What Did You Watch Today?

[~The Missionary Guy~]

Donnie Brasco - 8.5/10

Only thing wrong is Pacino trusted Brasco before even getting to know him at all

[public enemy]

House Of Flying Daggers - 9/10

Awesome. I thought Hero was slightly better though.

[ROC]

The Piano - 8/10

Director Jane Campion had a brief moment of brilliance with this talent-packed drama. The romance between leads Hunter and Keitel doesn't feel pointless and Hunter's quiet but emotional performance as Ada really gives this film strength. Paquin is also a decent talent in this, though, perhaps there's not enough of her to really judge. Still a fantastic film, just disappointing that Campion later fell from making good cinema with erotic undertones to making blatantly pornographic movies like In The Cut.

The Dirty Dozen - 9/10

Now this is a war movie. Fantastic performances from nearly everyone involved, including Donald Sutherland, Charles Bronson, Telly Savalas, and especially Lee Marvin. I will admit that it might not have a great rewatchable quality, but I will say it's a film you should see at least once.

[FLiam]

Wedding Crashers: 8/10

It got bad reviews in places, but I loved it. Vince Vaughn, Owen Wilson and Will Ferell are all fucking legends. The night rape scene is comedic gold, I was pissing myself.

Windtalkers: 4/10

What the fuck?

Really unrealistic, Cage kills about 40 Japanese soldiers every action scene, since when would that ever happen? Parts of it were good, the story is good, but most of it is just ridiculous.

Edited July 19, 2005 by Gooner4Life

[fineintent]

Wedding Crashers - 8/10

Vince Vaughn? Good. Owen Wilson? Good. Christopher Walken? Good. Will Ferrell? Good. Isla Fisher? Very good.

Didn't expect much, but this was really fucking hilarious. And Isla Fisher is fucking lovely - shame I don't know any hot redheads really. Go see it.

[Ananas]

Mr. And Mrs. Smith - 7/10

When "Mr. And Mrs. Smith" was released on June 10th, a majority of the publicity surrounding the film focused on the alleged affair between its two co-stars, Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie, which is rumoured to have led to the dissolution of Pitt's marriage to "Friends" star Jennifer Aniston. Now a smaller amount of publicity was also awarded to director Doug Liman's odd on-set behavior, but on a whole, it was made into a box office success less on merit than being buzzworthy due to the off-screen behavior of its cast and crew. The important question is, could this film have been a success without taking the tabloid publicity root? The fortunate answer to that question is a resounding yes.

"Mr. And Mrs. Smith" is directed by Doug Liman and stars Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie as married spies who happened to keep their real careers hidden from their spouses. Most of this information I covered in the first paragraph, but I felt the fact that a particular film stars two of Hollywood's hottest actors and is directed by possibly the industry's most consistant director bears mentioning twice. John and Jane Smith are a horribly dull married couple of 5 to 6 years whose lives are suddenly threatened when they are both identified during jobs, Things are further complicated when it is revealed that they had in fact identified each other as competing spies, and each is given 48 hours to kill the other. Will John or Jane emerge victorious, and for that matter, can either of them go through with killing their loved one?

This film is a rarity, in that it works in both concept and execution. Rumours were abound during shooting that Liman had pushed the film millions of dollars over budget and weeks behind schedule, but to me, every cent seems to be reflected on screen. A great looking cast as well as great looking action sequences are not all this film has; Liman's visual style is one of the most noticeable in the business, and his rye, almost hyperactive sense of presentation fits an action-rom-com perfectly. Without his ability to present the film in an impartial and emotionally ambiguous manner, the second half may have been a nosedive that would have taken the movie with it. As it is, this film is never boring, and that can't be said for many movies, even some good ones. This isn't on par with some of Liman's ealier works, but it's another worthy entry into the career of one of the most intriguing filmmakers in the world. Thumbs up.

[BlackFlagg]

Steal This Movie - 8/10

King of New York - 8/10

Easy Rider - 8/10

[Laice07]

Hide and Seek: 4/10

Was this actually trying to be scary??

[ROC]

Million Dollar Baby - 9/10

Finally, a Best Picture winner that actually looks to deserve the title. Million Dollar Baby is a well-written, well acted, well directed boxing tale that soon turns into a ponderous question with a major plot twist at the end. Morgan Freeman gives his best performance since Red in The Shawshank Redemption (and rightfully won his first Oscar because of this) and Hilary Swank delivers one of the more incredible performances of the last year. Perhaps not ahead of Kate Winslet's Clementine, but still damn good.

