Boorman did a spectacular job with that film, I am rather reluctant to see the "new one".

I just finished watching Aguirre: The Wrath of God. It was the closetst thing I have ever seen on film to an actual dream and cannot get the pipe music out of my head, great film though.


True to my name I am salivating in expectation over Aliens vs Predators.

Per your recommendation, I viewed this film. It is an extraordinary
story. It does ask a harrowing question. One that a person may
only be able to answer, if s/he is in such a position.....

On the "added features" of the DVD there are interviews with
the two climbers. It is worth watching that, as well.


A film I saw in the theater, a few nights ago, was Maria Full of Grace.
It was worth the ticket price. It's a foreign film, set in Columbia. The subject
matter is drug smuggling. The plot is tied together quite nicely. A good film,
if you don't mind subtitles.

Pardon me for bumping this thread again, but I had to put in a word for the remake of "The Manchurian Candidate," and for "The Village."

"The Manchurian Candidate" was tight, suspenseful, and the main characters were well done. It was better than the first one, especially since state-of-the-art effects were used to great advantage.

The premise was scary, of course, but it was the way the director made it so believable that left me and the rest of the audience silent as the credits rolled. It wasn't just scary; it was ominous.

I also saw M. Night Shymalan's "The Village." It had some scary moments, but it was the premise, not the actors or the monster, that was the star. The audience watching it was comprised mostly of teenagers, but the film was so much more sophisticated than the summer horror flicks of my teenage years. That it actually had a serious theme and wasn't just a means by which a boy could get a girl to huddle close to him was refreshing.

The violence was actually minimal, and yet our daughter, who we allow to see PG-rated flicks, had to excuse herself several times. That always means she's getting a little too scared. This is the kid who watched most of "Van Helsing" in contrast. It was good--I think it struck a good balance, because it was thought-provoking, but not so much so that it lost its entertainment value.

****Spoiler ahead, stop reading if you haven't seen "The Village" yet. And my advice is to catch it on video, even better bootleg it cause it is really disappointing.**********







Now I love a good scary movie every now and then but the village was just boring. And the plot was just a tad bit better then aliens invading the Earth. I think it was false advertising to show scenes of people running around frightened when this whole movie is going to be about Amish people. I think we actually saw the monster only once before finding out that it is fake. I cannot believe that this movie made millions of dollars and the entire conflict was between a blind woman and a retard man, common now I thought exploiting handicapped people was against the law.

I have to disagree with your assessment, Rev. I enjoyed the village, and while I did have some issues with it, I think that it is worth seeing because it speaks volumes about human nature.




***SPOILERS***




A lot of the disappointment in the film comes from people who were expecting a more blatant type of horror flick, and I can understand that, but the really scary thing about the Village is that the elders who were wronged by society tried to create their own Utopian society in order to preserve the innocence of their children. Instead, they created a form of totalitarianism that was cemented by their own brand of horror. Obviously, their attempts, while being made with the best intentions in mind, were proven to be a failure when the most perceivably innocent person in the village commits the very act that they were trying to eradicate from their society. Instead of learning from their experience, they used the death of Noah to continue their experiment because they were blinded by their own ideology. That's hella scary in my opinion.

I do think that there was room for improvement in other areas of the film, especially in regards to the dialogue and attention to period detail, but the story was compelling enough that I would recommend it to others.

I have to agree with Elspeth's assessment of The Manchurian Candidate overall - though I think I still prefer the original. Maybe it's because I already had a pretty clear idea of where the plot was headed (though they did swap the roles areound a bit) or maybe it's just because I found Angela Lansbury more frighteningly cold than Merrill Streep. Also, the whole issue of red scare politicians in the first film seemed more immediate and threatening than the corporate machinations in this one.

Nevertheless, it's definitely worth a look. It's far better than most remakes (some thought actually went into updating the dialogue, plot, and situations) - and Denzel Washington is a much more compelling central character than Frank Sinatra!


I also watched Outfoxed on DVD last night, which is excellent! Okay, for anyone who's seen more than five minutes of Fox News, there's not too much in it that you wouldn't innately know - but seeing so much evidence of bias, distortion, propaganda, and outright lying in one concentrated package was more terrifying than a dozen horror films. And it addresses the whole issue of corporate ownership of the media in general, as well - so it isn't just a critique of Murdoch and Ailes (though they definitely bear the brunt). I don't think will be playing many cinemas (it opened in three cities last Friday), but it can be ordered here - and at $9.95 it's a real bargain. There seems to be quite a demand, though - it took two weeks for my copy to arrive. Seriously recommended.

