"DAMN that movie was GOOD!" When was the last time you said that?

Mo

The Warrior
I thought Kill Bill was really horrible...

Batman Begins was awesome I expected it to be a lot worse, but, it didn' t catch me off guard. X-men 2 is in the same category.
 
I liked Narnia alot. It did feel a little rushed at certain parts but I think given that it is a family movie they wanted to keep it around 2 hours. I was a HUGE fan of the books growing up. Pedophelia? Dude you have been watching to much Law and Order SVU. (good show btw). As far as the LotR comparrison Lewis and Tolkein were both English proffessors at Oxford and spent alot of time looking at each others work as I understand it. Not surprising if there are a few similarities.

Back on topic. The last WOW movie for me was Million Dollar Baby. Great story with amazing acting and charactor development.
 
Psymont 2.0,
Narnia and Pedophelia? Fucksake man - get a grip! :miura:

aufond,

"Léon AKA The Professional" - Love that film.

Anyhoo,

"Serenity" and "Unforgivable Blackness: The Rise and Fall of Jack Johnson" are two films I enjoyed recently. But I don't go often to the theatre, barring the annual Film-festival. Hollywood just churns out so much tripe :puck:
 
Well, some of these movies are too good for a simple "Damn that movie was GOOD!" reaction, but movies I've seen recently that I thought were excellent or better...


Serenity - Probably my favorite Sci Fi genre flick. Some weak dialogue moments, but overwhelmingly better than the majority of other Sci Fi genre films.

Sin City - One of those films you see and even though it's got tons of flaws you still have to admire how ambitious it is and how successful it is.

Solaris (Soderbergh) - One of my favorite movies. You probably won't like it. Personally, I prefer the Soderbergh version, as Tarkovsky's version is too vested in "Sci Fi" jargon and other distractions from the main theme of the movie. Soderbergh's version is a little bit too short and perhaps a little bit pared down, but pretty much everything in it is essential. It reminds me of a Hollywoodized version of Tarkovsky's Stalker (which is Tarkovsky's own attempt to rectify the problems of his version of Solaris).

Oldboy was interesting, but I'm not sure it lived up to its hype (it's hard to have human characters and still be able to have a payoff after that much buildup). Battle Royale I'd put in roughly the same category as Sin City.

For what it's worth, I really liked the choreography in Unleashed. It was sentimental, and the music was manipulative, but I was impressed with the way Jet Li fought in the movie.
 

Metalbolt

I'm on TV, so I must be True!
Unforgivable Blackness for sure, I'm glad someone in this world besides myself actually watched that :isidro:

Ong Bok blew me out of the water. Maybe not what this thread is going for, but it's the first martial arts movie I have seen in years that actually impressed me. No wires? No stunt doubles? No cg? OMG! You can actualy respect Tony Ja for his ability because it comes through on screen!

I'm not sure of the last time I saw a "live action" movie that truly floored me.

Anime on the other hand...Perfect Blue, Jin-Roh, GitS:2, and more recentely; Steamboy, are all fantastic. Actually, I think I'd have to go with Steamboy and Ong-Bak for the last two movies that actually had an effect on me. It didnt' hurt any that I got to watch Steamboy at Otakon on 35mm, sarounded by at least a thousand other people who "got it". No other experience like it. For movie watching at least :guts:
 

Aazealh

Administrator
Staff member
Maiku said:
As far as the LotR comparrison Lewis and Tolkein were both English proffessors at Oxford and spent alot of time looking at each others work as I understand it. Not surprising if there are a few similarities.

Yeah, Lewis and Tolkien were close friends, and actually the books composing the Chronicles of Narnia were published for the most part before the Lord of the Rings.

I haven't seen the movie though, and I don't plan to.
 
