I would have to agree with that whole quote. When I saw that movie, I was begging for it to be over. I’m not sure what it was, but I had a hard time staying interested. But the action sequences were pretty cool.
Same here, TSS. “Welcome to the party, pal!” 
Mark-E: Public Enemies doesn’t get released here till end of July. Personally, I was quite excited since it’s been a long time since we had a Depression-era gangster movie, and it’s by Michael freakin’ Mann (I love Heat and Miami Vice). But considering the lukewarm reviews, I’m considering passing up a theatrical visit for this. We’ll see.
That’s Michael Mann 101 for you, mo. He makes epic action sequences, but elsewhere, the story drags at a snail pace. I don’t mind it so much if the downtime is devoted to delving into the character’s personalities like in Heat, but I’m not sure whether the same level of ‘awesomeness’ will be repeated here in Public Enemies.
Whelp, I’m getting all pumped to go dino-huntin’ tomorrow. Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs FTW (I hope)!
Public Enemies was filmed Cops style much of the time, and the bullets have never sounded better. Even so, I wished the '30s mood was captured more, so I might watch it, but at half price. 
I went on a Futurama ‘double-feature’ just about an hour ago.
Futurama: The Beast with a Billion Backs - 6/10
The finale is epic enough, but the death of Kif and League of Robots sideplots kept distracting me instead of adding to the main plot of the titular character’s invasion. David Cross did a good job voicing the aforementioned beast, ‘Yivo’, though. And I love the scene where Fry replies Bender’s pleads to follow him as he rides the escalator transporting him to the alternate universe:
[spoiler]Fry: “Robots don’t go to heaven, remember?”
Bender (heartbroken and crying) : “Death to all humans.”[/spoiler]
Futurama: Bender’s Game - 8/10
This one got more laughs out of me, since it sends up the fantasy genre and oil crisis, while offering more risque jokes. I’m surprised with the stylized violence and innuendo they got away with this one, even by Futurama standards. The plot is more coherent and straightforward too, which I preferred. My favourite bit was when the Professor threw his slipper lamely at the TV in anger. I laughed pretty hard, for some reason.
I’m looking forward to watching Into the Wild Green Yonder, as their final ‘movie’ adventure before the series return. 
Just went to the DVD store! Regretted doing that! 
Well, first, I got Spring Breakdown, a straight to DVD movie originally planned for theaters, but it has too much heart/not enough hot scenes/laughs for that. Fortunately, I got it, again, at half price.
Then I rented Fools Rush In, which has Matthew Perry, who was at the height of Friends fame, starring in this tame, Lifetime/Hallmark channel, ‘isn’t-that-cute’ romcom. So… didn’t deserve to be bought. Rented and giving it back in, like, three days.
Entered the "Lost World’’ of Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs yesterday. You can read about my exploits in my review. 
How low can the creative bar go? How about a Baywatch movie?! It’s in the rewrite process as we depressingly tweet.
Also, Walt Disney is making a 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea movie. Hm, wonder if Brendan Fraser will be in that one? 
Next, Spider-Man 4 is in motion. At least it’s written by Gray “Seabiscut/Big” Ross. I’m feeling hopeful for this one.
However, this really makes me want to squeal. A movie based on View-Master! Yes, this one: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/View-Master
In other news, I watched Casino the other day. Really nice! I bought it straight away without a doubt.
I’m finally back from Alaska! It was pretty sweet. I watched Monsters Vs. Aliens on the plane and I liked it less the second time around.
I’ve watched The Animal; funny comedy, sort of like The Shaggy Dog only with a wider variety of animals and never becoming fully one creature. [spoil]One funny part was when this guy looked like he was being a cannibal, because of his mouth being messed with red liquid, then he holds up berries and says, “I love berries.” "[/spoil]
And Just My Luck, with Lindsay Lohan (I can’t believe she’s, like, adult already!). It has an interesting concept, trading your luck everytime you kiss someone. What I didn’t like, though, was the part where [spoil]she kisses random guys around just to see who’s the right one. I understand it was comedy, but it still annoys me.[/spoil].
And The Parent Trap, the version with Lindsay Lohan as a little kid. Man, she looks so different (but still recognizable). My favorite quote: “Sure thing, Cruella.”
Meredith: “What did you call me?!”
Twins: “Nothing, nothing, not a thing, Cruella.”
I’ve been quoting that for days!
In addition to that, Bedtime Stories again. Creative concept, funny parts.
