Rate The Last Movie You Saw.

[Jean]

Yes, I think I would love the rest too. I'll see what I can get.

[pathoftheturtle]

The Way - 7/10
Starring Martin Sheen, Director Emilio Estevez

Actually not the last movie I saw; watched it for the first time quite a while ago, but I want to mention that it's a great, powerful little drama about community and spiritual side of life. Check it, y'all.

[Brice]

Yes, I think I would love the rest too. I'll see what I can get.

As Ferny mentioned you MUST see Ichi

[Jean]

downloading

[Brice]

[fernandito]

Oooh! Can't wait to see what you think of it, jean. It'll definitely satisfy your craving for morbid. Gads, I love that film.

[Heather19]

Oh, I'm quite curious to know what you think of Ichi as well.

[pathoftheturtle]

Actually pretty good, but ultimately forgettable. I mean, it's a solid film, but unfortunately, it's a thriller without thrills. Short on real mystery, it's basically at heart an empty meditation on the subject of emptiness. I worried when I first heard about it that it would be an awful commercial movie ignorant of history, then, as I heard more, I dared hope that it would be a wonderful, deeply affecting dramatization -- but it wasn't much of either: just an average and slightly mediocre film with a fine exterior. Basically, it reflects the character of Poe's work with the suspense plot in order to draw attention to the character of Poe's life, which was depressing and meaningless. This is important because... well, it's not important. It's just meaningless and depressing. If they were trying to show the power of art, they failed at that certainly: after all, such shallow entertainment sure cannot match the agony of issues like in Poe's original "The Raven."

[DoctorDodge]

I worried as much, path. Just involving Edgar Allen Poe as a character was enough to put me off, really.

[Ricky]

Nice review. I gave it a 6/10 as well. And DD, I was really suprised but Cusack was quite good as Poe. Too bad he wasn't really given much to work with. If the movie was a kind of "The King's Speech," I think he would've killed it (in a good way).

[pathoftheturtle]

Yes, Cusack has had not much luck in that regard.

[alkanto]

Just watched When Harry Met Sally. Why the hell did it take me so long to watch it? I loved it. It was very cute, heartfelt, sad, funny...all the elements of a good chick flick.
I think one of the best parts is what my roommate commented to me: "Holy shit. I think you are the girl version of Harry." At the end, even, I asked a question mere seconds before he did. It was great

and the monologue at the end (as all good romantic films have)? Loved it. It's true. Just glad I watched it when I was in a relationship. Otherwise, I might've ended it feeling a bit depressed...it really is that cute.

[Shannon]

For alkanto:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y9pkhp_SSr8

[DoctorDodge]

Just watched When Harry Met Sally. Why the hell did it take me so long to watch it? I loved it. It was very cute, heartfelt, sad, funny...all the elements of a good chick flick.
I think one of the best parts is what my roommate commented to me: "Holy shit. I think you are the girl version of Harry." At the end, even, I asked a question mere seconds before he did. It was great

and the monologue at the end (as all good romantic films have)? Loved it. It's true. Just glad I watched it when I was in a relationship. Otherwise, I might've ended it feeling a bit depressed...it really is that cute.

Really glad to read you enjoyed it. One of the best romantic comedies ever made. I especially loved the phone call scenes to each other in bed, that was very sweet.

And Shannon: That was classic! "Oh, bollocks!"

[Jean]

Just watched When Harry Met Sally. Why the hell did it take me so long to watch it? I loved it. It was very cute, heartfelt, sad, funny...all the elements of a good chick flick.
I think one of the best parts is what my roommate commented to me: "Holy shit. I think you are the girl version of Harry." At the end, even, I asked a question mere seconds before he did. It was great

and the monologue at the end (as all good romantic films have)? Loved it. It's true. Just glad I watched it when I was in a relationship. Otherwise, I might've ended it feeling a bit depressed...it really is that cute.

Really glad to read you enjoyed it. One of the best romantic comedies ever made. I especially loved the phone call scenes to each other in bed, that was very sweet.

bears love it too!

