Movies, Movies, Movies.....

[ms13]

Tron: Legacy

This movie was just ... Meh.

Thats really the best way I can describe it. I was really excited for this movie, and the trailers made it look great, but then I saw the leaked footage, and it quickly lowered my expectations. And thats a good thing, as I would have been REALLY disappointed.

Really, the only thing that saved this movie was the 3D. Even though sometimes things started to get blurry due to the crazy colors, the depth was great and there were a few great "jump" moments.

But really, aside from three great action scenes (the best being the night club scene, even though a certain cameo took me out of the film), this movie was just...boring. And, perhaps the biggest disappointment to me was the fact that there just was no finale. It something that plagues alot of action movies where the best action was in the middle, and the end has a lack of it. That happens to this movie. I was hoping for a great one on one fight, an epic action scene, and instead I got a fake looking Jeff Bridges face coming at me in 3D. Such a shame.

This movie had so much promise, as the disc fight and club scene showed, but instead we got just a so so movie with so so acting.

Avatar this is not.

6/10

[the ghost]

Black Swan - 9/10 I loved this beautiful, intense film like most people. It conveyed the pressure of perfection so well. The cinematography combined with the beautiful Clint Mansell score and a strong performance from Portman made this film near perfect. Only complaint is that the theme of the film is so force fed to the audience, that one can see exactly where the film is going to go within the first 20 minutes.

 

I totally agree with this assessment. The film, score, and acting were all wonderful, but the film itself was a bit force fed. Just out of pure curiosity, did you(or anyone else who has seen the film) find the disturbing sequences over the top? I didn't personally, despite cringing at a few moments here and there, but my friend found it WAY over the top, and he has seen Requiem, which I would argue was more disturbing than black swan.

 

The Brilliant director=Brilliant Film Ghost

[jmicha]

Just watched Human Centipede...I worry for civilization...

[ANJLOVER14]

Just saw "True Grit" today, the acting was incredible, and I liked the score. Not a movie for squeamish people or those who don't like blood. Still, it was very good.

 

8.5/10

[tinkerbell]

TRON: Legacy:

It was ok. I didn't go in with high expectations so I wasn't disappointed, but I wasn't impressed either. I don't know what the original is like, but the script for this one was pretty bad and the acting isn't much better (though that may be a result of the script). I saw it in 2D (not really a fan of 3D or paying the extra $$), but the visuals still came across really well. The effects and the soundtrack were great and definitely the best parts of the movie for me...well and Garrett Hedlund (Sam). Overall it could have been a lot better, but I was entertained for most of it and I don't think it was as bad as some critics have said.

[knottslover77]

I too just came back from TRON, and I was actually quite pleased with it, especially after reading some of the harsher reviews on Roten Tomatoes. Sometimes you just have to form an opinion for yourself though, and now that I've seen it, I feel that it was a decent film, or at least a bit better than what some of those critics said.

 

I had initially planned on buying an IMAX-3D ticket since our local theater recently put in an IMAX screen, but $17 seemed a bit too much and I instead went with the Real-D theater. Has anyone seen TRON (or any other film, for that matter) in IMAX, and if you have, do you feel that the larger screen justifies the extra price?

 

Depends on your Imax. If you live near a Giant Imax then yes yes yes! If not then no not at all.

[phantomfan93]

True Grit-9/10

Acting was incredible! Jeff Bridges was fantastic and paired together with Matt Damon was Genius! The Coen Brothers don't disappoint me.

[megalyte]

Saw The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader a couple days ago, it was excellent. The movie was better than the first two combined.

[The SETGO Guys]

Removed by user

Edited January 5, 2012 by The SETGO Guys

[robbalvey]

The evil dead one(another classic, despite being essentially the same movie) is on netflix instant stream. That being said you do not need to watch evil dead to understand Evil Dead 2, and in my opinion the second is superior.

The way I understood it is that Evil Dead was Raimi's attempt at a serious horror movie...but it was so bad that it came off comical. He decided to basically re-make his movie, but MAKE it funny! I really think that Evil Dead 2 was the birth of the "horror comedy" as we know it today.

 

Seriously one of the best movies ever, and I'm sure it's because of that film that we have everything from Shaun of the Dead to Sharktopus today.

 

--Robb "Army of Darkness is pretty freakin sweet too..." Alvey

[rosscoe]

TRON

 

Hated everything about it, long, dull, boring, the 3d effects where wasted. Never saw the first one, so had no idea what was happening and really twenty minutes in, didn't care!

 

HOW DO YOU KNOW

 

I will never get that time back in my life, enough said!

 

 

BLACK SWAN

 

Without a doubt one of the best films of the year, a thrilling, at times disturbing movie.