Very well pulled off film.
Race to Witch Mountain - Somewhat enjoyable. However, I saw it from a bad-quality screen on a plane, and somehow found it hard to understand everything (there was something wrong with the sound, too, if I recall correctly.)
Also kind of predictable. But a fun action film nonetheless.
Also saw Monsters Vs. Aliens, too. Better than I expected, to tell the truth. I thought it would be full of overrated jokes, including gross ones, and very predictable humor and action. Actually, I found myself feeling [spoil]sorry for Susan for being forbidden contact with the outside world and realizing what a jerk her ex-fiance was. The part where the monsters feel like outsiders remind of Lilo and Stitch in a way.[/spoil] And the jokes were pretty funny, actually. B.O.B.'s (I almost typed Bloo, lol) [spoil]constant losing his senses kind of personality reminds me of Dory’s short term memory loss[/spoil]. This movie was better than I thought.
And I also saw Hannah Montana: The Movie. I wasn’t that hyped up for it, actually, at first. For one thing, movies about your average cliche teenage crisises aren’t usually worth my time. Also, I expected it to be predictable, because the plot’s not all that new. Somebody who’s barely worked in his/her perfect life is suddenly punished and has to stick around doing something he/she hates until he/she actually begins to like it. The plot’s been used with teenagers a lot, but also with Cars, kinda (but I’m not saying Cars is unoriginal).
HOWEVER though it does has it predictable parts, like all movies, it does have its own unique touch to it. And surprises. [spoil]Falling in love with that guy? Saw that coming before even seeing the movie. Getting closer to family heritage? Been there, done that. Revealing her secret to the town because she can’t take it anymore? Did NOT see that coming. [/spoil] Those songs she sang, about the Climb and the Butterfly? Beautiful, touched my heart. While most of her Hannah Montana songs are about boyfriend/girlfriend issues, double life, and partying, these songs are inspirational. And I like inspirational songs the best.
But I do not like how [spoil]quickly her character changed. I expected a more gradual attitude change. Not after some talk, she suddenly sees the light.[/spoil]
Public Enemies was really very boring. I enjoyed the feel of the movie but that was about it. Every scene seemed to last an age or be over-acted, and even Johnny Depp was disappointing. It was confusing and almost felt a bit self-obsessed, and was just much too long considering how little storyline there is.
Saw Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen. Oh, dear god, where do I start?
- This is the worst movie I’ve ever seen as of now. It’s an over-hyped, shallow, piece of crap that the world is paying to see with the money that is more suited for feeding starving refugees somewhere in Nigeria or buying toys for children in orphanages who are currently using their shoes as basketballs.
- I wanted to walk out of the theatre about five times.
- What the crap is up with the fifty or more camera circles during the scene where Mikaela and Sam are talking right before [spoil]Sam goes to college?[/spoil] That movie editor is lying if he or she said she didn’t notice that. “Welp!, first ten minutes look good, guess the rest of the movie’s fine. Ready for release!”
- This movie wins the award for the least amount of effort put into it’s epic failed attempt at humor.
- Awesome! Just what the world needs! More American media feautiring the stereotypical black person! Oh, wait! Let’s make it different says the writer, let’s make them robots, and we’ll give them ugly looking gold teeth and make them talk slang!
- Explosion, explosion, explosion, bright orange light, explosion, wash, rince, repeat.
- Holy crap, [spoil]Optimus died.[/spoil] Holy crap, [spoil]Optimus resurrected.[/spoil] Whoopty-freaking-do.
- [spoil]Sam being dead for about one minute[/spoil]…felt like a really bad rip-off of a chapter in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. It wasn’t emotional or deep at all.
- I could pull a better plot out of a sewer pipe.
- So, you got these aliens that can transform into cars, trucks, motorcycles, and smart cars…please tell me how it’s possible that when the Autobots/Decepticons transform out of there vehicle state, that they’re about 30x bigger than they’re transformed car, motorcycle, truck, etc. state.
- Slow motion is cool when it’s used appropriately. Having fifty or more slow motions moments in one movie is not cool.
- How on earth is it possible to escape from an explosion unharmed more than ten times? There’s a limit that’s logical for an action movie to totally unbelievable bull crap.
So, to sum it all up, my respect for the franchise has just burst into a ball of flames, I’ll be upset if Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen does not win “Worst Movie of the Decade”, this is the most idiotic use of money I have ever made, wasted about three hours of my life, and I think I just died a little on the inside today.
