ConanThe3rd
Railgun
Ah, that'd explain it.
Rate the last movie you watched out of 10
- Thread starter CitizenGeek
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ConanThe3rd
Railgun
Warm Bodies
It was slow going to start but I really liked this. As an antithesis of the "[Horror Creature Guy]xGirl" genre (Literally, it pushes that being the supernatural creature is not cool) and If nothing else I love the whole "We need to get the f' over ourselves and keep moving forward. That to to experience pain is good as the alternative is not OK" as a message and it certainly beats the allegory tale Twilight was pushing into next week.
Hell, I find it quite ironic that the most fleshed out main character I've seen in a film in a good while is a goddamn zombie.
Aye
It was slow going to start but I really liked this. As an antithesis of the "[Horror Creature Guy]xGirl" genre (Literally, it pushes that being the supernatural creature is not cool) and If nothing else I love the whole "We need to get the f' over ourselves and keep moving forward. That to to experience pain is good as the alternative is not OK" as a message and it certainly beats the allegory tale Twilight was pushing into next week.
Hell, I find it quite ironic that the most fleshed out main character I've seen in a film in a good while is a goddamn zombie.
Aye
20thCenturyBoy
Thousand Master
Only God Forgives
3/10
Did you love Drive? Want more of the same only not as good? Well, here you go.
I think Winding Refn is a great director and Gosling a great actor, but the two are beginning to typecast themselves horribly. It's an incredibly self indulgent piece with no real point to it. Julian and his family are all absolute phsychopaths, there is not a single redeeming feature about him as a main character, and it's questionable if he even his. I would go as far as to say that the Chang (main police detective) is the "protaganist" of this film because you at least know what he is doing and why. He dishes out justice, which while it may be extreme, is still only being served against those who have done wrong. He doesn't attack random strangers or shout at/humiliate prostitutes in the middle of the street like some others do.
It looks gorgeous but often there's absolutely nothing else going on beyond that. The best scenes by far were the karaoke scenes. I actually stayed and watched the full song as the credits started because I realised it was my favourite moment of the movie. I might just make that song my ringtone.
3/10
Did you love Drive? Want more of the same only not as good? Well, here you go.
I think Winding Refn is a great director and Gosling a great actor, but the two are beginning to typecast themselves horribly. It's an incredibly self indulgent piece with no real point to it. Julian and his family are all absolute phsychopaths, there is not a single redeeming feature about him as a main character, and it's questionable if he even his. I would go as far as to say that the Chang (main police detective) is the "protaganist" of this film because you at least know what he is doing and why. He dishes out justice, which while it may be extreme, is still only being served against those who have done wrong. He doesn't attack random strangers or shout at/humiliate prostitutes in the middle of the street like some others do.
It looks gorgeous but often there's absolutely nothing else going on beyond that. The best scenes by far were the karaoke scenes. I actually stayed and watched the full song as the credits started because I realised it was my favourite moment of the movie. I might just make that song my ringtone.
20thCenturyBoy
Thousand Master
Alan Partridge: Alpha Papa
8/10
I always worry about TV to film transitions, and especially anything based on a classic British comedy character, but have no fear for Partridge is here.
It's classic Alan; a total self loathing, egomaniac willing to do anything to make himself relevant once again. And most importantly it's bloody hilarious. If it's the end at last for the character it's a good way to go out, but I wouldn't begrudge another TV series, if I'm honest.
8/10
I always worry about TV to film transitions, and especially anything based on a classic British comedy character, but have no fear for Partridge is here.
It's classic Alan; a total self loathing, egomaniac willing to do anything to make himself relevant once again. And most importantly it's bloody hilarious. If it's the end at last for the character it's a good way to go out, but I wouldn't begrudge another TV series, if I'm honest.
20thCenturyBoy said:
I think your criticism is slightly misplaced. You could argue that Winding Refn's use of Gosling was an attempt to capitalise on the success of Drive but comparing this to Drive makes no sense in terms of the type of film this is. OGF was clearly meant to be an art house film, aimed primarily at creating mood through the visuals and soundtrack. I would absolutely agree that the detective is the protagonist of the film and symbolic of the "God" the title refers to.
