Scrivener

Ugh. That trailer had to be put together by Boll himself - it shows absolutely zero understanding of how a movie trailer is supposed to work.

Great- it really *is* a zombie movie. Why did id let this happen? The whole Hell concept is what made Doom... well... Doom. quote:Originally posted by Cruis.In: you think chris nolan was the wisest choice for batman based on his previous two movies?Yes.

quote:Originally posted by Supreme Cmdr: ...which tells me nothing.It's gruesome. Psychologically it's not as intense as House of 1000 Corpses because you don't really have any characters to relate to... but there's lots of stabbings, slashing, gunshots, etc... and there's a pretty nasty scene involving a semitruck and one of the victims... It's gruesome. Really really gruesome. Saving Private Ryan gruesome (maybe a little worse). There are scenes of torture, murder, a guy gets his head clubbed in... etc. AND none of the effects look hoakey in the slightest. They look real.

Because product placement has never been as invasive as it was in The Island. Every few minutes the movie would stop to sell a car - it was absolutely ridiculous... and the commercials just kept coming - non-stop, constantly, from beginning to end. I kept sensing that certain scenes were in there (that should have been cut or tightened up) only because they were contractually obligated to sell whatever product was on screen. When I'm watching a futuristic movie I don't want to be bombarded with advertisements for modern products. I paid for my ticket, they pull me clean out of the story, and their not even cunningly integrated. For instance, the Michelob Light commercial - the camera is focused on the bottle for 15 seconds while the characters talk in the background. Then, one of the characters pick it up and drink it dead-on-profile shot. The only thing missing was corny beer commercial music. I make a big deal because this movie sets a very bad precedent for others to follow. It's so far beyond anything else that has been done that it's positively maddening. I'm still paying for my ticket, so unless these invasions into my entertainment somehow passes significant savings along to me, I don't want any part of it. I put this right up there with telemarketers trying to sell you auto insurance while you're eating dinner.

quote:Originally posted by Grayfox: heh ya the motel scene... whew that one had me squirm a bit. That had one of the best stabbings I've ever seen in a movie. I couldn't tell if it was practical or CG - but boy howdy did that stuff look real. I can't wait for a DVD with directors commentary. The most gruesome horror films always have the most educational commentaries. ...and bullets hitting bare flesh... you just don't see that stuff. Very hard to pull off from a technical standpoint.

Why wasn't my ticket free? I had to sit through enough commercials - my ticket really should have been paid for. Not since Little Nickey have a seen movie so blatantly full of wonton and gratuitous product placement. No - this transends product placement. Remember in The Truman Show when Jim Carrey's wife stops midconversation to talk about coffee? It's like that - characters actually stop to talk about the product. Vehicles are parked - just so - filling the screen with their shiny luxuriousness. Here are just a few of the brands my friend and I caught (many are used over and over and over): Puma Aquafina Xbox MSN Search Michelob Light Cadillac Chrysler Honda Nokia Amtrak Amex Mastercard Chevrolet I'm sure there's more but I spent so much time laughing I might have missed a few. Seriously, entire scenes are dedicated to beverages, vehicles, and communication devices. Sans the nonstop advertisement, this might have been a pretty good film... except for the giant central plot hole. If what the company is doing is illegal, and they have hundreds (if not thousands) of employees - why hasn't someone blown the whistle already? I mean, they had a good concept, it was almost executed well, why blow it with a stupid technicality that dosn't really change the story much... aside from undermining the entire morality subplot. If the movie had ended right with Logan and Jessica... I mean THX and SEN... I mean Lincoln and Jordon emerging from the facility... THAT would have been a great short film (sans shameless Xbox and Aquafina commercials). I will hand it this - it was vaguely entertaining for a while. That does not, however, excuse the movie for being a 2-hour long big budget commercial piece of trash. At least Demolition Man and Little Nicky didn't try to dupe their audiences with this crap. Adding insult to injury the movie ran about 60 minutes longer than it needed to (really, I wonder why that is). God I'm mad right now. 4/10 - Because I'm feeling generous.

quote:Originally posted by Supreme Cmdr: ...and the gore factor is what? About as high as an R rating will allow.

Wow, where to start. Well, this categorically wasn't even the same kind of movie as the original H1KC. Whereas House was a good ol fashioned horror film - Rejects is an outright 70's style revenge flick (Like Dirty Harry meets Kill Bill meets Friday the 13th). I still left the theatre feeling like I needed a shower, but this time that was only because of this insane heat wave we've been having. Part of the reason this movie isn't as disturbing as the first is because we have absolutely no characters to identify with. Everyone is downright nasty this time (with the exception of a handful of unfortunate passersby). I definately prefer House of 1000 Corpses - maybe because it was more cartoonishly artistic and uncomfortable - but Devils Rejects is still a decent vintage-esque film nasty. 7/10 Next on today's itinerary: The Island. It seems Stealth got pushed back a week to avoid competing. Oh well, that means I have something to watch next saturday too

Aw man, I didn't get to see anything this morning. Plan was to catch an early showing of Devils Rejects and follow it up with The Island before school. Lo and behold I missed ONE store on my route and had to cover that this morning (all my store calls are due today)... SO there's no 1 o clock showings for anything right now. Since I have school at 5 I won't have time to see anything! Guess tomorrow will have to be my moviepalooza instead. SO... anyone hardcore enough to have seen this already?

