1386 replies to this topic

[chouzu_tao]

World's Greatest Dad 7/10, Don't ask me why, but I actually kind of liked this movie. But honestly I don't know why. It is a very good directorial effort by comedian, former late 80s early 90s crazy character, Bobcat Goldthwait, about ugly people. But here's the thing, you actually feel bad for the main character at the beginning of the film, so when he changes, that makes the fall from grace so much more irresistible. Heading the cast is Robin Williams, in one of his better roles in awhile, as Lance a guy who has tried to get his novels published forever, only to be rejected over and over again. It isn't until the death of his son, who is extremely vulgar and hates his father, that his writing career takes off. This film is really like a car crash, you just. can't. look. away.

[FullmetalNinja25]

Shutter Island (2010): 7/10
This isn't one of Scorcese's better films but DiCaprio turns in a great performance, its a shame it came out too late for the Oscars.

[Mik3]

Valentines Day 6/10

I'd like to start by making something clear, I did not watch this of my own free will. I wanted to see wolfman, but since it was valentines weekend the girl got her way. So I'll admit I was already harboring a grudge for the film before it even began.

I'd also like to sate that I'm not someone who hates romance movies, I did like love actually. And V-Day is trying to capitalize and become love actually.

This is following the format used in love actually, we have the ensemble cast, and a bunch of couples with most of them intertwining together.

I guess I don't want to spoil the plot any much more than that. So I'll just get my pro and super con list out there.


Pros:A great cast, most of whom actually do a good job. Jessica Biel, Jessica Alba, Jennifer Garner, Anne Hathaway (Well, at least pros for us guys who got dragged along.)

Cons:Jessica Alba had little to no screen time, totally useless. Taylor Swift was just...awful. I wished to be deaf during the times she occupied the screen for more than 10 seconds. She might need Kanye to come heckle her again. Cliches. They use ever trick, sappy, sugary thing you can think of in this. Its nothing anyone hasn't seen before.


This movie reminded me why I haven't wanted to see a love story in a while. 500 days of summer was brilliant because it was the total opposite.

[Vyse]

Harry Potter and the Lightning Thief (or something like that...): 4/10

I just returned from Olympus, where I followed the adventures of Percy Jackson (the movie-version of him anyway... seems like they took some liberties with the original character, but I haven't read the book so whatever). I honestly expected it to at least hold a torch to the Potter movies, and the Greek gods are a thousand times cooler anyway, but this movie kind of sucked. They're in Nashville.. no wait, they're in a magical casino in Vegas... no, wrong again... this is the gate to Tartarus, positioned right behind the Hollywood letters.

I have little good to say about this to be honest, but the fact that they even mentioned some cool stuff, and because of the awesome Centaur, I ended up on a 4. The acting is alright I guess, but not worth paying for. The plot was a lot better than what the finished product turned out to be, and I'm a bit disappointed. Oh well, at least the pairing was decent.

Time to get back to the Normandy!

[chouzu_tao]

Ponyo 7/10

REVIEW --Click here to view--

There are two companies that I feel turn out amazing animated films: First is Pixar and Studio Ghibli. I say animated films because cartoons are something usually considered only for children's minds, while an animated film engulfs and challenges all different spectrums of age. That being said there's also the saying that no one is perfect, and this is also true of both companies. With Pixar you have 'Ratatouille' and I feel 'Cars' also a bit, and with Studio Ghibli you have... this. Now starting off with that in the review, might make you think the film is just terrible, but that's not true. There are reasons both these studios are considered greats in their business today, it's their story telling and attention to detail, so even on their worst day they still beat out the competition. I just think that they've created a great bar for themselves, and when they don't reach it or surpass it, it's disappointing.

