What is the last movie you saw? and rate it.

[Paulclem]

Transsiberian - a US couple meet a pair of dodgy backpackers and end up mixed up in a drugs cartel. An unusual story if a bit predictable. 6/10

The lives of others - about the surveillance of artists in East Germany. Thoughtful 6/10.

[qimissung]

I like the way the Chicago Reader critic opened his review of Prometheus: "The plot of this Alien prequel was a carefully guarded secret—so carefully guarded, in fact, that not even the movie reveals it."

That's funny.

And Paul-"inscrutable alien purposes..." so true! YOu know I like a bit of a mystery in a plot, but this was just poorly done. The one question that kept pounding in my head was whydid the robot put the whatever it was in the man's drink? And why did the alien try to kill them when one of his species had given us life (I guess; it was all a little confusing)? None of it added up, and as a narrative, some of it should have.


This was a really good review, and there were some excellent comments, although they're a bit lengthy. Obviously I've got some time on my hands.



http://www.juliansanchez.com/2012/06...-partial-list/

[Buckthorn]

I watched the new Fright Night last night for the first time. It was OK, but not a patch on the original 2. 6/10

[Helga]

'Everything is illuminated', it was very good, I think I'd like to read the book when I have the chance too. I am not a big Elijah Wood fan but he was good in it, one of his best roles (his best being Sin City).

[MarkBastable]

I once saw a film in which one of the characters was supposed to be a sufferer, and sitting with a lugubrious expression as though his mind were elsewhere was exactly how he was portrayed by the actor playing the part.

Under any circumstances, drawing conclusions about life from the movies is a rather naive course of action. And, as we know, your interpretation of film and your appreciation of perfomance is quite often awry in any case. So you're probably going to something a bit more concrete, Agatha.

[Emil Miller]

With widespread flooding and lack of sunshine, the English summer remains out of sight. However there's still YouTube to brighten the day and so, instead of dutifully reading War and Peace, I took in Man Trap, a film made in 1961 that was quite good until, like so many others, it was unable to resist the barn storming ending that renders the whole enterprise null and void. However, I was hooked when I saw that Stella Stevens was in it because, although I don't usually go for glamorous blonds, no normal male could pass up on a woman who made Marilyn Monroe look like a vicar's daughter.

http://youtu.be/Joc9BnF0XQs

Under any circumstances, drawing conclusions about life from the movies is a rather naive course of action. And, as we know, your interpretation of film and your appreciation of perfomance is quite often awry in any case. So you're probably going to something a bit more concrete, Agatha.

So, 'as WE know', is a sure indication that 'YOUR' individual opinion is worthless without the support of those mythical 'others' who have had no input into your unwarranted personalisation of my observations on a thread that asks for individual comment. Unless of course you are among those referred to in my comment as being those who relate to lowlife: in which case, your attitude is understandable.

[Scheherazade]

~

R e m i n d e r

Please discuss the ideas, not each other.

Off-topic posts will be removed without further notice.

~

[Mutatis-Mutandis]

I saw Prometheus. I thought it was really good. Smart story, amazing effects and cinematography, and a strong female lead. I thought it better than any of the Alien movies, the first of which I find extremely overrated. The connections to the Alien movies are subtle, and Scott said many times it wasn't going to be directly connected to any of the previous films, so the fans were, for some reason, disappointed when it turned out not to have a bunch if aliens running around eating people. 8/10.

[qimissung]

I'm glad you liked it Mutatis, but that's not why I was not enthused with it.

I watched the new Fright Night last night for the first time. It was OK, but not a patch on the original 2. 6/10

Hey, I just watched that tonight. It was better than I thought it would be. The weakest part of it, I thought, was that they didn't develop the Peter Vincent character as well as they did in the original. I noticed that they kept the oversized vampire fangs. I personally prefer a more understated look in fangs myself.

All in all, I'd give it a 7/10. The original is still the best for good campy fun.

[OrphanPip]

I like Prometheus, though it was seriously flawed, and it doesn't approach Alien or Aliens. Alien 3 and 4 are **** though, so it's better than them.