20thCenturyBoy
Thousand Master
Ark said:
Exactly. But he shouldn't have done that. In casting the same actor in a similar role (silent, brooding, violent man of mystery) you're immediately brining comparisons onto yourself. I think Drive created a fantastic sense of atmosphere and mood through the sounds and visuals too, fact is for me that it simply done it a lot better than this did. I did say that Refn is a good director and things look great and that the karaoke scenes were my favourite. Drive was very much an art house film, though with a slightly more mainstream appeal to it. Refn seems to be very attached to the idea of the central character being silent, psychopaths whom we know very little about, as I said I think he's getting dangerously close to pigeon-holing himself, I'd like to see him try something a bit different. I understand that with this he's said he was wanting something more abstract, but I just felt that it was very much lacking a sense of purpose because of that, Drive at least had the framework of the book from which Refn could work with.
20thCenturyBoy said:
We obviously have totally different definitions of what "art house" means. Drive had way too much dialogue, characterisation and rhythm to be an "art house" film by my standard. It had art housey scenes, but so do lots of other films that no one calls art house.
Just to be clear I liked Drive way more than OGF as well, but if I have to watch an "art house" film I'd rather it be 90 minutes and with some kind of plot.
ConanThe3rd
Railgun
Beautiful Creatures:
This was a whole load of eh. It felt like there was a good movie in here but it was buried in a whole bunch of sloppy editing and pacing issues. I liked the conceit (even it it was wildly misogynist. I mean, seriously the moment you hit puberty hard, you go either X-Women or Sisterhood with the Good Guys being about as effectual as a wet fart in a thunderstorm whilst everyone else is is a total bitch?) but it just felt like it was there and, well, the movie just felt like it was jumping from plot point to plot point with not enough there to make each point stick.
I genuinely laughed at how the earth moved for both of them. That bit with the lightning near the sign was pretty hilarious.
As it is however, it's a nay.
So, next on the docket;
Trigun Badlands Rumble
Batman
The Host (What am I doing to myself?)
This was a whole load of eh. It felt like there was a good movie in here but it was buried in a whole bunch of sloppy editing and pacing issues. I liked the conceit (even it it was wildly misogynist. I mean, seriously the moment you hit puberty hard, you go either X-Women or Sisterhood with the Good Guys being about as effectual as a wet fart in a thunderstorm whilst everyone else is is a total bitch?) but it just felt like it was there and, well, the movie just felt like it was jumping from plot point to plot point with not enough there to make each point stick.
I genuinely laughed at how the earth moved for both of them. That bit with the lightning near the sign was pretty hilarious.
As it is however, it's a nay.
So, next on the docket;
Trigun Badlands Rumble
Batman
The Host (What am I doing to myself?)
ConanThe3rd
Railgun
Trigun: Badlands Rumble
Oh man, this was good fun. As a fan of the first two thirds of Trigun (Not a real fan of it when it got up on it's own ass in the final third) this little bit of fun was basically an extended episode of the Series with a bond girl's problems to deal with, a brilliant bad guy and Vash running into Milly and Meryl and causing havoc and there being an even bigger ass to deal with other than the bad guy.
Could it have been slightly better paced? Yeah, it could have stood for a bit more work on the beats but as a return of Vash and his pals, It was two fun hours of riotous steampunk gunslingin'.
Aye
So, next on the docket;
Batman
The Host (I'm seriously going through with this? Am I an idiot?!)
Indiana Jones And The Raiders Of The Lost Ark
Oh man, this was good fun. As a fan of the first two thirds of Trigun (Not a real fan of it when it got up on it's own ass in the final third) this little bit of fun was basically an extended episode of the Series with a bond girl's problems to deal with, a brilliant bad guy and Vash running into Milly and Meryl and causing havoc and there being an even bigger ass to deal with other than the bad guy.
Could it have been slightly better paced? Yeah, it could have stood for a bit more work on the beats but as a return of Vash and his pals, It was two fun hours of riotous steampunk gunslingin'.
Aye
So, next on the docket;
Batman
The Host (I'm seriously going through with this? Am I an idiot?!)
Indiana Jones And The Raiders Of The Lost Ark
Elysium
I love District 9, it was amazing so when I heard the director has created another film called Elysium I just had to see it on the big screen. I already missed the chance to watch a lot of blockbuster films including Pacific Rim (I managed to watch Man of Steel and The Wolverine but that was about it since early April with Oz: Great & Powerful 3D) so I wanted to watch this indefinitely.
