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

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Bit of a convenient moment at the end where Hit Girl is suddenly more the latter than the former but otherwise largely enjoyable.

I'm not familiar with the comic of the same name, but it does strike me as odd that Kick Ass sustains comic-book levels of injury and pain - at odds with what I understand to be to the ethos as stated at the start - but, meh.
 
It's a bit like the Darkman theme, only tuned down. Supposedly radical surgery can make you feel less pain, and thin metal pins in your bones can keep them from breaking again... not.

I loved it. A bit corny at the end, but I loved it.
 
Army of Darkness aka Evil Dead 3.

All because of one of my favourite songs. The movie itself has aged well - I liked it alot and recommend it 👍

The inspiration to watch the movie:



Movie quotes (language warning)

 


Wild at Heart (David Lynch, 1990) -- Yet another proof that David Lynch is not for me. Despite being probably one of the most linear of Lynch's movies plotwise, I just didn't 'feel it' at any time. The movie was quite predictable, boring and too slow-paced for my taste. None of the characters are likeable, nor are their actions justified. Blue Velvet is soooo much better, especially because it was new and shocking and original, but this one seems to try to copy Velvet, but Nic Cage just does his Elvis impersonation too often and Laura Dern (who is usually good at Lynch's movies) seems just lost. Camera work is good, but to no end and the story is just too devoid of anything worthy. 4/10
 
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Legend of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga'Hoole (2010)

Been hearing mixed reviews, so I wasn't expecting too much... thus, I was pleasantly surprised that this film wasn't unwatchable. Approach it expecting a lot, and you're likely to be disappointed.

Legend of the Guardians, on the face of it, would seem to be a children's movie / adventure, but it's much more serious than that. In fact, I'd say it falls perilously into the Juvenile fiction genre... which means older viewers will find it quaint and and younger viewers will find it bloody serious... and bloody.

The biggest problem for the movie is that the story's a little too familiar, and there's the sense that a lot of it was left on the cutting room floor. It follows the adventures of a little Hobbit named Frodo... errh... owl, Soren, who's kidnapped by the "Pure Ones" and taken to Mordor (I have to call it that... I have no idea what the place is called). He escapes with his Elf-friend, Gylfrie and gathers a merry band of adventurers, including a dwarf, Digger and the exiled king, Aragorn... errh... the bard-warrior Twilight. They make their way to Rivendell... I mean... Ga'Hoole to warn the elven king of the "Pure Ones'" plans.

Here, Soren meets the legendary Jedi warrior, the Lyze of Kiel (though he is initially introduced to him as "Uncle Ben" ) who teaches him the ways of the Force. In the end, he and Uncle Ben must face off against Darth Vader... errh... Sauron... errh... MetalBeak... and his mate, Mara Jade... errh... Nyra, in a grand battle at the end. Okay... the movie wasn't that bad, but I really was comparing it to Tolkien the whole movie through.

And like the Tolkien movies, there was a lot of talking. A whole lot of talking. My four year old kid got so bored she asked to go to the bathroom. Three times. And still none of the characters or situations felt fully threshed out by the end of the movie. It's a shame, as there's the potential for engaging characters there, but it never quite pans out. Still, the battle scenes and flying scenes are spectacular and well choreographed and the design and artwork is lush and beautiful.

I'm surprised that I actually enjoyed the movie despite its obvious and glaring drawbacks. My wife was bored to tears because she can't understand British accents. Your mileage may vary.

6/10
 


Un dimanche à Kigali (a.k.a. A Sunday in Kigali) (Robert Favreau, 2006) -- Yet another movie about the Rwandan genocide, though this one has the genocide as a backdrop to a very heartfelt and dramatic love story. In April 1994, the middle-aged Canadian journalist named Bernard Valcourt is making a documentary in Kigali about AIDS. He secretly falls in love for the Tutsi waitress of his hotel, called Gentille, who is younger than him, in a period of violent racial conflicts. When the genocide of the Tutsis by the Hutus in Rwanda begins, Bernard does not succeed in escaping with Gentille to Canada. When the genocide finishes in July 1994, Bernard returns to the chaotic Kigali seeking out Gentille in the middle of destruction and dead bodies. And though the movie doesn't really go into much of the reasons, causes and effects of the genocide, it has to touch on them a few times. The real story is about Valcourt returning to find Gentille, and a very tragic and sad search it turns out to be. The movie is very good, though it had me in tears a few times. The movie is sometimes a bit graphic, but according to journalists, you should always see the good and the bad of everything. 8/10
 
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Superbad
It goes like this:
Two high school nerds, Evan and Seth (Michael Cera and Jonah Hill) are invited to a party, and they have to bring beer. Enter Fogell (Christopher Mintz-Plasse), A.K.A. McLovin, who has a fake I.D. What follows is non-stop hilarity, as Cera and Hill's characters attempt to bring back a crapload of beer while being chased by the cops.

