The last film that I watched was Se7en, because I have heard from countless sources that it contains one of the great plot twists of film. This is more or less how the commentary between my roommate and I progressed during the film:


The biggest plot twist of this entire film was that Woody Allen wasn't the killer.

Okay Exo, no problem. Thanks for the reply anyway.
How's your mother doing?

I've heard that the when the s is like that it's just like using a swastika. I don't know how true that it but it makes a bit of sense regarding a piece of the movie. It's sort of spoilery.

I was very upset when I made that first post. I've been much better recently. My family is very close knit. There are only four of house and we only talk to a few extended family members. We've been kind of the outcasts of the family. Everybody lives in one area of New Jersey while we are the only ones that live further away. There are reasons for this. That being said it hit me rather hard to hear that not only does a family member have cancer but it also happens to be my mother whom I'm extremely close with. She's a little pitbull though and there is no doubt in my mind that she'll be okay and kick this cancers ass. However there isn't an hour that goes by where I don't think about it.

Thanks for your thoughts Troll...

Something is going on with my boss not giving me any work today for some reason so I'm taking the day off. It's rather ****ty out so I'm going to watch some movies until my girlfriend gets out of work. First up was...

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I've had this sitting on my shelf for three and a half years since I bought it at a closing video rental store. I've always been in the wrong mood when I reach for it but finally the mood struck me well and I gave it a watch. Brilliant movie. The pacing was fantastic albeit slow which is right up my alley. I like slow burns. The last thirty minutes were intense and emotional although there was one event that I felt was a bit of a cop out. Great film however. Back to the shelf it goes.

8/10

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I saw this on Netflix hoping that i'd be able to sit through the whole thing, and I couldn't. There was way too much going on. The story was good, but the way they went about it was just...not what I would expect.

I guess I should have paid attention to the fact that it's listed as a "dark thriller" but holy hell.

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13 Tzameti

This one won the grand Jury prize at Sundance in '06 but I felt there were better films that year than this one. The story was great but the execution was just subpar. I wanted more character development of the 13 instead of just two characters. What they were going through and the motivation of what put them there would have been very interesting. I feel this should be remade by Fincher or Gaspar Noe. It has huge potential.

6/10

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Welcome to Sarajevo

Pretty good film from Michael Winterbottom who is more known for his British comedies. The mash up of real footage and dramatized scenes did get a bit tiresome but overall it was an emotional film based on true events that felt a lot like a documentary. I'd recommend it.

6/10

Comedies? Michael Winterbottom? You sure? He has made a couple of TV films that have elements of comedy but that is not his thing and never has been. 24 hour party people, code 46, a cock and bull story, the killer inside me - comedies? Err no.

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This movie was cool. 8.5/10

I may have been off base with generalizing him as a comedic director. Those films I highlighted plus The Trip...are comedies. At least I took them as comedies. There are dramatic elements but the laughs outweighed the drama in my opinion. I've only seen Code 46 and Sarajevo though so I'm not familiar with his drama resume.

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Poetry

I'm a huge fan of Korean cinema. I think that films coming out of that country rewrite a lot of ways you can tell a story and portray one on film. Most have been action thrillers but I've seen a couple dramadies and serious films. Poetry however was a completely unique experience for me. I had put it off for a while due to the cover on Netflix which portrayed it as a warm hearted ode to poetry and old age. That is not this film. Sure it has those aspects sprinkled in but this is a much deeper movie and one that proves to be heartbreaking and powerful. The lead actress, Jeong-hie Yun, was phenomenal. She expressed so much emotion and pain without action. It was in her face and stature. These are the performances that really get me. It kind of reminded me a bit of Paul Giamatti in Sideways. I know this is sort of a stretch due to the complete opposite appearance but both were snubbed t the Oscars that year after delivering truly gut wrenching visceral performances. If you like Korean film at all I urge you to check this out. Give it time because it's slow but like the title suggests it is a poetic film with just an incredible lead performance that will haunt you after it's over.

8/10

Insanitarium

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Awesome freakin' movie.

