Movies you've just watched

[Moniker]

Zodiac (3/5)
Upstream Color (4/5)
Tetro (3.5/5)
(All Netflix)

Upstream Color was pretty interesting (from the director of Primer). Where Primer was a much better video-puzzle than a movie, UC has some beautiful photography to go along with the puzzle. The acting is also pretty damn good for an indie film - the female lead is attractive from all angles and the director knows it (hrrmmmmm..); she's able to pull off incredibly abstract states of mind. While he doesn't really add too much to the legacy of cinema, the writer/lead/editor/director thinks things out thoroughly at the mathematical level. Worth a look, in any case.

Tetro was pretty good. Vincent Gallo plays his usual neurotic self (but what a face!), and the supporting actors all do extremely well. The big reveal is a bit disappointing, but it's nice to see Coppola go back to basics.

Zodiac was.. entertaining? I always take issue with films that end with the protagonist writing a book that gets turned into the film you're watching. Sort of masturbatory, no? Nevertheless, Mark Ruffalo & Jake Gyllenhall (sp?) put in good performances. Interesting cultural history. Now I know where Dirty Harry came from. David Fincher continues his vacillation b/w cliche and counter-cliche.

[Obiwanshinobi]

The 5th Cracker episode. New writer wasn't into it, was he? At least the actors did their job (must have had some of these moments when they doubt if being known from TV is worth it).

[BareKnuckleRoo]

Only God Forgives

The plot synopsis alone is enough to make me loathe it. I hate movies driven only by retarded people doing retarded things for retarded reasons. If the whole plot would come unhinged if the characters weren't complete imbeciles, then the plot is as stupid as the characters are.

[Edmond Dantes]

Prince of Persia the Sands of Time - ***1/2

Decent action flick, genuinely enjoyable video game based movie. It's nothing special, but its worth at least one watch.

That's a pretty high rating for something described as "decent, nothing special, and worth at least one watch."

I think I may have been reading too much Gamespot lately and its unbalanced my scale a bit.

Actually, its a typo... meant to only have two asterisks and I forgot to check my post (blame my having to babysit a kitten)

[PAPER/ARTILLERY]

Only God Forgives

The plot synopsis alone is enough to make me loathe it. I hate movies driven only by retarded people doing retarded things for retarded reasons. If the whole plot would come unhinged if the characters weren't complete imbeciles, then the plot is as stupid as the characters are.

Yep I can appreciate that. Ryan Gosling's character is less unlikeable than you might imagine though, mostly because he almost never opens his mouth to let you know how unlikeable he is (he also has something resembling a conscience unlike all the other characters). Again, it's really not for everyone, it's probably not even for 50% of people. I'm still not even sure if it's for me.

[GaijinPunch]

I like Gosling. Makes me wish I was gay.

[Moniker]

I like Gosling. Makes me wish I was gay.

+1

[jonny5]

I like Gosling. Makes me wish I was gay.

+1

It's funny. I used to hate him, just thought of him as a pretty boy that does rom-com's and shit or the annoying dude from Breaker High. Hated him even more the first time I saw Drive. I've since watched that movie like 5 or 6 times and now I love it and I actually like him; it wasn't at all what I expected the first time I saw it, so I was a bit disappointed, but it gets better each time I watch it now. Place beyond the pines also upped my opinion of him.

[system11]

The Brothers Grimm - ****

I really enjoyed this one, it's nice and unusual in that Terry Gilliams way, everything is shot nicely - and the story was good. +1 for a horse eating a child.

[Obiwanshinobi]

6th Cracker episode. Remembered this one. McGovern is welcome back on board, but his tale brought along something awkward.
Fitz never seemed misogynist to me. Once you get to know someone who really is, it sends chill down your spine ever after. Good news is, Fitz doesn't appear to be the type. I am, hovever, worried about the writer himself. He seems to have a problem with women. Most notably in previous episodes written by McGovern there was only one character villainised and left without any redeeming features (The Sun lady if you don't mind the spoiler). It was the first thing about Cracker I can't quite buy and Men Should Weep is the second helping (I don't consider The Big Crunch canon).

[emphatic]

6th Cracker episode. Remembered this one. McGovern is welcome back on board, but his tale brought along something awkward.
Fitz never seemed misogynist to me. Once you get to know someone who really is, it sends chill down your spine ever after. Good news is, Fitz doesn't appear to be the type. I am, hovever, worried about the writer himself. He seems to have a problem with women. Most notably in previous episodes written by McGovern there was only one character villainised and left without any redeeming features (The Sun lady if you don't mind the spoiler). It was the first thing about Cracker I can't quite buy and Men Should Weep is the second helipng (I don't consider The Big Crunch canon).

