I just saw, um Saw. It was twisted and gruesome (in a good way). Actually the twisted premise is all this movie had going for it. That and it's twist ending which is a rather good twist. However, the movie is way too long, it's quite boring for most of the movie. The beginging and the twist are the only good parts.
Two and a half stars
Also it should be noted that a certain scene at the end of this movie should be celebrated by the fact that it's the only scene ever that has totally grossed me out. The next day I was thinking about that scene and everytime I do I cringe, and feel uneasy. If you've seen the movie, I think you know what scene I am talking about.
I saw Saw too and I loved it. It was a great and gory homage to the gaillo genre.
Saw is a masterpiece of it's genre, and without one of the most well-written films in recent years. Everything in the film is done, or is there for a reason and nothing has been left out. When I saw the film, it gripped me from start to finish; and then the twist almost killed me in my seat. The acting is absolutely top-notch, and that's really what makes it a success; the acting and the brilliant way it was put together. They had to rely on these things, because with a budget of reportedly just less than a million dollars, they couldn't afford the usual spectacle of some of the big horrors/thrillers out today.
Despite the less than desirable budget, they still brought in some memorable acting talent in the form of Danny Glover, Cary Elwes, and Monica Potter, plus Leigh Whannell (who also wrote the film - he is both a great actor and writer).
Anyone who is squeamish will not like the film, because you'll be hiding your eyes the whole way through; but I love survival films such as this, and it's no wonder Saw has been praised by critics for its achievements.
"The Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy": not as bad as I feared (being familiar with the books, radio series, etc) and some clever touches, but an oddly incomplete feel about the whole thing.
The last film I saw was "Life of Brian", every time I see that film, I always fall about laughing. What have the Romans ever done for us speech, absolute classic. Last New film I saw was Sahara, not too bad. Last film at cinema was hitch hikers. Cant agree about the good acting in SAW, the film itself is a gem of the genre, I just hope the sequel is up to it.
I usually stay well away from the "Toy Story" type of films, but I did enjoy some of W&G's earlier short-films, so I thought I'd check this one out.
My review: it was great!
They've managed to keep it's cheeky English sense of humour, and they've resisted the urge to fill it with big Hollywood names.
It does have Helena Bonham Carter & Raiph Feinnes in it, but they're not as over-the-top as some of the other celebrity voices in various other "animated-esque" films.
Whilst most people at the cinema were going to see The Dukes Of Hazzard (bleh!!!) I would recommend that you see Wallace & Gromit instead.
Next week, I'm off to see Deuce Bigalow: European Gigalow. I don't really care if everyone else hates it, I've always enjoyed Rob Schneider's films, so there.
Drawn Out Dad.
Independent, one-shot comic books from the outskirts of Melbourne, Australia.
twitter.com/DrawnOutDad
This is one of the select few of those super- sound effects kung fu movies movies of the 70's and 80's that I actually enjoyed (Along with Super Ninjas, Kung Fu Conspiracy, and 7 Deadly Venoms). The plot is predictable, but by far the best training sequence ever.
Gordon Lui (Title Character) was recently cameo'd in both Kill Bill movies.
Sir MilesThe Wrong Side Of The WardrobePosts: 27,402Chief of Staff
Crash. I really enjoyed it. It's a different type of film, about life more than anything else. The characters are more black and white, or defined, than people are in real life - but that doesn't detract from the film.
There are some good, strong performances from most of the cast, only let down by Brendan Fraser who is clearly out of his depth. Well worth a look.
Watched Damn the Defiant!, directed by 007's own Lewis Gilbert and edited by Peter Hunt. As much as I like a good sea adventure, I can't say this is one of them. Even the great Alec Guiness is surprisingly un-enthralling in this film. With deep regret: not recommended.
scaramanga1The English RivieraPosts: 845Chief of Staff
Well I've just watched LayerCake -and was actually impressed by Daniel Craig's performance -and quite honestly think that although he's not my original choice as 007 it may turn out ok if he does get the part like rumours are indicating -he can do the rough stuff and the charm. Believe me though I don't think he's really handsome enough. But if you suspend your disbelief I'm sure he is a good enough actor to convince many critics.
