Movies you have seen recently

[Pope]

I absolutely loved 300, even without having read the comic.

[Enoch]

Perhaps I should refine:

 

300 was all about the spectacle. (Most of which was seksay Greek dudes in loincloths. NTTIAWWT.) The plotting, acting, characters, etc., were craptastic filler that functioned just to get the audience to the next impressive visual image. If that's what you want in a film, that's fine. But if you want some entertainment from the storytelling, the only way to get any is to treat it as high camp and laugh your ass off. Which I did.

 

Using the same spectacle-focused action scene techniques in a more plot- and character-driven story like Watchmen, though, is just jarring to the audience and pulls their attention away from what makes the film interesting.

Edited March 14, 2009 by Enoch

[Slowtrain]

* I really don't see how anyone could possibly take 300 seriously at face value and not walk out of the theatre about 10 minutes in. As a comedy, though, it's quite entertaining, so I give the filmmakers the benefit of the doubt and assume that they intended it as such, with all the advertising, press, etc., supporting it as part of one big Andy-Kaufman-style joke at their audience's expense.

 

 

I took 300 at face value and lasted about 50 minutes. Stupidest movie I've seen in years.

 

On top of whatever hidoeas problems it had; it was astoundingly boring.

 

I don't see how you can see it as a comedy either. It's an utterly retarded film.

 

 

Edit; Seriously, how can that much death and violence be so coma-inducing? It's beyond me.

Edited March 14, 2009 by CrashGirl

[I want teh kotor 3]

I absolutely loved 300, even without having read the comic.

 

Same here.

 

Seriously, how the hell do you expect to take a movie about people in loincloths killing crap in the goriest manner possible seriously?

Edited March 14, 2009 by I want teh kotor 3

[Hurlshort]

It's odd, because I felt that way about Sin City, but I actually enjoyed 300.

[LadyCrimson]

Where is the I'm sick of chick flicks, action films, westerns, dramas......?

I've never liked "chick flicks" and my parents OD'd me on most dramas. Not that I haven't liked at least one or two movies from every genre at some point.

I don't personally think there are too many comic movies ... I'm just bored of them. It's what happens when I predominantly like a few film genres and their sub-categories - action/suspense, western, sci-fi/fantasy. Comic book movies to me fall into the latter, and no matter how much you like a thing, anything gets old. I wish movie companies spread their genre making trends out a little more, that's all. It's no different than Paramount sucking the life out of Star Trek by making too many series too frequently, out of greed, etc.

 

Re: 300 -

Never read the comic, but I enjoyed the movie for what it was. An over the top violent "epic" - and I use that term very loosely - about near-naked impossibly six-packed dudes being macho in the name of honor whilst fighting evil fantasy figures. I admit, I LOL'd in a few places, which made it all the more silly fun.

[Calax]

Honestly if they hadn't included the political garbage in 300 (let's randomly float back to sparta!) It might have been a better movie because it would have been all about viceral combat. The back home segements just made me want to kill myself, but i did enjoy the spectacle of the fighting.

 

As to watchmen, I kinda liked the over the top action to a degree. Mainly because it made it feel more like a superhero flick (if that makes any sense). I'm not gonna say your guy's point isn't valid, but you'd expect that ex-superheroes would be able to murder anyone who tried to fight them.

[Deadly_Nightshade]

Meh, I liked Sin City and Watchmen but not 300.

[Gorth]

Saw Die Hard 4.0

 

Over the top, comic book realism, plot holes that could sink the titanic and enough cliches to build a wall of them from Adelaide to Melbourne (exaggerated for effect).

 

Oh yeah, and an incredibly fun film to watch too

[Deadly_Nightshade]

It was just bad beyond redemption, the main characters, the vampire mythos and most of all: The underlying message.

 

Were you really expecting anything else? The books are beyond horrible and the film was no better (I saw it with a group of friends who are all fans of White Wolf's Masquerade and the like just so we could make fun of it). However, the worst part is how many people are lapping up this **** and prancing around while spouting off their, supposed, wealth of vampire lore - all of it complete crap as far as I am concerned. Good god, that's one of the reasons I actually started the latest round of Masquerade. It's an effective antidote to the stupidity and, maybe, some of the airheads will overhear us in-game and come over to share their "information." Anyways, in conclusion, for now -I could go on but that might derail the topic-, I will end with this statement: Real vampires do not sparkle!

[Theseus]

Meh, I liked Sin City and Watchmen but not 300.

I thought all three were very entertaining!

 

I saw watchmen yesterday and loved it. Im glad i read the book before though since they had to gloss over a lot, it was nice to get a broader viewpoint of everything that went on.

