indiana jones & the last crusade - still great.

Just saw a few (not much to do lately :D):

Hotel Rwanda - 9/10: Wow, just an utterly moving film. I know it has been described as "Schindler's List in Africa", but it is far more than just that. Yes, you have the guy who sacrifices his well being to save folks from a genocide, but you also have the anger and disappointment as the west decides they aren't going to help (great scene with Nick Nolte at the bar). And it gives a great view of Africa, and the corruption inherant within (this time it is for the good).

History of Violence - 6/10: I guess it was a decent psychological flick, asking the audience to figure out who the main character really is, and then when it reveals that, asking the audience to wonder about some of the backstory. Very slow moving film and not horribly done, but it didn't feel as good as the reviews made it out to be (and perhaps my lower score is a result of not living up to the hype). Though I did like that it wasn't your cookie cutter movie.

House of Flying Daggers - 8/10: This is a very well done martial arts flick. It isn't as good as "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" or "Hero", but its got a pretty good story of its own, with a lot of plot twists (it does come from the director of "Hero", after all) and some great action. What puts this movie up to 8/10 instead of 7/10 is just the amazing cinematography. Very well done and I kind of like how the ending leaves it open.

Miracle on 34th Street (the original)

9 out of 10

Oh was it? My bad; I thought it was his last movie ever.

Watched Little Miss Sunshine Friday night. I enjoyed it, would probably give it a 7/10.

Normally, I'm a big fan of quirky humor, which is what I expected this movie to be full of. I acknowledge that it was there, but I expected more of it. I heard some describe this movie as the funniest they had seen all year, so it was a bit of a letdown in that regard. Maybe I would've found the movie funnier if I saw it with an audience...it was just me and my girlfriend watching. A couple of scenes annoyed me, including the gas station and the contents in the trunk.

That said, I thought the movie was very good, not even counting the comedic aspect of it. And Steve Carrell is just an amazing actor.

Saw 'Night at the Museum' last night

7 / 10

I watched The Matador last night (Starz On Demand). This film was oddly enjoyable despite Greg Kinnear. I like Pierce Brosnan and thought he was good, but I get the feeling the script was much better than the end product. 7/10.

"Last martial arts epic" was the exact wording, I think.

Casino Royale - 8/10. Very good Bond movie, after I've largely ignored the franchise since the end of Roger Moore as Bond. My wife loved it, and she hates James Bond movies.

Catching up on the movies I saw over the weekend...

Thank You For Smoking - 9/10: As discussed in this thread, I ordered this on demand Saturday night. Thought it was great and definitely lived up to the hype. Awesome cast down to the supporting characters and the son who freaks me out in every movie he's in. J.K. Simmons is a favorite of mine from Oz, and the guy who played Champ Kind in Anchorman cracks me up. Found it really hard to argue with the basic message portrayed in the movie.

Nacho Libre - 7/10: Rented this with the girl on NYE, knowing it would be a stupid comedy that we could mindlessly laugh through while having some drinks. It hit both of those adjectives. Not much else to really say about this one...

Superman Returns - 8/10: The reviews were lukewarm a bit, but I thought this movie was great. I got all giddy with nostalgia and superhero movie goodness when Superman decided (well perhaps "decided" is the wrong word) to show himself to the world again. The rest of the story was top notch stuff, with an interesting Lux Luthor crazy scheme and the backstory of how Superman fits into a world he's been gone from for 5 years. Really great storytelling, mixing the big evil scheme with 'being Superman'.

Descent 7.3/10

A group of women who go on a cave expedition and encounter some creatures. I thought it was gonna be a scary movie, but I didn't even flinch (and I get scared over little stuff).

Grave of the Fireflys. It's an anime movie about two young children trying to survive in Japan in the last days of WWII. Incredibly powerful movie; it really got to me emotionally. Wonderful movie, though. I think this is one of those that everyone should see. Wonderful.

I loved "The Descent". I'd give it a 9/10.

Funny Dodgerchick wasn't scared as my wife had a horrible nightmare two days after we watched the movie. She thought those creatures were chasing her and nobody else was around. I heard her wake up crying and disorintated - took me like 10 mins to calm her down.

You should have just let her work it out on her own, rather than disturb your sleep. Even better, find a mask of one of those creatures and jump out at her in the dark.

I've watched quite a few movies the past few weeks, after not seeing too many in 2006.

