A few films I've seen recently

Naffa

Naffa

Naffa

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**MILD SPOILER WARNING**

Fight Club
What an awesome film. I really didn't know what to expect of this film, but I think that whatever I was expecting, this film was nothing like it. Really great plot, great acting, great twist. I just can't believe I hadn't seen it before.

Equilibrium
I hadn't heard of this before, but someone described the story to me, and I thought it sounded quite good. Then I found out that Christian Bale was playing the lead role, so I my expectation suddenly shot up. Again, not really what I expected. I think the idea of the Grammaton Cleric, and the idea of Prozium could have easily been the main themes in two separate films. I love how awesome it is when they find the thing in Christian Bale's boot and he has to hurt them all. But I wish the people he was beating up felt better than they were. I love the fact he can kick all of their arses, but I wish it felt like they were harder to beat than they did. But all in all, an enjoyable film and I don't know why I hadn't heard of it sooner. Christian Bale is enough to sell it to me though. :cool:

Zatoichi
If any of you have seen the film Blind Fury, then this is the film that Blind Fury was based upon. Zatoichi is a Japanese folk hero. He's totally blind ninja, and he kicks arse. It's such a cool film to watch, seeing a blind masseur just kick twenty odd people's arse. It's a Japanese film though, and you can really feel that. I personally really like the feel of it, but it is very different to a Western film. I think it's a really good action film to watch, especially if you like films you can make manly noises to.

Reign Of Fire
I actually watched this when it came out at the cinema and wasn't that impressed. But my brother has the DVD so I thought I'd watch it. You can imagine how pleased I was when it started and I found out that Christian Bale was again, the lead actor. And you can imagine how much happier I got when I realised that Gerard Butler was the support actor. :D I couldn't help but imagine him stopping mid sentence and shouting: "This is SPARTAAAA!!1!". I really appreciate this film a lot more now, than I did when I first watched it. I like the idea behind the story line, I like how it's been pulled off, I love the acting, and I love the feel of the film.

Stranger Than Fiction
I did watch this a while ago, but never really said anything about it. But what can I say? It's totally sublime. I love the fact that Will Farrell isn't following his typical type casted role. He gives such a fantastic performance in this film, and it's so moving that I can't really even compare it to other films of the same genre. I'm not really one for watching chick flicks (that's what this film is, right?) by myself, but I did this one, and really enjoyed it. I'd be lying if I said I didn't shed a tear or two (well, a lot more than that) as well. I'd definitely definitely recommend this, if only for Will Farrell's performance in it. A truly fantastic film.

I hope this is of use to someone, somewhere. :)

PS If you've seen a film that you liked/didn't like recently, then could you post a few words about it please. :) I love little comments like that, they help my decide on new films to buy. :D
 
Rescue Dawn
This is a film I hadn't even heard about until I saw it in a shop, and it's absolutely fan-tabulous. Starring Christian Bale, it has a great atmosphere and really draws you into the movie. Although it's a prisoner movie, it often has some very thoughtful and hilarious lines of dialogue. I enjoyed this movie lots. :)

You Kill Me
This movie, I thoroughly enjoyed. It's centered around a foreign hitman in American, played by Ben Kingsley (whom I love) who has a little problem in regards to his job, so he goes off to clear his mind and 'get it together'. What follows is just an amazing script that relies heavily on very witty and dark comedy.

Knocked Up
Classic comedy. Starring one of the guys from '40yr Old Virgin' who I didn't think much of, but he gives a very good performance in this one. A little story of life and responsibilities, will make you laugh all the way through and even cringe at some of the things that are said. Watch this with an audience. :)
 
American History X
I'd seen this before, but watched it again at the weekend. An incredibly powerful story about the effects of extreme racism. Edward Norton is brilliant (as always), and all the characters are totally believable (yeah, I'm looking at you Spike Lee.

American Gangster
I don't think I've ever seen Denzel Washington in a bad film. This film is a masterpiece about a below-the-radar heroin dealer (Mr Washington) and a mentalist copper (Mr Crowe) whose paths run parallel and eventually cross, leading to a gun battle with the best sounds since the night club scene in Collateral.

also: I'm really glad to see someone recommending Stranger than Fiction - I cried like a baby when I watched that film. I love that Will Ferrel can do serious
 
Strange Circus
Badly - and inaccruately - marketed as an erotic thriller, this film about a daughter's confusion of sexual identity and ensuing vengence on her abusive parents starts out beautifully presented, but ends up relying too heavily on sountrack and flair for effect. The script ends up becoming a little too overdone, bullying the same points again and again so what originally started out as a clever premise ends up getting flogged to death and dragged out by the final half hour. Well done for what it is, though could have done with a soupcon less glibness.

Hostel
A trio of backpackers make their way to Slovakia on a tip-off from someone they meet in Amsterdam, having been told that a hostel there contains women who will be willing to have copious amounts of sex with any foreigner. After a while it becomes apparent that the hostel is purely a gateway to an underground business where unsuspecting tourists are tortured to satisfy the fantasies of depraved rich businessmen.

In spite of the fact that many found the film mediocre or over-the-top, it does still manage to entertain. Fernandez does a great job of being a likeable lead man and in spite of the rather unnecessary amount of nudity, the film does manage to remain suspenseful and thrilling. There are, of course, multiple gore scenes, but that should hardly come as a surprise to anyone sitting down to watch this kind of movie.

Gou yeung yi sang (Dr. Lamb)
So-so category III thriller about a sexually repressed man who kills girls and photographs them naked, believing he is carrying out some sort of divine duty on the impure.

Like Danny Lee's more infamous film, The Untold Story, Dr Lamb is still tongue in cheek occasionally, though sometimes this unintentionally turns into farce. Not particularly gory or thrilling, it still manages to hold some likeable characterisation like Lee's other movies, which isn't always the case for films in this genre.

Them (Ils)
French film about a couple stalked and terrorised by a group of largely unseen predators. Manages to drag out a lot of horror and suspense cliches whilst still making them effective. Credible for its ability to keep the tension running from the first to the final minute, even though the plot is paper thin.

Secuestro Express
Surprisingly good film about a couple who get kidnapped and the night and day they spend with their attackers. Well done in nearly every way with a superb script and performances. Rawer and less full of itself than other Latin films addressing the horrors of the slumland dystopias.
 
The Man From Earth
A refreshing change. No huge budget, flashy effects or big names.
Just an original, interesting concept.
Very enjoyable :)
 
I saw these three for the first time last week on TV.

Fight Club
I'd watched the beggining a while ago and turned it off because I thought it was a run of the mill fighting/ gang sort of film but decided to give it another chance last week when I was bored and it was on TV. Absolutely fantastic film. The twist is awesome, the characters are good and the whole club thing is a great idea. Glad I decided to give it another chance, it has an absolutely fantastic ending.

Zatoichi
Watched this on late night TV as well. Great film, quite a different take on the samurai / ninja idea with the use of a blind guy. Again an interesting twist at the end and some very nice costumes and sets. Well worth watching if you like Japanese films.

Dr Strangelove
Finally got around to watching this when it was on TV. Fantastic film, might be black and white but the story is just hilarious. Peter Sellers is fantastic in the film. A true classic Mien Fuhrer!!!


30 Days of Night
Watched this at the cinema, awesome film. I loved the different take on vampires and the whole Eastern European mafia type vibe they gave off. Interesting setting for a vampire film, surprised nobody thought of it before. Quite bloody and gritty.

Beowulf
Watched this at the cinema as well, although sadly not one of the 3D showings. Was quite funny hearing Ray Winstone's cockney accent coming from an ancient norse warrior type. "Lovely jubbly, I've come to fight your monster, me old china". For the first 5 minutes I thought it was some horrible shrek like immitation but then I forgot about the graphics and got caught up in the story, and it's a cracking story. Lots of action and very good monsters.
 
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That's weird that we both watched Fight Club and Zatoichi recently, and I neither watched on TV. :p
 
naffa said:
Zatoichi
Click to expand...

Brilliant film, better if you can watch it in the cinema as it does slightly lose something on the small screen but still fantastic and funnily enough I watched it again recently as I was proving to someone how good it was. The ending sequence is a little bit odd but somehow that fits entirely with the film.

ID
Bought on a whim for about £3, I wasn't expecting much and I got probably the best film about football hooligans I've ever seen. Ok, it doesn't have to go to far to beat Green Street ("look a hobbit indulging in fisticuffs") or Football Factory but those are both reasonably entertaining in their own right and it trumps both by a good margin.

Lucky Number Slevin
Perhaps the most contrived title in cinematic history but a surprisingly good film, provided you take it on its own rather silly level. You aren't watching 12 Angry Men here, it will never be a classic but some funny lines, a bit of violence and Lucy Liu looking attractive - difficult to go too far wrong and doesn't require too much thought.
 
