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

[Markgway]

Was the Hatter supposed to be Alice's ideal guy? They seemed a bit "fond" of each other

I'm pretty sure he was balling her.

[bradavon]

but it's really a sequel in feel, so why call it Alice in Wonderland? Return to Wonderland would be more apt.

I wondered this too. I'm going to see it tomorrow evening. I'm looking forward to Green Zone too.

Why was Depp putting on a Scottish accent in places?

I read he thinks, that would make the character sound more interesting/scary. It's deliberate.

Did you see it in 3D? Was it any good?

[grim_tales]

I saw it in 3D, it was OK but felt the 3D only came through in a few scenes.
I'm looking forward to Green Zone and Shutter Island as well.

[HungFist]

Black Belt Jones (USA, 1974) – 3/5
Enter the Dragon team Robert Clouse and Jim Kelly are back, only much funnier this time. Kelly’s fighting doesn’t quite convince – his manners even less so – but the dialogue is priceless (Who the Fuck hit me?! –Baatman, motherfucker). The karate school under fire storyline is a bit dull, but there are classic scenes like the opening. After beating the shit of out bad guys and shooting one in the ass, officer Black Belt jumps into his car and drives away… before anyone has even come to collect the beaten villains!

Black Samson (USA, 1974) – 3/5
Bar owner Black Samson is the nicest guy in the hoods, taking care of brothers and even employing white people. That’s what really adds a fresh flavor to this enjoyable blaxploitation piece; not all white characters are Satan’s sadist. The main villain, played by William Smith, is of course, but even he’s got character. The film’s action packed finale comes some good car crashing, plus a great wtf moment that is best left unspoiled.

[grim_tales]

Breathless: 3/5

The "look" of the film is just so amazingly cool (sunglasses, cigarettes etc) but I didnt find much happened in the film. The main character (Jean Paul Belmondo) is quite an asshole TBH. and not likeable. What does Jean Seberg see in him? She's cute and looks stylish in a fedora hat and sunglasses.
Not one I'd keep but pleased I saw it though.

[romerojpg]

Cigarettes never have been, and never will be "Cool". They make me want to puke seeing people smoke on screen, fucking idiots.

[bradavon]

Wong Kar-Wai makes smoking look cool! There's a massive difference between smoking in a film and reality. Gun fights in a film are cool, in reality, so not cool.

[grim_tales]

True. It goes with the style of the time too, it just looked so stylish for some reason in 50's/60's Paris.

[romerojpg]

Nah it just makes me want to puke seeing anyone smoke on screen, Asian films esspecially do it soooo wrong for me as it seems everyone opver there smokes all day long I can pretty much taste the fag ends (not a gay thing mind you haha).

[bradavon]

They're big smokers in France, Spain etc... too. I was shocked to see it's not even been banned to smoke in bars in Spain, unlike France.

[HungFist]

Movies, fantasy, come on.

I also don't like killing and mutant monsters in real life.

I do like like school girl panty shots, though.

[Markgway]

Brad's right. The reality of smoking and shooting is bad... but on screen they can look cool. Think of detectives and femme fatales smoking in film noir.

[grim_tales]

Actually now I think about it, I quite liked the film. Jean Paul Belmondo's character was still a bastard though.
Maybe I wasnt in the mood for it.

[saltysam]

Survival Of The Dead 1.5/5

Terrible 6th instalment in the Dead series. A Group of soldiers (minor characters from Diary) head over to an island hoping to escape the zombies. I Find it hard to believe that this film was made by the genius who gave us Dawn...sure a lot of directors lose their touch over time but this....

[Markgway]

A Group head over to an island hoping to escape the zombies.

Has Romero finally remade Zombi 2?

[saltysam]

Ninja Assassin 2.5/5

I'm a sucker for Ninja flicks and here's the latest.higher budgeted than most of it's genre,it's pretty dumb but has plenty of action and it was way cool to see Sho Kosugi back in a fairly major role.An incredible amount of cgi blood on display throughout but it looked shoddy and fake.The Lone Wolf movies were showing more convincing bloodletting more than 30 years ago.

