Movies Seen in 2009

[Starbreaker]

Twilight_Spock wrote:

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An American Werewolf in London -- 6/10 -- I didn't mind this film persay, but it's definitely not one of my favorites. I saw it with a friend recently. Didn't like most of the acting... it was rather over the top . But the cinematography and effects were nice (that's why it's getting a score of 6/10 instead of a 4/10).

As for the music/soundtrack to the film, it was pretty good.

Overall, I consider it a horror/comedic farce kind of movie.

I didn't really care too much for this movie either. It had rave reviews and a friend recommended it, and I just didn't get all the fuss.

[od0_ital]

Watchin' Poltergiest for the first time ever right freakin' now!

[chrisspringob]

Since my last update here, I've seen:

Primer
Milk
Oldboy
Moon
Imaginarium of Dr. Parnassus

Primer I was watching for the second time (and I still don't get the ending). The others I was watching for the first time.

[Temis the Vorta]

Personally I thought it was one of the scarier horror movies I've seen in a long time...

I'm easily scared and it didn't faze me too badly. Maybe I'm getting tougher. I should try to sit thru The Exorcist on my own - again - been trying that for years now.

Watchin' Poltergiest for the first time ever right freakin' now!

Hey, I've never seen that! Okay, that goes to the top of the Netflix list. Let's see how tough I am!

[Bob The Skutter]

Temis the Friendly Ghost wrote:

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I'm easily scared and it didn't faze me too badly. Maybe I'm getting tougher. I should try to sit thru The Exorcist on my own - again - been trying that for years now.

I was Exorcist when I was 13 (I think, I don't remember what year they unbanned it here) and I just laughed at it. Didn't scare me in the least.
I have trouble thinking of anything that really gave me a good fright, Ghostwatch did when I was 10, Silent Hill 2(the game) had me watching the shadows for a night but I can't really think of much else. Although there was a couple of points in Drag Me To Hell that had my heart going, hence why I thought it was scarier than most.
Probably just their use of sound in the darkened cinema, worked better than it would at home.

Hey, I've never seen that! Okay, that goes to the top of the Netflix list. Let's see how tough I am!

I used to love Poltergeist as a kid, but haven't seen it in years, bet it's rubbish.

[od0_ital]

Well, the special effects for Poltergeist aren't so special anymore, but the mood & atmosphere still work...

Watched Halloween II (the original sequel) last night at Kick Butt in the Triangle. Not great, but good enough, I suppose, for a horror sequel.

Will add these to the list later...

[MeanJoePhaser]

District Nine - Good but not quite great. I think the protagonist is a tad too irritating and the mecha part goes on too long. The Apartheid analogy gets muddled when you are talking about an wholly alien lifeform stranded on Earth, which is a good thing, actually, because it makes you think more. Part of the premise is never elaborated on, which is just as well, too, actually.

Pandorum - Felt like a made for Sy-Fy film with a real budget. Fairly decent entertainment, but it's often too dark to even tell what's going on. Ben Foster does decently in a lead role.

Psycho II - Unintentionally funny. I may have seen parts of it before. I know I read the MAD Magazine parody many time in the 80's. The parody was better, but so was the Mad take on Scarface.

The Hangover - Overrated, I think. Not bad, though. I am sick of male nudity in movies, especially ugly male nudity. I have to think the wedding related aspect made this film a hit.

[Kegg]

Thirst - Definitely one of the better vampire romance movies out there, particularly since, well, it isn't terribly romantic.

Being a Korean arthouse film it's complicated, at times low-key character drama and at other times ludricous and dryly funny absurdities. I don't think this film is as accessible as, say, Old Boy (by the same director) was to a general audience - despite or because of the vampire element, this is a more dialed back, restrained, 'normal' and relatively slow-paced art film for long stretches.

Nonetheless, there are enough flashes of bizarre humour and excellent character development to make this a fairly enjoyable feature for anyone who'd actually want to see a film like this.

[MeanJoePhaser]

Missionary Man - Low budget 2007 Dolph Lundgren acted-and-directed (yeah, he still works) film. The washed-out film style detracts from its cheapness. Mildly watchable for a cliched d(irect to video)-movie.

The Hurt Locker - One of the best movies of the year. And odd that the only names in it are bit roles (Guy Pearce and Ralph Fiennes). Probably be totally ignored for awards because it's a war movie that isn't preachily anti-war. Also, it really makes GI JOE look like a piece of crap...not that they are really in the same genre, but...

[od0_ital]

Updatin' my list, since I got into three free screenings this past week, on Wednesday, Thursday & Saturday.

- In Theaters -
Gran Torino*
Frost/Nixon
Inkheart*
Fanboys
Friday the 13th (2009)*
The International*
Watchmen*
Monsters vs Aliens*
Fast and Furious*
Star Trek (2009)*
The Soloist*
Battle for Terra*
X-Men Origins: Wolverine
Band from TV Concert Video
Drag Me to Hell*
Away We Go*
Terminator: Salvation
Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen
Moon
Paper Heart*
G-Force*
(500) Days of Summer*
G.I. JOE: The Rise of Cobra*
District 9*
Taking Woodstock*
The Time Traveler's Wife
World's Greatest Dad*
9*
Sorority Row (2009)*
The Wizard of Oz
Pandorum*
Toy Story/Toy Story 2 3D Double Feature*
The Horse Boy
Whip It*
The Boys are Back*
Zombieland*
Law Abiding Citizen*
A Serious Man*
Night of the Living Dead
Astro Boy*
The Fourth Kind*
Caprica
Halloween II
2012*
Pirate Radio*
Planet 51*

Each movie with a * means I saw it at a free advanced screenin'.

