At the movies...

[WayAbvPar]

Wanted to get a catch-all movie thread started (again) to catch up on the post Labor-Day releases (and in anticipation of the holiday season). Anyone seen The Forgotten yet? Sky Captain? I skipped both of these to see Garden State Saturday night (written and directed by Zach Braff, of 'Scrubs' fame). It was slow in a couple of parts, but I really enjoyed it. Didn't hurt that Natalie Portman co-starred...

'Tis a story about a young struggling Hollywood actor returning home to New Jersey for his mother's funeral. His father (played by Bilbo!) is a psychiatrist, and has kept him medicated since childhood. He comes home and hooks up with his assortment of motley friends. meets Natalie Portman, and...well, go see it. For a first effort, I thought Braff did a credible job in all three roles (writer, director, and star); only a couple of times did 'JD' poke out. I thought Natalie Portman was terrific as well; of course, that might be due to the fact that the last movie I saw her in was Episode II, so ANYTHING would look Oscar-worthy in comparison.

Anyone else seen it? Hated it? Loved it? I will probably see Sky Captain next, and am eagerly anticipating "Friday Night Lights".

[kaid]

If you ever liked oldschool buck rodgers stuff when you were a kid you will really enjoy Sky Captain. Its a good flick with a really good retro feel to it.

kaid

[Paelos]

Considering I grew up in Texas, Friday Night Lights is too much like a trip back to high school for me, which I didn't enjoy. So I think that one's gonna get a big pass from me. Sky Captain looks interesting, but I'm a little put off by Angelina Jolee in a lead role since I've never been a fan of anything she does. Perhaps she's not in it much.

Garden State certainly piqued my interest, but in a rental way. I usually don't see big dramas in the theatre since they lose nothing in the transfer to DVD. The Forgotten looks interesting, but is getting bashed critically. I'm basically looking for a reason to head back to the movies, and I'm coming up short.

[MrHat]

If you ever liked oldschool buck rodgers stuff when you were a kid you will really enjoy Sky Captain. Its a good flick with a really good retro feel to it.

kaid

The CG is fantastic.  You actually forget to notice which is real and which isn't, which is a really cool feeling.  However, it didn't prevent me from wanting to stick year-old twizzlers in my ears in an attempt to drill out the story from my brain.

[kaid]

If you are avoiding Sky Captain due to Angelia dont worry she may be in a "lead" part but her screen time is probably about 15 minutes or so tops.


Kaid

[Mi_Tes]

Granted I came into Sky Captin rather late, but Angela Jolie's character was probably the best thing in the movie.  I also liked the deco feel, decor, and clothing, but it didn't make up for the bland dialog or Gweneth's character who was ditsy, oversentimental, ecentric, and plain annoying.  Not even the fights were anything exciting.  Think Indiana Jones with less action and less character identification.  I would recommend waiting to see it on HBO or Showtime, if even that.

[Sky]

I'm basically looking for a reason to head back to the movies, and I'm coming up short.

If you figure in drive time, gas, snacks and drinks, plus ticket cost, building a little home theater can be pretty cost-effective. Like I tell my friends, show me the movie theater that lets me in wearing only boxers, serves ice cold beer, and lets me pause the action while I go to the bathroom, and I'll go back to the movies.

[Rasix]

I've heard the pacing and tempo of the movie (Sky Captain) is horrid, and that's why I'm avoiding it.  I can't stand a movie that from all account plods along the first half and doesn't realize it's a movie and shit should happen until the second half.  The camp-factor is intriguing, but that's why I have pay-per-view and HBO.

I haven't been to the movies lately except to see Wimbledon. The wife likes romantic comedies (SHOOT ME PLEASE) and I like tennis, so I didn't mind going. Paul Bettany is quite an actor; wish I could say the same for Kirsten Dunst.  The movie wasn't horrible, it wasn't good either and the tennis was actually somewhat well done.  Pat Cash (quite fittingly) earned his money as the tennis advisor for this one.

As far as rentals go, I saw Equilibrium and The Cooler recently. Equilibrium, derivative or not, fucking kicked ass. It was a well acted, well directed, thought-provoking movie.  I thuroughly enjoyed it, although the wife left at the hour mark due it being a bit too dark and disturbing for her.  Me: "Honey, you didn't actually see any dogs getting shot and he saved that one, it lived till the end! And you missed bare-chested, sweaty Christian Bale!" Her: "Hmmmph, it was still disturbing".  The fight scenes were some of the best I've ever seen and makes me wish that more people would quit with the fucking bullet time and just kick ass with impunity.   This film also convinced me that The Matrix would have been a better flick with Bale as Neo.

