The MOVIE REVIEW Thread

[_eRon_]

watched incredibles last friday, i agree with anaheim, very nice movie, great animation, nice story, cool action scenes, definitely worth your money..you can watch it w/ a date or with the family..

 

hoping to watch wicker park & national treasure..are they any good?..i heard wicker park is good, how bout national treasure?.. :cool: :mtc:

[sickness]

Title: MAY

 

 

Story:

May is a girl with no friends who is constantly disappointed by the people she meets. Two short relationships end in devastation for the shy girl, as her first boyfriend dumps her by cutting off all contact and her first girlfriend sleeps with practically every other female in the movie. This is when May notices that people have perfect parts, but there are no perfect people. So she starts taking the perfect bits and building the perfect person, who will never hurt her or leave her.

 

Review:

From the very beginning, I knew this wasn't going to let me down. What can I say? This movie was excellent! Some of the violence is actually done in some disturbing ways, but I'm a horror fan and that means this is a plus. I appreciate it when someone can get under my skin with some of the types of scenes I've seen so many times in other films. "May" is a great example of how much it really matters when it comes down to how they show the violence. This movie was absolute brilliance. It was creatively written, realistically portrayed, inspiringly directed, and disturbingly sad and dark at the same time.

 

The movie was different from what I expected, but that's just a plus. I was pleasantly surprised, hopefully you are too. I really enjoyed it; I spent the first half being creeped out by the girl, and the second half being creeped out by the killings. The crazy Goth doll

 

was classic, I will evangelize the wonders of this movie to everyone I meet who likes a good horror flick. Angela Bettis is astounding as May; she is amazing. Rest of the cast includes Anna Faris, James Duval and Nicole Hiltz. Writer/Director Lucky McKee does a fantastic job. His Script and directing are right on the money. Words can't describe how brilliant her performance was.

 

"May" reminds me of another film which deals with similar themes, the Japanese psychological thriller "Audition". Both films deal with an apparently normal woman who becomes increasingly unstable as the film progresses. However, "May" lacks the subtly of Miike Takashi's movie. This is what makes "Audition" so powerful - the film's climax is unexpected and extremely disturbing. In "May", you expect it all along because there are obvious indications of what is to come. Full-on gore fans may find it a little unsatisfying (until it becomes a bit sick and spooky right at the end), but non-horror fans who want to know more (and horror fans who enjoy other genres) should thoroughly enjoy this. This movie is highly recommended.

 

Rating:

3.5 out of 4 stars

[fatso8]

NATIONAL TREASURE

Director: Jon Turteltaub

Nicolas Cage (Benjamin Franklin Gates), Diane Kruger (Anita Chase), Sean Bean (Ian), Harvey Keitel

 

My Rating: :cool: :cool: :cool:

 

Synopsis: All his life, Benjamin Franklin Gates (Nicolas Cage) has been searching for a treasure no one believed existed: amassed through the ages, moved across continents, to become the greatest treasure the world has ever known. Hidden by our Founding Fathers, they left clues to the treasure's location right before our eyes... from our nation's birthplace, to the nation's capitol, to clues buried within the symbols on the dollar bill. In a race against time, Gates must elude the FBI, stay one step ahead of his ruthless adversary (Sean Bean), decipher the remaining clues and unlock the 2000 year-old mystery behind our greatest national treasure.

 

Review/Comments: Its Indiana Jones + James Bond + Mission Impossible.. ie, PURO KAIMPOSIBLEHAN! Haha!.. But I enjoyed the movie.. Kakatawa sidekick nya.. & ang ganda ni Dane Kruger (Troy, Wicker Park)! .. Fun Movie!

Edited November 26, 2004 by fatso8

[crezi_munky]

SAW

 

"How much blood would you shed to stay alive"

 

Cast:

Cary Elwes, Leigh Whannell, Danny Glover, Ken Leung and Monica Potter

 

 

Synopsis:

Two men wake up in a crappy bathroom without any cohesive recollection on how they were put there. They are chained to opposite sides of the room and are left clues on how to get out.

