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OK, I just watched two films to keep me up tonight.

The first, The Strangers. I liked it, it was good... for the most part. It was fast and it never really faffed, always big plusses for me when it comes to horrors. There were some moments which I thought were genuinely brilliant (the part where one character is slowly walking and you can see the man-with-sack behind him and the camera angle keeps switching between over-the-shoulder and face, that was great), but there were also some very cliché and crappy moments. Overall, it's a horror, and it got my pulse up quite a bit. 7/10.

The next film I watched (naughtily, apparently it's not even out here for another month), was the Woody Allen film Vicky Cristina Barcelona. I admit, I mainly watched it because there's a scene where they go to Tibidabo and you can see credits and Fabbris... but, it was so much more than that, and was actually a brilliant film. It uses location so well in with the love story (reminded me a lot of French Kiss in that way, that was such an inexcusably underrated and brilliant Meg Ryan movie), which doesn't ever fall into being 'Hollywood' and 'magical'. In fact, it's quite tragic, and the ending especially made me wanna grab a few hankies and have a weep. It's a weird film, and feels almost like a novel when you watch it (it's narrated, which helps this I think). The acting is superb, and Penelope Cruz is an utter delight. Scarlett Johansson usually shouldn't be allowed oxygen, but, here she manages not to be annoying and doesn't make me want to shoot her. So, for her, it's a job well done. It's Rebecca Hall though who steals it for me. I'd only known her as Bale's annoying wife in The Prestige up to this point, but she was a pure delight. Perfectly portraying that uptight, soon-to-be suburban housewife who you can tell underneath the surface is never quite happy. She takes you along with her as she feels her love, and you identify and feel for her. I had a lot to identify with her for, and so at the end when... yeah, spoiler coming up... she has to leave her love behind in another country and settle for a life she doesn't really want, I genuinely felt for her, and am not too manly to admit I cried.

So, yeah, it was basically, art. I loved it. I will warn anyone that goes to see it, it will make you want to go to Barcelona for a summer. I just enjoyed spending the film screaming "OMG I HAVE BEEN THERE". There was even one point where they're in an area of Parc Guell which is really rather a random part I ended up in, that was the most exciting part. I will admit, loving the city does help in loving the film.

My only complaint - if you're going to set it in Catalonia, have a Catalan accent, please. And learn how to say 'Guell'. It's not hard :p.

Anyway, 10/10. I'll DVD it when it finally gets here...
 
Once again, trying to catch up on "The best films ever" - watched Last of the Mohicans... It isn't.

To be fair, it's not bad, certainly competent and one of Mann;s best films. Acting is good, but I just couldn't really gel with any of the characters. It looked like a great story which had been made into a shallow love tale to get in the female audience. Just reading about the original, and it seems I was right.

Hang it next to Legends of the Fall as 'over-rated' :)
 
Over the past week I have had really bad problems sleeping so I watched all the Lord of The Rings films again, the full versions.

I just find these films get better and better each time I watch them, the 2 towers is just such a good film.

The end of Return of the King still makes me cry.
 
southend_marc said:
The end of Return of the King still makes me cry.

I've only seen it once, at the cinema... I cried too as it felt like I had piles after 12 hours sitting down watching a single film :p
 
I saw Twilight last night after waiting weeks to see it and it definitely did not disappoint. I loved it, was so romantic and gothic and dark, totally my kind of film. The acting was also incredibly good for a relatively unheard of cast. The SFX were a little over the top but then i guess that's to be expected for a vampire film.

