Live and Let Die ***

Well I think this movie proved that the 1970s were alive and kicking by 1973. I can't believe this was a Bond film. It had more humor than any I had previously seen (intended or not). I felt like it was a comedy instead of a James Bond movie. Roger Moore did a good job as 007, however I found him to be a bit dry.

Battle Royal

This is a movie that I have been wanting to see for some time now, I have heard a lot about it on the net on places like the CHUD boards and was really looking forward to it. For those of you that don’t know it is a Japanese movie about…well. Every year one Japanese high school class is selected at random and is taken to an island where they are forced to fight to the death till there is only one left, that person wins the Battle Royal and is allowed to live, all of this because kids have become disrespectful. So as you can see this movie would never be made here in America.

I’m going to go a little reverse here and just say right now that I liked this movie. Now I had so much build-up to it that it didn’t shock me as much as it could have, I didn’t find it that disturbing at all because I suppose I already knew about it but it still managed to keep me rapt at attention. From the moment that they get to the island you know that your in for a treat, especially when you see the instructional video. I laughed my ass off at that damn video, to me it was one of the better parts of the movie the person is just so damn happy and animated like some type of Japanese game show and the seriousness in which the instructor watches it just fantastic. Each of the kids reacts differently to the circumstances, each reaction seems like it could be real. The really scared ones trying to win, the ruthless ones, those who refuse to play, the loose affiliated groups, and the couples all add up and give the movie an emotional core that may even have you thinking “what if my HS class had been selected?”. There is one character in this movie who every second that he is on screen just reminds me of The Deerhunter now it could just be his bandanna but I think it is more than that, the lighting on him at times and the smoking just seem to somehow connect to that movie. . Takeshi Kitano plays the instructor it is the type of role that I’ve seen him in a few times now, it is just a certain attitude that I don’t know he just does very well a certain understated insanity that borders on being a sociopath it’s creepy and authoritative at the same time. The rest of the cast I don’t really know because I don’t watch that many Japanese films but they do an excellent job conveying the fear, suspicion and outrage that is called for in this movie, so basically a very well casted movie.

I give you Battle Royal B+. I couldn’t give this movie an A rank because I don’t think that it will stick with you, you know what I mean? I didn’t find it particularly haunting or mind-blowing, I’d recommend it to friends but I don’t think that it’ll grace my DVD player multiple times in the next few months (True mainly because I don’t own it but that is beside the point), I do think it is rewatchable just not infinitely.

Diamonds Are Forever *** 1/2

It's really a shame I won't see Sean Connery as James Bond again for awhile A good way to go out though. I'm very impressed that through 8 movies so far I haven't felt that the product has become stale or repetative. Out of the first 8 I would say only On Her Majesty's Secret Service was the only one that sucked

Barry Lyndon 9/10

One of the most visually stunning films I have ever seen, and absolutely wonderful music to compliment it. Not only that, but the film has great acting, a multitude of fascinating characters, and bursts with ambiguity. This is the complete package.

Final Destination 3 - 0/5

Definatly the worst in the series. It's all about the gore and the cheap laughs in this one. Not worth the price of admission, i mean unless you really need to see blood and body parts being flung around everywhere...and if that's what you want to watch check out Braveheart.

Its not really a movie I just watched.. its actually been out for a while..

But did anyone see Open Water? I'm pretty sure that was the stupidest movie I've ever seen in my life. The ending was ridiculous.

I wouldn't even waste the energy of changing the station on the TV to watch it if its ever shown on cable.

American History X (1998; Kaye) *****/5

A former neo-nazi skinhead tries to prevent his brother from following the same wrong path he did.

I don't give 5 star ratings usually, but my goodness did this film merit it. The film is so utterly poignant, and Edward Norton's performance is one of the best I've ever seen. The use of black and white for scenes in the past tense and color for scenes in the present was brilliant. This is one of the most powerful films ever made, and one of the best of the 90's.

