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

grim_tales · Post by **grim_tales** » 22 May 2006, 23:25

The Da Vinci Code - 3.5/5

Not a bad film by any means - extremely well made and designed.
The 1st hour/hour and a half moves along at a frantic pace and is very exciting, (some things in the book are missing in the film, though in general the film is very close to the book) - however the concluding parts (when the action moves to London) are less compelling and the pace slows right down.
Jean Reno is very good, seeming very like Fache in the book, and I also liked Ian McKellen who can play eccentrics very well!

Paul Bettany does suprisingly well as the creepy Albino monk Silas, a fanatical member of Opus Dei. The scene where he flagilates himself is a bit nasty!

However, crucially faults lie with the main characters. Tom Hanks and Audrey Tatou (thankfully lacking Ruth Kelly haircut) aren't bad as such, but they look uncomfortable and lack any real chemistry with each other.
Even though the film is obviously fiction, it doesnt stop Hanks delivering a little speech at the end to calm down the Christian Right.

brooce-leroy · Post by **brooce-leroy** » 23 May 2006, 12:08

Anna Magdelena 3/5

I first tried to watch this a couple of years ago, but I only got a quarter of the way. This time I managed to watch it all in one sitting, despite being a drag at times. I would say it's about half an hour longer than it needs to be, but it's a nice, quirky little film. Unfortunately, not a great deal of chemistry between the leads, which is important for a romantic tale. I really liked all the cameos.

Somebody up there likes me 1/5

A load of sentimental, melodramatic tosh with Aaron Kwok as a nobody who makes something of himself through kickboxing. Although, this was made in the 90s, it seems really, really dated.

bradavon · Post by **bradavon** » 23 May 2006, 12:39

Does Audrey have a French accent Grim?

I liked Anna Magdelena when I saw it a few years back, odd still only the HK DVD exists.

grim_tales · Post by **grim_tales** » 23 May 2006, 12:45

Yeah she has quite a bit of a French accent IMO and speaks French at various points in the film.

brooce-leroy · Post by **brooce-leroy** » 23 May 2006, 13:58

bradavon wrote:Does Audrey have a French accent Grim?

Why wouldn't she?

Being French and all. Does Arnold Schwarzeneggar have an Austrian accent?

grim_tales · Post by **grim_tales** » 23 May 2006, 15:48

What Brad means is has Audrey's accent been toned down for the film? I think he reported hearing in the trailer Audrey's accent sounded more English than usual.

grim_tales · Post by **grim_tales** » 23 May 2006, 15:49

Mountain Patrol - 3.5/5

Knetan · Post by **Knetan** » 23 May 2006, 16:24

hey,

Nothing more to say about Kekexili, grim?

grim_tales · Post by **grim_tales** » 23 May 2006, 16:42

It wasn't what I expected TBH. It was about one band's attempts to protect the rare Tibetan antelope in the mountains from poachers (based on real events) - strangely it was billed as an action film but there wasn't much action. Its' a very short movie (85 minutes).
Like The Missing Gun, the premise is simple and doesnt look that good on paper but it was a good film

What did you think?

Knetan · Post by **Knetan** » 23 May 2006, 19:05

hey,

yea, marketing people doing their best to spread disinformation about the film. US trailer was very nice though.

Think it's a marvellous film although it clearly takes sides as you clearly see nothing beyond the motives of the poachers when there perhaps is. But Lu Chuan of course focuses on different things in reality so it's not bothersome. Affeceting otherwise on many levels without being manipulative.

thelostdragon · Post by **thelostdragon** » 23 May 2006, 23:39

Why We Fight (USA 1943) - 2/5
Whoa! The first part of a 7-part series of documentaries about World War 2. I have never seen an American documentary from that time. Man, that's clearly propaganda material. The 2 points I gave it was for the historical facts and because from a nowaday point-of-view, it was interesting to see how the people were manipulated back then.

The documentary had a sequence where the narrator explained that the world is actually split into two worlds: "The 'Free World' (us) and the 'Slave World' (them).

