What movies have you seen lately? Now with reviews!Movies

[CDailey]

The Hurt Locker
...However, I'm reading the reviews and there's an obvious trend on US critics praising it, while non-US critics play it down as an average movie. Seriously. IMDb's US voters give it a 8.5 (enough to make it to the Top 250), but non-US voters don't rate it higher than a 7.5, making it to be nothing groundbreaking...

That is interesting. This makes me want to watch the movie even more now.

edit: You mention IMDB Top 250 a lot. If movies are constantly being added, that must mean movies are constantly being removed to keep it at 250, right?. How does that work?

 

[Diego440]

Sam Gang Yi (a.k.a. Three Extremes) (Fruit Chan, Takashi Miike, Chan-wook Park, 2004) -- I recently saw the second part of this movie, though this one was made after... one of those weird things having to do with time. Either way, this one is much, much better. Made up of three shorts by Asian horror directors, it's really what I hoped it would be.

- Box (Takashi Miike) - The Japanese entry is perhaps the slowest of the three and a bit boring, which I certainly didn't expect from Miike. I had to have a triple espresso halfway through it! Maybe because it doesn't deal as much with the horror genre as with making the movie just a bit suspenseful. Enjoyable but only because it's about 45 minutes long.
- Dumplings (Fruit Chan) - The Chinese (Hong Kong) entry... this is probably by far one of the most deranged things I have ever watched. But it was certainly fun to watch as well. Though it deals with a very gruesome theme, at a certain point you can appreciate it for it's fun factor and not have to deal as much with the yuckiness of it all. Plus, the chicks are f-ing hot in this one!
- Cut (Chan-wook Park) - Closing the movie is the South Korean entry... probably my favourite of the whole movie. While I'm trying not to spoil any of the shorts, I have to say this movie is what Saw should've been.

All in all, very enjoyable. As usual, I'd go for the subtitled version if you can find it. 8.5/10



@CDailey: The Top 250 is very tricky. The movies in it are those that have had more than 1500 votes and are chosen among the votes of 'regular' IMDB voters. While not completely credible, it does add to being a bit of a guide about the quality of a movie.

The chart itself works as any other chart should: if a movie is #250 and a new one gets added higher, the #250 spot gets taken by whichever movie was #249... I don't think I need to explain that part, but that's just me being painfully obvious. As I said, only votes by 'regular' voters count, which is why there's a bunch of movies that rate higher than 7.9 (the score held by #250 in the chart) and still are not in the list, even if it has over 1500 votes.

So, the inclusion or exclusion in the Top 250 isn't really an indicator of whether the movie is good or bad, but it's a good guide and the result of many people's votes. For example, while I consider The Shawshank Redemption to be a very good movie, I wouldn't consider it to be the best movie ever, yet it's the #1 movie in the Top 250. #2 in the list would be the best one ever, for me (The Godfather). In the same way, I've always thought The Thin Red Line to be one of the best movies ever made, and it's not in the Top 250

You'll see more often than not that when a good movie has just been launched, it'll get a Top 20 stop in the Top 250, and that's basically because people tend to overhype movies when they've just been released. I remember when Dark Knight first came out, it took the #1 spot in less than a week and held said spot for a couple of weeks.

So, in short, the Top 250 is very subjective and dependent on some not-so-accurate voting, but it's a good enough chart for the most part.

 

[FoolKiller]

A Christmas Carol (6.5/10)
I expected worse and hoped for better. My in-laws wanted to see this on IMAX 3D right now, so we went. Way too early for a Christmas film in my opinion. That aside, this is extremely faithful to the original. Including where Scrooge argues with the ghost of Christmas present about closing businesses, including soup kitchens on Sundays. So some of it, obviously, makes no sense to the audience. But Dickens' cheap shot at the church is fully intact. I am torn on what I think of the direction they took. With a faithful telling they then throw in all the flying through the city as fast as you can to amaze the IMAX 3D audiences. It feels out of place, but adds some much needed fun to this tale. But being faithful it also means this is as much a ghost haunting story as it is a Christmas story. I would suggest kids under 10 stay out, because it has a few scary and dark moments. Make sure your child can handle visually scary ghosts jumping at them or discussions of death. Plus, the language and style of the original is a bit daunting for some. And of course, that makes me question the "fun and exciting" moments, particularly in the face of confronting a man with how his life fell into ruin.

