Movie Reviews 2.0

[Davros]

Get the gringo - Mad Mel is back
Its actually a rather good film imho, it has a certain charm.

 

[green.pixel]

Once Upon a Time in the West - 5/5.


I think I can rewatch it for the nth time just for the Claudia scenes.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jp0d330bbxs
www.youtube.com/watch?v=526Uz_qwpm8
www.youtube.com/watch?v=KWYIQJghPZw

 

[function]

I really enjoyed Prometheus.

The two guys that failed as snake charmers and the captain working everything out at once were a little jarring, but were no worse than the outright retardation of the captain in the first film. I actually enjoyed Prometheus nearly as much as Alien. I only wish it had been 30 minutes longer and developed characters and events more thoroughly.

After the frankly insulting Star Trek reboot - which insulted everything Star Trek stood for at it's core while looking shit - Prometheus has given me faith that big budget sci-fi that looks like sci-fi and aims above the level of "Michael Bays of the Caribbean 3" is still financially viable.

Yes a 'cave' within an artificial structure that has oxygen producing equipment, powered doors (see how the head got removed), lights, a table/alter and murals on the walls. And also a structure that has stood up to sandstorms and the environment outside for around 2000 years.

Not just powered doors, but airtight biohazard control doors and a full on huge scale ship launching bay with massive retracting hanger doors.

And an Alien culture that sacrifices members of it's own race in an almost religious DNA spreading act uses icons and possibly practises idolatry? Oh shit, someone call for the sci-fi police because not everything looks clean and functional like it does with the current human military.

Prometheus has a pretty clear theme running through it of the children replacing their parents (humans vs SpaceJockeys, Androids vs Humans, David/Vickers vs Weyland) and of death, sacrifice and rebirth. These two themes are reinforced continually throughout the film and show that a fairly consistant attempt has been made to explore those two themes.

David even says something like "Don't all children want to kill their parents?" Oh yeah, and there's the thing about the infertile woman conceiving a monstrous baby that tries to kill her (more than once!). I'd argue that's about more than just replacing parents.

Contrast with Star Trek, where the theme is God making the Special Friends meet up no matter what (with child-kirk as their guaranteed boss and getting gifted the flagship just because).

You keep saying that the film is a choppy mess that is shifting between ideas. I'd argue it is staying largely on track with those two themes but that it has issues with clunky dialog and characters doing stupid things as its major issues.

Agree completely about both things.

I am sorry Idris Elba and his two bridge crewmates managed to create a fair degree of sympathy and pathos for what were fairly small parts in the final film. Theron pulled off the nuances of feeling that her father valued an android more than her so that she basically learned to behave like one. The geologist and biologist again created fairly memorable characters in short roles. I really don't understand you here at all - the acting was fine. What the plot got the characters to do on the other hand is where I do have issue as I have already said.

The plot got the characters to take shortcuts to keep the running time down IMO. The geologist and biologist were blatantly clunky (+ no-one on the bridge - pre-school level captain mistake) but everything else could have been fixed with more scenes and a longer cut.

I thought it was a great film. Fantastic ship too. Fucking Star Trek where everything in engineering looked like the inside of a large warehouse (with comedy pipes) was a like a hipster's version of a bad joke.

I hate the Star Trek reboot movie so much. I'm still cry myself to sleep while watching clips of Jean Luc Piccard arguing for android rights, educating Wesley Crusher on the value of truth to a Star Fleet officer and learning Q about mankind's struggle to better itself through its own efforts (note: no god co-incidences).

 

[Sigfried1977]

The Dark Knight Rises - great finale to an outstanding film trilogy. That said, I'm pretty sure that the return to a more Bruce Wayne-centric character study as seen in Batman Begins is not going to sit too well with the millions of fans who pretty much loved The Dark Knight first and foremost for Heath Ledger's Joker. TDKR is a Batman movie again, and, albeit almost overbearingly grim and dark (those little bits and pieces of humor which were sprinkled all throughout Batman Begins and The Dark Knight are pretty much gone now), a really good one too. It's incredibly engaging and tense. That said, it's even further removed from a traditionally entertaining block buster ride than the two prequels were.

 

[Laa-Yosh]

Oooh, you got me even more interested now. Already have the tickets for next Wednesday...

 

[Acert93]

You convinced me I need to see this for my birthday

 

[Mariner]

I watched the Spiderman film last night and though it was pretty well done so I'll be generous and give it a 7/10.

Plenty of typical daft comic-book plot devices and you can see what is going to happen from miles away but, in general, it was nicely done and acted.

I'm deliberately avoiding reading or watching anything about the new Batman movie as my enjoyment of The Dark Knight was spoiled by everything I'd read/seen in advance of watching it (not to mention the fact I thought it was massively overrated and the film didn't live up to the gushing reviews!).

I'd imagine it will be entertaining to see Anne Hathaway in a catsuit.

 

[Arwin]

What on earth inspired that idiot to go into the cinema with teargas and guns and shoot people?

Also, reports of the age of some victims, what were they doing in there?

