it's nice to write a review.
I just don't like spoilers.
Imho reviews should not be about telling the movie's plot (or even half of it) but about what the movie is *like*. General style, is it good, what is good and what is bad.
I mean, the plot is what we find out if we go and watch it. It unfolds. It tickles your feelings. If we know it, it doesn't work the same way.

Reviewing is hard.

Of course, with the trailers and styles and all nowadays, everything is known about a movie from start to finish anyway before you even go see it. Hence (well, one of the multitude of reasons) why I don't go to movies anymore.

Have to use one ticket I have in a few months though.

Ok, enough complaining. 

apologies if I gave away too much there, though I think if you watch the film you'll find that most of the stuff I mentioned happens almost immediately. 

Agree totally with previous review;

I hear that if you live in Manhattan, the scenes of destroyed NYC are amazing to behold.

Also, for those who've seen it -- since when can a Mustang corner like that?? 

Saw it a few days ago, it was good but I couldn't help drawing comparisons to 28 days later (this was before I found out that I am legend was based on a book) and frankly 28 days later was much better than this.

The CGI totally destroyed the infected people, it was very badly done and I really wish they had used live actors for the infected.

And yeah, the first half of the film was actually very good, Neville vs the world, with his dog! Then it started falling apart sadly. 

apparently they were planning on using actors for the infected, but in the first weeks of filming the director decided he wasn't getting enough hyper-ventilating rabidness out of the real people, so they decided to just add them in post production. Not that you'd ever tell they did it at the last minute, oh no. 

but in the first weeks of filming the director decided he wasn't getting enough hyper-ventilating rabidness out of the real people, so they decided to just add them in post production.

I guess it's a problem when the vision in the director's head is actually a cartoon. 

Blairwitch Project meets any recent Zombie movie meets Trinca. Somewhat of a mixed bag. The beginning was quite good - a seemingly regular documentary about the work of a fire fighting squad being shot by a TV crew, who follow them on an emergency call, when suddenly all hell breaks loose and nobody (including the viewer) knows what's going on. The second half of the movie is a bit of a let-down with too much generic screaming, shaky and blurry camera and so on. Fits the theme well, but dunno, maybe Blairwitch used up its novelty.
Still an OK movie, I guess, though I have no idea why Hollywood thought a US remake was necessary ("Quarantine")... 

Black Book (2006) - Paul Verheoven goes back to Holland and his european sensibilities and makes a war blockbuster american style.

Its been criticised a little for trivialising serious issues into a hollywoodesque action-thriller but Verheoven's never been a subtle or serious director and this is a stylish, thrilling and excellently paced film with a compelling central performance by Carice Van Houten (who is also extremely good looking) as a jewish woman trying to survive in occupied Holland toward the end of WWII.

The only issue I had was that some of the plotting in the second half is a little too contrived and occasionally Verheoven just cant resist himself and dips into the gratuity pool for no real reason.

7-7.5/10


No Regrets For Our Youth (1946) - Akira Kurosawa does Ozu in this effective mini-epic about Yukie (Setsuko Hara) who in traversing a tumultuous decade in Japanese history transforms herself from bourgeois daughter to independent social activist.

This is completely different in style and tone to Kurosawa's more celebrated work, but is up there in quality with a number of those more well known films. Well written and superbly acted, the movie surprises quite often in its plotting and direction and never goes down the easy route of cheap sentimentality.

7-7.5/10


Cul de Sac (1966) - well I don�t know how to describe this rather peculiar offering from Roman Polasnki. There's plenty of black humour but you couldn�t call it a comedy and there's plenty of suspense and eerie atmosphere but you couldn�t call it a thriller either.

Either way, it's quite an enjoyable if odd movie with an entertaining performance by Donald Pleasance as a painter on the verge of a nervous breakdown when the castle he is living in with his young wife is invaded by some dopey small time crooks. Lightweight Polanski, but still well worth watching.

6.5/10


Shoot Em Up - starts off well enough as a cartoonesque action parody, with tongue firmly in cheek, but the longer it goes on the more it runs out of steam. Clive Owen and Paul Giamatti relish their roles and chew up the scenery well enough, but by the end it's a pretty forgettable effort that's not in the same league as something more clever like Hot Fuzz.

5.5/10 

Fell asleep both times I tried to watch this very boring unfunny film. 

I found the 1st half quite dull, then the second half is laugh out loud fantastic!

Its kind of the opposite from Shaun of the dead, of which the 1st half rocked, and then got dull in the 2nd half... 

...at the end, I kept falling asleep at the start. Waste of a good rental. I tried to watch it twice!! 

I really want to see that... I remember reading reviews and thinking the same thing: why were the reviewers expecting Schindler's List when the movie is directed by Paul Verhoeven? Let's look at his past record, Total Recall? Starship Troopers? Robocop?! Not exactly hallmarks of subtlety, but great films, especially Total Recall, which is one of my favourite action films. So yeah, I need to see Black Book. 

all the way through, unlike Shaun of the Dead which only worked for me in bits.

starbuck,

exactly. It has its faults mind you but its pretty damn enjoyable. 