The basic story for Ponyo is somewhat like Disney's 'Little Mermaid.' Ponyo is a fish that wishes to be human so she can be with a boy named Sosuke. But the difference is that if she does become human she has to steal magic which would cause the balance of nature to go crazu, leading to the moon being drawn to the earth, causing major natural disasters. Sounds like a grand tale, right? Well here's the thing, there are all these build-ups that lead no where. You think that Sosuke is going to have to brave all these dangers but it winds up not being much. And here is where the disconnect happens. I'm used to their heroes having to do this, run into magical dangers, overcome giant obstacles, to achieve their very human happiness. Now that's not all I require from their movies to really like it, but when that's kind of an M.O. for them and they introduce those elements only to fizz out any obstacles at all, it is really a let down. It is very much a simple children's story with heart, but if that's the case, don't build in a few complications that don't amount to much.

The film itself is as with most Ghibli films very beautiful all the while being playful as well, although I think they use computers more for animation in this one vs their previous ones, so it's not as detailed.

The music, as always again is like a second color palette, or artist's brush, adding it's own little detail to the movie.

I enjoyed the film very much and there are things to like, but it just feels quick and anti-climactic. I'd still recommend it.

The Room n/a

... ATTEMPTED SUICIDE... I mean REVIEW --Click here to view--

Sounds like a horror film or psychological thriller right? Well the later half is true, but for other reasons. It's a psychological thriller in the sense that others that watch it with you (yes do not under any freakin' circumstances ever ever ever ever ever watch it alone, for your own safety) may be surprised at how crazy you become with the horridness of this film. And don't get me wrong, I went into this film knowing that. The director, main character, writer, and producer Tommy Wiseau, is now infamous for creating the definitive bad-film. This honor, I believe used to belong to Ed Wood. But he was de-throned in 2003, when this slab of poo came out. This film has lavished a cult classic following, under it's behind the scenes story. Mr. Wiseau, somehow worked up $7million in production money, only to turn out something that looked like a ten year old could make it. It's reception was so horrid when it came out, that Mr. Wiseau has stated that he intended to make the film that bad, something which the other actors in his film have gone on record to deny being true. Okay, okay so what's the plot? A guy is affianced to a woman, who suddenly realizes a month before their wedding that she really hates him and decides to sleep with his best friend. I know she sounds like a badly written bad person right? Well here's the other thing, everyone else in this film is despicable besides his character. There's more badness: I'm going to just list them otherwise I'll go on a tirade:

1) The character the director plays is praised by several other characters, some who suddenly later despise him, as being perfect, who would never do anything bad and who is always good and right. There are also several times where a few of them say exactly word for word what the other characters have said about how good he is. He may as well have put being the 'second coming' in the script.... wow, someone loves themself.

2) There are 3 softcore sex scenes...well 2.5 sex scenes (all which last like 10 minutes with 7 minutes of unneeded foreplay kind of giving the impression that someone has not had sex yet -- I'm talking to you Mr. Director), we couldn't tell what they were doing in one of them, (the first one happens suddenly within the first 5 minutes of the film, second one happens less then 10 minutes later). 2 kind of sex acts. There are almost no reasons for these scenes other than the director probably wanted to do the scenes. Oh yeah... really cheesie R&B is playing underneath these scenes too.

3) Most scenes that take place outside.... are green-screened... YOU HAVE $7MILLION AT YOUR DISPOSAL AND YOU CAN'T RENT A COMPLEX WITH A ROOF?!!!!!!! OR A BASKETBALL COURT?!?!?!? WTF!?!?!?!

4) The writing is ... you guessed it! Wretched! All the characters are one-dimensional, some appear out of nowhere and serve no purpose, others say one thing in one scene and then the opposite in another only to go back to the first opinion later, all without any transitions or motivations of any sort. Some people just have the same explanation over and over again. AH!!! just writing about the writing makes me want to Hulk out and smash things!

5) The acting is quite possibly the most indomitably bad part of this film, nothing else surpasses it in terms of grotesque. The writing is stupid level but the acting just degrades it to an even more loathsome and insulting level of unintelligence. There are no words to describe the horridness of the quality, especially Mr. Wiseau's.... there's this strange laugh that he does that he may believe makes him more believable as a character.

