What general film/series have you just seen.. marks out of 5

[gasteropod]

Stalker (1979) - 4.5/5

Very slow-paced and drawn-out so you've got to be in the right mood, but by the end I knew it was something special. I hope this gets a nice Blu-ray release in the near future.

Secret Beyond the Door (1947) - 3/5

Visually nice but I didn't really like the way it ended.

X-Men: First Class (2011) - 3.5/5

The CGI was a bit naff and some of the mutants were embarrassing, but this was good, enjoyed it as much as The Avengers.

[bradavon]

X-Men: First Class (2011) - 3.5/5

The CGI was a bit naff and some of the mutants were embarrassing, but this was good, enjoyed it as much as The Avengers.

I thought about the same. It's better made than both X2 and X-Men 2 but oddly I prefer X-Men 2. X-Men: First Class has no serious problems, it just feels a little superhero light.

Avengers is loads better.

[HungFist]

Käpy selän alla (Under Your Skin) (Finland, 1966) – 4/5
An excellent Finnish new wave youth film that became a sensation at the time of its release – and later a hugely interesting zeitgeist. Four university students – two girls and two guys – go for a vacation in the countryside to relax, drink booze, and have sex. Strong performances with mostly improvised dialogue, great soundtrack (some of the songs became all time classics) and some excellent editing techniques. While relatively tame by today’s standards and even appearing on daytime TV these days, the film stirred quite a bit of controversy at the time of its release – but thankfully never faced any censorship problems.

“They say youth is the best time in your life. If that’s so, it must be really fucking hard when you grow old.”

[Markgway]

Piranha (1978-USA) **½

Enjoyable Jaws rip-off manages to be its own movie and is better than the remake.

[Markgway]

Outlander (2008-USA-Canada-Germany) **½

Pretty decent sci-fi-horror-action hybrid.

[Markgway]

Quarantine (2008-USA) **

Remake of Spanish horror film Rec (which I haven't seen) is OK, but the extreme shakycam and noise level may give you a splitting headache.

[grim_tales]

Stranger than Fiction: 4/5

I really enjoy this, a fine comedy film with a sprinkling of tragedy which is kinda like The Truman Show. It has fun with story/film conventions and made me think about if we're really in control of our own destiny, the nature of fate, and what is inevitable. Will Ferrell and Dustin Hoffman are great in it.

[luckystars]

Stranger than Fiction: 4/5

I really enjoy this, a fine comedy film with a sprinkling of tragedy which is kinda like The Truman Show. It has fun with story/film conventions and made me think about if we're really in control of our own destiny, the nature of fate, and what is inevitable. Will Ferrell and Dustin Hoffman are great in it.

Good film. Agree^^

[grim_tales]

Stranger than Fiction: 4/5

I really enjoy this, a fine comedy film with a sprinkling of tragedy which is kinda like The Truman Show. It has fun with story/film conventions and made me think about if we're really in control of our own destiny, the nature of fate, and what is inevitable. Will Ferrell and Dustin Hoffman are great in it.

Good film. Agree^^

That's good.

[HungFist]

Quarantine (2008-USA) **

Remake of Spanish horror film Rec (which I haven't seen) is OK, but the extreme shakycam and noise level may give you a splitting headache.

Found this to be theorethically speaking superior to the original. It's a pretty useless film in the sense that it's a direct copy of the original, however, there's less screaming, less shakycam and less irritating (=realistic) characters than in Rec. "Toned down" and more "audience friendly" perhaps, but I certainly welcomed that change.

Rated both **½, but Quarantine lost points for being a "copy".

[Markgway]

there's less screaming, less shakycam.... than in Rec.

[Markgway]

The Proposal (2009-USA) **½

Predictable but pleasant romcom with Sandra Bullock.

[grim_tales]

The Dictator: 4/5

Sometimes very funny satire that didnt turn out as I expected, I enjoyed it

[Lourdes]

The Invention of Lying - 1/5
FUCK! Accidentally watched a rom-com.

Dirty Pretty Things - 4/5
This one passed under my radar till the blu-ray came out. Some overblown characters but it's a really well made film, enjoyed the story and at times it felt real.