SPOILER:

 

 

That "final transformation" dance at the close of the film is one of the most chilling moments I've experienced in a film in awhile. WOW

[jmicha]

I was randomly looking through lists of the best movies of 2010 for ideas for films to view. I watched three films I hadn't seen before tonight.

 

The first was Buried. The movie did an alright job of making the viewer feel the confines of the space but the movie never really felt desperate enough if that makes sense. It was good but there wasn't really enough panic in the movie for it to feel realistic. *SPOILER* Plus the ending, which was quite predictable, just kind of fell into our lap (kind of literally if you think about it...) and the credits seemed to come a few minutes too soon. Oh well, still entertaining. 5.5/10

 

The second was Monsters. The movie looked promising and I went in not expecting a revolutionary movie due to the (lack of) budget and all that but was pleasantly surprised. The movie was innovative and felt fresh. The pacing was a little off but that's pretty common with low budget films (not that this dismisses it). I wish a little more had happened with the monsters since the exposure to them was pretty limited and the love story aspect was unnecessary. But still a good movie and definitely worth my time. 6.5/10

 

The third was Enter the Void. Now I had no knowledge whatsoever going into this movie of what it was about and found myself watching a 2 hour 35 minute long acid trip. Not that this was a bad thing as the visuals were quite stunning. The movie was definitely interesting and told the story in one of the most innovative ways I've ever seen but be warned, this movie is not for faint of heart. Or epileptic. The amount of flashing light/color gave me a headache by the end of the movie. There is also gratuitous amounts of sex/nudity. A little more than was probably necessary but it fit the character of the movie so it was fine in my opinion. A few of the scenes were quite disturbing. *SPOILERS* The abortion scene, the car crash scene, and the final Love Hotel scenes all stepped over boundaries most filmmakers wouldn't be willing to cross. I applaud those involved for a daring movie that tells a story in a pretty awesome and visually stunning way, but I'm honestly not even sure if I enjoyed it or not. I feel like I will need to revisit this movie in a month or so to form an opinion of it. If you are not offended by any of the things I've mentioned above and would like to see a movie that is essentially a long drug trip, this movie is definitely worth seeing. And if anyone has seen it I would love to discuss the movie as it really is quite different from pretty much anything I've ever seen.

[the ghost]

Rare Exports 8/10

 

This movie was pretty bad ass, but it leaved a bit to be desired. When we get a plot about Santa killing people and an awesome premise as well as some awesome sequences leading up to it(where we learn Santa is evil) we expect more of a punch. I full on expected to see Santa running around ripping people up and things like that, but instead it was more subtle. That being said, the movie was very good. It had a feeling of being a thriller and felt like a horror movie at times, despite not being particularly scary, but the director has the knack of creating a mood of dread. The actors all did a pretty good job, and the film itself was INCREDIBLY creative, but as a warning you will see some male nudity, but it is strange and done in a very unexpected and unsettling way.

 

The film is really for people like me who get a bit sick of Christmas, it takes the joy of the holidays and kicks its ass, but does it in a way so cleverly that we still walk out smiling, despite a rather dark premise. The film also has awesome acting and is a lot of fun and can be funny, while still feeling like a horror movie. Also, it takes quite a bit to make me feel uncomfortable, but every time "Santa" looks at the main character he has a look of desire that is creepy as well as unsettling. Over all an awesome film, but don't go in expecting what I expected, which included a total gore fest.

 

Final thing. The film is fairly family friendly despite the one scene with the nudity(which is clearly visible, but not extremely graphic), which, although unnecessary was kind of funny. So you can watch this with other people and not really be offended, so although it is r rated it is very light on the r rated scale, so it will not offend the average person.

 

Also Robb, Evil Dead 1 is awful, but I still rank it as a relatively scary movie as it made me jump quite a few times, and although those are not very good or clever scares, it is fun to watch with a group of people, especially on Halloween or something.

 

MY FILM LIST FOR NEXT HALLOWEEN:

1.Evil Dead

2.Death by Dawn

3. Army of Darkness

4. Trick R Treat(awesome fun indie movie loved by horror fans everywhere)

[KDcoasterMAN]

TRUE GRIT

 

4 out of 5 stars

 

A fun, witty western with great and diverse characters. A very earthy film, the environments stand as another adding element to the film's direction. Jeff Bridges and Matt Damon anchor the film with amazing performances, but the introduction of Hailey Steinfield as Mattie Ross that stole the movie.

[cfc]

I know that this probably isn't the crowd for it , but I caught The King's Speech in Sacramento last week and really liked it. Colin Firth, Geoffrey Rush, and Helena Bonham Carter are very good in it.

