What Did You Watch Today?

[New Damage]

Been watching the second series of How I Met Your Mother online the past week or so after realising I'd seen the first series about twice but the second onwards hasn't shown over here. Damn BBC.

Anyway, I forgot how much awesome that Barney is, how incredibly hot Robyn is and how cute Lily is. The main character I'm not too keen on is Marshall, the guy just doesn't seem to be that great of an actor, but he's more than decent in his role. Once I get through the last view episodes I'll move onto the third.

Regarding a dodgy stripper at a bachelor party:

Barney: "She was a fifteen..."

Ted: "She was fifteen!?"

Barney: "No, A fifteen, like in Blackjack"

Ted: "Huh? Not sure if you'd hit it or not... Oh."

Barney: "Exactly."

Why I like HIMYM and Scrubs more than other sitcoms is that when they need to be, they can be touching and have a moral and reason for telling the story of that episode.

Plus Barney, he's such a fantastic dick.

Edited June 27, 2009 by TheModernWay

[El Dandy]

Revenge of the Fallen: Just back from seeing this tonight. I wasn't really fussed on the first one to be honest so I didn't have high expectations from the sequel. However, I actually liked this movie. I thought it was alot better than the first and it kept me entertained. 6/10

[Emperor Fuckshit]

Paris, Texas is, in all senses of the word, a beautiful film. By what I think is just coincidence, I've watched quite a few movies with a North-American-wilderness ambience over the past few days. Nevertheless, the rolling plains and primitive desolation of Wenders' opening shots stand out as original and affecting. The backdrops are also complemented nicely by the excellent slide guitar score. This film pretty much lives and dies on its pathos, and I challenge anyone not to be moved at least to the verge of tears by the dialogue between Travis and his estranged wife. Those scenes kind of present an interesting counter-point to the crudeness and manipulation involved with the "bleak" aspects of Requiem... I think. "Paris..." uses the tools at its immediate disposal to create a touching yet mysterious situation that is revealed slowly but foreshadowed by an ineluctable undercurrent of timorousness. But, despite that, there are plenty of bright spots. The scene in which Travis attempts to "become" a dad belongs in a Steve Martin 'All Cosy at Home in the Family House' affair. The speed and apparent lack of difficulty with which Hunter accepts the father who abandoned him at the age of three doesn't quite ring true. I'm kind of torn on that: I had no major interest in that aspect of the story, so I'm glad that it was dispensed with quickly. But the method of dispensation wasn't too convincing. I also don't quite believe in the motivations for Travis' sudden and complete retreat at the close. Are we meant to support him? Does he not have obligations? Where does he go, and how does he expect to live once there? Hmm. I guess there are plenty of beautiful things that don't stand up to deconstruction. But neither do logic and aesthetic magnificence share a Heisenberg type relationship. But I enjoyed this a lot anyway.

I watched Welcome to the Dollhouse this morning. I'd kind of forgotten that I had come evening time. Which isn't good. Was there like a weird period when a bunch of American directors took it upon themselves to "lay bare" the "seamy underside" of middle-class suburbia? But also to do it in a way that was kind of mediocre? (cf. "American Beauty", "Ghost World", Solondz's own "Happiness"). This is alright -- all the bits are in the right places and it feels genuine and is not overly clichéd. But neither is it terribly inventive and none of the characters other than the lead feel real. And what's with the sudden Brandon-Weinerdog relationship thing?

I probably don't have time to do justice to Audition right now. Good though, innit?

Edited June 28, 2009 by Emperor Fuckshit

[Hellfire]

Knowing - 4.5/10

Nicolas Cage is a terrible actor. I fall into the same trap over and over again though because he stars in movies that seem interesting to me, so I say to myself “maybe he got better, maybe he won’t make me want to jam rusty screwdrivers into my eyes after watching him” but the result is always the same: I turn the DVD off, shake my head and say "Nicolas fucking Cage got me again". He's done it again here.

This could be a decent movie. It’s actually pretty a pretty creepy thriller and the “whisper people” randomly appearing get you trying to figure out what exactly the hell is going on. The accident sequences are absolutely the best part of the movie though. In most movies they show the accident, throw a fireball up and cut back to the main characters reaction, but this one went all out. People on fire (Cage yelling at one of the people on fire was hilarious), explosions, burning bodies. I was really surprised how far they went. In fact, I would have given this movie a 2/10 if the action sequences weren't so fantastic. Unfortunately though, explosions don’t make up for a movie in which there is really no reason to give a shit about any of the characters.

