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

thelostdragon · Post by **thelostdragon** » 14 Dec 2007, 14:20

tom2681 wrote:Sure, there's the occasional blind purchase. But I can't exactly go around and buy all my movies having only seen trailers and reviews.

Of course you can, because a lot (and hopefully most) movie fans do. If you can't financial wise, then you have clearly chosen the wrong hobby.

HungFist · Post by **HungFist** » 14 Dec 2007, 16:13

thelostdragon wrote:
tom2681 wrote:Sure, there's the occasional blind purchase. But I can't exactly go around and buy all my movies having only seen trailers and reviews.
Of course you can, because a lot (and hopefully most) movie fans do. If you can't financial wise, then you have clearly chosen the wrong hobby.

that definition makes 97% of my purchases blind buys

bradavon · Post by **bradavon** » 14 Dec 2007, 19:55

tom2681 wrote:@Brad:
A DVD-Rip can give you an idea of what the movie's like. An idea is all I'm looking for.

Except you don't you watch the whole film and therefore IMO don't watch it at it's best. I find the "first" watch is so crucial.

Don't get me wrong I agree with you more over the legality of P2P networks. I download movies from time to time but only ever when I'm really doubtful about the film (Planet Terror) if there is any chance I'll likely like it I track down the cheap as chips R3 DVD.

And so should you

romerojpg · Post by **romerojpg** » 14 Dec 2007, 20:05

Who cares, he likes free illegal lesser quality films, the end. The first time you see a film is the most important, shit quality wont help.

Markgway · Post by **Markgway** » 15 Dec 2007, 15:39

Straw Dogs... Dustin Hoffman stars in one of the best american movies of the 70’s.

It's as much a British movie as it is American.

I thought it had potential, but didn't quite work for me.

HungFist · Post by **HungFist** » 15 Dec 2007, 16:00

Markgway wrote:
Straw Dogs... Dustin Hoffman stars in one of the best american movies of the 70’s.
It's as much a British movie as it is American.

Then it's one of the best British movies of the 70's, too

And Mark, come back to playing dvd mystere already. There hasn't been a jp cap for a week

Markgway · Post by **Markgway** » 16 Dec 2007, 00:15

Been watching a few Bonds recently...

Out of *****

DR. NO **** (Classic. Connery owns this movie. And Ursula is effing gorgeous)
TOMORROW NEVER DIES *** (Too much mindless action, not enough script)
THE WORLD IS NOT ENOUGH **** (Would be the best of the Brosnan films if it weren't for Denise Richards' miscasting and some awful innuendos)
DIE ANOTHER DAY *** (Better than it's rep suggests, but weakened by uneveness - the opening act belongs to a different movie - and poor CGI)

bradavon · Post by **bradavon** » 16 Dec 2007, 02:14

Better? -

Straw Dogs... Dustin Hoffman stars in one of the best Anglo-America movies of the 70’s.

Personally I thought Dr. No was a let down, the villain finally bloody appears 15 minutes before the end then 10 minutes later hes' dead! Pants!

It really gets going with "From Russia with Love" which is much, much better.

saltysam · Post by **saltysam** » 16 Dec 2007, 20:34

Shrek The Halls 2.5/5

ok brand new Shrek xmas special.at 21 minutes it doesn't outstay it's welcome.

Kung Fu Fighter 0.1/5

worst film i've seen this year,nearly unwatchable mess. horrible,horrible film, the 0.1 is for Bruce Liang.the dvd is a mess as well,a very shoddy transfer.

thelostdragon · Post by **thelostdragon** » 16 Dec 2007, 23:43

Blades of Glory - 4.5/5
Again. Love it. The best comedy of 2007 which unfortunately seems to be ignored. Will Ferrell is so funny. BOOM!

Markgway · Post by **Markgway** » 17 Dec 2007, 00:34

OCTOPUSSY *** (Some good moments, but too much silliness and parody for my taste).

AMERICAN GANGSTER **** (Much better than I thought it would be. If you like crime films gove this one a shot).

bradavon · Post by **bradavon** » 17 Dec 2007, 01:07

Markgway wrote:AMERICAN GANGSTER **** (Much better than I thought it would be. If you like crime films gove this one a shot).

I never got why it was dissed so much either.

tom2681 · Post by **tom2681** » 17 Dec 2007, 15:50

A Moment to Remember (2004 - by Lee Jae-Han with Son Ye-Jin and Jung Wu-Seong): 4,5 / 5

The final 30 minutes feel a bit long (my fault for watching the extended cut, I guess).
Otherwise, as a classic korean melodrama, this film is millimeter-perfect.

