The Movie Review Thread

Akarui Kibuno · Post by **Akarui Kibuno** » Fri May 28, 2004 6:34 pm

Okay, first to say, I've looked at all the topics, and I didn't see anything that was like this. If I have made a confusion, you can either smack my head with a broomstick or modify the topic

So, Movie Review, heh

? What's my point ?

Well, we've been talking about sequels, about scary stuff... but how about just talking about the movies you've seen at the cinema during the last few weeks ?

Of course, since you'll have seen films I haven't seen cause I'm French, and since I'll have seen films you haven't seen cause it has been released in Europe first, there will be a massive use of spoilers tags.

So, first movie:

Van Helsing

Times seen: Twice
When: Sunday, May 23rd
Friday, May 28th

Thoughts:

First time I saw this movie, I was with my boyfriend. So I had a hand to hurt if I was too scared, which I thought I'd be after the first sequence of the movie.

The music seemed to match the action, and this does not always happen, but this time, I liked it. Not too cheesy, or maybe at times, but it was nice overall.

Action-wise, it was pretty nice. You get the suspense, too. The atmosphere is pretty much well done, the lighting adds a lot to that. The weather, too

At some point, you pretty much know how it will end, though there's this "slight" twist that makes you enjoy the fact that you believed something, yet it doesn't happen as you thought it would.

Now, for the "Let's speak about those scenes!" massive spoiler attack...

[spoiler]My favourite scene in the movie is... well, pretty much the ending, when you see Van Helsing killing Dracula but then jumping on Anna Valerious, who manages to give him the remedy, but then it's too late, he's the one who has killed her. And how the frey (remember Faramir from Lord of the Rings

? ) says Van Helsing has killed the girl, and that cry of despair he sends to the sky. Awesome.

Plus Hugh Jackman almost naked rocks anyway, but that's another point.

Something else that is very interesting, is to hear first that Dracula was murdered by the left hand of God (which we know as the archangel Gabriel) , then you have Dracula call him Gabriel, then saying "Must be hard to be the left hand of God". This, of course, pretty much tells us that Van Helsing is an angel who has lost his memory... didn't know angels could be THAT sexy... errm... sorry.

Favourite quote:

- You've worked over that thing for twelve years and you don't know what it does ?
- I said I don't know what it's FOR.

Just have to see the frey's tone and face when he says that

[/spoiler]

For the rest of the movie, well, I can't say too much anyway. There would be too much to describe

The Day After Tomorrow

I kinda just got out of the cinema, so, it's pretty fresh. LOL.

This movie is just... I think... amazing. Saying it's kinda realistic would be an understatement. I thought Dennis Quaid wasn't at his best time, you know, seeing how he didn't to that much of good movies recently... I pray for him this will do good to his career, because, that deserves him something.

Other than that, I'll use spoiler tags, since pretty much all of my thoughts consist of spoilers (LOL... it will be released in the U.S. The Day after Tomorrow... ahahaha... sorry for the lame joke

) .

[spoiler]What's realistic is how the climat change is handled. This time it's not "Let's get a super duper weapon to get rid of the comet"... err... since there's none anyway, but there's no super duper program trying to change the weather or anything. But... even though I enjoyed this movie, I was "scared to hell" somehow, because heck, that could happen, and more than likely will, though we won't be here to see it o.O;;;

But... the problem is, as much as I liked the movie, I just found out two details that makes it less believable

1) How is a fire supposed to last when the temperature is under zero degrees o.O ? That's physically, chemically, whatever, impossible, especially in the conditions portrayed in the movie.

2) Okay, Dennis, playing a guy wanting to save his son is nice, but being able to walk more than 60 kilometers, being in the eye of a hurricane and making it to the end without a scratch ? Naah, you won't make me believe that.

3) And, Dennis, when you want to pretend you'll be dead and freezed if you get out, just don't be in your sweater inside your tent when the storm is still going o.O;;;;;;;;;; As for your friend, he was in the snow, unconscious, and he woke up just like that ? Hard to believe, he should have been frozen o.O;;;;

But other than that, it was nice. Especially how they did the effects to show the Earth covered with the hurricanes, the effects after them... they did an awesome job with this! Congrats![/spoiler]

That would be my two reviews for the day. Yeah, I'm one of the crazy lazy ones who'll go see two movies in a day. Just cause I have a special unlimited movies card ^^;;;;;

Planned movies: Shrek 2, HP3

Sailor Wind · Post by **Sailor Wind** » Sat May 29, 2004 2:05 am

I thought Van helsing was a superb film and took great time to finish the movie to a great standard. Not sure if it's as gd or better than underworld but there is going to be an underworld 2 so just need to see what that is like. Haven't seen "The Day After Tomorrow" yet but will do eventually during the course of this week or the next.