You're aware of the TV-thread, right? It's right next to this one.

I saw Pacific Rim tonight. 4/5. The acting wasn't that great (I wish someone like Ang Lee would have directed it), but the story was very interesting and the effects and visual concepts was damn good so I would happily see it more than once again.

[Obiwanshinobi]

As stated before, Cracker is better off watched as movies. No other TV show did it for me. The "episode" I meant lasted for above 2 hours.

[GaijinPunch]

It's funny. I used to hate him, just thought of him as a pretty boy that does rom-com's and shit or the annoying dude from Breaker High. Hated him even more the first time I saw Drive. I've since watched that movie like 5 or 6 times and now I love it and I actually like him; it wasn't at all what I expected the first time I saw it, so I was a bit disappointed, but it gets better each time I watch it now. Place beyond the pines also upped my opinion of him.

I thought the same of him, but he seems like an all around stand-up guy. He was on Letterman recently and Dave (in usual form) dug up some footage from The Young Hercules. It was truly brutal, but he took it like a man.

As stated before, Cracker is better off watched as movies.

So that makes it a movie?

[trap15]

Breakheart Pass

Bronson's the fuckin' man.

[Obiwanshinobi]

So that makes it a movie?

Watched erratically as a TV show (the way I used to do) it makes too little sense. Even DVD-rips I found are practically seamless movies. I wouldn't even guess how the stories were originally split. Two hours and a half is a rather unusual format for TV. Well, maybe it's just how they edited it for the sake of DVD release, but it works for me.

[daigle]

Just watched The Lone Ranger, apart from a couple stand out moments what a dull movie. Got curious after seeing disney had to eat about $190 million loss on it. Can definitely see why.

[PC Engine Fan X!]

That upcoming sci-fi film take takes place in 2154 A.D. and goes by the name of Elysium, looks be an interesting action-romp. Rather than a proper sequel to District 9, the director of D-9 does another new sci-fi flick from the ground up with Elysium. Will definitely check it out tomorrow to see what the hype is all about with it. With actor Matt Damon portrayed as a futuristic cybernetically-enhanced warrior and trying to bring down the space station above earth's orbit, will he succeed in trying?

Interesting scene with the Matt Damon character being interviewed by a polica android that can sense if a person is being sarcastic or not (as shown in the trailer) - talk about advanced state-of-the-art robotics/A.I. set in an alternative 22nd century timeline.

PC Engine Fan X! ^_~

[Obiwanshinobi]

Strike Commando. Groovy music I guess.



It's like a sequel to Ruckus directed by Les VRP guy.

[ArmoredCore]

There will be blood

D D.Lewis is epiccc

[Weak Boson]

Alan Partridge: Alpha Papa

Love Alan Partridge but I don't think much was gained from being on the silver screen. I'm not complaining, it was really funny, but there's something about the pathetic episodes of Alan's life that I don't think completely transfers to this format. Still there would be no point to it if it wasn't doing something new. Happy to watch again to make up my mind.

[EmperorIng]

I find it hard to believe someone watched Strike Commando and didn't think it was one of the manliest movies ever made. Reb Brown's killcount almost reaches the triple digits!

[PC Engine Fan X!]

Just got back from watching Elysium and it's quite stellar sci-fi film (even it deals with the serious subject matter such as immigration, universal health care and the haves & the have-nots: the rich & the poor issues). The main character, Max De Costa, portrayed by Matt Damon is quite compelling and believable. Clocking at an hour & 49 minutes long, it makes me wonder what got cut out in the editing room floor to make it into the eventual Blu-Ray & DVD releases down the road as bonus deleted scenes. The usage of androids for police, security, armed escort, etc., (to free up humans to do other important tasks at hand) has a heavy presence throughout this believable alternate universe set in the 22nd century.

The pacing is quite tight and no loose ends to deal with either.

I certainly got my $9.50's worth watching Elysium on a DFX screen (comparable to an Imax screen setup) indeed.

In reality, the obvious radiation sickness issue is fatal with internal organs failing rather quickly (unless access to a "healing bed" is gained in time)...but with the upgraded exoskeletal armor upgrades, the positives of it outweigh the negatives which makes for an interesting catch-22 contradiction/conclusion for our main character, Max. With the advantages of increased strength, quicker reflexes, and access to advanced military tactics & weaponry are the realized benefits with such military-grade outer skeleton-armor -- to gain the "upper hand" regardless of the outcome in any given situation.

