Lois & Clark Forums Forums General Discussion Off Topic Movie Reviews Thread

I thought this might be a nice topic to have. If you’ve seen a movie lately - whether it’s out on circuit now or already released on dvd - you can write a little review here letting anyone who’s interested know what it was like.

____________________

I went to see Mamma Mia on Sunday.

As a rule I’m not a fan of musicals, and about ten minutes in I was starting to think that I just might have wasted my money. But then I got into the swing of things, and I really enjoyed it.

Quick plot summary: Girl reads mom’s diary and discovers she has 3 potential fathers so she invites said dads to her wedding, unbeknown to each other or mom. Merriment ensues.

Meryl Streep was really good - in fact the whole cast was, although I cringed a bit the first time Pierce Brosnan started singing - and seeing them all dancing around and having fun was infectious. I think part of the film’s charm and appeal lies in the fact that it’s about both generations so everyone should find something to enjoy. It’s not only about buff young people - watching James Bond and Mr Darcy (the lovely Colin Firth) looking middle aged and a bit the worse for wear, prancing around with their shirts off was strangely enjoyable!

Yes, it’s a chick flick and the ending is, I thought, kind of predictable, but who cares when you’ve got Abba music to sing (not too loudly) along to!

All you Americans who can’t get in/don’t want to see The Dark Knight this weekend, go and see this instead. It’s an enjoyable way to spend a couple of hours, and if you watch it with your heart, not your head, you should leave the cinema smiling (and possibly singing and dancing as well).

I’m feeling generous, so I’ll give it 8/10.

(Just keep your tomatoes to yourselves if you think it was crap. This is just my opinion.)

____________________

Anybody else like to share?

Friday I went to see Hellboy II: The Golden Army .

I was a big fan of the first one because not only do I love comic book movies but Guillermo Del Toro is one of my favorite directors. I thought the second was much better than the first. There was more humor, more love, not so much more action but definitely a different type of action.

One thing I love about Del Toro's work is that he is such a visual director. There is one scene in particular with the evil prince and his father where the colors are astounding. It's a gorgeous mixture of golds, whites, browns, reds, and blacks. It literally took my breath away.
Del Toro is also very good with creature stuff. If you saw Pan's Labyrinth you've seen what he does with weird creatures and how he shows his love for them. This new Hellboy film gave him opportunity to experiment with some new stuff and a broad range of monsters.

I think the clincher for the movie though (for me anyway) was a singing duet to Barry Manilow's "Can't Smile Without You". I won't tell you which characters sing it, but I will say it's pretty hilarious.

Anyway, the film gets two thumbs up for me. I'd recommend it for anyone who even remotely enjoyed the first.

I'll pick things up on the DVD side (and old!) though I'd love thoughts on Mongol. I've been wanting to see that movie, but don't know if it's worth the money.

To follow with Del Toro The Orphanage was wonderful, for those who enjoy ghost stories. Creepy without gore. Profoundly disturbing and yet very beautifully shot. The plot involves a woman and her family moving into a haunted orphanage. Reminiscent of the Devil's Backbone, but a bit more mellow. The last part of the movie gave me the chills and the conclusion had me gasping.

I also picked up Persepolis this weekend. I found it to be very beautiful and moving. This one is about the coming of age of an Iranian girl in the midst of political turmoil. The fact that its animated really rescues it from cliches and overwroughtness. The highlight for me was the relationship between the girl and the grandmother, who was funny, independent-minded and had fierce convictions about right and wrong. And the scene where the girl is buying pop records from the black market is hilarious.

alcyone

I saw that a few weeks ago. I wasn't too impressed with it. The cinematography was great, but nothing else about it really blew me away. I asked my fiance if he were going to write a short review on it what he'd say and he said "en epic drama that inspires to be grander in scale than its parts would merit."

That pretty much sums it up for me. He also said "perhaps several plotholes that are never fully explained and a repetitive narrative that doesn't lend the story any excitement," but I'm not sure I'd take it that far. I'd say it's worth watching, but if I could do it over again, I'd wait for the DVD.

I should warn you all... my fiance and I go to the movies nearly every week so I imagine I'll be posting in this thread pretty often, haha. Movies are our passion.

Two weeks ago I saw Wall-E . I have to say that this was probably the cutest movie I've ever seen in my life. Who'd have thought you'd be able to personify a robot like that? Some of the scenes made me tear up a little. Aside from being a really cute love story, it's a nice commentary of our treatment of the world, and ourselves as human beings, and what the future holds for us should we continue the path we're on.

Ones for a while back and I really don't recommend Forgetting Sarah Marshall. I thought it was plain stupid. i'd give it 1/2 a point out of a possible 10

The last movie I saw at the cinemas though was The Chonicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian (and my friend finds Aslan cute). I'm not usually a fan of books turned into films because so much gets changed or gets taken out because it doesn't work, but this is enjoyable. as a Christian it was fun to pick out the Christian elements in the film. I'd give it a 7/10.

I'm definitely looking forward to Dark Knight though.

My brother does advance screenings for studios, directors, etc., and has already seen The Dark Knight several times. (As you can imagine, he has seen just about every movie out for the past 10 years.) He gives The Dark Knight his highest praise and says that everyone has to see it in IMAX - if you just see it in a regular theater, you'll miss out because some of the best scenes were shot in the IMAX format. He said he would actually pay to see the movie...if my brother says he would pay for something he's forced to watch every day, it must be good!

Well I was planning on seeing Dark Knight in the theaters which is something I normally don't do. I normally wait for them to come out on DVD. But since they shot a portion of it in IMAX and the nearest IMAX theater is over 3 hours from my home why bother. I now will just wait for the DVD.

I didn't get to see Dark Knight in IMAX, but I have to say, "Wow!" Even without IMAX that was a great movie. From start to finish it was...well...just great. I love comic book movies, but usually I'm a harsh critic. This one, however, is one of those rare movies, comic book or otherwise, that improves itself as a sequel over the original, which was good in it's own right.

I usually have to wait for the DVD because I don't get to the movies much unless it's a kids' movie, but this is one that I advise should you have the chance to see it in the theater, IMAX or otherwise, take it. You won't be dissapointed.

My only fault with the movie is that with Ledger's death we won't get to see his Joker again. I had my doubts prior to seeing the movie, but I have to say, he truly is the Joker.

I didn't go to IMAX to see The Dark Knight because they don't show trailers beforehand. I was told the newest Twilight trailer was going to be playing in front of the Dark Knight, so... no IMAX for me. (For the record, I was lied to about that.)

As much as I love superheroes and comic book movies, I'm not a fan of Batman. I'm really not. I WANT to be, and I've certainly tried many times over, but he just seems to be missing something for me. And as much as I luuuurve Christian Bale, his "Batman" voice was bordering on ridiculous for me. The gravelly-ness of it had me in giggles that earned me death glares from everyone else in the theater.

However, all that being said, that does not take away from the fact that this is still a fantastic movie. Of course I'm biased because damn near all of it was filmed here (anyone who wants a tour of Gotham City, come visit me ), but the acting (especially on Ledger's part, and Maggie Gyllenhaal is infinitely better in the role than Katie Holmes was), the special effects, the writing, the direction... everything about it is awesome.

Heath Ledger as the joker was downright creepy. I honestly wouldn't be surprised if he got an Oscar nod for the role.

Sorry, another Batman movie - I got Batman Gotham Knight a few days ago on DVD and finally watched it last night. I don't think there's a cinema release.

Basically it's a collection of six short animated films, all about 10-12 minutes long, dealing with Batman from a variety of viewpoints.

The first was a delight - some skateboarding kids have separate encounters with Batman while he's fighting a high-tech psychopath, and as they tell their stories it becomes apparent that their ideas of who or what he is are wildly different; one sees him as a ghost moving through shadows, another as a literal man-bat, the third as some sort of robot. They're arguing about this when it becomes obvious that the fight isn't over - to say more would be too much of a spoiler.

