becaue thats the type of thing, Teenage/eary 20's boys do. or at least that what they did 15 years ago. you know abandoned buildings, contruction sites, remote hiking trails, ect....

Monty :-/


Finally I saw AVP, (Alien vrs preditor) last night on FX. it was not bad.

Also I finially say OPen Season last night and Barnyard today.
both of those were good, I liked them better than Cars.

Monty :-/

no, no, i meant the little five year olds during the fire

sorry, I must have flaked :wiltshock:

Monty:-/

I watched the new TMNT movie again. Still good the second go around.

I finally got myself to sit down and watch Pirates 2. Now I can't wait for Pirates 3!8D

28 Weeks Later

A surprisingly excellent sequel, I'd heard about this movie for years but considering it was a different director, made so many years afterwards, I honestly didn't have any high expectations for this movie.

But I saw it and I loved it, much better then the first one which had some dry parts and a butt backwards weird second half with the military thing. This was much better executed, intense violence, amazing music, and a great film all in all.

I saw Meet the Robinsons on Sunday! :0



Oh Snap. :o

Death Hunt

Charles Bronson killing people in the Yukon. Gritty stuff.

Charlotte?s Web (the new live action version)

E.B. White?s novel was always something very near and dear to my heart as a nipper, and all things considered I thought this was a pretty good adaptation. Let?s get one thing straight though ? Charlotte?s Web is no Babe, and I don?t think the mighty sheep-herder has anything to fear in regard to maintaining his position as the king of all talking pig movies. One of the things that made Babe so supreme was that, in addition to having lots of warmth and heart, it had a charmingly-observed sense of quirkiness, which was sorely lacking here. Plus, none of the human characters here were as awesome as Farmer Hoggett (who, in my eyes, remains one of the great cinematic figures of all time ;D ). But nonetheless, this film met most of my expectations.

I hadn?t been certain what to expect from Julia Roberts as the vocals of Charlotte the spider, but I think she worked out surprisingly well. I knew, of course, that Steve Buscemi would be great as Templeton the rat, and he certainly didn?t let me down. And, no matter how determined I may have been not to, I still wound up crying at that darned ending. That last line about being a true friend and a good writer?no matter which version I?m hearing it from - the book, the 70s animated film, and now this flick -it never fails to get my eyeballs watering. :'(

Shadow of the Vampire

A magnificent film that very few people actually have heard of, much less seen. It always amazes me how distubringly original this movie is. Taking a real life situation and story about infamous director FW Murnau trying to make Nosferatu being denied Dracula, then exaggerating it with a REAL vampire. I always find myself loving this movie each time I watch it.

The acting is spectacular in this movie and the writing is even more brilliant. Special props and priase to mad man Willem Dafoe, who personally if you ask me, gives his greatest performance ever in this movie. Even better then his portrayal of Green Goblin in Spider-Man.

that is a great flick, Mr. Marshmallow, i saw that movie on IFC a few years back. I bought Nosferatu shortly thereafter.

Shrek the Third. Was OK. Not as good as the first and second.

Evolution

and earlier I watched a REAL old school alien movie...

Day of the Triffids

The Triffids were not aliens! They were an early experiment in bio-engineering and looked a little like this:

http://s127.photobucket.com/albums/p...rrent=Amo4.jpg

Though that also looks a bit like the head of G'kar from B5, who was an alien.

Yeh that movie was terrible, it got everything wrong but then so did the movie versions of War of the Worlds though the later one did have some top-notch honking in it.

Last film I saw was one of those Land Before Time things and I only really caught the last 20 minutes. Some of the animation of panicking small reptiles was good and I must say they all sang very nicely but overall I think Terminator was better.

Well the movie sure made them sound alien, I thought it said they were brought in by meteorites then mutated by the second shower by the start of the movie. In anycase, I thought it was pretty decent for an old old OLD ass monster movie. My dad saw it years ago and found it for a buck at a garage sale.

Pretty good find considering the rarity of the film. I also really liked the remake of Worlds. It really nailed the "freaked out" humanity vibe and everything felt gloom and doomy just like in ID4, and Dawn of the Dead remake, how everything just felt bad around you. Plus those vaporizer rays were really chilling.

