The MOVIE REVIEW Thread

[maya]

I watched "Stranger Than Fiction" last wednesday.

Honestly, I haven't heard about the movie before I watched it.

And I was pleasantly surprised.

 

The plot's kinda far reaching and the pace may be slow for some (not for me),

but it's funny, hearbreaking/heartwarming, really sweet..

I specially loved the scene where Will Ferrel's character sang that song acapella..

OMG! He's not the greatest singer in the world but in the movie, it really worked.

 

It's a chick flick, and I loved it!

[jopoc]

I watched "Stranger Than Fiction" last wednesday.

Honestly, I haven't heard about the movie before I watched it.

And I was pleasantly surprised.

 

The plot's kinda far reaching and the pace may be slow for some (not for me),

but it's funny, hearbreaking/heartwarming, really sweet..

I specially loved the scene where Will Ferrel's character sang that song acapella..

OMG! He's not the greatest singer in the world but in the movie, it really worked.

 

It's a chick flick, and I loved it!

 

 

i agree,

 

the story has very deep meanings and interpretation about life and destiny.

 

the characters were played well. will ferrel was not his usual slapstick (way different from the anchorman and talladega nights).

 

but the ending could have been better. although not bad....

Edited January 27, 2007 by jopoc

[Wyld]

It must be my weekend for watching subtitled movies. Pan's Labyrinth, a film by Guillermo del Toro is undoubtedly, one of the best films I have seen in the not so recent past. Its set in the post Franco era of Spain and tells us parallel stories.

 

The movie opens with the tale of the Princess of the Underworld:

 

A long time ago, in the underground realm, where there are no lies or pain, there lived a Princess who dreamt of the human world. She dreamt of blue skies, soft breeze and sunshine. One day, eluding her keepers, the Princess escaped. Once outside, the brightness blinded her and erased every trace of the past from her memory. She forgot who she was, and where she came from. Her body suffered cold, sickness and pain. Eventually she died. However, her father, the King, always knew that the Princess' soul would return, perhaps in another body, in another place, at another time. And he would wait for her, until he drew his last breath, until the world stopped turning...

 

The first parallel is the story of Ofelia. Ofelia is a 12 year old girl whose mother remarried a Captain who is in charge of rounding out and fighting it out with guerillas in a distant Spanish town. She travels to live with the Captain together with her mother who is expecting the Captain's baby. On top of having to deal with new surroundings and a new father, Ofelia is a young girl who is given to flights of fancy. As they arrive in their new home, an insect catches her attention. That insect guides her into a Labyrinth (or a maze).

 

The Captain's housekeeper, Mercedes finds her and cautions her about getting lost in the labyrinth. Mercedes's story is the second parallel in the movie. She is, ironically, the housekeeper of the Captain as well as supportive sister to the leader of the guerillas. She has also enlisted the aid of the Captain's physician who smuggles medical supplies for the ailing guerrilistas.

 

Ofelia is guided into the labyrinth by the insect whom she fancies to be a fairy. There she meets the Faun (Pan) who tells her that she is the Princess of the Underworld. He hands her a book and tells her that to be able to return to her kingdom, she has to complete three tasks. At this point, anything is a good alternative to living with the Captain, so Ofelia embarks on her tasks.

 

The twists and turns of the story lie in the fact that as Ofelia struggles with the tasks that will allow her to reclaim her throne, Mercedes also struggles with supporting her guerilla brother and working for the Captain. We actually have two stories running in parallel - one in a fantasy world and another in brutal reality. In the end, tough choices are made by everyone and as with any fairy tale, rewards are given to the just.

 

However, this film is more than a fairy tale. Its gives the powerful message that in order to live our lives in the way that we were intended to, we need to depend on our judgment and make use of our free will. There is no use for blind obedience to an arbitrary authority figure - this only leads us to lose all that we hold dear. It ultimately leads to the destruction of our souls. We can only depend on ourselves for guidance and that blind obedience to an arbitrary authority figure leads to the destruction of our souls is the true message of this movie. It gives us the painful truth that evil in the hearts of men is real and magic does not always really exist. It leaves us with the chilling reality that there are rarely second chances in life ... and that sometimes, what we value most we can only achieve at great cost. To get to the heart of this movie is to go beyond the flights of fancy and the special effects (kept to an elegant minimum). To get to the heart of this movie is to examine one's heart and mind.

 

[maya]

i agree,

 

the story has very deep meanings and interpretation about life and destiny.

 

the characters were played well. will ferrel was not his usual slapstick (way different from the anchorman and talladega nights).

 

but the ending could have been better. although not bad....

 

Yup. Its kinda weird seeing Will Ferrel not in his funny mode. But he carried it well.

Maggie Gylenhaal - superb acting. I love her!