The anti-grav based armored landing carriers shown in Elysium is a nod towards the 1986 Aliens Marines Corp's dropship fightercraft.

Am certainly waiting for the proper District 9 sequel as promised (some four years back). You might recall that D-9 was nominated for Best Picture at the Oscars back in early 2010 but didn't win.

PC Engine Fan X! ^_~

[drauch]

Strike Commando is fuckin' awesome. Mattei is the man. If you're up for more zany Reb Brown action, try Robowar, Yor, and Uncommon Valour.

[PC Engine Fan X!]

So what's your opinion/stance on viewing Elysium? It'd be interesting to read Skykid's take on it.

PC Engine Fan X! ^_~

[blackoak]

Just saw Elysium myself. The trailer presented some class/wealth themes and while I doubted they would be handled with much grace or intelligence, it still managed to disappoint. Its packed with one plot contrivance after other, all in the name of mano-a-mano action scenes... the more interesting themes end up being nothing more than emotionally exploitative hooks to make you care about these fights. Weirdly, and perhaps in an effort to deflect the "Attack the Hamptons" movie this could have been, the fights themselves are with a Big Bad Sadistic Villain who has nothing to do with the world/themes.

Had this been a normal action movie it would have been your typical mediocre "just shoot me now and get the next 30 years over with" fare. As-is its distracting and insulting, and I can't imagine anyone experiencing even that little drug, catharsis, from it.

[blackoak]

I also saw The Last Detail and Wise Blood recently. The former has a great performance by Jack Nicholson and is a sensitive, if ultimately defeatist, character portrait. File under bleak cynical 70s films.

Wise Blood is based on a Flannery O'Connor novel. I found the characters too stylized (apparently this is largely due to Dourif's performance/Huston's directing and not the source material), a trait I sometimes tolerate with Herzog but generally dislike. I don't relate to the "southern angst" of the setting, and as should be obvious from my comments about The Exorcist, "christian angst" etc is another zzzz topic. I'm vaguely curious about the book now though.

[Ixmucane2]

Now You See Me

Misleading plot synopsis: four brilliant magicians, under directions from an apparently even more brilliant unknown party, prepare and execute a tour of very special shows involving crimes. A FBI agent, aided by a rather large team of FBI drones, fails miserably (and quite comically) at catching them but succeeds at falling in love with a charming French woman from Interpol.

On the whole, good acting even if most actors appear to have too much fun. Dishonorable mention for Morgan Freeman, offering a trite and particularly obnoxious iteration of his standard character: the smiling old douchebag.

There are too many characters to make them really deep and cool; the four magicians are clearly very close friends and very competent in their specialties, but they have both very little private conversation (they are mostly on stage or facing the FBI) and very few scenes with meaningful magic tricks or actual preparation work. Many things are only implied, sometimes vaguely.

The plot works, even if some threads are left loose at the end (but I don't get the impression that a sequel is planned) and several surprises are rather unsurprising (not surprising, in a mainstream Hollywood production).
In particular, character motivations are well designed: given their the desire to **SPOILER CENSORSHIP**, it makes perfect sense for the magicians to unquestioningly follow anonymous orders, and how someone is able to offer that, in order to involve the magicians in a secret plan to **SPOILER CENSORSHIP**, presumably without their knowledge, is particularly awesome (and, sadly, completely off-screen and implied).

As could be expected, excellent and unobtrusive special effects.

[Skykid]

Just saw Elysium myself. The trailer presented some class/wealth themes and while I doubted they would be handled with much grace or intelligence, it still managed to disappoint.

Ha ha.

That's a synopsis I can get my teeth into.

[Never_Scurred]

Strike Commando is fuckin' awesome. Mattei is the man. If you're up for more zany Reb Brown action, try Robowar, Yor, and Uncommon Valour.

AMERICAAAN-SKIIIIIII!!!!!

Bruno Mattei was the fuckin' man.

[Never_Scurred]

Doom: Not as bad as I was expecting, Richard Brake's performance got me through the first half of the film. Awesome actor, deserves to be in better movies. Loved his contribution to Death Machine.

Terminator Salvation: Pretty much knew the hook going in, but enjoyed it.

Split Second: Awesome post-apocalyptic action creature flick. The ending sucked though and didn't make any sense considering all the buildup. The "bigger guns" scene has to be one of the best freakout moments in film history.