What Did You Watch Today?

[Skummy]

Casino Royale

Eh...I'm not sure. All very flashy and stylish, as well as being darker and grittier than usual Bond fare, and the black and white opening segment was beautiful. Beyond that...hmm...had it's moments, definitely, despite being the most anachronistic prequel ever made. Ignoring the fact that it's set in the present day, despite being based on a book set before the rest of the Bond films, and the film itself presumably being based before the rest of the Bond films as it's the story of his first mission...ignoring the fact that because of that it's full of contemporary and futuristic technology...the thing that irked me was Judi Dench as M. In Goldeneye Bond addressed her as "the new M". Yet she's M in Casino Royale? Couldn't have been too hard to find some old bloke to play M for one film, surely? Just for a little something called continuity.

I guess this is a complete series reset a la Batman Begins, rather than a true prequel, though.

Daniel Craig was good...didn't look how I'd imagine a Bond to look...I think Pierce Brosnan, image-wise, pretty much had it dead-on, in my opinion...but the way he played him was much closer to the books, which I like. Moore and Connery, Moore especially, played him far too campy and tongue-in-cheek, and that's what really hurt the series and lead it to self-parody.

There wasn't a single likable character in this whole film. Not one. Everyone was a right bastard, especially Bond. I haven't decided how much of that is a good thing. Bond's supposed to be a hero, and he killed more than twice as many people as any of the villains.

The ending was shite. The whole lovey-dovey bit onwards just seemed tacked on. Everything post-torture scene was pure wank. While the idea of not having a true Bond supervillain was a nice touch, as while Le Chiffre fit the characteristics perfectly (intelligent, foreign, facial abnormality), he wasn't really a supervillain in the traditional Bond sense as:

His death proved. No Bond villain would die that easily. Not to mention he never told Bond his plans when he had him in a compromising position. But everything after Le Chiffre's death was terrible. The love sequence was so clearly going to end in betrayal, and everything from there seemed tacked on. Le Chiffre had been the villain for the whole film, and his death should have been the climatic ending, yet he's killed off and forgotten about in a matter of minutes, and the film ends with Bond persuing a bloke we've only seen twice before. The timing of the last half hour or so was just off.

The film was too long, too.

[Mysterio2000X]

Children of Men - 9/10

There are only a handful of movies out there that I truly, fully love, and this is one of them. The movie stars Clive Owen as a former activist in a world in which there has been no new children born in over 18 years as a result of a universal, and mysterious infertility pandemic that has struck virtually ever woman, and he is charged with protecting the first woman in 18 years to be pregnant and taking her to the shores of England in order for her to be taken in by the people of the "Human Project", seemingly the last people with any hope of ensuring humanity's survival. It's a true dystopian world as England is the last nation left standing after a variety of wars, nuclear strikes and terrorist strikes ravage the rest of the planet, and even then, England is falling apart at the very seams. Also in the movie are Julianne Moore as Clive Owens's ex-wife and leader of a quasi-terrorist group known as "The Fishes", Chiwetel Ejiofor as her second in command, and Michael Caine as a hilariously offbeat weed selling and smoking friend of Clive's.

It's decently acted and well scripted, but neither of those things can even come close to both the camera work and the overall feel of the movie. Alfonso Cuaron proves just why he is being praised as one of the best directors of our time as he very literally takes you right into the middle of the action and actually makes you feel like you're IN the movie, not just watching it, and this is especially true with the long shots he does (especially the third one, which lasts nearly ten minutes, and includes everything from running amidst gun fire, big ass tanks, blood splatter, genuine urban warfare between two very determined sides..) Seriously, the movie looks and nearly feels like what a great video game should, it's that fucking immersive. The movie's due out December 25th in the States and, honestly, I can't think of a better Christmas present.

[Ananas]

Saturday Night Live - "Annette Benning/Gwen Stefani/Akon" - 7.5/10

Although SNL can still get a little stale at times, they seem to be headed towards brighter days with Jason Sudeikis, Andy Samberg, Keenan Thompson and Kristen Wiig on the cast. The political cold-open and monologue were God awful, but it was mostly gravy from there on in. Funny sketches included an awesome re-edit of the "Apocalypto" trailer, a Robert Smigel cartoon "Diddy's Kiddies", "Good Morning, I Hate This Town", the SNL Digital Short, "Consumer Beware" and the resurgent "Weekend Update", which is not only funny but also pulled off professionally under Amy Poehler and Seth Meyers.

[MalaCloudy Black]

Talladega Nights - 6/10

Superman Returns - 8/10

POTC2 - 8/10

Miami Vice - ass/10

[Rashid]

Mean Girls: 7.5/10

A lot better than I thought it'd be. It was funny, and I liked the plot. Best Lohan movie I saw since The Parent Trap. Actually, better than Parent Trap.

