3 Movies I went to see this week.

[cincyreds]

Monday: Master and Commander: Russell Crowe new flick.

This was a very good movie, very bloody. I enjoyed it alot. The strategy in the movie was very good, good acting well thought out. I liked it alot.(4 out 5 stars)

Brother Bear: Took my 9 yr old nephew to see this one.

He really enjoyed it, he laughed alot so I guess from a childs point of veiw, he liked it alot. Good storyline for sure.

Timeline: I went to see this one today.

I like the time traveling movies for some reason. It was a godd story, the acting was good but not great. Lots and lots of action, bloody in some places, but overall a good movie that I really enjoyed seeing. (3 out of 5 stars)

What movies did you guys see this week if any?

[MrBug708]

The Missing with Tommy Lee Jones was pretty good. I'd give it a 3.5 outta 5. I half went into it thinking it was gonna be a scary film based on the previews, but it was a well made western

[mckerney]

Saw Master and Commander, wasn't that impressed with it.

[MrBug708]

Not enough boobs for you McKerney?

[Front Office Midget]

I saw Timeline, I thought it was good. Very interesting with the way the questions in the beginning were answered at the end.

[Qwikshot]

Made my gf see Kill Bill she loved it.

[cody8200]

I went and saw Gothika and the Cat and the hat with my niece and nephew.

Gothika: Suprsiingly scary with a twist at the end. Pretty good story and Halle Berry is hot. (4 out of 5)

Cat in the Hat: Horrrible adaptation of Dr. Seuss. The Grinch with Jim Carrey was 10 times better. Mike Myers as the cat sounds exactly like Austin Powers the whole time. Some of the jokes were really innapropriate for young kids...like they used an acronym in one part for his car S.H.I.T There were a lot of suprised parents...not a single laugh. (1 out of 5)

BTW if youve got kids or just want to see a good Xmas movie see Elf...loved it. Will Ferrell really plays the part well.

[Buzzbee]

Saw Cat in the Hat. Sucked. About the only people that would like this movie is 6 year old boys. Jeeber? bbor? :)

Ditto what Cody above said. There were several parts of the movie where the humor [sic] was either just plain gross or inappropriate.

The ONLY nice thing about this movie was Kelly Preston's cleavage.


The movie itself was very disappointing.

[OldGiants]

My wife is a 5th grade teacher and her kids talked her into seeing School of Rock. So we went.

A pleasant surprise. Normally I can take Jack Black for about 4.4 seconds. But he was terrific in High Fidelity--quite possibly his only good role before this one, and I'd heard this was good.

Well it was his High Fidelity role all through School of Rock and it was quite funny. Inappropriate, at times, but in an almost quaint way. The ending is very kid friendly--the other side "cheats" but the audience makes the kid band the real winners.

The sad part is, this most likely represents the pinnacle of his career. I'm sure he'll get other parts, but he's done his best work. And School of Rock II would suck unbelievably-- might even make Adam Sandler look talented.

[cody8200]

Buzzbee, agreed about the cleavage...kelly preston is hot.

BTW
I dont know oldGiants, most people think that Jack Black's career has just begun. Many compare him to Jon Belushi (without the drug problem). Have you heard anything from his band Tenacious D? Good stuff. If you want an example try the song, "Tribute".

[uglytuco]

Bad Santa

The wife and I, who both have bizarre sense of humors, went out Thanksgiving night and caught it. If you have a bizarre enough sense of humor, youll love it. I was laughing my ass off the whole time. Even when I was cringing I couldnt help but laugh. If you liked Pulp Fiction, thats the kind of dry black humor youre gonna get.

Just dont take the kids.

[Franklinnoble]

Saw the Matrix Revolutions.

Somebody should have shot the Wachowski (sp?) brothers after the first film. The second one was bad, and the third one made a stench I haven't whiffed since Battlefield Earth.

[mauchow]

Well, I highly suggest for you Franklin to read the book, Battlefield Earth.... AMAZING BOOK.. One downside.. I read it a few summers ago, it took me a long freaking time to read it since it was only 1561 pages(just a number I know it's above 1500 pages though). But it's worth EVERY minute. It's great. The ending is WAY different from the ending in the movie. LOTS BETTER.

If you see Timeline.. And didn't read that book either.. You should definitely put some time into Timeline. It took me a day to read it since it was so fast paced, which made it easy to read. It's under 400 pages I believe. I really can't remember since I read it like the week it came out. Anyways, my 2 cents

[RendeR]

Saw Master and Commander last night (wife took me out for my birthday)

I am continually impressed with russell Crowe. He's not flashy, he's not brilliant, but his characters come across so well that I just can't dislike him.

