Christ Centered Gamer

Seraphim Falls.

I wanted to like this movie. But I didn't. To be honest, it was flat out boring. With inconsistent pacing and some shoddy directing, it kind of ruined the movie for me. They stretched just a little bit of a story (what was there was good, but it wasn't much) over a two hour time period with lots of extensive filler shots of the Nevada terrain.

Plus, what was with every single male character sounding like they belonged in a metal band? They were growling the entire way through.

That being said, the performance between the two leads was excellent, and it's the first time I've really seen Pierce Brosnan act. Not to mention the beautiful cinematography, never mind that the film wasted too much time on it.

C+

Deepfreeze32 wrote:Crash

Well, I didn't really like this movie too much. I don't know why, it just didn't resonate with me at all.

C-

Jurassic Park

Now this is more like it!

There were quite a few differences from the book, but I knew that going in.

A+

What did you not like about Crash? I thought that was an incredible movie.

The Incredible Hulk
Another superhero movie full of cliches. I actually was rooting for the bad guys.
B-

Kungfu panda! Meh, was okay. Too cheesy though. B
ps. I thought the hulk was good.

Clone Wars - looked like a video game but the story was pretty good, better than Ep1 & 2

The Brothers Bloom

I had an awesome chance to go see the opening night of the Denver Film Festival tonight, so I did... and this is what showed. And it was awesome. I happened to see cowboy poet Baxter Black at the door (didn't realize it until I got home), and thoroughly enjoyed the rest of the show. Adrian Brody, Mark Ruffalo and Rachel Weisz were all amazing in it. The director (can't remember his name right now) was basically awe-inspiring, as he was with his previous film, Brick.

A

Quantum of Solace

Inferior to Casino Royale, but an excellent action film nonetheless. It had a style all its own, with flashy location subtitles and a fairly mind-blowing action scene that involved a very quickly cut shootout/chase intercut with a visually exciting opera and a giant eye. That might not make much sense. The only two things I hold against it are a somewhat weak villain and script. But they are made up by some very ambitious action sequences (the Bourne producers that helped out this time left their mark) and a macabre, delightful throwback/reference to Goldfinger. I was positively thrilled over it.

B+

Marvin's Room

It was beautiful, and one of the best films I've seen in a while. Fantastic performances in almost every aspect of the film. This goes in my favorites.

A

The Wrestler

I hit up the Denver Film Festival again tonight, mostly because one of my favorite directors, Darren Aronofsky, had a showing of his new movie there tonight. So I went. And I was blown away.

The Wrestler is about a washed up professional wrestler who, through a series of events, realizes just how screwed up he's let his life become. Mickey Rourke plays the lead with style and pananche, taking the viewer through a series of situations that are completely believable, surreal, and absolutely human. Rourke, like Rourke's character, has certainly seen better days, but in The Wrestler, he's never been better. Ultimately, Aronofsky's has continued his foray into what makes one human that began in his previous works, Pi, Requiem for a Dream and The Fountain, but he does so in such a way that results in one of the most personal films of his career, and one that certainly deserves a place beside his other phenomenal works.

A+

The Nanny Diaries

No, I wasn't coerced to watching it or anything. But what it certainly was more than I was expecting.

B

Quantum of Solace

The opening credits disgusted me - they returned in earnest to crappy, techno music with computer generated images of woman depicting them as sex objects. The first half hour of the film was essentially constant fight and chase scenes that did little to develop character or plot. Granted, almost all the stunts were thrilling and impressive. One scene seemed like it was taken straight out of a Bourne film, which would have set well with me if the rest of the film had been better. Instead, it felt like a rip off.

Then, the plot picks up and the characters begin to develop somewhat. The flowing, naturality of the dialog wasn't present like it was in Casino Royale, but there were a number of fantastic one liners that made me laugh almost hysterically.

Was it a good Bond movie? Yes. One of the better. Was it as good as Casino Royale? Nowhere near. In fact, I don't think that you can even put them in the same category. Casino Royale was a moving story about a hardened man who lets his armor down and learns to love. Quantum of Solace could have been a moving story about such a man dealing with loss, but instead gets caught up in Hollywood explosions as he quests for revenge. And that, my friends, is a significant disappointment.

B-

I disagree.

I just saw the movie as well, and while I walked away feeling that the plot wasn't up to the same level as Casino Royale, I would say that it's the second best Bond film in ten years (since GoldenEye), and possibly twenty (first Dalton flick).

I was consistently impressed with the style and the dialogue, but felt that there could have been much more done with it, much more, I don't know, exposition. Casino Royale was a different movie, more thoughtful, more human. Quantum of Solace was more of an action film (not of the Bourne variety; scarce were the Bourne influences, all of which were overpowered by Connery-style fights), but one that resulted in one of the darkest Bond tales yet, a story torn through with self-loathing and anger. True, part of the appeal of the last film, the charisma in the secondary characters, felt like it was missing. Olga Kurylenko was no substitute for Eva Green, but I don't really think anyone expected her to be. Daniel Craig did an excellent job of portraying a man who has nothing left to live for, something that was hinted briefly at the end of the last film but not explored in depth. Some plot threads seemed unresolved (what happened to Mr. White?), but Craig is signed up for four films; a sequel seems inevitable.

As for the theme song, I despised it, but not because of the Die Another Day-style techno, which was not present. Sorry, Obi, but Jack White and Alicia Keys do not techno songs make. One's an indie rocker, the other an R&B crooner. Guitars and piano, all the way, and full of dissonance. It was a bit hard to listen to. And the opening credit sequence was a bit of a let down after Casino Royale's excellent looking CGI, but that's to be expected.

I wasn't disappointed by this film, I'll be honest. It was what I expected. It wasn't the drop that GoldenEye to Tomorrow Never Dies was, nor was it the drop that The World Is Not Enough to Die Another Day was. It was simply an excellent action film that continued, though a little too lightly, a story that was started a year ago, and as such, is a fitting coda to Casino Royale's superior storytelling.

B+

Drewsov wrote:I disagree.

Actually, I think you do agree. You just liked it more than I did.

Requiem for a Dream

Since Quantum of Solace put me into an action mood, but failed to satisfy my desires, I watched mah favorite spy thriller of all time - The Bourne Ultimatum. I find myself completely satisfied.

A