What Did You Watch Today?

[Timmoru Suzuki]

The Marine 5.5/10

Alright, the story is OK at best, the script ranges from awful to average, and John Cena's lack of acting talent and awful delivery are evident.

Thankfully however, he only has to do any acting in about three scenes all in the opening third, and Robert "I've been in Terminator, The Soprano's and now.... this!?" Patrick turns in quite a good performance, even if most of the rest of the cast are poor.

Even though some scenes are almost painful, the action scenes are quite good, and are definately the best parts of the film, even if they do nearly all fall into the 'lets see how big an explosion we can have THIS time' category.

The Marine is just a standard action film, with some aspects that make it a little worse than others. There are many better action movies, and many many worse, and the best thing to say about The Marine is, its far from the worst film you'll ever see.

Edited June 11, 2007 by Mushiking timmayy

[RPS]

28 Weeks Later

10/10

Best movie I've seen this year and one of my all-time favorite movies. I don't know if another movie had such a quality beginning like this. What a great movie.

Spiderman 3

3/10

I was embarassed to in the movie theatre at points. Not only were some scenes downwright embarassing (when Spiderman is walking down the street dancing, the bar scene with M.J, anytime anyone cried) this movie sucked on every level. I don't think I enjoyed any of it. The fight scenes were overdone, the characters were crapped upon and the story was muddled and confusing.

[ROC]

Knocked Up - 8/10

I don't know really what to say that hasn't been said already. Just a combination of funny scenes, convincing performances, and tender moments all into a solid flick. Apatow is definitely 2 for 2, and I think it's a lot easier to buy into this film because regardless of how preposterous it sounds, it always manages to feel realistic. Hell, it even did a Clerks II effect in that it made me buy that preposterous situation just because of good writing. Just a winning film and a well needed flick for a year that's been in the shitter so far for good original ideas.

[livid]

The Prestige - 8/10

With this movie Christopher Nolan continues to prove why he's one of the best filmmakers out there right now and it really disappoints me that he doesn't have anything else other than the next Batman lined up right now, but at the same time, I'm glad, as he'll be putting all his creative energy into it. Not to mention he's also a very talented screenwriter, the movie was superb. Bale and Jackman were great and Johannson was just kinda there (well, her boobs were there more than she was ) and I didn't even know that David Bowie was Tesla until I watched the special features. I had seen that he was in the movie but had forgotten about him during it so it kinda surprised me.

Children of Men - 8/10

Wow. I thought the movie was great and it kept it's intense feeling throughout. And it helps that I love both Michael Caine and Clive Owen. The plot seems kinda stretched, but it's pulled off well in the movie. I just can't say that much about it other than it's damn good.

[TGC]

I am behind, so I shall now get caught up.

Shrek The Third: 6/10

Saw it on Monday night, and it was far better than I had heard or thought it would be. I loved the original (8/10) as it was unique and very very funny. I highly enjoyed the second (7/10) as it was more of the same, but done in a manner where the sequel was actually kind of necessary. This one just felt like it was done so that all involved could get a paycheck, and I mean everyone from the actors to the studio. Nothing was great, nothing was awesome, and some of it was cringeworthy bad, especially the death that sets up the entire film. Still, Puss In Boots was able to steal the film for me yet again, and the CGI animation was top notch. Weak story saved by the beauty of it.

Blades Of Glory: 8/10

I had heard this was a complete pile of shit, but as it was playing with Shrek and we were there, I stayed and watched it, and I laughed my ass off. Oh it's stupid and silly and about as unintelligent as a movie can get, but it was fun and funny and it had me rolling more than a few times. Plus any film that uses Queen's Flash theme gets an automatic 4/10 just based on that. The other 4 was because for the first time ever I finally saw why John Heder is being called a great comic actor and I was totally enjoying the film.

The Messengers: 5/10

Yeah, this was so not good/not bad. It just was. Nothing new and nothing original storywise, so so acting, although the direction and the general feel of the movie was fine, adds up to a movie that when it was over I was just left feeling like I might have been better off spening my time doing something else, maybe. I will also say that anyone who doesn't see the "twist" coming isn't paying attention. This has been done before, and it has been done way better. I will say, however, that if The Pang Brothers want to try and make something a bit more original in American horror I am interested to see their next endeavor. They have talent, that much is for sure.

[Ananas]

Spider-Man 3 - 4/10

After a really fun, exciting sequel, the Spider-Man franchise returns to its bloated roots. The acting is atrocious, the writing is lazy and, frighteningly so, the 260 million dollar budget has done nothing to prevent the action sequences from coming off as video gamey. I'm sorry, but Kirsten Dunst just isn't up to the task of playing Mary Jane (and hell, I'm one of the people who thought she was great as Marie Antoinette). Never at any point does Tobey Maguire approach his performance with any kind of energy, and that really takes away from the likability of the character. And what the hell was with those borderline camp segments during Peter's run in the black costume? It seems to me that this whole flick was put together with a lack of consideration for quality. Just really blatant milking of a cash cow.

