn't bother showing it to them. It was one of those typical films that's meant to be for kids but is trying way too hard to be clever. It was far too fast talking and contained far too many adult world references for kids to enjoy properly. I hate this type of film. It's not funny enough for grown-ups and too smart-arsey for kids, at least younger ones. Pointless. 3/10 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jeff leopard Posted 27 November, 2009 Share Posted 27 November, 2009 Mesrine: Killer Instinct Enjoyable ultra-violent gangster-biopic in classic Scorsese style with Vincent Cassel in blistering form, switching from charming rogue to truly despicable khunt with ease. I like the fact the film was split into two parts (like Kill Bill and Che) as biopics are as a rule way too long, and part one (Killer Instinct) cracks along at a break-neck pace. But there in lies the problem, we get two hours of key moments in the first half of Mesrine's adult life without getting an understanding of what joins the dots; why did a middle-class lad from a very respectable family turns to violent crime, and later we get no sense of his boredom or frustration when he briefly tries to go straight. There's nothing here we haven't seen before, but Cassel is brilliant as a true cinematic anti-hero (ie a really really nasty piece of work), and there are enough whores and machine guns to even keep Scarface fans engaged. I'm off to see part 2 (Public Enemy #1) in a couple of weeks. Mesrine: Public Enemy #1 Part two of this absolutely stonking tale of France's most notorious and popular gangster, Jacque Mesrine. After his genuinely shocking rise to power in part one, Mesrine, now the most wanted man in France, becomes obsessed with his media image, and goes to huge lengths to portray himself as a man of honour and a hero of the people (part-robin hood, part marxist revelutionary). He spends his time languishing in prison, escaping in spectacular style, robbing banks and rubbing out journalists that dare to question this version of himself and expose his very grubby past. If you like a classy, intelligent crime thriller then you could do much worse than giving four hours of your life (in two break-neck paced two hour chunks) to Mesrine. You might find him a hero of the people, you may feel no sympathy when he gets his inevitable blood splattered comeuppance, but there's no doubting what a fascinating character he was as you marvel at the career-defining performance given by Vincent Cassel (La Haine/Irreversible/Eastern Promises). Killer Instinct 8/10 Public Enemy #1 9/10 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Johnny Shearer Posted 28 November, 2009 Share Posted 28 November, 2009 Damned United Watched this last night. Have got the book and am half way through that but its a lot better than the film most likely due to not being able to fit everything in reasonably. Tis good nonetheless with some good acting. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CHAPEL END CHARLIE Posted 29 November, 2009 Share Posted 29 November, 2009 I've just found a DVD of one of my guilty pleasures ' The Car ' - a 1977 James Brolin movie seldom broadcast now telling the tale of a utterly satanic (driver-less) motor than terrorises the residents and Police Dept of a small desert town in the US of A for no obvious reason . Think of a inferior version of 'Christine' - trash but I enjoyed it . 6/10 . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bentley Posted 29 November, 2009 Share Posted 29 November, 2009 Hanco.ck What can you do with the weather..? So I watched this Will Smith film a couple of nights ago. Anything with Will Smith in it has a chance of being watchable, and this one's no different. The story is pretty wafer thin, but then that's not what it's about. It's about the actors looking good on screen, which they do, and the masses of CGI mean that they are able to do some impressive things too. It's also a bit of a moral tale too. Have faith in your neighbour, because there is good in surprising places. But that's about it. It was fun, and I can sort of understand why it was extremely successful. Isn't everything involving Will Smith successful..? 6/10 I don't think there is a better example of a film falling apart half-way through like Han**** does. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
