The General Movie Thread (news, reviews, random thoughts etc.)

[Tuffty]

^ She played as Mystique. Looks like a cool movie, cheers for the link.

[SomethingWild]

The Muppets (2011) - 7.5/10

Like:
- The plot. Even though the ideas of "getting the group back together" and "raise money to save the Muppet Theater" is basically found in a lot of Muppet movies, they did it with a sense of realism that made it very convincing. They have been out of the picture for a long time and they incorporated that in the movie perfectly.
- The cast. Jason Segel and Amy Adams work perfectly in a movie/musical like this. Jack Black is there to provide some craziness. Furthermore, tons of great cameos! Ken Jeong, Zach Galifianakis, Neil Patrick Harris, and tons more. Even the new "Walter" Muppet is pretty funny.

Didn't like:
- Some of the jokes and songs felt really forces/awkward. Especially in the beginning they are trying too hard to incorporate some of the older vibes and setting the mood. Luckily the good jokes outweigh the bad ones.
- One Muppet gave me horrible nightmares as a kid. Like, really badly. In fact, it was the reason I stopped watching the Muppets at the time because I was scared that character could appear again.

I didn't even know its name until yesterday: http://muppet.wikia.com/wiki/Uncle_Deadly     

Luckily, his character went from bad to good in this movie, so I have no reason to be afraid anymore 

In sum:
- Entertaining, clean family fun
- Shows that the Muppets have matured, but didn't lose their roots
- It could've done with a slightly more elaborate plot, even though the basic premise is in line with Muppet traditions
- Songs and dance numbers are a bit hit or miss

If you enjoyed the Muppets years ago it's worth checking out.

[Asmodai]

Just watched Two Front Teeth (2008). It's pretty decent. The shoestring budget is pretty apparent, but the music is great, the writing is pretty fun and it keeps moving. Probably the best movie about zombie elves I've seen this year.

[Asmodai]

Double-posting...

My review of Terminator Salvation is up: http://zzuviel.livejournal.com/25344.html

(Spoiler: I didn't like it.)

[Erusa]

Just watched Hunger Games. It actually was pretty decent. As a fan of the book, I had major expectations for it so I was a tad disappointed in the movie. Having to condense it, not everything was shown. There are some key points that weren't included that sets up the 2nd and 3rd book... I will have to wait for sequels to see how they will address them. Then again, the books almost always end up being better.

[Tuffty]

Drive - 9/10

One of the coolest intros to a movie I saw in a long time. Also, just the most captivating performance by Ryan Gosling as lead man. A character with few words but you can see it all in the eyes. Just brilliant. Also have to give a shoutout to the excellent soundtrack. Just a brilliant movie overall.

Limitless - 8/10

An interesting thriller and I couldn't help but imagine how much of an experience it would be if you too were on drugs watching that movie.

[daigong]

FUCK YES!!

'Dumb and Dumber 2' filming this year, with Jim Carrey and Jeff Daniels

 Peter and Bobby Farrelly have been quietly developing a sequel to "Dumb and Dumber" for awhile now.

Back in October, we heard that Sean Anders and John Morris -- the comedy screenwriting duo behind "Hot Tub Time Machine" and "Mr. Popper's Penguins" -- were hard at work on a script. That was the last bit of news about the project...at least until this weekend, when Peter Farrelly dropped a Twitter-imploding bombshell in the middle of a "Three Stooges" press junket.

"We're getting set to shoot Dumb and Dumber 2 in September," the director told ComingSoon.net. "We've got Jim Carrey and Jeff Daniels back."

Farrelly may have jumped the gun a little bit -- a source close to the production tells EW that the film is "moving along, but it's not greenlit yet." It's hard to imagine a green light is too far away, though -- following last week's announcement about the impending arrival of "Anchorman 2," this feels like the moment for long-awaited comedy sequels. (Also: Is this a big day for Jeff Daniels, or what?)

Jeff Daniels needs the money? What the fuck after that Prequel.

[thatonezombie]

So I had Reservoir Dogs in my netflix instant queue for awhile now and it expires in about 4 mins from this post. Whoops 

[JFC]

Second Official trailer has come out.

[Tuffty]

Fright Night - 4/10

I came into the movie under false assumptions that it was going to be a horror comedy in the same vein as Shawn of the Dead. At least that's what a friend of mine told me. Well, it wasn't funny, it wasn't gory and generally not much fun at all.

[Zorr]

Prometheus - 9/10

I'm a huge fan of 'Alien' so when several years ago I first heard that Ridley Scott was considering a prequel of sorts I was all 'Hells Yeah!!'.

I avoided most of the spoilers and watched only the first teaser trailer for Prometheus.  I didn't want to know what was coming.  Obviously I had my own personal expectations based on 'Alien' but for the most part I didn't know much about the plot.  All I knew is that I'd heard that the film would be 'different' to the Alien franchise and would only really tie in toward the end.

