Just Watched Movies: 2007

[Heineken Skywalker]

iamthesmitty said:

Once Were Warriors (1994, Lee Tamahori)

What the Hell happened to this guy? This film was brilliant! How does the director of this heartwrenching family drama wind up directing crap like XXX 2 and Next? Temeura Morrison (Jango Fett from the Star Wars Prequels) does a great job as an abusive husband, and I was particularly impressed by Rena Owen's performance as a wife torn by her dilemma. What could have easily been a typical film, wasn't. 9/10

You gave it a slightly higher score than me, but I enjoyed it too.
You missed the second Star Wars connection that I posted when I saw this film back in February:

(The lead actors were reunited for Episode II: Attack of the Clones. Morrison played bounty hunter Jango Fett and his clones, and Rena Owen performed the voice of Taun We, the tall, spindly limbed, long-necked alien that introduced Jango and young Boba Fett to Obi-Wan on Kamino, the cloning planet.)

I met them both back in May at Star Wars Celebration IV in San Diego and told them how much I enjoyed ONCE WERE WARRIORS. Both were very gracious.

[ZapRowsdower]

heinekenskywalker said:

iamthesmitty said:

Once Were Warriors (1994, Lee Tamahori)

What the Hell happened to this guy? This film was brilliant! How does the director of this heartwrenching family drama wind up directing crap like XXX 2 and Next? Temeura Morrison (Jango Fett from the Star Wars Prequels) does a great job as an abusive husband, and I was particularly impressed by Rena Owen's performance as a wife torn by her dilemma. What could have easily been a typical film, wasn't. 9/10

You gave it a slightly higher score than me, but I enjoyed it too.
You missed the second Star Wars connection that I posted when I saw this film back in February:

(The lead actors were reunited for Episode II: Attack of the Clones. Morrison played bounty hunter Jango Fett and his clones, and Rena Owen performed the voice of Taun We, the tall, spindly limbed, long-necked alien that introduced Jango and young Boba Fett to Obi-Wan on Kamino, the cloning planet.)

I met them both back in May at Star Wars Celebration IV in San Diego and told them how much I enjoyed ONCE WERE WARRIORS. Both were very gracious.

That's pretty awesome. I didn't know that was Rena Owen. I guess George Lucas must have liked the movie, too.

Gladiator (2000, Ridley Scott)

Yes, I was quite entertained. Thank you. 9/10

[Termination]

Jailhouse Rock (1957) (Blu-Ray)

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

[Quorthon]

976-Evil
and
Black Sheep

(No, not that Black Sheep. This one is new, came from New Zealand, and has mutant killer sheep.)

[Heineken Skywalker]

The Violence of the Lambs!!! How was BLACK SHEEP? The trailers were hilarious, but critics were pretty mercilous when it was finally in limited release.

Watched last night for the second time:

PAN'S LABYRINTH (2006)

Just a great adult fantasy movie! Dark, twisted & beautiful.

9/10

[Pulpmariachi]

Wonder Boys (Curtis Hanson) -- great adaptation of Chabon's second-best novel. Douglas gives a great performance and I always love Frances McDormand. Pretty hilarious throughout though I really wasn't a fan of how Hanson, Kloves and company handled the very ending. A-.

[Heineken Skywalker]

BRAM STOKER'S DRACULA (1992)

With director commentary by Francis Ford Coppola.

[Pulpmariachi]

3:10 to Yuma (James Mangold) -- now THAT was a really awesome movie. A.

