What films have you watched this week?

[Finsbury Girl]

Red Dog - brilliant. My movie of the year.

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Had to act manly in front of the kids towards the end! Inside I was bawling like a little girl

[averybluemonkey]

My local HMV had it in their 2 for ?10 before Christmas.

[JazzFunk]

That's one diagnosis... You could just be a miserable old fart? Haha (only joking) but no, I think The Hangover is the funniest film ever made outside of Charlie Chaplin. Although saying that I don't think making one laugh necessarily is the be-all-and-end-all for a great comedy movie? Hot Fuzz for example was brilliant and it made me laugh but I'd say Shaun of the Dead is the better film of the two and that didn't make me laugh once, I can't even remember any funny gags in it? Equally the Farrelly Brothers movies are the ones that make me laugh the most (Me, Myself and Irene; Dumb and Dumber; Kingpin; Stuck on You) yet none of their movies are as good as The Big Lebowski which, again, I can't remember actually being all that LOL-funny.

You see...that's just comedy, innit? Subjective....opinions...I'm feeling a tad more 'normal' right now. I'm glad you enjoyed it, P, I think it was probably fresher when viewed in a cinema circa its release date.

The bit in The Big Lebowski, where they pull the bloke out of the wheelchair, I nearly pissed myself when I saw that at the cinema, and it was a ganjalolz favourite back in the early days of DVD. I agree with Hot Fuzz being funnier than SOTD, and I also think it's a way better, less-self aware film. Only Farrelly bros. flick I ever truly loved was Dumb & Dumber, I laughed lots during that movie, think it's brilliant, though the 'zipper' sequence in TSAM also made me proper laugh. Nothing else in their movies, though, and I 'enjoyed' them all. Carrey is a tour de force in ...Irene....but no belly laughs for me, more admiration of an epic Carrey performance. Different strokes for different folks n' all that.

I'd be willing to put my neck on the line and say that Hangover is one of the more overrated comedies of recent years. It's not bad, but nothing great either. Hangover 2 was pretty ****e too.

I was the same JazzFunk. I think it's because everyone bangs on about how funny it is so when you actually see it it's an anti-climax. The bit that really made me laugh was when

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the baby gets whacked with the car door.

Feeling even more normal now! We're hovering between a 5/10 - 7.1/10 vibe right here, it's making more sense to me. Like Stu says, "anticlimactic", like the TaxiNextorzz says, "It's not bad, but nothing great either".


Anywayz, back onto LoveFilm again (I'll be stunned by the selection 'til I empty its culty sacs dry, and NO, I don't work for the f*ckers!). Just watched The Collector. Some of the peeps who made it have connections to the Saw films. It's not bad but not that good, either, and the 'collector' himself is just a bloke in a warped gimp mask, really chuffing unoriginal...and the whole shebang makes it seem like Saw was a gang, and this one is the 'teenage straddler' (ie. the one who ends up going to prison for molesting dogs in a park in his adulthood), this is pretty clumsy and needless, though I won't slag it too much as it never gets boring.

It's really quite bloody/gory, except the cuts are so quick you barely see stuff happen properly, give me lingering Fulci gore sequences anyday. Plus, bloody awful killer, proper naff. 5.8/10 (but not in a bad way)

[monel]

Since you bought up There's Something About Mary, Matt Dillon was pretty funny in that. His sleazy ways cracked me up.

[JazzFunk]

^I always forget he's in it!

PS:, am grabbing those twin Cat 3 epics you mentioned, got seeders!

[monel]

Yeah I think Mary was his unofficial comeback or something. I feel like watching that film now... Damn I need something to cheer me up but I'm knackered.

[Soundwave]

Watched a couple of films this week.

first up was Cannibal Ferox
Been a long time since I last saw it & it's still just as good.
The gore is pretty good considering the film is over 30 years old now.
I still have to look away during the Animal scenes but it's still a great film for gore hounds...even the story is pretty good.
A solid 7/10 every time

Yesterday I watched 13: Game of Death
A pretty good Taiwanese film about a down & out office worker who is invited to play a game that involves taking part in 13 increasingly violent challenges with the opportunity to win $100 Million Baht
It's not a particularly original idea but it works quite well, you're introduced to the unwitting participant of the game & you really begin to build a relationship & feel for his situation.
There is a smattering of gore but not as much as I expected, there is however one scene that I did have to look away from & I don't do that very often but I won't spoil it by telling you which scene
It's well directed, well paced & written, the acting is actually pretty good as well with some real emotion coming from a lot of the cast.
It's a good film & worth a watch 7.5/10 for me

Neil

[Kit]

Picked up X-Men First Class after reading glowing feedback on here. Really enjoyed it.

The guy they had playing professor X was superb and the intro for Magneto was really well done. Had to smile when

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Wolverine made a cameo appearance.

Would really like to see them make another using the same cast.

[dataDave]

The only character to have proper powers is Dr Manhattan. I don't think the characterisations are terrible at all. I can see how they'd be unappealing, loathesome even, but a twat of a character does not constitute a terrible characterisation. Their motives have more depth in the comic.

