12-05-2007, 01:45 PM | #3021 |
Psychonaut
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Location: Edinburgh
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The Golden Compass
Based on the first Philip Pullman book "Northern Lights". I can't speak to it's closeness to the source material as I've never read the books. Young orphan Lyra gets caught up in a strange story about multiple universes, dust ??, souls animals (Daemons), armoured polar bears, a tyrannical government who may or may not be religious in nature and the evil Nicole Kidman. SFX is pretty cool. The polar bear fight was cool and the various Daemons were well crafted. The acting was spotty. The young girl was a bit hit or miss and most of the cast are hardly on screen to care. The only decent characters was Nicole Kidman's spooky evil bitch and Sam Elliot (the coolest voice in holywood) as the sky captain. The film itself was no LOTR, not even up to Narnia (which sucked) and spent most of the film explaining things to Lyra. Esp the exposition ending which just talks about what they need to do next then just stops........ Haven't not read the books I'm not upset about it, but I do get the impression it is probably NOT a good adaption and seriously waters down the religious aspect of the novels. 4/10 on the other hand The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford Probably one of the best films of the year. A Western Based on the fictionalised story of the last days of Jesse James it sees Brad Pitt as the eponymous outlaw and Casey Affleck as Robert Ford a Jesse James stalker who joins the gang to meet his hero. It is a beautifully shot movie, superbly acted by both leads (Affleck in particular is amazing Oscar material). Brad Pitt as the paranoid outlaw jumping at shadows who maybe knows that the end is coming is cool, scary and at times pitiful. It's not an action movie and the action sequences are few and far between. It's mostly a dissection of a folk hero and the man who killed him. Brilliant 9/10
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12-07-2007, 05:43 AM | #3022 |
Beyond Belief
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Stardust, was hilarious throughout, the characters were charming. Pfeiffer, De Niro, O'Toole, Strong, and Gervais must have really enjoyed their incredibly fun characters. Obviously not very complex or deep, it's very accomplished in its purpose.
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12-07-2007, 07:24 AM | #3023 |
Senior Member
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Blade Runner: The Final Cut A+++++++++++!
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12-07-2007, 08:53 AM | #3024 |
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Alice in Wonderland
My Disney film-watching continues! This was a bit... well... disappointing. Given how closely associated with the original story this film is, it does a remarkably good job of not really going anywhere. That said, it's still fun. Atlantis: The Lost Empire Having tracked down a copy of the two-disc edition, I have to say that I enjoyed this, though it never really felt like more than a mediocre action film dressed up in some (nice) animation. That and my DVD seems to pause at every chapter change, which is slightly irritating (and I'm wondering if it's a faulty disc, which would be rather annoying given the time spent tracking it down). |
12-07-2007, 02:18 PM | #3025 |
A Slice of Fried Gold
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I watched Fargo again last night and I think that movie's pretty much perfect. There really wasn't a single flaw with it.
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12-07-2007, 05:36 PM | #3026 |
In an evening of July...
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12-08-2007, 08:24 AM | #3027 |
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Superman II
A bit too much of a face-off film for my liking - particularly as some of the fighting didn't make much sense to my mind - but an enjoyable enough romp. |
12-08-2007, 09:14 AM | #3028 |
The Reggienator
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Which version did you see? The Donner cut or the theatrical version?
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12-08-2007, 12:59 PM | #3029 |
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Oops. Sorry; should have specified that. I saw the original theatrical cut, though I also have the Donner version, and intend to watch it at some point .
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12-08-2007, 02:16 PM | #3030 |
Psychonaut
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The Donner version is only ever watched at 2am after coming home from the pub drunk.
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12-08-2007, 03:35 PM | #3031 |
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Blade Runner (US Theatrical Cut)
One from the 5-disc release that came out recently (in the UK). The last time I saw Blade Runner was several years ago, when the Director's Cut was on television, and I remember being rather confused by it. Partly because I was young Anyway, the film. It's not my favourite Philip K Dick-based film (that's a toss-up between Minority Report and A Scanner Darkly), but it's certainly a very good film. I look forward to watching the Final Cut (possibly tomorrow). Great DVD set, too. I'm pleased by how reasonable the picture quality is for the alternate versions, as I wasn't sure that they wouldn't just have copied them in from any sources available.
