Movies You Watched Recently And Felt Strongly About

[petetherock]

Shinobi

Anyone for Ninja movies?

Actually this one is more than the usual chop chop flick. There is an element of a Romeo and Juliet story, mixed with anime bits and decent fighting scenes. Those who follow Japanese Manga will appreciate the details put into this production and those who are looking for a window into Japanese action movies can do a lot worse.

Plot : classic boy meets girl who belongs to the enemy plus showdown at Ok Corral with mystical Ninja powers mixed into a story which is pretty well edited. 4/5

Action: not the Jet Li stuff and there is CGI, but nonetheless a commendable effort 3.5/5

Chick factor: the fair porcelein smooth complexion of the typical Japanese lady does it for me 4/5

Rent buy or forget it: The BR version comes with a Tru HD soundtrack and the colors of autumn blaze out of your screen. For 11 USD from amazon, you can easily own this and decide if this genre is your thing.

[Thornton Melon]

I travel a lot and I love watching movies in general and even though I only get a tiny screen in cattle class, it still beats paying through my nose at Reading.

This is a trial post, since I am not sure which forum suits movie reviews best...

I won't try and comment on the PQ or AQ since it was through a puny airline headset.

Legend:

I can see potential for surround effects and demo material, but the plot was quite lame and the ending was as controversial as the press said. Actually no, it was quite zzz....

Plot - paper thin, and wooden acting for someone who is capable of more -- 2.5 / 5

Action - a little but I guess it wasn't the main thing -- 3/5

Chick factor - looow -- 1 /5

Rent buy or forget it -- worth a rent since I saw Omega Man

There will be blood:

This was supposed to be a wonderful show of acting, but somehow it didn't hit the spot at all. Not slick enough....

Plot - its about an oilman -- 2.5/5

Action - huh? -- 1/5

Chick factor -- 0

Rent buy or forget it - rent once for the hype and laugh over it

No country for old men:

Again didn't do it, the whole evil man was only good to show Javiar's acting which was good, and Josh Brolin put in a credible performance too, but the plot was too twist and dark for me.

Plot -- 3.5/5

Action -- 3/5

Chick factor -- 0

Rent - maybe

It just goes to show how FEW good movies are being made at the moment,i mean the ones that leave you thinking "what an entertaining movie".

When i do see a good one,i know it will be a while before the next one comes along.

I did really enjoy "No country for old men" and 'Michael Clayton",and am looking foreward to the new "X-Files"

Cheers.

Thornton.

[jayweb]

No big long reviews, but I did see two movies that have just come out and will see "The Happening" today so....

The Hulk

It was okay, it kept me watching, only just.

Special effects were great, movie was the hulk.

Tim Roth and William Hurt were good, Edward Norton was ok as Banner.

The most intriguing part of the movie was the last 30 seconds, looks like this movie will be a franchise mixed with another......(no spoilers here people)

You Dont mess with the Zohan

Adam Sandler movie, more of a smile laugh than any big HA HA's throughout.

This movie was funny enough I guess, but not his best movie by a long shot, if you've seen the trailer you've seen the movie.

If you dont want to think for an hour and a half its not terrible, Adam Sandler fans will enjoy it. I am a fan, but I thought it was so-so.

Really looking forward to the Happening, hopefully it will measure up.

Oh and have got premiere tickets to Get Smart so hopefully will be able to let you know about that shortly as well.

[GAS]

Storm Warning

This is the latest film from Jamie Blanks, director of Urban Legend. 100% made in Melbourne. If you love horror/splatter films you will love this. A young yuppy couple head out on a boating trip only to get lost and wind up at a farm owned by one of the freakiest and nastiest families I have seen. They terrorize the couple until the chick decides enough is enough and revenge must be had. Worth seeing just to watch what she does to the old bastard.

This film is not for the faint hearted, but you will find yourself barracking for the heroin.

You can find it at JB. It was released without any fanfare. This is bound to be an Australian genre cult classic.

Check it out and support Australian films

[jayweb]

Ok just finished watching this so here goes one more....

The Happening

Ok so M Night's movies are weird, this was no exception.

Cant really say much without spoilers, it really was different, but he still manages to keep your attention.

Not something I would rush out to see, but I am a fan of his work and I'm glad I saw it.

Of the three brand new movies I saw this weekend, this, Hulk and Zohan, I'm not sure what was best or worst, what does that say about the movies coming out at the moment????

[The D-Train]

Horror time

I saved up a whole heap of horror type movies for this weekend so here is my very quick review on the lot.

Day of the dead - 2 out of 5. Im a big fan of the dawn movies and although I didnt think this would be as good, I heard it was still a classic. The movie took forever to get going and hence was generally boring. Only at the end did we see some zombie hunting. Very dissapointing.

Disturbia - 3 out of 5. More a teen flick ( I wasnt expecting this) and had no twists and turns but was very predictable. Entertaining but not much else.

Wolf Creek - 3.5 out of 5. I had big expectations for this one after the hype. Maybe I was already desensitised by the other movies but I didnt find this as disturbing or shocking as what I was told. Never the less it was quite entertaining for a low budget movie. Some great shots of the outback. SA of course.

