What Did You Watch Today?

[TGC]

X-Men: The Last Stand - 6/10

Boy oh boy what a missed opportunity to truly end the series on a high note. Whether it was the deaths of some of the most important cahracters in X-Men mythology being treated as an after thought, and even worse mandated by a studio head who has no vision, or the insipid main plot that was even worse than that of the first X-Men film, this thing just failed on so many levels. I think the deaths really bothered me the most, even though I knew of them going into watching this, simply because they were so emotionless and seemed to be there for the simple reason to move a weak plot along a bit. People criticize the X-Men franchise a lot, and while I do agree that the first movie's plot was almost too comic booky, the second film got it so right. This one is a step back so far and so hard that it's not even funny.

Something else that really bugged me were how badly the characters were written, mainly Rogue, Cyclops, and Xavier who are so badly out of character it's almost funny. Almost. The missed opportunity on The Sentinals is so damned frustrating as well. While the trailers made it seem as if they were a part of the central plot, they are in fact not in any way at all. Finally, The Phoenix plot, while I didn't ever expect the comic book version, makes almost no sense at all. The explanation given here in this third film seems to be contrary to what little we were shown of her Phoenix powers in the second film. Finally that leaves only the mutant cure storyline, and the stupidity that it brings with it. Once again some great characters are wasted in this, as the cure must be shown to be real and work I suppose. It brings nothing new to the table, and really seems like a plot that should have either been flat out rejected or at the very least tweaked and made to have more of an impact and carry more emotion. Once again, while we instinctively know that the cure is important and it is a major event in the universe, much like the deaths I mentioned above, nobody in the film truly acts as if it is. Beast goes the farthest with it, Storm almost seems to care, Magneto has a great moment with it, but everyone else, including Wolverine and Rogue, especially her as this is her central story in the film, seem so damned nonchalant about the whole thing.

However the movie gets a grade of a 6 for some of the most fantastic action sequences the franchise has given us yet. Whether it was the Fastball Special that made me all giddy to finally see in a film or The Beast in action, I could not deny that the movie had some utterly awesome CGI and SE for a film that was rushed into production and theatres in the span of a year. Magneto is spot on, as is Pyro even if his great character arc in the second film is almost forgotten here as he simply becomes generic bad mutant, and Juggernaut is so awesome. Yes, he has a really stupid line that the internet made famous, but he works quite well in the film and the acting is superb, believe it or not.

It really makes me wonder what greatness Bryan Singer and his crew could have accomplished had they been able to make this third film, as the learning curve of the first two films showed that they were far ahead of Brett Ratner and his crew. Sadly we will never know. All said, I do hope to someday see a fourth film, as we have many great characters yet to explore in the X-Men universe, and Iceman, Collosus, and Kitty, have a lot of developing they can do onscreen.

Edited October 31, 2006 by TGC_Fan10101HAHA

[Ananas]

On the other hand, I do think that Singer's vision of Superman clearly illustrates that Rattner is better at doing special effects sequences. Singer's always interesting and writes his films really well, but the action sequences themselves are usually par for the course: good, but not mindblowing. If you want somebody to tear everything down and do it with plenty of holy shit moments, Rattner's your man. The only problem is that from all accounts, there is the intent to do another film. Singer's got the next Superman though, so one guesses Rattner is back again.

[ChrisSteeleAteMyHamster]

<center>Ultraviolet

6.5/10

Awww I wish it was better!

Milla Jovovich + Gunkata + Dystopian future + Cool computer/comic book effects and ridiculous premise should be great but some sloppy plot and scripting nearly ruin an otherwise fun and stylish movie.

Of course I don't blame Milla as she always does wha she says on the tin (meaning: look good, wear tight outfits, act reasonably well and be a likeable enough main character). Sadly some of the support is poor.

The concept of a blood virus that spreads aggressively leaving those infected as vampire-like characters (although that's not explored deeply), some of which with superhuman abilities, fighting against the massively-afraid-of-the-virus humans is a great one. The future portrayed is the usual metropolis laced with fear and this is much better than the overly-slated Aeon Flux (which had an EXCELLENT storyline when you sit back and look at it).