 

 

Review:

Harsh, surprising, daring, inventive, nihilistic and brutally graphic…my kind of lady! Movies with balls this size come once in a blue moon...relish them! Although it sported minor flaws, I’m still giving "Saw" a perfect rating. What the film made me feel more than made up for its tiny boo-boos. "Saw" had me under its blade from frame one, kept me there the whole time and slit my throat with its finale. As I bled profusely, I looked back at the outstanding experience that was this clever, twisted and plasma-heavy flick. Heed my words, let this "Saw" bleed you dry when it knocks at your door! Dying was never this much fun!

 

 

Rating:

4.5 out of 5

[Anaheim]

A. Caption

Title of the Film THE POLAR EXPRESS

 

Director Robert "Back to the Future/Forrest Gump/Who Framed Roger Rabbit/Castaway" Zemeckis

 

Lead Actors/Actresses Tom Hanks, Daryl Sabara, Eddie Deezen, Nona Gaye, Michael Jeter

 

Remarks : I watched it yesterday at the newly open Robinson's Place in Mandaluyong city. Great seats, Incredible Dolby Surround sound.

 

B. Synopsis of the Movie Based on the book of the same name by author Chris Van Allsburg, The Polar Express is about a boy who's on the verge of not believing Santa Claus anymore until one night just before Christmas Eve he's awakened by a steam train that pulls up in front of his house and takes him on an amazing journey along with other children to the North Pole to meet Santa Claus himself.

 

C. Review/Criticism Amazing CGI (Computer Generated Images) effects with body movement performances by Tom Hanks as Hero Boy/Father/Conductor/Hobo/ Scrooge/ and as Santa Claus himself. I think this is the third collaboration of Tom Hanks and director Robert Zemeckis, the first was Forrest Gump and the second was Castaway. If you are familiar with all of Tom Hanks movies you will easily recognise his voice in some of the CGI characters, remember Woody in Toy Story?. The CGI technique that was used in the Polar Express is called "performance capture," in which human actors perform the movements which are translated into lifelike animation (same technique that was used in Lord of the Rings's Gollum with Andy "13 Going On 30" Serkis as Smeagol/Gollum). Many scenes include some action elements such as the roller-coaster-ride-like train racing through tunnels and sliding sideways on slippery ice. Enjoyable music includes Tom Hanks singing 'Hot Chocolate' and touching songs such as 'Believe'. A touch of 'Forrest Gump' will be remembered with the lost ticket floating and fluttering through the air just like the floating feather in Forrest Gump. Personally I like the movie with its endearing magical quality that lifts us up into believing in the Christmas spirit during this holiday season.

 

D. Rating :cool: :cool: :cool: :cool: :cool:

 

Excellent - 5/5

Edited November 29, 2004 by Anaheim

[foobar30]

Alexander

Directed and Written by Oliver Stone

Starring Colin Farrell, Anthony Hopkins, Angelina Jolie, Jared Leto, Rosario Dawson

 

B. Synopsis of the Movie

Conquering 90% of the known world by the age of 25, Alexander the Great (Farrell) led his armies through 22,000 miles of sieges and conquests in just eight years. Coming out of tiny Macedonia, Alexander led his armies against the mighty Persian Empire, drove west to Egypt, and finally made his way east to India. This film will concentrate on those eight years of battles, as well as his relationship with his boyhood friend and battle mate, Hephaestion. Alexander died young, of illness, at 33. Alexander's conquests paved the way for the spread of Greek culture (facilitating the spread of Christianity centuries later), and removed many of the obstacles that might have prevented the expansion of the Roman Empire. In other words, the world we know today might never have been if not for Alexander's bloody, yet unifying, conquest. (IMDB)

 

C. Review/Criticism

After the initial shock and disgust of the homosexual themes and scenes, in retrospect, this movie was effective in portraying the life of Alexander as we've never seen him. We all know him as one of the greatest military leaders in history, having been undefeated and conquering the entire known world during his time. This movie takes a peek at his life - his relationship with his family, friends, and of course, loves. Watch this movie with a mature approach and I'm sure that you'll appreciate it so much more. Sure, making fun of it is irresistible, but resist until after looking at the story and message that the movie is trying to tell, and I'm sure that you'll appreciate it.