I admit the sub plot with Tim Robbins was off putting, which is a shame because he's a good actor.

Btw,

The last movie I watched was Small Soldiers, a REALLY good movie which alot of people REALLY disliked.

pokemon 4ever

ok this is offically the weirdest movie ever. me and my brother spent the last hour and a half laughing at its stupidity. think about it. THE DARK BALL.. done in first movie. and sorta done in pokemon collouseium. then, of course, the water dies. fun for all! the celebi dies, shrivels up instantly. thats just great. then they bring it back to life. yay! so while its celebrating, the iron-mask guy comes out of the water (best part) and starts choking, CHOKING, the small, little, celebi.

oh yeah, did you see those stupid things little sammy used as pokeballs? and team rocket fell off a branch and did nothing of importance, like always. and little sammy and ash ate fourty-year old bread.

overall, i laughed the entire time. nothing made sense, and this movie made more sense than half the other pokemon movies. thats my standpoint.

Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End.

It was a sold out show, but what did I expect? And I don't care what the critics say. I loved this movie:P

I totally agree, I have no idea where the critics are coming from in most of their reviews, because I personally thought this movie was just plain fun from first frame to last. I enjoyed watching Depp and Rush's characters play off of each other again, and this movie did exactly what a closing act in a trilogy should do, tie up all the loose ends while leaving things slightly open for future installments.

And how can I hate a movie with...

Spoiler Below

Aww, I still have to wait a couple of weeks for Pirates; it doesn't come out until mid-June here in China, and even then I think it'll have a few cuts made to it. :macwor: Still, I shouldn't complain; sometimes the Chinese release of foreign movies doesn't occur until months later, whilst others (including Dead Man's Chest) just get banned altogther, usually for the most ridiculous reasons. At least I'm not missing out.

I am rather looking forward to it, actually; I just rewatched the first two back-to-back, and I must say that I enjoyed them more than I'd expected. Both films are loud, broadly played and feature some pretty flabby storytelling, but they can also be steadfastly relied upon for some spectacular action, genuinely funny humour, wonderful visuals and all-around solid entertainment. Curse of the Black Pearl remains much the purer and better of the two films, thanks to its lack of pretensions, more focused narrative and its fantastically fun hero-villain axis od Johnny Depp and Geoffrey Rush. Dead Man's Chest, in its attempts to retool this simple swashbuckler as a fantasy epic, feels a little confused at times, a little less sure of what its purpose is, which is perhaps why the already undisciplined pacing often goes further out-of-kilter with wildly indulgent detours; the cannibal island section is wonderful fun, but in terms of plot structure it's really excessive. There's still some fantastic stuff here, though; even though Davy Jones isn't as dynamic or fun a villain as Barbossa, I could still watch him all day, partially because Bill Nighy plays him so well and partially because he and his crew are such brilliant designs, but mostly because he's so realised with such flawless, photoreal and as-yet peerless effects. And it's got a genuinely tantalising cliffhanger to boot, the outcome of which I look forward to seeing soon...:D

Still haven't seen the third, but I will simply because I'm a completist and I feel obligated.

You know I actually loved the first one, until I kept hearing about it constantly. It was like being stuck in 97 but instead of Myers it was Depp. I was ready to strangle anyone who said, "But why is the rum gone?"

I honestly don't get the love for this series. In many geek circles, people are saying it surpasses any other action/adventure movie before it. Yes, including Star Wars and Indiana Jones.

On top of that the popularity of the film is spreading like a cancer. You can't ride the original POTC at any Disney park anymore, and Tom Sawyer's Island in Disneyland is being completely overhauled to fit into the theme of the movie. That's sorta like if they decided to turn the Haunted Mansion into a Lilo & Stitch or Emperor's New Groove attraction simply based on the popularity of those two movies.

I can see where people have fun with this movie, because believe it or not I had fun too. What I don't see is where this sliced bread syndrome is coming from. I really don't.