As for the Cooler, Haem's review was right on. I really didn't like the end of it.  The scene with the greedy Sheriff was just unneeded and a bit heavy handed.  But overall, Macy and Baldwin just rocked.

[WayAbvPar]

pay-per-view

That reminded me- I made the mistake of ordering 'The Whole Ten Yards' on PPV last night. My wife and I really enjoyed the first one, and were disappointed when our schedules didn't coincide well enough to allow us to see the sequel in the theatre.

Now I am really glad we missed it; I may have actually gone on a shooting spree, or at least a 4 letter word- filled tirade. Holy mother of Christ it was bad. It was like everyone on the production was drunk and high at the same time- everything was sloppily done, over-acted, and only funny to the people involved. Between this POS and his terrible schtick on Celebrity Poker, I am in fear for Kevin Pollak's career. Although if he keeps churning shit like this out, maybe it is for the best.

[stray]

Granted I came into Sky Captin rather late, but Angela Jolie's character was probably the best thing in the movie. I also liked the deco feel, decor, and clothing, but it didn't make up for the bland dialog or Gweneth's character who was ditsy, oversentimental, ecentric, and plain annoying. Not even the fights were anything exciting. Think Indiana Jones with less action and less character identification. I would recommend waiting to see it on HBO or Showtime, if even that.

Agreed. For a few minutes, it was cool to look at (but I got that out of the previews), but these elements don't make a good film. Story and characters do. I've seen better and more exciting films with two characters speaking in an empty white room. And they wouldn't even have to be speaking English either.

One thing I'd like to get out of the way, though: It boggles my mind how anyone (at least male) couldn't like Jolie. Not only because of her looks, but she can take on a larger variety of roles than most actresses her age.
And as far as her role in this, it's small, but it's probably the best one (not to say I don't like Paltrow, Law, or Ribisi in other films though).

Anyways, CGI tripe is all I can say. For various reasons, I'm a little prejudice to begin with, but I gave it a chance because the director had the decency to use real actors. I thought it'd offer more depth, than say, Final Fantasy did. It turned out to be not by much.

[AOFanboi]

I've never been a fan of anything she does.

I'm a great fan of what she does when what she does is look HOT. Come now, noone saw Lara Croft: Tomb Raider for the generic adventure movie plot. They saw it because of the model face, round tits, long legs and very skimpy and tight-fitting clothes of the lead star.

(Not surprisingly, her major award was for the far less sexy role in the more intellectual Girl, Interrupted.)

Shaun of the Dead is supposed to be good.

[Paelos]

I don't like her because she's a freakshow, and she plays the part well. Plus as an actress she's had one decent movie in which she played A PSYCHO. In Pushing Tin, she played a sexpot. Tomb Raider...hmm yeah sex symbol. Gone in 60 Seconds, she didn't even need to be in the movie she was so irrelevant. Original sin, yep sexpot again with a more femme fatale edge.

So yeah she's playing up her boobs, nice work. Personally I find her annoying in most movies. Oh I'm so edgy and hardcore, I like to have sex with knifes, I married BILLY BOB! Nutcase.

[Samwise]

I saw Sky Captain and The Forgotten this weekend.

Go see Sky Captain.  The story is barely existent, but the movie is deliberately supposed to be campy and retro, so that's a feature, not a bug.  Really, the main thing is the effects.  My mind was blown, especially having heard how the movie was started by a guy with a desktop computer and a bluescreen in his apartment.  (After spending years rendering a few minutes of video, he had the good fortune to get backing from a studio.)  Everything but the actors is CGI, and the cool part is that half the time you don't even notice, even if you're trying to.  Not sure how well the effect would translate to the small screen.

As for The Forgotten, you're pretty safe skipping it.  The authors seemed to be confused about whether they were doing serious suspenseful drama or campy sci-fi, and they ended up occupying a less than optimal middle ground.  They tried to punch up the movie with some "ooga booga" scenes sprinkled here and there, but it didn't really inject a lot of life.  By the end when the heroine finishes unravelling the mystery I was ready to say "Yes, you stupid bitch, we all got that half an hour ago, where were you?"  Unless you like this sort of movie, save it for HBO.

[murdoc]

Shaun of the Dead is supposed to be good.

