Rate The Last Movie You Watched

[Karlifornia]

Anyone seen Persepolis yet?

[Lorena]

Wolf Creek - 6.5/10

3 friends go on a trip, get stranded and as they spend the night, they see lights and thankfully, it's someone there to help... or is it?

I couldn't shake off the scenes in the "torture chamber". One scene in particular had me sort of shaky and sick to my stomach... Ant kept asking if I was alright. Not for the faint of heart, I had somewhat of a hard time watching it, but still, I'm glad I did.

We watched the behind the scenes stuff and this movie was very low budget (1.1 million) and grossed over 27 million bucks which I think is fantastic. I thought the cinematography was excellent and the cameraguy hand held the camera for most of the scenes, I think, so you'll see a bit of a shaky cam every once in a while but it's nowhere even close to the Bourne movies.

[MikeVic]

Looks like I'm catching Goya's Ghosts. It gets a 6/10 for half-naked Portman from me already.

[Honolulu_Blue]

Hostel - 6/10

I finally got around to seeing this movie. Since I have seen so many horror movies in my day, I figured that I should see at least one of the "torture porn" genre, just to help round out the cannon a bit. It was better than I thought it would be. I saw Roth's Cabin Fever one late night on cable and hated it, so I didn't have much hope for Hostel. The movie certainly has some issues, but it ended up being a little more interesting and compelling than I thought. I watched it "On Demand" and did end up fast-forwarding most of the torture sequences. I just don't find people screaming and blubbering while being mutilated scary or interesting. I think that helped me enjoy the film a bit more.

[larrymcg421]

Here are ratings for the recent stuff I've seen...

The Dark Knight 10/10

I'm right there with all the others who have praised the film. This is big budget filmmaking at it's best. Ledger's twisted portrayal of the Joker will go down as one of the all-time great villain performances, but let's not forget the underrated Eckhart, who is superb in his dual role. The sequence with the prisoner on the boat is unforgettable.

The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari 8/10

A very creepy silent horror film that remains extremely influential today. There are some logical issues with the plot, but given the nature of the ending, I'm not sure it makes sense to complain about that. The final shot is a treat and is still a device used today.

Battleship Potemkin 10/10

This is an absolutely stunning piece of filmmaking. It follows a group of Russian sailors who rise up against their overbearing officers, and then inciting the local town to revolt against the the czar government. The "Odessa Steps" sequence is every bit as memorable as it's reputation suggests, and the ending caught me off guard. this is definitely a propoganda film, but that doesn't diminish the power one bit.

[larrymcg421]

Originally Posted by Karlifornia

Anyone seen Persepolis yet?

I saw thise a while back and thought it was okay. The animation style was interesting, but I didn't think there was anything special about the story.

[MikeVic]

Are you taking a film course or something larymcg421? I watched Cabinet in one, and we talked about Battleship as well. I agree that Cabinet was a lot better than I thought it would be. You can really see how Tim Burton was influenced by this style. The Penguin in Batman Returns looks like an exact copy.

[Flasch186]

Hellboy 2 - 8/10

really liked the story and cinematography. I thought the characters continued to be good and the humor was good as well. Overall a good comic book movie and look forward to number 3.

[Flasch186]

Originally Posted by Lorena

OK, I finally saw it.

Goya's Ghosts - 3.5/10

The movie was all over the place. The description I read on Netflix made it seem as if the movie was surrounding Portman's character but she was barely in it... I'd say maybe about 40 minutes out of 120 minutes tops. I do agree with you that Bardem was really good as was the poor tortured Portman. They did a great job with set design, costumes and makeup for they made Portman look terrible, strangely enough, I felt no attachment to her character.

EDIT to add: actually, I felt no attachment to any character. I just checked it out on RottenTomatoes and I'm shocked that a movie with an "all-star" cast made less than a million bucks. If you wanna see a glimpse of Natalie Portman half naked, then get it, otherwise, skip it.

hmph

I thought the scene with Bardem visiting Portman's house was spectacular in that you had hoped it would happen and then when it actually started down that path it was simply terrific. I felt that the historical aspect of the film was great in seeing the flip-flop nature of those smart enough to try and position themselves with the winners was well represented. I thought Portman did a good job of portraying her tortured soul and what she desired and I also thought Goya did a good job of arcing from the rebellious artist to the driven father figure. Off to the Guillotine with you then!

[Noop]

Hellboy 2 - 9/10

Very good movie. Enjoyable and the cinematography is great. I like the story but it felt a little slow and really didn't follow the story of the first one.

