What are you watching RIGHT NOW.... or close to now. S03E01

[NSpan]

it's a pretty stupid name either way

[becs]

That is a very anti-Semitic thing to say...

[NSpan]

In that case, I guess Liev is a self-loathing Jew. I saw an interview where, upon being asked if he'd name his son "Liev," he responded, "It's an awful name." I didn't realize I was joining the Third Reich by nodding along. What a faux pas.

[numbersix]

Well, you could have been joining the Palestinians too. Now who's jumping to conclusions

[Ron Burgundy]

Liev Shreiber IS a good actor, i just dont like some of his roles, like the one in Taking Woodstock and the promising but in the end fairly awful Wolverine. Not sure what you guys are on about with his name...

Good thing you watched Animal Kingdom Barca, im definitely going to see it asap

I watched a few movies myself:

Daybreakers 6/10
What can i say about this movie? It had a few Aussie actors in it, which was great to see. The start of the film was very promising, i really liked the idea at first, of vampires taking over the world, and everything from beverages to cars had been adapted to the vampire way of life. But then the film decided to become predictable, and a little boring. Ethan Hawke might have had one of his better roles in recent years (Before the Devil Knows You're Dead and Lord of War were the only two good one he's had since Training Day), Willem Dafoe was pretty good as usual, Sam Neill played his part a bit cliched but what more do you need in a role like that (i didn't like the subplot with his daughter)? But the ending is what saved the movie from total mediocrity, lots of gore, good action and yeah, a slight twist.


The Rookie 7/10
I actually enjoyed this movie, Dennis Quaid played his part well, i could actually feel for this bloke, so good for him. The fact that its based on a real guy made me like it even more as i was watching baseball the other night and no pitch went over 90mph, this guy was crackin 98mph! A bunch of familiar faces and family storyline made the movie a good sunday flick. Maybe i was in no mood for anything else but overall i enjoyed most of it.


Hey Arnold: The Movie 3.5/10
Ok, one part i HATED about this movie even though i had forgotten by the end was the changing of the Main Characters voices, Arnold and Gerald. That really killed it for me. And the movie felt like it borrowed so many ideas from the original TV show (did anyone actually watch it?). Not to mention the horrible new style of animation, i just kept asking myself, why couldn't they stick the old stuff? All this new stuff to make more money at the BO probably, just made things worse. The only thing this movie had going for it is some ok funny moments and the surrounding cast who kept their old voices. Disappointing to say the least.


Flushed Away 6.5/10
Pretty entertaining for most part, but the movie just lacked something, some guts or some better characters. What i can say about this is im glad i only watched this now a few years after it came out, as i know some more of the voices and what they have done after. At least i could turn my brain off for this and just watch some good old animation, just what i needed at the time. I had enough of the epics from Hitchcock and the 80s action from Van Damme and Chuck Norris, even though they are still good, it was just time for a change, you know?


Johnny Be Good 1.5/10
Ok, ill admit this wasn't worth the $1 a paid for renting it. I guess after Iron Man 2 and Sherlock Holmes i wanted to see more of Robert Downey Jr, who i think can hardly put a foot wrong these days. But Anthony Micheal Hall is just ergh, Uma Thurman is stale and meh, it made me watch no more than one hour, thanks to terrible acting, a horribly slow and predictable story and just nothing really interesting. Ill finish this one when Anthony Michael Hall return in the next Batman....i mean Knight.


Hard Wired 4/10
My dad told me to watch this around a year or so. It had an interesting premise (but after watching more Cronenberg im convinced the writer of Hard Wired got his ideas from him, it even had Michael Ironside!) but it really failed towards the middle, i got sick of Cuba Gooding Jr (who i hope recovers from his 9 year slumber, everything went down from Ratrace) and really sick of those red and blue haired punks - their names: Red and Blue, wow how fucking clever, their hair is also like their name! Geewizz. Val Kilmer, who i usually like, looks like he appeared for a single days pay, i dont want to see him in anything these days, which is a crying shame as he's appeared in some really good flicks like The Salton Sea, Tombstone and The Doors. Nothing since Kiss Kiss Bang Bang 5 years ago. And he really is starting to look his age, 50. Enough ranting, ive got more to say on better stuff.


