What Did You Watch Today?

[TGC]

The Sentinal: 5/10

So I really wanted to see this when it came out in theatres, but I never got around to it until I saw that it was debuting on HBO. So I DVRed it and finally got around to it last night. I guess I liked it, but the thing is that I'm not really sure. I know I didn't hate it though. There was nothing wrong with this movie. The acting was fine, the story was fine, the direction was fine, hell, it was all just fine. And maybe that is the problem. It was just a fine little movie that killed almost two hours of my life. Unoffensive, but nothing special at all. So yeah, I guess I liked it.

[Rashid]

Day of the Dead: 6/10

A let-down compared to the previous two. Though still better than Land of the Dead.

Frankenstein (1931): 9/10

An overall superb horror film. Though very dated, The Creature remains the greatest character in horror film history. While not even close to being considered "scary" by today's film standards, it has great atmosphere and mood.

Edited June 27, 2007 by Rashid

[TGC]

Slither: 6.5/10

When this came out I was reminded of a fun little horror/sci fi movie and it was something I wanted to see. However as time went on it pretty much just fell out of my mind altogether, despite starring Nathan Fillion, one of my favorite current actors. Well as of last night I ahve seen it and it wasn't bad. It was a fun little Sci Fi movie, kinda. It had the flavor of a low budget 80's D2V film, even though it looked far too polished. The acting was good, the story was easy enough to follow, and it actually made me laugh a few times. It wasn't mindblowing, but it wasn't bad either.

[Doc Funky]

Live Free or Die Hard: 10/10

Loved it. Great action, great supporting cast, and the return of McClane. The only thing I didn't like about it was that, initially, it didn't feel like a Die Hard movie. Instead of being focused in a building, airport, or even a city, it feels weird when McClane has to go across state lines more than once to get the job done (though it's centered around D.C., so he's not really going that far...but hey).

I know a lot of people are complaining about the PG-13 rating, but you don't need McClane to actually say fuck every other sentence to make a good movie. He's still the smart-ass that he always was, but doesn't go over the top like he used to...as is to be expected from an older McClane. That being said, I could tell there were more than a few places where they dubbed over some of the dialogue, so I'm sure the DVD release will satisfy everyone's craving for bad language.

As a huge fan of the Die Hard series, this one didn't disappoint at all.

[livid]

Live Free or Die Hard - 8.5/10

Now, I would tend to agree with a lot of what Doc Funky said but I don't give 10/10's willy nilly. However, the movie is fantastic and while it is rated PG-13, there's still plenty of semi-swearing in the movie by Willis to go along with his one-liners and Long's typical style of comedic delivery. Great performance by him, and good performances by Long and Olyphant (who plays a good bad guy, btw) mixed with all the action (some of which has yet to be seen in other movies. sure some of it's CGI, but it looks fantastic). Overall, the movie was superb and I recommend it to anybody who loves action movies, as this one does it right for a change.

[Toe]

Live Free or Die Hard

What a great movie, and what a great way to add to the Die Hard franchise. The movie is different from the previous three films, but maintains the same feel. The game has a lot of great action sequences, some funny moments, and tons of very cool stuff.

I think anyone who even moderately enjoyed any of the previous Die Hard films should watch this one.

[Rashid]

My favorite part about Summer - watching several movies a day.

Night of the Living Dead (1990): 6.5/10

One of the best (if not the best) horror remake. Though it's really not needed. If you've watched the original, there's really no reason to watch this.

The Wolf Man (1941): 8/10

Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1920): 7/10

A fine movie all round, though John Barrymore's acting is superb. Probably the best I've ever seen in a silent movie.

Freaks (1932): 4/10

This is on IMDB's Top 50 horror films? Acting was bad, plot wasn't interesting, movie was quite boring. The only good scene was the one that featured the line "One of Us! One of Us!" at the dinner table. The rest of the movie was pretty bad.

Bride of Frankenstein (1935): 9.5/10

Simply amazing. The movie was visually outstanding. Couldn't believe it was over 70 years old. The character of The Creature was portrayed in a beautiful way. Sure I preferred The Creature in the original Mary Shelley novel, but the film did it's own thing and it did it well.

