megaman,

no it's not an action movie, it's a 'realistic' verson of a comic. Bit of a paradox in my opinion, but that's another issue.

To me, the pacing from willis realising his powers to using them to save the family to the final confrontation with jackson's chracter seemed rushed compared to the earlier part of the movie. 

but i think it's good - finding out about his powers is much more interesting than using em to me ;)

i hated all other realistic comic movies i've seen so far. 

spiderman 2 and batman begins at the top of the comic book pile for me, for different reasons.

Did you not like Begins as well ? 

The Weather Man

With Nic Cage. Thought it was a good movie, I enjoyed it's humor even if it's just abrupt and smackdown at it's finest. Cage's character just gets shat upon and while I'm empathetic, I'm also amused. It's a bit of an intertwining comedy/drama look at the rather average life of a not-so-average guy trying to get back his focus and well, not be such a dick anymore. I guess. 

is smackdown humor? 

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0384680/quotes 

seen a few lately :

Children of Men - Very good portrait of a future world on the brink of collapse, but not quite willing to cave in just yet. The script is a little flawed with a bit too much character exposition and coincidence, but thankfully leaves out details to certain questions.

Alfonso Cuaron directs the material with great skill and flair though (with only his choice of background music being a bit questionable), using complex long takes which is a nice break from all the quick cutting going on elsewhere.

Clive Owen does well and the movie avoids ramming too much moralising down our throats and is primarily focused on its storytelling.

7.5/10


Ali - rewatch, and its still a disappointment.

The opening 20 min are brilliant but it nosedives stongly after that. The script is credited to five people and it certainly is very messy. Perhaps Mann took on too long a period on Ali's life for a 2 1/2 hr film or perhaps he didnt quite know how to adapt the events so that it would highlight the character, but as it is there is zero flow and its very directionless (after the first 20 min), just bouncing along from major event to major event without ever fully managing to evoke what he was all about.

Will Smith does well with what he's given, for once his personality not owerpowering the role but becoming part of it. Apart from the actual interest of Ali's story, Smith is perhaps the only other reason this works even to the extent that it does. A disappointing one from Mann, which will be more enjoyable the more you know about Ali in general.

6/10


The Hills Have Eyes - Alexandre Aja's High Tension is arguably th best horror/slasher in recent years, till it self implodes via its poor ending. Anyway, it showed Aja had great skill and I was hoping some of the came through in his remake of this movie.

Unfortunately, this is by the numbers Hollywood horror mulch with annoying lead characters who you're more than happy to see die as quickly as possibl, characterless vilains and a glossy look that goes against what its trying to depict. There's plenty of gore, but someone should seriously realise that gore alone does not equate to scary. Aja directs with no skill and this is a verytedious 100 min to sit through.

2/10


The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou - I really liked Rushmore and am a big fan of The Royal Tenenbaums, but this was very very disappointing. Made in the same style, except this one probably stretches it to the extreme and I found it dull, overlong and porly paced. Some nice bits courtesy of Willem Dafoe, but generally not worth watching.

2.5/10


Ray - Very average film about the rise of Ray Charles and his music. Like every other generic biopic, it just simply depicts the events of the time period it is trying to cover without bothering to concentrate on the person in the middle. At least Walk the Line, as flawed as it was, attempted to do that. Jamie FOxx puts in a very good imitation, but its nothing more than an imitation. He never really gets in what Ray is all about, although the script is probably more to blame for that than him.

5/10


Casablanca - rewatch, and I still think this is one of the greatest scripts of all time, especially dialogu wise. I would change one scene, a heesy flashback sequence, and one actor, that is all.

9.5/10 

Heaven (2002 - Krystof Kieslowski was due to make another trilogy after the Three Colors trilogy called Heaven, Hell and Purgatory. He only managed to script them partially before dying but two of them, Heaven and Hell, have been made by other european directors.

How much of Kieslowski's screenplay for this one was finished I dont know, but apart from the genral themes, this is far removed from the quality and style of his work. This is a downright tedious, aimless and extremely pretentious film that has nothing to offer apart from some nice cinematography, but even that is not in line with the rest of the movie. It is also extremely inplausible, and borderline silly in its plot.

