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

[Shingster]

I'm pretty sure most actors play most of their roles with the same voice! You don't see people moaning that Han Solo sounds exactly like Indiana Jones or that Mufasa has the same voice as Darth Vader do you?

Regarding Hades and Voldermort: Both characters are in the same position when we first and last meet them: weakened at first, strong at the end, so hence Fiennes' voice is going through the same journey.

[grim_tales]

Interesting 2nd point

[saltysam]

Carrie 4/5
excellent 70's horror from Brian De Palma,Sissy Spacek turns in a great performance as the bullied girl with kinetic powers. The USA blu-ray is solid enough and better than previous dvd releases but it's nothing special,probably due to the film stock used.The 10 minute slow motion prom night sequence is a superb piece of directing.

[saltysam]

The Descent Part 2 3/5

Here's a nice surprise,a pretty decent follow-up to the excellent original. The local police and a group of rescuers force Sara back down the caves to look for survivors,you can guess what happens next... pretty gory with a couple of good jump moments, an audience pleasing return from the first film's Juno this really is a decent movie and a big cut above the usual horror sequel. However the ending is daft and mean spirited,tacked on for purely shock value.shame the blu-ray looks great.

[Yi-Long]

Syriana. 3/5

Good movie, yet I didn't REALLY care about it all. It's nice to see 'mature' movies like this about real subjects and politics and all that, but at the same time you already know pretty early on how it's all going to end and what the message is and all that. Performances are good (Clooney is pretty much always great), and it all looks good as well (locations, clothing, etc), but not really a movie that really grabs you and stays with you.

[saltysam]

Mesrine:Killer Instinct & Public Enemy 3/5

Decent crime movies featuring the true life exploits of french gangster Jacques Mesrine.Cassell is excellent in the title role and the movie has a fine 70's stylised look to it.i felt the 2nd part meandered a little but overall a solid pair of films on a decent BD disc.

[grim_tales]

Spellbound

Intriguing and clever Hitchcock thriller, I liked it Though the reveal seemed rushed and made me think "How did they work that out?"
Ingrid Bergman is very pretty.
Look closely - I wonder if one part influenced James Bond filmmakers?

4/5

[grim_tales]

How To Train Your Dragon: 4/5

I really enjoyed it. Much better than I thought it would be. It has a good story with heart, good music (both majestic and gentle and romantic) and some scenes make nice use of 3D. I liked how it doesn't rely on in-your-face pop culture references which ensures the film won't date too much.
I liked the way it ended and wasn't expecting that. And the relationships in the film seemed believable, even though the relationship between Astrid (the girl he fancied) and Hiccup is obviously high-school/middle school students as Vikings (gives you something to relate to), as a whole the film is surprisingly unanachronistic.
I liked the way they showed the relationship between father and son, and also Hiccup and Astrid's friendship/relationship.

[bradavon]

Mesrine:Killer Instinct & Public Enemy 3/5

Decent crime movies featuring the true life exploits of french gangster Jacques Mesrine.Cassell is excellent in the title role and the movie has a fine 70's stylised look to it.i felt the 2nd part meandered a little but overall a solid pair of films on a decent BD disc.

I heard these were excellent. I'm surprised you only gave them 3 out of 5.

[saltysam]

Mesrine:Killer Instinct & Public Enemy 3/5

Decent crime movies featuring the true life exploits of french gangster Jacques Mesrine.Cassell is excellent in the title role and the movie has a fine 70's stylised look to it.i felt the 2nd part meandered a little but overall a solid pair of films on a decent BD disc.

I heard these were excellent. I'm surprised you only gave them 3 out of 5.

decent,solid films but far from great.maybe Cassell's excellent performance could've pushed it to 3.5 but no more.both are well worth seeing and i'll revisit them again eventually.

[grim_tales]

Near Dark BD: 3.5/5

[gasteropod]

Primer: 4.5/5

Only just got this after wanting to watch it for years, wow, it's genius. Its concept of time travel seemed so realistic it freaked me out. Not sure I'll ever completely understand the plot though as it gets very convoluted. I hope Shane Carruth makes another film soon.