 

D. Rating (To be placed at the bottom of the post)

3.75 out of 5 (Worth your money)

[crezi_munky]

http://movies.go.com/images/movies/s/seedofchucky_2004.jpg

 

SEED OF CHUCKY

 

i just saw SEED OF CHUCKY. I honestly don't know what to say about this totally bizarre and off-the-wall film. Without a doubt the most insane film of the year. The non-stop humour and stabs at the genre are so well placed in the film. The gore is so off-the-wall and pushed the R Rating to it's limitations. We get someone's face melted off with acid (you get to see the whole thing and it's gruesome as f**k), the Santa sequence is priceless and bloody as hell, someone's gutted and we see the steaming pile of guts on the floor (watch the ending credits for the uncut version of this sequence), one of the most amazing decapitations I've ever seen, tons of gory stabbings, someone's quartered, machete in the head, puppet gore galore, burnt corpse and much more!

 

Rating: 3 out of 5

[bluechips]

Alexander

 

Criticism/Review (since dreamstormer has already posted the cast & synopsis, i'll just right in):

 

I just had to get this off my chest... Two weeks ago i was fortunate enough to get invited to the premier showing of Alexander at Rockwell. Cocktails at 7, Film at 8. It was cool because the servers where dressed in classical Greek togas, the cocktails were courtesy of Cafe Med (yummy picas!) and red wine was flowing... plus there was a cool pic/map of Greece and its surrounding area. In other words, it was really a great start....

 

Soon we're ushered inside and the movie starts... and goes on... and ends. and I was like... uh... duhhh.... that was it?? Personally i found the movie so... sayang. There are the popular actors, farrell, jolie, hopkins, kilmer, and director oliver stone pa, however... there were some good scenes but unfortunately, this movie just didn't come together at all for me. Val Kilmer, and anthony hopkins were for me sadly underused, which is a waste of their formidable talents. Angelina Jolie had a sizable role at the start of the film, but towards the middle and end it starts to seem redundant and puro recycling nalang...

 

The main problem lies in the script. The beginning was good, but some of the parts that i think should have been shown in the film, are instead simply recalled and narrated by Hopkins (such as Kilmer's assasination), in his part as an older Ptolemy, one of Alexander's generals. The story gets lost somewhere in the middle, and the ending ends up trudging along, with a very weak climax. It also fails to establish a lasting emotional bond with the audience, something we can really hold on to and sympathize with with characters. Plus, pardon the homophobic response, but there were a lot of instances where when alexander makes googoo eyes at his best friend/lover and the other gigolo guy, grabe talaga kinikilabutan ako! sheesh! natatawa nalang sa akin wife ko because i was squirming in my seat.(at least sure sya na hindi ako bading!). i really think that had there been some progression as far as Alexander's bisexuality has been protrayed, i would probably have appreciated it more, having seen other gay films in the past and not having as violent a reaction. But then in this movie, instead of exploring how it began, or at least having some more depth, what was shown was mostly googoo eyes through several different points in the film, no progression or a gradual deeper look into their physical relationship. and i don't really get the excessive use of the eagle and the caged animals---symbolisms for freedom ok sana kung used lightly or memorably once, rather than have it as a recurring thing all throughout the film. in your face pamandin. This movie came to be more like a biography/docu with the exception of the action scenes, rather than a movie plot with a clearly established beginning, buildup and climax.

 

alexander as a person may have been many great things, but sadly, this movie is anything but great. truly, a Greek tragedy.

 

Rating:

2 of 5.

