What Have You Just Seen... Marks Out of 5

grim_tales · Post by **grim_tales** » 20 Mar 2007, 08:52

Singin' In The Rain - 5/5

Watched it again - I know - but a classic film indeed. Very enjoyable musical

One ad on TV at the moment features the song from Gene Kelly's "Gotta Dance" routine

Barbarian King · Post by **Barbarian King** » 21 Mar 2007, 13:10

Galaxy Quest - 5/5

The best Star Trek movie ever, besides Wrath of Khan.

thelostdragon · Post by **thelostdragon** » 21 Mar 2007, 14:55

Running Wild - 3.5/5
Could easily have been a 4/5, but Detective Jang snapped too often if you ask me. Prosecutor Oh is a really strong character. Yu Ji-tae, who played him, was really good in this. He seems to be a versatile actor.

I love the fight scenes and the music by Kenji Kawai.

Knetan · Post by **Knetan** » 21 Mar 2007, 19:15

hey,

The Story Of Movie 2.5/5

Although clearly influenced by Pulp Fiction and perhaps going for off-beat emotions that is supposed to affect us, this is still a little charming HK flick with dual similar stories going on. Ken Lo does play a boxer but is a romantic lead despite.

Knetan · Post by **Knetan** » 22 Mar 2007, 18:12

hey,

Right Here Waiting... - 3/5

Usually pisspoor Joe Hau (Passion Unbounded, Hong Kong Showgirls) debuted in a fine manner here with his story of 30+ career women longing for love. Shot in synch sound and with a terrific cast consisting of Cecilia Yip, Carrie Ng (made up to be dorky), Pauline Wong (also producer) and Petrina Fung.

BiscLimpkit · Post by **BiscLimpkit** » 22 Mar 2007, 19:02

Blood Brothers (the staged musical) 5/5
Superb.

saltysam · Post by **saltysam** » 22 Mar 2007, 19:21

Rocky Balboa 3.5/5
nice way to end the series,better than expected.

Under Siege 3.5/5
Seagal's best holds up well.

The Return 1/5
one of the worst "spooky" movies i've seen in ages.a pure shitfest.i predict Gellar will be back on episodic television before long.

DangerousLeeHandsome · Post by **DangerousLeeHandsome** » 23 Mar 2007, 00:16

Daredevil: Director's Cut - 4/5
Yes, I'm aware that a lot of people hate this movie but I liked it. I liked the theatrical cut but loved the DC. 30+ minutes of additional scenes that ,IMO, makes the story a lot more fullfilling. *spoiler* Sadly, the horrendous playground fight is still present, however, the sex scene has been deleted. Put it simply, the TC is the date movie version; the DC is the action-story version.

thelostdragon · Post by **thelostdragon** » 23 Mar 2007, 00:27

The DC of "Daredevil" makes it a very watchable movie, indeed. It's amazing how studios can ruin a film.

Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind - 4/5
Very good, but I kept waiting for that emotional highlight that is kinda absent.

grim_tales · Post by **grim_tales** » 23 Mar 2007, 14:33

I liked the playground/courtship fight 8)

Last Hurrah for Chivalry (1978) - 3.5/5

The Sound of Music (1965) - 3.5 - 4/5

Fun, iconic musical IMO, if a bit predictable. I remember some well known songs from when I was little (Doh-Ray-Mi, Favourite Things, The Lonely Goatherd, The Hills are Alive etc. Julie Andrews is fantastic in it

slasher13 · Post by **slasher13** » 23 Mar 2007, 15:32

300 - 5 / 5, Bloody great, loved this movie!!!

grim_tales · Post by **grim_tales** » 23 Mar 2007, 15:50

BiscLimpkit wrote:Blood Brothers (the staged musical) 5/5
Superb.

You seen The Sound of Music - Bisc man?
Saw that for the first time last night.

romerojpg · Post by **romerojpg** » 23 Mar 2007, 16:53

slasher13 wrote:300 - 5 / 5, Bloody great, loved this movie!!!

