Supermovie Topic

[Deku]

I was working yesterday after the garage closed down, and I was out zoning in the electronics. I came across "Dante's Inferno" the Animated epic, and I swear I almost bought it. It looked awesome, and has a cool story. I should see if I can't find it online. Has anyone seen Wolf Man yet? It looks a little cliché, but worth watching.

[Mysterious F.]

Wolf Man has been getting very awful reviews.

[Hi no Seijin]

Which, depending on where the reviews came from, doesn't mean you shouldn't go see it for yourself.  Myself, I tend to ignore "professional" critics.

As for Wolf Man, judging by the trailers, I have no desire to see it.

Yes, Mags, I know that trailers lie, but they're not lying good enough.

[Twilight Wolf]

Speaking from experience, reviews in general are a very poor indication of how much any one person will enjoy a movie. Or, for that matter, any reviewed material. In addition to differing tastes, some reviewers are biased from the outset for or against whatever they're reviewing, and as such will do their best to either justify or completely gloss over shortcomings in the film or downplay or even outright trash things the film does well. Again, this doesn't apply only to movies. This has taught me to more-or-less ignore "critics", so-called, and judge a movie/game/whatever based on my own tastes and storytelling preferences.

You know how I decide whether or not to check out material? By how interesting it looks to me. Trailers, Wikipedia-crawling, however I come across them. Then I'll research it more and see if it sounds like something I would enjoy. And you know something? By doing this, I've very rarely come across any material I didn't enjoy, and the only times I have are when I didn't put much effort into researching it (Killzone 2, for example). Critics and their reviews play a minimal part in the process when they're involved at all.

To be fair, critics are helpful when it comes to reviewing things like electronics, because you can't really be biased when it comes to those without making it totally obvious, at which point most people would write off your review as useless anyways.

[Mysterious F.]

Everyone is biased. It's just that critics are hired to be biased. Besides, most critics know more than the average person about what they're talking about, and considering the very large number of average reviews for a typical wide-release film, you get a very wide base of opinions, several liking different and hating things about it than others. So, generally speaking, you should read reviews if you actually care about whatever medium of art/entertainment you've encountered. You'll probably learn a lot more about it than you first thought.

Also, it helps if you find critics who have very similar taste to you.

Although, I disagree with critical majority several times myself. For example, yesterday I saw The Hurt Locker, and I for one thought it was just another in an every-growing list of propaganda films disguised as anti-war films, a list that I would argue also includes acclaimed "masterpieces" like Apocalypse Now and Saving Private Ryan.

Like most US films about the Iraqi invasion, it hardly even bothers to consider what it would be like for the citizens there to be living in such turmoil. The film is shot in an annoying MTV-esque two-second-shot style with shaky camera work that attempts to bring "REALISM!!!!!" but instead looks rather on the stupid side. Additionally, the film is plagued with double-think that recalls director/critic Francois Truffaut once having said that by sheer design there is no such thing as an anti-war film, as they have to be gripping and/or involving due to the requirements of the medium; we're supposed to applaud the craftsmanship of the filmmakers and feel thrilled during the actions scenes, but at the same time shake our head at the horror of it all. Additionally, the main character is very difficult to relate to, especially when

*spoiler*

he practically tells his son he doesn't love him.

*end spoiler*

Also, most war veterans from Iraq have questioned the film's accuracy. 3/10

[Mysterious F.]

Saw Ponyo, finally. The animation is great, and a lot of what makes Miyazaki great is still here. However, it doesn't compare to his best. The plot is a bit too childish for anyone over seven to fully get into, and everything the characters talk about ranges from environmental and family issues to pure nonsense. I like it, but not his best. 7/10

[alical]

I recently watched the French film, Un Prophète, I had wanted to see it since it came out in the UK (sometime in January I think) but the closest cinema showing it was London. So I ended up buying the DVD from the French Amazon site.
It was a bit of a struggle as I presumed that it would have the option of English subtitles (since the DVDs we get here have them in about 5 different EU languages) which it didn't! So then I thought well it will have French subtitles right because I have studied French for a while and can read it pretty well, but no. The easiest bits for me to understand were when they spoke Arabic and Corsican because then it had French subtitles, but sadly my French is not good enough to recognize a lot of the (heavily accented) dialogue.

ANYWAY despite this it was amazing. I knew the plot previously but it still kept me utterly gripped with some brilliant scenes and Tahar Rahim was stunning as the lead, Malik. It won Best Foreign Film at the BAFTAs and I can definitely say it deserved it. 