 

As for 300, i love anything greek really, my avatar kind of gives that away. :D That battle was big and think if the persians would have won that war what this world would be like today. They had no since of freedom, everyone was a slave but the king. Yea its over the top and not all that historically true for what we know of it through herodotus but its just enteratining, and those guys deserve to be glorified.

[Pope]

Meh, I liked Sin City and Watchmen but not 300.

I thought all three were very entertaining!

 

I saw watchmen yesterday and loved it. Im glad i read the book before though since they had to gloss over a lot, it was nice to get a broader viewpoint of everything that went on.

 

As for 300, i love anything greek really, my avatar kind of gives that away. :D That battle was big and think if the persians would have won that war what this world would be like today. They had no since of freedom, everyone was a slave but the king.

Slavery is underrated.

 

[Pidesco]

They had no since of freedom, everyone was a slave but the king.

 

That's no quite true and the Greeks weren't much better, even in Pericles' Athens.

[Theseus]

They had no since of freedom, everyone was a slave but the king.

 

That's no quite true and the Greeks weren't much better, even in Pericles' Athens.

Greeks weren't perfect either but they were better by a milestone, a MILESTONE. They had law, no king, citizens had the vote. That is a milestone. They had a sense of individual freedom, political freedom to a large extent and sometimes national freedom. Lets not forget in the US only landowners could vote, and there were slaves in the US also. That too still is a milestone better then the persian empire of slaves.

 

Medean kingdom near the modern city of tehran. Alstuajays vaseer

wiki

Herodotus accounts for the turn of Harpagus' support to a version of the cannibal feast of Thyestes.[1] He reports that Astyages, after having a dream that his daughter, Mandane, would give birth to a king who would overthrow him, ordered Harpagus to expose the child at birth. Harpagus, reluctant to spill his own royal blood, gave the child (Cyrus II) to a shepherd named Mitradates,[2] who raised him as his own son.

 

Ten years later, when Cyrus II was discovered alive, Astyages punished Harpagus for his disobedience by killing Harpagus' only son and feeding him to the courtier during a banquet. It is said that Harpagus did not react during the banquet, other than to gather the pieces of his son and remove them for burial. Astyages then asked his Magi (priests) for their advice about the fate of Cyrus II. They told him that the boy, who had been discovered while playing king of the mountain with his friends, had fulfilled the prophecy of becoming a king, albeit in play, and was no longer a danger. On their advice, Astyages sent Cyrus II to his parents, Cambyses I and Mandane, in An

[Gorth]

And you are completely unbiased listening to Herodots version of it?

 

Your description of "Greek" doesn't really make sense when there was no "Greece". Some of the states may be governed the way you describe it, but Sparta sure wasn't

[Pidesco]

Bear in mind that Herodotus was about as trustworthy in his tales as Loki.

 

Also, a MILESTONE:

 

[Theseus]

I wouldnt be so quick to discredit Herodotus, he is the first modern historian that is very good at telling history and then telling when he is just giving his viewpoint on the matters, giving a secular perspective on that facts.

[Meshugger]

It was just bad beyond redemption, the main characters, the vampire mythos and most of all: The underlying message.

 

Were you really expecting anything else? The books are beyond horrible and the film was no better (I saw it with a group of friends who are all fans of White Wolf's Masquerade and the like just so we could make fun of it). However, the worst part is how many people are lapping up this **** and prancing around while spouting off their, supposed, wealth of vampire lore - all of it complete crap as far as I am concerned. Good god, that's one of the reasons I actually started the latest round of Masquerade. It's an effective antidote to the stupidity and, maybe, some of the airheads will overhear us in-game and come over to share their "information." Anyways, in conclusion, for now -I could go on but that might derail the topic-, I will end with this statement: Real vampires do not sparkle!

 

Before seing the movie, the only thing that i heard was that:

 

A) It was very popular

B) It was written for teenage girls

 

In conclusion, i expected a Disney-esque romantic and cutesy vampire story. Not a 2 hour celebration of psyhopathic, vegeterian ***holes that are abusive and sparkle while they're at it.

 

Last night I saw 'Watchmen'. It didn't have the same consistent flow like, lets say The Dark Knight, hell, it even had a couple of scenes that belonged in the "lol, whut?"-area. However, it had a depth never seen in a comic book-film, interesting characters, and an interesting message about the human condition to boot. Other movies from the same genre, again think of The Dark Knight, Iron Man and Superman, feels like children movies in term of dealing with adult themes.

 

I was pleasently suprised through and through. A part of me expects that this movie will get a following similar to "Bladerunner". Heck, it left me so interested that i even ordered the comic book today in hope of finding out more about the theme, characters and eventual use of symbology.

