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

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The Longest Day (Ken Annakin, Andrew Marton, 1962) -- An awesome movie that documents the events of D-Day, told on a grand scale from American, British, French and German points of view. It's the movie after which Saving Private Ryan was made, but the main difference is that this one has all the other points of view and whereas Private Ryan's main action scene lasted 20 or so minutes, this one's lasts around 90! Of course, battle scenes aren't as gory or intense. Other than that, the movie is a very accurate representation of the hours prior to D-Day and the air and paratrooping raids that took place around France the night before as well as the unpreparedness of the Germans regarding the attack points and distribution of armament and materials. Also great is that they showed that it wasn't only the US who raided Normandy. Great movie, great (and amazing) cast: Gregory Peck, Richard Burton, Rod Steiger, Henry Fonda, Roddy McDowall, Robert Mitchum, Sean Connery and John Wayne, among so many others. 9/10
 


Blood Diamond (Edward Zwick, 2006) -- A very captivating story about a diamond smuggler who has made himself a key player in the business, a fisherman who's family has been kidnapped by the militias and himself sent to diamond mining camps, and about a reporter who accompanies them both to find a certain diamond. It's a great movie that shows very well the situation in Sierra leone and so many other African countries that have issues with their resources being stripped from them, civil wars, RUF, child soldiers and corruption to the highest levels. DiCaprio's acting is excellent, Connelly's is alright and Djimon Hounsou is the best one here, but all three of them make what would otherwise be an intensely violent movie stand out because of the feelings they can convey. A very good movie, without a doubt. 8.5/10



Nefes: Vatan Sagolsun (a.k.a. The Breath) (Levent Semerci, 2009) -- The story of a small group of Turkish soldiers in a remote patrol station in eastern Turkey facing near certain death during a time the conflict between the Turkish Army and the separatist militant organization PKK reached its peak point. Although it may sound as a very violent and senseless movie, it's the complete opposite. There is some fighting and those parts are very well done, but it's more a movie about the soldiers, their feelings, fears, loves, dreams and everything else that makes people real. In that same veing, this is probably one of the most realistic war movies in history. There's very little protest and anti-war feeling you get in the average movie (or politics, or nationalism). This is an objective look at the real drama of being a soldier in a place where death seems so closeby. The characters and their relationships with each other seem very real, as they face their enemy. You can see they are not bulletproof, or perfect fictional heroes, but rather fragile, insecure and real like everyone else. The music and the colors in the cinematography are among the best I've seen from a movie that I first didn't know what to expect and later found ti hard to stay away from. 8/10
 
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Toy Story 3

I went to a local Picture House this afternoon for my sons first cinema experience, it's a 1927 art deco cinema that still has an interval with an ice cream lady so it's great for a kids matinee but it's no imax! I'm glad to say he really enjoyed it and behaved perfectly but that may have had a lot to do with the movie. In Toy Story 3 Andy is now grown up and about to leave home for college. He has virtually forgotten about all his old toy friends and they desperately want to him to find them so they can be played with again. The toys best option is getting put up in the attic but they fear they may get donated to the children's day care centre or worse...sent to the dump, it's not looking good for them! Obviously the toys embark on a thrilling, funny and sometimes scary adventure making many new friends on the way with the story keeping young and old gripped throughout. Pixar is on fine form again and in my opinion this is the best of the Toy Story films which is huge praise indeed as anyone who has seen them will contest, it's very rare for a trilogy to be flawless but I think Pixar have definitely achieved it with this. Toy Story came out 15 years ago and I've watched the first two films countless times and I'm really looking forward to watching them all over again with my own children and relieving the memories through their eyes. It's wonderful the way they can make a film so entertaining to young children that also relates to adults on so many levels without just throwing in a load of random "in jokes". Perfect 10/10


nk4e
Did you cry at the end?
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Yes, even though I was expecting it to be an emotional ending.
 
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Most (The Bridge)
1969
Directed by Hajrudin Krvavac
A TV channel here started airing old Yugoslavian films every sunday. This was the first movie of the so called "yugonostalgia"

The movie is about Yugoslavian partisans destroying a bridge very important for the german forces returning from Greece.

The movie was very entertaining. There were quite a lot of action scenes in it and the acting is very good. You don't really notice it's an old movie that much. Now because I'm not the best at reviewing I'll cut the boring text and give my verdict.
8/10
Watch it some time. It's great!
 