I have never in my life seen so many entusiastic 5 star reviews of any other film in my life

When I see it tommrow it better rock my ass like a gay porn star

Kurgan · Post by **Kurgan** » 23 Mar 2007, 17:22

300 - 4/5.

Which probably means I'm an outcast amongst you guys, but before you decide to denigrate me, hear me out. Oh, and there could be spoilers in the following for some of you, so read at your own risk.

The Spartans themselves were really well-handled (Gerrard Butler gets the shouty and introspective moments of Leonidas spot on), but I thought that the scenes with the queen felt a little tacked on; they're not in the graphic novel, which could be the reason for this. For me, it made the film too much Gladiator, but without the necessary time to expand the story. Coupled with a betrayal sub-plot that I saw a mile away, when the focus could've been kept on the 'bodyguards' themselves and fleshing out their characters (so that when some of them died you cared a little more for them), it flaws a film in a way that wasn't necessary.
But the biggest let down for me was the score. It's a little ho-hum, 'been there, done that' kind of score, when you consider what's happening on screen. The music in the trailer (Just Like You Imagined by NIN) hit the tone perfectly; sweeping moments with an unreal, distorted touch which is exactly what the film (and the graphic novel before it) was about - the battle actually took place, but obviously not with the same outlandish characters as is depicted in the film. So the music could've benefitted from having an edgier tone (I only felt it was correct during the scene with the Persian ships crashing near the cliffs), perhaps electronic, to act as counter points to the orchestral soundtrack.
All of that sounds really negative (and most of it is) but I'm only highlighting these points. The visuals in the film are phenomenal - not just the CG work, but the conception of them, and as I say the acting is pretty good all round; the queen is played well, despite what I think of her scenes in relation to the film. But I feel a little let-down from the majesty that was the trailer run. Oh, and I was gonna give the film 3/5 initially, but I decided I want to retain my balls.

Edit: On further reflection, I'm going to give it what I originally thought.

3/5

Shingster · Post by **Shingster** » 24 Mar 2007, 00:51

I agree Kurgan, it's very much a "wake me up when it gets interesting" kinda film, all the non-battle sequences were truly snoozeworthy. Thankfully it's about 80% battle, so I enjoyed it considerably.

BiscLimpkit · Post by **BiscLimpkit** » 24 Mar 2007, 01:02

grim_tales wrote: You seen The Sound of Music - Bisc man?
Saw that for the first time last night.

Alas no but I'm well keen on watching musicals.

Markgway · Post by **Markgway** » 24 Mar 2007, 02:41

Don't fancy it.

Sounds like Spartacus made for dweebs who can't let go of their Playstations.

...and the history is apparently bollocks too (no surprise there...)

grim_tales · Post by **grim_tales** » 24 Mar 2007, 07:47

Huh?
You're right though about it hardly being historically accurate. Were the Austraians anti-Nazi? I don't know. But as a country they probably treated Jews and others worse than Germany/Hitler at that point.
Not sure when it was written but its meant to be escapism with the Von Trapp's as the "good guys" I guess

A dark ending would have been the young Nazi guy (the one who the older girl loves) not dropping the gun and shooting Christopher Plummer, but I knew that wouldn't happen

EvaUnit02 · Post by **EvaUnit02** » 24 Mar 2007, 08:07

Christ, was anyone expecting that an adaptation of a graphic novel would've been historically accurate?

grim_tales · Post by **grim_tales** » 24 Mar 2007, 08:31

D'oh!
My bad!

Mark was talking about 300. Because his post came after Biscs I thought he was on about Sound of Music

HungFist · Post by **HungFist** » 24 Mar 2007, 08:54

Crank – 3/5
Can’t anyone do an action movie without childish MTV editing anymore? Sometimes it’s justified here (considering the condition of the main character) but not always. The rest works mostly with the plot concept being politically incorrect enough to be impressive. Jason Statham is also one of the better new wave action posers.

