So I go out on another random movie run looking for buried treasure, so after seeing the awful "Madagascar" I thought I
might check out another Animated movie of th sorts, so I looked at chicken little At about 12:25 or so. But I won't keep you waiting with the boring stuff, Here's the review.
Chicken little is actually the best we've had since the "incredibles" or "Finding nemo", It was a hundred times better than "Robots" and ran circles around "Madagascar". Not a minute goes by where something isn't funny to tell the hones truth. The thing I really liked about this movie is the fact that they went that extra mile to really colorize the characters. The Characters are so awesome, I just loved all of them. Not to mention the fact that the animation they use on "chicken little" is something we haven't seen before, It's a little more chalky, giving out the idea that they aren't trying to look real. They are trying to look unique in a cartoon kind of way. Plus they also try and use the shaky camera effect which animators don't usually use because of the difficulty. After the movie I couldn't help but ask my brother, "who was your favorite character?". There are lots of characters to like here.
It's almost impossible to hate this movie IMO, unless you are looking for the best picture type. I should also warn you, be prepared to see celebrity guest voices in this movie, such as Adam West, the Batman himself. All in all this movie was ALOT better than I expected it to be. It's a good little family movie, and a GREAT time killer. The only real disappointment I had was the fact that it was only 81 minutes long.
"Man Bites Dog (It Happened In Your Neighborhood )"
Ben (Benoit Poelvoorde) is eccentric, witty, intelligent, charming...oh and a serial killer. Filmed by documentary filmmakers looking for a truly evil human being, they follow his every move: from his murders, rapes to his harmless talks about women or chats with his grandparents. As the filmmakers follow this killing specimen, they themselves get rapped up in his own games of sadistic killing, drawing the line in objectivity in film, journalism and the like.
The film shot in documentary style gives it unflinching realism to a sickening in-your-face level. Being shot in black and white reduces any diversions of sights and colors; consequently, this lets you focus on the killer and accomplices actions to the fullest extent. The killings are brutal, without any remorse or sense of pity. Yet with documentary style, it makes the murders so much more realistic than any other type of serial killer movie. To some, the film is considered an black comedy, although the funny parts were pretty thin with all the murder.
Never has a film had a character been so absurdly loony yet still so realistic. Ben has an almost James Bond persona but still has a every day quality that makes him all the more scary. Even as crazy Ben is, it's the documentary film makers that truly change the film. Just starting out filming a psychotic killer, their objectivity goes out the window as they soon become replica's of Ben. At one time, they themselves want to stop filming Ben. They have enough film to make a movie of it, yet they keep coming back to Ben for the interest, pleasure, and fascination. Kinda true about our society. We condone violence, yet we are fascinated by it at the same time.
Man Bites Dog is totally recommended if you loved A Clockwork Orange or Natural Born Killers. It's an terrifying look on violence and violence presented by the media. As Matt Zoller writes in his essay about the film "By the time Man Bites Dog ends, you may wish you'd stopped watching.
But you didn't"
__________________
“As flies to wanton boys are we to the gods, they kill us for their sport.”