[Yaksha]

The Avengers was so awesome on so many levels. Best movie I have seen all year.

[Shannon]

The Avengers
Shannon: 5/5
Amber: 5/5

Great, epic movie. It's very rare to find a movie with this large a scale. Great action, and very enjoyable.

[mystima]

Looks like Whedon had outdone himself with this movie...will have to check it out when I get a chance to...have seen a lot of comic book movies and must say that this sounds like it will be awesome.

[Merlin1958]

The Avengers
Shannon: 5/5
Amber: 5/5

Great, epic movie. It's very rare to find a movie with this large a scale. Great action, and very enjoyable.

Amber? Please stop posting as "Shannon" we all know he is under "Locke & Key"!!!!


LOL LOL LOL

[alkanto]

I am going to type something up tomorrow (had a very long day, and am exhausted) but in short: The Avengers was one of of the best movies I have seen. Period. Granted, I am a very big fan of comic book movies and my all-time favorite super heroes were in this, but still. It was beyond impressive. I got done, turned to my mom and said, only somewhat jokingly, "So...we're cool with going again tomorrow, right?"

[Yaksha]

I agree. The Avengers in my opinion is what every comic book movie should try to be. Everything in that movie clicked. The story acting music everything. Definitely one of the best movies i have ever seen in my entire life

[DoctorDodge]

Road to Avengers Movies

Ok, so I have been dying to watch the Avengers for the past couple of weeks, but (a) still haven't heard any word from the mate I usually go see these films with on when he wants to see it, and (b), I had yet to watch all the films that act as buildup to it. Well, this weekend, I aimed to watch all of them. Here are some thoughts on each.

Iron Man
I had forgotten how enjoyable this was. Not just due to the story of how billionaire Tony Stark goes from selfish weapons manufacturor to a man of peace who kicks arse in a metal suit, but also because of how effortlessly Robert Downey Jr. is Tony Stark. Sherlock Holmes, he's great, but you can think of quite a few better people who've not only played the role but can play the role; with Stark, there's no question this role was for him. He not only plays the constant arrogance and playboy attitude of the character well, he makes those traits surprisingly likeable. Add to that the way the origin story is handled as he's finding his feet in the suit, and you've got a pretty kickass superhero movie here. It's not perfect - the villain of the piece, to me, isn't much of a strong one - but very enjoyable, all the same. 8/10

The Incredible Hulk
A more entertaining film than Ang's affair, but that's not saying much. Having watched the film, I liked it, but I'm not sure the Hulk translates well to the big screen. Now don't get me wrong - I loved the tv series from the 70s, and even the cartoon series, but I think that's the problem: the Hulk works best as an episodic character I think, not for a 2 hour film. Norton portrays Banner well, but the psychological struggle and tragedy of the Hulk isn't quite interesting enough, and there's only so much mindless obvious CGI destruction you can watch before it gets dull. I liked all the little nods to the CBS series especially, but overall, it could've been better, imo. 6/10

Iron Man 2
Oh dear oh dear oh dear. Whereas the first film was an entertaining story of a douche learning to become a superhero with some pretty cool battles, here it's the superhero turning back into the douche due to a not very well written subplot which is stretched out for far too long. Here, the villain is even less interesting than the previous film's, so the main plot's not so great, and there's not that much action given to balance out the paper thin plot. I get what they were trying to do, of bringing the hero down, give him a struggle, blah blah blah, but it was weak enough to put me off the next two films in the build up to the Avengers, as I felt that Marvel had pretty much lost their touch and were just making these films as extra long Avengers trailers. 4/10

Which is a shame, considering what those next two films were...

Thor
What is it with Marvel and douches? Here we have another major Douche (yes, it has to be a capital D), with Thor starting out as an arrogant, rude, reckless, and gets into so much trouble risking the lives of so many in Asgard he's banished to Earth, where he (you guessed it) starts finding his way to redemption.

