Movies Seen in 2011

Discussion in 'TV & Media' started by Starbreaker, Dec 31, 2010.

  1. zakkrusz

    zakkrusz Rear Admiral Rear Admiral

    Joined:
    Jan 18, 2002
    Location:
    United States
    Updates in Bold:

    Arashi no Yoru ni (One Stormy Night) (7)
    Black Swan (9)
    Broken Blade 3: The Mark of the Assassin's Dagger (9)
    Godkiller (6)
    Infernal Affairs (7)
    Kamui (4)
    The Garden of Sinners Movie 8: Epilogue (9)
    Loups=Garous (8)
    The Mechanic (2011) (9)
    Mobile Suit Gundam 00: Awakeening of the Trailblazer (8)
    Munto: The Movie (6)
    Musashi Miyamoto (6)
    Unknown (7)
     
  2. od0_ital

    od0_ital Admiral Admiral

    Joined:
    Aug 23, 2001
    Location:
    Nacogdoches, Texas
    Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightening Thief - HBO
    Tron Legacy 3D - theater
    Clash of the Titans (2010) - HBO on Demand
    Take Me Home Tonight - free screenin'
    Sanctum - free screenin'
    The Green Hornet - free screenin'
    Green Zone - HBO
    Fantastic Mr. Fox - HBO
    True Grit (1969) - AMC
    Ringu - DVD
    Black Swan - Alamo Drafthouse (its not just a movie theater)
    Unknown - free screenin'
    The Losers - HBO
    The Sunset Limited - HBO on Demand
    Starsky & Hutch (2004) - Cinemax
    Kick-Ass - DVD

    Went by a Blockbuster with a bunch of "store closing" signs, wound up with seven used DVDs, only had to pay for three of 'em.

    Go me.

    Kick-Ass was one of those used DVDs.

    Watched it this mornin', I thought it was a pretty cool superhero movie. My brother came down about midway through it, and after one scene, asked, "So, this isn't a kids' superhero movie, is it?"

    Fuck no!

    Kind of wish Big Daddy had a bigger role, but Hit Girl was awesome. And now I really hope there's a sequel.
     
  3. Captain Craig

    Captain Craig Vice Admiral Admiral

    Joined:
    Dec 7, 2003
    Location:
    Nashville,TN
    1. The Fighter: B-
    2. Batman(90's saga): A-,B-,C-,D
    3. Star Wars OT-Special Edition: B+, A, B
    4. The Green Hornet: B
    5. True Grit(1969): C+
    6. Lord of the Rings saga: (A,A,A)
    7. The Machinist: A-
    8. Season of the Witch: B
    9. Frozen: A-
    10. Due Date: B+
    11. Planet of the Apes(2001): B-
    12. Faster: C
    13. Romance: D (French film, subtitled)
    14. YPF: C- (YPF=Young People F*&^ing)
    15. The Beautiful Truth: B-
    16. Strictly Sexual: C+
    17. DOOM: C
    18. Brothers: B+
    19. Men In Black II: B-
    20. The Crow: Wicked Prayer: C-
    21. The Soloist: C

    There are good performances in this movie with Robert Downey Jr and Jaime Foxx however that doesn't save it from being a bit slow. It felt like some of the exposition and visuals used to illustrated Nathaniel Ayers disorder actually hindered the pacing of the movie. Perhaps doing it once for affect but not several. Then they began intersplicing those with flashbacks, perhaps as a way to justify doing it again, but I didn't feel it was necessary to show the scars that way. His scars could've been easier portrayed in dialoge thus making the pacing better and perhaps setting up some dramatic scenes.

    I'm glad I watched it but it's not one to own.
     
  4. CaptainCanada

    CaptainCanada Admiral Admiral

    Joined:
    Mar 4, 2004
    Location:
    Charlottetown, PEI, Canada
    1. In the Heat of the Night (A)
    2. The Passion of Joan of Arc (B)
    3. The Passion of the Christ (A)
    4. Mamma Mia! (B)
    5. All About Eve (A)
    6. Looking for Anne (B-)
    7. 2001: A Space Odyssey (B+)
    8. The King's Speech (A)
    9. How Green Was My Valley (B-)
    10. Black Swan (B+)
    11. Made in Dagenham (B)
    12. Gentleman's Agreement (A-)
    13. Barney's Version (A-)
    14. Out of Africa (B)
    15. The Social Network (A-)
    16. The Sound of Music (B+)
    17. Pulp Fiction (A)
    18. Forrest Gump (A)
    19. The Shawshank Redemption (A+)

    1994 Academy Awards Faceoff!

    1994 is probably the strongest modern Best Picture slate, with three films that would be easy winners in any other year (and all of them in the IMDB's top 50, two in the top 5); at the time, it was Pulp Fiction vs Forrest Gump, but these days The Shawshank Redemption matches or eclipses both of them.