Other films I've watched in the last couple of days are House of Flying Daggers -absolutely beautiful martial arts film in the same vein as "Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon" and the sublime "Hero" ,and Bruce Lee in Fist of Fury thanks to the new Hong Kong Legends series that I've subscribed to. FOF was great with Lee providing his unmistakeable magic - what is hilarious though is that subtitles don't match the dubbed script! It's hilarious.
Anyway hoping to actually finally get to see Sin City this week -a film I've been aching to see.
Revolver - Not impressed.If you are a Lock, Stock fan dont watch it.It has some good parts and it had some potential but went way off the mark and got very deep.Ray Liotta was excellent and all the actors put in a solid performance but the films tries too hard and doesn't hit the spot.
Of course, this is a Wade and Purvis effort, and you'd struggle to see how they got the Bond gig from this, though I've heard the original script was much better and that's what impressed Mickey and Babs.
The tone is uneven, one minute grotesque and bloody, the other silly Carry On.
Some good support, especially from Ken Stott, though Michael Gambon, Alan Cummings and Little Britain's David Walliams and Matt Lucas are mostly wasted.
Overall it's the three leads who let it down, they're quite empty, with no chemistry to speak of between Johnny Lee Miller, Robert Caryle and Liv Tyler. The two highwaymen don't even seem to like each other much, nor dislike each other much either. There's little or no friction or mutual respect and the direction, though in a hurry, doesn't propel things along promisingly. Still, the hangman climax is well-handled.
I actually enjoyed this film-star full piece of film. It was funny in places, though it was Jack Elam that made me laugh the most. Amusing performances from Burt Reynolds, Roger Moore, Dom DeLuise, Sammy Davis, Dean Martin and Jackie Chan make this a really fun road movie.
Bought it on DVD for Lana Turner and a very young Connery. Nifty type love triangle though a bit melodramatic (It's also Bond's farewell to the mink glove in TB)
The English subtitles should be used for the Cantonese soundtrack to make sence
Sir MilesThe Wrong Side Of The WardrobePosts: 27,402Chief of Staff
Sherlock Holmes And The Secret Weapon - I love all Basil Rathbone's Sherlock Holmes' movies, he's easily the best Holmes on film so far. Good stories, good acting and just enough cheese to make these films great. It's good to see Basil as the good-guy for a change.
Just like Vegemite, this film is an aquired taste.
Still, I think it's was a worthy follow-up to the original, and being of Dutch decent (my Father comes from Goes) I found Hollywood's slanted take on Dutch culture to be quite amusing. It was also nice to hear some Dutch accents too!
Eva, the love interest, played by Hanna Verboom, is quite stunning.
There were some truly cringe-worthy scenes, so if you're going to see it, be prepared for some sick "gross-out" style humour.
Drawn Out Dad.
Independent, one-shot comic books from the outskirts of Melbourne, Australia.
twitter.com/DrawnOutDad
FelixLeiter ♀Staffordshire or a pubPosts: 1,286MI6 Agent
Sherlock Holmes And The Secret Weapon - I love all Basil Rathbone's Sherlock Holmes' movies, he's easily the best Holmes on film so far. Good stories, good acting and just enough cheese to make these films great. It's good to see Basil as the good-guy for a change.
Did you watch that on UKTVGold? I really want to see one of the ones they're showing, but my parents are always wathing something! X-(
I finally saw Cheaper by the Dozen and it was great. The two little twins were so cute!
Relax darling, I'm on top of the situation -{
Sir MilesThe Wrong Side Of The WardrobePosts: 27,402Chief of Staff
Did you watch that on UKTVGold? I really want to see one of the ones they're showing, but my parents are always wathing something! X-(
No, it was on UKTV Drama - they have shown several of the Basil Rathbone/Sherlock Holmes films on there lately. All are great entertainment.