Edited June 29, 2007 by Rashid

[Numbahs]

Just finished watching...

Reign Over Me - *** out of *****

Edited July 1, 2007 by Numbahs

[Laice07]

Ratatouille: 9.5/10

Wow.......don't let the film Cars steer you away from what sures to be a classic. I loved every minute of it, and it went by so fast. This film made me hate Shrek The Third and Dreamworks animation even more Brad Bird is the man! Oh, and the animated short "Lifted" was also fun to watch. Can't wait until Wall-E!!!

Edited July 1, 2007 by Laice07

[Tarheels.]

Almost Famous

9/10

Amazing. I love this movie. I saw it for the first time today, after somebody recommended it to me last night. Already one of my favorite movies ever.

The Last Kiss

7/10

Decent movie. I came into it expecting more from it, being a Braff movie and all but it didn't feel like one. It wasn't exactly what I expected it to be, which is somewhat of a good thing though. Still a solid movie.

[Doc Funky]

Hulk: 6/10

I was pretty surprised by Hulk, as it wasn't nearly as bad as everyone says it is. The only real problem I had with it was that Nick Nolte's character was really weird and I didn't understand his motivations at all...especially his big speech at the end of the movie. Other than that, I liked the action and thought Connelly and Bana both did a good job. Fairly good movie, but not great.

Unbreakable: 9.5/10

One of my absolute favorites. I love the way it's shot, with the long, long takes and how so many of the shots could pass for comic book covers on their own. The surprises obviously don't have much impact on repeat viewings, but it's a great movie overall. I don't see why so many people hate it.

Reno 911: Miami: 4/10

A few funny bits here and there, but not nearly enough to carry an entire movie. A quick cameo by The Rock and a few nice tits bump it up to a four.

Edited July 1, 2007 by Doc Funky

[Docpepper]

Crash(the one with James Spader and Holly Hunter) - 5/10. Seriously one of the most fucked up movies I've seen in a while. The whole wounded leg scene got an OMG out of me.(those that have seen it know what I'm talking about)

[RavenBlack]

Cheaper By the Dozen 2 - 6.5/10

For some reason (barring Bringing Down the House), I can't stand Eugene Levy. :thumbsdown: Not as good as the original.

Vampire Hunter D: Bloodlust - 7.5/10

$12 used at GameStop. Must've been very gently used, as there was not a scratch or a mark on that disc. I had to turn on a light to verify. Amazing.

Not as good as the original, but holds its own as far as animated films go. A few plot points from the book (Vol. 3, Demon Deathchase) were omitted, so that American viewers wouldn't be offended (chief offender would've been the pseudo-incest/rape subplot between D's rival bounty hunters, if that had made it in). The end fight sequence made me want to root for the vampire, while knowing that D never loses. I liked that.

Edited July 1, 2007 by RavenBlack

[Rashid]

Never posted this earlier cause I was gone;

Candyman (1992): 7.5/10

Candyman: Farewell to the Flesh (1995): 4/10

--

The Invisible Man (1933): 8/10

One of the best horror-comedies I've ever seen.

Halloween H2O: 7/10

As of now this is the only Halloween sequel I've seen, and I enjoyed it. Also has possibly the greatest and most badass ending I've ever seen in a horror movie.

--

Dead Silence: 6/10

Meh.

Hostel - Part II: 1.5/10

The movie starts as kind of a chick flick, introducing the female cast and attempting to "develop" them as interesting characters so the audience would care for them later on. They all just come off as obnoxious sluts. Then the torturing starts! When really, the people who watch this movie are put through more torture than the characters actually in the movie. Eli Roth has now directed 3 consecutive pieces of shit disguising as movies. I am not looking forward to see what he does to Stephen King's Cell.

--

Phantasm (1979?): 8/10

Les Diaboliques (1955): 9.5/10

The near 2 hour thriller starts slow, but quickly builds. The ending is absolutely genius and unexpected, one of the greatest plot twists I've ever seen in a movie. I'm surprised this movie's not more popular what it is.

Edited July 4, 2007 by Rashid

[Numbahs]

The Hottest State - *** out of *****

As with most adaptations, the book is better. Although it's mostly because Hawke totally changed the ending and added a lot of things that made it less of a story that you get your own meaning out of.

