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

Lourdes · Post by **Lourdes** » 03 Oct 2007, 23:25

Batman - 3/5
Keaton is great but I don't think the balance between camp and dark is quite right.

Batman Returns - 4/5
The plot was a bit lacking as there wasn't really one central threat or protagnist. However Danny DeVito is just fantastic as The Penguin and this film really shows some of Burton's best work.

Batman Forever - 2/5
I didn't much like this one, they started going a bit OTT with all the effects and designs with none of Burton's eccentricity.

Batman & Robin - 1/5
Horrible.

Batman Begins - 4/5
This new set of films has some promise, I won't be picking this one up on DVD or in HD but by the standards of modern Hollywood films it was a good watch.

--

Macross Plus OVA - 4.5/5
This is the sort of anime I like, no clichés that are necessarily exclusive to the 'genré'. Just some good cinema thanks to a big fat bidget.

grim_tales · Post by **grim_tales** » 04 Oct 2007, 11:02

ROME (Eps 1-3) - ****/*****

Interesting what you say about Nosferatu Brad, I haven't seen that either. I find silent cinema jarring/unusual as well.
However "M" is brilliant.

Markgway · Post by **Markgway** » 04 Oct 2007, 11:23

FIRST BLOOD 3/5

First half is great; second half isn't.

Goes downhill when Richard Crenna comes into it.

Still much better than the dumb sequels.

Yi-Long · Post by **Yi-Long** » 04 Oct 2007, 11:50

grim_tales wrote:ROME (Eps 1-3) - ****/*****

I ordered Rome as well. 4 outta 5 stars sounds OK. But I was under the impression that this was a 5-star series?

romerojpg · Post by **romerojpg** » 04 Oct 2007, 13:41

Yi-Long wrote:
grim_tales wrote:ROME (Eps 1-3) - ****/*****

I ordered Rome as well. 4 outta 5 stars sounds OK. But I was under the impression that this was a 5-star series?

You may well be under that impression, but some people hate the show, and hell it is Grim

bradavon · Post by **bradavon** » 04 Oct 2007, 14:29

You guys are judging Grim for 1 point freakin' point less than 5? I seriously doubt everyone is giving it 5 stars, what a stupid thing to say.

Yi-Long · Post by **Yi-Long** » 04 Oct 2007, 14:41

I'm not judging Grim anywhere. I was just curious about more of his thoughts on the show, as pretty much everyone I hear about this show is raving about it, and Grim isnt (yet?)

I would never ever ever ever badmouth or judge Grim. He's awesome in every imaginable way. If he was a puppy, give him a cooky every day.

romerojpg · Post by **romerojpg** » 04 Oct 2007, 14:52

Someone needs to learn when people are havin a lauf

bradavon · Post by **bradavon** » 04 Oct 2007, 15:08

Yi-Long wrote:He's awesome in every imaginable way. If he was a puppy, give him a cooky every day.

I know you weren't "judging" Grim Yi I was just pointing out 4 out of 5 is pretty damn good and I'd say because of it Grim is raving about the show.

romerojpg · Post by **romerojpg** » 04 Oct 2007, 15:17

I rarley ever give out 5 stars to anything, so 4 stars is flipping wonderful for me

dont think I have give out 5 stars to a new films/Tv shows in a few years now, some close, but not close enough.

5 to me is god damn perfect, very rare.

HungFist · Post by **HungFist** » 04 Oct 2007, 16:43

Tokyo . Sora – 4,5/5
Movies like this retain my belief in modern cinema. Hiroshi Ishikawa’s debut feature about 6 women living in Tokyo features such dazzling cinematography and hugely impressive slow pace that even 127 minutes feels too short. Aside visuals the use of sound is also incredible. Ishikawa uses music sparsely but when he does the effect is extremely powerful. The characters are very good although you’d wish more sceentime for many of them. As a single flaw one character is given too much attention during the second half which leads to a very slight drop in quality.

The Coast Guard – 3/5
How can such a promising movie crash like this? Appart from the opening scene the beginning is pure Kim Ki-duk. Around 40 minutes the film reaches the same dark level of excellence that dominates films like The Isle and Bad Guy. And then everything goes downhill. The movie falls into a hole of half-ridiculousness and never quite gets up from it. There’s a few random impressive moments but most of the entertainment factor relies on viewer curiosity. It’s interesting if not desirable to witness how a talented director unintentionally turns his movie into a (tragi) comedy.

Untold Scandal – 4/5
Even a French period piece can become interesting when you turn it into a Korean period piece. E.J. Yong’s superb adaptation of Les Liaisons Dangereuses is stylish, witty, erotic and even cute (this may sound weird the scene where the young servant girl is having oral sex is the cutest scene I’ve seen in quite some time). Not to forget some excellent dark humour which I’d assume to at least partly originate from Pierre Choderlos de Laclos’s original novel. And I thought this would be a boring costume drama...

grim_tales · Post by **grim_tales** » 04 Oct 2007, 18:07

Awww thanks Yi

I haven't seen the whole season yet, probably its too early to give it 5/5 yet but its very good.

saltysam · Post by **saltysam** » 04 Oct 2007, 18:29

Planet Terror unrated 3.5/5

Absolutely bonkers movie with no discernible plot just lots of splashy gore effects and Rose McGowan looking hot.this version at 105 minutes is a bit overlong but still worth watching.Michael Parks plays Sheriff Mcgraw again and it was nice to see the Machete Trailer at the beginning.hope they make a movie out of that

bradavon · Post by **bradavon** » 04 Oct 2007, 21:42

I hear The Machete will be a Direct to DVD release. They're apparently completed the film.