If you're looking for a family-friendly movie - get lost. The characters swear more than Gordon Ramsey. Overall, it's a fantastic movie, and unless you're so bloody pious that you beat your children for saying "damn", you'll laugh your arse off. Especially when you see Seth's "artistic" side.

Score: 9.5/10
 
^^^ Watched the un-rated DVD last night. :D

Also watched "Last House on the Left" with my brother. Holy crap that is a messed up movie. I'm not going to describe it on here because it might not be appropriate... :lol:
 
Finally got to watching "Mega Shark Vs. Giant Octopus", terrible, yet awesome movie. Really have to wonder if they were even paying attention sometimes as there are tons of things that just don't line up.
 


Secrets & Lies (Mike Leigh, 1996) -- A successful black woman traces her birth mother to a lower-class white woman, who denies it; emotions run high as everyone's secrets are exposed. The movie traces the pain we often hold inside along with our secrets and what can come out when we reveal them. We witness the quiet desperation within this family which gradually heals their pains and crumbles the walls they build around themselves. This is an intense movie, but the final message, though dramatic, is very hopeful. 7.5/10
 
I watched Stand by Me the other day after watching the Family Guy parady episode of Stephen King. I kind of wish I had seen the film first though, but was still enjoyable.

Just saw a trailer for Saw 3D... Didn't that storyline end already? Apprenetly this is "the final chapter" Though I'm sure the last film was where "it all ends".
 
The last few films i remember watching in the past couple of weeks:

Snakes on a Plane (2006)
De ja vu (2006)
Phone Booth (2002)
Downfall/Der Untergang (2004), yes I only watched this because I regularly watch Downfall parodies.

The last viewing at the cinema was The Expendables, mindless action and nothing more.
 
Son of Ranbow 2007

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It's the story of a religious boy with a great imagination(Will) who meets up with a trouble maker(Lee) and decide to make a movie. At first Lee just uses Will to win an amateur film contest but over time it grows into an actual friendship. It's very well done and the storyline is fairly good, it does take some time to figure out why one character is even in the film. It sort of felt like a mix of "Stand by Me" and "Where the Wild Things Are". The only downfall is that it seemed like there was a little to much filler. 8/10

weigert
Downfall/Der Untergang (2004), yes I only watched this because I regularly watch Downfall parodies.
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Just watched that a few days ago, the fact I love WWII movies was the reason it wound up in my queue though. Great movie.👍
 
i attended nineteen (19) screenings at the 35th Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) last month. here are a few worthy films.


- The King's Speech
http://tiff.net/filmsandschedules/tiff/2010/kingsspeech
"The King's Speech tells the story of the man who would become King George VI, the father of the current Queen, Elizabeth II. After his brother abdicates, George ‘Bertie’ VI (Colin Firth) reluctantly assumes the throne. Plagued by a dreaded nervous stammer and considered unfit to be King, Bertie engages the help of an unorthodox speech therapist named Lionel Logue (Geoffrey Rush). Through a set of unexpected techniques, and as a result of an unlikely friendship, Bertie is able to find his voice and boldly lead the country into war."

- The Housemaid
http://tiff.net/filmsandschedules/tiff/2010/housemaid
In this erotic thriller, the housemaid of an upper-class family becomes entangled in a dangerous tryst. A satirical look at class structure, reminiscent of the work of Claude Chabrol, this sexy soap opera is a story of revenge and retribution."


- Aftershock
http://tiff.net/filmsandschedules/tiff/2010/aftershock
"The most successful Chinese movie of all time, Aftershock is based on the novel of the same name by Chinese Canadian author Zhang Ling. An intimate epic, the film sweeps across three crucial decades in recent Chinese history and explores the resilience of a family devastated by 1976 Tangshan earthquake."


- Black Swan
http://tiff.net/filmsandschedules/tiff/2010/blackswan
"A psychological thriller set in the world of New York City ballet, Black Swan stars Natalie Portman as Nina, a featured dancer who finds herself locked in a web of competitive intrigue with a new rival at the company. Black Swan takes a thrilling and at times terrifying journey through the psyche of a young ballerina whose starring role as the duplicitous swan queen turns out to be a part for which she becomes frighteningly perfect. Black Swan also stars Vincent Cassel, Mila Kunis, Barbara Hershey and Winona Ryder."


