An Idea Part 2 Ratings Bonzana Continued and Back with a stinging vengance

Buscemi wrote:I went on Box Office Mojo and looked up the New Zealand box office.

Body Of Lies is also out.

SS, you have a stalker...

Hatchet 3 / 10

Despite a handful of good laughs, and a couple memorable moments--this movie was just plain BAD. It reeked of half-baked film-school ideas. Yes, it's tongue-in-cheek, but it came off much more gimmicky and forced than satirical. I had high hopes because I had read a couple reviews that described it in the same way I describe Severance. But the movies are nothing alike. For as ridiculously over-the-top Severance is, Hatchet makes it look subtle. Hatchet 2 is already greenlit--ugh.

GO SEE SEVERANCE!

Hatchet and Severance came out last year.

Buscemi wrote:Hatchet and Severance came out last year.

oops. guess i never paid attention to the "idea" part of this Idea thread.. me and the katester got the What Are You Watching RIGHT NOW thread goin

Meanwhile I liked both films and you really can't compare them. Severance is like Shaun Of The Dead, rather high-brow. Hatchet however is more of a B-grade, Friday the 13th-esque film.

Punisher - */****

Horrible, horrible, horrible. I guess it stars the guy from Rome, and this movie is so bad that I will probably never watch Rome now. The action scenes were decent, but there was no story (literally), the villains were cheesy as hell, and the acting was horrible (the Punisher doesn't even say a word the first 25 min of the film...I timed it). Watch the red band trailer on youtube. That's about all the movie has to offer.

So it's like Max Payne (a similar film who potential was shat upon by studio interference)?

Cadillac Records - 9/10


I was extremely surprised with this one, I expected some forget-about-it-the-next-day crappy drama with some old music thrown in. It was actually an incredible film, with terrific performances all around, with some great mood-setting music involved. It's probably only the 2nd or 3rd film this year I've seen that everyone on the screen delivered to the fullest (The Dark Knight, maybe The Wackness). Among all the good performances, I feel that Beyonce, Mos Def, and Columbus Short are the true standouts here. Mos Def is hiliarious in his limited time as Chuck Berry; Beyonce actually acts and convinces that she can do more than sing (even though her singing performance is strictly Beyonce, not Etta James at all), and Columbus Short explodes as Little Walter, a good ole boy who does a complete 180 when he discovers alcohol.

At times, the narrative is a little without focus, jumping from story to story. Luckily, all the stories are compelling enough for you not to care.

It's in my Top 10 of the year so far, and I do hope the Academy does not overlook Columbus Short for a Best Supporting Actor nod.

QoS - 6/10

Man On Wire ****/**** (10/10)

Philippe Petit IS the man without fear. To do something like tightrope walk the World Trade Center is something extremely ballsy and the way that he did it without feeling frightened about death for even a second is amazing. Meanwhile, the film is amazingly crafted with interviews, archive footage and reenactments (usually I'm against reenactments in documentaries but here it works and they didn't overdo it) that play well with each other. At first, I thought that Religulous would be the big Oscar documentary but now I'm really wanting this film to win.

Nobel Son - 4.5/5

I really liked this one. I walked in knowing very little except for the trailer, which I saw one time. It was great direction and acting, but I was mainly surprised at how different it was. The use of background music is case in point. There was always some music or noise in the background, and it changed quite almost at every scene, which worked really well (tho it sounds on paper like it wouldn't). Be interested to hear everyone's opinion once some others get a chance to see it.

Bolt in 3-D **.5/**** (6.25/10)

This was a good film but it could have been a better one. It seems at times that they were trying to go into DreamWorks territory (despite John Lassiter being executive producer), which probably deviated from the story. Plus despite its 106 minute running time, not much actually happens and as a result the plotline is rather thin. For example, I probably would have liked more of a backstory of Bolt and how he became a TV star in the first place instead of going straight to the action.

Punisher: War Zone .5/**** (1.25/10)

If The Dark Knight is the year's best reboot, this is the year's worst reboot. You are led to believe that the film is a true sequel but it doesn't even bother to follow the original (for example, Frank Castle has two children instead of one in this installment and they died in New York instead of Puerto Rico). Plus, the film features perhaps one of the worst portrayals of the Mafia ever in a film and the film's hundred or so killings are actually not fun to watch. In short, it makes ruthlessness boring. Only see the film if you've had a few beers or you want to go MST3K with it.