 

[John Reynolds]

Nothing says good parenting so much as taking your 3-month-old to a midnight showing of a loud and violent action film.

 

[RobertR1]

Nothing says good parenting so much as taking your 3-month-old to a midnight showing of a loud and violent action film.

Yeah that made me scratch my head.

In other news WB is going on a knee jerk reaction spree and considering canceling premiers worldwide.

 

[Arwin]

Yeah, the big one in Paris is already cancelled.

 

[nightshade]

TDKR: Amazing anticipation buildup and first half, great climax but a not so brilliant mid part because of a lot of stupid moments, sloppy plot devices/holes, strange character motives, predictability, poor pacing and such that you wouldn't really expect in a Nolan movie. It also feels a lot larger than life compared to previous two movies (especially Dark Knight). This is how I see the trilogy, Batman Begins was an superhero origin movie, TDK was a detective crime drama focusing on the villain, while TDKR is a comic book action movie. I thought this movie was very predictable which is the complete opposite of TDK where you couldn't really foresee much due to Joker's role.

A great end to the trilogy and a good movie, The Dark Knight was definitely the high point of the trilogy though. Also Anne hathaway was great as Catwoman and I liked Joseph Gordon Levitt as well. Bale, and Michael Caine are brilliant as always and so is Tom Hardy, he conveyed so much with just his eyes and eyebrows !

 

[homerdog]

I'm surprised you guys haven't seen TDKR for what it really is:
http://www.rushlimbaugh.com/daily/2012/07/17/the_batman_campaign

Spoiler

RUSH: Have you heard this new movie, the Batman movie, what is it, The Dark Knight Lights Up or whatever the name is. That's right, Dark Knight Rises. Lights Up, same thing. Do you know the name of the villain in this movie? Bane. The villain in The Dark Knight Rises is named Bane, B-a-n-e. What is the name of the venture capital firm that Romney ran and around which there's now this make-believe controversy? Bain. The movie has been in the works for a long time. The release date's been known, summer 2012 for a long time. Do you think that it is accidental that the name of the really vicious fire breathing four eyed whatever it is villain in this movie is named Bane?

 

[MfA]

Between Bay's militarism and Nolan's fascism modern day blockbusters are hardly liberal ... rush needs to lay off the drugs.

 

[homerdog]

Also consider that the character Bane dates from 1993. So that must be when the conspiracy against Romney began. Liberals with time machines!

Now I understand why Rush is so upset.

 

[RudeCurve]

What on earth inspired that idiot to go into the cinema with teargas and guns and shoot people?

Also, reports of the age of some victims, what were they doing in there?

Society's obsession with everything military/tactical...

Ever wonder why COD sold so many unit's?

 

[Onkl Bjorni]

I hate the Star Trek reboot movie so much. I'm still cry myself to sleep while watching clips of Jean Luc Piccard arguing for android rights, educating Wesley Crusher on the value of truth to a Star Fleet officer and learning Q about mankind's struggle to better itself through its own efforts (note: no god co-incidences).

Just wanted to comment on this. Star Trek TNG is some of the best sci fi I have ever seen and your comment just reminded me that the first season of ST:TNG is comming out on blue ray in just a short time Have already preorderd it. Can't waith to se how it holds up in HD.. (I usually have a TNG marathon every other year, but have been holding out for the blue ray this year)

As for the reboot, I thought it was quite good, tho it did not capture the same magic as some of the best films in the series. The Wrath of Khan, Voyage home and First Contact)

Oh, and Jean Luc Piccard is awesome

 

[Arwin]

I loved TNG, but when I bought the DVD set for the first season several years ago, I couldn't stand it. Turns out I hate the episodes with Q in them as much as I hated X-Files episodes that had aliens.

In fact, I am now tempted to rewrite several episodes of both where the X-Files gets Q and Star Trek those aliens ...

Anyway, thank Q .. eh .. whatever .. that TNG got much better as time went on, but in the beginning it was a shaky start, imho.

And I rate the modern Star Trek quite highly actually, except for the time travel bits. Did I mention I hate Time Travel (backwards in time) in fiction more than I hate aliens in X-Files?

 

[Mariner]

Certain programmes age better than others. TNG isn't too bad, though (as with Voyager and Deep Space Nine), there are many wanky episodes full of pointless Californian hippyness.

One thing I notice when I catch the odd episode these days - I used to have a bit of a thing about Tasha Yar in my youth but she doesn't really float my boat these days!

Abrams' Star Trek movie pissed me off in places because of several pointless nonsensical plot points which could have been resolved with 5 minutes thought and slightly better writing.

If he'd like to get in touch with me before he films his next movie, I'll be pleased to point out the stupid and pointless bits so he can fix them.

 

[Grall]

Now I understand why Rush is so upset.

Wait, what?

I must have missed something. What's that stupidshoe Rush on about now then?
(Can't that fker have a fatal heartattack or something and just be done with it? He singlehandedly manages to pull down the collective IQ of this planet by several million through the stupidity he spreads with almost everything he says in public...)