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

bradavon · Post by **bradavon** » 19 Nov 2007, 00:24

Amores Perros is grittier and is made on a smaller budget but it's equally as powerful. The smaller budget doesn't hurt it though. It's more raw than 21 Grams which is saying something when 21 Grams is very raw too. It's a tough one which I prefer Amores Perros or 21 Grams, both are as you say excellent. I'd even say outstanding.

I saw Amores Perros at the cinema before anyone had heard of Alejandro González Iñárritu. It blow me away. Amores Perros is also special to me as it introduced me (and the world) to Gael García Bernal for the first time. Man that guy is an outstanding actor.

Babel is also very good but it is a wee bit pretentious. It's still definitely very good though, the Japanese section alone is so powerful. It's really annoying the HD version is barebones. Shame on Paramount for not re-releasing it like they did the R1 DVD.

When you buy Amores Perros make sure you pick up the R1. There is an SE but in reality it just has a slightly fancier cover and something silly like 2 featurettes dropped and 1 added. In short pick up either R1.

Both the UK R2 or R4 are barebones or lose lots of the extras I forget. The R1 is surprisingly stacked for a Alejandro González Iñárritu film. With a Spanish subtitled commentary and more.

gasteropod · Post by **gasteropod** » 19 Nov 2007, 00:28

Hey, I'll probably be getting the R2 so that when I get an HDTV again, I can pop it in my PS3 to be upscaled. R1 DVDs looked awful played through my DVD player to my HDTV, and also couldn't have 1:1 pixel mapping. Even the colours looked washed out.

saltysam · Post by **saltysam** » 19 Nov 2007, 02:02

Carnivale season 1 eps. 9-12 4/5

Absolutely tremendous series with a quite surprising climax. super performances and the dustbowl era of the 30's is brilliantly realised. the characters love their sex as well

will have to buy the 2nd series,will have to get the region 1 as the region 2 is apparently a standards converted mess.

Balls Of Fury 1/5

it's hard to imagine a movie with Christopher Walken & the gorgeous Maggie Q could be all bad but this stinker is. an unfunny comedy hybrid mixing ping pong with enter the dragon i think i smiled once in the whole movie.A career low for all concerned,it's a shame to see how far Jason Scott Lee has fallen,he has a small role as a henchman here. watch out for the end credits where maggie,walken and the rest of the cast jam to the rock classic "pour some sugar on me"

it's embarrassing.

Markgway · Post by **Markgway** » 19 Nov 2007, 03:22

Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom 2.5/5

Doesn't hold up as well as the films which bookend it. Lots of action set-pieces and excitement, but the script is weak, and Kate Capshaw is annoying.

Yi-Long · Post by **Yi-Long** » 19 Nov 2007, 03:31

bradavon wrote:Don't tell me you actually bought Ong-bak on DVD?

Dont tell me you didnt remember me already mentioning that about a hundred times before already...

Did you try DRC? (Dynamic Range Compression). It maybe called "Night Mode" on your Amp or DVD Player. Some TVs have it too.

It reduces the volume of things like explosions without affect speech etc... It works really well and can be really handy.

I play my DVDs mostly through my XBox, which sadly doesnt have sucha feature. I'll check and see if my cheap-ass region-free dvd player has that function though, cause that sounds like the perfect solution.

Add to that the fact that the english speaking people werent subtitled.
As it's a British DVD I'd hope it to be that way.

Myeah... but there are lots of british dvds which also have english subs for the english speaking people. So I would have preferred the same here.
I mean, there are also dutch movies where some people/characters are hard to understand, even when you speak the same language. Usually it's a little problem with the taped audio, or it's just the fault of the actor mumbling, or whatever. I just prefer english subs for all spoken words

EvaUnit02 · Post by **EvaUnit02** » 19 Nov 2007, 05:42

Yi-Long wrote:I play my DVDs mostly through my XBox, which sadly doesnt have sucha feature. I'll check and see if my cheap-ass region-free dvd player has that function though, cause that sounds like the perfect solution.

You're likely to find such a feature on your amp. It might be called quiet or midnight mode.