I don't know whether to laugh or cry.

quote:Originally posted by Supreme Cmdr: If you read back a few more messages, you will see that I'm talking about the show coming to sci-fi and with the missing episodes which never aired on Fox. Does that mean you don't already have the show on DVD???

There's apparently a 6-minute segment done entirely in first-person... literally FPS style... that was shown at ComicCON. I'm not sure what I think about that but I hear it was actually pretty cool. Dammit, I knew I should've gone this year.

I got to meet him once. He was really nice.

I thought the release date for Serenity was September 30? Did I miss something?

Hellbinder, it's the ratings system thats changed. Not movies. Most PG13 movies these days would have been PG not 20 years ago. What makes The Grudge (PG13) or The Ring (PG13) so much worse than The Haunting (G) or House of Wax (PG)? Nothing except color... and yet these newer movies get the higher rating. Its worse for family films. Look at Spongebob - the movie made PG but how is it any worse than Snow White (G)? Heck, Snow White was dark and sinister and Spongebob is... silly and jovial. Then LOTR gets PG13 but how is it any worse than the westerns and pirate movies of the 60s and 70s? Josey WAles is PG, Jeremiah Johnson (PG), Rooster COgburn (PG), etc... these would all be PG13 if released today for two stupid reasons: Cleaner, clearer, higher quality picture & sound... and they have people shooting each other with guns. It seems like Hollywood is only just starting to release the kind of family movies I grew up with again. Stuff like Lemony Snicket, Finding Neverland, Lord of the Rings, and 2003s Peter Pan. It seems like movies these days only make G or PG if there is no hint of sinister anywhere to be found. This means stupid bad guys, weak morals, and you walk away all the dumber for it.

quote:Originally posted by LostInSpace: Pity that Depp and his young costar are doing this on the heels of their other movie "Finding Neverland" which I really really liked.Definately. Finding Neverland was an excellent family film. This is not.

I plan on spending the entire day at the local Krikorian this Friday.

I'd love to but it dosn't come out till the 22nd. I know, I don't want to wait either.

This is one of those movies that reminds you just how great the original was. This is your typical happy-goofy-silly-haha junk they try to pass as family entertainment these days. In other words... it's less Lemony Snicket (especially coming from Tim Burton) and more My Little Pony. Safe, sanitary, and irritating. I really want to blame Depp's performance but it seems like it was just a really bad shooting script. The movie dips into Wonka's past a bit and explains away his behavior as him being a bit of a manchild... except that his childhood counterpart is much more human and mature than his adult counterpart. Bah. This movie was complete and utter crap. Rent or purchase the 1971 version with Gene Wilder - and spare yourself the agony of this retread. 2/10 In other words:

I plan on seeing it because of the surprisingly good preview screenings, but I have serious reservations.

... *raises hand*

quote:Originally posted by Cruis.In: can we trust anyone who liked the hulk? When have any of you ever trusted my nazi-like taste in movies? You've just been getting lucky lately is all.

Well, I'm the only human on the planet that enjoyed The Hulk so if F4 is you're crusade so be it. Nevertheless, this was a studio movie through and through - and it could have been done MUCH better.

Most critics seem to be bashing F4 because there's not enough action. That's a stupid reason to bash a movie (The Hulk) so I'm going to bash it because of how horribly terribly made it is. Either 2 hours of movie is flat out missing or this is, by far, the worst editing disaster I have ever seen projected onto a 40ft sheet of fabric. Huge chunks of story are missing - blatantly glaringly missing. If this were a television show you'd think you might have missed a few episodes somewhere. The acting, for the most part, is weak. Not bad - just weak. Evans and Chiklis are actually pretty good as the Human Torch and The Thing (respectively), each reacting to their new abilities in opposite but believable ways. Where we start getting into craptaculand is when the beautiful and talentless Jessica Alba and the annoyingly static Ioan Gruffudd are on screen. Not only is there positively no chemistry between the two, they both totally suck as actors. Gruffold has all the acting talent of Terry Shiavo and all the charisma of pre-Chicago Richard Gere. If it weren't for having CG limbs we might never see anything but his lips move. Dr. Doom is one of the most pathetically unthreatening villains in the history of cinema. Worse, instead of having a personality all his own the filmakers just ripped off Green Goblin and gave him a new name. He's supposed to be more like an evil Bruce Wayne-Lex Luther villain, but even those completely unfamiliar with comics will see the plaigerism. Then there's the script, which is responsible for at least 50% of this veritable cinematic vomit. It's obvious this went through several different writers as the dialogue varies wildly in quality from Superman 1978 to Shark Boy and Lava Girl. Bah. I need go see Batman again to wash this filth out of my head. 2/10

I'm gonna go see it tomorrow anyway because I just love punishment.