The Cat Returns

One of my all-time favourite anime movies. I just can't stress just how GORGEOUS the music is in this. It's absolutely beautiful.

I still get a kick out of it's wonderful animation and brilliant cast (yes, I'm one of those anime fans that prefer the dub than the sub. ::)) that includes Agent 99, Robin Hood (the man in tights) and Frank Barone. I am of course referring to Anne Hathaway, Cary Elwes and Peter Boyle.

I'll never tire of this wonderful and gorgeous film. It's made by Studio Ghibli, but not directed by Hayao Miyazaki. But regardless of that, it's a beautiful, if short, anime film that I'll always love. :-*

Star Wars (episode 4). Still an awesome film, haha.

Cars

Ah, I remember seeing this the first week it came out in theaters. And a day or so ago I rewatched it. It's such a cute little movie. Man...I need to learn how to draw automobiles so I can make some fanart...

I might as well admit that my sis and I went to see 17 Again today. She's a huge Zac fan and I'm a huge Matthew fan, so it was something we both wanted to see. Spoiler Below

Ferngully: The Last Rainforest

A friend of mine had it on a VHS he had taped when he was a kid, and we ended up watching it with a group of friends. That movie has.....not aged well in the decade or so since its original released.

Say Anything...

Sure, it's 80s teen movie fluff, but this is definitely one of the better examples, thanks in part to the performances of John Cusack and Ione Skye, who both make very sincere and likeable leads, the supporting input of the always-reliable John Mahoney, and, naturally, its iconic usage of a Peter Gabriel song. And besides which, 80s teen movie fluff is always infinitely preferable to late 90s/early 00s teen movie vulgarity.

Mulan

Twilight Zone: The Movie

I had never seen Mulan before, it sone of the very few Disney films I have missed over the years but the other day I was able to see it and I have to say it was a lot better then I thought it would be. It was less pop bouncy and cartoony, more serious and had much more culture and the music was excellent.

Couple songs kinda fell through the cracks but overall a very enjoyable movie, and Ming-Na was great as the lead.

The Hardly Boys in Hardly Gold

Hardly boys, but girls, and dogs.

http://img520.imageshack.us/img520/3...csnap20170.png

http://img524.imageshack.us/img524/8...csnap24829.png

A delightful 30-minute film from William Wegman, best known for his kitschy photography featuring Weimaraners in fancy attire and with human figures. Here, a cast of four such pooches – Fay Ray, Batty, Crooky and Chundo – act out the story of the Hardly family, whose peaceful vacation in the wilderness of Maine takes a more sinister turn when the “boys” catch wind of a less than savoury plot being hatched by a psychotic nurse and a greedy but gullible caretaker. As with the Wegman segments made for Sesame Street in the 90s, the somewhat bemused expressions of the Weimaraners and Wegman’s monotone narration are a match made in heaven, topped off here with plenty of dry humour, charming, genial photography and a suitably old-fashioned score.

http://img522.imageshack.us/img522/1...csnap25116.png

http://img514.imageshack.us/img514/5...csnap34212.png

The storyline’s rather straightforward and maybe has the odd hole here and there - for one thing (and as Wegman himself points out in the commentary) we never get a drop of insight into the motives of the psychotic nurse – but in honestly, none of that really matters. The true delight comes from seeing all those wonderful set pieces in which the canine troupe golf, play tennis, canoe, mastermind their devious schemes and take one another hostage, while Wegman performs the whimsical task of what he aptly calls “placing a thought bubble above their heads” (save the psychotic nurse, whose malicious vocal ramblings come courtesy of Andrea Beeman). For fans of Wegman’s work, this short little burst of curiosity needs no recommendation, and for everyone else, it’s definitely worth your trouble to check this out. For sheer novelty, drollness and geniality, it’s pretty hard to top it.

