What have you watched lately?

[Subjective Effect]

The script and acting in District 9 is closer to real life behaviour than the usual stuff you are obviously used to.

I Am Legend

Strike one on the taste scale. This film is shit of the highest order, especially given the fantastic source material. On this alone I think your opinion is practically null and void in all sensible circles.

However...

too many holes and inconsistencies (why did the one alien know how to fly the ship but the rest were simply barbaric cow head eaters, for example?).

Are you seriously telling me that the thought that aliens who had come to Earth in a big fucking ship that was still floating 20 years after arrival, aliens that had far superior weapons tech than humans and who could even HAVE a ship that could fly wouldn't therefore have some amongst them that understood the technology (created it?? ffs) and/or knew how to use it?

Seriously? You found this a plot hole?

Guys, had I forgotten that this guys opinions were worthless or is this some new malfunction he is having?

[the_grip]

Seriously? You found this a plot hole?

Did you read what I posted? You completely missed the point - the hole is the fact that out of a million plus super advanced aliens only one of them knows how to fly the ship. Capesh? Only one of these buggers knows how to get things right and the rest are like barbaric borderline cannibals?

And you strike my tastes from one movie I liked out of that list that you don't? Does that mean you don't like the rest, too - my taste fails on those because of I am Legend? Interesting. Will Smith's character in I Am Legend was hella more realistic and his actions/reactions more believable than anybody in District 9. But that's beside the point... I don't like I Am Legend simply because of realism. The realism just aided the quality of the story, at least in my book.

And either way, it doesn't really mean shit to me. You can like District 9 all you like - I still stand by every word I said, and I'll dislike it all I like. Now go cry a river and lick Jackson's or Blomkamp's balls a little more... whichever one you prefer most.

Guys, had I forgotten that this guys opinions were worthless or is this some new malfunction he is having?

Dumm dumm am I rite boyz? C'mon now, make a point on your own two feet here.

[the_grip]

Back to add to the thread... I'm thinking about watching High Plains Drifter again after reading a bunch of Cormac McCarthy. No tie in to McCarthy, but a great western... McCarthy is bringing out an old love for westerns that I haven't entertained in years.

[Subjective Effect]

You're having an astonishing logic fail here.

Where in the film did it say he was the only one? And have you ever been on a ship or an airplane? What proportion of people on those know how to pilot the things? Ffs, now you are being dense.

I don't dislike your other choices but it is easy to like good things. Its harder to like crap though, and its a demonstration of poor taste. I'll wager there is other rubbish you like.

And well done on the strawman. I never mentioned realism as the reason for funding I am Legend crud, Einstein.

I won't respond to your balls comment because, well, I don't need to.

[ercles]

Strike one on the taste scale.

Alright I'll mark 'er down here in my notepad. Someone has to keep track of inane arbitrary measures of an unquantifiable trait around here.

[dethtoll]

oh good can you keep track of mine too? you may need another notebook

[ercles]

Yeah I gotcha covered.

[EvaUnit02]

Aliens vs. Predator: Requiem - 2/5 - Utterly rubbish film, but fairly entertaining nonetheless for when you want to switch off the brain and relax with some beers. It never takes itself seriously nor pretends to be anything more than the B-grade schlock that it is. Better than Alien Resurrection by a mile, TBH. It's basically a typical Slasher but with scifi monsters.

The biggest disappointment is the cinematography and editing. The lighting during the action scenes is quite dim at times. The aforementioned and the quick cuts make it a bit hard to follow what's going at times.

I didn't like at all how they changed the alien lifecycle. There was absolutely no need for a Queen nor eggs, the Predalien would gestate several Chestbursters within pregnant women. (WTF, TBH)

[Subjective Effect]

Alright I'll mark 'er down here in my notepad. Someone has to keep track of inane arbitrary measures of an unquantifiable trait around here.

Yep, you do that because its exactly what I suggested and that wasn't just an off the cuff remark about his taste no of course it was deadly serious.

Should I have typed it all in lowercase?

