Movie Reviews 2.0

[Scott_Arm]

The Social Network 9/10. Great movie. Really well made, well acted, interesting story. There's really nothing to complain about and there isn't a minute wasted. I found every scene, or every moment of that film, had something interesting going on.

The Town 7/10. Entertaining. Maybe not the greatest plot, with some cliches thrown in. Still, solid movie with some good action scenes, good cast and generally interesting.

Tron 7/10. Great visuals, except for the CGI faces. The story was actually pretty interesting except for the evil plot that has to be foiled, which made little to no sense.

Spoiler

So, when the evil army comes out on the other side, do they still have their weapons? Now that they're real, and not programs, are they still obedient to CLU? Do they all appear in the arcade? Do they have clothes? Would they start getting hungry and wander the streets looking for food and shelter? Would the city be flooded by a couple hundred thousand homeless with no concept of the world? The whole isomorph thing didn't make a ton of sense either. So, when she's in the real world, is she genetically perfect in some way? Why is she going to be a huge scientific leap for mankind?

Anyway, some genuinely fun action scenes. Hooray for light bikes! Overall, I thought it was pretty entertaining. Nice funny cameo from Daft Punk. Oh, and the music by Daft Punk was great. Perfect for the movie. It's an actual musical score, not just a bunch of club tracks thrown together. The movie could have brought back some more of the vehicles and games.

 

[nightshade]

About Tron

Spoiler

Yep, ISOs are genetically perfect. As for the army well even if they are real and not programs anymore they'd still have the same mind/mentality/memory as before.

Also the first movie shows just how exactly things get digitized/materialize, instead of coming out from the laser itself its the laser that builds/disintegrates everything block by block until its complete (its shown in the first movie), had Clu succeeded he'd have let the whole ship materialize in the the real world with his army inside it. And I am pretty sure their equipments would have been transferred to real world as well (whether they'd work or not, I don't know), remember how Sam went into the Grid with his leather jacket on ? it could work the same way for the opposite.


I have a theory as per why Clu wanted to do all those stuff

Kevin = God
Clu = Devil
ISO = Life
Real World = Heaven for people on Grid

The Devil (clu) is simply a virtual copy God (Flynn) made of himself to help build the perfect world, but being only a copy he remained static and didn't mature and evolve beyond his prime directive to make a perfect world. The devil is just an inexperienced, arrogant form of God, incapable of progressing spiritually. "Perfection is unknowable, but at the same time it's right in front of us. You don't know that because I didn't know it when I created you. I'm sorry."

Life (iso) is a complete mystery to God (Flynn) and even he considers it a miracle. All God did was create the environment and somehow life spontaneously manifested literally from nothing. Unlike the other programs the ISOs are unpredictable and have free will (like humans/users) and hence a flaw in Clu's vision of a perfect world/society...so he kills them.

Heaven to the programs on the Grid is just another plane of existence, it's our world, and Clu wants to conquer cause that's the destination where his 'hunger' for perfection leads him to. The Devil wants to wage war on God's world and wants to perfect, eventhough he doesn't understands anything about the real world he can't possibly stop cause he wasn't programmed to do that, unlike the ISOs he doesn't has any free will. He doesn't understands that in the real world God is just another person, perhaps a genius, but nothing particularly special.

And yea great movie, amazing audio-visual presentation and fantastic sense of escapism along with an interesting plot, Oilivia Wilde looked cute in her role. Also I came out of the movie hall having a new fetish for latex

 

[Malo]

Pandorum 9/10. Saw this on Starz the other day and this turned out to be one of those more unknown sci-fi's that is done really well (a bit like Sunshine was). Very good pace, decent effects and an ending that I didn't quite guess. I'm probably a bit biased as I love sci-fi horrors but all I thought about watching this flick was how good it would be as a survival horror game on PC, ala Dead Space.

 

[aaronspink]

Pandorum 9/10. Saw this on Starz the other day and this turned out to be one of those more unknown sci-fi's that is done really well (a bit like Sunshine was). Very good pace, decent effects and an ending that I didn't quite guess. I'm probably a bit biased as I love sci-fi horrors but all I thought about watching this flick was how good it would be as a survival horror game on PC, ala Dead Space.

Yes, Pandorum is probably one of the best sci-fi movies I've seen in years. The script was well researched and the movie was very internally consistent. The twists and story while perfectly logical, wasn't easily or very predicable which added to the entertainment.

 

[hoom]

Tron: I'm a big fan of the original so have really been looking forward to this a bit too much.
Was a bit disappointed really.
Its a movie that should have been really epic & nearly was but somehow missed out.

Nightshade, your interpretation gives me more respect for it though, will have to go again & see if I agree or not

Spoiler

I got the Flynn = God, ISO = man & Clu = fallen angel bit but the motivation to invade reality seemed off.

