Scrivener

I am so there opening night!

Heath Ledger is a great actor... but I just can't see him as joker, no matter how hard I stretch my imagination. He'll probably need a lot of makeup/prosthetic work. I'm still hoping for the Joker from The Killing Joke. I'm sure he can pull off the character... I just don't think he has the look.

If I were a big rich Hollywood type, I'd have a rap sheet too. Money buys a lot of fun things that will get you in trouble.

There wasn't really a whole lot of action in it. At least not in the shootout sense. Tons of sex, though.

Well, he's still on an "it" list. There's just an "sh" before "it."

I thought it was very good. You're right about the end shootout, though. It seemed like it was filmed entirely with $300 VHS camcorders and really didn't feel very tense, exciting or... well, anything. It was very meh and anticlimactic. The rest of the movie was infused with a sense of danger that I really admired. Mann has certainly done better (Collateral, Heat, Last of the Mohicans) but I still loved it. 8/10

I liked The Village because I wasn't expected a horror movie. Really, none of Shyamalan's movies have been remotely scary. Also, The Village was a social experiment - one that failed. It had a very deep, complex, and multifaceted moral... you can't escape violence - you can't change human nature. There are good people and bad people and everyone lies, the good and the bad. On the other hand, Lady in the Water was a lecture of a movie... like listening to an english professor explain why Moby Dick is the greatest novel ever written and anyone who dissagrees is an imbecile. You really have to turn your brain off to enjoy the movie as a simple fairy tale - and if it weren't so bloody preachy it might have succeeded at that. For example, there is a subplot involving a writer and his destiny. That little story-within-story would have been great as the foundation for it's very own movie. It makes you think about the implications of your role in life - that the inspirer is no less important than the inspired. Unfortunately, it's just one of those interesting subplots that gets lost in the films ham-handed criticism of criticism.

Maybe this dosn't need a review - after all, if you're interested, you've already seen this. It's exactly what you'd expect out of Kevin Smith and exactly what you'd expect out of a sequel to Clerks. It's raunchy, disgusting, disturbing, and abso-friggin-lutely hilarious. Oh yeah, and don't be a Joel Siegel during the Interspecies Erotica sequence. As nasty as it is, it somehow brings the whole story full circle - delivering a truely emotional and heartfelt conclusion. 8/10

I heard the stories and went in with an open mind, thinking "Well, I really liked The Village - maybe the critics are just over-reacting." As is the case whenever I get a fit of film optimism, I was wrong. So very, very wrong. Lady in the Water is pretentious, egotistical, demeaning, and uninteresting. Essentially, you are paying to watch Shyamalan mentally masturbate onto the audience - and it's positively infuriating. The story thinks it's more intelligent than it's audience, and once you hit the 30 minute mark, the attacks don't stop until it's over. It's really a shame, because there are dozens of great ideas that might have worked as the foundation for a different movie entirely - but instead they've been slapped together haphazardly into a movie whose only moral is a heavy handed "How dare you criticise the story! You're just too dumb to understand it." Now I think Shyamalan is a great director - I love the atmosphere he injects into all of his films. BUT I hope that, after this steaming pile of cinematic ejaculation, he is never allowed to direct one of his own scripts again so long as he lives. Really, unless you're 5 years old you are not going to miss this stuff - it's not even in the subtext. Most of the dialogue in the film is spent discussing the nature of a story, and how the characters fit in, and what it all means. It's not subtle by any stretch of the imagination. Oh yeah, and "durrr" the jaded film critic was wrong all along! Oh, how I didn't see that coming. Wait for the DVD, so you'll only be out $5 for the whole family when you decide the movie is crap. Go see Monster House instead - it's a much smarter, more entertaining "bedtime story." 4/10

I'm not totally sure what the title means. I think it's something from the short story that didn't actually make the film. Or maybe it's just the name of the poem that Keanu says as his brain melts. It's a drug movie, so I try not to think about it too much.

