DVD's and Films You Have Watched Recently

[Whinehouse]

I haven't. It's on the list along with "The Women". And now "Nick and Norah's infinite playlist". It sounds heartwarming.

 

More immediately, a friend has kindly bought me "Serving Sara" starring Chandler Matthew Perry and Liz Hurley. It was received somewhat poorly on release:

 

Reception

As of August 2007, the film had score of 18 out of 100 on Metacritic based on 26 reviews, indicating "extreme dislike or disgust." On Rotten Tomatoes, 5% of critics gave the film positive reviews based on 103 reviews (5 "fresh", 98 "rotten").

 

Oh my.

 

Much time was spent perusing CEX's cornucopia of shit rom-coms to find a film that had a balance of triteness and, erm, value.

 

I shouldered the shame of this purchase purely for a contemptuous review. It certainly sounded like it had the material to deliver the goods. Get writing!

[Gladstones Bitch]

I watched The Departed for the 1st time last night on Film 4, what a tremendous film it was as well the acting was top notch especially Nicholson. I've got 1 question though for the people who have seen it. Just before the end DiCaprio gave that psychiatrist an envelope to open if he died or anything happened to him, now unless I missed it did she open it? I'm sure she never.

[alex1]

just seen a couple of films that im keen on in hmv sale. however these particular films seem to have some varied reviews(and for some reason im always somewhat swayed by reviews).

 

so then, what do you all make of Juno and Burn After Reading?

[SteelEdge]

just seen a couple of films that im keen on in hmv sale. however these particular films seem to have some varied reviews(and for some reason im always somewhat swayed by reviews).

 

so then, what do you all make of Juno and Burn After Reading?

 

Not seen Burn After Reading. Juno (on these boards in particular) seems to be a love it or hate it film (I've seen Mr Seven have more than one rant about it in this very thread), but for me I thought it was an enjoyable comedy albeit with a pretty basic plot. I'd say its worth a purchase if its only a few quid but there's plenty here who will say avoid like the plague.

[NEWM]

just seen a couple of films that im keen on in hmv sale. however these particular films seem to have some varied reviews(and for some reason im always somewhat swayed by reviews).

 

so then, what do you all make of Juno and Burn After Reading?

 

Not seen Burn After Reading. Juno (on these boards in particular) seems to be a love it or hate it film (I've seen Mr Seven have more than one rant about it in this very thread), but for me I thought it was an enjoyable comedy albeit with a pretty basic plot. I'd say its worth a purchase if its only a few quid but there's plenty here who will say avoid like the plague.

 

I loved Juno. It was far, FAR too "perfect" considering the massive events that were taking place in people's lives and uses seasonal time changes to avoid shooting scenes in which the characters actually have to confront and deal with the consequences and effects of their actions, but I loved it anyway. I think if you can get round the lazy storytelling (and the fucking pretentious soundtrack, for that matter), it's very enjoyable.

 

God, I've slagged it off there more than I thought I would. Anyway, I rate it.

 

I really enjoyed Burn After Reading first time round, but second time it pissed me off, being too snarky for it's own good and revelling in it's own irrverence. Thought the whole thing came off as pretty smug once I knew what was coming. People's mileage with it seem to vary wildly though.

[EdgarTheSlouch]

Watched Derailroaded this morning. Awesome little doc about outsider artist Larry Wild Man Fischer. Music aside ( still have his Merry Go Round song in my head) big spotlight on mental health

Edited June 30, 2009 by EdgarTheSlouch

[Jimmy_kahoona]

I love Huckabees

 

its a crazy, weird sort of movie that difficult to explain. i`ll let the director tell,

 

Here

[NEWM]

I love Huckabees

 

its a crazy, weird sort of movie that difficult to explain. i`ll let the director tell,

 

Here

[Fallout Boy]

Following my rom-com plunge, I checked out Franklyn. For those who don't know what that is, long story short, it was released earlier this year to fairly average reviews and box office. Anyways, it's essentially about four characters who are lost souls or suffering from some form of loss. Three of these characters live in contemporary London, while the other, a masked vigilante resides in a dystopian future where he intends to assassinate a cult leader. All four are connected somehow.

 

Suffice to say, this film could very easily have been shit. Eva Green plays a tortured art student who makes videos of her suicide attempts. Sam Riley (of Control fame) plays a recently dumped and therefore heartbroken guy who is desperate to connect with his childhood sweetheart, and some other actor whose name I have forgotten is searching for his lost son. Meanwhile, in the nightmarish Meanwhile City, Ryan Phillippe is donning a mask and attempting to fight crime. On paper, it's a potential recipe for disaster, an apparent mix of arthouse drama and sci-fi fantasy, and yet I was completely won over by it. Anyone who has watched more than a few films and has a brain should quickly figure out what is actually going on, but the story remains quite compelling throughout, and the acting is largely impressive, although Green and Riley are slightly iffy at times. The actor whose name I can't remember is very convincing as a tormented father looking for his son, and Ryan Phillippe, who I think is an extremely underrated actor who often gets little credit because he's stupidly good-looking, is excellent in his role, bringing pathos and energy to a role that veers a little bit too close to Rorschach (Watchmen) and V (V For Vendetta) territory, but manages to make it his own.

 

Check it out, as it seems nobody has seen it!