My thoughts are that the cinematography was beautiful, almost epic in places, the music was perfectly understated and balanced, the cast were great (Michael Fassbender deserves top honors) and the writing was excellent.  The film wasn't what I expected but was what I hoped for.  I really didn't want to be disappointed and I'm glad that I wasn't.

I will put no spoilers in here but I will say that any 'Alien' fans or sci-fi fans really must watch this film.  I doubt you will be disappointed.  I've only not given it 10/10 because I reserve that for the very rare films that truly rouse my emotions.  Prometheus doesn't quite do that, but that does not detract from how good it is.

[zoolander]

Ugh I haven't been to the movies since John Carter... have been watching movies here and there. Some standouts off the top of my head.

Farewell My Concubine - One of the more fascinating and better movies I have ever seen. Interesting characters intertwined with the entire history of China throughout 20th century. Some of them really caught me off guard. Characters who's actions in the beginning made me not like them began to make sense. Others who I had been rooting for would become less sympathetic. They were all very colorful but also very human.

And the end.... I was like "NOOOOOOOOOOooooooooooo      no wait a second....        yes"  Quite a strange feeling. 


Drive - Some asshole friend of mine told me it was boring. Well I don't know what he was watching because it was really really good. Stylishly shot and perfectly paced.

Exit Through the Gift Shop - I don't know if there is a moral or lesson or any point to the movie at all but it's so interesting. Is this guy really so weird? Is it all a hoax?

Touching the Void - Another absolutely gripping documentary. I liked both better than Man on Wire which I also watched. I had heard high praise for it but was not nearly as impressed tbh.

[winner]

Got off work a few hours early. So went and watched Spidey. It was pretty good. I'd give it an 8. CG looked nice.
One point off for restarting the story again. I want to see new stuff. Not the same story again and again.
Another point off for adding those "everything goes quiet, expect for a high note every two seconds to irritate ppl. As a person hides while monster stalks past, and is surely going to then jump straight at the person/screen and scare the sh*t out of everyone" scenes. I've never liked them, yet every movie no matter what genre strangely thinks one must be added.

[Tuffty]

Warrior - 9/10

Lived up to the hype. Predictable plot but had some brilliant acting and genuinely emotional scenes. The Rocky-esque premise of the film is actually a backdrop to the bigger story of a family trying to reunite after a lot of pain and misery. The final fight scene is a culmination of all of that and it got pretty emotional at the end. Really good film, better than Rocky and perhaps even a little bit better than The Fighter.

[oaxiac]

Vertigo tops greatest film poll, ending reign of Citizen Kane
Alfred Hitchcock 1958 film ends 50-year dominance of Orson Welles masterpiece in BFI's decennial cinematic survey
http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/2012/aug/01/vertigo-hitchcock-bfi-greatest-film?newsfeed=true

[Asmodai]

Wow, I just watched Citizen Kane last weekend. Now I'll have to add another movie to my list.

Citizen Kane is pretty awesome. I'm not sure it's the best movie I've ever seen, but I understand why it's so popular.

[SomethingWild]

http://tedisreal.com

Family Guy creator Seth MacFarlane brings his boundary-pushing brand of humor to the big screen for the first time as writer, director and voice star of Ted. In the live action/CG-animated comedy, he tells the story of John Bennett (Mark Wahlberg), a grown man who must deal with the cherished teddy bear who came to life as the result of a childhood wish...and has refused to leave his side ever since.

Can't wait to see this 

Well, I finally saw it... If I'm completely honest, it was a bit disappointing.

The first 40 minutes were quite slow, but then it picked up the pace a bit. It is a weird mix of crude humor and some emotional scenes. The balance was a bit off, if you're gonna do an emotional scene you can't have the bear making some racist comment two seconds after. You can't switch moods like that.

It lacked the sharpness you see in Family Guy. In this movie they went for the super easy jokes and some shock value. The best thing about this movie are the references to popular culture and the cast. The concept is great, but there is a severe lack of funny jokes. They could have done so much more. In some ways, the buddy story line is similar to the latest Muppet movie as well.

So yeah... 6.5/10 or so?

[RatBastich]

MACHETE KILLS!!

Didn't know that another one was being made, but can't wait to see it.
Saw a pic of Alexa Vega, who's in it, wearing a bikini and chaps... hawtstuff, fo sho.
Mel Gibson's in it also as the baddie, who Machete goes after.

[MrQRS]

watched sunny and war of the arrows not long ago and pretty good movie and i just found out bout the existence of marrying the mafia 4 and 5 so ima have to watch 4 soon not sure when 5 is out

[Foxy Brown]