Caught this over the weekend. Unfortunately it seems to be on Limited Release, so it wasn't playing at my usual theatre. It's sort of a bummer since the sound system in the place I saw it was crap, no bass whatsoever (sort of ruins the great beat the soundtrack has). Despite that small technicality, which is no fault of the film, A Scanner Darkly is one really weird ass movie. It's light scifi with a drug trip twist. Think: Requiem for a Dream, only without feeling dirty and depressed afterward. What's best is that it really seems like every scene is pointless until the end, and then it all starts coming together as you realize you've been paying attention to the wrong details (just like the drugged out characters in the movie). It's really very excellent storytelling. The art style actually works for this one too, unlike Waking Life, which can induce both sleep and vomitting (sometimes simultaneously). A great movie that both entertains and makes you think. If it's playing nearby, I'd highly recommend catching a show. 9/10

I got the impression that the movie was supposed to be an intimate personal drama about Superman coming back to a world that forgot him - BUT - some Hollywood executive retooled the script to include a bunch of craptacular, nonsensical, over-the-top, noncharictaristic extraordinary Hollywood CG rubbish without any explanation or justification whatsoever. The entire 3rd act is complete and utter crap. I felt like I was suddenly watching an entirely different movie. Also, the whole kid thing should have been left ambiguous and unanswered, although I am moderately grateful that it didn't end up doing a Van Helsing. I would have stormed out of the movie theatre immediately. As it stands, it was a very mediocre and deeply flawed movie that is worth one watch and one watch only. 5/10

How does the Extended Edition stack up? I'd Netflix it, but they only seem to carry the PG13 version.

A perfect movie... absolutely ruined by the filmakers' lack of self restraint. There's about 10 minutes of garbage material littering the film that drag the whole thing down. Bullet-time, squid snot, CG pole-bouncing acrobatics, unneccessary LOTR-style CG flyovers, sidekick commentaries, rotating triple-barreled cannons (the worst offender)... the list goes on and on. There was clearly a brilliant script in there - and there's even enough material to cut a perfect movie... but I can just see a bunch of CG animators sitting around a conference table geeking out on stupid ideas that somehow made it into the final product. Tack on a Lost in Space style ending and you get a movie with 10/10 potential but 6/10 as delivered.

Hey, remember me? It's like I fell off the face of the earth or something. In reality, I've just been busy as hell. So anyway, I Netflixed this thinking "Even if it is Uwe Boll, the blood and boobies have got to make this worth it." Oh God, was I wrong. I never knew movies could be so terrible. It's like my TV was streaming an invisible pain beam right into my eye sockets. The actors all give the worst peformances of their careers. Ben Kingsley... how could you? The editing is rubbish and the plot makes no sense whatsoever. It was plain to see, written on every frame of this film is Uwe Bolls complete and utter lack of talent, imagination, and skill. To be honest, I never even finished watching it. I saw some completely random sex scene, then the mail lady showed up and I stuffed it back in it's sleeve and sent it off so I wouldn't have to keep the DVD for another day. 0/10

Saw the trailer online a week ago and I was just so intrigued I had to go see this. I wound up at the historic Nuart theatre in west LA, an hours drive in almost unnaturally light SoCal traffic. For a film receiving absolutely no promotion and strictly on very-limited-release, the theatre seemed surprisingly full. No wonder - The Proposition is friggin awesome. The setup is like this - it's Australia some time in the 1800s. A family has just been killed by a gang led by the oldest of three brothers, Arthur Burns (Danny Huston). While it's never explicitly explained, it appears that the two younger brothers, Charlie (Guy Pearce) and Mike (Richard Wilson), left the gang following the family's murder. When Charlie and Mike are caught by the law, Captain Stanley (Ray Winstone) makes Charlie a proposition. He must find and kill his older brother, the mastermind, before Christmas or the innocent youngest brother hangs. From there things get sticky in a hurry. What makes the film so effective is that nearly all of the characters are basically good people who keep doing things they know are wrong (for varying reasons). Something else I appreciated was the films ability to communicate visually. An inconspicuous shot of a plate of food, for instance, speaks volumes in light of prior events. Sorry I can't get any more specific than that without going into spoiler territory - but I really don't want to ruin a second of this movie for anyone... and I'm fighting an almost irresistible urge to spoil what is perhaps the greatest opening scene in cinematic history. It's a goddamn shame that this is on such limited release, because I swear The Proposition is canonical Western material. We're talking Deadwood, Fistful of Dollars, Unforgiven level material... but more brutal than anything you've seen this side of Tarantino. When the violence comes it's savage and shocking, almost like A History of Violence but with a more Hitchcock-leaning sensibility. That is, you see and hear only enough to achieve maximum effect. MINOR SPOILER ALERT In the opening scene, Mike takes the butt of a gun across the face. You don't immediately see the damage but you hear the blood running down his face and trickling onto the floor like a tweaked faucet. The effect is chilling, even before you see the bloodied butt of the gun or MikeÔÇÖs ruined face. END SPOILER ALERT If Hollywood wasn't so discriminatory about violent films, the actors here all gave Oscar-worthy performances. As I stated earlier, the film speaks visually without needing redundant dialogue to fill us in. Ray Winstone's performance as the Captain is especially notable. His character not only has to cope with his own guilt at letting Charlie go, but the blame of the locals and his superiors, and the injustices that result all while trying to shield his wife from the horrible truth. I could just go on all night, but by now you surely must get the idea. The Proposition is not to be missed. 10/10

