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New/Rented movies: Here comes the movie to change all movies

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Re: New/Rented movies: Here comes the movie to change all movies

Kepler said:
IMHO, Scanner Darkly argues exactly the opposite: you can "cartoonize" actors and make it really compelling, if you have some imagination and style. Avatar's trailers grimly remind me of how irritating Disney's "Anastasia" was -- pouring relentless amounts of money into the void left by soullessness.
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Disney made a version of "Anastasia", too? I knew about Fox's movie... ;)

I don't get all the confusion over "Avatar", all the people saying things like "I have no idea what I just saw," after seeing the trailer. What's so strange? It's a sci-fi movie, plain and simple, that happens to have a ton of CGI.

I'd actually like to see it for the effects, but the story looks clichéd and predictable (I'm also worried that it's going to hammer us over the head with the "greedy invaders who don't care about native populace" point).
 
Re: New/Rented movies: Here comes the movie to change all movies

Brenthoven said:
Avatar: the review in the Star Tribune (Mpls) today basically said:

Plot: eh, it's okay
Love story/angle: meh. Cliched.
Effects: OMGFTWBBQ11!!!1!1!!!

4 stars.


That was all I needed to know. Not going to see it. If I want a bland story with trippy visuals, I'll drop acid.

.
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Ive seen a few other reveiws that said the same exact thing. Good effects, bad plot/story, cliche, etc. Saw one that said something to the effect that the special effects (while great) it left the reveiwer feeling empty and unable to make a true connection with the characters.
 
Re: New/Rented movies: Here comes the movie to change all movies

thecomicbookguy said:
Disney made a version of "Anastasia", too? I knew about Fox's movie... ;)
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http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/AllAnimationIsDisney

Shh, all animation is Disney. Now go rent Watership Down for some little children. :D

I'd actually like to see it for the effects, but the story looks clichéd and predictable (I'm also worried that it's going to hammer us over the head with the "greedy invaders who don't care about native populace" point).
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Dances with Wolves set on another planet is what I think the general story is.
 
Re: New/Rented movies: Here comes the movie to change all movies

Brenthoven said:
Saw "Fracture" tonight:

First hour of it? Awesome. Hopkins as the cagey, crafty smart guy who gets away with a crime, and Gosling perfecting the hotshot/hotsh* stud character. Quality. I was really into it, and was wondering where all the bad reviews came in.

Then the second hour happened. It was like a bad Cop Drama episode. Predictable, corny, crappy, everything.

I guess the good news is, you can watch the first half, know what is going to happen the second half, and save yourself an hour.

If you're bored, or a superfan of Hopkins, watch it. Other than that? Meh. Pass.
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Fracture reminded me of a cross between a John Grisham novel/movie and a Law and Order episode. In fact, it was a lot like an extended version of L&O: Criminal Intent (what I like to call, the encyclopedia brown version of L&O).
 
Re: New/Rented movies: Here comes the movie to change all movies

unofan said:
Fracture reminded me of a cross between a John Grisham novel/movie and a Law and Order episode. In fact, it was a lot like an extended version of L&O: Criminal Intent (what I like to call, the encyclopedia brown version of L&O).
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Yeah, I agree. You could even tell when they could cut to commercial when this movie makes the rounds on tv. It was that obvious.
 
Re: New/Rented movies: Here comes the movie to change all movies

Just got done seeing Avatar. Storywise it's pretty predictable, mostly because they give the basics of it away in the trailer. The story itself isn't bad, it hovers somewhere between mediocre and good, a little heavy handed, but not too preachy, and a decent amount of thought had been put into Pandora as a world that functions basically (spoiler) a giant brain. A literal stereotypical indian, everything is interconnected brain. (/spoiler) Nearly everything on the planet is bio-luminescent in some way, hence the extreme glow in many of the trailers scenes.

The 3d effects work well for 95% of the movie, the rest the camera seems to have trouble dealing with a lot of stuff going on. Such as in the very beginning when Jake is getting out of cryo sleep and there's 15 billion things going on in the background. But it's a small complaint. When out in the jungle environments, the effect is very nice, it's mostly confined to the few scenes inside of buildings where there are groups of people standing around.

One small thing that I really liked was that Jake's legs actually looked like they belonged to someone who hadn't walked in years. As well as his first reaction to being able to walk again.

The Thanador has to be my favorite creature, nothing else in the movie makes the characters **** their pants on sight half as much.

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Re: New/Rented movies: Here comes the movie to change all movies

Finally saw Heat from beginning to end. Yeah, I know, shuddup. Have seen the bank scene and the diner scene a few times before, but never the whole movie.

Awesome story, good suspense. Not as well-shot as Public Enemies (also by Mann) in the way of lighting/colors/etc, but made up for that in the action/suspense scenes. For the lack of what Public Enemies had, Heat made up for in movement/suspense/etc. Brilliant.

Really liked the honor/"respect" angle between De Niro and Pacino. Added to the movie quite a bit.