    Of the three films, Pulp Fiction is the only one I'm seeing for the first time; took me a while to get around to it, though I've seen several other Tarantino films. I guess I'm working backward (though I skipped over Jackie Brown). Anyway, it's a very entertaining film - like all of Tarantino's best work, it's very dialogue-driven (I wonder what a collaboration between Tarantino and Aaron Sorkin would look like); though in this case, so many of the discussions have become memes by now (particularly with Samuel L. Jackson's character; indeed, with rare exceptions, Jackson has been playing this character ever since). Extremely entertaining and incredibly influential - my main drawback would be that, like all the Tarantino films that I've seen, there's not a tremendous amount of substance to go with the style.

    Forrest Gump was the first of these three films I saw, but on VHS; this was my first widescreen viewing. It has easily the largest hatedom of the three films, but I don't see it, personally. I'm still a big fan. Tom Hanks' performance is one of his best (and, much like his work in The Terminal, he does an accent without making it look like a gimmick, which is a skill that most American leading men don't have), ably supported by other actors. Gary Sinise is particularly memorable (I wish he wasn't wasting his talent on CSI: New York these days, though I'm sure he's paid well to do it). It also makes me long for the days when Robert Zemeckis wasn't doing all his films in unconvincing motion-capture CGI.

    And finally, Shawshank. Still my favourite of the bunch, and probably the one I've seen the most. Much like Jackson, Morgan Freeman has been reprising the role of Red in most of his subsequent roles (which is why things like his portrayal of Nelson Mandela is so different), but it's such an amazing role; one of my favourite film performances of all time. Tim Robbins also does a very good job with his character, who is necessarily closed off to a great extent. Whenever people talk about this movie, they usually talk about Freeman and Robbins, and to a lesser extent James Whitmore as Brooks (whose finale sequence is one of the saddest things ever put on film), but I think Bob Gunton as Norton is overlooked. He's a somewhat low-key but extremely memorable villain (Darabont and co. combine a couple of different wardens from the novel into one character, which works surprisingly well; the religious nature of one contrasts with the corruption of the other into a modern-day pharisee), with one of the most satisfying comeuppances in cinema. Also notably, with Roger Deakins looking likely to finally win an Oscar this weekend, this was his first nomination, and it's beautiful work indeed.
     
  5. Captain Craig

    Captain Craig Vice Admiral Admiral

    Joined:
    Dec 7, 2003
    Location:
    Nashville,TN
    1. The Fighter: B-
    2. Batman(90's saga): A-,B-,C-,D
    3. Star Wars OT-Special Edition: B+, A, B
    4. The Green Hornet: B
    5. True Grit(1969): C+
    6. Lord of the Rings saga: (A,A,A)
    7. The Machinist: A-
    8. Season of the Witch: B
    9. Frozen: A-
    10. Due Date: B+
    11. Planet of the Apes(2001): B-
    12. Faster: C
    13. Romance: D (French film, subtitled)
    14. YPF: C- (YPF=Young People F*&^ing)
    15. The Beautiful Truth: B-
    16. Strictly Sexual: C+
    17. DOOM: C
    18. Brothers: B+
    19. Men In Black II: B-
    20. The Crow: Wicked Prayer: C-
    21. The Soloist: C
    22. Kama Sutra: A Tale of Love: C+

    With Naveen Andrews(LOST) and Indira Varma(ROME) this movie is about the competition of love and its place in Indian society. It's a decent movie and for sure has its um captivating moments. Worth seeing once if for no other reason than to see what Sayid was doing before he became Sayid. I know the actor was a new face to me before LOST.
     
  6. zakkrusz

    zakkrusz Rear Admiral Rear Admiral

    Joined:
    Jan 18, 2002
    Location:
    United States
    Arashi no Yoru ni (One Stormy Night) (7)
    Black Swan (9)
    Broken Blade 3: The Mark of the Assassin's Dagger (9)
    Drive Angry (7)
    Godkiller (6)
    Infernal Affairs (7)
    Kamui (4)
    The Garden of Sinners Movie 8: Epilogue (9)
    Loups=Garous (8)
    The Mechanic (2011) (9)
    Mobile Suit Gundam 00: Awakeening of the Trailblazer (8)
    Munto: The Movie (6)
    Musashi Miyamoto (6)
    Unknown (7)
     