I regret not taking your guys’ advice. 
Edit: More things about the movie I hated. I’m probably going to add more to it as I retrace what I remembered.
FounderofAzn - I was laughing at the [spoil]Robot Heaven[/spoil] one while the others remain silent. I mean, what was that?
Just watched Coraline. I must say it’s one the best animated movies I’ve seen so far in 2009, 9/10. Up will be released here at July 29th, so I can’t compare it now.
Back at home, I decided to watch Corpse Bride, and I have to say even that the musical parts were great - [spoil]loved Victor’s Piano Solo, the According to Plan, and Bonejangles[/spoil] - the story was kinda predictable (but still good), and I really wanted to see more flashback of Emily the Corpse Bride’s life, but overall the stop motion looked really smooth compared to The Nightmare Before Christmas and even Coraline, 8/10.
Monsters Vs. Aliens was by no means great, but it was pretty good fun. It’s sort of like Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs; it’s predictable, it’s formulaic, but the characters are just so endearing that you get carried away on their adventures, never mind the silly sight gags or corny humour. At least it was better than the abomination that was Bee Movie (although I didn’t mind Shark Tale as much because I love gangster movies and ST was a pretty funny parody of it).
I pretty much agree with Founder’s sentiments regarding Revenge of the Fallen, although I’d be more forgiving (I guess the critics among you are already wagging their fingers). Look, I really admire the huge amount of work the animators, pyrotechnic engineers, and VFX artists have put into bringing five-stories tall robots to life, but it’s a real shame that it’s all wasted on a stupid script and horrible editing. If anything, it’s Mr. Bay, the scriptwriters, the editors, and the cinematographer who deserve to be tarred, feathered, and possibly keelhauled for their atrocious efforts at filmmaking. Cut the silly teen comedy jokes, pull the camera back and invest in a tripod and dolly, and actually add some character development moments in the downtimes, and you would actually have a pretty spectacular awesome movie. I got what I expected from the package, but it’s sort of like eating fast-food, once the novelty of the taste wears off, you’re left wanting something more nutritious and filling.
Sometime around mid last week, I watched X-Men Origins: Wolverine. I must say, it’s pretty disappointing. Hugh Jackman did a great job portraying the emotionally conflicted wolfman with a heart of gold, but did he really have to come off as such a wuss? I mean, seriously, I can understand his pacifist stand on violence, especially after what he’s gone through, but at least he should have reacted when [spoil]he was told his wife had been lying to him all along.[/spoil] But what did he do? [spoil]He walked away! That’s right! He walked away with his tail between his legs instead of screaming in anguih or throwing a tantrum or something[/spoil]. I’d never thought I’d see Wolverine, a bad-*ss, being such a pathetic wimp. Heck, even Sabretooth was cooler than him. 
And don’t get me started on Deadpool. Gambit barely got any screentime, and seriously, WTH was up with the ending? It’s like they barely even bothered to tie it up nicely. The only kudos I’ll give them is the opening world wars sequence, the enemy camp infiltration in Nigeria, and the bike and helicopter chase scene. Worst film of the series, IMO.
Don’t forget the cartoon claws! Straight from the makers of Roger Rabbit.
That first scene with Deadpool was great, though! Too bad it had to be followed with 1.5 hours of crap.
Watched quite a lot of movies in the past few…days. Went on a rental spree after seeing Tranformers: Revenge of the Fallen in order to keep my hope that good movies still existed. You’re right, thedriveintheatre, I shouldn’t be angry with everyone who worked on TF2, the effects are top notch, but like you said, it was certain people who ruined it.
Watched these. And I’ve separated it to make the italicizing easier for you-know-who. Have fun.
- South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut
- Braveheart
- Bolt
- Ocean’s Thirteen
- Pineapple Express
- Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban
- The Tale of Despereaux
And finally, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. I watched it after a very long day and a three hour sports medicine lesson, so I was quite tired while watching it. Will watch it a second time under more desirable circumstances so that I can crituqe it properly. I’ll give three things though. One, I don’t care what anyone says, the acting was superb (Except maybe Lavender, too…obsessive) to me. Two, the effects are excellent, as usual. Three, it’s significantly different from the rest of the films, but I can’t quite put my finger on it. Lacking a climatic battle? Less effects and action? More attention to details and sub-plots from the book? (Yes, there’s some things that weren’t in the book, but who cares? Rowling’s plot wasn’t butchered. I read the book.) Harry is less emo? Somebody please answer me!
