The Films Thread

[harv]

Going to continue with my classic films and watch Zulu Dawn next, the prequel to Zulu. I don't know why but I've never got around to watching the prequel despite the original being one of my all-time favourite films of all-time.

[jman]

I watched Side Effects last night.. took a while to get going.. parts of it were quite mundane.. nearly turned it off.. but it got a bit better.. and the ending was alright.  Not a brilliant film but if you get past the first 30 minutes - its watchable.

3.5/10

[ancelotti]

Saw Man of Steel today... there is A LOT of action. I could barely keep up with what was going on at times. There was a plot, it just kinda got lost in all the action scenes. There were a couple of big things I didn't understand, but I don't know all that much about Superman anyway. For your standard summer blockbuster it's not bad. It's nowhere near the level of Nolan's Dark Knight trilogy in terms of a reboot though. Not enough character development and very little humour. but Henry Cavill is good and the chick playing Lois Lane isn't bad. 6/10

[Dragontao]

and the chick playing Lois Lane isn't bad. 6/10

MMmmmm Amy Adams

Actually preferred Erica Durrrance in Smallville - the episode where she was in a bikini - mmmmmm.

Will probably go and see Man of Steel in a couple of weeks.

As for Side Effects. Have that to watch but not gotten round to it yet. Thanks for the heads up Jman.

[harv]

Just watched a film called Interview With The Assassin about a guy claiming to be the second gunman that killed JFK. Brilliant.

[Late]

Saw Man of Steel (2D) last night.

Some very minor potential spoilers follow.

Pretty good film. Wish I knew how long it was before I went, mind. I might've taken a cushion. Those seats were bloody uncomfortable, especially if you're gonna be sat in them for the better part of three hours (including trailers). Just as you think the film's finally over, there's another battle. To be honest I felt it dragged on a bit toward the end.

Michael Shannon did a fantastic job as General Zod. His acting and the script/direction meant he wasn't the out-and-out baddie he seems in other adaptations of the story. He has different (or no) morals, but you can understand his motives.
Russell Crowe did a very good job as Jor-El. Surprised me, as I don't really like Crowe.
And Henry Cavill (and the actors who played his younger self) did a decent enough job as Clark - though I'm sure Superman killed as many people as Zod! They must've racked up a thou each in some of the bigger battles with vast swathes of city being wiped out by the pair of them.

Wasn't keen on the bird who played Lois Lane. I never did comics when I was a kid, so my only points of reference for the character are the 70s/80s films, plus Terri Hatcher and Erica Durance - but I've never pictured Lois Lane with a double chin and an arse like the back end of a fire truck before. Okay, slight exaggeration. She wasn't exactly fat - but she was too chunky to be playing that part. And I didn't think her character came across well. She was all over the place - one minute cold toward him, the next flirty. One minute a great reporter, the next not interested. And way too trusting of strange aliens she's just met. :\

Might revisit my score for the film after I've had a chance to watch it again without the distractions of an uncomfortable seat and missing parts when I pop outside for a smoke - and where I can actually see all of the action more clearly (it was quite full, and we ended up sat in the second row - I hate being that close to the screen). For now, though, I'll give it a 7/10.

[jman]

Watched about 20 minutes of Vehicle 19 before turning it off last night, and then watched about 45 minutes of Dark Shadows before turning it off.. maybe I just wasn't in the mood.. but found them both extremely boring and shit.

Hopefully going to watch World War Z at some point this week.

[harv]

One thing that's always annoyed me about films is the amount of cars you see flipping over and the amount of cars you see blowing up after crashing. In my 41 years of life so far I've only once seen a crashed car on its roof and I have never seen a crashed car that's burst into flames and exploded.

[Dragontao]

I've seen a few on the roof or side. I've been a passenger in one that ended up on its roof, so it does happen. I was the only one that got out without a scratch. I was lucky I hit my head lol. It was the days before seat belts were compulsory. Put the rear windscreen out with my head. I don't think it was well fitted because it came out in one piece.

We were on a family holiday in Malta at the time and a farm wall literally collapsed in front of the car as we were going along a country road. The farm walls were pretty much rocks piled up on top of each other. Car hit one of the rocks and flipped.

[jman]

Saw Man of Steel (2D) last night.

Wish I knew how long it was before I went, mind. I might've taken a cushion.

Damn right...watched it last night and my arse was numb for ages afterwards.. weird because I easily watched The Hobbit quite comfortably and that goes on for longer.  To be honest, I didn't really want to go and see it.. GF wanted to see Henry Cavill on big screen and I had managed to put her off for a month.. but I finally caved after getting annoyed with the constant begging/moaning.

For a reboot.. I thought it was pretty poor... Superman is one of those superheroes I always thought of as one of the shittiest... he wears pants outside his clothes and wears a bit of a gay cape, he puts on a pair of specs and instantly cant be recognised by anyone and his biggest weakness is a green stone which comes from his own home planet.... his character is just so bland as well - compared to Batman, Spiderman or Ironman.. Superman is by far the most boring man, maybe the 'S' should stand for shit... I was hoping that the reboot would really shake up the story... but it didn't.. at least Kryptonite wasn't mentioned once though!!

Regardless of what I think of Superman as a whole, Henry Cavill did do an ok job, far better than the guy who did the last reboot.  Amy Adams (Lois Lane) on the other hand..    They would of done better to cut her character out altogether I thought.. a boring, bland actress who really gave nothing to the story.  There were loads of other famous people in the film though but nobody even came close to standing out...the film stayed far to close to the formula of every superman story/film.. like I said.. at least kryptonite wasn't mentioned once.. but other than that.. everything was pretty much the same... most of the plot was lifted from Superman 2 for a start!!

The best parts of the film for me.. the sense that the humans were really helpless was present throughout the latter parts of the film.. I thought that was pretty good in giving some kind of measure to supermans powers.  Some of the fight scenes were pretty impressive to watch too.. although they stretched the film way too far.. just when you think its over.. you've got another 30 minutes to go.

3.5/10

[harv]

I quite like Superman myself, started watching Superman in the 70s on the telly. It was a black and white series, might have been one of those Saturday morning episodic jobs they used to have on in the 30s...can't remember now though. And the Christopher Reeve films were amazing when I was a kid too thanks to what was then new blue-screen technology also used in Star Wars.

I do prefer Batman though, mainly because he's a nutjob lol, although the Batman portrayed by Michael Keaton of Beetlejuice fame in the first two films are the only performances that have really nailed it imo.

I also love The Incredible Hulk thanks to Bill Bixby/Lou Ferigno (sp?), again, another programme from the 70s that I grew up with. There was also a Spiderman cartoon and series with actors in the 70s but I preferred the Hulk.

I guess I like them all really, although some more than others lol.

Anyone know what happened to the second Kick-Ass film..? Was expecting to have seen it released before now. Have they canned it..?

[Late]

It's out soon - next month I think.

[harv]

Awesome!!! The first one was great!

[Late]

Yeah, I loved the first - but I'm not holding out much hope for the second tbh.
Best part about the first was seeing the pre-teen girl kicking everyones' arses with any number of weapons and unarmed moves - plus the inappropriate language from her. But Chloe is a lot older now, and I'm not sure it'll be the same.



And it's got Jim Carrey... 

[harv]

Watched a film called Super last night about a guy who becomes a super hero called Crimson Bolt after his wife runs off with a drug dealer. Really funny and an excellent film.