  7. CaptainCanada

    CaptainCanada Admiral Admiral

    Joined:
    Mar 4, 2004
    Location:
    Charlottetown, PEI, Canada
    1. In the Heat of the Night (A)
    2. The Passion of Joan of Arc (B)
    3. The Passion of the Christ (A)
    4. Mamma Mia! (B)
    5. All About Eve (A)
    6. Looking for Anne (B-)
    7. 2001: A Space Odyssey (B+)
    8. The King's Speech (A)
    9. How Green Was My Valley (B-)
    10. Black Swan (B+)
    11. Made in Dagenham (B)
    12. Gentleman's Agreement (A-)
    13. Barney's Version (A-)
    14. Out of Africa (B)
    15. The Social Network (A-)
    16. The Sound of Music (B+)
    17. Pulp Fiction (A)
    18. Forrest Gump (A)
    19. The Shawshank Redemption (A+)
    20. The Illusionist (B+)

    The second best animated feature nominee that I've seen. Tonally it's by turns cute and elegaic; with almost no dialogue, it's purposefully a bit inscrutable. Enjoyable, but I really can't see why some people would prefer it to Toy Story 3.
     
  8. Lowdarzz

    Lowdarzz Captain Captain

    Joined:
    Feb 11, 2008
    Manhunter (1986)

    I enjoyed this adaptation of Red Dragon by Thomas Harris more than its 2002 counterpart.

    Centurion (2009)

    It lacks the grandiose qualities of the older sword and sandals epics but it tells a good story. The myths about the disappearance of the Legio IX Hispana in Caledonia has always been interesting to me.
     
  9. timothy

    timothy Rear Admiral Rear Admiral

    Joined:
    Nov 28, 2010
    Location:
    The Draco tavern
    today was movie day and this is what I watched :


    1) the karate kid 2010 remake suprisingly good realy good A ++
    2) excalibur 1981 on of my all time favorites
    3) prince of persia the sands of time great action movie
    4) the fifth element agin one of my favorites
     
  10. od0_ital

    od0_ital Admiral Admiral

    Joined:
    Aug 23, 2001
    Location:
    Nacogdoches, Texas
    Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightening Thief - HBO
    Tron Legacy 3D - theater
    Clash of the Titans (2010) - HBO on Demand
    Take Me Home Tonight - free screenin'
    Sanctum - free screenin'
    The Green Hornet - free screenin'
    Green Zone - HBO
    Fantastic Mr. Fox - HBO
    True Grit (1969) - AMC
    Ringu - DVD
    Black Swan - Alamo Drafthouse (its not just a movie theater)
    Unknown - free screenin'
    The Losers - HBO
    The Sunset Limited - HBO on Demand
    Starsky & Hutch (2004) - Cinemax
    Kick-Ass - DVD
    The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo - DVD

    One of the other DVDs I picked up the other night at the goin' out of business Blockbuster.

    I watched it with the English dubbin', since I wasn't in the mood to read subtitles.

    That was a pretty intense movie. Not sure how often I'll rewatch it, but I will go ahead with the sequel, which I also picked up the other night, later this week.
     
  11. LitmusDragon

    LitmusDragon Commodore Commodore

    Joined:
    Sep 27, 2002
    Location:
    The Barmuda Triangle
    1. Alien 3 (assembly cut) - B
    2. Let the Right One In - A
    3. Inception - B.
    4. Scott Pilgrim vs. the World - B+
    5. Lilo and Stitch - A
    6. Despicable Me - B
    7. Forbidden Planet - B+
    8. Clerks - B
    9. Metropia - C+
    10. Brand Upon the Brain - B
    11. Beltesassar Animation Festival 17 - A
    12. Buried - B+
    13. How to Train Your Dragon - A
    14. Monsters - C+.
    15. The Tune (Bill Plympton) - C

    16. House (1977) - B. Extremely bizarre Japanese horror / teen romp film with psychedelic underpinnings. Has a strange mix of dramatic, comedic, horrific and ironic elements that I think you could only get from a Japanese film. Takes a while to get rolling but is fairly entertaining once it does. Some of the effects sequences are extremely creative- a good example of doing a lot with limited resources.

    17. Institute Benjamenta - B-. I'm pretty sure this film is about the inevitable fall of authoritarianism in western society. Maybe. Beautifully shot film without a real meaning, sort of like Eraserhead. I think I enjoyed Piano Tuner a bit more of the two Quay brothers films.

    18. The Triplets of Belleville (rewatch) - A. I really like this movie. It's so strange! And the characters are so French. I think a well-written satire from another country can really give you a sense what that country is about. One of the better animated films of the past 20 years. I think it deserves what recognition it has gotten.
     
