Incisive, Scintillating, Intellectual, "Lightning" Reviews of New Movies

[PeteLeo]

Of course, I've been inundated with all of the WATCHMEN publicity (along with everyone else in the Western world), but I have to admit that before all of this hoopla, I'd never even heard of the series. I haven't read comics since I found my first boxing magazine, back in the late Sixties (I couldn't chance stealing that much material every month or so). In fact, when I first heard of this upcoming flick with its comic connection, I thought it would be about the bulbous-headed aliens who "watched" the earth while Hulk, the FF, Spiderman, and the rest of the Marvel lineup battled villains and each other. Those guys were simply called "Watchers," I think. PeteLeo.

[Husker]

Oh yeah!...grim expression, white robe/gown things. I haven't thought about them since I was a kid.

Watchmen, the comics, was a shockingly dark (to me, who had left comics with the comparatively giddy mid-late seventies Marvel offerings) and very layered story. The Rorshach character in particular was, well, creepy. I thought it was great and would recommend it, even to those who don't read comics. I thought Return of the Dark Knight which came out at around the same time was pretty damned good, too and always secretly hoped to see Clint Eastwood play that on the big screen. Other than that for comics info over the last thirty years or so, I can't help ya.

I'm really curious to see if they can capture that downcast, Bladerunner type feel the comics had in the screen presentation. Apparently they spent enough money to have the characters walk around in the audience, at every show, at every theater

[PeteLeo]

WATCHMEN opened huge on the first day but dropped off sharply thereafter. Since it cost in the range of $150-$200 million, it may not even break even.

On another topic, has CLOVERFIELD (2009) been released to TV, yet? I don't recall seeing it on my satellite programming anywhere other than PPV. PeteLeo.

[Husker]

Saw it last week and I have mixed feelings. As a fan of the series having read it years ago, it seemed to follow the story very closely- if memory serves. Dark and gloomy as I'd hoped, very good and non-gratuitous special effects and excellent casting. As I expected, the character Rorshach carried it for me and they did a real nice job with the almost omnipotent Dr. Manhattan.

My problems? It seemed to be that they filmed it trying to capture the comic book panel by panel. It's noticeably long and there are long stretches where there's really nothing happening, a painfully slow build-up to the climax. Anyone who can get themselves around Night Owl, God bless ya. Skipped his parts in the book the 2nd time and he's on screen just as much in the movie.

Overall, I enjoyed it but that's tempered by having wanted to see it for sooo long. Those who didn't anticipate it/ didn't read the story may be in serious jeopardy of falling asleep.

[PeteLeo]

QUARANTINE (2008).

A sort of BLAIR WITCH/CLOVERFIELD handheld camera treatment of the ravenous zombie genre, with a two-member newscrew trapped within a residential building (by the CDC) while a "super-rabies" sweeps through it. Ugly, but effective for what it strives to achieve, though the handheld gimmick really gets annoying later on, when the audience is supposed to be receiving the clues to decipher just what brought about this massacre (SPOILER -- I think there was a "Unibomber"-like chemist concocting the virus in one of the top-floor residences).

Nihilistic, of course, so don't go in expecting any kind of comfort in the bare-bones "resolution." I still think Jennifer "Dexter's Sister" Carpenter is really appealing and sexy for a skinny chick. PeteLeo.

[Mike DeLisa]

I didn't like the WATCHMEN as a comic, principally because Moore et al presented a totally corrupted version of Ditko's Question/Mr. A.

Ditko's heroes show man at his best. Moore, who is on record of saying he thought Mr. A a fascist, presents a perverted view of the character.

[apollack]

Saw Slumdog Millionaire. Excellent film.

Benjamin Button was just okay.

[apollack]

Saw Doubt.

Wow the acting and writing is phenomenal. Really interesting story. Very well done. Adapted from a play, and you can see that, but it is really an interesting and thought-provoking film.