St Landrew Posted 29 November, 2009 Share Posted 29 November, 2009 The Dark Knight Watched this Batman film last night. I don't what it is about Batman, but the whole character and scenario that he plays his adventures in, fails to do just about anything for me. I don't care about his mission. I don't care about the people he's trying to put away. It's all too absurd. The ordinary people who live in Gotham City would do well to move... as far away as possible. Because the rest of them are nuts. Yes, this film was engaging. Heath Ledger is particularly deranged as The Joker, although how on Earth we are supposed to believe he manages to infiltrate himself and seemingly tonnes of dynamite and/or napalm into highly secure places, makes the whole story very shaky indeed. I thought Gary Oldman was quietly very good; as usual, I might add. Aaron Eckhart threw himself into his part in a very American Actor kind of way. Perhaps that was what he was asked to do. At least it did make for individuals instead of cyphers. And talking of cyphers, much as I like Christian Bale, as an actor, I still don't see him as a lead. Perhaps I can't shake off the memory of Empire Of The Sun. An older Michael Caine was an older Michael Caine. He seems to have reduced his act to the point where he almost doesn't anymore, He's just Michael Caine; which is certainly better than hamming it up. Likewise, Morgan Freeman was Morgan Freeman. All that effort and pseudo-creativity, and I can only give it 6/10, and that's because I'm feeling generous. But as I said, I've never been stuck on the Batman story. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thedelldays Posted 29 November, 2009 Share Posted 29 November, 2009 it is a film ffs Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marsdinho Posted 29 November, 2009 Share Posted 29 November, 2009 (edited) Damned United Watched this last night. Have got the book and am half way through that but its a lot better than the film most likely due to not being able to fit everything in reasonably. Tis good nonetheless with some good acting. I thought the book & film were both good. Until I realised that the book was largely made up, and the film deliberately realeased AFTER most of the characters had died in real life..... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Damned_United#Reception Edited 29 November, 2009 by Marsdinho Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Johnny Shearer Posted 29 November, 2009 Share Posted 29 November, 2009 I thought the book & film were both good. Until I realised that the book was largely made up, and the film deliberately realeased AFTER most of the characters had died in real life..... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Damned_United#Reception Thats the thing I never saw the book as being true to life - just a fictional re-telling. Although maybe its because I did read all the hoo-haa going about it at the time as the Clough family didn't want people to get the wrong idea and think all of it was true. Still a good book though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jeff leopard Posted 29 November, 2009 Share Posted 29 November, 2009 District 9 Aliens land in St Joburg and are quickly rejected by the rest of society and forced to live in the abject poverty of a township, hardly a subtle metaphor and for the first twenty minutes, the film repeatedly clobbers us around the head to make sure we get the point. But then District 9 develops into something much more subtle and genuinely poignant. The way the evil multinational attempts to rehouse the aliens in concentration camps (and makes a hopeless mess of it) says as much about the failings of the war on terror as it does apartheid. The film is a striking mish-mash of styles and borrows from Kafka's Metamorphosis (via Chronenburg's The Fly), the social realism of Battlestar Galactica, the reality tv format of Series 7: Contender as well as Peter Jackson's first film Bad Taste (he was the producer and big-name on the poster), and it just about manages to hang all these elements together. Extra points for its fairly ambiguous and surprisingly moving ending. 7.5/10 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SuperMikey Posted 29 November, 2009 Share Posted 29 November, 2009 I've been watching one of my favourite films again recently, and that is Starship Troopers. It doesn't take itself seriously, it's gory, funny and the CGI was actually pretty top notch for that time. If you've not seen it, get your mates round, have a couple of beers and stick that on the TV. You'll have a great time. 8/10 I don't think there is a better example of a film falling apart half-way through like Han**** does. Too true! SPOILERS BELOW The whole film completely fell apart after we find out that Charlize Theron's character has powers too. While the first half was quite enjoyable, light-hearted superhero comedy/action stuff, it just turned into dross really quickly. I mean, really quickly. Suddenly, the acting actually got worse, the story dragged on the floor like an 80 year old's swollen ballbag and the whole thing got bogged down in the emotion that we were supposed to be feeling because they're long lost lovers or something...I dunno. I kinda lost patience with it at that point. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RonManager Posted 29 November, 2009 Share Posted 29 November, 2009 I've been watching one of my favourite films again recently, and that is Starship Troopers. It doesn't take itself seriously, it's gory, funny and the CGI was actually pretty top notch for that time. If you've not seen it, get your mates round, have a couple of beers and stick that on the TV. You'll have a great time. 8/10. Love it - 'do you want to know more?' IMO it's the SF equivalent of 'The Evil Dead' - also hilarious and madder with each sequel. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
