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movies What's the last film you watched? And rate it!
- Thread starter GerryLovesU
- Start date
I've been totally neglecting the cinema for the last couple of weeks 
It sucks...
If anyone has seen a film that is yet to come out in the UK and fancies reviewing it for me then that would be super appreciated!
It sucks...If anyone has seen a film that is yet to come out in the UK and fancies reviewing it for me then that would be super appreciated!
Limitless - 6/10
Not exactly cinema for those with a brain.
I gotta say those folks at Relativity Media really do pick some nice films to pick up and peddle.
But this isn't one of 'em even if this made some monster bank over cost.
The two things I find most interesting is that first I guess this is how Joe Schmuck American thinks that the only way to get ahead in this dog eat dog world is that the only way the rich and powerful can become rich and powerful is to take some kinda "super brain" drug, and second this and Inception are two stories which are based upon fairly mundane and average occurrences, the former on various commonly understood aspects of dreams, the latter on how is it some people just seem to do so much better than the rest of us?
Building a whole story/film around generally understood ideas/subjects/premises seems like a potentially interesting trend I'll keep note of over the next decade.
Mother and Child - 3/10
#26 on my 2010 Independent Film Distribution & Revenue Analysis list.
Turned it off 10min into it.
I cannot stand this unrecognized genre of "F#cked-Up-Dysfunction-Exposé as Entertainment".
Ten miles out I could see that this was going to be an excrutiating 125min "Life is a miserable piece of sh!t... for some of us" watch-me-feel-bad-fest.
I just ain't got time for this.
Too bad. So sad. Sux2BU.
Sorry.
Get Low - 8.5 guilty I ain't giving it a 9/10
#11 on my 2010 Independent Film Distribution & Revenue Analysis list.
This is... almossssst a delightful little film.
It could have benefited from just two more heaping teaspoons of dry humor to overcome the bitter taste of the concluding story, but I recognize that as a director/editor's personal touch as to how they wanna play that hand. I think they just played it a little tight.
I liked not only the story but the characters, the setting, the actors and camerawork.
The DVD director/producer/actor commentary + other bonus material is very good and definitely worth watching - and learning from.
Several times two person conversations that last only a couple minutes on screen were actually shot on two different days, each from the OTS perspective of one character.
This is one of the very few indie films in the Analysis batch worth watching and examining.
I enjoyed this film and don't really understand how it didn't do so much better in the box office than Winter's Bone, which I also begrudgingly enjoyed only in retrospect.
Up next: Mao's Last Dancer (#24) and The Gene Generation which I wonder if it's going to be like a crappy version of Johnny Mnemonic.
Not exactly cinema for those with a brain.
I gotta say those folks at Relativity Media really do pick some nice films to pick up and peddle.
But this isn't one of 'em even if this made some monster bank over cost.
The two things I find most interesting is that first I guess this is how Joe Schmuck American thinks that the only way to get ahead in this dog eat dog world is that the only way the rich and powerful can become rich and powerful is to take some kinda "super brain" drug, and second this and Inception are two stories which are based upon fairly mundane and average occurrences, the former on various commonly understood aspects of dreams, the latter on how is it some people just seem to do so much better than the rest of us?
Building a whole story/film around generally understood ideas/subjects/premises seems like a potentially interesting trend I'll keep note of over the next decade.
Mother and Child - 3/10
#26 on my 2010 Independent Film Distribution & Revenue Analysis list.
Turned it off 10min into it.
I cannot stand this unrecognized genre of "F#cked-Up-Dysfunction-Exposé as Entertainment".
Ten miles out I could see that this was going to be an excrutiating 125min "Life is a miserable piece of sh!t... for some of us" watch-me-feel-bad-fest.
I just ain't got time for this.
Too bad. So sad. Sux2BU.
Sorry.
Get Low - 8.5 guilty I ain't giving it a 9/10
#11 on my 2010 Independent Film Distribution & Revenue Analysis list.
This is... almossssst a delightful little film.