I loved Gladiator, I loved a beautiful mind, and I own both. I WILL own master and commander as soon as its available on DVD. This movie is so close to the reality of the times its scary.

Excellent movie, non-stop fun.

and get this: its worth the 9 bucks to go see it in a real theatre!

I rarely find this to be true any more.

I still haven't seen the third matrix movie, probably won't till its out on dvd. I refuse to watch the cat in the hat, Mike Myers lost all my respect when he trashed such a classic childrens story with adult oriented jokes. I've avoided Timeline because of the awful reviews I've seen. Maybe I'll give that one a shot. MAybe......

[QuikSand]

Originally posted by mauboy1
Well, I highly suggest for you Franklin to read the book, Battlefield Earth.... AMAZING BOOK.. One downside.. I read it a few summers ago, it took me a long freaking time to read it since it was only 1561 pages(just a number I know it's above 1500 pages though). But it's worth EVERY minute. It's great. The ending is WAY different from the ending in the movie. LOTS BETTER.

Are you a fan of LRH's other works... or just his fiction?

Serious question - I simply can't understand who reads that stuff (his fiction), and have halfway assumed it was mostly his true believers.

[Bee]

I have mixed feelings about seeing Master and Commander. The movie looks like total crap to me, but everyone I talk to who has seen it (and some who's opinion I actually respect), loved it. I think I'll probably wait for it to come out on DVD and then give it a try through Netflix. That way I can stop it as soon as I realize I was right and the movie is total crap and not waste an evening out at the movies.

[RendeR]

What is it that makes you think it will be crap? Are you jsut not a fan of period films or is there some other aspect? Do you just not like Crowes movies in general?

My thoughts: They spent more doing research and development on this film than they spent on the actors and film crews. They actually built the entire ship. Quite a feat in and of itself.

I still highly recommend seeing it in the theatre because of the scope of the movie, you really get a feel for being out on the open ocean on a flying lumber yard =)

anyway, let me know when you finally watch it, I'm curious to hear your reaction.

[RendeR]

Originally posted by QuikSand
Are you a fan of LRH's other works... or just his fiction?

Serious question - I simply can't understand who reads that stuff (his fiction), and have halfway assumed it was mostly his true believers.

I've read battlefield earth at least 3 times in my life, its a fantastic story and very well written sci-fi. I've never been able to get into his other fictions though and the whole scientology thing can get sucked into a big black hole for all I care about such things.

just my .02

Ren

[Bee]

Originally posted by RendeR
What is it that makes you think it will be crap? Are you jsut not a fan of period films or is there some other aspect? Do you just not like Crowes movies in general?


I'm not a fan of period films, but I also don't hate them. I really have little opinion either way about Crowe. I liked "A Beautiful Mind" and "Gladiator" although I didn't think he made an impact (positive or negative) in either movie. He seemed like a decent actor and did an adequate job in both movies, but neither performance IMO stood out. For me, his performance didn't make the movies better, nor did it make the movies worse. My opinion about this movie is based on the previews I've seen and the articles I've read about the story. When I see the movie on DVD, I'll report back with my opinion. :D

[the_meanstrosity]

Render,

I saw Master and Commander on it's opening weekend and came away disappointed. The acting in the movie was solid. But the pace of the movie was just too slow for me.

[mckerney]

Originally posted by the_meanstrosity
Render,

I saw Master and Commander on it's opening weekend and came away disappointed. The acting in the movie was solid. But the pace of the movie was just too slow for me.

Came away disappointed as well. I don't know if it was the pace of the movie, but it failed to grasp my attention. That and watching the action scenes gave me Any Given Sunday flashbacks (note to all aspiring directors, it alright to stay with one camera shot during an action sequence for more than 1.5 seconds).

[cthomer5000]

Originally posted by QuikSand
Are you a fan of LRH's other works... or just his fiction?

Serious question - I simply can't understand who reads that stuff (his fiction), and have halfway assumed it was mostly his true believers.

I am a HUGE fan of the Mission Earth series (10 books) and he really was a top-rate satirist.

I abhore the practices of scientology, and some simple research will find you some incredibly ridiciulous results of the indoctrination processes and such.

I'm sure most believers feel obligated to read his fictional works, but I'm a fiction only reader.

[Taur]

Originally posted by the_meanstrosity
Render,

I saw Master and Commander on it's opening weekend and came away disappointed. The acting in the movie was solid. But the pace of the movie was just too slow for me.
I have seen many comments like this. Must be a video-shooter fan. Unless something is blowing up or somebody is getting killed every 3 minutes it is "just too slow"

Yes, there is a story line, dialog, plot development, and even conflict in between explosions. All that "Depth" does slow down the movie though.


