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

[HungFist]

Rogue Assassin (USA, 2007) – 2.5/5
For fuck’s sake can a film be this badly edited? 13 cuts per second, plus all the other bullshit including visual effects such as flashing the image every three seconds! Thankfully it gets better towards the end where you can actually tell what’s going on in action scenes. The casting is pure dynamite, though: Jet Li, Jason Statham, Sung Kang, Ryo Ishibashi, Kane Kosugi, Luis Guzman, and a few others. Li especially is makes a perfect brutal silent killer – he was never half as good in good guy roles (ironic considering he didn't even like this film). But, why the hell is Devon Aoki cast as native Japanese? Even Statham speaks better Japanese than she does (plus looks better). She’s not the only underachiever, though – half of the Japanese yakuza in the film speak broken Japanese. Oh well, it’s amusing enough. A decently passable film thanks to the casting, but could be much better in re-edited form.

[thelostdragon]

Rogue Assassin (USA, 2007) – 2.5/5

I'd give it the same rating if it wasn't for the unexpected twist at the end of the film. I really didn't see THAT one coming and it was actually a good twist in my opinion. So 3/5 for me.

[HungFist]

I almost gave it a 3 just for that. And I intentionally didn't mention it in my review because I would've been pretty damn pissed off if someone had told me there's a twist coming at the end (in which case I would probably have figured it out... or even if not, the wonderful surprise element would've been gone

Your call whether you want to add spoiler tags to your post.

[Keung]

Just Like Heaven 4.5/5

I absolutely adore Reese Witherspoon. A sweet, feel-good flick. Loved it!

[grim_tales]

Rogue Assassin (USA, 2007) – 2.5/5

I'd give it the same rating if it wasn't for the unexpected twist at the end of the film. I really didn't see THAT one coming and it was actually a good twist in my opinion. So 3/5 for me.

I also gave it 3/5, I honestly didnt see the twist coming either. It's all the more surprising because you wouldnt expect a twist in this film.

Was Rogue Assassin the Finnish title? I know it as "War"

[HungFist]

Was Rogue Assassin the Finnish title? I know it as "War"

Yes, + http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0499556/releaseinfo#akas

Honestly I don't know why anyone would decide to call their film "War". It's a really, really dumb business decision as it makes the film maximally difficult to find. You google "Rogue Assassin" and you'll find the film instantly, you google "War" and you've get WWII, WWI, Vietnam War, even fucking World of Warcraft, with no sign of the Li / Statham movie

[Keung]

War bored the shit out of me.

[grim_tales]

I think "Rogue Assassin" is a better title though potentially spoilering.

[Markgway]

I saw WAR last year (I think) and have forgotten 'the twist'; so you can see the kind of impact it made on me.

[Markgway]

Suspiria ***

The ultimate in style over substance horror.

Comment on the BD: I know there's some controversy over the remastered print used here, but I'd say for the most part the film looks amazing. Never have I seen such vivid, eye-popping colours - it's easy to imagine this is truly how Argento and DP Lucio Tovoli intended the film to look. My only possible beef is with the super high contrast - but again it's so extreme as to suggest intentional design. Tovoli supervised the mastering in Rome and I haven't heard anyone - save fans - say it's wrong.

[gasteropod]

Comment on the BD: I know there's some controversy over the remastered print used here, but I'd say for the most part the film looks amazing. Never have I seen such vivid, eye-popping colours - it's easy to imagine this is truly how Argento and DP Lucio Tovoli intended the film to look. My only possible beef is with the super high contrast - but again it's so extreme as to suggest intentional design. Tovoli supervised the mastering in Rome and I haven't heard anyone - save fans - say it's wrong.

Did you not notice that the contrast only goes mental at certain points though? (e.g. when the brunette girl is painting her nails) And that the outside of the dance school suddenly turns pink at one point? These are absolutely not intentional, you can see something clearly went wrong. But yeah otherwise, it does look really good for probably the majority.

[Markgway]

Did you not notice that the contrast only goes mental at certain points though? (e.g. when the brunette girl is painting her nails)

Yes. That scene is probably the worst. But it's so blown out that I can hardly believe that it wasn't an intentional effect. If indeed 'the fans' are correct and it's a mistake then it's a really obvious screw-up that someone should have noticed and fixed.

