The last movie you saw...

[maxpayne2409]

yeah i like the way little things like that are worked into teh game, just adds a bit more.... whats the word

[dinky]

last half hour of spidey 2. best part.

[maxpayne2409]

watched latest family guy "petarded" pretty funny

[dinky]

started watching dawn of the dead</i> by accident. sarah polley was leaving work and saw an ambulance driver sleeping with legs out the back of the vehicle, and I thought it was another spoof for a sec. stopped it. wasn't in the mood. meant to start the jacket</i>. saw it. was decent. don't see what everyone was so impressed with on FH though. makes less sense than butterfly effect. less engaging also. although keira knightly's in it. and I'd watch Love Actually</i> again just for her so...push.

watched 2 discs of x-men: evolution</i>, season 2. I really like the series. at first I hated it. but the reinvention is actually pretty neat. kinda like putting shakespeare in space or (more accurately) in high school (ala 10 things</i>).

hope to watch Battlestar Galactica</i> miniseries tonight. (finally!)

edit: d'oh! also watched batman begins</i> again. still can't get in the mood for madagascar</i>, which is supposed to be pretty good.

[dinky]

Troy</i>. It's amazing how they could get so many things so right and at the same time, get so many things so colossally wrong. btw, wtf is with "inspired by the iliad" tag on the end? they basically took everything specific to the iliad OUT of the fecking thing and kept insisting that they were not telling the iliad when the movie was released.

[spudthedestroyer]

I watched two great chinese movies Royal Tramp and the sequel Royal Tramp II. Great films, wacky.. glad i bought them on DVD (I don't normally buy stuff without seeing it first, but i bought these movies on faith).

Glad i did!

What did they get right in Troy btw?

[spudthedestroyer]

Screw it, going to buy £90 worth of Bruce Lee crap now too...
/me does preying mantis stance

Feel my awesome kung fu power

[spudthedestroyer]

and added the uncut kill bill vol 1 + 2 japanese boxset on too... looks like i'm not eating again this week

[dinky]

What did they get right in Troy btw?

the look and the dress. the blending of archaic with late bronze age art & architecture. the idea that achilles and agamemnon operate within two different systems of honor - they really played-up the soldier's glory vs. the king's glory, and that in itself is fundamental to the rift between them. the way they integrated the chariots into the battles and emphasized the trojans as breakers of horses with their apollinian guard (or whatever the calvary was called). the fact that they had the superior archers. just the way the battle panned-out before the walls. the way you could have thousands of soldiers in the field but still manage to integrate the homeric sort of hero vs. hero duels. that was done well. priam coming to achilles tent was done well. I think that's it. and the basic portrayal of achilles was good - not great, but good. the quick kills, effortless beauty of action: one move flows into another; there's no doubt that he's the best warrior on earth. they fucked him over (simplifying his psyche), but nothing like what they did to everyone else where the greeks (except odysseus?) are greedy savages, and the trojans are utterly naive, gulible fools who can't get their heads outta the past and stop listening to priests (same mistake they made by choosing to explain the difference between soldier's honor and king's honor - there is no new/old order there. they're contemporaneous. to think otherwise is to destroy the ambiguity at the heart of the fecking myth). everything else was trash, and the amendments to the mythology in the Helen of Troy</i> mini-series made much more sense to me.

[spudthedestroyer]

you didn't think Armageddon was a social commentry into the everday lives of drillers which skillfully blended with the style and dress of the 90s, fused with a powerful class struggle between trained nasa astonauts and the untrained men receiving all the glory?

lol sorry, when i read that I couldn't help but smile, I thought it was pretty much purile and shallow, easily categorisable alongside the likes of Armageddeon/Pearl Harbout/Gladiator, probably better, but there wasn't much in it that wasn't pretty much coincidental or noticable.

The battle scenes + cgi are the only reasons i can find for its existance of course, all the rest is like polishing manuare (not anything fresh/original, the same formulaic stuff they keep on a jar in Jerry Bruckheimer's office (infact - aside, its amazing his name isn't on Troy at all... that's worthy of analysis!)). Its marginly more worthwhile than most of the big budget pad like the aformentioned Armageddon (for example ), and far beneath the director of Das Boot*. Its like he didn't even bother trying. Not worth watching twice in the space of a couple of years though

Troy seemed to be liked by a few, particularly those not into film, but that's because they are attracted to shiney objects with no real care for them... it works on that level i guess.

It was better than Gladiator though, i suppose, and if i remember correctly, far worse than Kingdom of Heaven. And all of them are basically the same thing albeit kingdom of heaven seemed to try a damn sight harder than the others.

Homer's Odyssey is such a great work, why can't it make it to the screen properally? I suppose its a bit much in its entirity Its a shame cinema can't do epics properally anymore... i think there's too much money in it for them to risk it.

* then again he's done some other shit too, oh..
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0409182/
A remake no less

[maxpayne2409]

oh jesus h christ, why oh why a remake of the poseidan adventure? being a bit generous with regards to watching troy in teh space of 2 years arent u spud, surely u mean 2 millenia?