 

Wasn't totally happy with the ending too.

But the movie made me 'feel' and contemplate about life.

My gauge of a great movie..

Edited January 28, 2007 by maya

[bluegreen717]

Babel

 

I found it a mess, tried too hard to be like Crash and Traffic. Where these two films centered on certain themes (racial prejudices, sexual discrimination for the former and drugs for the latter), Babel, in trying to center in on family issues, missed it altogether. The Japanese family was too much of a stretch for the plight of the Moroccan family, really. Like, Duh, ok, so a rifle ties it all up together. Whereas Crash and Traffic made me go, Wow, Babel had me utter, D-uh.

 

And for Brad Pitt to be nominated for Best Actor, that's too much of a puzzle for me. Everyone else, though, was excellent, despite the shallow plot that tried too hard to be convoluted.

[Waterbearer]

Watched Apocalypto and The Guardian last night.....the first one being so action packed....i loved it.....although i felt the hero was too lucky to be believable but heck, it was a good film

 

The latter....kinda struck me....some of my relatives work for the coast guard so i can relate....i liked the level of heroism shown in this movie...made me reminensce my dream of working in the seas..

[Kurtsky Keigee]

Hey guys anyone watched Teh Science Of Sleep?

I find it similar to Eternal Sunshine Of The Spotless Mind pero medyo confusing ung plot

[Marshall Bruce]

^ i knew it..should've watched Little Children last week but chose Babel instead. I'll try to catch it later this week.

 

Apocalypto was brutal but well made imo. Jaguar Paw reminds me of the Predator for some reason

[clubber_lang]

Apocalypto is flawed, but memorable nonetheless.

 

The film is as savage as it is bitter. Really a good entertaining film...

[Wyld]

Dreamgirls

 

Based on a Broadway play of the same title, this movie retells the story of Diana Ross and the Supremes. Their struggles to get into the big scene. Their producers' struggle get their music heard. Their personal stories of loss, triumph and anguish.

 

What started as an amateur singing group competing in hometown singing contests grew to be one of the hottest acts in musical history. But along the way - there were the issues of drugs, love, respect, family and dignity ... things that often get sacrificed in the pursuit of fame.

 

This movie, understandably had a great soundtrack. Individually, the actors sang their parts well but Jennifer Hudson (of American Idol fame) stood out in her performances as Effie. Her voice was solid, her acting as the would be lead singer passed over for a thinner girl was profound. This was her movie. More than Beyonce's. More than anyone else's. She gave depth and substance to a complex character and showed both toughness and a heartbreaking vulnerability.

 

The production design was very good - it captured the lush era that was the 60s and 70s - both in terms of make up, clothing, interiors and atmosphere. There was the right amount of socio-political/historical references appropriate to the era that the movie was set in.

 

All told, a good watch. Not the best movie of the year but one of the good ones.

 

What strikes me is that - the Dreamgirls is a story of how stars are built .. and in this movie we may have actually seen the emergence of one such star in Jennifer Hudson.

 

[Larry]

Watched Deja Vu...

 

This time-travel film was half-engrossing, half-disappointing.

 

Just became stupid and awful towards the end...

 

true...extremely disappointed by the end. and exremely disappointed with the time travel angle...the gf and I had the same WTF? look when the credits rolled.

 

Wathced a screener of Children of Men.

 

Another depressing film which was again very good.

 

Set in the not so bright future of 2027. The world is in total chaos. After a flu pandemic in 2008, the world has spiralled downard, war is everywhere, America is not the superpower it once was, and Britain despite the only country left standing is in a state of disrepair. Battling illegal immigrants and terrorists, the world has really gone upside down.

 

To add to all this, all the women of the world have mysteriously become infertile. For 18 years not a single baby was born. It seems like the endtimes truly is near.

 

Clive Owen delivers an excellent performance and the storytelling was crisp. But what really made this movie was the cinematography. Excellent shots at every scene, plus some really wild ones too.

 

Night at the Museum

 

very entertaining. brainless. but very entertaining.

Edited February 2, 2007 by Larry

[Manticore]

Stranger Than Fiction

 

What happens when you try to downplay Will Ferrell's usual antics and pit him against the likes of Emma Thompson, Dustin Hoffman and Maggie Gyllenhaal in a story that's got the premise of a Twilight Zone episode, twists and suspense worthy of M. Night Shyamalan and poignant moments reminiscent of a Tom Hanks starrer? A tragi-comic novel of a movie, that is! This has more oomph than Jim Carrey's "The Truman Show", though some may see some similarities between the two. I just love watching comedians putting on a straight face in a comedy. :boo: It really cracks me up to imagine the kind of restraint it requires of them...like resisting an itch that's just begging to be scratched. heheheh. Will Ferrell pulled it off with flying colors, though. I wouldn't mind watching it again (which I intend to do, as a matter of fact.) :cool:

[jopoc]

Stranger Than Fiction

 

What happens when you try to downplay Will Ferrell's usual antics and pit him against the likes of Emma Thompson, Dustin Hoffman and Maggie Gyllenhaal in a story that's got the premise of a Twilight Zone episode, twists and suspense worthy of M. Night Shyamalan and poignant moments reminiscent of a Tom Hanks starrer? A tragi-comic novel of a movie, that is! This has more oomph than Jim Carrey's "The Truman Show", though some may see some similarities between the two. I just love watching comedians putting on a straight face in a comedy. :boo: It really cracks me up to imagine the kind of restraint it requires of them...like resisting an itch that's just begging to be scratched. heheheh. Will Ferrell pulled it off with flying colors, though. I wouldn't mind watching it again (which I intend to do, as a matter of fact.) :cool:

 

 

he was also like adam sandler in click.

 

the only think that bothers me in this movie is their failure to explain how this narration happened. but anyway, i am also watching this movie again tonite.

[Kurtsky Keigee]

Flags Of Our Fathers

 

Great movie by Clint Eastwood & Steven Spielberg

Ryan Philippe & Paul Walker were not great buy good.

Most of the cast are not well known actors but they really portrayed their roles well.

You can really feel what happened to them and how it is like being in the middle of the war.

Great performances and explosions,gunshots and dialogue.

Well IMO, its one of the greatest war movies I have seen since Jarhead.

 

9/10

 

:cool:

Edited February 3, 2007 by kUrTsKY

[Manticore]

he was also like adam sandler in click.

 

the only think that bothers me in this movie is their failure to explain how this narration happened. but anyway, i am also watching this movie again tonite.

Oh, yeah! That's an even better comparison, although as an Adam Sandler fan I can't imagine how I could've miss that one. I must really be getting old. sheesh.

 

After watching Stranger Than Fiction a second time, I did notice that nothing in the story indicated how the narration came about, leaving us viewers to fill-in the gaps, so to speak. My own take is that the narration was Karen's mental verbalization of the story as she printed it on her typewriter. Little did the author know that in the process of weaving her tale, she had unwittingly tapped into the mind of her principal character, Harold Crick, who himself was a living, breathing, flesh-and-blood person. Every word formed with each keystroke had Karen's voice speaking it, and poor Harry cannot help but hear them all. The apparent psychic connection seemed to be in effect only as Karen typed, however, and any communication that went on was strictly one-way, to Harry's frustration. It would be logical to think that Karen had developed her "abilities" through the visualizations she often allowed herself to revel in as part of her writing process, although some of the mental imagery had herself as its subject (such as those wherein she sought ways to k*ll off Harry.) They were so vivid, in fact, that the moment Harry introduced himself, she was astonished at how well she was able to "picture" him in her mind, down to the very last detail. She even wondered if she was responsible for killing people whose lives were the subject of her other stories---leading the audience to believe that she actually had the gift of second sight all along.

 

My theory about Karen's psychic abilities does present a problem with the ending of the movie, though. Wouldn't this negate the dilemma she was faced with in determining the fate of her would-be masterpiece? If, on the other hand, we consider that her typewriter was the means through which she could affect the lives of her characters (a sort of deus ex machina, if you will) in tandem with her ability to "connect" with them, then perhaps this resolves that issue. Then again, I can't, for the life of me, explain that thing about Harry's watch having a life of its own. Perhaps, that's why Stranger Than Fiction is an apt title for the movie. (I give up! Oh, well. heheheh.)

 

No wonder writers need to know (or research) their material well. Any implausibility present in the story may be viewed as a flaw and needs to be addressed (although not explicitly) in the story itself...never mind if it is a work of fiction and a comedy, at that. As an audience, we don't readily suspend belief unless we knew it was a given, as with Will Ferrell's other movie, Bewitched.

 

I really liked how they incorporated the narrator in the story, though. It's almost like reverse-engineering, wherein the movie becomes a novel, instead of vice-versa. Now, that's kewl! I guess this style of storytelling was an attempt to recapture the feel of being totally engrossed with a novel. It certainly plays like one...even going to the extent of including the thought processes of characters (as told by the author) that only the literary medium has the luxury of dwelling on.

 

I ought to get the DVD of this one. I'm tempted to watch it over and over. heheheh.

 

I'd go the whole wide world, go the whole wide world, just to find her.... (My latest last song sydrome. argh!)

[SoulMTC]

Watched Apocalypto and as the other people in this thread declared.. Its brutal but great. I liked the lead actor in this film very expressive. He did not need to speak english so that you could feel his emotions. Good movie indeed.