Of what I've seen recently:

Moonrise Kingdom 9/10
Quirky and beautifully filmed, not as good as Rushmore but another great production by Wes Anderson.

Rock of Ages 3/10
Tom Cruise is really good in it, but most of the film is painful.

Abraham Lincoln Vampire Slayer 2/10
This isn't even so bad its good bad, it's just bad.

Brave 7/10
Cute Pixar movie, and a princess movie where there finally is no prince charming! The film is actually about the mother-daughter relationship, which itself is rare in the generally male centred world of children's films.

[Mutatis-Mutandis]

I don't get why Alien and Aliens are lauded as being so good. The first one is so damn boring--an attempt to be artsy, I guess, but it seemed like Scott just needed to fill time. I've yet to watch it without falling asleep. And the effects aren't anything special. Then Cameron comes along with the sequel and overdoes it in the opposite way--macho guys with guns and tanks, plus an annoying little kid. "They mostly come out at night . . . mostly." Bleh.

I like the fourth one. At least it's fun.

/rant

As to Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter: I haven't seen it because it looks really stupid (if they just didn't have Lincoln spinning axes around like a ninja I'd give it a chance) but I have heard the effects and production are pretty good.

That's funny.

And Paul-"inscrutable alien purposes..." so true! YOu know I like a bit of a mystery in a plot, but this was just poorly done. The one question that kept pounding in my head was whydid the robot put the whatever it was in the man's drink? And why did the alien try to kill them when one of his species had given us life (I guess; it was all a little confusing)? None of it added up, and as a narrative, some of it should have.


This was a really good review, and there were some excellent comments, although they're a bit lengthy. Obviously I've got some time on my hands.



http://www.juliansanchez.com/2012/06...-partial-list/

Prometheus spoilers ahead.

The reason he put the drop of alien-oil in the one guy's drink is because he was simply trying to find out what it did. In the scene before that, Theron's character confronts him to find out what their father told him to do, and his answer was "try harder," i.e., try harder to figure out what they were dealing with, so he did, at the expense of the man's life. Plus, he was sort of a dick to David. He supposedly has no feelings, but I doubt that was true.

As to why the aliens wanted to kill us--why they had that deadly stuff stockpiled and why we, as the human race were lead there--is a mystery, and was pointed out by the movie that it was. She even says at the end that that is what she is going to try and find out: why the engineers created us, and why they wanted to kill us. My theory is we were a genetic experiment that got out of control, and rather than chance us evolving to the point where we can navigate space, they decided to exterminate us. What went wrong with that plan is another mystery.

It's nota amazing movie, but I felt that the good outweighed the bad. The scene where she does self-survey was so intense, I haven't been on the edge of my seat like that in a long time.

[OrphanPip]

I don't get why Alien and Aliens are lauded as being so good. The first one is so damn boring--an attempt to be artsy, I guess, but it seemed like Scott just needed to fill time. I've yet to watch it without falling asleep. And the effects aren't anything special. Then Cameron comes along with the sequel and overdoes it in the opposite way--macho guys with guns and tanks, plus an annoying little kid. "They mostly come out at night . . . mostly." Bleh.

I like the fourth one. At least it's fun.

That's nuts, both those films revolutionized genres, horror and action respectively.

[Mutatis-Mutandis]

Meh, revolutionized or not, I didn't like them.

[qimissung]

I haven't seen "Alien" in a long time, but I do remember liking it a great deal. After all, in space on one can hear you scream! Creepy!!!

"Aliens"-I actaully saw that in the theater. I liked it until the end. When the little girl was killed, that was it for me.

As far as "Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter" haven't seen it, and have, um, no immediate plans to see it, but love this review from Andrew O'Hehir:



– A great killer Lincoln. Dazzling design and awesome action scenes can't conceal the joyous idiocy of "Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter" ...

"joyous idiocy.." The idea of the rather stolid Lincoln as a vampire hunter is absolutely hilarious. Still laughing.

[Calidore]

"Aliens"-I actaully saw that in the theater. I liked it until the end. When the little girl was killed, that was it for me.

That happened at the beginning of Alien 3, not the end of 2.