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

[jpanimation]

Sinbad: Legend of the Seven Seas (2003) 7/10 - shallow and cliché-ridden but a fun ride non-the-less. As much as I advocate against the use of celebrity voices, they all do a fantastic job here. I know I sound like a broken record but Eris steals the show. She is animated beautifully, Michelle Pfeiffer gives an amazing vocal performance, and she's probably my favorite interpretation of a Greek God/Goddess ever. Her seduction sequence in the bubble is phenomenal. The traditional animation is excellent (James Baxter is involved) but the computer animated backgrounds and creatures look god awful. The creatures and objects should've used a shader that made them appear to be hand-drawn and the backgrounds should've used a renderer to make them looked painted. Unfortunately, no attempts were made and ALL the CG stands out like a sore thumb (very ugly and distracting). I can't forget to mention Harry Gregson-Williams' fantastic score for this movie, that easily rivals Bernard Herrmann's masterwork for The 7th Voyage of Sinbad. It's an enjoyable movie that wholly lacks in any kind of substance.

Now with that said, I've been reading some columns written by Terry Rossio (co-writer of such hits as Aladdin, Shrek and Pirates of the Caribbean) to improve my own writing and came across an interesting column that relates to executive interference. It's in this column where he explains how changes made to his original stories for The Road to El Dorado, Sinbad: Legend of the Seven Seas, and Treasure Planet lead to them flopping at the box office. He actually posts the original synopsis for Sinbad: Legend of the Seven Seas and while not perfect, it was WAY better then the final outcome. He goes on to say how the Dreamworks execs spent 7 months trying to fix (screw up) Shrek from his original take but eventually came to their senses and used his take. The worst part of it all, the executive's justification for their tampering was these films being 'director driven', even though all the changes were made by the marketing department and executives themselves.

Anyways, (CLICK HERE) to read the column and scroll down to "BATTLE #5" to read the original synopsis for Sinbad. It's an interesting read that makes me wonder how good Sinbad: Legend of the Seven Seas and The Road to El Dorado could've been if left untouched. Gives me another reason to dislike Dreamworks, as they're neither writer or director friendly.

[UmbrellaFish]

Drop Dead Gorgeous- on FX! I LOVE this movie. I'll have to buy it soon.

[UmbrellaFish]

Tooth Fairy- My DVD/BD combo came in the mail today.

Honestly, I have a tough time saying this movie is decent. However, it's just a small family flick that obviously wasn't trying to be too ambitious, and I understand why the message of the film was so compelling for some of the stars- so I'll give it a pass on that.

Also, Julie Andrews, Billy Crystal, and Stephen Merchant make the film. Without them, the whole thing would have just fallen to pieces. Ashley Judd is okay, and the kids are far less annoying than I would have expected them to be. Unfortunately, I think the major weak link of the film (besides the useless, silly gags) is the movie's star- Dwayne Johnson.

He just wrecks it... He ruins his character. And I hate the whole "hockey" backstory. I think the film would have been much, much better had they gotten a genuine comedian (Stephen Merchant for example, or Steve Carell) and just dropped the hockey thing entirely.

I also understand this is a family film, and nowadays, that means there must be an obligatory family crisis that also has to be solved within the course of the film, but that, too, isn't necessary. Derek Thompson could have been a burned out children's author, for example, that goes to some school assembly and crushes a young writer's dreams, a character that could have remained single throughout the course of the film. Oh, well...

Anyway, I don't think "Tooth Fairy" is the sort of film I'll want to watch again. In fact, now that I know where they are, I'll probably just skip to the Julie Andrews and Billy Crystal scenes (and the scenes with Merchant where I don't find Johnson too annoying) when I watch the movie.

[PixarFan2006]

Not really sure if this counts as a movie or an episode, but I watched the Mystery Science Theater 3000 version of The Crawling Eye. I thought it was okay and had a few funny lines, but it was a little too hard to understand the dialogue to rank it with the best episodes of MST3K.

