Topic: What have you just watched?

[Mustrum_Ridcully]

Just watched:
The Road

112 minutes were taken from my life and spent in absolute boredom.
A short-flick  of 40 minutes would have completely sufficed to transport the message "It's the end of the world as we know it" and "All hope is lost, but we're not going to accept this unto our last breath".
Come to think of it, a splash screen showing these two lines of text would have possibly been even more impressive.

Avoid this under all circumstances.

[Najemikon]

  I disagree.. slightly... 

Part of it's here: http://www.dvdcollectorsonline.com/index.php/topic,6515.msg120546.html#msg120546 but the full version is at: http://www.find-dvd.co.uk/blu-ray/The-Road/1099598.htm

Kevin liked it too (see below), but I do accept it's a tough film that is like Marmite for some people.

http://www.dvdcollectorsonline.com/index.php/topic,6327.msg135285.html#msg135285

[Mustrum_Ridcully]

It's your right to do so.

While I can see what you liked in this movie, this still didn't make it for me.

For me it's even more implausible than "The Book of Eli"
Within the first 5 minutes two premises are given:
1) All plants are dead
2) All animals are dead (I just wonder what life form the dog at the end of the movie might have been then)

Since the human organism is somewhat specialized and sadly can't work if only nourished with dust and rocks this in fact only leaves two options for the survivors:
1) Die slowly
2) Die fast

The mother (Charlize Theron) picks option 2 when realizing that the battle for the remaining resources would sooner or later lead to becoming a resource.
The father picks option 1 and subsequently dies when realizing that really, as was to be expected, all hope is lost.
The kid has no chance of picking an option since all relevant decisions are made by it's parents and the first time it is given some responsibility it utterly fails.

40 minutes, really.
But as a short it would have passed even more unnoticed.

The technical aspects aren't that promising either.
Granted, it is beautifully photographed.
But what are these flashes of action sequences supposed to mean?
They are not connected to the rest of the storyline and stand out as random intermissions of external motivators.
Probably they are only there to prevent the audience from sinking into sleep too deep?

This is sad, because the cast is outstanding and they all are doing their best to work against the weakness of the script.

At least it gave me something to think about:
If really all hope is lost, which of the two options would I pick?

[Najemikon]

Well, what you say has a ring of truth, but the film wasn't concerned with the two options as such, especially as

(click to show/hide)

the Father didn't have a choice. He was ill and persevered as long as he could, at least to retain dignity and make it easier for his son to carry on.

In many ways the film shouldn't be taken literally, but as a metaphor. See how the adults when pushed to the limit fail to trust anything or anyone. The ending underlined that. But the Boy never loses his sense of right and wrong (if I remember correctly, wasn't he born into the nightmare? This is the only world he knows). If anything, my only complaint was that the stark contrast between the ruined world and the ending was so big that it became oddly sentimental and manipulative, and clearly was from the beginning.

As for the brief action, I simply saw those sequences as demonstrating the sudden unpredictable violence the world was now balanced on. The Road is a kind of zombie film, the best of which are concerned with human nature and survival, with actual zombie action being sparse and largely unnecessary.

[samuelrichardscott]

Twin Peaks: Season 1 - 4.5/5

What's My Number? - 3/5 - Typical Anna Faris comedy.

[Mustrum_Ridcully]

Just watched:

La piel que habito (The Skin I Live In)

A good, but definitely not a great movie.
I expected somewhat more of Almodóvar.

[samuelrichardscott]

The Simple Life: Season 4 - 2.5

Contagion - 3/5 - Disappointed with this one.

[samuelrichardscott]

8 Mile - Although it isn't my type of music, I still really like this movie. Some cracking moments, especially the rap battle against the New World. 4/5

Sand Sharks - Brooke Hogan stars in this silly creature feature. Bad acting, horrible dialogue, hilarious special effects that are surprisingly good at times and unbelievably poor the rest of the time. There is no doubt it is a bad movie, but it's an enjoyable one. 2.5/5

[Mustrum_Ridcully]

ARTE had an Almodóvar day yesterday.

so I took the opportunity to watch

Volver
and
Laberinto de pasiones

Especially liked Laberinto de pasiones with a very young (and very good!) Antonio Banderas.

[samuelrichardscott]

ARTE had an Almodóvar day yesterday.

I currently have The Skin I Live In from Lovefilm. Not got round to it yet though.

Husk - Not as enjoyable as other movies in the Afterdark range at all. Quite boring, but did have some interesting elements. 2/5

[samuelrichardscott]

The Duchess - Very well acted and well made period drama. The story of The Duchess of Devonshire isn't an obvious choice for a movie, but it made the transition well enough to recommend. 3.5/5

[samuelrichardscott]

Gone Baby Gone - Wow. Talk about a morally ambiguous ending that brings up so many talking points. This is much more deeper on so many levels than a simple kidnapping movie. Well written, well paced, perfectly cast, this is a cracking movie. It may even be said that Casey Affleck and Michelle Monaghan put in career defining performances! Highly recommended. 4.5/5

[samuelrichardscott]

Skyline - I went into these with reasonably low expectations based on what I had heard/read and it's fair to say it isn't a great film. Although the story has a couple of intriguing moments, it's very basic and the dialogue mediocre at best. The acting is between that of a highly praised movie and an Asylum knock-off. The special effects are better than you would think on a $10m budget though and despite some poor outings from the Strause brothers, they could still surprise in the future. Overall, rent it. 2.5/5

[Sharpy]

Skyline - I went into these with reasonably low expectations based on what I had heard/read and it's fair to say it isn't a great film. Although the story has a couple of intriguing moments, it's very basic and the dialogue mediocre at best. The acting is between that of a highly praised movie and an Asylum knock-off. The special effects are better than you would think on a $10m budget though and despite some poor outings from the Strause brothers, they could still surprise in the future. Overall, rent it. 2.5/5

I still havent got round to watchin this yet , keep puttin it off as I havent really heard anything good about it. Thinkin about It....im gunna try watch it in the next few days 

[samuelrichardscott]

Enchanted - Disney's live action movies vary wildly in quality but I have to say this is one of the best in recent memory. Good performances all round. 4/5