What Did You Watch Today?

[zero]

Red Eye - 6/10

Fun little movie, no thinking required.

[Ananas]

Capote - 7/10

From director Bennett Miller (The Cruise), Capote is a performance piece in the true sense of the word. It tells the story of a writer at the peak of his prime, who descends into madness after he takes on the case of a quadrupal homicide, getting to know the muderers and witnessing their desperate process of appeal. There are a lot of great performers at work in this film, but there is little doubt that what makes it work so well is Phillip Seymour Hoffman's fantastic portrayal of the film's namesake, Truman Capote. The direction is also slick, but Miller's real strength is in crafting the movie around Hoffman's performance. Because the film take place more often than not within the confines of a prison cell, it is up to the ensemble to make sure that what is on the screen is entertaining, and they all pass this test with flying colours. Capote is not a riveting masterpiece, but it's a solidly made film elevated by a few great performances. Thumbs up.

[BlackFlagg]

Throne of Blood - 9/10

[TAFKA Castroneves]

Final Fantasy VII - Advent Children - 8/10

Being a massive fan of the Final Fantasy VII game I couldn't wait to see this - and last night I finally managed to with English Subtitles. The story follows the people of (a now ruined) Midgar and a disease going around called "Geostigma" which looks to ruin the cities chances of re-prospering through the rebuilding process. So Cloud makes his return from self-imposed solitude to find out the truth about "Geostigma" and attempt to save the children of Midgar.

As a story it is pretty good, but not as good as it could possibly have been. I would have liked to have seen more of certain characters (like Barrett, Jenova and Sephiroth) and a few tweaks here and there in the story could have made this an even more awesome film. But despite this it is still a very strong story that looks visually stunning, I have possibly not seen another animated film of this high quality, in some places it looks amazingly real. The opening scene with Cloud for me will probably stick out in my mind forever, it just looked and felt awesome.

Overall this is a film for Final Fantasy VII buffs, it continues the series along nicely - and it's been far too long coming. Others might also enjoy this, however if you don't know a thing about the game the short summary at the start may not be enough to keep you entirely clued up. See it now (Y)

[BlackFlagg]

Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure - 8/10

[ROC]

House of the Dead 2: Dead Aim - 3/10

In the endless mound of direct-to-video sequels, House of the Dead 2 is an oddly unique example of the reverse of the typical fate of direct-to-video movies. Obviously, I don’t need to tell you about the awfulness of Uwe Boll’s House of the Dead, so I’ll skimp on that detail but in any case, HotD 2 is in such a position that it literally has to be better than the first feature. Sure, there’s still examples of shit writing, shit acting,, and shitty shit, but it feels more in touch with the series’s B-movie roots than certainly the original was. That said, it is pretty ridiculous to still call the movie House of the Dead because there’s certainly none of the in-house shootouts that made the game famous. But at least the director this time isn’t completely unstable and Ed Woodian in his awfulness.

[Laice07]

Final Destination: 6/10

Bad acting? Check.

Holes in the plot? Check.

Awesome death scenes that make-up for all that? Check.

If you liked the first and second, you'll like this. Its not as good as the original(how surprising), but I liked it better then the 2nd, but not by much. Just don't expect anyhting mindblowing or oscarworthy, becuase this is not that type of movie.

When a Stranger Calls: 2/10

After FD3 we snuck in to see this load of crap, and left after 40 or so minutes. 1 point for the hottness of the lead, and another point for a cool house.

[Dingle]

Battle Royale.

Some really funny stuff for a movie about violence. Good stories for the characters who are important. Flaws are some bad acting (Kiriyama when being shot at and Chigusa dieing) but are made up by Kitano, Kawada, Noriko ad Nanahara doing great as the leads.

9/10.

Dodgeball.

This was fucking great, great acting from Stiller and Vaughn and a good plot. Developed some characters well, like White, La Fleur and the teenager. Some good stuff as a whole.

8/10.

[Docpepper]

Wedding Crashers - 9/10 : iwent in expecting this to be another poorly done romantic comedy. Boy was I wrong . Vince Vaughn and Owen Wilson are hilarious in this movie

Exorcism Of Emily Rose -9/10 : My friends totally hated this movie because they went in expecting it to be scarier than The Exorcist . I knew from the start that it wasn't a horror movie in the sense and I was amazed again.

The actress that played Emily did an oustanding job on the parts where she was being possessed , some scenes literally gave me chills because of her expressions and mannerisms. I suggest that everyone go out and watch this movie now. I've watched it 8 times and I can't wait to get the dvd

[ROC]

The Upside of Anger - 6/10

Mike Binder's first real project since his near repetitive HBO series The Mind of the Married Man is once again another project that feels quite conventional. Most of the storylines do feel like they've been seen before and it hardly is a fresh project. However, there is something fresh about the film's performances, including Joan Allen doing an amazing turn as well as a surprising Kevin Costner showing that he still has some charm left in him despite never really using it well in the past ten years. There's also some worthy performances from the daughters in the clan, including Erika Christensen and Evan Rachel Wood. Overall, this is a flick that certainly hinges on the cast and the cast delivers solidly enough to warrant a mild recommendation.

[Reflecto Is My Favorite Poster]

Super Size Me

One of those gray areas: I wanted to see the movie for a little while (even though it would have been preaching to the choir- I make it a point to eat as little fast food as possible), so I was happy I got to watch it...but it still doesn't seem like a total choice of a movie, seeing as they showed it for my Health class. It was definitely worth the watch (when the teacher gave us the option to leave at the half-way point in the movie, I was one of four people so engrossed in it I chose to stay), but timing makes it lose a point on it (since, my Health class...kind of occurs right after lunch...not a very good time to watch any movie of this nature.) 7/10.

[Johnny Latino Heat]

Syriana: 0/10

Bleargh. Definately not my type of movie. Hated it.

[BlackFlagg]

Unleashed - 7/10

[BlackFlagg]

Spartacus - 8/10

[ROC]

Wedding Crashers - 7/10

Deuce Bigalow: European Gigolo - 2/10

[BlackFlagg]

The Aristocrats - 7/10

[BlackFlagg]

Dazed and Confused - 8/10

[ChrisSteeleAteMyHamster]

Battle Royale.

Some really funny stuff for a movie about violence. Good stories for the characters who are important. Flaws are some bad acting (Kiriyama when being shot at and Chigusa dieing) but are made up by Kitano, Kawada, Noriko ad Nanahara doing great as the leads.

That's cos it's a black comedy.

Anyways...

Equilibrium - 8/10

Worth the underground hype. Fantastic film and seeing Christian Bale, Sean Bean AND Sean Pertwee all appear in the first few minutes was far too exciting!

[ROC]

Saw II - 6/10

Much more taut overall, but the twist...not as smooth as part one's...in fact, barring a couple of the twists (the mindfuck that leads to the ending twist was pretty sweet), it was pretty predictable.

EDIT: I can't say I liked the fact that I felt smarter than the characters in actually deciding what to do at points, either.

Edited February 20, 2006 by ROCzy

[GRIFT]

Throne of Blood - 9/10