What I've Been Watching: The Catch-All Film Thread

Seen the 10,000 BC; basically Canon the Barbarian + Apocalypto. What else would come from Roland Emmerich? just another typical commercial film. Not a bad film really, if you like action + heroism + safe your girl from bad guys, it's all in it for ya.
 
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Not exactly a movie, but I picked up the DVD set of "Space: Above and Beyond" over the weekend. The show only lasted one season, but I really enjoyed it back in the day. Watched the 2 hour pilot last night and will start working thru the episodes soon. Good times.
 
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Watched 'Day Watch' on Netflix last night. Russian with subtitles. It was actually very well done. I found Night Watch pretty mediocre, so I had low expectations going in. However the flow of the movie and the acting and chemistry between characters all worked quite well. I *still* don't like how much they messed with the books, but at least it is a decent flick.
 
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Saw Cloverfield last night at the dollar show. While it was entertaining... I'm glad I didn't pay full price for it.
 
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10,000 BC

Took my gf to see it. Truthfully, I thought it was pretty retarded.

I'm not one of those types who are going to sit there and hammer on things like good looking paleolithic hunter/gatherers hoofing it 7K years to ancient egypt to take the fight to the bad guys or anything like that. I know it's not historically accurate, I know it's preposterous to have wooley mammoths trucking blocks of stone up the sides of the pyramids, it's not that. It was just so damn trite and predictable. I laughed at every development, it was just one of the most predictable movies that Ive seen in years. I was bored stiff between bursts of spontaneous laughter, it was pretty strange.

In comes the dulcet tone of the serious narrarator, warbling on about times of prophecy and lands of this and that. Here's the mystical child. Here's the wise old woman who's gonna gasp and see visions, here's the outcast who's destined to be the hero, roll out the bad guys, here's the animal saved leaping in to save the day later, oh she's dead NO SHE'S NOT REALLY dead... 123 abc, my GOD I must have rolled my eyes 15 times during this film. And through the whole thing, you have primitive man speaking like they stepped off the set of any other movie, perfect english.

Seriously, I found no redeeming qualities in this film whatsoever. And the arch-bad guys looked like a bunch of freakin desert drag queens.

I have to be careful tho. I'm still learning about women at the ripe old age of 36. As I was sorta chuckling at the latest main character's overblown, sappily-scored, slo-mo death scene that gave all the emotional resonance of seeing Bugs Bunny cavort around clutching his chest croaking "arg! they got me!"... I looked over and saw my dear's eyes filled w/ tears.

Ooops.

I have nothing against that, I like it actually. She's emotional, she's able to suspend reality and just be entertained. She's a girl, she cries at sappy love stories and heroes dying and such. In fact, I adore that, it made me like her all the more. Probably didnt endear me to her any more tho, here I'm snickering away like some ghoul at a depiction of death. It wasnt death to me tho, it was "action movie ending #12" (see below if you dont mind spoilers)

So I'm just a callous and insensitive male, or Ive just seen far too many of these things, or maybe the movie just flat-out sucked and I was indifferent to seeing Main Character B whacked. Probably a combination of all, but I'm leaning toward the movie sucking eggs being the prominent factor.

action movie ending #12:
Bad guy has just been killed, but he's not really dead. No, he's got just enough piss and vinegar left in him to smite Love Interest #1. This means nothing anyway in the long run however, because even tho LI#1 apparently dies, by some deus ex machina ("power of love" etx) LI#1's eyes flutter open, his or her chest heaves, the bad guy croaks, and everyone goes home happy.
 
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Oh dear, Sammy!! Have you ever got a lot of 'real' horror to look forward to as this relationship of yours progresses!! :) High level action films I'm sent to watch alone, but soppy chick flicks I have NO choice but to watch with the resident females!! Get used to it!! :biggrin:
 
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Oh, poor Sammy :). When I was younger, I used to be the terror of the theaters, the one who laughed at e every horror movie death scene. Most of my friends - male and female alike - were afraid to take me with them when they went to see a movie because I would laugh at all the wrong places and other visitors would laugh at me.
With advancing age I turned into someone people were afraid to take with them because they feared my neverending stream of tears. What, titles start rolling? Boohoo! What, a pop ad? Boohoohoo! Seriously, though, I became much more emotional over the years. But I'm still not going to see chick flicks.
 
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Yep, me too. Chick flicks generally are so stereotyped and formulaic that you sit there resenting every tear they pull out of you. I still like the old forties movies though, like Casablanca and African Queen even if I do go through a box of kleenex. I flooded the theater in Gone with the Wind. :)

If a movie can genuinely make me cry because it's really really good--believable, poignant whatever, that's appropriate I think. But I've always been a cryer anyway. It all started back when I first saw John Wayne die at the Alamo. (When you're twelve, that should just NOT happen, I don't care how historically accurate it was ;) )

This last weekend we finally got the original Conan movie from Netflix after queuing for it for months and yep--I cried when the theif chick came back from the dead to fight at his side (and save his bacon ) But that was worth it.

Don't worry, Sammy, you don't have to cry, too--just muffle your amusement and be strong and stalworth--it's a great opportunity to give a strong supportive hug and a comforting pat on the shoulder. :)
 
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Watched 'Day Watch' on Netflix last night. Russian with subtitles. It was actually very well done. I found Night Watch pretty mediocre, so I had low expectations going in. However the flow of the movie and the acting and chemistry between characters all worked quite well. I *still* don't like how much they messed with the books, but at least it is a decent flick.

Did you watch the unedited versions or the much shorter "western" cut?
 
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Did you watch the unedited versions or the much shorter "western" cut?

Unedited. They are good, it is just the old 'book is much better' thing. And having bought into the book, and liking the way the magic system played out in the games, I really missed it in the movies. There was a lot of non-action hanging about in the second book that was really nice as well.

Oh, and for Jaz and magerette, I personally love watching a good 'chick flick' every now and then - it is like nice warm comfort food on a cold winter day :)
 
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Well, the other day i watched "Dr. Seuss' Horton Hears a Who" with my date. Not an incredibly funny movie, but it did provides some good laughs...I suspected that she like action movie more...
 
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Took my boys to see Horton Hear A Who... they liked it quite a bit... so that was a fun outing.

Then, last night I went and saw Vantage Point. I thought it was okay... not stellar. It was well paced though... I never got bored. I would say it was almost worth the price I paid to see it ;)
 
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Promised to take the Wild Dogs to Horton tomorrow, so I'm happy to hear the positive review, narpet.
 
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My wife took the boys on Monday (had no school for a teacher development day) and they really liked it (10 & 11.5 yr old boys)
 
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I watched 300 last night, and I'm still undecided about what to make of it. I know it was based on a comic book, but I guess it wasn't supposed to be comical. Dialogues were so over the top and full of bathos, though, they had me in stitches most of the time. The rest, well... jack-off material, hands down, though more people should have been decapitated to raise the quota, or at least worn paper bags over their heads. As a silent movie and shortened to perhaps an hour (just the beautiful battle scenes - there was only one yucky scene in the whole movie and even that wasn't too yucky) the flick might have worked for me, but at least now I know when to hit the 'fast forward' button.
And it, too, reminded me of Philippe Druillet's comic book adaptation of Salammbo from 1980+. Both cover historical battles from the BC area, both feature weird designs and mutants, just that Druillet's comic preceded Miller's by 18 years (...does that make 300 the son of Salammbo?).
 
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Unrest
=====

Not much gore fest but the film apparently a different kind of horror movie. You don't see monster jump out from the dark or sudden loud noise that trying to scare you. Instead, the film has better dialogue, more realistic story and better acting by it casts than most horror flicks.

http://www.dreadcentral.com/node/11193
 
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Had a vampire double feature last week--watched the original silent version of Nosferatu followed by Shadow of the Vampire from the Connoisseur's List of Horror--both excellent, but Nosferatu seriously needs a more in-tune-with-things soundtrack--some of the spookiest visuals were spoiled by cheery, perky Baroque tiptoe through the tulips music, and the rest of the soundtrack was just annoying. Watching it first though really made Shadow of the Vampire much more effective--excellent flick, great performances by Dafoe and Malkovich, probably one of the best genre take-off movies I've ever seen, and without diluting any of the gruesome and the creepy. Good stuff.

Edit: Thanks Jaz for tipping me off to 300. Took it off my list--I had my doubts but was going to give it a shot, but after your description think I'll pass. Oh--like the avatar as well. :)
 
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Edit: Thanks Jaz for tipping me off to 300. Took it off my list--I had my doubts but was going to give it a shot, but after your description think I'll pass. Oh--like the avatar as well. :)
Mmmh... I don't know, you might like it after all. My friends all loved it and I'm pretty sure they thought I was weird for not raving about it. I can't say I didn't enjoy it, but there were certain parts I didn't enjoy, as stated.
The avatar is a 'total conversion' of Link. I needed a picture of a Nagai child for a Star Wars campaign a few years ago, and young Link was a good starting point.
 
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I've seen Cloverfield. And man was it cool. J J Abrams(LOST:D) did great.:D I can't remember the last time I had goosebumps while watching a movie.:D

It looked great, the cg was cool, and even though the events were seen thought the 'eyes' of a hand-cam it has some really great looking scenes.
Like the one where an F117 bombs the beast.
 
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