Hostel 2 - 3.5 out of 5. A bit of a surprise packet for me as this movie was widely condemned. Athough it follows the same theme as number 1 it still twists a bit at the end and I found it quite enjoyable.

Planet Terror - 4.5 out of 5. A great movie from the Grindhouse series. Hot girls, guns and lots of blood. A fun movie and great entertainment. I nearly gave it a 5 but that would be perfection.

Death Proof - 4.5 out of 5. The other Grindhouse offering and again excellent. I didnt know were this one was going but it ended up being excellent. My only gripe stopping it getting a 5 was the scenes with both groups on girls went on and on and on with them babbling on. The near 2 hour movie could have been cut down taking out that rubbish.

The Devils Rejects - 4 out of 5. The follow up to house of a 100o corpses and very good. These were the only characters out of all the movies that gave me the creeps. Well done to Zombie. A just ending to the movie also.

Snakes on a Plane - 3.5 out of 5. A bit of fun and something different. Not a classic but entertaining.

Edited June 15, 2008 by The D-train

[jayweb]

Good list D-train, have to agree with Death Proof & Planet Terror both excellent, thought Rose McGowan's gun leg was a cracker

[The D-Train]

Good list D-train, have to agree with Death Proof & Planet Terror both excellent, thought Rose McGowan's gun leg was a cracker

Yeah it was a real goody mate. Where do these blokes come up with this stuff. Guess thats why Rodriguez and tarantino get paid the big bucks.

[petetherock]

Just did

The Thing

Sort of like a pre Alien show ....

Kurt Russel can actually act...

Plot: Usually Alien lands and kills every one, a soul a time, plus some special effects circa 80s thrown in.... still pretty effective 4/5

Action: weak by Alien standards, but enjoyable 3.5/5

No chicks....

Rent buy or forget it: Not bad for a winter night.... nice to see the snow and not feel the cold...

[The D-Train]

Good list D-train, have to agree with Death Proof & Planet Terror both excellent, thought Rose McGowan's gun leg was a cracker

i liked this scene when she gets on the motorbike with rose.

Cherry Darling: I'm Cherry.

Dr. Dakota Block: You sure are.

[jayweb]

i liked this scene when she gets on the motorbike with rose.

Cherry Darling: I'm Cherry.

Dr. Dakota Block: You sure are.

Two very ugly women on a motorbike......

I know why I loved this movie

[The D-Train]

Two very ugly women on a motorbike......

I know why I loved this movie

and then add fergie to that mix

[Guest Stagger Lee]

I am Legand

I thought this film was captivating, will smith's acting was as good as usual and his portrayal of someone slowly losing his mind and talking to the store dummies was uncomfortably mesmeric, the ending as stated before was the bad point, though I have heard since they made an alternate ending. 4/5

Capote

Opposite to the above film the start of this was irritating to the extreme, that high pitched camp voice was worth persevering with however as Philip Seymour Hoffman gives a deserved Oscar winning performance and those of you not familiar with the book will love how the film gently uncovers the 'what really happened' of a true mass murder. 5/5

[Cucamonga]

Indiana Jones and the Crystal Skull

I don't know why I sat through it, its Harrison Ford trying to become a elderly aged pension action star, this film was predictable, bad writing and very poor ending 's 1/5

Iron Man

Same as the above a middle aged man that can't get over the ego of being cool for the kiddies, this one wasn't interesting at all, we've seen it all before 1/5

Edited June 17, 2008 by Swish

[Cucamonga]

Horror time

Day of the dead - 2 out of 5. Im a big fan of the dawn movies and although I didnt think this would be as good, I heard it was still a classic. The movie took forever to get going and hence was generally boring. Only at the end did we see some zombie hunting. Very dissapointing.

I beg to differ.

This is still a Romero classic, the gore was brilliant and the beginning is artistic. It was near Dawn and better than Night. 4.5/5

Edited June 17, 2008 by Swish

[50mxe20]

Isn't it time for a new release block buster new movie with fantastic sound and PQ. Instead of all these releases of old movies on BD.

Something we can all get excited about and put on our must have list.

Something like LOTR!

[SimonNo10]

The Incredible Hulk

Saw this on Saturday night and I'm a big Hulk fan from collecting the comic (still do at age 35 ) . Well I must say it's a better attempt than the last one but still misses the mark. All is well at the start and for the next 35-40mins the movie is pretty good but the pacing and editing is average and theres a slow patch in the middle which most will be fast forwarding when the dvd/BD comes out. The effects are a mixed bag with the Hulk looking really good early on then for some reason you feel the CGI could be better. As usual you get Hulk fighting the army but they do bring in some weapons that aren't on the normal list which was a nice surprise. Now for the most disappointing part for me that is and thats the fight at the end. There is a great build up to it and finally the Hulk is up against something that can hurt him and even defeat him....The Abomination. On paper he is actually stronger than the Hulk but as all fans know the angrier Hulk gets the stronger he gets but unfortunalty that is never mentioned in this version. Not sure if I like what they did with the look of the Abomination,the top half is ok but the bottom part looks like an oversized action figure. If your looking forward to seeing 2 gamma radiated beings slugging it out in a city then look else where as they rarely have screen time together and are constantly seperated and as usual humans get invloved and thats that. It's clear from reading on the net that the director has more in store for us but decided to cut alot out. I read that he has 70mins of finished footage. So much for the promised 25min fight b/w the two monsters that he was selling before the movie was released. Oh well I still give it 3.5/5. Should sound great on BD.

