The MOVIE REVIEW Thread

[Barenaked-NoMre]

Just caught "Hairspray" tonight. Nice, colorful and upbeat! ;-)

 

Edited September 16, 2007 by barenaked

[Great Milenko]

superbad - 6/10

alone (from the makers of shutter) - 9/10

knocked up - 7/10

scary movie 4 - 8/10

 

napanood ko siya online. hindi ko ala ang dami na palang free streaming website ngayon na kahit 2 weeks pa lang release sa US yung movie mapapanood mo na nga malinaw. mas mabuti pa kaysa bumili ako ng pirated. :cool:

[jologsparin]

Watched "3:10 to YUMA" last night. I'd say it was a better remake of the classic western that starred John Ford. Two Thumbs Up! :thumbsupsmiley:

I believe it was Glenn Ford and not John Ford who came out in the original movie.

[kerrmit]

Watched "Rogue Assassin" aka "War"

 

 

Huge disappointment. Having both Jet Li and Jason statham in a movie guarantees a great action film... not! Sayang. They should have had a better director or at least a crew that can come up with HK style fighting sequences. Or a better script for that matter. Except for the fact that Li and Statham were in this film, everything else, literally, was chaotic.

 

A big letdown for a huge Jet Li fan like myself.

[Mandrake]

I believe it was Glenn Ford and not John Ford who came out in the original movie.

 

Yup...should read as Glen not John...thanks for the erratum!

 

After much prodding from my girl, had the chance to view THE BRAVE ONE (Jodie Foster & Terrence Howard) last night. My first thought before watching it was this is going to be another boring vigilante film on revenge/vendetta just like the "Death Wish" flicks of C. Bronson. I was quite blown away by Jodie Foster's superb acting that carries this film till the end. My rating: 4 stars :thumbsupsmiley:

[dragonei]

Rouge Assassin a.k.a WAR

 

(Sing) uh ah..... WAR! whats is it good for? absolutely nothing!

 

How could this movie go wrong? I mean how? It had all the right elements. It had a good premise, I mean a war between the triad and yakuza would have been cool. There were hot rides, kickass costumes, merderous villains, guns, corey yuen to coregraph fight sequences, and two of the hottest martial arts star in the game to be in this movie....... but nooooo the director had to f#&k it all up and I wish that his balls are ripped off so he won't contaminate the rest of this world.

 

I was ready for some dumb plot. And why not? it worked for die hard and transformers, I could have forgiven all the flaws in the plot if only it delivered some good action. But ill tell you this movie is an example of how a good idea could be flushed down the toilet when it is given a lousy execution. Ok where do I begin?

 

FBI Special Agent Crawford (Statham) is obsessed with nabbing the man who murdered his partner, an elusive assassin known a rouge. Rouge (Li) is a hitman playing both sides of the two biggest asian gangs, the triad and the yakuza. He is staging a war in between them. To get to rouge, crawford must unravel the power struggles in between the two mafias, and what follows next is a series of webs of deception, double crosses, and a plot twist that almost saved the mess of the entire movie.

 

It simply takes too long to develop the plot and characters, too long that it becomes excruciating and even pointless. Too long that it makes you wana give up caring about the characters, that when the big reveal was there..... poof Im just thankful they now rolled the credits. Most of the time we do not know whose playing whose side. Heck, sometimes I could not even tell who the yakuzas were and who the triads were. They all looked the same to me, and they all dressed up the same. The biggest let down of the plot is that would you believe it forgot a concrete ending? Bam! bam! one character is dead, and thats it. s@%t I did not even know who got shot.

 

Acting was so so. We all know here that Li and statham could act if youve seen snatch or danny the dog. But Devon Aoki needs to go back modeling she just doesn't cut it. The dialouge about the stupid chef's salad (which until now should have been scrapped off after the movie was edited) was completley ludicarous, it did not even make me scared about the baddies. All in all, there were good actors but the script is waste of talent.

 

All could have been forgiven if it only delivered what it said. oh how I wish that corey yuen took over the directing than an MTV director making a mainstream debut with a big project such as this. There wasn't even enough shoot outs to satisfy fans here. I mean its cool to see jet li holding a gun for a change, but even the shoot outs were too inane. The car chase too clicheic, and when we get to the final fight scene? damn Id rather watch the Lidell VS Jackson fight. It had more action and was longer

 

All in all, a true disappointment C-

[brian]

Resident Evil: Extinction

 

I haven't watched it yet but I just read something that might interest those who would want to watch it next week...including me. I'll quote a reviewer.

 

Resident Evil: Extinction SUCKS!