9/10
 
The Mist:

The first 20 minutes or so watching this film I thought it was going to be really crap. The script was dull, the acting was awful and the gore looked really fake.
Then in a surprising turn of events the film got really good. The pace picked up and the sense of dread grew. I really liked the way that the people in the store were choosing sides. So it was like two battles going on at once.
The plot follows after a brutal thunderstorm that pounds a small town, the residents discover a malevolent mist hangs over their homes, killing anyone who remains outside. Trapped in a grocery store, a band of survivors must make a stand against the deadly fog.
After it started to get good the script work improved drastically, the acting felt more fluent and the characters were believable. I did think that were too many characters to keep track off though. As almost everyone in the store (around 40 people) did something that was significant to the plot in some way.
I really liked the ending. It was really cruel and twisted and was funny in a sick way. :p
[Highlight to reveal ending]After attempting an escape in a truck. They run out of petrol. They all decide to commit suicide. The main character kills everyone in the car (INCLUDING HIS SON) so that they don't have to face the slow and painful death of been ripped to shreds by the creatures. He fires at himself only to find he has no bullets left, so he exits the van only for the army to appear seconds later collecting survivors.[/spoiler] :p

Worth a viewing if you're interested but either wait for it to appear on TV or rent it.

8/10
 
Ollie said:
The script was dull, the acting was awful and the gore looked really fake.

Sorry, but the acting was fine throughout. There wasn't a bad actor in it. The only truly negative thing would've been the utterly pointless love story.

And what gore? Was there any? Unless you mean the CG...
 
Ploddish said:
Sorry, but the acting was fine throughout. There wasn't a bad actor in it.
I just felt that at the beginning they were saying things that you wouldn't really say in real life if you were in that situation. There were long gaps in between lines like they were having to try and remember what they were supposed to say.
I agree with you on that love story bit though. But glad that it only lasted 10 minutes or so.
It was a good film overall though.
 
Spider-Plant Man:

Probably one of the best spoofs I've seen. It's only about 15 minutes long but it has a really good cast including:
-Rowan Atkinson
-Jim Broadbent
-Mackenzie Crook
-Nick Frost
-Simon Pegg
-Tony Robinson
-Rachel Stevens

You can view it here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_07mqQ9RaTk

(I won't give it a rating as it's not a full length film).
 
The Stangers:

Rubbish film. You can easily tell when something is going to make you jump when the music picks up, and then when it happens it fails completely to scare. The film as a whole is has no plot. It just shows two people turning up to a house, and then three masked people stare at them through windows for an hour until they finally do something at then end.
The ending is really bad and unsatisfying and just leaves you asking yourself "why didn't they just do it at the beginning and save 80 minutes of your life?".
The script work is rubbish, and there's hardly any speech. When someone finally does open their mouth, what comes out is either in a whisper or nothing at all.
I recommend that you don't see this film and see something more enjoyable and better such as 'REC'.

2/10
 
Ollie said:
The Stangers:

Rubbish film.

Disagree. I didn't think it was amazing but...

The film as a whole is has no plot. It just shows two people turning up to a house, and then three masked people stare at them through windows for an hour until they finally do something at then end.

It's a horror... that's sort of what the genre does. Rec... some people turn up at an apartment building and get attacked by zombies. Friday the 13th, people turn up at a camp, get attacked. Halloween, people turn up to babysit, get attacked. It's not really a genre centered around story telling.

The ending is really bad and unsatisfying and just leaves you asking yourself "why didn't they just do it at the beginning and save 80 minutes of your life?".

Not really... the point was the killers were enjoying torturing the couple through fear. It was all part of making them seem more sick and mental than someone who would just go in and stab them. The end was understated, but, that was the point.

The script work is rubbish, and there's hardly any speech. When someone finally does open their mouth, what comes out is either in a whisper or nothing at all.

A. At the start, would you really be chatty after having a marriage proposal denied? B. She's then on her own for the majority of the film. Good idea, talk REALLY loudly to yourself so the killers know where you are...

There were flaw with the film, but what you've pointed out... those weren't them.
 
Ollie, I'm gonna have to disagree. It wasn't the most incredible horror movie ever, but it was one of the better ones because first of all, I actually found it pretty scary with the masks and stuff, and also, I liked how it was more of a psychological thriller than a horror. Whether or not they killed people until the end, who cares? If you want major gore, find a different movie, because that's not what this is about.

