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

[Markgway]

Beyond a Reasonable Doubt **

Pedestrian update of Fritz Lang noir.

[saltysam]

Conan The Barbarian 2.5/5 Sometimes rather plodding sword & sorcery adventure nevertheless has a few things going for it...great set designs,fantastic score and of course Arnie.

[HungFist]

Watched Conan in German a few months ago. Made hardly any difference actually

[Markgway]

Detroit Rock City **½

Amusing teen movie. May hold additional appeal if you're nuts about Kiss - I'm not.

[HungFist]

Land of the Dead (USA, 2005) – 3/5
Romero’s return to zombie cinema pales in comparison to his original trilogy, but it’s nevertheless solid, dark, and brutally graphic horror film with excellent makeup effects. Most of the bloodshed is old school, but there are occasional CG-shots that stand out in a bad way. Classic style “post apocalypse truck” and walking (rather than running) zombies compensate for these shortcomings.

Kickboxer (USA, 1989) – 3/5
Van Damme’s follow-up to Bloodsport is essentially more of the same with jungle training added. The latter is the film’s strength, aside some beyond hopeless acting moments and beautiful landscapes. The finale is disappointing though: the fighter take turns being superman, rather have genuinely exiting and even match.

K-19: The Widowmaker (USA, 2002) – 3.5/5
Near excellent submarine thriller based on true story, but nevertheless relying heavily on highly entertaining performances by Harrison Ford and Liam Neeson. They don’t exactly make believable Russian submarine captains, but then again, it’s a movie, not documentary. Actors are hired to act, and perhaps speak their lines with accent. The latter being a bit of would be the most ridiculous complaint: no one in a Russian submarine would be speaking English anyway, making accent the least of the irrelevant inaccuracies in this entertainment thriller.

[luckystars]

Land of the Dead (USA, 2005) – 3/5
Romero’s return to zombie cinema pales in comparison to his original trilogy, but it’s nevertheless solid, dark, and brutally graphic horror film with excellent makeup effects. Most of the bloodshed is old school, but there are occasional CG-shots that stand out in a bad way. Classic style “post apocalypse truck” and walking (rather than running) zombies compensate for these shortcomings.

I agree with your review and rating.

Diary was really poor IMO but what did you think of Survival?

[HungFist]

I didn't see any of the later Romeros.

Oh, but did I mention that I got to see Dawn of the Dead in cinema from a restored 35mm print in Tokyo last year :brag :brag

No, but really, I'd like to see the later ones too. Maybe rent some day, or on TV. The feedback seems to be 100% negative, but hey, what do other people know

[luckystars]

[quote="HungFist"]Oh, but did I mention that I got to see Dawn of the Dead in cinema from a restored 35mm print in Tokyo last year :brag :brag /quote]

Lucky you

Survival of the Dead is an overlooked gem of a film, poorly received in the world of throwaway art and anticipointment™

Ask a nerd if he liked something and he'll answer how he'd have made the film, not how the film was.

[HungFist]

Hmm... that got me interested. If nothing else, at least I can disagree with you if it sucks

Dawn of the Dead was quite an adventure... well, getting to see it was

[grim_tales]

Transformers 3: 3.5/5

Does what it says on the tin - loud, noisy film with giant robot action which is fun to watch, explosions and very impressive CGI. It made me laugh in places also
However the plot is thin (its at least 30 minutes too long) and Shia Leboeuf lacks the chemistry with the blonde girl playing his girlfriend that he had with Megan Fox. Or maybe its because she didnt seem a very warm person.

[gasteropod]

[HungFist]

Typo maybe? Transformers 3 .5/5 ??

[gasteropod]

It must be, Hung, it must!

[Markgway]

[grim_tales]

Maybe 3 then. In many ways its a pretty crap film, but still fun to watch and after the first one I kinda knew what to expect. It was what most of our group wanted to see and I wouldnt have chosen it.

[grim_tales]

Also I thought one scene seemed familliar (sliding down a skyscraper's glass windows) - wasnt that from Tomorrow Never Dies?

[gasteropod]

Also I thought one scene seemed familliar (sliding down a skyscraper's glass windows) - wasnt that from Tomorrow Never Dies?

That scene personally reminded me of Who Am I?

[luckystars]

Transformers 3 (Imax 3D version) ★★★★ out of ★★★★★
Well here we are again. I would start off by saying that if you don't like Michael Bay films then this isn't for you, but T3 has less of Bay's typical style, less humour (and the Transformers series is notorious for its fairly crude outlook...on the human side) and is generally less brash than you'd expect...yes folks, another reason to not submit to the cult of Kermode who's 'review' delivers untruth after untruth. With Transformers 3 (a film that marks the departure from the series from Bay and LaBeouf) it's pretty obvious Bay has toned don't the usual aspects of his films to deliver a more 'serious' sci-fi story. This takes a little adjusting to (having just watched the first 2 movies again this week) as the opening 3rd of the film actually feels a lot like 2 parallel films running side by side as Bay gets all the human characters established with the robots are involved in the first throws of their own interplanetary, epic (yes I used that word) adventure. Obviously as an unashamed fan of the first two, I was tingling in my seat, anxious for the big guns to kick in...was Bay too timid to go all-out this time? Had the nerd critics who slammed him again and again for not making Transformers in their vision knocked his confidence to bring the rain? Silly question really, as Bay does his own War of the Words style invasion and treats us to a breathtaking post apocalyptical cityscape filled with of all manner of exquisitely designed space craft, and weaponry on an unrivaled level, and blends cgi with reality to an astonishing unmatched level to boot. If you heard Kermodes rant he sated that a full hour of the end of the film is devoted to this battle which was untrue too...however we do get seemingly endless destruction and ambitious (even by Bays standards) set pieces. Yes some viewers will be saying 'we've seen all this before' but that didn't stop fans sitting trough 10 Star Trek films and a reboot... For me Bay consistently delivers with his franchise like no other Director in Hollywood could. If you want full on Cinematic adventure in the vein of 'old Hollywood' yes the awe of big movies that no other territory could match (yet no critic will give him credit for doing what he does so well)...not a contrived 'by committee', 'by numbers' stale, Batman and Robin style of film that contributed to the death of the Blockbuster when Hollywood was dying on its feet, nor a self conscious J. J. Abrams 'post Lost' effort for the cool adults who want to be kids (or uncool adults who want to be cool kids..). Bay brings it,...and goes super-sized with your order.

[grim_tales]

Also I thought one scene seemed familliar (sliding down a skyscraper's glass windows) - wasnt that from Tomorrow Never Dies?

That scene personally reminded me of Who Am I?

I thought of that as well or maybe Police Story 3: Supercop

[Markgway]

Transformers 3 (Imax 3D version) ★★★★ out of ★★★★★

So does anyone say 'clusterfuck'?

[grim_tales]

No.

[luckystars]

No.

What he said ^^

[Markgway]

So the BBFC got it wrong?

"There is a single use of strong language, which is uttered as an exclamation rather than in a directed or aggressive manner."

[grim_tales]

Also I thought one scene seemed familliar (sliding down a skyscraper's glass windows) - wasnt that from Tomorrow Never Dies?

That scene personally reminded me of Who Am I?

You're right Gas, the stunt was lifted from Who Am I?

[luckystars]

So the BBFC got it wrong?

"There is a single use of strong language, which is uttered as an exclamation rather than in a directed or aggressive manner."

No you just assumed it was that.

There is a 'wanker' in the film.