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Movie Reviews Part 2 - The good, the bad and the ... rentals

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I saw Walk the Line.

Movie itself is pretty good but the clear standouts are the script and the chemistry between Joaquin Phoenix and Reese Witherspoon. The latter is what is still making me think, even 2 days later. I'd say the roles of a lifetime for both actors.

Go see it, it's primarily a bad man deceived by drugs and sex saved by a good woman story, but it's so sweet and those actors make it so likeable and effective.

Plus, it can even inspire you to step out and buy his bestselling album 'Live at Folsom Prison' (like I did) ;)
 
^ I have taken to singing "Ring of Fire" throughout the day...

The words can change depending on what I am doing... Yesterday while making omelettes it was changed into "Spring of Onion".

Two nights ago it was "Thing of Beer".



I didn't mind the movie at all, with both Witherspoon and Phoenix playing the parts excellently. I still maintain it is just like seeing the movie "Ray" for a secone time though.
 
Jarhead

Not to put too fine a point on it, but this movie is like Full Metal Jacket, except crapper (and set a couple of decades later).

Peter Sarsgaard and Jamie Foxx are excellent. Jake Gyllenhaal is beyond hot (I read that he put on 5lbs of muscle for this movie), but is pretty unconvincing. Great eye candy - storyline, not so much. There were parts of the plot that seemed to come from nowhere.

I know it's based on a true story, but the ending is too abrupt. I thought it was a dream sequence until the credits rolled.

So basically, it was more of the same "look everyone, war is really fun and cool, and all the men are hot!" I liked it, but didn't love it.

It has a fantastic soundtrack though!
 
^^ the book is better
besides, it had the dude from 'american gothic' in it
the most underrated show of the 90s!
 
^ American Gothic was one of my favourite shows when it was on. Fucking great, I wish it had have lasted longer.

And it had quite possibly the best ad campaign ever (along with Earth 2 which was on around the same time)... "Someone's at the door!" - It scared the shit out of a much younger me who was sitting at home watching TV alone the first time I saw it.
 
anna! said:
Jarhead
Not to put too fine a point on it, but this movie is like Full Metal Jacket, except crapper (and set a couple of decades later).
Click to expand...

bingo. that's exactly how i felt about it when i watched it.

i give it 3/5 stars.

also, i think the book is probably a lot better...
 
I went and saw Hostel on Monday night. I thought it was fantastic, though I also really loved Cabin Fever, which seems to be pretty hit or miss according to those I've talked to that have seen it, which is by the same director.

It is pretty gory and graphic so those who don't like that sort of shit should probably give it a miss. Actually this film kind of made me realise how desensitised to movie violence I really am :)

I'm not really going to say much more at this time so I don't spoil it for anyone else (seeing as it's only just out) but I'd love to hear some more opinions when others have seen it.

Oh and Tarantino didn't have much to do with this film other than putting his name on it in case that was a factor motivating anyone to see it.
 
Hostel is crazy! I really like it as well, and am pleased to say I'm not that desensitised to violence that I couldn't watch in some parts. Let's just say blowtorch and the aftermath lostpunk :P
 
That part was definitely cringe worthy, though I was able to watch it :)

I'm glad some sort of justice was played out in relation to that scene...
 
I'm not a big fan of horror movies. I always cover my eyes when the gross/scary stuff is happening and end up missing half the movie.
 
^^ I don't bother covering my eyes because I think the sound of people getting killed is so much worse...

I really shouldn't see horror movies because they leave me sleepless and scared for so long after, but I'm a masochist and still manage to see every single one that comes out :\
 
Just watched Wolf Creek tonight.

Now I consider myself a complete horror movie pussy. I can't for the life of me handle watching slasher films, I can't stomach things like in Dawn of the Dead where zombies bite necks (ew).

But this movie. THIS movie.. is a peice of piss! :D It's NOTHING!

Seriously.... any squeamish horror movie people, don't be afraid to rent this movie, the only thing you'll be affected by is boredom.

Seriously, it says something about a movie when I get up 7 or 8 times within the opening hour to get a nailfile, hand cream, wash my face, get another drink, get a ciggarette, realise I should probably clean my engagement ring, let the cat in and out, go make a salada with butter vegemite and cheese, pour a baileys on ice, get another ciggarette, get my hairbrush, plait my hair like Princess Leia, go get the detal floss so I can floss my teeth, wonder if I should write a shopping list for tomorrow, pick my toenails, put on lipgloss and yeah.

Not really riveting.

Gory bits? I'm sorry I must have missed them. Some chick got a knife to the back (hardly saw a thing), some other bloodied chick was tied to a fence post screaming, we don't know what she was screaming about, we never got to know because she got shot (Boringest death evar), and the guy? Oh no! He got a bit of wire stuck in his wrists in front of some barking dogs and got whisked off to the medicos shortly after.

I am seriously reconsidering whether I really *am* that squeamish in the light of this movie. I really cannot fathom how anyone found it scary or sickening or gruesome, please can someone enlighten me? :D
 
I saw Wolf Creek a couple of nights ago and I was suitably freaked out.

I think it is because it spends the first hour of the film building up the characters with a fairly innocent "road trip" style story.