Let's get to the point, is it better than District 9? Unfortunately not, however it has plenty of content to be as good as his previous work. The story is set in a near-future with the Earth ravaged by poverty and over-population. To resolve this the humans created Elysium a space station (that looks like the Halo ring and Mass Effect's Citadel mashed together) as a special utopian society where the rich can live without fear or pain thanks to their special medical technology. The main character himself lives on the earth where he gets into an accident during his job and must get to Elysium in order to cure his body before he dies of radiation. The story itself is rather simple but it has some plot twists during the second half. The characters are simple and likeable in this film; Max (Matt Damon) is our main character who does what he can to get to Elysium, Jessica (Jodie Foster) is the antagonist who won't let Earthlings invade Elysium and the best of all Agent Kruger (Sharlto Copley) who is our sarcastic foul mouthing sleeper agent who tries to stop Max from reaching Elysium. Fantastic character and you'll be amazed to what he does.
The special effects is very well done in this film and is on par with Oblivion this year for being a nice sci-fi adventure, watching the camera pan from the planet to the station is smooth and feels so stunning to watch. The robots themselves are also the highlight as they are very well designed and looks so real when they are on the scene. The weapon shots and the gore are cool too. The music is rather interesting since it sounds similar to Hans Zimmer (Dark Knight, Inception) but it's actually composed by a newcomer Ryan Amon. It's very good and fits the tone of the film well.
Now the negative side, one problem that I have faced with the film is there are not enough battle scenes in this film. There's quite a few but they had so much potential to add more to it especially with the robots designed in this film I was hoping that there was some more action with the robot hostiles who are policing the humans on the planet. Another annoying problem are the flashbacks, I get the point of it was to show the main character's past and therefore in some points it really wasn't exciting. I wish they could have added some scenes that help explain more about the origin of the Elysium station and how it was formed, it would have added more impact to why it was so utopian and how the people ended up living there. One minor complaint to the pacing is that it's rather slow to begin with and all of the action doesn't officially begin until about a 1/3 into the film. This film is essentially District 9 with a simpler plot and characters while keeping the effects and gore. The previous film had plenty of action and good character development which I really enjoyed watching and this film does carry over those techniques, just not entirely.
Pros:
+ Special effects were amazing
+ Matt Damon does a good job for his character, fits well with the movie.
+ Sharlto Copley, most notable for his role as the lead character in District 9, returns with a bang.
+ Music was very good, surprising similar tone to Hans Zimmer
+ Robots look really cool
Mixed:
+/- Like Gore? There's plenty of human explosions and blood! Hate Gore? Well if you didn't like District 9's gore then you won't like this one either.
Cons:
- Slightly slow paced for the start, it doesn't get into the action until about 1/3 way through.
- Not enough battle scenes in the film, which is a shame since the robots should have contributed more like they did with Oblivion.
- The flashbacks have a purpose for Matt Damon, but it would be nice to show flashbacks to how the world of Elysium was created.
Elysium was a great film, but it doesn't match up to the director's previous work District 9. It keeps the special effects, the gore and the actor from the previous film plus Matt Damon does a good job as the main lead but overall it could have been better like more action scenes and better character development with some characters. But I do recommend that you check this film out at least with a simple mind to it, it's not the ultimate film but it's one of the better averaged films of 2013 heck my mother and sister enjoyed it and even they didn't have high hopes.
Overall rating: 7/10
By the way, the film's plot and setting is rather similar to the Freedom OVA.
I love District 9, it was amazing so when I heard the director has created another film called Elysium I just had to see it on the big screen. I already missed the chance to watch a lot of blockbuster films including Pacific Rim (I managed to watch Man of Steel and The Wolverine but that was about it since early April with Oz: Great & Powerful 3D) so I wanted to watch this indefinitely.