Ahh, I've never seen the movie, but I remember seeing these guys around a lot a number of years ago. They made some appearances on Seseme Street, too. I always thought that it was a creative way to create a character. Sometimes the dogs look a little annoyed though. You can just tell they're thinking "What are these humans doing to me? Why must I sit so still? I don't want to!!" 8D

Yes, the Sesame Street segments were great! Here are a few of my favourites:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Guiae6x9swI

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y_IFN...eature=related

(Pay attention to the Baker's mouth movements.)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=94cYX...eature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z-QiU...eature=related

Death Note: L, Change the world

X-men Origins: Wolverine

Both were utterly fantastic! Long and drawn out, lots of fast frantic and fast paced action scenes for Wolverine. Liev Shreiber shines as a young Sabertooth, and the fight scenes in X-men were spectacular.

The Death Note movie wasn't my favorite out of the 3, but L shined brilliantly as the sole reason to watch, he was hysterical, such a riot and so animated. All in all a great night at the movies.

Haven't seen Crank 2 yet, Mr M? 8D

WALL-E

I tend to have this thing where whenever I experience something awesome, I cant sum it up in words. All I really can think to say is that the relationship between WALL-E and EVE left me smiling and left me in a great mood. I gotta buy a copy to watch again.

Check out my review and find out then ^^

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2gNtBBmrg_o

Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist

Harmless modern-day teen movie. Actually, it's kind of a shame that in the end I had to label it as just "harmless", because it did start out rather promisingly. It had one or two pretty interesting ideas, and the gay characters weren't portrayed at all stereotypically, which was certainly refreshing, but it never really took off and the pacing was just horrendous (more false endings than Return of the King, to use an already well-exhausted cliche). It probably doesn't help that I'm not a fan of drunken humour, so I found the subplot in which they're trying to track down Norah's plastered companion to be pretty unpleasant and embarrassing to sit through, and the gross-out gags (if you have a problem with up-chucking, then you might want to carefully time your bathroom breaks throughout this one), though few, were forceful, and probably only detracted from whatever Before Sunrise/Sunset-esque charm might otherwise have been lurking at the centre of the story. Overall, more of a missed opportunity than anything else.

Just got back from the Star Trek movie. :bloogrin:

I must say, it was really awesome!! I wasn't really a fan of the series before, but I still enjoyed the movie, and I think it's turned me into a fan. :bloocross: It was really funny, they threw in a lot of decent jokes. My dad, who's like a die hard trekkie, really enjoyed it too, and he said they didn't mess it up or anything. All in all, it was a reaaally good movie. I definetly wanna see it again!! :bloogrin:

Go see it now! :smed:

Watchmen

I'm probably not the most qualified person to be commenting on this movie, given that I've never had any kind of dealings with the source material, but judged purely on its own merits, I'd have to describe this as Sin City meets Nolan's Batman, with twice the violence, thrice the pretension, and about four or five times less the fun. I'm afraid that I didn't really care for it, and not because of the bleak outcome - truth be told, I was feeling restless and fidgety long before the climax clicked in. Technically it was all very well-made, and those stylised comic book visuals were put down nicely enough, but there was something incredibly cold and sterile about the whole affair throughout. It wasn't hypnotic, it wasn't involving, and in the end I felt that at best I was being invited merely to look at the characters and observe their behaviour patterns when faced with various moral dilemmas, rather than to actually experience their desolate, supposedly complex environs through their own appropriately unpleasant personnas. Heck, Sin City did a much better and greatly more satisifying job of drawing me into its grimy comic book world, and Sin City was about as shallow and inhuman a movie as they come (basically just a collection of alpha males piddling over mates and territory for a couple of hours). Well, SC was a clear-cut and totally unashamed triumph of style over substance - for me, Watchmen didn't succeed on either count. It was too grandiosely downbeat to be particularly enjoyable, and given that it didn't really convince me to empathise with any of the characters on either side of the weighty dilemma, in the end I couldn't really describe it as anything particularly profound or haunting either - though I suppose it does have its shock value and a momentarily depressing aftertaste, and for some folks that might be satisfying enough.

Oh, and maybe it's just me, but I hated Rorschach's vocals. If I didn't know better, I would swear that Haley was trying to do a parody of Christian Bale's Batman. I found that kind of distracting.

I saw 17 Again last night. It was actually good! And funny. And, uh...I actually find Zac Efron bearable after seeing him in it.:P

Coraline

Ah, now this was one which definitely did live up to all the hype. Beeeeeeeeautiful animation (those 3D effects were simply to die for - I do hope you all stayed for the full duration of the closing credits, by the way...if not, then you missed out on something truly tantalising), wonderful voice-overs, a fascinating, skin-crawling storyline, French and Saunders...what more could you possibly ask for?

