Just Watched Movies: 2007

[slayrrr666]

Doppelganger-Fun for the sleazy Drew Berrymore side and a couple of great moments, but too confusing to be anything else.
www.imdb.com/title/tt0106753/usercomments-23

The Manitou-Really fun and out there 70's tumor-growth film with a last half that has to be seen to be believed.
www.imdb.com/title/tt0077904/usercomments-38

Kaw-Been called the greatest bird-horror film since "The Birds," but there's not that many, and it does live up to that reputation beautifully.
www.imdb.com/title/tt0491005/usercomments-4

Mountain of the Cannibal God-The perfect starting point for the interested cannibal viewer: not graphic enough to upset, but enough to get a sense of what they're about.
www.imdb.com/title/tt0077945/usercomments-38

Dead Above Ground-Halfway decent DTV slasher film, but the police procedural is, for once, fun and exciting.
www.imdb.com/title/tt0284045/usercomments-19

The Guardian-Looks great and has some nice moments, but too implausible and kinda ridiculous if really thought about.
www.imdb.com/title/tt0099710/usercomments-38

Dead Alive-Will never really work as anything other than an over-the-top comedy with some mind-melting gore.
www.imdb.com/title/tt0103873/usercomments-488

Swarmed-Cliched PG-13 killer bug movie that does have a few decent ideas thrown in as well.
www.imdb.com/title/tt0437498/usercomments-10

Shiver of the Vampires-Like with Mountain, the perfect starting point for lesbian vampires films: gives all the guidelines without exploiting the extreme sleaze possible in the followers.
www.imdb.com/title/tt0065744/usercomments-15

The Prophecy: Forsaken-Not bad, but too short and doesn't mean much of anything if it didn't exist.
www.imdb.com/title/tt0439771/usercomments-10

Steven King's Cat's Eye-Surprisingly fun anthology series, but more gore would've been nice, especially due to the first name mentioned.
www.imdb.com/title/tt0088889/usercomments-55

The Invisible Man-A classic in every sense of the word, one of the most underrated films of all time.
imdb.com/title/tt0024184/usercomments-97

The Invisible Man Returns-Not as demented as the forerunner, but Vincent Price and his voice can't go wrong.
imdb.com/title/tt0032635/usercomments-18

The Terror-Really should've been in the Poe series, this is right up there with the best in the series.
imdb.com/title/tt0057569/usercomments-70

King Kong 33-Thoughts in the thread.

[Termination]

The War Within (2005) (Blu-Ray)

HD Video - 7/10
HD Audio Dolby Digital - 7/10
HD Audio dts - 7/10

[ZapRowsdower]

Disturbia

Gotta disagree with frank on one thing: this IS a remake of Rear Window. And for a remake, it wasn't bad at all. It's more of an update. I believe it does to Hitchcock what "O" did for Shakespeare. To me, that's a good thing. I liked "O". Shia Labeouf is a good actor, and I'm glad to see his career begin to take off this year. He's got a good one ahead of him. 7/10

[Termination]

National Geographic: Relentless Enemies (2006) (Blu-Ray)

HD Video - 9/10
HD Audio Dolby Digital - 10/10

[Heineken Skywalker]

iamthesmitty said:

Shia Labeouf is a good actor, and I'm glad to see his career begin to take off this year. He's got a good one ahead of him. 7/10

INDIANA JONES 4 from what I've been reading. I think he's playing Indy's son.

[Pulpmariachi]

Viridiana -- a Luis Bunel picture, pretty quiet little movie about piety and other such stuff. Loads of interpretation can be thrown into it, but I was struck by the gorgeous black-and-white cinematography. Oh, and that your liking towards every character changes periodically. B+.

[Termination]

A Scanner Darkly (2006) (Blu-Ray)

HD Video - 10/10
HD Audio Dolby Digital - 9/10

[slayrrr666]

At Heineken's urging, a mini-Grindhouse non-horror affair:

Coffy-Not that bad, though not as out-there as it could've been. The action scenes are well done and quite entertaining, though a little more bloodloss from the amount of bullets unleashed would've been better (considering how graphic some other blaxploitation films are) but stayed too close to the drama proceedings to much for my taste. Not bad, not good, just decent.

Master of the Flying Guilotine-Really impressive film, wasn't expecting this one to be any good. Lots of the good 70s chop-socky style of fighting, only made all the more fun with the obvious lack of contact on so many victims. Lot more graphic than I figured it would be, always a plus, and a really quick pace kept me interested. Really good martial arts film.

The Great Silence-I'm really starting to question my earlier pick of Django being the best spaghetti western. This was a lot of fun, with devious criminals, questionable heroes, a wonderful excuse to get to the shooting, and one of the most gripping finales ever. Totally didn't see it coming and something that really is plausible and could've happened. With a clever motive to get around the dubbing angle, this just was a lot of fun.

Thanks for making me do this, two great films with one so-so one made for a fun night of viewing.

[Phoenix]

Saw Shooter this weekend.

Really enjoyed it. I loved all the gun terminology stuff - I wish there would have been even more of that.

7/10 - a good moive.

[ZapRowsdower]

The Animatrix

Damn, these were so cool. I really enjoy anything that gives me insight into the entire Matrix universe, and this was a goldmine. I particularly enjoyed the noirish elements from A Detective Story. Great collection of animated shorts, particularly if you're a fan of the Matrix films.

[ZapRowsdower]

The Hoax

By all means, a great film. Richard Gere, one of the most underappreciated actors out there, gives an incredible performance, but I must admit that Alfred Molina is the one who really shines in this film. Nice work by Lasse Hallstrom, and an overall great script make this a great movie. 9/10

[Termination]

Payback: Director's Cut (1999) (Blu-Ray)

HD Video - 8/10
HD Audio Dolby Digital - 9/10

[Pulpmariachi]

Happy Feet -- firstly, I've probably said this already, but this has the most gorgeous cinematography of any animated movie ever. This coming from the guy who got invited here for a gloring review of "The Incredibles." Awesome musical sequences with usually great songs (and even the ones I don't normally like are great here) and spectacular spectacular choreography, and so what? The 3rd act loses focus and there's the utilization of deux ex machina, its still a great picture and definitley worthy of its Oscar. A-.

[Pulpmariachi]

Hot Fuzz -- as much action as a Jerry Bruckheimer production, a lot less of the guilt. A-.

I may write a review.

[Termination]

The Good Shepherd (2006) (HD DVD)

HD Video - 9/10
HD Audio Dolby Digital Plus - 9/10

Image was a bit soft & everyone looked like they had a sun-burn. Other than that the PQ remains quite consistent throughout. Dilaog heavy, not much to complain about in the audio department.

District B13 (2004) (Blu-Ray)

HD Video - Reference
HD Audio Dolby Digital - 7/10
HD Audio dts - 9/10

The difference in audio tracks is almost night & day. There is very minor film grain which looked intentional. Other than that, I found no flaws & it ranks right up there with the best HD transfers.

Volver (2006) (Blu-Ray)

HD Video - 9/10
HD Audio Dolby Digital - 9/10
HD Audio LPCM - 10/10

No yellow subtitles. The LPCM track is a hint better than the Dolby one. Dilaog is a bit more crisp but other than that both tracks are a wash. The PQ looks soft in some places & skintones look a bit tweaked towards yellow. However, the colors really pop off the screen & there is lots of detail with no noise & grain.