- plane crash scene from knowing

The Spirit - 3.5/10

Now that I’ve had a couple days to process this movie, I’m changing my rating. I’m not saying that this is a terrible movie; in fact there were a lot of things that I enjoyed about it. Frank Miller used the Sin City type film style that might annoy some people but I loved it when they used it on that movie and I still love it now. Samuel L. Jackson played himself, much like he does in lots of other movies but it usually works, and it does here as well. Evil Samuel L. Jackson is always a fun time. Scarlett Johansson looked damn good and her character was great.

That's the good stuff. Bad stuff was definitely the dialogue. Good lord that was terrible. Some of the lines made me actually feel ashamed for watching this. I get that it was based on a comic strip that I’ve never read, so I have no real background on what any of the characters talk like, but The Spirit, The Octopus and especially the Police Commissioner had some especially bad lines.

If you liked Sin City enough, are a fan of Samuel L. Jackson, have a lot of time to kill or want to see Scarlett Johansson in a nazi uniform, give this a go. Otherwise, just avoid it.

Edited July 1, 2009 by Hellfire

[(həd)]

Saw Transformers II last night. Hadn't seen the first one and didn't really know what to expect (besides the obvious robot fighting).

It was alright. Fair amount of action but it wasn't as OMG AWESOME as everyone made it out to be. I was entertained but it did run too long. 7/10

[Ghg398]

12 Rounds - good movie for having Cena in it.

[Jimmy]

Dare You To Love Me - 8.5/10

This was an odd, random choice of Anytime TV. I've barely watched any foreign films before, but I thought this one was quality. I'm now really looking forward to see Marion in Public Enemies. The whole thing was very quirky, very orginal and unlike many things I'd seen before. A very interesting story, which I found myself really, really into.

[Laice07]

Some of the movies I watched this Summer (so far), starting with the most recent:

The Hangover: 8/10

-Great performances by the leads, and very funnyfrom beginning until end.

Transformers: Revenge of The Fallen: 4/10

-Mind-numbing and painful to watch...and I loved the first one. But the effects were superb!

Up: 9.5/10

-Pixar does it again. The most engaging film all year so far. It's also Pixar's most funniest.

Star Trek: 8.5/10

A great way to open up my summer (avoided Wolverine and Terminator due to bad word of mouth and reviews from my Friends AND Critics), the acting was fantasting, especially the chemistry between all the members aboard the ship. The plot and villain weren't the best of the film, but they did not drag the film at all. And for someone who doesn't really like Star Trek...it was really fun and I'm now anticipating the next installment.

Friday The 13th (Remake): 5/10

So I rented this as a horror fan, and even though some of the deaths were fun and with a very strong 15-20 minutes, it begain to get really boring at the end to the point where I wanted it to finish.

[MyKILLv2.0]

Transformers: 8/10....The first ten to fifteen minutes were completely sophmoric and didn't fit the rest of the movie, or series at all. However after Michael Bay got that out of his system, the movie really picked up and was entertaining from the point he went to college till the final scene. I enjoyed the movie, the new auto bot twins, and the rest of the movie. I am not sure yet if I like it better then the first, but without a doubt I am glad I saw it.

[Hellfire]

I didn't watch all of it today, but I finished watching The Shield. Jesus, what an absolutely brilliant show. It just kept picking up momentum like a boulder rolling down a hill and by the end you just knew shit was going to get fucked up. Without a doubt, its on my top five greatest TV shows ever.

The Shield - 9.5 out of 10

[Jimmy]

Public Enemies 9/10

I thought it was a quality movie. Fantastic acting and interesting story. Some very interesting directing, too. I really enjoyed the film, certainly worth a watch.

[Hellfire]

Public Enemies - 8 out of 10

Best summer movie I've seen so far but it had a couple flaws. The only characters I could tell apart were Dillinger, Baby Face Nelson and Pervis. Everyone else just kinda blended together. The whole Dillinger saga is a really fascinating topic but I don't know enough to really go into it to much here. From what I know though, the FBI and Pervis were inept and pretty much were getting made fools of by Dillinger. The movie really didn't delve into that, which is unfortunate.

Into the Wild - 9.5 out of 10

I really can't describe why I like this movie so much, its one of those things that just kinda talked to me. I've always thought of myself as someone that doesn't care about money or material objects but I don't think I'd ever be able to go to the lengths that were done here. Fantastic movie and story with a really unfortunate ending.

