What general film/series have you just seen.. marks out of 5

[grim_tales]

The last part was very entertaining, and I liked the humour and how Arnie sent himself up in the film
The ending credits reminded me of The Good the Bad and the Weird

[degeneration]

Thought there used to be a TV series one of these threads... can't see it now so I'll put this here:

Chuck 3.5/5

Entertaining comedy over 5 seasons about a computer smart nerd who gets a government supercomputer program in his head, turning him in to a super-spy. Lots of well known faces show up over the seasons and lots of geeky references that I loved! Definitely a "suspend disbelief" type program for a lot of the missions they go on, but it definitely has its moments. Some funny, some quite good drama. It isn't amazing, but it was worth watching. The ending wasn't what i'd have expected, thinking everything would be the typical "happy ever after" type thing, but it wasn't. Still happyish, but not as happy as you'd have thought!

[Markgway]

Moon (2009-UK) **½
Strange, fairly interesting sci-fi drama; an acting showcase for Sam Rockwell.

River of Death (1989-USA) *½
Cannon Pictures' dull, lame action adventure; based on an Alistair McLean novel.

[gasteropod]

Zero Dark Thirty (2012) - 4.5/5

Great but I felt a few things were missing, like when he buys the guy a car in exchange for a telephone number, I wanted to see them make use of the number, and when the 'unknowns' were approaching the troops near the end, it seemed to just leave that bit without showing whether they had to shoot them or if they backed off, unless my mind just wandered?.

[Markgway]

She's Out of My League (2008-USA) **

Foul-mouthed romcom has a few laughs.

[gasteropod]

Vampire's Kiss (1988) - 3.5/5

Nic Cage is absolutely hilarious, it really does beggar belief.

[Shingster]

Zero Dark Thirty (2012) - 4.5/5

Great but I felt a few things were missing, like when he buys the guy a car in exchange for a telephone number, I wanted to see them make use of the number, and when the 'unknowns' were approaching the troops near the end, it seemed to just leave that bit without showing whether they had to shoot them or if they backed off, unless my mind just wandered?.

I think your mind wandered:

The phone number was Ibrahim Sayeed's family number, we didn't see them physically tracing it, but we hear in a later scene that they traced the calls to that number and flagged certain calls to Sayeed's mother as being highly suspicious because the caller was trying to avoid detection (tradecraft), this is what got them Sayeed's mobile phone signal & rough location. Later on in the compound invasion you did see the people in the surrounding area backing off after the final warning (mainly they just stopped advancing)

[gasteropod]

I think your mind wandered:

The phone number was Ibrahim Sayeed's family number, we didn't see them physically tracing it, but we hear in a later scene that they traced the calls to that number and flagged certain calls to Sayeed's mother as being highly suspicious because the caller was trying to avoid detection (tradecraft), this is what got them Sayeed's mobile phone signal & rough location. Later on in the compound invasion you did see the people in the surrounding area backing off after the final warning (mainly they just stopped advancing)

Nah I knew that, I just wanted to see them actually do it instead of just refer back to it. And when I said to my mate who was with me about the people at the end backing off he said he didn't see what happened either, so I don't think the film showed that very clearly, i.e. by stopping advancing it looked like they weren't going to budge, and hence get shot.

[Markgway]

Stir of Echoes (1999-USA) **½

Creepy chiller with Kevin Bacon.

[Shingster]

Nah I knew that, I just wanted to see them actually do it instead of just refer back to it. And when I said to my mate who was with me about the people at the end backing off he said he didn't see what happened either, so I don't think the film showed that very clearly, i.e. by stopping advancing it looked like they weren't going to budge, and hence get shot.

gastero, I would I thought that all those arthouse films you buy on Criterion BD would have taught you about the concept of "read between the lines" by now!

I think given the runtime is long enough as it is, you should be grateful Bigelow chose not to film every minor technical process the CIA went through, we've seen phone tracing in any number of procedural films/shows in the past, it's hardly the most fascinating thing you can commit to celluloid. The compound invasion is very clear, people from the local area gather and start walking towards the compound, ignoring the warnings until the one soldier shouts out a warning in English: "go back or they will kill you" (or words to that effect), the crowd then stop. The fact that the locals never subsequently reach the compound is enough to tell you that the guys on the perimeter managed to hold back the local populace long enough for them to get the hell out of there. Bigelow shows the bear minimum of this facet of the mission because what's going on inside the complex is much more important. Also the guys on the perimeter were there to make sure the site was safe, not to force the locals back into their homes, as long as they maintained a safe distance then everything was rosy (well, you know what I mean).