[TKO11]

Speaking of "adapted from a play" I re-watched "Whose Life is it Anyway" with Richard Drefuss last night, for the first time in years. Man, what an amazing movie. Great cast, unbeleivably intelligent dialogue, and one of the great performances of Richard Dreyfuss's career (in a career full of great performances). Hard to believe he was knee deep in a drug addiction during the filming - he is just fantastic in that....

[diggity]

I saw "I Love You, Man"
I wasn't too keen on Paul Rudd being the dork as I think he is great as the guy delivering the wit, but is was ok. The other dude made up for it. It was a bit too chic-flic & overly dorky for a dude movie (or revolved around one anyway) but it had it's funny moments. Putting Lou Ferrigno in it got points from me.

[apollack]

Saw the Reader. Once again, very well acted. Pretty interesting story. I'd rank it behind Slumdog and Doubt, but still very well done and powerful.

[apollack]

Seven Pounds was excellent. Well directed, well acted, interesting story.

Vicky Cristina Barcelona was cute and funny, but not great.

[PeteLeo]

DEADBEAT AT DAWN (1988).

Incredibly obscure and low-budget gang war/revenge actioner out of Ohio that is amateurishly acted but still quite powerful. The "hero" is pretty much as bad as the "bad guys" (after bemoaning the brutal beating death of his sweetheart in operatic style, this "hero" then tosses her corpse into a trash compactor so that he won't have to face a legal investigation; he sells drugs and eagerly takes part in an armored car robbery that costs two innocent guards their lives), and the ladled-on violence is nowhere near as slick and choreographed as that in Asian chop-socki epics, but it's all the more powerful in its clumsy realism and the wailing pain that it induces.

Then there's "Bonecrusher," the hulking main hitman of the slightly badder gang, who obviously loves his role as a walking death machine but is often too stoned on crank to remember who he's supposed to kill.

Not a classic, but certainly worth looking for (try NetFlix: that's where I found it). PeteLeo.

[TKO11]

Star Trek - as a stand-alone movie it's a fun, exciting sci-fi flick, with plenty of witty dialogue and conflict. As a Star Trek movie - it blows assholes. Totally abandons EVERYTHING that was wonderful about the original series and it's characters, and creates an "aternate reality" where they can ignore everything that ever happened to Kirk and company and do whatever they want for time immemorial, amen. Not to mention the space-time paradox created by the presence of old Spock, which would in and of itself unravel reality altogether.

But I digress.....

Angels and Demons - I never gave this book a chance. I read just far enough to see that the primary antagonist was the Illuminati, and then I put it down, rather pissed off with Dan Brown for further facilitating such a ridiculous urban legend.

I will be picking that book back up again.....

This was a tremendously enjoyable action movie, where you truly never knew who was on what side right through to the bitter end. The Illuminati turns out to be a smokescreen for the real villain, who I never saw coming (and his motives are far more believeable that any 'devoted-to-science' satanic cult). Loved it through and through.

It didn't hurt that Filipe from Three's Company was one of the Vatican's senior cardinals either. I think the people around me were getting annoyed when I would say "Ole!" every time he appeared on the screen.

[diggity]

Valkyrie
I have to admit, although I was prewarned about the "no accents" thing & it really didn't occur to me as something that would bother me, it did. Maybe it wouldn't have if it didn't seem as if every "German" in the movie had a different native accent somehow. Either way, the movie didn't do too much for me otherwise. Somewhere it fell flat and remained more of an exciting History Channel documentary.

Slumdog Millionaire - Enjoyed it thoroughly. Brilliantly done.

Benjamin Button - Too long & I just never seemed to connect. Good effects I guess.

The Wrestler - Delivered as intended I guess. I could have done without seeing Rourke's ass but if that was the price of seeing Tomei as a stripper then I'll take my medicine like a man.

In Bruges - I enjoyed this as well. Fun surprise that was.

[Off The River]

Jesus TKO you ruined the ending of the movie for me!

Oh wait, I did read the book.