I saw Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince at midnight. I’ll post my review later.
Saw Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince at midnight. I may have to watch it under better circumstances, but as a fan of the book I was very disappointed (as I always am for the most part).
The movie felt to be 50% book, 50% made up. The burning of the Weasley’s house was a major thing that struck me as “Why did they add that? It never happened in the book!” What really bothered me about the scene was Ginny’s addition, it felt like a shameless way to get them together, much like what they almost did in The Lord of the Rings with having Arwen at the Battle of Helm’s Deep. I found it very hard to believe Ron and Hermione wouldn’t have also gone after Harry. There are other examples, but I’ll leave it at that for now. Honestly, the romance “sub-plot” was bumped up too much in importance. I suspect it was to give Harry a compelling arc, but I feel that Harry’s arc was in the book already. Half-Blood Prince was essentially a book about the villains. Voldemort, Malfoy, and Snape, are all part of the major plots of the book, as the book semes to be dealing with what makes people evil. Harry’s story should have been more focused on these storylines, specifically his relationship with Snape. Also, at the very least, one more of the Voldemort memories should have been in the film, either the scene with his mother, or when he asks Dumbledore for a job.
Now, there were good things in the film. As was said earlier, the acting was quite good, I’ve felt that Daniel Radcliffe’s performances have been saving the last few films, and this one is no different. Slughorn was portrayed very well, though I may have personally cast someone else, if only because I imagined him differently. There were also some things in there that I hoped would be [spoil](Romilda Vane, Cormac McLaggen[/spoil]), and while I did think they went overboard with the humor, I have to admit, it was funny stuff.
I actually really liked Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. It didn’t stay true to the book that much, but I liked the movie a lot better. 
Harry Potter rankings:
- Sorcerer’s Stone
- Half-Blood Prince
- Goblet of Fire
- Order of the Phoenix
- Chamber of Secrets
- Prisoner of Azkaban
Also saw SuperGator on the Science Fiction channel. For the most part, it was bad, but the alligator attacks were amusing. 6.2/10
Next reveiw: The Jerry Lewis version of The Nutty Professer!
I’ve seen:
- Pocahontas
- Return to Neverland
- A little into Sleeping Beauty
- Hercules (again)
- The Sword in the Stone
- One Hundred and One Dalmatians
- First half of Mulan
- A little bit of Lilo & Stitch
Yes, all 2-D animated Disney films.
I haven’t seen One Hundred and One Dalmatians, Pocahontas, nor The Sword in the Stone for so long!
I forgot how epic the song ‘‘Savages’’ from Pocahontas is, how cute One Hundred and One Dalmatians is, or how funny The Sword in the Stone is!
The Sword in the Stone is terrific entertainment, but quite underrated! I don’t think I could ever go through watching that without laughing!
This week I watched five movies:
Finding Nemo during ffdude1906’s weekly movie gathering on Wednesday. My first time in years! It was better than I remembered it, and although it was a little chaotic, I had a blast chatting with like-minded Pixar fans!
Bruno in theatres on Friday. Good for a laugh, but not as irreverent or subversive as Borat. Read my opinion here (Scroll down to my review post).
The Wild, National Treasure and Night at the Museum on Free-To-Air over the weekend. While I have to agree with the critics that The Wild was downright awful (although it was fun hearing Jack Bauer voicing a lion), I felt Treasure and Museum deserved more kudos than they received. Both were by no means were instant classics or ‘thinking movies’, but they served their purpose, which was to entertain me. I don’t so much love them to death as say, WALL-E or Speed, but look back on them with fond memories of my first time watching them in cinemas. Both were enjoyable adventures in their own right, and I still laughed at the jokes that I knew were coming. After listening closer to their scores, I feel like downloading their soundtracks just for nostalgic value. Truly great family films.
I am looking forward to:
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. I’ll be seeing this in IMAX 3-D with five of my mates on Tuesday. We got them at half the retail price through our student organisation!
Finding Nemo and Eragon on Free-To-Air next weekend. I’ve watched both films before (the former in fact, a few days ago, as mentioned above!), but I don’t mind repeats for great weekend nights in! 
P.S. As a side note (but still pertaining to the subject of movies), did any Aussies here notice that Up sponsored yesterday’s screening of The Wild? They even aired the TV spot again in the first ad break! Woohoo! Although it’s been pushed back to September 17.