[HungFist]

West Side Story (USA, 1961) - 1/5
Terrific opening 25 minutes that inspired so many cinematic homage from Teruo Ishii's biker gang madness Detonation: Violent Games (1976) to an episode in Sukeban Deka III: Romance of the Ninja Girls (1986). It's a bit later on in the film when the finger snapping 1950's poster boy gangs make way to modernized Romeo & Juliet adaptation, and the film loses all its kick and interest. The source is a classic, and would require a lot more modification to stand out as something original when re-used like this. As it is now, West Side Story is a 150 minute musical where the audience knows every single plot twist and scene that is coming in advance. It comes down to the music whether it will be a nostalgic or just plain dull experience.

[bradavon]

It's based on Romero ( ) and Juliet. Of course we know what's going to happen next. It's supposed to be a classic.

[Markgway]

I love how Hung's terms of reference for West Side Story are obscure Japanese movies.

Who'd have thought?

[HungFist]

I love how Hung's terms of reference for West Side Story are obscure Japanese movies.

I wanted to be more original than the film was

[saltysam]

Urban Action 4-Film Collection

Black Belt Jones 2.5/5 This isn't a good movie but i have a soft spot for it anyway.After Jim Kelly made an impression in ETD he was given the starring role in this,from the makers of Bruce's classic.unfortunately it's not even on the same planet as Bruce's classic but Kelly is fairly charismatic and the film never takes itself seriously at all,full of lunk headed inept baddies (Pinky is ace)

Hot Potato 1/5 While BBJ was quite entertaining this semi-sequel is just rubbish.Kelly and a couple of allies set out to rescue a senator's daughter from an evil warlord somewhere in Thailand.Shoddy action,witless comedy makes this a hard watch.

Black Samson 2/5 The only one of the 4 films in Warner's set not to feature Kelly,this bonkers blaxploitation actioner is entertaining fluff.Rockne Tarkington is Samson,a bar owner and ruler of the neighbourhood,William Smith is the evil bastard wanting to take over his turf.Samson has a pet lion he has on a leash like a dog and who is allowed to run freely in his bar,he goes nowhere without this big stick that he uses to beat up numerous heavies,it's truly bonkers.

Three The Hard Way 2.5/5 Back in the 70's the teaming of Jim Kelly/Jim Brown/Fred Wiliamson must've been an exploitation film maker's dream,the result here is a decent but not great actioner as the 3 team up to foil a bonkers plot by white supremacists to kill off black people by poisoning the water supply.

[grim_tales]

Shrek: 5/5
I love Shrek, one of my favourite non Pixar CGI films

[gasteropod]

Iron Man 2: 4/5

At least on a par with the first one, a nice enjoyable experience, funny moments, and Scarlett was hot (with sweet moves).

[degeneration]

Moulin Rouge 4/5

Call me a sap, but I really like this film. Seen it quite a few times now and still not bored of it. It's also pretty much the only musical I like (except South Park the movie). Nice use of the songs and some funny moments too.

God dammit, I gotta man up.

[bradavon]

I've always loved that film and will so be getting the Blu-ray. The DVD already looks/sounds great.

[Markgway]

Harry Brown

Gritty, grim, and very frightening depiction of an out-of-control council estate in London and the feral youths that terrorize it with mindless violence and drug dealing. Not a great film, but a very relevant one. Obviously taken as a sum total this is a worst case scenario, but individual scenes speak an uncomfortable truth. Characters like these chavs exist in every urban neighbourhood. Thankfully the extremes seen in this film are still rare - but they do happen. We all know about or have personally seen/encountered dangerous youths. Such behaviour has sadly become the norm. But even if your life isn't like this - say you live in a good neighbourhood - it's worth the reminder that for many people - like the pensioners in Harry Brown - this is a daily reality.

[brooce-leroy]

Avatar 3/5

Finally seen it, and A little undervhelmed after all the hype, although I have only seen it in 2D. Beyond the SFX and Pandora universe, I didn't think it was particularly spectacular. Don't get me wrong, I watched this from beginning to end at 2am and didn't fall asleep, but I did think "is that it?" by the time the credits rolled. Sam Worthington is far from the next big thing, and I thought he was better in Terminator Salvation.


Sororitity Row 2/5

Bland serial killer fare. Why do I punish myself by watching this crap?

[grim_tales]

Yo Bruce
How are things?

[degeneration]

Sororitity Row 2/5

Bland serial killer fare. Why do I punish myself by watching this crap?

For the gratuitous T&A shots?