[ZapRowsdower]

Tears of the Black Tiger (2000, Wisit Sasanatieng)

A pretty engaging Thai Western, with music that sounds like it was inspired by Ennio Morricone. A majority of the sets were obviously artificial but looked nice. 8/10

Beowulf (2007, Robert Zemeckis)

WAY better than the Gerard Butler version that came out earlier this year. Robert Zemeckis reuses the motion capture animation he used in the Polar Express, and adapts the ancient poem to film with it. I feel it could have been longer - with greater length, more time could have been spent building the characters. All I managed to gather from Beowulf was that he was badass. Overall, it's a very satisfying, entertaining flick which I can only imagine would be moreso in IMAX 3-D. 8/10

Lions for Lambs (2007, Robert Redford)

As a film student who's studying the art of screenwriting, I've learned that your characters should never speak unless there is something that realistically has to be said. Carnahan essentially shot himself in the foot when he wrote a screenplay about political debate. Because obviously, people don't like a lot of dialogue - and dialogue is very necessary. Robert Redford did a fine job, however, keeping the film from being boring. Every actor did a fantastic job, and every line of dialogue was spoken for a specific reason. At 90 minutes, this really isn't a bad film. I don't think it'll stand the test of multiple viewings, but it should be seen at least once. It's pretty relevant - but it works much better as a political statement than a film. 7/10

[Termination]

2001: A Space Odyssey (1968) (Blu-Ray)

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

[Pulpmariachi]

Beowulf (Robert Zemeckis) -- Zemeckis conitunes his expriementation with 3D and everything and this is a better result than "The Polar Express," but still...uneven. Unlike Zap, I could've found it shorter mainly because all the exposition scenes were really boring. I'm all about exposition but these were handled in a...yawn sort of way. The action sequences are spectacular, and the innuendos and outright sexual forthrights are pretty fun, too. But this is mumblemumbleSHOUTSHOUTBEOWULF!!!!! B.

[Heineken Skywalker]

NIGHT AT THE MUSEUM (2006)

Just a really, really, really average movie. Not offensive, but dull.
Ben Stiller sleepwalks through it because he's already played this exact same character multiple times. The effects are good, but if you've seen any effects-heavy movie in the last ten years, there's nothing groundbreaking here.
Fun for kids, I guess, but to me the whole thing felt like a mash-up of JUMANJI and INDIAN IN THE CUPBOARD. I can't believe this was as big a blockbuster as it was.
However, it was kind of funny to see Mickey Rooney channeling Don Rickles.

5/10

[ZapRowsdower]

Tie Me Up! Tie Me Down! (1990, Pedro Almodovar)

The MPAA are a bunch of prudes! Anyway, this unorthodox romantic comedy was actually very good. Guy wants girl, guy gets girl (buy kidnapping her), guy keeps girl tied up... you get the picture. I enjoyed it quite a bit. 8/10

Amores Perros (2000, Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu)

Deep, dark and gritty. I loved Babel, but that was essentially Amores Perros lite. Inarritu seems to enjoy making these ensemble films - out of which, this was my favorite. 9/10

[Heineken Skywalker]

iamthesmitty said:

Amores Perros (2000, Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu)

Deep, dark and gritty. I loved Babel, but that was essentially Amores Perros lite. Inarritu seems to enjoy making these ensemble films - out of which, this was my favorite. 9/10

I agree, excellent movie!

THE PURSUIT OF HAPPYNESS (2006)

Will Smith stars in the true story of Chris Gardner, a man who was in financial ruin which lead to his wife leaving him and his five year old son. He applied for and got an internship position at Dean Witter, which means, no salary for six months. Meanwhile, no longer able to pay the bills, they became homeless and struggled to get by.
Smith is great in this real rags to riches story that was much better than I thought it was going to be. Nice to be surprised every once in a while.

9/10

[Pulpmariachi]

iamthesmitty said:

Amores Perros (2000, Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu)

Deep, dark and gritty. I loved Babel, but that was essentially Amores Perros lite. Inarritu seems to enjoy making these ensemble films - out of which, this was my favorite. 9/10

Heiny's right. Once you've watched all three Inarritu films you realize they are all the exact same and this is the one that did it best.

Great for watching some Spanish-language films too! I think a lot of those types are often overlooked and it really takes a huge bang (a la Pan's Labyrinth) to bring attention to one. Almodovar knows what he's doing though.