It could have benefited from just two more heaping teaspoons of dry humor to overcome the bitter taste of the concluding story, but I recognize that as a director/editor's personal touch as to how they wanna play that hand. I think they just played it a little tight.
I liked not only the story but the characters, the setting, the actors and camerawork.
The DVD director/producer/actor commentary + other bonus material is very good and definitely worth watching - and learning from.
Several times two person conversations that last only a couple minutes on screen were actually shot on two different days, each from the OTS perspective of one character.
This is one of the very few indie films in the Analysis batch worth watching and examining.
I enjoyed this film and don't really understand how it didn't do so much better in the box office than Winter's Bone, which I also begrudgingly enjoyed only in retrospect.
Up next: Mao's Last Dancer (#24) and The Gene Generation which I wonder if it's going to be like a crappy version of Johnny Mnemonic.
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Drive 8.5
Fantastic cinema if a little over the top on some of the violent scenes. I find in certain situations violence has greater impact when less is actually shown and more is left to the imagination or we see reaction on people faces. Although there was a brilliant scene reminiscent of the chainsaw scene in scarface - this time a shotgun was star of the show.
Most impressive was cinematography painting a realistic run-down 80's style LA - they used Arri Allexxa cameras. Also the use of music and sound was fantastic, the first gun shot is so loud and it isn't seen as its through a window so everyone in the cinema jumps!
Great plot, powerful performances and only $13 million budget.
Fantastic cinema if a little over the top on some of the violent scenes. I find in certain situations violence has greater impact when less is actually shown and more is left to the imagination or we see reaction on people faces. Although there was a brilliant scene reminiscent of the chainsaw scene in scarface - this time a shotgun was star of the show.
Most impressive was cinematography painting a realistic run-down 80's style LA - they used Arri Allexxa cameras. Also the use of music and sound was fantastic, the first gun shot is so loud and it isn't seen as its through a window so everyone in the cinema jumps!
Great plot, powerful performances and only $13 million budget.
Hobo With A Shotgun - 4/10 but 7.75/10 just for the director commentary (on DVD)
Took a little break from my 2010 indie films thing and wound up here.
Um, this whole resurrecting-the-grindhouse-film thing is not doing it for me.
I didn't get into grindhouse as a teen when it started, so I guess I never developed an emptyness with it's passing.
I did bond with the 70's and 80's rock music, including much of the dorky stuff (which I would equate with gringhouse cinema) and haven't liked much of anything at all music-wise since then, so I do understand the principle. I just don't care, about grindhouse.
However, that aside, the DVD extras with director/actor commentary and director/writer commentary are pretty darn great.
Lotsa insight on how sausage is made if you know what to listen for.
And it helps if you know how the project got started.
Indie-Gods Robert Rodriguez and Quentin Tarantino sent out a contest to make fake grindhouse trailers for their movie... Grindhouse.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1LlazPgxKrA
Jason Eisener won the trailer contest, got financing (a paltry $3m), landed Rutger Hauer (who has directed a few shorts himself) to lead, everyone ad-libbed a lot, you can tell from Eisner's other shorts that his director style remained true even though it seems as if Hauer kinda helped him out a fair bit, or he just let Hauer kinda do whatever he wanted.
HWaS was Eisner's first feature.
Previously he had only made a few shorts, in which his style certainly shows.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vaiv7kAXBzM
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B4Ko7jtdUCg
It'll be nice to see where his directing career goes next.
Oh, and like The Human Centipede, Hobo With a Shotgun did terrible in theaters but much better in DVD sales.
But still not enough to recoup expenses.
Took a little break from my 2010 indie films thing and wound up here.
Um, this whole resurrecting-the-grindhouse-film thing is not doing it for me.
I didn't get into grindhouse as a teen when it started, so I guess I never developed an emptyness with it's passing.
I did bond with the 70's and 80's rock music, including much of the dorky stuff (which I would equate with gringhouse cinema) and haven't liked much of anything at all music-wise since then, so I do understand the principle. I just don't care, about grindhouse.