[MagnumUnlimited]

I was watching the original Predator yesterday, the one with Arnold in it and I must say I was very impressed. The plot was impressive. The idea of the U.S soldiers going on a mission and getting killed while on it is pretty cool. Not to mention the weapons the Predator had. I really liked this movie and I hope I can get my hands on the new one.

[downunder]

I was stuck in Brisbane with day after day (and night after night) of constant torrential rain, so it was time to catch up on some movies. The scariest part is there was a neighbour called Noah (no kidding).

 

Scott Pilgrim vs The world: perhaps it was a little too hip for the box office masses but it was a fun, original film.

 

The Town: great followup to Gone Baby Gone, the main character walks the tightrope of potentially inspiring audience antipathy but Ben affleck pulls it off. What next Ben, Phantoms 2? Yo Affleck, you was da bomb in the Town.

 

Predators: this wasn't bad at all. Adrien Brody isn'y exactly Schwarzenegger, but he's a good enough actor to make me believe he's a super soldier and not some gay wimpy piano guy.

 

The expendables Good old fashioned action fun, Stallone and co obviously worked out hard to not be called The Expandables.

 

Let The Right One In: beautifully realised, wintery tale of young love - and blood sucking. Kind of like Twilight for the non-lobotomized, and probably the only Swedish film most have seen that doesn't involve porn.

 

The Runaways: a really interesting film, I liked it. After this and Adventureland, Kristen Stewart is batting 2/2 for me, what were those other movies she was in?

[cfc]

Just got back from seeing True Grit and thought it was very good. Jeff Bridges puts his own stamp on the role that won John Wayne an Oscar, and Hailee Steinfeld was better than Kim Darby was in the original movie, too.

[Brandy524]

I saw True Grit Friday night. I've never seen the original, and really didn't even know what the story was about when I went in. I loved it, thought it was fantastic. Jeff Bridges was perfect. There was a lot more humor in it than I anticipated. Highly recommend seeing it!

[downunder]

Some more movies I saw during the holidays while rained in:

 

Inception: I'm not sure if I just dreamed I saw this one, or was I dreaming that I dreamt I saw this one, or did I see it in that dream. Ellen "Smart People" Page's raised eyebrow spoke volumes. I got it but I won't be dreaming about it.

 

Machete: good old fashioned schlock, good to see Lilo in a film you'd actually want to see.

 

American Psycho: Never seen this before, Christian Bale is absolutely chilling, a very striking film.

 

Funny Games: the 1997 foreign language version which was remade by Hollywood in 2007. Gruelling, cruel, psycholigical game of cat and mouse. The two psychos were such complete a$$holes that I'd like to personally make Funny Games 2 - which would be me kicking the the living s**t out of them. And what was that high pitched screaming death metal from the opening, it was hilarious, it sounded like the guy was getting his balls stung by scorpions.

 

The Others: normally I associate Nicole Kidman with curing insomnia but this is a lovely gothic spookfest. It would have been scarier if Tom Cruise made an appearance as an angry ghost dwarf but he just settled for being producer - so it's probably loaded with subliminal scientological messages - as I balnkly stare at this screen, I think L Ron Hubbard is cool.

[downunder]

^Well isn't that just dandy, consider yourselves cast as the the two psychos for Funny Games 2, no acting experience required because you'll be getting beaten for real.

[ebl]

The amazing thing here is that I actually went to see a movie, something I do about twice a decade.

 

This time, I saw True Grit. I did see the original from 1969. That one was good, but I enjoyed this one as well.

 

Eric

[cfc]

I saw True Grit Friday night. I've never seen the original, and really didn't even know what the story was about when I went in. I loved it, thought it was fantastic. Jeff Bridges was perfect. There was a lot more humor in it than I anticipated. Highly recommend seeing it!

 

The old version plays up the humor even more. John Wayne was more boisterous as Rooster Cogburn, whereas Jeff Bridges was more laconic. Both approaches to the character work.

[ginzo]

I enjoyed the True Grit remake quite a bit. Then I saw the original for the first time a few days later and was not a fan. I guess that makes me a pinko or something.

[Brandy524]

I saw True Grit Friday night. I've never seen the original, and really didn't even know what the story was about when I went in. I loved it, thought it was fantastic. Jeff Bridges was perfect. There was a lot more humor in it than I anticipated. Highly recommend seeing it!

 

The old version plays up the humor even more. John Wayne was more boisterous as Rooster Cogburn, whereas Jeff Bridges was more laconic. Both approaches to the character work.

 

I definitely want to see the old one now, and luckily Netflix has it.