Evan Almighty

Fancied seeing this at the pictures but didnt get to, wathed it last week and whilst I didnt find it amazing, its was reasonable and kept me interested throughout. It has its funny moments, and is a different aspect of comedy films compared to most of the lovey dovey comedy tosh that seems to be arising at the minute.

Good Luck Chuck

Not a bad film, although not brilliant, average at best. Jessica Alba is FIT in it. A story about a guy chasing the girl of his dreams, the usual really then. Its goot its funny moments, and was alright to watch, i didnt find mysself overly bored in it.

American Gangster

Well, what to say, probably the best film ive seen since Transformers. Im a bit of a fan of Denzel Washington, and rarely find him in a crap film, and this one is another great one fron him. When i read what it was about i didnt think it sounded up to much, but its really good as it shows how he went from a low down citizen to very important person. Very good film, albeit long, but definately worth a watch.

Beowulf

In one word...............Crap

Impressive graphics, but i found it very long, dragged out and boring, and i could see everyone at the end twitching to get up and out, me and a mate kept looking at each other praying it would just finish.

Lions for Lambs

This is a strange one, i came out at the end wondering what the film was about, even after just watching it. It seemed very much like a 'support the iraq war' film, kind of what you would see in the news, with some random, psychology in the mix too. However, as small a storyline it seemed to have, and as much politics and talk was in the film I did actually find it quite interesting, and I would watch it again.

I now pronounce you chuck and larry

Found this film reasonable good. A story about 2 firefighters that get married and pretend to be gay incase one of them dies, adn the other gets the insurance money. However, the insurance company and other people do not take belief to their new found gayness, and they are to prove their loyalty to each otehr before they can commit to the insurance contract.
 
and American Psycho, great film. To keep the trend going...

Revolver
I watched this for the first time the other week and found it a very enjoyable film. One of the big plot twist was extremely easy to pick up on however there are so many plot twists by the end of the film it's hard to know what exactly happened. Very well shot but leaves yo a bit unfulfilled at the end unfortunately.

Mr Brooks
Most people don't seem to be fans of Kevin Costner but I like his films (The Untouchables, The Postman [for a little bit of mindless fun]). I think this is one of his best films and the plot is well constructed, it is filmed extremely well. Several mini plots surrounded Mr Brooks all tieing together and it keeps you interested throughout.
 
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Schindler's List

Masterpiece. Thats all I can say. My ex and I sat down to see this the other night as we turned on the TV and it was half way through. I asked her if she had seen it before. She said no. I got the DVD out and slapped it on. She isnt into war films much but this bought out some hate within her.

It was the whole " how can one man do this to so many ". I tried to explain it to her.

The whole film, acting, cast. Unbeliveable. Makes me cry in places. The grittyness of it and the way in which it doesnt say much and you just sit there watching whats happening and you get to feel and experience what the Jews went through, not just them but all casualties of war.

Gripping stuff. 10/10
 
Harsh Times - recommended by deleted
This is a very difficult film to watch. I really don't know what to make of it. I recommend you watch it, but be warned, it is VERY difficult to watch. Christian Bale is the lead actor, and shows yet another totally different character. He performs the role flawlessly, but if you're a fan of Christian Bale, then this will make the film even more difficult to watch.

I've no idea what to rate this as, as I genuinely have no idea whether I loved or loathed it.
 
The Butterfly Effect - Amazing film, very disturbing in parts but generally brilliant. Its got Ashton Kutcher in it which i definetly would'nt of gone for if my cousin had'nt of recommended it, it also has Amy Smart in it from things like Roadtrip and she works well in this simply because she is very attractive ;)
 
Hitman

Better than I expected, but not brilliant. I went in with low expectations, and found its to be quite entertaining, with some cleverly done scenes, although the ending was fairly predictable.

THe guy playing Hitman done a better job than i expected, he wasnt half bad, but Statham would have been better IMO.

A reasonably good film with a fairly well scripted storyline. Worth a watch, but not worth buying IMO.

Transformers

Seen it at the cinema, but got the DVD on saturday. Whats to say, probably one of the best films Ive seen, ever. Brilliant CGI, plenty of action, and hot totty, with fururistic robots and sexy cars, nothing to not like really.

Not the strongest of storylines, but a brilliantly put together film, with brilliant scenes. Only disappointlment was they had the potential for an amazing car chase scene, and it never came off, other than that, brilliant.

11/10
 
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