On a sort of unrelated note, I wonder how terrible Alan Silvestri's score for the first movie actually is, seeing as they dumped it in favor for that Zimmer protege, Klaus Beldt. You can tell they wanted Zimmer all along because the next to movies they kick Beldt to the curb and hire Hans. Not the first rejected score and complete composer trade-off. But the original score has been kept so tightly under wraps it never even leaked onto the Internet. Even Silvestri's pre-Elfman Mission: Impossible score is an easy find online. But it seems like they were predisposed to hate it. As late as May 03 all posters for Pirates still listed Silvestri as composer.

Wow, I am a total nerd of the worst kind. :D

Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End

Yes, I saw it and I am most pleased to contribute to this discussion about this film by saying it kicked [BLEEPING] ASS!!! :D

Seriously though, this is without a doubt one of the greatest series films I have ever seen and probably the best trilogy finale film I have ever seen. I have seen lots of trilogies and none have ever accumulated such an astounding, incredible, and masterpiece quality of acting, visuals, story, and down right overall goodness.

This blows both pirates films out of the water and manages to handle an incredibly large cast and wide variety of characters with conclusions and twists and turns that never cease to fail or surprise. You'll be shocked at how many surprises pop into this film and Jack Sparrow is easily at his finest hour in this film.

He's never been as great as he has been now, and his wit and charm play off Barbossa beautifully. Their chemistry on screen is classic and hysterical, those who loved how the 2 played off each other so well in the first film we'll be pleased to see they are a classic couple and Rush and Depp never fail to deliver the comedic goods.

Chow yun Fat is especially incredible as Tao Fang, word of mouth spread around about the quality of his performance and everything they say is true: he does a freaking awesome job. The music here is also amazing, I was really touched with certain scenes orchestra and I really felt this music is crucial to the film's magnificence.

The stunning fights and action sequences are not only well crafted, but relentless. There's never a dull moment, even the critics praised at how constant the action is. But the best thing about the movie, the best thing that I felt Pirates has done that surpasses all blockbusters this summer (Spider man 3 included).

Was the epicness of the film. Pirates has now ascended into the great film trilogies like Indiana Jones, The Matrix, Star Wars, and Lord of the Rings. Like Star wars and Matrix, Pirates has created it's own little universe with countless possible characters, locations, nations, tribes, and creatures.

This movie feels larger then life and because everything is so big and eye popping, I think the fact a simple Disney ride has escalated into such a grand cinematic universe is truly inspiring. I cannot say anything that will not eventually be said by others, this movie is awesome. 5 stars baby! I loved it!

P.S.

Stay after the credits for a special extra scene, trust me, you will NOT want to miss this one.

The Network

Really stirring stuff. It?s been residing on my online rental list forever, and yesterday they finally sent it out to me. It got me wondering if prompting everyone to go to their windows and start screaming out their dissatisfaction at the world might indeed be the first viable step toward solving a lot of our problems.

I will, of course, be seeing POTC 3 as soon as I can get myself down to my nearest multiplex, and I?ve still yet to see Spider-Man 3. However, I think I can rest very easily this summer without seeing Shrek the Third.

Still, don't get it. I must say this sliced bread syndrome is really getting to me.

Of those 3, Shrek 3 is the one I'd be most likely to see. Shrek 2 was pretty poor but there's likely to be the odd laugh and a nice big lady dragon. I hope they don't do another UK version like last time, most of the people on this forum wouldn't be aware of that guffing thing.

Now Network is fantastic. I can't remember seeing Peter Finch in anything else but he must have been a great actor judging by his performance in this movie. What were the revolutionarys called? Was it the ecumenical liberation alliance or something? I love the bit where they're discussing contracts with the TV executives. Definately an important movie.

who framed roger rabbit

great movie. a classic, and origional twist of cartoons. loved it all the way through. to this day im still suprised that the villan (i forget his name) was actually a toon. great stuff

The villain's name was Judge Doom, played by Christopher Loyd. That movie is also one of the extremely few crossover movies ever created.

Thanks to gay copyrights these days crossovers are all but impossible except for Kingdom Hearts.