[JLP 6]

Star Trek - as a stand-alone movie it's a fun, exciting sci-fi flick, with plenty of witty dialogue and conflict. As a Star Trek movie - it blows assholes. Totally abandons EVERYTHING that was wonderful about the original series and it's characters, and creates an "aternate reality" where they can ignore everything that ever happened to Kirk and company and do whatever they want for time immemorial, amen. Not to mention the space-time paradox created by the presence of old Spock, which would in and of itself unravel reality altogether.

But I digress.....

Angels and Demons - I never gave this book a chance. I read just far enough to see that the primary antagonist was the Illuminati, and then I put it down, rather pissed off with Dan Brown for further facilitating such a ridiculous urban legend.

I will be picking that book back up again.....

This was a tremendously enjoyable action movie, where you truly never knew who was on what side right through to the bitter end. The Illuminati turns out to be a smokescreen for the real villain, who I never saw coming (and his motives are far more believeable that any 'devoted-to-science' satanic cult). Loved it through and through.

It didn't hurt that Filipe from Three's Company was one of the Vatican's senior cardinals either. I think the people around me were getting annoyed when I would say "Ole!" every time he appeared on the screen.

Not that I am a big Fiction guy, but I rank Angels and Demons as the best fiction book I have ever read. Over the Godfather. I still have a problem with Hanks being Langdon. Ford is the guy.

I have not seen this movie yet. But I am very happy that you thought it was a good flick. I will get in there this weekend.

[PeteLeo]

1990: THE BRONX WARRIORS.

Generally I like low budget "grindhouse" flicks of the Sixties, Seventies, and Eighties, but when I finally found a copy of this Italian ripoff of ESCAPE FROM NEW YORK and THE WARRIORS, jeeze, I could barely force myself to finish it.

Slow, empty, terribly choreographed, without an original thought in its head, and basically devoid of the only things that could have saved it -- female nudity and mindless violence --, this piece of shit blows.

Review in sum: miss it, miss it with every atom of your being. PeteLeo.

[robertk]

Hey PeteLeo===I just got one of those offbeat grindhouse italian jobs from the 70's from netflix; Night Train Murders.

Have you seen that one? I'd also heard of it as Last House on the Left 2, but had never seen it.

[PeteLeo]

Haven't seen it, yet, but I'm not surprised NetFlix has it (they have EVERYTHING). I'll put in my order on Tuesday. PeteLeo.

[diggity]

DRAG ME TO HELL

Sam Raimi back to what he does best.
I thought it was a good old fashioned Evil Dead flavored good time.
I forgot how I missed flicks like this.

Now I hear another Evil Dead sequel is coming. Love it.

[TKO11]

Really? Bruce Campbell has been so emphatic that "there will never be an Evil Dead 4" for the last 15 years that I was sure it would never happen. Especially since Raimi has had such success in the mainstream since 2000.

[diggity]

It's on IMDB so it must be true. Apparently Raimi has an itch.

[diggity]

Finally caught Gran Torino last night. Eastwood sure isn't losing anything with age. Best movie I've seen in a very long time.

I caught GT the other night.
I liked the story a lot & Eastwood was great but I thought the racial slurs were a bit too over the top and kind of drove it off course for me.
I get the whole thing about letting some old crotchety guy talk cuz he's old & batty but it was just over the top.
In this day & age, shit don't fly like that.

[TDKO]

Finally saw "Gran Torino", and was duly impressed, one of Eastwood's best movies, and IMO some of his best acting, he clearly emotes with his face,
without wasting words, and packing in boring dialogue, and while some expressions are old Eastwood cliches, he has aged them like a fine wine, and used them for like an artist, sparingly and when needed.
He must realize his time may be short, and there is no reason to put out anything but his best effort, and has certainly achieved it with this film.

[doomeddisciple]

I saw Watchmen on the plane on the way home from New Zealand at the weekend. As a fan of the comic I actually liked it a lot, I didn't find it as laboured as some of the reviews I've read about it, keen for the Blye Ray version so I can watch it at home on something bigger than a novel and sans the Arabic subtitles (Emirates flight).

Religulous - Comedian Bill Maher pans religion. It just wasn't...well...funny enough. I don't really like Maher's schtick anyway. Best character was the maverick US priest he interviews in Vatican city.

