What Have You Just Seen... Marks Out of 5

Shingster · Post by **Shingster** » 03 Aug 2007, 20:10

Millennium Actress: 4.5/5

I love this film, a lovely little romantic drama and a great celebration of Japanese cinema all directed with real imagination by Satoshi Kon - plus you've got that superb soundtrack by Susumu Hirasawa which is almost (not quite) as good as his work on the Berserk Anime. I can't believe he's not done more work in Film/Anime since Berserk actually, just Paranoia Agent, Millennium Actress, and Paprika!

Knetan · Post by **Knetan** » 04 Aug 2007, 15:13

hey,

Feel It... Say It... 4/5

Delightful mix of eclectic wackiness and felt romantic emotion thingys...

Eric Kot and Candy Lo are an appealing couple (and both restrained in the acting department) and although viewers might not like director Bennie Chan's off the wall switches in moods, when reality hits it's hard not to be swept away. I wish more viewers dared to venture into Hong Kong cinema such as this.

romerojpg · Post by **romerojpg** » 04 Aug 2007, 16:26

saltysam wrote: Last Samurai (hd-dvd) 2.5

Not a bad movie but no classic.wants to be a big sweeping epic but falls short.could have done with being 25 minutes shorter.

I felt the opposite, I wanted to be longer

even if they did sell out at the end, I wanted death.

Just bought the HD DVD myself as well, cannot wait.

saltysam · Post by **saltysam** » 04 Aug 2007, 16:37

romerojpg wrote:
saltysam wrote: Last Samurai (hd-dvd) 2.5

Not a bad movie but no classic.wants to be a big sweeping epic but falls short.could have done with being 25 minutes shorter.
I felt the opposite, I wanted to be longer even if they did sell out at the end, I wanted death.

Just bought the HD DVD myself as well, cannot wait.

have you got yourself a player romero

HungFist · Post by **HungFist** » 04 Aug 2007, 16:44

SPOILER

romerojpg wrote:
saltysam wrote: Last Samurai (hd-dvd) 2.5

Not a bad movie but no classic.wants to be a big sweeping epic but falls short.could have done with being 25 minutes shorter.
even if they did sell out at the end, I wanted death.

no, that would've been a disgrace. Tom never become a real samurai so he can't have a samurai's death. I'm so happy they didn't go for the "nice ancient tradition you got there. Tom here is American so he can get his share after two months training"

SPOILER

Edit:'culture' would've been a better word than 'tradition'

romerojpg · Post by **romerojpg** » 04 Aug 2007, 16:55

Yup just ordered it, should be with me monday I hope

Toshiba A-20 with 11 HD DVD's so far

cannot wait.

and hey Last Samurai while I underatand your comment about him not being a real samurai

I still felt for only Him to survive felt a little silly, the one many who was new and white stays alive, what did they miss him on purpose?

I like the ending as it is, but still I wanted him to be dead a bit more as it just felt very unrealistic of that one guy to keep alive, while all the skilled samurai went down.

HungFist · Post by **HungFist** » 04 Aug 2007, 17:13

romerojpg wrote:Yup just ordered it, should be with me monday I hope Toshiba A-20 with 11 HD DVD's so far cannot wait.

and hey Last Samurai while I underatand your comment about him not being a real samurai I still felt for only Him to survive felt a little silly, the one many who was new and white stays alive, what did they miss him on purpose? I like the ending as it is, but still I wanted him to be dead a bit more as it just felt very unrealistic of that one guy to keep alive, while all the skilled samurai went down.

fuck, I forgot the existence of spoiler tags

Maybe a compromise: Tom is shot but doesn't die... nah, then it would've been "the brave caucasian hero fights for the poor japanese and takes a bullet for them." Damn, what a hard movie to end

this also remindes me of not taking movies too seriously. Movies are like great paintings: half of the social messages were inveted by the audience, not the artist who was just trying paint a pretty sunset

romerojpg · Post by **romerojpg** » 04 Aug 2007, 17:22

Thats one thing I like about the Last Samurai, its pretty slow for a Hollywood film

ponders more than they ussualy do.