Has anyone read the book, Who Censored Roger Rabbit? I love that book. It was quite a fun read. Though it was so far away from the movie I was wondering where exactly they drew their inspiration.

Anyway, both the book and the movie are great on their own.

Fortunately I was in Australia during Shrek 2's release, so I got to hear the Ugly Sister and Joan Rivers with their original voices intact (they didn't feel the need to patronise the Aussies as they did us Brits). I did later end up seeing it again that autumn when they played it at my campus cinema, and I was...stupified. I mean, why even bother dubbing Kate Thornton's voice over Joan Rivers' in the role of...Joan Rivers?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?! It makes no sense to me at all. ???

The name of the revolutionarys was the Ecumenical Liberation Army...though Alliance is a much more beautiful word, don't you think? :bloogrin:

Here's an interesting Network observation (major spoilers therein):

Spoiler Below

Ooh...lots I want to comment on. :P

Aerostar: I think that the real genius of the Pirates franchise, the thing that's made it so beloved and ubiquitous, is just how wide its appeal is; as far as I'm concerned, there are hundreds of better films than Pirates, but I honestly struggle to think of many with its all-encompassing reach. Just think about it; you've got fantastical adventure and knockabout comedy for the kids, special effects and lavish action for the teenagers, and an simple old-fashioned throwback appeal for older viewers. For the guys there's Keira Knightley kicking butt, for girls, there's Orlando and Johnny, and for older viewers there's old hands like Geoffrey Rush and Bill Nighy. It's unpretentious and innocent enough to delight escapists, but tongue-in-cheek and self-aware enough to please more cynical viewers too. Most of all, it's shamelessly entertaining, clearly trying so hard to give you a good time that even though the films are flawed (and they are certainly flawed films), it's very difficult not to like them on some level anyway, leading to the "sliced bread" syndrome that you referred to. Having said that, I do believe that this mostly applies to the first film; the second and (from the looks of it) third movies don't manage that balancing act quite so well, going a lot further down the "Fantasy/Special Effects Epic" path, and in doing so narrowing their appeal a little, hence the decreased appreciation from critics and older viewers...

I would also be quite curious to hear Silvestri's score...he's a decent composer, and one I would have thought would be quite suited to a lighthearted pirate romp. As it was, he was dropped with only weeks left before release, which is why they turned to Hans Zimmer's Media Ventures group, which is about the closest you're going to get to a factory production line for music scores. I mean, the Pirates score has gotten pretty famous now, but I think that's largely due to its exposure; it's stirring enough (and nowhere near as bad as its harshest critics would have you believe), but compositionally it could have come from any one of a hundred action blockbusters like The Rock, without a great deal sounding that piratey about it. That the relative lightweight Klaus Badelt led the project (with Zimmer acting as "Overproducer") kind of seems to confirm that it wasn't a score that received that much TLC...the score on the second obviously had a little more care taken over it, with big bossman Zimmer taking the reins, but it still didn't do anything that interesting, possibly because a slightly bland musical identity had already been enshrined by the first film. I'll be interested to see how the third one fares...

koosie: Ugh. Ugh, ugh, ugh, do NOT get me started on the "UK version" debacle that hovers like a plague over every animated film that crosses the Atlantic. :frankiemad: I know that the likes of Shrek 2 and Shark Tale aren't taking themselves that seriously, but for goodness sakes, I would like to maintain some level of immersion in the movie's world and atmosphere, and I absolutely cannot do that when Fiona Philips, Kate Thorton or Jonathan Ross turns up for a jarring and utterly obtrusive cameo in the middle of an American movie. The Kate Thornton cameo was the most ludicrous; the character was modelled on Joan Rivers, had Joan Rivers' personality, and was actually CALLED "Joan Rivers" in the credits. How can you overdub her with Kate Bloody Thornton!? (EDIT: Ah, jekylljuice beat me to it. :P)

The most heartbreaking occrurence of this horrible trend was in Pixar's Cars, however. Yes, Harv the agent was a small role, but damn it, Pixar are an supposed to be an artistic studio, who cast voices to fit characters as opposed to doing it for cheap celebrity appeal. Jeremy Piven is a well-known actor, but he was still just an actor playing a part; sticking somebody as ostentatious as Jeremy Clarkson in there instead is a massive betrayal of that ethos, and a big sellout on Pixar's part. :'( Don't ever do that again, guys.