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one of the worst film covers I've seen. Seriously looks like a straight-to-dvd type thing.

The film itself is surprisingly good. People say its drawn out and boring but lots of action is had and doesn't seem any more boring then the lord of the rings films. The cgi is nice. Some of the modern day humorous dialogue added to the film feels out of place.

Wait, which film? I can't see the pic. I'm assuming it was The Hobbit? Only because you compare this movie to LOTR. I saw The Hobbit and am wondering how they could possibly stretch an average length novel into 3 fucking full-length movies. The whole story could have been told within 3 hours, easily.

I give The Hobbit a 5/10 for sheer tediousness, and that's being generous. The only things I fully enjoyed was the riddle scene with Gollum and the epic music composed by my compatriot and fellow Torontonian Howard Shore. That's it.

Anyways, last one I saw was Friday night and it was This Is 40.

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I originally went to see this only because I have a huge insatiable crush on Paul Rudd. But I found it quite enjoyable overall.

8/10

See i just don't understand how the film is more tedious than the LOTR films that everyone gushes over. I'm not playing devils advocate, i just don't see it. I'm not saying the following films are going to be as good, i -like others- have a hard time seeing 3 films being made out of this, however, as the first entry in the trilogy i think its a well made hobbit adaption. It's still a well made film even if it feels more like a product.

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Memories of Murder

Keeping on the mood of Korean cinema, I finally got this film in the mail from Netflix (yes I still use the dvd service). I can't explain enough (and I've done it plenty) on how good Korean cinema can be. There just isn't any of that Hollywood bull**** that goes into making films. They don't hold anything back no matter what the subject matter is. You're always in for brutal violence, gut wrenching endings, and just flat out comedic lunacy. The one thing I love though is their sense of style. This film oozes style. It's shot in such a wonderful moody darkness that I can't help but transfix my eyes on. This is a gorgeous film. The beginning started off a bit odd as we're introduced to two pretty horrible police officers but as the film goes on you can tell there is purpose and passion behind their work. The film picks up pace constantly as it starts to reach its climax and it's an intense one. If you're into happy endings, don't watch this movie, or any Korean film for that matter. The journey to that ending though is going to be a great one though. Great film.

8.5/10

I need to rewatch that one.

Speaking of Korean films... has anyone seen Oldboy? Probably the best and most disturbing Korean films I've seen... And not because of violence. It has one of the biggest mind**** twists I've ever seen in any movie. It's part of Park Chan-wook's revenge trilogy. All the movies in the trilogy are worth watching, but Oldboy is by far the best. Apparently they are doing an American version, but **** that... Watch the original.

Yes, I love that movie. Lady Vengeance is also great.

Also, you want to see a great disturbing Korean movie, I highly recommend checking out Mother.

spike lee was signed to direct it too as far as i remember

Seriously? :laughing:

next year
Oldboy (2013) - IMDb

spikes a nut but a capable director minus that one war film which was ****e

I usually like his movies but I think he'd be a terrible fit for Oldboy. The closest thing he done tone-wise was Summer of Sam and that was fucking awful.

yeah, i wouldn't say im super optimistic

I just think we are getting to the point where people don't need their hand held through a movie catered just right to their culture. I think Oldboy itself told the story just fine, regardless of whether or not you are familiar with Korean culture. If you don't like subtitles, find the dubbed version. I'll probably watch it to compare, but like Sparky just said...I'm not optimistic.

The only Korean movie I've seen was I'm a Cyborg, But That's OK. Loved it. Trippy as balls, and you couldn't help but be happy what with all the pretty colors and sunshine.

Saw that as an option on Netflix recently. I'll have to check it out.

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Lockout (2012)
A forgettable Escape from New York knock-off featuring bargain bin special effects, absurd writing and a really awful attempt at an American accent from Lennie James. All of that said, I was fairly entertained while watching it though and Guy Pearce was as good as he could possibly be given the circumstances so it wasn't a total loss.

