Bullets 'n' Babes

Get that whipped cream out next time you woo someone Grim.

Shooting Dogs 4.5/5

Powerful stuff. I'm keen to watch Hotel Rwanda now. Deeply disturbing and it opens your eyes to the horrible Tutshi genocides. Can't believe it was directed by the same bloke who made Basic Instict 2.

That scene is tops

grim_tales wrote:68M I haven't seen Bewilderness, will check it out

Well, Part Troll rehashes a large part of his Bewilderness material, which is why I probably like Bewilderness best, since I saw it first. You'll be re-watching a lot of the same in Bewilderness.

Thanks for that interesting trivia, Ken! It's good to see Hollywood people willing to work on HK productions (I'm sure he got his price though).

hey,

but by now, Garbarino gets respect as the Home Sweet Home making-of clearly wants to devote time to HIM and his work, not just the pain Karena Lam went through underneath it all.

King Kong (2005) 3.5/5

You can round that up to 4 if you insist, but what's the big deal over this effects-fest? It seemed more like the "New Zealand Employment Project." Yes, isn't it nifty you can have a dinosaur stampede and pile-up and have it look so nifty. But does it add anything to make it any better than the original? Or even any better than the 1976 remake, for that matter? I don't think so. However, it did pull all the emotional strings, as I cried my eyes out. But what was with that entire boring beginning in New York? DULL! Not needed at all, except to show off how nice and authentic the recreation of the era was. As for character development? Totally not needed. You could have lopped off the whole opening New York scenes and started with the ship leaving port. Oh, and one more major source of irritation:
Jack Black really should have died! I wanted that gratuitous killing of a lying bastard of a character.

Uhm wait... you cried your eyes out and yet you say what's the big deal about this film?

Personally, I wasn't moved at all by this film. There was one emotionally nice scene which would be when King Kong plays with the blonde woman on the frozen lake in Central Park.

Isn't it funny how you didn't like the first hour of the film (the bit in New York) and I on the other hand was less bothered by it than by anything else in the film. It didn't bother me that it took so long for "King Kong" to appear. I loved seeing that character fighting for his film to be made. I identifed myself a lot with him during these scenes. When I watched the film with my colleague we would laugh at the scenes showing Joe Black arguing with producers as we gave the producers the names of the producers we have been working with.

Just because a film is emotionally manipulative, it doesn't mean it's a good film.

I'd agree with you on the scene with Naomi Watts that you thought was well done.

But as for Jack Black's character, why would you care if he got his film made or not? He's an unsympathetic character that you'd like to see dead, so what would it matter if he got what he wanted? More of a cliche, to be honest, in that goodness doesn't pay, while the shallow succeed.

Yes, but it seems that he has always been the good and nice kind of guy until he realized that he won't be able to make it in the film business unless he becomes what the business requires him to become in order to be successful. It's a spoof or a over-the-top depiction of what the film business is like.

Lost - Season One - 4.5/5
Whoa! What a trip. Watched the last (25th) episode of the first season and I can't believe how great that series is. In fact it is the best series next to "24" which I got tired of to be honest. I'm currently at episode 16 of season 5 and the show went from consequential and original to rudiculous and predictable which is a real shame.

Bring on "Lost - Season 2" now. Can't wait to see how things will develope.

My favourite characters:
John Locke
Sawyer

Sorry, but got to disagree. Throughout the film, Carl Denham is a self-obsessed OTT character who only cares about himself and his film, with no regard for anybody else's wishes, and more importantly, anybody else's lives. When he cranks out the same lines about dedicating the film profits to the survivors of [insert latest dead guy's name here], this isn't a result of what the film industry has done to him. He's always been a self-obsessed moron.

thelostdragon wrote:Bring on "Lost - Season 2" now. Can't wait to see how things will develope.

My favourite characters:
John Locke
Sawyer

Season 1 was great stuff, but so far, Season 2 is touch and go. Got to take the good and the not-so-good together.

Totally agree with you on Locke and Sawyer, though. In S2, you'll meet another character that I'm guessing you'll really be a fan of.

the68monkey wrote:...this isn't a result of what the film industry has done to him. He's always been a self-obsessed moron.

And how do you know that? I mean we aren't given any information of what he was like before he became a film maker.

We aren't given any information of what he was like before the film begins. Lying and risking the careers and lives of countless people for his own ends is consistent with his character throughout the film. He is not a sympathetic character. You can't blame the film industry for his completely irresponsible actions, and we have no clue as to whether or not he was ever anything other than a fame-seeking, self-obsessed jerk.