Dinozore · Post by **Dinozore** » Sat May 29, 2004 4:57 am

[spoiler]1) How is a fire supposed to last when the temperature is under zero degrees o.O ? That's physically, chemically, whatever, impossible, especially in the conditions portrayed in the movie.
[/spoiler]

I think (not sure about this) that as long as a fire has fuel and oxygen, the temperature doesn't matter...

though I don't know what the conditions were, so I can say no more on the subject.

Aya Reiko · Post by **Aya Reiko** » Sat May 29, 2004 1:32 pm

Dinozore wrote:
[spoiler]1) How is a fire supposed to last when the temperature is under zero degrees o.O ? That's physically, chemically, whatever, impossible, especially in the conditions portrayed in the movie.
[/spoiler]
I think (not sure about this) that as long as a fire has fuel and oxygen, the temperature doesn't matter...

though I don't know what the conditions were, so I can say no more on the subject.

Temperature matters, it affects the ignition temperature of the fuel source.

Lady of the Light · Post by **Lady of the Light** » Sat May 29, 2004 11:44 pm

Van Helsing was an awesome movie, IMO, but the worst part of it was the person known as Kate Beckinsale. Her character almost ruined the entire movie for me, she was so annoying. Such the typical female lead, always getting back on her feet, the perfect hair...Grr.
[spoiler]You have no idea how HAPPY I was when she died. Of course, during the last few minutes I was whispering to myself, "Please don't get revived, please don't get revived..."And she didn't! I pratically danced out of the theater.[/spoiler]
Dracula was extremely cool, as was Carl, but the people need to learn how to do a proper Romanian accent.
The music was awesome. It fit all the scenes, especially the first one where all the people are rioting. Sweet.

[spoiler]I loved the ballroom scene. The entire thing with Dracula dancing in front of the mirror with Anna...And he didn't have a reflection...It gave me the shivers. My favourite scene of the movie.
And my favourite quotes...
Carl: Hell, no! Damn, I'm not coming! (Or something like that)
Van Helsing: Carl...You swore! Granted, not very well, but you're a monk, and you're not supposed to swear.
Carl: Well, actually, I'm a Friar, so I can swear all I like...Damnit!
And...
Barmaid: Oh, you saved me! How can I ever repay you?
Carl: *whispers in her ear*
Barmaid: *shocked*But you're a monk! You can't do that!
Carl: Technically I'm a Friar.
Barmaid: Oooh....*arches eyebrow*[/spoiler]
Great movie, I loved it, except for Kate Beckinsdale. If you ignore her, and go for all the other great actors, it makes up for it.

Sailor Wind · Post by **Sailor Wind** » Sun May 30, 2004 12:49 am

Some bits in Van Helsing was annoying and like you said Kate Beckinsale's character had to be the most annoying with the ways she had acted.

it isn't really her fault though since it's the writers and director what positions she stands, where she needs to do and tells her what to say and express it.

Artemis · Post by **Artemis** » Wed Jun 02, 2004 2:46 pm

Shrek 2

Times seen: Once
On: Sunday, May 30th

My thoughts: This was an AWESOME movie. It stayed faithful to the original, and it was damn funny.

[spoiler]Puss was so damn cute!!! I just wanted to squeeze him!!! T_T[/spoiler]

I highly recommend it to anyone who enjoyed the first one.

Akarui Kibuno · Post by **Akarui Kibuno** » Wed Jun 02, 2004 3:36 pm

Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban

Seen: today and once

Overall thoughts: great movie, great movie, yes...

Though there's one thing I can say without spoiling it for those who haven't read the books: the ones who have read the books indeed might not really like the movie because some things were messed up (IMO).

[spoiler]Like, the Firebolt. Harry supposedly gets it for Christmas before seeing Black, and they think the thing is jinked, so Hermione send it to MacGonagall... but here, he gets it at the end of the movie and no one says nothing about it.

And they took out TWO Quidditch plays! What a shame! And no Cho Chang! Tssk![/spoiler]

Not much to say otherwise. The new Dumbledore isn't as classy as the other one, but he's good. And the [spoiler]Hippogriff[/spoiler] was rather well done n_n.

Sailorasteroid · Post by **Sailorasteroid** » Wed Jun 02, 2004 3:48 pm

HP3 is released there already?! Anyone know where to get a quick ticket to France? PoA is my favorite of the books, and I have high hopes for the film. They've changed directors, but the screenwriter is still Steven Kloves, and I'm of the belief that that job is more important than the director to what goes into a movie, as is the editor, as is the cinematographer. Both of those jobs have changed for all three films, but the ones for PoA have impressive resumes.

