ysbreker

Movie/TV recommendations

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Just watched 'The Mist' Frank Darabont (Shawshank Redemption and Green Mile) directs arguably the best film version of a Stephen King novel, full stop.

Thomas Jane is well cast and good in the central role (which leads me to believe that he can pick out a good script but not always a good director) and everyone of the support cast plays their part well (my hat firmly off to Gena Rowland).

There is nothing sentimental about this film either, the twists and turns are good and even if you have read the short story it is based on there are still plenty of bits that deviate from it (without spoiling the mood) to keep you entertained.

I'm tempted to say that it is one of the rare films (Starship Troopers, High Fidelity) that I think is better than the story it is based on, which is something because I loved the story.

There is also a nice nod to John Carpenter at the beginning, as he made the film 'The Fog' causing this adaptation to be called 'The Mist' instead.

Also just finished 'Lord of War' and 'The last king of Scotland' both good.

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Here's my one word review of the 'unrated' feature length cut of Death Proof: flacid.

Is it Tarrantino's explicit modus operandi to become ever more irrelevant with each film nowadays? I can't see any point to Death Proof except that it was probably fun for everyone involved and it's a nice portfolio piece for Kurt Russell.

Other than that... why? :(

PS: The WMP11-Xbox 360 media connectors are excellent -- the video upscaling is really smooth and playback is seamless, unlike when I tried TVersity in the past. Thank you, Microsoft. :tup:

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I'm not sure which version I've seen but I thought as a one off experience it was well worth sitting through. It starts off slow and is very dialogue heavy but I felt my patience paid off in the end - it was suspenseful and in places pretty horrific (when Rose McGowan takes centre stage, and when Quentin graces the screen).

Have you seen Planet Terror yet? I thought that was fucking hilarious on the and can see myself watching that over and over until my eyes bleed. Not so much with Death Proof I admit.

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I felt my patience paid off in the end - it was suspenseful and in places pretty horrific (when Rose McGowan takes centre stage, and when Quentin graces the screen).

McGowan is excellent, granted. Tarrantino is only capable of playing one character and that's a rather weasley wigger. (Shoot me down, but I've never perceived his on-screen portrayals as anything other.)

It's not the casting that bothered me so much--I've already alluded to how superb I thought Kurt Russell was in the role. It's more the sitting around, through two different iterations of exactly the same story that bothered me. Plus the pay-off for either strand just wasn't worth the preceding build up in my opinion.

It's a good "watch once" film, I agree. But Tarrantino seems intent on slipping into this sort of disposable pop cornery at the cinema, without actually making any meaningful statement when he does so. Granted, I appreciate the surgically precise homage he's made to 70s drive-in cinema here, but he's added nothing. If anything, it was rather obviously flawed in that he included plot mechanics such as one character sending text messages on her mobile phone. Stumbling across this whilst having been expertly immersed in period nostalgia was jarring and uncomfortable.

That said, I can still imagine Death Proof having been somewhat spectacular when seen on the big screen. But even so I don't think you'd be back for repeat sittings.

At almost 2hrs long, maybe it's the 'unrated' cut that's at fault here. I wouldn't be surprised if the original, significantly shorter Grindhouse cut was much more punchy. Especially off the back of Planet Terror.

I can't rightly recall the play order for those two. But, regardless of how they came together, I think the relationship is perhaps too symbiotic for them to be enjoyed in separate, longer sittings. One is an all out guns blazing, gore-splattered action flick, with (what should be) a very obvious payload for the viewer. The other is a broody and sinister road movie, which ebbs and flows quite sombrely for the most part with a very abrupt - and not entirely satisfactory - climax.

You know, given perhaps due consideration, I'm very tempted now to get hold of the original Grindhouse double bill and watch both films together, in one sitting, as was intended by Tarrantino and Rodriguez. Hopefully I'll be able to alienate having seen the longer cut of Death Proof from my mind when I do this, as it may be that already knowing a lot more of the incidental happenings would mentally embellish the original edit featured in the double bill.

Man alive, do I want to be a professional critic for a living...

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I just finished the first episode of Tin Man. It's pretty terrible, though I can see it being quite enjoyable if accompanied by a RiffTrax. Speaking of which, I recently watched Battlefield Earth with the RiffTrax, and it was pure gold. My friends and I actually watched it twice in the same week. I strongly recommend it. :tup:

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has anyone gone to see "i'm not there" yet? um, don't. especially if you're a dylan fan. actually, only if you're a dylan fan. no one else would be able to sit through it. pretentious in parts, shite in other parts, richard gere in yet other parts, this film has no right to be over 2 hours long.

right, i'm off to London for the weekend. pray for me.

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Taking Mrs. V. to see Stardust tomorrow for our 7th wedding anniversary. :woohoo:

We're both really looking forward to it, so hopefully it'll be worth seeing. Certainly looks promising.

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I'm sure you'll enjoy it, Mr. Vania =)

Now here's a jewel:

darkknightjokerintlpostut4.jpg

The upcoming trailer is already leaked, but I can't wait for a proper quality one in a few days or a week or so. I'm super excited for this film!

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You'll like this then. Lots of hints and easter eggs.

Including my favourite bit

The Health Department has issued a statement, saying that there is no link between the Fear Toxin and the urge to become a clown...

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The viral internet campaigns for The Dark Knight are awesome. First there was the 'friends of Harvey Dent' site and its dark twin which unveiled the Joker's face for the first time. Now there are a bunch of sites like the Gotham Times, the Ha Ha Times, whysoserious.com and who knows what more. It's great. But most of all, I just want to see the movie :tup: When's it due?

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Stardust was great and we both really enjoyed it.

