Movie Critiques

[Dred]

I know what you both mean. Don does a great job in the movies he plays in. Ocean's 11 cracked me up with his accent.

I think you're talking about Woody Harrelson pink. He was really great in that role. I loved some of the scenes in the hotel. I laughed so much.

[DanTheMan]

Well, I saw Star Wars 2 - Attack of the Clones last night. For the first time. I know, I know - I don't get out much. Anyway, I have to say I mostly liked it. There's not much depth there and it's not close to an award winning script or anything. But I did like it. And the next morning here, I'm missing that whole world/envrironment. This one may have been the worst yet, though. No, I haven't see Episode 3 yet.
Acting is poor, script is poor, plot predictable. Natalie Portman is cute. Like R2D2. Hate Jar-Jar. It's neat seeing the loose ends staerting to come together.
Is Episode 3 on DVD yet?

[sarahpenycat]

Nope. Episode 3 doesn't come out on DVD for a few months.

[Riothamus]

Right on with the "missing the environment" thing. I've been aware of the prequel's problems for some time now (though at first I denied them,) but I still love them for precicely that world/environment.
Two quick adds [Includes SPOILERS]:

Charlie and the Chocolate Factory : Reasonably good. I've never read the book, but I read enough on the internet to know what wasn't in the book, and agree that yep, Burton's backstory for Wonka was lame. Depp--what shall I say? I've enjoyed him in everything I've seen him in, and he was loads of fun here as well. The Oompa Loompas were good. The

SPOILER: Click to show

punishments of the children

were curiously lacking in real feeling though (with the exception of V.B.--that one really horrified me.)

Amadeus Curiously, not really that much about Mozart at all. More about his opponant, the F. Murray Abraham character. I won't say much on this one, but it really deserves to be seen. Perhaps it was the lateness of the hour, but the closing scene was really chilling.

[dgan]

Instead of starting a new thread every time I see a movie, I decided to go grave digging for this old thing. There's good stuff in here.

Anyway, saw Flags of our Fathers. Not what I expected AT ALL. And I don't mean the story or the content, because I know the history of Iwo Jima, the flag raisers, and the war bond drive pretty well. It is one of (or part of one of) the most important stories in American war history IMO.

No, what surprised me was that this was basically a docu-drama. The embellishments to the story were nearly non-existent by Hollywood standards. The actual battle scenes were along the lines of Saving Private Ryan or Band of Brothers. But the battle scenes made up a much smaller portion of the movie than I thought they would. It focused more on the war bond drive.

I'm rambling, but basically this movie hits home with showing the trauma of war on our soldiers. The battle scenes are pretty graphic, so if war movies make your stomach turn, you could probably find any number of documentaries and get the same message. But the dramatic element of Flags of our Fathers is something you won't find in other tellings of these brave Americans.

Clint Eastwood - not one of your biggest fans, but I think you hit the nail on the head with this one. I say good job. This isn't the most entertaining films you will see, but it isn't meant to be.

Thank a war veteran today.

[dgan]

OK, also finally rented King Kong or Kong or whatever it is called earlier this week. The new one. Absolutely painful to watch.

Let's put aside the fact that the effects are beautifully done. As I joked in another thread, however, that does not make a good movie. Especially not one that bores you over the course of 3+ hours.

Jack Black is not a good actor, even in comedy. He is positively horrible in a dramatic role. The writing was awful - the lines were predictable and poorly presented. The story itself lacked any emotional connection and was just plainly not believable - even if compared to such dramatic masterpieces such as Jurassic Park.

The novelty of recreating the Roaring 20's filming techniques wore off after about 15 minutes. They could have hired someone fulltime just to cut out two-thirds of the Charlize Theron 10-second-read-the-emotion-on-her-face closeups. At no point did I feel any attachment to the characters, and Kong himself couldn't die soon enough. There was one point where they are playing on the ice, and I thought those were outtakes. It was unbearable.

Kong fighting the dinosaurs was pretty good. But this movie couldn't decide between action, comedy, drama, sci-fi, etc... What we ended up with was the worst of all of them. I think it had the makings of a good comedy, if it were done similarly to Pirates of the Carribean. But that is probably wishful thinking - the bottom line is that it probably should have never left the paper the script was written on.