However, that aside, the DVD extras with director/actor commentary and director/writer commentary are pretty darn great.
Lotsa insight on how sausage is made if you know what to listen for.
And it helps if you know how the project got started.
Indie-Gods Robert Rodriguez and Quentin Tarantino sent out a contest to make fake grindhouse trailers for their movie... Grindhouse.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1LlazPgxKrA
Jason Eisener won the trailer contest, got financing (a paltry $3m), landed Rutger Hauer (who has directed a few shorts himself) to lead, everyone ad-libbed a lot, you can tell from Eisner's other shorts that his director style remained true even though it seems as if Hauer kinda helped him out a fair bit, or he just let Hauer kinda do whatever he wanted.
HWaS was Eisner's first feature.
Previously he had only made a few shorts, in which his style certainly shows.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vaiv7kAXBzM
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B4Ko7jtdUCg
It'll be nice to see where his directing career goes next.
Oh, and like The Human Centipede, Hobo With a Shotgun did terrible in theaters but much better in DVD sales.
But still not enough to recoup expenses.
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Just watched Trollhunter. I was skeptical until I saw that it had really good ratings on Netflix, so decided to give it a shot. It's a Norwegian film (subtitled), and is "found footage" like Paranormal Activity or Blair Witch Project. But it's good. Way less shaky cam than most FF, and there was some actual character development. Special effects were good, too. Overall, I'd give it an 8/10.
Mao's Last Dancer - 5/10
#24 on my 2010 Independent Film Distribution & Revenue Analysis
Eh... missable biopic.
It's real heavy on both ballet and "China's an oppressive place to grow up compared to gluttonous and frivolous America!" thing.
I have... no idea how the general audience liked this fairly well and critics fairly poor. I'm just dumbfounded on that one.
I started skipping chapters about thirty minutes into it then just turned it off.
I wanted to like it, but it was too slow and didn't provide me with anything entertaining.
Anyways...
I tried to bookend that with a couple other China themed flicks.
The Gene Generation - 3.5/10
Turned it off thirty minutes in.
I wasn't aware of lead actress Bai Ling's personal issues off camera, but it certainly didn't bring anything to this biopunk science fiction (science FANTASY for you hair splitters ) film.
This looks like cheap SciFi Channel feature fare.
The cliché characters were made worse by the acting.
A total $2.5m suck-fest.
Red Cliff 7/10 and it probably should be 8.5/10 if I enjoyed those wacky Chinese zooms and OTN dialog/action!
The characters are very pleasant, sets, scenery, story and action are well done.
I'll eventually get around to watching part II, the directing style is the only thing holding me back.
I probably ought to watch some more of these type films.
The previews for the Ong Bak trilogy and A Woman, a Gun and a Noodle Shop look potentially interesting.
#24 on my 2010 Independent Film Distribution & Revenue Analysis
Eh... missable biopic.
It's real heavy on both ballet and "China's an oppressive place to grow up compared to gluttonous and frivolous America!" thing.
I have... no idea how the general audience liked this fairly well and critics fairly poor. I'm just dumbfounded on that one.
I started skipping chapters about thirty minutes into it then just turned it off.
I wanted to like it, but it was too slow and didn't provide me with anything entertaining.
Anyways...
I tried to bookend that with a couple other China themed flicks.
The Gene Generation - 3.5/10
Turned it off thirty minutes in.
I wasn't aware of lead actress Bai Ling's personal issues off camera, but it certainly didn't bring anything to this biopunk science fiction (science FANTASY for you hair splitters
) film.This looks like cheap SciFi Channel feature fare.
The cliché characters were made worse by the acting.
A total $2.5m suck-fest.
Red Cliff 7/10 and it probably should be 8.5/10 if I enjoyed those wacky Chinese zooms and OTN dialog/action!
The characters are very pleasant, sets, scenery, story and action are well done.
I'll eventually get around to watching part II, the directing style is the only thing holding me back.