Now, for the animation. There has been much improvement from The Polar Express. Finally the eyes show emotion. It still needs some updating, but they are on their way out of the uncanny valley now. This is good enough to be enjoyable, but I still prefer other versions more.

 

[Diego440]

Never Cry Wolf (Carroll Ballard, 1983) -- One of my favorite movies from the 80s (yes, even better than Raging Bull, The Breakfast Club and E.T.), it's the story of a government researcher, sent to research the "menace" of wolves in the north, and ends up learning about the true beneficial and positive nature of the species. Also one of the main reasons I'm so happy to own a Siberian Husky (almost named her Angeline ) and it's also because dogs are man's best friend for a reason. Socially, they are not much different from us, and both species know it.

As both species continue to evolve, we stay true to what we are and that's that we are animals. Wolves have families, challenge each other for social dominance, and goof around a lot. The movie is the work of an artist who really got the point across (in my case) and made me feel completely for both the human and animal characters. Despite being a Disney movie, it thankfully never went into humanizing the wolves and making scenes less than believable. Because it's from a time when these movies could be made.

Although all the wolves used in the movie were tamed, the realism got through well. I saw this movie in theaters when it came out and I hadn't seen it again until today. It still remains, as I said before, one of my favorite movies from the 80s, so the score should come as no surprise. 10/10

 

[LSX]

Law Abiding Citizen


Hmm, not what I expected, it's still in theaters, so I don't want to ruin anything for anyone. I thought it would be like Punisher, seeking vengance for killed loved ones, no, only at first. Kinda Saw-ish, Punisher-ish, off the deep end kind of thing. I'm not sure if I liked it, at parts I was rooting for the guy, then he goes way to far with stuff and ruins it for me. Good, maybe not my type of movie though.

 

[CDailey]

@CDailey: The Top 250 is very tricky. The movies in it are those that have had more than 1500 votes and are chosen among the votes of 'regular' IMDB voters. While not completely credible, it does add to being a bit of a guide about the quality of a movie.

The chart itself works as any other chart should: if a movie is #250 and a new one gets added higher, the #250 spot gets taken by whichever movie was #249... I don't think I need to explain that part, but that's just me being painfully obvious. As I said, only votes by 'regular' voters count, which is why there's a bunch of movies that rate higher than 7.9 (the score held by #250 in the chart) and still are not in the list, even if it has over 1500 votes.

So, the inclusion or exclusion in the Top 250 isn't really an indicator of whether the movie is good or bad, but it's a good guide and the result of many people's votes. For example, while I consider The Shawshank Redemption to be a very good movie, I wouldn't consider it to be the best movie ever, yet it's the #1 movie in the Top 250. #2 in the list would be the best one ever, for me (The Godfather). In the same way, I've always thought The Thin Red Line to be one of the best movies ever made, and it's not in the Top 250

You'll see more often than not that when a good movie has just been launched, it'll get a Top 20 stop in the Top 250, and that's basically because people tend to overhype movies when they've just been released. I remember when Dark Knight first came out, it took the #1 spot in less than a week and held said spot for a couple of weeks.

So, in short, the Top 250 is very subjective and dependent on some not-so-accurate voting, but it's a good enough chart for the most part.

Makes sense. Thanks. 👍

Edit: I watched The Hurt Locker this afternoon, and I have to agree with Diego. It was a good movie and I enjoyed it, but there wasn't really anything rememberable about it.

 

[Diego440]

Where in the World is Osama bin Laden? (Morgan Spurlock, 2008) -- I basically watched this becaise it's the new documentary by Morgan Spurlock; in case the name doesn't ring a bell, he's the guy who made Supersize Me a few years ago. I thought it was his following documentary, but it turns out he's done a few since. Either way, the setting is simple: since the US has the strongest military, sneakiest spies and coolest technology in the entire world, how is it that they can't find one man hiding in Afghanibaluchapakiwaziristan? So he decides to find out for himself, sets on a trip across many Arab nations and asks around.