Got to say though, if I had actually seen this film as a child then I think it would have messed me up big time. I'm not joking when I say that it terrified me a heck of lot more than the overwhelming majority of adult-orientated horror films I've seen in my lifetime. I always used to think that Anjelica Huston's Grand High Witch was pretty frightening, but I reckon that the "Beldam" featured here could give her a more than decent run for her money. Henry Selick definitely tapped into some wonderfully raw and surging childhood insecurities in this one, and the result is a mesmerising little nightmare of a movie, one which should keep the older audiences awed and subdued every bit as much as the kiddies.

And, just to make things totally perfect, I got a brand new pair of 3D specs to take home with me - though looking at myself in mirror just now, I realise that they do kind of make me look like Spud does on the Trainspotting poster. Ah well, I do have to love that Spud.

Heart and Souls

I FINALLY got this on DVD (albeit any special features), and I'm happy to say that I loved this movie all over again.

Robert Downey Jr proves even in 1993 (before he got sobered one too many times!) that he was a truly gifted actor. The way he played each of the ghosts that were in his body was remarkable. 8D I also LOVED the music in this film. My goodness, Marc Shaiman should've (at LEAST) been nominated an Oscar for this film it's that brilliant. :frankiesmile:

I urge all the Robert Downey Jr fans on this forum (including the Iron Man and Tropic Thunder fans) to go and check out this underrated classic and see for yourself. But a bit of a warning: while there are some really funny moments in this film, the last 15 minutes are pure drama.

Chomp, chomp, chomp! I have consumed about another 6 or so hours of your rich human culture. Very nice thank you. However although we generally don't speak of things, sometimes a little air is expelled as a result of the digestive process and here it is:

Some stuff I thought about:

Amelie ( Le fabuleux destin d'Amelie Poulain )
Endgame
Coraline

Everyone's heard the story: A garden gnome disappears and then photos of it in front of the Kremlin, the Pyramids etc are posted to its owner. Well that's down to Amelie and that's the least of what she gets up to. Amelie is a charming French waitress and some kind of good-fairy who stealthily interferes in the lives of those around her in a Parisian idyll strangely set around the time of the death of dear old Lady Di. Which got me thinking.... Anyway all is well for Amelie and her top-notch collection of ornaments and knick-knacks until she encounters somebody as stupid as she is and all love breaks loose. Excellent stuff. However wouldn't Nino have remembered Amelie from the Ghost Train? Perhaps it was darker in there than we got to see, if you know what I mean.

Endgame is more home territory for me. Not really a movie I'll admit but a movie-length TV drama with a good cast lead by William Hurt (out of Altered States) that'll surely get a DVD release. It charts the beginning of negotiations between the African National Congress and the white Afrikaner establishment in South Africa in the final years of apartheid. Chiwetel Ejiofor plays chief ANC negotiator Thabo Mbeki and is really excellent as is 'voice of God' actor Timothy West as PW Botha. There's a very tense sequence where you see a bomb assembled, planted and exploded. The scene that follows, back in the negotiations is a splendid if too brief examination of the morality and practicalities of violent liberation struggle that remains starkly relevant especially given, as we are informed at the end, that the ANC are assisting in negotiations to end the Arab-Israeli conflict.

Coraline takes us into another kind of nightmare, one that dances in front of our eyes, then threatens them with needles. I actually found Beldam rather attractive when she revealed herself in her true glory. Her face, supposed to be glistening white cracked bone almost looked like polished quartz, the most beautiful of common stones. The story itself is a little familiar, a classic Brothers Grimm type fairy story perhaps but coloured in with some very likable eccentric characters who are equally likable as button-eyed replicas. My favourite bit was the performing mice, which was quite the spectacle but even the less magical or frightening sequences were made very enjoyable for the sheer range of expression given blue-haired heroine to Coraline. Some nice gardening references too. The free 3D glasses you get to take home are very strange indeed. They don't work for any any of my 3D pictures and do something rather odd if you look at the telly through them the wrong way round. I did stay right to the end btw (good tip TYVM) although everyone else had gone and the staff were clearing up around me.

