Movie Reviews 2.0
- Thread starter Dresden
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So if you had not read the books how would you rate it? Better in that the "book is always better" with said character discrepency issues or worse in that not knowing anything about the book(s) -- like me -- you would be missing a lot?
If you're going in without having read the book(s), an 8.5 would be about right.
Wife and I watched The Goodbye Girl, a 1977 movie based on a Neil Simon play, starring Richard Dreyfuss (he won his Oscar for it), Marsha Mason and Quinn Cummings. I saw it at the drive-ins as a kid but my wife had never seen it.
The Grey- 8.9/10
There's a lot of elements of this movie that make it sickeningly cliche. At the same time, I think whatever stereotypical "guy movie" elements exist, they're silenced by a lot of really neat scenes and great portrayals of survival. Yes. Liam Neeson beats the shit out of wolves. But Liam Neeson is a phenomenal actor and I thought he did it gracefully. I also admire how the movie can remain suspenseful solely by using nature and the elements as a antagonist. Yes, it's been done before, I realize this. And yes, I've seen a lot of survival movies. I can't exactly put my finger on it, in terms of what makes The Grey stand out above the rest of the batch; it probably has a lot to do with the ending, which came as a surprise to me. Joe Carnahan had a similar effect on me, after I watched Narc a few times. I couldn't pinpoint exactly what made it stellar; it just was and still is. I feel the same way about The Grey.
There's a lot of elements of this movie that make it sickeningly cliche. At the same time, I think whatever stereotypical "guy movie" elements exist, they're silenced by a lot of really neat scenes and great portrayals of survival. Yes. Liam Neeson beats the shit out of wolves. But Liam Neeson is a phenomenal actor and I thought he did it gracefully. I also admire how the movie can remain suspenseful solely by using nature and the elements as a antagonist. Yes, it's been done before, I realize this. And yes, I've seen a lot of survival movies. I can't exactly put my finger on it, in terms of what makes The Grey stand out above the rest of the batch; it probably has a lot to do with the ending, which came as a surprise to me. Joe Carnahan had a similar effect on me, after I watched Narc a few times. I couldn't pinpoint exactly what made it stellar; it just was and still is. I feel the same way about The Grey.
Haven't seen The Hunger Games yet, but I'm reading the book and it reads quickly. Nothing like Running Man IMHO, other than the dystopian game angle.
Watched the 2011 Hollywood version of The Girl with the Dragon Tatoo last night and was pleasantly surprised. Neither movie does the book justice and each have definite strengths. In the Hollywood version Lisbeth has the touches of vulnerability and a touch of pathetic which is part of the book's character, but not the 2009 movie where she's borderline Klingon...
Watched the 2011 Hollywood version of The Girl with the Dragon Tatoo last night and was pleasantly surprised. Neither movie does the book justice and each have definite strengths. In the Hollywood version Lisbeth has the touches of vulnerability and a touch of pathetic which is part of the book's character, but not the 2009 movie where she's borderline Klingon...
From the trailer, it looks more like a CGI-laden Blade Runner want-to-be offshot. Verhoven's TR was quite different beast.
"See you at the party, Richter!"
Possibly the most unnecessary remake of recent years?
I thought the original TR was quite entertaining (in an Arnie movie cheese-fest kinda way
) so don't really see the need for the remake, even if it ends up being more true to the original book.
Plus, it must be said, I'm not a huge fan of Philip K. Dick's work. He had some great ideas, but the books (and their plots) themselves have mostly been rather lacking, in my opinion.
I thought the original TR was quite entertaining (in an Arnie movie cheese-fest kinda way
) so don't really see the need for the remake, even if it ends up being more true to the original book.Plus, it must be said, I'm not a huge fan of Philip K. Dick's work. He had some great ideas, but the books (and their plots) themselves have mostly been rather lacking, in my opinion.
green.pixel
Veteran
2001: A Space Odyssey - 2/5
This is probably the most overrated movie of all time. Pseudoscience of evolution and cutboard cutouts of human characters but with great visuals.
This is probably the most overrated movie of all time. Pseudoscience of evolution and cutboard cutouts of human characters but with great visuals.
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Sigfried1977
Legend
Immortals
More of an ode to personal fitness trainers and stunt people than a legitimate movie. No "this is Sparta" moments unfortunately. It's rather nice to look at and sports some delightfully gory fighting sequences, but overall it's just really plodding and incredibly boring.
Cold Prey I + II
Nice pair of Norwegian slasher movies. These blatant Halloween rip-offs don't have a single original bone in their bodies, but when the execution is this good and entertaining it really doesn't matter.
Urban Explorer
Really nasty German horror film. A couple kids from all over the globe cross paths with a deranged East German border patrol guard inside the Nazi-built tunnel systems which go on for miles and miles underneath the city of Berlin. Doesn't end well for the kids. Loved the movie. The performance of the guy playing the psychopath was just incredibly memorable and chilling.
More of an ode to personal fitness trainers and stunt people than a legitimate movie. No "this is Sparta" moments unfortunately. It's rather nice to look at and sports some delightfully gory fighting sequences, but overall it's just really plodding and incredibly boring.
Cold Prey I + II
Nice pair of Norwegian slasher movies. These blatant Halloween rip-offs don't have a single original bone in their bodies, but when the execution is this good and entertaining it really doesn't matter.
Urban Explorer
Really nasty German horror film. A couple kids from all over the globe cross paths with a deranged East German border patrol guard inside the Nazi-built tunnel systems which go on for miles and miles underneath the city of Berlin. Doesn't end well for the kids. Loved the movie. The performance of the guy playing the psychopath was just incredibly memorable and chilling.
Wife and I watched this last night. I nodded off a good 3-4x throughout, and would probably give it a 7/10.
I note that the new Avengers film got 5/5 in The Times today. I'm going to avoid reading any reviews of the movie so avoid any plot spoilers so woe betide anyone on here who lets it slip out.
Wait a minute. What am I saying? It's a movie based on comic-books - it won't have much of a plot to speak of!
Wait a minute. What am I saying? It's a movie based on comic-books - it won't have much of a plot to speak of!
Bouncing Zabaglione Bros.
Legend
I note that the new Avengers film got 5/5 in The Times today. I'm going to avoid reading any reviews of the movie so avoid any plot spoilers so woe betide anyone on here who lets it slip out.
Wait a minute. What am I saying? It's a movie based on comic-books - it won't have much of a plot to speak of!
Joss Whedon is directing, so that gives it a big leg up to start with.
I'm sure many of the things Whedon wanted to do with the movie were summarily put down by Hollywood.
edit: omg, they've actually pushed advertising hard on magnetic health bracelets in Avengers, even become part of the plot and script and selling Avengers branded versions of them lol.
edit: omg, they've actually pushed advertising hard on magnetic health bracelets in Avengers, even become part of the plot and script and selling Avengers branded versions of them lol.
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