[Lucien21]

Dan Brown is a Hack who couldn't write a decent grocery list.

[Lucien21]

The Hangover

4 guys go to Vegas on a Stag night, lose the groom and get hammered, wake up the next morning, there's a tiger in the bathroom, the groom is missing and they have no memory of the night before.

So begins the funniest film of the year.

Ok it's not the most original set up, but the laughs come quick and fast as they piece together the events of the night before.

Totally hilarious.

9/10

[Henke]

Originally Posted by UPtimist

Could somebody please tell me: is the movie set before The Da Vinci Code as the book is or after, like for example a review here said and as so many in Finland seem to think (greatly thanks to very foolish advertising)?

Have to say, as a book (or "as a literary work") Angels and Demons was better in my opinion (although Da Vinci Code had a much more interesting backstory and hence perhaps more interesting), but based on the trailers and what little I've heard of the movie Angels and Demons is a bit more action-oriented, which would make (the premise) for a worse movie...

The movie is set after The Da Vinci Code (since there are references to Angels and Demons in The Da Vinci Code novel which was taken out in the movie).

Angels and Demons is also a good movie, I thought the action and tension from the book wasn't used to its full potential through out the whole movie but it was still really fun. Now I'm eager to read (and eventually see) The Lost Symbol.

[Intrepid Homoludens]

Finally viewed A History Of Violence last night (after opening that red Netflix envelope weeks after receiving it). Brilliant and incredibly intense, a masterwork for director David Cronenberg (we studied his work amongst others back in the Authorship In Cinema course I took in art school). Drop dead impressive acting by Maria Bello, Viggo Mortensen, William Hurt, Ed Harris, and notedly for newcomer Ashton Holmes as the teenage son.

The dramatic, emotional and psychological intensity was almost unbearable to watch - and that was before the graphically violent moments (beautifully choreographed). The opening scene, an elegantly done long unedited take, gives way to a shocking introduction to what we're in for.

The Salon.com review sums up my own sentiments very nicely.

The subtext of violence as a defining characteristic of American culture and society (this movie, after all, was made during the Bush administration years) is very powerful, I agree. The ugliness of it, of heroicizing guns and shooting, is shown without apology, without glorification, and we the audience at once cheer, then share in the responsibility of its aftermath.

We are made complicit in the provocation and propagation - isn't that what we wanted, after all? As Americans, to solve any conflict with violence and bullying? That Cronenberg shows us in the most intimate way what we have done to ourselves and others - brief closeups of the gore and blood, then what it does to what we haved cathected as the ideal American family - only drives the message home.

I know that many of us just saw this for the enjoyment of a violent thriller about mistaken identity, but to dismiss the film as such is tantamount to intellectual irresponsibility. You have to think about it, how can you not?

Viggo Mortensen (Tom Stalls in the story) was very involved in this project, himself being an advocate for a more non-violent approach to re-define American society and politics. And Cronenberg, a Canadian, has always been a keen observer of our obsession with big guns, wars, and imposing our ways on others at all costs.

One movie that I can compare this to is Alfred Hitchcock's Shadow Of A Doubt (with fine performances by Joseph Cotton and Theresa Wright), about a small town young woman's rite of passage from complacent naive innocence to dark journey into human complexity, that once you cross the threshold you can never, ever go back.

Amazing movie. I can't recommend it enough. Still haven't mailed it back, I have to watch it again.

[Ninja Dodo]

Saw a bunch of great short films and two features at the Annecy festival.

Coraline was magnificent, though I think it would be downright irresponsible to bring children along to see it. It's pretty disturbing in a lot of ways. I saw the film in 3D which was an interesting experience though there were some issues with the glasses which caused occasional flickering. I'm not convinced the technology is the next step in cinema.

Also saw The Story of Mr Sorry which was a highly confusing South Korean film about a young man who works as a professional ear-cleaner and is transformed into a tiny person so that he can fit inside ears and better do his job. He proceeds to get inside people's heads in every sense of the word and ultimately goes quite insane. I picked this film at random and had I known what it was about I don't think I would've gone to see it. Rather would've seen Mary & Max which I hear was very good.


Short film highlights included Yulia, Western Spaghetti, Tiny Legs of Fire, The Cat Piano, Slavar (which won the Cristal grand prize), Jazzed, Codswallop, Runaway and there were a couple like El Empleo and L'homme a la Gordini which I didn't get a chance to see but looked really interesting at the awards.

Low-point was the 45-minute long Estonian film Life without Gabriella Ferrri, which lacked any sense of direction or appeal and upon the credit roll caused one festival attendee to exclaim "Bravo, c'est fini!".

... but that was an exception to an otherwise excellent festival. Definitely going again next year.

Also got Nick Park to sign a Wallace & Gromit DVD and a few guys from Pixar to sign a Partly Cloudy poster, which was kinda cool.

[Ninja Dodo]

Although having said the above, I was just watching the trailer for Coraline again and I must confess I sort of missed the depth. If they can work out the technical issues, maybe there is some merit to this 3D fad...