YNWA 97
NightshooterIn bed with SolitairePosts: 2,917MI6 Agent
I just saw a really good movie. It is called "Dirty War" and is set in London. It was made in '04. It is basically a story leading up to and including the events of a fictional bombing in London. It is really scary, and it really makes you fear these things happening.
Finding Neverland, starring Johnny Depp as J.M. Barrie, creator of Peter Pan. Wonderful film for family viewing, though it no doubt glosses over any unseemly aspects of Barrie's character. Kate Winslet is good as the widowed mother of four young boys who form the inspiration for Barrie's story, and the ever-lovely Julie Christie is her less-than approving mother. Dustin Hoffman has what amounts to an amusing cameo as Barrie's theatrical producer.
Interesting accent note: American Depp adopts a soft Scottish accent (Mrs. Doubtfire-style) for Barrie, while Glaswegian Kelly MacDonald goes London-style for Peter Pan.
All in all, a nice little postcard. Johnny Depp really has turned out to be an excellent actor.
Flight Plan. I enjoyed it as a good thriller. I know it isn't a classic and will not go down in history like Rear Window, but it was still a fun time at the theatre.
I finally saw Sahara. Best enjoyed with your mind turned off: that way you can appreciate the lightning-fast pace, the humor, and the good-old-fashioned-swashbuckling, and not think of the holes in the story so big you could sail a fleet of Confederate ironclads through them. . .not to mention the fact so much of the stuntwork and production design were done before in the Bond films!
Just been to see Land of the Dead. I was soooo looking forward to this movie, what a total dissapointment it turned out to be. Sure, it had some shock moments, good sequences and good make-up, but the atmosperic boding tension of Romero's earlier work was missing BIG style. The Big Daddy character was used far too much!!!!
Sir MilesThe Wrong Side Of The WardrobePosts: 27,402Chief of Staff
Sahara. After reading Hardyboy's review I did exactly as he suggested - disengaged the brain. This was still not enough ! This is a really poor film, not even B-movie class. I'd heard so much about Dirk Pitt, from the Clive Cussler novels, about how these books would make terrific films - well, I'm not sure what went wrong, but it did. The acting in the main is okay but the characters are only two dimensional at best - give this a miss !!
Sahara. After reading Hardyboy's review I did exactly as he suggested - disengaged the brain. This was still not enough ! This is a really poor film, not even B-movie class. I'd heard so much about Dirk Pitt, from the Clive Cussler novels, about how these books would make terrific films - well, I'm not sure what went wrong, but it did. The acting in the main is okay but the characters are only two dimensional at best - give this a miss !!
I wish somebody told me about giving it a miss before I went in and bought it blind, what a waste of 14 squid!!!!
I finally saw Batman Begins on Friday night. It was pretty good. I like it a lot more then "Batman and Robin," and "Batman Forever." Those seem very cartoony to me.
Mr MartiniThat nice house in the sky.Posts: 2,703MI6 Agent
Saw "History Of Violence" It was ok. Not bad, not great either. I'd recomend it. It's has a couple brutaly violent scenes also. It's only an hour and half, so it's not too long either.
Some people would complain even if you hang them with a new rope
Comments
I saw Saw too and I loved it. It was a great and gory homage to the gaillo genre.
And yes, I do know what you're talking about.
Despite the less than desirable budget, they still brought in some memorable acting talent in the form of Danny Glover, Cary Elwes, and Monica Potter, plus Leigh Whannell (who also wrote the film - he is both a great actor and writer).
Anyone who is squeamish will not like the film, because you'll be hiding your eyes the whole way through; but I love survival films such as this, and it's no wonder Saw has been praised by critics for its achievements.
Not very good, would not recommend.
I usually stay well away from the "Toy Story" type of films, but I did enjoy some of W&G's earlier short-films, so I thought I'd check this one out.
My review: it was great!