Some of the scenes too are genius like the scene on the roof where Milla takes on the Chinese without even firing a shot, but the storyline of her mothering a clone child (cos of her own kid being terminated when it was found she was infected) clogs up the film and drags it down into cheesy moments.

Worth watching for the cinematography and the action scenes....

And Milla of course </center>

[ROC]

Shaun of the Dead - 7/10

Lovely. Comedy Central occasionally reminds me of awesomeness and I thank them for it.

EDIT: And to throw my hat into the X3 debate, yes, the movie is convolted and really should have been fleshed out so much better, but it did work as an entertaining action film. Not hardly as moving and well done as the rest of the series, no, but it was hard for me at least to say that I wasn't entertained at the end of the day.

Edited October 31, 2006 by Hot Topic is not Punk Rock.

[Rashid]

Battle Royale: 9/10

Read the manga a few months ago, so decided to watch this. I prefer the manga more, but there both great in their own way. I'm surprised of how similiar they are. But plot wise, manga is superior. Like the final 3 vs 1 fight scene in the movie was way too short. For a low budget movie, however effects were great. And the movie wasn't as bloody as people make it out to be. Nothing compared to Kill Bill Vol.1.

[Benjamin]

Aquamarine

Boy, this was a huge mess-up. I really regret wasting the 10 bucks I spent on this, but my girlfriend was insistent and I still have nightmares. Already I was hesitant, but when it started I thought, 'Hmm... Maybe there's something in this after all.'

But oh my fucking Lord this was a mess. Jojo did not act, but stand and talk, Emma was shitty, and Sara acted like the world was about to end. ABOUT TO END IN A GOOD WAY.

So...

4/10

[TGC]

Silent Hill - 6.5/10

I really wanted to see this film when it came out in theatres, but having finally rented it I am now glad I didn't. As a movie I blew $3 on to rent, it wasn't completely bad, but had I spent at least $20 to see it in a theatre, I think I would have been far more disappointed.

I can say, right off the bat, that this might be one of the better video game to movie translations ever done, but that's not saying a whole hell of a lot either. While the Resident Evil franchise is kind of fun, it's not exactly really faithful to the source material. And the less said about virtually every other video to movie film, especially those directed by Uwe Bolle, the better. With that said, the movie's creators did get the look, the sound, and the desperation that the characters must feel down, but they toally didn't get the tone or the real feel of the game down at all. I remember reading that it was a bloody good nightmarish movie, and I totally did not get that at all. To be honest, for the first hour I was just bored, so bored that I literally fell asleep and had to go to bed, finishing the movie up last night. Now the second half was pretty decent, much better in fact, but it didn't scare, it didn't shock, and it didn't awe at all. It was just there.

I remember playing the game on my PS back in late 1999, and I was mesmerized by the game. I'd get off of work at 2am, grab some dinner from McD's, watch a little TV, and by 3 I was seated on the edge of the couch playing the game in the dark. Some nights I got so totally freaked out I had to turn the light on. The game had atmosphere and a presence, some really good shock/jump moments, and it really made me think. This movie spoon feeds the story to you so you can disengage your brain and just watch, made me mildly jump once, and surely didn't freak me out.

I'm quite disappointed in so many aspects of the film, but the CGI and the effects are not one of the things I didn't enjoy. It looked like the game, and that's not always easy to accomplish at all. The characters who were supposed to represent game characters were nicely done and very reminiscent of their counterparts as well. The music and the horn came directly from the game, so that as well was nice to see.

So why did this movie rank higher than it probably sounds like it should have? Because they gave me a decent ending, even if I knew precisely what was going to happen about 15 minutes prior, and aside from Radha Mitchell, who I usually enjoy in movies but in this seemed like she was bored and wondering what the hell she was doing in the movie, the acting was better than most video game movies usually is. Plus, it's a potential franchise that I would like to see continue, even if they explained FAR TOO MUCH in this one. Despite the resolution and the words of the villian, Silent Hill obviously still exists after the credits roll, and that leaves us open to sequels. I'll just make sure I only rent them should they come to pass.

Ohn and I almost forgot, it really makes me want to dust off the PS2 and play the game again. And maybe this time I'll go onwards and play the sequels too.

Edited November 1, 2006 by The New Blood TGC

[Skummy]

$20 to see it in the cinema? Jesus fucking shit Christ...it costs about £3 here...