Africa Addio (Gualtiero Jacopetti, Franco Prosperi, 1966) -- The end of colonialism in Africa is just the beginning of the end. On their own, without the vaguest idea of how to govern themselves, Africans for Africa set out to slaughter everyone and everything that is not black. The hardest thing to watch in this documentary isn't man's inhumanity to man, because the truth is we can't get along no matter how PC everything has become, but the slaughter of the animals who have no politics, no aspirations for power, no color preferences. The Italian filmmakers risked their lives to film the brutality of the people who now think they are in charge. Bloated dead bodies, executions, piles of hacked off limbs all photographed with the intention of showing the plight of the "Dark Continent" now left on it's own by the rest of the world. 40 years later, the same things are still happening. It never gets better, the animals still suffer. 6/10



The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the 8th Dimension (W.D. Richter, 1984) -- Adventurer/surgeon/rock musician Buckaroo Banzai and his band of men, the Hong Kong Cavaliers, take on evil alien invaders from the 8th dimension. The problem I had with the movie is that I wasn't sure how serious it was trying to be. It has its moments during which it attempts to be serious enough, but then it goes and throws a completely absurd plot twist that just made me dislike it. I assume it's a movie based on a comic and perhaps someone can shed some light on that, but it doesn't avoid the movie from flopping miserably. Also, the failed attempts at acting by Peter Weller and Jeff Goldblum are real wastes of time, though John Lithgow somewhat saves the day, too bad his acting is so short. 5/10
 
EvilNeal
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Toy Story 3

I went to a local Picture House this afternoon for my sons first cinema experience, it's a 1927 art deco cinema that still has an interval with an ice cream lady so it's great for a kids matinee but it's no imax! I'm glad to say he really enjoyed it and behaved perfectly but that may have had a lot to do with the movie. In Toy Story 3 Andy is now grown up and about to leave home for college. He has virtually forgotten about all his old toy friends and they desperately want to him to find them so they can be played with again. The toys best option is getting put up in the attic but they fear they may get donated to the children's day care centre or worse...sent to the dump, it's not looking good for them! Obviously the toys embark on a thrilling, funny and sometimes scary adventure making many new friends on the way with the story keeping young and old gripped throughout. Pixar is on fine form again and in my opinion this is the best of the Toy Story films which is huge praise indeed as anyone who has seen them will contest, it's very rare for a trilogy to be flawless but I think Pixar have definitely achieved it with this. Toy Story came out 15 years ago and I've watched the first two films countless times and I'm really looking forward to watching them all over again with my own children and relieving the memories through their eyes. It's wonderful the way they can make a film so entertaining to young children that also relates to adults on so many levels without just throwing in a load of random "in jokes". Perfect 10/10




Yes, even though I was expecting it to be an emotional ending.
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I think it's too adult and mature for little kids. Some of the situations are truly, genuinely scary, and the ending is very emotional. Incredibly, despite loving the first two films, my daughter was incredibly bored in parts by Toy Story 3... even though it had its fair share of action and humor.

It's a great movie for adults... full of nostalgia, with a smart story... I'd say a 9/10 for that (and the critic's consensus is generally good), but as a kid's movie, it has many flaws.
 
I think that Pixar wrote Toy Story 3 for a more mature audience. I was a little kid when the first movie came out, and I was still a kid when the second installment came out. I'm 19 now, and many of the original fans of the original movie are my age or older. In the movie, Andy grew up to become a college kid. And in many ways it reflects my life around 17/18, growing up and realizing I'm not a kid anymore.

That being said, I still haven't seen the movie, but I really want to. I'm not sure if it's still in theaters in the US though. I may have to wait until it comes out on Blu-Ray.
 
It's still out in some places. I guess that's a fair assessment... as it does seem to be aimed at college kids and young adults. And to be fair, it's funny in places, has lots of action and lots of humor. Still... not great for little kids, who may get scared at parts (yes, scarier than the monster toys in TS1... because there are life-and-death situations involved) won't understand the darker side of the movie and the deeper subtexts.
 