Buscemi wrote:

Punisher: War Zone .5/**** (1.25/10)

... Only see the film if you've had a few beers or you want to go MST3K with it.

You just sold me on it!

Frost/Nixon - 9/10 - I was skeptical of the Best Picture talk but boy was I wrong. This is a must see film, even if the money shot was revealed in the trailer. It still had me on the edge of my seat in anticipation anyway. And while I can't ever spell Frank Langella's last name, he is Richard Nixon, no doubt. I really liked the style too. I was styled as kind of a documentary except with the actors playing the people. It wasn't quite the follow the life story of one man like Milk it was like a retrospective and at the same time showing their perspectives in the pivotal moments of the film.

Bolt - 6/10 - While it was not as bad as I expected, (the first 20 minutes were worth it.), there are way to many cliches to count. It's kind of like Homeward Bound for the Iphone generation.

JackO wrote:Frost/Nixon - 9/10 - I was skeptical of the Best Picture talk but boy was I wrong. This is a must see film, even if the money shot was revealed in the trailer. It still had me on the edge of my seat in anticipation anyway. And while I can't ever spell Frank Langella's last name, he is Richard Nixon, no doubt. I really liked the style too. I was styled as kind of a documentary except with the actors playing the people.

I felt the opposite- I thought the whoe documentary was a clunky and lazy attempt to get acorss information without being able to write it into the main narrative. . However, I do think Langella was brilliant as Nixon, and I wouldn't be sad to see him nab the Oscar.

Frost/Nixon 6/10

Role Models 7/10

We were just looking for something we could go and have a good laugh at,. and this was it. We both love Paul Rudd, and even Sean William Scott was good. Unfortunately for Christopher Mintz-Platz, he will be type cast as a McLovin/dweeb for the forseeable future. Even Elizabeth Banks was not annoying which is saying a lot. The only person who we found to be totally annoying and stuck with a one note joke was Jane Lynch.

The Spirit - 6/10

My review is in Shryke's hands and will be going up on his site. The movie is bad, but in classic 'so bad that it is awesome' form. If you like the way that Samuel L Jackson acts, you'll love the movie because virtually the entire cast is doing SLJ impersonations, *lol* (a painful exception to this being Gabriel Macht who wasn't watching the others work and caught on too late to change). I truly enjoyed it, but start lowering your expectations. the dialogue veers wildly from cringe-worthy to cheesy to unintentionally funny. I'll be interested to see what others have to say about it.

Keyser Soze wrote:Role Models 7/10

We were just looking for something we could go and have a good laugh at,. and this was it. We both love Paul Rudd, and even Sean William Scott was good. Unfortunately for Christopher Mintz-Platz, he will be type cast as a McLovin/dweeb for the forseeable future. Even Elizabeth Banks was not annoying which is saying a lot. The only person who we found to be totally annoying and stuck with a one note joke was Jane Lynch.

Could someone explain the "bagel dog" joke to me? I got the erection part but why were they pushing it back into the bagel? Was that supposed to happen or were the characters simply repulsed by the gesture? I was actually expecting one of the characters to accept her advances and in the words of Danny Zuko, "bite the weenie" (no relish though).

A_Roode wrote:The Spirit - 6/10

My review is in Shryke's hands and will be going up on his site. The movie is bad, but in classic 'so bad that it is awesome' form. If you like the way that Samuel L Jackson acts, you'll love the movie because virtually the entire cast is doing SLJ impersonations, *lol* (a painful exception to this being Gabriel Macht who wasn't watching the others work and caught on too late to change). I truly enjoyed it, but start lowering your expectations. the dialogue veers wildly from cringe-worthy to cheesy to unintentionally funny. I'll be interested to see what others have to say about it.

how did you see it already. i cant wait to see it. 1 week from today i will.

A_Roode wrote:The Spirit - 6/10

My review is in Shryke's hands and will be going up on his site. The movie is bad, but in classic 'so bad that it is awesome' form. If you like the way that Samuel L Jackson acts, you'll love the movie because virtually the entire cast is doing SLJ impersonations, *lol* (a painful exception to this being Gabriel Macht who wasn't watching the others work and caught on too late to change). I truly enjoyed it, but start lowering your expectations. the dialogue veers wildly from cringe-worthy to cheesy to unintentionally funny. I'll be interested to see what others have to say about it.