I probably ought to watch some more of these type films.
The previews for the Ong Bak trilogy and A Woman, a Gun and a Noodle Shop look potentially interesting.
Transformers: Dark Of The Moon.
7/10
Without getting into spoilers, I'm mixed-I mean as much as I enjoyed the action, the length of action nonstop without any sort of break was really a bit too much, and parts of the film I found seemed to be VERY stretched out for whatever reason, almost like some editing would have made it feel neater. I found myself to be uncomfortably "anxious" by the end of it-almost as though there was too much visual stuff.
7/10
Without getting into spoilers, I'm mixed-I mean as much as I enjoyed the action, the length of action nonstop without any sort of break was really a bit too much, and parts of the film I found seemed to be VERY stretched out for whatever reason, almost like some editing would have made it feel neater. I found myself to be uncomfortably "anxious" by the end of it-almost as though there was too much visual stuff.
I will say this: Optimus seemed rather machivellian by pretty much allowing thousands of people to be slaughters by the Decepticons to "prove a point" (that the Cons couldn't be trusted)
A Place Called Chiapas
Documentary about the Zapatista uprising in Chiapas, Mexico. Pretty standard 90's subject doc stuff, though there is a sublime moment where a group of indigenous Mexicans are attending a church service and sing Dylan's "Blowin' in the Wind" in Spanish. It's sluggish at times, though it's pretty fair about the subject matter despite the filmmakers' obvious sympathies with the EZLN.
Documentary about the Zapatista uprising in Chiapas, Mexico. Pretty standard 90's subject doc stuff, though there is a sublime moment where a group of indigenous Mexicans are attending a church service and sing Dylan's "Blowin' in the Wind" in Spanish. It's sluggish at times, though it's pretty fair about the subject matter despite the filmmakers' obvious sympathies with the EZLN.
Alright, I think I knocked out about the last few films, save one, on my 2010 Independent Film Distribution & Revenue Analysis.
ANIMAL KINGDOM - 5.5/10
Couldn't get through it four different times without falling asleep.
Two of those were with the director commentary turned on.
Someone called it the Australian GODFATHER.
Umm... Okay. I musta missed that.
Different strokes...
ONDINE - 4/10
D@mnation! I really really wanted to like this story, but the accented dialog was too much and the lazy bastards give only Spanish subtitles as an option.
Haggis breath!
And the story was kinda grindingly slow and almost comical in the ever escalating misery.
I just had to turn it off maybe thirty minutes in.
Very disappointed, but I gots other stuff to do.
THE EXTRA MAN - 3/10
Now, this one I pretty much could imagine being insufferable, and sure enough it didn't let me down.
"Let's all watch Kevin Kline be a dry twit" is not entertainment.
I love him in DAVE, and this ain't that.
An the other "extra man", Paul Dano, can just go... whatever.
I'm surprised it lasted 13 weeks in theaters and am not surprised it lost money.
I think I would have rather watched 90mins of Kline making sandwiches in his kitchen.
I'm still looking for BLUE VALENTINE.
It's always checked out, so there's hope.
(BTW, FWIW, I'm scared to try this same project for 2009)!
ANIMAL KINGDOM - 5.5/10
Couldn't get through it four different times without falling asleep.
Two of those were with the director commentary turned on.
Someone called it the Australian GODFATHER.
Umm... Okay. I musta missed that.
Different strokes...
ONDINE - 4/10
D@mnation! I really really wanted to like this story, but the accented dialog was too much and the lazy bastards give only Spanish subtitles as an option.
Haggis breath!
And the story was kinda grindingly slow and almost comical in the ever escalating misery.
I just had to turn it off maybe thirty minutes in.
Very disappointed, but I gots other stuff to do.
THE EXTRA MAN - 3/10
Now, this one I pretty much could imagine being insufferable, and sure enough it didn't let me down.
"Let's all watch Kevin Kline be a dry twit" is not entertainment.
I love him in DAVE, and this ain't that.
