DVDs and Films You Have Watched Recently #2

[Mr. Seven]

Saw The Crazies last week and while it doesn't offer anything new to the horror genre and you can pretty much predict the jump-scares before they happen, it's still one of the better unnecessary horror remakes around. There's some fun set pieces, a couple of memorable deaths and a nice overall sense of dread hanging over proceedings. Plus it's got Timothy Olyphant who's always great.

 

Went to Green Zone today. My immediate reaction is "three star film". I think if I think about it for too long I could even go two stars, because while it is well made (although I didn't find Paul Greengrass's direction to be anything special) and well-acted (I think Matt Damon is one of the more underrated actors around and the likes of Greg Kinnear, Jason Isaacs and Brendan Gleeson provide decent support) it doesn't really have anything to say. An obvious comparison is The Hurt Locker, but while that film has so much more going on underneath the surface, all Green Zone really has is surface. It does what it does well, but what it does isn't especially interesting. Also, there's a really, really irritating Deus Ex Machina-esque ending.

[NEWM]

Killed a bit of time with Accepted the other day. Utter turd, obviously, but it's my first taste of the wonderfully cute Blake Lively. Not a great actor or anything but she gave me the tickles down below.

 

If I had to say something about the film, despite my adoration of any old american high school/college films, this was just too charmless and full of agenda for my liking.

[Murtz]

Im planning to watch Scum tonight after the lads at work were raving about how awesome Ray Winstone is in it. All I keep hearing is 'Im the daddy now!'.

[Jas]

Had a ridiculous dry spell of movie watching, but since Sunday morning, have watched:

 

[just the end of] Pochahontas

Space Buddies

Hunchback of Notre Dame

Snow White

Wall-E

Spirited Away

Howl's Moving Castle

Kiki's Delivery Service

 

 

May I recommend "Whisper of the Heart" - it's my favourite Studio Gibli title ever. It's not as well renowned as Spirited Away, Princess Mononoke or Totoro which is a crime itself but I rate it above all those.

[Famous Mortimer]

Legion

 

I was having a discussion with my mate Dave and Ms. Mortimer about reviews. I said I tended to heed the advice of my favourite reviewers, and they disagreed, saying there

[OI OI SAVELOY]

Training Day- After my last posting in this thread in which I had been in a bit of a rut, I mentioned that this film was next on my "watch list" and was told I'd enjoy it................I did....very much so infact! I've never really understood all the Denzel Washington hype but that's only because I can probably count on one hand the movies i've seen staring him, but he was absolutely awesome in this film. Some very clever twists and turns in the plot that never over complicated things. Simple but clever film with a decent showing from Ethan Hawke, and enjoyable performance from Denzel Washington. I can even over look the needless roles for Dr Dre and Snoop Dogg as Eva Mendes gets her norks and rat out! 8/10

 

The Firm (Nick Love Version)- I haven't seen the original despite having wanted to for quite a while, so I'm not sure how the two compare. Was nice to see a Nick Love film that didn't feature his usual cronies, although the young lad who plays Dom had a small role in Football Factories. Overall I thought it slightly missed the mark. There's no denying Nick Love has a phenomenal eye for detail when it comes to the 80's, and that's probably the best thing about the film. I was interested to hear that the actor playing Bex had never acted before, so with that in mind, it was a pretty solid showing from him. The film doesn't focus on the football violence as much as Football Factories and is more of a "coming of age" story. There are 1 or 2 scenes I really liked, which strangely both involve the young Dom being humiliated/ threatened in public by his elders. The one thing that bothered me is that, despite Nick Love wanting to create a family vibe about "The Firm" in the film, a lot of the secondary characters are given little to nothing to do or say, meaning you essentially don't give a shit about them. Nowhere near as bad as The Outlaw, but i'm a little concerned that Nick Love has decided to take elements from arguably his 2 most successful films (Football Violence/ The 80's) and combined them to make this one....me thinks he's running out of ideas! 6/10

 