I'm going Planet Terror will be a cinema release soon, before I see it. How does it compare against Death Proof Salty?

brooce-leroy · Post by **brooce-leroy** » 04 Oct 2007, 23:04

Planet Terror is about 10 times better than Death Proof. It's an intentionally silly B-movie with a superb cast of actors (stars from the past and present). Almost everyone acts in a cheesy sort of way, but it is okay as it is all deliberate. I gave Death Proof about 2/5 but Planet Terror is a 4/5 for me. I won't get the dvd for the former, but will pick up the latter in time to come.

bradavon · Post by **bradavon** » 05 Oct 2007, 00:13

Cheers Bruce.

I am much more of a fan of QTs work than RRs. RR has only made one decent film (Desperado). El Mariachi was interesting but cheaply made, understandable of course. His directing style is nothing really like QTs though.

I've seen most of RRs work except for the Spy Kids movies which look awful.

Cool surname though

grim_tales · Post by **grim_tales** » 05 Oct 2007, 09:04

The Peter Serafinowicz Show - 4.25/5

Silly, but very funny collection of short, bonkers sketches

Really enjoyed it.

Mitchell and Webb - 4/5

The chiropractor (sp?) sketch - or how it ended anyway, was priceless.

thelostdragon · Post by **thelostdragon** » 06 Oct 2007, 02:00

Il Bisbetico domato - 4/5
Just lol!

Knetan · Post by **Knetan** » 06 Oct 2007, 12:35

hey,

Eye in the Sky - 4/5

I thought this was an excellent debut from Yau Na Hoi. It offers something different to the cop movie genre by having the emphasis on surveillance, and the techniques used in this area of police work. It was very refreshing, and had me engrossed from beginning to end. Newcomer Kate Tsui was a bit weak (not much expression) but all the seasoned veterans are all on form here. I loved all the character quirks; e.g. Simon Yam likes to tell bad jokes, Maggie Siu is very foul mouthed. Tony Leung Ka Fei is also excellent as the cool and calculating mastermind, who is prone to exploding with brutal acts of violence.

I quite agree. What I like is that Yau didn't go in and made a genre movie way over his head. Kept it simple at a basic cops vs. robbers flick but as you said, the emphasis on the SU was worthwhile as that is otherwise something you only see a few minutes of in a flick. No huge surprises in characters either but that is an intention Yau believes in and therefore gets the best out of what really is an engrossing ride you've seen before. Nothing wrong with doing good with the expected. Didn't mind Tsui's performance as she is a new kid playing a new kid.

Come ending time...I even took a liking to the fact that it had no twist, no big confrontation with the bad guy, just a slice of irony that either is a Milkyway intended trademark or not. Heck, even the mentor that Simon Yam played lived!

brooce-leroy · Post by **brooce-leroy** » 06 Oct 2007, 14:14

I also liked that they seemed to be using authentic surveillance techniques (although no expert myself). Normally, you only see police doing a stakeout, following closely in a car, or following on foot with no real attempt to disguise it (e.g. like just turn around and look up to the sky when your target becomes suspicious).

romerojpg · Post by **romerojpg** » 06 Oct 2007, 14:32

bradavon wrote:I hear The Machete will be a Direct to DVD release. They're apparently completed the film.

Whoever told you that is a blatant bullshit artist, they have not filmed anything or started anything (apart from a trailer), let alone finished it, and from the look of it they never will.
Just fanboy sad net bull. I think Danny (Machete) would know more than the fanboys and he has spoken about it already many times, not a sausage and he is not a actor to be a star in a film thats for sure.

BiscLimpkit · Post by **BiscLimpkit** » 06 Oct 2007, 16:28

War (2007) 3.5/5

Offensive to just about every far east Asian race but it's so unintentionally funny. Another case of "it's so bad, it's good." Entertaining stuff.

tom2681 · Post by **tom2681** » 06 Oct 2007, 21:58

Paradise Murdered (Korea - 2007 - with Park Hae-Il (The Host)): 2,5 / 5

Not bad, but not good either.

Plot synopsis:
Paradise Island is dead. There were 17 people on it, including a young doctor and his assistant, but now they've all disappeared.
Have they all been murdered ? By whom ?
And... cue "flashback".

Paradise Murdered is a strange little film.
It starts like any silly light-hearted korean comedy should, but then takes a sharp turn and goes into gore mode, "Seven"-style. Then it switches to tense-thriller mode and expects you to go along with it.
And that's when you have to be patient. If you can survive the next 90 minutes without nodding off, you'll be rewarded with a huge and yet realistic (if a bit unsatisfying) reveal.

We've all seen this type of film before (a small isolated community... people disappearing... everybody's a suspect... blah-blah-blah-talk... blah-blah-blah-action... big reveal).
I could think of a dozen films that have dealt with this topic before, and most of them are probably better made than this one. Paradise Murdered feels like the cheap copy of a better film.

I will admit that there are some good qualities in this film.
The editing's not bad, so's the rythm, and so's the acting.

Watched it. Thought it was "meh". Will probably not buy the DVD.

grim_tales · Post by **grim_tales** » 08 Oct 2007, 08:37

The Simpsons: Season 8 Eps 1-6: 4/5

Some great episodes, I love the Hank Scorpio one where Homer winds up working for a supervillain

The Milhouse Divided episode is surprisingly touching.

grim_tales · Post by **grim_tales** » 10 Oct 2007, 08:54

Cobra (1986) - 3/5