An the other "extra man", Paul Dano, can just go... whatever.
I'm surprised it lasted 13 weeks in theaters and am not surprised it lost money.
I think I would have rather watched 90mins of Kline making sandwiches in his kitchen.
I'm still looking for BLUE VALENTINE.
It's always checked out, so there's hope.
(BTW, FWIW, I'm scared to try this same project for 2009)!
Not sure if it's come out yet but I just saw We Need To Talk About Kevin and if there's a more disconcerting film this year then I'll be very, very surprised.
As always I've left my best and most hilarious thoughts for the things that are visible after you click on the stuff that's underlined. Muhahahaha!
EDIT: And shucks! Looks like my Premiere status has run out too. We're dropping like flies...
As always I've left my best and most hilarious thoughts for the things that are visible after you click on the stuff that's underlined. Muhahahaha!
EDIT: And shucks! Looks like my Premiere status has run out too. We're dropping like flies...
The Tree of Life. Maybe a 7?
The camera moves a lot.
A lot.
At times I felt like the continuously moving camera was almost as bad as shaky cam. Oh I suppose it also adds something poetic and moving to the narrative feel of the film. But too often I was wishing the stinkin' thing would just sit still for a while. Maybe I'll warm up to it with more viewings.
Oldboy. Maybe an 8.
I can see why people praise it. It's a powerhouse of a movie. As an excercise in style, it's really something. But storywise, it left me a little dissatisfied. I mean, it's refreshing to have a revenging hero be more complicated and flawed than the typical Hollywood revenging hero. I'm not usually a big fan of the typical revenge film, anyway, because they usually do leave me dissatisfied. The Crow, for example, is pretty typical. The bad guys kill the hero's girlfriend in the beginning, then we're supposed to spend the rest of the movie getting off by watching him kill each of them one-by-one. Uh. Old Boy is a little better than that, but it sorta becomes a weird, convoluted ode to
, doesn't it? Well, I guess it's supposed to be a tragedy, so we're not supposed to be happy with the story...'cause it's tragic. That's the point. Maybe I'll warm up to that too.
I really like the sequence in which he
. Great cinema there.
Roger Ebert wrote:
Kinda makes you wonder if you'd want to work for Hollywood, doesn't it? As far as that goes, being independent looks pretty attractive.
The camera moves a lot.
A lot.
At times I felt like the continuously moving camera was almost as bad as shaky cam. Oh I suppose it also adds something poetic and moving to the narrative feel of the film. But too often I was wishing the stinkin' thing would just sit still for a while. Maybe I'll warm up to it with more viewings.
Oldboy. Maybe an 8.
I can see why people praise it. It's a powerhouse of a movie. As an excercise in style, it's really something. But storywise, it left me a little dissatisfied. I mean, it's refreshing to have a revenging hero be more complicated and flawed than the typical Hollywood revenging hero. I'm not usually a big fan of the typical revenge film, anyway, because they usually do leave me dissatisfied. The Crow, for example, is pretty typical. The bad guys kill the hero's girlfriend in the beginning, then we're supposed to spend the rest of the movie getting off by watching him kill each of them one-by-one. Uh. Old Boy is a little better than that, but it sorta becomes a weird, convoluted ode to
incest
I really like the sequence in which he
fights his way through the hallway and elevator full of thugs
Roger Ebert wrote:
Kinda makes you wonder if you'd want to work for Hollywood, doesn't it? As far as that goes, being independent looks pretty attractive.
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13 Assassins - 7.5/10
The technical execution (no pun intended) is fairly decent, the story is more than mildly interesting, I'm just not a giant samurai/ninja/kung-fu fan but feel the need to expand my current film dietary range.
I suppose if someone was wanting to add to their samurai/ninja/kung-fu film diet this would be pretty good, but not as general audience entertainment.
BTW: "Nya! Nya! N-Nya-nyah! I have the CHINATOWN DVD already checked out from the liiiiiiii-barry"!