The Ladykillers (1956) - the remake was a low point for the Coens (despite tom hanks in a good performance), but I have to say that I didnt find the more beloved original all that better.

It's not a bad film by any means, there's definitely a few moments of hilarity, quite a few others of chuckling and Alec Guiness and Peter Sellers are in genius form, but on the whole, I found it slightly disappointing and uneven.

6/10 

Catacomb.

Set in that part under Paris which was linked to in the inspiration thread a little while ago, with all of the skulls.
The first part of the film bored me, the leading female character seemed horrendously pathetic and skinny. But the middle picked up, dragged on for a bit, and then the ending completely surprised me.

Have you seen this nitin? I'd like to hear what you think about this one.

Also Ladykillers:

Havent seen the original, I just remeber the new one with Tom Hanks, but the scene with the explosives and I.B.S. is hilarious. Infact it was pretty funny. Just remembering the plot makes me laugh out loud! 

in the new one, just not consistent enough in my book. And I hated the marlon wayans character.

Catacmob? This one??

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0449471/

That's never likely to make it to oz cinemas, probably be a straight to dvd in a year or so :) 

...I dunno, the film had its many shortcomings, but lets just say it surprised me. Also the set was very cool. It would make a good Quake level! Infact it reminded me of Februus Depth or that Mike Woodham level that came out last year.

I dont want to spoil it for anybody. The plot itself is what surprised me.

Speaking of Marlon Wayans, have you ever seen Dont Be A Menace To Society When Drinking Your Juice In South Central? He was possibly better cast in that! 

It came out to rent on DVD in England either this week or last week i think, so you might get it sooner than you think. I dont know how long you guys have to wait for DVD releases in Australia. 

anyone seen the newish french movie called Inside? I've heard good stuff about that one. The first hour of Haute Tension is still the best horror I've seen in the last few years (along with The Descent). 

I watched this 4 times in 3 days... I loved that film so much, I found the whole lot of it hilarious, and in someways preferred the first portion of the movie just due to the humorous exchanges and facial expressions.

I also really really liked the music cues for some reason, I actually would like to own this movie, seeing as how I enjoyed it just as much the 4th time as the 1st. Need to see Shaun of the Dead. 

I didn't fall asleep but I wasn't overly intrigued either. It's not nearly as funny as the other Pegg/Frost stuff. Felt too long. The action ending reminded me of the over-the-top imaginary gun fight in one episode of Spaced - they probably liked the idea so much that they had to repeat it with real guns. 

Shoot Em Up
Weird potpourri of "comedy", "cool" and awesome.
The annoying "wawawaaaaawawawawawawaaaa" music in the shooting scenes almost made me switch off right after 5 minutes as it ruined the nice atmosphere (that the start had) completely. Nothing to watch two times.

Clive Owen would make a great Max Payne. :) 

New movie from the maker of Pirate Baby's Cabana Battle Street Fight 2006

Kings of Power 4 Billion %
http://thepiratebay.org/tor/4096264 

The Mist

Cheesy horror-ish film based on a Stephen King novella and starring the punisher guy (also known to maybe 4 or 5 people as Thomas Jane).

Somewhat surprising project choice for the director/producer of The Shawshank Redemption and the Green Mile, it's really quite a simple action/horror tale of a DEADLY MIST descending on a little town in bumfuck-ville USA. The film launches into the action really quickly and before long there's a load of folk stuck in a supermarket with a thick mist outside that may or may not be hiding frightening creatures (Spoiler: It is).

Most of the film is about the interactions of the people grouped together, and how people change when fear sets in. Specifically the film focuses on people being more susceptible to religious zealotry when they're scared, although I thought that whole theme grated a bit.

Most of the antagonism in the film is from other trapped people, either refusing to believe the situation, being unwilling to try to escape, or religious types trying to sacrifice people to the mist.

Punisher guy is a solid lead actor, and a pretty good action star, although I wish he'd work on his acting in the "screams of regret and guilt" department. Really awkward, that's all I'm saying.

The ending of the film differs from the book, but it was approved by King and it's actually very good, and although I could see it coming but I'm still impressed they actually went the way they did. Overall it's what you'd expect, maybe worth a 6/10 or so, not worth paying much for unless you specifically like the genre, but it's a pretty good ride, don't worry about doing any heavy thinking (or being very scared to be honest).

Also it stars the Shermanator. 

Well. There's the seventies grit, crime and police testosterone but there's some warmth too. There's Al Pacino who in the beginning feels, or at least felt to me, like he's just Al Pacino again but the magic starts working. Perfect casting.

After watching this, it's easy to recognize they don't make movies for adults anymore.
This was based on a novel and directed by Sidney Lumet. A friend of mine recommended.

I recommend to people who have some patience to watch it. It's a good movie.