[petetherock]

30 Days of Night

Plot: Classic theme, killers (vampires in this cases) preying on a bunch of trapped people, and they slowly die off. How they beat the vampires and survive is the usual stroy. The twist is that the towns remains dark for 30 full days. 3/5

Action: the usual shocks are there, but the final confrontation is novel, and the Blu Ray disc is a fine demo piece, with lots of ambient sounds and awesome bass. It confirms my suspicion that many times, the best test of a good HT system is in the use of surrounds coupled with a few good bass scenes from the soundtrack rather than explosion. 4/5

Chick factor: not great with just one fire marshal 2.5/5

Rent buy or forget it: at least a rental for the bass scenes

Sunshine

Plot: Another Solaris meets Oddessy 2001 kind of show, with a plot akin to the Core and even Armageddon. But how they put the suspense together is not bad. 3.5/5

Action: Its more of a thriller and you enjoy the good use of bass in the moments of suspense to heighten the mood 3/5

Chick factor - poor 1.5/5

Rent buy or forget it: worth a rental for good plot design and the bass demo scenes.

[jayweb]

Ok people another short review by me!!!

Get Smart

Saw this tonight and was pleasantly surprised, Steve Carell was okay as Maxwell Smart, but Anne Hathaway was very good as 99, down to the small nuances, very well done.

Some nice cameos, the plot was okay, Terence Stamp was not a good Siegfried (IMO) but "the fat guy from Borat" was funny as Shtarker.

Overall the movie moves along at a nice pace, if it wasnt for the character names and occasional Max one-liners you wouldn't really think you were watching Get Smart, but, I suppose was there much more to the TV series than that???

I enjoyed it, I'm sure if you are a fan of the series you will get a kick out of it.

[The D-Train]

I beg to differ.

This is still a Romero classic, the gore was brilliant and the beginning is artistic. It was near Dawn and better than Night. 4.5/5

If this is a 4.5/5 then im a Chinaman. (although no one knows what I look like so I may be a chinaman)

in any event IMHO this movie isnt a patch on Dawn and realistically I thought other than the end, it was pretty crap.

[azure1503559508]

Kung Fu Panda

I watched this, last weekend, at the cinema with the family, basically a "kids flick."

You know how some animation is written for all ages, well this is basically directed toward a younger age group.

The animation was quite impressive, and would look impressive in HD.

"I think it's about average. I think it's beautiful to look at. The computer animation is marvellous, as you say, and I think the voice cast is interesting, and it's occasionally quite funny. "

http://www.abc.net.au/atthemovies/txt/s2263966.htm

[GTO]

Planet Terror"--hired this movie, --- thought it was rubbish, --certainly not worth buying.

Cheers, GTO.

[The D-Train]

Planet Terror"--hired this movie, --- thought it was rubbish, --certainly not worth buying.

Cheers, GTO.

Blasphemer.

[petetherock]

Ok, so I got to watch these late:

Die Hard 4 & Rambo 4

The 4th of a series can be quite tricky. Many might feel that the actors are milking the franchise for one more hit and just hoping for some cash for the Super. Both were top of the line actio heroes in their prime. But as they say the similarities end....

B Willis decided that the Old Spice man was the right way, emphasis rather than hide the age, and throw in a young man as a counterfoil, who was geeky and would not show up his age too much. Actually I must say he looks rather fine for his age. Nothing that tee shirt which stays on this time cannot hide.

The plot is simple, and even though hacker terrorists have been used in other movies, DH 4 does it well and the use of Parkour adds to the tempo.

Plot: 4/5

Action: 5/5, no doubt it was pulsating and if he keeps this up, I am ready for DH 5. Love the car vs helicopter scene.

Chick factor: 4/5 I like Maggie Q. Even saw that ping pong show because of her...

I have no doubt this is a keeper. I still do not know why I took so long to get round to this. The BR disc is a full on demo disc, and the crash in the tunnel gave my SVS sub an exellant workout.

Sly also try to get another hit, esp after the success of Rocky Balboa. Sadly in comparison to DH4, his effort is good but not great. Wasn't he arrested at Sydney airport for drug possession?

Plot: 3/5 take Rambo II, swop to Burma, and viola, another Rambo. He is even bigger this time round, steroids?

Action: I didn't see Rambo for a Oscar performance, and he knows that. The exploding bodies are quite something else. But I assure everyone, that is really what happens (don't ask me how I know) 3.5/5

Chick factor: Julie Benz, sigh enough said 2.5 /5

I bought this, for the incredible soundtrack on DTS-MA 7.1 and it delivers.

[momaw]

I don't understand the title of this thread - "Movies You Watched Recently And Felt Strongly About". How are basic reviews a discussion about one feeling "strongly" about a movie?