movie recommendations

[Art Blade]

Matrix was funny too: "Whoa..." THE END  ;D

[fragger]

For all you Lord Of The Rings fans out there... I don't know if you've seen this, but it's a hoot. Apparently there's an Easter Egg of it on one of the extended versions of the Fellowship Of The Ring DVD, but I've never been able to find it, so I resorted to YouTube for it.

Bear with it, the fun starts after about half a minute or so.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UUNYCGZMtI8

[Art Blade]

LOL now wasn't that fucking refreshing  ;D ;D ;D :-X

[RedRaven]

Quality, nice find. :-X

[deadman1]

Brilliant  :-X

[Ricamundo]

Love it!!  ;D

On a more somber note, we watched "The Road" yesterday. Im not sure if its already been mentioned in this thread, as i couldnt bring myself to look thru every page, but just in case no one has seen it, you may want to, especially if you have played Fallout 3, since it does bring that game to mind either unintenionally or by design.

It looks as if it was made on a shoestring budget, and has enough plot holes, and unanswered questions to fill a book, which the flick was based on. Still the post apocaliptic genre for me, is quite compelling.

SPOILERS...

The story revolves around a man and his son, rather like FO3 which revolves around a man and his dog, although the dog would be about 10 times more useful than that whiny little girly boy of a son, but that's just my opinion. ;) They pile all their worldly possesions into an old shopping cart(sound familiar?) and head off thru the mostly deserted and decaying U.S.A scrounging for food and anything else that might be useful.

In one rather scary scene they explore a dark locked basement that is filled with starving naked prisoners who are raving mad with fear, really bringing feral ghouls to mind. ;D

It is a truely miserable film, with  rampant canibalism and the skeletons of dead people in every house, some in their beds. The  skies are perpetually dull and overcast and nothing is growing because of no sunlight and ash everywhere, although we arent told whether it was a result of a nuclear war, or a meteor strike, or perhaps a massive supervolcano.

I'd give it a 6/10 but be prepared for a depressing 2 hours. Definately not for kids.

[Art Blade]

hehe, that was an interesting recommendation  :) I'll keep it in mind, should I happen upon it  ;)

[Ricamundo]

hehe, that was an interesting recommendation  :) I'll keep it in mind, should I happen upon it  ;)

Well, if you're a fan of the genre, its a must see, that is, if you can find it. from what i understand, the studio had no clue what to do with it, or how to market it, so it's theatrical release was severely limited, so for obvious reasons, it made little money, so DVD's may be scarce as rentals as well. ???

[Art Blade]

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0898367/

:)

Release Date: 7 October 2010 (Germany)  :-\

[fragger]

It certainly doesn't sound like a Hope and Crosby style "road" movie. Hehe, "The Road to Dystopia" ;D

Thanks for the info, Ricamundo :-X It does sound a lot like FO3. I'll look out for it next time I'm in the mood for a dark, post-apocalyptic tale - which I do enjoy from time to time, as long as I follow it with a comedy or something to cheer myself back up ;D

[Art Blade]

Hey guys, finally a really enjoyable Sci-Fi again:

DISTRICT 9 http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1136608/

With participation of South Africa (Johannesburg) Canada, New Zealand... great mix  :-X

It reminded me of a couple of other movies, like

28 Days Later...
Enemy Mine
Independence Day

and all of them blended nicely. Some funny idea: A giant spaceship like the one of Independence Day does not happen to hang out over some American city but Johannesburg, South Africa. It appears to have stranded, humans decide to cut their way in because nothing has happened for a long time. Inside, they find nearly starved aliens that remind of a mixture of Oscar the Grouch (of good old Sesame Street) and a prawn (that's what they're called in the movie) and maybe some kind of robot. You may already get the idea that there is some kind of dark humour involved as well as a couple of movie/music/book/pop culture references. The film isn't a comedy, though, but as in Enemy Mine a strange friendship between a human who started to mutate (now being chased by humans) and a smart prawn who wants to escape and get back home. Funny thing, those aliens found on the hovering ship were transferred down to earth and locked up in a slum close to Johannesburg. Oh, and they love cat food. Sorry, it does sound funny, and it is, but the film really is more into society and their problems and a not so voluntary friendship between two outsiders who learn to trust each other (not so voluntarily).

