DVDizzy Forum

I just finished watching Pinocchio a few minutes ago. I have a lot of time on my hands, obviously. Since I watch a movie almost everyday. Oh and I really like Monstro! He's fierce, cruel, and evil. That's why I like him! Oh yeah, my favorite Disney quote: "I'm a real boy!"
And guess what I am. Actually I'm a young adult/teenager. I perfer young adult, it's more mature than teenager. If you give teenagers an inch, they swim all over you.

Well, after watching the superb Shooting the Past I was inspired to view Keeping Mum, only due to the fact that both feature Emila Fox.

Keeping Mum

"British comedy at its very best!" exclaims a remark from The Daily Mirror on the case's cover. Er, no. Not really. Not at all infact. Unless, that is, you happen to live in a Britain of about 25 years ago. This is a film that actually sends the clock spinning backwards when it comes to the art of comedy.

The film is a lazy and slip-shod hodge-podge of British comedy clichés. And everybody taking part in the film knows this as well, and really can't be bothered. You know something's wrong when Dame Maggie Smith simply goes through the motions in her performance. Meanwhile, Rowen Atkinson simply reprises his socially inept comedy vicar routine (first seen in the footlights of the early 80s), and even the legend that is Patrick Swayze seems duller than dishwater.

It's a shame, because the film does touch upon some dark concepts. Well, I say it touches on them, but really it hides from them in the shadows when ever they make a brief apprarence, and runs away screaming whenever it feels threatened. As a result, nothing has any depth or emotion to it.

It's simply not good enough to simply dance around such content these days. Not now the sheer evilness of some of the Little Britain characters and the grotesque humour of The League of Gentlemen have opened up the door to dark comedy (a door, incidentally, that was kicked down, chopped up with an axe and burnt to cinders before being left to rot by the sheer sick black comedy that was Nighty Night).

I really cannot see just who this film was aimed at. Its not family friendly light kiddie fare (like at times it so desperately seems to want to be) as it's rated '15', but its also not adult or edgy enough to satisfy the older viewers. Even the sex references that I assume led to the 15 certificate are barely above the innuendo of the typical BBC nudge-nudge wink-wink sitcom of the 70's and 80's.

It just… 'is'. And no criticism can be worse for a film; it doesn't fail because it inspires to greatness, it just has no ambition at all.

Still, Emila Fox gives a typically wonderful performance in the film's prologue, which is actually funny because she plays it straight. (And it must be said, I've only just noticed her resemblance to Maggie Smith is uncanny – nobody could have been case better to play Maggie's character in her twenties during the flashback) and some people (mainly, I would suspect, Americans) may enjoy the stereotypical out-of-touch presentation of British rural life that is seen in the film. I assume it appeals to somebody.

Just yesterday I watched Mysterious Skin which has sneaked into my Top 5 of '05 list, and Crossroads (2002) - my ultimate guilty pleasure.

*tlm

I just finished watching Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children

I borrowed this off a friend who bought it release date. I wasn't sure what to expect, but I really wanted to see it! Overall the movie was really good, especially the ending. I'm not sure if i'll buy it though, I'll probably wait for the price to come down a bit first.

Final Fantasy: Advent Children : Need to watch it again because I didn't understand what was happening there (as I said, I didn't play the game.... but I'll watch the summary of it on Disc 1). However, the movie is GOREGEOUS and the battle scenes AWESOME.

This is a must buy for any animation fan; and the replay value is huge.


Burnt Offerings: Wanted to watch something scary last night, and rented this. I had high expectation for it since it seems the most scary movies were made between the late 60's and 70's.... but meh. I still didn't get the ending.

The movie wasn't scary at all and on top of that throughout the whole film it keeps building a great suspense for the ending and then....: .

I just saw Stick It.
Awesome movie. I really liked it and it was truthfull and honest to the sport, imo. There are a few parts that only a gymnast could understand, but they can easily be explained. Unlike Bring It on, in this movie, it's really hard to tell that there is a stunt double for Haley and Joanne.
I even ordered myself a Stick It t-shirt and wore it there today.

I just rented Hostel. I was very dissapointed with it. The first hour is all sex and boobs which isn't bad if it's not supposed to be a horror movie. Then there's 3 torture scenes, which I saw one already in an online clip, and another little graphic scene and that's the movie. I'll still check out Hostel II coming out in December or January though.

Over the course of the day I watched Return to Green Acres.

Midterms are over so I rewarded myself with a couple of guilty pleasures:

<b>Dickie Roberts, Former Child Star</b>: I've been a David Spade fan since <i>Tommy Boy</i>.

<b>Bambi II</b>: Not perfect, but still very cute...except for Thumper. Why'd they have to make him so obnoxious?

Lucylover1986 wrote:I just rented Hostel. I was very dissapointed with it. The first hour is all sex and boobs which isn't bad if it's not supposed to be a horror movie. Then there's 3 torture scenes, which I saw one already in an online clip, and another little graphic scene and that's the movie. I'll still check out Hostel II coming out in December or January though.

Yeah I was disappointed too. I only flinched at one part of the film, and remember laughing at one point, along with the rest of the cinema. I didn't know they were releasing a sequel though , I doubt i'll see it.

Anyway! I just saw My Neighbour Totoro

Which was amazing! I've been hoping to build my Ghibli collection some more, and pay day meant that I could treat myself to one and as a result of all the great reviews, I chose this one! I'm so glad I chose it, I can't wait to get the others!

Any ideas on the next one I should buy?

Watched several movies the last few days...

Thur: - Kronks New Groov

Fri: - Batman Begins - awesome film!

