Just Watched Movies: 2007

[ZapRowsdower]

It Happened One Night (1934, Frank Capra) (Assignment for Story Structure class)

Second time was a bit of a charm. I appreciated it much more this time around, especially trying to break down the film into the basic structure we're working with. Real hard to do that when you're getting caught up in some of that timeless dialogue. Great flick. 9/10

Joan the Maid 2.: The Prisons (1994, Jacques Rivette) (Assignment for Language of Cinema class)

An emotional second half to the story of Joan of Arc's life. Much like the first half, great cinematography in terms of keeping everything balanced. Wonderful picture quality, and the best-performed (non-silent) Joan of Arc yet. 8/10

The Fall of the House of Usher (1928, Jean Epstein) (In-Class Viewing, World Cinema)

This was something else. Today's class was about French Impressionism in the 1920's, and this film encompasses that. Very stylish and innovative for its time. It was a bit of a test to sit through (not for the short attention span), but I found it rewarding. Very dark, gothic film. Dark, dismal, and disturbing. After being warned about how unpopular the music was for previous classes, I was surprised to know that it actually fit in with the movie and somewhat added to the dread. It may not have followed Poe's short story 100%, but for those of you looking for something disturbing (and are not opposed to watching a silent film), this one comes highly recommended. 8/10

[slayrrr666]

frankenjohn said:

Inferno- While it's necessary entry in the soon to be completed trilogy, it's weak as a sequel to Suspiria. The score by Keith Emerson can't compare to Claudio Simonetti and Goblin's wonderful, spooky music. It kind of spells everything out for you instead of letting you think like Suspiria did. Cinematography is still great. In short, it's nowhere near as good as Suspiria, but if you really want to uderstand what happens in the first and third films, you need to watch it. B.

Oh, don't tell me you're another one that likes that discordant warbling? I hated it, and is one of the main reasons why I'm not that huge on Suspiria. I like this one techno-y beat a lot more. I actually like this one a lot more, just as visually impressive with some of the greatest set-pieces in the Argento cannon, a much easier to follow plotwise and rather than going steady to an underwhelming finale, Inferno builds to a better one than Suspiria. I like Inferno a lot more.

[Heineken Skywalker]

BEER LEAGUE (2006)

Artie Lange, formerly of "MAD TV" and "The Norm Show", and currently of the Howard Stern Show, (Where he's hilarious, I might add.) and a recurring role on the FX series "Rescue Me", stars as an overweight lovable loser who is in his mid-thirties, still lives at home with his mom, drinks and eats too much, does too many drugs, and loves to play softball.
A throwback to classic "slob" comedies like ANIMAL HOUSE, CADDYSHACK and STRIPES. Not saying it's in the same "league" as them, but if you enjoy that type of "guy humor", then you'll probably get some laughs out of this one. Short on plot, but long on crude humor and even features some genuinely laugh out loud funny moments.

6.5/10

[frankenjohn]

slayrrr666 said:

Oh, don't tell me you're another one that likes that discordant warbling? I hated it, and is one of the main reasons why I'm not that huge on Suspiria. I like this one techno-y beat a lot more. I actually like this one a lot more, just as visually impressive with some of the greatest set-pieces in the Argento cannon, a much easier to follow plotwise and rather than going steady to an underwhelming finale, Inferno builds to a better one than Suspiria. I like Inferno a lot more.

I think that Keith Emerson's didn't fit so well. I really think the discordant piano notes just felt out of place. The score basically felt like Eyes Wide Shut's on crack and not as good. The Goblin score was much better, it was creepier. I mean look at the scene where (SPOILER ALERT) the blind guy gets mauled to death by his dog. He's just standing there in that open, empty square and the music just constantly builds and builds while the camera moves omniously. It's amazingly suspenseful and worked perfectly (END SPOILER). On the plot, I found the ambiguity of Suspiria's plot to be just fine, and it actually keeps you focus on the film, letting you enjoy the visuals more. Inferno just speled everything out for you instead of letting you try to piece together the puzzle.

[Termination]

Are We Done Yet? (2007) (Blu-Ray)

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

Arlington Road (1999) (Blu-Ray)

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

Blazing Saddles (1974) (Blu-Ray)

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

[slayrrr666]

frankenjohn said:

slayrrr666 said:

Oh, don't tell me you're another one that likes that discordant warbling? I hated it, and is one of the main reasons why I'm not that huge on Suspiria. I like this one techno-y beat a lot more. I actually like this one a lot more, just as visually impressive with some of the greatest set-pieces in the Argento cannon, a much easier to follow plotwise and rather than going steady to an underwhelming finale, Inferno builds to a better one than Suspiria. I like Inferno a lot more.

I think that Keith Emerson's didn't fit so well. I really think the discordant piano notes just felt out of place. The score basically felt like Eyes Wide Shut's on crack and not as good. The Goblin score was much better, it was creepier. I mean look at the scene where (SPOILER ALERT) the blind guy gets mauled to death by his dog. He's just standing there in that open, empty square and the music just constantly builds and builds while the camera moves omniously. It's amazingly suspenseful and worked perfectly (END SPOILER). On the plot, I found the ambiguity of Suspiria's plot to be just fine, and it actually keeps you focus on the film, letting you enjoy the visuals more. Inferno just speled everything out for you instead of letting you try to piece together the puzzle.

