Cinemexperience: part deux., Some more filums you saw. Options

[Zoe]

The Machinist

After the initial gasp of horror at Christian Bale's impression of a skeleton, I ended up getting quite into the film and quite enjoyed it. I liked piecing together what was going on as the film progressed.

Equilibrium

Just watched it last night. I thought it was really good. The fight scenes were just insane; I could barely keep up! Had some nice moments too, like Preston saving the adorable little dog from being shot.

Is Christian Bale the new Johnny Depp, by any chance?

[maian]

The Faculty

The best cast in the world, ever, star in this Breakfast Club meets Invasion of the Body Snatchers b-movie fest. Some good examples of different b-genres, high school, sci fi, horror and the best homage to The Thing I've seen with the 'Let's see who's really real' scene.

It's the first time I've seen it and I thought it was pretty great.

I love The Faculty.

I do as well. It's a terrific B-movie and has such a good cast.

Suspiria (1977)

Red and squishy.

This post has been edited by maian: Aug 16 2008, 07:28 PM

[mousespider]

I love The Faculty.

The funniest part of that movie is when Jon Stewart dies from getting stabbed in the eye with a pen filled with drugs.

[sweetbutinsane]

Is Christian Bale the new Johnny Depp, by any chance?

However did you guess?

Hehe.

[logger]

The funniest part of that movie is when Jon Stewart dies from getting stabbed in the eye with a pen filled with drugs.

Then turns up in the credits with an eye patch trying to pick up a donut with his fingerless hand.

[Omniscia]

The Rutles: All You Need is Cash

Quaint little film. Charming, to be sure, but not quite as incisive as I'd hoped. Amusing, if not exactly funny, but Bill Murray and John Belushi are memorable in their small roles.

[logger]

Shooter

Kind of lost interest half way through.

[Zoe]

No Country for Old Men (2007)

I'm realising I don't like the Coens that much. I rewatched 'The Hudsucker Proxy' recently, which I'd cite as my favourite of their films, and didn't find it half as magical as I'd remembered.

'No Country for Old Men' only served to reinforce that feeling. I didn't hate it, but I certainly couldn't see what all the fuss was about. There was nothing original about it, and I was reminded of countless other similar crime thrillers while watching it. So much so that it was easy to guess what was going to happen in any particular scene, because of the conventions it employed. I wasn't surprised by anything that happened, and I was longing for 'A History of Violence' style moment of genuine shock.

Performance wise, Tommy Lee Jones was Tommy Lee Jones, Kelly McDonald and Josh Brolin were very good (McDonald particulary), and Woody Harrelson was a somewhat pointless diversion. Of course the one performance that everyone talks about in relation to the film is Javier Bardem, but unfortunately I didn't find him all that menacing. He wasn't helped by his somewhat hack dialogue, in fact he was a pretty textbook baddie, stupid haircut aside.

To be honest I just didn't care about any of the characters, or the muddled message of the film.

I know because of their release dates, and because they're studies on America, that a lot of comparisons have been drawn between this film and 'There will be Blood'; but for me there is no comparison.

[Omniscia]

Night Watch

Interesting enough to hold my attention, but way too loose, narratively. It was until I gave in and stopped trying to follow the plot that I started having any fun. Otherwise, it's too convoluted and vague to work.

The trailer for Day Watch looked really neat, though, and I rented that for the weekend, but I figured I'd best watch the first film beforehand. I'm not sure it would have made much of a difference, because I still have no idea what the hell is going on.

I wish they'd have included a Russian language track on the DVD. I hate dubs, or, at least, not having a choice... They have a Russian track for the extended ending. Why not the rest?

UPDATE: That said, now that I look at DVDCompare.net, I discover that the original language track was on the flipside of the disc. I had assumed it was a pan-and-scan presentation on the other side, as it often is here. Oh well...

This post has been edited by Omniscia: Aug 17 2008, 02:47 AM

[Llama]

Shooter

Kind of lost interest half way through.

I watched it too. It was ok, started off well, then sort of went a bit generic and explosion-y.

[Baz]

Star Wars: The Clone Wars
Not as bad as I thought it was going to be, I think I enjoyed this more than any of the prequels and some of the fight scenes were great.

[Rua]

Star Wars: The Clone Wars

Is it worth seeing in the cinema?

[Zoe]

Bridge to Terabithia (2007)

Very much a children's film, firmly aimed at the pre-teen age group, and it's certainly towards the top of that particular genre. It deals with some rather tough issues and genuine problems that young people face, using a combination of real world solutions and magic realism. It's an effective mix and proves surprisingly moving when the film takes an unexpected turn before the final act.

The total absence of cynicism and adult humour, mean it's probably one for children and families only, but if you fancy something in the style of eighties flicks like 'Flight of the Navigator' or 'The Neverending Story' you might find it a pleasurable diversion.

It made me cry quite a bit, but everything makes me cry.

AnnaSophia Robb is a star in the making, she's absolutely stunning. One high profile performance, in a more adult or critically successful film and I'm sure she'll be on everyone's radar as a future star. She was Violet Beauregarde in the recent Burton Chocolate Factory remake, and was the traditional creepy lank haired child in the diabolical 'The Reaping'.

[GundamGuy_UK]

Shooter

Kind of lost interest half way through.

I enjoyed it, but mostly because of the truely bizarre jokes me and my friend were making about it at the time.

Cool Runnings - I don't suppose I need to say anything about this one, really. Remember - bones don't break, they shatter.

[Ade]

Man On Wire

"Imm-poss-see-ble, impossible, impossible! Okay, so eet eez impossible, that's sure - so let's get to work."

I've already banged on about this several times already, but now I've finally seen it, I can safely say this British-made documentary about Frenchman Phillipe Petit's high-wire walk between the twin towers of the World Trade Center in 1974 is easily one of myTop 5 Films of 2008.

I wish I could better verbalise what a wonderfully poetic film ('documentary' seems too dismissive a word) this is - dandan has already done a far better job, so I'll merely quote his review again:

man on wire - don't look down...

in 1974, philippe petit and a small team of co-conspiritors managed to sneak into the north and south towers of the world trade centre, in new york; they erected a wire, upon which philippe made his way between the twin towers.

the documentary charts this feat, portrayed as if it were a heist, whilst telling the story of the dream philippe had, of accomplishing it, when he saw that construction was beginning on the towers. showing also philippe's wire-walking exploits on the cathedral at notre dame and on the sydney harbour bridge, the documentary paints a portrait of an interesting and inspiring character...

entertaining, interesting, inspiring and beautiful. this is a very enjoyable documentary, inhabited by an interesting bunch of characters, none more so than petit himself. even though i'd never heard of this act, until i saw the trailer for this documentary a few weeks ago, the poster for the film which shows petit's walk between the towers doesn't remove any of the tension or make the viewer any less engaged. as i said, petit is a very interesting character (despite the fact he's also a juggler) and, with a humorous and slightly off-kilter look at life he, along with the others who participated in his walks, make this film eminently watchable.

the walk itself, even though it is mostly shown through photographs, is a thing of extreme beauty, whilst the reactions it evokes are quite amazing.

good stuff...

As dandan rightly says, the ebullient Phillipe is a fascinating character, and with such an obvious passion for his craft, he could probably carry the film entirely by himself - you can't help but be inspired by his general outlook on life.

It's a pity this is not on general circulation for the masses - you're only likely going to catch this at an independent cinema or your local arts centre. But I strongly recommend it if you do get the opportunity.