DVD's and Films You Have Watched Recently

[DJ Stevie C]

Taxi Driver

 

It's been AAAAGES since I've seen this movie, and was flicking through channels and there it was, right at the start. The story of Travis Bickle. What a crazy little movie, you really feel that he's not a nice guy but the spiral into depression is so well played. It's quite hard to fault it at all, and the end sequence, while being a bit mental, is brillaint.

 

"suck on this" *BANG*

"Whoooooo whoooo!!!"

 

"You crazy son of a bitch you, fucking sun of a bitch I'll kill you, I'll kill you... I KILLLLLL YOU!!! AH FUCKING KILL YOU!!!! Crazy son of a bitch....."

 

Great dialogue

[ukedge87]

I watched Chopper last night. Great film with a chilling performance from Eric Bana. Well directed, beautiful use of colours and a scarily bleak sense of humour.

[Fat Boy Mendoza]

I have just finished watching Reign Over Me starring Don Cheadle and Adam Sandler in a uncommon serious role. The story tells the tale of Alan Johnson (Cheadle), a succesful New York dentist who runs into his college room mate Charlie (Sandler) who he hasn't seen in years. Charlie has lost his wife and 3 daughters in one of the planes used in the 9/11 attacks and has pretty much become an extremely intoverted recluse. Charlie has managed to "forget" everything that has happened in his past and so when he runs into Alan he doesn't recognise him. The film follows Alan's efforts to help Charlie deal with his issues and get some professional help.Although this film doesn't sound like a bunch of laughs I though it was a very powerful and imotive piece of cinema. The two leads were fantastic especially Sandler and it was nice to see him play away from his normal roles. The soundtrack was used as part of the story (they are all songs that Charlie has on vinyl or on his Ipod) and it supplies some cracking tunes, even Bruce Springsteen gets a few tunes in there.I really can't recommend this film enough, I thought it was fantastic.

Just to give a heads up to those of you who have not seen Reign Over Me yet, it is showing everyday this week at 10pm on Sky Premier. I urge you all to watch it. I watched it again today and it was still as fantastic and heartbreaking as the first time I saw it.Any way, on to another film I have seen recently,Walk Hard - The Dewey Cox StoryBought this on DVD and was really looking forward to it as I am a big fan of Judd Apatow films and John C Reilly and I have to say I have not been that disappointed in a film in a long while ! For a comedy I don't think I laughed at all for the whole 90min. I kept looking at the clock to see how long it had left to go. It was just a big, long, silly take on the Walk The Line film with John C Reilly playing the Johnny Cash-esque Dewey Cox. The script was weak but the actors did their best despite it. The only enjoyable part for me was the music as there were a few good original tracks written for the film. Even the cameos from Jack Black, Paul Rudd etc as the Beatles was awful. Considering this was supposed to be a comedy it wasn't that much funnier than the serious biopic it was trying to emulate.Definately give it a miss. I would be interested to hear anyone who said they enjoyed this as.

[Chest Rockwell]

I went to see Iron Man last night.It totally kicked ass... I love Tony Stark; what a role model and a hero. He's a total asshole but I still would really like to be him.

[Loki]

Yeah, I really enjoyed it. Macy is an acting God.The Assasination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford Reeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeely long and drawn out. I love a good western, I love a slow-paced character piece, but this one tried my patience to the limit. The premise was fine, in that Robert Ford was a more complex character than his infamy suggests, and the actor playing him did a good job, but the whole thing could have been done in an hour and a half, not the bloated 2 1/2 hours it took. Any sense of growing destiny or danger or anticipation was leeched away by the huge amount of time people spent on-screen together before anything happened. To me this felt like a director noyt sufficiently reined in by the more experienced producers (though one of them was Ridley Scott, not known for his brevity and conciseness).My other problem was Brad Pitt. I really like Brad Pitt, I think he's a great movie star, but he exudes "acting" through every pore of his body, you can see him acting. In his best roles, the quirky characters of Twelve Monkeys, Fight Club or Ocean's Eleven, it works well. In a totally serious, heavyweight drama like this it really jars. I was like "ooh, look, there's Brad Pitt) every time the camera hit him. Compare that with someone like Daniel Day-Lewis - he inhabits the character so such an extent that you forget who is acting and concentrate entirely on the film.So, 5/10. Disappointed as I'd heard good things. It's not the epic that it thinks it is, and Brad Pitt is miscast.

Wow, just wow. Alarmingly wrong, especially the Pitt/Day-Lewis comparison. I like Day-Lewis, but come on, what you wrote about Pitt exuding "acting" and looking like he's acting to the point where it's distracting is pretty much what Day-Lewis does in every single one of his roles. He overshadows the films he's in because his performance is straight out of the Greek theatre, consistently dripping with bombastic ostentatiousness. Pitt was not miscast in JJ, he was stunning. Subtle when he needed to be, conveying more emotion with a downcast look from his eyes than Day-Lewis with his BOOMING VOICE and distracting John Huston impression in TWBB. You're so wrong on this one Loki, it's actually unacceptable.

