Give a small review of the last movie you watched.

[Jonny Worldbeater]

And while we're on the subject of recent films, I'd just like to quickly mention that I finally got around to watching the Watchmen movie a while ago and I have to say; Bullshit.

Don't get me wrong, it had a strong cast for the most part and definitely looked a lot like the source material, but that's just it; It looked like the source material, but up to a point it completely stopped feeling like the source material.

Rorschach, Nite Owl & Comedian were all great. Dr. Manhattan was good but far too connected within that world. And Silk Spectre & Ozymandias were just totally butchered.

In the book, Laurie was actually one of my favorite characters because she had such a well-developed personality, a clearly established reason to hate the Comedian and to have a connection to Nite Owl - the only other relatively normal person in the group - and felt like a real person reacting to the absurdity of the superhero world she'd been brought up in, and the way she reacted to that absurdity, ie. not putting up with the bullshit, often made for some great comedic moments which made her endearing imo.

In the movie she comes across as alternatively whiny, slutty and borderline retarded.

This was my big problem with the film because up to a point they'd been pretty faithful to the source material - some reinterpretations and shuffling of scenes here and there but nothing major - but with Laurie's storyline and in particular the big revelation that her entire arc has been building to, it's done in such a piss-poor, half-assed, wallbanger fashion that it ruins the character completely.

The flashback sequences from the book - where we see Laurie's curiousity as a child being fascinated by her mother's superhero paraphernalia, her naive crush/hero worship of the Comedian and her mother's breakdown in the car and her outburst during the blacktie dinner, throwing scotch in the Comedian's face - all showed the progression of the story of how she went from a dreamer with ambitions of being a hero to wanting basically nothing to do with any of it, all the while subtly sowing the seeds of her realisation in the dialogue before bringing it all together in a way that makes it all clear.

In the movie, the flashback lasts maybe a minute. No curiousity. No snowglobe. No breakdown in the car. No outburst at the dinner. No indication that Laurie and the Comedian are connected in any way. There's a throwaway line maybe 15 minutes into the movie that she knows what the Comedian did but it's never made clear that she despised him for it, much less any clear indication of why Laurie would come to the conclusion she does.

In this flashback, there's a hint at the snowglobe scene but instead of going into her mother's room while her parents are fighting in the background, she walks towards the argument and it's all stated vaguely in dialogue. Oh, and a bastardised version of Laurie's first encounter with the Comedian is shown with the entire breakdown in the car part cut out.

This is what really pissed me off so much about the movie because up to that point it had been pretty closely faithful to the source material, and then it just decides to shit all over itself and re-write everything.

You know how in the book it was left up to the reader to decide whether Ozymandias was right or wrong? Well fuck that, right from the start they made him the most blatantly obvious villain possible so that his big reveal can be jumped to without any logic reason and carry no weight whatsoever.

You know how in the book Laurie and Dan don't know what to do when the shit goes down and they find solace in each other in the midst of what's essential a nuclear holocaust, just like in Dan's dream? Well fuck that, they've gotta have Nite Owl run after Rorschach so he can come back and punch out Ozymandias, making the choice for the audience. Meanwhile we get to see Laurie reconcile with Dr. Manhattan and be all lovey dovey so that Dan looks like her second choice and she has to settle for him since her blue tube steak supplier is about to skip town.

What really gets my dander up about this movie is how it was supposedly so 'true to the source' material when the reality is, it's absolutely not. Don't get me wrong, I wasn't expecting the Pirate story of the giant squid or even really the character development of the incidental characters, but when you're fucking with important plot points, rewriting others, and changing the entire tone of a book that is widely acclaimed as pretty much the Holy Grail of graphic novel, you've completely missed the point.

The worst part for me is the fact that they had it there for a while. They really did. And then they had to go and fuck it all up with a complete lack of subtlety, glossing over important scenes so they don't get a chance to sink in, dragging out other scenes that didn't need to go on so long, injecting extraneous, nonsensical elements that contradict the story, and a false sentiment of respect.

As an attempt at an adaptation, it came pretty close but ultimately fell short because if they really were serious about doing it justice, they sure didn't know how to actually do it.

[Tim-Æ]

Well put good sir. Watchmen tried too hard to be the material it was adapting that it forgot what it was adapting.

As far as Sherlock Holmes, I enjoyed it. It was a bit long and Guy Ritchie has a very peculiar directing style. On the flip side, I got to see the 2nd official "Inception" trailer. That movie will own 2010.