The fact he is killing people to reach his goals is the reason why I said he was an over-the-top depiction of a director who went crazy due to producers giving him a hard time. It's a fantasy film. If this was a drama, meant to be serious and realistic like "Aviator", I'd say the guy is a big a**hole. But as this isn't the case and as the whole film is unrealistic etc. I took Jack Black's character as nothing more than all the other characters. No real depth to them, very superficial and an exaggerated portrayal of what they would be if they were real.

thelostdragon wrote:as the whole film is unrealistic etc. I took Jack Black's character as nothing more than all the other characters. No real depth to them, very superficial and an exaggerated portrayal of what they would be if they were real.

Precisely, which is what makes the film mediocre, with only extra marks for nifty effects. The most complex character in the entire film is a giant, fake ape, for goodness sakes! Is it entertaining? Sure. Is it a good film, an improvement over the original? In my opinion, no. Why? Because they spent too much time on effects and sets, and once again, forgot about that necessary ingredient called well-written characters. Without them, the film is no better than the original, and what you end up with is just a celebration of neat-o effects.

Oh, and one more thing. If it takes the U.S. government a week to respond to a massive natural disaster like Hurricane Katrina, which we KNEW was going to hit long before it did, how come in King Kong, the Armed Forces are on the scene within minutes of a giant ape escaping into downtown New York? Bombers and assault weapons at New York's beck and call. Must be because the New York theatre-goers were mostly white.

For what it's worth, if you want to see a very creative and well-done adaptation of the original, I'd go with Hal Hartley's No Such Thing. It's not a popcorn film, like Jackson's, but it's a lot more creative.

I thought Jack Black's OTT acting, playing the smarmy yet charming OTT person, suited the role of Carl Denham perfectly. But in that case, is Robert Armstrong's Denham a symapthetic character? I guess they're not particularly nice good guys.
What did ypu think of the 1933 version 68M?
BTW I thought the film was much better than the original in terms of well written characters, but then the '33 version is a different style of acting.

Bisc, regarding Hinokio, what did you think of the subplot with the video game?

Sister Street Fighter (unsubbed) 4/5
No subs (that I could understand) but that didn't stop me from enjoying this excellent karate flick. Most characters in the film are speaking the language of Fist anyway... Etsuko is adorable as always (especially when ripping a man's guts out) and the film features some of Sonny Chiba's best fight scenes. Can't wait to see the sequels.

BTW, in Lost I hate the John Locke character. Its like he has this "I am God" feeling because he can suddenly walk again There's something shifty about him I don't like.

Sayid is pretty interesting and there's more to Shannon's character than I thought.
I quite like Charlie too.

John Locke's my favourite character in Lost. I was angry when they all went against him.

Mr. Eko rocks!

Sawyer's a well-played character. His one-liners are very well-timed.
"Next time Shaft pops his head around the corner, he'll get a surprise of his own!" and his line about Jin as Chewie had me in stitches

Locke is possibly the most interesting character, in terms of what he does on the island, as well as his backstory.

thelostdragon wrote:...the show went from consequential and original to rudiculous and predictable which is a real shame.

I'm with you there. The first three seasons of 24 were very well done, in my opinion, but the fourth and fifth have been pretty poor. I think the difference with the latter two seasons is that they didn't have an overall story arc for the whole day; they seem to be making it up from week to week. The first three series had the dialogue written and some story elements plotted from week to week, but the whole day was planned before shooting commenced, if I remember rightly.

the68monkey wrote:Season 1 was great stuff, but so far, Season 2 is touch and go. Got to take the good and the not-so-good together.

Very true. I feel that there isn't enough forward momentum; I want to know more about the island! For every episode like the one where Kate, Russeau and Claire go into the new hatch we have to endure a Charlie's going loco. I like his character, but that was a dull episode. Having said that, any episode that features Sawyer or Mr. Eko gets a few points

Yep. LOST S2 had a super Locke-centric episode a week and a half ago, followed by a rather boring Hurley-centric episode this past week, so I know what you mean. I really like Hurley's character, but that episode was a letdown after the previous week's exciting one.

Speaking of remakes and of LOST, tonight is the network premiere of THE TEN COMMANDMENTS, with Dougray Scott and Naveen Andrews. I'll definitely be watching and will post a rating. Not quite sure why they're remaking this, unless the Charlton Heston classic is starting to fall to pieces from being aired every single year at this time.

Official site of the miniseries: http://www.rhifilms.com/ten/index.html

I like Sawyer as well actually, he has some very funny one liners, and it was a nice touch how the most "terrifying" character could make Chloe's baby Aaron laugh. Liked that