What is the last film you watched?

[Bryant Burnette 654]

Just watched The Happening.

I wouldn't say it's quite the cinematic disaster some are making it out to be (I thought Wahlberg's performance was pretty good actually, although I can't say that for everyone), but it wasn't particularly good either. I enjoyed it just enough to want to see how it 'ended', but other than that, I can think of no reason whatsoever to see it a second time.

Mrs Jones just seemed to be a fairly pointless character at the end of the day - just seems like M.Night tried to use her for some scares, and she, and the

model home

just seemed to be completely redundant pieces of the story (?!).

Night - direct someone else's ideas, please.

I also thought Wahlberg did a fine job in The Happening. He's got a couple of pretty stiff line readings, but otherwise, I thought he was very funny (and yes, on purpose, not the unintentional kind of funny), and that he also did a good job with the more serious scenes. Unfortunately, some of his funniest scenes are scenes that probably shouldn't have been played for laughs. But this is Shyamalan's fault, and I don't think Wahlberg deserves some of the scorn he's been reaping from this movie.

This is definitely a bad movie, but I think it's got numerous good moments, and that's enough for it to have been worth my time.

[Morlock 11]

I think that his performance was wildly off base at just about every turn, and that it is entirely Shyamalan's fault. No one actor in the movie gave an appropriate performance. Not one. And when that's the case, the director's the only one to blame.

[Marian Schedenig 8,191]

Man, this has lost a lot for me, to the point where I skipped half the film. So much of this is extraneous, to the point where I looked at the timer on the DVD player and it was running 2h:12m and they hadn't even gotten off the island yet! From when Kong breaks free it's glorious, but even that is a bit overlong. I hope for the sake of THE LOVELY BONES that PJ has realized every film doesn't have to be three hours long.

And I'll keep saying that the film owes a lot of its power to the lengthy first act. It establishes so much, not just the overall feel, but the really well-drawn characters; there's not much time for character development in the action-packed second act (over the top? Sure, but so was the original... and although it's long, I find it really exciting). I'd say the first act actually gives it the edge over the 33 original, which is good, but really rather superficial as far as characters go. The heart of the story is the bond between the female lead and the ape, in both versions, but to me this has so much more weight in the PJ version because of the characters.

Or to put it differently: The Central Park scene shows that the movie works. It might so easily have been ridiculous, but to me it succeeds on all levels. And it hardly could do that without the first act.

If anything, the finale might be a bit too drawn out. But not too much, either. The additional DVD scenes don't add nearly as much as any of the LOTR stuff though. They're nice to have, but they don't make the movie stronger or more coherent in any way.

As an aside, I noticed the latter half of "Beauty and the Beast IV" was tracked onto the scene where Kong is chloroformed. I guess seeing the film after knowing the score, that really stands out. The score is nice, and I like Kong's themes, but I do wonder what Shore had in mind.

I think the Beauty and the Beast tracks are too much in Shore mode for JNH, and somewhat out of touch with the rest of the score. I would like to hear the original Shore score (in this day and age, I won't be surprised if it comes along sooner or later), but I also think JNH's score is incredibly strong, even more so considering he didn't have much time. It's in fact my favourite of his scores. The action stuff is fun, with some ever so slight Goldsmith touches; the mystery stuff is very mysterious, and the love theme is just as touching as the Central Park scene.

[Ollie 1,059]

Some of the score does remind me of Howard Shore. Perhaps Jackson left some of his music in as temp tracks for JNH.

[A24 4,331]

The Corpse Bride: Zzzz

[Morlock 11]

Not particularly memorable, that. I've been brought in on the fact that there's no point of a stop-motion film that's so polished it might as well have been CG.

Saw The 25th Hour. Mighty powerful film. And I didn't recall just how much music is in it! Luckily Blanchard's score is good. The main titles of this film are very powerful.

