What Movie Did You Just Watch? ... And Robin

[dvdjunkie]

jpanimation wrote:

Also, call me old fashioned but I still judge movies at face value. I don't believe you should have to read the book (or whatever the source material is), or watch some documentary/supplemental material to enjoy the movie. If the filmmaker is doing their job, you should get everything you need on screen, and be able to make a fair critique.

If you paid attention to the first movie and saw all the hints in it of the 'coming of The Avengers', then you would have understood the second one a lot more.

I know everyone has their own taste in movies, and has their own opinion, but when a director puts so much into a film, and the actors who are playing these roles are asked to make you believe that they are that character, you need to be more understanding of what is going on.

This movie is not truly a stand-alone film, although I think it is, to most people. It is a "lead-up" to a much more intricate force in the comic universe. If you paid close attention to it and understood the references that are made, and that paid attention to that last scene after the credits, it makes this film make a whole lot more sense.

You will understand that we are not getting an "Iron Man 3" next, we are getting "Thor" and "The Ultimate Avengers" first and then "Iron Man 3".
This film is like the other trilogies that have come before it, "Star Wars", "The Lord of the Rings", and is just filling in the gaps until we get the next chapter.

I would suggest that you have a movie night, and watch "Iron Man" clear through with no distractions, and then "Iron Man 2", watch for all the hints in each of these movies and pay close attention to the dialogue between characters and don't forget to watch each film until the last scene at the end of the credits, and see if you don't get a different opinion of this movie.

And, by the way, the supplement material on Disc Two of each of the Blu-ray versions of the film are not to fill in the gaps or try to make you understand what you have just seen, but rather to tease you into what is coming in the future, and expose the little hints that are shown in each of the films, to make you go back and watch them again.

[PeterPanfan]

Last night I saw The Kids Are All Right at our local film festival, and I really, really enjoyed it. It was funny, dramatic, and just a great display of a dysfunctional, but loving family. I especially enjoyed Julianne Moore. Full review will be up on the blog within a few days.

[Disney-Fan]

Just got back from Piranha 3D - It seems as if all the piranhas have shredded this movie of any sign of artistic flare, but I still had so much fun. This is what Snakes on a Plane should've been!

[TheSequelOfDisney]

The Nightmare Before Christmas

It's not the best movie, but it's a good watch once or twice a year.

[SmartAleck25]

Hannah Montana: The Movie (2009)- 7/10
Surprisingly a very good movie, not as in best picture quality, but as in a rather fun little movie to watch. A lot better than the show, but the absence of many main characters kinda threw me off. Love the music.

[PixarFan2006]

The Howling (1981) - Please see the Halloween Viewing Log 2010 thread for my opinion.

[jpanimation]

Let the Right One In (2008) 7/10 - finally got around to watching this one. I saw a special on it back when it first came out and was garnering all the attention but due to it being a Foreign Film (Swedish), I gave up on trying to find it. Now that the obligatory American remake (Let Me In) is coming out, I decided to pursue the original again and to my surprise, my library had 3 copies of this thing on DVD all this time. I'll start off by saying I was disappointed in it and don't feel it deserves all the attention it's getting (especially on IMDB). With that said, it's one of the only decent vampire flicks out there.

The story take place in 1982 Sweden, where a young Edgar Winter - I mean Oskar - is struggling with his parent's divorce, bully problems, and status as a social outcast. He has vented up anger and dreams of hurting the bullies, if only he weren't so puny. In moves a new neighbor to his apartment complex; "Eli" and "her" "father" wink wink spoiler spoiler. What luck, this girl turns out to be a vampire with problems too. They quickly become friends and exploring their relationship is the bulk of this movie, with the vampire attacks and such taking back seat. On many occasions, like with the forever young "female" vampire with caretaker, I was reminded of the Japanese animated television show Blood +. From the piano score to the lack of crucifix, this is one of the more original vampire flicks. Decent acting, decent effects, decent script, decent all around. The only scene that I didn't like was the "cat attack" (you'll know what I mean). It was just embarrassing and that kind of crap one would expect in The Omen just didn't fit the movie I had been watching up to that point.

