Babbling

[desantoos]

Hmmmm... I guess you are right though I don't really think that it is related to the story.

I always thought of opening credit things being like a brief short before a movie that really doesn't have to do with the movie.

But I guess you are right. Yes, I did watch the movie! But it is very long and unlike actual movie reviewers I don't take notes while watching.

Good movie though, right?

[blueraven1999]

I just got back from seeing The Secret World of Arriety - 6/10. 

I really hoped it was better than what I heard.  Most of it was pretty boring.

The animation was just as good as all the other Ghibli movies.  The music was okay.

Easily one of the worst Ghibli movies I've ever seen.

[blueraven1999]

I saw The Adventures of Tin Tin at the cheap theater with my dad this afternnoon.  We both loved the movie.

It was interesting to see the age groups of the people there.  There were more old people (probably in their 70's or 80's) there than kids.

I'd rate the movie 9/10.  I thought the movie would be good, but it was even better than I thought it would be.

[Sorce]

I've been unable to go online for a while, so I'll post a group of movie ratings everyday.

Darling Lili - 7.5/10 A couple points off for a hectic ending, but Julie Andrews is astonishing every time she sings.

2001: A Space Odyssey - 8/10 I have problems going into the huge scifi movies like this because they are hyped beyond reason. For most of the film, it lived up to it. Hal was a true character, and there are scenes that still compare with the intensity of horror/thriller/scifi of today. The movie would have been a 10 if I could forget the last fifteen minutes.

Mother - 7/10 I admit, I'm biased because I'm a writer, but there were a lot of scenes that were frighteningly close to my own family. I used to fear my grandmother's freezer and make sure I was full before going to visit her. I know it's rude, but self-preservation wins out.

The Tournament - 6.5 If you want to see Kelly Hu kick ass in a small town turned into a colosseum without the inhabitants knowing, then this is the movie for you.

The Losers - 4.7/10 It tried too hard to be cool and this was one of the few roles where Daddy Winchester annoyed me. If he and Saldana had been left out, it could have been really decent.

Near Dark - 9/10 This movie does not get enough credit. These vampires are vicious, vindictive sonsofbitches, and after this Twilight crap, I needed an old school fix. Awesome performance from Henricksen, but Bill Paxton makes a convincing psycho.

[770312]

Safe House - 3/5

It was good, but it was pretty much just an action flick. I do enjoy Ryan Reynolds quite a bit.... maybe that should make it a 4. >_>

[Sorce]

The Lady Eve - 7/10 Another classic biggie that I came into with a lot of hype. This was the first time I saw a young hapless Henry Fonda playing a romantic lead. I thought I was going to hate his weak character, but he charmed me just like he charmed Barbara Stanwyck.

The Mad Miss Manton - 6.5/10 I'm a sucker for vanishing body comedies, and it was good to see Fonda and Stanwyck together again. I hate that I missed the first fifteen minutes because I kept laughing from scene to scene. One pleasant surprise was that some of these lines came from a black actress, the legendary Hattie McDaniel.

Restless - 7/10 This was a Korean fantasy that takes place in the spirit world. It looked like an anime come to life, except that it didn't #### and the costumes were gorgeous.

The Bear Cub - Sometimes I equate logo with syfy for low budget crappy movies, but they sure as hell shut me up when they played this film. A gay man has to take in his nephew after another of his sister's shady plans goes south. It covers heavy issues like HIV, but it doesn't try to make you cry every minute. You get to see the reality of the main character's world and of a child who has gotten used to his mother's bad decisions.

The Mulligans - 2/10 Logo showed me that Bear Cub was a fluke and went back to playing ####ty movies. A guy becomes lovers with his best friend's dad, cue hijinks. I've seen better stories in yaoi smut. The cast even had the nerve to make an ad against bootlegging their film. I wouldn't buy that #### or contaminate my hard drive with it either.

[desantoos]

Hobo With A Shotgun

1.1

I'm not going to put the "failure" tag on shameless exploitation films unless it fails to be even that. Though as an exploitation film, going past the mysogeny and violence, it's pretty weak. The writing is terrible, but not campy enough to be sufficiently funny. The direction is okay but after a while the color-coded scheme gets old. What makes an exploitation film fun to watch is the overacting, and this one has plenty of that. At least the morals were not preachy like the Saw series. Anyhow, there's better things to watch than this crud.

Tales From Earthsea

3.9

Goro, the great animator's son, get's his shot at a film and the result is a prime example of how nepotism #### so much. Mismanaged from every angle, Tales From Earthsea fails in even fulfilling its title of providing tales (as in more than one tale). What a mess this film is. Probably the most obvious is that Goro messed up the finances and had no money to get quality animation for the second half. So, we get very bland animation halfway through the film after some very nice scenes early on (some of them not very necessary). He also didn't have time to put in any actual story so he just scribbled down some very boring nonsensical existential gibberish. There are so many plotholes to this film--dragons and abberations that appear and disappear with no explanation or sense at all. You have the girl, who lives far away in the countryside, wandering around in the town as if it is her backyard. There's also a dragon fight--a violent one at that--right at the beginning of this film for no darn reason as well as a pointless "don't do drugs" scene later on. Perhaps the worst problem with this film is that the main character killed his good father and we are supposed to believe that this kid is the great guy who is the savior of all. This issue never gets sufficiently addressed in the film and it's such a glaring error that no amount of animated wonderment can save this sinking ship. Though the background painters really did try, as did the people who did the character models for the adults.

Film critics, please don't insist that this is merely his "warm up." There are plenty of actually talented people out there who would give everything to be able to make a Ghibi film. Throw Goro to the curb.