God bless you Nev, things are always black and white for you when it comes to film!You'll never convince me that Brad Pitt is a better screen actor than Day-Lewis, so don't even bother, and I'm a big fan of Pitt. He's one of this generation's best film stars, but he is not capable of making the switch to serious acting in the way that his fellow film star Clooney is, because he is incapable of turning off his own magnetism for the sake of a role. I haven't seen There Will Be Blood, but apart from Gangs, I don't think your description of Daniel Day-Lewis' acting style is valid at all. You seem to have forgotten about all his other many excellent and subtle performances from My Beautiful Laundrette on, I need not list them here.This was not a great film. It clearly thought it was something special, but it actually diluted its message with unacceptably slow pace and poor casting, and I stand by that. But if you thought it was a major work of modern cinema, then we'll just have to agree to disagree.

[Mr. Seven]

Watch TWBB, and tell me Day Lewis's performance doesn't veer into overblown parody, especially in the SO RIDICULOUS I CANNOT BELIEVE REVIEWERS ARE JUST LETTING IT SLIDE final scene.

[DJ Stevie C]

Watch TWBB, and tell me Day Lewis's performance doesn't veer into overblown parody, especially in the SO RIDICULOUS I CANNOT BELIEVE REVIEWERS ARE JUST LETTING IT SLIDE final scene.

Yeah.It's the same as with "No Country For Old Men" While both films were very well done (mostly)

both seemed to have odd endings that didn't close the story properly. Almost as if the studio's had said "No no! Don't finish it, make 'em think it's one big swerve or summat!"

Not really anything concrete spoiler wise in there, but just incase.

Edited June 3, 2008 by DJ Stevie C

[Mr. Seven]

No Country had a perfect ending. TWBB's ending is so jarring and cartoonish it sits out of sync with everything that came before it. No Country's ending is brave and subtle.

[DJ Stevie C]

No Country had a perfect ending. TWBB's ending is so jarring and cartoonish it sits out of sync with everything that came before it. No Country's ending is brave and subtle.

Maybe it should've stopped after the scene before the last one.Becuase the final scene just didn't make any sense really, when the credits started rolling I was like "what?". TWBB is way OTT you're absolutey right. I'm not saying either are bad films because I did enjoy them.

[Mr. Seven]

What didn't make sense about No Country's final scene? Film opens with TLJ's character telling us a story that left him emotionally scarred, and it ends with him all but announcing his retirement due to his violent disconnection from his life's work.

[DJ Stevie C]

What didn't make sense about No Country's final scene? Film opens with TLJ's character telling us a story that left him emotionally scarred, and it ends with him all but announcing his retirement due to his violent disconnection from his life's work.

It just felt like there was no conclusion to it.And the last line was just strange.I dunno, when I saw it at the Cinema the power went off for about half an hour so maybe my concentration was broken too much, but it didn't satisfy me as a film overall at the time. Like I said didn't say it was a bad film, just a bit odd at the end.

[Murtz]

Watched a few films over the past few weeks.. exams have finished and have nothing better to do!

 

Wild Hogs

 

I enjoyed this alot. Watched it with the family and it was one of those films that you just dont regret watching at all. I wouldnt watch it again.. but its definately something that anyone could enjoy. All 4 main actors are great.. and seem to have great chemistry with each other.

 

Harold and Kumar 2

 

The first one was one of the funniest movies I've seen.. and this one was pretty hilarious too. Not a patch on the first one.. it seemed to just focus on 'nasty humour'.. whereas the first one was just serious humour!. Having said that.. you just have to laugh at Harold's tantrums. Looking forward to the 3rd one!

 

Indiana Jones 4

 

Dont really know what to make of this.. it was pretty good.. but just seemed to plod along a little. I loved the first 3.. and this one wasnt far behind in the 'all out adventure' scheme of things.. but it didnt really keep me gripped till the end. Dont regret watching it.. but dont think I'd watch it again.

 

This Is England

 

I watched this last night.. and loved it. The scene at the end was fucked up... its one of those scenes that just make you stare at the screen in a daze. The lil kid was quality.

 

Pirates of the Carribean 3

 

Loved it! Its so much better the second time you see it. I remember going into the cinema last year thinking its going to be on the same level as the first 2.. but it wasnt.. so I was a bit disappointed. But after watching it again its much better than I thought at first.

 

Going to watch No Country For Old Men tonight.. hopefully it lives up to the hype!!