Ok, sure, the plot is kinda predictable, but it has a number of things going for it. First and foremost is how it's so wonderfully different from the start to many other superhero movies, as the film is given a nice injection of mythological fantasy. Seeing the wonderful contrast of ancient Asgard with modern day Earth is fantastic to see, and already makes it instantly clear how different it is to the other films in the Marvel series. Another is how well done the story is told, including a nice mix of character development, drama, humour and of course, some awesome fights with a big hammer!

One more thing I have to mention: Loki. He easily has to be my favourite antagonist in all the Marvel films I've seen. Simply because he's not so much a typical villain as a man who makes some very bad choices. I really loved how his character was developed in this movie and how much depth he had. As a result, this alone has made me more keen than ever to see the Avengers. 9/10

Captain America: The First Avenger
I wasn't too keen to see this movie either, as much as I enjoyed X-Men: First Class, another period superhero film. The biggest reason for this was mostly down to expecting something of a cliched American war movie with a lot of cheese. Well, to be honest, there was indeed a lot of cheese, particularly with the corny lines and the romance, but overall, it had enough things going for it for me to enjoy it. Besides, it was clear to me its cheesiness was a meant to be a part of its old school charm. It just didn't do anything for me though, really.

Right, onto the good stuff. Although the story is kinda the typical "small American guy becomes big American hero", but again, like Thor's predictable plot, it's told well enough, mainly through the characters, as Steve Rogers finds it a real struggle to truly fight for his country, even after he's injected with a magical serum that turns him from dork to...well, at least we have a Marvel hero who's interesting and is not a douche for once.

I love the 40s style given to this movie, very nostalgic, but mostly in a good way. The feel it overall creates makes me very interested in seeing how Rogers deals with such a massive culture shock of the 21st century.

What I also feel a need to mention: Hugo Weaving as the Red Skull is now my second favourite Marvel villain, ironically for the exact opposite that Loki is: he's very old school, very evil and very clear cut, and Weaving portrays that perfectly, not as a 3 dimensional character but as a total monster. And that's exactly how it should be. Oh, and Tommy Lee Jones is, unsurprisingly, awesome as the colonel.

So, despite a lot of cheesiness, not as much as expected, and overall a really good, really stylish film. 7/10

Now, for the Avengers!

[pathoftheturtle]

I agree with most of what you just said, DD, although I wouldn't actually rate any of them so high... especially Thor. Not even near as good as the Captain America movie, IMO; yes, it had some cool action & stuff, but it was just SOo illogical.

[alkanto]

The Cabin in the Woods - 7/10

I know, I know...this movie was bizarre, on so many levels. And I usually hate movies like this. But I really did enjoy myself with this one. It wasn't truly a horror film, I think. To me, it was more of a horror satire, as others have mentioned. That being said, there were some good jumpy parts and

Spoiler:

the redneck torturous zombies were fantastic! I think my favorite part, though, was the set-up in general. You know, from the very beginning, something's a bit strange, but we don't know why. The reveal at the end, that every horror movie we have ever seen was essentially a contrived senario in order to appease the old gods...it was brilliant! Plus, all the monsters in the boxes was a nice touch. I was really curious to see what would have summoned each one....and this all leading up to the gloriously over-the-top "fight scene" with the monsters and the army dudes.

As was expected, there were a lot of great lines of dialog, which is what I've come to expect from anything from Joss Whedon. Nothing here that was a belly laugh - unlike some parts of The Avengers - but I did appreciated a lot of the humor. And my favorite part, in regards to humor?

Spoiler:

When one of the suit guys got killed my the merman, after raving about one for the entire film!

Also, for everyone who has seen it (just making sure it wasn't my theatre, as they were having some troubles) did the music sometimes undergo a bit of modulation, to make it sound like the soundtrack of an older horror film? If that was done on purpose, it was a very nice, subtle touch.

[DoctorDodge]

Excellent review, Pond. I'm glad you enjoyed it for what it was. Can't wait until the blu ray release to watch it again. (As they've already stopped showing it where i am, the bastards!)