What Did You Watch Today?

[Hellfire]

Constantine - 8/10

Anacondas: The Hunt for the Blood Orchid - 4.5/10

Torque - 2/10

[Stevie B]

The Football Factory

What else you going to do on a Saturday?

[GoGo Yubari]

Fast Times at Ridgemont High - 7/10

This movie is 7/10 because of Sean Penn and Forrest Whittaker. They MADE this movie, along with Judge Reinhold to a lesser extent. Without these performances Fast Times would be just another mediocre 80's teen flick.

[BlackFlagg]

Spider-Man 2 - 9/10

[Johnny Latino Heat]

Superman: 8/10

Superman II: 8.5/10

[~The Missionary Guy~]

Hellboy 6.5/10

Collateral 7/10

[ROC]

Phantoms - 5/10 or (**) "Affleck was the bomb in Phantoms." This one line statement made by Ben Affleck as Holden McNeil talking about Ben Affleck in Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back may have been the first bit of exposure the 1998 alien-esque film Phantoms received outside of horror circles. The funny thing is, he was right. That said, the film is more or less another alien flick with a few mere twists. Its generic storyline more or less attempts to convey the cheeky appeal that made Species work well in 1995. Unfortunately, it is more or less a film of mixed results (just like Species' ill-fated sequel also released in '98). That said, Affleck delivers one of his more solid shows of acting, showing that he can play a good character with the right material. (i.e. Kevin Smith's films) But it also feels like a film that is just not original enough even with the twist involving Peter O'Toole. Watch if you like Affleck, don't expect much if you're not.

[Johnny Latino Heat]

Superman III: 8/10

Richard Prior is KING.

[GoGo Yubari]

Being John Malkovich - 7/10

Oh god. This would be 8/10 if I didn't spend the entire movie staring in slack-jawed horror at what was going on. It's brilliantly written and acted, but the problem is that there isn't a single sympathetic character in the movie except for Malkovich himself who spends much of the movie like a prop. Everyone is either immoral or a bitch or just plain crazy. It's a good movie, but I never want to watch it again.

[ROC]

According To Spencer - 6/10 or (**1/2) Sometimes you have to watch not-so-talented actors lead to appreciate someone else's talents in the same film. In this case, you have to endure the bearable but not solid performance of young actor Jesse Bradford (who ha played the same bearable but not great role in nearly every one of his major films from the past 4 years) to see the true talents of Canadian actress Mia Kirshner, who once again makes a role that most any other actress could play and adds finesse, sensibility, and execution to it. Also, it gets some points for the talented Adam Goldberg also included in the cast. The plot is not too bad yet definitely seen before and the dialogue isn't as prim and polished as it should've been. Still, Kirshner and Goldberg make it interesting enough.

[Ananas]

I remember seeing these movies weeks ago and wanting to say something about it on the board, but never getting the motivation:

Hitch - *** (6.5/10) [Charming and inoffensive]

Superman - ***1/2 (7/10) [Well acted first adaptation of the classic story.]

Good Bye Lenin! - ***1/2 (7/10) [Pure charm and politically poignant.]

Boogie Nights - **1/2 (5/10) [Paul Thomas Anderson is dull, and he doesn't know when to end a movie.]

Freaky Friday - ***1/2 (7/10) [Charming cast, good laughs, very good movie.]

Edited February 24, 2005 by Jar Jar Beatnik

[Hellfire]

Dog Day Afternoon 7.8 out of 10

[BlackFlagg]

Critters - 7/10

[BlackFlagg]

House - 7/10

[St. Dubb]

Ok let's see if I can remember all the movies I saw in the past week.

Dodgeball: 8/10 - still love every minute of it.

Lord of the Rings: Return of the King: 8.5/10 - Ok so I only caught some of it, but I've seen it a couple times before...the only thing I don't really like about this movie is how the ending drags on for a long time.

Little Nicky: 5.5/10 - Good, but not one of my favorite Adam Sandler flicks.

Ghostbusters: 9/10 - One of my all time favorite movies.