6) What makes this film a terror and a classic is the fact that this is one of those works where, you feel the director may have felt wronged by a girlfriend at some point in his life, and he just wrote a story, then a novel (that didn't get published) about it, then decided to adapt them into a movie, where every other character except the one who represents him is wrong and he is the only good person. EVER! No! No one else is right or good, or pure. NO ONE! DO YOU HEAR HIM! HE CAN DO NO WRONG! AH! AH! Uh-oh... "CHOU SMASH WISEAU!!!!!!!" "Run everyone!"

[After several hours of rampaging....]

Okay, I'm back. Sorry. And sorry to the people of Chicago. Thanks to Chicago's finest, there were only a few ... 100 casualties... Yes, that's what this movie does. Makes people want to kill. But seriously this kind of whiny and self-serving/ pitying story belongs where other crap goes, in the toilet. I don't recommend watching this sober or by yourself, you may want to kill yourself to escape, I know I did after 26 minutes. But if you really want to watch it to see how bad a movie can be, just know... you've been warned.

P.S. There is one delightfully unintended gut-bustingly hilarious aspect of this film: the games of "catch"

Edited by chouzu_tao, 08 March 2010 - 08:10 PM.

[True]

Brooklyn's Finest: 7/10

I didn't want to initially watch this because of the piss poor reviews, but my friends convinced me to since it's directed by Antoine Fuqua and has an all star cast with Richard Gere, Don Cheadle, and Ethan Hawke. To my surprise it wasn't as bad as it seemed, I guess the main gripe was that it was pretty much a cliche of all of Fuqua's movies; its basically Training Day and Crash blended into one movie--which are both movies I enjoyed. The movie is very gritty about the NYC life of three cops and the different paths they take with their lives on the force. Nothing is painted in a honorable or glamorous version of the men in blue and focuses more on the darker side of their personalities and just how bleak it is to be a policeman. Touching upon the themes of loyalty, greed, and apathy, you get a view into the different situations and predicaments that the three cops get into themselves with one facing retirement and showing his commitment to his job, another struggling with the loyalties to his homies and the force, and other with the morality of taking confiscated drug money to help his family or turn it in. None of the main characters come in contact with each other so it's a great multi-perspective way of showing how they all have their own paths and the effects their jobs have on their lives, whether its friends, family, or just themselves.

The music is great with some good hip hop songs that fit nicely into the setting of the streets of New York. The pace is well kept and the changing of scenes from one character to another blends well so it keeps the audience wondering about what is going to happen after a particular scene. Again, the main thing that detracts from it is that it's pretty much everything you've seen from Fuqua's previous films and if you've seen them enough you can expect certain thing to happen so the sense of suspense of excitement is faded if you already know what will usually happen. It's an enjoyable film but not something that wows you or brings anything new to the table, but a pretty decent cop movie that's entertaining if you like Fuqua's unorthodox style.

[Cupcake-chan]

Shutter Island - 8/10 It has an interesting plot.

Remember Me - 9/10 I'm actually not a big fan of Robert Patterson, but he was actually pretty good in the movie. Though the story is very good, it's really depressing.

Alice In Wonderland - 5/10 One word: Terrible. The girl playing Alice is a terrible actress, and the story isn't what you expect it to be: the same as the Disney cartoon version. It was really bad, and I had to, actually, pay four extra dollars to watch in imax.

Edited by Cupcake-chan, 15 April 2010 - 02:35 AM.

[chouzu_tao]

Departures (a.k.a. Okuribito) 9/10

Review --Click here to view--

One of the most beautiful movies I've seen in a long time. It's easy to see how this film won 2009's best foreign language award at the Academy Awards. It's such a strange thing, the build of the film. At the beginning it very gently hints at humor, kind of sweetly lulls you into feeling like it's a quaint 'slice of life' piece then slowly, not methodically, but very ... musically layers the pieces together to one giant emotionally climactic scene. I mean, this thing hit me like a brick, I can't remember the last time I cried during a film. Just... wow. The only thing I would say is there was a moment that was really awkward... the 'sex scene' between Daigo, the main character, and his wife. It's not really a sex scene, but it is strange. I got what they were trying to show later, but til then... that scene just felt awkward.