Unlike cookie-cutter horror movies - where 2 dimensional characters are wiped out in creative ways every 10 minutes - I liked how this movie really spent a lot of time giving the characters depth and individuality. A couple of them having a nervous kiss. The guy afraid to stand up to the 3 hicks in the bar, then bitching about them as they drove off... Basically in a 90 minute movie, the first hour is spent giving a believable backstory and personality to the three future victims.

Even when the bushman "Mick" (?) came and helped them out, I was impressed how he ever so subtley changed his mannerisms to change them from dinky-di Aussie bloke through to twisted homicadal maniac.
He didn't change much but just by doing things like holding a gaze for a second longer than is needed, he really imbued his character with such a subtle off-kilter edge... I found it completely believable and a great performance.

I agree that it isn't gory enough to warrant an "R" rating... but the real scares for me didn't come from the actual deaths themselves, but more the nail-biting tension that leads up to the seemingly inevitable deaths. I found I cared so much for the characters that the constant predatory nature of Mick and the inevitabilty of their dire situation scared me far more than any Hollywood CGI rendering of a man getting diced into cubes.

I never got The Blair Witch Project, but Wolf Creek gave me the exact type of chills that I imagine those Blair Witch fans wouldn't shut up about.

Frankly I thought it was an awesomely creepy and disturbing flick :)
 
^^ cool I see!

[SPOILERS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!]

I was actually bored to tears in the first hour, I didn't feel any empathy for them at all.... I guess that's why the following events didn't have much impact on me! I was surprised that the guy was the last one standing, he seemed a bit of a tool to me, I really wanted that kestie morasi chick to survive, it really pissed me off when she didn't. It seemed like a huge anticlimax when the dude did survive... and all he had to do was pull his wrists out of the wire? In horror movie terms (even I know!) that's nothing.

Anyway! I'm feeling almost brave enough to watch Hostel.

Almost.


okay not really.


not at all :(
 
Yeah fair call...I can see where you are coming from buuuuuuuut....

MORE SPOILERS. SO MANY IT IS RIDICULOUS
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I can understand how the movie would have been as boring as an episode of Better Homes and Gardens when you didn't care a jot for the three characters.

In Hollywood Horror terms the movie ending was definately an anticlimax when that guy had to anti-crucify himself. However again the scares for me were the "what if?" factor... I didn't want to see some gory death for Mick - it would be out of character for the rest of the movie to have Mick killed by say, teamwork or police, only to have him jump up to the camera for "one final scare".

I find that kind of stunt in horror movies as boring and predictable as a wedding at the end of a romantic comedy.

I felt that instead of looking at the very end result of the scene as an anticlimax (he escapes with no encounter with his captor), instead look at the scene in all of its entirity.

The hungry barking dogs were obviously meant to eat him alive from the legs up judging from the other corpse hung up opposite him... and after the previous scenes with the relentless pursuit of Mick with the English girls I was gnawing down my nails with every tug the guy did with his wrists.

I was convinced that any second I would see Mick's grinning face pop up to find it was just one of his sick mind games (like when he let the girl start the car and turn on the lights only to impale her with the machete).

The only reason he got his chance to escape was because Mick was hunting down the other English backpacker girl anyhow :)

Earlier scenes in the movie gave me an idea of what Mick was capable of... so in tense situations where he ~may~ appear at any given second, I got creeped out by what my imagination came up with him doing.

By slowly drawing out the scene of the guy having his chance of escaping made an awesome ending for me because the last 20mins of the movie had let me know of the consequences if he got caught.
I had an idea of the levels Mick would go to catch him. I had an idea of what Mick was capable of doing to him. I had no doubt Mick would do it if he could.


This kind of movie is about the only thing which does scare me. I am way too desensitized to gore from too many scary films to be shocked by that alone anymore.

Which I guess is why I liked it anyway. Hope that all made sense without making me sound like a pretentious movie git :)
 
(next morning, sober)

You know what, I think I think I really need to watch it again, without 7 Chardonnays and a Bailey's under my belt. I think I missed the whole point.

You're right, this movie is all about the buildup and I didn't really *allow* myself to empathise for the characters at the start because I had hyped myself up so much waiting for the gore to start. You see, I'm not usually one for these kinds of films and it takes a lot for me to watch one.

I guess I was feeling so proud of myself, and so READY to be shocked by the gruesome violence of which I'd heard so much about, that when presented with the kind of slow-burner that this movie is, I was disappointed.

Damn you, hype!! :D If I went in with no expectations whatsoever, this probably would have scared the socks off me.

Um, also, never underestimate the errr... blurring power of alcohol. Half the movie I couldn't even really see, it seemed very dark and fuzzy to me. Thus, the scene in which Kestie Morasi is being tourtered strung up on that pole, it just looked to me like she was blood soaked and screaming for no reason... I couldn't see what he had done to her (was he cutting her?), and there was nothing showing him doing anything to her. I didn't see the corpse hanging up very clearly either. It was all shadows, it took me a very long time to realise it was even a corpse. I'm like "what is that?"

So er, yeah :D I think maybe a second viewing might be in order.
 
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