DVD's and Films You Have Watched Recently

[Mr. Seven]

And there was me thinking we'd never agree on a film.

[Egg Shen]

A few films I have watched over the past couple of weeks...Assault on Precinct 13 (2005)A good film, very entertaining, bloody and violent, with some exciting action, a good cast, and solid acting.(***)[

watched that for about the 5th time last night, i love the movie...definatly one of my favourite movies of last year, just a bad ass moviei loved Million Dollar Baby, great stuff... Edited May 4, 2006 by Ebb

[Mr. Seven]

Mission Impossible III

 

I thought it was very good. If you liked the first two you'll certainly enjoy it. The acting was fine, especially the great Philip Seymour Hoffman. The action was impressive and overall it was just a fun movie. No real complaints to speak of.

[LaGoosh]

And there was me thinking we'd never agree on a film.

Actually we almost always agree on films aslong as they don't include Eli Roth and Peter Jackson and they tend to result in big over-the-top arguments.But anyways, I watched Serenity last night and really enjoyed it. I wish I caught it at the cinema, the storylines and characters were really good(something usually forgotton in todays sci-fi movies) and it was like watching Han Solo: The Movie so you can't go wrong. Highly recommend it to any sci-fi fans.

[Garrett]

Slither: Went to see this yesterday. Not bad, but it wasn't as great as I'd heard either. Most of the jokes in the film were very hit and miss. Nathan Fillion was very funny too playing basically another version of the Mal Reynolds character. cellular: saw this on sky movies last week. If you can ignore some of the plot holes it was a really good popcorn thriller.inside man: I liked it and it had a really good twist at the end. Thought it went overboard with all the racial overtones though.

Edited May 6, 2006 by Garrett

[Guest donnie darko]

The film that will end up creating Donnie Darko style discussions: BRICK.

Ummm...have you actually seen it or is that just a random comment? If you have...care to share some opinion?

i saw it on its official release in LA (about 2 hours before its premiere at the same cinema), it's half teen film half film noir, ie its set around a modern day school and teen communities, but the language and grammar style is that of 1950's film noir. Which makes it a very different experience than just watching a normal teen film featuring a murder mystery - for a start getting used to the language (which has quite a big affect on the plot) is quite a challenge. At the screening i went to in LA they handed out a pamphlet explaining the certain words and phrases that are used (this is a help, but the context in which these are used adds to the difficulty in comprehension).Basically at the start of a film you see a girls dead body (emily) - we then go back a few weeks as her ex boyfriend (brendan) receives a cry for help and tries to find her (whilst working through a series of noir style clues). The film (which appears to be getting an average of **** reviews) is likely to be an issue of debate for the following reasons - the language, the clues (some of which are used as icons in the films marketing - many of which confuse), the comedy (there are a number of unpredictable laugh out loud moments), and the acting (a young cast performing above teen film level). It's very clever indeed and needs to be seen more than once to be fully understood. I don't think it's quite up to donnie darkos level of appeal (it's easier to identify with the pissed off donnie than the confused and angry brendan, and the soundtrack does not have as wide appeal) but it does acheive a similar level of audience confusion and discussion, and could well be a similar giant stepping stone for it's writer/director (rian johnson) and lead actor (Joseph Gordon-Levitt)http://www.brickmovie.net/home.html Edited May 6, 2006 by donnie darko

[ukedge87]

Casino

 

This film is so strong in many aspects, that is the nearest to perfect a gangster can get. It's sleekly producded and directed, which contrasts perfectly to the gritty and violent to the contrast of the events. DeNiro produces one his strongest performances ever, and is supported by a really strong cast of Joe Pesci and Sharon Stone. I thought this film was enough tongue in cheek to not take it too seriously, but at the same time really delievered a tough message, the question that Scorsese is clearly asking by the end of the film is: Are the giant consumer companies who have taken over from the mob just as moraless as the gangster?

 

An essential film that everyone should have in their collection.

 

10/10

[JLM]

Cube 2 and Cube Zero - Spoilers for the whole trilogy ahead.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Before I say anything about the films themselves, my overrall feeling after watching these was that I like to think of them as possible answers to some of the questions raised in the first film rather than actual answers. I loved that Cube started and ended with absolutely no explanation, reason or resolution and that it's one of those films that really starts when you've finished watching it.

 

Are they in purgatory? Is it a military experiment? Is a psychopath doing this for his own amusement? Is it all in someone's head? Are aliens monitoring them? Etc. etc. Then you've got the Lord of the flies/Battle Royale elements in that the film comment on society and the nature of mankind by placing people in this horrendous scenario and showing how they might react. What they do and what happens to them in the Cube are more important than what happened before and what happens to the survivor.

 

So, Cube 2...

 

A decent film given the small budget. The set was suitably claustrophobic and futuristic, thugh some of the CGI was very ropey. The psuedo-scientific ramblings were fairly interesting in parts, though I think they got a bit bogged down with the workings of a theoretical tesseract at the expense of the interaction between the characters that you get in the first film. The twist inside the cube is fairly average, the twist at the end was better and is the first attempt at giving a bit of insight into what's happening outside of the Cube and what it might be. Oh, the guy who goes mental and decides to eat Gerry over and over and over again and collect his watches... he was far too similar to Quentin in the first film. "The dangerous human being who is willing to do anything to survive is the most dangerous trap of all!!!" Got it the first time thanks.

 

Not as good as the first one by any stretch, but watched in its own right its fairly decent sci-fi fare with watchable acting, a cool set and some nicely worked parallell universe stuff. Oh, and on a barely relevant note, the deaths were a bit crappy if you're expecting some good old fashioned slicing/dicing/burning and so on.