[Romão 2,274]

KING KONG (05)

Man, this has lost a lot for me, to the point where I skipped half the film. So much of this is extraneous, to the point where I looked at the timer on the DVD player and it was running 2h:12m and they hadn't even gotten off the island yet! From when Kong breaks free it's glorious, but even that is a bit overlong. I hope for the sake of THE LOVELY BONES that PJ has realized every film doesn't have to be three hours long.

As an aside, I noticed the latter half of "Beauty and the Beast IV" was tracked onto the scene where Kong is chloroformed. I guess seeing the film after knowing the score, that really stands out. The score is nice, and I like Kong's themes, but I do wonder what Shore had in mind.

I thought the movie was horrible. It just makes you laugh in all the wrong places. Not to mention how ridiculous every scene with Darrow and Kong is when they are in New York. It is an utter waste of money, time and talent. No redeeming qualities in this one except the animation on Kong.

[Charlie Brigden 7]

That's certainly one way of putting it.

[A24 4,331]

The Assassination Of Jesse James: Fantastic! It's been quite some time since I've seen such a good western. Loved everything about it. I was surprised to learn the film's duration is 3 hours long. To me it flew by in a flash. I must see Dominik's Chopper now.

Alex

[Koray Savas 2,251]

The Assassination Of Jesse James: Fantastic! It's been quite some time since I've seen such a good western. Loved everything about it. I was surprised to learn the film's duration is 3 hours long. To me it flew by in a flash. I must see Dominik's Chopper now.

Alex

Indeed, it is an amazing film. What'd you think of the score? Personally, it is one of my favorite non-JW scores.

Batman Begins (***1/2/****)

on Blu-Ray

Great as always, except for David S. Goyer's terrible additions to the script.

[Red 75]

David Goyer wrote the script, with some help from the director Christopher Nolan. But yes at times it is a weak link.

[Morlock 11]

I know that Goyer did a tremendous job adapting Road to Perdition.

[A24 4,331]

Indeed, it is an amazing film. What'd you think of the score? Personally, it is one of my favorite non-JW scores.

The score fits the movie like a glove. It sounds different from other western scores too. I like the fact that it never resorted to clichés. What we need is more instrumental Nick Cave and less Hans Zimmer (Thank you, Ridley Scott, for not lobbying Zimmer to the project).

Alex

[QMM 4]

Has Ridley lobbied for Zimmer at all lately? He's never even said, to my knowledge, why he took Streitenfeld over him

[Morlock 11]

Indeed, it is an amazing film. What'd you think of the score? Personally, it is one of my favorite non-JW scores.

The score fits the movie like a glove. It sounds different from other western scores too. I like the fact that it never resorted to clichés. What we need is more instrumental Nick Cave and less Hans Zimmer (Thank you, Ridley Scott, for not lobbying Zimmer to the project).

Alex

Wasn't the train-robbery scene remarkable? One of the most memorable recent visual/aural experiences I've had in the theater.

Day 2 of the film festival here. Slow day, saw only one movie. But a remarkable one at that: Werner Herzog's Encouters at the End of The World. Quite a movie there. On one level, it did engage me on a nature documentry basis. I was interested in the nature it showed. On another level, I liked the anthropoplogical aspect of it, looking at some of the people who choose to stay in Antarctica. And, on it's most pertinant and affecting level, it moved me in it's existentialism. Yes, Herzog's general distopia can get a bit overbearing for me at times.....but he both supplies and captures some amazing observations, characters and images that fascinated me. The film is devided into episodes, but luckily, I liked every single one of them.

Many moments and images are haunting in the movie....none more so than a lone penguin going off on his own. That was devastating, and I suspect will be the the most powerful thing I take away from the film.

Coming close to that one, though, is an episode that I get touched by even just typing it up....it involves a man of partial native-American heritage, who has been told that he has the physical attributes of the Aztec royal bloodline.The way he mentions this, and clings to it is the most human and emotional moment in the film, and another image that I will carry for a long time.