Alice in Wonderland 7/10

review --Click here to view--

I enjoyed it just fine. the only problem is that we've seen it all before: Chronicles of Narnia: the Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe. Nothing new, but I enjoyed it more than I did the later. Don't get me started on how I feel like they should've just let Burton do his 'Wizard of Oz'... cause seriously... anyone see parallels?

The Hangover 7/10

Review --Click here to view--

Funny, not the comedy to end all comedies I had heard it to be... And Ken Jeong... way to set back your fellow asian actors by 20 years. Can anyone say Gedde Watanabe?

Bart Got a Room 5/10

Review --Click here to view--

Very much in the vain of 80's "I want to go to prom with the girl of my dreams" flicks, and unfortunately, it's that minus any charm. It doesn't do anything we haven't seen before, and it does it on deflated air. The first half of the film promises something quirky, instead it fizzes out long before it's climax, then just remains flat until what felt like five minutes before the end of the film, when the character goes from whining and daydreaming to actually doing something. And this seems to be set into motion not by anything at the moment, but a sudden flashback sequence. Love William H. Macy in anything he does, so there's a bright spot.

[FullmetalNinja25]

DragonBall Evolution-2/10
I knew this was going to be bad, but I HAD NO IDEA! The special effects don't even live up to "straight to DVD" level, and every time the actor who plays Goku talks, you can tell even he knows how stupid a movie this really is. Chow Yun Fat SHOULD HAVE been the best relative to other crappy performances, but he instead comes off acting like a complete fool, making him actually the worst. And the fights...well, they're terrible. Don't even get me started on how faithful this is to the manga. Especially when, at a glance, the director did his homework, focusing mostly on the characters in the first DB arc, but somehow manages to screw that up.

The ONE high point in the movie was Jamie Chung (Chi-Chi). Her acting was no better than anyone else's by any means, but holy **** is she beautiful. The whole movie should have just been her sucking that strawberry. But I'd recommend that you just google some pictures of her.

I DID warn everyone.

Alice In Wonderland (2010): 4/10
The worst movie Tim Burton has directed since....ever. The 3-D is pointless too as nothing ever really pops out at you nor does the foreground stick out. The worst injustice of this movie however is a rare lackluster performance by Johnny Deep.

[FullmetalNinja25]

Hot Tub Time Machine (2010): 8/10
A movie with one of the stupidest titles in recent memory is actually one of the funniest movies I've seen in quite some time.

[KonaKonaFan]

Batman- The Dark Night- 10/10

[Dreamer]

Clash of the Titans-8.75/10 This was a great movie since i enjoy Greek Mythology, for starters don't try to compare this film to God of War. This movie has already been originally made in 1981 and deserves not to compared to God of War the video game and talked down by such remarks.

The movie was great, the design on the Gods and the overall story itself was remarkable to my fandom.

Edited by Uzumakikage, 11 April 2010 - 03:58 AM.

[Toasty Warrior]

Terminator 2: Judgment Day 10/10

Definitely one of James Cameron's best films, it does what a sequel should do and that's be better in every way. The action, character development is top notch and the special effects are still some of the best I've seen in a movie.

Edited by FullMetalMac, 11 April 2010 - 05:22 AM.

[chouzu_tao]

How to Train you Dragon 8/10
This film isn't revolutionary. We've seen it before. It's the story of a boy and his dog, but trade out the dog for a dragon. An though it's nothing new I will say it is everything a family film with dragons should be. Lots of fun. And this film differs greatly from most Dreamworks animation, in that it's story first with comedy here and there, vs. trying to have mostly comedy with small little nuances of story. So don't go in expecting the Shrek films. At the center of this story is a fledgling viking boy aptly named Hiccup, who catches the rarest dragon of all, a Night Fury, which he names Toothless (for it's ability to retract it's teeth into it's gums). And very much like the film's writer's (Dean DeBlois) other well known animated flick "Lilo & Stitch," what makes this film lovable is the relationship between Hiccup and Toothless. Its a fun watch with a good theme at it's core, and beautiful scenes of flight and awesome sky-fighting. I'll probably pick this up once it hits the shelves.

