DVD's and Films You Have Watched Recently

[kendal mint cake]

Ah, good show. what degree and where at?

[Van_Dammer]

It was an A-Level...

Edited July 11, 2006 by Van_Dammer

[Adam G]

I wish I could be bothered to figure out how to use torrents.

[Chest Rockwell]

It's really simple! Stop being such a technophobe!

[Van_Dammer]

The Breakfast Club

Five students, who are strangers to each other, are in detention on a Saturday morning. The principal forces to write an essay about themselves, respectively, and they have eight hours to complete it. Instead, they begin to talk to each other and slowly reveal their fears and problems.

 

The Breakfast Club has a very distinct set of characters; Andrew's the jock, Brian's the geek; John's the thug, Claire's popular and Allison's weird. They may be stereotypes, but they're played flawlessly. Each of them has their own specific mannerisms, actions and general demeanor.

 

Judd Nelson, who plays John Bender is fantastic in this movie. Being somewhat of a lout, he initially aggravates and provokes the other characters. Everything that he does comes across well because Nelson is great at delivering his smarmy and, sometimes, offensive dialogue.

 

Anthony Michael Hall's performance is also good. As in Weird Science, he plays an awkward geek. Hall just seems perfect in such roles and this is no exception.

 

I hate to admit it, but I found the psycho brunette, Allison, extremely attractive. Not when she was acting freaky, though.

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Interestingly, I think she looked awful towards the end of the film, after the cliched Hollywood make over. In my opinion, it also sent a pretty mixed message. Prior to that, however, the sight of her slurping the fizz off of her Coke can was quite nice. Something tells me that she'd be up for anything...

Anyway, The Breakfast Club is, fundamentally, about how the five characters react with each other and, eventually, being to understand each other. As it's aptly executed, it becomes an involving, interesting, funny, enjoyable and dramatic film.

 

It's a shame that it has a shit soundtrack.

Edited July 12, 2006 by Van_Dammer

[DJ Stevie C]

DJ Stevie C, regarding Gozu...MAJOR SPOILERS

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Although extremely bizarre, it's not an entirely fucked up film. It does actually make some sense.The 'cow' and the woman from the hotel are like mother figures, desperately trying to nurture Minami in Ozaki's absence. In both Gozu and Visitor Q, Miike explores the theme of motherhood and uses milk to do so. In its entirety, Gozu can be perceived as the story of Minami's repressed homosexuality. Ozaki is like a mentor to him. Due to the yakuza (gangster) surroundings and its norms, Minami simply cannot come to terms with his attraction towards Ozaki. Blurring the line between reality and fantasy, Minami 'recreats' Ozaki as a female. At the very end of the film, Ozaki is essentially reborn in another sense as he separates from the female version. This illustrates how Minami has come to terms with his sexuality as the female form of Ozaki no longer appeals to him or at least coexists with the male form.

Interesting theores and yeah I did get some of them, it's just a bit messed up and senseless sometimes. Still I guess I was kind of expecting it being a bit of a fan of the director!! It wasn't anything I wasn't expecting.

[Van_Dammer]

Project 313

Parrish and Machette are two friends from the projects of Detroit. After Machette is released from juvenile detention, he and Parrish devise plan a robbery.

 

Although it sounds relatively simple, Project 313 actually has a pretty good plot. It's unfortunate that nearly every other aspect of it is either poor or mediocre. Most notably, the story is seriously let down by the faux-gangster dialogue.

 

It's immediately evident that the production values, even for an independent film, are terrible. The audio levels fluctuate, dialogue often alternates from the left to right channel as if there was a problem with the mic and there's considerable hiss throughout many scenes, which either increases or decreases when the camera cuts back to certain things.

 

Nevertheless, the direction isn't bad. There's an array of elaborate shots, which show the filmmaker's potential.

 

As a whole, Project 313, being an independent film, is a decent attempt, but I don't ever intend on watching it again.

Edited July 13, 2006 by Van_Dammer

[Adam G]

It's really simple! Stop being such a technophobe!

Guess I could give it a try, BitTorrent is the popular one isnt it?

[ukedge87]

Use Torrentspy.com it's better. Use BitLord as a downloader mate.

[Van_Dammer]

Lucky Number Slevin

Mistaken for a man named Nick Fisher, Slevin Kelevra (Josh Hartnett) becomes caught up in the feud between two rival gangster clans as he cannot pay a debt that is owed to them.

 

Lucky Number Slevin is a tremendous film. It has an interesting premise, the execution is perfect and it certainly manages to maintain your attention throughout. Combining some great action and suspense and dabbling in elements of noir, the story becomes remarkably dark at certain points.

 

Accordingly, this film is rather explicit and features a few instances of violence. Although quite graphic, I wouldn't say that it's too extreme or excessive. It really never goes beyond people being shot or severely beaten...

 

Much to my delight, Josh Hartnett's performance is outstanding. In my opinion, he's a criminally underrated actor. Alongside Hartnett is a talented cast, comprising of the likes of Lucy Liu, Bruce Willis, Morgan Freeman and Ben Kingsley. They're all good in this movie, too.

 

Although you could probably nitpick a couple of facets of Lucky Number Slevin, it's a truly engaging, intense and entertaining film. I rate it very highly.