The second covers the police reaction to Batman as two officers escort the villain from the first story back to prison, and get caught up in a shoot-out between rival mobs that attracts Batman's attention.

The other stories include Batman's resolution of the mob war, an encounter with the villain Deadshot, and another with the Scarecrow. There's also a story told mostly in flashback in which a seriously wounded Batman remembers how he learned to withstand pain.

All of the stories are well-written, in a range of styles that range from Anime to extremely dark horror. It's currently on offer with a 16-page "DC Comics Character Guide" describing Batman, his equipment, and the main villains of the stories, and a free Bat-logo memory stick containing about 30mb of images - the stick is 128mb, a bit teeny by modern standards, presumably they bought up someone's old stock cheap and had them rebadged for this release.

It's well worth a look if you like Batman, somewhere in between Batman Begins and the more recent animated series in tone.

/pops her head in for a sec...

I've seen TDK twice in L.A. now. hee! Need I say that I loved it? And I know I'm biased, but, seriously, this is one of the best movies I've ever seen.

Batman totally rules. And, OMG, Joker is incredible beyond words. Wow!

Let me just say... Pencil scene rocks!!!! Heath deserves the Oscar, hands down.

I saw TDK this afternoon. Definitely a good movie. It wasn't until after the halfway point of the movie, when he started getting a lot more screen time, that I really became impressed with Heath's performance. I had a few issues with Maggie Gyllenhall's performance, or maybe it was her makeup. But I was very impressed with some other makeup jobs in the film. Wow is all I can say.

Since no one else has mentioned it, there are no mid-credit or end-credits scenes. There is a dedication between the big-name actor credits and the normal actor credits, but there's no need to sit through to the very end.

I looked for this on youtube , and let me say, not what I was expecting! LOL! (and gross)

Hopefully I'll get to see the whole thing this weekend, but have to agree with Trinity on the scary voice. Found it kind of annoying the first time round.

Squeee!!!! Thanks for the link gr8! I didn't even think to look for it on youtube. Now I can watch it over and over and over again. I'm a violence and gore junky. Give me more!!!

Just thought I'd put in a plug for Get Smart, which I finally saw yesterday. That was such a cute movie! Reminded me of the old tv show.

JD

The Dark Knight... I'm going to buck the trend here and say I didn't particularly enjoy it. I found it a bit too dark for my taste, and usually I like that sort of thing. Disappointed isn't the right word, I just didn't do anything for me.

I wasn't expecting to love it because none of the clips I'd seen before hand really grabbed me. And while I did love Batman Begins I wasn't overly looking forward to this one, so expecting too much is not the reason for my not particularly liking it.

It's certainly not short of action and violence, but I still found it too long and involved and kept waiting for it to end. If I'd been watching this on tv I would have left halfway and come back to see the end. Dare I say... boring? Didn't like Batman, didn't like Bruce and Heath's lip-licking was a bit annoying. (yeesh! Sorry, I don't think I'm in a bad mood...)

I'm still glad I saw it though and it is a good film, just not '$200+ million at the box office opening weekend' good. 7/10.

I've seen way too many movies so far this summer, and they've all been commented on already, so I figured I'd talk about an old one I've recently re watched.

The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy is such a fun movie. *happy sigh* Completely pointless most of the time, but that's kind of it's charm.

He's my favorite.

And although the books were a lot more fun, the movie is great as well.

Re TDK, because that seems to be what everyone's talking about: I thought it was well done but the underlying message I'm not so sure I'm happy about. And I'm not saying that because "dark" bothers me. It doesn't. And I won't say more for those who haven't seen it.

I do find it interesting that Batman is becoming so much more popular than Superman, and personally, I attribute that trend to the fact that Batman is a normal human being who saves humanity through being really rich and having amazing technology. Therefore, we don't need aliens to save us, because we'd much rather believe we can save ourselves, through our inventions and our financial wizardry.

Thought I'd revive this thread.

We haven't been to the theater as much since we got married so I've only seen a handful of movies since my last post, but I thought I'd mention a few I thought were worth reviewing.

