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.

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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.)

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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.