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Saw the trailer, I'm amazed at how effects have gone these days. Anyway, it's in to see lists, it gots dragons, swordfights, actions, let's see if it pulls off well.
 
I saw Beowulf last night. It was quite good, not great, but still very good. The action was intense and the simulated acting was surprisingly convincing. The story was quite different from the epic poem, but it worked nonetheless. I saw it in 2D, which from what I hear is missing half the fun. If you plan on seeing it, don't expect a total action movie movie like 300. Beowulf has slow moments (not bad, just slow) but because the characters are so lifelike they don't drag the movie down. The final fight against the dragon is one of the best fight sequences I've seen this year.
 
Thanks Helphyre! I hope to see it next friday...

Well I saw a VERY fucked up movie last night. Bad Lieutenant with Harvey Kietel. I don't know how old the movie is, but it was very disturbing. Kietel plays obviously a VERY bad Lieutenant who constantly does drugs, has a gambling problem (central to the movie) and sleeps with hookers. The movie has very distrubing images like Kietal naked (seriously this was VERY disturbing considering he was also acting very nuts), and when a nun gets raped IN the church, that was tough to watch like when kietel and one of his many junkie/fuck buddies do heroin. It is a very odd and a can't stress enough how disturbing it was. Kietel's acting is pretty good, but I don't recommend it nor will I watch it again unless I want to feel dirty and gross, which I don't nor will I. 
 
MisterAJ said:
^ To much info, dude... spoiler alert..?
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Ok dude, this is the second time you tell me this, what is to you too much info? Because frankly it's not like I told you ANY spoilers  like
he dies at the end or actually finds the rapists and lets them go
or narrated the entire movie so, nope no spoilers unless a mod steps in.
 
LOL

fair enough, and I don't mean to nag, but:

You mention a couple of central character flaws that people may prefer to discover by them self, and the bit about the nun has a greater effect if the viewer isn't aware of it on beforehand...

know what I mean..?
 
You're right, but I did that on purpose. Anyway, just Saw Fred Clause. I won't spoil anything *cough* So I'll just say VERY funny and it made me cry like 5 times... I miss my brother :(
 
Beowulf was grandeur too see, and the fight scenes are great too! Grendel's fight was especially humorous, and that dragon climactic battle was breathtaking. It was a great movie overall, but
the ending kinda....well....sucked.

And apparently, Beowulf took some screamin' lessons from Leonidas!
I AM BEOOOOOWUUUUUUUUUUUULFFFFFFFFFFF!!!!!!!!!!!!
 
I watched the tail-end of a movie last night that my hubby saw long ago, called "The Birds." It was made in like 1963 and it's about a huge flock of crows (they really looked like ravens, though) attacking schoolkids and just randon people! Way strange, and since it was made in 1963, the bird sounds sounded fake and you could tell like when the people were running away from them, it looked like they were in front of a big blue screen.

Last weekend we rented The Good Shepherd with Alec Baldwin, Matt Damon, and Angelina Jolie. EXCELLENT movie! It's about 3 hours long, and I was confused in places, but it's a killer wartime flick!
 
^ The birds is a Alfred Hitchcock classic...

Have some pretty bizarre associations to that movie...

IN CASE YOU DON'T CARE WHAT THAT IS, DON'T BOTHER READING THIS SECTION:

So, my mom and her girlfriends were partying upstairs, and I quickly realized that an Alfred Hitchcock movie is far less terrifying than what happened upstairs.
it all came to a head when they started planing to sett fire to the neighbors trashcans in order to fry some hot dogs...
Worst part: I was 18 at the time... brrrrr....
 
So I saw Beowulf and it was AWESOME! The CGI was brilliant and at times you couldn't really tell it was CGI. It kinda felt like watching a long Blizzard cinematic sequence lol. No complaints except the slight changes to the story, but then again, hollywood does that to every story based on a book, why would this be ay different?
 
So, I saw Beowulf myself on Friday. It was alright, but it always looked like a cheap video game to me. I wholeheartedly disagree with Onhell, because to me, the CGI made it look like a cartoon all the time. It was alright because this way, at least you don't have crappy CGI sequences making a "live action" (i.e. real) film seem ridiculous if you have stormtroopers moving fluently like water or flying dragons that look like paper cut outs pasted on the blue sky, but in my opinion, it shouldn't be advertised as anything else than a cartoon.
Nevertheless, it had some pretty cool sequences, and was very enjoyable generally. At least the desperate attempts to conceal little Beowulf had me in stitches  :bigsmile:
 