And that the outside of the dance school suddenly turns pink at one point?

Is that perhaps because it's set when the sun is shining very brightly? I know the scene you mean. Many of the exteriors are at night so the pink isn't as VIBRANT.

But yeah otherwise, it does look really good for probably the majority.

Agreed. Best I've ever seen AND heard - the 5.1 mix is staggeringly strong and reportedly the closest replication of the original theatrical multi-channel mix that's been available.

[gasteropod]

I'm really surprised that you think these things might be intentional, but fair do's

I watched it yesterday with Michael Mackenzie's audio commentary actually, followed by half of his Deep Red one too (fell asleep - my fault, not his lol).

[Markgway]

I'm really surprised that you think these things might be intentional, but fair do's

It's not that I think they're intentional; I just can't believe they're not.

We've all seen contrast-boosting before, but this is in another league entirely.

If it wasn't some disorientating effect suggested by the SDP, then I don't know what...

I watched it yesterday with Michael Mackenzie's audio commentary actually, followed by half of his Deep Red one too (fell asleep - my fault, not his lol).

Who? The com track that's on my BD is by Alan Jones & Kim Newman. Should be good.

[gasteropod]

Who? The com track that's on my BD is by Alan Jones & Kim Newman. Should be good.

I recommend them both: http://www.landofwhimsy.com/writings/commentaries.html

[Markgway]

Born to Raise Hell *½

Depressingly bad DTV Seagal job.

[gasteropod]

It's not that I think they're intentional; I just can't believe they're not.

We've all seen contrast-boosting before, but this is in another league entirely.

If it wasn't some disorientating effect suggested by the SDP, then I don't know what...

Well look at the other HD masters coming out of Italy like Tenebrae, The Stendhal Syndrome, and Cat O'Nine Tails with their bizarre video noise - there's clearly some incompetent moron(s) wrecking these at some stage in the process.

[Keung]

Four Lions 4/5

I chuckled a few times. The last 20 minutes were quite entertaining, and it was filmed near my old work place.

[gasteropod]

Super 8 - 4/5

The train crash was incredible, better than any of the relentless action in Transformers 3.

[Markgway]

Sex Drive **

Exceptionally crude, occasionally amusing teen comedy.

[grim_tales]

Zoo Keeper: 2/5

What initially begins as a kind of lame Dr. Dolittle rip off, or at least it's mirror image, turns into a kind of comedy romance. Zookeeper Griffin (Kevin James) still cant get over his ex Stephanie (Leslie Bibb) dumping him 5 years ago, so seeks his zoo's animals advice for help to win her back. The celebrity voiced animals are amusing but you can see that ending coming a mile off, and while Griffin is basically painted as a nice bloke because he's a good worker and loves animals he also finds love by playing two women off against each other so doesnt this make him a bit of a tosser? - initially only going out with hot fellow worker Kate (Rosario Dawson) to make Stephanie jealous but of course he realises he doesnt love his ex after all and falls love at first sight, for Kate instead. Anyway what the hell is wrong with working at a zoo?

[Markgway]

Watchmen **

An overlong, pretentious comic adaptation that's loaded with enough graphic violence and sex to satisfy an R-rated audience; but has nowhere near enough substance to stimulate the heart or intellect. Considerably more time is spent on attention-grabbing visuals than coherent storytelling. This is a film of (at its best) good moments badly strung together. As for the almost incomprehensible plot? I didn't really care. The political content came across as shabby rather than potent with silly caricatures of Nixon and other political figures (how much of this stems from the source I don't know). Are we meant to feel glad that millions die to supposedly save billions? It's hard to say. If this film has a POV it's buried under an excess of special effects. If you expect anything more than 'a cool factor' you'll be greatly disappointed.

[saltysam]

Drive Angry 2/5 I like Nic Cage & mindless actioners can be fun,unfortunately this is a fairly mediocre affair with some seriously dodgy cgi.

[gasteropod]

Empire Records - 3.5/5

Reminded me of Dazed & Confused, this was really fun and gave me loads of '90s nostalgia.

[Markgway]

The Killing Room **

Four people are locked in a room as part of an underground CIA experiment; only one of them will be allowed to live.

Disturbing... but I can't say I thought it was a good movie.