American History X

Le Million (1931)
A thoroughly enjoyable frenzy of pitch-perfect comedy, tightly directed by Rene Clair. Clair was a notable influence on Chaplin, and it is easy to see that here; there is a perfect pinch of pathos sprinkled into all of this wackiness and no matter how far into the abyss these characters fall, we are always wholly connected to them. This is really about as much fun as one can have watching a movie. Every situation, every character antic and every goofy musical number furthers the film's incredible charm. Along with its sense of fun, Clair's film is also of enormous significance for the history of the French cinema; this, one of the first synch-sound pictures the nation produced, stands as one of their proudest landmarks.

V, Fort, Return, Doc, neverending- have you seen this? Check it out if you haven't.

Red Cliff (2009)
A consistantly entertaining war epic by an artist who knows his craft. Obviously influenced by Kurosawa, Woo paints every inch of his mise-en-scene with rich colors and movement. One could certainly not accuse him of laziness as his screen comes more alive than almost any film this year. There are some definte dramatic pitfalls, and a handful of cliches; dialogue is often sprinkled with tired analogies and unpoetic monologues, but the central characters still come off as likable human beings; Tony Leung Chiu Wai and Takeshi Kaneshiro are appropriately humane and gentle creatues who happen to be excellently trained in the art of war, and both sides of this spectrum work. It can be a bit hokey from time to time, but on the whole this is an exciting picture painted on a very big canvas.

Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans (2009)
This is an often entertaining but constantly underwhelming story by a filmmaker who could have brought so much more audacity to the table. Aesthetically, this is a safe movie; aside from a few great dips into avant-garde territory the film is shot mostly statically. There is something to be said about Cage's performance; I wouldn't call what he has talent, but he does have the balls to completely let go. His foray into insanity is campy for sure, but it is fun to watch, and ultimately holds the picture together; Good support from Val Kilmer and Brad Dourif round the cast out. It's far from spectacular, but it holds itself together and even makes a few stabs at uniqueness.

It would have been scarier without the monsters.

Legion (2010), in my opinion a rip-off -- well sort of -- of the movie Gabriel.

Nice review. I ll need to track this down.

Thanks for the heads up, my friend.

Le petit soldat (1963)
 

Made in 1960 but banned in France until 1963, this was Godard's second film. Slow to get off the ground, once it does so it keeps the viewer riveted. Centering on the War in Algeria, this is a dark portrayal of the fringe elements of that war. Torture scenes are shown between casual dialogue between captive(r) and captive(e), guns are drawn and left that way whilst walking down walkways or driving down the road, and women should never age over 26. Our hero here is stuck in the middle. Without a home country, he is surrounded by enemies and those threatening to become so. And then he meets the screen's beauty, an outlet really for his frustrations. This flick is daring but difficult, with infamous handheld camera-work and run-on dialogue, long takes and abruptly ended scenes. The acting was superb here, as was the direction. The camera-work was intriguing and engaging. The piano score-disquieting. Overall a difficult yet wonderful flick. Ashe.
derek

Across the Hall (2009)

http://content8.flixster.com/movie/1...924726_pro.jpg

Hitchcockian like twisted thriller but quite slow burn & bit sloppy. The small cast includes Mike Vogel (Cloverfield) & late Brittany Murphy.

>>: C+

I actually liked Go Ask Alice :-)

I think i M ight have seen 1969 - years ago on vhs..

Saw VI: Meh. It's a Saw movie. Nothing spectacular, but I did like it. I just wish they would end the series. Not that I dislike the series. I do like the movies for the most part, but I would just like to see a conclusion to the whole game.

Pandorum: Event Horizon Part II? Like Event Horizon, Pandorum has an excellent overall premise, but an exceedingly shitty execution and plot progression. I was really liking the movie until: spoiler: the ridiculous, tribal, mutants who got that way because they "evolved for life on the ship" nonsense. WTF? So living on a downed spaceship means you're superhuman strong, able to get the shit kicked out of you by three people and shrug most of it off, AND your head becomes horribly deformed? Sure. The movie has a great look and overall atmosphere, but it just felt like it could have progressed so much better than it did.

The Road---good movie, but depressing as hell.

also could have used a bit more back story.

I haven't seen SAW VI, so I didn't read that part of your post. Pandorum I did see and it reminds me of the following franchise:

Dead Space (video game)

Dead Space: Extraction (Wii video game prequel)

Dead Space (Comic prequel)

Dead Space: Downfall (Animated movie prequel)

Read the book that the movie is based on. I still haven't seen the movie, due to its limited release, but before I even see the movie I will be reading the book.

