DVD apparently. It’s a French movie, which is probably why I missed it. I found a version with english subs though.
Well I was surprised that it got translated. Personally I watched it in french.
Uhm, oh yeah, 28 weeks later. just. awesome so awesome that the soundtrack inspired me to make a video on youtube ^^.
So I ended up watching both last night. They’re pretty good, but I was excepting more from Superbad and less from Push. That was strange.
I watched most of a Pendulum concert (Live at Brixton Academy). It was mostly just checking the quality before I upload it somewhere, but I ended up leaving it on.
I watched The Knowing last night.
It was okay, I guess. The special effects were a bit over the top, though. However, I couldn’t stop thinking, when Nic Cage went to the MIT lab: Hey, it’s Black Mesa. Yes, I’m a dork. :B
SPOILER: [COLOR=‘White’]Am I the only one that got super-technical in the end during what was supposed to be an emotional part, and really enjoyed the fact that, when the solar flare was burning New York the lake/reservoir in Central Park boiled away before the fire got to it?
Saw District 9 today, so here’s my (non-spoiler) take on it:
This movie pretty much has something for everybody. It has top-notch action scenes that are super-intense. The way the aliens move, the loud volume of the guns, the way the whole area gets blown to pieces in a firefight and the buckets of gore make you feel like your getting mugged while watching this film. The experience is simply astounding. Plot-wise, the movie is no slouch either. It’s filled with suspense and intrigue, and has some plot twists that you never expect. Without giving anything away, some of the events were a bit cheesy, but it never detracted from the experience and you kinda just went with it. The effects in the movie were decent, although at times you could easily tell what was fake, particularly with the gore. The aliens that live in District 9, however, are extremely realistic, some of the best CG I’ve seen in a while. Box-Office wise, I saw it on it’s third day of showing, and the theater was barely half-full. I fear that this masterpiece may be outshown by garbage like G.I. Joe and not get the attention it truly deserves. All in all, I give District 9 and 9 out of 10. If you can get by some of the iffy effects, it is a huge treat theatrically and entertainment wise. I would definitly advise on watching this film.
^ It’s already made $37 million. I don’t think it gets to keep all that money but It’s almost made it’s budget back.
Peter Jackson’s King Kong with the gf last night, great film that.
Also watched Ghost Town the other night, awesome film. <3 Ricky Gervais.
Challenge of the Masters - 8/10
Average kung fu movie from the mid 70s. I found myself trying to identify if the actors trained in northern or southern styles. Most were southern, but the one badguy was definitely northern due to his spear style. Definitely northern.
OK, as someone who’s seen the awesome film several times and read the even better book several times let me clear up A Scanner Darkly for anyone who struggled with the ending (though I really recommend just reading the book - it’ll allow you to appreciate the film even more for filling in the gaps a little, and it’s an astounding work from a tragic literary genius - also if anyone rewatches it, look at the dedication at the end: it’s a shortened version of the one from book, and among the list of names of people the author knew who suffered death or lifelong injury from drug use is the author’s own name, Philip K. Dick):
SPOILER [COLOR=‘White’]New Path presented themselves as a generous, philanthropic organisation running rehabilitation centres for D addicts, but secretly it was New Path themselves who were the source of substance D, growing the blue flowers they made it from in amongst corn fields so they could not be seen from above or far away. Out of the addicts they took in, those whose minds had been effectively destroyed by D overdose, like Bob Arctor’s, were used as labour to grow the flowers (and possibly other stages of the drug manufacturing) because they didn’t need to be paid and were not intelligent enough any more to spy on New Path and tell anyone about the flowers. In the book the time in the rehab clinic is longer and shows New Path taking the already brain damaged overdose patients like Bob Arctor in and effectively brainwashing any free will left out of them.
Donna/Frank/Audrey and the man (Mike) she talks with at the end were running a secret operation to infiltrate New Path to find out if their suspicions were right about New Path being funded by substance D. Donna/Hank intentionally got Arctor addicted to D to the point where he destroyed his mind with it, then took him to New Path. The other guy had infiltrated New Path already as an orderly or whatever but could never get high up enough to find real information, but was able to get Arctor assigned to the farming program so he could look for the flowers. It wouldn’t work to try and fake being retarded, so they actually destroyed Arctor for real, but tried to imprint him with the idea to look for the blue flowers for Donna suconsciously (the psychiatrists who were checking on Arctor’s deterioration advised him to get her blue flowers as a romantic gesture), then they sent him off to the farms and just had to hope a few stray remaining brain cells fired.
The ending suggests the plan worked, as Bob/Bruce sees the flowers and is fascinated by them, picking one and saving it to show his friends back in Los Angeles, which might include Mike the orderly who was an undercover cop who sent him there in the first place. It’s very tragic and bitter-sweet, because it’s hard to tell if there’s anything left of Bob inside ‘Bruce’ there to even know or care about this victory over New Path.SPOILER
Phew. Anyway, the last film I saw was Valkyrie, about Colonel Claus Von Stauffenberg’s real life attempt to assassinate Hitler during WWII. Tom Cruise is a batty weirdo these days, but he can still act well, and I really enjoyed the film. The attention to detail and production values were excellent - as I understand it they got permission to film in many of the real locations in Berlin, despite Germany being, understandably, very sensitive to how the history is portrayed. Anything that even remotely looks like it might be glorifying Nazism is absolutely slapped down, for example.
I was a bit surprised, given the enormous array of acting talent (most of it British) that the film wasn’t a big, drawn out epic with complex characterisation and lots of very awards friendly acting showcases. Instead it was a very taut, fast-paced and lean thriller, with not a vast amount of time devoted to developing characters (so it was useful to have such good actors, who made deep impressions quickly), but instead it focussed on ratcheting up the tension and anticipation brilliantly. For a film where anyone with even half a brain knows without doubt that the plan is inevitably going to fail, Bryan Singer did a brilliant job keeping you riveted and hanging on the edge of your seat, willing them to win through anyway.
It also did a brilliant job of presenting all the characters as really human, and not simply dividing everyone into black and white. Hitler and his hardcore cronies are obviously portrayed very villainously, and Von Stauffenberg is more or less completely (but not unrealistically) heroic, but just about every other character in the film is played as varying shades of grey. Some of the resistance are very flawed and some German officers who nonetheless remain loyal to the Reich are shown somewhat sympathetically. All in all, very enjoyable, and a little thought-provoking. What more could you ask for in a film?
Thanks Raw! I also really appreciated Valkyrie, but it makes quite a while I saw it.
Might watch pulp fiction tonight.
Probably not.
@Valkryie: I thought it was a good movie, although the actors could have at least given an attempt at having a German accent.
Many movies where actors try to fake accents they don’t have naturally end up sounding ridiculous. They intentionally just told the actors to go with a simple neutral accent that they were comfortable they could act naturally in, and people get involved in the story rather than listening for how good people’s accents were.
You’re welcome, but call me bean.
District 9. Fucking fantastic movie. Go see it if you enjoy things that are good.
I just got that in 1080P, I should watch it…
District 9.
It’s probably the last film I’ll see this year.
Damn you guys that live somewhere where it doesn’t come out in October.
Like here. D :
star wars episode 3 OVER 9000!!!/10