Worst bit: WTF, where is Tron? Oh wait he suddenly turns out to be the bad guys' henchman then goes good for no reason & deus ex machina sacrifices himself to save the day

Back to the ass discussion earlier: next biggest letdown of Tron is that silly diagonal skirt thing they had hiding 13s'

But really she is way too obviously amazingly pretty for the movie.
Original Tron does have a hot chick but you don't really notice because the helmet, plot & environment dominate.
Environment in this movie is very impressive but she still outshone it & most characters don't have helmets.

Didn't like the light fighters scene.
Not enough disk fighting.
Obiwan FlynNeobi was a bit lame, had some nice moments but failed to remember his abilities at some critical times.

Invasion into reality actually has the carrier making way more sense than it did in the original.

Michael Sheen = Tim Curry/Bowie/Clockwork Orange comedy relief/way over acted/scene stealer. Not really sure which

Lots of references to other movies all through it. Some more subtle than others.

I think this review wraps up my feelings/opinion pretty well.

Definitely the best bit: Daftpunk soundtrack. Its awesome. (& I hate electronica mostly)
Their cameo was too much though, like 5 shots of them that should only have been 1 or 2.

 

[Dresden]

The Fighter-

9/10

This movie really brought me back. And, as of late, filming in Boston seems to be the new fad. In fact, they even filmed a scene in the town I grew up in. Watching Ward fight used to be a tradition for my friends and I, back when I was in highschool. Him and his brother are local heroes. His retirement marked when I stopped watching professional boxing. It just wasn't worth watching, anymore. Ward vs. Gatti fights were always a must-see, and I really appreciate how the movie emphasized his ability to take a lot of punishment. Ward was notorious for taking a beating and wearing down his apponent and he packed a great deal of power behind his punch. I didn't know his upbringing was as tragic as the movie depicted. I seem to recall actually watching the HBO documentary "High on Crack St" filmed in Lowell regarding crack addiction, which his brother Dickie was a central character in. This is the first movie, in a long time, featuring Christian Bale where I feel he really researched the character he was portraying, to the point where I suspect he dabbles with method acting.

 

[Scott_Arm]

True Grit 8/10 - solid western, great movie

 

[Davros]

just saw tron legacy
not very good imho
kept thinking why have they made a film staring the chick from mirrors edge and vitalli petrov

 

[Laa-Yosh]

Tron: the story's main weakness is that they're far too obviously holding stuff back for another movie.

Spoiler

First sign is Ed Dilinger Jr. of course, in case anyone didn't recognize him it's Cilian Murphy. Probably meant to be the next villain in some way, like trying to take over the Grid for Encom?

Tron himself sort of "rebooted" while sinking in the Sea of Simulation, stripes turning white; they also have the CG head for Bruce Boxleitner already completed, so it's all setup for a return.

We also haven't really learned what makes Iso programs special, what they can do in our world, but I wouldn't consider the writers to be so stupid that they didn't really have any reason figured out (although, they are from "Lost"...)

There are a few more cases like that but not as obvious or disturbing.

Why it didn't really work that well is hard to point out...
The basic setup sounded great, I liked how they connected the two movies and reinterpreted the Grid as a complex simulation instead of trying to present it as the insides of any computer out there.
But somehow somewhere it just fell flat, despite the amazing visuals and that music. Even though it's exactly how I expected it to be, I'm still a bit disappointed.

Oh and the Siren lady's behind was far more visible, by the way, and she certainly didn't have any other role to play than to, well, distract

 

[Grall]

Saw Tron today, courtesy of my oldest friend turning 40 and treated me + his wife's brother to deep pan pizza dinner and movie in Fredrikstad, Norway. They have a really nice cinema there, they screened the flick in 3D too, and it looked quite strikingly at times.

T2.0 is roughly 87% surface, 13% substance, and that might actually be a bit generous actually...

It's by no means a BAD movie. GI Joe and Transformers 2 are bad movies. (Actually, they're both milk-curdlingly bad, but that's neither here nor there.) Tron's just...lacking, somehow.

We have a hero who got whupped in 1-on-1 combat by a nearly 30 year old program, we have a god who's rather impotent, and we have a fairly anemic generic psychotic badguy who got offed by a technobabble plot device worthy of a bad Star Trek TV episode...

Oh, and I didn't really like the queer-acting turncoat comic relief either.

It's a popcorn flick, you watch it for the SFX, but it doesn't evoke any real thoughts or emotions. Tron's script makes that of Avatar's look like the masterwork of a genius in comparison. (Of course, Cameron IS the more skilled writer, btw...)

Oh. Apparantly I missed some evocative imagery of female tail too... Hm. I just didn't notice!