[^Tim^]

Christmas with the Kranks

 

Cast:

Director: Joe Roth

 

Cast overview, first billed only:

Tim Allen .... Luther Krank

Jamie Lee Curtis .... Nora Krank

Dan Aykroyd .... Vic Frohmeyer

M. Emmet Walsh .... Walt Scheel

Cheech Marin .... Officer Salino

 

Plot:

 

Luther Krank (Allen) was fed up with the commerciality of Christmas, and then decides to skip the holiday and go on a vacation with his wife Nora (Curtis) instead. But when his daughter decides at the last minute to come home, he must put together a holiday celebration and the family scrambles to create Christmas from scratch where hilarity ensues.

 

Typical Xmas movie... Makes u laguh, entetained... a lil bit longer, though... 1 hour 40 minutes (by 10 minutes off the usual 90-minute thing)... Tim Allen n Jamie Lee Curtis may be older...but their roles are typical American parents whatdya expect? And they can still get the laughs on stoic moviegoers... well.. based on the crowd Shady character herre n his "Kim Mathers" saw when we watched it @ G4... Many old guys still laughed to their hearts delight...

 

Dan Aykroyd was a revelation as the Kranks' neighbor cum community leader type who frowned at Allen's decision of skipping Xmas only to eventually help them when learned that the Krank's daughter is actually comin... the kids in the movie were also funny...

 

Since there's not much choice of movies from now till Dec. 25 (when the Metro Manila festival opens... oh no! huhuhuhu)... :evil: :boo:, might as well catch this flick next week... its worth ur P100 (if watchin' @ Glorietta 4) rather than a hundred bucks on most (if not all, hehe) Filmfest movies comin' up... hehehe peace...

[hitman531ph]

HAROLD AND KUMAR GO TO WHITE CASTLE

 

HILARIOUS!!!

 

Two friends & roommates, Harold, a Korean-American and Kumar, an Indian American, decide to go to White Castle for burgers for dinner. Instead of delivery, they opted to go to White Castle for dine-in...

 

The trip lasts all night as twists, turns and wrong turns, as well as tow trucks, girls, a raccoon, doctors, cops, local pranksters get in the way....

 

A HILARIOUS TRIP!

 

This is no Oscar material but if you want laughs, THIS MOVIE IS IT!

 

Rating - 9/10

 

INSANELY HILARIOUS!!!

[Anaheim]

A. Caption

Title of the Film SO HAPPY TOGETHER

 

Director JOEL C. LAMANGAN

 

Lead Actors/Actresses Kris Aquino, Eric Quizon, Nova Villa, the Starstruck 1 Final Four - Jennilyn Mercado, Mark Herras, Yasmin Kurdi, Ranier Castillo

 

Remarks : We watched it yesterday at the Gateway Mall, Araneta Center, Cubao. Great seats, Incredible Dolby Surround sound.

 

B. Synopsis of the Movie SO HAPPY TOGETHER is about the story of a girl (Kris Aquino)and a gay (Eric Quizon), the best of friends spanning 4 decades.

 

C. Review/Criticism SO HAPPY TOGETHER has its laugh-out-loud moments and a few boring moments. SO HAPPY TOGETHER is a recycled theme in pinoy movies which is about the friendship between a girl and a gay. I say recycled because its theme has already been done in the 80s. Remember "Si Malakas at si Maganda"?, a film directed by Danny Zialcita starring Elizabeth Oropesa as a tomboy and the late Dindo Fernando as a gay. Straight actors playing gays are always funny in films while gay actors playing gay roles in films aren't, that's where Eric Quizon (assuming he's not gay in real life) shines in his most hilarious gay role (first was PUSONG MAMON with Albert Martinez). Nova Villa added a fine comedic perfomance as Eric's deaf mute mom, a joyous role only to be terminated short when she got ill which later toned down the movie's comical motif into a typical cry-fest seen in most pinoy films. Kris Aquino's effectiveness in comedy and drama films with its star power capacity is a valuable asset in the film's elements. SO HAPPY TOGETHER has its noticeable flaws that would be detected only by the perceptive die-hards (myself included) such as the use of a modern Nokia cellphone (2004 model) by Kris Aquino's character 7 years BEFORE Eric Quizon's character's death, so that death scene would be 2011 ???, and the first meeting of Kris and Eric at the opening scene in the movie that would calculate to be actually in the 70s but it doesn't feel and look like the 70s at all. The addition of the Starstruck 1 final four stars (Jennilyn Mercado, Mark Herras, Yasmin Kurdi and Rainier Castillo) was only made to add to its attractiveness for the fans which could easily be deleted/edited out without doing harm to the film. Over-all, SO HAPPY TOGETHER offers a hilarious ride in most parts to local audiences.