[Waterbearer]

Watched SAW III, Pathfinder, A night at the museum, Little children and Dreamgirls last week.

 

SAW III -- Definitely not for the faint hearted....I felt this movie was more gross than the first two.....It was too painful for me to watch.....i had to move away during some of the death scenes....the twist once again are brilliant....This is one series thats got so much twist one just couldn't tell how this is all going to end. Nevertheless, this is one of the few killing spree movies I am going to recommend.

 

Pathfinder -- For a viking movie, this one was dissappointing. I don't understand why but i really found the movie boring despite the action sequences....sayang Im a big fan pa naman of Norsh.

 

A night at the musuem -- Very very entertaining. nakakatuwa sila panoorin.....ang gulo gulo nila ....in fact i watched the movie 2 more times before leaving the theater.....nakakatuwa yung T-Rex "here boy fetch fetch"

 

Little Children -- Wow...and i thought this was going to be a very boring film.....man was I wrong or what! Great narration....great performances and best of all the laundry scene was a classic.....and one of the sexiest scenes i have seen in a long time.

 

Dreamgirls -- Galing! Im putting my money on the line here Jennifer Hudson is going to win that Oscar! She is stealing every scene she could and was she very effective. Redundant plot....but Great acting Great cast and best of all great soundtrack....I've already downloaded mine hehehe

Edited February 15, 2007 by Waterbearer

[juancarlos_enriquez]

Watched The Messengers last Saturday. Another scary flick from the Pang Brothers... decent film but still not as good as The Eye or Shutter (is this also from them?). The Penelope chick is cute, kinda reminded me of Avril. Other than that, nothin much to complain about. You get to piece together the point of the film as you watch, pretty predictable though.

[Marshall Bruce]

I was able to watch Ghost Rider yesterday. Great flick. It is at par with other Marvel movies like Spiderman and F4.

 

Worth my money. Oh, one more thing, Nicolas Cage did a Caster Troy in the movie when he was changing to be GR.

 

Eva Mendes...

[G T]

i agree on ghost rider's review.just watched it a couple of hours ago. 115 minutes sitting,eating popcorn and watching the movie was well worth it.highly recommended to marvel character fanatics.

[clubber_lang]

Watched Ghost Rider.

 

Let me put it this way. It is not as bad as Fantastic Four or The Punisher. It is not nearly as good as Spider-Man or X2.

 

More of somewhere in between.

 

good points: The effects on the transformation and the Ghost Rider was quite well-executed. Nicolas Cage was also commendable.

 

Bad: The lines. They were cliche-ish and bordering on cheesy and laughably bad i.e. "He may have my soul but he does not have my spirit!"

 

A good way to while the time away but if you can't catch it in the theatre, don't feel really bad either...

[Guest Leviticus]

I was able to watch Ghost Rider yesterday. Great flick. It is at par with other Marvel movies like Spiderman and F4.

 

Worth my money. Oh, one more thing, Nicolas Cage did a Caster Troy in the movie when he was changing to be GR.

 

Eva Mendes...

yup.. that was the good part for me; when Johnny Blaze turned to Ghostrider for the first time. Kahit may CG graphics Nicholas Cage still managed to pull off the transformation to Ghostrider: the big eyes, the screams and facial expression, and then the death laughter at the end of the transformation :thumbsupsmiley:

 

second scene that stuck with me was when Johnny was being carried to the prison cell :cool: tapos binubugbog ng mga convicts while all the time he was trying not to turn to Ghostrider.

[Capt Spaulding]

ghost rider is the best marvel movie ever released. astig yung effects and mr cage is really good.

[Waterbearer]

yup.. that was the good part for me; when Johnny Blaze turned to Ghostrider for the first time. Kahit may CG graphics Nicholas Cage still managed to pull off the transformation to Ghostrider: the big eyes, the screams and facial expression, and then the death laughter at the end of the transformation :thumbsupsmiley:

 

second scene that stuck with me was when Johnny was being carried to the prison cell :cool: tapos binubugbog ng mga convicts while all the time he was trying not to turn to Ghostrider.

Dude the big eyes while he was laughing was really chilling......Told u the movie was worth it.....kainis nga lang coz' parang hindi justified ang labanan nila with the Hidden....masyadong mabilis nasugpo....It would have been better if they could have extended the running time from 151 minutes to something like 2.5 hours....just for the battlescenes.....They are already talking about the sequel and how i wish they would get take Blackout as his next nemesis.....favorite part was when he was flying his bike above 4 running choppers ......sweet! :cool:

[roaddog z]

The Holiday

 

Light romantic comedy with a great script and you can't go wrong with the casting. Cameron Diaz is pretty good here and I'm sure many of us can relate to the story line. :cool: