Albino Rover Posted January 30, 2013 Share Posted January 30, 2013 (edited) Jerry MaguireI love this film. I love its opening. I love the lead character, I love his mission statement, I love how he works everyone he meets, I love watching him develop, I love his mentor's teachings. I love Cameron Crowe's simple direction and his fluid, flamboyant screenplay. I love every single acting performance, I love the catchphrases, I love the love story, I love Cuba Gooding Jr.'s super-charisma, I love the soundtrack, I even love that it's a massive money-making blockbuster. I hate Avery, Bob Sugar and the divorced women's group.For me, watching Jerry Maguire brought out the best in movie-watching. It's pure Hollywood but it's Hollywood at its absolute best. Cuba got his Oscar, and it's a damn shame Tom had to come up against one of the best performances of the last 20 years or he could have been up on that stage. Well, I won't be rewatching Shine any time soon, but I know I'll be watching this film over and over for years to come. The best film I've seen this year, and the first...10/10 Edited January 30, 2013 by Albino Rover 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
11thHour Posted January 31, 2013 Share Posted January 31, 2013 Inglourious Basterds - 7/10. Not bad but not brilliant. I'd say Django was better than it but neither touch Pulp Fiction for me. Especially enjoyed the bar scene and When Landa has Pitt and some other fella handcuffed and he is discussing cutting a deal he's just on fire 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Albino Rover Posted January 31, 2013 Share Posted January 31, 2013 Ordinary People I bought the DVD about a year ago solely because this is the film that beat Raging Bull for 4 Oscars, and I wanted to see why. And if I was in a bad mood I'd be raging about the Academy's decision, particularly the Best Director award. The film is actually very good, a rather heavy family drama based on a play, it deals with grievance, depression, parenthood, marriage and the challenges that these issues bring up in an upper-middle class family. I'm glad three of the cast were Oscar-nominated but Donald Sutherland must have been let down when his name wasn't on the shortlist, he's as good as I've ever seen him playing the benevolent, patient, supportive father to a troubled son, Conrad, played by a 20 year-old Timothy Hutton, who beat Joe Pesci to the Supporting Actor award that year. Mary Tyler Moore is the real spanner in the works, she's one of the hardest characters to figure out. She's Conrad's mother, a cold, selfish, shallow woman who seems to make more effort keeping up appearances at dinner parties than she does mothering her son, and insists on getting away from him as much as possible, illustrated beautifully as the plot progresses by a scene with her mother and father taking family photographs. Conrad has rather a normal life but had a series of bad experiences in quick succession which sees him going to a psychiatrist, Dr. Berger (Judd Hirsch, also nominated). His father is sceptical about psychiatry but wants to help his son however he can, and Conrad goes because he feels he has no other option. His mother seems more concerned about becoming gossip material. The real light at the end of the tunnel for Conrad seems to be at school with his friends and a girl he sings with in the school choir. It's an excellent drama and I can see why the Academy liked it so much. But Robert Redford did nowhere near the job Martin Scorsese did as director, Scorsese's cast were superior, the screenplay of Raging Bull was better (not even nominated) and while that doesn't ruin Ordinary People for me, it's all I can think about. Impartially, as a film I'd say the direction is average and it's all plot and acting with nothing extra. It's like a play. But a bloody good one. 7.5/10 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Henrik's tongue Posted January 31, 2013 Share Posted January 31, 2013 ARGO. Bit of a slow starter I thought and after the first half hour I really thought I wasn't going to enjoy this film. It does get going after the 30 minute mark however, and ends up a cracking thriller. Based on true events and directed by Ben Affleck who also turns in a very good performance in the lead role. Well worth a watch. 9/10 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wellstorm Posted January 31, 2013 Share Posted January 31, 2013 Django Unchained. Finally got round to watching this. Massive Tarantino fan, which is down to True Romance and Pulp Fiction really. Nothing since has compared in my opinion. Kill Bill was good, but didn't have that magic about it somehow. Inglorious Basterds, although authentic with it's relentless French and German subtitles, may as well have been a foreign film and so must be marked down slightly for being a bit more challenging to watch. Django is superb. Good plot, excellent characters (Samuel L Jackson always seems to nail it, even with his small part) and even a good soundtrack. This is up there, in my very humble opinion, with Tarantino's other greats. Will watch this again the next chance I get. 9 / 10 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daviehaybhoy Posted January 31, 2013 Share Posted January 31, 2013 (edited) Largely unimpressed by Zero Dark Thirty contrary to widely held opinion. It was incredibly ponderous imo and the sight of people being tortured didn't endear me to it. I think the move towards making the woman the central character added to the exploitative nature of the venture. I really hated Hurt Locker but this was plausible and well acted but waaaay too long. However, like I say there will be a lot of people who will like it. I really don't know why. The other thing was it was so empty. I knew the ending as did everyone going in. Where's the tension? Nah. Major letdown To the poster who red dotted me, you really are a big wain. Somebody disagrees.......ohhh baaad can't accept that Edited January 31, 2013 by Daviehaybhoy -3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sloop John B Posted January 31, 2013 Share Posted January 31, 2013 Jerry Maguire I love this film. I love its opening. I love the lead character, I love his mission statement, I love how he works everyone he meets, I love watching him develop, I love his mentor's teachings. I love Cameron Crowe's simple direction and his fluid, flamboyant screenplay. I love every single acting performance, I love the catchphrases, I love the love story, I love Cuba Gooding Jr.'s super-charisma, I love the soundtrack, I even love that it's a massive money-making blockbuster. I hate Avery, Bob Sugar and the divorced women's group. For me, watching Jerry Maguire brought out the best in movie-watching. It's pure Hollywood but it's Hollywood at its absolute best. Cuba got his Oscar, and it's a damn shame Tom had to come up against one of the best performances of the last 20 years or he could have been up on that stage. Well, I won't be rewatching Shine any time soon, but I know I'll be watching this film over and over for years to come. The best film I've seen this year, and the first... 10/10 I watched it today for the first time, terrific film, agree with everything you said, probably the best thing i've seen Tom Cruise in. In comparison to many of the bloated movies of today it felt fresh and enjoyable. 10/10 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Christophe Posted January 31, 2013 Share Posted January 31, 2013 Bunraku. Pretty good fun for a dour revenge quest story, which is probably something to do with it using the daftest sf setting of all time. A pretty decent cast, some lovely design (somebody obviously loved Sin City to bits), and Ron Perlman playing a villain without any prosthetics on his phiz. As a paste up of a western and a martial arts film, you really couldn't do any better. 8/10 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Smurph Posted February 1, 2013 Share Posted February 1, 2013 Watched Analyze This last night and it was pretty funny. I don't think I want to watch the sequel though. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted February 1, 2013 Share Posted February 1, 2013 I wonder if this thread will take off? Can't see it, tbh. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Albino Rover Posted February 1, 2013 Share Posted February 1, 2013 Silver Linings Playbook Big Oscar bait from flavour of the decade David O. Russell, it's up for all the big ones in a few weeks. It's about Pat, an acutely bipolar man whose troubled marriage lands him in a psychiatric hospital. He's released, he gets into shape, he goes to therapy, he works hard to become a normal member of society, all because he wants his cheating wife, who has a restraining order, back. Along the way he meets Tiffany, passive agressive widow, but trustworthy and potentially useful for getting his missus back. His broke, superstitious, OCD, tough guy dad, Pat Sr. has started private bookmaking for a living with a dream of getting enough money together to own a restaurant. And it just so happens that he believes his son is a good luck charm for their NFL team to win matches. Of course, it all boils down to one big event where it's make or break for Pat Sr.'s dream and he needs his son to help him out. But he's got to work with Tiffany to try to get in contact with his wife. One great thing about the film is the acting- Bobby D's best performance in about 15 years, Jacki Weaver plays her role beautifully, and Jennifer Lawrence and Bradley Cooper lead the line well. A fair bit of scenery-chewing and at times it just lacks reality, but good performances. A few bad things, though, really spoil this film. It's a predictable, by-the-book story. The plot is shoved down your throat, particularly in one scene just before the big main event. The manner of explaining everything out loud was really unnatural, but after that the big final scene was well done. The film's well-directed, some fancy camerawork at times but I still think it's nothing on Tarantino/Richardson's work on D.U. Quite pleasant viewing but I won't be rushing to see it again, overall it was a pretty big disappointment. 