One final note, this may be a plot hole and spoiler all at once, but there was never a reason for Eli or her caretaker to ever kill for blood. Partway through the movie, Eli reveals she has quite a bit of money, in which case she could've just used her money to get blood from the blood bank. Killing and putting herself in harms way was unnecessary.

The Howling (1981) - Please see the Halloween Viewing Log 2010 thread for my opinion.

I agree with you; the whole werewolf cult thing was just lame and didn't live up to what the mystery/suspense part of the first half of the movie was building (not to mention, regardless of what others think, the werewolf effects just don't hold up). An American Werewolf in London is one of the only werewolf movies I like. It balances humor and horror with some great makeup effects. It's funny how vampires and werewolves are soo popular and yet they rarely ever appear in decent movies - EVER.

If you paid attention to the first movie and saw all the hints in it of the 'coming of The Avengers', then you would have understood the second one a lot more.

It's not a lack of understanding that contributes to Iron Man 2's many shortcomings. In my original review I wrote way back, I went out of my way to make it clear that what I saw was squandered potential and made it a point of outlining what didn't happen, what happened, and what should've happened. I'm very familiar with the source material and saw all the setups, but that doesn't lessen the fact that those subplots are really just an ill-conceived attempt at marketing their next franchise while hindering what otherwise was a solid script.

[Goliath]

Millennium 1: Part 1- Men who hate women (2009)

Also known as Män som hatar kvinnor in its original Swedish. This was one of the most talked-about and written-about movies of 2009 (at least in The Netherlands), and a darling of the critics and a smash box office hit. But after watching it, I still don't know what the fuss was all about. I mean, it's a decent film, but there's not much to it. After an hour and a half, which is filled by a routine investigation into a murder and, simultaneously, the story of a young girl who gets abused, it ends rather abrupt with a cliffhanger -"watch part 2 to find out how the story continues"...

Adam's apples (2005)

Also known as Adam's Äppelen in its original Danish. Great, wonderful, thought-provoking movie. I think Disney Duster should see this movie. And that's not meant as a sarcastic jab, but a sincere advice.

Edit: I wrote: "and that's meant as a sarcastic jab", when I wanted to write: "that's NOT meant..." Really reveals my true nature, doesn't it?

[jpanimation]

Millennium 1: Part 1- Men who hate women (2009)

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo is - like the movie I mentioned above - also receiving the obligatory American remake treatment (with David Fincher attracted). It's sad that so many foreign films are remade less then a decade after they're made (this is especially bad with horror movies) just to appeal to a single county who can't get past the language and/or culture barrier. It wouldn't be so bad if they did something to improve upon the previous work but they instead just hire familiar faces to market, bump up the budget (usually with the addition of unnecessary CGI), and add a fart joke or two.

[carolinakid]

I watched the Hammer Dracula marathon on TCM on 10/1...
Horror of Dracula
Brides of Dracula (my favorite of the four; Martita Hunt is a hoot!)
Dracula Prince of Darkness
Dracula Has Risen from the Grave

[PixarFan2006]

I watched my Blu-Ray of Iron Man 2 yesterday afternoon, maiking it my second viewing of the film altogether.

Although I enjoyed it a bit more than I did the first time, I still feel that this film was missing something. It did have its moments and the action was still good, but it pales in comparison to the first film (which is true for a lot of sequels). One of my problems is that I feel they did not focus too much on the villian's background. There were also some scenes that could've been cut down a bit (Like the grand prix scene).

Other than that, It is still a pretty decent superhero film. Robert Downey Jr was still great as Tony Stark/Iron Man.

3.5/5

[Goliath]

All this debate and talk about Iron Man made me think of...


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[UmbrellaFish]

Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street

Just happened to catch in on BBC. Not really that good. I mean, it wasn't awful, but it could have been better. Johnny Depp was adequate, but Helena Bonham-Carter was pretty awful. Lansbury's interpretation of the role was far superior. I mean, I know there's a difference when you translate a role from the theatre to the screen, but Helena just didn't seem to really care the whole time she was acting in it.

Also wondering why Johanna didn't kill the man in the bedlam. It's a small detail, but it helps the story so much, proving everybody and everything has the ability to reach that breaking point where they simply go insane.

One thing I prefered within the film was having an actual child play Toby. I've heard that children's work codes could possibly interfere with having a child play Toby on Broadway, however, which may be why Toby is played by an adult in recorded version of the play (not sure about the recent revivals, though).