  12. Harvey

    Harvey Admiral Admiral

    Joined:
    Oct 8, 2005
    I've been mostly watching television lately, but have had a chance to re-watch a couple of films I've seen several times before.

    31. Back to the Future (A)
    32. Grosse Point Blank (B-)


    Not much new to say on either title. I might be re-watching Forrest Gump later in the week, since I've been busy trashing it in another thread, but haven't actually seen the entire film in about a decade. We'll see if I revise my view that it's a conservative tract of history and a sentimental watering-down of the possibilities of a film version of the novel.
     
  13. Captain Craig

    Captain Craig Vice Admiral Admiral

    Joined:
    Dec 7, 2003
    Location:
    Nashville,TN
    1. The Fighter: B-
    2. Batman(90's saga): A-,B-,C-,D
    3. Star Wars OT-Special Edition: B+, A, B
    4. The Green Hornet: B
    5. True Grit(1969): C+
    6. Lord of the Rings saga: (A,A,A)
    7. The Machinist: A-
    8. Season of the Witch: B
    9. Frozen: A-
    10. Due Date: B+
    11. Planet of the Apes(2001): B-
    12. Faster: C
    13. Romance: D (French film, subtitled)
    14. YPF: C- (YPF=Young People F*&^ing)
    15. The Beautiful Truth: B-
    16. Strictly Sexual: C+
    17. DOOM: C
    18. Brothers: B+
    19. Men In Black II: B-
    20. The Crow: Wicked Prayer: C-
    21. The Soloist: C
    22. Kama Sutra: A Tale of Love: C+
    23. I Now Pronounce you Chuck & Larry: B-

    Yes, I'm just getting this. When I say I save comedies for the queue vs $10 bucks in a theater I'm not joking. They just aren't worth the upcharge 98% of the time and this one maintains my stance on that.

    Was it entertaining, yes did it have me on the floor with a stomach cramp every 10minutes, no. The movie had more than it's fair share of chuckles it was the BIG laughs it was missing for me to say it was an 'A' comedy. Sandler seems to do a good job of cranking out above average comedies. I'll put Just Go With It in my queue, like GrownUps, and I'm sure I'll get the required number of penis jokes, fart jokes, gay jokes and oogling of breasts as every Sandler movie delivers.
     
  14. Harvey

    Harvey Admiral Admiral

    Joined:
    Oct 8, 2005
    33. My Sister, My Love (D)
    34. The Arrival (B)
    35. Shutter Island (B-)
    36. Knocked Up (B)
    37. Madonna: Truth or Dare (B+)


    My Sister, My Love: This is a rarely screen Swedish film made in 1966 by Vilgot Sjöman, who I can't claim familiarity with, but apparently went on to some controversy with his I Am Curious films two years later. Unfortunately, it was a dubbed 16mm print, which reduced my enjoyment a great deal. Dealing with an incestuous affair between brother and sister in the late 1700s, the film features a number of Bergman regulars, but none of the vitality of a Bergman film.

    The Arrival: Re-watching this Charlie Sheen conspiracy film (now on Blu-Ray, where the transfer is much better than the awful DVD), a little bit in honor of his recent breakdown, I see more of the cracks than I did when I saw it last year. It's obviously the work of a first time film director, but I still like it. I'm especially pleased by the film's attempt at scientific accuracy when it comes to radio astronomy.

    Shutter Island: Scorsese's asylum film is technically polished (with the exception of some awful digital background effects), but I'm still not crazy about it. The first twist in the ending isn't so much of a surprise as the inevitable turn you can't help but expect after so many clues to it appear (and, watching it for a second time, I notice even more than I did before). The performances are good, but most of the cast is underused (Ted Levine, Patricia Clarkson, Elias Koteas, and Jackie Earle Haley each get one seen to shine and then more or less vanish). And I still absolutely hate that tracking shot in the holocaust flashback where the Nazis fall over in line with the movement of the camera and not the bullets being unleashed towards them.

    Knocked Up: It's hard to believe that this Judd Apatow film only came out in 2007; in less than four years, he and his Freaks and Geeks alumni have more or less consumed all comedies of any worth being produced by mainstream Hollywood. Surprisingly, it's the first time I'm seeing the film. It's funny, but I'm not blown away by it. Perhaps that's due to so many films being made by this group after (and, made with less restriction than the more conservative Knocked Up).

    Madonna: Truth or Dare: I've never cared for Madonna as a recording artist, so I was very surprised by how fascinating this film turned out to be (alas, it's unavailable on DVD due to some legal battle). Far from being a hatchet job, nor a promotional piece, the finished film comes off with surprising balance (unless you're Warren Beatty, who manages the film's best comment about Madonna--that she doesn't find anything worth doing unless it's on-camera--but still comes off as rather aloof and self-centered). It's only flaw is that it's about 20 to 30 minutes too long. The first hour is incredibly engaging, but the second hour (the film is 2 hours long) didn't grab my attention as strongly.