And the "Pacino Yell" has never been more spectacularly overused. :D

Edit: almost forgot:

after the metal company robbery scene, as they are driving away from the building, you can see my company's building in the background plain as day. I'm gonna guess that if it was shot in LA, it was our Distribution Center. I got a chuckle out of that.
 
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Re: New/Rented movies: Here comes the movie to change all movies

Tell No One

French foreign film about a man who's wife is murdered at their lake home and despite doubts by the police he is not arrested for the crime. 8 years later he receives an e-mail that suggests she may be alive and if so, how and why? One of the best films I can remember watching in a long, long time. I rarely rate movies this strongly, but this one stands out as an excellent, excellent thriller.
 
Re: New/Rented movies: Here comes the movie to change all movies

Slap Shot said:
Tell No One

French foreign film about a man who's wife is murdered at their lake home and despite doubts by the police he is not arrested for the crime. 8 years later he receives an e-mail that suggests she may be alive and if so, how and why? One of the best films I can remember watching in a long, long time. I rarely rate movies this strongly, but this one stands out as an excellent, excellent thriller.
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I'll write that one down. Question: does it have dubbing? I'm not a big fan of subtitles, as I think it distracts from seeing smaller details of the movie, because you have to read the dialogue (for me, anyways).
 
Re: New/Rented movies: Here comes the movie to change all movies

Brenthoven said:
I'll write that one down. Question: does it have dubbing? I'm not a big fan of subtitles, as I think it distracts from seeing smaller details of the movie, because you have to read the dialogue (for me, anyways).
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It has subtitles so if that's an inhibitor it may not be for you, but truly for this film I didn't miss anything by having to read them. Perhaps it's the fact that I watch a A LOT of foreign films and am just more used to it, but I didn't feel it got in the way at all. But honestly, this might be the best done film in this genre that I've seen in several years.
 
Re: New/Rented movies: Here comes the movie to change all movies

Slap Shot said:
It has subtitles so if that's an inhibitor it may not be for you, but truly for this film I didn't miss anything by having to read them. Perhaps it's the fact that I watch a A LOT of foreign films and am just more used to it, but I didn't feel it got in the way at all. But honestly, this might be the best done film in this genre that I've seen in several years.
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I'll still give it a whirl. Just might have to watch it more than once, is all. I'm a big fan of subtle details in the shooting of movies (see my note on my Heat review a few posts ago). :o
 
Re: New/Rented movies: Here comes the movie to change all movies

Almost went to see Avatar tonight! But my plans fell through, so I will have to go see it another time...
 
Re: New/Rented movies: Here comes the movie to change all movies

Brenthoven said:
I'll write that one down. Question: does it have dubbing? I'm not a big fan of subtitles, as I think it distracts from seeing smaller details of the movie, because you have to read the dialogue (for me, anyways).
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See now Im the opposite. I find that dubbing distracts me more so that I miss details. Mostly because the sound and the video dont match up.

I have Tell No One on my netflix list (instant I think). I havent had a chance to sit and watch it but I may have to take the time now.
 
Re: New/Rented movies: Here comes the movie to change all movies

Foxton said:
One small thing that I really liked was that Jake's legs actually looked like they belonged to someone who hadn't walked in years. As well as his first reaction to being able to walk again.
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Those were both very nice touches.

I fell asleep a couple times. It was like watching a really long Universal Studios OmniMax movie. Special Effects: A+ (of course), everything else... meh, C/C-. There's not a moment that will surprise any moviegoer over 25. OTOH, there's nothing to disappoint if you came in assuming it would be Freejack.

Instead it was "Dances with Jamaican Iraqis." Every war produces at least one decent anti-war movie, and this isn't it.

One funny thing, though, was they spent some time developing a second Avatar driver's character, then he completely disappeared from the rest of the movie. Assume this means Cameron cut a whole substory. The Director's Cut will probably be 5 hours long.

It won't be the end of movies as we know them. Evil is banal; revolutions aren't.
 
Re: New/Rented movies: Here comes the movie to change all movies

Kepler said:
Those were both very nice touches.

I fell asleep a couple times. It was like watching a really long Universal Studios OmniMax movie. Special Effects: A+ (of course), everything else... meh, C/C-. There's not a moment that will surprise any moviegoer over 25. OTOH, there's nothing to disappoint if you came in assuming it would be Freejack.

Instead it was "Dances with Jamaican Iraqis." Every war produces at least one decent anti-war movie, and this isn't it.

One funny thing, though, was they spent some time developing a second Avatar driver's character, then he completely disappeared from the rest of the movie. Assume this means Cameron cut a whole substory. The Director's Cut will probably be 5 hours long.

It won't be the end of movies as we know them. Evil is banal; revolutions aren't.
Click to expand...

I think him being left out was intentional. Remember the Na'vi captured Jake, that was the reason we didn't see much of the other guy. Avatar is set to be a trilogy so perhaps we'll see more of the other characters going forward.
 
Re: New/Rented movies: Here comes the movie to change all movies

I watched Adaptation last night...what an odd movie though enjoyable. Cage was really good as was Chris Cooper.
 
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