- On DVD -
Taken
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Let the Right One In
Duplicity
Defiance
Green Lantern: First Flight
Oldboy
Shaun of the Dead
Battlestar Galactica: The Plan
Poltergeist
Bottle Shock

- On Demand -
Eagle Eye

[Kegg]

MeanJoePhaser wrote:

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The Hurt Locker - One of the best movies of the year. And odd that the only names in it are bit roles (Guy Pearce and Ralph Fiennes). Probably be totally ignored for awards because it's a war movie that isn't preachily anti-war.

Hurt Locker is a smash with the critics (and rightly so), and in a year with ten Academy nominations for best picture I'd put good money on it at least getting at least a nomination.

[zakkrusz]

Updates:
9 (7)
Angels & Demons (7)
Bangkok Dangerous (6)
Bleach Movie 3: Fade to Black (7)
Blood: The Last Vampire (2009) (6)
Crank 2: High Voltage (6)
The Day the Earth Stood Still (7)
Dragonball Evolution (5)
Elementors (6)
GI Joe (7)
Gran Torino (7)
Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince (6)
Higurashi no Naku Koroni (When the Cicadas Cry) (9)
Ice Age 3: Dawn of the Dinosaurs (7)
The International (6)
Kara no Kyoukai: Mujun Rasen (Garden of Sinners: Paradox Spiral) (10)
Kara no Kyoukai: Boukyaku Rokuon (Garden of Sinners: Oblivion Recorder) (8)
Knowing (6)
L: Change the World (7)
Laws of Eternity (3)
Lupin the 3rd: The Columbus Files (8)
Lupin the 3rd: Crisis In Tokyo (7)
Lupin the 3rd: Dead or Alive (7)
Lupin the 3rd: Dragon of Doom (6)
Lupin the 3rd:Farewell To Nostradamus (9)
Lupin the 3rd: The Fuma Conspiracy (9)
Lupin the 3rd: Island of Assassins (7)
Lupin the 3rd: The Legend of the Gold of Babylon (5)
Lupin the 3rd: Missed By a Dollar (8)
Lupin the 3rd: The Pursuit of Harimao's Treasure (5)
Lupin the 3rd: The Secret of Twilight Gemini (9)
Lupin the 3rd: Voyage to Danger (8)
Moon (9)
Naruto Shippuden Movie 2: Bonds (5)
Night at the Museum (5)
The Punisher: War Zone (1)
Ponyo (8)
The Seven Swords (5)
The Sky Crawlers (8)
Starship Troopers 3: Marauder (7)
Star Trek (10)
Street Fighter: The Legend of Chun Li (6)
Surrogates (8)
Sword of the Stranger (10)
Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann: Gurren-hen (Pierce the Heavens Gurren Lagann: Gurren Chapter) (8)
Terminator: Salvation (7)
Transformers 2: Revenge of the Fallen (8)
Twilight (5)
Underworld: Rise of the Lycan (6)
Watchmen (9)
X-Men Origins: Wolverine (8)

[od0_ital]

Watched the remake of The Taking of Pelham 123 with Denzel & Travolta.

Some interestin' humor, suspense, but lackin' in the drama...could have been better.

Will probably watch the original soon, since I picked up a cheap copy at Blockbuster the other day.

[Starbreaker]

I saw

Transsiberian [B] on Blu-Ray... It was good but nothing memorable, really
The Postman [B+] This movie gets a lot of flack, but I really liked it. Looked great on Blu-Ray.

[Daneel]

I went to my local discount theatre this evening and saw Inglorious Basterds. Mostly enjoyable, but I felt it was a little overrated -- although I will admit that my opinion might be slightly coloured by the fact that there were some projection problems in the theatre. For the first half hour or so, the images being projected were obviously too large for the screen; half the subtitles were cut off at the bottom, and the top of the screen cut off a lot of characters' eyes/hair in the wider shots. Very irksome.

I've also seen a few other flicks at that theatre recently that I didn't really want to bother with when they were in first-run, like Gamer, starring Gerard Butler, which was mostly a mess of a film. I really can't recommend it.

Halloween II -- also not very good. I've got no problem with violence in movies, of course, but a lot of the deaths in this sequel just felt gratuitous, as well as unnecessarily brutal and bloody. And after trying to give Michael Myers a somewhat grounded origin story in his first film, Rob Zombie went in a more bizarre direction this time (Laurie having the exact same hallucinations as her brother? WTF?). I really didn't care much for Laurie in this film, and I also wasn't wild about Dr. Loomis being such a dick for most of the movie, especially after what happened in the last one.

Last week I saw Jennifer's Body. After reading all the mixed reviews, I wasn't quite sure what to expect from this, but, to my pleasant surprise, I actually enjoyed it! I thought it was a fun and quirky little film. There were some great lines (I loved the one about the band members saying they wanted to be awesome and make cool music like "that guy from Maroon 5"), and Lance Henriksen's surprise cameo at the end was kind of neat. Sure, it may not be a classic, but in a few years, I think it might have a chance of becoming a cult classic on home video.