EvaUnit02 · Post by **EvaUnit02** » 04 Aug 2007, 17:23

HungFist wrote:this also remindes me of not taking movies too seriously. Movies are like great paintings: half of the social messages were inveted by the audience, not the artist who was just trying paint a pretty sunset

Reminds me of Night of the Living Dead. (Still the best out of the Romero Dead films that I've seen, still haven't seen Day yet. NOTLD > Dawn)

saltysam · Post by **saltysam** » 04 Aug 2007, 18:27

Dawn is my favourite.one of the greatest movies ever made.

Shingster · Post by **Shingster** » 04 Aug 2007, 19:13

romerojpg wrote:and hey Last Samurai while I underatand your comment about him not being a real samurai I still felt for only Him to survive felt a little silly, the one many who was new and white stays alive, what did they miss him on purpose? I like the ending as it is, but still I wanted him to be dead a bit more as it just felt very unrealistic of that one guy to keep alive, while all the skilled samurai went down.

Actually, the fact he survived is completely in keeping with the mythology of the character, Algrin said many times he should've died in the numerous battles with the Native Americans but by pure luck he survived. It seems the character was fated never to die in battle, regardless of what went on around him.

HungFist · Post by **HungFist** » 05 Aug 2007, 09:05

Love Letter (Japan, 1995) – 4,5/5
Iwai's first full lenght film suffers from some brief drops in quality here and there, but as a whole it features enough great moments to make almost any other drama film maker feel like an incompetent idiot. The story of two young women (both played by Miho Nakayama) who share memories of the same man they knew at different times could easily go wrong but Iwai’s approach is thankfully as delicate as you’d expect from him. He doesn’t go overly artistic and also includes some wonderful humour at appropriate times. The snowy landscapes of Norther Japan are beautifully captured on film and once again supported by the haunting score by Remedios.

Swallowtail Butterfly (Japan, 1996) – 5/5
After Love Letter Iwai takes an U-turn with this masterful street drama borrowing elements from yakuza, action, coming of age and even horror films. You might wonder if such genre cocktail can feel anything but pretentious but thankfully the basic story is strong enough to make the occational genre switches fluent, natural and effective. The soundtrack by Takeshi Kobayashi is terrific and a perfect match for the impressive visuals. The characters are exceptionally good although the quality of acting varies a bit. Chara’s early scenes aren’t that convincing but her later parts are great, especially the amazing ”My Way” scene. The 16 year old Ayumi Ito succeeds beyond expectations in the challenging and mostly english language lead role. Overall one of the best movies of the 90’s.

All About Lily Chou-Chou (Japan, 2001) – 5/5
Iwai’s incredible semi-documentary about the life of japanese school kids is one of the best movies of the 2000’s. The storyline has some minor credibility issues but the unchronological structure makes it less obstructive. The cinematography is absolutely amazing and and perfectly displays both the emotional rawness of the story and the naturalistic beauty of the images. The music by Takeshi Kobayashi is pretty much perfect and combined with the images it creates some earth shattering moments like the flying kites scene with Yu Aoi. My favourite seqment in the movie however would be the hand-held shot Okinawa part.

thelostdragon · Post by **thelostdragon** » 05 Aug 2007, 23:30

Transformers - 4.5/5
WTF did I just watch. The most hilarious and at the same time awesome film I have seen in a long time.

Markgway · Post by **Markgway** » 06 Aug 2007, 00:39

"Films directed by Michael Bay are usually like being shouted at by a halfwit for two and a half hours, and Transformers is no exception."

The Times.

EvaUnit02 · Post by **EvaUnit02** » 06 Aug 2007, 00:47

Hey Mark,
I've observed that LD typically rates films on their enjoyment levels, not their technical and critical merits.

Markgway · Post by **Markgway** » 06 Aug 2007, 01:04

Yeah, I'm just having a laugh.

There are a few posters here who can be relied upon to "just adore" all the mince.