[Noop]

Originally Posted by larrymcg421

The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari 8/10

A very creepy silent horror film that remains extremely influential today. There are some logical issues with the plot, but given the nature of the ending, I'm not sure it makes sense to complain about that. The final shot is a treat and is still a device used today.

I watched this for class about a year ago and thought it was excellent because of the use of symbolism in the film. The ending was very confusing but after a class discussion I understood it.

I rate it 9/10

[Noop]

Gone Baby Gone - 8/10

I like mysteries and this one was worth the watch.

[Noop]

The Dark Knight 10/10

Nothing to add on top of what's been said.

[Noop]

Hancock 9.5/10

Had a little bit of everything and I enjoyed so much I have watched it twice.

[Lorena]

Originally Posted by Flasch186

hmph

I thought the scene with Bardem visiting Portman's house was spectacular in that you had hoped it would happen and then when it actually started down that path it was simply terrific. I felt that the historical aspect of the film was great in seeing the flip-flop nature of those smart enough to try and position themselves with the winners was well represented. I thought Portman did a good job of portraying her tortured soul and what she desired and I also thought Goya did a good job of arcing from the rebellious artist to the driven father figure. Off to the Guillotine with you then!

Hah, to each their own I guess. I did enjoy the scenes with Portman and Bardem, but that's about it.

EDit to add: I'm a little hard to please than most people, I guess.

[Alan T]

Originally Posted by Lorena

Hah, to each their own I guess. I did enjoy the scenes with Portman and Bardem, but that's about it.

EDit to add: I'm a little hard to please than most people, I guess.

That is why you are only 71% similar to my taste in movies! I am really easy to please!

[Lorena]

Originally Posted by Alan T

That is why you are only 71% similar to my taste in movies! I am really easy to please!

Hahahaha I saw you put Goya's Ghosts in your queue the other day, curious to see what you think of it since you show up as 86% similar on my end.

[Alan T]

Originally Posted by Lorena

Hahahaha I saw you put Goya's Ghosts in your queue the other day, curious to see what you think of it since you show up as 86% similar on my end.

I will let you know in about 7 months once it finally ships. I think it is somewhere like 90th in my queue right now. I tend to only get through like 2 movies a week on average (since my wife also has her own queue now that I learned about netflix profiles).

[RomaGoth]

Originally Posted by Lorena

OK, I finally saw it.

Goya's Ghosts - 3.5/10

The movie was all over the place. The description I read on Netflix made it seem as if the movie was surrounding Portman's character but she was barely in it... I'd say maybe about 40 minutes out of 120 minutes tops. I do agree with you that Bardem was really good as was the poor tortured Portman. They did a great job with set design, costumes and makeup for they made Portman look terrible, strangely enough, I felt no attachment to her character.

EDIT to add: actually, I felt no attachment to any character. I just checked it out on RottenTomatoes and I'm shocked that a movie with an "all-star" cast made less than a million bucks. If you wanna see a glimpse of Natalie Portman half naked, then get it, otherwise, skip it.

We were going to watch this but then I read the description again, saw that it was a 2-hour movie, and we returned it. From your review it appears that I didn't miss much except a half-naked Portman (a tragedy that).

[Lorena]

Originally Posted by RomaGoth

We were going to watch this but then I read the description again, saw that it was a 2-hour movie, and we returned it. From your review it appears that I didn't miss much except a half-naked Portman (a tragedy that).

Uh oh. Hey, I'm a tough critic, I rated, waht some believe to be the best movie this year, a 7.5!

EDIT: I very rarely give 10s. A 10 movie/show to me, would be something like "12 Angry Men", "The Wire", "Lord of the Rings", and "Band of Brothers", to name a few.

[Lorena]

Originally Posted by Antmeister

Little does she know that I can actually sit and enjoy a bad horror movie because you can treat it as an unintentional comedy. But sitting through a predicatable romance movie only almost makes you choke on your own vomit.

I haven't forgotten, btw. Let's see, I'm trying to figure out if I should get Teeth" or "Bad Taste".

[MikeVic]

Hancock - 8/10
Overall a solid movie. I'd watch the first half (the stuff before the plot twist) again for sure. The first half was funny, fun, and probably something like a 9/10. After the plot twist though, it got kind of a bit too serious, past what I was expecting. I appreciate the creators trying to add a layer, but it didn't add to the enjoyment of the movie for me (took away from it actually), so the second half of the movie is something like a 7/10.

[Sublime 2]

Step Brothers - 6.5/10

Meh...Certainly not on the scale of Anchorman or Talladega Nights for me, but better than some of the other comedies to come out lately. There were definitely some repeatable quotes, but I probably won't buy it like the other two.