Cate Blanchett and Giovanni Ribisi try way too hard and are very unconvincing.

2.5/10


Lord of War - Tedious, overbusy, extremely disjointed movie about gun running with Nicolas cage playing Nicolas cage.

It stops working as a drama with something to say after the credits sequence, as an action entertainer it never really takes off, and as a satire it is very hit and miss. And it is far less clever than it thinks it is.

2/10


The Passenger (1975) - And this is completely the opposite. Sparse on plot, but very interested in character, mood and atmosphere.

Michelangelo Anotnioni's film is slightly overlong, pretentious and not entirely convincing but it is never less than interesting. Jack Nicholson puts in a great performance as an alienated, burnt out reporter who is unhappy with his life and who makes a decision early in the film to take on another dead man's identity, a decision that basically hovers over the rest of the movie and his character.

Its very well shot and the landscape pretty much becomes another character in the movie. The soundtrack also contributes to this with no background score, and heavy emphasis on the use of location sound.

It's definitely not for everyone but it's well worth checking out.

7.5/10 

not even bothered to watch it. i think ive seen a min or so of it when a friend of mine was skipping through it, and what i saw (some car chase) didn't interest me at all ;) 

it's worth checking out (asuming oyu were talking about BB), it's very genre and very hollywood, but very good regardless. 

Xmen 3 - this didnt turn out nearly as bad as I thought it would. It's unfulfilled potential, but I feel the same about the first two films. Thankfully this one doesnt get bogged down in the half baked seriousness that permeated the first two films, and moves with bullet like speed throughout its 99 min.

It is, however, perhaps the one with most unfulfilled potential given that the phoenix storyline was one of the best. Then again, with brett ratner at the helm, it could have turned out much worse.

6/10 

I deeply enjoyed The Maltese Falcon. And now I want more.
Reading through the posts nearby the mention of The Maltese Falcon I spotted Belle de Jour, Out of the Past - Double Indemnity , Petrified Forest, The Triplets Of Bellevue. Anything else I should watch? Thanks! 

recommendations if you liked The Maltese Falcon (ignore the ones you found, not all of them are similar genres at all) :

Chinatown
The Big Sleep
Out of the Past
Double Indemnity
The Killers
Night and the City
The Third Man
Touch of Evil
LA Confidential
In a Lonely Place
Le Samourai

although the last four are probably the least similar out of this list. 

Cheers! I knew you would have some goodies for me .:) 

Fallen Angels - rewatch, and I still dont like it. Perhaps the most schizophrenic of Wong Kar Wai's work, it's an interesting watch but ultimately not all that successful. A loosely structured, arty gangster film mixed with an existential love story, I found it to be an uncomfortable meld of the two. It is, however, an incredibly moody film thanks to a well selected soundtrack and Christopher Doyle's atmoshperic cinematography.

4.5/10


The Sting (1973) - another rewatch, and this one I change my mind on. I didnt like this on initial viewing, cant quite remember why, but this time around I found it to be quite a smooth, suave and entertaining film. It's still not as good as Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, Newman and Redford were much more terrific in that one, but as far as sheer entertainment goes it's very effective.

The air of lightness does detract from certain parts of the film and there's a couple of major plot holes, but overall very impressive.

7.5/10


Mission Impossible 3 - Every review I read of this was not actually a review of the film but about Tom Cruise. So I wasnt quite sure of what to expect.

It turned out to be an absolutely terrible movie, with some of the most poorly shot action scenes in recent memory. There
is a bridge assault that's not badly staged but everything else is ruined by shoddy camerawork and editing.

And since the movie is basically a string of action scenes stuck together, the failing of its main attraction doesnt leave much else to focus on. Tom Cruise actually acquits himself fairly well, but more screen time needed to be given to other people, espcially Phillip Seymour Hoffman's much more interesting villain.

3/10


The Searchers (1956) - John Ford is one director whose reputation I just do not understand. This is regarded as his masterpiece and is revered by many filmakers, being in Martin Scorsese's top 5 films of all time and its final scene basically imitated by Francis Ford Coppola in the final scene of The Godfather.