Last edited by Dr. Strangelove on Nov 20th, 2005 at 07:43 AM
City of God - (Meirelles, R, 2002): Original and disturbing. Portrays crime and corruption (in the 1960s'-1980s') in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil perfectly. - 10/10
The Blair Witch Project - (Myrick, R, 1999): Great start, horrible ending. - 5/10
Undead- (Spierig, R, 2003): Great stuff. - 7/10
High Tension - (Aja, NC-17, 2003): A gorey "wanna-be-thriller" with horrible dialogue, and a predictable twist. - 3/10
What's Up, Tiger Lily - (Allen, PG, 1966): Not the most entertaining comedy, but it's still funny. - 5/10
Race for Your Life, Charlie Brown! - (Melendez, G, 1977): A wonderful story with fantastic animation sets up for one of the best "Charlie Brown" adventures yet. Although, it was'nt as good as "Bon Voyage, Charlie Brown (and Don't Come Back!)". - 7/10
Gangs of New York - (Scorsese, R, 2002): A terrific, intense, and amazing revenge tale. - 8/10
Jarhead - (Mendes, R, 2005): Dragged out, sloppy, but none-the-less great. With Sarsgaard and Gyllenhaal's amazing performances it's almost ace, pure ace. But the film was dragged down by a sloppy script, and as a result they're sadly left a notch under beautiful. - 9/10
From Dusk Till Dawn - (Rodriguez, R, 1996): If you are looking for a little Halloween movie, with vampire strippers, loads of corney violence, George Clooney, and a Tarantino view of it all, this is your movie. - 6/10
Bon Voyage, Charlie Brown - (Mendez, G, 1980): Magnificent story, magnificent adventure, magnificent characters, magnificent animation. - 8/10
Fritz Lang's M - (Lang, NR, 1931): Peter Lorre made this movie. The beggining is very slow, but the middle starts to pick up it's pace, and in the end, it's two-hours well spent. Not the best two-hours spent though. - 8/10
Christmas with the Kranks - (Roth, PG, 2004): Not great, and definately not good, but I guess you could call it decent. - 4/10
The Matrix - (Wachowski, R, 1999): Great. - 7/10
Donnie Darko: Director's Cut - (Kelly, R, 2001): Donnie Darko is easily one of the best films of all time. It's very strange. But then again, tell me a movie that has a six-foot tall bunny rabbit named Frank who's from the future. Donnie Darko is a hidden gem, more people should really see it. A truely deserving pin-point in movie history. It has a very strong performance by Jake Gyllenhaal (Jarhead) and a memorable directorial debut from Richard Kelly. Amazing, it truely is. - 10/10
The Matrix Reloaded - (Wachowski, R, 2003): The Matrix Reloaded puts itself in a pickle. By viewing this, most people would think nothing of it, but what they can't see, is that it flows much better. It's much harder to understand, but once you do understand, it's a lot more entertaining than the first. It answers all of the questions from the original, and makes a few more too. It's much better than The Matrix, but not too much better. - 7/10
Harold and Kumar Go To White Castle - (Leiner, R, 2004): Harold and Kumar Go To White Castle is a teen movie, but it succeeds at being a hilarious adventure. - 8/10
Pulp Fiction - (Tarantino, R, 1994): Tarantino's second flick is a lot better than the first. Although, that isn't saying much considering they're both masterpieces. Easily one of the best and influencial films of all time. - 10/10
Reservoir Dogs - (Tarantino, R, 1992): Tarantino's directorial debut is one of the most emotional, powerful, and entertaining movies of all time. - 9/10
Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire - (Newell, PG-13, 2005): This addition the the Potter franchise outdoes the previous takes. Newell shines a new light on Harry Potter, and the film is more intense, entertaining, and emotionally provoked than ever. Will this be the best movie of the year? Depends, but right now the chances look pretty good. - 9/10
Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb - (Kubrick, PG, 1964): Pretty overrated, but it does have it's moments. - 7/10
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban - (Cuaron, PG, 2004): The Potter franchise started out roughly, but it looks like it's getting exactly where it should be. - 9/10
Madagascar - (Darnell, PG, 2005): The penguins were hilarious, too bad no one else was. - 3/10
Schindler's List - (Spielberg, R, 1993): Liam Neeson and Ralph Fiennes give strong and emotional performances in Spielberg's visual adaptation of Oskar Schindler's essential part in the Holocaust. - 10/10
Grosse Pointe Blank - (Armitage, R, 1997): George Armitage actually made a good movie. I might even add, John Cusack did a great job. - 7/10
Once Upon a Time in Mexico - (Rodriguez, R, 2003): This one wouldn't have been anything without Johnny Depp. A truely great action film, and it takes some unexpected turns. - 8/10
A Christmas Carol - (Marin, G, 1938): The adaptation of the classic Dickens' novel. The film has obvious potential, but it goes to fast and cuts many parts of the novel. It fails to rise to the novel's magnificence. - 7/10
The Family Man - (Ratner, PG-13, 2000): Sure, it teaches morals, but it's still too long, and I might even say, gay. - 3/10
Frank Miller's Sin City - (Miller/Rodriguez, R, 2005): A triumphantly disturbing masterpiece. Yep, it has it's flaws, but what doesn't? - 10/10
They're quickies cine, for people who don't feel like reading a 2 page reviews. There is NO such thing as an invalid opinion, an opinion is an opinion, not a fact. And he ranked "High tension" above "Christmas with the cranks" based on an OPINION. also you need to remember you put "spice world" in your favorites list. Now maybe I think that movie is shit, but I'm not going to bother you about it becuase it's your opinion, and not my own.
