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

The first Transformers was so incredibly infantile that I actually found it offensive. Sitting through another is not something I would even consider.

Originally Posted by txa1265
So if I agree with most people that the first one was terrific as mindless spectacle but terrible as a movie … then this is worse?

If you didn't like the first one you're most certainly not gonna like this one. This one is even less serious, with loads of jokes of funny moments, and awful sentimental moments. Other than that it's a real blast for people that like CGI-oriented movies.

If you're going to see it for the wrong reasons, a good plot, good script, good acting, you're wasting your money. If you like picking up your jaw from the awesome special effects it's well worth your money.

Originally Posted by JDR13
The first Transformers was so incredibly infantile that I actually found it offensive. Sitting through another is not something I would even consider.

That's because you went to see it for all the wrong reasons. The only real reason to see these movies is to see bad-ass robots battling it out in all.

Originally Posted by danutz_plusplus
That's because you went to see it for all the wrong reasons. The only real reason to see these movies is to see bad-ass robots battling it out in all.

I went to see it because I was a fan of Transformers as a kid, but even the original 1980's cartoon series had more serious dialogue than the movie. The few decent battles didn't make up for the overall silliness of the movie imo.

Originally Posted by JDR13
I went to see it because I was a fan of Transformers as a kid, but even the original 1980's cartoon series had more serious dialogue than the movie. The few decent battles didn't make up for the overall silliness of the movie imo.

I only remember the special effects from the first movie too, if anything. So I'm with Mike: pretty good as a mindless action flick, terrible as anything else. Haven't seen the second movie yet, although this excerpt of a review on Transbuddha might reflect your own opinion:

Originally Posted by Cap'n Carrot
I hated Michael Bay’s first Transformers, and this second installment is more of the same only longer, louder, sleazier, and (if possible) dumber.

Part Deux is filled with lazy humor, cheap gags (such as multiple shots of humping dogs and robots), a confusing and ridiculous plot (which is so inane characters twice have to stop and explain it not only to us but each other), big, though not too impressive, special effects, and little else. It’s obvious that Bay and screenwriters Ehren Kruger, Roberto Orci, and Alex Kurtzman love robots (wait, it took three of you to write this movie?). What isn’t obvious is if they give two shits about Transformers, or their fans.

The scripts, dialogs, bad jokes, etc are worse in Transformers 2 if compared to the first one, but i think all the actions are still pretty awesome.

Transformers 2: I only went because my son loves this franchise. The battle scenes were neat, but the extraneous scenes were a little too silly.

Doubt: I very much enjoyed this film. Meryl Streep was wonderful. I liked the ending that was left to interpretation.

Originally Posted by Remus
The scripts, dialogs, bad jokes, etc are worse in Transformers 2 if compared to the first one, but i think all the actions are still pretty awesome.

Pretty much what I'm thinking, except for the jokes which were sometimes funny.

The guy that said the CG isn't that impressive has no idea what he's talking about. ILM really outdid themselves.

Originally Posted by danutz_plusplus
That's because you went to see it for all the wrong reasons. The only real reason to see these movies is to see bad-ass robots battling it out in all.

See, now that was exactly my first problem w/ the first Transformers - I went for exactly that reason and BARELY got what i came for! Seriously, the freakin camerawork in the film is so horribly done and shot so close-up, you could barely at any given time get what the hell was going on in the battle. The freeway battle was the only time where the camera was actually zoomed out enough to give you a good view of the melee action going down, where you could see the flow of the fight and root for your guy. Rest of the time, all I saw was big chunks of steel and concrete flashing by the zoomed camera, crashes/bangs/explosions and then a shot of a robot getting to his feet again. Wait for the dust to settle and see who's left. Utterly lazy use of great CGI.

Worse yet, the bots didnt have their original color schemes, so in the midst of battle it's anyone's guess which robot's which.

I was pretty disappointed, the best part of the movie was a few transformations and Megan Fox's bod.