[spudthedestroyer]

depends how much dope you smoke as to how long your memory is

[dinky]

he also made the perfect</i> storm, which I still have no interest in seeing, but as I recall, more people liked the day after tomorrow</i>, and that's not a compliment coming from me.

I'm in an archaeology program. I've attended lectures by the american-german team that recently finished digs at troy/hissarlik. Half my M. A. classes were on greek/late bronze age art & architecture (since there's little literature). So that explains my interest in the art & dress, I guess. besides, when doing historical epics, such things do factor more prominately (and there's no doubt they were historicizing a myth in troy</i> by eliminating any trace of divine interaction). and I was quite impressed with scott's take in the beginning of gladiator</i>. the cgi city less so cuz it was too obviously cgi.

but then again...I liked gladiator</i> and see very little difference between that and the big-budget sword and sandal epic you so love called ben hur</i> (which I've really grown to hate). I mean...at least maximus doesn't happen to stumble across the feet of Jesus. I much prefer the christian-like devotion maximus shows than throwing the "messiah" into the pic. 'look. now we're for real. see? here's jesus.' [bleah] 'now ye christians, watch and be amazed.'

I really hate the fact that in troy</i>, they "historicize" the war by eliminating the gods and anyone who believes in them is a flaming imbecile. and in ben hur</i> jesus is thrown in as if to say 'look: our lord is real. see? here he is.'

[dinky]

just watched battlestar galactica mini-series. wow! I haven't been this excited about a new series since watching the first season of 24 in 4-6 hr. blocks at a time. it pisses me off that I can't get the Universal HD channel that this thing airs on. #)(*ing *$@*ing regular tv and watered down tvrips.

anyone know what the source is for this: Battlestar.Galactica.2004.S1.DISC2.DVDR-m00tv? I can't get a sniff of any S1 dvd release anytime soon.

[maxpayne2409]

currently watching my way through all 67 episodes of the real ghostbusters season 2

[spudthedestroyer]

Okay to address the ben hur vs gladiator issue (as amazed as i am that this actually gets compared still, but i guess even i did it in passing and well beyond any justificaiton for doing it... its just that it pisses me off so much that its held up as a comparable movie of quality)

Gladiator is nothing like Ben Hur in reality... the comment makes me wonder if you've actually seen both films or at least didn't do a homer "when i get bored i make up my own films" The only way you can mention them is a) tackling the romans in cinema issue b) which one was better c) remnants of plot. Anything else isn't fair, present or reasonable on either movie.

I don't think ben hur is the best film ever or anything near the really top movies, I expressed favour to it so you don't need to go on the defense with your "love" crap even if i do criticise gladiator as trash, but its a good classic and is always quoted in the top several hundred movies, and i can't deny it deserves it, there's more content and purpose in a single scene of hur as opposed to gladiator's entire purpose. As far as the classic epics go, hell its not Lawrence or anything, but its a damn sight better than that utter piece of tinny shit that is gladiator that's bummed by a lot of people for a reason i can not comprehend, and well beyond what it deserves given its total trash on nearly every level.

Thats a weak link at best, grasping at straws trying to take a better (but no where near perfect) film down in justification of mindless pap with only a passing resemblance in terms of content... there's the faintest link between them and thats a remnance of plot/synopsis. A bit of analysis blows the whole concept to pieces I hope you agree on that, or i need total reprogramming to find it But imo it has just as much in common with Monty Python's Life of Brian to that degree, and that's obviously just stupid

I mean...at least maximus doesn't happen to stumble across the feet of Jesus. I much prefer the christian-like devotion maximus shows than throwing the "messiah" into the pic. 'look. now we're for real. see? here's jesus.' [bleah] 'now ye christians, watch and be amazed.'

I think that's the whole point of the movie quite clearly, its meant to be a guy that lives along side these events, and the futile 'revenge' he gets is ultimately shallow and pointless and he ends up killing his best friend, and ends up doing exactly what his best friend did in the first place. All because he takes the wrong philospohy on conquering/fighting/resisting the romans/jews by force, whereas the xian mentality is love your enemy.


Don't get me wrong i don't think its particularly well done or anything, or overly favourable. I don't care for religious points, but Ben Hur can not exist without the jesus thing, that's central to the whole concept, or a similar devise to present the better choice (The movie suggests its the right choice which i reckon will be studio/writer religious motivation). Its like doing the 10 commandments without God, which incidently is obviously the same kind of intent in film making. It would have been funded by christian ideals, however its not really a convert movie like passion of christ if that's what your getting at. The jesus bit is a rather clumsy vehicle to show exactly what ben hur has done wrong, and how he's lot himself, his religion and everything.

Its not deep or anything but its evident why the writer shoved it in their, as clumsy or unfavourable as the audience may think it is.

I have my criticism of the movie that are numerous in amount, it could be way better; its overly dumb in places, and its religious stuff is just over the top, and stands in contrast with the rest of the movie (purposely done for the reason above perhaps, but either way it goes too far). But saying its compareable to gladiator is retarded, its just the roman angle and the only reason that's there is because Gladiator is a cheap knockoff for the purpose of a cheap knockoff. It brings no value to the area, unlike both Ben Hur and Sparticus did.