[Rashid]

Fantastic Four - Rise of the Silver Surfer: 4/10

Bad movie, though I was expecting I would give it more like 2 or 3/10. The movie is really bland and uninteresting. Acting is mediocre at best, I didn't care for any of the characters (except Sue, I really like Jessica Alba). And the movie loses a full point for turning Galactacus into a cloud.

[Doc Funky]

Fantastic Four - Rise of the Silver Surfer: 6.5/10

I'm one of the few people who liked the first movie, and this was more of the same. I thought the "real life" storylines [Johnny is a fuckup, Sue wants to live a normal life] were weaker than the first one, the Sue/Surfer story was pretty predictable, and I was kind of disappointed not to see the whole team taking part in the final battle, though...so it ranks a bit lower than the original. It's not the best movie in the world, but there are worse ways to spend your time.

I didn't mind The Galactus Cloud, because having some big giant dude floating in space in a "realistic" superhero movie like this would look a little weird [and yes, I get that superheroes themselves are unrealistic, but you get the idea]. There are things that work well in comic books that wouldn't work as well in a live-action movie.

Edited June 17, 2007 by Doc Funky

[Rashid]

Faces of Death (1978): 0/10

Oh God, I hate myself now for watching this. I pity any person who gets enjoyment out of this.

[Timmoru Suzuki]

Over the last few days/weeks:

Daredevil: Directors Cut - 7/10

The two-hour plus directors cut of Daredevil raises the VERY average first (6/10) to a 7/10, with it's thirty minutes of new footage.

There are many plusses to his version. Not only does the story seem much less rushed, but the characters get more screentime each, which was really needed in the original theatrical release. Foggy Nelson and Bullseye in particular benefit from this, as does Ben Ulrich who now actually has a sodding reason to be in the film at all (he was in about three scenes in the original, here is is much more involved, and much less pointless), also Kingpin's assistant actually DOES something!

The all-new sub-plot actually gives Matt Murdoch something to do, rather than the film being entirely about his Daredevil alter-ego, and actually suceeds in giving Daredevil more of a reason to go after Kingpin, which was an area that needed developing in the original.

There are other little plusses too (like touching on Daredevil 'hearing' someone's heart-rate, the film being a lot funnier, and other good bits), but I've forgotten some of the other new stuff I liked, I have a feeling I'm forgetting something quite important...

It's still not perfect though. For an action film, the actual action scenes are still largely underwhelming, and whilst 90 mins was much too short, the almost 2 hours 10 minutes drags in places here. It doesn't quite feel right visually either, and isn't amazingly produced by anyone's standards.

Anyway, if you felt the original cut was perfectly fine, but NOTHING particularly good, then there is much, much more to enjoy here, as the DC is a huge improvement that solves many of the orginal's flaws.

Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer 6/10

The first FF film was a weird one - it was a weak film, but overall was much better than the sum of it's parts: it had a pretty decent enjoyability factor to it.

Sadly, the second does not. The film is slightly weaker than the first in terms of production and the like, but isn't weaker by much in those regards. While the original had some decent action scenes the ones in this film are weak. What REALLY stood out from the first FF film was just how well they made The Thing so human, and how well the relationship between The Thing and The Human Torch was played out, it was actually fairly touching for a weak (ish) generic action film. Sadly, none of that is present here, as the script (never a plus of the first) is MUCH weaker here, and Michael Chiklis and Chris Evans - the bright spots of the first - never seem able to bring the same levels of both comedy and humanity to their roles. The Thing is just badly written for here, and The Human Torch is just an obnoxious w*nker , rather than in the first where his character was portrayed much better. Ioan Gruffud continues to be inexplicably average, Jessica Alba is better in her role but still poor, and Julian McMahon is still far too camp (and crap for that matter) for you to ever begin to take Doom seriously.

There are a couple of other little problems, but nothing that huge to bring-up (at least off the top of my head), except in the films best action scene, the four are flying and fighting Doom in a forest, and over a remote lake - then suddenly (as in instantly) are in the centre of a city.....?

On an other note, the choice to have Lawrence Fishbourne to voice Surfer was a brilliant move, his voice just fits perfectly for him.

Overall, while this may have not been the most glowing of reviews, Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer still isn't a bad movie. It's just a poor one. It doesn't get everything massively wrong, it just gets little right. Worth the watch once.

Over The Hedge - 6.5/10

Generic childrens animated movie, without the humour or the charm or the originality of the best examples of the genre. By no means bad however; it's worth the watch once, and there are many worse ways to pass around 90 minutes of your life.