[the_grip]

And have you ever been on a ship or an airplane? What proportion of people on those know how to pilot the things? Ffs, now you are being dense.

Yes. Go compare the crew to passenger ratio of a 737 and then blow that up to a million plus individuals. Next compare aircraft or any other kind of craft in the military that are outfitted with all kinds of armaments... of course these are just outfitted with a couple of people who know how to operate them, right? Ding-a-fuckingaling-ding.

Where in the film did it say he was the only one?

The implication is fairly strong - he has one recruit helping him find "the fluid" apart from his boy. With a million plus aliens running around, I would expect to have more involvement than what they had. But for shits and giggles let's give that and ponder other things like:

1. After the command module crashes, nobody goes to investigate it. Instead, the military starts chasing this dude around the slums to get at his human/alien genetics for the use of the weapons. Nobody seems to care that this module which had been missing for twenty years is on the scene. Bad move, because miraculously this little alien boy is left on board...

2. ... and this little boy knows how to activate all kinds of things remotely from the command module including the sophisticated weaponry and comes to save the day. Yet little is done to bolster the believability of this beyond the fact that he knows where the fuel should go in the command module.

3. The alien who does fly the ship also apparently knows the blueprints of human buildings fairly well - enough to know that a well placed bomb will blow open a hole into the parking garage which he had never seen but of course knew how to do. I guess that got the writing out of the corner it wrote itself into as well.

4. The alien is running for his life with the alien mech providing cover, and he picks up a tiny piece of metal to use as a shield. Despite the numerous automatic weapons being fired at him, all of the bullets seem to hit this little shield even though his arms, legs, and his head are all visible targets as well.

...and so on. I can pull out more but this is getting tiresome.

I won't reiterate my above points regarding the writing here - you can read those again above. It just adds to the failure of the film.

The sole merit the film had is that the premise had fantastic potential. It just floundered and sucked in the hands of folks who didn't know how to care for it.

Its harder to like crap though, and its a demonstration of poor taste. I'll wager there is other rubbish you like.

See the real thing here is that you are just making a poor attempt at being an asshole and a snob, and then you are trying to back that up with all kinds of flimsy bullshit. Let's spell this out, too, and call a spade a spade. You don't like I Am Legend because it doesn't follow the original novel, but apparently that is the only reason. No problem there. I find your point here weak as you are not judging the movie on its merits and instead are writing it off from the get-go, but that's your opinion and your choice. However, you also like to dismiss other people's tastes who might disagree with you and presume on their other likes as well. This is where you start turning from general guy who doesn't like a movie to bitter asshole snob who likes to pick bones with anyone who disagrees with him/her. There it is. If you want to be an asshole, that's fine, but let's keep it straight here.

blah blah blah strawman blah

Yeah whatever, one of my original points was the lack of realistic writing in District 9, and I'm just drawing a comparison here. Not everything is an insult to your fragile ego, boss.

I won't respond to your balls comment because, well, I don't need to.

Yeah and I've already laid out how you were an asshole and I've called you on it. No more discussion necessary.

[Subjective Effect]

I can't be bothered to go through that list of things. Its apparent that you've jumped to all sorts of conclusions about this film so you're never going to get it.

You don't like I Am Legend because it doesn't follow the original novel, but apparently that is the only reason.

It has some things going for it, starts well, captures the feeling of isolation pretty well and the fear of the creatures, but overall its just weak. Its not just its stupid plot and dreadful ending, its the way it was done. Not casting Will Smith would have improve it tenfold for starters.

I'm not a taste snob but I recognise bad taste. There are many popular things that just aren't up my street too. The difference here is I may like Megan Fox better and someone else may like Natalie Portman. If you're going to state that either of them is a minger you're just being silly. Then you come in and argue that Rosie O'Donnell is hot too.

[ercles]

I'm not a taste snob but I recognise bad taste.

Well you totally are, judging by this thread, but hey at least 90% of the people on this forum-myself included-are too. Stop lying to yourself and embrace it!

[bukary]

Zombieland
Not very funny. Rather boring. We've seen it thousand times already. 5/10.

Avatar
I've seen many interesting movies last year (e.g. I really liked Inglourious Basterds and Dom Zły) but Avatar (with its infantile dialogues and predictable plot) was the only movie that made me feel like I was 12-13 years old teenager again exiting the cinema after watching Aliens for the first time. That feeling was incredible. Awe. What a great show! 9/10. If Cameron releases Director's Cut that fills some of the script holes it might even be 10/10 from me.

BTW, District 9 wasn't that good. It was ok, yes, and much better than most of sci-fi movies these days. It felt fresh, had some really nice visual effects (I liked the aliens concept and look) and was quite original but I could not stop myself from thinking that I was watching some kind of unfinished, unpolished etude. Perhaps it was acting, perhaps the script... I am not sure. On the other hand, I Am Legend (with sad, unreleased ending) wasn't that bad.

[Scots Taffer]

I can't be bothered to go through that list of things. Its apparent that you've jumped to all sorts of conclusions about this film so you're never going to get it.

I may not agree on his opinion with I Am Legend but I see a lot of validity in his arguments with District 9 - go figure. Taste is a complicated thing. Let's not flail our arms around until everyone likes all the same shit, okay? We're here for discussion and debate, what's the point in getting all foamy mouthed and dismissive when anyone shows a contrary opinion? At least he's backing his comments up with well thought out discussion, which is more than I can say for your reply.

In other news, back on topic for this monstrous thread: I finally got around to watching Frost/Nixon and it was compelling in the way that good documentaries are. That said, I do feel that there was considerable dramatic manipulation of the true-events going on, especially towards the end, and it feels like if I were to do some research that Nixon's confession at the end of the movie was far more pre-planned than the narrative supposes. The drunk phonecall scene also rang very untrue.

Also, don't get all the hype for Michael Sheen's acting in this to be honest, he is all winning smiles, squirm and one last minute bout of INTENSE JOURNALISM. Langella deserved every bit of the praise though, I liked the meta-aspect of him playing Nixon having a facade that slowly crumbles in the last interview, it was nice to watch.

[T-Smith]

Just finished the fifth season of Lost again. As such, finished with my re-watch of the entire show and I'm ready for season six.

For films, I've heard some good things about Moon and was considering watching it. Anyone here seen it?

[Thirith]

In other news, back on topic for this monstrous thread: I finally got around to watching Frost/Nixon and it was compelling in the way that good documentaries are. That said, I do feel that there was considerable dramatic manipulation of the true-events going on, especially towards the end, and it feels like if I were to do some research that Nixon's confession at the end of the movie was far more pre-planned than the narrative supposes. The drunk phonecall scene also rang very untrue.

I have to say that I prefer them to go for good drama rather than historical accuracy - as long as the film doesn't go on about how "all of this really happened, man!" It's like Amadeus - still a brilliant film and arguably better because it doesn't go for some notion of historical accuracy that is problematic to begin with.

Also, don't get all the hype for Michael Sheen's acting in this to be honest, he is all winning smiles, squirm and one last minute bout of INTENSE JOURNALISM. Langella deserved every bit of the praise though, I liked the meta-aspect of him playing Nixon having a facade that slowly crumbles in the last interview, it was nice to watch.

I'd agree that the film's mainly a fantastic achievement for Langella, but I do think that you're giving Sheen short shrift. Throughout I felt that underneath his smiles and squirm there's a growing anxiety and self-knowledge: Frost understands increasingly that he's an empty shirt, that he's not up to it, and that he's likely to end up helping Nixon to exonerate himself. That growing panic that he tries to keep down is handled pretty well by Sheen.

[Scots Taffer]

For films, I've heard some good things about Moon and was considering watching it. Anyone here seen it?

I thought it was a very atmospheric piece that failed to really land any punches with its main storyline. It's very watchable.

I'm quite excited about Zowie's directorial style and am keen for his next movie, especially after reading the dynamite script for it in Source Code.

[Stitch]

I just saw a shitload of movies!