Edited July 14, 2006 by Van_Dammer

[ukedge87]

Godfather Part 2

 

I think it is personal preference which Godfather film (from the first two) you like the most - but personally, I loved the second one far more than the first.

 

The emphasis this time round is on the son of the Don, Michael, becoming the leader of Contelli family in a rapidly evolving world of gangsters and politics.

 

Beautifully shot, and brillantly acted by Pacino, and De'Niro, this film really is a masterpiece.

 

I could go on, but I'm sure nearly everyone who has read this post will have already seen the film, as it is an all time classic.

[Guest DJM]

The Eye

A very good film, with great plot-twists, great jumpy moments, a creepy atmosphere throughout, and good acting from everyone involved in the film (with a great performance from Angelica Lee in the leading role). The film also has a good soundtrack & good use of music, good effects, and a great and really impressive last 10-minutes. Not as good as I remembered it being, but still head-and-shoulders above most horror movies coming out of America at the moment (and in the past few years), and still a very good film I would recommend everyone to watch.

 

 

Ju-On The Grudge

A good film, with a creepy atmosphere, good tension, solid (if unspectacular) acting performances from most of the cast, and basic (but acceptable) special effects and make-up. On the negative side, there is no real development of the characters, the plot is basic, and with a non-linear format (the film jumps around a lot) the film could be complex and confusing at times for some viewers. In the end The Grudge is recommendable to fans of films like Ringu, but is also not a bad place to start if you are looking to watch your first Asian Horror movie.

There are some very good extras on the 2-disc (UK) Special Edition including an informative commentary by Bey Logan, deleted scenes(with directors comments), an alternative ending(with directors comments), a 30-minute interview with the director, a 17-minute interview with the lead actress, a 10-minute interview with another of the main actresses in the film, 55-minutes of behind-the-scenes featurettes, and a Ju-On true stories featurette.

 

 

The Grudge (US remake)

A good film, which captures the essence of the original (not as creepy or suspenseful, but still has a creepy atmosphere and some tension), has a good cast, better acting, and makes more of an attempt at explaining the story (when compared to the original). The remake has an obvious bigger budget which gives the film much better effects, but still jumps around just as much as the original (at least the original gave you warning when it was changing to a different time). Large parts of the film are a scene-for-scene copy of the original, but in the end The Grudge is not a worthless remake like Psycho as it adds to the original as well as taking from it.

There are differing DVD extras depending upon if you have the Region 1 or Region 2 DVD of The Grudge...

The Region 1 DVD has a small but good selection of extras, including a (Japanese - Takashi Shimizu, Taka Ichise, Takako Fuji) cast and crew commentary, 15 deleted scenes, 3 featurettes, 2 video-diaries and 2 poor short films.

The Region 2 DVD has small but good and interesting selection of extras, including a (American - Sam Raimi, Sarah Michelle Gellar, etc.) cast and crew commentary, a 12-minute

[dannyboy]

I just got around to watching The Incredibles for the first time the other day. Brilliant stuff. I also saw a dodgy copy of Cars, equally superb.

[Mr. Seven]

Hidden

 

Funny Games is one of my favourite films, and this is Austrian director Michael Haneke's latest film. It's a very simple story about a man who starts receiving videotapes of his house seemingly under surveillance, the tapes themselves usually wrapped in some crude drawings perhaps indicating violence, leaving the protagonist no choice but to delve into his past and confont some previously buried demons.

 

It's a strange effort, incredibly slow-moving and well, not much happens. Very little is resolved by the end and you're left with much more questions than answers. It's an examination of and a comment on guilt and suppressed emotion and while certainly well-filmed and acted, I was left wanting. Again it's less of a film than a social commentary, and with no music to speak of on the soundtrack, coupled in with camera shots that linger longer than you might feel neccessary, it creates a very uneasy tone.

 

The message is clear of course, that people aren't safe from the various demons that inhabit the world, whether they are those we create or those who seek us out, and that there is more to society than meets the eye, but the film is still a little frustrating in it's ambiguity, but then again, that's pretty much the point.

[Van_Dammer]

Match Point

Chris Wilton (Jonathan Rhys Meyers), Former tennis player-turned instructor meets Tom Hewett, a man from a very privileged background. As he becomes close to the Hewitt family, Tom's sister Chloe (Emily Mortimer) falls for him. However, Chris has fallen for Nola Rice (Scarlett Johansson), Tom's fiancee.

 

Match Point is a film with huge emphasis on character development. The majority of it is used in this respect and it's extremely effective as you genuinely begin to care about or take interest in each individual, which is important because your perception alters as the story progresses. This is especially true with Chris Wilton. There's also a number of layers to this well-written tale and some great twists, too.

 

Much credit must be given to Woody Allen, who wrote and directed this film.

 

I have two main criticisms, though. The first is the films pacing. Granted, Match Point covers a lengthy diegetic time span, but, to me, some parts of it seem too drawn out and others seem rushed. It actually makes it rather dull at certain points.

 

MAJOR SPOILERS

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Secondly, I think the ending could have been better executed. Why are the police so laxed in their investigation? At which point, why is it never mentioned that Nola was pregnant?

Overall, Match Point is a very good drama, but it's a bit overrated.

Edited July 15, 2006 by Van_Dammer