Movie Review thread.

[memememe173]

Corrected myself here. I misunderstood your post I guess. But I can't make a clear judgement on the book-to-movie translation. It's been a while since I've read the books. And I still need to read the last published one as well. I may be reading them all over in time, but not anywhere near this or next year.

As for that Tonks part, I'm not sure what you mean here: she has a more prominent role in the movies than in the book or vice versa? I don't recall there being much attention for that Order of the Phoenix in the book, but for some reason Tonks is lifted out a bit in the movie.

And though I agree that battle between Dumbledore and Voldemort was a bit unrealistic, I don't think they tried to look like another epic/famous battle. I think it worked out pretty good actually, except for the part where you can almost see the calf of Dumbledore. That really made me a bit nauseous.

I ment that from what I heard from other people around the time of the movie's theatre release, I thought Tonks showed up more in the movie than it turned out.

I didn't mean that they copied choreoghaphy or anything, just that it gave me the feeling of some of the Star Wars jedi battles, and added a bit of silliness to a dramatic moment.

[Dondrei]

Everyone had a larger role in the film, what you're seeing is a heavily abbreviated version of the book. Hell, Luna has so little screen time you hardly even realise she's supposed to be loopy.

Harry Potter 5

They seem to be getting progressively worse. Why do the best actors get the least screen time? Is Helena Bonham Carter getting typecast now?

What do you mean now?

I know what you mean about relative screen time. Although all the movies have been as limp as a vegetable at an English dinner table.

Yeah, I found myself wondering the same thing. Also in Big Fish iirc. Well she is pretty good at that role, so I don't blame them for casting her.
During the movie we were discussing which was the best actor, we thought Snape, but he had more screentime then Vold.......He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named so that would be unfair. But without those two the movie would've been average at best. I agree that the movies keep getting better (not too hard if you start pretty low).

Alan Rickman has been putting in nothing but lazy, tired performances lately. He used to act with such sneering relish. It's like he's sick of himself.

Keep meaning to watch Big Fish, can never really be bothered. Burton has fallen so far, I used to love him to bits but his recent stuff has been really flat.

[Lazer LXXVII]

Alvin and the Chipmunks (2007)
Rating: 5/10
Fun: 4/10

A man who writes music finds three chipmunks who can sing and writes music for them, his manager steals them and makes them big rock stars and the chipmunks miss their old home.

The first half hour of the movie is really funny actually, the voices of the chipmunks are hilarious, the things they do, everything was just really funny and cute. But then the novelty wears off throughout the movie, the first 30-40 minutes are amazing, and then it just turns into the same old thing throughout the entire movie and it gets really boring. Its a pretty good children's movie, but the novelty wore off and then it just got really boring.

[Lazer LXXVII]

American Gangster (2007)
Rating: 10/10
Fun: 9/10

The true story about the 1970's NYC drug lord, Frank Lucas. A man native to North Carolina runs his own heroine business, he sells better quality stuff for cheaper, and makes a fortune, he brings his family in from North Carolina to help with his business and to give them a better life. A New Jersey cop is determined to take Frank Lucas down, unlike the NYC cops who are fueling the drug business.

The movie is almost 3 hours long, but somehow they make it fly by, the story just hooks you and has you going the entire time. The acting from both Denzel Washington and Russell Crowe is amazing, both worthy of awards. Overall its a rather slow movie portraying his drug business, no huge scenes that last for more than 3 minutes except for one, but overall its just an amazing movie. Highly recommended to everyone.


August Rush (2007)
Rating: 7/10
Fun: 7/10

A young orphan boy runs away from his orphanage to find his parents who left him at birth. His father was a big rock star, his mother was part of an orchestra. He falls into the wrong hands of a man who exploits children's talents for money. But the child continues to search for his parents.

It was actually pretty good, really original story. I mean it wasnt anything that stood way out from other movies, but it was good. My biggest complaint is how the movie ended so abruptly.

[buttershug]

Alvin and the Chipmunks (2007)
Rating: 5/10
Fun: 4/10

A man who writes music finds three chipmunks who can sing and writes music for them, his manager steals them and makes them big rock stars and the chipmunks miss their old home.

The first half hour of the movie is really funny actually, the voices of the chipmunks are hilarious, the things they do, everything was just really funny and cute. But then the novelty wears off throughout the movie, the first 30-40 minutes are amazing, and then it just turns into the same old thing throughout the entire movie and it gets really boring. Its a pretty good children's movie, but the novelty wore off and then it just got really boring.

The novelty wore off before you were even born.

[pancakeman]

Keep meaning to watch Big Fish, can never really be bothered. Burton has fallen so far, I used to love him to bits but his recent stuff has been really flat.

Do it. Quite interesting movie, and funny at parts. Carl alone is worth seeing, just because he is so great.

[Dondrei]

The novelty wore off before you were even born.

Exactly.

And I hate these ****ing movies that seem to be made just because "hey, we could do this stuff with CGI now!".

That is, most of them.

[Lazer LXXVII]

Well since i kind of disappeared from the board, here are reviews that i can remember.

The Kingdom (2007)
Rating: 7/10
Fun: 4/10

Saudi terrorists attack Americans in an American housing complex killing over 100 people in the attack. A group of FBI agents are dispatched to Saudi Arabia to work with "the kingdom" to figure out who was the mastermind behind the attacks, and how to get him in custody.