Shaun of the Dead is a must-see imo.

[Ardent]

Go see Sky Captain.  The story is barely existent, but the movie is deliberately supposed to be campy and retro, so that's a feature, not a bug.

I have had it with movies that are "purposefully" bad because it's "supposed" to be that way. Fuck that shit. If you're going to go through the expense and effort to actually make a movie, an enterprise that consumes millions of dollars and hundreds of people, go through the effort of writing a decent script and hiring good actors or just go away.

I thought "CGI Captain and the World of Bluescreen" was a big pile of ass. Horrible writing, horrible acting, and the effects were not that great. In most of the big set-piece scenes, you could tell the actors were in front of blue screens, there was a complete disconnect between the expressions on their faces and what was "happening" around them. This integration between animation (which is really what it is) and the real-life actors was done much better in "Who Framed Roger Rabbit", which was made 15 years ago.

And don't even get me started on Gwenyth Paltrow's nails-on-a-chalkboard performance. "CGI Captain" is worth seeing for one scene: when Jude Law hauls off and socks her in the face, knocking her unconsicous. I had been wanting to do the same thing for the past hour and a half.

A good movie I've seen lately? I enjoyed "Hero".

[schild]

If you like sports movies, Wimbledon is more about tennis than romantic comedy. It's quite good, some of the scenes are brilliantly filmed. It's just a rather well constructed movie - and Bettany is always entertaining. Oh and Kirsten Dunst is a lot of hot in that flick. I suggest seeing it if you don't mind tennis.

[Dark Vengeance]

I haven't been to the movies lately except to see Wimbledon. The wife likes romantic comedies (SHOOT ME PLEASE) and I like tennis, so I didn't mind going.

I don't know who to rip on more....you for being completely whipped, or your wife for marrying a gay guy.

Just kidding. Couldn't resist that setup.

Bring the noise.
Cheers..............

[Samwise]

Go see Sky Captain.  The story is barely existent, but the movie is deliberately supposed to be campy and retro, so that's a feature, not a bug.

I have had it with movies that are "purposefully" bad because it's "supposed" to be that way.

Campy and retro != "bad" unless you dislike campy, retro films.  Like kaid said, it's old-school Buck Rogers stuff.  Some like it, some agin it.


Forgot to mention that I also saw Shaun of the Dead, perhaps because it wasn't so much a movie as pure unadulterated joy.  It was very clever, and funny, and occasionally disturbing.  Fans of zombie movies will find nothing to complain about.  Non-fans of zombie movies will quite likely also like it.

[Murgos]

I had a big grin on my face several times watching Sky Captain just due to sheer fun they had with the subject matter.  Rocket sleds, giant flying robots with laser beams eyes, rocket ships with fins, airplanes that fly... well go see the movie I wont spoil where they fly, dinosaurs, mutants, sexy hot android chicks.

You get the picture yet?  The story may hav eonly been adequate and the acting may have been so-so but the movie itself was first rate.

Persons lacking any credible resemblance to an imagination need not apply.

[Polysorbate80]

Wife and I both loved "Sky Captain."

It's 1940s-50s pulp science fiction, deliberately.  If you have no interest in nostalgia, don't bother with it.

If you do, then it's even better to see it in a theatre, where you can listen to the little kids enjoying the movie...surprisingly, they didn't seem turned off by the retro-ness.

They did make me feel old at the end though, when one of them asked "What's a lens cap?"

[stray]

I have no problem with retro movies, per se. It's just that I don't like films (or any form of art) that places style over substance. I'll dog plenty of non-retro films because of that mistake, so why should I excuse another film for it just because it's "retro"?

Plenty of retro type flicks have offered more than just camp or imitation (Indiana Jones or John Waters for example). So it's not a like a requirement that a film has to be shitty or something. It's only the bad ones that seem to stress that point.

[Ardent]

Fans of zombie movies will find nothing to complain about.

Cool deal, I'll have to check it out.

I'm sure it's not as good as Dead Alive, but that's not only the best zombie movie ever made, it could very well be the best movie, period, ever made.

[SurfD]

Count me into the camp of people who enjoyed Sky Captian.  It was campy/cheesy, and very retro, but that was entirely what made it so much fun to watch.

Havent seen Shaun of the Dead yet, but I plan to as soon as I get a morning shift at work (so I can pop into the theatre as soon as I punch out).