To put it in simple words, Million Dollar Baby is an amazing flick that always seems to work. Eastwood once again rivets his audience and makes a feature that could've been really good simply memorable.

[ROC]

It’s Pros/Cons time!

Plain Dirty - 3/10

Pros:

1. Domanique Swain = hottie.

If there’s any reason to watch this movie, it’s probably her. Hell, she even made that movie with her and Tara Reid in it semi-bearable. I did say semi...

2. It’s a little better than watching the Pussycat Dolls actually try to sing on TRL.

Yeah, those hot chicks you watch with the sound off think you’d actually care about them with the sound on. WRONG!!!

Cons:

1. Oh, the bad Southern accents!

And it’s extra bad considering this is low budget fare. Of course, I haven’t liked too many Yankee Southern drawls in movies since Laura Dern’s performances in the 90s or most recently with Hilary Swank’s performance in Million Dollar Baby.

2. Oh, the bad Southern acting!

There’s bad acting from just about everyone, including Swain herself and especially from the male antagonist...whose name escapes me right now. And, of course, reason 1 just makes it all the more worse.

3. Oh, the bad Southern writing!

The film seems to also be based on a series of cliches that have roamed about the South for centuries. Yes, there are rednecks in the South that beat their wives, but I don’t think it’s hardly as one-dimensional and the characters are as inane as is portrayed here.

In short, Swain was much better in that Tara Reid movie and especially in New Best Friend, which does contain the much more impressive talent Mia Kirshner. Even if that movie is as cliche as this, at least it has Kirshner. And that’s worth something.

[Different Cloud]

The Machinist - 8/10

Fight Club but not as good. Not 100% sure what happened, need to watch it again.

[public enemy]

The People vs. Larry Flynt - 8/10

Loved it, despite the inclusion of Woody Harrelson.

[Laice07]

Full Metal Jacket: 6.5/10

Its good, but far from Kubricks best work, as the second half was basically pointless, and I didn't give two shits about any of the characters. IMO Platoon and Apocalypse Now are the movies to go to if you want to see films about Vietnam.

Edited July 22, 2005 by Laice_

[Guest John Kerry's Evil Twin]

Batman Begins: 8/10. Probably would have rated it higher if I didn't suddenly have to get up and take a shit in the middle of the movie. Twice.

[ROC]

Hostage - 5/10

From director Florent Siri, whose last major directing job was directing the three Splinter Cell games, comes his stuck in the 80s action thriller Hostage. The thing that makes the film stuck in the 80s is the extreme graphic violence, which while interesting and groundbreaking in its day, now just feels dated and ridiculous in the modern age, especially when people care more about effects than about blood. It also goes a bit overkill in its use, too. (BRIEF SPOILER: Name one person in the movie with decent face time without at least some blood on them.) The plot is okay but doesn’t really shine until the last half hour, and Willis does still have the badassness that made Die Hard so good. However, even Die Hard got away from the bloodthirsty nature of 80s actioners with Die Hard With A Vengeance.

And...

What’s up with Willis’s recent films ending always with a happy ending? I mean, sure Tucker, Foster, and Co. died, but none of the main characters die. I almost thought a movie like this would have me guessing who would die among the hostages. But perhaps that’s the “demands a different type of ending” sense of me. To be honest, in comparison to the dated thing, this isn’t too much of the reason for the meh score.

To sum it up, Willis needs to plan a newer style to his actioners or fear continually falling box office returns...or do that damn Die Hard sequel NOW.

[BlackFlagg]

Bully - 6/10

[illmatic]

Been watchin alot of korean movies.

Wet Dreams 2

9/10

She's On Duty

9/10

Sex Is Zero

9/10

[Laice07]

Charlie and The Chocolate Factory

No wonder the author Roald Dahl hated the original film. The first film was like an ABC After School Special starring Gene Wilder and sponsored by Disney. The set design and special effects resemble an Austin Powers film. The children didn't scare me in the original at all.

This is the book I have wanted to see come to life. This is what you expect for those of us who actually read the book and knew the book even existed.

The movie isn't without flaws. The acting is a bit over the top and Burton's style can be a little too imposing even for him. Depp, no matter what he says, still looks a little like Micheal Jackson. But overall, this movie was fun to watch and much more believable than the first film. There was no sad music at the end of this film. This movie takes its material seriously with just the right amount of humor in places and eeriness in others.

7.5/10

[BlackFlagg]

7Seconds - 4/10

[BlackFlagg]

Miss Congeniality 2 - 5/10