Let's get to the point, is it better than District 9? Unfortunately not, however it has plenty of content to be as good as his previous work. The story is set in a near-future with the Earth ravaged by poverty and over-population. To resolve this the humans created Elysium a space station (that looks like the Halo ring and Mass Effect's Citadel mashed together) as a special utopian society where the rich can live without fear or pain thanks to their special medical technology. The main character himself lives on the earth where he gets into an accident during his job and must get to Elysium in order to cure his body before he dies of radiation. The story itself is rather simple but it has some plot twists during the second half. The characters are simple and likeable in this film; Max (Matt Damon) is our main character who does what he can to get to Elysium, Jessica (Jodie Foster) is the antagonist who won't let Earthlings invade Elysium and the best of all Agent Kruger (Sharlto Copley) who is our sarcastic foul mouthing sleeper agent who tries to stop Max from reaching Elysium. Fantastic character and you'll be amazed to what he does.
The special effects is very well done in this film and is on par with Oblivion this year for being a nice sci-fi adventure, watching the camera pan from the planet to the station is smooth and feels so stunning to watch. The robots themselves are also the highlight as they are very well designed and looks so real when they are on the scene. The weapon shots and the gore are cool too. The music is rather interesting since it sounds similar to Hans Zimmer (Dark Knight, Inception) but it's actually composed by a newcomer Ryan Amon. It's very good and fits the tone of the film well.
Now the negative side, one problem that I have faced with the film is there are not enough battle scenes in this film. There's quite a few but they had so much potential to add more to it especially with the robots designed in this film I was hoping that there was some more action with the robot hostiles who are policing the humans on the planet. Another annoying problem are the flashbacks, I get the point of it was to show the main character's past and therefore in some points it really wasn't exciting. I wish they could have added some scenes that help explain more about the origin of the Elysium station and how it was formed, it would have added more impact to why it was so utopian and how the people ended up living there. One minor complaint to the pacing is that it's rather slow to begin with and all of the action doesn't officially begin until about a 1/3 into the film. This film is essentially District 9 with a simpler plot and characters while keeping the effects and gore. The previous film had plenty of action and good character development which I really enjoyed watching and this film does carry over those techniques, just not entirely.
Pros:
+ Special effects were amazing
+ Matt Damon does a good job for his character, fits well with the movie.
+ Sharlto Copley, most notable for his role as the lead character in District 9, returns with a bang.
+ Music was very good, surprising similar tone to Hans Zimmer
+ Robots look really cool
Mixed:
+/- Like Gore? There's plenty of human explosions and blood! Hate Gore? Well if you didn't like District 9's gore then you won't like this one either.
Cons:
- Slightly slow paced for the start, it doesn't get into the action until about 1/3 way through.
- Not enough battle scenes in the film, which is a shame since the robots should have contributed more like they did with Oblivion.
- The flashbacks have a purpose for Matt Damon, but it would be nice to show flashbacks to how the world of Elysium was created.
Elysium was a great film, but it doesn't match up to the director's previous work District 9. It keeps the special effects, the gore and the actor from the previous film plus Matt Damon does a good job as the main lead but overall it could have been better like more action scenes and better character development with some characters. But I do recommend that you check this film out at least with a simple mind to it, it's not the ultimate film but it's one of the better averaged films of 2013 heck my mother and sister enjoyed it and even they didn't have high hopes.
Overall rating: 7/10
By the way, the film's plot and setting is rather similar to the Freedom OVA.
Once more unto the breach.
Golgo 13 (1973)
I might actually have written about it in this thread before, but I'm trying to ease myself back into doing video reviews again.
Golgo 13 (1973)
I might actually have written about it in this thread before, but I'm trying to ease myself back into doing video reviews again.
Last edited by a moderator:
How I Live Now (2013)
This was an extremely frustrating and embarrassing film to watch. Cinematically, it was fine but the writing was a train wreck. It was a fairly conventional story archetype, and I think for this reason the writers decided to give it an extreme plot setting in order to make it more compelling. As a result, they end up turning a banal romantic drama into a science fiction story that makes very little sense. It felt like Children of Men rewritten by Stephanie Myer. To be honest I don’t even think it was even fit for cinema release. I’m pretty sure I’ve seen BBC miniseries dramas that have been better.
Thinking about it, it almost felt like a terrible anime based off a visual novel. It had so many anime topes. You had a Tsundere character, cousin love, ESP, post-disaster setting that made no sense, rape.