As for upcoming movies (surprised no one has mentioned these yet), I am eagerly awaiting The Incredibles, the new offering from the true gods of the CGI movie, Pixar (thank god they finally got out from under Disney's thumb)
I am also intreagued by Flight of the Pheonix (cant find a website for it, but it appears to be a remake of an earlier film by the same name).

[MrHat]

Shaun of the Dead is fucking fantastic.  My gf wasn't as enthused about it as I was, but she's not into funny things I suppose.

I will second (or third?) the vote for Wimbelton if you dont' mind tennis.  The acting is great, the plot is ok (chick flick), and the tennis is actually fun to watch for being CG.

[AOFanboi]

I'm sure it's not as good as Dead Alive

This would be the Peter Jackson masterpiece called "Braindead" in the rest of the world?

 - Stand back, son, this calls for divine intervention!

 - Party's over!

 - We haven't seen Mother yet...

[Polysorbate80]

I have no problem with retro movies, per se. It's just that I don't like films (or any form of art) that places style over substance. I'll dog plenty of non-retro films because of that mistake, so why should I excuse another film for it just because it's "retro"?

Plenty of retro type flicks have offered more than just camp or imitation (Indiana Jones or John Waters for example). So it's not a like a requirement that a film has to be shitty or something. It's only the bad ones that seem to stress that point.

And this one is definitely _all_ about the style; wacky 'science', stereotype characters, cheesy plot and all.  Not a flick for everyone.

But it nailed that style perfectly, and I for one enjoyed the heck out of it :)

[HaemishM]

I would go see Wimbledon, but frankly, I liked it better when it was called Notting Hill.

And please, whoever mentioned John Waters, don't. Ever. Again. This clueless fairy is the cinematic equivalent of Ex-Lax.

[NowhereMan]

I enjoyed Shaun of the Dead but I wouldn't rate it as well as everyone else seems to. It's a funny film but I just felt at points it was a bit too predictable, though perhaps having watched Spaced a lot (Comedy series that most of the actors and writers were involved in and in fact a scene of which inspired this movie) and was just a bit overexposed to the humour. But yeah if you like Zombie films it's a must.

[Zetleft]

I was so pissed off, Shaun of the Dead gets this nice big spread in the local paper about  it opening friday AND NONE OF THE THEATRES ARE SHOWING IT.  God I hate this city.  Went to see Sky Captain instead and had a good time though, its such a fun flick.  One gripe, with the name Sky Captain you'd think it would spend a bit more time... I don't know flying around shooting things.

[Evil Elvis]

Shaun of the Dead is pretty good.  I think you can get it on DVD if you can't see it at your theatre.  The jokes are dead on, but they're just a little too sparse to make the film great.

Sky Captain... it's a bearable waste of a few hours.  Nice retro cgi.  Good kid movie.  But if I had to watch it again, I think the horrible dialog would be enough to make me stop watching after a few minutes.   Paltro needs to shut up and look pretty.  Her not speaking is probably a huge factor in me liking The Royal Tenenbaums so much (Paltro, Owens, and Stiller together, and it doesn't suck?  Surely the devil is involved).

[Shannow]

I'm sure it's not as good as Dead Alive

This would be the Peter Jackson masterpiece called "Braindead" in the rest of the world?

 - Stand back, son, this calls for divine intervention!

 - Party's over!

 - We haven't seen Mother yet...

EDIT: I'm a dumbarse...
not braindead...but Peter Jacksons first film..

Bad Taste..
 -

Greatest

Movie

Ever.


'Im a Derek, and Derek's dont run.'

[Sky]

Dude...you came one word away from summoning the Great Evil. Be more careful next time.

[SirBruce]

Sky Captain was good.  I'm hoping to see Shaun of the Dead today or Friday or Saturday.

Bruce

[Ardent]

Shaun of the Dead is fucking fantastic.

Absolutely. I haven't laughed that hard in a movie in a long, long time. Brilliant.

Did you know the guy who played Shaun co-wrote the movie? Guy's name is Simon Pegg, and we're going to be seeing a lot more of him, he (and the rest of the cast) did a fantastic job.

[Margalis]

I will second (or third?) the vote for Wimbelton if you dont' mind tennis.  The acting is great, the plot is ok (chick flick), and the tennis is actually fun to watch for being CG.

CG Tennis...are you serious? WHY? What next, CG of someone eating a sandwhich. Is it that hard to just film tennis?

Can anyone clue me in on why TENNIS would be CG?