HungFist · Post by **HungFist** » 19 Nov 2007, 13:18

The Devil's Rejects (2005) – 2,5/5
This would be real easy to hate, and won’t work the least bit if you do, but I’d be lying if I said I didn’t enjoy the utterly confusing and viewer hostile good / evil composition. The beginning doesn’t offer anything but repulsive psychopaths to deal with, but it’s only during the latter half when Zombie really starts to fuck with the audience. There’s a lot of humour too, but laughs tend get stuck in your throat. On the minus side the first half is indeed a bit hard to endure, even if it grounds the finale. The ending is a classic.

Wolf Creek (2005) – 4/5
Lacks originality but it doesn’t hurt the film too much as this combines 70's terror and best parts of modern cinematography very effectively. The characters are exceptionally good, and the director does excellent job introducing them before turning the horror circus on. As a result you feel for the characters, and that’s what makes this film more powerful than 98% of the other genre stuff.

Revenge of the Ninja (1983) – 3/5
I didn’t know americans could produce a good ninja film, but here we have it. Very funny, very cool, and with a proper mix of style and clumsiness. Action scenes could be a bit gorier, though.

bradavon · Post by **bradavon** » 19 Nov 2007, 15:19

Yi-Long wrote:Dont tell me you didnt remember me already mentioning that about a hundred times before already...

What happened to "I'll never buy it, the bootleggers did a better job?"

Yi-Long wrote:I play my DVDs mostly through my XBox, which sadly doesnt have sucha feature. I'll check and see if my cheap-ass region-free dvd player has that function though, cause that sounds like the perfect solution.

I find it works really well. I'm surprised the Xbox doesn't have it when I've seen it on the cheapest DVD Players. Both my DVD Players have it but I don't use it on that as it's just ON or OFF. My Amp has the ability to increase the DRC from 1 to 10 or OFF.

I find anything higher than 7 it's really noticeable. Have you checked your TV or Amp settings?

Yi-Long wrote:Myeah... but there are lots of british dvds which also have english subs for the english speaking people. So I would have preferred the same here.

If there is two subtitle streams which is unlikely fine but if they only offer one then I wouldn't. It's first and foremost a DVD meant for the English speaking audience. If a film has more than one language it annoys me when subtitles also appear for English. I can understand why on non-Brit/Yank etc... DVDs though.

Yi-Long wrote:I mean, there are also dutch movies where some people/characters are hard to understand, even when you speak the same language.

I find the same with English as you describe but it's rare so I just rewind until I understand it and if I don't then so be it. It's normally only 1-2 lines.

Knetan · Post by **Knetan** » 19 Nov 2007, 18:24

hey,

Magic Of Spell 4/5

Delightful Taiwan fantasy madness in the sequel to Child of Peach, a live action movie but as much a cartoon come to life featuring the character of Peach Boy (played by a woman!). Some lagging pace initially and silly slapstick is soon ejected in favour in extensive battles amidst animated special effects. See skeletons, wizards and demons try and battle Peach Boy but the 20 minute+ finale holds the most highlights as we're introduced to his friends Doggy, Chicken, Monkey and Ginseng Boy. Wild, colourful and highly creative on a budget.

Shingster · Post by **Shingster** » 19 Nov 2007, 19:32

saltysam wrote: Carnivale season 1 eps. 9-12 4/5

Absolutely tremendous series with a quite surprising climax. super performances and the dustbowl era of the 30's is brilliantly realised. the characters love their sex as well will have to buy the 2nd series,will have to get the region 1 as the region 2 is apparently a standards converted mess.

A good time to do so, Amazon.com are selling it for $23.99. If you thought the first season was good, wait til you see this one!

saltysam · Post by **saltysam** » 19 Nov 2007, 20:18

Ratatouille (blu-ray) 4/5

Another superb pixar movie,stunningly animated throughout. the blu-ray transfer is jaw-dropping fantastic. if i could level a criticism it would be that it suffers the same fate as the last few pixar movies,the movie is about 15 minutes too long.

gasteropod · Post by **gasteropod** » 19 Nov 2007, 21:02

Sadly it's Region A

saltysam · Post by **saltysam** » 19 Nov 2007, 22:35

gasteropod wrote:Sadly it's Region A

yep,not surprised though given it's staggered release dates.it's only just reached uk cinemas.no doubt the eventual uk release will be regionfree.