Sonny happens to be a big fan pf Pinocchio, and today I remembered that I own the DVD of Aldiss'/Watson's/Kubricks's/Spielberg's A.I., so I watched part of it together with Sonny.
Funny.
I thought the flick was 'subterranean' (to use a Germanism) when I saw it for the first time: glaring logic holes regarding story and background (I mean, I knew the Aldiss story, but I'm talking about the movie here), incredible, unbearable pathos. But… this time around, I actually liked it. I mean, I knew what was coming, so I could watch it in a different way. All logic holes aside (my suspension of disbelief tends toward infinity… I usually believe it all, because I want to)… it was fun to watch!
And guess what? Sonny is in love with the nanny mecha.

Originally Posted by xSamhainx
See, now that was exactly my first problem w/ the first Transformers - I went for exactly that reason and BARELY got what i came for! Seriously, the freakin camerawork in the film is so horribly done and shot so close-up, you could barely at any given time get what the hell was going on in the battle. The freeway battle was the only time where the camera was actually zoomed out enough to give you a good view of the melee action going down, where you could see the flow of the fight and root for your guy. Rest of the time, all I saw was big chunks of steel and concrete flashing by the zoomed camera, crashes/bangs/explosions and then a shot of a robot getting to his feet again. Wait for the dust to settle and see who's left. Utterly lazy use of great CGI.

Worse yet, the bots didnt have their original color schemes, so in the midst of battle it's anyone's guess which robot's which.

I was pretty disappointed, the best part of the movie was a few transformations and Megan Fox's bod.

Interesting. I never had any problems distinguishing who's who. I found the camera-work was great, with some magnificent angles to show off the bots. Some of my favorite moments: when that chopper-bot (no idea what his name is) attacks the military base in the beginning; the battle with the scorpion-bot (the way he leaps from underground is great); and my all-time favorite scene is the final city battle. What an unbelievable scene. Robots skating across the concrete throwing missiles left and right while doing vaults over each other, one bot thrusts his engines into the pavement and completely tares it appart, etc etc.

I may feel like a kid while watching it, but what's wrong with that.

I watched a movie called 'Blood Diamond' last night; WOW that was really good, IMO. Not something for youngsters, but it was pretty much a true story about the brutality of the diamond trade in Africa, with some great acting, and Leonardo DeCaprio is really becoming a great actor, and proves it again in this movie.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0450259/

Havent seen this, but it's a new one in the vein of Machine Girl, maybe a little crazier-
Robo-Geisha
Looks interesting = ]

Watched U-Turn the other night. Kinda lame, but the sight of Jennifer Lopez at least made it watchable. I dont care what anyone says, I think J-lo is one smokin broad!

@Sam: Fried Shrimp?

Originally Posted by Sir Markus
I watched a movie called 'Blood Diamond' last night; WOW that was really good, IMO.

I saw it some time ago and thought it was great. I don't particularly like DiCaprio, but he was pretty good in this movie!

Watched Inkheart with the Wild Dogs last night. A nice ride, but more holes than a doughnut factory. Would have been a tad disappointed had we paid theatre prices to see this one.

Originally Posted by Remus
The scripts, dialogs, bad jokes, etc are worse in Transformers 2 if compared to the first one, but i think all the actions are still pretty awesome.

Transformers 2 and Star Trek have two things in common: Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman (the writers). I'm usually not to picky on the story & dialog, but the latest writing from these two clowns is horrible .. just horrible.

The Taking of Pelham 123
A VERY entertaining show. While the action is decent and the plot is solid, it's the script that really makes this one a winner. There's all sorts of little snarky one liners tucked into the midst of this tense thriller and they're really funny. Travolta has really found a niche playing intelligent villains and Denzel does a nice job making his character believeable. Don't know that there's anything that wouldn't translate to the small screen, but this one is worth full theatre price.

Babylon AD
Stink, stank, stunk. Not very good as an action movie, and fails on the other angles it attempts. Shoulda left this one on the Blockbuster shelf.

I watched Equilibrium.

Again.

Enjoyed it.

Again!

We saw Up the other day … one of the best movies I've seen recently. Amazing how they can make characters look like caricatures yet also portray genuine sympathetic emotions.

Saw The Sixth Sense again. Great movie.