[FullmetalNinja25]

Sherlock Holmes (2009): 4/10
Good performances from both Robert Downey Jr. as Holmes and Jude Law as Dr. Watson only problem (and its a big one) this doesn't feel like a Sherlock Homes movie....at all. Plus is it me or did Rachael McAdams really suck the life out of every scene she was in? Talk about severe miscasting.

Edited by Edward Uzumaki, 15 April 2010 - 02:18 AM.

[Muffins?]

Sherlock Holmes (2009): 4/10
Good performances from both Robert Downey Jr. as Holmes and Jude Law as Dr. Watson only problem (and its a big one) this doesn't feel like a Sherlock Homes movie....at all. Plus is it me or did Rachael McAdams really suck the life out of every scene she was in? Talk about severe miscasting.

It really didn't feel like Sherlock Holmes movie until the end when he deduced all the 'magic' that lord Blackwood used.

[Lid]

Kick-Ass: 10/10

I loved every minute of this movie, the action, comedy was good and I thought the story and characters were well built also. Not to mention it was also a fairly faithful adaption as well.

[CloudMountainJuror]

Scream: 10/10
Best horror movie I've ever seen.

[BlackLightning]

Percy Jackson (4/10): Ok let me get this straight, while I admit that I was half involuntarily watch this (my friend drag me there... literally) but since I LOVE greek mythology, I decided to give this movie a try.... and loo and behold.... I was seething on my seat ready to tear the writer a new one. Why? Here are why:

I have to ask if the writer even RESEARCH about greek mythology AT ALL.

The gods/goddesses --Click here to view--

1. While Athena IS the goddess of victory she is a friggin ETERNAL VIRGIN, the same as Artemis (or Diana whichever you choose... yes they are the same person... Diana is the Roman name of Artemis) In the mythology, Athena has taken a VOW OF VIRGINITY, how the hell is she supposed to have a DAUGHTER. Ok, people said that its because she's a goddess and therefore capable of miracle... I say, last time I check, Greek mythology have NOTHING to do with Christianity. If anything, Greek gods/goddesses are shown to be down to earth, sure they are magical, powerful just plain and simple "wet dreams come true wearing skimpy clothes" but thats it, they are pretty much no more than super-powered humans.

2. Poseidon is the God of the SEA not WATER. whats the difference here? I'll tell you something related: Everyone with AT LEAST half knowledge of Greek myth know that Athens is named after Athena after she beat Poseidon over the right.... What some people don't know is WHY? This is why: Poseidon created a well that will never dry up, all is good... except that the well produce only UNDRINKABLE SEA WATER. Now, with that in mind, most of the feats that Percy does is pretty much IMPOSSIBLE since Poseidon (And by proxy, Percy) Does NOT capable of controlling fresh water (Which I'm pretty sure River, Swimming Pool and Water tank waters are....)

3. NOT all God/Goddess look like Spartanic or even Gladiator-ish, ONLY Ares is... Why? BECAUSE HE'S THE GOD OF WAR which Spartans pretty much claimed that they are decended from. The others are said to wear normal robes.

Don't even get me started on the characters...

The characters --Click here to view--

I find it ironic that out of the characters, I hate the character of Percy Jackson himself the most. I was this close to shouting this while in the theater: MOMMA'S BOY, GROW UP!! Now, I understand that he love his mother, but the extent he goes is absolutely ridiculously idealistic like something straight out of one of those 3 years and below fairy tales. Frankly, out of the 3 main characters, he absolutely does nothing that worth kitten other than shouting crap like a child throwing tantrum and take the full credit at the end as if he's the only one who does everything while the others are just convenient sidekicks.