Summer '07 movie reviews/discussion (SPOILERS)

[IggyWH]

Pirates Of the Caribbean

I finally got to see this yesterday and I'll say it, I didn't like it.

First off, the movie has way too much filler. There was absolutely no reason at all to have an almost 3 hour movie. I feel like they were trying to turn the series into some epic that will be remembered forever. I would rather soon forget the third installment ever existed.

Secondly, I hate what they did to Jack Sparrow. In the first one and for the most part of the second one, the character was a quirky, goofy, likable guy. He brought a lot of enjoyment to the film and added a lot of humor. In the third one though, it was like a change in personality to just plain weird and unamusing. I feel like they were trying to make him more dynamic when they didn't need to.

Thirdly, there was no need for all those stupid ass tripping out scenes. They really put me to sleep and added nothing at all to the movie.

I thought it was so obvious what was going to happen. I'm not someone who just says that for the sake of saying that. I'm usually pretty clueless in guessing what is going to happen, but if I could figure it out early on, I'm sure many others have.

Finally, I hope to God they don't try and make a 4th one now. I know you got to leave it open incase, but please, just stop now.

===========

I saw the movie with a friend of mine and I told her she was about 2 seconds away from becoming my pillow during the movie. I've ever been so bored and tired watching anything in my life.

The best part of the movie was the previews: A new Pixar movie called Ratatouille that looked real cute and funny, like every other Pixar movie; Transformers that looked badass on a big screen with the surround sound going but will probably be lame; Knocked Up which looks quite funny to me (I've stayed away from people talking in this thread about it to not ruin it).

[Sickboy]

Here is a leaked clip from Hostel 2. I had to watch it just to confirm what I already knew. Its crap. Not normal crap like some lame straight to video gore fest..but crap that actually believes it is breaking new ground and achieving something great.

I'd encourage people to avoid this movie when it opens if only to prevent more Eli Roths from gaining power in hollywood.

Here is the clip if your interested: http://www.wwtdd.com/post.phtml?pk=2366 it is EXTEMELY GRPAHIC AND NSFW!!!!!!!!!!!!!! RATED R(for violence,nudity,cheesynesss,and crappy directing).

MTV Interview with His Royal Doucheness Eli Roth

Q: You're often lumped in with other young horror directors like James Wan (Saw) and Alexandre Aja (The Hills Have Eyes). Do you enjoy being associated with that group?
Roth: We've been referred to as the Splat Pack, which I think is a cool title. Hopefully I'm not the Judd Nelson of the Splat Pack. Preferably I'll be the Rob Lowe. We're all just trying to bring back really bloody, violent, disgusting, sick horror movies.

Q: It's a noble pursuit.
Roth: Yeah! I feel like in the '90s, horror just lost its way and everything became so safe and watered-down. When I go see an R-rated horror movie, I want lots of violence. I want nudity. I want sex and violence mixed together. What's wrong with that? Am I the only one? I don't think so.

Q: What kind of trajectory would you like to see horror take in the future?
Roth: We're in a really violent wave and I hope it never ends. Hopefully we'll get to a point where there are absolutely no restrictions on any kind of violence in movies. I'd love to see us get to a point where you can go to theaters and see movies unrated and that people know its not real violence. It's all pretend. It's all fake. It's just acting. It's just magic tricks. Hopefully we'll get to a point where people realize movies don't cause violence. It just reflects the violence going on in the culture. I'd love to see us get to a point where you can make a movie and not worry about the limits of the violence. Then I think they'd get so violent that people would get bored of it.

Q: What do you say to critics who call your work "torture porn"?
Roth: It's so funny how critics will always quickly reduce horror almost to a subgenre of pornography. I do feel like terms like "torture porn" are offensive. When I see a critic refer to Hostel as torture porn it feels like in the 1950s parents going, "I don't want you to listen to that rock and roll. It's dangerous!" It makes me laugh. It makes me feel like they're out of touch.

Q: Do you feel a sense of fraternity with the rest of the so-called Splat Pack?
Roth: We don't go out like the Bloodhound Gang, or go back to the clubhouse and watch movies — although we kind of do in a weird way. We were all kind of the outcasts, so there's a real bond between everyone. None of us are competing for the same projects. Everyone is doing their own thing. And when a movie is successful, it helps all of us. When House Of A 1,000 Corpses was successful, it helped Cabin Fever. When Cabin Fever was successful, it helped Saw.