Taken - 8.5 out of 10

Liam Neeson kills, maims, severely injures and pistol whips his way through a boatload of Albanians, with some french people sprinkled in to boot. Really reminds me of a cross between the Bourne series and 24. He's a spy with a huge body count.

Edited July 8, 2009 by Hellfire

[tristy]

I saw Bruno tonight for my birthday.

It's probably the funniest goddamn movie I've ever seen in my life, no lie. I wouldn't even mind paying $8.50 to see it again, and I never do that.

[Quom]

Gran Torino Karate Kid for the art house crowd (barely), except less engaging and more unintentionally amusing. I like movies that use realism or movies that are so out there it's obviously not meant to be realistic. This is totally ignored in this movie.

I'm sorry Clint but my granny could take you. You aren't going to intimidate anybody. I was embarrassed when he pulled out his pretend finger gun (the first time). It was like a senior citizens version of children's movies where only the kids can save the world.

The only enjoyment I gleaned from this movie was some of the insults he pulled out. Which probably means I'm a terrible individual. 2/10

Edited July 11, 2009 by QuomQuat

[Toe]

I didn't think Bruno was very funny. It seemed more staged then Borat and was just not as fun as that movie. Bruno has some great scenes, but it isn't as funny as I was hoping it would be.

[wolves]

I saw Bruno today. Better than Borat with some serious laugh out loud moments. It's not the best comedy but sometimes it's nice to have a bit of a brainless comedy to laugh at. By far my favorite thing was his "TV Show" with Harrison Ford. 7/10

I also watched Knowing the other day and it was just bland. I ended up fast forwarding through it in parts. 5/10

Lastly I watched Paul Blart. Not as bad as I thought it was going to be but also not as good as some people told me it was. Decent comedy and I guess I'd watch it when it makes it's way to TV. 6/10

[lashley]

UFC 100 - 9/10.

Great event, had a lot of great matches. Lesnar v Mir finished too fast though.

[Baddar]

Step Brothers - 8/10

Very funny film with some great scenes in it. Probably went on 10/15 minutes too long in the end. It was either that or it just had a dry spell of not much funny stuff happening, but either way, well worth the rental.

[livid]

Adventureland - 7.5/10

Good movie, though not nearly as funny as advertised. Pretty much, and not surprisingly, Bill Hader and Kristen Wiig provided the only really funny parts in the movie. The problem is the fact that they showed all the funny parts of their's in the trailer. Martin Starr picks up the rest of the comedic moments in the movie, which again, isn't that surprising given how awesome he is on Party Down. Jesse Eisenberg and Kristen Stewart were good as the leads and I really wish Stewart would do more stuff outside of the Twilight series (mainly because I'm never going to watch that shit). There's just something about her that I can't place by finger on, but I would do unthinkable things for a chance with her. Ryan Reynolds plays a fairly sleazy character (and not in a good way ala Van Wilder) and he's okay.

Overall, the film's not bad by any means, I just wish it was funnier.

The Mysteries of Pittsburgh - 4/10

The only good things about this movie are: 1. Sienna Miller is quite attractive and 2. Peter Sarsgaard is becoming one of the better actors going today. Other than that, this movie was bad, which sucks as I had fairly high hopes about the movie. It also has one of the most ridiculous scenes ever when the lead (played by Jon Foster, who apparently is trying to put Hayden Christiansen out of work as the most wooden actor in Hollywood) and Peter Sasgaard's characters have sex. It's one thing to have a gay sex scene in a movie, it's an entirely different thing to have one as ridiculous and unintentionally laughable as the one in this movie. Not only that but the movie literally has no pay off. It builds and builds and leads to absolutely nothing.

Just not a good example of film making.

Edited July 13, 2009 by Livid Soprano

[nabeel]

I saw Bruno today. Better than Borat with some serious laugh out loud moments. It's not the best comedy but sometimes it's nice to have a bit of a brainless comedy to laugh at. By far my favorite thing was his "TV Show" with Harrison Ford. 7/10

I also watched Knowing the other day and it was just bland. I ended up fast forwarding through it in parts. 5/10

Lastly I watched Paul Blart. Not as bad as I thought it was going to be but also not as good as some people told me it was. Decent comedy and I guess I'd watch it when it makes it's way to TV. 6/10

I'd disagree. I personally thought that behind all the homophobic/racist/antisemitic jokes there was a serious message. It's the kind of movie that took peoples irrational prejudices and expanded on them in a rather sarcastic manner.