BTW-- loved LRH's Mission Earth books, but hated the Batlefield Earth book as well as the movie.

[cincyreds]

Good to see all those who went to see Master and Commander.

I loved the strategy side of the story, very well put together.

If you haven't seen Timeline, ignore the reviews, I really enjoyed that one. It was a solid film, lots of action and a good story of heroism. To me, it has a little Lord of the Rings flavor to it.

[the_meanstrosity]

Taur,

Actually, I normally love movies that are less action and more plot. Sixth Sense, Memento, and Donnie Darko to name a few.

Master and Commander reminded me of a poor man's "Moby Dick". They just slapped a couple of nice battle scenes on and voila...Master and Commander.

Cincy,

You liked the strategy? I felt like there wasn't enough talk of strategy. I was watching a show on the Discovery Channel where they talked about the different cannons and arsenal on ships and their various uses. Some were used to take out the sails while others were good for creating dangerous debris. It was amazing to hear the different tactics involved. I felt like Master and Commander just glossed over the strategy. I know they talked about air currents and the size of the hull, etc, but there was certainly more to be said regarding the use of the cannons which were all-important for a navy at that time.

[mauchow]

Sorry it took a while to respond to the reading LRH's books(fiction). I've actually only read Battlefield Earth of all his books. I really haven't dug into what else he has written, and after reading that he has a 10 book series, I'll probably check into that if they're not ridiculuosly long like Battlefield Earth. I'm going to drop by the library later and see if they're there.

I liked Battlefield Earth because I'm a crazy Sci-fi person and am interested in what people think when you go into a blackhole. I've actually written a short story on a trip into the black hole. I haven't finished it yet though.. lol.. I started it last year. Maybe I'll start it up again and post it on here one day.

[Chief Rum]

Originally posted by mauboy1
I've actually written a short story on a trip into the black hole. I haven't finished it yet though.. lol..

How did you get out?

CR

[mauchow]

I never did. That's the story.

I actually made the Movie too in "hollywood mogul" called BLACKHOLE COMATOSE. It was like, the best selling move in the box office history. For me anyways, like a billion some. Anyways, I also made a sequel to my book idea, Blackhole Comatose: The Journey Home. That also made a lot of money too, but not as much as the first one.

But anyways, back to your question, the story, which most of it is in my head, the main character, never gets out of the black hole to go back home.

Just as a fun thing to do for Hollywood mogul, I made a sequel doing just that, go home and see everybody he once knew..

[Draft Dodger]

I saw X2 this weekend via Netflix (the same way I see 99% of my movies). was extremely disappointed, because I'd heard it was better than the first, but I thought it was worse. much worse.

Pirates of the Caribbean just came today.

oh, and I 2nd the recommendation to read the Timeline book - great book.

[gkb]

Master And Commander: It was ok, a C+ for me. I had heard such good things about it, but I came away disappointed. I don't mind a slow-paced movie, but this movie never made me care one way or the other about any of the characters.

Elf: Funny movie. I would give it a B- and recommend it to anyone who enjoys light-hearted flicks.

Kill Bill: I really enjoyed this movie and would give it a B. I went in thinking I wouldn't be able to buy Uma Thurman in that kind of role, but she proved me wrong and did a very good job.

Matrix Revolutions: *spoiler alert* I would give it a C+ as well. I was disappointed that The One ended up negotating a temporary truce and that was it. I was expecting more from him...I wish they had stopped after the first one.

[Glengoyne]

Originally posted by cthomer5000
I am a HUGE fan of the Mission Earth series (10 books) and he really was a top-rate satirist.

....


I read battlefield Earth in about 4 days. It was a non stop affair. The first two thirds(maybe three fourths) were very compelling. The last portion of the book, after the human triumph was less so. I used to almost always recommend it to people, but now I am leary of doing so because now I know more about who and what L. Ron was. I read the first five or maybe six books of mission earth, and could't finish them. There were some very entertaining points along the way though.

[mauchow]

I used to almost always recommend it to people, but now I am leary of doing so because now I know more about who and what L. Ron was.

What was L. Ron? I haven't really gone into an in depth study about who he is as a person. Would you care to explain to me?

Or perhaps I just missed something and you meant nothing by it in a bad way.

[samifan24]

Originally posted by mauboy1
I used to almost always recommend it to people, but now I am leary of doing so because now I know more about who and what L. Ron was.

What was L. Ron? I haven't really gone into an in depth study about who he is as a person. Would you care to explain to me?

Or perhaps I just missed something and you meant nothing by it in a bad way.