Dr. Strangeglove or: How I Learned To Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb (did I get it right?)

I was intrigued by this, Kubrick doing a comedy fasinated me. This movie did not let me down. A lot of its jokes were references I obviously didn't understand, as this movie is 42 years old. But the jokes I did understand, I found hilarious. I also like the black-and-white, really fit in. It was an interesting story. Didn't catch onto a lot that was happening, so I'll definitly rewatch it. And the ending confused me even more. This was a very great movie, but of the 4 Kubrick movies that I have seen, I'd rank this 4th.

8.5/10

Edited December 14, 2006 by Rashid

[Fitzy]

Dexter - 1x11 - Truth Be Told - 8/10

Another quality episode from Dexter with this getting them one step closer to the Ice Truck Killer and Dexter figuring it out for himself. We get a little more history on Dexter when he find out that his mother was a criminal and that the records supervisor won't reveal any information to Dexter about it at all. She claims to have destroyed the records when Dexter's adopted father asked her to. Rita brings her kids to the prison to see her ex-husband. Rudy kills the prostitute that Angel talked to about her fake hand/painted nails and video tapes it and puts it under a Christmas tree with the rest of the body minus the missing fake hand. Dexter figures out that Rudy is the Ice Truck Killer when he catches Rudy in a lie about the busted lip, finds out Angel's head connected with the teeth of Rudy during the stabbing and connects the dots and finds out that Debra is on a boat, alone, with Rudy who puts her to sleep and will most likely kill her, but probably not as Dexter will somehow find her.

[Cactus Drags]

I'm really enjoying Friday Night Lights at the moment. It's not shown in the UK, so I've been acquiring it, and I've seen the first 6 episodes. I think they've done really well with it. And for some reason Tim Riggins reminds me of Summers :/

[Docpepper]

Talladega Nights 9/10 - i fucking loved this movie , laughed my ass off through the whole thing.

[Ananas]

The Princess Bride - 8/10

[Reflecto Is My Favorite Poster]

Eragon- 3/10

I had to give it the benefit of the doubt. Sure, I heard derivative bandied about for this movie, but it would likely have nice special effects and was a fantasy film (meaning good fare for a geek.) So I went to a matinee to give it a chance.

Final tally:

It was "A New Hope." I'm not saying it was derivative of "A New Hope", because that would require there to be some original parts to the film. I'm saying I would not be surprised if they copy-pasted the script to "A New Hope" and put it in a fantasy world (or at least read the novelization before writing the script.) This isn't a completely bad thing- "A New Hope" was a quite good movie. It's not a bad thing to rip off "A New Hope"- it's just that when I have to see it again when I don't decide to see it, it's a bad thing.

[ROC]

Talladega Nights - 7/10

Bought the DVD, saw it again, remembered that it was still funny, despite the fact that the hilarity doesn't come until the final hour or so.

In A Lonely Place - 8/10

To put it simply, Humphrey Bogart is a badass. That's all that needs to be said for the film.

[Ananas]

Saturday Night Live - "Justin Timberlake - December 16th, 2006" - 8/10

Five words: My Dick In A Box.

[MalaCloudy Black]

Dexter season finale. Ho-lee shit, that was so awesome. Dexter's consistently been a favourite since it premiered on Showtime and it's yet to disappoint. I eagerly await the next season.

[Rashid]

Batman Begins (2005)

Just saw it for the first time yesterday. It was a hell out of a lot better than 3 and 4, but not as good as 1 or 2. I really liked the story in it. I liked the idea of "going back to its roots". I wasn't fond of the actor who played Bruce as first, but around halfway through, I really came around to him. The movie also starts off slow. The Batman costume doesn't make an appearance till around 1 hour in.

7.5/10

They should also NOT make a sequel to this. Making a sequel to a remake is pointless, especially since it'll just basically take the story of Batman 1. And I'd pretty much bet my soul that the new movie won't be anywhere near as good as the original, they shouldn't even try.

[Fitzy]

Dexter - Born Free - 8/10

A great episode to end a great season. Rudy as Dexter's brother was a great twist as I never suspected that at all. Dexter's mom being the one to start the different nails a different color thing was also interesting but makes sense now. Sgt. Doakes was great suspecting Dexter of doing shit. And I already hate this the new LT more than Laguerta. And even though he is an asshole, you got to feel bad for Rita's ex for actually telling the truth for once. Dexter and Rudy together would have been very interesting, too bad he had to go and kill him. Good ending, too, with Rita finding the boot and Doakes following Dexter wherever he goes. Season 2 better be as good as this season was.