This was an extremely frustrating and embarrassing film to watch. Cinematically, it was fine but the writing was a train wreck. It was a fairly conventional story archetype, and I think for this reason the writers decided to give it an extreme plot setting in order to make it more compelling. As a result, they end up turning a banal romantic drama into a science fiction story that makes very little sense. It felt like Children of Men rewritten by Stephanie Myer. To be honest I don’t even think it was even fit for cinema release. I’m pretty sure I’ve seen BBC miniseries dramas that have been better.
Thinking about it, it almost felt like a terrible anime based off a visual novel. It had so many anime topes. You had a Tsundere character, cousin love, ESP, post-disaster setting that made no sense, rape.
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ConanThe3rd
Railgun
The Host
"Hey Craig, watch the host, Craig, it'll be hilarious!"
The **** was I thinking?!
This was a movie that was both too fast and too slow, a movie that had it's moralising all over the damn shop and ultimately resolved the stupidest love triangle in human history by, and I'm not going to spoil cover, promote necromancy using a young girl's body.
If I didn't know better, Stephanie Mayor was taking lessons from Gonzo's finest!
I can only give it the ranking deserving of Endless Eight!
ODIN!
Excuse me let me make that clearer; OH-DEEEEEENNNNNN!
"Hey Craig, watch the host, Craig, it'll be hilarious!"
The **** was I thinking?!
This was a movie that was both too fast and too slow, a movie that had it's moralising all over the damn shop and ultimately resolved the stupidest love triangle in human history by, and I'm not going to spoil cover, promote necromancy using a young girl's body.
If I didn't know better, Stephanie Mayor was taking lessons from Gonzo's finest!
I can only give it the ranking deserving of Endless Eight!
ODIN!
Excuse me let me make that clearer; OH-DEEEEEENNNNNN!
Genkina Hito
映画男！！！
I haven't posted in here for ages because all my film thoughts are on my blog but I saw Why Don't you Play in Hell? at the BFI LFF and it made me a gibbering gleeful ten year old kid happy with life. I can announce that it is the best film of the year/decade/ever and anybody who disagrees is wrong.
Joking on that last part.
Seriously though, I thought it was a lot of fun and it's my personal film of the year. I got the sense that the audience was sharply divided between those who got it (hardcore Sono fans who know him from Suicide Club) and those who didn't (people who only know Sono from Love Exposure).
Joking on that last part.
Seriously though, I thought it was a lot of fun and it's my personal film of the year. I got the sense that the audience was sharply divided between those who got it (hardcore Sono fans who know him from Suicide Club) and those who didn't (people who only know Sono from Love Exposure).
-Danielle-
Death Scythe
Alex Cross.
7/10.
Really didnt expect to enjoy this but I did, thoroughly. They did slip at times with the timeline seeing as this is young Alex Cross so pre Kiss the Girls but I still enjoyed it. Crazy how much the guy sounded like Freeman at times!
Surprisingly Matthew Fox made this film for me. I always LOVE when actors like him get cast out of their stereotype and he played physco perfectly. Such a pleasure to watch.
7/10.
Really didnt expect to enjoy this but I did, thoroughly. They did slip at times with the timeline seeing as this is young Alex Cross so pre Kiss the Girls but I still enjoyed it. Crazy how much the guy sounded like Freeman at times!
Surprisingly Matthew Fox made this film for me. I always LOVE when actors like him get cast out of their stereotype and he played physco perfectly. Such a pleasure to watch.
Max Takeshi
Great Teacher
The Shock Labyrinth (NON 3D version).
By the end of this it is impossible to think that it was little more than a creepy children's story with extended death scenes to justify above a PG rating. That and just how obvious the 3D moments were.
Interesting premise about how a long lost friend turns up, gets injured and is then taken to a hospital which starts to become less like a hospital. Nothing really gambles the right way, even when the truth about the whole issue comes out.
Less Shock Labyrinth, more Flat Labyrinth.
3/10
By the end of this it is impossible to think that it was little more than a creepy children's story with extended death scenes to justify above a PG rating. That and just how obvious the 3D moments were.
Interesting premise about how a long lost friend turns up, gets injured and is then taken to a hospital which starts to become less like a hospital. Nothing really gambles the right way, even when the truth about the whole issue comes out.
Less Shock Labyrinth, more Flat Labyrinth.
3/10
Pacific Rim
Okay guys, why did this film receive so much hype? Was it the flashy special effects? It probably was, because Hollywood gets a hard-on over that stuff.