Speaking of Coraline...does anyone know when it's going to come out on DvD? I was in the hospital while it was in theatures, so I couldn't go see it. But I love Henry Selick, and I love stop-motion animation.

Star Trek- Six of us had dinner and walked over to the theaters to check this movie out. Like I said on another post, I was so geeked out during the movie, I forgot to notice Wynona Ryder played Spock's mother, and the woman who plays Cameron on House, played Kirk's mother.

This movie was WONDERFUL (I think Gene Roddenberry would have been proud)! Near the end, when they started the original theme and Leonard Nimoy says, "Space the final frontier..." I got tears in my eyes. I grew up watching the original series with my mother (my dad did not get into it).

The effects were completely sick! I thought I was actually there. The perspective, and camera angles, what a movie! It was well written. There is even talk of two more! I hope so!:frankiesmile:

The Fifth Element

I first saw this on a date with a guy shortly after it came out on DVD some 8-9 years ago at his apartment. Fist time I saw it, I didn't understand it real well. I've never been real into Sci-Fi movies other than the Star Wars stuff. But I've seen it four or five times now and I'm catching on. I quite enjoy that movie! Chris Tucker makes any character so funny! And I'm a fan of Bruce Willis, too. :)

Man, you pretty much summed up how I felt when I saw Get Smart. When I saw the doors sequence and heard Trevor Rabin's kick-ass version of the theme, I also had tears in my eyes! It was brilliant! :frankiesmile:

The Princess Bride

Always a fun experience. True, for the titular character, Buttercup is pretty goshdarn useless - for the entire duration of the film, she doesn't do a whole lot more than whine to her assorted captors about how other people will be coming to rescue her, and stand back looking lost and helpless while her greatly more outgoing boyfriend gets arrested or wrestles with a giant rat. At most, she can stand up to people verbally, but the second they bring their incensed wrath down upon her it's back to looking lost and helpless again. I've seen this movie many, many a time, and on every occasion it never fails to astound me just how totally inept she really is. I wonder if it was like that in the book.

Of course, Buttercup may be the titular character, but the story isn't really her's. It's Westley's, Inigo's and to a lesser extent Fezzik's - in the end, Buttercup is but a foil and a catalyst (which, in itself, is kind of a shame). It's the witty banter from Westley and Inigo that keeps the whole film so wonderfully fresh and lively throughout, along with strong supporting input from a nice selection of character actors, including Wallace Shawn, Billy Crystal and Christopher Guest, and the framing device, which puts a gentle, likeable spin upon the whole bedtime storyteller cliche. Oh, and of course Mark Knopfler's fabulously dreamy score.

A really great slice of comedy-fantasy, provided you can put up with Buttercup's ineptitude.

^ And not to mention, it's got one of the best movie sword fight's ever.

Angels and Demons

Star Trek

I love double features heh. Angels and Demons was a big surprise because it was much better (at least in terms of pacing and structure) than Da Vinci Code. I'm not one of the many people who outright slams the Dan Vinci code for whatever reason people did for the movie, so i was very pleased to see how much this new one had improved. The story is much more compelling and dramatic.

Lots of very well placed twists and turns, I was so surprised at how well crafted the plot twists were, I thought I had the movie pegged and then all of the sudden BAM knocks you on your butt. I was more then happy to see Star Trek again since I think that movie's a masterpiece of work. My dad saw it for the first time with me and he really enjoyed it, all the little "in jokes" and classic Star trek quotes were weaved in perfectly and he loved it.

As did I :D.

Goldfinger last weekend on TCM. The second James Bond movie and good fun to watch.

Fiddler on the Roof. For the fourth time. I can't help myself...I love that movie to death for no logical reason. It seems to sharply contrast with the rest of the movies I like, but whatever. I don't care. It's a great movie, anyway.

Wall-E! :D

I didn't think it was gonna be that good, but wow, it was amazing! The animation was just indescribably amazing. I mean, you could've watched the entire film with no volume, just observing at how great the films looks and would've been amazing.