Sat: - That Darn Cat (1997) - one of the stupidest Remakes I have ever seen

NarniaDis

Brokeback Mountain (Viewed April 30): I just took a look back at my comments to see if my opinion had changed since I first saw this. I remember being incredibly moved and thinking it was easily the best film of 2005. Little has changed since I first saw the film so I will repeat my comments here (in italics). However, suffice it to say that it still moves me and it is still a beautiful film. The landscapes alone would make this worth viewing, but the amazing performances from the male leads really sell this. Never has the bond between 'cowfolk', or men for that matter, been so clearly articulated as it has in this film. I loved the way Lee restrained the story to such a gentle pace, so that you never felt that it was an "issue based" film, but rather a story about a powerful emotion between two people that couldn't reveal that to the world. Kudos must also go to Michelle Williams, who keeps it all bottled up until the appropriate moments. I ain't ashamed to say that it took me a few moments to speak at the end of this one for fear of choking up. It has been a while since I have found a film quite as visually and emotionally beautiful as this one. So richly layered that I might have to go and see it again. Rating: A

I just watched Lilo and Stitch 2: Stitch Has A Glitch, and Stitch: The Movie!. This was all before I went camping.
*leaves to go puke, again*

These are both good movies, that I would reccomend to anyone, who is a big as a Lilo and Stitch fan as I am. Some might see them dissapointing however. See ya!

Kiss Kiss Bang Bang

What the heck was this movie? From the retarded 1960's style animated credits (which were in no way stylish at all) I knew I would hate it. It didn't have one iota of reality to it and was full of plot holes. Events happened with no rhyme or reason. People all spoke in with cool dialogue and riffs when we all know in real life people say "yeah", "like" and "whatever" all the time in-between monosyllabic grunts. The main girl wasn't nearly hot enough (they should have got Bill's hot mom to play her part). It didn't know if it was trying to be a comedy or a thriller, and as a result was a comedy without any laughs and a thriller without any thrills. And the worst insult was every time I was just getting into the over complicated - "look at me, aren't I clever" says the writer – plot, the redundant narration from Robert Downey Jr. took be out of the film. No wonder only useless has-been actors like Downey and Kilmer featured in the film. It was rubbish. It didn't even have an explosion in it. A flim by the Lethal Weapon guy, but no explosions? That sucks. No wonder Hollywood turned their back on the looser.

And then, to make matters worse on the DVD they chopped the top and bottom off the picture for no reason what-so-ever meaning I could hardly make out what was happening on my small 72" plasma widescreen television.

[Just joshing Loomis: I loved it. But I think I may have to watch it again to fully understand the plot.]

2099net wrote:[Just joshing Loomis: I loved it. But I think I may have to watch it again to fully understand the plot.]

Before I got to this bit, I wondered if this was designed to make me go "Bleh!" And it did...

It is twistier than a pretzel, and I loved every second of it too. My thoughts are documented for the ages (or until Bits collapses) here:

http://www.dvdbits.com/reviews.asp?id=3271

"No Way Out" (1950) - Fox Film Noir #13. Highly recommended!

*sigh* I'm behind on my Fox Film Noir series. Haven't bought any of them since Whirlpool, so I'm missing 10-15. Looking forward to the June releases as well: Boomerang, House of Strangers, and I Wake Up Screaming. I'm not sure which title goes to which spine number, but they'll be 16-18 in the series. It was announced that 24 titles would be released in the span of 2 years, so a September release of 19-21 and a December release of 22-24 seems likely. Two probable titles (according to DVDTalk) include "The Lodger" and "Hangover Square" If only Fox Studio Classics ended on a better number than 37.

Anyways, to contribute to what movies I've watched recently, I've been re-watching two of my favorites from the FFN series: Laura and Nightmare Alley. I can't get enough of Laura, I find myself spinning the disc at least once a week or so, don't know why.

ETA:
Never mind, the Fox Studio Classics line isn't dead! Coming July 11, we'll get The Black Swan, The Keys to the Kingdom, and The River's Edge!

Escapay

The Greatest Game Every Played - Very well done and was entertaining.

Wallace and Gromit: Curse of the Wererabbit - Good as well, very entertaining and funny.

Enchantress wrote:Anyway! I just saw My Neighbour Totoro

Which was amazing! I've been hoping to build my Ghibli collection some more, and pay day meant that I could treat myself to one and as a result of all the great reviews, I chose this one! I'm so glad I chose it, I can't wait to get the others!

Any ideas on the next one I should buy?

You'd probably like Kiki's Delivery Service. It's a story about a teenage girl who leaves home to train to be a full-time witch, and the adventures she has trying to settle down in a new town and make friends. It's a really cute story and very unique when compared with other movies aimed at teenage girls.

Whisper of the Heart has sort of similar themes, except that the protagonist is an asipiring writer instead of an apprentice witch . It's also a great story about growing up and being true to yourself...that sort of thing.

Those are two good ones to start with...I'm a big fan of a LOT more Ghibli films, however, so there's too much to mention here! If you want to find out more about other films in the Ghibli catalog, you can check out this website: http://www.nausicaa.net/miyazaki/films/ to find some more that might interest you. Spirited Away and Princess Mononoke are widely considered to be two of Hayao Miyazaki's best, while Isao Takahata's most famous film is the very somber war story Grave of the Fireflies (which was double-billed with My Neighbor Totoro on its initial run!). If you appreciate beautiful animation and excellent storytelling, there's a lot here to love.

I watched Song of the South last night... Very good film wish that Disney would give it a legit release.

NarniaDIs