Ben X

Moderators
 View Profile  See their activity

  • Content count

    6169

  • Joined

  • Last visited

Posts posted by Ben X

  3. Posted

    Does anyone know if the new BBC version of Robin Hood is any good?

    It's ATROCIOUS. Even my New-Dr-Who-fan housemate thought it was terrible.

    You thought Kevin Costner was anachronistic as Robin? Wait 'til you see this hairgelled loverboy poncing about amongst the leaves. The whole thing is boring, unfunny, badly directed and flabby.

    Meanwhile...

    Smokin' Aces: Fun middle section where all the characters come together, but ends abruptly in a mess of unnecessary plot twists and loose ends.

    Night At The Museum: Shit, obviously.

    Bobby: Professional but dull. Lots of people do stuff, then Bobby's shot. End.

    The Fountain: Amazing imagery, performances, soundtrack as usual from Aronofsky, but very 2001 in its unfulfilled promise of story resolution. Probably needs a couple of rewatches to appreciate.

    Blood Diamond: Powerful, but jarring mix between message movie and action thriller. How many times can these three characters dodge bullets?! DiCaprio good but accent strained, Hounsou powerful, and Connelly believable and back on the boil.

    Sorry if these have all been out forever in America!

  4. Posted

    Being an internet idiot, I have no idea why they would do this. Who's going to accidentally type in benchguys.net when looking for idlethumbs.net?

    And what would they possibly do with someone's idlethumbs forum password?

    To quote Tom Hanks in Big: I don't get it!

  7. Posted

    joined after reading the article on (and buying) Gibbage, that indie-platformer from around the same time.

    Good man! Are you on the Gibbage forums too?

    I found The Thumb through ukresistance or adventuregamers, back when I was working as a tape-monkey, sitting in a basement through the night copying 100s of VHSs of shitty nature programmes and the like. Reading these forums is inextricably linked with the voice of Janet Ellis telling me how wonderful caribou are. Which is no bad thing.

  10. Posted

    Can anyone give me a yes or no answer to this question about Lost:

    In the Desmond flashback, where he meets the lady whose dead husband left her a boat, was that Hurley's girlfriend from the island, but with different hair? Someone told me it was, but I totally didn't notice.

    Thaaaanks!

  12. Posted

    Crank is the most banal film I've seen in a long time. Fun, too, but also condemnation-worthy. If you want to see it, I would recommend doing so in a way that doesn't give the filmmakers money.

    If you want to see Crank, I'd recommend paying the asking price, rather than stealing it. If you don't, don't. Hundreds of people worked hard on that film, whatever you think of it, and personally I think it's unjustifiable to pirate it.

  13. Posted

    I think I really want to go see Crank. It seems to be the sorta thing worth seeing in the cinema, i.e. big explosions and crap. Anyone seen it?

    Crank is really good fun, and pretty close to how GTA: The Movie should be done. The only thing that lets it down is generic baddies (hello, GTA) and final shootout. The ending saves that though. In all, it's great. Well worth a watch.

  16. Posted

    I'm conflicted by Davey Jones though. Bill Nighey plays the part superbly, but the actual concept of the character feels like it was inserted by someone who didn't quite get the franchise. It was too conceived.

    I know exactly what you mean. What I liked about the first one was that although it had lots of supernatural macguffins, it essentially stayed earthy, human. The villains were just a load of mean blokes, albeit with the occasional skelly-effect.

    When I saw the trailer for P2, I was really worried that it just seemed like a CG-fest, with big Sharkhead baddies, and prosthetics that even Nighy wouldn't be able to emote through. But then I saw it and I had to eat my tri-corner hat. Jones' crew was ickily tangible, and Nighy was magnificent, using only his eyes, voice and body-language. And the voodoo lady was just some woman with nasty teeth, which was cool. Less fx than Monkey 1 VL.

    Oh, and a fave movie I forgot is A Fish Called Wanda.

  17. Posted

    This pretty much covers it. Great fun time at the movies, but where the hell did they misplace the ending?

    I didn't really enjoy the first film that much, but loved the second one. It's got a lot of flaws, but it overcomes them all with charm and sheer ridiculousness. And for me the ending was fine. I expected an Empire-style depressing cliffhanger, and I loved

    the Barbosa reveal. I actually read a review criticising the film for bringing back characters for the dead without explaining it. It'll be in the next film, you dolt!

    'Ello, beastie!"

  19. Posted

    Are you crazy? Tremors 4 is a brilliant film! It's funny, exciting, inventive. Brilliant acting, stunts, direction, script, setpieces, score. It can't quite touch Tremors 1, but by going on a lighter tack it sets itself apart from the first film, and so doesn't have to match it.

    Can't...fight...such brilliantly expressed arguments......GAAH okay you win, Tremors 4 kicks ass.

    "I feel I've not been privy to critical, most needful information"

  20. Posted

    The Last Crusade isn't actually that good

    Woah woah woah, and people say I'm crazy?

    Oh wait, I had this argument in an earlier thread:

    Are you crazy? Last Crusade is a brilliant film! It's funny, exciting, inventive. Brilliant acting, stunts, direction, script, setpieces, score. It can't quite touch Raiders, but by going on a lighter tack it sets itself apart from the first film, and so doesn't have to match it.

    Frankly, the tank action sequence near the end which Spielberg manages to sustain for about 20 minutes, moving effortlessly back and forth between action, laughs and emotional moments, justifies the film on its own.

    PS I'm so predictable, I was going to start this reply by subtly quoting all three Indy films ("Are you crazy?"), before I realised I'd already done so in the one I'm quoting...

  21. Posted

    Great movie. 2 and 3 are aweful. 4 is better (than 2 and 3).

    Wrong, goof. Tremors = excellent, Tremors 2 = good fun, clever continuation and referencing of the original, Tremors 3 = back-to-basics fun with Burt Gummer nearing Ash-like iconic status. Tremors 4 = pretty lame, although the setting of it 100 years in the past is a neat nod to Back To The Future 3. All in all, and it's not saying much, 2 and 3 are amongst the best sequels to an excellent film.

    Never saw the tv series, broke up with my girlfriend before I could record them off her digital. And I even missed the one with the Christopher Lloyd cameo. Sigh...

  22. Posted

    I'm glad we went with 'favourite', rather than 'best'.

    Back To The Future (+ most Zemeckis)

    A Goofy Movie

    Raiders Of The Lost Ark

    Indiana Jones And The Last Crusade

    Tremors

    Robocop

    Terminator

    Freddy Vs Jason

    Face/Off (+ a lot of Nic Cage)

    Withnail & I

    Ed Wood (+ most Burton)

    Predator

    Die Hard

    Wild At Heart

    Aliens

    Nightmare On Elm Street

    Life Of Brian.

    I can just watch all these over and over.

  24. Posted

    Miami Vice - rubbish. Feels like a made-for-tv undercover action thriller, with worse hair.

    Monster House - rubbish. Smug, boring, no empathetic characters, and full of those creepy-looking CG-kids that only The Incredibles has managed to avoid.

    Stormbreaker - godawful. Unbelievably clumsy and amateurish on every level.

    A Scanner Darkly - really good. Looks gorgeous, great performances. Don't expect a plot.

    Snakes On A Plane - good fun.

    Yes, I have a season-ticket for Cineworld cinemas, and yes, I'm 'between jobs' at the moment.