Movie of the Moment

by **mr h atom** » Fri Feb 04, 2011 11:54 pm

...can't seem to make it to a theater, but i'm attempting to catch up on some recently on dvd...

'the road': can you be depressing and a beautiful tale of a parents love all at the same time...yes. a haunting tale.
made me want to watch 'life is beautiful' again.

'religulous': spot on. except for his more-than-occasional smugness, maher has never made more sense. not anti-god...more like anti organized religion...there is a huge difference. not for the weak of mind, that's for sure.

'capitalism - a love story' : another thought provoking romp from the erstwhile mr. moore. when he talks to the catholic priest about how he feels $ has become some peoples true religion (and his dismay at the church seemingly abandoning its role as champion of the poor) it reminded me of how i feel about the church, and exactly why i don't go (to any of them). great companion piece with the maher film. it's always struck me that moore is not so much a socialist in the communist-style sense (as so many of his right wing detractors extoll) but a middle class, everyday, working joe champion. it never shines more thru than in this film. true, he glosses over some aspects of organized unions, but he is not mistaken as to what the average working man (and woman) actually sought, and got, from them.
after 30 odd years of the reagan/limbaugh version of the world, it's nice to see someone stand up and say wait a minute, that ain't the whole truth.

by **chris** » Tue Feb 15, 2011 11:00 pm

let me in. this film is...creepy. i watched it filled with dread. the music is dark. the mood is dark. and the subject matter?

this is the only vampire movie i've seen that doesn't glamourize being a vampire. this movie isn't sexy. it isn't for the twilight peeps who are hoping to see some vampire love. this movie, maybe more than any other, gives an idea of just how crappy it would really be if they were a vampire

by **bonovox66** » Wed Feb 16, 2011 10:42 am

Saw the Norwegian version of Let me In not too long ago and thought it was very good. Not a typical vampire move at all. Which was really nice after all this Twilight crap.

by **chris** » Wed Feb 16, 2011 11:50 am

The original (let the right one in) was very highly thought of. In fact, the only reason I didn't see it on dvd was the fact that the subtitles here were dumbed down for american audiences. But when it was remade, critics were astounded how it retained its gloominess. How it was pitch perfect in its similarity to the original. I'm curious, bono, if you get around to seeing the remake, how they compare.

by **bonovox66** » Wed Feb 16, 2011 2:04 pm

I'm gonna have to add it (the American version) to my netflix and see. I usually don't bother with remakes. With the exception of The Birdcage I can't think of a single remake I enjoyed.

I highly recommend seeing the original regardless of subtitle issues. The little girl in the movie was amazing. She is probably one of the most talented young actresses I have ever seen. And the boy in the movie was about a creepy and wierd as you could get without it turning into some demon possessed child. of course it may have been the shirtless scenes of an albino 12 year-old boy that disturbed me most :-D

by **bonovox66** » Fri Feb 18, 2011 1:49 pm

Just rented Milk the other night. Reminded me why I use to love Sean Penn. You forget your're watching Spicoli for 2 hours and completely get lost in the character. Good movie if just for the performance alone.

by **mr h atom** » Sat Feb 19, 2011 6:40 pm

i must say, i am looking forward to watching 'let me in' * .
the director did 'cloverfield' which i thought was a fairly effective little film.
a little too in love with the 'lets carry a camcorder about' style, but very neat nonetheless.

i did enjoy the original quite a bit.
it had a nice creepy feel, as opposed to the slasher style of most of todays horror films..

i am usually in agreement on remakes...but one that i do like is soderbergs 'solaris'..i liked that one quite a bit, too.

*so, i watched it, over the weekend...loved it.
it reminded me an awful lot more of the original than i thought it might, especially since the director had been quoted how his would be different in that he wanted to hew closer to the tone of the book than the first version.
just shows they got it right the first time, too.

either way, it was a fine, creepy, very well acted film. great to see a horror film start out with that 'hammer films' title card !

only thing i did not like...the cgi...very distracting at moments where sheer, sudden horror were meant to take over

by **mr h atom** » Mon Sep 12, 2011 12:08 am

rise of the planet of the apes - so, as a long time, original 'seen-it-in-the-theaters' apes fan...i was sooo trepitant about this one that it took me a month to set time aside and dig up the courage to go see it
i am, these days, ambivilent about the tim burton version, and couldn't envision why the studio, having sit on the supposedly well-though of script "caesar' for quite a while now, would finally go ahead, especially with a relatively untried director.

...and then there was the cgi trauma to deal with: i am not a fan; used in small doses it can add immeasurable scenic moments...used prolifically, it can be as cheezy as a '50's blue-screen fiasco...

but, everyone, including my kids, were coming back and saying it was pretty darned good...so, it became time to swallow my fear and just see the dang, dirty thaing:

i needn't have worried.
first: the cgi was okay, i've seen alot worse, and it was used, for the most part, rather effectively.
true, there were moments that were irksome, but they never lasted long and did not subtract from the experience: more importantly, the lead character (all cgi caesar: played thru motion capture by andy "i'm virtually unknown ' serkis), was a great and interesting character to watch.

with that, biggest of boogie men, out of the way....how, say you, was the story?
did it fit into the established apes lore ?
well it was a surprisingly solid, very s.f. kind of tale: a little long in the narrative, it took it's time to get where it was going, but, at least it did so with style; all involved brought the right amount of gravitas to thier parts, whether acting, directing or in the special effects.
all in all, it is a tight little sci-fi thriller.
it does not necessarily enter the arena of apedom with a pedigree that makes it in any way easy-to-fit into the timeline of the originals, but, having things make sense on the planet of the apes is like asking why anyone would ever wear a red shirt on star trek, no ?

it should be enough, then, to say that i am looking forward to the very inevitable sequel...if i were to give it a rating, it'd be a solid four stars out of five..a summer film that lives up to its hype, all while being somewhat thought-provoking

by **chris** » Mon Sep 12, 2011 7:16 pm

mr h atom wrote:the lead character (all cgi caesar: played thru motion capture by andy "i'm virtually unknown ' serkis), was a great and interesting character to watch.

classic. i guess that's what you get when you play caesar, gollum, and kong...

saw insidious recently. the first half was terrifying...at least i thought so at first. the second half was rehashed polergeist. the movie had me then it lost me. but back to the first half...haunted house movie with all the classical trimmings of a great haunted house . dark corners, a million rooms, and an attic, natch. a ghost-like thingie is drawn to a child. just something (spoken as a father) creepy about someone/something attacking a defenseless child. mom hears a noise upstairs, goes to check it out, turns the corner, and BAM...loud noise and creepy image (shown for about a half second). but i thought about it and the loud noise scare is not really a scare. sure it gets you to jump. but there is no anticipation...no build up...no tension. the BAM scare is just a cheap way to make you to jump without ever really being terrified...instead it just...startled me.

on first viewing i thought this may be a 3 or 31/2 star movie (on a 4 star scale). but after some thought, and a repeat view of the first half again...2 stars. this was made by the same poeple who made paranormal activity...and it featured the exact same type of scare tactics.