 

Bear in mind, this is the first time that i bought a comic book since the tender age of 8, when i bought Transformers. I liked it that much.

[Oerwinde]

I'm sick of all the people who hated watchmen having only 2 things wrong with it: Too long, and full frontal male nudity. Seriously, if a **** is the only reason for you hating a movie, you need to grow up. Although they probably should have explained why he went around naked.

Edited March 16, 2009 by Oerwinde

[Meshugger]

I'm sick of all the people who hated watchmen having only 2 things wrong with it: Too long, and full frontal male nudity. Seriously, if a **** is the only reason for you hating a movie, you need to grow up. Although they probably should have explained why he went around naked.

 

From parents to their children, they will always hate the ****. The **** is wrong in every way; it symbolizes immorality, debouchery and the fall of civilization. Since the abolishement penises, we have created nukes, walked the moon, and won the war over communism. Those, yucky, yucky penises will be the fall of us all. And don't get me started on sex! imagine, people experiencing uncontrollable pleasure with one another without repraisal! The nerve! Such things will not stand in a modern civilization! We have our bills to pay, families to protect and bankaccounts to save. It is good that we have people voluntaring to watch over us, being a our moral compass, and ultimately knowing what is best for us and protecting us. These watchmen of morality is our first, last and only defence from this kind of filth.

 

With their help we can make the american dream come true.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I didn't even notice the **** until i started to wonder why the teenagers behind me started to giggle for every.damn.time. Dr Manhattan was on the screen.

[taks]

i watched two movies the other night and i need to comment... no country for old men and redbelt.

 

ncfom: interesting, but i didn't like the ending. spare me the intellectual clap-trap about "evil happens" and that not all movies should have a point or neatly wrap up all the loose ends. i think it tried too hard to wrap up everything in one fell swoop, without really settling anything or having to think about an ending (and yes, i know this is how the book went, too). the worst part for me was the hunter character, capable of outwitting, and hunting, the obviously psycho but incredibly talented killer (chigurgh character), yet he falls to a bunch of idiotic gang-banger mexicans in a hotel in broad daylight after they pull up in a monster truck this guy would have heard from blocks away. then the obviously psycho but incredibly talented chigurgh character, a dude that is also apparently a very careful driver until the last minute of the movie, gets taken out because he didn't look both ways going through an intersection to notice the car that wasn't stopping. then tommy lee jones' character has a dream, and it ends. yah, i get it, i just didn't think it was really as brilliant as people made it out. i enjoyed the movie, overall, just thought a little more thought could have been put into the ending while maintaining the concept of old men being out of place in the crazy new world (a concept that also tends to beg the notion of the "good old days" which is, IMO, as ridiculous as penn and teller have claimed, hehe).

 

redbelt: mamet film (written and directed) about a jiu jitsu master that gets roped into a fight rigging scheme but triumphs in the end through conviction to his principles. well, this is another one of them intellectual thinkers, but the director screwed the pooch in several ways. first, there are a few major plot-holes and one scene that just didn't fit in spite of serving a major purpose. the setup is waaay too contrived to be believable on any level, even in the "moral of the story" sort of way. it was an enjoyable film, however, due to the excellent acting by chiwetel ejiofor (that's a name?) and, oddly enough, even tim allen was good in this (his role was not comic, not in any way, nor was there any comedy element to this story). the fight scenes were very well done and interesting, and rather realistic, not your typical kung-fu "my dragon style is better than your cobra style" nonsense that we see in most films.

 

taks

[Monte Carlo]

^ Agreed. Was watching NCFOM, was enjoying it as a superior, arthouse-esque thriller. Then, half an hour before the end it disappeared promptly up it's own arse, ruining what went before.

 

Cheers

MC

[taks]

yup. my disbelief remained suspended when carston, played by woody, got it in spite of knowing what chigurgh was and where he'd be, because, i figured, he wasn't expecting the killer to know what he was up to. but when the hunter got it, my opinion took an about face.

 

taks

[Monte Carlo]

Tropic Thunder was released on pay-per-view today in the UK, am watching it tonight and will let you know what I thought. It can't be worse than Pineapple Express.

 

Last week, BTW, I saw Taken. I viewed it as a low-rent Man On Fire (which is an awesome movie that I can watch on a loop), but it had the worst ending of almost any movie I've ever seen, EVAR (I mean the pop star bit with Holly Valance). Shame, because the close-combat action scenes were very well done, and Paris is always a groovy action movie location (q.v. Ronin, Nikita).

 

Cheers

MC

[Kelverin]

Tropic Thunder was released on pay-per-view today in the UK, am watching it tonight and will let you know what I thought. It can't be worse than Pineapple Express.

Don't be to sure, I think I turned em both off after about 15 minutes