Candyman - 10/10
I first saw this movie when I was around 10 or 11, at home alone, at midnight, and it scared the jeebus out of me. Doesn't have that affect on me anymore, but I still feel this is probably the best horror movie ever made. Has enough slash to satisfy the slasher crowd, and a good enough storyline to satisfy those who like to see more than a guy in a hockey mask hacking teenagers to death.

Gangs of New York - 9/10
Daniel Day Lewis turns in an incredible performance with the Butcher (possibly one of my favourite film characters ever), and takes this movie from about a 6 or 7 to a 9 by himself. That he didn't win an Academy Award for this is... well... not surprising, I guess. Spookily, I'm starting to find that - Titanic aside - I like pretty much every film I've seen Leonardo DiCaprio appear in.

The Lake House - 4/10
Was forced to watch it by the girlfriend, and it might have been a better film if; a) I didn't figure out the "twist/surprise" about 2 minutes in, and; b) they didn't then give us a cop-out ending. That aside, a light-hearted romantic flick that is almost slightly interesting at times. Definately harmless though, and there are worst things you could do with 90 mins.

Borat - 9/10
Wow. Everything I hoped for, and yet there was still so so so much more.

Casino Royale - 8/10
Surprisingly good (for me, at least). I didn't expect to think much of it, but I walked away a believer. The opening sequence is awesome, and despite the length of the film it only seemed like I was in the cinema for like 90 minutes.

A Scanner Darkly - 8.5/10
I thought it was a GREAT adaption of a great book, and even my girlfriend, who has never read the book and has no idea who Philip K. Dick is, really enjoyed it. I was worried the animation would detract from the movie, but it really fitted it perfectly IMO, especially with regard to the scramble suits and the drug effects. The cast selection was also quite good, and matched up pretty well with the image I'd formed in my head of how the characters should look.

That is SOOOO WRONG!!!

Ant and our 6 year old LOOOVE to scare me. I can be really involved in a WW game and they come from behind me and scare the shit outta me. They like to hide under blankets or around the corner of our dark hallway and jump out.... "BOOOOO!!!!" My heart feels like it's gonna stop and I get pissed. They love it but I HATE IT!! :mad:

dola,

Ant loves scary movies so I have to watch them by default. We'll be sitting on the couch and I have my mouth covered (cuz God knows I HAVE to do that otherwise I'll end up screaming) and he'll grab a pillow and throw it at me at the most intense moment. Or when the movie is over he'll talk in this creepy voice that scares the shit outta me.

Oh yeah, fun times :rolleyes:

Oh come on now. Even The Beach?

Haven't seen it.

Super Troopers 7/10

I wasn't expecting much and was pleasantly suprised. Had a very 80's movie vibe to it. I want to change my forum name to Johnny Chimpo.

Seeing this has made me want to see another flick by these guys, Beerfest (something I wouldn't have done otherwise).

:)

I do have a Friday the 13th hockey mask I use from time to time to scare her.

All The King's Men (2006) - 2/10. Didn't care for it
The Illusionist (2006) - 8/10. I really liked the performances in this one, and the story was great.
Children of Men (2006) - 7/10. Pretty moving film. I liked it, and witnessed something I thought I'd never see in a movie.
Freedom Writers (2007) - 7/10. Hilary Swank is just adorable in this film, I don't know any other way to put it. It's a good movie, if not a bit cliche.

Got a new batch of DVDs in:

Clerks 2 - 7/10. Kevin Smith goes back to basics, and comes up with a great movie. Several laugh out loud scenes.
Talladega Nights - 8/10. Great movie, tons of quotable lines. "Don't let the invisible fire take my friend!"
Battala En El Cielo (Battle in Heaven) - 7/10. A film from Mexico. Gained a lot of notoriety because of the sex scenes, but that is not what the movie is about.

Enemy at the Gates 6/10

Great depiction of war-torn Stalingrad (1942) which is what got it the 6 points. Whodda thunk you could make a movie about 2 snipers going head-to-head? Well, just because you can doesn't mean you should.

Little Miss Sunshine: 7/10

Cute movie I guess, a little letdown from all the great reviews over at rotten tomatoes.

Apocalypto - 8/10

Much better than I expected.