The rest all had something....the remarkable view of a volcano, the beautiful image of seals lying in the sun, the diver who decides that that day will be the last Antarctic dive he will take, the various tales of the travelers who ended up in Antarctica.

A stunning documentry, rich, rewarding, beautiful, haunting. Highly recommended.

@Ted: In case you're reading this, I'm just printing out your article on the film, and I can't wait to read it

[JoeinAR 1,949]

Where is Ted?

[Morlock 11]

Good question. Hasn't been around in a few weeks.

[A24 4,331]

I suppose he was tired of our bickering.

[Koray Savas 2,251]

David Goyer wrote the script, with some help from the director Christopher Nolan. But yes at times it is a weak link.

Story by David S. Goyer. Screenplay by Christopher Nolan & David S. Goyer.

I'm specifically talking about the small pointless lines like "This is a nice coat" and "Nice ride"

[Bryant Burnette 654]

Hellboy II: The Golden Army

A lot of fun. I could go on and on about the design work and the visuals in general, which are top-notch in every respect. And the CGI is amazing, easily the best of the summer so far (with the possible exception of Speed Racer).

More importantly, the story is solid and the performances are uniformly excellent (although I did find Jeffrey Tambor to be far too annoying in some of the early scenes). I especially enjoyed somebody I've never enjoyed before: Seth MacFarlane, who does a wonderfully cartoony voice for the character of Johann Krauss. Ron Perlman, of course, exudes cool; no surprise there. Selma Blair is also really good, as is Doug Jones, who gets to do the voice for Abe Sapien this time around.

Danny Elfman's score was pretty good; good enough that I'll probably buy the CD, which I haven't done with one of his scores in a while.

All in all, this is one of the better movies of the summer thus far.

[Koray Savas 2,251]

Seth MacFarlane = Genius

[Bryant Burnette 654]

Seth MacFarlane = Genius

Personally, I can't stand Family Guy; I'm no expert on the show, but it seems to me to be a lot of punchlines looking for jokes.

But either way, I was very impressed with thre work MacFarlane does in The Golden Army. Some people are probably going to find his performance to be overly cartoony, but I thought he was terrific.

[Koray Savas 2,251]

Family Guy is one of my favorite shows, probably the show that I've watched the most times. It's not a show with jokes and punchlines, but one with hilarious characters and dialogue.

[A24 4,331]

Hellboy II: The Golden Army

A lot of fun. I could go on and on about the design work and the visuals in general, which are top-notch in every respect. And the CGI is amazing, easily the best of the summer so far (with the possible exception of Speed Racer).

All in all, this is one of the better movies of the summer thus far.

Would you recommend it to the fans of the first installment?

[Koray Savas 2,251]

Hellboy II: The Golden Army (*/****)

It was worth every penny, and I saw it for free.

Terrible, terrible, terrible, Godawful film.

Usually when I see a movie for free and it turns up bad, I can say "Oh well at least it was entertaining and free." With this, I can't say that. 2 hours of my life I wish I hadn't wasted. I knew it was gonna be bad, I hated the first, and the trailer was terrible, but somewhere inside I thought it might be the least-bit entertaining. It wasn't. So bad it made me cringe at some of the stupid and ridiculous scenes.

I want to give it another star, but it really doesn't deserve it. Sure, the make up was pretty decent, but it's not like it hasn't been done before with Pan's Labyrinth. The marketplace scene felt like it was stolen off Star Wars with all the different creatures. The flower monster in NY, or whatever it was, screamed Cloverfield. It even had a golden ring just like LOTR!

Acting was terrible all around. I've never liked Ron Pearlman, so I don't know why I thought I would be entertained by this movie. The comedy was just so bad that I was laughing at its stupidity. If I want an action-comedy, I'll watch Die Hard.

Now the music, the only aspect of the film that earned it 1 star. Danny Elfman goes back more into his Burton style for this one, and it's decent. Works in the movie, but it's nothing special, just your typical Elfman. Problems with it include some Lady In The Water and The Incredible Hulk knock-offs. I'll probably buy it, just for collector's sake, but I'm in no rush.