However, I really loved the story of Wall-E and EVE. Wall-E just has an innocent characteristic about and the way they made him so anthropomorphic, you can't help but love him and laugh his his mostly failed exploits whenever he tries to impress EVE :)

Happy-Go-Lucky
at first I thought I hated it but at the end it won me over

The Iron Giant

Man... It's been like, years since I've seen this movie. Got it at wal-mart ina $5 bin near the counter. great purchase.

The whole movie is pretty amazing. That art looks great and the story always gets me. I could probably watch it over and over again, if I wanted to.

The Dark Crystal

The world's first ever all-puppet feature film (other than Anders Ronnow Klarlund's Strings - also a fascinating movie and well worth a look - and, possibly, Team America: World Police - which I haven't seen - have there actually been that many others since?), this represents a darker, much more straight-faced Jim Henson than you're probably used to. There's very little to laugh at, and it tackles some pretty weighty issues in its 90-minute running time, including tyranny and genocide. As you would expect, the puppetry is masterfully done - the Gelfling protagonists do look a little plain and ordinary, it must be said, but the supporting cast are just brimming with life and character, from the fluffy, razor-fanged Fizzgig to the shuffling, one-eyed Aughra, to those truly repulsive (albeit impressively-conceived) avian Skeksis. Henson isn't afraid to get seriously ugly in this one...in fact, there's one particular sequence therein which you'd do very well not to watch too close to a meal - that is, the scene where the Skeksis tuck into a gourmet dinner. I make no exaggeration when I say that their table manners (or rather, lack of) made me feel physically ill. :P

The narrative, though at times it feels a little swamped beneath all the gritty visuals on display, and occasionally wanders into all too transparently wannabe-Tolkien territory, does have enough interesting and original elements of its own to make it fascinating to watch - I particularly liked the curious kinship that the Skeksis share with their more benign counterparts, the Mystics, which I won't reveal here.

Not your typical puppet show, and all the more intriguing for it. You have been warned about those Skeksis, though.

Spoiler Below

and

Pitch Black

To be honest I only watched the first hour or so...might go back and finish it at a later time, though presently I can't say I'm in any particular hurry to do so. I did really like the basic set-up, even if it's quite a familiar bunch-of-people-in-a-perilous-situation-get-picked-off-one-by-one scenario (one set in deep space, to boot). A spacecraft crashes upon a seemingly uninhabited planet, which turns out to be home to a variety of dangerous carnivorous lifeforms. Fortunately for the survivors of the crash, these creatures are repelled by light and spend most of their time hidden deep beneath the surface of the planet. Unfortunately for the survivors, they happened to crash just prior to a month-long total eclipse, during which these creatures will roam freely en masse, devouring whatever unlit prey they find in their path. The humans must now band together, including the rogue element on board, represented by Vin Diesel, to survive and find a way to escape, yadda yadda yadda.

It has the potential to be decent popcorn fun, and doesn't start out too badly, but once the main body of action gets underway it plays out a little too routinely for its own good, and the lack of surprises is a real minus point. Remember, a few pages back, how much I was raving about Cube? That's largely because, in addition to being so taut and well-executed, it was genuinely unpredictable. The individual character arcs were frequently surprising and kept me firmly on my toes throughout. In Pitch Black, on the other hand, I found I could predict not only which characters were going to die, but the exact order in which they'd be picked off too. I had singled out my favourite character within the first fifteen minutes, but since I could tell right off the bat that he wasn't the sort of character who generally survives this sort of ordeal (a suspicion which was duely vindicated), I tried not to get too attached. Still, I was able to get a few chuckles out of him before his borrowed time came to a screeching halt.

From what I saw, I definitely liked it a lot more than Event Horizon, but still, there are better movies of its ilk out there.

So this summer I have a list of movies to watch that I've been meaning to see, but never had a chance to. First up on the list was Slumdog Millionaire, which I just finished watching. Wow. Seriously. Now I see what was behind all the hype. It was such a powerful movie. I was crying by the end of it.:P

I love the way they told the story, how they did it question by question, showing how Jamal came to know each answer through his experiences.

Argh, it was just so good!

Next up on the list? The Curious Case of Benjamin Button. Can't wait.8-)

Pitch Black is mostly predictable, but it does throw a few surprises your way.