Definitely not the best of news, but I'm sure I'll be seeing it any way.

On the other hand, we were just saved $20 as the wife saw her first commercial for Seven Pounds a few minutes ago and already figured out the twist so now we don't have to go and see that one.

transformers2 wrote:

A_Roode wrote:The Spirit - 6/10

My review is in Shryke's hands and will be going up on his site. The movie is bad, but in classic 'so bad that it is awesome' form. If you like the way that Samuel L Jackson acts, you'll love the movie because virtually the entire cast is doing SLJ impersonations, *lol* (a painful exception to this being Gabriel Macht who wasn't watching the others work and caught on too late to change). I truly enjoyed it, but start lowering your expectations. the dialogue veers wildly from cringe-worthy to cheesy to unintentionally funny. I'll be interested to see what others have to say about it.

how did you see it already. i cant wait to see it. 1 week from today i will.

Much of 'The Spirit' series is published by Random House. Random House was a sponsor of the advance screening and I'm lucky to have a connection there who was able to hook me up with a ticket for the pre-screening. Halifax is one of the big Canadian markets for movies and distributors here have long been generous about having advance screenings. One of our local entertainment newspapers has a great deal worked out with Maple (and Alliance before them) and is able to sponsor screenings for just about everything that is coming out.

Keyser Soze wrote:

A_Roode wrote:The Spirit - 6/10

My review is in Shryke's hands and will be going up on his site. The movie is bad, but in classic 'so bad that it is awesome' form. If you like the way that Samuel L Jackson acts, you'll love the movie because virtually the entire cast is doing SLJ impersonations, *lol* (a painful exception to this being Gabriel Macht who wasn't watching the others work and caught on too late to change). I truly enjoyed it, but start lowering your expectations. the dialogue veers wildly from cringe-worthy to cheesy to unintentionally funny. I'll be interested to see what others have to say about it.

Definitely not the best of news, but I'm sure I'll be seeing it any way.

On the other hand, we were just saved $20 as the wife saw her first commercial for Seven Pounds a few minutes ago and already figured out the twist so now we don't have to go and see that one.

You've got a much better comics and graphic novel background then me too, so it's helpful to know that I'm looking at it purely in film terms and not as adaptation or with expectations from the other medium. 'The Spirit' is pure cornball entertainment. I truly enjoyed it but I wouldn't be suprised to see it get savaged by reviewers. It could go either way.

Glad I'm not alone about 'Seven Pounds.' I can't dredge up the will power or desire to go see that. I'll stall for time and maybe the missus will want to see something else instead ('Bride Wars' is an inescapable tidal wave coming at me and I've got nowhere to run).

Cadillac Records **.5/****

I was actually surprised that the film turned out good after having read a number of bad reviews. Though some of it could have been better (such as that it needed more Chuck Berry, the time frame seems to speed through with no explanation and the fact that Cedric The Entertainer's narration sounded a lot like Uncle Ruckus from The Boondocks) but it's a good film for a Saturday afternoon. Jeffrey Wright and Mos Def got the best moments.

JCVD ***/****

Probably Van Damme's third best film (behind Hard Target and Bloodsport) and by far his best performance. In a way, it's Die Hard meets Pulp Fiction meets Being John Malkovich and it shows that Besson isn't the only Frenchman who can make a good action film. Also the film taught me that Steven Seagal is a jackass.

Nights In Rodanthe **.5/****

It's not The Notebook or Unfaithful but it's a decent timekiller. For Donte, it meets his Diane Lane demands and for everyone, it has some uncredited James Franco madness. Also, it's surprisingly short and well-paced for its genre so unlike some other romance films, it doesn't feel like it lasts forever.

Tale of Despereaux- 7.5/10

It was everything a kid's movie should be. Great story, very cute, very clean and great morals. Anyone with kids, take them to see it.

Ahoy hoy! long time since I've seen a new movie, but this one is at least within this quarter so I get to post..

Twilight - 7/10
Honestly, I want to give it an 8, but I'm certain that I'm too emotionally involved with the story to be objective with that high a mark. Why as a parent would you take small children to see this movie? I was in a theatre with two families both with children under 10, I'm pretty sure most of the kids fell asleep. Stupid stupid people.