6/10 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Busta Nut Posted February 1, 2013 Share Posted February 1, 2013 Lincoln Three very good performances and some brilliant character interactions. However I just found it quite dull, despite finding it somewhat interesting at the same time. I don't think this is DDL's best performance and I don't think he should win the Oscar but he is very good. He somehow embodies a man who, IIRC, no living person has heard speak or go about his daily life. It's arguably his most challenging role (IMO) and he does show how great an actor he is. Personally I think Jackman or Phoenix are more deserving of the Oscar on the basis that they gave performances that I didn't really think they were capable of. Sally Field is also very good but the best performance of the film is Tommy Lee Jones. I really enjoyed Jones's performance and Best Supporting Actor is such an incredible category this year. It is dialogue heavy and I didn't mind that but it is a very dry film. I found the subject matter interesting and I enjoy watching films that are heavy on dialogue but I found this to be a bit too heavy at times. That's my main criticism, it focuses on giving you a visual explanation of how the 13th Amendement came to pass., it feels like a 150 minute history lesson. My other two criticisms aren't as great: 1) Spielberg always seem to have an iconic, memorable shot in his films. There's always a scene that sticks out but this didn't have any of those (although Spielberg did confess that he intended to move away from his usual style in this film). 2) The score is unremarkable stuff from John Williams, and that surprised me. It's definitely more one for the US audience but it will certainly get some love over here. For me it's an alright film with three top performances. 7/10 Good review 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bert Raccoon Posted February 3, 2013 Share Posted February 3, 2013 Skyfall - 8/10 St Georges Day - 2/10 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Staggies1929 Posted February 3, 2013 Share Posted February 3, 2013 Looper - 9/10 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WhiteRoseKillie Posted February 3, 2013 Share Posted February 3, 2013 The Sapphires - pretty watchable musical journey-style flick set across Australia and Vietnam. Chris O'Dowd plays Chris O'Dowd as only he can. Some cracking soul performances, and nothing much to offend. Reckon the soundtrack may be worth a purchase, a la Good Morning Vietnam. 7/10 (lose a couple if you don't like the music) 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cityfan Posted February 3, 2013 Share Posted February 3, 2013 (edited) Resident Evil: Retribution - 3/10 I'm usually one to defend the film series but this was just awful. The portrayal of Leon, Ada and Barry was an insult to their game characters, it feels as if they were just shoehorned in order to appease the game fans and they done a terrible job of doing that. Funnily enough, I think this one did have a somewhat "game" feel to it with the whole Alice and Ada working through "levels" scenario and the amount of action scenes, but it was a more piss-poor low budget shooter feel rather than a Resident Evil one. The ending obviously leaves it open for another installment, but I think it's just time to let this one die. Sadly, the Box Office success of this one means that it'll definitely happen. Edited February 3, 2013 by Rossco1893 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
~~~ Posted February 4, 2013 Share Posted February 4, 2013 Surprised with so many good reviews for Looper, i found it average and predictable -1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kyle Posted February 4, 2013 Share Posted February 4, 2013 Cloud Atlas Beautiful film. I'm going to watch it again before giving it a rating. How did you manage to see this!? It looks immense to be fair. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fifergaz Posted February 4, 2013 Share Posted February 4, 2013 What does IIRC mean in a post?seen it in a few different threads now 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dariusz Posted February 4, 2013 Share Posted February 4, 2013 What does IIRC mean in a post?seen it in a few different threads now If I recall correctly. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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