The PHD Movie

7.2

This is the future of movies: ultra-specific and pandering, lower on professionalism, but overall making the world of film better because they fill things normal movies can't do. Made entirely by amateurs, The PHD Movie is suprisingly not as bad as it could have been. Part of that is the female lead who may come off a bit cheesy at times but, overall, gets the most pathos. But another part is that the comic strips that this film is based upon are often weak and timid and this film at least allows the comic strips to breathe a bit easier. Jokes flow well at times, and as a result it's a funny film, albeit for a very small subset of the population.

There is a catharsis that occurs when watching a comedy so specialized. Because of that, it works well, even if there are a lot of missteps in the process.

[Shadowstaarr]

The Secret World of Arrietty: 7/10

It was a lot shorter than I had expected. I thought they're be a bigger conflict. Probably 'cause of that #### Borrowers movie from a few years back.

Also, Will Arrnett. I've never heard you speak with an indoor voice.

[greyshirt]

The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the 8th Dimension.

10/10

we need a sequel!!!!!!!!!!!

[blueraven1999]

In Time - 8/10. 

Interesting movie.  It was much better than I thought it would be.

It was kind of fun that I didn't know what direction the movie was going to go in.

A good sc-fi movie with a fairly original plot.

[blueraven1999]

I just finished watching Get Smart Again! on Netflix.  It's a pretty good for a made-for-tv movie.  I'd rate it 10/10.

I love Don Adams. 

[desantoos]

Evangelon 2.22

6.0

Here's the second in a three-part series that remakes the old anime series with the same name. Several of the same problems I mentioned earlier are still here, but a few choice differences from the original TV storyline brought about some improvement. A pilot gets severely injured in the movie that does not in the original series. It is this series of events that is the strongest, but unfortunately the writers aren't able to fully capitalize on the impact of what happened. Part of that is pacing problems: there are still a lot of ridiculous scenes (particularly ones with gay innuendo) that could have been cut to allow for time to stew over really important events. It's frustrating when they have most of the pieces but can't put any together.

There's one part left and it will premire in theaters in Japan this fall and might be released sometime next year or so. I'll probably watch it for completionist's sake, but I question whether this restoration project was worth the effort of a group of talented animators who could have worked on a new, creative project.

Syndoche, New York

7.3

Charlie Kauffman is definitely a great writer and perhaps a good director, but with nobody above him to perform quality control we get an unfiltered mush of great and terrible ideas. Here a character ages to his inevitable death, and along the way he starts to retreat into his fantasies and memories. Some of the execution is brilliant, particularly the haunting ending, but it always seems to be paired with a failed attempt at dark humor. I also felt this movie was way too long. At least four funerals, just to warn potential viewers. Ultimately, I applaud the effort put into something like this work, but Kauffman was better off when some other guy was directing.

The Artist

9.8 Best of Movies

As a French loveletter to early American cinema, The Artist is dazzingly brilliant and wonderfully pleasurable. Honestly I did not think that actors of that caliber existed anymore. Shot-by-shot this film is a good as it can get; there are more memorable scenes here than any in the last decade. The whole thing is mild but so darn cute and charming that it's impossible not to smile the whole time. In years to come, this film should be remembered as a classic.

[blueraven1999]

I just got back from seeing The Avengers in I-MAX 3D a little while ago and the movie was great. 

It's worth paying the extra money for the I-MAX quality.  I expected it to be good, but it was even better than I thought it would be. 

I'm surprised so many people left before the credits were over.  You'd think most people would know about the extra scenes by now.

I'd rate it 10/10.

SPOILER!!!!!

Spoiler

The part where Hulk smashed Loki at the end was my favorite.

I'm surprised Stan Lee's cameo in the movie was toward the end of the movie.

It was driving me a little crazy looking for him during the movie.  I thought I missed him.

[TheAltsAlternateAlt]

Big Lebowski & Life of Brian....again!

Both are still a 10.

[icantswim357]

---

blueraven1999 wrote:

In Time - 8/10. 

Interesting movie.  It was much better than I thought it would be.

It was kind of fun that I didn't know what direction the movie was going to go in.

A good sc-fi movie with a fairly original plot.

---

Really?? Me and my girl thought this was weak. The concept is indeed new, but the way it was executed was terrible. I didn't like the fact that someone can just walk up to you while your sleeping and take your time w/o your consent. Thats retarded.

[blueraven1999]

I really did like that movie.  I still think it was well done.  That part of the movie didn't bother me.

Anyway I went to see Dark Shadows tonight.  It was a excellent movie.

I love Tim Burton.  He makes the best movies.  I'd rate it 10/10.

[blueraven1999]

I just got back from seeing Men in Black 3.  Excellent movie.  I'd rate it 9/10.

It makes me want to see Men in Black 1 and 2 again. 

I'll probably check them out from the library or put them on my Netflix queue.

Spoiler

I think I was in high school when the first MIB movie came out. 

Such a great series of movies.

[Duo-Yuy]

LadysnowBlood 7.5/10

[blueraven1999]

Rewatched Men in Black 1 - 10/10.

[Cepheus84]

Really?

[blueraven1999]

Yes.  It's a fun movie to watch.

[Rorer_714]

Your Highnes 9/10

[TheAltsAlternateAlt]

Just rewatched Spirited Away for the first time in years

Still a 10

[blueraven1999]

Rewatched Men in Black 2 - 10/10.

I changed my mind.  I should have rated the first movie 9/10.

The second movie is much better.  I love the worms and Frank.

Yeah the plot isn't the best, but it's funnier than the first movie.

[tsar4]

Hanna - 5/10
A lot of directions they could have gone, but it seems they took the weakest.