[Au]

It just felt like there was no conclusion to it.

I'm with Nev on this, whilst a bit abrupt for most, I think the end to the film tied it up nicely, it brought it full circle and, in essence, was what the "No country for old men" title actually was - his father had grown to the point where he had felt irrelevent to the world around him. After everything he'd just been through, Bell realised that he too was at a point where the world, to him, was so completely disconnected from what he wanted it to be much like his father.His father had trodden the same tracks as him and he had therefore found peace and comfort in the fact that it wasn't just him that had experienced this feeling but that it came with every generation. Edited June 3, 2008 by elegia

[Mr. Seven]

Wild Hogs its definately something that anyone could enjoy.

Anyone with a lobotomy maybe. Murtz, you must be the most easily impressed film watcher in the history of the world. You remind me of the "Aren't things brilliant?" guy from The Fast Show.Anyway, I watched Juno tonight, and fuck me did I hate it. How much did I hate it? Let me count the ways:1: The fucking dialogue. More than one review has said that the first ten minutes of Juno are quite grating and irritating due to the dialogue, but once you get past it, the film improves dramatically. I don't agree with this, as the dialogue grates throughout, but the first ten minutes are indeed torture. The phrase "honest to blog" might well be the worst three words strung together since "the final solution". Say it out loud. Sounds retarded doesn't it? It doesn't stop there. People often criticise Tarantino for writing dialogue that doesn't sound realistic and is just there because it sounds cool, and yeah, he does do that, but sweet jesus Diablo Cody has peppered her script with about a hundred too many oh-so-clever quips and one-liners that irritate deeply instead of impressing. It's a film that tries way too hard to be cool, and unfortunately it's been swallowed whole by a stupid amount of people.2: Juno, the character, is a one-note walking sarcasm spewing machine. People have confused this irritating smart-arse as an intelligent, independent and layered character. Wrong, she's a cunt. She's not admirable. She's not a role model for young girls. She's a fucking dickhead in need of a slap. There is nothing winsome or endearing about her. I spent the entire running time wishing something terrible would happen to her. Ellen Page got rave reviews for her performance, but I came out of this hating her. 3: The soundtrack. If I never hear another Moldy Peaches song it will be too soon. Not familiar with their work? After this film you'll have heard all their songs and any song they'll ever write in the future. Closing the film with two of the characters singing one of their songs smacked of such desperation to reel in the indie crowd it was vomit inducing. Sure there's some Donovan every now and then to appease those with taste, but overall it's wall to wall with shit twee folk music that is neither deep nor inspiring. And it's fucking everywhere. There's no room to breathe. If someone isn't spouting something really, like, clever man, you're drowning in Kimya Dawson's irritating as FUCK lazy vocals.

"Two months before we started shooting Juno, Ellen Page was hanging out in my office, when I asked her 'What kind of music do you think Juno listens to?' Without pause, she blurted out 'The Moldy Peaches!' and within seconds she was downloading songs on my computer. The first track she played was 'Anyone Else But You'. This song, more than any other, defined the sound of the film: a patchwork of homemade sounds made by teenagers whose senses of humour and honesty rang through the scrappy tape recorder they used to capture their chicken-scratch lyrics."

Cheers for that Jason, you fucking moron.4: The "Oh it's the little indie movie that could" rubbish. Every year one of the supposed indie flicks gets plucked from obscurity to massive acclaim. The most recent example of which is Little Miss Sunshine, which while flawed is an infinitely better film than Juno. Something about Juno's success felt very artificial to me, like it was rubber stamped and campaigned for. I can't believe it's made over $220 million. Equally I can't believe the awards it's won and been nominated for. This film just left me cold. 5: The "it's an issue movie" crowd. No, it isn't. It doesn't actually have anything to say about abortion or teen pregnancy. The pregnancy is effectively the McGuffin (Look it up kids......Holy shit, McGuff is her surname in the movie! How fucking cheeky is that? I'm a genius.) which drives the plot. The film doesn't actually have anything to say about any major issues. It doesn't neccessarily claim to, but it's been lauded by both the pro-choice and pro-life crowd, despite not actually providing anything groundbreaking. Yeah five is enough. It's just boring, and horribly overrated. Diablo Cody is a hack and in a very short space of time, she'll be exposed as one. Edited June 7, 2008 by Mr. Seven

[klown]

Good...someone else thinks Juno is as soul-sapping and morally shit as i did..fuck the boring its a generations film...if its a generations film..then fuck it...i want nothing to do with the idiots that form this "generation", far as i'm concerned, they can all get cancer and die.and yes...only an idiot can find as much as a molecule of fun from the shit that is Wild Hogs, dont get me wrong, s brain dead comedy is harmless..but this was just a lump of pure idiotic shite.