Denial said:
Solaris (Soderbergh) - One of my favorite movies. You probably won't like it. Personally, I prefer the Soderbergh version, as Tarkovsky's version is too vested in "Sci Fi" jargon and other distractions from the main theme of the movie. Soderbergh's version is a little bit too short and perhaps a little bit pared down, but pretty much everything in it is essential. It reminds me of a Hollywoodized version of Tarkovsky's Stalker (which is Tarkovsky's own attempt to rectify the problems of his version of Solaris).
Finally, someone with the balls to mention REAL films!
I liked Soderbergh's Solaris, but still prefer Tarkovsky's. It was the first Tarkovsky that I'd seen at the time, and perhaps I should revisit it now, having since seen all but Nostahlgia. I agree that there were scenes that could have been cut down (like that 5 minute flight through Future-City-Tokyo). :schierke:
It's still a beautiful film, though, and, as I understand it, Tarkovsky's counter-point to Kubrick's 2001.

Oldboy was interesting, but I'm not sure it lived up to its hype.
It really didn't.
What a shit twist that was.
 

Walter

Administrator
Staff member
Oldboy was great, just don't let the movie convince you it's a suspense or thriller. That's just the marketing side of the movie talking. And yeah, my first viewing was ruined by all the hype surrounding the movie. But subsequent viewings have shown me there's more there than at first glance.
 
rené said:
Why am I not surprised? :schierke:

Let me ask you why you thought it was a good flick let me ask you because I can most certainly rip it apart without even having to try to? The pretentiousness of it alone was more than I would care to bare through but it was one of those movies that everyone raved about and I felt, like the Lord of the Rings (especially the last two), people just fell for it and called it awesome.

As to Old Boy, yeah the movie is weird. Its sort of an actionish revenge flick/love story. I guess that's what I would call it, but yeah, dont think its a yakuza film like some have said it was or anything like that. Its not even that much of an action flick with only one real deal fight scene no matter how cool it was. Its a revenge flick at heart with some other elements in there, that's it.

And if I had to pick a movie some wont call "B Rate action flick" as DAMN, that was a good movie, I'd have to choose Grave of the Fireflies, it wasnt perfect either but it was damn good, and probably one of the few movies that brought me close to tears.
 

Walter

Administrator
Staff member
My pick is definitely Independance Day.

Why? WHY?! Because it had AWESOME aliens and lots of patriotism that made me feel good inside to be an american and not an alien and then they beat the EVIL alien mothership with a VIRUS ... a COMPUTER virus! And there were lots of black and jewish jokes, which are ALWAYS CLASSIC.

DAMN that movie was GOOD when i was in 7th grade! The Boondock Saints of its time!
 

CnC

Ad Oculos
Walter said:
My pick is definitely Independance Day.

Do you remember the scene where the aliens blew up the city? That was so friggin' AWESOME!
I don't remember what happened after that, but damn those cities sure do blow up good.
 
I wondered what all the hype was about Boondock Saints, so I saw it and it was a godawful piece of shit.

last time I was impressed with a movie was when I saw The Matrix...mostly because my expectations of it were really low since I saw it on opening day just based off the commercials.

Edit: Oh, and Shaolin Soccer.
 
rené said:
Finally, someone with the balls to mention REAL films!
I liked Soderbergh's Solaris, but still prefer Tarkovsky's. It was the first Tarkovsky that I'd seen at the time, and perhaps I should revisit it now, having since seen all but Nostahlgia. I agree that there were scenes that could have been cut down (like that 5 minute flight through Future-City-Tokyo). :schierke:
It's still a beautiful film, though, and, as I understand it, Tarkovsky's counter-point to Kubrick's 2001.


Yeah, I can definitely see why someone might prefer Tarkovsky's version. Soderbergh's version is, I think, really derivative of Tarkovsky's, but the editing he did strikes me as a distillation of the themes I loved in Tarkovsky's version. Tarkovsky is clearly more faithful to Lem's book, but I'm not convinced that the faithfulness to the jargon and Sci-Fi elements of the book really translated well into film.


Also, regarding Boondock Saints, you may be interested in reading a bit about its creator: http://www.2blowhards.com/archives/002261.html
 

SMZKAH

I shall find the crystal of peace
Actually, I just finished watching a movie called Indo-Chine. It's a french movie about French imperialism and colonization of Vietnam. Essentially, it's a love story, and all the characters are really well developed. It's a great story and its also a bit of a history lesson. I guess it won quite a few awards both in France and on the International level. I just really liked it.
 