There is definitely some undeniably great moments, the cinematography is brilliant and John Wayne is excellent as Ethan Edwards, a lonesome, embittered and racist character who embarks on a 5 year search for his niece who has been kidnapped by a tribe of red indians.

The themes, such as the reason why Ethan keeps on searching for his niece, are dark and work well to an extent, but unfortunately the rest of the cast isnt upto Wayne' standard and John Ford ruins the material by injecting a couple of unnecessary subplots and moments of inane humour that severely detract from the main themes.

4.5/10 

I feel like i should respond to that one. I like this movie a lot, but I have mixed feelings about the segments where he has returned home to the ranch. The tone and quality of those scenes does not seem to be suited to the rest of the movie, true. However, I think the existence and juxtopisition of a "family life" to Ethan's endless wanderings is one of the central themes. You could argue that racism drives his choices throughout most of the movie, but I think also his restless nature prevents him from enjoying the comforts of home, and drives him towards things like the civil war, and the hunt for Debbie, which are a means rather than an end. 

I agree with pretty much all of that, for me it was scenes like the wedding scene towards the end that was representative of both the unnecessary subplots and silly humour that I talked about above.

I take the point that Ethan's wandering nature was meant to be contrasted with family life, but I think the execution was not very good and severely detracted from the rest of it.

I came away from it thinking it was a movie with some great scenes rather than a great movie. 

The Silence (1963) - An interesting one from Bergman, about two sisters (who hate each other) and a child stopping at an unnamed European city on their way to home (presumably in Sweden).

It lives up to its title in a brilliant first half in which there's probably about 50 lines of dialogue in 50 min. But the terrific cinematography from Sven Nyvkist and the great acting tell you all you need to know.

The second half isnt as successful, with much more dialogue that isnt as half as interesting as the gestures and mood present in the first half.

Still, worth a watch for that great first half.

7/10


The Da Vinci Code - never read the book, so wasnt really sure what to expect. It's decidedly average, as are most of Ron Howard's movies, but it's not terrible.

Howard directs flatly as usual but this has more problems with its script than direction. The whole thing is ceaseless exposition, so much so that there isnt time to do anything else. It tries to build suspense, but hasnt got any time to spare to achieve that.

And I'm not sure how the plot came across in the book, but here I saw the main reveal(s) that come towards the end of the movie about a third of the way in.

Very average.

5/10


Persona (1966) - Another interesting one from Bergman that reminded me a lot of Lost Highway, Mulholland Drive and Fight Club thematically. But in between all that, it is a very talky, typically Bergmanesque movie which again highlights his limited approach, despite different subject matter than usual.

What makes it interesting is 2 fantastic acting perforamnces by Liv Ulmann and Bibi Anderson and more great cinematography from Sven Nyvkist.

7/10


Quai Des Orfevres (1947) - Another good movie from Clouzot, an atmospheric drama/thriller set in post war France. Main plot concerns a murder mystery, but thankfully that is not the main emphasis as it is a bit straightforward in that aspect. Instead, it conecentrates on making interesting characters and detailing the world those characters live in. Also has a couple of great performances to help in that regrd.

7/10


The Magnificent Seven (1960) - It's no Seven Samurai, but even as a standalone film, I found it to be above average at best. Some of the cast lets it down, as does a lack of spark in the script.

5.5/10 

...Da Vinci Code, tried to watch it the other night, I fell asleep sometime after what I guess was half way :) 

Tootsie - Above Average. The look and soundtrack date it pretty badly but its sharply written for the most part and giving free reign to Dustin Hoffman was a good idea. He doesnt always succeed, but hits most times, as do Bill Murray and Teri Garr in their supporting roles. However, its not nearly as successful in the drama elements, which there is a fair bit of. I did like the ending though, that was ingeniously done.

6/10



Renaissance (2006) - french made futuristic noir film with its main selling point being a unique blend of animation and live action. Actors have acted out the roles in real locations but then the whole thing's been manipulated digitally to give every object and character a flat 2d shaded look. Of course, being noir, it's all black and white with lots of shadows and stark contrast areas. Basically, think Sin City but even more comic book like in its visuals, literally looking like a 3d rendered comic book.

The style definitely lends to some impressive imagery, and although its never utilised to its fullest, its reasonably arresting. The movie itself is very pedestrian, and despite a name voice cast (including Daniel Craig and Ian Holm), the voice acting is a bit mediocre. The voices also don�t really match the chracters and that further detracts from an already redundant plotline.

But worth a watch for style.

5/10



Fanny and Alexander (1982) - probably Ingmar Bergman's most accessible movie, despite its length and bizarre supernatural tones. In fact, at times its very un-Bergman like in its examination of an upper class swedish family in the early 19th century, mainly through the eyes of two children (the title characters). Its incredibly disjointed, probably because 2 hrs were cut for the theatrical release but I don think that's an excuse in this case since there was plenty of time to cover the material anyway (the theatrical cut is 3 hrs). There are some brilliant scenes, but due to the way its been cut, some parts feel way too rushed while others seem to go on for too long. I'm tempted to check out the full version, but I think releasing it theatrically in its current form was unacceptable.

And despite the oscar for Sven Nyvkist, I think he's done much better in other bergman films.

6.5/10



Hidden (2006) - Michael Haneke's latest film is extremely pretentious and self consciously arty, but its also very intriguing and very well made. Fuelled by another great performance from Daniel Auteiul, it is slow moving but very effective in its build up of suspense as a family starts receiving strange videotapes of them being under surveillance by someone. That it then ends in such a bizarre, left field and ultimately inconclusive manner might be off putting to some, but its definitely a well orchestrated experience. The almost too clever style employed is a nice touch, depsite being a bit too cute, and the script it is well written for the most part, cleverly diverting you one way when the movie is clearly about something else alltogether.

7.5/10 

Nitin, just wanted to point out the characters in Renaissance were not live actors, it's 100% rendered 3D (with probably a fair ammount of motion capture of course).
The original voice acting (in french) was also really horrible, was hoping they would fix that up when making an english version...
I agree with your review otherwise, mostly worth it for checking out the style. 

really? pretty good mo-cap then. I thought the movement looked quite fluid. Although the complete digital nature does explain how they pulled off certain shots which I assumed were CG, but wasnt sure. 

The Brothers Grimm - nicely shot, but otherwise it's a trainwreck from start to finish. Quite possibly the worst directed film I've come across. Absolutely terrible.

1.5/10 

Flatmate rented the video, I watched from 15 minutes or so on, wasn't nearly as bad as I expected. I think the director still had an overall sense on what was happening, the action scenes were mostly believable etc.. I like some small details every now and then. The policemen talked french. The gunshots were not that sound library muffled sound... Some things were ??? like what happened to the main character's wound?
Ian McKellen rocked too, even though he was written as a bit cliche at times but anyway.

Yeah, the main turnpoint was indeed obvious and was even hinted at with stupid HINT HERE dialogue... And some other turn points too were to be seen somewhat before... But I guess those are ok.

All in all, above average. Mostly because the script actually contained a plot and different characters and had some historic cool stuff, and also the direction was fluid. 

I would be willing to believe it is more carefully factual than the book; I read it to see what all the firestorm was about and I am amazed by what people are willing to believe. The history in the book is polemical, not actual.

A few things that come to mind, in the book an obelisk structure that is now part of a cathedral is described as proof of the existence of a mystery religion inside the early Church because it represents a penis (penises and vaginas are mystically significant in this supposed cult). The actual function of this structure is a sundial used to calculate the return of Passover.

Other things are just illogical. The first century Biblical scriptures are presented as being completely refuted in substance because Gnostic text written centuries later contradict them. Brown's hero is presented as an Empiricist but that just flies out the window with this evidence. It never occurs to him that this text could be invalid or both text are invalid. Don't let a little logic get in the way. That would just take all the fun out of saying, 'Fuck your God!'

Of course you can argue that it is just fiction, but Brown claims everything is accurate in fact in the first page where most authors normally put a disclaimer.
There are people (including in a post here written a few years back) who believe the Da Vinci Code to be nothing less than a revelation.

But enough of that. The movie may be much better. A few are, like The Godfather, for instance.