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Went and saw Predators over the weekend... Made sure I watched the original once more before I went to go see this one. Im a HUGE fan of the original and after reading some reviews I was afraid this was going to be a flop. I must admit I was very surprised by this movie. It has A LOT of similarities with the original movie, but they didnt go over the top with the idea either... Its not an action overload movie like for example Transformers turned into. The basic story line is not original since its basically a copy of the original film, but the characters are very believable. What I also liked is that they stayed true to the original SFX. They didnt go and improve them greatly just because we live in 2010 now. This was also very relieving! :) All in all it was a good and entertaining movie, I must admit I secretly liked it a lot, but that could be because im a such a fan of the original movie. I would definitely recommend having a look at this movie if youre a fan of the original. IMO its definitely not as bad as some of the reviews Ive read about it. Lawrence Fishburn also makes a small appearance in the movie... Even though it was "short-lived" he did a damn good job, Oscar worthy :lol:

7.5/10 (Probably a bit biased, if I had to go with a neutral, unbiased grade I'd go with 6.5/10)
 
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Blitz187
Predators

7.5/10 (Probably a bit biased, if I had to go with a neutral, unbiased grade I'd go with 6.5/10)
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I've heard it's the second best Predator movie but in the reviewers eyes that wasn't necessarily a high accolade! I'll still watch it one day but won't be going to the cinema for it, I was hoping it would be more than average but doesn't sound like it is.
 
^^^

Of course it will never be as good as the first one.... I watched that one before going to this one and the score in the first one just sets the mood so well. Also the build up to the final showdown throughout the movie is done perfectly imo. Even though the movie dates back from 1988, I still found it to be done very well and just as good as the first time I saw it. The problem with Predators is that it tries to go the same route as the first one, but most of us (older people ;)) already know what the Predators look like so its nothing new... It will probably only be really interesting to the younger crowd who either havent seen the first one or can't appreciate the first one because of the SFX of the time :)
 
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The first Predator movie is just awesome, definitely one of those films you have to watch if you spot while chanel flicking.

As long as this one is as good as or better than Predator In The City and better than the other abominations then I'll be happy :p
 
Is the first one the one with Arnold or Danny Glover?
 
^^^ Arnie is in the first one... Danny Glover was in the mediocre second one...
 
Inception Decent movie but I think it could have been better.

The Karate Kid 2010 A lot better than I expected.
 
I saw no less than 3 movies on Sunday:

Clash of the Titans

Well, I don't really know how to grade this one. I thought it was well done, with good pace, plot development, action sequences and special effects. But this being a remake, I feel like I should judge it as such, but that's hard to do when you haven't seen the original. All I know about the original is that the mechanical owl in the new one was the guide in the old one. Coming from the standpoint of someone who hasn't seen the original, and judging it by its qualities as a movie alone, I'd probably give it a 7/10. Maybe 6.5.

Inception

I'd been anxious to see this movie and I was not disappointed. It may have been one of the best movies I've seen. (Granted I haven't seen many :sly:) I loved it through and through. Um...I don't know what else to say. 9/10

Prince of Persia

I didn't want to watch this movie but my family did, so we watched it. Overall the consensus after the movie was over is that it was terrible. I honestly didn't think it was that bad, it was just boring and predictable, in every aspect right down to the soundtrack (I predicted every single chord in the entire movie). So, not memorable at all then, but what do you expect from a movie based on a video game? 5/10
 
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The Good, the Bad and the Ugly (1966)

I wasn't really into westerns until recently so I never checked this out. It's a great film and the acting is really good. The storyline is a tad generic but they did a very good job making it work. Of course I can't mention this movie without also saying something about the score, which Ennio Morricone did an extremely good job making the music fit the movie. Really the only thing that wasn't good is that there is some bad voice over work during certain sections of the film, but that by no means makes it a bad film. 9/10


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Night at the Museum 2: Battle of the Smithsonian (2009)

I thought the first one was decent so I figured I would give this one a shot. It really felt like they just changed enough from the first one enough to justify calling it a sequel. The acting is meh at best with the film cast of mostly c-b list actors. They also did a pretty bad job making it appeal to a certain audience as there are some parts that are very adult and some parts are extremely childish. While this isn't a bad thing the adult parts aren't exactly appropriate for young kids to be watching so that really takes the film down. It's a decent watch if you have some older kids though. 5/10
 
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I saw no less than 3 movies the previous weekend:

Inception: 8.9/10 Cool movie, missing something... "je ne sais quoi" BUT It's a NON-stop pace movie...
If you think about it, this movie is rather a simple idea, and the story is really not that complicated... but very well executed! Great performance! No fault at all... I cant critic it more than that.

Despicable Me: 7/10 Too cute for any of us. Nothing like i expected.

Knight and Day: avoid it if you can, cheesy: the plot and especially the lines are to throw up! It might have been great 25 years ago.
5/10
 
CTznOfTime
Despicable Me: 7/10 Too cute for any of us. Nothing like i expected.
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You went to an animated Steve Carell movie and thought it wouldn't be cheesy? :odd:

But I agree with you on Inception. Very simple idea, executed very well. Also, it didn't feel nearly as long as it's 148 minute run time would suggest. 👍👍
 
TB
You went to a animated Steve Carell movie and thought it wouldn't be cheesy? :odd:
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Fixed, isn't everything he does rather cheesy?
 