It's interesting to see how the same propaganda methods are used nowadays (kind of). I stopped wondering why Joe Public in the USA used to believe (or still does) that there is war all over the world except in America.

grim_tales · Post by **grim_tales** » 24 May 2006, 08:49

Interesting. I dont think I've ever seen documentaries from that time either though I'm familliar with that sort of propaganda (I'm sure we watched that sort of thing at school)

Who's "them"? The Japanese and Nazis I suppose.

grim_tales · Post by **grim_tales** » 24 May 2006, 10:09

Lost S2 Episode 4 (?) "Everybody Hates Hugo" - 4/5

Not many thrills here, but a good character episode for Hurley, he makes me laugh

I liked the dream sequence bit:

Jin (in English): Everything's going to change.
Hurley: Dude, you speak English?
Jin: No, you're speaking Korean.
Hurley (in Korean): What?

Episode 5 ..... And Found - 3.5/5

Again more of a filler epiosde, I did like Mr. Ecko though, Sawyers and Jin's capturers must be fellow survicors from the back of the plane rather than the dreaded "Others" I think

Yujin Kim (sp?) (Sun) is beautiful IMO

thelostdragon · Post by **thelostdragon** » 24 May 2006, 11:45

grim_tales wrote:Who's "them"? The Japanese and Nazis I suppose.

No, according to the documentary it's all the world except the USA.

grim_tales · Post by **grim_tales** » 24 May 2006, 11:52

Including its allies? TBH that doesn't make sense, interesting though.

grim_tales · Post by **grim_tales** » 25 May 2006, 10:05

TinTin -

The Castiafore Emerald - 3.5/5

Flight 714 - 4/5

TinTin and the Picaros - 3.5/5

Blackadder S1 Episodes 1-3 .... 3/5

thelostdragon · Post by **thelostdragon** » 26 May 2006, 00:21

X-Men 3 - 3.5/5
Would easily have been a 4/5, but Halle Berry trying to steal the show from everybody here made me decrease the rating. They should have worked without her if you ask me. She refused to work on the film unless she was given more screen presence with more dialogue and only if she got to fly. WTF??? God damn the jury that gave her an Academy Award and made her so snobbish.

Wolverine was awesome as usual.

Also, make sure you stay until the credits are over. You'll find a little surprise.

the68monkey · Post by **the68monkey** » 26 May 2006, 00:43

grim_tales wrote:Yujin Kim (sp?) (Sun) is beautiful IMO

Yes, Kim Yoon-jin is lovely. If you'd like to see her in a larger role, you need to watch Shiri, if you haven't already.

I think there's a smuttier little film she stars in called Ardor, but I never bothered watching it (for obvious reasons

)

tom2681 · Post by **tom2681** » 26 May 2006, 00:51

She was awesome in "Legend of Gingko" as well.

dragonhero005 · Post by **dragonhero005** » 26 May 2006, 10:23

One Hour Photo (USA 2002)

Wow! What an interesting movie. Very intelligent... and with a great acting performance by Robin Williams. I´ve never seen him in such a serious role before.

5/5

grim_tales · Post by **grim_tales** » 26 May 2006, 11:07

I've seen Shiri 68M, I have it

Thanks BTW, I havent seen the other films she's in.

grim_tales · Post by **grim_tales** » 26 May 2006, 17:12

Henry's Cat - Season 2 - 2/5

Popular show from when I was a nipper (in the 80's). Series of shorts produced/animated/narrated by Bob Godfrey about a greedy cat, with very low budget pen/ink animation akin to Roobarb and Custard from the '70's. Initially I found it nostalgic and charming in a "I remember that!" sort of way, with classic episodes like "The Magic Tummy Button" and "The Secret Weapon" but it quickly got annoying despite the surreal humour.

thelostdragon · Post by **thelostdragon** » 27 May 2006, 01:37

Metade Fumaca - 3.5/5
What a shame, I expected more. BUt it was a very good film. Nicolas Tse is in my opinion still very underrated by Western critiques.

What does the title refer to? Is it Portuguese?

Why does Smokey start crying when his mother tells him his father is a cop?

Markgway · Post by **Markgway** » 27 May 2006, 02:05

thelostdragon wrote:What does the title refer to? Is it Portuguese?

If memory serves me correctly it means "half-smoked" in Portuguese.

I liked the film a lot.

dragonhero005 · Post by **dragonhero005** » 28 May 2006, 10:25

Seven Samurai

What a shame I saw this classic for the first time yesterday...

It truely deserves it´s high reputation.
I´m sure I´ll watch more of Kurosawa´s movies in the next time!

5/5