I thought The Manchurian Candidate was excellent, though definitely sub-par to the original. The film is tense, taut, and scary. I liked the Halliburton-Manchurian connections. Liev Schreiber is excellent as always (for some reason, he commands the screen like few actors I know). Meryl Streep is good, though I couldn't stop comparing her performance to Angela Lansbury's (who created one of the great movie villains of all time). Denzel Washington gave one of his best performances in a while (considering I don't typically like his method of acting, that says a lot). I particularly liked how he played it as more of a psychotic than Frank Sinatra's character. It delved into more psychological issues than the original did. However, nothing in this film can beat the original's "mind-washing" seminar. That was a sheer work of brilliance. However, while I feel the original is a stronger work cinematically, the remake is stronger thematically. Definitely recommended.

The Village was a huge waste of time. Thematically, very pointed, very timely, and very insightful. But in order for the themes to work, the rest of the film should have been entertaining. Shyamalan's previous films all dealt with deep family issues and psychological problems. "The Village" was just boring. The only thing that held my interest was Bryce Dallas Howard's breakthrough performance. Plot holes galore, subplots created and then abandoned, and extremely awful editing. The attempts at comedy were childish and tired. I was very surprised and very dismayed. Hopefully this is just a fluke in Shyamalan's career. The only twist ending he can do now is if he creates a film with no twist endings.

(*edited to add stuff*)

For the last ten years or so we have been bombarded with the so-called Blockbuster movie, okay the action scenes are good, the cast is blessed with beautiful people but someone has forgotton to throw in a plot, or a decent storyline! Call me old-fashioned but the last film I saw at the cinema which was worth the ticket price was The Usual Suspects. I will keep my fingers crossed in the hope that a good story-lined film may appear soon!

The Bourne Supremecy. Overall I must say I was disappointed by it.




****Spoilers****




Stop reading now if you havent seen it.

What a waste of Potente. She was the most interesting part of the first movie I think and they killed her off in 10 minutes? She had an extremely interesting character. So her entire story is she shouldnt have helped Bourne afterall? That the whole moving to the country side and opening a scooter store was pointless? The whole love thing really didnt mean that much overall? I mean put her in a coma or make Bourne stash her somewhere as he goes after his demons but kill her in the first ten minutes with a sniper bullet? The whole movie was ruined for me after that. He is then alright after it all? The only thing he ever truly had vanishes in an instant and he's all cool strolling around New York at the end? This could have been a good movie but the theme only works if Damon has Potente. Thats like Bonny dying and Clyde getting over it in a few weeks.

I hate it when the love interest dies and the whole dying bit is only a subplot. It happened in Matrix Revolutions as well. If your going to make someone die at least make it important or central like in Love Story or make it a spoof like in the second Austin Powers movie where Liz Hurley is actually a fembot but just kill off the girl who changed and risked her life for him like she is an extra?? It made me mad.

Maybe it's just me, but I have seen absolutely ZERO films this year that were all that great (maybe with the exception of Silent window, was that this year?).

Saw Manchurian Canditate last night and nearly feel asleep. Going to see the new Tom Cruise movie tomorrow night, hoping for better.

Alien Vs. Predator is puke-worthy. I was bored with 95% of it and not impressed with the 5% that wasn't yawn-inducing. Horrible, horrible film.

I'd have to ditto that I'm afraid. A couple of interesting plot twists but basically it was a film far too full of itself. With such a weak plot that came so far from keeping me on the "edge of my seat" (gotta remember not to trust NYT reviews) it was frankly pathetic, you'd think more action elements would be added to fill in the largely dead middle of the film.

The pretentiousness was most visible with the Halliburton-Manchurian comparisons, they were humorous enough to keep me awake.

The acting was good but the story was ummm... lacking in interesting qualities. Something I've noticed a lot in movies lately.

At least Van Helsing was an exercise in good story-telling.

For all of you foreign film buffs, I saw a good German flick,
on DVD, this weekend:

Good Bye Lenin!

It is set during the time of the fall of the Berlin wall.

Went to "Collateral" this weekend. Another so so movie. I would note that Jamie Foxx was excellent in his role and it was good to see Tom Cruise with grey hair.

I would highly recommend that everyone go see Garden State the next time you have a chance to see a movie, especially if you are in the 20 something / 30 something age range. I have a feeling that this is going to later be labeled the sleeper hit of 2004 with the same kind of appeal to Gen X-ers that Office Space has.

I know that personally I could and still do relate to a lot of the things in this movie.

I can't wait for oliver stones new movie "Alexander" based of course, on the life of alexander the great.

