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beer good said:
Up.

Not bad; yes, it says Disney on the opening screen and so it's pretty sugary and deliberately tearjerking at times, but it's really more Pixar than Disney and so there's a certain seriousness underneath (at least until the lovable talking dog shows up, but at least it's a fun lovable talking dog, the fact that it talks is a plot point, and there's no dancing). Certainly the first Disney film ever to feature a miscarriage as a plot point. :star3:
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I saw that for the first time last week. I really enjoyed it. I was pleased to hear Ed Asner's voice (didn't know he was in it). I actually haven't seen many Pixar movies, but yeah, it didn't totally feel like a Disney movie to me.
Always great when there's no dancing.
:star4:
 
Saw The Blind Side last night. Loved it.

Trying to catch up with the nominations before Sunday so planning on watching The Hurt Locker, An Education and Crazy Heart this weekend. Don't think I'll watch the Oscars though. For one thing, the only network broadcasting the ceremony for Latin America does this awful "simultaneous translation", it's so bad it ruins everything for me. Also, I'm gonna be so pissed if James Cameron wins that I might not be able to sleep :D
So I'll just google the winners and watch the highlights on YouTube.
 
NotTheDoctor, do you want to watch it live on my Slingbox? I don't like to think that you will have to wait until morning to find out if Cameron won anything. :p
 
sparkchaser said:
NotTheDoctor, do you want to watch it live on my Slingbox? I don't like to think that you will have to wait until morning to find out if Cameron won anything. :p
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That's very thoughtful of you :flowers: The James Cameron thing wouldn't be too bad on its own, it's the bad translation that kills me... Let me give you an example: when Sean Penn won for Milk, they actually translated the title of the movie (that dreadful woman actually said "Leche", I wanted to kill her), it's like they don't even bother prepping for the broadcast! That's what happens when people think that just because you speak two languages you are qualified to be a translator/interpreter. But A real translator/interpreter NEVER improvises, you must always know the subject before you start translating. OK, rant over. My apologies to everyone. :p
 
Leprechaun in the Hood. So many shining moments, although the Leprechaun Rap was my favorite. Go watch it on YouTube.
 
Anamnesis said:
Leprechaun in the Hood. So many shining moments, although the Leprechaun Rap was my favorite. Go watch it on YouTube.
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I think that may have been the only one in the series that I did not see when I went on a binge of renting horror movies during my teenage years. Perhaps I'll hijack my friend's computer to watch it on YouTube next time I'm over there.
 
Crazy Heart

Yes, it's based on a novel rather than the real-life story of [insert vaguely Waylon Jennings-like country singer], but it still has all the positive and negative sides of a really well-done biopic. Excellent acting (Bridges earned that Oscar, however much it may have been a lifetime achievement), fantastic music, and a pretty flat ending that left me going "If it was that simple, why all the drama?" :star4:, still, though it should have been better.

Troll 2

Fun fact: the costume designer is Laura Gemser of Emmanuelle fame. And yes, the movie is pretty much what you'd expect of a movie where the costume designer is most famous for being naked. Hilarious, obviously: a family take on an entire city of vegetarian lesbian German trolls from Stonehenge, aided by their undead grandpa. "A balony double-decker sandwich!" :star1:

The Fantastic Mr Fox

Certainly the best Wes Anderson film I've seen in years. Trite story, but looks good and incredibly charming. :star3:

Anvil! The Story of Anvil

Documentary. Everyone says it's Spinal Tap for real, and it pretty much is, though there's a lot more to it than that. Early-80s heavy metal also-rans Anvil are still going at it 25 years later, and despite utter lack of success (when they get their first European tour in decades, they end up playing for dozens of people every night and never get paid) they refuse to accept that it's not just over, it never even really started. "We've been doing this since we were 14 years old, now we're in our 50s... We're gonna be rock stars!" And they really believe it so much you just want them to succeed, if only for one goddamn night in Japan. :star4:

Legion

Imagine The Prophecy III without Chris Walken combined with the remake of Night of the Living Dead without Tom Savini. Shit, in other words. You'd think that if God really decided to wipe mankind out again, he'd be able to overcome half a dozen morons with shotguns in an old gas station. :star1:
 
Re-watched a couple of old George Romero movies I haven't seen in decades in preparation for Survival Of The Dead and the remake of The Crazies.