Last week, I investigated a somewhat notorious splatter film that was met with a muted, hushing reaction. Kichiku Dai Enkai, translated as Banquet of the Beasts, was a student project made in 1997 in a span of two years by Kazuyoshi Kumakiri, who enlisted the help of his fellow students and friends to star in the film. Set in the 1970's and inspired by the so-called 'Asno Sanso incident' a widely televised event when members of the United Red Army took a hostage and seized a mountain lodge near Karuizawa. The film follows a group of student radicals and their slow collapse. Oddly enough, their ideology and political outlook is never explained, instead choosing to focus on the internal tension and strife. The leader of this group, Aizawa, is imprisoned and passes his leadership onto his girlfriend, Masami, who uses her sexuality to manipulate the rest of the group and keep them under control. Despite her best efforts, many members feel the group has lost its direction without Aizawa, whom is considered to be the philosophical centre. Many have expressed discontent with the first half, seeing it to be slow, ponderous and extremely vague in its characterisation and plotting, possibly due to the monetary and time-related restrictions, but in the gorehound's view, the 'pay-off' should hopefully satisfy. Without giving away what little threadbare plot there is, the second half escalates the violence to a high that will make one wonder how it got past the BBFC without any cuts whatsoever. Nevertheless, Kichiku Dai Enkai finds its niche in extreme cinema, under the very dubious title of "political gore movie". Definitely not for those with a weak stomach, nor for those expecting a complete bloobath. Artsmagic released Kichiku Dai Enkai in a excellent DVD package recently enough, so hopefully those interested should be able to find it with relative ease.
 
I had a movie marathon this weekend and will briefly relate some of what I saw.

First off, Beowulf. I agree more with Perun on this one than with Onhell (why doesnt that surprise me?), but it did have the added bonus of not making it look ridiculous during stunts, and it did make the dragon fight look awesome. Agreed, it was pretty funny to see the attempts to conceal (by any means possible) little Beowulf, but then there was that CGI practically naked version of Angelina Jolie, so I was happy. :D I don't think it is guaranteed that you'd like Beowulf if you liked 300, in an odd way this movie is more cultured (as in, interesting to look at from a historical and linguistic perspective).  However, still a good movie to watch, I recommend it.

Second, Mr. Magoriums Wonder Emporium. Kind of cute, but its a kids movie so dont watch it unless you absolutely love kids movies or you absolutely haveto see Natalie Portman in every movie she's ever been in.

Then to some other less new stuff.

John Tucker Must Die- Teen movie, kind of ridiculous, but should be entertaining on an everning with nothing better to do.

Dreamgirls- Not bad, its about the Dreams and the rise of African American music in the white world in the sixties. It drags on for a while, but its definitely worth seeing even if you're not into RnB (the original stuff). And, amazingly enough, Beyonce isn't half bad as an actress.

Notes on a Scandal---Warning: this will mess with your mind because it is so wrong on so many levels. I'm not saying its a bad movie, or badly made or badly acted (quite the contrary), but its not for everyone's stomach. Seriously, I had to watch something funny after this just to cleanse my mind and stop myself from having nightmares involving perverted old ladies and paedophiles. Judi Dench and Cate Blanchette pull their parts off great though, so its worth seeing if you think you can stomach the content.

Man of the Year-An intelligent, wishful thinking, and funny movie starring Robin Williams. Robin Williams plays a comedian who is prompted to run for President of the US and surprisingly enough he wins the election. Twist and turns are guaranteed, and even the occassional scary moment. Watch it, it'll put a smile on your face.
 
Natalie said:
but then there was that CGI practically naked version of Angelina Jolie, so I was happy.
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Can't beat the real thing. ;)

Second, Mr. Magoriums Wonder Emporium. Kind of cute, but its a kids movie so dont watch it unless you absolutely love kids movies or you absolutely haveto see Natalie Portman in every movie she's ever been in.
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I think not even Natalie Portman would make me watch a movie like that. I can't help but wonder what she would have been like as Grendels mother, though (Yes, I think she's hotter than Angelina Jolie, or at least she would be in direct comparison).  :innocent:
 
I do believe it's a requirement of being Grendel's mother that you hafta have boobs.
 
Two weeks ago I was in London and there I saw a film called "Eastern Promises". Director: David Cronenberg, main actor: Viggo Mortensen. As some of you might know, this is the same team as the one for "A History Of Violence" (2005), which was a strong, exciting film imo.

This time again excitement and violence. A mysterious role for Viggo, who gets involved into the Russian maffia in London (what will he do? / who's side will he choose?). Actress: Noami Watts
 
Perun said:
It's fucking CGI!
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Damn good CGI hahahahaha. But I concur with you my German Comrade. Nothing beats the real thing, but I'm afraid Uncle Joe and I are a bit distraught over you putting Natalie Portman above the almighty Jolie. Portman is welcomed in second place, but to surpass Jolie? Well... we are talking about two different types of beauty
 
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