What Movie Did You Just Watch? - Shh! It's Starting!

Discussion of non-Disney entertainment.
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Goliath
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Post by Goliath »

11:14 (2003)

This movie was so pointless, that I'm not even going to bother writing my own review, but instead I'm copying one from IMDb:
11:14 sets up a good, if not contrived moral dilemma. A young man who has had a little to drink has a body dropped on his car from a bridge he passes under. Soon the authorities show up, and he's arrested for a murder he didn't commit. Ridiculous, but interesting.

That's basically how I can sum up "11:14": ridiculous, but somewhat interesting. The film is concerned with 10 or so characters and what happens to them at the stroke of "11:14", one fateful night in which a million ludicrous coincidences occur in the town of Middletown. It cross-cuts between various story lines which involve characters all doing very selfish and stupid things, just so we can see how their actions all affect one another and connect.

That's it. The film is concerned with plot mechanics and how the dots all connect, but not with developing any really compelling characters. The film also has little to say other than "your fate can change in an instant", which is something almost every movie says. But the characters are all so despicable, you don't really want to know what happens to them. [...]

The music was goofy and awful. The acting was alright, though none of it really mattered. the cinematography was decent, and the editing fine. But the contrived plot and vapid, empty story proved to me one thing: character matters.
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Post by BelleGirl »

The Illusionist Animated feature based on a script from Jaques Tati tells story of a travelling magician who is struggling to earn his money. A poor young girl decides to come with him as his compagnion. She wants to look good and the poor magician scrapes together all the money he can get to buy her fashionable clothes. Humorous and melancholy at the same time.

The Young Victoria History of queen Victoria's way to the throne and how she met and married her beloved prince Albert. Gorgeous to look at, but a bit boring compared to (for instance) the juicy stories of the Tudors. But why shouldn't royals be allowed marital happiness once in a while? :wink:
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Post by CiciRose »

BelleGirl wrote:The Young Victoria History of queen Victoria's way to the throne and how she met and married her beloved prince Albert. Gorgeous to look at, but a bit boring compared to (for instance) the juicy stories of the Tudors. But why shouldn't royals be allowed marital happiness once in a while? :wink:
I was thinking about checking that movie out :]

The Answer Man and 17 Again.

I really enjoyed both! I would highly recommend them to anyone.

17 Again is a bit more of a guilty pleasure for me but I thought it was really funny and cute. It felt like it was made in the 90s, and I mean that as a very high compliment.

The Answer Man is, naturally, a bit meatier of a movie and if you have, or know someone who has, read Conversations With God or a book like it, you'll definitely get a bit out of the movie :lol: I enjoyed the ending but I do know some people who weren't thrilled with it, without giving anything away.

About to watch 9, I'm pretty excited! :]
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Post by Margos »

Captain Blood - I really enjoyed this movie. Errol Flynn... you know something? He really does look a bit like Flynn Rider, I think. I had never seen him in anything before, but this movie was really very good and he was great in it! I just loved the end, and the look on Bishop's face! :lol: But I have to say, I really loved the character of Peter Blood, and how such a pacifistic guy could become a rebellious swashbuckler. It was just so neat!

Tales of Terror - Now this was just weird. I mean, it was kind of cool in a way. Vincent Price is a treasure, of course. And some of the camera angles in "The Black Cat" were.... really, really interesting. But basically, this was a package feature of thee Edgar Allen Poe stories: "Morella," "The Black Cat," and another one that I can't remember the name of about a guy who is hypnotized when he dies so he is trapped in limbo or something. I wasn't too familiar with the story of "Morella," either. Suffice to say it was creepy as heck. But the one I did recognize, "The Black Cat," was so removed from the source material! You see, it was really more of a mash-up of "The Black Cat" and "The Cask of Amontillado" with just a pinch of an element of "The Tell-Tale Heart." Yeah, it was pretty messed up. But it did have Peter Lorre, so that's pretty interesting. I'm not sure how I felt about this one. It was interesting, and kind of enjoyable, but... I don't know, it was pretty messed up.
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littlefuzzy
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Post by littlefuzzy »

Private School (1983)

I watched it for the story, honest!! :lol:
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Post by Goliath »

littlefuzzy wrote:Private School (1983)

I watched it for the story, honest!! :lol:
Your comment made me curious, so I checked IMDb and it had a 4.7 (out of 10) rating. A user's comments talked about the butts of the three female leads. Is that the reason you watched? :P
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Post by littlefuzzy »

It's one of those cheesy 80s movies that teenagers watched for the goodies... It has quite a few funny bits, I'm not sure about classic moments (other than the topless girl on the horse.) Is it better than the numerous American Pie sequels today? Yes.