First one I'll mention is Burn After Reading, the new Coen Brothers film. I thought it was absolutely hilarious, and a good direction for them to go after winning their Oscars for No Country for Old Men. It's a whole movie full of misunderstandings and the whole point of the movie is that there is no point. I'm not a fan of George Clooney, but I do love Brad Pitt (who was really, really funny in this) and Frances McDormand, also funny, when paired with Brad Pitt. Overall, I give it 4 out of 5 stars.

The next one is Hounddog, more commonly referred to as "The Dakota Fanning Rape Movie". I've been wanting to see this ever since it started making such a fuss at the Sundance film festival last year. Finally a year later, it gets a limited release across the country and comes to ONE theater in the greater Chicago area, which happens to be in the area of the city I live in.
All in all, I enjoyed the film (even though based on the reviews it sounds like I'm the only one who did). Sure there were a few ridiculous elements in there, but it had a nice southern gothic feel to it. I don't think I'd watch it again, but I'm not wishing for those 102 minutes of my life back (unlike my husband).

As for the rape scene... I have to say it wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. It was actually rather...tasteful, for what it was. Now please, that does NOT mean that it wasn't still disturbing to watch, because it absolutely was. I will say that I'm grateful that I knew it was coming so that I was prepared for it. If I saw that movie without knowing anything about it, that would be a different story. One thing that made it easier to watch was that the person who does it in the movie is a pimply-faced teenager. When I read "milkman" in the reviews, I pictured some creepy old guy with a sick penchant for kids. As it turns out, it was a creepy young guy with a sick penchant for one kid. Again, still disturbing to watch, but for some reason that made me feel better.

All in all, there's really a reason why this movie is referred to as the one where Dakota Fanning gets raped. There isn't much else that happens in the movie, and that scene is pretty much all that anyone's going to talk about as far as the movie is concerned. I give it 2.5 out of 5 stars.

On a lighter note, I'll also mention the new Frat Pack hit, Tropic Thunder. Can I just say how awesome it is that Robert Downey Jr is making such a huge comeback and broadening his acting horizons? I've always liked him. I love him more as Iron Man, but seeing him as a black guy really takes the cake.
The best part of the movie (aside from the big star cameos of Matthew McConaughey and Tom Cruise) for me was definitely the mock trailers at the beginning. Priceless. The other part of the movie I thought really made me laugh was seeing an almost unrecognizable Tom Cruise, fat and balding, dancing to "Low" by Flo-Rida, a popular hip hop song. I didn't even recognize him as Tom Cruise until a few seconds beforehand, and I was nearly doubled over in laughter in my seat when he started busting a move. Entertainment Weekly actually said this might be the movie that makes Tom Cruise cool again, after his somewhat controversial personal life in the tabloids and string of flop movies, and I have to say I agree. Of course the rest of the movie is amusing too. Ben Stiller is kind of hit or miss with me, but we wasn't too bad in this one. Of course though, much of my laughter was due to RD Jr.
Did I also mention Ethan Coen (of the aforementioned Coen Brothers) co-wrote this with Stiller?
I give it a 4 out of 5 because I don't remember the last time I laughed so hard in the theater. (Actually I do, and it was Talladega Nights, but you catch my drift.)

I recently saw The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor. As sequels go it was okay. Honestly though I think that that was one too many I mean seen one you've seen them all (although I heard somewhere that Brendan Fraser was signed on to do 5 Mummy movies).

my poor hubby bought There Will Be Blood and by the end we were both tearing our hair out asking "what the HELL was this movie about?" We both also noticed that Daniel Day Lewis sounds a lot like Jack Palance. That's pretty much all we got out of that movie. We want our money and the time we spent on the movie back, and would like to have the director, screen writer, and producers all beaten within an inch of their lives.

On the other hand, Journey to the Center of the Earth was cute. It had hot sweaty Brendan Fraser and pretty much kept up the action most of the movie.

Looking forward to seeing American Carol this weekend.

TEEEEEEEJ

REALLY looking forward to American Carol this weekend.