Appropriately enough, it's surprisingly appropriate for this time of year, being as it's a little bit like a pantomime in it's form and function. Great characters, pretty much excellent performances throughout and some very good special effects.

Definitely recommended. :tup:

...and I'm really getting excited about The Dark Knight. Downloading the trailer now.

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After seeing that truly shit trailer, I'm now a little worried that Ledger may in fact turn out to be rubbish as The Joker.

Hopefully, it's just a very poorly cut sequence though.

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Admittedly, there's no depth in it, but on the other side, all sense of critical thinking leaves me as soon as the combination Batman + Joker is made. Especially including this creepy zombie-Joker.

The one thing that defined Batman Begins was that for the first time, Batman was actually the lead character, and interesting at that, instead of the bad guys stealing the show. The Dark Knight, according to this trailer, will be different. Should be different, actually, considering that the whole Batman universe revolves around the epic conflict between these two men. But the writer/director and actors' track record in mind, I have no doubt this movie will rock enormously. It's been almost 20 years since the Joker last starred in a proper movie, so I'm super excited.

Out of curiosity, what don't you like about Heath in this role? I was first rooting for Crispin Glover to be the villain, but now I'm actually happy it became Ledger, because Crispin would've been too weird, too frail perhaps. Now the Joker's a really scary guy.

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Out of curiosity, what don't you like about Heath in this role?

The trailer implies that Ledger's only able to do the following three cinematic Joker trademarks:

  1. Gurning
  2. One-liners
  3. That hammy laugh

I'm disappointed because I think it's got to be underselling what should be a superb blend of writing, directing and acting talent. That's what I'm hoping anyway. It's a pandering, generic trailer that doesn't show off anything that knuckle-draggers couldn't shake a faeces-encrusted paw at and bellow, "Cool!"

I want something more intelligent and considered. And not least because, given all the effort that's going into the viral campaign, this is such a straight-laced, predictable "reward" when compared to all the other interesting promotion that's going on around the film.

Plus I'm annoyed that Gotham seems to have turned into New York City, even though a decent proportion of it was engulfed in a cloud of hallucinagen* and crawling with lunatics when Begins ended...

...and no, I'm not trying to be clever or insightful with that; never been to NYC, never plan to and have nothing against it either.

* Sorry.

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I can't find a single line there I disagree with. The fanboy in me likes the trailer, but at the same time I fully understand the disappointment at the contrast between the smart viral campaigns and this straightforward, predictable piece of film. We'll see what happens, in a good six months (ouch). I still predict it's going to rock, because I just can't see Christopher Nolan making the Batman equivalent of 'Die Hard 4', i.e.; nice but shallow with a lot of explosions, as this trailer seems to suggest.

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To be utterly harsh at this point, I was slightly disappointed that this next film would feature the Joker. Batman vs Joker has become an utter cliché, and unless they do something really surprising with it, I think it's going to tread a lot of old ground. What's the third film going to be about, Penguin and Catwoman?

Still, seeing how much I liked Batman Begins, I can't help but be a little hopeful about Dark Knight.

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I know that it's probably already been mentioned about a year ago on this thread or something, but Dexter is pretty much the best thing that has ever happened to me and I totally recommend anybody who hasn't already seen it, to get it now. And also to read the books and buy the soundtrack. And listen to the soundtrack while you're reading the books.

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A month or so ago I plowed through the first season and I'm downloading the second as we speak. It's a very nice show, and I noticed you got the books for Christmas, Yufster. Good for you. Good for you.

Are they good? Do they detail all the things that happen in the series, season by season?

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I said this in the other thread as well, but while the first season was based on the first book, the second season was not. This worried me, but the second season turned out to be completely awesome as well.

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I just saw The Man From Earth. It's a bit like a sci-fi short story turned into an indie movie. It takes place entirely in one location. The story is 100000% ridiculous but it's really fun if you're able to 'go with the flow'.

Recommended for fans of MST2K, or weird indie concept films like ermm... Cube I guess.

Don't read any spoilers.

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And did anyone else spot Discovery's new, hotly tipped Rise of the Video game documentary series which premiered this week? No, me neither. ;(

I saw episodes 1-5. Wow, there's almost more footage in there of WW2, the Cold War, Vietnam, the hippie movement, etc. etc. than video games. :shifty: In some cases I think it's fair to frame developments in gaming within larger history / zeitgeist but in many cases this documentary is just trying too hard. Also the series makes it seem like everything in gaming in somehow tied to the military. You know World of Warcraft? Well, that uses the internet. And the internet came out of ARPANET. And the PENTAGON MADE ARPANET OMG.

I also went :( :( :( when Neil Young busted out his good 'ol "someday games will make you cry" soundbite.

It's pretty depressing because they got at least 70% right and really did get some excellent footage. If edited differently you could probably end up with an amazing documentary.

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A month or so ago I plowed through the first season and I'm downloading the second as we speak. It's a very nice show, and I noticed you got the books for Christmas, Yufster. Good for you. Good for you.

Are they good? Do they detail all the things that happen in the series, season by season?

I'm over halfway through the first book so far, it's pretty much exactly the first season scene for scene. What makes it so great is that, being told entirely from Dexter's POV, it allows you to re-experience the events of the first season entirely through Dexter's eyes. It's nice to know exactly what he's thinking every step of the way through.

Yeah they are brilliant. I am super hearting them.

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I thought season one got a bit ridiculous toward the end, but still enjoyed it a lot. Cheers for the recommendation Yufster :tup:

I just watched the second season last week and thought it was even better than the first. They did a great job on developing the characters and followed through on some tough writing decisions. Really looking forward to S3

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