BiscLimpkit · Post by **BiscLimpkit** » 20 Nov 2007, 00:09

Nana 2/5
Personally I felt that the content was way too feeble to justify the over-serious melodramatic approach. Felt way too diluted.

Beowulf 3D 3.5/5
Aye tbh, I think the 2D version of this film would be mediocre at best. It was made for 3D. Suprisingly more violent than I expected. Ass, blood and guts for everyone.

Ratatouille 4/5
Another Pixar marvel. Amusing opening short as well.

My Neighbour Totoro 4.5/5
A splendid Ghibli - one of my favs. The whole "through the eyes of a child" thing is an absolute treat.

Eastern Promises 4/5
This is my third Cronenberg (after History of Violence and eXistenZ). They've all been awesome. I have faith in this director.

Gregory's Girl 3.5/5
Nostalgic little comedy from home - gave me goosebumps.

Stardust 4/5
Cute little fantasy film. One that's good for the family I think, and not just kids alone.

Kill Bill Vol. 1 Japanese Uncut DVD 4.5/5
Brilliant fusion of Asian extreme cinema. This is the first time I've watched the uncut version and I noticed the differences straight away. I prefer this to the US/UK version anyway. Yes I know it's a rip-off of about a million films but what isn't these days?

Kill Bill Vol. 2 Japanese Uncut DVD 4/5
I guess this features less of the Asian influences and concentrates more on westerns and noir. A good conclusion to the Kill Bill saga, although the Pai Mei chapter is a little out of place. I know it has to be in Vol. 2 for everything to make sense but it would've been nice so that all martial arts were in Vol. 1 and everything else in Vol. 2.

grim_tales · Post by **grim_tales** » 20 Nov 2007, 08:50

Live at the Apollo: Jimmy Carr/Alan Carr: 3/5

Generally funny but some near the knuckle gags.

Sesame St. Old School Vol 1: 3.5/5

bradavon · Post by **bradavon** » 20 Nov 2007, 16:12

Alan Carr was funnier. He cracks me up.

Knetan · Post by **Knetan** » 20 Nov 2007, 17:52

hey,

The Angry River 4/5

Early Golden Harvest production and combining expected genre content with some well-honed instincts for atmosphere. Regular GH director Wong Fung (Hap Ki Do, Lady Whirlwind) gets us on board as Angela Mao has to evade traps (in the titular river among other things) during her quest for a black herb said to be able to cure her father. Along the way there is a sense that this martial arts world is quite dark, filled with ghosts, dread and being able to achieve this atmosphere for real, it doesn't matter that he starts moving away from it to deliver lots of fun with swords and gore. Best and most exhilarating bit being when Angela Mao chops Han Ying Chieh's head off and a fountain of blood follows.

HungFist · Post by **HungFist** » 20 Nov 2007, 20:53

The Sopranos - 5/5
I can stop watching TV now.

saltysam · Post by **saltysam** » 20 Nov 2007, 20:59

five element ninja 4/5

classic shaws movie at last gets a decent uncut widescreen release.a non stop actioner from start to finish featuring the venoms.

grim_tales · Post by **grim_tales** » 21 Nov 2007, 09:10

Brotherhood of the Wolf: 3.5/5

On paper, the film is a confused mess of genres, gothic horror, costume drama, mystery and martial arts (martial arts especially - who knew MA in 18th century France?) - and it starts off a slow burner. But I enjoyed it. Very stylish, good fun

BiscLimpkit · Post by **BiscLimpkit** » 21 Nov 2007, 11:38

Which version did you watch? The theatrical or the longer director's cut?

grim_tales · Post by **grim_tales** » 21 Nov 2007, 11:41

Theatrical.. I think.

bradavon · Post by **bradavon** » 21 Nov 2007, 13:59

Which DVD did you watch? That will tell you. I saw it in the cinema and though it was okay, mostly a mess though as you elude to. I do need to give it another chance, on HD now.

grim_tales · Post by **grim_tales** » 21 Nov 2007, 15:07

Old UK R2.

bradavon · Post by **bradavon** » 21 Nov 2007, 15:20

That would be the Theatrical Cut then with only French Dolby Surround Sound. English got DD5.1 :shock: