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Natalie said:
Or is it the one with the chick who has a machine gun for a leg?
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No, that's Planet Terror.
A very fine piece of cinematography, if I may add.
 
Natalie said:
Wait, Deathproof...ahh, I get so confused with Tarantino movies...is this the one with Stuntman Mike and his stunt car? Or is it the one with the chick who has a machine gun for a leg? If its the one with Stuntman Mike I loved that movie (especially the ending!).
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Its about Stuntment Mike (Kurt Russell).  I expect you would like the ending...

because the chicks beat the living day lights out of Mike.
 
I saw Stanley Kubrick's Paths of Glory (1957) earlier today, a remarkable film in many respects. It tells the story - fictional but loosely based on true events - of a number of French soldiers in the First World War who retreat during an impossible attack, and are court-martialled for cowardice in the face of the enemy. It deals, among other things, with the powerlessness of individuals in the hands of corrupt leaders and various conceptions of duty. Kubrick himself has been quoted as saying the film is "anti-authoritarian ignorance".

From a technical perspective, the film is flawless. The production design and camera angles are magnificent, just as you would expect from a Kubrick film. The acting is also very strong - particularly from Kirk Douglas as the colonel who fights for the accused soldiers and Timothy Carey as a trooper who simply does not wish to die. Needless to say, it contains more than one unforgettable scene.

All in all, it's a brilliant movie and well worth seeing if you haven't already, and probably worth seeing again if you have.
 
Ah!  Yes, a brilliant movie, I loved it thoroughly when I watched it a couple years ago for my World War I course.
 
I just got done watching back to back Elizabeth and Elizabeth: The Golden years.  I found both movies incredible!  The acting was top notch!  Cate Blanchet was very believable as The Virgin Queen.  Hats off to her for her performance and her nomination for best actress.  I love any movie with History but I wonder how much of it is fact?  Hollywood has a way of fabricating the truth?  Well the movie is about Queen Elizabeth I.  Who regined for over 40 years with out a husband.  She was called a heretic, a whore, a bastard and a godless evil woman without child.  However she secured her postion as a beloved icon of the westen world and saved England from Spain's invading army.  I just loved these movies, so much that I may watch them again?  This movie left me wanting more so I am going to research further into it.

I also watched There Will Be Blood.  It is about an oil tyrant, the land which he drills and the people he swindles for it.  It is a little bit slow but worth the wait in the end.  I thought the music was brilliant and the cinematography was awesome.  The acting was also top notch!  Daniel Day Lewis is so incredible and I wouldn't be surprised if he takes home the Oscar for best actor?   Some may not like this movie at all so it is hard for me to recommend it to anyone.
 
I just finished watching The Brave One with Jodie Foster.  I'll keep this short. 

Foster has always impressed me with her acting abilities.  This time it is no different.  Foster's character Erica Bain loses her fiancee (and dog) one night after being mugged and beaten half-way to death.  She wakes from a three week coma only to feel fear and anger in her heart.  She takes revenge little by little.  Her character slowly transforms into someone else.  I don't want to give away the rest, but suffice it to say that unlike most vigilante justice movies this one moves with great characterization, acting and believability.  The ending was different than I expected it to be.  Also great acting by Terrence Howard, who plays the detective in the movie.
 
I watched Burbaker today with Robert Redford. Supposedly based on a true story Redford portrays Burbaker, a prison warden assigned to the only "profitable" prison in America. He first enters the prison posing as an inmate and later reveals himself as the new warden. He quickly discovers how corrupt not only the prison itself is, but it is so deep rooted and it spread state wide (as in it even involves the governor and senator). Really good movie and highly recommended.
 
I had to watch the documentary on the genocide in Rwanda called Ghosts of Rwanda for a class today. As with the film The Last King of Scotland, it left me with a deep sense of hopelessness, and above all, faithlessness in humanity and in particular, the international community (read UN). I understand that its better that there is a UN than none, but I don't believe in its power to do anything, its just a facade, a nicety for the western conscience. The worst thing about this is that similar things are going on in Kenya and Darfur right now, and we're not doing anything about them either. Why not? Because its Africa, and nobody cares about Africa, it has no economic power, it has no unity so it has no military power, and its far away. Why is Africa such a bloody mess, and why is the western world (especially Europe, I point my finger at you) so reluctant to take responsibility for the mess they started with colonialism? History aside, why won't the western world show some humanity to fellow human beings who are being killed? Africa is one major reason why I want to become a doctor...I want to go there and make a difference so I can stop feeling so angry and helpless about that continent.

Anyways, its a good documentary and I recommend seeing it, however depressing it might be.
 
