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Onhell said:
I don't know if you are serious or joking here Perun... good critic, but I mean, you have to keep in mind that it is a movie based on a comic book based on a movie based on the the historical event... talk about watered down. 98% of it was filmed in front of blue and green screens and the so called logical phallacies... comic book remember? lol.
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I'm not quite sure what you mean- I mentioned I didn't care about the history in the film. I just mentioned the irony of how my studies and that film coincided, and how sometimes, the some of the stuff got a little exaggarated for no apparent reason.

But I have to disagree with your assesment of the Hunchback. He was useless to them, he asked him to raise his shield and he couldn't. Spartans, at least in the film but also historically, were very utilitarian, I mean they "discarded" useless babies. Thus I found it perfectly normal that he wouldn't enlist him in their formation. This wasn't a kiddie movie and as such didn't have to be peppered with the "we are all special" type of message, I actually liked that. He gave him a shot, wasn't good enough... too bad.
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Still, wouldn't it have been wiser to keep him somewhere close? Ephialtes was quite pissed off at Leonidas' response, so it should have been obvious that he would betray- especially because he said he knew about the path. He couldn't raise a shield- good, the Persians would have cut him down before he could even say "Goat path"..


Good movie, though, right? Hell even my mom liked it, which I found slightly disturbing....
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Yeah, I enjoyed it very much, and it's another DVD I'll grab as soon as it's out :)

Congrats on reaching 3,000 which is 300 with one more zero :p
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Cheers! I wonder what happens if I divide it by 23 ;)
 
Perun said:
I'm not quite sure what you mean- I mentioned I didn't care about the history in the film. I just mentioned the irony of how my studies and that film coincided, and how sometimes, the some of the stuff got a little exaggarated for no apparent reason.
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Just didn't know if what you were saying about the film was good or bad or sarcastic, 'tis all.
 
WOW! like.... WOW! I spent all of Sunday watching all five, yes all FIVE of the Planet of the Apes films and it was AWESOME. So awesome in fact that I went out and bought the novel it was based on and once I read it I'll watch Tim Burton's remake and by then I'll be like an ape expert or something. The films work in an odd way as the sequals, well from the third one on anyway, are backstory more than anything else, but they do a better job than Lucas did with his. For example after the first Movie which is the classic and the only one sort of kinda based on the book (in the book the hero is a french journalist who does indeed go to a planet of apes), the rest complete the picture.

In "Beneath the Planet of the Apes" we find out what is beyond the "Forbidden Zone" and what happens to Taylor (Charlton Heston). We find a race of advance mutated humans living underground that worship an atomic bomb powerful enough to destroy the planet... and it does!!!

In "Escape From the Planet of the Apes" Cornelius and Zira, the two Chimpanzees that befriend Taylor and later Brent (James Franciscus) have escaped BACK to earth in Taylors old ship. When the war between the Gorillas and the Mutants breaks out they decide to leave and as they leave they see Earth being destroyed, when they land however, they have landed in 20th century Earth. Here a lot of pieces are put together. For example, why is it that the Apes speak English? How did they evolve and humans devolve? Cornelius tells the story that there was a plague that wiped out all dogs and cats and when humans were left with no pets they began domesticating primates to fill the void. Soon however, the condition of the apes is akin to slavery and one of them rises up to say enough and revolts, subduing the humans and freeing his... "people" hehe. This appalls the President's chief advisor and he is terrified even more when he learns that Zira is pregnant. He is convinced that that child will be the downfall of mankind.
This is where the story gets a little weird. It is the plague of the pets and man's use of apes as pets that eventually brings their downfall, not the apes themselves. At any rate, the focus is turned on the now three apes from the future and they are hunted down. The kicker? They of course get killed, but the wrong baby chimp is killed. Zira gave birth in a circus and switched babies with another chimp! AAAARRRRGGH

Conquest of the Planet of the Apes is now the story of Caesar, Cornilius and Zira's child that has grown up as... at the time, the only speaking ape. The first two movies take place in 3550's, the third in 1973, and this one jumps to 1991 When Apes as pets... or rather, slaves is already common place. This one is very straight forward. A group is being oppressed and they fight for freedom.

In Battle for the Planet of the Apes, the fifth and final film, the "lawgiver" starts the story in 2661 where he is retelling the story of Caesar to a group of man and chimp children. The actual story takes place 12 years after the revolt so it is 2003ish. Here Caesar is curious as to what his parents, Cornilius and Zira, looked and sounded like. One of the humans tells him that their are videos of them in the old archives, which probably survived the blast of the 10 megaton bomb that was detonated sometime between this and the previous film (hence the mutants). In returning to the archives they startle the mutant humans that now live underground (the future advance race of the second film... not the only tie in among the five films) and they in turn attack them in their peaceful paradise.