Monkeyshines is a fairly good late-80s psycho creeper not completely dissimilar to, say, The Hand That Rocks The Cradle or Single White Female - though of course, since it's Romero, there's a separate and not entirely subtle layer. Allen is quadroplegic after being run over, and so a friend who works at a research lab pulls some strings and gets him a monkey. A monkey who's been specially trained to help the lame - fetch drinks, turn on the lights, and of course keep him company so he doesn't kill himself out of sheer depression. Too bad it's a genetically engineered supermonkey, because that never works out well. And while it's an effective if slow-moving horror film, it's also got a sneaky little Frankenstein-via-Darwin theme going on - the monkey as Man rebelling against his maker. Nicely done, George A. :star3:

The Crazies, from 1973, was Romero's first horror film after Night Of The Living Dead. As with Night, the Vietnam war suffuses the whole thing. Unlike Night, it's not very good. The basic idea is interesting - a virus that causes people to turn into homocidal maniacs strikes a small US town, the military move in Outbreak-style and forcibly quarantine the whole city until the virus runs its course or someone comes up with a cure. But how do you tell the infected maniacs from the ordinarly people who are just scared to death and furious at getting rounded up to die by faceless bureaucrats - and who's to say the government know what they're doing? Romero the scriptwriter has a ton of fun with it, turning it a lot darker than most similar movies, but Romero the director - not to half the cast - seems to be on bad drugs; it's simply a mess, with scenes so badly shot or edited that you far too often find yourself going "OK, what I think is meant to be shown here is..." A pity. :star2:
 
The Crazies ~ it's been so long since i've seen the original I can barely remember it, but I don't remember being that impressed by it. The remake is a lot of fun though, playing on your fears of germs and government troops in black gas masks(who's not afraid of that?!). :star3:
 
Couple of trashy movies:

Schlock was John Landis' debut. Either a hommage to or a spoof of 50s monster movies, to the point where he spends 10 minutes on the characters watching The Blob. Trouble is, everyone already knows those films were cheesy, and as much fun as it is watching Landis running around a straight-laced California town dressed in a gorilla suit and ripping the arms off people to the tune of Also Sprach Zarathustra, the joke wears really thin when the movie starts becoming cheesier than the ones it supposedly spoofs. Later on, Landis would develop thumbs and make better movies. :star2:

Stacy: Attack Of The Schoolgirl Zombies is... japanese schoolgirl zombies, what more to you really need to know? Well, if you're into Engrish, you'll note that the colourful chainsaws being sold as the latest indispensible fashion statement (in case you need to chop up your daughter before she eats your flesh) is called the Blues Campbell Right Hand. Which is only one of many little zombie flick references (the official zombie hunters are called Romero Repeat Kill Troops). Fun, bloody, slightly skeevy... japanese schoolgirl zombies. :star2: 1/2.

Ninja Assassin is about ninjas assassinating people. And since they've been around for a thousand years, they've gotten very good at it. The inventiveness is quite admirable. Plot? Yeah, there's a plot about a rogue ninja taking on his whole clan to aid Europol or something, and there's a Japanese fortress in Switzerland for some reason, but - oh, look, blood. Cool. :star3:
 
How to Train Your Dragon

How To Train Your Dragon :star4:

I took my 7 year old daughter. We both loved it. One of the best kids flicks i've seen in quite a while.
 
The Prophecy. Moody and low-key, with some strong performances from Christopher Walken and Viggo Mortenson.

The Namesake. Mira Nair did well in exploring alienation and trying to make one's way in new settings. Tighter editing would have made a good film much better IMO.

The Family That Preys. Boring and unfocused.
 
Anamnesis said:
The Family That Preys. Boring and unfocused.
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That's a shame. I'd never really been interested in Tyler Perry movies, but this one appealed to me and I really wanted to watch it. Waste of time Anamnesis?
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Netflix Instant Play:
I'm on a horror/erotica purge, so here's what I've been watching:
Year One - I was entertained. :star3:.5
The Proposal - I despise romantic comedies. If Sandra Bullock wasn't in it, I wouldn't have watched it. It was ok. Her "nude" scene was a disappointment. :p (Not because she's not hot or anything, but because they built it up so much and there isn't any real nudity). :star3:.5
Parenthood - My first time seeing this movie. Freakin' hilarious. Joaquin "Leaf" Phoenix is adorable! :star4:.5
Speed - A re-watch of course. Super fun! :star4:.5
The Net - I know, another Bullock movie. A re-watch, but I couldn't watch past 15 min. of it. Internet stories in the early/mid 90s are so fun!
 
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