 

Resident Evil: Extinction is no good! Do not see it!

 

Have I seen the movie? Nope. Sony won’t let me, or any other reviewer, screen the film. Even though they are having nationwide screenings on Thursday, I have been told by ScreenGems that media is BANNED from attending said screening. It’s really too bad, because the whole mad max premise had promise. But don’t think anymore about it - The movie is not worth seeing! Sony told us! They told us not to see it.

 

Translation: Resident Evil 3 sucks. That simple. Stay away from this stinker. Do not waste your money! See Into The Wild or IMAX Transformers instead!

 

--SlashFilm

 

The review also said that more often than not, when a Studio bars reviewers from seeing an advance screening it always translates to the film not worth watching. Sad though, I've been anticipating this movie. But hey, I'm gonna see it anyway and see if it really suck.

[thirteen]

Shoot 'Em Up!

 

OK, first off all, don't watch this movie with your girl if she's the type who hated k*ll Bill. Instead, go with people who can appreciate an action movie for what it's worth...the hardcore action sequences, the cheesy lines, the cool characters, and the impossible stunts.

 

This movie can be described in two words: GUN PORN. If you think Equilibrium was cool and you define the first Matrix movie's gun fight in the elevator lobby as a modern classic, you will not be disappointed in this movie. Don't pay attention to the plot, since it only serves as an excuse for more gun fights. As long as you're not put-off by impossible action scenarios, this movie is well worth the time and money spent.

 

This movie defines over-the-top action!

[Gideon]

Resident Evil: ExtinctionI haven't watched it yet but I just read something that might interest those who would want to watch it next week...including me. I'll quote a reviewer.The review also said that more often than not, when a Studio bars reviewers from seeing an advance screening it always translates to the film not worth watching. Sad though, I've been anticipating this movie. But hey, I'm gonna see it anyway and see if it really suck.

I have been a Resident Evil gamer of Playstation for quite a while and I will really watch this movie whatever the reviews are. It depends on the reviewer, let's wait for a Game Player point of view.Chuck and LarryMedyo bitin yung scenes ni Adam SAndler, especially the 2 twins who were going to have a Lesbian French Kiss.But, I like the movie. Grabeng nakakatawa!

[dragonei]

Shoot Em Up

 

Well US critics were definitely right when they called this, the years most amoral action flick since crank.

 

And it lives up to its title too.

 

Our guy here is a man whom we will only know as Mr. Smith. One night while he was sitting at a bus stop, he comes across a pregnant woman being chased by armed thugs. It is not clear whether he does it our of curiosity or conscience, but before we know it, Mr. smith kills one guy with a carrot (yes a carrot!), grabs the pregnant ladies pistol and starts shooting everyone after the pregnant woman. To complicate things, he has to deliver her baby while he is dodging bullets and shooting up men who are after him and the lady. He even cuts the umbilical cord by firing a bullet on it. The woman gets killed by the crossfire but the baby lives. Until this point it is not clear whether it was out of curiosity or conscience, our hero takes the baby and felt much obliged to protect it. With the help of lactating prostitute, they try to get to the bottom of the plot while shooting everyone on their way.

 

The movie does not begin by introducing a premise.... it shoots up, before we get to know our character, it shoots up. Before a real conflict is established it shoots up, before we understand the main plot it shoots up, a lot of characters get killed, and there are more shootings.

 

Ok lets face it, dumb plot sometimes work for action movie, and this movies is not trying to sell plot, it is selling a genre. Mindless gunfights that are enjoyable sometimes, but could get a little excruciating when it is not seasoned with a good plot. The action sequences crosses the line between cool and excruciatingly dumb. But this is surrealism at its finest. Its the kind of movie that would have been made if we could make an R18 movie about the looney tunes characters. And why not a lot of scenes and one-liners were paying courtesy to Bugs bunny and elmer. Our hero also here has an appetite for too much carrot. It all makes sense, its all good for the eyesight, perfect when you do not want to waste bullets.

 

There is one scene where our two main characters are having sex, but just before they get to climax, the guy has to shoot everyone who tries to k*ll both of them. Ok so maybe bad guys can sneak up at unfortunate timings like that. But must you really do all the kama sutra work while you are trying to blow both loads (wink wink).

 

Its cartoonish, its surrealistic, funny sometimes, half of the time it works.

 

Clive Owen is enough reason to see this movie, he is what bugs bunny would have looked like if he was angrier and had an overdeveloped trigger finger. Paul Giamatti also gives a noticable performance as the bad guy who has to deal with his wife bitching him over the phone, and making sure he makes his aim straight. Monica Belluccci though is never convincing as a cheap hooker who would give oral sex in public. I mean she does look like a supermodel than a crack whore. Yes there are a lot of trigger happy morally inept sociopathic characters. It does work sometimes, but it gets a little bitter when it is not seasoned with some moral dillemas. Or at least that part was not made clear by the movie with all that killing and shooting.