Then again, that's the main theme of the documentary, but there's also a sidestory to it and it's about people from diverse societies have a very different perspective on American foreign policy than Americans themselves can even consider. Essentially, these are the people who become affected by the American foreign policy regarding Arab nations. In the end, the thing you realize is that the whole trip is a chance to actually go out and see and talk to these people that Americans are told to be scared of all the time and find out that they aren't the demons professed to be.

I guess the demons are created within ourselves and within the media, and these visions become so far from reality that they start feedint on themselves after a while and the fear just becomes exponential. During the first part of the movie, when Morgan is in the US and preparing for the trip, people tell him that if he goes looking for trouble, he'll find it. But it's not that he was looking for trouble, he was looking for answers; and he found a lot.

Unfortunately, in the end the documentary is little more than interview after interview of mostly town people in these countries, and the story holds little for itself. 6.5/10

 

[Diego440]

Hei Tai Yang 731 (a.k.a. Men Behind the Sun) (Tun Fei Mou, 1988) -- Japanese troops round up Chinese and Russian prisoners of war and take them to a place called Squadron 731, where they are grotesquely tortured and experimented on to test new biological weapons and there's very little (movie) censorship to cover it up. This is probably one of those movies you only have to watch once, as it has to be one of the most disturbing and unpleasant movies ever made. And to top it all off, it was very hard to find. Still, the most gruesome scenes were used with corpses, so the appearance is very real. Movie-wise, the acting is good enough, the dubbing was horrible and despite being from 1988, if it said 1968 I would've believed it as well. Fans of cute American horror should avoid it like the plague! 5.5/10

 

[Bram Turismo]

*snip*

I watched this movie Tuesday and I thought it was absolutely fantastic. It was great to see a war movie that wasn't like all other war movies; a bunch of horny Americans playing Die Hard. The thing I loved most was the tension throughout the movie. I don't think there was one moment where I thought "Oh, nothing'll happen now". The snipe scene was just awesome, a real snipe scene. Personally, I put this movie nearly up there with District 9...

 

[Diego440]

Religulous (Larry Charles, 2008) -- A documentary about religions of the world, starring Bill Maher and directed by Larry Charles; perhaps the perfect setting for a documentary that asks the politically incorrect questions that no one else does. Though it sometimes seems kind of redacted and strongly edited, the reactions look geniune. Maher really seems to get into deep crap with the questions and the interviewees appear really uncomfortable with them, which I guess is the real point of the interview, apart from making some religions and reactions seem absurd.

As a non-religious person, I really liked it and would recommend it to anyone, religious or not, though the religious people might feel a bit ridiculed. Not going to let that much more into it, but I laughed out loud so many times it was amazing. 9/10

 

[Diego440]

Up (Pete Docter, Bob Peterson 2009) -- Not the 3D version, since I saw this one at home. But it's an awesome movie. Disney/Pixar tear-jerking and a good effort for a movie not made entirely for kids. Also, the "jungle" parts, though CGI, are inspired and sketched out of parts of Venezuela, so it also felt good to see the Angel Falls and the Auyan Tepui being represented there. I'm sure many of you have seen it and those who haven't should have it on the 'soon-to-watch' list. Great movie. 9/10

 

[Northstar]

Up (2009) -- Not the 3D version, since I saw this one at home. But it's an awesome movie. Disney/Pixar tear-jerking and a good effort for a movie not made entirely for kids. Also, the "jungle" parts, though CGI, are inspired and sketched out of parts of Venezuela, so it also felt good to see the Angel Falls and the Auyan Tepui being represented there. I'm sure many of you have seen it and those who haven't should have it on the 'soon-to-watch' list. Great movie. 9/10

Here I was about to write how I just got done watching this movie, only to see I've been tree'd.

It definitely is good, I'm glad Disney hasn't had too much influence over Pixar.
8/10

 

[Dave A]

Full film review by me.

The special effects were great.