[larrymcg421]

Originally Posted by MikeVic

Are you taking a film course or something larymcg421? I watched Cabinet in one, and we talked about Battleship as well. I agree that Cabinet was a lot better than I thought it would be. You can really see how Tim Burton was influenced by this style. The Penguin in Batman Returns looks like an exact copy.

Not taking a film course, just watching alot of older films lately.

[larrymcg421]

The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor 2/10

If anything, that's a generous score for this awful movie. I've never been a big fan of the Mummy series, but this one makes the original look like a cinematic masterpiece. The major problem is some terrible acting (especially from the usually reliable Maria Bello) and an incredibly stupid romantic subplot. What a waste of Michelle Yeoh and Jet Li.

The Kid 10/10

One of Charlie Chaplin's memorable classics. In this one, he finds an abandoned boy in an alley, and after a hilarious series of misunderstandings, he is forced to take the child home and raise him. Of course, he eventually gets attached to the boy and they become an amusing pair. So many hilarious moments in this one, especially when the boy gets into a fight and Charlie shows up to cheer him on, only to change his tune when the boy's very big brother shows up.

Ace in the Hole - 10/10

Billy Wilder is one of the greatest American directors. It's hard to argue with the consistent quality of his body of work (Sunset Boulevard, Double Indemnity, Some Like it Hot, The Apartment, Stalag 17). This one was a major box office flop in it's day, but is now considered a classic. It features Kirk Douglas as an unethical journalist who happens upon the story of a man trapped in a mine. Sensing what the story could do for his career, he enlists the help of the local sherriff in prolonging the man's ordeal and thus mnaking the story bigger. Perhaps the 50's audience was not ready for something this cynical, but it's not hard to see how this story is even more relevant today.

[Groundhog]

Originally Posted by larrymcg421

The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor 2/10

If anything, that's a generous score for this awful movie. I've never been a big fan of the Mummy series, but this one makes the original look like a cinematic masterpiece. The major problem is some terrible acting (especially from the usually reliable Maria Bello) and an incredibly stupid romantic subplot. What a waste of Michelle Yeoh and Jet Li.

Damn. I was actually looking forward to this when I saw the preview. Looked like a pretty neat place to carry this franchise, but sounds like they blew it.

[sabotai]

Originally Posted by larrymcg421

Not taking a film course, just watching alot of older films lately.

Shameless self-promotion itt: A Journey Through Cinema History - Front Office Football Central

[larrymcg421]

Originally Posted by sabotai

Shameless self-promotion itt: A Journey Through Cinema History - Front Office Football Central

I've actually been a lurker on that thread. It's one of my favorites and has helped me see what films I can avoid.

[mccollins]

LarryMcG & Sabotai - I'm 6 movies away from finishing the AFI Top 100 list (both old & new). Thanks for the good reads here!

[larrymcg421]

Originally Posted by mccollins

LarryMcG & Sabotai - I'm 6 movies away from finishing the AFI Top 100 list (both old & new). Thanks for the good reads here!

What are the 6 films you're missing?

[Calis]

Originally Posted by larrymcg421

Ace in the Hole - 10/10

Billy Wilder is one of the greatest American directors. It's hard to argue with the consistent quality of his body of work (Sunset Boulevard, Double Indemnity, Some Like it Hot, The Apartment, Stalag 17). This one was a major box office flop in it's day, but is now considered a classic. It features Kirk Douglas as an unethical journalist who happens upon the story of a man trapped in a mine. Sensing what the story could do for his career, he enlists the help of the local sherriff in prolonging the man's ordeal and thus mnaking the story bigger. Perhaps the 50's audience was not ready for something this cynical, but it's not hard to see how this story is even more relevant today.

Fantastic movie. That's one of my all-time favorites there. I'm amazed at how well it holds up, and I agree it seems even more relevant today. Really ahead of it's time.

Tough movie to watch though. It's dark, and I can see why it flopped at the time. I think I remember reading that they were forced to change the title for it on the U.S. release so it wasn't something like "The Big Carnival" and Wilder was extremely upset about it. The title itself is a great play on words, and fits perfectly.

Now I want to see it again.

[RomaGoth]

Blood Diamond 9/10

Saw this over the weekend. My wife actually had to leave the room during parts of it and wanted to stop watching it. I convinced her to just wait it out and see how the thing unfolds. We were not disappointed. Just a great movie, albeit with a few obvious plot lines. Very, very good regardless. Never been a huge Decaprio fan but he does a nice job in this movie.

Would I see it again? Probably not. But it is one of those movies that makes you appreciate your children and your life just a little more than you did before.

[mccollins]

Originally Posted by larrymcg421

What are the 6 films you're missing?