 

All in all its fun half of the time, the other half it gets too exhausting. Its the feeling that I get when I walk around big zoo, get facinated by the cool animals I see along the way, but when I get halfway with the tour, my feet are already too tired to walk and see some more cool animal. Surely it will not disappoint people who look for action. It was the mistake of last weeks war. But neither will it be at the top ten favorite movie list of anyone. Its worth sitting through if you wanna pass time but just don't expect too much

 

B-

[G T]

no reservations - starring catherine zeta jone and aaron eckhart

watched it in a movie house

 

classification: romance

 

the movie is about an overly controlling singel with attitude problem. she hates being criticized. her life turned upside down when she was appointed guardian of her niece after her sister died in a car accident. aside from that, she ahs to content with an eccentric and spontaneous new chef employed by her boss to support her in the kitchen.the story revolved on how she adjusted her life to accomodate her niece and falling in love.

its actually a feel good movie.plot is a bit shallow and common but if you're a romantic, you'll like this movie. it snot cheesy,just the right amount of "kilig" factor to it.

cath zeta jones is still gorgeous and aaron eckhart plays the part well. he may not be dashing but the quirkiness in his expressions did justice to the role.

i like the girl who played cath's niece.im sorry but i want able to recall her name. she's cute and acts pretty well.she looked like a small reese witherspoon.

 

my rating: 3 out of 5

[johnnydrama]

Shoot Em Up

 

Well US critics were definitely right when they called this, the years most amoral action flick since crank.

 

And it lives up to its title too.

 

Our guy here is a man whom we will only know as Mr. Smith. One night while he was sitting at a bus stop, he comes across a pregnant woman being chased by armed thugs. It is not clear whether he does it our of curiosity or conscience, but before we know it, Mr. smith kills one guy with a carrot (yes a carrot!), grabs the pregnant ladies pistol and starts shooting everyone after the pregnant woman. To complicate things, he has to deliver her baby while he is dodging bullets and shooting up men who are after him and the lady. He even cuts the umbilical cord by firing a bullet on it. The woman gets killed by the crossfire but the baby lives. Until this point it is not clear whether it was out of curiosity or conscience, our hero takes the baby and felt much obliged to protect it. With the help of lactating prostitute, they try to get to the bottom of the plot while shooting everyone on their way.

 

The movie does not begin by introducing a premise.... it shoots up, before we get to know our character, it shoots up. Before a real conflict is established it shoots up, before we understand the main plot it shoots up, a lot of characters get killed, and there are more shootings.

 

Ok lets face it, dumb plot sometimes work for action movie, and this movies is not trying to sell plot, it is selling a genre. Mindless gunfights that are enjoyable sometimes, but could get a little excruciating when it is not seasoned with a good plot. The action sequences crosses the line between cool and excruciatingly dumb. But this is surrealism at its finest. Its the kind of movie that would have been made if we could make an R18 movie about the looney tunes characters. And why not a lot of scenes and one-liners were paying courtesy to Bugs bunny and elmer. Our hero also here has an appetite for too much carrot. It all makes sense, its all good for the eyesight, perfect when you do not want to waste bullets.

 

There is one scene where our two main characters are having sex, but just before they get to climax, the guy has to shoot everyone who tries to k*ll both of them. Ok so maybe bad guys can sneak up at unfortunate timings like that. But must you really do all the kama sutra work while you are trying to blow both loads (wink wink).

 

Its cartoonish, its surrealistic, funny sometimes, half of the time it works.

 

Clive Owen is enough reason to see this movie, he is what bugs bunny would have looked like if he was angrier and had an overdeveloped trigger finger. Paul Giamatti also gives a noticable performance as the bad guy who has to deal with his wife bitching him over the phone, and making sure he makes his aim straight. Monica Belluccci though is never convincing as a cheap hooker who would give oral sex in public. I mean she does look like a supermodel than a crack whore. Yes there are a lot of trigger happy morally inept sociopathic characters. It does work sometimes, but it gets a little bitter when it is not seasoned with some moral dillemas. Or at least that part was not made clear by the movie with all that killing and shooting.