3/10

 

[Syntax error]

Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen (2009) -- Wow..... just wow. I actually quite enjoyed the first one for what it was (even though it bastardized my childhood memories) however this movie was terrible. There was pretty much nothing I enjoyed in this movie. Most of you have probably watched it already so for those of you who haven't, avoid it like the plague. The only thing that was okay was the forest fight.... but that's it. The rest of this movie was rubbish. 2/10

Star Trek (2009) -- Wow..... just wow. Polar opposite of TF2 as far as Sci-Fi goes. This movie was brilliant. I have never seen an episode of Star Trek so I can't make an comparisons but this flick had everything you need in a good movie. Involving plot, great acting and directing at just the right pace. It has actually even sparked a bit of interest in me to watch some of the original episodes on the Sci-Fi channel. 9/10

 

[Diego440]

Inglorious Basterds (Quentin Tarantino, 2009) -- Not going to get into a lengthy review here, but I didn't really know what to expect here. I'm usually very skeptical about Tarantino's movies, since I loved Reservoir Dogs, thought Jackie Brown was good and the rest of his work has been a mig meh for me. This one if my new favourite Tarantino movie... very well done, loved the long, tense scenes and the unexpected action. One of the best lines in the movie: "Is there anything you Americans can speak other than English?" But all in all, I also appreciated the fact that they didn't have everyone speaking English for the sake of not reading subtitles. Definitely worthy of spot #47 in IMDb's Top 250, and a definite 10/10 from me.

 

[a6m5]

You mother trucker! How about Pulp Fiction then!?

 

[nk4e]

The Hidden Blade

A movie about a Samurai that has to adapt to the ever growing 1860's Japan. He must choose between Honor or Duty and preserve the respect for tradition and the code of the SAMURAI! The movie wasn't too bad, probably my first serious drama Samurai flick in awhile. 8/10. It had realistic swordplay, it wasn't too fast not to slow.

 

[Diego440]

You mother trucker! How about Pulp Fiction then!?

Pulp Fiction was another big meh

[/personal taste]

 

[Joey D]

Pulp Fiction was another big meh

[/personal taste]

Pulp Fiction is good but it's really over rated I think, so I'm inclined to agree it's a big "meh" film.

 

[Bram Turismo]

Full film review by me.

The special effects were great.

3/10

Going to watch it this week with some buddies. I already expect such a personal score, but I'm going just for the special effects, and America getting pwned

As for Inglorious Bastards, I really don't for the life of me understand why this movie is rated so high. But I guess there's no point in discussing, for it seems I'm the only one who thinks so.

 

[a6m5]

Don't worry Joey and Diego. I show special patience for special people.

 

[Diego440]

neener neener!


Just saw:

The Ox-Bow Incident (William A. Wellman, 1943) --It's been a while since I saw an older movie and I really missed them, so to speak. Despite the movie looking like a Western and being set in the West, the movie is not really a Western, but more of a Film-Noir type. It's what 12 Angry Men might've been had they chosen guilty. It's also one of those rare movies that have more than 8.0/10 in the IMDb and are over the 1,500 vote mark and are not in the Top 250. With that said, it's a very good movie about the loss of individuality in a lynch mob and how it affects the fact that some people may not be guilty. A definite recommended movie for anyone who likes older movies and movies with deeper meaning; and at just 75 minutes, it's enjoyable by almost anyone. 8.5/10

 

[Solid Lifters]

Gorp - 1980 Comedy Staring Michael Lembeck, Dennis Quaid, Roseanna Arquette and Fran Drescher

No, Gorp isn't the SoCal surfer 'trail mix' of 'Good Ol' Raisin and Peanuts,' it's a ripoff of Meatballs and National Lampoon's Animal House. More the former, than the later. It's set in a Jewish summer camp, where you'll find the usual 'summer camp movie fodder.' Camp counselors, cooks and food servers who battle against an overbearing camp owner involving the usual sexual situations and jokes for films of this type.