Also: Who Framed Roger Rabbit is a magnificent movie. Everyone rightly remembers it for its groundbreaking and still-astonishing special effects, and for fans of animation it's gold dust, naturally; I love Daffy and Donald Duck's piano duel, love the interplay between Bugs Bunny and Mickey Mouse (Disney and WB stipulated in their agreement that neither should get more screentime than the other, which is why they're always seen together), and I find Betty Boop's little cameo actually quite poignant. What a lot of people forget, however, is that it's also a fantastically atmospheric film noir homage, an evocative recreation of seedy old Hollywood, and an involving mystery story with a genuinely terrifying villain in Judge Doom; I honestly can't believe that's the same lovable old Christopher Lloyd from Back to the Future, because he's just so sinister here, with his transformartion into a psychopathic toon, and particularly the hideous sequence where he 'dips" the poor little squeaky shoe, proving really quite upsetting to me as a kid. :wiltshock: It's still a wonderful film, though, a must-see for any cartoon fan...

I still believe that the comparisons to both Indiana Jones and Star Wars are some of the most ludicrous overstatments of modern cinema. I even find them fun, and I'm as cynical as they come. But the hype for them really kills the fun for me on second viewings. To me, it seems like the people of the 00's are trying to hard to assign a franchise to the Great Pantheon because all the others failed to deliver the goods. I remove LOTR from the Great Pantheon because it's nowhere near as accessible as Jones or Wars or even the recent Pirates.

I dunno, one thing that also bothers me about Pirates is that despite the fun it lacks the heart of many blockbusters. The sad thing is Verbinski is fully capable of heart. See The Weather Man, with Nicolas Cage, which is way more than the American Beauty rip-off it's purported to be.

To me it just seems like the franchise is Sommers' Mummy series with better actors, more money and longer running time. The Mummy had all the hallmarks of Pirates though it failed to produce the same love. Which is sorta confusing to me.

Anyway, I'm starting to tire of the whole franchise movie disease that keeps on spreading about. It would be really nice to see a movie again that just tries to convey the magic of cinema rather than try to spawn a sequel. All the best movies that ended up having sequels put the magic first. At least before this decade.

As for Roger Rabbit, there are rumors spreading around about the possible revitalization of the characters. Zemeckis is now back in with Disney, although he's working on other projects. Though certain insiders say he's open to the possibility of more Roger Rabbit in the future. Oh, I hope so. If only to hear Bob Hoskins attempt an American accent once more. There are only two funnier, Mark Addy trying to be a Chicagoan in Still Standing, a cancelled CBS sitcom, and Jude Law's pathetic attempt to be a Clevelander in I Heart Huckabees.

Makes Hoffman's slipping Etonian accent in Hook seem great by comparison.

I actually was amazed by Hoskins American accent in Roger rabbit, in fact, I think it's one of the greatest accents for an actor with an accent to use. When I saw behind the scenes for this special effects show, they had Hoskins on interview and it shocked me to hear him talk in his true accent.

In anycase, first thing I should note is the Mummy series was originally a remake and in fact became it's own kind of story once Sommers got hold of it. Mummy movies actually relied heavy on action, the thing that made the movies good though weren't just the effects, it was the actors and dialouge.

The first movie especially had particuarly fresh and memorable lines, and the actors were not "every day" mega stars like Cruise or Nicole Kidman so it was neat to see them on screen and work surprisingly well together. Weather man actually didn't seme to envoke any kind of "heart" from my perspective.

The movie also seemed slow sometimes, even though it is a really good movie. The thing that's amazing about Pirates is that Verbinski managed to create such amazingly iconic characters, original storylines, and unique creatures all from some ride at an amusement park in Disney world.