What a great year Showtime had with Brotherhood being amazing and Dexter being just as good. Beatnik and TGC are clearly missing out for stopping during the middle of episode one. But that is there loss.

[zero]

Why shouldn't they make a sequel to Batman Begins? It wasn't a remake, it was a complete restarting of the franchise and in the sequel, it's not going to be Jack Nicholson in clown paint and calling him the Joker. And while I enjoyed Burton's Batman, it's not exactly faithful to the comic books. I'd say Batman Begins is the greatest comic book adaptation of all-time and I am ridiculously excited for the sequel. Anyway, onto other things...

Rocky Balboa

Why not call this Rocky VI? Because this should be Rocky V. If you're expecting anything but a Rocky movie, you're in for a big disappointment here; if you're a fan, you'll enjoy yourself. The movie starts off really slow and there are a lot of parts that are just glossed over that shouldn't be. I'd like to see more emphasis on the boxing world in a major slump and more build up to Rocky getting back in the ring and less scenes that just don't fit. Admittedly, there are a couple cringe-worthy scenes that just struck me as lame which could have been used to extend the fight.

And as for the fight, no spoilers, but it's great. Maybe it's just me being a big fan of the Rocky franchise, but I found myself actually holding back tears once the fight got going. Not for any other reason but how cool it was for me as a grown adult, watching a Rocky movie in the theater, just a really cool experience for me and was actually quite moving despite the fact it's definitely not the best installment in the series.

Bottom line, despite its faults, I really loved the movie, but you have to go in expecting a Rocky sequel. I don't give number or letter grades to anything, but I'd recommend to anyone who has ever had even a mild interest in the franchise. It's a great finale, even if we had to wait sixteen years.

EDIT

And if you go, expect to see some trailers for some of the worst possible movies ever. A Cedric the Entertainer movie about an undercover CIA agent with amnesia who was undercover as a janitor (I'm not making this up). Another Scary/Date/Not Another Teen-Movie parody, this time taking on films like Narnia, Harry Potter and LOTR called Epic Movie. And the most hilariously bad movie trailer I've ever seen for a movie that looks like a Werewolf/Human-Romeo & Juliet style movie called, brace yourselves for this, "Blood & Chocolate." Yeah, the minute the title "Blood & Chocolate" appears on screen, the theater bursts into uncontrollable laughter.

Edited December 21, 2006 by Zero

[ROC]

Hey Zero, I've looked at all of those movies you mentioned on IMDB already, and I can safely say that once again it'll be shitty January at the box office!

Way Off Broadway - 4.5/10

Morena Baccarin (yes, Elena from Firefly) and Brad Beyer star in this really independent film about the struggles of trying to break into fame in New York City. The big problem with this is barring Baccarin's electric smile and just pure star quality about her, nothing in this movie is particularly good. The characters are mostly movie pastels of other characters and none of them really grip the audience. Worse yet, the scenes where the audience see the characters flail at fame bring nothing new to the table (not even the casting couch scene with Baccarin's character, which definitely had to happen at some point). It does get points because it does overlay the human fear of risk and does it decently, but, there's not enough originality here. Watch if you're really desperate to see Baccarin in a non-Elena role but otherwise, pass.

[Listen To Ministry]

Today I watched The Departed yet again. 10/10

Not much more can really be said for this movie other than it really is pretty much perfect in every way. First rate actors, an intelligent and highly entertaining story and a theme song by Dropkick Murphys. What else could you ask for?

Really, this movie snapped me out of my ignorance of thinking Leo Di Caprio only played pussy characters... He plays out the role of William Costagen to freaking perfection. This movie is a must-see for all who haven't already treated themselves to it, if you are one of the unlucky ones who hasn't... STOP WHAT YOUR DOING AND GO GET IT NOW!!

[Rashid]

Desu Notu (Death Note) (2006)

I love the manga and the anime so thanks Youtube for putting it up. It has an odd beginning, but shortly in it stays faithful to the manga. The bus scene was well done, as was Raito and Raye's confrontation on the bus. The last 30 minutes really moves away from the manga which was cool. The acting was well done. Tatsuya Fujiwara was pretty good as Raito, but Ken'ichi Matsuyama's preformance of L was dead one amazing. And I liked how Ryuk looked, he also added the comic relief to the movie.

7.5/10

Can't wait to watch the sequel. I just hope they move more away from the manga. They're gonna have to if theres only gonna be 2 movies, the first one covered only volumes 1-2, and early 3.

[Ananas]

The Quiet - 4/10

You know for a movie about such a sensitive topic, it certainly doesn't have much to say. It's just your basic feminist revenge movie, only unlike "Hard Candy" which came out a few months prior, this one doesn't really measure vigilante justice on both sides of the fence.