More homework:
http://sfy.ru/?script=chinatown Hope this isn't a useless transcript. Ugh!
http://www.imsdb.com/scripts/Chinatown.html
http://www.mypdfscripts.com/screenplays/chinatown
http://www.lexwilliford.com/Workshops/Screenwriting/ChinatownShootingScript.pdf
http://thescriptlab.com/screenplay/five-plot-point-breakdowns/1086-chinatown-1974
http://csac.buffalo.edu/chinatown.pdf
http://www.enotes.com/robert-towne-criticism/towne-robert
http://home.roadrunner.com/~jhartzog/chinatownscriptfilm.html
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0071315/trivia
http://oldschoolreviews.com/rev_70/chinatown.htm
The technical execution (no pun intended) is fairly decent, the story is more than mildly interesting, I'm just not a giant samurai/ninja/kung-fu fan but feel the need to expand my current film dietary range.
The eventual actual assassination following a pretty lame peer-to-peer confrontation was pretty lame, though.
BTW: "Nya! Nya! N-Nya-nyah! I have the CHINATOWN DVD already checked out from the liiiiiiii-barry"!
More homework:
http://sfy.ru/?script=chinatown Hope this isn't a useless transcript. Ugh!
http://www.imsdb.com/scripts/Chinatown.html
http://www.mypdfscripts.com/screenplays/chinatown
http://www.lexwilliford.com/Workshops/Screenwriting/ChinatownShootingScript.pdf
http://thescriptlab.com/screenplay/five-plot-point-breakdowns/1086-chinatown-1974
http://csac.buffalo.edu/chinatown.pdf
http://www.enotes.com/robert-towne-criticism/towne-robert
http://home.roadrunner.com/~jhartzog/chinatownscriptfilm.html
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0071315/trivia
http://oldschoolreviews.com/rev_70/chinatown.htm
Pale Rider - 6/10
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0089767/
From Hell - 5/10
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0120681/
Wyatt Earp - 7.5/10
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0111756/
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0089767/
From Hell - 5/10
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0120681/
Wyatt Earp - 7.5/10
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0111756/
The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader - 5/10
Despite my three elementary school kids being not in the slightest bit interested in watching this third installment because they thought the first two were pretty lame I went ahead and gave it a go.
I'm impressed with my little kids' abilities to spot a stinker a mile out.
God love 'em.
I don't know WTH writers, publishers, and readers were smokin' back in the 50s, but I'm continuallly amazed at what passed as a coherent story back then.
I also remain dumbfounded by the enduring popularity of this junk drawer of magical mystical odds and ends.
Skip it - unless you just wanna look at SFX as if it were somehow meaningful.
50/63. Not a shocker.
However, its WWBO is even more astounding if not at least a clarion for the importance of a good premise - p!ss on execution and content.
Despite my three elementary school kids being not in the slightest bit interested in watching this third installment because they thought the first two were pretty lame I went ahead and gave it a go.
I'm impressed with my little kids' abilities to spot a stinker a mile out.
God love 'em.
I don't know WTH writers, publishers, and readers were smokin' back in the 50s, but I'm continuallly amazed at what passed as a coherent story back then.
I also remain dumbfounded by the enduring popularity of this junk drawer of magical mystical odds and ends.
Skip it - unless you just wanna look at SFX as if it were somehow meaningful.
50/63. Not a shocker.
However, its WWBO is even more astounding if not at least a clarion for the importance of a good premise - p!ss on execution and content.
I saw the 2nd half of "Due Date" with Robert Downey Jr and Zack guy-from-hangover (must be the funniest guy in movies right now).
Very funny. As comedy, I'll go 9.5 out of 10.
"Scott Pilgrim" Funny and innovative (except for cliche martial arts choreography).
I'll go 7.398 out of 10.
Very funny. As comedy, I'll go 9.5 out of 10.
"Scott Pilgrim" Funny and innovative (except for cliche martial arts choreography).
I'll go 7.398 out of 10.