I mean, Airplane director, Zucker, spoofing the pompous likes of Michael Moore... It's gotta be good.

I went to see Paeschendaele last night. Wow it was really great. I don't know if its getting an American release -- this is a Canadian movie about WWi, but it was really terrific. Took my breath away. I recommend it to everyone. Its a love story but its also about the war. We took my 12 year old son, and afterward he was very thoughtful about the violence , the war, and also about hte violence he normally sees in movies.

It's been a while since I've seen a good movie, but Stuart and I really enjoyed In Bruges last week. Very violent, but poignant too, with excellent character studies and very funny in places. I love irony. And I do enjoy a plot where a lot of seemingly disparate threads come together - in an ironic and ultimately tragic way in this case.

LabRat

Well, I haven't weighed in here, but I saw Pixar's Wall-E the other day and really liked it. Beautifully animated, and it sure contained food for thought, too.

Speaking about animated movies, the best movie hands down I have seen this year is Persepolis. It's a moving, poignant, delightful tale of an Iranian girl forced into exile in Europe. The movie is poetically, beautifully animated, and the fact that it tells the true story of the woman who has made the movie herself, Marjane Satrapi, totally suckerpunched me.

Ann

A couple days ago, my husband and I went to go see Religulous, a satirical documentary by comedian Bill Maher on organized religion and the problems it brings about. I'm not going to go into details about it because I'm not up for turning this thread into a religious debate, but I will say that I thoroughly enjoyed it. I give it 4 of 5 stars. Bill Maher brings up some interesting points, and the film really does fall more under the genre of comedy than documentary.

I also watched The Kite Runner for the first time a couple weeks ago and loved it. It's a very powerful and moving story of a boy from Kabul, Afghanistan who is haunted by the guilt of abandoning his childhood friend. If the book is anything like the movie, I can see why it did so well. It's a really, really great story, and I can't remember the last time I enjoyed a drama so much. 4.5 of 5 stars.

I also want to offer an alternate review of There Will Be Blood. I saw this in the theater, just before it got all the Oscar buzz. I didn't want to go, it didn't sound like my type of film, but it was hubby's pick, so I obliged.

I was actually really glad that I went. The film is inspired by a book called "OIL!" by Upton Sinclair, and it inspired a lot of positive buzz and reviews from those of us that spend a lot of time reviewing and analyzing in the industry, mostly due to the acting and direction.

The story is about two different men ruled by their obsessions. Daniel Plainview, a self-made oil tycoon, and Eli Sunday, a smooth talking manipulative faith healer and leader of a small town church. Both men want power, and through both of them the film dives into really heavy themes and characterization based on power, faith, ambition, corruption, evil, and most of all, madness.

The acting is pretty incredible. Daniel Day-Lewis certainly deserved the Oscar he won for his portrayal of the oil man, whose sanity grows seemingly more nonexistent throughout the film. Visually, the director did a great job, alternating between gorgeous widescreen shots of the desert and dark, (sometimes creepy) close ups of the actors, leaving the audience with layered images of the simpleness of American landscape mixed with the complexity of the humans that inhabit it.

I admit, this film isn't for everyone. It's very slow moving, but it's thorough in its plot and character direction. But if you can handle that, I'd highly recommend taking the time to check this one out. I give it 5 out of 5 stars.

I went to see Quantum of Solace last night.

Typical Bond, losts of explosions, high tech stuff, car chases etc. You can't go wrong with that, although as with last time the corn factor was sadly absent - he didn't even say Bondjamesbond!
It was written by Paul Haggis (Due South , Crash fame) and while I thought Casino Royale was more entertaining, this is still worth an 8/10. Highly recommended if this is your thing.

I saw Repo! The Genetic Opera last night. I started a thread for this movie some time ago when I first found out about it. It finally got a limited (and when I say limited, I mean 6 theaters in the whole country) release last week. Unfortunately Chicago wasn't one of the cities it opened in, but lucky for me, the director and co-creator took a copy of the film and went on a tour of another handful of cities to show the film for one-night engagements across the country, and Chicago was one of them.