Adventureland- Not to be confused with Zombieland, despite both staring Jesse Eisenberg, this is another coming of age story/ romance also set in the 80's that see's Jesse's character having to work a summertime job in the Adventureland themepark for college funds. I absolutely loved it! I saw the trailer online which pretty much leads you to believe the film is going to be like Superbad (It's actually made by the same director...and features Bill Hader), but it's nothing like it. Don't get me wrong, it does have it's funny moments, but the film is more about the relationship between Jesse Eisenberg and Kristen Stewarts characters. The film also features Ryan Reynolds who actually plays a straight role for a change, and whilst he doesn't feature as much as you'd think, he is important to the film. On the subject of Kristen Stewart, something about her in this film had me warming to her and I actually now find her quite attractive after initially disliking her purely because of the Twilight connection. Jesse Eisenberg is very Michael Cera-esque in his delivery, but not to the point that I felt he was a low rate version of him. He's not supposed to be a geek in Adventureland, he's intelligent but smokes pot, and isn't exactly awkward around girls either. Anyway for anybody that hasn't heard or seen this film, give it a go because it's somewhat of a sleeper hit! 8/10

Edited March 11, 2010 by OI OI SAVELOY

[David]

I went to see Alice In Wonderland this week, and thought it was quite good.

 

Depp was excellent as the Mad Hatter, and Bonham-Carter was good as The Red Queen.

 

It wasn't as great as it's been built up to be, but a good watch nonetheless.

 

Has anyone seen Exit Through The Gift Shop? I'm thinking of going to see it tomorrow, more out of curiosity than anything else.

[LaGoosh]

Im planning to watch Scum tonight after the lads at work were raving about how awesome Ray Winstone is in it. All I keep hearing is 'Im the daddy now!'.

 

Have the wank tissues at hand for the greenhouse scene.

[King Pitcos]

Im planning to watch Scum tonight after the lads at work were raving about how awesome Ray Winstone is in it. All I keep hearing is 'Im the daddy now!'.

 

Have the wank tissues at hand for the greenhouse scene.

 

I dunno, I find the scene where Carlin makes that pretty lad his missus sexier.

[Vice]

Glengarry Glen Ross

Been meaning to watch this for a while now, as I'm a big Pacino fan. While I thought his performance and the rest of the cast's were excellent, the film itself is really dull and actually quite boring throughout.

[Harvey Dent]

I went to see Green Zone last night. I just wanted to go to Frankie and Bennies really, but we thought we might aswell see a film while we were there and there's not too much of interest to me about right now. Anyway, I actually thought it was pretty good. I've seen many people mention that its a little preachy, which I think is fair comment, but it doesn't really detract from the entertainment of the film. Damon is good in the role of Roy Miller, an American soldier tasked with finding WMD in Baghdad and coming up short every time. Its a decent enough thriller and was good to kill a couple of hours. I found it hard to get interested in the first 2 Bourne films and have never seen the third, but I think Paul Greengrass' style could be a reason why. This film has WAY too much shaky handcam stuff. I understand the logic of using it with the frantic pace of war, but a lot of the time it felt disorientating and was hard to follow at other times. A decent watch though, better than I expected.

[Mr. Seven]

Glengarry Glen Ross

Been meaning to watch this for a while now, as I'm a big Pacino fan. While I thought his performance and the rest of the cast's were excellent, the film itself is really dull and actually quite boring throughout.

 

I don't think somebody has ever been more wrong in the history of mankind.

[Gladstones Bitch]

Watched '' Brooklyn's Finest '' the other night and thought it was a terrific film, not quite as good as Training Day which is from the same guy but its up there.

[Green]

Glengarry Glen Ross

Been meaning to watch this for a while now, as I'm a big Pacino fan. While I thought his performance and the rest of the cast's were excellent, the film itself is really dull and actually quite boring throughout.

 

I don't think somebody has ever been more wrong in the history of mankind.

I was thinking the same thing.

[Jimmy_kahoona]

Hachiko: A Dogs Story

 

Ok its 92 minutes of Richard Gere and a Dog

 

I could stop there and that would pretty much sum up the entire film. Nothing happens. The sountrack seems to give an eerie presence as if something is about to happen. The Cast all seem to have a look about them as if they`re about to do something sinister. Its a strange film where nothing really happens.

 

Yet at the heart of it lives a hope, a warm place, a story that sees past the nothingness and centers on a comfort that draws you right in giving you something you never expected to be there.

 

Its basically about the relationship between a guy and his dog. How the dog interacts within his life and how when things dont balance out in shows a hope that people care.

 

I certainly wouldn`t recommend this as a night out for the lads, infact if you even mentioned to the guys you`ve seen this film you`ll probably get a kicking. But if your wanting to show that someone special in your life that you have a sensative side, definently head for this movie. Take some tissues and you`ll score even more points.

 

But just remember, its ok for grown men to cry at this film, Its about a guy and his dog, master and companion and thats a very manly thing after all!