Traffic - Terrific all round.

Marley and Me - Perhaps it's because I've never really had a real pet (I once had two guinea pigs, got mauled by my neighbour's dog. I was sad for a day or two I think), I found this to be a very average movie. It showed less of the dog than I expected, and when it did so it only showed the dog's petulance, never really ever showing why exactly the family loved the dog so much. I kept asking, "why dont they just get rid of the dog?" throughout the movie.

Dark City - It looks terrific in some scenes; other scene it just looks very B-grade cheesy, most especially any scene with the Strangers and also the end fight. They say this is the adult's version of the Matrix. I disagree, but I can understand why people say it. I only think that might be true only and only because the Matrix is a lot more action-oriented. I dont think the story here is any more mature than of the Matrix, and if it is it's certainly destroyed by the end battle. The Matrix fuses sci-fi and action together almost perfectly, and I think it's a better all-round film than this. Biggest flaw is that some scenes just take me out of the movie completely and make it feel very B-grade. Not a bad film by any means, but not a great one in my book.

Doubt - It held my complete attention throughout it's length, and the cast is brilliant. Amy Adams just lights up the screen whenever she is on. Great film.

Apocalypse Now (theatrical cut) - Saw this for the first time. Holy shit.

The Boondock Saints - Utter rubbish with utter rubbish actors. A complete mess and failure at every level. The worst thing I've seen in quite a while.

Damn, I really need to say this again. Boondock Saints is a f*cking terrible movie.

This post has been edited by QuickFire: Mar 25 2009, 10:13 PM

X-Men - I liked it, but I've never really cared for any of the X-Men characters, so I dont appreciate all the talky bits. All the character developments take a lot of time but never interest me whatsoever.

X2 - See above, add 'overlong'. Least favourite of the 3 X-Men movies. I dont think I will want to watch this and the first one ever again.

X-Men: The Last Stand - Does away with all the meaningless 'character development' in the first two and kicks into high gear right from the get-go. The action is awesome (and this is what I look forward to in the X-Men movies), and the CGI and special effects are some of the best we've seen so far. Ian McKellen gives his best performance here, and for me he has always been the best thing about the X-Men movies. This is better shot than the first two too, which I thought were rather dull looking. And the score kicks ass! By far my favourite of the three. I dont care how it treats its source (the comic) or how it kills off the characters, because I'm not concerned with these things. Awesome setpieces, awesome action, awesome CGI. That's all I gotta say.

Finding Neverland - Very good movie about the author of Peter Pan. Film looks great, the fantasy bits are nicely done. Depp is alright here, not oscar-worthy though. Often his (splendid) accent takes center stage, and he doesnt really convey much emotions here. Kate Winslet is great as usual. The best performance comes from the little boy Peter. Story is good and pretty touching in the end.

Knowing - Starts off with the whole 'deterministic vs random' issue and then veers off into family issues, dad-son and mother-daughter relationships, religion, God, scenes of destruction, typical Nicolas Cage acting, awesome special effects, and some other things, and neglecting the very premise it started with. Decent but nothing you will miss out on if you skip it. Cage should stick to roles like those in Matchstick Men, Adaptation and Lord of War. Proyas should stop giving us cheesy white-skinned mystery men.

Yes Man - Bad. Mostly unfunny and featuring a very lame Jim Carrey. That sex scene/joke was just inappropriate.

V For Vendetta - Just as awesome as the first, second and third time I watched it. Natalie Portman is the weakest link here, but she's alright still, except for that awful accent. Other than that, just brilliant.

One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest - Good, entertaining, overpraised.

SPOILERS

Didnt quite work for me as well. The ending in which two characters die didnt have any kind of impact on me. I think the first hour or so was really good, and then when McMurphy broke them out of the institution, I thought it was finally going to be great. But the fishing trip I felt was weak and everything after that just didnt feel remarkable. It just didnt hit any peak.

Jack Nicholson was being Jack Nicholson, as in all his movies. I also thought nurse Rachet was supposed to have a really, really big role ("one of the best villains ever") but her part wasn't that big IMO, and I didnt think she was very evil too. More so than anything else, I thought whatever that happened was mostly the inmates' own undoing.

Full Metal Jacket - Totally brilliant first half, with specks of real horror. Underwhelming second half. All in all, still a very good film. Some of the slow-mo death scenes were lame though.

The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas - Wow. Great film revolving the holocaust, engrossing from the start to the absolutely heart-wrenching ending. Watch this. I guess the great films of 2008 are slowing beginning to crop up. This is certainly one of them.

This post has been edited by QuickFire: Mar 30 2009, 03:43 PM

no, week 12 of 14. 2 tests this week. Just kinda going on a spree here, burning lots of dvds.

Platoon and The Green Mile next. Patton and Deliverance (really looking forward to this one, was looking for it and a 2.5gig h.264 blu-ray rip appeared today! yay) on the way. I got Man On Wire, Hunger and Waltz With Bashir on dvd but havent gotten around to watching them.

Oh yeah I forgot about Ghost Town, which I watched a few weeks back. Delightful movie.