Scanners 6.5/10
Took me a while to find this one, its 29 years old now but still a decent flick. The thing is, on the back cover of the DVD, its got the whole last scene or two. SO i thought, shit this movie could be awesomely bad or good, either way doesn't matter. Instead i got a slow build up with some wooden acting from that main guy and some top notch bad guy stuff from Michael Ironside (this could be his best role apart from Starship Troopers). It was definitely an improvement from Naked Lunch though, i liked the idea (like most of the films ive seen recently) but it just needed a bit more... how do you say...umph. Not bad, but not very good either. Might of liked it more 5 years ago or maybe 5 years from now.



Videodrome 7.5/10
Damn Cronenberg is a bloody weirdo isn't he? Just the random ideas he used for a full length film are just so well random! haha. Anyway, i think this was definitely an better than Scanners and Naked Lunch in turn, and how could you not like James Woods? I wanted a better ending but the 30 minutes or so before were totally engrossing. It had some really good bits, and the makeup team did a great job aswell. But this like Naked Lunch leaves you pondering about some critical film clues, i dont know if its me of Cronenberg saying, hey i can really mess with you here, aint that cool? I dunno but Im going to re-watch A history of violence again this weekend. Entertaining but strange.


Taking Woodstock 8/10
What a surprise flick, it said from the Director of Brokeback Mountain, Ang Lee affcourse, which i was afraid of, i still haven't seen BM, dont know if i ever will. But this flick was really good, it had a great cast + characters, a good lead performance from Dimitri Martin, some rad effects (like when they go in the VW van and take acid), a solid story and good direction. I was impressed. All i wanted, is more of Dan Fogler and Emile HIrsh, less Liev Shreiber, as i didnt really like his role, and maybe an actual joke from the funny guy Martin, and then to actually see some old footage of the guys on stage (but since the main character never saw them i guess that makes sense that the audience didnt). Everything worked. Good movie.


Hoodwinked 5/10
The less said about this the better, not just because this is a really long post but because its just not that funny, not that good. Hoodwinked had its moments but now i know why i dont pick up any old animation. I liked the wolf though, that guys voice is MADE for cartoon/animation, he is comic gold, though his role in Emperors New Groove would be hard to beat. Average.

[Buscemi]

Ethan Hawke had the role of his career of Brooklyn's Finest. I don't think that it's out yet in Australia but catch it when it opens. You won't be disappointed.

Hey Arnold only worked when it was in stop-motion and it was simply about Arnold wanting to leave church (before Nickelodeon picked up the concept and dumbed it down).

And I thought Hoodwinked was hilarious. When I first saw it, it was at the tail-end of a triple bill (the first two movies were The Family Stone and Tristan and Isolde) and it was definitely one of those to watch at a late show with college students. Everyone appreciated the film's humor and homages to Rashomon (yes, it's based on Rashomon).

[Ron Burgundy]

Ive heard differently about Brooklyn's Finest, i wanted to watch it when i heard about it, but some magazine really played it down. But on your recommendation, i guess ill have to get it now. Thanks for the tip

Haven't seen the stop motion hey arnold, not sure if ill ever find it.

And i mite be a bit harsh with hoodwinked, it certainly wasn't a fail but maybe i expected more laughs. I have seen the fist hour of Rashomon but it never occurred to me.

Next up for me (apart from lots of soccer)

The Conversation
Casablanca

[Buscemi]

The original short (fun fact: Matt Groening's sister worked on this):

[BanksIsDaFuture]

Hey Arnold was a great cartoon. I used to watch it all the time when I was little, never saw the movie though but apparently that's a good thing

[Ron Burgundy]

Yeah, trust me. Dont watch it

[Buscemi]

Watched some movies today.

Anvil: The Story Of Anvil

This Is Spinal Tap come to life. Hell, one of the people in the documentary is named Robb Reiner (like Rob Reiner, the director of This Is Spinal Tap)! The resemblence to that film is so uncanny that it was amazing to realize that unlike Spinal Tap, this was for real. I hardly knew who Anvil was before seeing the movie but I'm glad that I do now.

The Unborn

What the hell was this? This is seriously one of the most cliche horror films ever made and while some of you guys were relentlessly trashing good movies like Orphan and Paranormal Activity, you let this one slide. This is a textbook example of a bad horror film. The actors involved with this film should be ashamed of themselves. And David S. Goyer should have known better (pretty epic decline for him and Gary Oldman to go from The Dark Knight to this in just six months).