[Markgway]

Cyrus (2010-USA-UK) **½

Low key comedy-drama works fine but is nothing to write home about.

[Markgway]

My Best Friend's Girl (2008-USA) *½
Obnoxious, crude, sexist romcom.

Return to Horror High (1987-USA) **
Horror spoof doesn't entirely work, but at least you can sense they're trying.

[gasteropod]

Bullet to the Head (2013) - 1.5/5

Dated, straight to video '80s type film, and even the action was crap (spazzy cam/editing, can't see what's going on).

[HungFist]

Bullet to the Head (2013) - 1.5/5

Dated, straight to video '80s type film, and even the action was crap (spazzy cam/editing, can't see what's going on).

How would you rate Rambo and Expendables 1&2?

[gasteropod]

How would you rate Rambo and Expendables 1&2?

I found Rambo boring, The Expendables a bit lacklustre (but OK), and The Expendables 2 good (delivered what the first film should have).

[grim_tales]

I wanted to go and see BTTH
Havent seen Rambo or Expendables 2 yet, The Expendables was fun

[HungFist]

How would you rate Rambo and Expendables 1&2?

I found Rambo boring, The Expendables a bit lacklustre (but OK), and The Expendables 2 good (delivered what the first film should have).

Well good news to me then, cause Rambo was terrific, The Expendables ok, and The Expendables 2 mostly a disgrace.

[gasteropod]

The Hurt Locker (2008) - 4/5

[luckystars]

Lawless. 8.5/10

Thought the beginning was strong but still took me half an hour to get into the mood or the piece I guess. Turned out to be really enjoyable and in fact a brilliant and memorable film (again) from Hillcoat.

Did anyone else see this, or were you put off by the mixed/mediocre reviews?

For those who gave this a 2 or 3 out of five I'd really question, did we watch the same movie? And if so, what do you really expect from a film.

[Markgway]

Bullet to the Head (2012-USA) **½

Treat it as a glorified B-movie and there's fun to be had in this ultra-violent, old-school, beef-headed actioner.

[Markgway]

Looper (2012-USA) **

Windy action-sci-fi hybrid didn't do anything for me.

Bruce Willis was good, but I couldn't get past Gordon-Levitt's weird face.

[Markgway]

Dredd (2012-South Africa-UK-USA) **

The ne plus ultra in mindless violence makes Stallone's version look like the work of P.G. Wodehouse!

[degeneration]

The Sopranos 2/5

FINALLY finished watching it all. Wish I hadn't bothered. Didn't really enjoy it, and was definitely one of the most over-rated TV programs i've seen (along with The Wire). Never had the "must watch the next episode" feeling. A lot of the time it felt like a chore having to watch it. I kept expecting it to get good, but it never really did. I liken the program to what I read/hear about Star Trek - it had a "monster of the week" style episodes or something like that. This was the same, except this was "Tony's problem of the week". A whole episode dedicated to some story line, which very frequently never really came up again.

On the plus side, it did have some cracking pairs of tits in it. They were one of the two mark out of five that I gave this show.

[luckystars]

The Sopranos 2/5

FINALLY finished watching it all. Wish I hadn't bothered. Didn't really enjoy it, and was definitely one of the most over-rated TV programs i've seen (along with The Wire). Never had the "must watch the next episode" feeling. A lot of the time it felt like a chore having to watch it. I kept expecting it to get good, but it never really did. I liken the program to what I read/hear about Star Trek - it had a "monster of the week" style episodes or something like that. This was the same, except this was "Tony's problem of the week". A whole episode dedicated to some story line, which very frequently never really came up again.

On the plus side, it did have some cracking pairs of tits in it. They were one of the two mark out of five that I gave this show.

Great review

Never seen it myself. I found 99% of tv to be like this. Even the most celebrated series.

[Markgway]

Prometheus (2012-USA-UK) **½

Too much sci-fi and not enough horror for my taste.