They've managed to keep it's cheeky English sense of humour, and they've resisted the urge to fill it with big Hollywood names.
It does have Helena Bonham Carter & Raiph Feinnes in it, but they're not as over-the-top as some of the other celebrity voices in various other "animated-esque" films.
Whilst most people at the cinema were going to see The Dukes Of Hazzard (bleh!!!) I would recommend that you see Wallace & Gromit instead.
Next week, I'm off to see Deuce Bigalow: European Gigalow. I don't really care if everyone else hates it, I've always enjoyed Rob Schneider's films, so there.
Independent, one-shot comic books from the outskirts of Melbourne, Australia.
twitter.com/DrawnOutDad
This is one of the select few of those super- sound effects kung fu movies movies of the 70's and 80's that I actually enjoyed (Along with Super Ninjas, Kung Fu Conspiracy, and 7 Deadly Venoms). The plot is predictable, but by far the best training sequence ever.
Gordon Lui (Title Character) was recently cameo'd in both Kill Bill movies.
There are some good, strong performances from most of the cast, only let down by Brendan Fraser who is clearly out of his depth. Well worth a look.
Other films I've watched in the last couple of days are House of Flying Daggers -absolutely beautiful martial arts film in the same vein as "Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon" and the sublime "Hero" ,and Bruce Lee in Fist of Fury thanks to the new Hong Kong Legends series that I've subscribed to. FOF was great with Lee providing his unmistakeable magic - what is hilarious though is that subtitles don't match the dubbed script! It's hilarious.
Anyway hoping to actually finally get to see Sin City this week -a film I've been aching to see.
Plunkett & Maclean.
Of course, this is a Wade and Purvis effort, and you'd struggle to see how they got the Bond gig from this, though I've heard the original script was much better and that's what impressed Mickey and Babs.
The tone is uneven, one minute grotesque and bloody, the other silly Carry On.
Some good support, especially from Ken Stott, though Michael Gambon, Alan Cummings and Little Britain's David Walliams and Matt Lucas are mostly wasted.
Overall it's the three leads who let it down, they're quite empty, with no chemistry to speak of between Johnny Lee Miller, Robert Caryle and Liv Tyler. The two highwaymen don't even seem to like each other much, nor dislike each other much either. There's little or no friction or mutual respect and the direction, though in a hurry, doesn't propel things along promisingly. Still, the hangman climax is well-handled.
Roger Moore 1927-2017
I actually enjoyed this film-star full piece of film. It was funny in places, though it was Jack Elam that made me laugh the most. Amusing performances from Burt Reynolds, Roger Moore, Dom DeLuise, Sammy Davis, Dean Martin and Jackie Chan make this a really fun road movie.
8.0/10
Side-splittingly funny, totally non-PC.
The English subtitles should be used for the Cantonese soundtrack to make sence
Just like Vegemite, this film is an aquired taste.
Still, I think it's was a worthy follow-up to the original, and being of Dutch decent (my Father comes from Goes) I found Hollywood's slanted take on Dutch culture to be quite amusing. It was also nice to hear some Dutch accents too!
Eva, the love interest, played by Hanna Verboom, is quite stunning.
There were some truly cringe-worthy scenes, so if you're going to see it, be prepared for some sick "gross-out" style humour.
Independent, one-shot comic books from the outskirts of Melbourne, Australia.
twitter.com/DrawnOutDad
Did you watch that on UKTVGold? I really want to see one of the ones they're showing, but my parents are always wathing something! X-(
I finally saw Cheaper by the Dozen and it was great. The two little twins were so cute!
No, it was on UKTV Drama - they have shown several of the Basil Rathbone/Sherlock Holmes films on there lately. All are great entertainment.
Interesting accent note: American Depp adopts a soft Scottish accent (Mrs. Doubtfire-style) for Barrie, while Glaswegian Kelly MacDonald goes London-style for Peter Pan.
All in all, a nice little postcard. Johnny Depp really has turned out to be an excellent actor.