I just read that review focussing on the butts, really there was quite a bit more frontal nudity than... erm... "rear-al" nudity. That was basically a mooning scene with a dozen girls at the end of the movie, with pants or panties partially covering most of the real estate.
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Post by jpanimation »

Margos wrote:Captain Blood - I really enjoyed this movie. Errol Flynn... you know something? He really does look a bit like Flynn Rider, I think. I had never seen him in anything before, but this movie was really very good and he was great in it! I just loved the end, and the look on Bishop's face! :lol: But I have to say, I really loved the character of Peter Blood, and how such a pacifistic guy could become a rebellious swashbuckler. It was just so neat!
You know, if you were to ask someone what the definitive Errol Flynn movie was, they would probably tell you The Adventures of Robin Hood, but to me, it's this one (Captain Blood). From Michael Curtiz's great direction to Erich Wolfgang Korngold's fantastic swashbuckling score to Errol Flynn's and Olivia de Havilland's great chemistry; it's just fun all around. I experience the same kind of enjoyment watching Curse of the Black Pearl, which makes sense since they contain some slight similarities (e.g. the direction, great supporting cast lineup in both films, the Caribbean setting, the locations of Port Royal and Tortuga, charming protagonist turned to piracy only to give it up for the girl at the end, the girl being related to the governor, two amazing scores, etc.). Of course, I haven't seen this movie in years so it may no be as good as I'm remembering it.

Similar period revenge flicks, not swashbucklers, that I like are Scaramouche (1952) and The Count of Monte Cristo (2002).
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Post by Widdi »

Batman: Under the Red Hood.

Rivals Mask of the Phantasm as the best animated Batman film. Excellent story, fantastic animation and voice acting. Neil Patrick Harris is perfect as Nighwing (the first Robin) and John DiMaggio (Bender from Futurama) is a surprisingly good Joker. I was expecting a Heath Ledger impersonation, but that is not what I got at all.

I'm hoping this starts off a Batman Animated franchise.

4.5/5.
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Post by PixarFan2006 »

Rented and watched Kick-Ass (2010) today. I thought it was an okay superhero action film. One of my main problems is that there are a few times when it felt like it was going by fast and there are times when it seemed like it was dragging on forever.

Other than that, it was pretty entertaining.
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Post by UmbrellaFish »

Madeline- The live action movie, the first ten or twenty minutes last night. Sweet, very much a family picture. Reminded me of the books which I loved when I was little. Still love to this day in fact. Hopefully I can pick some up sometime.

Planet of the Apes- The original. Perhaps cheesy, especially some ways Heston delivers his lines (still love Ben-Hur and other pieces of his work), and the costumes aren't as astounding as they might have been forty years ago, it's still a fun film and I like to think of it as a long, extended Twilight Zone movie (because Rod Serling was one of the writers, and I believe he was the one who contributed the famous twist ending. Even the author of the original novel, Pierre Boulle, envied that ending).
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Post by Atlantica »

The Taming Of The Shrew : Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton star in this fabulous movie, which is my personal favourite of theirs. They suit their roles perfectly; and Elizabeth more than holds her own against Richard, who was a Shakespeare performer for the London stage.

I reccomend anyone seeing this, if they havnt already :)
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Post by UmbrellaFish »

Charlie and the Chocolate Factory- Starting watching when Augustus went up the chute. Fun movie. I never really liked "Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory". It okay, but a little bit dated so I could never really get into it. I also much prefer Depp's Wonka.

The only thing I don't like about the film were his flashbacks. They didn't need to cut to them, and they could have scrapped that whole extended ending out, along with it. To me, I think Wonka would have been creepier had we seen him to start thinking about his ideas and not showing what he was thinking. That way, we'd wonder how awful his upbringing must have been. It would have added more mystery to the character....
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Post by littlefuzzy »

While I greatly enjoy most of Tim Burton's work (particularly with Danny Elfman for music, and starring Johnny Depp), I still prefer the original Willy Wonka and The Chocolate Factory. Gene Wilder is great as Wonka, Young Frankenstein, the Waco Kid in Blazing Saddles, in the Producers, and just about anything else in which I've seen him.

However, that's not to say I dislike Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. If I view it as a remake, it doesn't compare, but if I take it as it's own film, it's chock full of weird Tim Burton goodness.
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Post by Lazario »

UmbrellaFish wrote:Charlie and the Chocolate Factory- Starting watching when Augustus went up the chute. Fun movie. I never really liked "Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory". It okay, but a little bit dated so I could never really get into it.
Dated? Like The Sound of Music?

littlefuzzy wrote:While I greatly enjoy most of Tim Burton's work (particularly with Danny Elfman for music, and starring Johnny Depp), I still prefer the original Willy Wonka and The Chocolate Factory.
So do I.

