movies

[Darkweasel]

Ender's Game
Basically, Starship Troopers for kids. Insectoid aliens, psychic games, battle strategies, constant promotions, and boot camp shenanigans.
Surprisingly not that shit.
Good special effects, a reasonable story, and a nice (if not entirely hidden) twist.
7/10





The Seasoning House
Funniest film I've seen this year. Total rib-tickler.
I defy anyone not to laugh at the moment where a deaf-mute girl's mother is mercilessly gunned down in front of her seconds after she's watched her neighbours get beaten, stabbed or shot to death in the street by a band of Russian/Serb/Bosnian (it doesn't really tell you which) soldiers.
Prepare to hold onto your sides when she's taken to a smelly, dirty brothel in the middle of nowhere and kept prisoner there as a sort of house nurse, dispensing heroin to the chained up, captive prostitutes who are raped and beaten on a regular basis.
Chuckle at the slapstick moment where the brothel owner brutally rips open the throat of one new arrival and leaves her gurgling in a heap on the floor in front of the other girls as a message to forget about trying to escape.
Ha ha ha ha ha ha... ahem. *Cough*.

*awkward silence*

Er.. Anyway, after the actually not funny at all brutality of the the first 45 minutes the film turns into a fairly standard revenge flick. One deaf-mute girl against five or six nasty bastard soldiers (led by Sean "will I make it to the end credits this time?" Pertwee) using only a knife and the crawlspaces between the walls.
Of course, even though the way she gets rid of the bad guys is done reasonably well, there still has to be a willing suspension of disbelief on the part of the viewer. At the end of the day, it's one deaf-mute girl against a small army unit. You have to just sort of run with it.
The first half is substantially better than the second, relying on characters rather than action, and we also get the now almost obligatory frying pan/fire situation as the girl "escapes". However, it does have a fairly satisfactory climax, and a deliberately open ending which actually suits the film.
Bleak, depressing, and grim as fuck.
7/10

[Moonburp]

Just watched 'The Square'.

Seriously good documentary. Way more engaged with what's going on in Egypt because of it.

[bloodfiend]

The Seasoning House
Funniest film I've seen this year. Total rib-tickler.
I defy anyone not to laugh at the moment where a deaf-mute girl's mother is mercilessly gunned down in front of her seconds after she's watched her neighbours get beaten, stabbed or shot to death in the street by a band of Russian/Serb/Bosnian (it doesn't really tell you which) soldiers.
Prepare to hold onto your sides when she's taken to a smelly, dirty brothel in the middle of nowhere and kept prisoner there as a sort of house nurse, dispensing heroin to the chained up, captive prostitutes who are raped and beaten on a regular basis.
Chuckle at the slapstick moment where the brothel owner brutally rips open the throat of one new arrival and leaves her gurgling in a heap on the floor in front of the other girls as a message to forget about trying to escape.
Ha ha ha ha ha ha... ahem. *Cough*.

*awkward silence*

Er.. Anyway, after the actually not funny at all brutality of the the first 45 minutes the film turns into a fairly standard revenge flick. One deaf-mute girl against five or six nasty bastard soldiers (led by Sean "will I make it to the end credits this time?" Pertwee) using only a knife and the crawlspaces between the walls.
Of course, even though the way she gets rid of the bad guys is done reasonably well, there still has to be a willing suspension of disbelief on the part of the viewer. At the end of the day, it's one deaf-mute girl against a small army unit. You have to just sort of run with it.
The first half is substantially better than the second, relying on characters rather than action, and we also get the now almost obligatory frying pan/fire situation as the girl "escapes". However, it does have a fairly satisfactory climax, and a deliberately open ending which actually suits the film.
Bleak, depressing, and grim as fuck.
7/10

Wasn't that impressed myself, the first half is horrible and depressing, then it suddenly changes to some ridiculous action adventure with some frail 4-foot tall girl managing to kill the entire Serbian army one by one.