L. Ron is L. Ron Hubbard, novelist turned head of the Church of Scientology. More info is available here (http://www.lronhubbardprofile.org/cont.htm).

[mauchow]

Ah, I did see that website earlier today, but just skimmed it not really paying any attention, since I was trying to find his Series Mission Earth... Thanks for directing me.

[MizzouRah]

Gothika was excellent... the wife and I watched it on pay-per-view last night. Kind of freaky. We also Tivo-ed Matchstick Men as I watch anything with Nicholas Cage in it.

Also bought "Friday Night Lights" off of Amazon.com last week and I'm really enjoying this book about a high school football team on Odessa, West Texas. VERY GOOD thus far.


Todd

[korme]

My brother really liked Matchstick Men, bought it, and keeps telling me I should watch, FWIW Todd.

[bigdawg2003]

i saw timeline this weekend, absolutely horrible. the book is tons better

matrix 3, while nowhere near matrix 1 was tons better than matrix 2.

also rented school of rock, but havent watched it yet. heard nothing but good things about it though.

[Desnudo]

i saw timeline this weekend, absolutely horrible. the book is tons better

matrix 3, while nowhere near matrix 1 was tons better than matrix 2.

also rented school of rock, but havent watched it yet. heard nothing but good things about it though.

You like Timeline the book? I thought it started off great, but kind of fell apart about halfway through. It almost looked as if he was writing it for a movie.

[MizzouRah]

Thanks Shorty! Will see that one tonight.

I bought School of Rock. I love that movie.


Todd

[Hurst2112]

I watch anything with Nicholas Cage in it.


Ah, there is the 5th person that liked Con Air.

[Franklinnoble]

Ah, there is the 5th person that liked Con Air.
Put the bunny down....

[bigdawg2003]

desnudo

i like pretty much anything involving time travel. the movie had almost nothing to do with the book. Doninger, a big character, is barely in the movie.

[MizzouRah]

Ah, there is the 5th person that liked Con Air.
It was ok. Wayyyy better than Captain Corelli's Mandolin!



Todd

[ISiddiqui]

Matchstick Men was good! Master and Commander is one of my favorite movies.

Just say "The Last Samurai". It was good, but pretentious and very sweep-the-bad-things-under-the-rug type of movie. I mean the Samurai were the BAD GUYS! They were some of the most reactionary people you'd ever meet, standing in the way of a liberal, Western change in Japan (the Meiji Restoration), and they were turned into heros. You noticed they never really worked that much. That's what the lowly peasants were for. The Samurai liked and wanted to perserve their upper class.

[Antmeister]

Hmmm. I saw a few interesting movies myself over the last two weeks. Being that I am a father, I can't go to the theatre, so most of what I see is on DVD. Here we go.

Action/Drama Flicks
Kill Bill Vol. 1: Enjoyed this picture. Lots of actions. A blend of a karate movie, anime and 70's exploitation film. Decent story, great action chereography and visually appealing. (8.5 out of 10)
Master and Commander: I am not very fond of this movie. Was expecting a lot more from this movie, but it moved way too slow and I didn't feel anything for the major and minor characters that were injured or killed in this movie. This is possibly because there wasn't much character development with the number of characters that the movie focused on. (4 out of 10)

Horror
Cabin Fever: I am a big horror fan and this did just enough to satisfy the craving. While the characters weren't ones to care for too much, it did have some interesting twists. (6 out of 10)


Foreign Films
Musa - The Warrior: This is actually a violent action flick and children should not view this movie. However this movie has an interesting story. It is about a group of Korean delegates sent to China who are banished to a remote desert because it is thought that they are spies. I would tell more about the story, but I don't want to spoil the rest. A very good film. It is only in English subtitles, so if that bothers you, if may not be for you. Stars Zhang Ziyi from Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon. (8 out of 10)
Princess Blade - What I liked most about this movie is that this is a movies with a leading lady who can seriously kick ass. This movie would fall along the lines of a tragedy. It is about a young assassin who is torn between staying with her organization or joining the cause of the rebels she has met. I thought it had some pretty good character development and the action is amazing (7.5 out of 10)
Brotherhood of the Wolf: I remember wanting to see this movie a while back and never got a chance too. I had finally seen it on DVD and was surprised. Overall the movie is the most artistic that I have seen in a while. The only downside is that the movie is slow in areas where it didn't have to be. The action was great and the characters were interesting, but the story was a little weak since it dragged here and there. (6.5 out of 10)
The Returner: This one is a smart, time-travel type movie. There are a number of Matrix type effects in this movie, but the story stands on its own. Very well thought out and the characters are great. The bad guy may seem a bit over the top, but it still works. (8.5 out of 10)