I saw it in theater 9, which happens to be the theater The Dark Knight will be playing in. I can't wait to get the bad taste out of my mouth.

[A24 4,331]

Hellboy II: The Golden Army (*/****)

Terrible, terrible, terrible, Godawful film.

Hm, who to believe, Bryant or Koray? What did you think of the first Hellboy? You see, The Incredible Hulk threw overboard what I liked in Hulk. Maybe Hellboy 2 committed the same crime by steering away from the original film?

Alex

[Bryant Burnette 654]

Hellboy II: The Golden Army (*/****)

Terrible, terrible, terrible, Godawful film.

Hm, who to believe, Bryant or Koray? What did you think of the first Hellboy? You see, The Incredible Hulk threw overboard what I liked in Hulk. Maybe Hellboy 2 committed the same crime by stearing away from the original film?

Alex

If I had to compare the two, I would say that The Golden Army is marginally less good than the first Hellboy -- but my memory of the first one is a little hazy, so take that into consideration.

Koray is off in crazyville with his review (although I suppose it makes sense if he wasn't a fan of the first one, either); there's nothing "awful" about the movie.

[QMM 4]

wow

[BurgaFlippinMan 7]

You see, The Incredible Hulk threw overboard what I liked in Hulk.

Indeed. Though that crane shot of the Brazilian slum was spectacular. In the end, there wasn't even any more action in Incredible Hulk than in Ang Lee's Hulk to boot.

[QMM 4]

Indeed. Though that crane shot of the Brazilian slum was spectacular. In the end, there wasn't even any more action in Incredible Hulk than in Ang Lee's Hulk to boot.

That must have been the biggest crane in the world

[Luke Skywalker 1,795]

And the CGI is amazing, easily the best of the summer so far (with the possible exception of Speed Racer).

You havent seen Iron man?

[Koray Savas 2,251]

Hellboy II's CGI isn't anything special. The make up and costumes are much more impressive, but like I said, it's been already accomplished in Pan's Labyrinth.

I love Pan's, and thought maybe Del Toro changed. I was wrong. Now I'm hoping Peter Jackson makes sure he doesn't ruin The Hobbit.

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,265]

Idiot!

[BurgaFlippinMan 7]

Indeed. Though that crane shot of the Brazilian slum was spectacular. In the end, there wasn't even any more action in Incredible Hulk than in Ang Lee's Hulk to boot.

That must have been the biggest crane in the world

[Red 75]

This has been a good summer for superhero movies.

[Unlucky Bastard 7,782]

Batman Begins.

Pretty good. Don't know why it has such fanboy worshippers, it's just a movie. Zimmer and Newton Howard's score are rather bleh.

The Exorcist: The Version You've Never Seen.

Always liked the theatrical version, so all the add-ons were really obvious and distracting. Really, do we need little CGI add-ons of what looks Nosferatu's creepy face at every turn? Makes it a bit too in-ya-face in comparison to the subtle grittiness of the original version.

[Bryant Burnette 654]

And the CGI is amazing, easily the best of the summer so far (with the possible exception of Speed Racer).

You havent seen Iron man?

I have. The CGI was terrific; however, I was more impressed by the visuals effects in Hellboy II, and also by those in Speed Racer.

[A24 4,331]

What did Koray expect?! That Hellboy 2 would be a fairy tale set against the background of Spanish Civil War?

[Koray Savas 2,251]

What did Koray expect?! That Hellboy 2 would be a fairy tale set against the background of Spanish Civil War?

I expected it to be entertaining, which it wasn't.

[A24 4,331]

What did Koray expect?! That Hellboy 2 would be a fairy tale set against the background of Spanish Civil War?

I expected it to be entertaining, which it wasn't.