Markgway · Post by **Markgway** » 17 Dec 2007, 15:52

OHMSS **

Pros:
Awesome theme music by John Barry.
Beautiful theme song by Louis Armstrong
Some exciting action sequences
Telly Savalas is still the best Blofeld to date
Gutsy ending

Cons:
Horrendous ADR (it's worse than any Spaghetti Western I assure you...)
Some atrocious dialogue
A really dull mid-section that goes on forever
A stupid "WTF?" plot
Rear-projection that would've made Hitchcock vomit.

EvaUnit02 · Post by **EvaUnit02** » 17 Dec 2007, 16:07

thelostdragon wrote:Blades of Glory - 4.5/5
The best comedy of 2007

Have you not seen Superbad then?

EvaUnit02 · Post by **EvaUnit02** » 17 Dec 2007, 16:26

Markgway wrote:OHMSS **

If it's average, then why is it highly regarded? Because the womanising Bond gets married? Because it stars a non-British actor as Bond?

bradavon · Post by **bradavon** » 17 Dec 2007, 16:31

EvaUnit02 wrote:If it's average, then why is it highly regarded? Because the womanising Bond gets married? Because it stars a non-British actor as Bond?

Mark explained why, did you not bother to read his whole post? Pierce Brosnan wasn't British either. I doubt Mark cares.

OHMSS is weak simply because Lazenby has such a seriously bad charisma deficit. It's impossible to believe any woman would fall for him. He's supposed to be a cool spy, yeah right! I agree with Mark the mid-section does go on forever too. It's not as bad as most people think it is but it's no classic either.

Yi-Long · Post by **Yi-Long** » 17 Dec 2007, 17:12

bradavon wrote:
Markgway wrote:AMERICAN GANGSTER **** (Much better than I thought it would be. If you like crime films gove this one a shot).
I never got why it was dissed so much either.

It gotten lots of slack because Denzel plays a guy that really existed, but the movie version is nothing like the cruel asshole that the real guy was. The movie makes him 'better' than the crook that was...

thelostdragon · Post by **thelostdragon** » 17 Dec 2007, 17:53

EvaUnit02 wrote:
thelostdragon wrote:Blades of Glory - 4.5/5
The best comedy of 2007
Have you not seen Superbad then?

No, not yet. But definitely want to. The same writers also wrote "Knocked Up" which is also supposed to be hilarious.

Markgway · Post by **Markgway** » 17 Dec 2007, 18:18

Yi-Long wrote:It gotten lots of slack because Denzel plays a guy that really existed, but the movie version is nothing like the cruel asshole that the real guy was. The movie makes him 'better' than the crook that was...

If I had one complaint: that would be mine.

The movie does shy away from some of his worst behaviour and makes him seem like a businessman who does some naughty shit.

Denzel makes him charismatic, but I doubt the real guy was.

In spite of that the film was well-made, and the fact that I don;t know the true story means I'm not aware of the Hollywoodised bullshit.

romerojpg · Post by **romerojpg** » 17 Dec 2007, 19:40

The guy its based on is a vile creature, hopefully someone will torture him to death like he used to do to others. Piece of shit is even getting cash from interviews and shit to do with the film! that takes the piss!

Markgway · Post by **Markgway** » 17 Dec 2007, 23:15

I'd never heard of him, but aside from a brief flash at the beginning, we never see the worst of the violence. He beats his junkie cousin with a piano lid, but the guy deserved it. By the end of the movie Denzel and Crowe are all paly as the former rats on the crooked cops. There's little spoken about torture or murder. I guess if you wanna know what really happened you'll have to read up on it. Violence aside - he's responsible for so much death from imported Heroin.

thelostdragon · Post by **thelostdragon** » 17 Dec 2007, 23:25

It's just a MOVIE. It uses the real guy as a base for its own, fictional storyline.

thelostdragon · Post by **thelostdragon** » 17 Dec 2007, 23:34

Markgway wrote:Violence aside - he's responsible for so much death from imported Heroin.

Is he solely responsible for that in your opinion?

tom2681 · Post by **tom2681** » 17 Dec 2007, 23:42

Seagull Diner / Kamome Shokudo (Japan / Finland - 2006): 3 / 5

Synopsis:
A young japanese woman is trying to run a diner on her own in Finland. It's been a month already, and her only customer so far is a young finn who likes japanese anime and just seems to wanna hang around japanese women for no apparent reason (HungFist, was that you ?

). She will soon be joined by two middle-aged japanese women who don't even know why they decided to go to Finland in the first place.

This is a strange low-budget film in which not much stuff happens.
It's all about the interaction between the main characters and their unusual customers.
There's a lot of surrealism (some scenes feel fairly dream-like) but it's quite subtle, and there's also the occasional laugh, but the rest is rather flat and almost boring.

And yet it works. Good camera angles, appropriate music and great acting make for a rather pleasing experience.
The bad guy from Jade Warrior (Markku Peltola, I think) has a hilarious cameo as a coffee expert, and that alone makes the film worthwhile.

It's not a masterpiece by any means, but it's a good little film.
Well worth a watch IMO.