What i said about ben hur i meant:

Ben Hur, what to say? Its like taking Gladiator and then making it good Rightfully said to be one of the best movies of all time, got it on DVDr at last so watched it right away.

That's what it is I think. I used gladiator there since your not the only person that claims its close or a comparable movie, its the roman thing only, but you can say way, way, way more about how it doesn't compare in any notable way than how it does... then again, that doesn't stop people so I guess i'll humour you anyway and say nothing more on the gladiator issue now


I watched the remake of The Manchurian Candidate. I don't remember the original much/at all, but i seem to recall it being better. That said the remake wasn't bad, its a decent attempt and entertaining at least. Mr Washington did the job as usual, i still have my doubts about the best actor thing, but worse actors have won that award.

@dink, oh my you've only just watched Battlestar? It took me ages to see it but its an amazing thing. A remake that not only bests the original, it blows that crap right out of the watr. A scifi series that i actually really love, I hate all the star trek crap so anything that doesn't comply gets a foot up but this ones way better than most of the stuff out there. The series is great, i reckon you'll enjoy it all the way through Like someone said when I watched B5 properally all the way through, i envy you seeing it for the first time. That is unless your rewatching?

Oh and since you criticised the religion in ben hur, just grit your teeth and think of series 2 when you reach the end of s1, I have to say i had my problems with this way beyond ben hur in Battlestar iirc. I have my doubts about direction, i hope it works out. Can't wait for series 2!

[spudthedestroyer]

oh my, nearly forgot... saw Batman Begins, and largely, I enjoyed it... was mightly impressive, especially for a comic book movie in this day and age (okay i prefered sin city by far ). Largely good, lots and lots of great ideas and it was original, the failing of all the batman movies, well pretty much all comic book movies barring the odd one after Burton's Batman.

Its harder to compare it to Tim Burton's in all fairness given the very different approaches. I did like the look of the new Gotham a lot (i liked the old Gotham too for very different reasons).

There was a lot of material in there, at times it seemed to skip over bits at perhaps too fast a pace than would have suited it, but unlike the new star wars films that suffered from too much content, it was all largely pretty decent. I can almost certainly see a director's cut that's a fair bit longer... i don't know maybe he wanted it like that, but i got the sense there were trims for hollywood style multiple viewings. I hate it when they do that, demand a movie that's ~90mins long so it can be shown regularly and maximise profits, i guess its warranted from a studio point of view of course, but its why we get these notorious troubled project after all (Blade Runner, Brazil, etc.)

Cast was amazingly high profile, direction was stylished and original, and the writing was good... i mean its not going to be high art or anything but it did the job of comic book adaptation very well.

lol@ the card bit at the end... sequel? Maybe they could cast mark hamill in the next one

Hollywood done good I guess

[spudthedestroyer]

Missed this:

oh! that reminds me. saw the firefly/serenity trailer for the first time before batman. it looked pretty cool. only watched a few eps of the series. it looked smarter than most sci-fi tv fodder, but also too much like a western (right down to the theme song), and that was off-putting. anyway, I had no idea that the trailerwas for Serenity until the very end. the way they cut the trailer looks like a total 180 from the series. very kinetic...frenetic even. at first, I thought they were trying to reinvent Wing Commander Laughing definitely will give it a shot. then again, I also intend to give fantastic four a shot and war of the worlds (which could be the best movie of the year, and I still have no interest whatsoever - not very sci-fi of me, eh?)

viewtopic.php?t=1448

[maxpayne2409]

started watching my dvds of the Dungeons & Dragons cartoon last night and to be fair im quite enjoying it, think i might pass on the jeremy irons movie tho.

was gonna watch damnation alley last night after i dlded basslines vhs rip but i found out before i started that anchor bay are planning on releasing it on dvd in autumn so i think ill just wait for the dvdrip to come out , think ill watch miracle mile tonight, probably more d&d eps, and some more Real Ghostbusters, and possibly hitch seeing as i got it on dvd off a mate

[dinky]

Missed this:

oh! that reminds me. saw the firefly/serenity trailer for the first time before batman. it looked pretty cool. only watched a few eps of the series. it looked smarter than most sci-fi tv fodder, but also too much like a western (right down to the theme song), and that was off-putting. anyway, I had no idea that the trailerwas for Serenity until the very end. the way they cut the trailer looks like a total 180 from the series. very kinetic...frenetic even. at first, I thought they were trying to reinvent Wing Commander Laughing definitely will give it a shot. then again, I also intend to give fantastic four a shot and war of the worlds (which could be the best movie of the year, and I still have no interest whatsoever - not very sci-fi of me, eh?)

viewtopic.php?t=1448

hehe

forgot to mention that I came-in in the middle of the trailer. saw the whole thing from start to finish during second batman viewing and all the "from buffy/angel" stuff kinda gave it away a bit.

about the 90mins thing...I actually like it. though I do agree that there are just stories that can't be squeezed into 120mins much less 90, in general, I find movies today far too bloated.