I got dragged kicking and screaming to the first two and hated, loathed, despised, and detested both. Since general consensus is that MI3 is more of the same, I'm just plain not going to waste my time.

quote:Originally posted by Supreme Cmdr: They're going to have a HARD time topping the Batman remake. Flying man in blue tights will never, ever top the Dark Knight... especially with Nolan and Bale at the helm.

It's late so I'm not going to write a huge dissertation. In short, I bloody LOVED it. The Cop lady got on my nerves quite a bit, but it's really my only complaint. She just came across as... artificial and out of place. [MINOR SPOILER ALERT] They also give her what amounts to a double-death, which is a storytelling no-no. [END MINOR SPOILER ALERT] Artistically everything is just fantastic. I was particularly impressed by the films careful use of sound - a vital aspect of filmaking that 99% of all movies (especially horror) ignore at their peril. The camerawork was excellent and well calculated - adding a subtle layer of emotional communication that really helps you understand what Rose is going through. The guys working on this really knew what they were doing and it's a breath of fresh air I wasn't expecting. At about the 3/4 mark the film gets a little campy but it's short lived because the ending pays dividends. As horror films go it's not really scary - and it's not even disturbing so much as absolutely bizarre - especially when Rose slips into the dark dimension. The wierdness is spaced out for maximum effect, ensuring you don't get too used to the imagery and keeping it potent (a strategy also used in History of Violence to great effect). Practical effects were used as much as possible during the filming to keep the monsters looking realistic - but there are just certain things that could only be done in CG. Most of it is quite good, even if it's not entirely undetectable... but there are a couple instances where it seems plain unfinished... especially the cop lady's first encounter. Hopefully that will get cleaned up for the DVD release (I can't wait!). All in all, Silent Hill is an entertaining, sometimes uncomfortable, ultimately satisfying trip to hell. 9/10 SC - this is probably at the uppermost rungs of what you could handle... and that's only because of the very, very end, which is pretty insane.

Hahahahahaha. That's rather ingenious, actually. I'd see that movie.

I'm getting a 404 Not Found.

This definately on the agenda for weekend viewing. Looks like a fun movie.

quote:Originally posted by $iLk: Does it show boobs? Once. Briefly.

Oh yeah - SC, don't bother. This'll leave you catatonic for sure.

What an evening! Started off with Cirque du Soleil's Quidam in Long Beach (Tapis Rouge CIP tickets, of course - I'm spoiled like that), and followed it up with a late night showing of Slither. What could go together better than cirque, d'oeuvres, and slugs, intestines, and gore? If you aren't a die hard fan of Evil Dead, Dead Alive, or any of the Troma low-budget camp films... stop reading now, Slither isn't for you. Still here? GO SEE THE FRIGGIN MOVIE. It's positively disgusting, revolting, icky, silly, and absolutely entertaining. Can't wait for the inevitable unrated version. I'm just having a hard time thinking of ways the movie could have possibly been more disgusting. The less you know about the plot, the more fun you are going to have. This is no Cannibal Holocaust, but it's definately somewhere in the realm of Dead Alive, The Blob, and Toxic Avenger. Classic material here, really. 10/10