Your first two lines don't make sense. The Keith Emerson one, which is the techno-style stuff, doesn't fit so well, while the discordant piano notes felt out of place? Kinda confused on that one. As for plot, ambiguity works to a point before you're forcing too much on the audience to figure out before they get disinterested and give up. Spelling out sometimes helps this out.

Needful Things-Really only interesting for the last act, which is the big action scenes, otherwise this one is quite dull.
imdb.com/title/tt0107665/usercomments-62

The Backlot Murders-One of the more impressive slashers of the new millennium, if only slightly flawed at times.
imdb.com/title/tt0300969/usercomments-27

Night Terrors-Halfway decent entry, it just takes too long to get going to it's good parts.
imdb.com/title/tt0108350/usercomments-17

Megasnake-One of the best Sci-Fi Channel creature features with only the same fundamental flaws as the others have shown.
imdb.com/title/tt0914813/usercomments-4

The Grudge-Visually stylish but incoherent due to such a disjointed plot device.
imdb.com/title/tt0391198/usercomments-907

The Grudge 2-Same as above, except more ghostly visions equal better time and more fun.
imdb.com/title/tt0433386/usercomments-269

Blood Feast-Cheesy, cheesy, cheesy, no other way around it, even with all the fake-looking gore.
imdb.com/title/tt0056875/usercomments-74

2000 Maniacs-Demented sense of fun, coupled with better gore, makes this one a underrated gem.
imdb.com/title/tt0058694/usercomments-60

The Wizard of Gore-Slightly confusing at times, but still manages to get off some good gore scenes.
imdb.com/title/tt0066578/usercomments-34

[Pulpmariachi]

Isn't "Needfull Things" the one that liberally ripped off "Something Wicked this way Comes" from Bradbury?

[Heineken Skywalker]

MARTY (1955)

Touching film about Marty, a loney unattractive butcher in his mid-thirties who's constantly being hounded by his Italian mom to get married. He meets Clara, an equaly lonely schoolteacher who is on the "plain" side as well.
A really sweet film I hadn't seen in a very long time. Ernest Borgnine and Betsy Blair are both excellent as Marty and Clara.

7.5/10

[Phoenix]

Bourne Ultimatum - EXCELLENT movie. This puts Die Hard to shame big time. Fun, fast paced, realistic. Probably my favorite movie of the summer. Car chase scenes I've never seen before. Very cool. 9/10

Stardust - Cute little fairy tale film. I've read the book, which is really fantastic. The film could have used some editing to make the story tighter, with a shorter play time. I was kind of squirming in my seat for some of it. 6/10

[Termination]

Erin Brockovich (2000) (HD DVD)

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

Mercury Rising (1998) (HD DVD)

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

[frankenjohn]

slayrrr666 said:

Your first two lines don't make sense. The Keith Emerson one, which is the techno-style stuff, doesn't fit so well, while the discordant piano notes felt out of place? Kinda confused on that one.

Keith Emerson's score had the discordant piano notes along with the techno. Like the scene at the beginning in the basement.

[Termination]

Bullitt (1968) (Blu-Ray)

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

[slayrrr666]

pulpmariachi said:

Isn't "Needfull Things" the one that liberally ripped off "Something Wicked this way Comes" from Bradbury?

If he did, it's the first I'm hearing of it. I wouldn't know.

frankenjohn said:

slayrrr666 said:

Your first two lines don't make sense. The Keith Emerson one, which is the techno-style stuff, doesn't fit so well, while the discordant piano notes felt out of place? Kinda confused on that one.

Keith Emerson's score had the discordant piano notes along with the techno. Like the scene at the beginning in the basement.

I don't remember any piano there, though there's a few I do remember. That wasn't one of them, though.

[ZapRowsdower]

Death at a Funeral (2007, Frank Oz)

Hilarious. Frank Oz took a different approach to comedy and went the "British" route. Great writing, fun and quirky characters (which Frank Oz is very good with), and best of all, very dark and morbid. But that's okay, because it's funny. 8/10

Metropolis (1927, Fritz Lang) (World Cinema class assignment)

Timeless. Simply timeless. 10/10

Pathfinder (2007, Marcus Nispel)

My GOD, what horrible screenwriting. Almost every single line of dialogue was either laughably bad, completely unoriginal, cringeingly bad, or some strange mixture of all three. Laeta Kalogridis even had the nerve to throw in "Run and you'll live. Fight..." Having seen the trailer, I know he finishes that sentence with "and you'll die" originally, but some editor thought that cutting that part out would make it seem less like they ripped off Braveheart. But it didn't. The screenwritng was God awful, the acting was sub-par... I will say that the cinematography was very, very good. The movie LOOKED excellent... from a purely visual perspective. Hell, the fight scenes were pretty awesome too. Excellent set design... Kinda pisses you off that such high production value went into such a mediocre screenplay, but from what I've seen, I believe Marcus Nispel has it in him to direct a good movie. But man, he just picked the wrong screenplay to direct. 5/10

[Heineken Skywalker]

THE BRIDGE (2006)

Documentary that explores the most popular suicide destination in the world, the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco. A documentary crew filmed the bridge for all of 2004 and recorded almost two dozen deaths over the course of that year. Even preventing a few suicides in the process. The film also includes interviews with friends, families and witnesses of the various suicides.
Original and fascinating, if not a bit morbid. Through the interviews with the friends and families of the deceased, we get some backstory into why some of these individuals decided to end it all and, not surprisingly, depression or mental illness usually played into it.

7.5/10