You and I both Unabomber. Have you seen the trailer?

http://www.movie-list.com/trailers.php?id=alexander

I don't go to the cinema much any more. The price is becoming ridiculous over here with some films costing as much as 80 ($13) kr per ticket. I will however go to see 'Alexander'. Even if its just to see the war elephant

The last new film I saw was a Korean historical film called 'The sword in the moon'. It was not bad... very asian with lots of intense staring and slo mo sequences.. okay if you like Asian action films with unstoppable hero's who spout petty philosophy

I saw Donnie Darko: The Director's Cut, and while they (*spoiler!) got rid of the Echo and the Bunnymen song at the beginning (I may have just ruined the whole film for some...), its way better than the original. The plot is clearer, I think.

I'd have to agree with you. Although, Tom Cruise, even with grey hair,
is wonderful to look at.

Another good rental is The Dreamlife of Angels.
It's a French film, masterfully done.

I saw Manchurian Candidate tonight and thought it was pretty good. It wasn't fantastic, but definitely worth the ticket price. I think I'm the only one (out of three so far on this thread) who liked it. I like pretty much anything Denzel Washington is in.

I've been reading through this and I can't believe no one has mentioned Napoleon Dynomite yet. This was the movie of the summer for me. It has some unforgettable characters and some classic lines. If you havn't heard of it, it's a comedy about the rural high school life in Idaho of a nerd. There are a few cliche moments but overall it's a great flick.

Also I'd like to say that Super Size Me was great too. Very very informative and scary too, and funny.

Funny movie, even if it didn't have any real meaning. I laughed so much during this film. Everyone knows a Napoleon, even if they don't want to admit it...


Next up: Paparazzi

Nothing new, nothing flashy. A good movie, though. I never felt bored, even though I knew what was happening.

Okay, stuff I've seen recently.

Cellular - ( *** out of **** )

Well I'll be... a movie about a kidnapped woman contacting a man on a cell phone turns out to be good B-movie fun! I have to say, I was surprised. Kim Basinger gives a good performance as said kidnapped victim, providing us with enough humanity to actually care about her situation. Chris Evans was also effective in his first real lead role, very plausible as the self-involved geekboy who suddenly discovers he must fight for someone else. But William H. Macy brings a bit of class to the B-movie antics, playing an intelligent, resourceful cop who is thinking about giving up the biz. And Jason Statham is just plain creepy as the kidnapper. The cast makes up for some lousy plot elements and makes the cheesy dialogue work. The direction is surehanded, adding more suspense to the works than I was expecting. There's even a mean-spirited quality from both the bad and good guys. This surprisingly effective thriller is worth matinee price.

Resident Evil 2: Apocalypse - (*1/2 out of ****)

I liked the first Resident Evil even though it was hardly scary, poorly plotted, and rather dumb. It captured the feel of the video game and gave us Milla Jovovich as a kick-butt heroine. This sequel, written by Paul W.S. Anderson (writer/director of the first film), is a big ole waste of time. Good production values aside, director Alexander Witt has no idea what to do here. The cast is up to the task, but they are saddled with poor editorial choices. The film focuses on too many characters who are separated from each other for much of the film's running time. The only character to care about is Jovovich's Alice, thanks only to the previous film's development. The zombies are left in shadow, probably to cover the fact that they don't look very good. The "Nemesis" is an example of effective costume design but the action scenes do little to thrill us. I don't say this often but... Witt's direction made me long for Paul Anderson's. Whew, never thought I'd say that.

Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow - (***1/2 out of ****)

A big-budget B-movie science fiction epic, I absolutely enjoyed this creative movie. Like a blast from the past, looking something like Fritz Lang might have directed had he computer digital imagery, Sky Captain is one of the year's most artistic motion pictures. Blending the feel of film noir with the high concepts of old-school science fiction, director Kerry Conran (also a first timer) manages to create a world which looks a lot like ours but feels completely different. Giant robots! Planes with flapping wings! Ray guns! Radio towers with halo-like pulsating signals! Angelina Jolie in an eye patch!

There's a sense of recaptured youth here, reminding me of movies I saw when I was a young kid, awed by the pure spectacle of film. Gwyneth Paltrow plays plucky (and lucky) reporter Polly Perkins who is on the verge of cracking the disappearance of six major scientists. A seventh scientist warns Polly of impending doom just as giant robots (GIANT ROBOTS!) invade New York City, nearly crushing our heroine in the process. Jude Law flies in as "Sky Captain" Joe Sullivan to save the day. Hooking up with Polly (not for the first time), Joe is caught up in the web of mystery and danger of world destruction. Angelina Jolie pops up to lend some support, though her part is more of a cameo than anything else.

