Movie Review thread.

[Dondrei]

I'm suddenly feeling not so bad about the fact that I'm ... errr... shall we say, "securing myself a complimentary viewing" of OotP. The last couple of Harry Potter movies have been spectacularly uninspiring, as has been pointed out; The amount they've had to cut out of the movies to make them fit in the two hour time frame made them not particularly appealing to me.

Also, Dondrei, I read through OotP again recently, and the only reasons I can possibly come up with for your hatred of the book are potential psychological reasons. It's easy to hate Umbridge through the entire thing, for one, which ruins a lot of the book, as it becomes not a "Harry must overcome some problem with himself" deal, or even a "Harry has to deal with some Voldemort problem" deal, but a "My life is pain!!!11!! We must fight the ministry!" deal. He strikes me as a little more emo in that book than the others.

The emoness and the Umbridge-making-everything-miserable thing is one problem, but it's not one of the major reasons I hate the book. Don't make me start or I won't be able to stop, basically I hate everything about it. The only good thing about it was that it introduced Tonks and Luna.

Like my friend said, Harry Potter would have been a good mini series, but as movies? Not so good. Not unless they go the Lord of the Rings route, and actually manage to put everything that's important in the movies.

Please.

And Harry Potter is a book and that's that, some books can be feasibly adapted in one way or another but there are some that are real books' books, they're so tightly tied to their original medium they lose everything in the translation.

I saw the first two HP movies. The first one was good then the sequel went downhill IMO. Never saw another one nor will I ever. Even the books lost their appeal for my son.

Cube

I had this movie tucked in my huge dvd rack for ages and just watched it. I really liked it. The acting was horrid but the idea was fresh at the time. Saw 2 so ripped off this movie it isn't even funny.

The premise is 6 people wake up in a structure called the Cube. Rooms that are boobie trapped. There is a way to figure out how to get out but it takes the resources of all to figure it out. It came out way before Saw 2. I have even less respect for that movie now since it totally ripped off another movie.

Decent enough flick, I will watch the sequels from Netflix. I heard they weren't that great but I have to see for myself.

Cube was okay, ending sucked though. I went in with low expectations but was pleasantly surprised for the most part. I never saw the sequels, I figure they can only be terrible.

[MYK]

American Psycho ~ 99/99

This movie has it all. Killing, blonds, chainsaw throwing, stray cats being fed to atms. Plus, it has Christian Bale! That's like 100,000lbs of icing on the 80 mile tall cake.

[zodiac66]

I am looking forward to Carved (it was originally called Slit Mouthed Woman..why the name change is beyond me). Another J-Horror gem that will be released next month.

Trailer

Reminds me of the game Clocktower. Those games scared the pee out of me.

[zodiac66]

Cube was okay, ending sucked though. I went in with low expectations but was pleasantly surprised for the most part. I never saw the sequels, I figure they can only be terrible.

Cube 2 sure did.

My next movies are:

Behind the Mask: The Rise of Leslie Vernon

Three... Extremes

and..

Pink Flamingos. I have never, ever seen this and have heard it was one of the most disturbing movies ever.

[Ash Housewares]

Pink Flamingos. I have never, ever seen this and have heard it was one of the most disturbing movies ever.

yea, have fun with that, I know what I'd like to see, and I know what I don't need to see

[Yaboosh]

Zodi, what do you really get out of really disturbing movies? Is it straight entertainment? A bizarre/morbid fascination, or curiosity? Most movies of that type just turn me way off and give me nothing positive out of watching them.

[Sir EvilFreeSmeg]

Shooter
2/10

First of all they screwed up with the timeline. Swagger was a Vietnam sniper. Changing that instantly renders the chance of making the rest of the books into movies impossible.

Second, they didn't even come close to making Swagger as ornery as the book. Dammit, Swagger is a hardass backwoods man, not some technology using hick.

Third, they didn't even come close to making the bad guys as bad as they really were. Without that there was no sense of just how nasty the whole situation truly was.

Forth, while they did the firearms bit well, where the hell was the 10th Black King? That was the key. That and Annex "B". Without the need for those driving both Swagger and Memphis there was just an empty hole in the story.

Fifth, no Sam Vincent, no proper ending to the movie.

Had I not read the books this movie would have been a good one. But knowing how good it could have been, it was a real letdown. We'll never see Lamar Pye or Trig Carter or Frenchy. It's both sad and pathetic.

[Yaboosh]

I am currently watching The Professional, and I am struck by the strange sexuality that surrounds the Portman character. It makes me feel uncomfortable watching it, and it is interesting, because I imagine that this is how Leon feels as he is confronted by the advances of his way too young protege. Though with Leon, he seems stunted in his emotional growth by his need to suspend all emotions to do his job, and while he can handle the relationship when it is straight work (once more suspending his emotions), once the down time comes, he is confronted with the attempt at sexuality that Mathilda exudes, longing to be the adult she needs to be to survive on her own.

Whether she is using her sexuality as a tool in order to survive or she is just confused and imitating what she saw on the street to blend in seems unclear. But what you have is someone who is seemingly lacking in real world experience but at least has become good at pretending like she has some sort of emotional experience. She is paired with the man who has all sorts of real world experience, someone who knows how to survive. When Mathilda begins expressing interest in Leon, he is confronted with the strange feelings he has felt around her. He is not necessarily attracted to the preteen, but he has NOTICED her sexuality, and this, of course, runs counter to most mores in most societies.

The main point of the movie in developing the character of Mathilda in this way, with such strong sexual overtones, seems lost on me. It seems like the writers wanted to make Lolita an action film, but not go so far as to have the characters put into a sexual relationship. Perhaps it was an attempt to avoid the standard cliches in action films, I do not know.

The emotions seem as lost as the two main characters. Perhaps that is the point of all of the attack on society's mores. It is an enjoyable enough movie, but it is simply perplexing the purpose of the little girl's sexuality.

[Dondrei]

Pink Flamingos and Léon sound interesting.

[Dondrei]

The Lost Boys

Wow, what a weird movie. I had a blast. It's a pity Alex Winter didn't get any lines... Corey Feldman was awesome though.

I swear to God a brief scene was shot in the same place as the Niagra Falls scene in Superman II, I wonder if that was Richard Donner's doing.