Crank – still 3/5
Next morning, before returning the disc. Not intentinal, I was just supposed to check the beginning... which is so good it made me think I under-rated the film last time. The editing felt more justified this time although there’s still that MTV for the sake of coolness stuff that I hate. Some ingenious parts here and there, but tends to ”die” between those scenes.

Born American (1986) – 4/5
Here we have old school (80's) action un par excellence. Great cast, great plot, good action, some ingenious ideas and very moody visuals / use of music. Some too heavy cliché and weaker middle part prevent this from being a masterpiece. Some of the actors playing soviet union soldiers are also too recognizably Finnish. Easily Harlin’s best film.

The Exterminator – 2,5/5
More good old action, just not that good this time. Entertains with its twisted moral but as a whole it’s a bit slow moving and too long. Some of the ”heroic acts” are surprisingly hard to stomach.

The Punisher (2000 something) – 3,5/5
A real surprise, shows that they can still do good action movies in the States. Very nicely put togerher and avoding all the teen stuff (not counting the ending credits). Nicely acted too altough Thomas Jane is probably no match to Dolph Lundgren (haven’t seen his version yet). The overly-long beginning is the only real flaw.
(theatrical cut)

Mercenary for Justice – 3/5
Ah, Steven Seagal, the last true action hero remaining. Almost zero martial arts here, I guess he’s getting too old for that shit. But he’s still a fucking though guy and beast any modern ”action star”. The film itself is pretty decent and surprisingly plot driven. And hey, no MTV stuff here.

Auch Zwerge haben klein angefangen (Even Dwarfs Started Small) – 1/5
Getting through this film was hard work. I do appreciate how clever it really is, and it might work as a short film. But at 90 minutes is just pure misery. Herzog’s observations are accurate but not the least bit entertaining to watch. The ending almost earned the film an extra half point but disgusting animal cruelty evens it.

Babel (Inarritu) – 4/5
Almost falls appart around halfway but if you just ignore the ”plot” the rest is great. The Tokyo and the middle east (not the Pitt one) episodes are both excellent.

Three Colours: Blue – 3,5/5
Kieslowski’s film is a bit pretentious at times but mostly impressive. Well acted but I felt the film wasn’t always as intimate as the subject requires.

Three Colours: White 3/5
Works thanks to the excellent characters and actors. Was that Juliette Binoche at the court room door (and if so was it meant to be the same building she visited in Blue (= the same scene))?

On Her Majesty's Secret Service 3,5/5
Lazenby’s acting is quite horrible at times but otherwise this is an excellent Bond film. Especially the last 40 minutes is terrific. It was also a bit weird to see film makers making fun of the Bond phenomena. For example Moore’s films always had lots humour but they never made fun the character itself like here.

Markgway · Post by **Markgway** » 24 Mar 2007, 14:14

EvaUnit02 wrote:Christ, was anyone expecting that an adaptation of a graphic novel would've been historically accurate?

No, but I don't like movies based on graphic novels or videogames. They're nearly always dumb trash.

I can't believe Grim thought I was referring to The Sound of Music!

Markgway · Post by **Markgway** » 24 Mar 2007, 14:17

But he’s still a fucking though guy and beast any modern ”action star”.

Was this one of your drunk sentences, Bisc?

thelostdragon · Post by **thelostdragon** » 24 Mar 2007, 14:24

Brick - 5/5
One of the best movies I have recently watched. Can't believe it took 6 years to get it financed. Wonderful film with a great leading actor.

HungFist · Post by **HungFist** » 24 Mar 2007, 14:52

Markgway wrote:
But he’s still a fucking though guy and beast any modern ”action star”.
Was this one of your drunk sentences, Bisc?

That was a quote from Bisc, indeed

But I'm serious (not the bisc part). I wasn't even drunk when I wrote that. although there seems to be an additional 'h'