Director Conran doesn't have the natural gift of continuity and presentation as more experienced filmmakers such as Spielberg or Lucas, but he tries to evoke the same sense of excitement which permeated those directors' earlier works. His CGI world is breathtakingly beautiful--still photos make wonderful computer wallpaper. The soft-focus photography is a nice throwback to the 40s era of screen sirens and fedora hats. Cheesy, cornball dialogue mixes well with the style, and Law and Paltrow are up to the task of spouting it off without sounding awkward. Their banter makes for some playful scenes (my favorite line: "Oh good, we're safe.").

While the film is not without its flaws (the CGI is not quite seamless, the plotting is murky, and there's no real sense of danger thanks to the lack of an on-screen villain), it does achieve a sense of innocence which has long since been dormant in Hollywood filmmaking. Parents, take your kids. They'll thank you for it. This is an extravagent family-friendly piece of work which deserves to be seen on the big screen.

Mr. 3000 is a very good movie. It is not one I would have normally opted
to see. It just so happened that there wasn't much else playing at the
time.....I was pleasantly surprised.

It's funny, touching, and Bernie Mac is GREAT!!!

I went and saw Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow, and it was great fun. FargoUT already gave a good description, and I'll just agree that the film reminded me stylistically of Fritz Lang's Metropolis and of course, film noir. If you have an interest in this type of film, I recommend catching it on the big screen.

I'm surprised noone has mention "hero" yet. I haven't seen it yet, but know someone that has. he said it was good. it's in chinese with subtitles by the way. I intend to see as soon as I can.

I saw it about a year ago or more when it first came out in China and a friend lent me the DVD. My only word of caution is that you shouldn't go into the theater expecting it to be an action movie or the next Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon. The previews, in my opinion, are very misleading in that respect. Hero concentrates very little on action and is much more about art. Those previews showed you almost all of the action scenes in the entire movie.

I just saw Saved! on DVD and thoroughly enjoyed it. There were a few rough patches, but it was very cute, pretty funny, and fairly moving. It's the movie that all those people flocking to The Passion of the Christ should have seen. Seriously: it is the most Christian movie I've seen in ages - maybe ever. Jesus would have liked it as much as he would have hated Mel Gibson's slasher pic.

The acting and script are a bit uneven, but as a high school coming-of-age movie, it works at least as well as Mean Girls or any of those John Hughes movies. Its take on compassion and redemption (suffused with a sweet sense of humor), though, are decidedly grown-up. I think I'm going to go watch it again. Recommended.

Anyone that knows me knows I'm not a fan of Tom Cruise, but I really enjoyed "Collateral." It's one of the few flicks I'd go see a second time. Then again, I'm a big fan of Michael Mann and his projects that have a more gritty, urban setting (Thief, Manhunter, Heat, "Miami Vice"). Anyone that can make me enjoy Cruise and Jaime Foxx has accomplished something by doing so.

I rented Denzel Washington's "Man On Fire" DVD recently and while I didn't hate it, I can't say that I really enjoyed it all that much. It's pretty to look at with director Tony Scott (Ridley's younger and less talented brother) trying a lot of different tricks with the film stock, lighting and cutaways, but at the heart of it all is a pretty standard revenge yarn. Maybe for Denzel playing a sadistic killing machine is an acting stretch but Cruise pulled it off better in "Collateral."

I'm thinking about checking out the Brazilian film, City of God this weekend. Anybody seen it?

I also heard that Foxx was actually good in Collateral too, which is almost reason enough for me to go see it.

Not only did Foxx give a surprisingly good performance Cube Jockey, but when you consider that his role was originally written with Adam Sandler(! !) in mind, it's probably a blessing in disguise.

Coupled with what is reported to be an Oscar-caliber performance in the upcoming biography of Ray Charles, the career of Jaime Foxx is definitely on the upswing.

I have - and thought it was quite gripping. For me, the black market culture of suburban Rio was startlingly reminiscent of Dublin's inner city (which I got to know quite well) and the film struck me as being extremely authentic - and more than a little harrowing. I know those kids - hell, I fostered one of them - and I've seen few films which give their lives any kind of public airing. For all of its grittiness and stark realism, it also manages to be quite entertaining. It's pretty well constructed, with some decent acting from the young performers as well. I would definitely recommend it.

I saw the Motorcycle Diaries with the love of my life, Gael Garcia Bernal. It was excellent. Its about Che Guevara, before he was Che. Wen he was just a middle class medical student. Its not actio packed, and ignores the revolutionary that Che would become. But worth it. And not just for the eye candy...