The Christmas Story (of course): holds up rather well, even once you strip away all the accumulated HOLIDAY STAPLE baggage. The family has genuine chemistry, and the father steals every scene he's in. Cut the momentum-sapping fantasy sequences and this film would be perfect.

Gremlins: a personal favorite of mine that isn't quite the wall-to-wall bullseye I want it to be due to slightly dull performances from the leads and one setpiece too many (I'm more or less ready for the movie to end by the time the theater explodes). Still, the movie's penchant for turning on a dime between tension, comedy, and violence has cast an influential shadow over me and my creative endeavors for the better part of my life, and the notorious kitchen scene still makes me cringe and cackle no matter how many times I see it.

The Hangover: a pleasant enough comedy that bubbles along amusingly but only rarely rises to the heights of hilarity. It's funny enough, yeah, but most of the humor is generated by throwing increasingly ludicrous things at the characters, as opposed to humor generated by the characters' reactions or chemistry with each other. It's a bizarre combination of overstuffed and yet slightly slow--the movie needs fewer events so that the comedy has more room to breathe and develop. Still, the movie is likable enough, and Zach Galifianakis's scene-stealing performance is worth the price of admission alone.

Also saw Avatar and Sherlock Holmes, but I'll keep commentary on those confined to their respective threads.

[PotatoGuy]

FINALLY I watched 2001: A Space Odyssey.

Wow. It's one of those things that you don't understand but that are still incredible. I loved the beginning with the apes and their new god, and liked the part after that, but was surprised it ended so sudden, to continue 18 months later. The HAL part was really good, but after that... well, if you've seen it you know what I'm talking about. The only word that comes anywhere close is 'interesting'.

P.S. Personal victory: finally understanding the reference to this in a Thief FM cutscene made by frobber.

[Matthew]

The Incredibles, which I must have recorded during 2008's Christmas season. Lovely little film, Pixar sure can do it.

Also watched the last hour or so of Madagascar after stumbling across it on television and was very amused by it, particularly with regards to the number of film parodies and shout-outs they managed to squeeze into it. Much more fun than Ben Stiller made it sound in his terrible terrible monologues.

[~s:a:n:i:t:y~]

Watched all episodes of both seasons of Lie to me and that happened to be the only other reason to approach my TV rather than dusting off its surface in a long while.
Love how fitting Tim Roth is.

[thefonz]

I'm wading through Castle Season 1 - very good stuff sofar, well written and further proof that Nathan Fillion is sorely underused in movies.

Also a friend mentioned Misfits to me so I'll be sure to watch Season 1 as soon as I can.

[ercles]

FINALLY I watched 2001: A Space Odyssey.

Wow. It's one of those things that you don't understand but that are still incredible

If you read the book now, everything makes a lot more sense. I guess you could read some synopsis online, but the book is definitely worth a read.

[nicked]

Currently watching season 1 of Fringe. I'm liking it quite a bit more than I expected I would. It got off to a pretty shaky start - a lot of quips-instead-of-dialogue, Joss Whedon-style, and having Joshua Jackson in it didn't exactly fill me with confidence.

However, a few episodes later and the show seems to gain some confidence, allowing it to step out of the shadows of both Lost and the X-files, to which it owes both a vast amount. The overall mystery is not as interesting as those shows, but it's the interesting relationships between the characters that holds it together, particularly John Noble as a brilliant, yet senile scientist.

And even Joshua Jackson is tolerable, perhaps because his character is a bit of a twat, which suits him nicely.

[thefonz]

Oh yeah - finished my watch through of the entire 4 seasons and Razor and The Plan of BSG.

My god, I think this is my favourite show of all time. YES, EVEN BETTER THAN THE WIRE, DON'T KILL ME.

Despite the noticable dip in quality of the midpoint of season 3; the entire show is damn near perfectly written, emotional (yes I was welling up at the Roslyn/Adama moments in Season 4), violent, brutal and the action is incredible.

Looking forward to Ronald D Moore's next piece of work.

Oh, Grace Park, Tricia Helfer and Katee Sackoff can Battlestar My Galactica any day. All at once.