I couldn't agree with you more. Good review as I love this movie as well

The Man With The Golden Gun *** 1/2

I had no idea that Christopher Lee was a Bond villian. Much like I didn't know Christopher Walken was one either. I definitely think Roger Moore did a better job the 2nd time around as agent 007 and this had some more humor to it but I think it was intended (not like Live and Let Die).

Well done Suspect 5! Battle Royale is awesome. Though I haven't heard too many good things for the sequel.

Caché (Hidden)
Michael Haneke 2005 France/Austria/Germany/Italy (1st time; big screen)
When a bourgeois couple start receiving video tapes of their home under surveillance, the husband relates to an incident from his childhood.
Certainly one to divide audiences and critics and stir up some fuss at festivals; Haneke explores camera placement on one level, and guilt and the bourgeoisie on another. The former works wonders, drawing our attention to what we're watching, if not the content of what we're watching. Compelling stuff, and relishes in playing games with its audience's expectations.

Days of Heaven
Terrence Malick 1978 US (1st time)
A farm labourer from Chicago encourages his lover to marry the rich landowner, who is dying, in order to make a fortune.
Gorgeously shot gem, a quiet narrative which is perhaps best described as a "surface" film: nothing much is particularly explored here; the voice-over is effectively unsentimental, the relationships are not explored in any real depth, and the characters seem to exist without any real purpose. It is a more complex film than Badlands in its multiple perspective narrative, and a base upon which Malick would further this technique, albeit decades later.

The Spy Who Loved Me *** 1/2

Same old Bond, same great film. I liking Roger Moore more with each movie

The more you see him the Moore you like him

Un Flic - (Jean-Pierre Melville;1972;France/Italy)
Four men rob a bank to finance a more intricate heist while being pursued by a cop who knows one of the robbers through a woman.
Not as paced as Melville's other two films and I wish there was more of Delon's character, but it still turns out to be a great film. Again Melville's visuals give us another blue-ish/gray noir look, along with a lot of rainy atmosphere around outside shots. Alaine Delon and Richard Crenna are great in their roles, and the train heist is a wonderful scene. Overall a great crime film from a director who has climbed well into my top 5 favorite filmmakers.

The more you see him the Moore you like him [/b][/quote]Yeah I figured some people would find that funny when I posted it. At least I'm enjoying his performances more and more

Ichi The Killer * 1/2

I don't know if I'll ever watch another Takashi Miike movie. Audition wasn't that bad but I thought Ichi the Killer sucked. Here's this "psychopathic" killer who is nothing more than a crybaby. He wouldn't shut the f*ck up! He was more annoying than entertaining as a "killer." Here you go Ichi, this box's on me

I can't wait to see Ichi.

The Magnificent Ambersons
Orson Welles 1942 US (1st time)
The fall of a well-to-do family at the hands of stubbornness and jealousy.
Worth watching if only because of its historically infamous butchering from RKO; there are at least two scenes of cinematic genius--both being long tracking shots, one (probably unintentional) of a carriage in which shadows of the crew are seen walking alongside the subjects, the other a two-shot on a street, with the bustling environment reflected in the windows behind. Other than this, it is a confusing, muddled film, a mere translation of words into pictures.

Moonraker ***

The ski-diving scene was one of the best I've seen to open a Bond film thus far. I can't believe there was actually a character named Dr. Goodhead And will that Jaws character ever die please? I like him but the man has survived explosions, crashes, going over waterfalls, etc.

The Bond films seem to be getting better as you're watching them, Irish. I think they peak at On Her Majesty's Secret Service, whence they become erratic, with moments of worth here and there, until the ultimate low with Octopussy. Dalton adds a much-needed nastier edge with The Living Daylights and Licence to Kill; GoldenEye was the best of the Bonds since From Russia with Love, though I can't think of a more consistently better run than from Dr. No to OHMSS. The latter film, even with Lazenby, is overlooked far too often, I think. People never took to George as Bond, but I'd take him over Moore any day.

Thanks to my cousin, I just had a "Saw Marathon." I'd seen the original with him a while back, but I watched it again, as well as the sequel for the first time.

I just can't get over how unique and creative these movies are - seems like pure genius to me. There aren't too many "scary movies" out there that make you really think like these do, and I just have to admire the twisted plots that are used.