[Doug E Fresh]

Watched Ghost Town last night with my girl...stupid chick flicks lol.  It was alright because Ricky Gervais is funny as shit.  Basically dude dies and is back to life during a procedure and can see dead people and then it follows the standard romance movie model with a little bit of ghostish quirks and comedy.

[Draeden]

Watched Public Enemies. Fell asleep half way through; it was fucking shit. Well, that, or I was way too stoned to watch it. Either way I didn't enjoy the first hour of it.

[Midas]

Two reviews...

Hangover

     I personally enjoyed this movie and all of it's antics. I am not one for comedies like this but this one just kept my rolling all the way to the end. The premise was interesting and the way they explained the blackout was very plausible IMO, my you at times you could see where the story was taking you from a mile away but it was alright. I think the groom got the shit end of the stick here as he was only in about 1/3 of the movie but played a major part in the storyline. My griefs with this movie was Bradley Cooper as basically they made him a huge sleezeball with no redeeming qualties and we are suppose to believe that in the end he finds solace in his boring average life as if this ordeal changed him. The pushover dentist friend was great and anyone who could not see the end of his sotry arch coming is blind and needs to watch more tv lol...  Overall it was worth the watch and all the hoopla that came with it, but lets be real here... Hollywood is talking about a sequel... Are you guys fucking crazy! I mean you struck gold and instead of letting it go they are going to put out some shut second rate sequel with a slightly twisted premise and hope that we all laugh at the same shit again.


Second movie...

The Goods ... Live Hard... Sell Hard ... Starring Jeremy Piven

    Hvae a nice fucking day with this piece of shit movie! I love Jeremy Piven and Entourage but his shit is getting kind of old and as the show progresses I find him more annoying then funny and in this movie they basically try to give us a Ari Gold in the form of a Car Salesman and it failed badly. From the start of this movie I was rolling my eyes and not laughing what so ever, thenin order to fit this movie into a hour and a half they toss us right into the storyline and basically try to impress us with crude jokes and stupid antics. Sometimes I like to see a bright side in this movie but there is none as this movie just blew monkey balls from the start to the end. If you must see this movie then go right ahead and rent it, if you love Will Farrell then you will enjoy his cameo which reminds me of his role in semi-pro.

[Jonny Worldbeater]

Just got finished watching the latest Hayao Miyazaki animated film, Ponyo. I'm a big fan of Japanese animation and Hayao Miyazaki, who was responsible for the Oscar winning film 'Spirited Away' a couple of years back, is an absolute master at that in way that he's able to capture the imagination and bring these magical worlds to life.

With Ponyo, Miyazaki takes that spirit that made so many of his other films great and couples it with the Hans Christian Andersen fable, 'The Little Mermaid', giving his own unique twist on the classic fairy tale.

For me, this was a great film, but for anyone who's ever seen a Miyazaki film you should probably know from the start that you're going to get a great film. It's the kind of movie you can see yourself sitting with your grandkids on your knee years down the line and being able to enjoy it along with them, and that's a feat very, very few films are able to achieve nowadays, and from a personal perspective, I think this is also a film that can just be enjoyed in its own right.

It's a little bit weird, it's a little bit quirky, a little bit 'ridiculous', sometimes maybe it even gets a little unnerving, but pretty much all Miyazaki films have a little something like that. And I've heard people say that, in comparison to some of Miyazaki's best work this film doesn't hold up, but to that I would say:

1. Miyazaki at his worst is still better than most people ever do. Miyazaki at his absolute best is something most people couldn't even dream of. To achieve that standard of quality over a career that has spanned a good 30 years now, if not more is incredible, and to achieve the absolute best of his work is a mountain that would be difficult for even a master to climb twice, so it's an unfair comparison to make.

2. Even if the film is not as good as some of his previous efforts, the film in its own right is still a great film in its own right. When you compare a great film to a masterpiece, it doesn't mean that the film isn't still great. The expectation that it should be on par with the greatest work ever produced by Miyazaki is just a selfish, snobbish and unrealistic, and frankly insulting to the work and effort that was made here.

It's my opinion that anybody who walks into a film with the expectation that it should be the greatest cinematic experience of all time and complains when they don't get that despite the quality of the film still being obviously very high, like they were somehow owed something by the filmmaker that he/she 'failed to deliver' is a world class wanker with their head 40 feet up their ass who needs to quit bitching and shut the fuck up.

So, to summarise, Ponyo was a great film imo. It may not necessarily be for everybody and it may not be for you, but to me this film is classic Miyazaki - not necessarily at his best but still thoroughly enjoyable, captivating and visually exceptional.

That's my 2 cents anyway.

