Topic: December Marathons - DISCUSSION AND REVIEW THREAD

[goodguy]

I haven't seen T4, but I would say the best thing about the Terminator franchise is the TV series.

Even over the first film? I don't go so far as Jimmy, in fact, I love the second film, but the first is the epitome of the Terminator idea.

Yeah, I think even over the first movie. On the other hand, I'm not sure if the series would have worked on its own, without the mythology already established by the first two movies. But while you are probably right that the first one is the epitome of the Terminator idea, the series adds a depth to that idea that the movies are unable to fully express. Of course, that's a bit like comparing apples and oranges, there are certain advantages to a (well-made) TV series, where a mainstream action movie is bound to fail.

[Tom]

Title: Cast Away
Year: 2000
Director: Robert Zemeckis
Rating: FSK-12
Length: 138 Min.
Video: Anamorphic Widescreen 1.85
Audio: English: Dolby Digital 5.1, German: Dolby Digital 5.1, Commentary: Dolby Digital Stereo
Subtitles: Dutch, English, German

Stars:
Tom Hanks
Helen Hunt
Timothy Stack
Chris Noth

Plot:
Tom Hanks 'gives one of the towering screen performances of all time' (New York Post) as Chuck Noland, a FedEx systems engineer whose ruled-by-the-clock existence abruptly ends when a harrowing plane crash leaves him isolated on a remote island. As Chuck struggles to survive, he discovers that his true personal journey, has only just begun.

Awards:

Academy Award	2000	Nominated	Best Actor	Tom Hanks
Academy Award	2000	Nominated	Best Sound	Randy Thom, Tom Johnson, Dennis Sands, William B. Kaplan
AFI	2000	Nominated	100 Years... 100 Cheers (2006)
American Cinema Editors Awards	2001	Nominated	Best Edited Feature Film – Drama	Arthur Schmidt
ASCAP Awards	2001	Won	Top Box Office Films	Alan Silvestri
BAFTA	2000	Nominated	Actor In A Leading Role	Tom Hanks
Blockbuster Entertainment Awards	2001	Nominated	Favorite Actor - Drama	Tom Hanks
Blockbuster Entertainment Awards	2001	Won	Favorite Supporting Actress - Drama	Helen Hunt
Broadcast Film Critics Association Awards	2001	Won	Best Inanimate Object	Wilson the Volleyball
Broadcast Film Critics Association Awards	2001	Nominated	Best Picture
Cinema Audio Society Awards	2001	Nominated	Outstanding Achievement in Sound Mixing for a Feature Film	Randy Thom, Tom Johnson, Dennis S. Sands, William B. Kaplan
Golden Globe	2000	Won	Actor in a Leading Role - Drama	Tom Hanks
MTV Movie Awards	2001	Nominated	Best Action Sequence	"Plane Crash":
MTV Movie Awards	2001	Nominated	Best Kiss	Tom Hanks and Helen Hunt
MTV Movie Awards	2001	Nominated	Best Male Performance	Tom Hanks
MTV Movie Awards	2001	Nominated	Best On-screen Team	Tom Hanks and Wilson
Online Film Critics Society Awards	2001	Won	Best Actor	Tom Hanks
Screen Actors Guild Award	2000	Nominated	Best Performance by a Male Actor in a Leading Role	Tom Hanks
Teen Choice Awards	2001	Won	Film - Choice Chemistry	Tom Hanks, Wilson

Extras:
Commentary
Featurettes
Interviews
Photo Gallery
Scene Access
Storyboard Comparisons
Trailers

My Thoughts:

A great movie! Tom Hanks is perfect in the role. He manages to carry this movie all by himself. He should have gotten the Oscar at the time. Not Russel Crowe.
There are some scenes, where I can't help myself but to think of the MTV Movie Awards parody with Andy Dick which was done at the time.



Rating:

[richierich]

Title: Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince

Runtime:147
Certificate:12
Year:2009
Genres:Fantasy, Adventure

Plot:
As Harry Potter begins his 6th year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, he discovers an old book marked mysteriously "This book is the property of the Half-Blood Prince" and begins to learn more about Lord Voldemort's dark past

My Review:
I am not a Harry Potter fan - an admission that can nearly get you publicly flogged   Having not read the books most of the films I have found boring and wanting up to this point, the characters dull and the whole saga artificially extended solely for commercial purposes.
This film does not change my mind, I rate it as a childrens film with large budget. The only high point was the introduction of the quality acting from Jim Broadbent. This movie seemed to have a lot less action than predeccesors, and an amazing amount of CGI is involved to create the most stunning cave scene.
I found it boring, my fellow viewers were blindly loving it although they commented it does stray from the book somewhat.

My Rating
 

[Najemikon]

My Review:
I am not a Harry Potter fan - an admission that can nearly get you publicly flogged   Having not read the books most of the films I have found boring and wanting up to this point, the characters dull and the whole saga artificially extended solely for commercial purposes.
This film does not change my mind, I rate it as a childrens film with large budget. The only high point was the introduction of the quality acting from Jim Broadbent. This movie seemed to have a lot less action than predeccesors, and an amazing amount of CGI is involved to create the most stunning cave scene.
I found it boring, my fellow viewers were blindly loving it although they commented it does stray from the book somewhat.

"Blindly"? Ooh, controversial! I haven't read the books either, but I do enjoy the films, especially since Prisoner. I haven't seen this one yet. They are hollow and unwieldy, but it's also good old fashioned entertainment and I appreciate the optimistic tone. These are not films for cynics, that's for sure! 

