Films

[Xydonus]

God Bless America looks interesting.

 

Have to put that on my ever growing list of things to watch.

[Pixel Bombs]

God Bless America looks interesting.

 

Have to put that on my ever growing list of things to watch.

I heard it was really disappointing. Don't let that deter you though. Just what I heard.

[Footmuffin]

Watched 'God Bless America' last night. Bascially a cynical middle aged guy who gets diagnosed with a brain tumour starts to murder everyone who he thinks deserves to die, starting with a girl on that 'sweet 16' program...

 

It's great.

 

Introduction scene is here (warning, violent):

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WaXDaAsfHuc

 

also:

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xDnMNKzq_Lc

 

Right cynical bastards film

I watched it, and I really liked it too. I feel it accurately portrays just how lazy and apathetic numerous portions of society have become, and strongly alludes to the decline and coming fall of the Western Empire.

[CareBearCorpse]

The conjuring - PG13 haunted house flick, better than average in its direction/polishness, but still very unimaginative and generic imo ; used every done & redone trick to make you jump for cheap.

... and nobody even died, even though it was supposedly the most powerful demonic presence the ever had to fight ** rolling eyes **

As a bonus we got 15-20 minutes of ads beforehand and burst ear drums ; and they ask why nobody goes to the movies anymore...

[mendonca]

Lawless.

 

Watched it primarily because Nick Cave wrote the screenplay, and I am a bit of a fan. Wasn't sure what to expect after hearing average things about it, but I actually really enjoyed it.

 

There are some very strong performances all round, with Guy Pearce's character being truly frightening.

[Guest]

Watching Oblivion right now, saw the Expendables yesterday and warm bodies before that.

Warm bodies was actually very original story wise but would never watch it again.

And before that ... Stranger than Fiction

2-3 days ago, I also saw the Conjuring.... okay movie.

Absolutely loved stranger than fiction, movie was so unique.

Have half a mind to watch Dead poet's society, thoughts?

[Zukw]

Watched 2 new movies over the weekend.

Conjuring:- Watched it laying in bed at night, spent the rest of the night hearing and seeing things.

Dark shadow:- Weird but enjoyable. Not Johney Depps best movie.

[Xydonus]

Saw God Bless America tonight ... meh.

 

It's interesting that this film is very much like Super in nearly every way. It's pretty much the same concept.

 

It starts of good, but after the mid-point of the film (not going to give spoilers away) it loses its message and gets drowned out in mindless excessive comedy value violence and becomes just another mindless bore fest.

[DirectorPr]

If you don't mind a romantic comedy-drama, I suggest Silver Linings Playbook. Its one of my favorites.

[Pixel Bombs]

I might as well turn in my balls right now but I L-O-V-E-D The Notebook. Great film. 

[Xydonus]

I might as well turn in my balls right now but I L-O-V-E-D The Notebook. Great film. 

 

Yep, consider those balls snipped!

[Nachtfischer]

"Hunting Party". I somehow expected it to be more of the same (plus, movies with Richard Gere are kind of hit and miss for me), but it was pretty tense and great to watch.

[Marinus]

The Hunger Games: entertaining enough, but it fails to deliver its premise. It's just too clean, you never get feeling that it's about two dozen teens fighting a dead match. It's also a shame they didn't go for interesting ethical dilemmas and chose the safe road by letting the protagonists do the right thing all the time. still 7/10

[Rathlord]

I would have preferred the hunger games more if they had aimed at a slightly older audience. Agree with the above- they made a movie about children killing each other and then made it for kids. I thought the book was slightly confused in the same regard (though still quite enjoyable), but the movie seems to suffer from it much more.

[Guest]

I would have preferred the hunger games more if they had aimed at a slightly older audience. Agree with the above- they made a movie about children killing each other and then made it for kids. I thought the book was slightly confused in the same regard (though still quite enjoyable), but the movie seems to suffer from it much more.

 

Read all the three books and I can easily say I liked the third book better than the rest. 

[Ontogenesis]

You can always watch Battle Royale if you need to fill the teenagers murdering each other film.

[Rathlord]

I would have preferred the hunger games more if they had aimed at a slightly older audience. Agree with the above- they made a movie about children killing each other and then made it for kids. I thought the book was slightly confused in the same regard (though still quite enjoyable), but the movie seems to suffer from it much more.

Read all the three books and I can easily say I liked the third book better than the rest.

I don't have a copy of the third yet unfortunately. I liked the first one greatly , but the second was a bit disappointing.

[Marinus]

You can always watch Battle Royale if you need to fill the teenagers murdering each other film.

Must rewatch that one again, yes, I hardly remember the story as I saw it 15 years ago or so.The thing with THG isn't necessarily that it isn't graphic enough, it's just that if the teens aren't killing each other they seem to be on a camping trip. Romantic subplot and all.One would expect less romantic camping adventure and more trauma, fear and suffering. 

[Marinus]

 thought the book was slightly confused in the same regard (though still quite enjoyable), but the movie seems to suffer from it much more.

 

The Long Walk by Stephen King has a similar premise as THG, but Stephen King manages to get it right despite (or maybe because) the fact he has very little to work with. Instead of a gladiator-ish game in an arena the contestants have to out-walk 99 others on a hikew at gun-point.

 

It's one of those stories you finish in a couple of day, but stay with you for a while. Good stuff

[Footmuffin]

I could not discern any valuable message from the Hunger Games series. Is something wrong? I read all of the books and probably came somewhere close to grasping the story, but didn't really take anything away from it.

[Guest]

Well, that's what you get for finding a "valuable message" from a fiction series

[Marinus]

@Footmuffin: accordin to Wikipedia: 

Collins says that she drew inspiration for the series from both classical and contemporary sources. The main classical source of inspiration came from the Greek myth of Theseus and the Minotaur. As a punishment for past crimes, Minos forces Athens to sacrifice seven youths and seven maidens to the Minotaur, by whom they are killed in a vast labyrinth. Collins says that even as a child the idea stunned her since "it was just so cruel", as Athens was forced to sacrifice its own children.

Collins also cites the Roman gladiator games. She feels that there are three key elements to create a good game; an all powerful and ruthless government, people forced to fight to the death, and it being a source of popular entertainment.^[11]

A contemporary source of inspiration was Collins's recent fascination with reality television programmes. She relates this to the Hunger Games in how they are not just entertainment, but also a reminder to the districts of their rebellion. On a tired night, Collins says that while she was channel-surfing the television where she saw people competing for some prize, and then saw footage of the Iraq war. She described how the two combined in an "unsettling way" to create the first ideas for the series.^[12]