It shows the early work of the Dennis Quaid (almost unrecognizable), Roseanna Arquette and Fran Drescher. I'm beginning to think Roseanna, because she appeared as a main character in the beginning of the film, decided to quit half way through the movie, because she just seemed to disappear and was never spoke of again. You can't blame her. Dennis, who I'm sure is the most embarrassed of the bunch about showing up in this movie, looks so young, you just about can't recognize him. And Fran Drescher is shown in her true light as a huge slut who screws whoever she wants, whenever she wants. I am slut, hear me roar.

While I'm a fan of this simple comedy stuff, and this movie had funny moments, this movie was a big miss. Its big problem was no story. You often don't know what the story or main plot is, and if you did, you'd be wrong. You also have no emotional connections to any of the characters. You couldn't care less if they died or got fired and never saw them again. In fact, I think Roseanna's character must have died somehow, and they cut it out of the movie. 4/10

 

[Bram Turismo]

I was expecting a load of crap, but not this much. The only thing I don't regret about going to this one is that I was out with the guys. Otherwise, this movie is a waste of time.

The movie is full of errors, in nearly every scene. Actually, about half of the movie is entirely made up of one big error;

Spoiler

So they detected 1,500m high tsunami waves entering the continent. Next thing you know, the whole Himalaya mountains are flooded. Last time I checked, the Himalaya mountains are higher than 1,500m...

Also, when a plane is out of fuel and the engine stops working, it doesn't catch fire. You can't have fire wihout fuel, hence why it's impossible for the plane to blow up when there's no fuel onboard. An engine just stops working, and that's it. No smoke, no fire, no weird sounds, no wobbling about, you don't even notice a jet engine that comes to a stop.

The small two engined aircraft with Jackson. It lands from the airstrip and takes off. Why are suddenly the walls higher than the plane? And if he takes off, then why oh why does he fly 10 feet above the roads for 5 minutes?

Third; How is it possible that a cloud of ashes from Yellowstone reaches Paris before Washington D.C? Lol Wut?

The amount of errors and crap in this movie is too large to even sum up here. On top of that, the special effects weren't eye-candy either.





​

 

[Terronium-12]

@ Bram; I think the entire point of that movie was to poke fun at the idiots (and I'm honestly not even going to apologize if some of those people are members here) who believe the world is going to "end" is 2012. It's a black comedy movie, pretty much.

I just saw this piece of sh...well, you know...



Where do I start? Megan Fox cannot act.

End of review.

The only reason I would even contemplate the word "like" or "enjoy" is because she's nice to look at, other than that she pretty much needs to keep her mouth closed.

 

[McLaren]

Spoiler

Third; How is it possible that a cloud of ashes from Yellowstone reaches Paris before Washington D.C? Lol Wut?

Ok, I assume you are referring to the scene where they grab the Russian plane, and he says

Spoiler

"Was that the Eiffel Tower?"

That's not Paris, that's Vegas they ran from. I don't think Europe was shown at all during the entire movie, just California, Yellowstone, Las Vegas, D.C, & China.

 

[Bram Turismo]

Ah, that would explain it. Never knew there was a second Eiffeltower

 

[FoolKiller]

Ah, that would explain it. Never knew there was a second Eiffeltower

Well, its part of a hotel/casino thing, and far from the size of the one in Paris.

There is also one at King's Island amusement park in Cincinnatti, Ohio.

 

[Syntax error]

Dragonball: Evolution (2009) -- I really have to stop watching junk like this. I have ill wishes to all that were involved in the production of this atrocity. Not only is this movie terribly written, directed, produced and acted, it has nothing to do with any of the Dragonball series. I am a huge fan of the original series (didn't mind DBZ but hated GT) so it made it all that much harder to swallow this. The only relation to the series are the character names... that is it. I can't in good faith award this a single point as there are absolutely no redeeming factors 0/10

 

[Diego440]

Scarecrow (Jerry Schatzberg, 1973) -- A certainly unusual character study/road movie that could only be made in the 70s, starring Al Pacino and Gene Hackman in a movie with very long scenes and great acting, but which didn't really get anywhere. Very good cinematography, really capturing the whole Americana scene, by the same director of photography as Badlands. I can see this movie being big and good in the 70s, but it really doesn't do much justice nowadays. 6/10