[dvdjunkie]

Watched Armageddon on Blu-ray, and am now watching Kelly's Heroes on Blu-ray. Two really entertaining movies. Just a whole lotta fun to watch, and now that they are Blu, they are even better.

[Disney-Fan]

Kick-Ass! - Seriously, I find the title to be pretty self-explanitory! 8/10

[jpanimation]

Alice in Wonderland (2010) 6/10 - I really didn't like this movie. I'll be the first to admit it, I don't much enjoy Disney's Alice either (it's an admirable effort), but I like this one even less. I guess this movie is a sequel to the first two books but it really mixes everything up. Actually, it's more of a stand-alone movie, as it just changes too much. All the actors just felt bored with their roles and as with the first two stories, it's a whole lot of nothing. I guess showing someone's meaningless dreams makes for a meaningless movie. It would be like taking a drug-addict's acid trip, making a movie out of the meaningless hallucinations, and then ending it when they woke up (pointless). There is no character development, morality tales, or obstacles to overcome, just random, meaningless events. I'll give Burton some credit for trying to incorporate the events in "Wonderland" with Alice's real life problems, to give her journey some meaning, but it still comes off as hollow. He even tries to give Alice an obstacle to overcome, the Jabberwocky, but it all feels forced. I'd rank this among Tim Burton's worst. Glad I saved money by just renting it from the library, as the Blu-ray PQ was great, and I heard the 3D was crap anyways. As for Depp's dance at the end, I don't know what to think.

[pap64]

Alice in Wonderland (2010) 6/10 - I really didn't like this movie. I'll be the first to admit it, I don't much enjoy Disney's Alice either (it's an admirable effort), but I like this one even less. I guess this movie is a sequel to the first two books but it really mixes everything up. Actually, it's more of a stand-alone movie, as it just changes too much. All the actors just felt bored with their roles and as with the first two stories, it's a whole lot of nothing. I guess showing someone's meaningless dreams makes for a meaningless movie. It would be like taking a drug-addict's acid trip, making a movie out of the meaningless hallucinations, and then ending it when they woke up (pointless). There is no character development, morality tales, or obstacles to overcome, just random, meaningless events. I'll give Burton some credit for trying to incorporate the events in "Wonderland" with Alice's real life problems, to give her journey some meaning, but it still comes off as hollow. He even tries to give Alice an obstacle to overcome, the Jabberwocky, but it all feels forced. I'd rank this among Tim Burton's worst. Glad I saved money by just renting it from the library, as the Blu-ray PQ was great, and I heard the 3D was crap anyways. As for Depp's dance at the end, I don't know what to think.

Wow, talk about differing opinions! I posted my thoughts on the movie on the official Alice thread, and I enjoyed it more than I expected it. Maybe its because I had my expectations so low than I came out pleased in the end.

The one thing I agree with you, though, is about the actors looking bored. The way I see it, they aren't as mad or crazy in previous Alice movies, but I think its because of the story being seriously told as opposed to the other movies. Usually, they just want to make the characters crazier and crazier as Alice keeps exploring Wonderland. In here it's like they kept them sane enough to try and tell and compelling story. It wasn't a bother to me (in fact it helped) but I can see how it might annoy some.

I just think that Burton made yet another "love it/hate it" movie where people either love it to death or simply can't stand it. I personally enjoyed Corpse Bride but people seem to hate it A LOT, while I didn't enjoy his take on Sweeney Todd one bit, but people swear by it.

[jpanimation]

I just think that Burton made yet another "love it/hate it" movie where people either love it to death or simply can't stand it. I personally enjoyed Corpse Bride but people seem to hate it A LOT, while I didn't enjoy his take on Sweeney Todd one bit, but people swear by it.

I feel the same way. Sweeney Todd is overrated for sure. If I had known what the movie was about before I started watching it, I never would've been eating sloppy joes as they were feeding their customers the ground up people. While The Corpse Bride is inferior to The Nightmare Before Christmas in almost every way (music, characters, designs, story, etc.), I still found it enjoyable.