Last edited by Dusty on Nov 28th, 2005 at 12:25 AM
I'm sure "Joe Somebody" was a whole lot better?
How about "Spice World"?
And the masterpiece that is "It's Pat!"?
"High Tension" was an unpretentious piece of shit, that tried to pull off a twist, and was, IMO, horribly unoriginal. The only reason people would like "High Tension" is for the gore.
The only thing in High Tension that was bad was the twist and a few trivial plot holes. Everything else about the movie - The atmosphere, the suspense, and the gore - was excellent. It was definately one of the best horror films of the last couple of years, hands down.
Marie and Alex are off to Alex's parents house in the woods to study. The night they arrive, however, a psychotic killer comes knocking and kills Alex's family. With Alex being taken away, Marie needs to find a way to stop this killer before it's too late for her best friend.
An ode to 1970s horror/slasher films, as director Alexandre Aja describes it. It had a Texas Chainsaw Massacre feel to it in some parts and Halloween in others. I may have been looking too into it, but I noticed a hint of Children of the Corn in one scene. I even sensed Toolbox Murders. Anyway, I can't remember the last time a horror film was released that was this good.
This film is better watched in French with full subtitles. The dubbed version in the cinema featured some subtitles and some dubbing. Cécile De France does her own voiceover for her character of Marie and you can tell she is not fluent in the English language. It was a good idea to have an actor do their own voiceovers but it just didn't pan out here. But that isn't anything to blame the film about.
The deaths were plain and simple, but not in a bad way. The detail in them made it all worth it, such as the woman on the floor with her throat slit open. Of course, every slasher in history has done that but it looked all too real here. The gore was very good. It was graphic and realistic.
Another pleasant graphic moment I found hilarious was the killer getting head from a severed head. It showed the audience just how disgusting this killer was. Many times you say to yourself, "This guy is sick!" This fact was shown very well throughout the film, courtesy of the great actor, Philippe Nahon.
The movie is so good, even a bad ending couldn't ruin it. The film as a whole was scary and thrilling, then they decided to surprise the audience with a twist that came out of left field. I, personally, didn't see it coming because I gave the filmmakers more credit than that. When will the movie industry give the Fight Club ending a rest?
Though the plot twist was lame, unnecessary, and created many plotholes, what came after was it was quite good. It left us with what this "switchblade romance" (the working title of the film) is all about.
Overall, a great movie for any horror fan, easily one of the best of the decade.
Gender: Male Location: Dreaming...Or am I living...
I don't know if this is anything like what anyone is looking for, but I had to write it for English, so I though why not!
Magnificent Seven
Made in 1960, The Magnificent Seven stars Yul Brynner, and Eli Wallach among others. It was directed by John Sturges. As movies go, it was simply mediocre, while it held my attention; I wasn’t kept on the edge of my seat with excitement. And with such a movie, it had good and bad qualities. It was very stereotypical for one, it did not pull any punches, you could tell where it was going, it also has suitable music, overrated as it is, and finally it features a strange balance, of very good acting, and very poor acting, and it is obvious where the producers spent their money. But all in all, it was a very run-of-the-mill film that, while not being the best movie ever, it still was better than many other westerns.
This movie was incredibly stereotypical, and the only thing more shocking than that, is how many times this simple plot has been replicated and parodied. The plot itself is a common one, poor farmers hiring gunman for protection. The Mexican bandits, the poor farmers, even the Magnificent Seven were the stereotypical gunmen, loners, who live and die by the gun. This fact in itself serves as one of my questions for the film. Over the course of the film, each main character, with the exception of the kid, always play the loner protagonist. But having a film with seven loners working together, simply doesn’t work, and it raises the question of why they would all want to work together in the first place. Plot holes like this, along with the predictability that comes from the stereotypes keep this film strongly rooted in the mediocre category.