While I don't actually think we'll see a Silent Hill sequel, I do have to admit that the door's wide open for one. I have to agree with TGC, it's the most faithful game-to-film conversion I've ever seen, aesthetically it was just amazing, but the story fell a little short. Video game stories, while occassionally fantastic, rarely translate well to the big screen, it's a completely different animal, and while Silent Hill manages it about as well as possible, it seems lacking as a film story. If a film came out with the same story, without any link to the Silent Hill franchise, I'd consider it a weak plot.

Also, Pyramid Head really just seemed to be crowbarred in there for the sake of it. The film could easily have existed without him, and could probably have benefitted from not including him, as his presence was never really explained or resolved, if I remember correctly.

While I never got into the original Silent Hill (the poor acting, and some fairly dodgy animation spoiled the atmosphere for me), I got massively into the sequels, and much like TGC, the creepiness was never really translated well into the film. I don't know how much of that is because you're not actively involved, or because the film-maker's just couldn't do it justice, but by losing that they lost what is essentially the whole point and purpose of Silent Hill.

[TGC]

In all fairness, the $20 thing was for two tickets and two drinks. Average American movie ticket prices are about $7 to $8, and an average drink is about $4, so I was actually being a little conservative with my pricing estimation. Still, it is expensive to see a movie in america nowadays, unless you see it at a second run theatre. We have one here, and it's $1.50. However they upped the price of everything at the concession stand to make up for this.

That said, I did notice that Colin, Janitor, and Pyramid Head were all played by the same guy in the credits.

Edited November 1, 2006 by The New Blood TGC

[Rashid]

Black Christmas

If it wern't for this Canadian indy movie, there would be no Halloween, Firday The 13th, Nightmare on Elm Street. John Carpenter said he was deeply influenced by this movie, and it really helped him Halloween what it is today. The films about a creepy stalker calling these women at a sorority house, and later kills them. Black Christmas is full of suspense, good acting, and an ending that confuses me. All good qualities for a horror movie. There should really be more horror movies centered around Christmas. Only ones I know of are this and Gremlins.

8/10

Alfred Hitcock's Dial M For Murder

In the past week, I've seen 4 Hitchcock movies, all of which really impressed me. This is seen as one his best. A husband comes up with a plan to murder his wife, but don't turn out how he expects. A great suspense/thriller. Hitchcock is one of the few directors who can make a movie solely based on dialogue and still make it anything than boring. You can listen to this movie on audio format, and still get everything out of it.

9/10

[ACCBiggz]

Little Man - 5/10

[Guest Ringo Masterson]

God, I missed House. Yesterday's episode was all sorts of awesome, with a Gary Busey lookalike playing a badass, a cool story of the week, a hot nurse and a nice cliffhanger too.

I had fun.

Edited November 1, 2006 by Ringo Masterson

[TGC]

Rashid, there is also the Silent Night Deadly Night series from the mid to late 80's.

[ACCBiggz]

John Tucker Must Die - 7/10

Enjoyable.

[Rashid]

Rashid, there is also the Silent Night Deadly Night series from the mid to late 80's.

[TGC]

I have no idea what you are talking about, all i meant was to answer your question about any other X-Mas Horror films, Silent Night Deadly Night and it's spawn are in fact X-Mas themed horror films.

[Benjamin]

Mystic River

A wicked show, with brilliant performances from Sean Penn and Tim Robbins. The death sounded pretty gruesome, and the drama was intense. I loved it, so...

9/10

[figos]

LOST 3x5 - 8/10

[Buford Ripley]

The Stormriders - 7/10

[Ananas]

Shut Up & Sing - 7.5/10

I don't really care for the Dixie Chicks. And to tell you the truth, I initially found their whole "we got fucked over and never stood down" thing to be a little hypocritical, considering they apologized to Bush a week after lead singer Natalie Maines suggested she was ashamed that he was from Texas. This film really puts it all in perspective, however, from the more or less coerced apology to the vicious and sometimes life threatening backlash these women faced for speaking their minds. Really entertaining for a number of reasons, not the least important being Maines' personality. Definitely worth checking out, whether you're a country fan or not.

P.S. The poster above is the Canadian/International version. And the American version? Censorship is alive and well.