 

I actually will, on that basis. Ryan Philippe is definitely under-rated; I thought he was absolutely perfect and spot-on in Dangerous Liaisons.

I didn't think Ryan Philippe was that noticeable in Dangerous Liaisons to be honest.

 

I recently watched American Gangster, which I thought was one of the best films I've seen in a long time. Russell Crowe and Denzel Washington were absolutely perfect and spot-on in their roles and they were actually in the film.

[Barley]

Aqua Teen Hunger Force Colon Movie Film for Theaters. Apart from the tedious fart jokes it was alright.

[Carbomb]

Following my rom-com plunge, I checked out Franklyn. For those who don't know what that is, long story short, it was released earlier this year to fairly average reviews and box office. Anyways, it's essentially about four characters who are lost souls or suffering from some form of loss. Three of these characters live in contemporary London, while the other, a masked vigilante resides in a dystopian future where he intends to assassinate a cult leader. All four are connected somehow.

 

Suffice to say, this film could very easily have been shit. Eva Green plays a tortured art student who makes videos of her suicide attempts. Sam Riley (of Control fame) plays a recently dumped and therefore heartbroken guy who is desperate to connect with his childhood sweetheart, and some other actor whose name I have forgotten is searching for his lost son. Meanwhile, in the nightmarish Meanwhile City, Ryan Phillippe is donning a mask and attempting to fight crime. On paper, it's a potential recipe for disaster, an apparent mix of arthouse drama and sci-fi fantasy, and yet I was completely won over by it. Anyone who has watched more than a few films and has a brain should quickly figure out what is actually going on, but the story remains quite compelling throughout, and the acting is largely impressive, although Green and Riley are slightly iffy at times. The actor whose name I can't remember is very convincing as a tormented father looking for his son, and Ryan Phillippe, who I think is an extremely underrated actor who often gets little credit because he's stupidly good-looking, is excellent in his role, bringing pathos and energy to a role that veers a little bit too close to Rorschach (Watchmen) and V (V For Vendetta) territory, but manages to make it his own.

 

Check it out, as it seems nobody has seen it!

 

I actually will, on that basis. Ryan Philippe is definitely under-rated; I thought he was absolutely perfect and spot-on in Dangerous Liaisons.

I didn't think Ryan Philippe was that noticeable in Dangerous Liaisons to be honest.

 

Whoops, my bad. I always confuse Cruel Intentions for Dangerous Liaisons, titlewise. But you know what I mean: he had the Valmont role nailed.

 

I recently watched American Gangster, which I thought was one of the best films I've seen in a long time. Russell Crowe and Denzel Washington were absolutely perfect and spot-on in their roles and they were actually in the film.

 

I've seen it twice, it's a tremendous film. Washington was great, if slightly formulaic, and I thought Chwietel Ejiofor gave a good account of himself.

[Harvey Dent]

After reading the comments about A Time To Kill a few pages back, I added it to my rental list and just watched it. Its a very powerful drama with a very strong cast. I was gripped the whole way through and really enjoyed it, cheers for mentioning that one guys.

Edited June 30, 2009 by Andy Of Deth

[GalaxyV.2]

I just thought Juno was incredibly smug tbh

[Carbomb]

After reading the comments about A Time To Kill a few pages back, I added it to my rental list and just watched it. Its a very powerful drama with a very strong cast. I was gripped the whole way through and really enjoyed it, cheers for mentioning that one guys.

 

Glad you enjoyed it! It's such an intense film, and I can't think of a single under-par performance in it.

[Joe_the_Lion]

Went to see Public Enemies last night. Oh dear.

 

The trailer looked rather excellent, so much so that it was the wife who suggested we go and see it - this is important because it makes it one of 'her films' and means that she has to see whatever I want to next or I'm not sitting through Harry Fucking Potter, the trailer was misleading to say the least.

 

I avoided all of the reviews and went in full of optimism......................where to start?

 

Firstly I have to say that I would love to live in the depression era because it looked fucking awesome with not a hint of hardship for anyone. In fact I reckon the start of the film was changed because someone realised that without the bit of text at the beginning that told you that it was the depression era you would never know it from anything that followed.

 

Both Depp and Bale are usless/wasted. Depp looks like a man who was given little in the way of a fleshed out character to play and therefore compensates by giving something of a 'performance', it's not Pirates bad but it's still shit. Bale is also given little to work with and does what seems to come naturally - put on an accent to show how hard he's working and then proceed to sulk his way through the whole thing.

 

Then we have the fucking camera. The whole handheld wobbly thing is bad enough, it's totally innappropriate to the subject matter and jarrs whenever it's used, but luckily the fact that it's handheld isn't the worst thing - nothing can prepare you for the horror of the digital hard focus nature of the handheld camera work in this film. I don't know what efffect Mann was going for but making your action scenes look like The Bold and the Beautiful can't have been the aim can it?

 

In fact I'm giving too much credit there - one of the later action scenes looks like it isn't part of an actual film but rather has been filmed by someone on the set who is filming a 'Making of........' feature. How can the man who made Heat put out this shit and why did no one have the balls to tell him?

 

Then there's the plot which, if you write it down, only seems to cover enough ground to produce around 30 minuts of screentime and is about as interesting and dynamic as lilo.

 

Never before have so many people worked so hard and spent so much money to make something so crappy and cheap looking.