- 127 Hours
http://tiff.net/filmsandschedules/tiff/2010/127hours
"127 Hours is the true story of mountain climber Aron Ralston’s (James Franco) remarkable adventure to save himself after a fallen boulder crashes on his arm and traps him in an isolated canyon in Utah. Over the next five days Ralston examines his life and survives the elements to finally discover he has the courage and the wherewithal to extricate himself by any means necessary. The film also stars Clémence Poésy, Amber Tamblyn and Kate Mara."


- I Saw the Devil
http://tiff.net/filmsandschedules/tiff/2010/isawthedevil
"A hard-boiled thriller from Korean master Kim Jee-woon, I Saw the Devil is a tale of bloody vengeance against a dangerous psychopath who has committed a gruesome series of murders."
 
Tom Servo
Secrets & Lies (Mike Leigh, 1996) -- A successful black woman traces her birth mother to a lower-class white woman, who denies it; emotions run high as everyone's secrets are exposed. The movie traces the pain we often hold inside along with our secrets and what can come out when we reveal them. We witness the quiet desperation within this family which gradually heals their pains and crumbles the walls they build around themselves. This is an intense movie, but the final message, though dramatic, is very hopeful. 7.5/10
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Nice new avatar :lol: What’s the asterix for?


Completely agree with your review, Mike Leigh has a gift for telling the story of everyday human life in a very insightful and touching way. If you haven’t already you should watch High Hopes, also his new film, Another Year, comes out soon which looks pretty good judging by the trailer which is about an older generation no doubt due to him getting older himself.


Justin
Son of Ranbow 2007

It's the story of a religious boy with a great imagination(Will) who meets up with a trouble maker(Lee) and decide to make a movie. At first Lee just uses Will to win an amateur film contest but over time it grows into an actual friendship. It's very well done and the storyline is fairly good, it does take some time to figure out why one character is even in the film. It sort of felt like a mix of "Stand by Me" and "Where the Wild Things Are". The only downfall is that it seemed like there was a little to much filler. 8/10
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I love this film, it reminds me so much of my own childhood although I only had aspirations to be Rambo or a stuntman rather than a film maker :p. The 2 main young actors are brilliant even without any concessions for their age, Bill Milner (Will) was in Is Anybody There? with Michael Caine and more than matched him for acting ability. I think I remember Michael Caine describing Bill Milner as being able to perfectly portray an ordinary boy in an extraordinary situation.
 
Neal
Nice new avatar :lol: What’s the asterix for?


Completely agree with your review, Mike Leigh has a gift for telling the story of everyday human life in a very insightful and touching way. If you haven’t already you should watch High Hopes, also his new film, Another Year, comes out soon which looks pretty good judging by the trailer which is about an older generation no doubt due to him getting older himself.
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I have a few movies by him, none of which are those two. I'll have to get back to you regarding the others. It's not an asterisk, it's a registered (R) thing. Just say the image yesterday and thought "uh huh, I like it"
 
Tom Servo
I have a few movies by him, none of which are those two. I'll have to get back to you regarding the others. It's not an asterisk, it's a registered (R) thing. Just say the image yesterday and thought "uh huh, I like it"
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Another Year releases in cinemas in the UK on 5th November so you may need to wait a while to get it over there but High Hopes was one of his first films so you should be ok tracking it down, my copy can free with a newspaper!

Even funnier that someone has trademarked " I heart Female Orgasm" :lol:
 
Alright, the movies I've seen by Mike Leigh are:

- Naked
- Happy-Go-Lucky (didn't like it much)
- Secrets & Lies

I have lying around:
- Topsy-Turvy
- Life is Sweet
- High Hopes

I'm getting there
 


La Hora Cero (Diego Velasco, 2010) -- I personally lost all faith in Venezuelan cinema back in the early 80s and since then I've seen maybe three Venezuelan movies which further firmmed up my position. I went to see this one because my date wanted to see it and since everything else at the theater was either a rom-com or a kiddie movie, I decided to give it a shot. 98% of Venezuelan movies have to do with drug abuse, violence, corruption, life in the slums, inane violence, absurd violence and staggeringly bad acting. I have to say La Hora Cero isn't that much different from the typical movie, but the acting is not bad, the plot is somewhat predictable, but it delivers a few surprises here and there and though the violence is too much at times, they balanced it out with some very smart comic relief, which is something completely unexpected coming from a Venezuelan movie. With all that said, I have to say I was pleasantly surprised by this movie and would recommend it. 7/10