[Markgway]

Inglourious Basterds

Tarantino's much trumpted WW2 epic turns out to be both ambitious and simple-minded in equal measures. It's long, but never boring, and amazingly for a film that's 2.5 hrs I didn't check the time once. QT is obviously an accomplished filmmaker and there are parts of IB that are very strong and effective (mostly the scenes with the female leads who give the best performances). However there are too many times when the adolescent QT takes over (see the titular 'Basterds' for proof). The shock violence is as tired here as it is tasteless; there's no moral point, just an overgrown child indulging his fancy for sadism. It detracts from the otherwise serious adult nature of the story. Do we need constant diversions into comic book territory with comic book characters? No. There are two movies here. A good one with Laurent and a poor one with Brad Pitt (hamming it up altogether) that eventually intertwine. The acting of the 'Basterds' was woeful. Eli Roth is so bad he can't even stand still convincingly. That's what happens when you cast your friends. If you indulge a director too much this is what happens. I'm not saying that IB doesn't entertain - it does; but if feels to me like he hasn't made a proper movie since Jackie Brown. The last four (if you include KB2) have all been experiments and indulgences where storytelling comes a distant second to play. Sums of their parts rather than cohesive, satisfying wholes. IB is clearly a better film than Kill Bill, but he's capable of more, much more, and that's why, for all the great moments, IB is a disappointment.

[Shingster]

One of the biggest cinematic anti-climaxes of recent years for me has to be the final reveal of who the "Bear Jew" is, after all that pre-amble and then the baseball bat clunking in the cave as the slow build up to the emergence of this "legendary" pyschotic Nazi-killer... and its Eli fucking Roth, who despite looking impressively bulked up for the role, still looks and acts like a grinning adolescent geek!

[Yi-Long]

One of the biggest cinematic anti-climaxes of recent years for me has to be the final reveal of who the "Bear Jew" is, after all that pre-amble and then the baseball bat clunking in the cave as the slow build up to the emergence of this "legendary" pyschotic Nazi-killer... and its Eli fucking Roth, who despite looking impressively bulked up for the role, still looks and acts like a grinning adolescent geek!

DUDE!!! (!)

USE SPOILERTAGS!

[Shingster]

It's not really enough of a spoiler to justify spoiler tags, the film doesn't make a big deal about the identity of the Bear Jew, it just builds up the hype surrounding him before we see him in action.

[Yi-Long]

It's not really enough of a spoiler to justify spoiler tags, the film doesn't make a big deal about the identity of the Bear Jew, it just builds up the hype surrounding him before we see him in action.

Ow, alrighty then....

Just watched Yes Man

Pretty entertaining Jim Carrey flick, with nice performances (great Jim, cute girl with a Minnie Driver laugh, etc), with very good pacing, and doesn't dwell too much on 'the message' once it comes falling down a bit on Jim, but quite quickly moves on, still with plenty of jokes.

4/5

[HungFist]

it just builds up the hype surrounding him before we see him in action.

in other words, spoiler.

Damn fantastic film, despite the stupid comic book bits.

[Markgway]

It's not really enough of a spoiler to justify spoiler tags, the film doesn't make a big deal about the identity of the Bear Jew, it just builds up the hype surrounding him before we see him in action.

...and that scene occurs fairly early on in the movie.

Seriously his performance was atrocious. Note to QT. Being A. your buddy and B. Jewish is not a good enough reason to cast someone in a pivital role in your expensive movie.

Like I said... there were a lot of good scenes and performances but I can't figure out the Best Picture nomination. Had any other director's name been attached it would've been overlooked.

[HungFist]

Dead Snow (Norway, 2009) – 3/5
Nazi zombies. As much as that should be a guarantee of brilliant movie it just isn’t, not when the horror cliché book is used as filmmaking guide. And, why do modern zombies have to be world class athletes?! The rotten fuckers in Dead Snow were born long before 28 Days Later was made, they ought not run or climb in trees. That being said the film does eventually find the right gear. The last 30 minutes is glorious, lovingly executed and CGI-free bloodshed in breathtakingly beautiful mountain landscapes. White snow, bright daylight, and red blood. A winner combination that is too rarely used in horror movies.

[saltysam]

Dead Snow (Norway, 2009) – 3/5
Nazi zombies. As much as that should be a guarantee of brilliant movie it just isn’t, not when the horror cliché book is used as filmmaking guide. And, why do modern zombies have to be world class athletes?! The rotten fuckers in Dead Snow were born long before 28 Days Later was made, they ought not run or climb in trees. That being said the film does eventually find the right gear. The last 30 minutes is glorious, lovingly executed and CGI-free bloodshed in breathtakingly beautiful mountain landscapes. White snow, bright daylight, and red blood. A winner combination that is too rarely used in horror movies.

The fit bird willingly shagging the fat dude in the bog just after he'd taken a dump was