Q: What was appealing about going right back into another Hostel film for you?
Roth: I watched ["Hostel"] with audiences all around the world and everybody loves the kids and the girls getting run over and the eyeball getting cut out, but more people told me that they were freaked out by the American businessman in the locker room with the gun going like, "What's it like to kill someone?" And they'd say, "I want to see a movie about that guy." So with Hostel: Part II, I said, "Let's really go deep into the minds of those businessmen. Let's watch the process from start to finish."

Q: What scenes are audiences going to be talking about as they leave Hostel: Part II?
Roth: You've got to have those signature scenes. Let's just say there's one scene that's going to make every girl in the audience cringe and scream, and there's one scene that's definitely going to make every guy in the audience cringe and scream.

Q: Do you have a third Hostel in mind?
Roth: It's not something I'd do, but never say never. I did parts one and two without a break, so my head has been in that torture factory every day for literally two years now. I need to switch it up. I need a little sherbet in between to just cleanse the palette.

Q: Tell us about your fake trailer in Grindhouse. Could you imagine the fake film Thanksgiving spawning a full-length movie?
Roth: Oh, absolutely. The trailer was so much fun. It's all gore and nudity. It's all money shots, bodies being chopped up and people being stabbed and cheerleaders stripping on trampolines. It's three minutes of pure happiness. The feature will never live up to the trailer unless we just do 90 minutes of that. For Grindhouse 2, I think there's a very strong chance of shooting it. Quentin and Robert and the Weinstein Company love the trailer so much they're already asking me, "Where's the script for Thanksgiving?"

Q: You have yet to work with a truly large budget. Hostel: Part II is only a $20 million movie, right?
Roth: I wish. If you combined all three of the budgets of my movies it wouldn't even equal the salary of one castmember on "Ocean's Thirteen."

Q: Are you itching to do something on a larger scale?
Roth: It's interesting, because I've had opportunities to do franchise movies. Once your movie opens at #1, you're offered everything. There were movies like "Halo," and they're remaking "The Hulk" again, and "Die Hard 4," and I just thought I'd rather write and direct and do my own thing. I don't need to jump to a $100 million movie. There were some books I was interested in. I was like, "I'd love to do 'The Phantom Tollbooth' or 'In the Heart of the Sea.' " But the truth is, right now I love writing and directing my own stories. I really wanted to adapt the "Tripods" trilogy, but it went to another director.

Q: How do you feel about your competition this summer at the box office?
Roth: It's going to be the Splat Pack vs. the Rat Pack. They were like, "We're going to open [Hostel: Part II] in June." I'm like, "What else is opening then?" They're like, " Ocean's Thirteen. " I'm like, "Well, that's awesome, because it will be fun to go up against George Clooney, Brad Pitt and Matt Damon." But you know what? I still want my money back from Ocean's Twelve. The biggest heist they pulled in Ocean's Twelve was taking the public's money. I want my money back before I see Ocean's Thirteen.

Q: No one will say that about Hostel: Part II though, right?
Roth: No. I think people will say, "I want my lunch back," after Hostel: Part II."

[private joker]

Knocked Up is pretty funny. I give it a 7.

A friend of mine said "Judd Apatow movies are where third acts go to die." He couldn't be more accurate -- the end of this flick really sags.

But the first hour is almost consistently hilarious and most of the comedy is just throwaway dialogue involving supporting characters who add nothing to the plot (like the jealousy bitchy girl at E! who keeps backhand-insulting Allison).

[Shizzle12345]

I dont get it why everyone hates O12 so much, I thought it was really fun to see the crew improvise, and see what they did with the money was also fun. Also the dialogue and music were better. When I watch Tv I see they steal the music alot, really hate that to hear it out of context.
Allthough i agree the story was kinda messy, the reason lot of pple dislike this movie, but i dont care much for that.

Im really looking forward to O13, its allready out in the US right? Or was it shown in Cannes? I heard some good things about it.

[El Diablo]

All,

Saw 28 Weeks Later on Saturday. I liked it fine, since that is pretty much right in my wheelhouse in terms of genre/plot that I love, but yeah, it was a pale imitation of 28 Days Later. A bit of a disappointment.

Knocked Up on Sunday. I thought this was pretty hilarious. Felt a little bit long, but overall very good.

Looking forward to O13, though I fear it will suck. I can't believe PJ likes 12 better than 11.

Also looking forward to Bourne 3 and Hostel 2.