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12-08-2007, 03:44 PM | #3032 |
Lazy Bee
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Catch Me If You Can
Fascinating story. I really like it!
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12-08-2007, 06:31 PM | #3033 |
Elegantly copy+pasted
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Anyone seen Juno yet? Looks like it's only playing in NY and LA for now (Argh! Why does Chicago have to be the third biggest city in the US?), which is frustrating since all the reviews are out now, and they're great. They make it sound like a cross between Election, Knocked Up, The Opposite of Sex and Superbad (with bits of Little Miss Sunshine thrown in). In short, excellent.
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12-09-2007, 02:08 PM | #3034 |
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Bambi
It would be wrong to trash this film, but it's not one that I'm in any hurry to watch again. Nice animation, but that's about it. |
12-09-2007, 03:11 PM | #3035 |
Not like them!
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I've been watching a lot of Disney movies lately, too. First I watched a bunch of 80s ones, then I started back from Snow White and watched in order. I just got up to The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad. (I skipped Saludos Amigos and The Three Caballeros, though. I also didn't watch Fantasia because I'm hoping to rewatch it with a few friends soon.) Some of them (Bambi, all the package films) I'd never seen before. And some (Pinocchio, Dumbo) I had only the faintest childhood memories of. A few random impressions:
Last edited by MoriartyL; 12-09-2007 at 03:20 PM. |
12-09-2007, 05:39 PM | #3036 |
Headbanger
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Beowulf
I'm suprised over how good it was, didn't expect that at all.
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12-09-2007, 06:07 PM | #3037 | |
Unreliable Narrator
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Quote:
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12-10-2007, 08:30 AM | #3038 |
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Aladdin
Aside from that carpet ride song, which I ceased to be a fan of once it became a song beloved of six-year-old girls at school concerts, this is a great Disney film. And the R1 DVD transfer seemed reasonable. Good stuff. |
12-10-2007, 01:03 PM | #3039 |
Not like them!
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Enchanted
I was the only one in my family with any interest in this movie, considering the clichéd plot. But I actually got my mother and one of my sisters to come. Meanwhile, my other sister kept insisting that I shouldn't go to it, that it's a "chick flick", that anonymous friends of hers had told her it was bad, that it's just plain stupid. In the end, she came too! And here's the kicker: we all loved it! Excellent movie. I found Giselle's outlook on love not only refreshing but even insightful. Part of the reason I wanted to see this movie was the promise of 2D animation. I don't think they're quite there yet.* Don't get me wrong- it was all very fun to watch. But after seeing so much wonderful Disney animation lately it was a bit of a letdown, because this isn't really in the same league. There are very few in-between frames (What I'm trying to say is that it felt choppy.), the character designs were generic, the composition of the frames was only standard, etc. I had a similar mild disappointment with the songs: while it's wonderful to hear new compositions from Alan Menken and Stephen Schwartz, this is nowhere near the quality of their work in Beauty and the Beast, Pocahontas or The Hunchback of Notre Dame. But it all worked perfectly in the context of the story. After all, it's sort of supposed to remind you of other experiences rather than create new ones. Most of the homages were more tasteful than they seemed (taken out of context) in the trailer. Anyway, good movie. Really good movie. Don't be afraid to see it. *If you're a bit confused as to what I'm talking about: As I understand it, most of Disney's 2D animators were fired after Home on the Range, when the CEO back then decided they should only work with 3D computer graphics. So they're building the whole 2D business up again from scratch. |
12-10-2007, 01:20 PM | #3040 |
Unreliable Narrator
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I saw Enchanted a couple weekends ago, myself. I liked it. Got a bit too RomCom-like at the end (and not in a very good way, mind you), but the rest was very much worth it. One of those movies where 3/4 of the audience consists of little kids (and the other 1/4 consists of their parents), and I'm the only one in the theatre laughing in places, y'know?
Anyway, funny story. I've always had this vendetta about Disney movies having kissing scenes in them; I mean, their target audience usually does find kissing to be totally gross, right? (At least, this was the case when me and my siblings/friends were growing up.) Then, Enchanted starts up, and lo and behold, it's all about kissing! I was in stitches.
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