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

Damnation Alley

Being an avid fan of the post-apocalyptic genre, I was incredibly surprised to stumble across this movie for the first time simply by way of the latest Chris Avellone interview.

…And there was a good reason I had never heard of it. Despite having three actors I recognized immediately (and a very young Jackie Earle Haley), it is bogged down by a silly plot and cringe-worthy special effects. Its only saving grace is that it might have just been the inspiration for Radroaches and Radscorpions. :p

So bad.

Horrible, horrible movie!
 
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I watched Damnation Alley a couple of months ago. It's really amazing how they've wasted such a good cast. Peppard, the young JM Vincent, Paul Winfield, the French woman - they all had nothing to do. The film had a couple of nice set pieces and these trucks, but that's it.
 
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Looked at "Over The Hedge" for the first time this evening (on DVD).

Extremely crazy & fun film, although very fast-paced also. People who have a hard time grasping fast-paced movies should not better look at this one - or several times.
 
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fast-paced

Seen it available for rent recently, but didn't bother to grab that one. I thought it's yet another yucky expensive kid crap stuff slow as hell so presumably retarded audience can catch it up. ;)
Okay, I'm getting it tomorrow or in a next few days and will be back with comments.
 
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If you can get it for cheap - it's imho definitively worth looking at it at least once.

But - the protagonists are talking sooooo fast, and action takes place quite fast as well, so I thought the term "fast-paced" would be appropriate. ;)

I liked the plot as well … - well, not really the plot itself, but the way it unfolds.

And for one of the main protagonists ... I was thinking of one particular forum member here, he's green in the movie ... ;)
 
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Oh dear. I saw Abraham Lincoln - Vampire Hunter last night. I had'nt even heard of the movie up to last night when I said 'yes' to my friend who wanted to see it. Usually, I like trashy movies - really, I do. But this was not trashy enough to appeal to me. Besides, there was not enough humor and far too much pathos for my taste.
 
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THere is a novel with the same title out there, if I recall correctly. And Sissi, too. Yes, THE Sissi. ;)
 
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Oh dear. I saw Abraham Lincoln - Vampire Hunter last night. I had'nt even heard of the movie up to last night when I said 'yes' to my friend who wanted to see it. Usually, I like trashy movies - really, I do. But this was not trashy enough to appeal to me. Besides, there was not enough humor and far too much pathos for my taste.

THere is a novel with the same title out there, if I recall correctly. And Sissi, too. Yes, THE Sissi. ;)

Book definitely better than movie ... as usual. But the humor was totally lost.
 
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Yes ? Okay, I'll keep that in mind ...
 
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Just watch the Omen, great old movie. Now going to watch Omen III, the final conflict.
It sucks that they don't have Omen II on Netflix instant watch!
 
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Watched Snow White and the Huntsman.

Very good movie, I give it 5/5 stars.

The evil stepmother totally stole the movie. The huntsman was pretty cool also.
 
I finally saw Prometheus and... it sucked.

What should have been a movie with deep philosophical questions and amazing cinematography turned out to be just another summer blockbuster. Incoming rants... and spoilers.

First of all I'd like to say that the premise is great and the beginning is quite promising. Until the crew of the ship is introduced and the things start going downhill. They are not prepared in any way for their mission and it seems really idiotic that humanity would send people like these for such a mission. For example, just minutes after the 'scientists' are taking off their helmets, on the basis of 'it seems fine to me', dipping their fingers into strange organic ooze, and lugging a severed alien head back to an unquarantined spaceship in a sandwich bag. What kind of science team is this? Then they take the head back to the ship and stimulate the head electrically to reanimate it like in old Frankenstein movies. Of course it is not mentioned why would they use such a rudimentary thing and why they are "guessing" how to do it, after all we are talking only about the most important discovery in our human history. Doesn't matter though, because in the end they blow it up anyway. Another thing that I don't understand is the fact that they took off their helmets. Yes the atmosphere was suitable for breathing but didn't they mind the fact that on this planet they were the aliens probably interfering with the planet's ecosystem and maybe other life forms? Even so, humans need the suits in order to survive on the surface but in one scene near the end we see Elizabeth in the suit but without gloves. What the hell? The characters were mediocre at best at I never felt attached to any of them.

Moving on to the movie's theme, again there are major problems. This should be a prequel to Alien however I have not seen any real evidence that would suggest this. Even so, trying to explain the origin of human life and why we were made (if we were indeed made) is really confusing in this movie. Ok so we were made by these "engineers" but we assume this just because we have similar DNA? Given the fact that they were obviously superior to us in every possible way, isn't it at least possible that they could change the shape of their DNA over time? Don't even get me started on the carbon dating scene.

There would still be a lot of things to say about the movie but at this point I suppose that everyone reading this understands where I'm coming from. The weak plot, weak cast, the failure do deliver some tension and suspense totally killed the movie. I was still waiting for the "alienesque" scenes where the female protagonist would remain alone and fight the aliens, I was still waiting for the tension to rise, I was waiting for an alien to burst out of someone's chest as a tribute to the first movie, but nothing happened.

If you want to see a good movie on this theme go look at 2001 A Space Odyssey. Much better in every possible way.

ps: Just at the end of the movie we see a spaceship taking off. What is that supposed to mean?
 
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Noomi Rapace. And not the theory, you gave the correct answer where she went.

Shame on you. Watch Millenium - but not the Hollywood remake.
Oh you ment the role name? Meh.. Who cares. ;)

Anyway guys… How come we don't have catch-all series thread? I'd like to share my favorite soap-opera titles. :D
 
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Anyway guys… How come we don't have catch-all series thread? I'd like to share my favorite soap-opera titles. :D
Create one ^^.
 
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Skyfall 7.5/10

The first two thirds of the movie were fantastic. Great characters and wonderful locations. Beautifully shot, great music, etc.

But after a certain character is encountered and his plan is set into motion, the plot holes start popping up and the story goes downhill and ends up underwhelming and predictable.

That's a real shame, because if it had kept up the pace and stayed consistent - it would have been the best Bond of all time. As is, it's definitely up there with the best of them - but falls short of true greatness.

But I LOVED that it was character driven - and that they made Bond a more human character. A good and believable balance - all things considered.
 
Skyfall 7.5/10

That's good - and bad - to hear. My older son is just dying to see this in a couple of weeks when it hits here. I look at it this way - I went to see 'greats' like Moonraker in theaters ... so it is all upside from there! :)
 
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Create one ^^.

I would but I'm not a troll enough to start something like that, plus I don't have a series masterpiece in my country to share in the first post like for example Dartagnan could (Forbrydelsen).
 
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