 

Cube Zero is a much more interesting film and, because the setting is seemingly much closer to the first film, the cube itself has the gritty, industrial and claustrophobic feel about it that was missing a bit in the clean and white (so very white) surroundings of Cube 2. I liked the idea that, as important as it was for the mysterious powers that be to watch and study the people inside the cube, they were equally interested in observing the watchers themselves. The "exit procedure" with the YES and NO buttons was pretty much a copy of the Milgram experiment that essentially tests how far people are willing to stretch the excuse "we were just following orders". Oh, and the "quick lobotmy and back in the Cube you go" twist at the end was great fun, didn't see that coming .

 

Both films suffer from the fact that showing anything outside of the Cube puts a big dent in the sense of isolation and claustrophobia that was overpowering in the first film, but I understand that this couldn't be helped without making sequels that were literally more of the same.

 

On the whole its a fairly strong trilogy given the indepedant low budget nature of the series, and all three present some interesting ideas in an entertaining way, but personally I don't think the two sequels are essential viewing even if you've seen the first one and want answers. That's how you were supposed to feel, being spoonfed the answers is never going to be all that satisfying.

 

EDIT: For those who like the grisly deaths, I must say that Cube Zero really cranks up the nastiness of the kills. Skin removing, necrotising fascitis and a fat guy exploding. Heh.

Edited May 8, 2006 by JLM

[Guest DJM]

Mission Impossible

A good action film, very entertaining, has an interesting story, and some interesting plot-twists. The film is also full of exciting action, is great fun, has good special effects, and has a good cast and good acting.

(***1/2)

 

 

Mission Impossible 2

A solid action movie, very entertaining, has some good special effects, and some interesting plot twists. The film is full of exciting action, has a good fight scene at the end, and has a good soundtrack. There is also a good cast, and good acting throughout. The film feels a lot like a James Bond movie at times though, but is still a fun movie.

(***)

 

 

Mission Impossible 3

A good action movie, which is very entertaining, full of exciting action, and has some good plot twists. The film also has a good cast and good acting throughout - Phillip Seymour Hoffman is good but under-used, while Simon Pegg is given a (bigger and) better part to play than I was expecting. It does feel like a mixture of the first two films, and if you liked either or both of preceding Mission Impossible films then you should like this film as well.

(***1/2)

 

 

The Doll Master

A poor film on the whole, which starts well, but goes downhill very quickly. There is an interesting story, but it is very poorly executed. The acting throughout is basic at best, with poor dialogue and under-developed characters. The movie is a mixture of Puppet Master, House of Haunted Hill, The Fog and The Ring (along with many other films), and makes use of the now over-used ghostly female figure with long hair at various times throughout! The film is very slow-paced throughout, silly and laughable at times, and on the whole very clich

[bAzTNM Fan]

Mission: Impossible III - A grand improvement over M:I2. I thought the action was great, the covert operations were enthralling and exciting

Click to Show/Hide

Especially when Ethan Hunt penetrates the Vatican

and the acting was to a good standard throughout, particularly from the Cruiser, Philip Seymour Hoffman and the ever-likeable Simon Pegg.

 

****

[Mr. Seven]

The Aristocrats joke is very hit-and-miss (and mostly unfunny) in the first place though,

Er. That's the point.

[Gossy]

I saw Slither Saturday night, I was shocked as I thought I'd really dislike it, but ending up really enjoying it. Initially found the film a little slow to start, but about a quarter of the way through, I was enjoying it all. Plus, the initial scenes made me actually feel sorry for Grant Grant at the end. Plus he managed to look cool and grotesque at the same time!

 

Thumbs up!

[LaGoosh]

I watched the Assault On Precient 13 remake tonight and it is officially the first film I've seen this year that I'll give a 0/10!

 

There is nothing even remotely entertaining about this movie at all. The story is as thin as wet paper bag, the script is ridiculous ("I'm only thinking about living....because I don't want to die"), the action as about as exciting as watching paint dry, the acting is fucking dire, (Lawrence Fishburne seems to be doing a simultanous parody of his performances in The Matrix and Boyz N The Hood, Gabriel Byrne is simply going through the motions and Ethan Hawke convinces me more andm ore each movie that he's a fucking shite actor), there is no character development...or even any interesting characters, the score is cliche'd beyond belief and the director uses every generic action movie camera shot in the book.

 

In short, this movie is as fun as being fisted by King Kong. Steer clear.

[DJ Stevie C]

Samurai AssassinTosihiro Mifune plays a Ronin desperate to become a Retainer and banish the hardships in his life, to achieve his goals he joins up with a band of low ranking thugs hatching a plot to kill a noble lord, an act that could gain the lord's killer the notoriety needed to persue a higher life. Good story, good acting, although it gets a little overcomplicated at times so you really have to concentrate to get the plot, Mifune is as good as he normally is, the supporting cast are also pretty darn good (and recognisable if you watch 50's-80's Japanese films!). Have some issues with the cinematography especially towards the end of the film (too much snow almost ruins the final scene) but in general it's very watchable for fans of period Samurai drama's.

[Egg Shen]

Mission Impossible 3 - pretty different to the 2nd one, i was expecting this to be a completely over-the-top action movie, expanding on the ridiculousness of the John Woo movie, but it aint...the film is much more story driven about Hunt's growing displeasure of his job and his chick. The film is great but it wasn't the OTT action-fest i was expecting. That said, the two big action sequences (the bridge scene and the builing swing) are fucking amazing!

I watched the Assault On Precient 13 remake tonight and it is officially the first film I've seen this year that I'll give a 0/10!

booooooo!