I find it useful in knowing what to avoid. :mrgreen:

EvaUnit02 · Post by **EvaUnit02** » 06 Aug 2007, 01:21

Mark Kermode, ripped Transformers apart, it was glorious. He equated Bay to a porn director with colossal budgets.

thelostdragon · Post by **thelostdragon** » 06 Aug 2007, 08:25

Mark, just give it a try. It's good not to have high expectations, because that's when movies are often not as good as expected. To me "Transformers" was completely different than the trailers. It is very comical, but when the action starts, all the fun is over and becomes just amazing.

EvaUnit02 wrote:I've observed that LD typically rates films on their enjoyment levels, not their technical and critical merits.

You are probably right about that, but I also enjoy films that are not purley entertainment. I am able to handle every genre and not avoiding any films because they are mainstream/blockbusters/artistic/quiet. In fact some of my favourite movies are "Hana-Bi", "Sonatine", "Drunken Angel", "The Road Home" and "Riding alone for Thousands of Miles" which I would say do not fit into the category of films with a high "enjoyment level" although I really enjoy watching them. 8)

slasher13 · Post by **slasher13** » 06 Aug 2007, 13:18

The Simpson Movie - 3.75/5
Enjoyable movie, but the middle did drag on a bit. The story was good, and the jokes was funny, it was a good movie.

Fracture 4/5
Very good thriller, Anthony Hopkins plays a killer, who nearly does the perfect crime. Lovely bit of court room drama as well as suspence. Wasn't really expecting much from the movie, but glad I was wrong, It was just brilliant

28 Weeks Later - 3.5/5
Actually a better sequel than I thought it may be. The opening is just amazing, and love that theme music, Bit disturbing in somes parts, more gorier, and it was brilliant. I love the direction they went with the movie, lets hope there is a part 3

grim_tales · Post by **grim_tales** » 06 Aug 2007, 13:26

Glad you enjoyed Simpsons Movie Slasher - I dont think it dragged TBH, though it has a similar basic story to the show - I thought the bit at the start in church when Grandpa has visions reminded me of the Praiseland episode when theres a gas leak and everyone thinks theyre having visions. I also enjoyed the bit when Bart draws on the Wanted Poster and theres a family who look like what he's just drawn!

slasher13 · Post by **slasher13** » 06 Aug 2007, 13:40

@Grim, yeah that did make me chuckle, for me the best bit is where bart is skateboarding naked for the dare, he passes Ralph, who Ralph see, then he says "I likes Boys now".

grim_tales · Post by **grim_tales** » 06 Aug 2007, 13:46

The Bart's noodle scene is hilarious, I loved the Spider-Pig scene and as you said when Ralph said "I like men now" after he sees Bart's noodle

Ned (head bowed): Thankyou Lord for this wonderful... [see's Bart on the window, naked].. PENIS!
Rod: Thankyou Lord for this wonderful penis.

Markgway · Post by **Markgway** » 06 Aug 2007, 16:32

EvaUnit02 wrote:Mark Kermode, ripped Transformers apart, it was glorious. He equated Bay to a porn director with colossal budgets.

I need to hear that. I'll check the Radio Five website.

Markgway · Post by **Markgway** » 06 Aug 2007, 16:35

thelostdragon wrote:Mark, just give it a try. It's good not to have high expectations, because that's when movies are often not as good as expected. To me "Transformers" was completely different than the trailers. It is very comical, but when the action starts, all the fun is over and becomes just amazing.

I'm notoriously fussy... you guys all know that. If the critics call Transformers loud, braindead trash, I'm sure that's exactly how it will seem to me too. The Rock was OK because of Sean Connery but Michael Bay is a crap director. Sorry.

saltysam · Post by **saltysam** » 06 Aug 2007, 16:49

Sarah Connor Chronicles (tv Pilot) 2/5

A continuation of the Terminator franchise on the small screen,this is watchable but shows obvious budget restraints. Looks like it could fall into one long weekly chase sequence though.I'll keep watching.