 

All in all its fun half of the time, the other half it gets too exhausting. Its the feeling that I get when I walk around big zoo, get facinated by the cool animals I see along the way, but when I get halfway with the tour, my feet are already too tired to walk and see some more cool animal. Surely it will not disappoint people who look for action. It was the mistake of last weeks war. But neither will it be at the top ten favorite movie list of anyone. Its worth sitting through if you wanna pass time but just don't expect too much

 

B-

 

Managed to catch this sa moviehouse kanina lang...well shot (pardon the pun-DP Peter Pau is a well regarded director in his native HK), madugo as in madugo talaga (carrot on eyesocket, carrot to the back of one's mouth), not to mention some sly humor on the part of the director (having parts of a neon sign blasted away so that it reads FUK U TOO) and homages to one James Bond movie and a Brangelina starrer alongside the John Woo-esque McGuffin.

 

Sure, it's chopsuey but good, consistent chopsuey.

 

Sa totoo lang, napapikit ang mata ko sa sakit dinatnan ni Mr. Smith sa char ni Paul Giamatti habang pinaipit ang daliri niya para di siya makasa ang baril niya.....

[Mandrake]

Finally got the chance to watch THE KINGDOM last night starring Jamie Foxx, Chris Cooper, Jennifer Garner, and Jason Bateman as members of an elite FBI team deployed un-officially in Riyadh, KSA for only 5 days to help investigate a terrorist bombing of a US compound. The team faces the daunting task amidst their compliance to the laws and customs of the host country, but eventually adapts to and gets the confidence of their Saudi counterparts in subduing the terror cell, and in the process, cracking the case. So it seems, because in the ending....the movie-goer becomes the judge.

 

Great drama and action scenes by director Peter Berg.

 

4 stars :thumbsupsmiley:

Edited October 1, 2007 by Mandrake

[dragonei]

Resident Evil: Extinction

 

Is it just me or is it just the season for lame B- movies? I mean summer has ended but that does not mean that fun at the movies should stop. Its basically another movie that will let time pass by, not too difficult to sit trough, but not that easy to enjoy either. RX symptom? The franchise is dying and its about time for it to take a long quarantine so that it could heal up.

 

Anyway, in this third installment, the T-virus was not sucessfully suppressed by the umbrella corporation after the eents that took place in racoon city. The virus wiped out entirely almost every living thing on the planet turning it into one big dessert that is slowly running out of resources to sustain life. Zombies have taken over the surface, and the guys with suits from the umbrella corporation are now living underground. Every survivor is now on the road moving from one city to the other. Alice, our kickass femme fetale hero is also on the run, but now umbrella corporation is after her so that they can use their blood to find an antidote for the virus, turning the zombies into a labor force. But Alice, with the aid of former ally/ love interest must lead a group of survivors, to alaska the only probable place where infection has not yet been reached.

 

Its an unorginal script, there are just so many clones of it. There is night, day, dawn of the dead from goerge romero, there is 28 days later, there is 28 weeks later, if you are not a fan of the genre, youd probably be asking when ar we going to be trough with post-apocalyptic movies with zombies in them. But I am a big fan of the game, most of the time I find the plot of the game more interesting than the movie's itself. But its not the plot that makes you watch movies like this, its the video game vibe, and eye candy that makes you wanna buy the ticket.

 

There isn't anything interesting or new in this series, even the new monster/nemesis did not look scary at all. The plot and surprises were so predictable that it becomes a suspense movie without the suspense. I mean you know a monster is going to pop out somewhere, but you also get an idea where and when. You know that they guy bitten will suddlenyl turn into one of them zombies in a matter of time, but he won't tell nobody so there could be an element of predictable surprise.

 

The script also leaves a lot of loose ends, like how on earth did our hero here get telepathic powers? Where the hell is Jill Valentine? The actions are so so, but with a luckluster script it also becomes a little dull. No new interesting monsters, no new interesting plot twists.

 

But say what you want about this movie, MIlla javovich kicks ass! Carry Anne Moss, move your ass over! Will we want to see her again for a 4th installment? Well why not as long as we don't get the same overlaod as the ones we had with captain jack sparrow in at world's end

 

But right now, its time for the franchise to gain some inspiration.

 

B-

[jologsparin]

no reservations - starring catherine zeta jone and aaron eckhart

watched it in a movie house

classification: romance

 

i like the girl who played cath's niece.im sorry but i want able to recall her name. she's cute and acts pretty well.she looked like a small reese witherspoon.

 

my rating: 3 out of 5

 

Her name is Abigail Breslin. She also came out in Littlle Miss Sunshine.

[Guest Makaikishi]

SON OF THE MASK

 

Starring: Jamie Kennedy and Alan Cumming

 

It seems that every producer in Hollywood can't get enough of sequels which end up either to ruin the franchise or just a lame attempt since they can't come up with an original plot.