If you can, give it a shot... I think it is a very refreshing way of creating a Sci-Fi movie, and despite of the strange mixture it will keep you locked on :)

[PZ]

Sounds like a movie I'd like - thanks for the mini-review  :-X

[fragger]

Funny you should mention that film, Art - I watched that just a couple of days ago and was going to do a reco, but you beat me to it :)

Definitely an innovative approach. Art encapsulated it very well, but I'd just like to add a comment or two. The first half of the film is handled in a pseudo-documentary fashion, with "live" news footage, interviews with people involved (with some nice, very natural-sounding acting) and a fair bit of hand-held "on the spot" style camera w@&k. At first it seems almost a bit amateurish, but it soon picks up and becomes very watchable. Visuals are terrific, btw.

Peter Jackson was involved in some capacity, I can't remember what as - producer maybe (not director). It was made by Wingnut Films which I think is Jackson's NZ-based production company.

As Art said, it's worth a look if you want something a bit different.

I won't give anything away, but I felt that it left itself open to a sequel.


EDIT: Forgot to mention, that shanty-town outside Johannesburg really made me think of Mokuba ;D

[fragger]

I also watched Sherlock Holmes, which I really enjoyed. A lot more mainstream than District 9, but quite a fun and clever movie, even though it is, shall we say, far-fetched. I found it very entertaining though. And if you're into period stuff, the depiction of late-19th century London is superb.

I've never read any of the Sherlock Holmes novels, but I've heard that the way Holmes is portrayed in this movie is far closer to the original character than any of the Basil Rathbone-style film portrayals, ie. he's brilliant, but a total eccentric. Quite funny at times.

[JRD]

I too watched D9 recently and was about to post my impressions here... but I didn`t!  :P :-[ ::)

The punch is that the story goes on a country that holds a recent story of strong racism and prejudice... a slap on the face for sure!

Without giving too much away... there`s no good vs evil, only survival and the conflict of sharing the same space with someone (or something) different than you!!

Excellent special effects too, the ones that blend with reality very well!

Great movie

==============================================================

28 days later - one of my favorites zombie movies ever! The opening scene of a deserted London while the main character strolls wearing a hospital PJ is amazing! Again, the "hero" is just an ordinary guy trying to live, no super-soldier/hero/scientist as in "I am legend"
28 weeks later went downhill though, a clear attempt to catch a few more bucks creating a sequel! Avoid this one, check the first only!

Enemy mine - an all time classic, much more than an action packed sci-fi!

Independence day - CRAP CRAP CRAP CRAP... Bill Pullman as the president of the USA? C`mon... flying an airplane to fight enemies? Spare me... and a computer virus ruins the system on the alien mothership? C`mon... do aliens run Windows 98 by any chance?!?!?!?! I read they`re making a sequel though... count me out, please!!!
Don`t take me wrong Art... I can watch independence day if I see it as a high budget comedy, but I prefer Mars Attack in that sense!!!

[Art Blade]

Funny how there are already a couple of people who watched and liked D9  :) By the way, picking up on fraggers additional info, the end credits of D9 mention

Guillermo del Toro

in the first place of the special thanks. He is a great Mexican director

mostly known for his acclaimed films, Pan's Labyrinth and the Hellboy  film franchise. He is a frequent collaborator with Ron Perlman, Federico Luppi and Doug Jones. His films draw heavily on sources as diverse as weird fiction, fantasy and war.

(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guillermo_Del_Toro) :)

Alright, JRD, I mentioned I.D. because of the spaceships hovering over a city and the only funny scene when Will Smith beats the crap out of one alien and drags him across the desert. I didn't recommend Independence Day. Mars Attacks also crossed my mind but that is too much over the top comedy in comparison, yet I loved that film!

Thanks for the additional infos you guys provided :)

Fragger, I'll keep an eye out for Sherlock ;)

[fragger]

JRD, re: your comments on:

1) 28 days
2) Enemy Mine
3) Independence Day

1) Haven't seen yet but want to
2) Agree - Favourite bit: Lou Gossett's alien character singing "Midnight Special"
3) Agree - Most cringe-inducing line: "Good shot, Mr. President!" (after he clobbers an alien fighter in his F-18)

... and a computer virus ruins the system on the alien mothership? C`mon... do aliens run Windows 98 by any chance?!?!?!?!