I have The Birth of a Nation and Intolerance in hand to watch this week; The Wild Bunch has been at the top of my Blockbuster Online queue for quite a while (it just went from 'Very Long Wait' to 'Short Wait' so we'll see if it gets sent today...); and I can't get a hold of The African Queen, Wuthering Heights (my library has the 1970's version instead of the 1939 version), or Sunrise.

I actually turned my Netflix back on this weekend in hopes of getting some of these last few and I found that they were under "Saved" and did not have a (re-)release date listed. So I canceled again 10 minutes later.

[larrymcg421]

Originally Posted by mccollins

I have The Birth of a Nation and Intolerance in hand to watch this week; The Wild Bunch has been at the top of my Blockbuster Online queue for quite a while (it just went from 'Very Long Wait' to 'Short Wait' so we'll see if it gets sent today...); and I can't get a hold of The African Queen, Wuthering Heights (my library has the 1970's version instead of the 1939 version), or Sunrise.

I actually turned my Netflix back on this weekend in hopes of getting some of these last few and I found that they were under "Saved" and did not have a (re-)release date listed. So I canceled again 10 minutes later.

Sunrise will be on TCM in September.

[sabotai]

You're going to have a bit of a problem finding Sunrise. It's been released on DVD as part of a collection, but not by itself. I caught it on TCM, and the next time they are playing it is Sept. 2 (Tuesday) at 11 am.

A few people have put Wuthering Heights from 1939 on YouTube.

The African Queen (1951) is being played on TCM a few times in the next few months. The next being Aug. 30th at 10 pm.

[larrymcg421]

Sunrise is also available on Youtube.

[Kodos]

What about "Wuthering Heights"?

[sabotai]

I type it out several times in search engines, so of course I screw it up when I post.

[mccollins]

Wow, thanks everyone!! This should finish it out for me!

[RendeR]

The Mummy: Curse of the Dragon Emporer 6/10


OK first off the original of this series wasn't flashy, it had some good effects and some comedic hacks that made it a good movie. The second one did more of the same.

however this edition while containing some spetacular effects and introducing a new hero/heroin to cary on the series (which you know they will) lacks Rachel Weiss who really was the only one with any acting talent in the group.

Without her ability to pull scenes together and look so hot in the process this movie falls back onto the hackneyed and overdone comedy bits that grew old in the first Mummy movie before 2 hours were up.

Its a fun watch one time, wait for it on DVD, netflix it and never bother thinking about it again.

[Lorena]

Amores Perros (Love's a Bitch) - 5/10

This 2 and a half hour movie was a little too long for me. It was easy to predict when these story arcs would connect. It's one of those movies that are a little too smart for me. If you like No Country for Old Men and There Will Be Blood, this movie's for you.

[larrymcg421]

A Griffith and some Buster Keaton films...

Way Down East 7/10

Lillian Gish is sad. Really, really sad. No, she's really, really, really sad. And so on goes this movie for the first 2 hours of it's incredibly long running time. I'm making this sound worse than it is. You can't deny that the camera loves Lillian Gish, and the closing ice flow sequence is very exciting. Gish plays a woman who is tricked into a sham wedding and gets pregnant. It's important to note that the movie's defense isn't that it's okay for her to have borne a child out of wedlock. It's only okay because she was tricked.

Our Hospitality 7/10

This is so far my least favorite Buster Keaton film. He falls in love with a girl froma rival family, and they set out to kill him. There are larger gaps between the good jokes than in his other films, but this is still pretty funny. I love the design of the train,a nd some of the stunts at the end are wonderful.

Sherlock Jr. 9/10

One of the most inventive silent films I've seen. Buster Keaton is a movie projectionist who daydreams of being hte hero in a Sherlock Holmes mystery. At the same time, he gets caught up in a real life mystery when he's accused of stealing a watch. There's a brilliant sequence where Buster walks in and out of the movie he's playing. He does this as the scenery keeps changing. It's a very impressive bit of artistry for a movie from the 20s.

Steamboat Bill Jr. 10/10

And this one is so far my favorite. It's actually a very simple story. Buster's father is a gruff steamboat captain looking forward to meet his now grown son. He's not pleased to find him to be scrawny and eccentric Buster Keaton. He tries to teach him to be a steamboat captain, but Buster keeps screwing up. Actually, the simplicity works in the movie's favor for once. Buster is allowed to do his thing without being tied down to a big narrative. This is one of the funniest movies I've seen, and Ernest Torrence's performance as the father is one of the first great supporting performances in cinema.