This film was seriously lacking. Becket is the blandest protagonist I have ever seen - there was literally no reason for me to care about him. He was without flaw or personality - in fact, that applies to all of the characters. The story was nearly impossible to follow for the first hour, but when it became easy to follow it was incredibly predictable and ridden with clichés.
Also, there are some issues I want to address:
1) With the whole mind-link thing, two people are needed to control the load from each hemisphere right? So how come when the Jaeger was needed to move only one arm, both pilots moved their arms? Surely the link system would mean one pilot would be responsible for the left side of the Jaeger, while another would control the right?
2) The Chinese Jeager with the three pilots. Going from my above point, how was the third arm operated if both pilots needed to move the same limb to raise the Jaeger's...people don't have third arms.
3) If the Kaiju were "identical clones", how come they looked different?
4) At the end,
.
Also, the Marshall guy is just Nick Fury without a pair of balls, but an extra eye and Del Toro has a shoe fetish.
I do understand where the comments about Neon Genesis Evangelion come from to an extent (just replace angels with kaijus and emotionally crippled kids with bland adults and you have Pacific Rim) , but if anything, I just saw the whole neural link thing as being similar to the docking in Vividred Operation (considering the short gap between their release, I doubt one copied from the other, but it was hilarious nonetheless).
The special effects were nice though, but considering how clichéd the dialogue was and how many holes the plot had, I think Pacific Rim should be classified as a piece of cheese, rather than a film.
3/10
Okay guys, why did this film receive so much hype? Was it the flashy special effects? It probably was, because Hollywood gets a hard-on over that stuff.
This film was seriously lacking. Becket is the blandest protagonist I have ever seen - there was literally no reason for me to care about him. He was without flaw or personality - in fact, that applies to all of the characters. The story was nearly impossible to follow for the first hour, but when it became easy to follow it was incredibly predictable and ridden with clichés.
Also, there are some issues I want to address:
1) With the whole mind-link thing, two people are needed to control the load from each hemisphere right? So how come when the Jaeger was needed to move only one arm, both pilots moved their arms? Surely the link system would mean one pilot would be responsible for the left side of the Jaeger, while another would control the right?
2) The Chinese Jeager with the three pilots. Going from my above point, how was the third arm operated if both pilots needed to move the same limb to raise the Jaeger's...people don't have third arms.
3) If the Kaiju were "identical clones", how come they looked different?
4) At the end,
how did Becket and Mori get back? The bridge needed Kaiju DNA to open and it was destroyed! So surely they should not have been able to return?
Also, the Marshall guy is just Nick Fury without a pair of balls, but an extra eye and Del Toro has a shoe fetish.
I do understand where the comments about Neon Genesis Evangelion come from to an extent (just replace angels with kaijus and emotionally crippled kids with bland adults and you have Pacific Rim) , but if anything, I just saw the whole neural link thing as being similar to the docking in Vividred Operation (considering the short gap between their release, I doubt one copied from the other, but it was hilarious nonetheless).
The special effects were nice though, but considering how clichéd the dialogue was and how many holes the plot had, I think Pacific Rim should be classified as a piece of cheese, rather than a film.
3/10
Pacific Rim is a tribute to the old Japanese monster movies which is something I grew up on. I loved it because it took me back to my childhood and I got to see giant robots punching the hell out of monsters in classic good vs evil style. Cliche? Yeah, but it was never trying to be too deep. Personally I felt the characters served the story well enough but in all honesty that's not why I bought a ticket.
The "Popcorn Movie" excuse is laaaaaame and it's one I've heard so many people say when I voice my criticisms of the movie. Regardless of the tone or intention, you can't just make your own pseudo-scientific laws and just blatantly ignore them. It's lazy. I'm not saying I wanted it to have Evangelion-level depth, I just at least would have liked it to keep to the laws it itself set.Sy said:
I'm not suggesting what you're saying isn't valid, because from a critical standpoint you're absolutely right. I'm only stating the reason I enjoyed it. I wanted it to be a big budget version of the old Godzilla, Rodan and Gamera films and it's exactly what I got. It recaptured that dumb thrill when I was a kid of the sight of two giant monsters battling it out to the death.
- Status