To make a movie out of a ride sounds stupid, just like this whole Sims thing, you'd have to be a damn good director and enough original material to make the story your own and make it interesting to watch. Gore did that. He expanded the Pirates ride into another world and made unforgettable characters.

Sparrow, Barbossa, Davy Jones, and even Chow Yun-Fat's Sao Fang character got so much word of mouth around, these characters are becoming more part of our culture. They have changed the way we look at Pirates and if you ask me, it makes me appreciate such hard work Gore did on these films.

I never would have in a million years been able to come up with such a unique idea like cursed gold, pirate immortals, or giving the name of Davy Jones such an original appearance had I been doing this film. I don't mind franchises being made, revamped, resurrected, or continued or whatever.

It only matters if the quality has dropped or the actor/directors have taken it in a new path that totally botches everything that made it good in the first place up. To date i don't feel Pirates has crossed that path and as long as the same care and effort is put into the series, I wouldn't mind a 4,5, and 6.

the breakfeast club.

one of the greatest movies ive seen in a while. there really should be more movies like it

I still feel it lacked heart and warmth and a certain sense of magic. I never felt like I was truly transported as I did with such films as Star Wars, Back to the Future, Indiana Jones or Ghostbusters to name a few.

The effects, while being touted as the best work ILM has done in years, because apparently everyone forgot that such a good job was done on War of the Worlds especially given the time frame, never seem to really grab me like those for Jurassic Park just 13 years before.

I'll even go so far as to say I had more fun with one of the screenwriters' more reviled works, Godzilla, which actually would have been more appreciated if not for the name.

I don't know. I'm just not really feeling these films like everyone else is. It seems that the only people still making blockbusters where the magic comes first is Pixar.

Now don't get me wrong. I'm not one of those oldheads who absolutely hates everything from the current decade. In fact many of my fave films, inlcuding my all-time favorite are from this decade. But it really seems like many have lost their way, and the fact that many are touting this as the good stuff of the decade makes me mourn for the next generation of Hollywood filmmakers.

That aside, I do believe you are right about Gore being a fantastic director. I just don't think these are his best work. I'd like to see him go back to some smaller works. I hope he doesn't pull a Cameron and then disappear for 10 years.

As for accents, I think good accents are along the line of Nicole Kidman's American accent and Gillian Anderson's British accent. Though in truth they really aren't pushing them as they both have acquired them naturally. The problem with Hoskins was he was trying to sound too tough. It's like he aimed for Nicholson's Gitties and then completely overshot it. I've noticed that for a lot of Brits who try for American accents seem to go for gruff undertones which I find a little off-putting. The biggest surprise Brit I've ever heard was the guy who plays Apollo on BSG. I was blown away by the fact that he was British.

Peter Pan! <3

I havent seen that movie in forever. It's so cute! I love it all. I love classic Disney movies! This is one of the best ever. :]

Well, I just got back from seeing Spider-Man 3. Finally.

It's getting pretty late right now, so I'll post my thoughts in the relevent thread tomorrow. All I'll say for the time being is that I enjoyed it. :D

Dawn of the Dead (Remake)

One of the greatest remakes and horror movies I have seen in a long time. Excellent movie, incredible opening sequence and a movie that REALLY captured the "end of the world" madness effectively.

Special thanks goes to Zack Snyder, director of this movie and the equally bad ass The 300.

George of the Jungle,

A fun movie, with kind of a Rocky and Bullwinkle motiffe with the narator, oun/gags, and slapstick. I liked it!

"Blue Crush" was on USA last night, It was an OK surf movie, I did not relize that it was such a new movie. It had some great views of the ocean/surf. we never see anything like that here on the east coast.



Monty :-/

The Science of Sleep

Oddball French movie (though the language switches to English and Spanish quite regularly throughout), about a man who experiences some really vivid and impassioned dreams whenever he sleeps, but has a much harder time engaging with reality. Not really much plot to speak of, but a nice selection of gorgeously surreal animated sequences therein.

"This is Spinal Tap"

how much blacker could this album be? The answer is...none.

good flick, make sure to turn it up to 11.

Monty :-/