Saving Private Ryan

Truth be told and believe me, I have had many people already act supremely shocked by this, I had not seen the movie until tonight. I never got around to it and it never came up so I missed out on this movie for many years. I'm not a fan of war movies, in fact I despise the very notion of war and would much rather see something else then something about the very thing I feel tears nations and families apart.

However after seeing the movie, I can't say anything other then it was a very damn good movie. It was spectacular and very horrifying and intense and I thought it really was a great movie....however i have no real intention of ever seeing it again or buying it. Saving Private Ryan is one of those movies (in my opinion) that you don't need to own but you can only watch so many times.

Its so dramatic and dark and intense I can't see myself watching it multiple times, the movie's emotional effect is too strong to relive again and again. Plus as much as I did enjoy this movie, I still hate war, I hate the military and everything horrifying that happens to soldiers because of wars and the military and that will never change but for now I agree this was a powerful film.

Terminator: Salvation. It seemed to have more violence than any story exposition.

Synecdoche, New York

The latest mind-bending journey from screenwriter Charlie Kaufman (Being John Malkovich, Adaptation, Confessions of a Dangerous Mind, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind*). As much as I enjoyed it, and as much as I was moved and enthralled by it, I find myself at something of a loss for words right now. In short, I loved it, but I haven't yet been able to pinpoint what it was about it that most stood out for me. It doesn't have a distinctive, madcap storyline a la Being John Malkovich, nor the same degree of character or playful reflexiveness of Adaptation - though, like the latter film, it works by blurring the boundaries between reality and fiction, and, like Eternal Sunshine, the similar boundaries between objectivity and subjectivity. The common themes of loneliness, self-entrapment and the desire to make one's mark in the world that pervade Kaufman's works are all there, as is his quirky sense of humour (even if it did start out a little too scatologically for my tastes), and the ending leaves that same lingering, somewhat unsettling (in the case of Malkovich, tenfold) aftertaste. And, as with all the aforementioned films, these ingredients are all complimented by a strong lead performance - coming from Philip Seymour Hoffman, I certainly wouldn't expect anything less.

I didn't fully understand this film, but nonetheless, I look forward to picking it up on DVD a little later in life.

*(still haven't seen Human Nature)

Junebug

I seem to recall, when Enchanted first came out, there being some discussion about how Amy Adams made a wonderful leading actress despite "having come from nowhere". I frankly found those sentiments to be just the slightest bit galling because, before Enchanted, Amy had previously gotten to flex her incredible talent in this wonderfully understated family drama (for which she received an Oscar nomination). I've seen it quite a few times now, and it still fascinates me. From the off-set, it appears to be a story we've all heard countless times before - the basic prodigel son set-up, coupled with a fish out of water, meet the in-laws scenario, in which one partner struggles to acquaint themselves with their significant other's roots - which, in return, regard them with suspicion. But there's something incredibly refreshing and powerful about how Junebug plays out - nothing is cut and dried, the characters never really find any solutions to their problems, and in the end we step away, like Madeline and George, feeling that we've just had a brief, but throughly immersive stop-over in this family's lives. If the film has one particular focus, it's on the friendship that quickly develops between Embeth Davidtz and Amy Adams' character, Ashley - a seemingly very naive character who actually turns out to have a considerable amount of fortitude, and Adams plays her very admirably - but one thing which I love about it is the decidedly multi-layered approach, in which even the quieter and more minor family members get their moments, or subtle little character expansions. It's a basic story of love, loss and family estrangement, but a surprisingly complicated one too.


and


Let The Right One In

The trailer for this oddball Swedish flick made it look like a pretty straightforward vampire movie...that's what I was all prepared for, anyway. In actuality, it was something very different - there are a handful of jump and start moments scattered throughout, but for the most part this is more sadly haunting than it is outright horror. I won't give too much away (seriously, I think that the chain of events that ensue would have a lot more impact if you didn't actually know what's coming - this is particularly true of the last couple of scenes, which were real jaw-droppers), but it concerns a friendless young boy who suddenly acquires a mysterious new ally in the form a quiet young girl who isn't all that she appears. Strange and disturbing whilst also being surprisingly touching and heart-warming, this is a very original and well-made monster movie, and I recommend checking it out if you get the chance.