Recently Viewed Movies Episode 2: The Vampire Bites Back

[GrimReality]

Over the weekend:

Charisma - Bizarre Japanese movie about an old tree that different people are fighting over, and a guy going through a rough patch in his life. We meet a bunch of different people who tend to end up on the opposite side of who they appear to be at first. It's simple, and convoluted, at the same time. Weird movie.

Darkness - Terrible, terrible, terrible horror movie with no redeeming features whatsoever. Stay away.

Might take my son to see Frankenweenie today. He's off school, and I have a half day. We'll see.

[Yoda]

Jiro Dreams of Sushi = Great documentary that follows a legendary sushi chef in Tokyo. It's inspiring because of his dedication and attitude. At 80 years old he 's still busting his ass every day. It's also a good look at life and culture in old school Tokyo.

[Esper_Crusader]

Prometheus. It was alright but kind of uneven and a bit heavy- handed with its philosophy. I really wanted it to be awesome since I love the franchise so much but the script needed a bit more fine tuning in my opinion. I'll probably buy the blue ray though:/

[Dice]

Prometheus. It was alright but kind of uneven and a bit heavy- handed with its philosophy. I really wanted it to be awesome since I love the franchise so much but the script needed a bit more fine tuning in my opinion. I'll probably buy the blue ray though:/

I don't even think Ridley Scott knew why he put Idris Elba in there.
The flick had its issues, but I still thought it was alright.  I feel it missed a lot of potential plot though.

[Yoda]

I loved prometheus when I saw it.

Then I started thinking about how most of the characters suck.

Not to mention the

ancient aliens that created our life basically go nuts and try to murder us for no reason when we meet them

[Dice]

www.imdb.com/title/tt1446714/faq#.2.1.42

I thought this helped a lot

[GrimReality]

Kinsey -
This was very good. A fascinating look at how pathetically prude society was(and still is!) in regards to sex, and sex education. I just wanted to slap so many of these people who opposed what Alfred was trying to accomplish.
Liam was great, and even managed to suppress his accent most of the time. This movie really showed his versatility as an actor.
I've always liked Laura Linney, and she's great here as always. I find her oddly attractive, despite that most people would consider her plain. She pretty much rocks as Alfreds open minded wife, although I felt kind of sad for her by the end.
This being somewhat autobiographical, I am unsure as to what was totally true, and what was "stretched" for the sake of Hollywood entertainment. As a movie, though, it was smart, and fun, and never boring, with a few moments meant to make one feel uncomfortable, and truly think about why we do.
This movie feels oddly poignant in this modern age of nutty right wing conservatives trying to puratinize the nation into following their backwards creed of living.
Go forth and pleasure yourself and others, in any way that works, as long as no harm is done to others! Why does this very thought scare people so much? It's what nature intended!

[GrimReality]

Snow White and The Huntsman -
This was a very ambitious film. It had some beautiful cinematography and everything looked fantastic. Even the score was suitably epic. Too bad it falls down in the most important aspect of a movie. Creating a character that we care about. The Snow White of this movie is nothing more than an archetype. She exists, and plays her part, but has zero depth or charisma. I'm not sure if the writing is to blame, or Kristen Stewarts terrible acting. A different actress could have brought so much more to this role. The Huntsman, as played by the kick ass Chris Hemsworth, is as intriguing as he can be with the material he is given. I sure as heck cared more about him than Snow White. He even pulls off a decent Scottish accent. The best part of the movie, besides the visuals, was the evil queen. Charlize Theron was awesome in the role. She oozed malice and hatred. She was mesmerizing. Overall, it's kind of sad to see so much potential squandered. It's obvious someone really had some big ideas here, but just couldn't get it all done. Better writing? More time? Tighten up the scope? I'm not sure. I AM curious as to what they'll do with the inevitable sequel now that they've covered the classic story. The potential is certainly there for something great.

[Monsoon]

Argo was fucking fantastic.

[Lard]

Coincidentally, I watched Prometheus today for the first time since seeing it in the theatre.
It doesn't hold up any better on the second viewing.
Really disappointed with that film.

[GrimReality]

Hysteria -
Well, this was peculiar. It was basically about how the "personal massager" was invented. It was a light-hearted, mildly amusing, movie that  could have been more "edgey" than it thinks it is. It takes a very personal topic, and makes it into a happy, easy-to-digest film. A little too easy, I'd say.
The movie looks good, and all the actors perform admirably, but the story arc just didn't work for me.
It IS amusing to know how freakin' clueless people(men?) were back then about medicine, as well as the female body.
"It's not about pleasure..." The doctor says. Riiiiiight. They see the reactions of their female patients as they "heal" them of their hysteria, and don't get what's going on? Really? Wow.
We've come  a LONG way, thankfully.

[Dice]

Argo

Great/10.
Some pacing issues in the 1/3 last bit of the film, but otherwise a solid flick.  I don't get why Ben Affleck gets so much flack.

Argo Fuck Yourself!

[Tooker]

Just finished Rock of Ages.  It was OK, but I can see why it didn't make big bank.  Nobody did a bad job, but Tom Cruise's singing really sounded like somebody trying to get a high score on Rock Band, rather than somebody trying to sound awesome and rock hard.  Too stiff... formal... something.

Also, I felt like Julianne Hough's outfit in the final concert was literally pulled straight from a real rocker, but I can't remember who, and it's frustrating.

[GrimReality]

Frankenweenie -
This was fantastic fun!  I haven't smiled this much watching a movie in a long time. The story is a pretty basic one, that I can summarize in a couple sentences. Smart kid figures out a way to bring his recently killed dog back to life. Newly risen dog, and the method that got him there, causes chaos. The end.
But there's so much more to it! We have the many homages to past horror movies that are a delight to spot. We have the amazing science teacher(voiced by Martin Landau) who inspires Victor, and rails against the town for their scientific ignorance. I had to stop myself from clapping. His speech needs to be played in every church and Republican office across the land. I couldn't have said it better.
I love the look of the movie. It was a brilliant choice to go with black and white. It really adds to the classic horror feel.
The stop motion is amazingly done, as always. I even thought the soundtrack was very well done, which is great considering Danny Elfman has been kind of lacking lately.
Burton himself has been lacking lately, so this movie is  a great turnaround. I didn't see Dark Shadows, but I heard it wasn't very good. Alice in Wonderland looked great, but was terrible in every other aspect. Charlie and the Chocolate Factory paled in comparison to the old one. Still; this movie isn't really a new idea. It's based on Burtons own live action short of the same name that came out awhile back. I never saw it, but I find it curious that he has to mine his own material to get his groove back. I guess we'll have to wait and see how his next original movie turns out.
I'm baffled by the weak box office for this so far. Are people just tired of all these spooky kid fliks lately? Both Paranorman and Hotel Transylvania were released recently, to more success than this. We saw Paranorman, and it was good, but nowhere near as great as this. Hotel got poor reviews, and I lost interest after seeing the trailer a million times. That has made a ton of money, though, which bothers me. Why do so many great movies get ignored while mediocre or crap movies make big dough? My point? Go see this movie! You won't be disappointed.

[Dice]

I'm convinced two things will easily deter people from watching a film and prevent it from going mainstream.
1) Subtitles
2) Black and White

I'm talking mainstream audiences too.  Colour is better than none, and simply watching is better than reading subs.  This is a personal theory (and from what I've seen working at Blockbuster); and yeah, I guess it doesn't help that horror-kids-films are being beaten into the ground right now as well. 

Anyways, does this mean Tim Burton is good again?
I thought the plot was really endearing.  I think we still have the original on VHS.