Anyway just watched:
HAUNTER
One of the better ghost stories I've seen recently - girl suddenly discovers she's living the last day of her life over and over again, after her family became the lastest victims to a ghostly serial killer and now they're all trapped in limbo unless she can connect with the ghosts of the other victims and break the curse. Not so much a horror movie as a supernatural thriller, with a brilliant performance from Abigail Breslin as the leas character, really liked this, wish it'd got a wider release 8/10

[mikeftw]

Watched Moon today, thought it was a brilliant film

[Darkweasel]

Watched the Michael Douglas vs Japanese Yakuza thriller Black Rain last night for the first time years.
Typical '80s fish-out-of-water/culture shock fare but Ridley Scott's eye for scenery and atmosphere make this one of the better ones, even if his direction is a little lacklustre at times.
Andy Garcia gets his head cut off though, so it can't all be bad.
7/10

[Bisset]

Watched Catching Fire yesterday.

Having not watched the first instalment I didn't feel I was missing much plot and to the films credit it did a pretty good job reminding or telling the viewer what happened.

To be honest, I was more impressed and interested in the parts before the games, although some of the acting was decidedly wooden. The guy who plays Peetaaaaa was noticeably bad at points. The effects were, for the most part, very well done and the pacing of the film was pretty well executed. A nice twist (for someone who hasn't read the books) near the end has actually made me want to see the next one. Well, two.

3 bobbins out of 5

[Darkweasel]

Finally got around to watching Things To Do in Denver When You're Dead last night. Hey, it's only taken me just over seventeen years.
Decent film, although maybe not as good as I'd been led to believe. The acting was great with the exception of Andy Garcia who was nothing but an expressionless charisma vacuum the entire time. I spent virtually every moment he was onscreen thinking about which other actors would have been better suited for the part.
Most of them was my conclusion.
7/10

[Luke_X]

Empire review for Robocop - http://www.empireonline.com/reviews/rev ... FID=137679

For those who don't want see what they said, they gave it 2 out of 5.

[someone else]

Finally got around to watching Things To Do in Denver When You're Dead last night. Hey, it's only taken me just over seventeen years.
Decent film, although maybe not as good as I'd been led to believe. The acting was great with the exception of Andy Garcia who was nothing but an expressionless charisma vacuum the entire time. I spent virtually every moment he was onscreen thinking about which other actors would have been better suited for the part.
Most of them was my conclusion.
7/10

I always liked it for the supporting cast, but you're right about Garcia. I can't help feeling if it would have been better if they didn't try and get quirky catchphrases in - going for sub-Tarantino quotability, but ended up really clunky.

Recently watched:
Blow Out - John Travolta gets sucked into a political scandal. Very 80s, but cynical with it. Nancy Allen is awful with her 'Gee, shuck's' routine. 7/10
Rush - Liked it a lot, good eye for detail and good cast. 8/10
Only God Forgives - Far too flashy and empty to anything other than very silly. Looked good tho'. 5/10

[Darkweasel]

Blow Out is excellent. Allen's acting is pretty shabby but DePalma's style and John Lithgow make it.

[JrHunter]

Watch Wolf of Wall Street today, was pretty skeptical at first wondering how they could drag it out for 3 hours, but by the end of it, didn't seem like it was that long at all. Really enjoyed it!

Next film I have to watch is Captain Phillips , don't think that'll be quite the same..

[Haldamir319]

Empire review for Robocop - http://www.empireonline.com/reviews/rev ... FID=137679

For those who don't want see what they said, they gave it 2 out of 5.

For comparsion, other publications gave it:

Total Film 4/5
IGN 6.9/10
SFX 4.5/5

[Darkweasel]

I haven't trusted an SFX review for at least ten years.

[Aaaarrrrgggghhhh]

I haven't trusted an SFX review for at least ten years.

Likewise with Total Film....

...and most others for that matter.

[mathewxentrix88]

I haven't trusted an SFX review for at least ten years.

The worst "reviewer" of all time was/is Dean Boor who used to work for Gorezone(U.K)-he used to give any old shit 5/5 presumably to get his name on the dvd cover.I think he works for some other mag or site now but can't be arsed to look it up.