What's the last film you watched? And rate it!

[Steve_in_MD]

Originally Posted by Budget:0

I'd say that's the case with most novel to movie adaptations, especially with King.

Generally correct, although I think the film adaptation of Misery is outstanding - probably would rank it as on par with the novel. As much as it can make the film harder to enjoy, I still prefer to read the novel first, unless the film is known better than its source material, i.e. Requiem For A Dream.

[richy]

Originally Posted by Zensteve

Yah, that blew. The "titans" were friggin midgets!

!!!

Ja, I was trying to be a little more subtle, a little more gentle...but um...yeah.

And, I was going to mention how what the Titans are holding in their mouths looks suspiciously like rebar.

Rebar?

So are the Titans being held inside of a mountain for the rest of eternity in a prison made by the gods?

Or are they the victims of an unfortunate construction site accident?

Well, good on them for finding creative ways to use what's about and stretching the budget a little further.

(I mean, it looks like freaking rebar painted gold or whatever. But then on the other hand, it's difficult to believe he made his poor actors hold that stuff in their mouths too).

But I did kind of like the film for what it is. It's just that it's not all that you want from a film. It's more about Singh's image making...I wanna say Tao, forgive me, which is considerable, but weak on the story and drama side of things.

I do want to see Mirror Mirror based on your recommendation for it.

[rayw]

Tarsem Singh films are beautiful.
The man likes his funny hats on characters.
His screen compositions always remind me of minimalist illustrations.

The Cell he directed, but the story could be shunted off onto someone else as writer. Meh.
The Fall he wrote, directed, and largely paid for himself. So he takes full credit on that. Meh+.
Immortals I was hoping would redeem him, but again, he delivered beautiful visuals with a Meh story written by others. Meh+, largely on visuals - which were impressive.
Mirror, Mirror, again by other writers (arrives in the local library system this coming weekend) but again the reviews are Meh. However, I wouldn't miss it.

Mmm... Reee barrr...

[NickClapper]

Mirror Mirror is rubbish.

That is all.

[richy]

Yeah...if that ain't rebar...

Great screen grab, Ray. And damn, they didn't even bother to paint it gold, like I thought I remembered. Just straight off the Home Depot shelves, looks like.

[NickClapper]

Saw a couple of really good documentaries this week, Undefeated and Searching for Sugar Man. The former was fantastic.

And then I saw The E*pendables 2 which I shall not comment on...

[arrodiii]

The Lady in Black - 4/10 - I knew going in that it wasn't going to be fantastic or anything but it was still able to underperform to that lowered level of expectation...

Le Samouri - 4/10 - I really need to stop listening to Netflix's suggestions, especially when it comes to foreign films. It seems as if you like a good couple foreign classics/oscar winners and you automatically like anything that is not in the English language

[TheArtist]

Originally Posted by NickClapper

Saw a couple of really good documentaries this week, Undefeated and Searching for Sugar Man. The former was fantastic.

And then I saw The E*pendables 2 which I shall not comment on...

There was a thread on the forum where people listed they favorite documentaries. Would you know where is it ? I can't find it.

[David.rhsc]

"The Penitent Man"

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1528813/

Which, despite Lance Henriksen's obvious awesomeness, was essentially awful.

From the oh-so-boring opening shot, to the "Why are you showing me this already" cut to the protagonist in the hospital, to the 90% of the film being a conversation explaining the story in boring and poorly written dialogue, to the completely flat lighting, to the poor actress forced to play the protagonists atrociously written young wife (really, I felt bad for the actress, her character and scenes were just irredeamably cliche - not her fault, it was the writing) all the way through to the big "twist" and blatantly obvious ending. Even the mighty Lance could not save what seemed like a "phoned in" effort in every single other aspect.

I finished watching it in deference to the great Mr. Henriksen and as an object lesson in how not to compose, choreograph, or light a film.

It's also an excellent study in how an interesting concept can result in a lack-luster end product.

[Pete]

Valhalla Rising - 6/10

I'd been meaning to see this for a while now, and as expected it was a polarizing film. I would go so far as to say it's an anti-film (although not an extreme example of one).

Depending on your perspective, this movie was either horribly paced or impeccably paced. Horrible because of the awkward silences, cutting, and line delivery that added to its anti-film appeal. But the pacing was also near-perfect, because throughout the whole movie I would be on the verge of nodding off, and then be woken up again by an incredible display of violence.

If you're in the mood for it, go for it! Otherwise I would recommend picking a different movie.

[richy]

Pete, , yeah...

I liked it more than you did.


*****


Total Recall (2012).