There are other subplots, but can't give EVERYTHING away. It reminded me a lot of Terminator, how it is those of the future coming back and being the ones to rise up and they (the humans) are trying to stop an unavoidable future. There is a scene in "Conquest" where the Apes confront the humans that reminded me of the scene in I, robot when the humans fight the robots in the middle of the street. I don't doubt both those films (terminator and i, robot) did get some inspiration from the apes (the FILMS, I know i, robot was also a book.) If you can get past the dated make-up these are actually really good films!
 
today I saw one interesting "movie" : Big Time
directed by some Chris Blum
it's based on Tom Waits' live album with the same title

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I never had see Tom Waits' performances before
(yet I have a vinyl of him -Nighthawks at the diner- with live material),
so the live parts of that movie really wowed me

the plays on that movie (must have been written by Waits and his wife)
are very artistically : b-movie-like-made if you want,
a very pleasant surprise to me

what is particular in that movie is that the camera focus very little to the other musiciens, or even to the crowd. This, in my opinion make it more movie and less a live album's visual documentary
[...]
and as the live /movie was released just after Franks Wild Years Lp,
many songs of this (so beloved) album can be seen here
I think some plays are based on Franks Wild Years theatrical piece,
but yet I'm not sure as I never saw that piece up to now

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conclusion :
a very well made movie for the friends of prose, grotesque abiance, and of course Tom Wait's music
 
I've just watched "Some Kind of Monster" three times: one without audio commentary, and one with Metallica's audio commentary, and one with the filmmakers' commentary.
 
Sure, okay, well the commentaries are pretty interesting, especially in comparison. The Metallica commentary is very reflective as they often think back on how they felt when they were being filmed. It's also very humorous. It's pretty interesting that they simply just laugh at some of the dramatic rows they had in the documentary. The filmmakers' commentary is more technical, dealing with some of the challenges they encountered when filming and editing, but they also have some very interesting comments on James' personal development. It's very interesting to compare them, because Metallica's commentary is from the perspective of the observed while the filmmakers' perspective is that of the observer.

I actually recommend listening to both commentaries.
 
Last week I saw Spiderman 3 and it was a good movie. I have a few complaints... too many bad guys. Had they stuck to him and Harry duking it out it would have been better than having him fight three different enemies. ok maybe Harry and Venom and forget about the Sandman until the 4th film. That in itself I think was the problem. I know for sure Kristen Dunst only signed up for 3 movies and I think Maguire did the same thing. Because of that they probably tried to cram as much as possible into this one not knowing where exactly the franchise will go without it's original stars. I'm sure it was more the case of "more is better" mentality that rules hollywood sequals. One major gripe though, Venom did not have enough screen time for such an iconic figure :(
 
That's precisely why I'm wary of seeing it.  I expected that.  The first two Spider Man movies had great emotion and character development, and story-telling.  Maybe this is a rental; no more.
 
So I watched 28 weeks later and all I can say is AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAWESOME. It is WAY less cerebral than the first, which gained cult status as a "smart" zombie movie, but great in its own right. This one does a better job of putting you in the shoes of the victim as the hectic camera work builds an interesting degree of tension. In this film the "rage virus" has been erradicated, or so they think. They have created a safe community in the heart of London, but they are not sure how safe the area outside of that is. One man, who manages to escape leaving his wife behind is reunited with his children who, being stupid kids, decide to go visit their old house outside the safe zone. They find their house... and their mom. She is still alive, she is a carrier, but herself seems to be immune to the effects of the virus which makes her VERY important. You'll have to watch the rest of the movie for the rest of the fun :p. I was still shaking from the adreneline after the movie hehe. 
 
I've just finished watching the third Godfather film. It's not as bad as a lot of people say; obviously it pales in comparison with parts 1 and 2, but then again so do most films. I felt the end was a bit of an anticlimax, but overall a decent film. One question: has anyone witnessed a worse actor/actress than Sofia Coppola in such a big film? She's absolutely rubbish. Good on her for realising how bad she was and sticking to directing.
 
I saw Shrek the Third.  It is a good movie.  Despite that it cannot hope to outdo the first two.  Much of what made the first two funny is the surprizes, interactions and zany characters.  Once you've experienced that, the effect is not the same.  Still, it had a decent plot.
 
Shrek 3? Spiderman 3? Oh, oh, the movies I'll see...now that I finally am a member of the world of the living!
 
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