    It's finals week, so outside of re-watching Videodrome for a class project, I doubt I'll have time for much else. I suppose I won't make my 365 movie goal this year, either. Alas... :p
     
  15. od0_ital

    od0_ital Admiral Admiral

    Joined:
    Aug 23, 2001
    Location:
    Nacogdoches, Texas
    Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightening Thief - HBO
    Tron Legacy 3D - theater
    Clash of the Titans (2010) - HBO on Demand
    Take Me Home Tonight - free screenin'
    Sanctum - free screenin'
    The Green Hornet - free screenin'
    Green Zone - HBO
    Fantastic Mr. Fox - HBO
    True Grit (1969) - AMC
    Ringu - DVD
    Black Swan - Alamo Drafthouse (its not just a movie theater)
    Unknown - free screenin'
    The Losers - HBO
    The Sunset Limited - HBO on Demand
    Starsky & Hutch (2004) - Cinemax
    Kick-Ass - DVD
    The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo - DVD
    The Adjustment Bureau - free screenin'

    I was in Dallas for a couple of days earlier this week, and took in a free screenin' of Matt Damon's latest.

    I liked it, good performances all around from Damon, John Slattery & Terrance Stamp.

    Got a little heavy handed there towards the end, but still a good movie.
     
  16. Too Much Fun

    Too Much Fun Commodore Commodore

    Joined:
    Feb 19, 2009
    Why are peoples' letter grades for movies they've seen considered a spoiler? :confused: I saw "The Naked Gun" for the first time the other day. It is a masterpiece of its genre.

    It reminded me of classic episodes of "The Simpsons". Crammed with tons of jokes per minute and every single one of them was funny. My throat hurt from laughing so much.

    I was surprised by how short it was being under 90 minutes, but that's understandable. They couldn't make a movie so wall-to-wall with jokes last as long and that makes it even better because it never drags with the laughs coming so fast and furious.

    It was nice to see Ricardo Montalban in something outside of Star Trek as well, but he looks younger than he did in "Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan", despite the movie coming out in 1988.
     
    Last edited: Mar 6, 2011
  17. CaptainCanada

    CaptainCanada Admiral Admiral

    Joined:
    Mar 4, 2004
    Location:
    Charlottetown, PEI, Canada
    It's not. We just use the drop-down box to keep the posts to a manageable length on default.
     
  18. Captain Craig

    Captain Craig Vice Admiral Admiral

    Joined:
    Dec 7, 2003
    Location:
    Nashville,TN
    Exactly, it's a space saver.
     
  19. CaptainCanada

    CaptainCanada Admiral Admiral

    Joined:
    Mar 4, 2004
    Location:
    Charlottetown, PEI, Canada
    1. In the Heat of the Night (A)
    2. The Passion of Joan of Arc (B)
    3. The Passion of the Christ (A)
    4. Mamma Mia! (B)
    5. All About Eve (A)
    6. Looking for Anne (B-)
    7. 2001: A Space Odyssey (B+)
    8. The King's Speech (A)
    9. How Green Was My Valley (B-)
    10. Black Swan (B+)
    11. Made in Dagenham (B)
    12. Gentleman's Agreement (A-)
    13. Barney's Version (A-)
    14. Out of Africa (B)
    15. The Social Network (A-)
    16. The Sound of Music (B+)
    17. Pulp Fiction (A)
    18. Forrest Gump (A)
    19. The Shawshank Redemption (A+)
    20. The Illusionist (B)
    21. The French Connection (B+)

    1971 Best Picture winner, which is a pretty impressive feat for what we would today call a pretty straightforward piece of crime cinema without much in the way of deeper characterization. Goes to show what a jolt this was stylistically; by now, its innovations have been thoroughly absorbed into the cinematic language, so it doesn't have the same impact, but I enjoyed it nonetheless. The oft-discussed car chase (or, rather, car-train chase) is indeed impressive (though I was distracted by wondering how nobody else on the train seemed to have noticed the dead transit cop and incorporated that into their actions). Gene Hackman is good in the lead part, though I'm a bit surprised he won an Oscar for this.
     
  20. Harvey

    Harvey Admiral Admiral

    Joined:
    Oct 8, 2005
    Have you seen the John Frankenheimer directed sequel, CaptainCanada? It takes Hackman's character down a much darker path than the first film, but I think it remains exceptional.