Topic: Weekend Movie Marathon 1/18 - 1/20

[Najemikon]

Jon have you seen "Battle Royale 2", I want to buy it but the review are not really good. If yes, what do you think of it?

I have seen it and hated it. It had a very anti-American agenda. The first film was about Japan's problem with delinquents, kind of the ultimate punishment. This one deals with terrorism. A booklet article by a British film critic, of which I kept a copy because I was so incensed, contains the line "The only terrorists are, of course, in government". He captures the mood and aim of the film in that one line. 

Original director Kinji Fukasaku will have been alive when the Allies dropped two atomic bombs on Japan. Whether that was right or wrong will be debated forever more, and no-one has more right to say their piece than the Japanese people who suffered. But I don't believe it's fair to tar todays America with a 60 year old brush and I certainly don't like having it rammed down my throat.

It's important to note that Kinji Fukasaku died early in the production and it was completed by his son and the film is a mess in any case. However you may react to the political overtones, nothing changes that the film is basically crap!

I hope I'm not putting anyone off the first film. They really are very different.

[addicted2dvd]

The Tuxedo
International action-comedy star Jackie Chan is tailor-made for 'The Tuxedo', a roller coaster ride full of laughs and outrageous stunts. Jimmy Tong (Chan) is an ordinary cabbie-turned-chauffeur who slips into a 2 billion-dollar, super-spy suit and inadvertently becomes a dashing secret agent. Fit for trouble, this deluxe tux unwittingly thrusts Chan and his dazzling partner Jennifer Love Hewitt into a dangerous world of international espionage. Slip into 'The Tuxedo' for non-stop fun and action.

My Thoughts:
Yesterday I watched this past Friday's episode of Ghost Whisperer. That put me in the mood to watch one of Jennifer Love Hewitt's movies... but at the same time I wanted to watch something I haven't watched in a long time. So I got looking at what I had with her in it... and spotted this movie. I have not seen this movie in years... and only watched it the one time before when I first bought it. So I figured it was time to watch it again. I know of many people that did not like this movie... but I found it to be fun. Nothing more then that... but definitely fun. I always enjoyed Jackie Chan's style of martial arts and comedy.  Obviously this is not a movie to be taken seriously... or be thought provoking. It is what it is... just good entertainment. And I think if you look at it that way you will enjoy this movie.

[Achim]

Jon have you seen "Battle Royale 2", I want to buy it but the review are not really good. If yes, what do you think of it?

I am not Jon, but I have seen it. It's not anywhere the class of the first one. Think of it as a Japanese action movie with the backdrop of Battle Royale... not too bad then

I hadn't read anything about it before watching it and the "twist" that comes around 20-30 minutes into the movie is quite interesting when you don't see it coming.

[addicted2dvd]

Death Proof
'DIRECTOR QUENTIN TARANTINO DELIVERS' an adrenaline shot to the heart with 'Death Proof', a "tribute to balls-out pedal-to-the-metal car chases" (Pete Hammond, 'Maxim'). Featuring exhilarating high-speed action, jaw-dropping stunts, and some of the most quotable lines since 'Pulp Fiction', 'Death Proof' "goes faster, and funnier, than you thought possible...and then it goes further" (Ty Burr, 'Boston Globe'). 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 into a hair-raising, 18-minute automotive duel with one of the girls strapped to the hood of a thundering Dodge Challenger that "earns a place of honor among the great movie car chases" (Scott Foundas, 'LA Weekly').

My Thoughts:
This is one of the movies a friend of mine gave me because she didn't like it. In this case I see where she is coming from. The style of the movie itself did not impress me. In my personal opinion the movie was pretty much a snore-fest till the ending.The only good parts in this movie was the car chase scenes. And unfortunately there was not enough of them to save the movie.

I was thrilled to see that Rose McGowan was in the movie (though she does not look good as a bleached blond) but her part in the movie was just so small even her appearance was not that much of a help. I do have to admit I did get a kick out of the very ending of it.  Unfortunately it takes more then just a good ending to make a good movie. I almost didn't make it to the end to see it.

[Najemikon]

Just out of interest, Pete, what are your thoughts on Kill Bill? I'm really looking forward to Death Proof, but it seems to alienate as many people as finding fans. Kill Bill had a similar response.

[Tom]

Just out of interest, Pete, what are your thoughts on Kill Bill? I'm really looking forward to Death Proof, but it seems to alienate as many people as finding fans. Kill Bill had a similar response.

I am not Pete, but I liked Kill Bill and did feel the same way about Death Proof as Pete did.

[addicted2dvd]

Just out of interest, Pete, what are your thoughts on Kill Bill? I'm really looking forward to Death Proof, but it seems to alienate as many people as finding fans. Kill Bill had a similar response.

To be honest... I never seen Kill Bill 

[DJ Doena]

I wouldn't consider myself a fanboy of Tarrantino's but I like his works.

People didn't like KB2, because it wasn't exactly like KB1. So what? It was different, but it was good nonetheless. The only thing I would have liked to see would have been

(click to show/hide)

a real fight between Kiddo and Bill

Regarding DP:
This is a pretty much storyless movie. I have seen it dubbed in the theatre and I will get it on DVD once it's cheap, but it's definitevly not the best movie Tarrantino has ever made. He lets the gals talk and talk and talk but I seriously can't even remotely remember what they were talking about and that ain't be a good sign.

[Najemikon]

That's interesting about Death Proof. I was expecting it to be on a level with Kill Bill. I still want to see it, but you've successfully dropped my expectations, so hopefully I'll still enjoy it.  

I thought Kill Bill was fantastic, but if anything, part 2 was a better film. I thought the way he developed the two of them was brilliant.

[Tom]

People didn't like KB2, because it wasn't exactly like KB1.

I liked KB2 better than KB1.

Regarding DP:
This is a pretty much storyless movie. I have seen it dubbed in the theatre and I will get it on DVD once it's cheap, but it's definitevly not the best movie Tarrantino has ever made. He lets the gals talk and talk and talk but I seriously can't even remotely remember what they were talking about and that ain't be a good sign.

Exactly. This is what I didn't like about this movie. Tarantino thinks, people are watching his movies because of his dialogue (which is true to a certain extend). But the dialogue has to be something remotely interesting for this to work.