[pap64]

My two biggest issues lie with the music and the digital world the movie takes place in.

Granted, I've never heard the original Sweeney Todd music or seen the original play, but the actors sing very poorly in this version! They sound very bored and asleep, like they are too tired to sing a high note. This is where you realize that the actors are better at acting than they are singing. Johnny Depp is a great actor but his singing is too flat. All of the songs sounded the same to me. No emotion, no passion, no energy, all the same.

As for the digital world, I admit it didn't bother me with Charlie and Alice because they were highly fantastical worlds that recalled for crazy details. But Sweeney Todd? I swear its like London is always dark, gloomy and scary. They could have done something more creative with it, like make the whole movie look like a stage play, but instead went for something tired and generic.

[PeterPanfan]

Nine Dead - I watched this with a couple of friends yesterday. The plot sounded good and Melissa Joan Hart starred in it! Like I said, the plot was great... the execution, however, was not. It was hardly a horror film, as advertised. Instead it was a mixture of a character drama, thriller, and a mystery. I'm fine with this. Hart did a good job in her role as an obnoxious lawyer, and John Terry was great as the killer. I guess I would recommend it if you're a Hart or Terry fan, but otherwise, no.

[Lazario]

Just for future reference, all:

Armageddon

and

really entertaining movie
Just a whole lotta fun to watch

Don't go anywhere near the same sentence.

Nine Dead - I watched this with a couple of friends yesterday. The plot sounded good and Melissa Joan Hart starred in it! Like I said, the plot was great... the execution, however, was not. It was hardly a horror film, as advertised. Instead it was a mixture of a character drama, thriller, and a mystery. I'm fine with this. Hart did a good job in her role as an obnoxious lawyer, and John Terry was great as the killer. I guess I would recommend it if you're a Hart or Terry fan, but otherwise, no.

Bit of a spoiler, isn't that?

[PeterPanfan]

Nine Dead - I watched this with a couple of friends yesterday. The plot sounded good and Melissa Joan Hart starred in it! Like I said, the plot was great... the execution, however, was not. It was hardly a horror film, as advertised. Instead it was a mixture of a character drama, thriller, and a mystery. I'm fine with this. Hart did a good job in her role as an obnoxious lawyer, and John Terry was great as the killer. I guess I would recommend it if you're a Hart or Terry fan, but otherwise, no.

Bit of a spoiler, isn't that?

Nope.

[ajmrowland]

Once Upon a Time in Mexico-nice movie. good action scenes. I recognized almost the entire cast. My first Rodriguez film outside his family fare. commentary has him pretty much throwing the engagement party-engagement to HD cameras that is. Hard to believe it was all filmed in 7 weeks.

Not an oscar winner, but its got nice performances from the cast and an interesting premise.

[Goliath]

Once Upon a Time in Mexico-nice movie. good action scenes. I recognized almost the entire cast. My first Rodriguez film outside his family fare. commentary has him pretty much throwing the engagement party-engagement to HD cameras that is. Hard to believe it was all filmed in 7 weeks.

Not an oscar winner, but its got nice performances from the cast and an interesting premise.

Halfway into that film I was completely lost about what was going on. There's just too many storylines. This film needed a lot more focus. And it was deceptive to announce Salma Hayek and then only see her for 5 minutes.

[ajmrowland]

^I myself missed a crucial moment in the beginning(or so Im told), but it seems that some bad guys were trying to assassinate the President and.........come to think about it, most of my experience for the film was the little things rather than the plot.

[jpanimation]

My first Rodriguez film outside his family fare.

You REALLY need to Sin City!

The Ox-Bow Incident (1943) 8.5/10 - I forgot how powerful this movie is. It's probably the most important movie of Henry Fonda's career, along with 12 Angry Men, and goes to show you just how important our right to a fair trial really is. The premise is this: Word spreads that a rancher was murdered and his cattle stolen. This leads the town to form a lynching mob, while the sherif is away, to take matters into their own hand. They set out to find the ones they suspect of doing it. I won't spoil how it ends but it's really moving. Great performances by all. I just wish they didn't read the letter at the end, as you can figure, it disappoints when compared to what you imagine it says (I've heard the contents of the letter weren't in the original book, in which case, it should've been left that way).

