Rate That Movie 2!: Electric Boogaloo

[Shrykespeare]

Though it's a little off-topic, I thought I might mention something else about Drive.

It is the 1,500th film I have given a rating to on IMDb. I'm sure there are movies that I've seen but haven't rated, but if that's not the case, I'm glad such a milestone film in my life was so terrific and memorable.

Here's to the next 1500 (which, at my current rate, I'll hit in the year 2026).

[Geezer]

Seeing The Lion King on the big screen was one of the best theater going experiences of my lifetime. No matter how old I get that movie will remain in my favorites. An absolute classic and a gem of a film. Thanks Disney!

Also had a fairly packed theater with applause at the end. It's just a phenomenal movie.

[Donte77]

I shall have to see this "Drive" that you are all talking about. I thought the trailer looked great but trailers are sometimes deceiving.

[Ron Burgundy]

would u put The Lion King in ur top 100 now geez?

[undeadmonkey]

maybe it's just me having selective memory, so i don't feel like a young'un, but i was pretty sure that he did have it in his top 100

[Geezer]

Oh yes, I definitely already had it in my top 100. Had it at number 42, so top 50 even.

[Buscemi]

I also saw The Lion King 3-D this week. Nothing much to say except it's the best 3-D conversion I've ever seen.

[numbersix]

Despite being on holidays I managed to watch 7 films (most of which were on the planes to and from California).

The Beaver: 5/10
An interesting idea although I think the original casting of Steve Carell would have worked better than Gibson, who just came off as trying too hard to be conflicted (something that should be natural to him by now). But it didn't work overall. The subplot between the son and Jennifer Lawrence was a mess, and the relationship between the Beaver and Gibson's character failed to show the difference between personalities or the progression of his trauma. A missed opportunity.

Limitless: 4/10
Yikes, what a disaster. It starts off as a mildly watchable but heavy-handed allegory for cocaine addiction (the scene after Abbie Cornish "uses" contains the kind of cliched dialogue you'd get from a Hallmark real lives melodrama). I kind of wanted it to be a satire on ambition, but the focus on money and stock trading (again, ensuring the coke references are never forgotten) made it dull and the lead to be shallow. But the real problem is that it didn't end. We're left at the end of Act 2, with no Act 3! The film ends with some stupidly ambiguous scene that either indicates that Cooper is still using (at odds with any character resolution) or that he is telling the truth and the drug has a long-lasting impact (which is a major cop-out and at odds with the theme). They must have run out of money.

Your Highness: 5/10
Not as awful as I imagined. There's some good jokes that take on preconceptions of what it is to be a man, and what it is to be a hero. Sometimes they worked brilliantly, and sometimes they were puerile penis jokes. I just wish the film was braver and applied its cheekiness to the story, instead of relying on the same old predictable conclusion. The cast weren't great, except for Danny MacBride and Rasmus Hardiker (great name).

Insidious: 5/10
Not a bad idea, and a film more like the classic 80's horror flicks than the contemporary found footage stuff we usually get these days. Good cast too! Sadly, the creepiness soon gives way to unintentional campness when we see poorly-made scenes of Victorian ghosts and model-making demons.

Contagion: 6/10
Probably Soderburgh's best film in over a decade (though that's not saying much). A very interesting "global" film about how bureaucracy, self-serving interests, and mass panic combine to delay human kind in helping each other. I loved Jude Law's character, the conspiracy theorist who cares more about his ego and fame (and more) than in actually providing the truth to the public. I also liked how there were moments of altruism (such as Lawrence Fishburne's character, and even Matt Damon's) to contrast with the portrayal of a panicking public. It's just a shame that in being a global film there were some severly under-developed characters, particularly Marion Cotillard's and Elliot Gould's, and that it harboured some cliched preconceptions (the working class are stupid, the Chinese are evil/selfish, industry is responsible, etc). Definitely worth watching.
Also an added bonus is that I watched this in San Fran, and Law's scenes were filmed there.

Hanna: 5/10
Ronan is good, Bana struggles with his accent. It was interesting to see Joe Wright take on an action film. He did have some good ideas, although at times his imagination felt limited (reusing the spinning motif, for example). I also liked the idea of a Chemical Brothers soundtrack, and it was great for the action scenes, but it really didn't work for the emotional moments. But past the half-way mark the film started to fall apart. The plot was obvious, which is fine, but the resolution was too clunky with some unanswered questions (what happened to the family?), wasted characters (the cliched perverse henchman), and an awful final scene (She fell ovah!)

Paul: 6/10
An amusing and endearing film that actually reminds me of many of the goofy comedies of the 80's (I could imagine the likes of Chevvy Chase, John Candy, Steve Martin, etc, all appearing in it). The poor CGI hardly mattered as the characters were so watchable. There was even an interesting dynamic between the "bad guys". Cast were all great. The writing was good, and reminded me of Spaced quite a lot. My major problem is that the film quickly runs out of steam and by the end I was a little bored of all the quotes and references. But overall it was fun.

[Chienfantome]

So Contagion, you went to see this one in theater over there, right ? Aargh, it only opens in november in Paris.

I hated the Beaver, it ranks amongst my least favourite films of the year. Funnily, I went to see "Your Highness" in theater while you saw it on your flight, and was very much amused by it. It may drag on the originality of the scenario, but Danny McBride is furiously funny, and his dynamic with that actor with a strange name indeed is good. Insidious was also a nice surprise. Limitless is only watchable in an airplane, and I liked Paul and Hanna very much.

[MisterInformative]

Limitless: 4/10
They must have run out of money.

It's funny you should say this, because that's EXACTLY what I said to my girlfriend as we were leaving the theater after seeing it. I guess De Niro's fee was getting expensive.

[numbersix]

Hah! I just thought that after the success of The Hangover and his obviously massive fee for the sequel, it was Cooper who demanded half the production budget went to him and him alone.

[Buscemi]

The ending was actually the result of test screenings. Originally, a different ending (which was closer to the book's ending) was shot but test audiences didn't like it so a new ending had to be shot. (From what I've read, he dies in the original ending.)

The DVD has the original ending as an extra.

[Geezer]

Six, very well put about Contagion. I too thought that Marion Cotillard and Eliot Gould's characters were tragically underdeveloped. They could have added about 20 minutes to the film, and it still would have worked wonderfully, and even better.

[BanksIsDaFuture]

I'll have to check out the original ending to Limitless, because although I did like the movie as a whole, the ending was really up in the air - and not in a good way. Still think Cooper is a pretty good leading man.

Agree about Hanna too, Six. It felt different and fresh until it didn't know how to end, or really where to go with the character at all.

Still haven't seen The Beaver yet although I have it downloaded, and since I know the twist (I guess it 's a twist?) ending, I don't know if I'll ever sit down to watch it.

Last week, I tried to watch Everything Must Go because the other Will Ferrell semi-serious movie - Stranger Than Fiction - was pretty well done. It felt very similar to that movie in which there's a nice hook to get you pulled in, as a guy has the shittiest day of his life and just falls into selling all of his possessions in a yard sale, but just like Stranger Than Fiction, it starts to fall into a droopy romance about halfway through. I fell asleep on it twice, both times around the part where Will Ferrell and the one chick from The Town start to get interested in one another. Maybe I'll give it another chance, but I doubt it.

Random but I really want to see Conan O'Brien Can't Stop - has anyone seen that?

[W]

Everything must go is pretty blah.