Yeah I'm surprised I've enjoyed as many as I have. I thought On Her Majesty's Secret Service sucked and other than that I would rate From Russia With Love the lowest out of the first 11. You didn't like Octopussy? I think I remember hearing from some people that they enjoyed it? Oh well, I'll be getting to it hopefully this week.

Good film reminded me alot of the butterfly effect

Good Night, and Good Luck.
George Clooney 2005 US (1st time; big screen)
Ed Murrow, Fred Friendly and other journalists seek to confront Senator McCarthy over several weeks of live TV broadcasts.
Riveting and profound; filled with atmospheric cigarette smoke, the camera observes with a kind of action-packed intensity stemming only from words and lingering close-ups. It is a well-paced, brilliantly-acted, convincing, and challenging depiction of the Media and television as a canvas on which to voice propaganda and political views--many shots show Murrow being filmed, with the footage of what is being filmed shown in the background; a complex structure of multi-angled reportage.

The Elephant Man
David Lynch 1980 US (2nd time)
A doctor rescues a severely deformed man from a freak show in Victorian London.
Lynch's most commercial film is peppered with horrific, genuinely frightening undertones, full of the same fearful sounds which made Eraserhead. Finely acted, with a wonderful feel for pace and structure, and the final moments are almost excruciating to watch; deeply moving.

Six Figures Getting Sick
David Lynch 1966 US (1st time)
Six abstract forms vomit to the looped sound of a siren.
Abstract animation, recorded as Lynch's first ever completed production. It is a deliberately monotonous short, an onslaught on the senses with its crude colours, 2D movement and relentless sound.

Flightplan - (Robert Schwentke;2005;USA)
A recent widow and her child board a plane, her daughter vanishes and no one can remember even seeing her.
This felt like Panic Room 2 with it's camera work floating around the airplane. The CGI is overused as expected (does a hose really need to be CGI?). The only good things in this film are Foster, Sarsgaard, and Bean. Otherwise we have a pathetic attempt at a thriller that is ridiculously predictable. Seriously, everything about this is boring and uncreative. The IMDB plot even has the audacity to call this "Hitchcockian."

Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire *** 1/2

Definitely enjoyed it more the 2nd time around and also the most humerous of the series thus far. It'd be my 2nd or 3rd favorite on the list. However, I'm still pissed that Mike Newell's ego got in the way (he felt he could make the 700+ page book into a 2 1/2 hour movie). It was a good movie but he could have added so much more and made it even better and longer. I really wish Warner would have made it into 2 movies, a la the Kill Bills. They're gonna have to do something with The Order of the Phoenix as it's 900+ pages

I just recently rewatched Goodfellas for the 100th time in full. I'm always seeing bits a pieces of it, and it had been maybe a couple months since my last viewing, and goddamn, it felt good.

I've oficially decided the only film better than Goodfellas is The Godfather Pt II, and thats that.

I saw Batman Begins for the first time last night. I've been a fan of Christian Bale since American Pyscho and when I heard he was picked to be Bruce Wayne I thought the fit was perfect, especially after seeing his performance in Equilibrium. He didn't disappoint and as soon as he was on screen he WAS Bruce Wayne. I enjoyed the supporting cast - I'll watch Oldman in anything, Freeman, Neeson and Hauer were just right. They weren't exceptional or stand out performances, if anything they were type cast, but it didn't matter, the roles were right. Even Michael Caine, who I've never liked, fit perfectly. I'll even be controversial and say I didn't even see what was wrong with Holmes' performance.

The film itself was how Batman should be. Memories of ...Forever and ...Robin give me a headache but ...Begins redeems the franchise. The script/plot was well worked out and I particularly liked the sequencing of the flashbacks, mixing different times up and not treating the audience as idiots. Though I can imagine those that prefer to watch the chronological version of the Godfather may have been troubled :p

The relatively inexperienced Nolan does a fine job. He's developed a cult for himself through Memento (of which I haven't seen) and this film should add to his future potential legacy.