Snow Angels

When your film opens up with a bizarre, anachronistic speech that references Peter Gabriel's Sledgehammer, you know where your film is going. This long-on-the-shelf drama is a snoozer of a film no one seems to do anything but talk and yell at each other. I probably should have known in advance that this would suck from seeing the other screen pairing of Sam Rockwell and Michael Angarano (Gentlemen Broncos).

Now I can see why Warner Bros. promoted this film as a Gone Baby Gone clone. Gone Baby Gone was amazing compared to this.

Missing Link

At first, you think the concept of a faux-documentary of the evolution of ape to man with makeup effects by Rick Baker could work. However, the film is pretty boring and Rick Baker's work is some of his worst (apparently cave people look like Harry from Harry and the Hendersons). Not even the beautiful cinematography and African sets can save it. This is one of those films that you prescribe to insomniacs.

Malcolm

An interesting caper comedy about an inventor who rents his house to a pair of bank robbers to make some money after losing his job and decides to join their robberies with his series of inventions that do the job for them. It starts out slow but it gets going as soon you see the gadgets (such as a car that splits in half, a remote-controlled car that holds security guards at gunpoint and moving trash cans that can trap the enemy). A fun little movie.

Right now, my sister is watching Sex Drive on Starz and seems to be enjoying it.

[W]

A Guide to Recognizing Your Saints (9/10): Great urban drama with RDJ, Shia, and even Channing Tatum giving good performances.

Die Hard 2 (7/10): It didn't really seem like much of a sequel. It just seemed like "John McClane goes to the Airport."

Die Hard: With a Vengeance (8/10): This one was much better because of the revenge plot, though how stupid was it that a German accented person is the one doing everything and they don't think the obvious? SLJ added some spunk as well.

Easy Rider (7/10): Much more arty than I expected from a film who is now billed as the ultimate motorcycle film. It's more like the (or an) ultimate counterculture film, but the hippies are also bikers. Hopper is almost unrecognizable and Nicholson is his out of his mind, but still half-sane self.

Fanboys (8/10): I thought this was hilarious. I loved the Star Wars/Trek references/fights.

Harold and Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay (9/10): This one was better than the first, so too bad we won't see a third (at least not anytime soon). Neil Patrick Harris is just a crazy/funny in this one as the first. Rob Cordray is great at playing a comedic idiot (at least here).

Hot Fuzz (7/10): It's a comedy turned drama. You expected it to be funny, but it's got a twist you don't really see coming from the beginning.

Rounders (9/10): Damon, Norton, Malkovich, poker... What's not to like? Well, maybe the ending, but that's probably just me. Near perfect "a zebra can't change his stripes" type film as well as a near perfect poker film. Usually in a poker film you'll see hands that are just plain stupid and would never be played the way they were by people that know what they're doing. All the hands (that I remember) are things that can conceivably happen exactly that way. I won't go into detail (unless asked), but the rest of the poker info is legitimate as well. It's also got Turturro and Martin Landau in pretty good roles.

[undeadmonkey]

I don't think anyone let the unborn slide through buscemi, I think no one actually cared enough to watch it.

I have recently seen

The Jerk 8/10 - actually might of already reviews this one as it was about a week ago. I found it pretty funny, and i usually hate these kind of comedies. For me where comedies fall apart is that they just go on to long. Most anything is funny can not sustain itself for that long. And even with films that i do find funny they start failing at the end, and i found it somewhat happening in this film. I still recommend it though.


The Squid and the Whale 2/10 - This had been on my list for a long time because everyone kept saying how great it was, now after seeing it, i realize that I never heard anybody say WHY it was great. The parents were both jackasses, the older brother was kind of normal and they were trying to make him the sympathetic character in the end, but it didnt work because throughout the movie he was trying to be an ass like his father. and don't get me started on the younger kid, he was seriously disturbed and need psychological attention. The only little redeeming part of the film was Anna Paquin, She has really great screen presence and could one day be one of the greats.

[frendo]

@ UDM - Paquin is doing great work. Check out the greatness known as True Blood if you haven't already.

@ Busc - The Unborn blew hard. If it makes you feel better, I trashed it right along with Orphan and PA. Uninvited was fucking horrible too.

Dead Snow - AWESOME/10

German film from last year about Nazi zombies coming back to life and ruining a med school getaway to the snow. One of the more badass horror films I've seen recently. Check it out.

[undeadmonkey]

Oh definitely, True Blood is a huge guilty pleasure! Going to be watching the season premier later tonight