 

Son of the Mask is unfortunately one of those. Billed as a sequel to the highly successful "The Mask" movie, this one had a less-than-thought out plot with almost no relation to the first movie even though the movie takes place 10 years after the movie.

 

To make the long review short, I slept halfway through the movie since it was boring in the beginning. Even Jamie Kennedy's antics can't save this disaster. Unless you're a fan of this franchise, avoid it like staying away from a mad hippie on drugs.

 

 

My rating: 2 tacos out of 5

Edited October 4, 2007 by Makaikishi

[rcsikat]

My review of Stardust

 

http://spectatingthespectacle.blogspot.com...rdust-2007.html

[rcsikat]

My review of The Negotiator

 

http://spectatingthespectacle.blogspot.com...iator-1998.html

[johnnydrama]

Pabilisan nito:

 

Saw the ff: movies sa G4 Ayala Cinemas (pasensya, masyado ako pasaway)...pareho almost empty kc you-know- what happened.

 

Knocked Up & Stardust.

 

Okay naman ang Stardust, talagang Robert De Niro owns with his performance as the swishy Captain Shakespeare...si Ricky Gervais naman, halatang-halata ang karakter niya ni David Brent sa papel niya bilang si Ferdy the Fence. Puwera nga, medyo nabagalan ako sa pace, bitin sa aksyon...makatulog ako ilang beses (lalo nga sa 1st half of the film)...parang naglalabu-labo ang istorya pagdating sa katapusan.

 

On the other hand, tawa ako to death sa Knocked Up....win na win si Seth Rogen bilang si Ben Stone, a classic slacker in the tradition of "The Dude" in The Big Lebowski. Matatawa ka rin sa mga tropa niya (lalo nga the guy who vows not to shave off his facial hair - grabe ang mga banat sa kanya). Keri rin si Katherine Heigl sa papel niya bilang reporter para sa E! News...she manages to look glamorous even when it appears she has a basketball in her tummy. Great musical choices in the film...only someone like director Judd Apatow can turn the B-52's "Rock Lobster" into a makeout song!!!

[jologsparin]

"Lust, Caution" has got to be the most sexually explicit movie I've seen that is not a porno film. The only thing the movie doesn't show is actual penetration though there are fleeting shots of the genital area. However, the erotic scenes are tastefully staged by award-winning director Ang Lee who also did "Brokeback Mountain". The leads, Tony Leung and Tang Wei, look like they're trying the many positions in Kama Sutra and go at it like they're doing the real thing. Leung, however, has already stated in an interview that this isn't so.

I must laud the MTRCB for allowing this movie to be shown without cuts. It's rated R-18 so it's not showing at SM Cinemas. You better catch it before the moral terrorists spoil everything.

Edited October 27, 2007 by jologsparin

[[TWO]RERO]

Death Proof 8/11

 

http://www.toxicshock.tv/news/wp-content/uploads/grind_house_ver8_deathproof.jpg

 

If you are a Quentiin Tarentino Fan. A must movie. Packed with girls,cars and violence. set in 2007 but it seems to in the year of 1970. Nice music by the way. Watch Kurt Russel as a psycho for a change.

[G T]

underdog - watched in the plane on my way to singapore

 

rating: 2 out of 5

 

it has a common storyline.a dog got special powers through an experiment by an evil doctor. he escaped from the lab and was adopted by a young kid seeking attention and love from his father.the two became good friends and dog decided to help mankind.

thin plot but it will be enough to entertain kids and kids at heart.

[anarchyboy]

30 days of night {3/5}

 

just saw the movie last night... it was a good movie... somehow kulang kase andaming ndi na explain... the ending was realistic... sounds give it the good feel that it is a a thriller movie but substance was somehow incomplete.

[clubber_lang]

Lions For Lambs

 

The performances are really good. Robert Redford, Meryl Streep and Tom Cruise live up to their reputation as they successfully immersed themselves to their respective roles.

 

However, the movie plays out like a long seminar regarding the War On terror. And it is not like they offer anything new here. We get the same arguments and ask the same questions. Also, it blames the media too.

 

It would've been better if it was a classroom discussion rather than a full-length feature film. It was not boring, it was just unentertaining and felt longer than its running time.

 

If just for the perfromances, go see it.

[tobats04]

saw Little Manhattan on HBO yesterday..

 

it is 10/10.. galing ng love story - pambata pero unique and mature-minded yung plot nung movie...

 

I was surprised why I passed this old movie pero galing ng story talaga..

a romantic film with serious humor.. parang Wonder Years TV series with a good ending...

 

Guys and girls - watch it!!!