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Post by Heineken Skywalker on May 21, 2007 8:24:30 GMT -5
A lot of good movies having been seen by members of The Board lately. I wasn't absolutely crazy about GLADIATOR the first time I saw it, but it grew on me over repeated viewings. Come on guys, "Are you not entertained?".
THE DEPARTED, CHILDREN OF MEN, FARGO & SLING BLADE I loved right away though.
Nothing wrong with dark & depressing once in a while.
Yesterday I watched:
HELL UP IN HARLEM (1973)
Hilarious sequel to blaxploitation classic BLACK CAESAR, which I also watched recently. The violence and body count rises considerably, but so do the improbabilities.
The island ambush scene even tops the pool party attack from the first movie. Even, for about a minute, throwing in a karate fighting chick in a bikini, which seemed like something out of a James Bond movie.
5.5/10
HARPER (1966)
Paul Newman plays Lew Harper, a cynical private detective, sort of a modern Bogart-type, hired by classic film noir babe, and former Bogart squeeze, Lauren Bacall, to find her missing husband. He meets the usual wacky and unsavory types along the way.
I especially like when Bacall offers him a drink and he says, "Not before noon.". She says, "I thought you were a private detective." and he replies, "I'm the new kind.".
The whole scene being a poke and deconstruction of 40's noir.
Overall I enjoyed Newman more than the actual movie, which never really involved me. He plays this kind of character pretty effortlessly, or at least makes it seem that way.
5/10
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Post by slayrrr666 on May 21, 2007 10:29:06 GMT -5
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Post by Phoenix on May 21, 2007 11:50:58 GMT -5
ARGH! So much bashing on movies I really, really like. Gladiator... Children of Men... Gotta defend them. Gladiator was all about Russel Crowe's performance, sheer entertainment value, and cinematography (as well as Ridley Scott's direction). Much stronger of a Best Picture winner than, say, A Beautiful Mind. And I enjoyed it more than any of the other nominees (although if Almost Famous was nominated, I would have been rooting for that). Children of Men... it was supposed to be dark and depressing! Mary Poppins isn't supposed to fly in on her umbrella and make everything all better (I'm glad THAT scene ended up on the cutting room floor). Again, it's about cinematography, direction, writing, story and performances. Great film, the best of 2006. I'm not a big Russell Crowe fan. And I didn't find it that entertaining. I like Braveheart much better. And I know Children of Men is supposed to be dark and depressing BUT I'm getting a little tired of all the unnecessary death in those kind of movies. A lot of it felt pointless, which I guess is the point. I disliked how they kept talking about the "human project" without ever defining what it was or why it was secretive. It did have excellent direction though. I prefer Y tu mamá también though for an overall better story by that director. Last night we watched Green Street Hooligans (2005) - a film about soccor fan gangs starring Elijah Wood. Pretty cliche and steals from lots of other movies (like Fight Club). 1/10 |
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Post by LivingDeadGirl on May 21, 2007 18:13:37 GMT -5
Children of Men... it was supposed to be dark and depressing! Mary Poppins isn't supposed to fly in on her umbrella and make everything all better (I'm glad THAT scene ended up on the cutting room floor). Again, it's about cinematography, direction, writing, story and performances. Have to agree w/ Zap on this one, depressing but still a great movie. Even though, I do also have to agree w/ Pheonix's point about the senseless deaths, esp. at the end. First Knight- cheesy, sappy, but love it anyway, and watching and listening to Sean Connery always keeps me entertainted. ;D |
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Post by Pulpmariachi on May 21, 2007 22:04:55 GMT -5
Children of Men... it was supposed to be dark and depressing! Mary Poppins isn't supposed to fly in on her umbrella and make everything all better (I'm glad THAT scene ended up on the cutting room floor). Again, it's about cinematography, direction, writing, story and performances. Have to agree w/ Zap on this one, depressing but still a great movie. Even though, I do also have to agree w/ Pheonix's point about the senseless deaths, esp. at the end. First Knight- cheesy, sappy, but love it anyway, and watching and listening to Sean Connery always keeps me entertainted. ;D There WAS a war going on. How many senseless deaths do you think are going on in Iraq? Not to bait you, just defending the movie. |
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Post by LivingDeadGirl on May 21, 2007 22:12:45 GMT -5
Well, I wasn't so much referring to those, mainly the last one..don't wanna say too much for those who haven't seen it. But I'm sure you know which one I'm talking about.