[rowech]

Mr. Woodcok (1/10) -- Stopped watching 1/2 hour in

21 (6/10) -- felt it should have been better. Worth watching but at times I found it boring and the movie just didn't come at you like I expected it would.

[Alan T]

Originally Posted by rowech

Mr. Woodcok (1/10) -- Stopped watching 1/2 hour in

I actually saw that this was listed in my on demand menu now last night. I put it on as I got into bed (I often watch a movie as I try to fall asleep at night).. I can't tell you how good or bad the entire movie is, but I'll give the first 5 minutes a 1/10 before I fell asleep to it

[Mrs. Schmidty]

Journey to the Center of the Earth. Good movie. Our daughter sat at the edge of her seat for the entire thing. Sure it had it's cheesy moments, but it's Brendan Frasier so it's acceptable.
We gave it an 8.5 out of 10. It's not realistic and there's parts of the movie that you're like, "what??" but look at the title, it's not supposed to truly make sense.

[Alan T]

Originally Posted by Mrs. Schmidty

Journey to the Center of the Earth. Good movie. Our daughter sat at the edge of her seat for the entire thing. Sure it had it's cheesy moments, but it's Brendan Frasier so it's acceptable.
We gave it an 8.5 out of 10. It's not realistic and there's parts of the movie that you're like, "what??" but look at the title, it's not supposed to truly make sense.

How old is your daughter? I'm always looking for new movies for my 7 (soon to be 8) year old to watch when it is my week(end)s with her.

[Lorena]

Originally Posted by Alan T

How old is your daughter? I'm always looking for new movies for my 7 (soon to be 8) year old to watch when it is my week(end)s with her.

Our 7 year old seems to like the Pixar movies a lot. Here's a list of movies she's gotten from Netflix and ones she watches a lot at home:

Cats and Dogs (loves this one)
All Muppets movies
Stuart Little 1 and 2
The Rugrats Movies (I think there's a few out there)
Yours, Mine and Ours
Cheaper by the Dozen
The Pacifier
Jimmy Neutron
Lion King (1 and 1 1/2)
All Harry Potter movies
HalloweenTown
Both Garfield movies
Spy Kids (all 3 of them)
Scooby Doo and Scooby Doo 2
Zoom: Academy For Superheroes
Matilda: Special Edition

to name a few

[Alan T]

Originally Posted by Lorena

Our 7 year old seems to like the Pixar movies a lot. Here's a list of movies she's gotten from Netflix and ones she watches a lot at home:

Cats and Dogs (loves this one)
All Muppets movies
Stuart Little 1 and 2
The Rugrats Movies (I think there's a few out there)
Yours, Mine and Ours
Cheaper by the Dozen
The Pacifier
Jimmy Neutron
Lion King (1 and 1 1/2)
All Harry Potter movies
HalloweenTown
Both Garfield movies
Spy Kids (all 3 of them)
Scooby Doo and Scooby Doo 2
Zoom: Academy For Superheroes
Matilda: Special Edition

to name a few

Yeah, because I have a 17 month old and one almost 4, it causes our 7 year old to end up having to watch alot of Wiggles or RugRats or Dora.. so I try to reserve a little time with just her to see big kid movies when i can. (Like we went to the drive in to watch Ratatouille when it was out for instance).

[Lorena]

Originally Posted by Alan T

Yeah, because I have a 17 month old and one almost 4, it causes our 7 year old to end up having to watch alot of Wiggles or RugRats or Dora.. so I try to reserve a little time with just her to see big kid movies when i can. (Like we went to the drive in to watch Ratatouille when it was out for instance).

Sounds like your daughter is around our daughter's age (she's turning 8 in September).

I was also gonna recommend Monster House but the movie might be a little creepy for some kids. Larissa seems to like a lot of superhero movies like Spiderman and the Fantastic Four... any superhero movie that's not rated R, we let her watch, but not sure if your daughter's into that stuff. I suggested Pippi Longstocking and she seemed to like it too.

[Alan T]

Originally Posted by Lorena

Sounds like your daughter is around our daughter's age (she's turning 8 in September).

I was also gonna recommend Monster House but the movie might be a little creepy for some kids. Larissa seems to like a lot of superhero movies like Spiderman and the Fantastic Four... any superhero movie that's not rated R, we let her watch, but not sure if your daughter's into that stuff. I suggested Pippi Longstocking and she seemed to like it too.

She's turning 8 in November here. Sounds like your daughter and mine would be friends though. She likes the same type of stuff, and I let her watch a good bit of things that are PG-13 if they aren't too bad. Things like the more recent batman movies I probably wouldn't let her watch just yet for instance but she used to love watching all of the star wars movies (not sure if those are just pG or PG-13 off the top of my head)