[blackcauldron85]

I went to a free screening of Never Let Me Go last night. To the guy looking for opinions after the screening, I said that it was "weird, but good". I went home and went on Wikipedia and read about the novel it was based on, and a pretty big thing that wasn't directly mentioned in the film but should have mentioned was in the synopsis of the novel, so I liked the film a lot more having known that. If that made sense. But it was good.

[pap64]

Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street

Just happened to catch in on BBC. Not really that good. I mean, it wasn't awful, but it could have been better. Johnny Depp was adequate, but Helena Bonham-Carter was pretty awful. Lansbury's interpretation of the role was far superior. I mean, I know there's a difference when you translate a role from the theatre to the screen, but Helena just didn't seem to really care the whole time she was acting in it.

Also wondering why Johanna didn't kill the man in the bedlam. It's a small detail, but it helps the story so much, proving everybody and everything has the ability to reach that breaking point where they simply go insane.

One thing I prefered within the film was having an actual child play Toby. I've heard that children's work codes could possibly interfere with having a child play Toby on Broadway, however, which may be why Toby is played by an adult in recorded version of the play (not sure about the recent revivals, though).

Glad to know I am not the only one that didn't like this film. I agree that it's far from awful. It's disappointing to say the least. Now, I have never seen the musical so I can't compare the movie to it, but I didn't like the songs. There was very little passion put until these songs, and I suspect it's because none of the actors could sing and thus had to learn to sing, and it shows, especially Johnny Depp who sounds so quiet despite being this raging mad man who only wants revenge for everything done to him.

[UmbrellaFish]

Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street

Just happened to catch in on BBC. Not really that good. I mean, it wasn't awful, but it could have been better. Johnny Depp was adequate, but Helena Bonham-Carter was pretty awful. Lansbury's interpretation of the role was far superior. I mean, I know there's a difference when you translate a role from the theatre to the screen, but Helena just didn't seem to really care the whole time she was acting in it.

Also wondering why Johanna didn't kill the man in the bedlam. It's a small detail, but it helps the story so much, proving everybody and everything has the ability to reach that breaking point where they simply go insane.

One thing I prefered within the film was having an actual child play Toby. I've heard that children's work codes could possibly interfere with having a child play Toby on Broadway, however, which may be why Toby is played by an adult in recorded version of the play (not sure about the recent revivals, though).

Glad to know I am not the only one that didn't like this film. I agree that it's far from awful. It's disappointing to say the least. Now, I have never seen the musical so I can't compare the movie to it, but I didn't like the songs. There was very little passion put until these songs, and I suspect it's because none of the actors could sing and thus had to learn to sing, and it shows, especially Johnny Depp who sounds so quiet despite being this raging mad man who only wants revenge for everything done to him.

Sweeney Todd: The Musical, Part One

I think you'll like this version much, much more.

[PixarFan2006]

Watched Beauty and the Beast (1991) last night. Cannot really say anything else about the film that has not already been said, but the picture quality of the Blu-Ray was terrific (though the load times were a pain).

[Goliath]

Juno (2007)

Warning: conservatives may not approve. It's the story of a 16-year old girl (played by the then 20 year old Ellen Page) who gets pregnant and decides to look for a nice couple to adopt the baby. It was refreshing to see this handled, not as a heavy-handed drama, but as a light-hearted comedy with some dramatic notes. I had a good time with the film and I think Ellen Page was wonderful in it --just like she was in Hard Candy (2005). I hope to see more of her in the future, because her acting was perfect: funny and natural and believable at the same time, and very fresh and energetic. I also think she looked most beautiful when pregnant (I figured after Polizzi's foot-fetish, I could reveal one of my weird 'likes' as well.)

[blackcauldron85]

^ A guy at work the other day said that I remind him of Juno. Maybe because we're both short? I'm not pregnant, btw. lol. I'm seeing Buried tonight as long as I get there early enough, so I'll share my thoughts afterwards...

[PeterPanfan]

I saw The Town last night, and loved it. Ben Affleck has proved himself as a great director. I was also pleasently surprised by the performances from Blake Lively and Rebecca Hall. Both were great.