So yeah watch if you can, I highly recommend it and I will definitely buy the UK DVD when it is released.

[Mysterious F.]

I recently watched the French film, Un Prophète, I had wanted to see it since it came out in the UK (sometime in January I think) but the closest cinema showing it was London. So I ended up buying the DVD from the French Amazon site.
It was a bit of a struggle as I presumed that it would have the option of English subtitles (since the DVDs we get here have them in about 5 different EU languages) which it didn't! So then I thought well it will have French subtitles right because I have studied French for a while and can read it pretty well, but no. The easiest bits for me to understand were when they spoke Arabic and Corsican because then it had French subtitles, but sadly my French is not good enough to recognize a lot of the (heavily accented) dialogue.

ANYWAY despite this it was amazing. I knew the plot previously but it still kept me utterly gripped with some brilliant scenes and Tahar Rahim was stunning as the lead, Malik. It won Best Foreign Film at the BAFTAs and I can definitely say it deserved it.  

So yeah watch if you can, I highly recommend it and I will definitely buy the UK DVD when it is released.

It just came out in the US yesterday, and I'm so renting it when it gets out on DVD. I hate when DVDs don't have subtitles, too. Lucky for me, though, most of the movies I've been watching lately are either foreign-language or so-called "artsy" stuff, so they almost always have subtitles.

Also, you're British, so maybe you have seen Happy-Go-Lucky. I just saw it earlier today, and I really liked it. Sally Hawkins was amazing. At times it was a bit too... well, happy-go-lucky for my tastes, but overall it is quite good and very funny.

Oh yeah, Roman Polanski's latest (and most likely final) film, Ghost Writer, is out. Very interested in it.

[alical]

Also, you're British, so maybe you have seen Happy-Go-Lucky. I just saw it earlier today, and I really liked it. Sally Hawkins was amazing. At times it was a bit too... well, happy-go-lucky for my tastes, but overall it is quite good and very funny.

Oh yeah, Roman Polanski's latest (and most likely final) film, Ghost Writer, is out. Very interested in it.

Unfortunately I have not seen it, but it looks familiar. (Now have just looked it up, it was on TV here in December, hopefully it will be repeated, it looks like my sort of film!)

I saw The Princess and the Frog the other day (I know its been out for a while in the US) and it was so lovely. I needed something a bit lighter after A Prophet and it was just right. The music was very nice, although not very memorable, but what impressed me most was the art, it was so beautiful and the setting was perfect.

Today I booked tickets to see Avatar on Tuesday (I know I'm so late but its leaving my local cinemas on Thursday and I thought I just had to see it. Plus its my first 3D film) and Alice In Wonderland for Sunday. To be honest I don't have high hopes for Alice, but hopefully it will surprise me.

[Mysterious F.]

I'll get around to Avatar when it gets on DVD.

Saw my first Paul Thoman Anderson (Boogie Nights, Magnolia, There Will Be Blood) film yesterday: Punch-Drunk Love. That's right, the Adam Sandler movie his fans hate but movie buffs love! Now, there are only two times I agree with Sandler fans; the first is that The Wedding Singer is pretty good, the second is that Punch-Drunk Love sucks. This movie is so all over the place that it's hard to believe in any of the characters or situations. Additionally, I failed to laugh once. Not a total disaster, but still quite bad. 3/10

[The Glamour Nazi]

I'm currently in the midst of watching "The Invention of Lying." It's actually, so far really good, I like it.

Uh, I'm not sure what to say about it, except you should watch it. Humans never evolved the ability to lie, so everyone tells the truth until someone discovers how to lie. And yeah...

Just watch it.

[Hi no Seijin]

In the upcoming movie Repo Men, it appears that if you can't pay for an artificial organ, which I can only assume you received to save your life, a repo man will come up to you and take it back, even if it kills you.  Does anybody else see the glaring flaw in that logic?

[The Glamour Nazi]

In the upcoming movie Repo Men, it appears that if you can't pay for an artificial organ, which I can only assume you received to save your life, a repo man will come up to you and take it back, even if it kills you.  Does anybody else see the glaring flaw in that logic?

Hmm...

I see a reverse Hayate the Combat Butler here.

Anyone else?

But I yes, I see the flaw in the logic.

[Mysterious F.]

Dune (1984) - The worst movie ever created, even if David Lynch directed it. No joke. 0/10

[The Glamour Nazi]

Dune (1984) - The worst movie ever created, even if David Lynch directed it. No joke. 0/10

Geeks will kill you for saying this. You know that right? At least you didn't bash the books.

Can you elaborate on why it is full of suck please?