If 'Shaun of the dead' is showing in your town go and see for an enjoyable, British slant on the zombie film. And if you liked it track down 'Spaced' the channel four series on DVD. it's the same cast, practically the same characters and even funnier.

Following the recommendations of some of the distinguished cinema fans in this thread I rented "City of God" this weekend.

It thoroughly shocked, repelled and chilled me. I loved it! It's easily the best movie I've seen and probably will see this year.

We Americans seem to think we perfected graphic violence in our films, but we're just flashy amateurs. The violence of "City of God" is relentless, unrelentingly brutal and just bludgeons you into submission or surrender.

The fact that the story is based on a true story only makes it more disturbing.

"City of God" will not leave you in a warm and fuzzy mood, but it does go a long way in clearing up fuzzy thinking.

Thanks for the recommendations, kids. It was everything you said it was and far, far, more.

I went and saw it- absolutely fantastic movie- loved it!

I recommend:

Motorcyle Diaries - Brilliant acting, moving story and an important one to know.

Hero - Wonderfully shot, poetic almost. Emersive movie, if you liked crouching Tiger Hideen Dragon and/or The Last Samurai Heck this one out.

Team America - I love South Park, but this is hilarious whether you like South park or not.

Shark Tale was fun. I took my kids
to see it. It's got the mob element,
with voice-overs from Robert DeNiro
and other greats.

I took my kids to see The Incredibles.
It was EXCELLENT! We loved it.

2 Thumbs - Way Up!

ABSOLUTELY! Went with my wife, son and a couple of other couples with Kids. Everyone enjoyed it.

Also we recently rented the movie "The Man who was'nt there". Another great performance by Billy Bob Thorton.

I'd also second that recommendation. The Incredibles was easily the best movie I have seen all year and quite possibly in a few years. I thought that it combined a little bit of the best qualities of James Bond, X-Men, The Jetsons and the humor in Shrek into one package quite nicely.

This is definitely Pixar's best work to date.

I have to admit I hated A Shark's Tale...I thought it was horrible. Really, really horrible.


Yet I too loved The Incredibles. I was wondering tho. if it was just me or not...did anyone else notice what seemed like living in the world of terror undertones in the story?
Like when he acclaims "It is for the greater good!"
Or when the mother explains to the children..."Remember the bad guys you watched on TV..they are not like that they will kill you" I know I am paraphrasing and I am sure there were other examples..but am I alone ?

There was an article in the NY Times basically suggesting that Bucket. It suggested that this movie was pushing conservative values. I strongly disagreed with that at the time and even moreso after watching it. My reaction was basically - can't we just enjoy this movie and not spoil it with politics?

I took Shego and one of her friends to see The Incredibles. I had come thinking Ho Hum, another kid flick, but at least it doesn't have Hiliary Duff or Lindsay Lohan or the Olsen twins (in other words, not just female preteen tripe ). It was such a neat surprise! I also saw elements from 007, The Jetsons, and Shrekian humor.

Too bad Curmudgeon didn't go, too, but I suspect we'll be seeing it again before it hits DVD.

I watched Shrek 2 with my 5 year old daughter. The "Mission Impossible" scene was one of the funniest things I ever saw in my life. If you think this is just a kid's movie, pay attention to the dialog with Pinnochio. Absolutely hilarious.

I had my finger on the fast forward button just in case, but never needed it. The adult humor was far to subtle for her to have a clue (not that it was that adult).

Yes, just saw The Incredibles last nite, and would say it was....well...incredible. An excellent mix of humor, action, romance, adventure, real life....etc. One of those movies you can enjoy just on the face of it...but probably also spend a whole year dissecting all the parables. I highly recommend it.

Had intended to see The Polar Express at the IMax theatre...but it was sold out. Will see it soon, I imagine...(my daughter will demand it)....I'll let everyone know how it is.

Am I the ONLY person who has no recollection of reading The Polar Express as a child? Because I feel that way thanks to the ad campaign and my sister's incessant nagging.

I too saw the The Incredibles last week and, well, loved it. Of course, at this point I have pretty high expectations of Pixar films. I don't know about the car film, though: the trailer seemed pretty underwhelming. Hobbes, I'd be interested in your take of The Polar Express. I haven't seen it, but I'd have to say that I hate Christmas films, every last one of them with the possible exception of Scrooged.

I'd never seen/heard of The Polar Express either as a child, UJ. I recently won the book at a 'baby shower' party, and when I asked what it was, everyone looked at me like I was from Mars. You are not alone.

Edited to add: Mr P took our oldest to see the Incredibles a few days ago, and he really liked it. He said it wasn't as good as Shrek, though.

I'd never heard of it till this movie started being publisized and I still don't even know what it is about.