Watchmen....

My favourite Super Hero movie of all times. :)

Underdog

Watched this with my kid,my kid loved it! I found it surprisingly watchable,and even funny in places. 6/10

Butterfly Effect 3
I accidently rated this movie before I saw it. Damn Netflix trigger finger...:(

I was thinking it would be a really interesting spin on the whole fast forward backwards theme since the review said it was nothing like butterfly 1 and 2... so of course I BELIEVED. I mean isn't Netflix DEAD ON reviews all the time:rolleyes:

hated it
two thumbs down
no stars

I tried watching it last year, couldn't get into it, IMHO, they only needed to do one movie and not 3.

I have to agree completely with that

It's a money grab by the producers, it worked once, but didn't work again; same thing can be said about White Noise 2: The Light.

Ah, I've never seen this, but I really want to.
Thanks for the rec, Alky. Bumped to the top of my queue.

A Woman in Berlin (2009)

http://l.yimg.com/eb/ymv/us/img/hv/p...mallposter.jpg

A devastating tale that captures the aftermath horror of WW2 at the fall of Berlin.
Directed by Max Färberböck & based on the anonymous memoir of the same name--first published in English in 1954, and was republished in 2003, when it became a best-seller--it follows one woman's harrowing survival in Berlin at the close of World War II. At the time, late spring and early summer of 1945, the Soviet Union Red Army has pushed well into the city, heading toward the Reichstag. Berlin is in shambles, its streets bombed out, bodies frequently lying about, and the remaining inhabitants--mostly women and older men--left to fend for themselves. They run from one squat to the next, hide in cellars when tanks come down the street, and, in general, try not to do anything to get killed. As one remarks to another when hiding, "if the Russians treat them the way the Nazi army treated the Russians during its push into Russia, there won't be a German left at the war's end." And in that same desperate time of survival, for the women, that is the Red Army's men, who rape them without any fear of their officers punishing them. As in, when two female friends see each other on the street one day, the question they exchange is, "How often?"
The story centers around Anonyma...a wife of a Nazi officer, she is a former journalist who speaks French and Russian, has lived in Paris and London, and confesses at the movie's opening that she believed in what the German army was fighting for. Anonyma played by the German actress Nina Hoss delivers a masterfully significant performance. A woman faced with the choice of being subjected to rape by whomever, whenever, or giving herself to a high-ranking officer who might protect her, she chooses the latter, latching onto a major who manages to complicate her life even more.
The film doesn't reach a comparatively satisfying conclusion, it's only because it's so precisely focused on this brief moment in time toward a war's end when there are no rules, personal survival is paramount, and nobody is innocent.
This is a film that, for a whole generation, is most definitely not just a movie.

Recommended to Alky, Fortunato, NE, Doc & V.

>>: A

Sunds very interesting. I'll watch for it.

Its 3 Am where I live and i just got done watching Martyrs for the first time. I dont plan on sleeping......ever again. Just now getting into the French horror this was an Abosolutly incredible movie that will stay without doubt with me for the next couple of days. It was one of the first movies in a long time that had me squirming in my seat as if to try to protect myself for what im seeing. Once again it was an amazing movie but id like to hear anyone elses thoughts on it.

Halloween II (2009) No lack of hate here in other reviews, especially at IMDB. Not sure what the hubbub is cuz i liked it. Maybe it was a bit removed from the original franchise. If that is the main problemo then whatever. i think that Zombie has a style of his own, and a very artsy one at that. His kills are brutal and almost palpable. He seems to drift off into tangential forays of dreamlike psychosis, but that did not seem like filling screen time so much as hinting at the underlying motivations. In fact, i always appreciate a full two hour movie and think that the standard fare 90 minute flick is kinda a jip. The acting was fine, and i thought that there was enough character development to make us care about the main players. The cinematography was incredible. Of course i loved the direction. The story itself was pretty straightforward, but it's all in how it was told. Ashe.
d

My only real problem with the movie is that the girls were not martyrs. They were victims. So the whole premise of the movie is completely invalid. It's an interesting concept, but inherently flawed. But which would make people want to watch the movie more? Young attractive women getting brutally killed or death-fearing senior citizens choosing to be brutally murdered? To me the movie felt like it was trying to elevate itself past something like Hostel or Saw by having a "deeper meaning," but failed because said "deeper meaning" is just kludged onto a pretty typical torture porn script without any thought of the lack of logic behind it. Pretty good movie, but the script could have used quite a bit of work in my opinion.