Overall i thought it was pretty good. The worst part about the movie is the god awful pace, it starts out pretty fast, then everything literally slows down to next to nothing throughout the ENTIRE movie, and then the big action sequence at the end. The acting was pretty good, the plot was pretty good, but it was really dragged out. Although the last two lines in the entire movie made it extremely powerful, i dont want to spoil it, but i guess you have to see the movie, the last two lines of the movie just hit me really hard. Overall decent movie, a good rental at most. I saw it in theaters awhile back, and i just saw it again on DVD.



The Golden Compass (2007)
Rating: 4/10
Fun: 4/10

In some far away galaxy where the human "soul" takes the form of an animal that walks beside the person. Many children have been missing from a small area and they have their "souls" (animals) stripped away. A young orphan girl stumbles across a golden compass that tells the truth about everything, and she looks to find the missing children. She comes across a polar bear who was the next polar bear king but he lost his position, and they work together.

Uh, i dont know how the put it. The trailers made it seem really cool, but the movie itself was eh. Like the first half of the movie you have no clue whats going on because its badly explained and its not really that entertaining, then once you figure things out, you realize its not that interesting anyway. Overall its a dull and complicated movie thats not worth figuring out. Then again i will probably see the next two Golden Compass movies just because i want to see what happens, go figure. I dont really recommend this to anyone unless you're a fan of super-fantasy crap like Harry Potter, or if you enjoyed the books. Just dont judge off the attractive previews.



Enchanted (2007)
Rating: 8/10
Fun: 6/10

An evil witch sends a beautiful princess from fairy tale land to the real world, her prince chases after her to find her and marry her. The witch sends a goon into the real world to make sure that doesnt happen. The princess comes across a man who lets her stay in his home, and they become friends.

Personally i thought it was great. I was looking forward to it because it looked like it would have the old Disney feel, and it did. The plot was neat, the songs were fun, and overall it was a good movie. My biggest complaint is that it went from a really fun and upbeat movie to a really slow mushy romance somewhere along the lines, and thats when it started to lose my attention. But as a whole it was a great movie. Any old Disney fan would enjoy it, i just gave it a bit of a low fun rating because the romantic parts just started to make get bored.



Shoot 'Em Up (2007)
Rating: 7/10
Fun: 10/10

A homeless man with no family, no friends is sitting on a bench when he sees a pregnant woman being chased by a man trying to kill her and the baby. He follows them and saves the baby and the mother does not make it. He finds out there is a hitman trying to kill the baby for an undisclosed reason, so he tries to find it a new home. He brings it to a prostitute hoping she will take care of it, but the hitman is in pursuit trying to kill the man, the prostitute, and the baby.

Alright first off. This is not a serious movie, if you saw Crank, this is the same type of movie. Its not intended to be funny, but its so ridiculous that you'll be cracking up the ENTIRE way. I mean the violence is over the top, the way people die is hilarious, the weapons used is hilarious (death by carrots?), the plot is hilarious, its just a popcorn action flick. If you dont mind how ridiculously stupid this movie is and can watch it just to have a good time, you cant go wrong. Its an extremely fun movie, ill probably buy it when it comes out just because its so insane.



The Game Plan (2007)
Rating: 7/10
Fun: 6/10

A very famous football star finds out that he has a daughter that he doesnt know about. She moves in with her newfound dad and they attempt to bond.

Its a pretty good family movie, you'll laugh at some parts, and its not as terrible as i was expecting. As a family movie its amazing, one of the bests. But as a movie in general, i dont know, i found it average. I wasnt bored out of my mind or anything, but its not my type.

[LonghornRob]

Shoot 'Em Up (2007)
Rating: 7/10
Fun: 10/10

A homeless man with no family, no friends is sitting on a bench when he sees a pregnant woman being chased by a man trying to kill her and the baby. He follows them and saves the baby and the mother does not make it. He finds out there is a hitman trying to kill the baby for an undisclosed reason, so he tries to find it a new home. He brings it to a prostitute hoping she will take care of it, but the hitman is in pursuit trying to kill the man, the prostitute, and the baby.

Alright first off. This is not a serious movie, if you saw Crank, this is the same type of movie. Its not intended to be funny, but its so ridiculous that you'll be cracking up the ENTIRE way. I mean the violence is over the top, the way people die is hilarious, the weapons used is hilarious (death by carrots?), the plot is hilarious, its just a popcorn action flick. If you dont mind how ridiculously stupid this movie is and can watch it just to have a good time, you cant go wrong. Its an extremely fun movie, ill probably buy it when it comes out just because its so insane.

Agreed. I feel for the people that went into that movie expecting realism.

[Dondrei]

Million Dollar Baby

I dunno, personally I thought it was okay, had its faults (that stuff with the priest really should've hit the cutting room floor for instance, and the skinny white boxer too) but basically entertaining. A bit corny and predictable though.

A lot of people objected to the way the plot takes a sudden sharp turn, it didn't really bother me that much but I can see what they mean. It doesn't quite feel natural, it's not a plot twist but more like it starts off as one movie and then decides to be a completely different one. It doesn't really work.

But, well, if you accept its flaws it's not unentertaining.