It's not too bad. I don’t mean to "knock" a film like this when it's clear enough that a lot of money was spent on it (138 million - IMDb. You can see the money on the screen, I think.), people worked hard on it, the talent are all good, it has nice art direction, nice set design, it has admirable CGI that's mixed well with the live action elements, etc.

What's probably lacking is character development...even story development. I was a little surprised to find that this 2012 version is actually five minutes longer than the original 1990 adaptation. I had been thinking that perhaps a shorter running time might help to explain this difference. But no. It's longer.

I guess what it comes down to is that TR 2012 has a number of quite long, complicated, and time-consuming action sequences, while, comparatively, TR 1990 has a lot less action, in point of fact. Which feels weird to say, since I would have previously said that TR 1990 is an action-packed film. Well, now...maybe not so much so when compared to TR 2012. TR 1990 spends more time on such things as the mystery of who Kuato is and the discovery of the secret Mars technology that could liberate the 99 percent, so to speak, etc. While TR 2012 is more about spectacular action sequences.

I missed Mars. I think this film needed Mars.

I missed Arnold. I like Colin Farrell. His work in this film is fine and I'm happy for him getting the work etc. But I agree with Roger Ebert. Arnold brought something to this role that I missed in this "re-imagining."

So, this is a re-make that really didn't need to be made. But it's a decent enough popcorn action flick.

Maybe (a 5 or) a 6 out of 10. Production value is high. But the above mentioned feeling it gave me of rather shallow story development (not the worst sin in the world of summer blockbuster movies) must, I think, keep the score lower. Of course that's partly due to the inevitable comparisons to the 1990 version, which feels like it has more story (a more satisfying amount of it, anyway).

[arrodiii]

Nude Nuns with Big Guns - 4/10 - gping in I knew it wasn't going to be good, its not a movie I would typically go after but I needed a terrible, campy movie and this delivered at that. Great rendition of an exploitation film. If grading off that, I'd give it a 7.5/10

[ShockingMind]

Originally Posted by Pete

Valhalla Rising - 6/10

Depending on your perspective, this movie was either horribly paced or impeccably paced. Horrible because of the awkward silences, cutting, and line delivery that added to its anti-film appeal.

This is on my to watch list... Keen to check out Refns earlier work as really loved Drive.

I really enjoyed The Cell. Obviously the casting is completely daft and some of the story was very hammy but looked great and some real fun in there. Might have to check out The Fall.

Watched Night of The Hunter for the first time the other night. The pace and narrative show their age a bit but some of the shots/scenes are jaw dropping!

[fernando97echeverria]

Blow-Out - 8/10
DePalma at his best. A visceral, fast-paced tour de force. There is a bad performance and weak line every now and then, but in all a technical masterpiece. The ending is spectacularly poetic.

Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer - 7/10
Absolutely the most disturbing film I have ever seen. But it's too well acted, well written and too thought-provoking to disregard. An amazing but horrifying accomplishment.

The Silence of the Lambs - 10/10
A full-out masterpiece. Breathtakingly chilling performances from the amazing duo of Foster and Hopkins, amazingly tense sequences and unforeseen twists far from cliche. But the icing of this mesmerizing cake is the incredible symbolism: the whole film is really the tale of Clarice's sexual awakening, or puberty, and her reluctance to lose her innocence. A coming of age story disguised as a chilling thriller. Flawless.

[rayw]

Originally Posted by Pete

Valhalla Rising - 6/10
If you're in the mood for it, go for it! Otherwise I would recommend picking a different movie.

Yup.
Seriously. If you're not in the right state of mind for this it's complete rubbish, but if you're in that right place that numbing pace, imagery, and music are... emotionally satisfying.

There are a few movies out there like this.
I just watched 'The Fountain' the other day. It's fruity. It's weird. I liked it.
Again, "If you're in the mood for it" it's fine. Otherwise...


The Darkest Hour - 4/10
I had heard this was a poorly received film. Yup.
Interesting premise, executed along a juvenile story line.
Characters are idiots. I bitched at them all the way through.
IDK who screws these things up; the writer, the director, or the producers.
My 13yo daughter enjoyed it though, and maybe that's the best audience for this.


Project X - 7/10 (One of those points is just for the writing)
Umm... Strangely, I enjoyed this film.
It received p!ss poor reviews, I don't fit into the target demographic AT ALL, (never did), totally missed all the misogynistic stuff because... I think there's a rather large population of teen boys who do think the only way they can get any tail is by getting a girl drunk, so... I really don't see how that's a condemnation of writer identifying and pegging Generation Z for what they are.
As far as I'm concerned this is just an update of Animal House and Risky Business.
I enjoyed how the party just kept getting progressively more and more out of control. It was nice writing.
Same writer as for 21 Jump Street, which I also enjoyed immensely.