Akarui Kibuno · Post by **Akarui Kibuno** » Wed Jun 02, 2004 5:10 pm

Hehe. I won't spoil it all, but you shouldn't raise your hopes too high.

Heck, I saw it subtitled in Paris, how the hell isn't it released in NYC lol ?

Ni-ban Neko · Post by **Ni-ban Neko** » Wed Jun 02, 2004 6:35 pm

Most movies are released on Fridays in the US, so people can go see them on the weekends. I'm willing to bet that's the only reason PoA isn't out here.

...and I know you didn't just say something spoilery about PoA. I know that. Right?

Sailor Wind · Post by **Sailor Wind** » Thu Jun 03, 2004 2:33 am

Movies come out on Friday in the UK as well, but is also on Thursdays to if the film is extremely popular (special previews on wednesdays or thursdays)

doodlebuguk · Post by **doodlebuguk** » Thu Jun 03, 2004 2:57 am

I saw the Harry Potter yesterday and it was an amazing film, but I can agree with your critisisms (sp?)

Here's what I thought was good:

[spoiler]I thought Rupert Grint's performance as Ron was his best yet and he was so funny, I can see him becoming a great comic actor in the future. Emma Watson was also very good as well, I thought all the actors did a brilliant job.

I was also really happy with the way Sirius Black and Remus Lupin were portrayed. I was a little worried, as they are my two favourite characters, but I was really impressed.

And the special effects! Wow! The Hippogriff looked really amazing and didn't look like it was computer-generated.

[/spoiler]

And the things that irked me:

[spoiler]Basically as already said, a lot of bits from the book were screwed up. The whole bit about James Potter and his friends being animagnus is never explained. In fact, the friendship of Remus, James and all is never explained. In fact, they never even say clearly that Remus and James were friends! They also don't explain their nicknames (like padfoot and prongs) which was a little odd. But as long as you have read the book it will make sense.[/spoiler]

jupiter23 · Post by **jupiter23** » Thu Jun 03, 2004 2:59 pm

Van Helsing: I thought this was a good action movie. I saw this once.

Shrek 2: Funny as Hell. Puss in Boots is my new hero. I also saw this once and may go see it again.

I plan on seeing Spider-Man 2 when it is released later.

LilEva · Post by **LilEva** » Thu Jun 03, 2004 3:12 pm

Van Helsing: I think I fell asleep during it.

Troy : [spoiler]Should have had the gods and goddesses in it. Liked Eric Bana, but other actors sucked. I wanted to see the back of Brad's butt, but alas, it was only the side. Not too bad though.[/spoiler]

The Day After Tomorrow: Kinda cheesy, but I got into it after I stopped thinking.

Sailorasteroid · Post by **Sailorasteroid** » Fri Jun 04, 2004 2:35 pm

OK, I've seen Prisoner of Azkaban now. I should have listened to Akarui who told me not to get my hopes up. Here's why:[spoiler]They cut out, or glossed over, a lot more stuff this time around, it seemed to me, probably because this was a longer book. I shudder to think what they'll do with the next two. Hopefully they'll follow the examples of LOTR and Kill Bill and split the story. But for PoA, it rushed through the pre-Hogwarts part of the movie and cut out bits of the plot, like Sirius breaking in a second time. In fact, Sirius doesn't really seem to be hammered home as a threat the way he was in the book. It's almost like they wanted so much climax when he's finally revealed that they kept him in the shadows. Also, I'm a little ticked we didn't get to see Snape get really angry at finding Black escaped. And Harry seeing Pettigrew on the Marauder's Map stole the thunder of his (Pettigrew) being alive.

But it's not like I don't *know* the plot, so I really can't complain. Let's talk about the good things. Like the settings. That was some beautiful English and Scottish countryside they showed. And the acting. The Shrieking Shack scene with Gary Oldman, David Thewlis, and Alan Rickman was the best acted scene I've seen in a while. Rickman is a god, and it stuns me that he's not getting starring roles. And Thewlis as Professor Lupin played the benificent teacher to the fullest. Also the special effects were good as always, and this time they seemed to blend in to the movie than in Philosopher's/Sorceror's Stone or Chamber of Secrets. And did anyone else find Harry's Patronus in the forest reminiscent of the forest god from Princess Mononoke? If that was intentional, big bonus points to the movie. [/spoiler]

Akarui Kibuno · Post by **Akarui Kibuno** » Fri Jun 04, 2004 4:47 pm

At least, Sailorasteroid, even if I said that, PoA can still be appreciated. I guess people who haven't read the books won't find anything strange (of course) but for the readers, it's always scary to find out what the director did to the book.

