[h3rb]

Fast 5, 7/10. Better story than then other recent ones, kept me interested. But wasn't that bad

 

[fuseboxx]

I just came from a screening of Thor and thought it was really good. The entire first sequence in Asgard was so pretty with all the sweeping space and scenery shots.

Nice mix of comedy and action. There was a significant amount of cheesy bits, but it’s good cheese! It is not the processed cheese food snack that most action flicks offer, it is Camembert, Brie, Mascarpone... I'm of the opinion however that Kenneth Branagh is not quite adept at shooting great action scenes though. Passable, but not great. He is - on the other hand - effective at crafting a compelling story, and I would prefer that over solid action any day.

I'm not all that familiar with the Thor story, but I thought that Loki was interesting. We're given ample reason why he turned out to be the way he did and his intentions never feel entirely evil.

Lots of cute/funny moments. "I need sustenance!" might be a line I could try in a restaurant someday. LOL.

Oh, and Idris Elba as Heimdall = YES.
 
8/10

 

[tdockweiler]

Love Chushingura and still have that on DVD and haven't seen that in maybe 10 years! I remember owning the 47 Ronin on DVD and then realizing it was OOP and was going for nearly $200 on Ebay. I didn't sell it though. Kenji Mizoguchi is my favorite director along with Masaki Kobayashi. I even prefer their movies to those of Ozu and Akira Kurosawa.
 
Everyone needs to see Mizoguchi's "Sanso the Bailiff". It's in my top 10, probably near the top. It's easy to find and might even be available from Hulu Plus or Netflix Streaming since it's a Criterion release. From what I've read, Criterion put a ton of movies on Hulu Plus. I'm a huge fan of their movies.
 
There is also a more recent version of 47 Ronin in color directed by Kon Ichikawa. I'm not sure if it's any good.
 
I think old B&W Samurai movies are some of my favorites. Another I would suggest is "Harakiri". It's starring one of my favorite actors "Tatsuya Nakadai" who was also in "The Human Condition" (my #1 favorite movie of all time!). He's still acting and made his first movie in 1954!
Quote:

 
For myself the two versions favored are the ones I own: the long OOP 47 Ronin by Kenji Mizoguchi and Chushingura by Hiroshi Inagaki. Neither are action films, as they follow the story which is actually one that focuses on loyalty, honor, strength, and sacrifice. Culturally these are stories designed to draw tears, and the action is anti-climatic. 
 
 

 

 

[pigmode]

^ Right on tdockweiler. Mizoguchi is one of my favorite directors as well. 
 
For that matter, I have just watched Sanso Dayu last night which I would rate 10/10, although I do favor Ugetsu Monogatari by a hair. I have both the Criterions, and the Masters of Cinema set of four double packs.
 
I've heard positive comments on Ichikawa's 47 Ronin, but have't seen it yet. Noticed its on Netflix, and just put it in my queue.

 

[kevin8432]

RITE, 7/10. Love the acting of Hopkins.

 

[kevin8432]

Just go with it, 5/10. The story is soooooo old.

 

[gopack87]

127 Hours- 9/10  Excellent film, Franco did a great performance and the fact that it's based on a true story made it even more incredible

 

[bcstyle]

Scream 4- 2/10 such a waste of money and time... Felt like watching a 90s movie
gone wrong with unhumorous cheesy lines along with poor overacting.
Plus it wasnt scray at all... It was like "Scary Movie" trying to be serious

 

[souperman]

African Cats!
 
9/10
 
It was good, but I feel like they were just focused on a story and the story probably didn't actually happen that way. Also it was so depressing! But that's how nature goes...so no problem for me there.

 

[Anaxilus]

Saw 'Departures' again last night.  This will be my first 10/10 posted on the thread I believe.

 

[tdockweiler]

That's a good one if you're referring to the Japanese film. I have that on DVD and should watch it again. I also suggest "Tokyo Sonata" which is also easy to find. Kiyoshi Kurosawa sure makes some good dramas. Not a huge fan of his horror films, but I don't like that genre anyway.
 
During the same time I bought the movie starring Ken Ogata called "A Long Walk". It's english subtitled and really good. One of the most painful movies to watch there is though. Not depressing, just sad. I don't think I'd ever want to watch it again. The first time was hard enough.
 
Here's a trailer:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ABQ3F-aXDns
 
After that I wanted to watch some more Ken Ogata films, but they're so hard to find.
 
I often buy movies from Amazon.co.jp, but you never know if they'll be good and it's hard to know for sure if they're subtitled. Sure love having a region free DVD player! Unfortunately most Japanese DVDs are so expensive.
 
I also just found out my favorite movie "A Scent of Green Papaya" is out on Blu-Ray. Can't wait to get it. The director just made the movie "Norwegian Wood" which is based on the book. I'll watch it when I finish reading the book.
 
 
Quote:

Saw 'Departures' again last night.  This will be my first 10/10 posted on the thread I believe.

 

 

[tdockweiler]

Little Fockers - 6.75/10
 
This score is me being nice. I'm a little forgiving of this. It started out very badly. The first scenes with Jessica Alba were just awkward and her acting started out bad and got a little better. 60% of the comedy in this movie didn't work for me. I think the funniest scene was towards the end when everyone met in the hospital. There's at least some funny random dialogue in there that made me laugh. Too bad Harvey Keitel didn't have a better role in this movie. None of he sex related humor was funny, except for maybe the bathroom scene. Mostly how ridiculous it was. As if you need a shot in the...oh nevermind. I guess at least I prefer this to the 2nd movie, but I never liked any of them all that much.
 
Worth a rental if you don't have anything better to watch.
 
BTW the teacher in this movie was the same teacher from "October Sky". I absolutely love that movie. Watch it if you can! It's got some good acting and it's an interesting true story. The movie is very well made and one of the rare PG movies that's not dumbed down. I always thought Chris Cooper was quite a good actor.
 
So...watch "October Sky" instead of Little Fockers

 

[David]

"...I always thought Chris Cooper was quite a good actor...."
 
Concur. 
 
July Johnson.   Case rests.

 

[Permagrin]

Finally saw Ip Man last night. The film had a good pace, no scene seemed unnecessary. I really like that in films. The sets were really nice as well. What really got me though was the first scene where he fights for rice... was not really expecting that level of... ummm... severity. My rating is highly recommended to anyone and it's especially cool that it was based off a real person.

 

[Vikingatheart]

Quote:

Finally saw Ip Man last night. The film had a good pace, no scene seemed unnecessary. I really like that in films. The sets were really nice as well. What really got me though was the first scene where he fights for rice... was not really expecting that level of... ummm... severity. My rating is highly recommended to anyone and it's especially cool that it was based off a real person.

Ip Man is by far my favorite martial arts film. It was not only well shot, but the story is very well paced as you said. Glad to see another fan of this great film!