[Adam Michaels]

Watched a couple of movies last night for New Year's..

1. Paranormal Activity- saw this one on the big screen, and I have to admit- I'm a die-hard horror fan. Sat through all the Saw, Friday The 13th, Nightmare.. you get the picture.. this is the first time in a LOOOOONG time that I have seen a movie that legitimately spooked me. Didn't need gore or shock to get to you. Even though it was shot POV (think Blair Witch, Cloverfield, Quarantine) I was able to put that aside and just totally mark out to what is going to be considered a horror classic. Definitely picking up this DVD soon.

2. District 9- rented the DVD, and damn, am I glad I did. I've always enjoyed Peter Jackson's work, and this film was definitely no exception. Had a very interesting plot, a protagonist you couldn't help but hate in the beginning but near the end couldn't help but sympathize for. Could leave itself open for a potential sequel, but hopefully that doesn't happen. This one deserves to stand alone. Excellent job.

[Marq]

Watched a couple of movies last night for New Year's..

1. Paranormal Activity- saw this one on the big screen, and I have to admit- I'm a die-hard horror fan. Sat through all the Saw, Friday The 13th, Nightmare.. you get the picture.. this is the first time in a LOOOOONG time that I have seen a movie that legitimately spooked me. Didn't need gore or shock to get to you. Even though it was shot POV (think Blair Witch, Cloverfield, Quarantine) I was able to put that aside and just totally mark out to what is going to be considered a horror classic. Definitely picking up this DVD soon.

2. District 9- rented the DVD, and damn, am I glad I did. I've always enjoyed Peter Jackson's work, and this film was definitely no exception. Had a very interesting plot, a protagonist you couldn't help but hate in the beginning but near the end couldn't help but sympathize for. Could leave itself open for a potential sequel, but hopefully that doesn't happen. This one deserves to stand alone. Excellent job.

"District 9" wasn't actually directed by Jackson, but produced. Neill Blomkamp is who you wanna praise, as he deserves it for such a great effort on his first feature.

[Duckman]

Just finished watching Inglorious Bastards.  In-fucking-credible.  Amazing film.  Great story, brilliantly written and shot, darkly comic moments and the best final line in a film for a long time!

The T man is back on form with this and it's probably the most all round enjoyable film he's made. 

Fantastic.

Peace

Duckman

[Adam Michaels]

"District 9" wasn't actually directed by Jackson, but produced. Neill Blomkamp is who you wanna praise, as he deserves it for such a great effort on his first feature.

I stand corrected.

[Doug E Fresh]

Ok watched 2 movies last night...

500 Days of Summer:  Thought it would be a chick flick but it really wasn't.  Jumps through the timeline mementoish going from early to end to middle and so on.  Had some really funny moments not too bad overall.

Inglorious Basterds:  I'm sure others have wrote about this already but all I can say is fucking amazing!  Granted, there are times where it isn't exactly historically accurate but overall I have nothing to say but I loved it!

[Draeden]

Blood: The Last Vampire

Well, it has a Japanese lass fighting badly CGI'd demons (with worse gore, which is ironic considering the film title) while dressed in a sailor outfit or something. Mixed in old-school martial-arts with the flying and stuff made it pretty amusing but overall not particularly entertaining.

Thing is, it was a bit like those martial arts movies where something gay happens and the hero sets about putting it right again - like if someone kidnaps his son to use as a meaty paperweight and he beats the everlasting piss out of everyone he ever comes into contact with on his way to the glorious rescue. In this case there would be (presumably) some blindingly awesome fight-scenes with a shite story you don't care about...

...well that's almost this movie. Imagine the movie I described above without any decent fighting.

Yeah.

[Tezmission Black]

The Invention Of Lying

IMO, a very good movie, one of the better ones I've seen in a while.

[Josh]

The Book of Eli

Favourite film of the year thus far (although I've yet to watch Avatar). This is what a religious film should be, in my opinion, although it shouldn't deter any atheists from seeing it, lol. In comparison to Christian films, this doesn't hold anything back and shows the world in a dark way. Mila Kunis was average, Oldman good and Washington was just bad-ass. It is beautifully shot and well-paced throughout. My only gripe would be the ending, just a tad too cheesy for me.

8.5/10

[The Binge]

Watched The Usual Suspects last night. Absolutely amazing film, Kevin Spacey, Stephen Baldwin and Gabriel Byrne all bring out top notch performances in an action packed film with the best ending I have ever seen in my life - whether this says more about how good the twists at the end are or just the low amount of movies I watch I don't know but either way you NEED to see this film if you haven't.