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Post by Heineken Skywalker on May 21, 2007 23:28:54 GMT -5
STAR WARS (1977) This Friday, May 25th, is the 30th Anniversary of the one that started it all. So, to celebrate, we watched the original, unaltered, pre-Special Edition version. Before it was known as Episode IV or A New Hope. The one that not only made me a Star Wars fan, but really made me a film fan in general. Here's to ya, Mr. Lucas.  10/10
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Post by ZapRowsdower on May 22, 2007 17:48:28 GMT -5
The Aviator - Great biopic. I'm glad DiCaprio pulled himself out of the teen heartthrob trap and became a serious actor, because he's really good. Great cinematography and editing, too. 10/10
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Post by Quorthon on May 22, 2007 22:49:40 GMT -5
John Carpenter's Vampires
Jenifer (Masters of Horror)
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Post by slayrrr666 on May 23, 2007 10:14:05 GMT -5
Finally saw Wedding Crashers last night, quite surprisingly hilarious. Can't quite put my finger on it as to why it's so funny, but it was and I really enjoyed it. A lot of laughs, a lot of great moments and some nice ideas thrown in.
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Post by Phoenix on May 23, 2007 11:31:22 GMT -5
Have to agree w/ Zap on this one, depressing but still a great movie. Even though, I do also have to agree w/ Pheonix's point about the senseless deaths, esp. at the end. First Knight- cheesy, sappy, but love it anyway, and watching and listening to Sean Connery always keeps me entertainted. ;D There WAS a war going on. How many senseless deaths do you think are going on in Iraq? Not to bait you, just defending the movie. Do I want to be reminded of Iraq when I go to the movies (especially a sci fi movie)? No. I get it enough every time I turn on the TV, every time I sign in online, and I used to get it every time I went to work. I don't want to pay $$ to be reminded of it at the cinema too. I'm trying to avoid anti-depressants.  That's the last I'll rant about it though, I promise. Last night we had Pink Floyd's The Wall in the background. I actually watched it for the first time in fifth grade music class! My husband, who went to a Catholic school, was banned from listening to it in high school music class. Got to love music that is revered and hated by so many. |
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Post by ZapRowsdower on May 23, 2007 15:18:39 GMT -5
Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl - We haven't had a trilogy like this since Indiana Jones. 10/10
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Post by Phoenix on May 23, 2007 17:01:16 GMT -5
Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl - We haven't had a trilogy like this since Indiana Jones. 10/10 I can't wait to see it on Sat morning! Glad you loved it. |
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Post by ZapRowsdower on May 23, 2007 18:19:40 GMT -5
Actually, I was talking about the first one. I'm watching 1 & 2 in preparation for 3.
I haven't seen the third one yet, but I got tickets for the 8pm showing tomorrow night.
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Post by Termination on May 24, 2007 4:07:45 GMT -5
The Matrix (1999) (HD DVD)
HD Video - 8/10
HD Audio Dolby Digital Plus - 10/10
HD Audio Dolby TrueHD - N/A
There are some compression artifacts & the PQ wasn't as consistent as I would have thought it to be. Image is soft in a lot of areas. It also looks dated. Its def a step up on the Re-Mastered SD DvD. Obviously folks either havn't watched or compared this upconverted or are just die-hard fans & havn't judged this transfer like any other. The DD+ track is something else though. WoW. A major overhaul must have been done. The DD+ track sounded just as good as most LPCM or TrueHD tracks.
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