Not understanding what is going on is a failing of the film, or due to fastforwarding chunks. Once again, the comic is clearer. It's about the rise of vigilantes in the last century, and the subsequent banning of them. A nuclear accident has created Dr Manhattan, who has helped the US to win in Vietnam, changed the course of Presidential history, and provided a strategic advantage which has pushed the superpowers to the brink. Vigilantes are being murdered by a person, and for reasons, unknown. Sociopathic lunatic Rorschach, who sees the world in black and white morality, investigates, contacting the other Watchmen. The characters all have major issues - either with their position in life, relationships, or desire to do good. The fact that some may find them goddawful arseholes is obvious - they're vigilantes. The author of the comic offers a critique of the superhero concept, the reliance on icons, and a comment on brinkmanship and power politics. The comic also has a story within a story which parallels one of the main characters' actions and motives.

The comic is a deeper, richer experience, with a lot of subtext and imagery. The film did a fairly decent job of some of it. This leads me to think that you'd hate it, John, though I'd argue to the day I die that it's not vacuous and empty. Nonsense, mind-numbing and inane I can accept - if it's not your thing it's not your thing, but a quick shivvy at the various resources on the web will show that the comic is not simplistic and empty with no redeeming value. There's a lot to the comic; love it or despise it, it's clear that it contains a degree of depth. And the 60s Batman bad? Come on! It's great fun!

I agree totally with this. Watchmen is my favourite super hero related story, now I've grown out of all that Marvel ****e - or since Marvel became ****e, one or the other.

I thought the movie was done very well, however in saying that I hate absolutely everything else Snyder has ever done, including 300. I simply didn't bother with Suckerpunch. Superman next? Since birth I've always hated Superman... What is there to like about the concept? It sucks balls. Some alien dude who can do anything with a really crap outfit, what the hell... I remember my grandma calling me when it always used to be on TV. "David! Superman is on!!!" Really? Who gives a ****? Notice how they always used to jam Superman on all the time and then save all the good **** like Star Wars until Christmas day?

Anyway, all I can say is I'm glad the series was well and truly disgraced by that 4th movie.

[bash]

Saw Drive just now, my initial thoughts were the eighties style and feel were a little forced. The electro pink credit fonts and synth pop soundtrack, esp during the montage bits were boring tbh.

I think I would've preferred this if the tone was more late 60's bullit era and a younger looking Clooney took the lead. Gosling was about as lifelike as wood, if he's one of the US's leading men then no wonder the Brits are taking over the good AAA roles. Some great death scenes though During the opening credits I saw Bryan Cranston, Christina Hendricks and flipping Ron Pearlman I thought I was going to watch the greatest film of all time! Very over hyped, its a nice enough movie but not a lot happens and I disagree, Gosling gets away with acting wooden because his character is very mechanical in nature.

[rmoxon]

Ryan Gosling was absolubtley brilliant in Drive.

Youre crazy!

Plus the whole film was just cool as hell which is an incredible acomplishment in itself becuase, as you say, it even had bright pink font for its opening credits. So to make that seem cool means the film must be some kind of work of genius.

[bash]

The film is not kool because it tries too hard to be kool for the points I've already given. In trying to be kool it ends up the complete opposite, unkool.

And I've just watched Gosling in Ides of March and still reckon he's crap. He's positively plankton amongst the giants Clooney and Phillip Seymore Hoffman. Gosling might have the body/appearance of a classic actor (even though he has WELL wonky eyes) People like Steve Mcqueen and co also had AAA level acting ability. Like when they're sitting still and you can imagine whats going through their minds. Just watch Papillion to get an idea. Gosling sits still and he could be thinking about how to perform electric wind godfists in tekken tag 2 for all we know. He doesnt have the skill to suggest ideas/thought. Very VERY overrated.

[rmoxon]

The film is not kool because it tries too hard to be kool for the points I've already given. In trying to be kool it ends up the complete opposite, unkool.
And I've just watched Gosling in Ides of March and still reckon he's crap. He's positively plankton amongst the giants Clooney and Phillip Seymore Hoffman. Gosling might have the body/appearance of a classic actor (even though he has WELL wonky eyes) People like Steve Mcqueen and co also had AAA level acting ability. Like when they're sitting still and you can imagine whats going through their minds. Just watch Papillion to get an idea. Gosling sits still and he could be thinking about how to perform electric wind godfists in tekken tag 2 for all we know. He doesnt have the skill to suggest ideas/thought. Very VERY overrated.

I thought it was cool becuase it wasnt trying to be cool to be honest, I dont think having pink font is trying to be cool. If you think that it is then its a slight worry actually .

As for Gosling, I felt like I was with him and knew what he was thinking the entire way, so maybe you just missed it but he was fantastic anyway.

[PaTaito]

I think ryan gosling is generally solid in the acting dept.......drive is superb imo.

[elaniel]

I watched Final Destination 5 and Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 last night.

I like the Final Destinations but I'm getting tired of all the twists with

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"we can survive"

in each film and then

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death comes and ends up killing them all anyway

. I understand that's the point, but I'd like to see the next 2 (which are supposed to film back to back) to maybe go

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a bit deeper and really mess with death and properly cheat it.
Otherwise all of them are the same. 1 - Big disaster. 2 - Band together to beat it 3 - They all die anyway.

This was probably the best since the first one. I really liked a lot of the characters and the opening scene looked gorgeous and was directed and acted really well. Order of most to least favorite: 1, 5, 2, 3, 4.

Deathly Hallows Part 2, what can I say. Much more disappointing than the book, and that's hard to do as I really thought the last book left a lot open with who survived/died. For instance when they made a big deal in the book about

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Cho Chang returning to help Harry and then she's pretty much unheard from again

. I know we have the Pottermore site, but that's not enough.