 

[Laa-Yosh]

It's in front of you when they enter the End of Line club

IMAX is pretty cool though. It is true that the 3D depth isn't always there; I'm guessing it's because of the many live action elements, they probably didn't get the camera settings right and it would've looked bad if they tried to cheat it in post. The full CG sequences are usually very well done though. The lightcycle scene had me almost grabbing for the chair's arms at times
And the 16:9 full screen scenes are very nice too. In particular the one where the Recognizer lands near the arena, where they've extended the ground right up to the front of the theater's chairs.

But the scenes with the biggest depth are the Disney logo and the end credits text

 

[NRP]

Pandorum 9/10

Agreed. This movie was a pleasant surprise.

Edit: Godamn it! I had no interest in seeing Tron. No you guys have me curious.

 

[Laa-Yosh]

I'd say an IMAX screening is well worth the price.

I've actually got a bit emotional at the end of the second viewing even if it was mostly because of the amazing music.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tj_v6RvGMh4
Daft Punk really deserves every award that can be given, especially because the orchestral parts are just as good as the electronic. Didn't expect that from them.

 

[nightshade]

I love these two
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DSx_N18TWjs
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IGzJFJRkmCE

like these two as well (entirely electronica).
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CPS_kSCnEBw
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ap7uGtw4QLc

And then there's Derezzed...which is loved by everyone.

 

[Vadi]

These are older movies but of good quality:

"Tito And Me", a nice comedy about children doing their (yearly?) march to visit Tito.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jrgtuNt2Eyw

"Who's singing over there?", a tragic road movie also situated in older times (WW2).
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HSYMaJf1J6I

And a modern comedy about life in recent Belgrade: "Bumerang". It's about love, mafia and a the impression of war on the people living there.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tVKzETxb-As&NR=1

edit:
There are also:
"Maratonci Trce Pocasni Krug" (marathon men run the last round) about a family fighting for their share of their deceased elder.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qV41Y-lw2gY

And "Balkansi Spiun", an overzealous citizen trying to help the state police.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mEn-L9-PObc
The main character is played by Danilo 'Bata' Stojkovic, a very good actor.

Last but not least "The Professional", a movie about the time after Slobodan Milosevic's downfall. The plot is unfolded backwards, it's a nice comedy too.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UirKZqPCgR4

 

[Arwin]

Riverworld - 4/10. Really ... the books must have been better than this?

 

[WhiningKhan]

Riverworld - 4/10. Really ... the books must have been better than this?

Gee, I never realized it has been made into a movie (twice actually, now that I googled it).
I remember reading it as a teenager, thinking what an awesome movie it would make. But when I think of the book now, I guess it would be pretty difficult to avoid the movie script getting cheesy.

 

[V3]

Narnia: The Lion, Witch, Wardrobe - 6/10 - I thought this one was pretty well done. Fun fantasy film.

Narnia: Prince Caspian - 6.5/10 - I like this better not by much. The movie felt like a kiddie version of Kingdom of Heaven for some reason.

500 Days of Summer - 8/10 - This one is suprisingly enjoyable rom com.

Terminator Salvation - 5.5/10 - didn't really enjoy it.

Inception - 7/10 - it felt rough and the idea seems kinda force on you just for the sake of the plot. I guess it fits the whole 'inception' theme.

Looking forward to the third Narnia on blu, when its out.

 

[RobertR1]

CoN: Voyage of the Dawn Treader - 7/10. A fun viewing. Not nearly as dark/gloomy as Prince Caspian

Buried: 8/10 Thought it'd be a time filler on a long plane journey, turned out to be a very good movie. Impressed by Ryan Reynolds. Some of the other cast was a bit weak and some roll eyes moments in the plot.

True Grit: 9.5/10 Give James Brolin an Oscar please! Amazing movie. Can't wait to buy it on BR later. A bit more history on Rooster would have made it perfect.

Twilight: Eclipse - 1/10. Pure shit. This was part of the plane ride filler list. If anything, you might get some unintended laughs but that's about it.

Tron 3D: 7/10. Not enough action for me. Pretty straight forward but good visuals. The 3D stuff was weak. Thankfully there was no premium on it thus I went with the 3D version.

 

[Laa-Yosh]

I suspect that Tron's sometimes obvious lack of depth is a result of having a lot of live action elements that were shot without proper camera settings. After all the movie was shot in 2009, even before Avatar's release and very few people had practical experience with the use of stereo photography. So they had 'flawed' source material to start with and probably decided not to alter it in post, instead chose to fit the CG elements to the live parts.
Interestingly some of the better scenes are always showing people from above, in elevators, there you can really feel the distances.

Full CG scenes have better depth and there are a few very well done shots. In IMAX the shot with the first Recognizer landing near the arena is extended to 16:9 and the floor extends right up to the front of your seat, feels like the movie scene is a directly connected continuation of the theater.