Yes, that film tried to dazzle viewers with a lot of sets, costumes, machines, colors, etc. But it defined a generation of fantasy films and... to be crude, came first. It truly is an original. Burton's Charlie is completely disposable. Just one more blah in a sea of same-ol' crap. It's like a vomit-ride at some bad amusement park where some people are on drugs and laughing it up while those people looking around won't eat the refreshments they're selling at the stands because we can see them slipping roofies in the drinks and lacing the food with acid. Take the L out of slick and you tell me what you get.
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Post by UmbrellaFish »

Gone With the Wind- Every time I watch it, it seems a little bit longer. Not that that bothers me. I should probably just wait a little while longer inbetween viewings (albeit the last time I watched GWTW was months ago). Still a magnificent piece.

BTW, Lazario, about that quip about TSOM- I won't be responding because obviously you were just trying to push my buttons (a better Julie Andrews film, btw, if you really wanted a response out of me, would have been Mary Poppins). I'm sorry we have conflicting opinions about "Willy".
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Post by Margos »

You guys do realize how much Roald Dahl hated with a passion Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory. He said no more Charlie movies, and refused to give rights to the sequel.

Well, when Tim went to go beg his widow, she was reluctant, until she sat down and talked to him. She apparently said that Tim "got it," and that his imagination was similar to her late husband's. So she gave him the rights. And she feels that he would have been much more pleased with Tim's version.

I agree. Tim stayed a lot more faithful to the novel. He even had the decency not to butcher the title! And even the elements that he added in himself were rather Dahl-esque. Even the songs come directly from the text of the novel. As a fan of the original novel more than the original film, I must say, even though Willy Wonka is a classic, the newer Charlie movie is much more enjoyable.
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littlefuzzy
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Post by littlefuzzy »

It's been a while since I've read the novels. I need to go through them again one of these days...

Ya know, it would be interesting to see a film of The Great Glass Elevator using today's technology, either live action (maybe even from Tim Burton), or as a completely CG work.


BTW, for me, a film is only "dated" in a few instances:
1. The special effects don't hold up to today's work, although I guess that really just dates the special effects. The CG Scorpion King at the end of The Mummy II was really hokey, and then in Men in Black I always notice the obvious green-screening going on when the space ship crashes inches away from the MiB. The lighting is all wrong...

2. The humor or subject matter are very topical - Jokes about Barry Goldwater or Spiro Agnew (or even Dan Quayle's spelling), parodies of very current movies that aren't destined to be classics, like Date Movie and the other ____ Movies used, and so on.

3. "Near Future" films that try to say they take place 5-10 years in the future, but either jam so many technological advances into the years in a short time, or miss out on things that should have been obvious, so instead of a film that was filmed in 1985, taking place in 1995, it looks like a film that was taking place in 1985...

4. For some reason, the 70s date things more than any other era to me. I'm fine with the 60s and before, and I love 80s movies.
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Post by Lazario »

Margos wrote:You guys do realize how much Roald Dahl hated with a passion Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory. He said no more Charlie movies, and refused to give rights to the sequel.

Well, when Tim went to go beg his widow, she was reluctant, until she sat down and talked to him. She apparently said that Tim "got it," and that his imagination was similar to her late husband's. So she gave him the rights. And she feels that he would have been much more pleased with Tim's version.

I agree. Tim stayed a lot more faithful to the novel. He even had the decency not to butcher the title! And even the elements that he added in himself were rather Dahl-esque. Even the songs come directly from the text of the novel. As a fan of the original novel more than the original film, I must say, even though Willy Wonka is a classic, the newer Charlie movie is much more enjoyable.
Good little history lesson, there, Margaret.

However, if Burton wanted people like me to plug into the "real" Chocolate Factory movie- he would have done more than made it an expensive heap of trash!! It has zero edge to it, it's annoying as hell, and is way too easy for mainstream audiences to digest. If this was pre-Mars Attacks Tim Burton, perhaps the movie would have been something special. Something apart from just something acceptible for the dumbed down masses. Back when the guy used to do more than make things shiny. Back when he could touch real emotions and get to everyone- and the only people who complained were people who thought he went too far. He went too far with Charlie, but only in the way everyone does: flash over substance. And the musical numbers SUCKED! Hard!
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Post by Chernabog_Rocks »

Trick'r'treat
Pollyanna
Clue

and roughly half of the Popeye shorts on Disc 1 of 12 for the Giant 600 Cartoon Collection.
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