Edited June 20, 2007 by Mushiking timmayy

[Docpepper]

Bachelor Party Vegas : 8/10 I laughed till I was in tears throughout the movie

[Rashid]

The Day After Tomorrow: 6/10

A decent, fun little movie loaded with special effects. Not much to it though.

Dawn of the Dead (1978): 9/10

A superb horror film. I preferred this over Night of the Living Dead.

Edited June 29, 2007 by Rashid

[TGC]

You, Me, And Dupree: 6.5/10

It was kind of funny in a number of parts, very silly overall, and downright stupid in the last 15 to 20 minutes, but Owen Wilson is one funny fucker. I did wonder a number of times at the odd casting choice of Matt Dillon, but all in all it was an enjoyable little film that didn't totally suck and managed to keep me entertained for almost two hours.

[Bushmeister]

Smokin' Aces

I went to the rental shop looking for a fun, non-pretentious movie and settled on Smokin' Aces. It was pretty much what I expected: guns, blood, Alicia Keys' boobies and a slew of psychopaths larger than what Thomas Harris could produce in a few decades. I personally am a sucker for these types of movies and series that feature a huge cast of off-the-wall comic stereotypes, and in that respect Smokin' Aces brought the goods (come on, you can't watch this movie and not love the Tremor brothers). The actors were anything from average to good-great (in Ray Liotta's case) and I was pretty surprised that despite the somewhat flat characters no-one slacked off on their performance. Some good visuals too, especially with the few brief torture scenes and seeing people get shot with vastly oversized weaponry. The ending wasn't up to snuff with the rest of the film, but I could forgive that.

[Doc Funky]

Evan Almighty: 10/10

Wow. I wasn't expecting a lot from this movie, based solely on the few previews and clips I'd seen, but it really impressed me. It was consistently hilarious throughout, but with more than a few touching family scenes and even a good bit of drama near the end. Much better (and different, really) than Bruce Almighty, which I really liked. And the movie gets a bonus point [to push it to 10 for me] for reminding me of Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure, with Joan being "Noah"'s wife. (Y)

I'll be looking forward to the DVD, 'cause I'm sure it'll have a "Wanda Sykes Reel", with alternate one-liners (like on the Talladega Nights DVD).

Edited June 28, 2007 by Doc Funky

[JStarr]

1408: 8/10

One of my favorite writers + 2 of my favorite actors = A pretty solid movie. Having enjoyed the Stephen King story this movie was based on, I knew they couldn't go wrong with John Cusack essentially playing a one-man show, and for the most part, they didn't. Samuel L. Jackson strikes a great note of menace as the manager who warns Cusack's character not to go into the "evil fucking room," as well. There are a few more subplots floating around than in the story, which I suppose is necessary, since the story was only 40-some pages and would have made for a skimpy 90-minute movie. Still, there's lots of jumpy moments, and you'll likely never want to hear Karen Carpenter sing "We've Only Just Begun" again.

[Rashid]

Ginger Snaps: 9/10

I love this movie the more I watch it. Easily my favourite horror film of the last 15+ years.

Re-Animator: 8/10

God, this is more reason why I love horror-comedies, and movies that just don't try to be serious.

Edited June 29, 2007 by Rashid

[Doc Funky]

1408: 8/10

I've never read the story it was based on, but thought the movie was great. Very creepy throughout, with good performances by Cusack and Jackson. Loved the ending, too.

And "Let's Encyclopedia Brown this bitch" has to be one of my favorite movie lines ever.

Edited June 25, 2007 by Doc Funky

[ROC]

ATL - 5.5/10

It's hard to find a movie as stylish and yet as formulaic as the 2006's in-the-hood dramedy ATL. This film, starring famed rapper T.I., and directed by esteemed hip-hop video director Chris Robinson, is much like any hood movie is expected to be. There's drug dealers, guns, and hot-ass black chicks. Oh, and like the previous year's Roll Bounce, there's skating. Robinson does bring a certain style to the pic that does attempt to cover that fact that none of the leads really have any profound emotions. T.I. really can't act that well, and to some extent, this also applies to Outkast member Big Boi. But if you were to see this movie, it probably wouldn't be for the acting no more than the laid-back atmosphere of the film. And while Robinson flails with many things in ATL, he does succeed in making it feel like a real inner-city home.

[Rashid]

The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2: 5/10

Would have been a decent movie if they never ruined Leatherface and turned him into a wimp. That really ruined the movie for me. The second he started showing affection for Stretch, it just went downhill from there. Though Bill Mosely's character was great and very enjoyable. Though around 50 minutes in, the movie gets incredibly dull and uninteresting. Overall, a so-so movie with many highs and lows. Fans of 80's horror might get some enjoyment out of this.