Same here. The relationship between the girl and the guy could have been lifted from an episode of Buffy, but considering the C-rate quality of the movie, it wasn't really possible to detract from it, so it was actually entertaining.

I remember reading somewhere that they had to hastily re-edit that film in order to secure the magical PG-13 rating and that is what largely attributed to the so-so reception as it didn't have the room to be what it was probably envisioned as.

I haven't seen the movie so it may just be a bad movie.

Some blood and guts would have helped, but it was far too goofy to have been made into a successful gritty action movie. It was basically a SyFy Channel movie that somehow got made into a feature film.

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Zero Dark Thirty

We got a snow storm so I didn't have work today. I decided to have some "me time" as I'm usually with other people when I go see movies and decided to see this one by myself. I forgot how much I like seeing films alone. It's a nice change of pace every once in a while. My girlfriend likes good movies though so I can't complain. Anyway I thought this film was fantastic. I'm a big fan of The Hurt Locker and while I found certain aspects of it better than ZDT I was just floored by the second half of this movie. The last 30 minutes were one of the more intense theater experiences I've had. Bravo. Chastain definitely deserved her nomination but seeing how I haven't seen any of the other nominees I can't say she should win. Overall if you liked The Hurt Locker go see this one because its candy for people who like tense directing with exceptional acting.

9/10

Heavenly Creatures

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.. The only Peter Jackson movie I'd not yet seen. He made this after Braindead aka Dead Alive and it's based on a true story which I think I should not spoil for anyone else. It's a drama fantasy that was engaging, surreal, funny and sometimes also a little creepy. Great film!

Sometimes a little creepy? I found that movie fairly disturbing. Fantastic though. One of his best movies imo.

I thought this was an excellent movie, as well. There were no down/slow moments for me through-out-- which is hard for a movie to do.

I've made it a point to watch most of the academy nominees and this is one of my favorites. And of course Argo. I would score it 8-9/10 as well. You?

I've been sitting on this for a while, mainly because I want to see a young Kate Winslet.

I must be one of the few people to have seen the film and not being impressed. Critics, fans and casual observers were all raving about this film but it just didn't grab me at all.

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It was better than Taken (which isn't that difficult if you like B movies) and I did find myself trying to guess what the twist was well into an hour of the movie and it wasn't so implausible but when you get the twist you can go back into the film and pick the bones out of it. Bourne meets Taken is probably the best explanation but it was much better than I thought it would be.

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The Sweeney was a much regarded TV show over here in the late 70's that was hard hitting and very un PC I guess and this update to modern times explores that clash quite well with a high end cop being out of touch with modern day policing. The first 30 mins is awful with cliched dialogue and scripting but it slowly grows into a half decent crime film but it really could have been a TV special and with a £2 mill budget it does suffer but the money was used well and it certainly looks like it cost far more.

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I remember the lead Fred Dyer being involved in a TV series called The Hunter when I was a kid and liking it. He was a cut price Clint Eastwood and renting this and sorta liking it so I went back to this for nostalgic sake and it is pretty bad but somehow I still watched it through and oddly enjoyed even though it is actually ****. The 80's does scramble the mind.

Supernatural Activity

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Very funny, and a clever spoof of horror films altogether. I wasn't expecting much out of it, but it definitely was worth watching, if not just for the fun factor. I enjoyed it.

Agreed :) Definitely memorable.

You should get on that!

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An urban drama that really took me by surprise. The story is cliched concerning London inner city youths struggling with poverty and violence etc but the writer/director certainly has a really bright future as the film looks superb, was imaginatively shot and is almost poetic in parts with it's B&W photography and unusual shooting angles.

Don't expect some sort of mock gangster type of film. It's more like a kitchen sink drama with chav's instead of hard working Northen folk but there is some real emotion in the film as well as an experimental bent.

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Amadeus.

This movie never ceases to amaze me. I've seen it about 5 times now and have not gotten bored of it. The music is great, of course, and even though Maestro Salieri's role in Mozart's career was like 80% fictionalized in the film, it still gets a 10/10 from me.