Well, the critics were entertained like hell. They say "Del Toro crafts a stellar comic book sequel, boasting visuals that are as imaginative as the characters are endearing. It's 87% on the tomatoemeter". That's a mighty high score, Koray. That means almost every single critic is raving about this film.

Look at these reviewers' quotes:

- There's so much beauty and imagination on display in Hellboy II: The Golden Army that it's sometimes hard to tell if you're watching an action movie or a museum exhibit called 'The Artistry of Guillermo Del Toro.'

- Unlike many action filmmakers, del Toro doesn't thrill to the hardware of manmade technology. He prefers the soft, organic textures of flesh, and his trove of imaginary beasties is unmatched in modern fantasy filmmaking.

- It's an entertaining, visually stunning romp busy with fantastic ideas and well-rounded characters...

(Who should I believe? Koray or the critics? What a difficult choice!)

-The second film is more assured, better paced, and has a stronger emotional component.

It's really hard to believe we're dealing with a dreadfully bad film here.

Alex

[Bryant Burnette 654]

What did Koray expect?! That Hellboy 2 would be a fairy tale set against the background of Spanish Civil War?

Well, it isn't set during the Spanish Civil War, but it is a fairy tale of sorts.

Look, I'm not claiming that it's a masterpiece or anything, but saying this movie is unentertaining is just baffling to me. I found it to be impressive on every level: the story is straightforward but free of the burden of being simplistic; the actors are all very good (with, as I mentioned before, the possible exception of Jeffrey Tambor); the design work is stunning, and the effects used to bring the designs to life are impeccable at every turn, and in some cases outright terrific (the tooth fairies, the Elemental, and the Golden Army itself all struck me as being about as good as I'd seen CGI be; the score is good, although I was too busy paying attention to the story to take much active notice of it (that's what soundtrack CDs are for); there is a stop-motion sequence toward the beginning that is just awesome. I like the characters, I like the actors, I like the story, I like the visuals, I like the music; I like thw whole movie. My only quibbles are some reservations about some of Jeffrey Tambor's scenes, and a feeling that something wonky was going on with the scene in which we see a young Hellboy; something about that scene felt off, but as soon as the stop-motion (or CGI done in stop-motion style, or whatever it was) began, I didn't care about that anymore.

There are some movies that are enjoyable despite themselves. It's an effect similar to the one experienced by anyone who has ever found themself cooing over an ugly puppy; sure, it's ugly, but it's also a puppy, and puppies are inherently cute, so you might find yourself making a to-do over it even though you know you probably shouldn't. This happens to me with some movies, also. (For example: I know it sucks, but I still like Ghosts of Mars.)

I want to be clear: Hellboy II: The Golden Army is not one of those movies. It's good in and of itself, and has nothing to apologize for, as far as I'm concerned.

[Koray Savas 2,251]

What did Koray expect?! That Hellboy 2 would be a fairy tale set against the background of Spanish Civil War?

I expected it to be entertaining, which it wasn't.

Well, the critics were entertained like hell. They say "Del Toro crafts a stellar comic book sequel, boasting visuals that are as imaginative as the characters are endearing. It's 87% on the tomatoemeter". That's a mighty high score, Koray. That means almost every single critic is raving about this film.

Look at these reviewers' quotes:

- There's so much beauty and imagination on display in Hellboy II: The Golden Army that it's sometimes hard to tell if you're watching an action movie or a museum exhibit called 'The Artistry of Guillermo Del Toro.'

- Unlike many action filmmakers, del Toro doesn't thrill to the hardware of manmade technology. He prefers the soft, organic textures of flesh, and his trove of imaginary beasties is unmatched in modern fantasy filmmaking.

- It's an entertaining, visually stunning romp busy with fantastic ideas and well-rounded characters...

(Who should I believe? Koray or the critics? What a difficult choice!)

-The second film is more assured, better paced, and has a stronger emotional component.

It's really hard to believe we're dealing with a dreadfully bad film here.