What they should have done was upload Windows 98 into the alien system - that would have royally screwed them ;D

[Art Blade]

lol ;D

[fragger]

Guillermo del Toro

in the first place of the special thanks. He is a great Mexican director

mostly known for his acclaimed films, Pan's Labyrinth and the Hellboy  film franchise. He is a frequent collaborator with Ron Perlman, Federico Luppi and Doug Jones. His films draw heavily on sources as diverse as weird fiction, fantasy and war.

I also really enjoyed Pan's Labyrinth and the Hellboy movies (mainly the first one). Guillermo del Toro is certainly an imaginative director. I love innovative types like him :-X

[Art Blade]

Pan's Labyrinth sure was different, and I enjoyed it because my DVD offers the original language track Spanish   ;D (Not too many films out there in that language)

Hellboy1 was good mainstream entertainment, but not good enough to get me to watch HB2.

[fragger]

Pan's Labyrinth sure was different, and I enjoyed it because my DVD offers the original language track Spanish   ;D (Not too many films out there in that language)

Hellboy1 was good mainstream entertainment, but not good enough to get me to watch HB2.

You're not missing much with HB2.

I too managed to see the Spanish version of Pan's Labyrinth, with subtitles. Much better than dubbed, even if I don't speak the language :-X

[mandru]

I don't enjoy the mob scene and rudeness of others inherent in movie theaters so I grabbed a copy of the recent DVD release of Avatar and finally got to see it.  I found the movie very enjoyable if I looked past the inescapable "Humans are filthy vermin and should be snuffed" mentality that accompanies any eco-message film offering these days.

As a long established Sci-Fi fan and wannabe writer I saw that there were elements that were fresh and innovative but I also tend to see loose ends that easily could have been connected back into the story line turning several "Huh?"s into "Oh Wow!" moments.

I've not seen discussion about this film here so I'm going to leave plot discussion alone and allow anyone that hasn't seen it to take it in at face value without dropping spoilers to distract from the film.

[JRD]

Well, I saw Avatar and didn't like it... as some people over the net said: it's Pocahontas!

Great effects but a story told zillions of times.

I'm sorry you guys, but when it comes to the big outsider hero defending the weak and naive while learning a valuable lesson about life, I've seen it before... Dance with wolves did it, Pocahontas did it, Samurai did it... the list goes on and on!

You know how the movie ends as soon as it begins. There are many loose ends as well.

And the worst part is to stand James Cameron and Sigourney Weaver going around the world delivering an eco-friendly message as if they are fulfiling their role in fighting for a better world...... I can't stand actors when they start an environmental cruzade pretending they know what they are talking about only because they did some research prior to writing the screenplay. If you listen to it, it's the same bullshit we are being fed by Greenpeace and WWF and many other eco-terrorist organizations... screw them...  >:( >:(

Sorry for the rant...... I watched it knowing I wouldn't like it, but did it anyway to be sure!

It's great fun though if, like mmosu said, you overlook the message behind it. Maybe for kids it would be a great movie, but as a grown up man, no thanks!

[Art Blade]

I skipped that flick, mainly for the hype about (argh) it and because of the weak story.

[fragger]

Not too bad a film, if you can overlook the usual formula, the usual predictable storyline, the usual character depictions, and the usual whizz-bang visuals. The usual Hollywood blockbuster, in other words.

As for similarities to other films, I was thinking A Man Called Horse myself.

What I find annoying about movies like this is the way the film makers essentially treat the viewing audience as dummies, ie. that the viewers are too dumb to see what's going to happen later, or that they won't recognize the same old done-to-death plot devices when they see them. I've seen so many films where I can tell in the first few minutes exactly where the story is going to go, yet as events unfold apparently I'm supposed to think, "Wow! Didn't see that coming!" Yeah, right. What do they think we are, goldfish?

And special effects should never be the star of the show, no matter how good they may be.