Shadow said:
I saw Stanley Kubrick's Paths of Glory (1957) earlier today, a remarkable film in many respects. It tells the story - fictional but loosely based on true events - of a number of French soldiers in the First World War who retreat during an impossible attack, and are court-martialled for cowardice in the face of the enemy. It deals, among other things, with the powerlessness of individuals in the hands of corrupt leaders and various conceptions of duty. Kubrick himself has been quoted as saying the film is "anti-authoritarian ignorance".

From a technical perspective, the film is flawless. The production design and camera angles are magnificent, just as you would expect from a Kubrick film. The acting is also very strong - particularly from Kirk Douglas as the colonel who fights for the accused soldiers and Timothy Carey as a trooper who simply does not wish to die. Needless to say, it contains more than one unforgettable scene.

All in all, it's a brilliant movie and well worth seeing if you haven't already, and probably worth seeing again if you have.
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Nice !

Imo this film would perfectly fit in the classic cinema topic, but alright, that's up to the poster him/herself.
It's indeed a fantastic war film, especially from the psychological point of view. The interesting thing is that the enemy is not seen in the entire film. Technically, I thought that this running scene (from the trenches) wasn't that realistic, but for the rest no complaints! *Hands down*.

I am very much into (older) warfilms, and this one is surely one of the most memorable!

It's one of the highest rated war films in the International Movie DataBase (currently a 5th position with a 8.6(!) grade), and also the one but highest rated Kubrick film.

@Natalie: it's not that all European countries are doing nothing for Africa. Often, African countries themselves don't want U.N. troops, or other countries like China block such initiatives. Apart from that, a lot of development work is going on there, and not the least from some European countries.
 
Meh, I'm still not impressed with Europe's part in Africa and I feel that much more could be done. Still, better something than nothing I suppose.
 
I agree, there should be more “continental deed-power”, esp. when we talk about militairy interference.

When it comes to development work, I’m less cynical.

Have you checked the amount of money / development work going into Africa?
Would you provide figures, budgets (any other arguments) to show that Europe is doing so bad? And why Europe and why not the continent where you are at the moment?
 
Recently watched was The Butterfly Effect (with Demi Moore's other half). What we have is a kid at the age of seven who has blackouts and these seem to occur when he has traumatic experiences. Then we see the same kid several years later as a teenager and still having blackouts. His mother, obviously concerned as his Father had similar problems, would take him to a specialist from the age of 7 to try to get to the bottom of the problem - but nothing seems to be medically wrong with him and it is put down to stress or a lack of a Father Figure (his own Father was sectioned). The solution was to get the kid to journal everything he does so that they may be able to get him to remember what he blacks out.

So we move on several more years and he is a College student where we find that the blackouts have stopped. In celebration he goes out and pulls. His date finds his journal and asks him to read it to her - so he does and is transposed to the time of the event he is reading about. He becomes that 7 year old and relives that experience - what he blacked out. After a few of these episodes, he soon realises that he can change that event by his own actions - but the impact of that change has an immediate effect and alters his current situation. Some trivial, some major. But a small change makes a drastic effect.
 
So it sounds like you like the movie Albie.  I did not see when it came out because it looked like airhead Hollywood with Mr. Demi Moore in it.
 
Recently saw Terminator 2. Enjoyable if only to see Arnie being all badass with his ridiculous Austrian accent. Ah yes and I rewatched Interview with the Vampire which was highly necessary as the last time I saw it was when I was 10 and didn't understand what the hell was going on 75% of the time. Highly recommend Interview with the Vampire, it has some great acting and some unforgettable characters (Kirsten Dunst as the most bloodthirsty imp ever spawned!).
 
Genghis Khan said:
So it sounds like you like the movie Albie.  I did not see when it came out because it looked like airhead Hollywood with Mr. Demi Moore in it.
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Oh no way, this was a legitimate decent film. Mr. Moore does have acting chops after all.
 
Onhell said:
Oh no way, this was a legitimate decent film. Mr. Moore does have acting chops after all.
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Glad you said that, it was a decent movie indeed.

@GK: I must admit, I had no idea who this guy was when I first watched the film and as such had no preconceptions about him - it was only when I watched it with my wife that she pointed out who he was! Teach me not to read Hello. :D

I have also been keenly watching a UK TV series called Primeval. What we have is these phenomenons called anomalies. And each anomaly is a doorway into a different time dimension. It could be either in the past or in the future but it always brings a creature from that time into our world, be it be a mammoth roaming the M25 motorway (as tonight's episode gave us) or the product of many centuries of human evolution. For a TV series, the effects are quite good and the creatures are enough to scare the kids (it is aimed at the family viewing, after all).
 
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