The music, while by Edward Bernstein, a much respected composer is overrated. People swear by this music, as if it was the end all, and the most impressive musical score ever. And all it really ended up being was the repetition of the main theme with a few variations. It never branched out, or served any purpose other than to loudly announce the heroic moment of the seven, and even that got old. It never added any emotional attachment or anything else you expect a score to do. The theme was catchy, I’ll give it that, but its failure to elaborate and to create more emotion brought the movie down.
The acting in this movie was very up and down. The main characters were very well played, except for the kid who I though was slightly overacted, his actions and comedies were taken a bit too far, and you couldn’t ever take him seriously or think of him as anything but bipolar as he went from screaming at the villages to trying to bullfight the docile steer. Then the villager’s acting was so incredibly flat it seemed that the casting director just pulled random people off the street. This made it almost painfully obvious that the producers spent lots of the money in trying to get the bigger stars to be in this movie, that they didn’t have enough left for the other actors and had to settle for less. This oversight or whatever it may be, really cost the movie and causes it to be less effective.
While this movie is acceptable, and is not a total disgrace to the filmmaking community, it is nothing to write home about. And I seriously cannot see how it has become so much of a classic today. There are much better movies out there that don’t get half the exposure this one does. But for a remake of the Chinese film The Seven Samurai it does moderately, but it would be worth the comparison to rent The Seven Samurai simply to see what was changed besides the setting and how
Spoilers ahead...DO NOT READ IF YOU HAVEN'T SEEN THE MOVIE YET!
Well, my dears...I have just completed the viewing of this particular horror film. My opinion? Why, yes...Of course, I shall come to that as it is what you've all been waiting for, isn't it my poppies? Yes, it is...
Well, with my eyes viewing the screen and thus partaking in the 'movie experience', I was initially rather unsettled and ready to roll. The spear through the window was bank-rolled before the first corner, but that second spear? Well, we all knew something was about to happen, but what we didn't. Jumping jack rabbits, I flinched like a weak kid who is always being picked on! Toughen-up, me boy!
As the females entered the cave, I was filled with dreadful anticipation. With my peeling eyes, I could hardly watch the squeeze through that itsy bitsy pokey holey. It reminded me of a chance happening many moons ago, when a squad of friends and I went cliff jumping. Found an underwater hole, did we 4...so upon dare of trying did we all dive down and through - for if we poultried, then walking home it would be...la la.
On first sight of Chapman's Homer...wait...On first sight of the little monsters, I was a little tweaked. Freaky enough, but a little too precious, if you get my meaning, Gollum. Then, after that skiddadle and swift ascent, I was suitably chicken jittered. After this, some things happened.
Then, that there ending...Suitably up-lifting at first, but then you always knew something had to be up its sleeve seeing as it hadn't finished yet...The final denouement? Hmmmm, maybe a little too tricksy, if you ask me. You didn't? Huh, that's weird. Anyway, yeah, she was loco, but so were her eses. My opinion is that she fell down, down, down and out, then up, up, up and about. The little motion in the car being a strange daymare. Maybe...maybe not...
My brain just don't like the idea that..."Oh, and then I woke up and it was all a dream..., etc." Didn't we all write that at least once during our high-school exams? Hmm....
7/10 - jumpy, but loopy
__________________ Full fathom five thy father lies;
Of his bones are coral made;
Those are pearls that were his eyes:
Nothing of him that doth fade
But doth suffer a sea-change
Into something rich and strange.
Last edited by Ya Krunk'd Floo on Dec 15th, 2005 at 09:36 AM
Man, I've been wanting to see that movie for such a long time, since I heard about it a year ago. Neil Marshal is a great, promising director - Dog Soldiers was outstanding. I hope this comes to the states soon.
KMC Community Forums
Nov 9th, 2005 07:33 PM
. good review, it's about time this thread got booted up.