[Squinky]

He's Just Not That Into You -- an inferior version of Love Actually. The best part was when Scarlett Johansson got excited about the fold-out ironing board, just like she did in Ghost World.

Up -- Charming, heartwarming, and I barely noticed I was wearing 3D glasses.

[Ninja Dodo]

Damn them and their non-simultaneous premiers. I want to see Up too.

[kuze]

Originally Posted by Not A Speck Of Cereal

I agree, Hard Candy played way too hard. However, I'm looking forward to Ellen Page's career--she's got it going well.

After you mentioned Ellen Page's career I decided to finally watched Juno - what a smart, hilarious and incredibly sweet fairy tale, Ellen was amazing in it, and Simmons was great as the loving, caring and totally cool dad. If only I could erase the mental image of him as Schillinger in Oz when Tobi took a dump in his mouth...

[Fantasysci5]

Originally Posted by Intrepid Homoludens

Finally viewed "A History Of Violence"

I actually wasn't too thrilled with that movie. I watched it since it had Viggo in it, and I was totally in love with him in "Lord of the Rings". I wasn't blown away by it, didn't get it, and I only liked that scene where he was in the diner. Maybe I was too young to understand it. *shrug*

[Intrepid Homoludens]

Originally Posted by Fantasysci5

...didn't ge it...Maybe I was too young to understand it. *shrug*

Believe me, it has many layers of meaning and significance, if you know how to decode filmic codes. Pay it to Viggo, he had a LOT of intellectual and creative involvement in it. A very disturbing look at how we Americans are psychologically as a people.

Like I said, many people who were expecting the usual entertaining violent suspense thriller didn't get it. They weren't looking for anything other than what Mortensen and Cronenberg delivered.

[Fantasysci5]

Just watched "Transformers" for the millionth time. I never really got into the whole franchise, since I thought it was a "boys" thing. But I absolutely love the movie. Bumblebee is the most awesome character ever on there. He gets tortured, and still just tries to protect Sam. I've never understood men's fascination with car, but with that hot yellow camero, I can finally at least start to udnerstand. That car is gorgeous, and I find myself swooning, not over Shia LeBuf, but for Bumblebee.

I rewatched it go get in the mood for the new movie coming out, and I hope it has as much focus on Bumblebee as in the first one.

[RLacey]

Enchanted
For some reason, this is the first time I've seen this film. I like Disney animations. I also like this.

[Jazhara7]

Shaolin Soccer - A hilarious movie about soccer...or not. I recommend it to all of you. Do try and not get the European cut, though, as they cut out a huge lot from the movie.



-

[Ninja Dodo]

I enjoyed Shaolin Soccer, but found Kung Fu Hustle vastly superior, which is best described as Kung Fu meets Looney Toons.

[Lucien21]

Transformers - Revenge of the Fallen

Once again Michael Bay tries to cram everything including the kitchen sink into a mess of a film.

Transformers are back.

Michael Bay's love of all things military (long slow camera pans of planes, tanks, aircraft carriers all with cheesy rock music and the setting sun in the background - Jeez it's like a porno for the Army) kicks into high gear as he once again pits robot against robot and blows shit up.

All the characters from the original film are back, but strangley even though it has a longer run time (about 150 mins) the humans in this film get little screen time each. Apart from Megan Fox who has plenty of lingering camera pans of her body

It's all about the robots there are about 50 of them in this movie and long before the end you will be confused as to which is which, who is on which side and will probably have stopped caring. It's just too much thrown at the screen at the one time. Sensory overload.

Sure the CGI has improved and it truely amazing, but it's a bit of a soulless experience.

Overall the action is exciting-ish, it's pretty funny at times and the sfx are amazing, but without a human centre to the drama it's hard to give two hoots.

6/10

[DustyShinigami]

Drag Me to Hell

This is a pretty entertaining horror film. Saw this today after i had my very first tattoo done. Just like Sam Raimi's Evil Dead films there's dark/gross humour present and there are enough jump-out-of-your-seat moments to boot. The plot's pretty basic and straightford to follow, but it's entertaining to see what's in store for Christine Brown whilst she's stalked by a powerful demon named Lamia.

4/5

[Henke]

History Of Violence is great! Also check out Eastern Promises if you haven't already.

Vampire Hunter D - Bloodlust

Haven't seen it in many years and it's even more gorgeous then I remember.

[SoccerDude28]

Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen
A tragedy of a movie. Michael Bay has killed my childhood show, by re-envisioning the whole thing. In Michael bay's world, the idea of humor is a mini robot humping megan fox's leg, a pirate-like Transformer, and 2 transformers that sound like they just stepped out of the ghetto. Every girl in the movie looks like a super-model. Half of the time, I don't know which decepticon is which, because they all have the same boring designs. And to top it all off, the story is more ridiculous than the amount of explosions the hero and heroine can survive.

[Fantasysci5]

I thought I had commented on this, but guess not. And I agree, Transformers was horrible. I didn't even grow up with it, and it sucked. There was hardly any Bumblebee...*pout*