From what I understand, Lionsgate (the film company) gave them such a limited release because they didn't believe there was an audience for this movie. I beg to differ. The theater was sold out last night, packed to the gills. The movie has gotten some pretty horrible reviews (namely from Entertainment Weekly and Rolling stone), but it's got a HUGE underground cult following, with very, very little advertisement and marketing.

The movie itself was... interesting. Someone on IMDB described it as "An opera that makes Sweeney Todd look like Hairspray". I say that's putting it mildly. It's definitely not for the faint of heart. Here's the summary from the other thread:

An epidemic of organ failures devastates the planet. Panic erupts and scientists feverishly make plans for a massive organ harvest. Out of the tragedy, GeneCo a multi-billion dollar biotech company, emerges. GeneCo provides organ transplantation for a profit. In addition to financing options, GeneCo reserves the right to implement default remedies, including reposession. For those who can't keep up with their organ payments, collection is the responsibility of "organ repo men", skilled assassins contracted by GeneCo, ordered to recover GeneCo's property by any means necessary.

So...yeah. It's bloody. It has the makings of a gothic cult masterpiece akin to 'The Rocky Horror Picture Show'. It has visually stimulating (albeit jarring) direction like 'Moulin Rouge', except with the blood and gore of the 'Saw' movies. But come on... you know you want to see a movie with such a random mixed bag cast like Anthony Stewart Head, Sarah Brightman, and Paris Hilton.

One really cool thing about it was that they used comic book artwork to help move along the story. It was definitely a clearer way of getting some of the plot points across (as opposed to singing, which can sometimes be hard to understand), and it was much quicker.

I'm not sure this is a movie I'd want to watch all the way through again, but I'm definitely in love with the soundtrack (And Anthony Stewart Head's voice). If you like rock music, this definitely has a bad*ss soundtrack, and you should check it out. It's up on iTunes if you want a preview.

All in all, I give it 7/10. If you like horror movies you'll definitely want to check this out.

"Repo! The Genetic Opera" official trailer.

I finally saw Get Smart last night and it was better than I thought. I had seen a lot of bad reviews, but it tried to stay close to the original series with a few basic changes.

Despite the differences, Steve Carell was ideal for Max while Anne Hathaway made for a pretty good 99. But Steve was clearly the better of the two. Too bad Don Adams couldn't have seen it.

This, along with I Dream of Jeannie, was my all-time favorite program from the 60's. I'm glad the movie wasn't a total travesty like the older Get Smart movies were, even with Don Adams.

I give this a 3 1/2 to 4 out of 5 stars.

Well, I finally got to see Prince Caspian today on Blu-Ray - absolutely adored it from start to finish. Wonderful escapism. Even though, by necessity, a large portion of the film isn't in the book, it all blends together seamlessly with the bare bones that C. S. Lewis provides.

Can't wait for Dawn Treader in 2010. Although I'll miss Peter and Susan - who really came into their own in this movie, I thought. Still, Eustace should prove to be a more than able substitute, I imagine.

The only slight disappointment was Reepicheep. I didn't think that either Eddie Izzard as the voice talent or the script really captured the arrogance and over-inflated pride of that little mouse. He needed to be much larger-than-life, much more in your face than we got. But that's a small quibble.

Also loved the inclusion of a certain villain.

LabRat

We're getting that one for our oldest for Christmas, Labby. I enjoyed it - as did she - but it was too much for DD5 [then 4] when we saw it at the theater in August, but it was the day DS got out of the hospital and I hadn't seen them for four days so she wanted to come too even though I discouraged her. She has such a gentle spirit that I knew she wouldn't do well with it.

It's been a long day and my head hurts. Which villain?

I must admit I imagine Reepicheep when I think of a 'Labrat' .

Carol

S

P

O

I

L

E

R

S

J

U

S

Y

I

C

C

A

S

E

The White Witch. I loved the scene in Aslan's How, where Caspian was conned into trying to bring her back and Edmund saved the day.

LabRat