After digesting it for what it was i agree. If they really wanted it to be about martyrdom they could has used some of the half hour or so of torture to dwell on it. Kinda seemed like they thought of it mid way throught the movie and just implemented it in. I think it could have been alot better if they actullay went fully with that idea instead of just briefly.

Just started watching it, so we'll see.

"Cry Wolf" 7/10

Wow, man. Sounds great.
I'll check it out as soon as possible for sure.

Friday the 13th pt 8 6/10

I have been on a Jason kick lately!

passion of the christ

Noted! Thanks!

Possession (1981)

Sheesh, I love this maniac-of-a-movie. Can't wait till a proper DVD release comes out.

The Three Investigators and the Secret of Terror Castle (2009)

http://img98.imageshack.us/img98/402...estigators.jpg

Like Germany, Italy, India, Pakistan & many other countries The Three Investigators have also been published in Bangladesh in a remake version by Sheba Prokashoni as Teen Goyenda since the 1980s and became very popular among young Bangladeshi readers. In the Bengali editions, Jupiter Jones is known as Kishor Pasha (an American Bangladeshi). The other two are named as Musa Aman and Robin Milford. Sometimes Gina and Rafian (Gina's pet dog) join them. The chauffeur's name is Hanson. Hitchcock in the American publication is replaced by Davis Christopher, who is also a famous movie director. The character "Skinny Norris" appears as "Shutki Terry" and the famous French thief appears as "Shopa". The character Victor Simon in Bangladeshi edition appears in the place of "Hector Sebastian". The series shaped the way of life of many Bangladeshi juveniles. The main context is on American society, as the writer here probably felt that it would be very difficult to set up the plot in Bangladeshi premises.
Anyway, as a child we were like crazy about the series. There was an 'unspoken or hidden' competition between the friends that who can read a new story first & let the others known that in a great deal of pride.."Oh yeah, I have already read that". :D
Now Florian Baxmeyer, a German filmmaker have made the brave initiative to adopt some initial & the most famous stories into films; as the series was also very popular in Germany. They are known there as the "Die drei ???" (Die drei Fragezeichen, meaning "The Three Question Marks"). As an adventure film for the children it was okay, but lots of great things from the original story are missing here. The exciting headquarters, hidden in the midst of a junk yard, only accessible by several mysterious entrances [Sobuj Fotok Ek (Green Gate One), Dui Surongo (Tunnel Two), Sohoj Tin (Easy Three), "lal kukur char" (red dog Four)] are reduced to a caravan out in the open. Jupiter Jones (Our beloved Kishor Pasha...every one of us used to think himself as Kishor) a brilliant mind, full of sharp remarks and the lead role in the book is barely intelligent and quite dull here. However, I'm still glad for the chance to have watched the books come to life at last. Though there are lots of differences from our favorite series but still it was like a blast from the past and after a long time once again inspiring me to go back on the Pasha Salvage yard & open a new case file with Musa & Robin.:)

>>: B-

Wolverine and the X-Men: Heroes Return (2009)

http://l.yimg.com/eb/ymv/us/img/hv/p...n_smalldvd.jpg

>>: B

War (2007). This flick, whose ultimate attraction was having Jason Statham and Jet Li come to blows, had much potential, but it seems that the Hollywood taint just could not loosen its greasy paws to let it be epic, of which there was potential. Instead we get a better than average dick flick with lots of cool eye candy. i could have done without all of the cultural explanations for all things Japanese, but i guess the American Hollywood public has probably never heard the word Yakuza and probably think it a sushi hangout. That said it was a decent flick with MTV music, pretty good fighting (loved the sword fights), and pretty decent acting overall. Guess i am sadly saying it was only a decent flick that should have been awesome. Ashe.

Will keep an eye out for this. Thanks for the rec, bud.



http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/...EL._AA280_.jpg

Sounds good, I may have to track it down.

You may also like Vor (aka The Thief; 1997), I saw it then at an advance screening here in Toronto, it's the only time I ever watched it.

planet terror

Rent has been on TV multiple times this evening...on my second viewing at the moment. Forgot how much I love this movie...would kill to see it on stage though. As awesome as the movie is, I'm sure the stage version blows it all to Hell.