Not at all balanced, and let me say that as someone who's never been to church for anything other than a funeral or a wedding and without any religious background in my family. For all the well documented horrors religion man has subjected man to in the name of religion, at the end of the day if there is something that gets people through their lives and makes them happy, and I'm also sure the Catholic church does more than do unmentionable things to kids.

I kinda felt more sympathy to religions no matter how out there as a result of Maher, whom I only further dislike now.

Iron Maiden Flight 666: Doco of Iron Maidens tour where they convert a 747 to be able to fly the band, crew and grear to replicate the classic World Slavery Tour era Maiden. Those looking for rock and roll excess steer clear, the most amazing footage of the band rocking places like India, central America and the like were amazing. I saw this tour in Sydney and Iron Maiden were my first major music love, so I'm only going to recommend it highly, but if the term NWOBHM or metal in general do nothing for you, don't bother. As for the fans, SCREAM FOR ME CYBERBOXINGZONE!

[diggity]

Caught up on a few movies this week myself.

Wolverine - Origins
I thought it was the best XMen flic yet.

The Hangover
Funny but not the be all end all comedy everyone made it out to be. Extra points for putting Tyson in it.

Crossing Over
A Harrison Ford-ensemble cast movie that went straight to video. It was a decent, multifaceted story about US immigration and related issues. Main point to note, a beautiful Austrailian blonde who Liotta gets to bang as payment for pushing her falsified green card application through. Imagine Nicole Kidman younger, prettier & fuller body. She still haunts me.

[Counter Jab]

Religulous - Comedian Bill Maher pans religion. It just wasn't...well...funny enough. I don't really like Maher's schtick anyway. Best character was the maverick US priest he interviews in Vatican city.
Not at all balanced, and let me say that as someone who's never been to church for anything other than a funeral or a wedding and without any religious background in my family. For all the well documented horrors religion man has subjected man to in the name of religion, at the end of the day if there is something that gets people through their lives and makes them happy, and I'm also sure the Catholic church does more than do unmentionable things to kids.
I kinda felt more sympathy to religions no matter how out there as a result of Maher, whom I only further dislike now.

I admit I've not seen the film, but from critics and write-ups he's just wearing his prejudices on his sleeve. Accusing people he interviews of the very same tactics he's using.
Using the surprise, attack dog Michael Moore style in an attempt to humiliate folks.
His major attacks seem to be on Christianity, where he singles out uneducated, ignorant "examples'' in an attempt to prove his point.
It's my understanding that the Jewish man he interviews is completely out of the mainstream of Judaism.
Doesn't he sort of take it easy on Islam?
Doesn't the end of the film suddenly shift into a sort of accusatory rant by him?
It's a shame he couldn't have had the opportunity to interview intelligent, educated, spiritual Christian thinkers like C.S. Lewis, Andrew Murray, George MacDonald, etc... who I'm sure would have figuratively handed his head back to him on a platter.
As a Christian, I'll admit that its hard for me to objectively address the film.

[10-8]

When I was much younger I saw the original Dillinger movie and became intrigued by him and read a couple of biographies focusing on John Dillinger as well as Bonnie and Clyde etc...

This movie gets the typical Hollywood treatment and portrays Dillinger (in reality a ruthless murderous sociopath) as a well dressed, good looking 'Robin Hood' of sorts loyal to his friends and a hopeless romantic to his love interest in the movie. The police in turn are portrayed as bumbling, and cowardly although Christian Bale as Melvin Purvis is portrayed with some objectivity. I could give examples but don't want to ruin the movie for those that wish to see it. Some factual elements were missing as I'm sure some myths were added.

Other than that, alot of jumpy camera work, the expected shoot-em outs and a wealth of vintage cars and close ups of a brooding Johnny Depp.

Average and predictable and I wouldn't recommend it.

[PeteLeo]

How did (the first and real) Pretty Boy Floyd come across in this one?

I know a guy who's distantly related to him (and so do a lot of you other dudes on this site). PeteLeo.