Category Archives: Movie

IMDB top movies

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A couple of friends have commented on my IMDB post from yesterday.  I thought I’d expand and answer their questions in another post.

JodyTheBad is up first.

I can’t help but share my opinions.

Good! More comments = always good.

I loved the dry humor of Fargo. And the ridiculous absurdity of it, kind of like Pulp Fiction in that way.

It’s been on my ‘I should really get …’ list for soooooooo long.  It’s probably like 2 quid from Amazon.  (In fact, it’s £3.48 for the special edition).  But then EverQuest took up all my spare time and I hardly watched any movies.  Now I have the Kevin Smith stuff to get through, and then I’ll probably start going through the Cohen Brother’s stuff in more detail.

I know everyone loves it, but I’d skip The Big Lebowski and instead watch The Graduate.

Yeh I should probably watch them both.  I have a real complex about watching classic movies made before I was of movie watching age, don’t ask me why. I’m not sure.

And you haven’t seen the Sixth Sense? I loved seeing it, although I guess it’s not as fun if you know how it goes. But I will very highly recommend seeing “Unbreakable.” It’s really great. A++++, would watch again.

Grete went to watch Sixth Sense when it was on in the cinema with a friend.  I can still clearly remember the conversation when Grete returned, she was telling me the story and I said, ‘oh, and Bruce is the guy who’s dead?’.  She was non-plussed.  I saw Unbreakable and I quite liked it, in fact I think I prefer the idea behind that more so than Sixth Sense.  But then I love SLJ in anything he does anyway.

And from Leigh,

I’m always quite please to see that I’ve watched nearly all of the first 100 and a substatial portion of the top 250.

Yeh, I’ve seen a lot of films that don’t make that top 250, but then movies are art, and one man’s empty, void and shallow movie is another’s fantastical trip into infinity.

The fact that T2 is ranked higher than Aliens is just crazy.

Yeh, frankly I’d rate Aliens higher than Alien as well, but that’s me.  Also it’s a pretty small margin between the first few.

I can’t believe you’ve not watched Se7en, 12 Angry Men, Schindler’s List (much like ‘The Green Mile’ I avoided this film for years thinking it wouldn’t be that good and I was very wrong), LA Confidential or Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind.

Se7en – not my kinda movie.  I don’t enjoy suspense for the sake of it movies.  12 Angry Men, sounds interesting but see above for ‘before I was born’.  Schindler’s List maybe on the right day.  LA Confidential – yep change to a blue.  Eternal Sunshine, I never forgave Carrey for Cable Guy.

Remember, I actually bought Shoot ’em Up, and thought Smokin’ Aces was ok, that’s the kind of philistine you’re dealing with here!

IMDB top 250

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The IMDB top 250 is here.  I should think it doesn’t change very quickly, but this snapshot from the list was taken today (28/10/2008).  Green I’ve seen, Blue I specifically want to watch at some point, Red I’ve got on DVD but haven’t gotten around to watching, Black I won’t not watch them.

  1. The Shawshank Redemption (1994)
  2. The Godfather (1972)
  3. The Godfather: Part II (1974)
  4. The Dark Knight (2008)
  5. Buono, il brutto, il cattivo., Il (1966)
  6. Pulp Fiction (1994)
  7. Schindler’s List (1993)
  8. One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest (1975)
  9. Star Wars: Episode V – The Empire Strikes Back (1980)
  10. 12 Angry Men (1957)
  11. Casablanca (1942)
  12. Star Wars (1977)
  13. Shichinin no samurai (1954)
  14. The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003)
  15. Goodfellas (1990)
  16. Rear Window (1954)

    17. Continue reading →

Wanted on DVD

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I’ve already reviewed Wanted based on the cinema experience.  We got the DVD a couple of days ago and watched it last night.  A second viewing certainly adds some value, it was interesting re-watching scenes knowing how the whole thing plays out, seeing the characters playing out the lie that is central to the story, watching it build towards the end.

If you’ve not seen it in the cinema, and you like a bit of action with some flare, I recommend it.  Really.

Deja Vu

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Time paradoxes make inherently confusing stories, so it’s critical that you connect with the characters and feel the plot has some value otherwise you’ll be left drifting.  Deja Vu manages enough to keep you interested, keep you wanting to see more, and keeps you caring about the two main characters.

The screenplay is clever but doesn’t try to overstretch and there are no attempts to explain the paradoxes, and plenty of in-story explanations of why time travel is a really bad thing[tm].

The performances are solid, Denzel is interesting and believable, Paula plays the small amount of time she has on screen pretty well.  I’m not entirely convinced their actions in the latter half of the movie make much sense, but I’m willing to suspend disbelief to let the story play out.  There’s some action, some cute effects, some nice ideas and a certain level of suspense especially towards the finale.

The ending was kept hidden pretty well, and although I finally realised how it would play out just before it actually did it was worth the wait.  No shocking last moment twists, no huge discovery, just a decent ending for a decent movie.

Movie news link sauce with added pepper

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Some links to random movie stories (language and links in some of these pages may not always be safe for work)

Enjoy.

One meme to rule them all and in the darkness bind them

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From Marcos’ Journal,

When you see this, post in your own journal with your favorite quote from The Princess Bride. Preferably not “As you wish” or the Inigo Montoya speech.

So here’s mine,

Vizzini: You only think I guessed wrong! That’s what’s so funny! I switched glasses when your back was turned! Ha ha! You fool! You fell victim to one of the classic blunders! The most famous is never get involved in a land war in Asia, but only slightly less well-known is this: never go in against a Sicilian when death is on the line! Ha ha.

I love this quote for many reasons, but I’ve bolded my favourite part, which used to get quoted during our games of Risk.

Bourne 4?

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Although based on the original concept from the Robert Ludlum books, the fourth instalment will follow an original story. Director Paul Greengrass and star Matt Damon will return, and the movie will be produced by Frank Marshall.

From http://www.empireonline.com/news/feed.asp?NID=23440

If it’s truly as good as the first three, I’ll be happy.  If not, it’ll be a travesty.  Later, I’ll claim that night time is dark because there’s no light.

Oh, and Kevin Smith in space!

Clerks

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Clerks arrived and we started our Kevin Smitheron by watching it this evening.  It plays a little more like an extended sketch show than a movie, with varying parts of the day as individual sketches linked through some overall theme.

It’s certainly entertaining, and amusing, but it wasn’t belly laughing funny.  There are clear moments where the actor’s either forget their lines, or stumble over their lines or just plainly adlib which give the movie a real ‘college project’ feel, but then considering the cost and the background it’s not surprising.  There are real moments of pure quality cinema as well, with two-character sparring dialog that reminds me of Quentin Tarantino’s Pulp Fiction in a lot of ways (both 1994).

In general, I enjoyed it.  I’m not sure it’s going to be a cult classic in this house, and we enjoyed Clerks II more (and that despite having never seen the first one), but maybe if we watch it a few more times we’ll get more into the swing and enjoy what’s going on around the image.

Kevin Smith in our Letterbox

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Clerks, Clerks II, Chasing Amy and Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back arrived this morning, Dogma and Mallrats were posted yesterday so I expect those Tuesday next week.

Will let you know how they work out.