Denial said:
Tarkovsky is clearly more faithful to Lem's book
from what I understand, Lem actually hated Tarkovsky's film. :griff:


Also, regarding Boondock Saints, you may be interested in reading a bit about its creator: http://www.2blowhards.com/archives/002261.html
Yeah, I've been waiting to see that for a good while now.
It's on my netflix queue.......
 

CnC

Ad Oculos
"DAMN that movie was GOOD!" When was the last time you said that?

Just now. Just came back from "King Kong". That movie, for the most part, was amazing to watch. There were a few too many trademark Peter "circular pan" Jackson moments and the beginning was dragging, but despite my being in what has to be the most annoying theatre-going crowd in history (including a "captain obvious" right behind me) I'd say this was a very good movie. Even captain obvious ("dinosaur!", being one of the things she actually said) couldn't drag me out of this movie long enough to give me enough time to punch her in the jaw.
The T-Rex fight (something I was expecting to be just a re-hash of the old movie) was incredible. And the bugs, well, you might have nightmares. Great stuff.
I recommend everyone seeing it in a few weeks when the crowds have died down.
 
CnC said:
Just now. Just came back from "King Kong". That movie, for the most part, was amazing to watch. There were a few too many trademark Peter "circular pan" Jackson moments and the beginning was dragging, but despite my being in what has to be the most annoying theatre-going crowd in history (including a "captain obvious" right behind me) I'd say this was a very good movie. Even captain obvious ("dinosaur!", being one of the things she actually said) couldn't drag me out of this movie long enough to give me enough time to punch her in the jaw.
The T-Rex fight (something I was expecting to be just a re-hash of the old movie) was incredible. And the bugs, well, you might have nightmares. Great stuff.
I recommend everyone seeing it in a few weeks when the crowds have died down.
I agree absolutely.

There are movies I see that return me to a sense of wonder I thought lost. Not only with the world surrounding, but with film as well.
In recent years, there has been a noticeable decline in the quality of the Big-Budget Hollywood product. Big Million Dollar Pictures are always lacking something. There was a time before, or so I've come to believe, when Big, Epic Action-Adventure films were intense, exciting and gratifying.
The last being the most important that we've lost. Or so I'd thought.
King Kong, in all honesty, has restored my wonder in film. It is a spectacle, pure and simple. Though it is a very modern production, it has a sense of the spectacular that grew out of Early Cinema.

I was genuinely excited throughout this. It was awe-inspiring; at times just plain inspiring.
I think I have a sense of what Jackson felt once when first seeing the original as a child.

There is a chunk in the middle that is the most intense that I've felt in a while. And I feel this is, easily, one of the best films I've seen in a while. The action hardly rests; it brings you just to the point of exhaustion but makes every second exhilerating.

And his eyes.

There are some problems. The delivery of certain lines bothered me, and lines in general rubbed me the wrong way. And if he (Peter Jackson) had to end with a very telling line, I wish he would've chosen to leave, at least, a little up to the viewer. Why not just have said:

"It wasn't the planes that killed him......"

But, I think with such a grand story, and having everything else done beautifully, I think he can afford these weaker moments without hurting the overall film.

So, no, it's not perfect, but it's close enough.
 

nomad

"Bring the light of day"
rené said:
I agree absolutely.

There are movies I see that return me to a sense of wonder I thought lost.  Not only with the world surrounding, but with film as well.

Rarely you react like this to a movie, now you got me intrigued...
 
Stiler said:
If you like Tarkovsky you MUST see Stalker, one of my favorite films of his, I still need to get Nostahlgia on dvd.
Yeah, Stalker is one of my favorites of his. I've got the two Criterion Tarkovskys, I'm holding out for better versions of the films out there now.

This is a great site for the potential tarkovsky fan within all of us:
Nostalghia.com

They also have sites for Bresson, Dreyer, and Ozu. :carcus:
 
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