Say Anything (Cameron Crowe, 1989) -- Definitely one of the best movies from the 80s and very much unknown outside the US. It's the typical story of the noble underachiever and beautiful valedictorian falling in love the summer before she goes off to college, but John Cusack showed some very solid acting and the movie's soundtrack is amazing. The supporting characters are also an important part of this movie and the best thing is that they aren't as cliche'd as a teen rom-com would make you believe. When the ending comes, it is the subtle way they foreshadow the future instead of the standard frantic pacing most romantic comedies have when it comes to a conclusion. That in itself pretty much sums up the beauty of the film. 9/10
 


OCTPOB (a.k.a. The Island) (Pavel Lungin, 2006) -- This is not an easy movie to come by, so since I'm sure not a lot of people are going to go out and watch it, I'll clear up a bit more than the plot here. The movie could be summarized like so: in 1942 a coal ship is intercepted by the Nazis, and the first mate (named Anatoli) is forced to kill the captain. Three decades later, rumours arise of a holy man known as father Anatoli, who lives in an almost deserted island and is known to perform miracles, see the future and other things.

The movie is basically about Father Anatoli and the way he seeks forgiveness for his murdering sin by performing miracles, but the movie is very slow and you only realize what it's about around the 70-minute mark. Acting is a solid 10.

Eventually, there comes a man looking for his daughter to be cured, and as God would have it, the man is the supposed murder victim of Anatoli, who actually hadn't died. Anatoli spent half his life asking for forgiveness for killing someone who was alive, but he still shot him, hence he's guilty and sinful. In any case it's interesting how that unexistant sin makes a saint out of Anatoli, and though I'm not the type to recommend a religious movie, I'm going to do so with this one. 7/10
 
I recently watched Gattaca (1997), it's a pretty bad movie about a society in the "not so distant" future where test tube babies are engineered to have the best genes they can have, and a "natural" (read: sexual) birth is considered to be a waste of time.


One of these "natural" births dreams of travelling to space, but he knows his genetics will not be good enough, so he takes on the identity of Jerome Morrow, who has perfect genetics but is paralysed. The movie really starts quite well, and the premise of the film is certainly quite good, but the execution was terrible. The plot just doesn't move anywhere, and it's too predictable.


Also, why are the detectives from the future driving around in 50's style cars and wearing 50's style trench coats?

2/10
 


Meu Nome Não É Johnny (a.k.a. My Name isn't Johnny) (Mauro Lima, 2008) -- The true story of João Guilherme Estrella ("Johnny"), a young middle-class bon vivant who became a big-time cocaine dealer in Rio de Janeiro in the early 1990s. At first it seems this movie is going to be a biographical drama about a drug dealer, not much different from Blow or Wonderland, but it differs in one main point, and it's that it shows the life of the dealer after he is apprehended and how he copes with life in prison, something that other Hollywood-type movies have stayed away from and just focused on the glamour part of being a drug dealer. Here is João who isn't the sharpest tool in the shed, yet manages to come off it nicely and it's all thanks to his humanity; he's not cocky or super-intelligent either. It also shows him realizing why he's become a drug dealer and why he can see it as a bad thing, and it even goes one step further by showing him seeking closure for his past and asking his friends and ex-wife for forgiveness. A very good effort from Brazilian cinema, making it my favorite type of South American movie making. Selton Mello's acting is about the best I've seen in recent years and the movie, though a bit bland at times, goes by very nicely. 8/10
 
How to Train Your Dragon (PG, 2010) - I watched this movie at a party with a few friends (yeah, we're not exactly the coolest kids in school), but I was pleasantly surprised. To be frank, I didn't really pay a lot of attention to the movie (considering the circumstances under which it was viewed), but it was a much better movie than I expected. I missed what I think was a big plot point because I fell asleep (not because of the movie being boring), but I still got the gist of the plot. Classic heartwarming feel good story, and was a decent ride on the way there.


8/10
 


Taxi (Tim Story, 2004) -- One of the worst remakes of the last ten years, which is almost a carbon-copy, except that they didn't copy the overall awesomeness of the original, but just tried to be creative in the wrong spots. Queen Latifah as a racing driver is about as plausible as Whoopi Goldberg as a white supremacist, while Jimmy Fallon fails to be funny in every damn scene. The original also had an added element: it looked real. Though some scenes in this one look real enough, there's too much editing and no shot lasts more than 2 seconds. Other than that, acting is sub-par everywhere, the opening scene with the guy on the bike who turns out to be Latifah... damn, that was bad! 2/10
 

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