 

D. Rating

 

Good - 3.5/5

Edited January 8, 2005 by Anaheim

[Gideon]

Mano Po 3 - good movie. But liked the Part 1 better.

 

Suba - directorial debut by Cesar Montano. Ok na, but kinda blurred aerial shots. The place was a paradise.

[Hitokiri Shouji]

Movie Review: Blade Trinity

 

 

**WARNING: MAJOR SPOILERS AHEAD!!!**

 

 

 

 

Blade Trinity is reportedly the last installment of the Blade series from New Line and Marvel, and it made a lot of fans of the first movie, drool with anticipation.

 

It stars Wesley Snipes, Kris Kristofferson, both reprise their role as Blade, and Whistler respectively. They are joined in by Ryan Reynolds (as Hannibal King), Jessica Biel (as Abbigail Whistler), who rescue Blade in the early part of the movie.

 

The baddies include Parker Posey (as Danica Talos), and Dominic Prucell (as Drake/Dracula).

 

As the story goes, Blade was set up by the FBI to be captured. It turns out, a 'well' organized group of vampires initiated this, as they one of the FBI official, is a familiar. Blade is publicly blamed, and in the attempt to capture him, Whistler (Kristofferson) is killed.

 

Blade is captured, and is then rescued by Nightstalker members, King (Reynolds), and Abbigail (Biel). Blade learns that the same organization that framed him, also awakened 'The First' vampire, Drake, or by his real name, Dracula (Purcell). And, the story 'goes' from there.

 

First, let me say that Blade Trinity, is absolute

 

 

CRAP!!!!!!!

 

 

It started out pretty well, with Snipes kicking some undead butt, but after Whistler dies, the plot, the entire continuity died with him!

 

Since the Police Station (about 25-30 minutes into the film), everything went downhill. The rest of the movie was like it was shown in flashes. One minute your in point A, next thing you know, you're in Point C, and you don't know what the hell happened to Point B.

 

As if it wasn't enough that the movie was bad, our local censors (MTRCB) hacked it up to an even worse state.

 

The movie is so full of holes, I can't even imagine writing all of them down!

 

Just to give you a taste, here are some:

 

1. Nightstalkers are supposed to be 'proffessionals' so what's up with their two agents, leaving a BLIND WOMAN, to man the security cameras?

 

2. Nightstalkers k*ll vamps in the same city Blade is in, and yet he has never run into them before?

 

3. If Drake was so powerful, and this badass-end-all vampire, why the hell did't he just put the hurt on Blade, why pick on weak humans?

 

4. Drake mentioned something about 'fighting with honor' and 'respect' at the end of the movie, but how come he took a baby and a little girl hostage, or k*ll the4 Nightstalkers, who were obviously very inferior to him?

 

5. Lastly, why did Blade leave Drake's corpse to be discovered by the FBI Forensics team, and why didn't he turn to ash after 'dying' and being exposed to the sun?

 

Really, this final installment of the trilogy was TRULY DISAPPOINTING! It started out fairly well, and ended up sucking (no pun intended).

 

If you're planning to watch Blade Trinity, DON'T! It'll be a waste of your P70.00.

 

Blade Trinity gets a blood clot of a 3 out of 10 for me.

[propaganda]

Ocean's Twelve sucked.

[gorgonite]

Ocean's Twelve sucked.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

I liked it... it was hilarious.

the story's not much, but i was entertained nevertheless.

7/10.