Tracker - 2.5/5
Reminded me of "The Proposition" amongst other British/Australian/NZ historical co-productions that are all very beautiful with a strong cast but just end up being boring.

Superjail! Season 2 - 3/5
'Jumped the shark.' The first season was amazing - 5/5 go watch it - all the violence so randomly and imaginatively animated without plot worries. The second season tries to be more serious about characters and plot and it's markedly different, I gave up half way through.

[saltysam]

Mission Impossible 2.5/5 Couple of good set pieces but an overly complicated plot slows down the first movie in this franchise.

Underworld Awakening 2/5 Fast-moving,loud and cgi heavy 4th in the series has Kate Beckinsale back but isn't particularly good.a passable 85 minutes though.

[Markgway]

Team America: World Police (2004-USA-Germany) **

Very uneven political satire/Hollywood spoof has some real laughs and inspired ideas, but suffers from a surfeit of crude jokes and feels half-baked from the outset. Still any film which takes the piss out of pompous left-wing actors ("Matt Damon!") is OK in my book.

"America. Fuck, yeah!"

[gasteropod]

The Dictator (2012) - 3/5

Not as funny as Borat and Bruno but that was to be expected anyway with it being completely scripted.

[Markgway]

Badlands (1973-USA) **½

Easy to see where Tarantino got his inspiration for True Romance from (though he neglected to take its depth). Moderately interesting film doesn't glamourise violence but rather makes it seems mundane and ordinary. Worth a look perhaps but nothing to get worked up about.

[gasteropod]

Inglorious Basterds (2009) - 4/5

Only a few annoying Tarantino bits (Samuel L. Jackson voice-over explaining that nitrate film stock is explosive, thanks for that), Christoph Waltz was ace, Brad Pitt's Italian impression was hilarious.

Shrooms (2007) - 2/5

Was OK for a while but then went all choppy and I lost interest.

Les Demoniaques (1974) - 3.5/5

My first Jean Rollin film and I liked his style (and the hot pirate bitch), looking forward to checking out more.

[degeneration]

Team America: World Police (2004-USA-Germany) **

Very uneven political satire/Hollywood spoof has some real laughs and inspired ideas, but suffers from a surfeit of crude jokes and feels half-baked from the outset. Still any film which takes the piss out of pompous left-wing actors ("Matt Damon!") is OK in my book.

"America. Fuck, yeah!"

I loved the song about how shit Michael Bay is and that Pearl Harbour was so bad it should never have been made.

[bradavon]

The Dictator (2012) - 3/5

Not as funny as Borat and Bruno but that was to be expected anyway with it being completely scripted.

I thought about the same. The story is very similar to Borat in places too. The jokes were very much of the same style. I'd give it 6 out of 10 or 3 out of 5 too. I'd recommend it but only to those who liked the last two, it's very much the same. I definitely enjoyed it though but like Borat/Bruno it's a watch once affair and is the weaker of the three.

I'm sure the last two were totally scripted too.

Badlands (1973-USA) **½ - Worth a look perhaps but nothing to get worked up about.

It's fantastic IMO. An easy 4 out of 5/8 out of 10. One of Mallick's best. Sissy Spacek is always brilliant.

Team America: World Police (2004-USA-Germany) **

Very uneven political satire/Hollywood spoof has some real laughs and inspired ideas, but suffers from a surfeit of crude jokes and feels half-baked from the outset. Still any film which takes the piss out of pompous left-wing actors ("Matt Damon!") is OK in my book.

I thought I'd hate it but was surprised how much I enjoyed it, maybe my local expectations added to that. The totally gratituous jokes were a big reason what made it good.

It's puppets swearing and having hardcore sex .

[gasteropod]

I'm sure the last two were totally scripted too.

Words fail me.

[grim_tales]

Borat wasnt scripted though I havent seen Bruno. I thought The Dictator would be like Borat and have SBC doing his thing to members of the public (like a spoof documentary), but it was a much more normal scripted movie in that sense.

[gasteropod]

Borat wasnt scripted though I havent seen Bruno.

It's the same as Borat, whereas The Dictator is the same as Ali G Indahouse.

[Markgway]

Terminal Velocity (1994-USA-UK-Canada-Russia) ***

Good old-fashioned action thriller with Hitchcockian plot and tongue firmly in cheek.