Johnson Family Vacation: 2/10 - Ugh.

My Girl 2: 4/10 - Too sappy for my tastes.

Doc Hollywood: 6/10 - Being a Michael J. Fox fan, it is surprising that I hadn't seen this movie before.

39 Steps: 7.5/10 - Gotta love Hitchcock.

I think that covers everything.

[ROC]

*POSSIBLE SPOILERS AHEAD*

The Matrix Revolutions - 5.5/10 or (**)

NOTE: This is the LAST review I'm doing of Revolutions on EWB. Ever. Now let me proceed with this review.

Over the past few months starting sometime around November, I've seen The Matrix Revolutions at least five times and have gotten something different out of the film each time. Last time I mentioned that I hated the ending, but after watching it again, I've found that I'm content with the ending. It fits a certain relevance and ends the trilogy on a decent note. That said, the film just doesn't feel right.

For example, we see in the first 30 minutes the sequence involving getting Neo out of the coma which feels too long and more like something that could finish in five or ten minutes rather. Not to mention, the battle scenes are far too long for their own good as story attempts to take a backdrop on annoying battle stuff. While there is a cool precedent about seeing some cool effects being utilized, it feels more in the vein of mindless violence. Many other scenes also feel forced and slightly unnecessary as in some cases characters who had no play or even mention in Reloaded suddenly show up out of nowhere in Revolutions, almost unannounced. It also feels weak to watch a two-hour film when only a few scenes are even of note and the other sequences don't make themselves interesting enough, as say Return of the Jedi or Back to the Future Part III did.

The philosophy element also finds itself sprawling out of control as rather than the cleverly pondering Agent Smith, Oracle, and Morpheus we see in parts 2 and 3, we see many rhetorical questions and "choices" that only serves to make most viewers lost as to what is actually being portrayed. And, unfortunately, the other dialogue also is tremendously bad with some lines even causing unintentional laughter just because of their cliche use in other movies.

Even with all of these negatives, I found a few positives about the final chapter, however. As mentioned before, the ending is actually pretty good and while open-ended, feels like a good way to exit the trilogy. I also dig the final fight between Neo and Smith as it feels and looks like what a final fight should be and is possibly the most well designed and executed fight in the entire trilogy.

That said, I don't exactly dig watching an entire film for one amazing fight and a decent ending. Two stars and why God and man created fast-forward.

Edited February 25, 2005 by TheROC-Revolt

[RawIsWar]

I havnt watched anything today but im definately watching Road trip later 10/10 IMO. It's a classic film which i have seen many times

[BlackFlagg]

Monster - 8/10

[Blehschmidt]

I watched all 8 hours of Stephen King's The Stand over the past two days. I had seen it before, but not for a long time.

It still holds up well...

Two Thumbs Up :thumbsup: :thumbsup:

[Ananas]

Ong-Bak - *** (6.5/10)

Ong-Bak comes from director Prachya Pinkaew, but I doubt anyone is really concerned with that. Pinkaew wrote the film with martial arts choreographer Panna Rittikrai, but I have the suspicion that you don't give a damn about that either. No, this is not a film of unique direction or strong writing, or for that matter, even strong acting. This is an action film, made in a style no longer found anywhere in North America. This isn't cinema, it's a moment in time. Regardless of what happens to Tony Jaa, no one can take this remarkable accomplisment away from him. Jaa leads the cast of this otherwise B-film as Ting, a young man who is honor bound with the task of retrieving the head of a sacred statue from the man who stole it. This task leads him to Bangkok, where he teams up with Dirty Balls (I can't even make this up), a former villager of where Ting comes from, and his friend Muay Lek. Just as I've said though, storyline is not important here, this is a spectacle. Tony Jaa displays physical abilities perhaps never before seen on screen, and does things not even stunt workers would be willing to do. Perhaps it's a dark mark on the Japanese film industry that performers are goated into doing all of their own stunts like this, but in this case we should be thankful it does happen. Ong-Bak is a movie worthy of viewing even if strickly to witness the birth of a star. Thumbs up.