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

[Yi-Long]

Death Sentence wasn't a great film, but it appealed to my inner-vigilante.

If your inner-vigilante had any kind of feeling for justice, it would have attacked you by now...

[saltysam]

Watchmen Director's Cut BD 2.5/5

Found this a little disappointing to be honest-overlong and a little bit too full of it's own self-importance to be considered great. there were some impressive sequences though, Rorsach,The Comedian and Manhattan were great characters but Nite Owl & Silk Spectre were bland in the extreme their love scene to the tune of "Hallelughah" was laughablei've never read the comic but i imagine this was pretty faithful,hence some of the dialogue which probably come across well in the comic is rather stilted here.Still worth seeing and it could be one that'll grow on me when i watch it again.

[romerojpg]

I have seen it 4 times now you could say I like it a bit.

[saltysam]

I have seen it 4 times now you could say I like it a bit.

Do you not think Nite Owl and Silk Spectre 2 were crap? i'd sooner have seen more of her mum!!

[romerojpg]

I acctually like them both Night Owl turned into a hard bastard by the end, he looked like some podgy bugger to start with.

[saltysam]

Midnight Express BD 4.5/5

Cracking late 70's drama still holds up well today.sure it takes plenty of liberties with the actual events but it makes for an entertaining 2 hours.a superb Giorgio Moroder soundtrack and a great central performance from the late Brad Davis.probably Alan Parker's best movie.

[saltysam]

Amityville Horror (1979) BD 1.5/5

Never much of a film anyway,this has dated appallingly.James Brolin & Margot Kidder are ok as the newly married couple who,unluckily for them buy the infamous haunted house.it's actually entertaining in the wrong way,watching Rod Steiger's over the top performance is hilarious and i suspect he knew how ridiculous the script was and did it deliberately. Nice to see some familiar faces in supporting roles,Don Stroud,Murray Hamilton,Helen Shaver etc. The film is totally unscary and the bland tv movie-like direction from Stuart Rosenberg doesn't help.An inexplicable big hit at the time,this spawned numerous sequels and a remake.(from what i recall Pt 2 is actually far superior to this effort).

Big Trouble In Little China BD 4/5

This is just stupid dumb fun all the way through. Cheap cheesy effects,some truly hammy acting just add to the experience. Kurt Russell is ace as the bonehead Jack in this one.a very good Transfer as well,the disc isn't an extended cut and unusually for Fox is Region-free.

[HungFist]

Videodrome (Canada, 1983) – 3,5/5

Drag Me to Hell (USA, 2009) – 3,5/5
Sam Raimi’s comeback is an almost excellent horror comedy where both elements work. Remember the scene in Evil Dead 2 where the house attacks Bruce Campbell? Drag Me to Hell is full of similar scenes but more intense. The hilarious comedy bits usually only last a few seconds and are based on the absurdity – and sometimes pure sickness – of the scenarios. The only reason this was passed pg-13 is that blood and gore are missing. The lead actress Alison Lohman is also brilliant. She’s instantly likable and her acting is good. A real pleasant surprise. The film’s only big flaws are the opening and some scenes that put the main character into awkward situations like trying keep her cool in front of people while demons are attacking her.

[grim_tales]

The Wiz - 3.5/5

Interesting modern (well, 1970s) pop take on The Wizard of Oz - with Diana Ross in the Dorothy role and a very young Michael Jackson as the scarecrow. While there's nothing that reaches the heights of Somewhere Over The Rainbow - there are indeed some catchy Motown/pop songs, such as You Can't Win, You Can't Break Even (the first song that Michael Jackson sings), He's The Wizard and Ease on Down The Road
It is rather sad and poignant looking at how poor MJ is treated by the rather un-PC crows, who are so mean to him

[Markgway]

THE WRESTLER

Good, if downbeat drama with a career-resurrecting performance by Mickey Rourke. Sort of the anti-Rocky. Will put anyone off ever contemplating a career in wrestling... Well-directed and written, with believeable characters, and dialogue. And Marisa Tomei is smokin' for a woman in her 40s.

[saltysam]

Mummy Returns BD 2/5

Sequel to the superior original is all over the place and not helped by some truly dodgy cgi effect which only look worse on this excellent BD transfer.however it never stops moving and the returning cast are likeable enough.will give pt 3 a watch later this week.

Angel Of Death 1/5

New Zealand stuntwoman Zoe Bell takes the title role in this cheap,crappy actioner.A shame to see Xena herself,Lucy Lawless slumming it in a small role.mercifully short at less than 80 minutes.