[richierich]

My Review:
I am not a Harry Potter fan - an admission that can nearly get you publicly flogged   Having not read the books most of the films I have found boring and wanting up to this point, the characters dull and the whole saga artificially extended solely for commercial purposes.
This film does not change my mind, I rate it as a childrens film with large budget. The only high point was the introduction of the quality acting from Jim Broadbent. This movie seemed to have a lot less action than predeccesors, and an amazing amount of CGI is involved to create the most stunning cave scene.
I found it boring, my fellow viewers were blindly loving it although they commented it does stray from the book somewhat.

"Blindly"? Ooh, controversial! I haven't read the books either, but I do enjoy the films, especially since Prisoner. I haven't seen this one yet. They are hollow and unwieldy, but it's also good old fashioned entertainment and I appreciate the optimistic tone. These are not films for cynics, that's for sure! 

I'm anxiously awaiting your review on this Jon, the lack of action brought this one down for a non-reader of HP like myself, wondering if it will do the same for you.....

[Najemikon]

It'll be a while before I get to it. But I did hear it was slower than the others; difficult book to adapt apparently.

[richierich]

Title: Death Proof

Runtime:110
Certificate:18
Year:2007
Genres:Suspense/Thriller, Action

Plot:Director Quentin Tarantino delivers an adrenaline shot to the heart with Death Proof, a pedal to the metal white knuckle ride behind the wheel of a psycho serial killer's roving, revving, racing death machine!
Featuring exhilarating high-speed action, jaw-dropping stunts, and some of the most quotable lines since Pulp Fiction, Death Proof "is pure pulp pleasure" (Film Review). Kurt Russell stars as a sociopathic stuntman whose taste for stalking sexy young ladies gets him into big trouble when he tangles with the wrong gang of badass babes. Their confrontation escalates to a hair-raising, 18-minute automotive duel with one of the girls strapped to the hood of a thundering Dodge Challenger that will have you on the edge of your seat mile after mile.

My Review:
Joyful, unadulterated carnage and mayhem, told and graphically displayed in typical Tarantino style, this movie is a blast.
The 2 stories work well in harmony, it is sluttishly funny, terribly tongue in cheek with women in hotpants, skimpy shorts or cheerleader outfits, macho in the cars, and gratioutous in some of the crash scenes showing several different angles of the same violent carnage which ensued.
Perhaps the biggest negative of the film for me was the fake scratchiness to achieve a 70s look in the 1st story.
But besides that I really enjoyed this OTT movie, with one of the greatest endings you'll experience with a large grin on your face.

My Rating
 

[Najemikon]

I am so pleased! Someone else likes Death Proof!

[Achim]

I am so pleased! Someone else likes Death Proof!

I do too! Shall we found a club?

[Jimmy]

Please don't make me a member... If I want to watch something like this I prefer to watch an original 70's feature and not a commercial cash-in who had flop (it isn't for nothing if the Weistein company is on the verge of bankrupcy).

I find it so amusing that most of the fanboys who like this film will never watch a Lee Frost, Arthur Marks, Al Adamson or a Jack Starrett production

[snowcat]

Please don't make me a member... If I want to watch something like this I prefer to watch an original 70's feature and not a commercial cash-in who had flop (it isn't for nothing if the Weistein company is on the verge of bankrupcy).

I find it so amusing that most of the fanboys who like this film will never watch a Lee Frost, Arthur Marks, Al Adamson or a Jack Starrett production

Hmm, I think you can watch Death Proof with no knowledge of any of those films and still enjoy it And not feel the need to go back and watch older films of the same style 

[Critter]

Hmm, I think you can watch Death Proof with no knowledge of any of those films and still enjoy it And not feel the need to go back and watch older films of the same style 

I agree! I get tired of people complaining about the way Tarantino has so many clear references to other films. I mean in the end who cares? He's a man who makes films for the pure fun of making them, and that's what they are, entertainment which many people can enjoy whether or not they have seen any of those other films.

[Jimmy]

He's a man who makes films for the pure fun of making them

Funniest thing I've read since a long time...

No offense but I hate this guy and I will certainly not change my mind on the fact he is an unoriginal hack and a leech who had done nothing but stealing others people work in his fraudulent career for the pleasure of a bunch of fanboys who doesn't know better because for them a film like 2012 or Crank: High Voltage or Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle is awesome

No more comment on this from me, this forum isn't the place for that

[Critter]

No offense but I hate this guy and I will certainly not change my mind on the fact he is an unoriginal hack and a leech who had done nothing but stealing others people work in his fraudulent career for the pleasure of a bunch...

It's okay Jimmy, I remember from the Inglourious Basterds thread how you feel about Tarantino and I won't force the topic upon you.

[Najemikon]

He's a man who makes films for the pure fun of making them

Funniest thing I've read since a long time...

No offense but I hate this guy and I will certainly not change my mind on the fact he is an unoriginal hack and a leech who had done nothing but stealing others people work in his fraudulent career for the pleasure of a bunch of fanboys who doesn't know better because for them a film like 2012 or Crank: High Voltage or Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle is awesome

No more comment on this from me, this forum isn't the place for that

It does disappoint me when you say that, Jimmy, because surely you're including me and now it seems Rich too? Hang on... Achim even reviewed 2012, yet likes Tarantino. 

And I don't think White Castle or Crank 2 has ever been in the running for the Palme D'Or.

Specifically on Death Proof, I haven't heard of the ones you mentioned either, but the key films Tarantino referenced are Vanishing Point, Dirty Mary Crazy Larry and White Lightning. They are the proper classic car movies that people would enjoy off the back of Death Proof (although DMCL is rubbish). I had a car movie marathon to catch up with them...