Reminds me, I saw Apocalypto recently as well:

Apocalypto - 4/10: Meh... very interest Mayan city, but really a bare bones plot and a chase scene. I think you could have picked a far better plot line to explain how a civilzation collapses (which I believe Mel said was his reasons). It was nice to see the environmental degradation (as that did contribute IRL). The straw that broke the back (and dropped it below 50%) was when the wife had the kid in the water. Utterly silly and Hollywood-ish.

I have nothing but a passing interest in Mayan civilization (though that has probably changed since seeing the movie, as I found myself looking at some Mayan history books yesterday afternoon), but I definately liked the idea behind the movie, and it's portrayal of the degredation of the Mayan society from within. Most people put the emphasis on its destruction with the Spanish, but they had a lot of help from the native tribes who allied themselves with the Spanish, and without whom the Spanish would not have succeeded.

Mel Gibson could easily have made a big bloated epic about this particular issue (complete with evil Spanish dudes shooting truckloads of natives, and an evil Mayan king as a main character), but instead he made it a far more personal movie about a man and his family, and I think it was a better movie for it.

I believe you are thinking about the Aztecs here. In fact, it was amusing that the people I was with were confused with the Spanish at the end, thinking it was about the Maya, but then the end was the Aztec... but the Spanish did visit the Maya when they were just about finished at the end. Though it did take the Spaniards a while to take them because it was basically a number of city states (with no central political authority, as opposed to the Aztecs with Tenochtitlan or the Inka with Cuzco).

Most people don't even realize the Maya were still around when the Spanish came to the New World.

Woops, yep, you are completely right.

Firewall on HBO...by the numbers, hollywood garbage film. Nothing to see here. 2/10.

Artie Lange's Beer League.

Just a throwaway Netflix rental. A few amusing moments - worth 90 minutes if you're a fan of this kind of movie, or a Howard Stern fan.

I an being forced to watch Grease 2. can I go less then 0/10?

dola-
she just went to blockbuster to get the original grease

The Illusionist - 6/10

meh, a miracle they turned this short story into a film. good acting but I found the story severly lacking. felt like a movie about a short story. can't imagine you couldn't guess the end by the middle of the film.

Run! Now's your chance!

lucky for me I have beer and fof

I had much the same reaction. I was expecting more, but the movie was decent enough. I did like the way the movie ended. It seemed an appropriate way to cut through all the BS and show things for how they really are (going for vague non-spoilerish comments).

I did too.

World Trade Center: 8/10 Similar to Flight 93 - I couldn't imagine what those people went through and those two Policemen who were stuck under all that building rubble.

I do wonder how much of it is "hollywood" glorified bs though.

Inside Man - 6/10

Interesting story of a bank heist that doesn't follow a normal script for a bank heist, but still just an OK movie. I'm not a huge Spike Lee fan, and this movie reminded me why. Over the top bad language, and over the top attitude everywhere, and really not a single character to root for. It is probably more realistic in that even the good guys have flaws and are not always good.

That movie really, really confused me. The Jody Foster character, it seemed like she kept changing what she was all about, and what she was trying to accomplish.

I didn't necessarily get the point of her character. She was supposed to be the "go-to" character for integrity and discretion, yet she played the situation to her advantage and not her client's. Just seemed like a poor way to make us think she earned her reputation.

Had a rough day today and my wife decided we needed to see a good mindless movie...


So, she picked out Alone in the Dark. What a terrible movie - Bad acting (no surprise seeing who the stars were), weak story, poorly done action scenes. I told her this one was going to be a stinker, but she wanted to see it. I give it a 1 out of 10.

Land of the Dead - Entertaining zombie flick if you like that sort of thing. This is the second one I have seen (the first was the original Dawn of the Dead). I liked this one a lot better - didn't feel as cheesy. Social commentary was good, too (rich v. poor, shock and awe, etc...). 7/10

Jackass 2: 5/10

Some sick stuff this time around, just ok.

Night at the Museum - 7/10 - Great for kids!

Cars - 7/10 - Great for kids!

Superman Returns - 5/10 - Fell Asleep, but it was okay while I was conscious...

On the agenda-->Talladega Nights, Anchorman, Flightplan, The Greatest Game Ever Played

Snakes on a Plane- 6/10.

Stupid in an amusing way.

The Wicker Man - 3/10

What a complete waste of time. That ending wasn't a shocker, it was just stupid. Seriously, I have not been this pissed about wasting time on a movie in a long time.