[HungFist]

Babel (France / USA / Mexico, 2006) – 3,5/5
Innarritu’s final film in the trilogy, once again telling several related stories. The Mexico parts are least successful because the characters tend to do the dumbest and most predictable decisions. The two Morocco stories however are good. Brad Pitt, looking very grey and not quite as much a superstar as usual, is not too bad in his role, and Cate Blanchett acts damn well. Local actors are also good, and the setting differs quite radically from your average Hollywood film. The most interesting story is the one taking place in Japan, following a rejected deaf teenage girl (Rinko Kikuchi) and her father (excellent Koji Yakusho). This story would benefit from some extra length, but the ending is magnificent. As far as story connections go it’s not entirely believable that such dramatic, related events (Mexico-Morocco) would take place at the same time. Thankfully the connection is really of no importance. Innarritu's point is not that everything is connected, but that despite connections people still fail to understand each other.

[bradavon]

The Japanese segment is by far the best, so powerful and moving. Whilst very good, this IMO is the weakest of the Trilogy. I'd struggle to pick which is better: 21 Grams or Amores Perros. Babel did feel a bit preachy, whereas the other two didn't.

[gasteropod]

I love 'em all!

[Shingster]

I found Babel intolerably pretentious, the Japanese segment in particular. I quite like Amores Perros and 21 Grams, but Iñárritu has definitely been disappearing further up his own arse with each film.

[romerojpg]

You got that right, LOOK AT ME, LOOK AT THE DIRT, LOOK AT THE DUST, SWEAT, NAKED WHOOOP! WATCH ME, LOVE ME!

So up their own arses they make love to each others mouths.

[bradavon]

I found Babel intolerably pretentious, the Japanese segment in particular.

You didn't find that segment moving at all? Pretentious is the word I meant not preachy. I found the other segments a bit pretentious but not the Japanese one.

Amores Perros and 21 Grams are outstanding.

[grim_tales]

I enjoyed The Wiz, the ending is rather abrupt though. It's changed a bit so Richard Pryor is an ordinary guy who wound up in Oz and tried to fool people he was the Wizard. So Dorothy's friends don't get what they need because they 'had them all along'.
When Dorothy gets home, she just goes inside and closes the door. End of film No revelation Oz was a fantasy world (or not) like in the 1939 version.

[Shingster]

You didn't find that segment moving at all?

Not really, the idea that a reasonably attractive deaf teenager couldn't get her groove on in Japan, the country that perhaps sexualises schoolgirls more than anywhere else in the world, is quite frankly ludicrous.

[Markgway]

Not really, the idea that a reasonably attractive deaf teenager couldn't get her groove on in Japan, the country that perhaps sexualises schoolgirls more than anywhere else in the world, is quite frankly ludicrous.

She obviously hadn't yet met HungFist.

[bradavon]

Not really, the idea that a reasonably attractive deaf teenager couldn't get her groove on in Japan, the country that perhaps sexualises schoolgirls more than anywhere else in the world, is quite frankly ludicrous.

WTF! That's incredibly naive. If you have zero confidence it's largely irrelevant how attractive you are. Besides she clearly wanted love not "her grove" on and no boy wanted her in that way. She was using sex as a form of feeling wanted.

Did you actually watch that segment? .

[Shingster]

You know Brad, if you're going to smugly disparage the comments of others, you could at least make sure what you're saying makes grammatical sense. My comment was an expression of disbelief, if anything it was a cynical statement which is the exact opposite of naive! If you disagree with something I say then just say it's wrong in the future, stick to simplistics!

Only you would be daft enough to take the "get her groove on" literally, it was obvious facetious exaggeration. The Japanese segment I remember is one where a teenage girl seeks sexual intimacy through increasingly promiscuous behaviour. Now THIS point you may think is naive (and you'd be wrong) but any reaonably attractive teenage girl in Japan who acts in a sexually overt way is not going to have that much of a problem finding a suitor - deaf or not. Boys/Men will not 2nd guess that her behaviour stems from an internal "lack of confidence" (which again is not quite what the film is about, but still) and turn her down when it is offered to them on a plate!

[Markgway]

Shingster's right. I'd definately do a deaf chick if she was cute.

[bradavon]

My comment was an expression of disbelief

It so wasn't.

Only you would be daft enough to take the "get her groove on" literally

Erm how else do you expect it taken? Your writing reads literally.

it was obvious facetious exaggeration.

It so wasn't. Who are you? Romero suddenly .

The Japanese segment I remember is one where a teenage girl seeks sexual intimacy through increasingly promiscuous behaviour.

We must've seen a different film. I remember the girl wanted intimacy, quiet different.

[romerojpg]

Your writing reads literally