Alex

I know about the reviews Alex. I visit Rotten Tomatoes regularly. I've mentioned this before, most the reviews of movies this year have been wrong. If you liked the first, you will probably like this one. I just flat out hated it. I didn't find it entertaining because it was cringe-worthy. Like I said, make up and visual effects are all great, but you can see the same in Pan's Labyrinth, which is extremely a much better film.

[Red 75]

I've mentioned this before, most the reviews of movies this year have been wrong.

In your opinion.

The Spiderwick Chronicles. A pretty decent fantasy/kids movie, although Freddie Highmore's fake accent bothered me.

[QMM 4]

Watched The Verdict for the first time, probably my favorite Lumet movie now. I was a bit pissed to find out that the advertised commentary with Lumet and Newman is predominantly Lumet (not a bad thing at all) with only one brief comment from Newman.

[Koray Savas 2,251]

I've mentioned this before, most the reviews of movies this year have been wrong.

In your opinion.

Yes, of course.

[John Crichton 4]

Pirates of the Carribean: At World's End

Now I know why I haven't bothered buying it. I love the first two, but this is an overbloated, overcomplicated mess with zero logic behind the plot and character's actions. It's a bunch of strung together set pieces. That said, there are some nice scenes: pretty much everything with Jack and Barbosa, the wedding, and the last 10 minutes or so are actually really good so at least it has a satisfying ending for the whole trilogy. Will and Elizabeth get a good ending, and I'm still all for a fourth movie that would cut out the fat and totally focus on Sparrow vs. Barbosa for the Fountain of Youth.

[Bryant Burnette 654]

Pirates of the Carribean: At World's End

Now I know why I haven't bothered buying it. I love the first two, but this is an overbloated, overcomplicated mess with zero logic behind the plot and character's actions. It's a bunch of strung together set pieces. That said, there are some nice scenes: pretty much everything with Jack and Barbosa, the wedding, and the last 10 minutes or so are actually really good so at least it has a satisfying ending for the whole trilogy. Will and Elizabeth get a good ending, and I'm still all for a fourth movie that would cut out the fat and totally focus on Sparrow vs. Barbosa for the Fountain of Youth.

Yeah, I was mostly disappointed by that movie, also. It's not bad, it's just . . . long. So, so long. I swear, an hour could be cut out without anybody missing it.

I know about the reviews Alex. I visit Rotten Tomatoes regularly. I've mentioned this before, most the reviews of movies this year have been wrong. If you liked the first, you will probably like this one. I just flat out hated it. I didn't find it entertaining because it was cringe-worthy. Like I said, make up and visual effects are all great, but you can see the same in Pan's Labyrinth, which is extremely a much better film.

This all reminds me of my own reaction to Wanted, a movie I hated that has been mostly well-liked by the rest of the moviegoing world.

Anybody who watches movies critically is occasionally going to have one that just rubs them the wrong way.

At least we can agree on the score! It's very good, and I look forward to buying that and The Dark Knight this week at some point.

[Morlock 11]

Saw 4 films at the film festival yesterday. Few people on the board have heard of them, so it seems kinda pointless to write them up, espcailly as I did not particularly care for 3 of them. At the end of that dissapointing day at the theater, I went home and watched The Inside Man with some friends. That really cheered me up. Damn fine movie. Love the score (Which one critic complemented as 'A Bond score reorchestrated by Elmer Bernstein', a desciption that sounded right to me). Particularly the violin cue, which I am thrilled that Blanchard rearranged and used it again on another project.

[A24 4,331]

Dangerous Days: The long Blade Runner documentary. This was the first time I saw it.

Anger Management: Pros: Funny movie. Cons: Sappy ending (the last 15 min. ain't good) and too much unnecessary cameos by stars or famous people.

Alex

[Koray Savas 2,251]

At least we can agree on the score! It's very good, and I look forward to buying that and The Dark Knight this week at some point.

I will be getting my score to The Dark Knight in New York, where Mr. Zimmer and Mr. Howard will both sign it.