[samjjones]

My wife has already secured a babysitter, so I'll be catching my first movie of the summer this Saturday. I should have an O13 review afterwards.

[CharlieDontSurf]

[ QUOTE ]
All,

Saw 28 Weeks Later on Saturday. I liked it fine, since that is pretty much right in my wheelhouse in terms of genre/plot that I love, but yeah, it was a pale imitation of 28 Days Later. A bit of a disappointment.

Knocked Up on Sunday. I thought this was pretty hilarious. Felt a little bit long, but overall very good.

Looking forward to O13, though I fear it will suck. I can't believe PJ likes 12 better than 11.

Also looking forward to Bourne 3 and Hostel 2.

[/ QUOTE ]

EL D...tsk tsk tsk.

[hanster]

Hey y'all Imma post it here instead of starting a thread or post it in the lounge.

I am really looking forward to a movie coming out in November called American Gangster, directed by Ridley Scott and starring Denzel Washington and Russell Crowe (two of my favorite actors). It doesn't have any trailers yet but I am pretty ecstatic about this.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0765429/

[samjjones]

** OCEANS'13 / FIVE GUYS BURGERS TR **

My wife and I dropped the baby off at her dad's, and headed to the local multiplex to take in our first movie of the summer. Its George. Its Brad. Its Matt. Its Ocean's 13, baby!

We get to theater at 3:14 for 3:15 show. I haven't been to theater in daytime hours in a while, so I'm somewhat surprised to see a lot of people there. We skip to front of line, show our free passes, and are seated in time for previews. Ca-ching.

Previews are "I Am Legend", which is a remake of Charlton Heston's "Omega Man". It looks weak. Next preview is for "Live Free Or Die Hard". Is it really necessary to team John McClane up with the Mac guy? I'm psyched for a potential Transformers trailer...alas, there is none to be had, and some Robin Williams/Mandy Moore "comedy" is final preview. Whatever.

Movie starts, and is exactly what I expected. Definitely more comedy than the last two; in fact, Scott Caan and Casey Affleck have some solid laughs. There is one cameo that is completely awesome for old dudes like me who grew up with him. Yes, SUPER DAVE OSBORNE has a major part in the film. I'm glad to see him getting some work, although there was no sign of Fuji.

Some decent Vegas scenery that you've probably seen 100 times before and a couple of Sinatra shoutouts. Some mild laughs, a paper-thin plot, and an anticlimatic ending mean I basically cannot recommend paying money to see this. Also, how can you have Super Dave in your movie and not hit him in the nuts with something? Missed opportunity.

We then head over to Five Guys burgers, which is some semi-legendary D.C. area burger joint that is now branching out in the Mid-Atlantic. Place inside is no frills, and I smell the peanut oil and bacon as soon as we walk in. I'm ready. I order the Bacon Cheeseburger, which is two burgers, two slices of cheese, and bacon. My wife orders a hamburger with a bunch of stuff on it, and we get two orders of fries...one regular, one cajun. The burgers were nothing special at all, but the fries were rather good. However, I was pretty disappointed overall, and cannot heartily recommend. Pretty lackluster day so far.

We pick up the kid, and as I'm driving home, my wife makes some comment about how she's excited to have some chocolate chip mint ice cream when we get home. I shout out "Mmmmm...chocolate chip mint!!!", and put out my hand. She quickly goes for it, but then I drop the good 'ol psyche high five on her. Ha ha...I can't believe that she fell for it. Day redeemed.

The end.

[Slap My Jack]

Everyone seems to have a different take on Ocean's 13.

If you're looking for a light summer entertainment without any seriousness and some 'action', I think you could do much worse than this, and Ocean's 13 is probably your best option right now aside from Hot Fuzz. Just don't expect Ocean's 11.

I just saw Ocean's 11 for the first time last week, which was better than I expected so I went to see 13. (Haven't seen 12, sounds like I'm not missing anything.)

13 moved along more rapidly than 11 seemed to, and probably due to the lack of character building and its impact on the dialogue. Of course, character building is limited by the fact that we know these guys already, but there is not even an attempt to expand or progress the character's lives.

That leaves the the plot, or the rest of the movie as just another formulaic addition to the heist genre. Uncredibly fake technology never really pleases me---seems like a cop-out, bad science fiction---and there was plenty of that. But the rapid pace and solid performances allowed the movie to keep itself away from being dull and it maintained itself as a fun and entertaining diversion.