[Daae]

The one thing I have to give Peter Jackson kudos on for that movie was all the little references to the original King Kong he managed to slip into the remake. My dad and I spent the entire movie trying to spot them. 'Twas good fun.

[dgan]

daae said:

The one thing I have to give Peter Jackson kudos on for that movie was all the little references to the original King Kong he managed to slip into the remake. My dad and I spent the entire movie trying to spot them. 'Twas good fun.

I know there was that element to it, that I missed out on because I haven't seen the original since I was a kid. But I wasn't about to sit through an old bad movie before this 3 hour marathon. I can appreciate a good remake, but it would be nice if the movie stood on its own as well.

But good point!

[CynanMachae]

I thought that Jack Black was decent, but my biggest complaint was the length of the movie. Over three hours long is just waaaay to long unless you're watching LotR.

Anyone else see the Prestige? I've seen it twice now and I love it. I'd talk about my favorite parts of the movie, but with how bizzare and twisted I couldn't or I'd give something away. But an awesome flick.

[chrystalized]

I am one of the worst people for predicting movie endings... although with todays writing, it isnt that hard. The prestige is a personal favourite of mine because it is one of the few movies that i couldnt guess the ending! I was so impressed by the script and the casting, they did a marvelous job

[dgan]

Shrek 3 -- uh, pretty much took irreverence to a new level for "kid" movies. I didn't have a problem with it, and thought it was done in a very comedic way taking away the uncomfortable feel you would normally associate with it. But if you thought the first two went over the line or were close, the third one will be too much for you. If you feel uncomfortable letting your kids watch the first two, you'll just have to skip this one.

Otherwise, it would have been difficult to improve on the success and comedic value of the first two. But they did an admirable job. The jokes were fresh and not rehashed and they were able to put new elements into the story to add new drama.

Anything with Arthur in it (yes, he makes an appearance) really flops for me ever since reading the Pendragon Cycle. There just is no other character or personality I can associate with that name anymore - so that didn't do anything for me. Merlin really didn't either, although there were a couple things you couldn't help but laugh at.

Basically, I'd recommend it to anyone who isn't too sensitive about irreverence and blatant innuendo. It's very funny.

[Jherprincess]

Yes, I heard that they shoved a whole bunch of unnecassary crud in there. Not particularly surprising but it still makes me mad!

I recently saw POTC 3 with a friend of mine. As a whole, it really disappointed, but I did like certain parts of it. Hollywood just doesn't understand that special effects and so much action does not make a movie good!

*sigh* this is why I want to direct films!

[Daae]

I've seen POTC 3 twice now, and I still love it. Easily as good as the first one, and worlds better than Dead Man's Chest. I think part of the reason I liked it so much, aside from having the actual music and voice-overs from the ride in it, was that it kind of reminded me of some of Disney's earlier stuff (a.k.a. not all fluffy happy endings and singing animals). Especially the beginning. There were times they may have gone a little overboard (no pun intended) on the special effects, although the battle between the Black Pearl and the Flying Dutchman was undeinably cool, but there were, in my opinion, some very touching moments.

I also saw Children of Men recently. It was a really good movie, if a little confusing at the beginning, although if you have a problem with violence or swearing in a movie, this probably isn't the one for you.

[Gwalchmai]

POTC 3 has big thumbs up from me (I've also seen it twice).

There was just so many "that is just awesome" moments for me that I could look past any plot problems it may have had. I mean the biggest problem it has is that it needs the second movie to really enjoy it and understand whats going on. All in all, its the best ending that could be had for the Pirates Triliogy. In the first one, its just a happy go lucky adventure of Captain Jack Sparrow with Elizabeth and Will tagging along for the ride. With the second, you see Jack start to lose his "cool" in something much more serious than he's used too and Will and Elizabeth getting a cold and wet reality check (ignoring the supernatural). And in the last one, you see Jack return to his jolly pirating self a little wiser for the wear and Will and Eliz full fledged adults with a closing chapteron their story.

But I thought it was very enjoyable with plenty of moments you just want to scream out a YAR! and join in with whats happening on screen.

[Jherprincess]

I agree! Don't get me wrong, I really did like it, I just think it could have been better. But that goes for a loot of movies nowdays.

My favorite part was when they flipped the ship!! Love it!