saint_stevo Posted 30 November, 2009 Share Posted 30 November, 2009 it is a film ffs Agreed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Master Bates Posted 30 November, 2009 Share Posted 30 November, 2009 IMO it's the SF equivalent of 'The Evil Dead' - also hilarious and madder with each sequel. +10 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hamilton Saint Posted 1 December, 2009 Share Posted 1 December, 2009 The Boat that Rocked Fun and lightweight film with a cast that makes you keep saying "Ooooh look it's that bloke from Spaced/The IT Crowd/Flight of the Concords... etc" The music was pretty good and it told the story of pirate radio well, while making it pretty clear it was making most of it up. 7/10 I watched this at the cinema last night. It has been retitled Pirate Radio for the North American market. It's a lot of fun, but it plays seriously fast-and-loose with the facts. Kenneth Branagh gives a marvellously OTT performance as Sir Alastair Dormandy, the evil villain of a minister who is responsible for dealing with the pirate radio file. In reality, it was none other than Tony Benn who was in charge of that issue - and he was one of the more progressive members of that government. There are a lot of anachronisms in the film - especially in the slang used and the music played. The bulk of the film is set in 1966, but there is a lot of music on the soundtrack that actually came after that. The ending is really melodramatic - with its allusions to the Titanic disaster and the Dunkirk rescue - and it really goes overboard (excuse the pun) in trying to pull at the heart strings. Anyway, it's worth seeing. And Philip Seymour Hoffman is great as an Emperor Roscoe styled DJ ("the Count"), Bill Nighy (as always) is good - as the station manager, and Rhys Ifans is wonderful as the sleazy DJ Gavin. I hear the film didn't do very well in the UK, though. I suppose if you didn't lived through that period, it might not be of immediate interest, and if you did, you might take exception with the liberties it takes with the facts. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nexstar Posted 1 December, 2009 Share Posted 1 December, 2009 Harry Brown Quality, a bit slow getting started, but important to get to know the characters etc. But very very good thereafter. 8.5/10 This exactly, needed the start bit. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sheaf Saint Posted 2 December, 2009 Share Posted 2 December, 2009 Star Trek Ok, I succumbed. I dashed into Sainsbury's this evening to get a box of Hardy's Shiraz-Cabernet, and as I passed the DVDs, there it was staring out at me with an introductory price tag. I liked it. In fact I liked it a lot. It didn't draw the emotions in any way, but it was effective and had it's moments. I thought for a moment I was going to get loads of cliches from Shakespeare, as are flung about in the previous films. But young Spock did a little Sherlock Holmes quote and that was about it. All was rather original and quite well done, given the filmic history this one has weighing it down. Dare I say 7/10, or is that being too kind..? So I finally got round to watching this the other day, and I have mixed views on it. It's an enjoyable enough action movie, which ticks all the right boxes in terms of stunts, CGI etc... But is it Star Trek though? For me they have tried too hard to give it as much mainstream appeal as possible, rather than keeping the die-hard fans of the ST franchise happy. The series of events which brings together the original crew is just sooo improbable that it is laughable, but hey - it makes a good action movie. I also think that the characterisation was poor - the only one who I found convincing as an earlier incarnation of the original character was the guy who plays McCoy. Kirk just wasn't kirk, likewise Chekov and Uhura. Spock was OK-ish but too humanised, and as for Simon Pegg as Scotty - I liked him but he didn't in any way convince me he was the young Montgomery Scott. And the whole story that brought Leonard Nimoy back as the old Spock was pretty poor as well. Just a crap excuse to get one of the original cast to do a cameo if you ask me. It is a good film but for Trekkies (not that I am one but do watch most of the shows!) it ruins continuity. Meaning everything that happens in Star Trek: Next Generation may not happen. Well because of the whole time paradox thing involving Spock, it means that everything that happened in this film happened in an alternative reality. So as well as giving them a convenient excuse to alter the events which lead to Kirk gaining command of the Enterprise, it also means that the producers now have total free reign to completely re-write ST history from this point onwards. How very handy for when (not if - it's obvious) they decide to make the next one. As a Star Trek fan, I give it 3/10. That aside, as somebody who enjoys the occasional sci-fi action blockbuster, I would give it a 7. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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