Well I heard a rumour saying HP4 was filmed already, I don't know more than that, and it's probably just a rumor, but if it's only one movie, I'll be scared. And HP5... *trembles* I don't even want to think of it. GAH.

Ni-ban Neko · Post by **Ni-ban Neko** » Fri Jun 04, 2004 10:13 pm

PoA review, ahoy!

[spoiler]
It wasn't a bad movie, first of all. It had the best music of the three, and nice special effects. And they did get a lot right:

- Gary Oldman was fantastic as Sirius. He won me over completely.

- Emma Thompson cracked me up, and she's never done a movie that's cracked me up.

- Again, the music. I loved it, particularly during the boggart scene.

- Rupert Grint makes me happy. He's got Ron nailed, and he's grown into the character a little more with each movie.

- Emma Watson is finally comfortable in Hermione's skin.

- Daniel Radcliffe...kid, ya done good. You handled the serious scenes well, and you did humor better than in the other movies, too.

- The Knight Bus. It was one of the funniest things in the whole movie.

- Cute character interactions between Ron and Hermione. Very cute.

- The dementors. o.O Freaking scary things, those dementors.

- Michael Gambon had Richard Harris' large shoes to fill, and did a really great job filling them. I thought he made a great Dumbledore.

Those good things don't make up for its overall weakness when compared to the book, and frankly, I want an extended version. I haven't wanted an extended version of any of the other movies, but I want PoA extended.

Here's what they didn't get right:

- The movie didn't flow well. It felt too rushed.

- David Thewlis, you are not Professor Lupin. You were fantastic in Moulin Rouge, but you are not Professor Lupin. You didn't look right, you were too weaselly, you didn't get the mood of the character right... You got close near the end, but no cigar.

- Hop, skip, jump jump jump, hop, hop, hop goes the plot. There was too much left out. No Diagon Alley, no Quidditch Cup, and too much was just skimmed over - Crookshanks v. Scabbers, Buckbeak's trial.... and the Marauders.

- The Marauders got SHAFTED, big time. They were such an important part of the book, because the remaining Marauders were such a strong link to Harry's family, and that link wasn't even mentioned. They had an opening - more than one, even! - but didn't take advantage of it. There was absolutely no excuse for that.

My biggest beef with the movie was that it was not as faithful to the book as the first two - it's the worst of the three in that regard. If I hadn't read the book, I'd love the movie. But having read the book, and having it be my favorite, I'm disappointed. I don't regret seeing it, but they played too fast and loose with the plot, and it just doesn't hold up when compared to the book. Give me an extended version - because the movie had potential. It didn't live up to it, and more time would help.[/spoiler]

Artemis · Post by **Artemis** » Sat Jun 05, 2004 12:33 am

Akarui Kibuno wrote:At least, Sailorasteroid, even if I said that, PoA can still be appreciated. I guess people who haven't read the books won't find anything strange (of course) but for the readers, it's always scary to find out what the director did to the book.

Well I heard a rumour saying HP4 was filmed already, I don't know more than that, and it's probably just a rumor, but if it's only one movie, I'll be scared. And HP5... *trembles* I don't even want to think of it. GAH.

Actually, I believe that it's been confirmed that HP 4 is one movie-about 2 1/2 hours long. Plus, NO DURSLEYS.
...I ask you, how can you make a Harry Potter movie with NO FREAKING DURSLEYS???

Sailorasteroid · Post by **Sailorasteroid** » Sat Jun 05, 2004 5:50 am

Artemis wrote:Actually, I believe that it's been confirmed that HP 4 is one movie-about 2 1/2 hours long. Plus, NO DURSLEYS.
...I ask you, how can you make a Harry Potter movie with NO FREAKING DURSLEYS???

Is that true?! Waaaaaah!!

How will they establish Harry's suffering? Not to mention that the scenes are just funny. And how (Order of the Phoenix spoilers ahead)[spoiler]will they bring in the point that by living with the last blood of his mother's line he is protected from You-Know-Who if he's not shown living there?[/spoiler]

Anyway, another maybe-reference from the Prisoner of Azkaban movie (I'm going to try to stop typing PoA; it looks like I'm talking about Harry Potter and the Piece of Ass. ^_^): [spoiler]on first view of dog-Sirius, I was reminded of G'mork, the vicious dog from The Neverending Story.[/spoiler]