TB
You went to an animated Steve Carell movie and thought it wouldn't be cheesy? :odd:

But I agree with you on Inception. Very simple idea, executed very well. Also, it didn't feel nearly as long as it's 148 minute run time would suggest. 👍👍
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Pardon my ignorance...
1) i dont know who the hell is Steve Carell...
2) based on 1), i really wasn't expected to be "cheesy".... but much less cheesey than "Knight and day", pheew!!! that thing is :sick: :yuck: especially the lines Tom C says...


Yes i agree with you... and i also forgot to say earlier that Inception does NOT feel long nor boring at all... it went by faster than i wanted... i wish it could last a bit longer... but i dont know how else the story would go beyond the 148 minutes. Totally worth whatever the price of seating in the theater... especially on IMAX.
 
Justin
Night at the Museum 2: Battle of the Smithsonian (2009)

I thought the first one was decent so I figured I would give this one a shot. It really felt like they just changed enough from the first one enough to justify calling it a sequel. The acting is meh at best with the film cast of mostly c-b list actors. They also did a pretty bad job making it appeal to a certain audience as there are some parts that are very adult and some parts are extremely childish. While this isn't a bad thing the adult parts aren't exactly appropriate for young kids to be watching so that really takes the film down. It's a decent watch if you have some older kids though. 5/10
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*Double checks IMDB* Ben Stiller, Owen Wilson, Hank Azaria, and Robin Williams. Not seeing this one, but having seen the first, I figured it was going to be more a case of under using quality actors, as is typically the case with family films.

TB
You went to an animated Steve Carell movie and thought it wouldn't be cheesy? :odd:
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Horton Hears a Who is awesome, and even teaches important life lessons.

CTznOfTime
Pardon my ignorance...
1) i dont know who the hell is Steve Carell...
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You live in the US, how do you not know Steve Carell?

Michael Scott
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That would take a full on media blackout to not know who he is.
 
I do love The Office US.... :) Michael Scott is my hero!! :lol:
 
FoolKiller
Horton Hears a Who is awesome, and even teaches important life lessons.
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Alright. Besides Horton, which our whole family likes. 👍
 
FoolKiller
*Double checks IMDB* Ben Stiller, Owen Wilson, Hank Azaria, and Robin Williams. Not seeing this one, but having seen the first, I figured it was going to be more a case of under using quality actors, as is typically the case with family films.
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Notice in my post I said "Mostly c-b actors", mostly being the key word. I would say your second part is very spot on though, Robin Williams only appears in 3 scenes.
 
Going back a few...

Terronium-12
Anything with Will Ferrell (except Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back) is terrible. :sick:
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Anchorman is excellent, as is Austin Powers (and, to a lesser extent, Austin Powers 2). Even Steve Carell can't bring down Anchorman - almost being the funniest character in it - and Steve Carell really is dross personified.

I'd agree that, generally Ferrell is pap as a lead with Anchorman (containing all but Owen Wilson from the Frat Pack) being the exception. Carell is pap as a lead with no exceptions.


On-topic, I accidentally "Frequently Asked Questions About Time Travel" the other night. Really, really odd - starring Anna Faris (Cindy from Scary Movies) and Chris O'Dowd (Roy from IT Crowd). Three loafers accidentally find a tear in the space-time continuum in the toilets of their local pub. The film does away with all notions of explaining time travel, instead covering the sort of idiocy that 3 normal, if geeky and lazy, thirtysomething men would get up to with an undirected time machine - repeatedly accidentally bumping into themselves.

It's an odd one. You'll enjoy it, but the end comes too soon and you'll be mainly going "What?".
 
I thought Steve Carell was ok in Little Miss Sunshine...


Anyway, here are some relatively recent movies I've seen that I haven't got time to write much about but wanted to share before they completely leave my memory

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Ponyo

Excellent young children friendly movie from Studio Ghibli. Sweet story and beautiful animation with quite a few big name actors doing a decent English audio dub. Slightly odd that the characters look so western though. 8/10.

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The Princess And The Frog

The first traditionally animated Disney film in a long time which makes a nice change to the CGI films that are now very common. Pretty good story with plenty catchy songs and more beautiful animation although in a different style to Ponyo. The kids will love and not just the girls. 8/10.
 
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