Anyways, I went to see The Curious Case of Benjamin Button last night. I knew it was about a guy who aged backwards, but I didn't know exactly what to expect. The movie was long at three hours, but it didn't seem to drag on. It was a bit hard to grasp the concept that his body was getting younger as he got older, but either way, the whole concept was rather depressing, beacuse like, what would YOU do if you were about to have a kid with someone but you knew you'd end up being younger than the kid and also, knowing you'll have to leave your girlfriend sooner or later?

Overall tehre was a lot of death in the film (not always major deaths, but it was pretty much always there), but the plot was different and interesting, and it kept me watching. It was also a tearjerker though, well, at least for me; I dunno who else was crying in the theatre.

8/10
 
But it's not a horror film. Everyone was telling me how jumpy it was and how terrifying it was. It was neither.
I didn't jump didn't feel scared and only watched it because I thought something good was going to eventually happen. It didn't.
And did I say that the ending sucked?

I just don't see what's so good about it.
At least it's wasn't as bad as Blair Witch. :p
 
Taylor I keep hearing good things about Benjamin Button but I'm still not convinced (plus we don't get it in the UK till Feb). I'll prob still see it out of curiosity though. Glad you enjoyed it.
 
^I loved Fight Club and Se7en, so I'm definitely seeing Button.

Looking forward to seeing The Wrestler and Slumdog Millionaire too.

Anyone seen either of these who can tell me if they're worth seeing?
 
And did I say that the ending sucked?

The ending was creepy how they were tied up in chairs knowing they were like, dunzo, but I didn't like how the girl woke up.

Either way, it was a good movie.

Taylor I keep hearing good things about Benjamin Button but I'm still not convinced (plus we don't get it in the UK till Feb). I'll prob still see it out of curiosity though. Glad you enjoyed it.

Yeah, it has higher ratings than it probably deserves, but it still deserves praise for sure. It's different for sure, and stirs up some emotion, as well as making you wonder what you would do if you were in that type of situation.

Definitely worth seeing.

Oh, and Johnny, I think Slumdog Millionaire looks fantastic. The storyline looks really different, and I haven't heard of it until the other day, but I don't think it's playing anywhere around here :( .

I still wanna see the Boy in the Striped Pyjamas, but again, since it's an Indi film, it's not playing anywhere but like, Toronto.
 
I just finished Sex and the City.

The first hour or so was hideous. Absolutely horrible. So tedious, and it just didn't work.

Then, they got back from Mexico, and all of a sudden it got amazing. First of all, that Dante... Jesus ****ing Christ. He was as hot as a ****ing inferno. And it just turned fabulous. It got funny, it got touching, it got GOOD. And all the designers made me droooool.

The only real problem I had with the second half is Sarah Jessica Parker was still in it. She really is a foot on a body. It should feature more Miranda <3. And Samantha <3. And Charlotte <3. Carrie's just a burden. If she would **** off, it would be a LOT better.

And it got me all emotional and made me cry, lol.

I liked it, but the hideous first half can't be ignored. 7/10. Oh, and yes, it is possibly the most feminine film I've ever seen. <3.

Oh, and the people that thought Dark Knight was long... watch this.
 
Just got back from watching The Day the Earth stood still

I came in expecting much and came out disappointed. A lot of it was interesting, but nothing special or mind blowing. Acting was **** and I felt I was watching a high school performance at some points (Where people were not staying in character). Visually alright, but nothing too grand or complex. There was potential there, but nothing came forward. It even got to the point where I predicted things before it happened, which makes the plot not too deep.

Overall, interesting film, but makes me want to see the original for a comparison.
6/10
 
^ Wait, wait, wait.

Are you saying the Day the Earth Stood Still is not visually amazing? Okay, so the movie wasn't the greatest, nor was the acting, and it was defintiely lacking in spots, but the effects were fantastic, I thought.
 
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