This post has been edited by QuickFire: Mar 30 2009, 11:15 PM

The Green Mile - I loved this. The 3 hours just flew by. The film really takes its time in its setup, the story just draws you in, and you just cant take your eyes off the characters. Most you will love, some you will love to hate. Some of the supporting cast didnt really have much character imbued into them, but the acting is so strong that somehow I didnt notice it. For the first two hours I thought this was going to be one of my favourite films, and in the end it came close. The last hour was great, but I didnt think it was as good as the preceding two. Part of it is because the last hour is almost entirely about Coffey, and he isn't as well developed as he should be. More screentime for him would have been better. But still, it is funny, poignant, and sad. Just a great movie. Nicely shot too, lightning was good I felt. I dont think the final few minutes bodes well with the rest of the film, but I didnt mind it one bit anyway. And while some will say this is a very 'black and white' film with no grey areas (it's true, most characters here are either obviously good or evil, no in-between), I couldn't care less. Great film.

Deliverance - I was waiting to watch this. From what I've heard, I've always thought it was going to be quite like Lord of the Flies (only read the book, never seen the movie) with grown-ups, but it's different. Very different. My first impression upon watching it was that I was underwhelmed, but I think that's mostly because of the expectations I was going in with. I thought they were going to spend days inside the jungle as captives, and that would fill up most of the film's length, but it isn't. The final 20 minutes or so was great. Without it I think I would have been really disappointed in it. This is going to be a film which sits on your mind quite some time after you've seen it, I think. And I think it is at the very least a good film, probably a great one. Need to watch it again some time later.

This post has been edited by QuickFire: Apr 2 2009, 06:06 PM

I saw this a few years ago. The first 3/4 were, sporadically, mildly interesting, I mostly lost interest, and the ending was the biggest WTF I've ever witnessed in a film. For my money, one of the worst movies I've seen. The ending just seals it.

Incidentally, this morning I saw another one of Twyker's films - Run, Lola, Run, which I also didnt for care much. Annoyingly shot, annoying soundtrack, and I found the whole excursion to be rather pointless in the end. It's short at only 78 minutes, but it feels longer.

Cant say I liked it. Not nearly bad enough to hate it. I didnt like the rapid splicing of still shots though.

I didnt catch The International in the cinemas. Wait for the dvd la.

I watched 28 Days Later and 28 Weeks Later a few weeks ago. Two terrific movies, each with their own flaws. The first one was en route to becoming a classic until it turned into Rambo with zombies in the end. Everything before was amazing. It got the mood and atmosphere of a post-apocalyptic world down pat. The sequel is more visceral and Hollywood, especially the chopper rotor blade and Apache scenes (two scenes which I could do without), but it remains awesome. The firebombing was just... wow. And that first 10 minutes.

This post has been edited by QuickFire: Apr 22 2009, 09:23 PM

is that the one with the nice ass shot in the poster? written by david goyer right?

good poster to attract the boys anyway.

edit: here you go


This post has been edited by QuickFire: Apr 22 2009, 11:08 PM

where did you watch it? special screening?

Saw Scarface yesterday. Pacino's accent is distracting, the soundtrack is grating, and some scenes are so trashy, especially the ridiculous ending. Other than that, pretty good.

Well I liked M:I:III and Cloverfield. Neither are really great, but great fun they are.

The only season of Lost I fully watched was season 1, saw season 2 halfway and lost interest, but I hear season 4 is firmly back in track.

Well Arnie's first role in the franchise is also his best. And the movie remains a classic sci-fi thriller.

Been looking for this. I have Repulsion, will watch it sometime this week.

Repulsion - Roman Polanski's first english movie. Quite a terrifying film about a sexually-repressed young woman who descends into madness. The film elicits a great sense of unease, and the hallucinations are frightening. Great psychological thriller. Catherine Deneuve recalls the same innocence of Sissy Spacek in Carrie, and gives a excellent performance.

Eraserhead - My second Lynch film after The Elephant Man (which is his most accessible film). Totally demented and weird with an industrial setting, but I didnt feel like it was completely not understandable. I was more frequently saying "this is f***ed up!" instead of "what the f*** is happening?". I rather loved the experience actually.

Indeed. I do not wish to meet anyone who doesnt think this is a weird movie.

Fargo - A quirky, oddball, darkly funny crime drama. Just flat out brilliant. The characters, while not really the type you can connect to, are extremely interesting, and the writing is top-notch all the way. Funnily enough, I think the much lavished performance by Frances McDormand is the least among the others here, though that could be due to her character being the least interesting. Still an amazing movie though. The Coens sure like to write characters who like to get in things way beyond them and f*** it all up, and no one writes like they do. I need to watch more Coen films.

Mulholland Dr. - Not as weird as I thought it would be (it's more confusing), but its great. I think I understand the film as a whole, but there are bits and pieces which I have no idea about and go nowhere in the film. I'm beginning to really like David Lynch.

This post has been edited by QuickFire: Jun 23 2009, 10:09 PM

Yeah I really liked that one.

Also someone mentioned Stardust a few posts back. That was one charming movie.

The Big Lebowski - Always a treat. It's just uproariously entertaining and hilarious with awesome dialogue. And if doesn't really add up to a lot in the end, it's because it doesn't need to. And if you didnt like it...



This post has been edited by QuickFire: Jun 28 2009, 11:29 PM

I just saw my first Kurosawa picture: Sanjuro. Fantastic!

Yeah... embarrassing that it's only my first Kurosawa!

Anyway tonight if I'm free I will watch Jackie Brown, the only QT film I've not seen. I love all his other movies except for Deathproof.