What Did You Watch Today?

[GhostMachine]

We Are Marshall - 7/10

The movie changed a few things for dramatic purposes (like how Jack Lengyel got the head coaching job), but was fairly true to the real story. Excellent performances by Matthew McConaughey, Matthew Fox, David Strathairn and Anthony Mackie.

Two bits of trivia: The real "Red" Dawson has a cameo as the head coach of Morehead, and Kata Mara who appears in the movie is part of the Mara family that owns the Giants as well as the great-granddaughter of Steelers founder Art Rooney.

[Kwanzabot]

Ratatouille

**** or 9

So, my brother has been constantly mentioning this film due to my apparent hatred of the french (totally exaggerated), and when he talked about it today, I thought I may as well give it a watch. I've always loved animated films, and Pixar aren't exactly the least successful animators out there, so I went in expecting something good.

I wasn't disappointed either. Really, really original plot, which I absolutely loved. There was a good sprinkling of comedy in the premise and select moments, but not a continuous stream of jokes as found in other more-modern animated films *cough*SHREK*cough*. It was all well thought out, and the use of characters was good as well.

Spoiler: Click here to view

I loved the scene with Ego finally becoming human. Really was cool that scene.

This movie has put me in good confidence for WALL-E, which looks like one of the riskiest movie projects ever. Good luck to Pixar on that one, I'll make sure to go to the cinema to watch it. Btw, any idea if Disney are releasing their movies on Blu-Ray? I'll hang back on buying this on DVD if they are bringing it out like that any time soon.

[zero]

Juno

It's rare for a movie to get so much critical praise, so much viewer praise and then I wind up still liking the movie. Juno is an even more rare instance in which I don't just like the movie, I absolutely adore the movie. Definitely my pick for best movie of 2007, which is quite a feat considering all the great releases of the year, but none of them can touch Juno. The thing that really stood out for me was the cast; Ellen Page, JK Simmons, Allison Janney, Jason Bateman, Jennifer Garner, and Michael Cera are all flat out perfect fits for this movie. The only complaint I can see people making is that Michael Cera seems to play Michael Cera in whatever movie he is in. But in this movie, his soft-spoken awkwardness works just as well as it did in Superbad and he just comes across as such a likeable guy. Ellen Page is absolutely phenomenal as Juno and if she doesn't get some kind of Oscar nod, I'll be floored. JK Simmons has carved out quite a nice niche for himself in supporting roles over the years (mainly thanks to him stealing the show in Spider-Man), but he is another huge stand-out for me in this movie. His role as Juno's father is so touching and so sweet, it's impossible to not like him. I could go down the entire cast list and talk about how perfect everyone was for this movie, but I don't think there's anything I can say about the movie that hasn't already been said by every critic out there. It's a rare perfect movie and you should definitely go see it right now.

[DMN in the House]

The Bucket List

8.5/10

Excellent, excellent movie, and with guys like Morgan Freeman and Jack Nicholson in it, how could it not be. Just a really solid movie, in my opinion.

[Guest Kou]

I've come to the conclusion that anything with Michael Cera is garbage.

Juno Didn'tevenfinishitbecausethatshitactorisinit/10

[TGC]

Shoot Em Up - 9/10

Dear god but that was fun to watch. So fucking OTT, so well shot (pun intended), and just fun fun fun. I don't know how I would describe the film if I had to, other than to say if you like 80's style action films where the good guys never miss and the bad guys can't hit the side of a barn, then you might enjoy this. I can see why it was critically panned, but I just didn't care. It was a great hour and a half of time spent.

[Synjynpsychobitch]

Silent Hill 5.5/10

I frankly put off watching this for a long time. I had a few people telling me to I really should see it, so I put it in my Netflix queue and it arrived yesterday. It was okay. Seeing that I'm not a gamer and have very little experience with the game, I can make no real comparisons to its faithfulness. I can, however, give a straight film viewer's assessment. It was in no way the best film I've ever seen, but it didn't piss me off that I watched it either. It did well to keep my attention. I found I was drawn in more by the visual aspects of the film, than by the story. The CGI was spectacular in some places. The atmosphere was dutifully dank. The little girl annoyed me to hell in the first part, but as she took on the dark personae I enjoyed her acting.

Even with not being all that familiar with the game, the story was pretty easy to follow. All in all it was not a bad way to waste a Wednesday night. Side note, had I spent money in the theater, I would have been fairly pissed.

[Jimmy]

Shoot Em Up - 9/10

Dear god but that was fun to watch. So fucking OTT, so well shot (pun intended), and just fun fun fun. I don't know how I would describe the film if I had to, other than to say if you like 80's style action films where the good guys never miss and the bad guys can't hit the side of a barn, then you might enjoy this. I can see why it was critically panned, but I just didn't care. It was a great hour and a half of time spent.

I will just like to second this review, this film was pure badass!

[Timmoru Suzuki]

I am Legend 8/10

Can't see why reviews have been so in-different, I really enjoyed this. It's a slow, but very well done build, and I like the ending. Many praise for Will Smith who is very good, and even though for 90% of the film he's the only person on screen it never get's boring and he makes you really get into his character. Well made, and well worth the watch.

From 't'other day:

Corpse Bride 8/10

Good, and suprisingly touching.

[Timmoru Suzuki]

The Illusionist 7.5/10

I did not see this for so long, because the trailer made it look like a rip-off of The Prestige, which is a shame, because it is nothing like it.

The actual film is a 7/10, as while it's not bad, it just is not interesting or exciting enough, nor does it build GREAT suspense to warrant a higher score.