[ROC]

The Hottest State - *** out of *****

As with most adaptations, the book is better. Although it's mostly because Hawke totally changed the ending and added a lot of things that made it less of a story that you get your own meaning out of.

[Doc Funky]

Ghost Rider: 5/10

Just as bad as everyone always says. Eva Mendes is nice to look at, and I always mark out for Peter Fonda, but the action and story are both pretty subpar.

Shooter: 7/10

Pretty good movie, but the ending really, really dragged. I wish they had ended it with an alternate version of the scene in the mountains.

The Fountain: 2/10

Absolutely hated it. Rachel Weisz looked great as the Queen of Spain, but that was about all I enjoyed. Of course, it didn't help that the movie was completely different from what I had been expecting. Oh well.

Edited July 5, 2007 by Doc Funky

[TheRyno]

Transformers - Eleventeen out of Ten.

It's probably tied with 300 for Best Movie of the Year for me.

[Numbahs]

The Hottest State - *** out of *****

As with most adaptations, the book is better. Although it's mostly because Hawke totally changed the ending and added a lot of things that made it less of a story that you get your own meaning out of.

...Is the three stars alone for Catalina's breasts?

[Timmoru Suzuki]

Seen a few films over the last two days. Firstly, a couple of new releases:

Die Hard 4.0 (UK Title) 7.5

Die Hard 4.0 is a good action film and a good end to the Die Hard franchise. It does everything well enough to be a good film, from the script to the action scenes to the performances speaking of which - Bruce Wilis is good, Justin Long is very good as the reluctant side-kick, and Timothy Olyphant from Deadwood is a very solid bad-guy. There is nothing wrong with Die Hard 4.0 at all, there are literally no major criticisms, it just doesn't do much exceptionally well either.

One point to make was that it didn't really 'feel' like a Die Hard film - it felt like an action movie with Bruce Willis rather than being Die Hard with Bruce Willis. With the technical warfare plot, and with Willis being sent to pick up someone by the police and it being that person that gets him into trouble, it's more like 24 meets 16 Blocks with the Die Hard name.

Shrek the Third 6.5/10

Shrek the Third is a needless but not bad part of the Shrek franchise. It's perfectly fine throughout with a solid enough story and with a few laughs for the older viewer that all the best animated kids films have.

It is obvious though that this was made for money not because they had any GREAT ideas' for the franchise, and it is a reminder that they should just stop here with an acceptable enough end to Shrek rather than go on, because it's incredibly hard to see where to go from here, it was obvious that they had run out of any major new ideas or jokes.

So, a solid enough second sequel in it's own right, that's worth the watch, it just should be obvious to everyone concerned that the franchise should end here before it gets too weak.

And then a few older films I finally got round to watching:

LA Confidential 9/10

Just a great film. A perfect example of tight plotting with a shitload of sub-plots and a wealth of background characters that come and go without overloading the story or confusing the issue, or taking the attention too far away from the main plot - it is ALL linked to the main plot so well. The other great thing is the performances. Even the actors that appear in two or three scenes (and there are 80 speaking parts.....) are all EXCELLENT in their little roles, and I'll say again, there are millions of roles in this film that are all there for a reason and add to the story and the plot in their own way. In a film with such fantastic across the board acting, the main praise goes to Guy Pearce who is excellent, as is Kevin Spacey (as always), and James Cromwell, but everyone else does brilliantly too. Just a great film across the board. I haven't even properly mentioned the great dialogue, the good pacing, and the fact the film gets you into the mood and tone and style of era brilliantly, this aspect really is greatin ways I can't describe. Just a brilliant film.

Memento 8.5/10

This was going to be an 8/10 until the last five minutes. It's a fantastic concept and idea for a movie, and such originality is a huge achievement. The film is generally executed very well, with good performances, a good script and good editing and directing, though after a very good opening third, the movie does drag a little in the middle. Brilliant concept aside the film is not amazing - it's 'only' very good - until the last final twist which is superb. Being able to have a unique twist like that this day is superb, it's just an out of this world amazing end to the film that forces me to raise the score, its such a good way to end the film and leave the viewer with something to think about. So, an amazing concept, well to very well executed with a perfect finale.