The Girl Who Leapt Through Time (2006) 8/10- I guess I liked this movie more then I have any right to. From director Mamoru Hosoda, best known for his work on Digimon (stylistically similar in both character designs and how the time travel is presented), but this isn't really a children's movie. It's about a teenage girl who accidentally gains the ability to leap through time. She uses this opportunity to change things to her liking, with consequences, and learns what she really wants in life. I watched the English dub, as it never really bothers me on animation, and the dub is really good. About two thirds of the way into the movie it seemed like the time travel started to get a little messy, it started to get a little overly sappy, and we were presented with too many "endings" (much like Return of the King). Regardless, it's still good, and I probably enjoyed it as much as Whisper of the Heart (which also suffered from a weak ending).

"Time stands still for no one" is a reoccurring theme.

[Margos]

The Lion King - I hadn't seen this movie in years before watching it on the DVD (which I just got two days ago). I don't know why. It was the first film I ever saw in theaters, but I don't remember ever owning the VHS. I may have seen it once or twice on TV. But I never bothered watching it on YouTube. I saw most of the musical sequences on my Sing-Along tapes, and had watched "Be Prepared" (one of my favorite villain songs) multiple times on YouTube. But not the full film. I vaguely remembered it as being "overrated," and maybe even "a little bit dull." The last time I had seen the thing in its entirety, I was maybe 10.

I gotta say, I forgot just how much of a masterpiece it was. Absolutely gorgeous, and the use of literary archetypes simply divine. I knew all the "Hamlet" references, but Moses? King Arthur? I was never able to catch them before. Now, here they are. I appreciate the music and the artistry much more than before, and the actual story and symbolism for once became clear. I hadn't been able to fully appreciate this film in my childhood. Sure, I thought Timon and Pumbaa were funny, and the lions were cute, and Scar was a little scary, and the hyenas were super-cool. But it really isn't a movie for small children, I guess, for the same reason that Up wasn't. There are more subtle, beautiful little moments and plot points than most kids can understand.

Disney needs to be making more films like The Lion King. In my childhood, I favored BatB. BatB is still probably my favorite Disney movie. But The Lion King was, in terms of filmmaking, something special, and they really need to be making more stuff like this.

On a side note, I really don't mind "The Morning Report." I find it actually pretty catchy. Maybe it's because I don't have any sort of fond childhood memories of the minute-long scene it replaces, but I don't think it's that bad. It isn't a story-booster like "If I Never Knew You," or even a lovely addition like "Human Again." But it's kind of fun, and doesn't really interfere with what is already there, so it doesn't bother me.

[UmbrellaFish]

Alice in Wonderland (2010)- I won't spend a lot of time talking about it, I'll just say I'm surprised I enjoyed it. Burton is 50/50 for me. Besides "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory" I can't think of any of his movies that I've really enjoyed, and even "Charlie" isn't that great.

The updated storyline didn't bug me, I thought it was quite interesting and perhaps it helped that I had read snippets of reviews and plot synopsis before I'd seen the movie. Helena Bonham Carter stole the show as The Red Queen, just stole it! And Depp's acting skills really astonish me. As well, I always love to see Anne Hathaway in a movie.

I wasn't a big fan of the actress playing Alice... I don't know, it didn't really feel genuine to me at all. She was just okay.

The ending really failed for me though, especially the "Futterwacken" dance or whatever. That didn't really fit into the movie at all and it just stopped the action. I would have cut that.

Otherwise, I did enjoy the movie. I'm not crazy enough about it to purchase the flick but I did like it more than I thought I would.

[TheValentineBros]

Shrek Forever After.

B-!

Quantum of Solace.

B!