However, it does get a 7.5, because from a filming and production point-of-view, it is very well made, but it is the central performances that really stand out. Edward Norton is great, but it is Paul Giamatti that steals with with an excellent performance.

It is a case of a very decent story and script, heightened by good production and great acting from the two leads.

Edited January 18, 2008 by James timMAYy

[TGC]

Good Luck Chuck - 4/10

It's not nearly as bad as I had heard it was, but it's not particularly good either. Dan Cook can't act, I'll say that up front. He couldn't act in Mr. Brooks, and he can't act here. Jessica Alba can barely act, but she does have more talent than Dane. Hell, she used to have more talent in Dark Angel I thought. The story is mildly amusing, the plot is rather silly but okay, some of the joles work, but the real problem is how things just sort of change midway through the film. Suddenly the two lead principle characters just start acting incredibly off from the previous characterization we have seen thus far, and it is very jarring. However if you like Dan Cook's ass, the side of Alba's tittie, fat acne jokes, grapefruit fucking, or breasts you might want to check this out.

[TGC]

Cemetary Man aka Dellamorte Dellamore - 8/10

This is one odd little movie. I can't say that I loved it, but I really enjoyed it quite a bit. Odd, off, campy, trippy,a little existential, and down right fun. Rupert Everett plays a cemetary caretaker who has to deal with the fact that the undead seem to rise within seven days of being laid to rest. Along with his dimwitted maybe even half retarded assitant, Dellamorte deals with life, death, love, and a host of other issues, including politics. I'm sure this movie isn't for everyone, but damn was I impressed with it.

[AboveAverage]

Children of Men - 5.5/10

Its probably my fault I didn't get too into it as I came in expecting more of an action film. I usually get into any kind of sci-fi movie, but this one was a bit boring in parts, and was simply a strange movie, I don't know how else to put it. The acting was good enough to be entertaining at times, but overall I didn't see as good a movie as I was expecting.

Trainspotting - 8/10

Never saw this one until now despite having some friends that talk about it alot...very entertaining movie with a unique story and a couple of scenes that will stick with you. Ewan McGregor was excellent.

[TGC]

From the insanely awesome to the horribly dreadful, I run the gamut today.

Sunshine - 10/10

I don't know what a perfect film is. I adore with a passion Shawshank and Field Of Dreams, and would mark those as near perfect, if not perfect, films. That said, I am still not sure what perfection looks like, but I would classify Sunshine in the same league as those two films for now. Few movies ever come close to my enjoyment for those two, but every so often something comes along that makes me think it will be able to hold that spot as well. Usually within another viewing I realize that the film wasn't as great as I thought it was. Identity is the closest that has come and stayed there. I think Sunshine will stay there. I loved this movie the whole way through, and I loved it even more as I sat and watched the special features. Beyond a shadow of a doubt Danny Boyle is one of the premiere filmmakers of this generation, and it saddens me a bit that he's not more widely recognized as such. Cillian Murphey and Rose Byrne give stand ou performances, and for the first time I watched Chris Evans and thought "man this kid can fucking act", and all it took was a top notch director to get it out of him. I am sure others have and will better summarize this film, but allow me to leave with this said: knowing full well how it was going to end, knowing how it had to end, right up until the final few moments of the movie I still wished for something else to happen to change that. I was THAT drawn in.

The Ten - 1/10

Courtesy of IMDB:

Ten stories, each inspired by one of the Ten Commandments.

A guy (Adam Brody) who becomes an accidental hero after falling out of a plane,

A librarian (Gretchen Mol) who has a sexual awakening in Mexico with a swarthy local (Justin Theroux),

A doctor (Ken Marino) who kills his patients "as a goof",

A police detective (Liev Schreiber) who covets his neighbor's Cat Scan machine,

A mother (Kerri Kenney-Silver) who enlists an Arnold Schwarzenneger impersonator (Oliver Platt) to be a father figure to her children,

A prisoner (Rob Corddry) who covets his fellow inmate's "wife",

A woman (Winona Ryder) who falls in love with, and then steals a ventriloquist's puppet,

A Rhinoceros (voice of H. Jon Benjamin) who learns the pitfalls of gossip,

A husband (A. D. Miles) who skips church with his family to get naked with his friends and listen to Roberta Flack,

Jeff Reigert (Paul Rudd) presents all of these stories to the audience, while struggling with his own moral dilemma: having to choose between his beautiful wife (Famke Janssen) and his also beautiful but somewhat younger mistress (Jessica Alba).

The Paul Rudd framing sequences aren't funny and the first three stories we watched aren't funny, I quit at that point, cursing myself because this movie cost me $3 and a $1 late fee. Beyond fucking bad, just fucking dreadful.

[MalaCloudy Black]

Why would a rhinoceros have anything to do with the ten commandments? >_>

[TGC]

Why would a rhinoceros have anything to do with the ten commandments? >_>

I didn't make it nearly that far. Oddly enough I was curious yesterday, so I learned that CRITICS SEEMED TO REALLY LIKE THIS MOVIE! Fucking douchebags.

[reyrey619]

Have you seen any other stuff from David Wain (Stella, The State, Wet Hot American Summer)? I haven't seen The Ten, but I assume it's like his other stuff, which I loved.

[TGC]

Have you seen any other stuff from David Wain (Stella, The State, Wet Hot American Summer)? I haven't seen The Ten, but I assume it's like his other stuff, which I loved.

No I have not. Although if you se The Ten I would be interested in hearing your take on it as a fan of his work.

[IAceI]

Just so we all know, I want everything Geass Series 2 in spoilers. I don't want to know ANYTHING >_

[The Mask of Norro]

The main character is voiced by Samuel L. Jackson.

Is there really any question of what's not to like?