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Thought you might like it :D, hell, even if you like the films he makes fun of they're great. Can't wait for his take on The Dark Knight.
 
I saw "Journey to the Center of the Earth".  Not a bad flick, some good twists on the original.  The concept is that the book was based on a real life adventure, and a geologist, following in the path of his brother, accidentally stumbles into it.

Mostly for good fun, reality had to be suspended in most parts of the movie.  I wouldn't recommend it if you are looking for a 'deep, quality' flick, but for fun, not too bad.
 
HBO has a new miniseries, Generation Kill, which is based on an embedded journalist's account of the U.S. invasion of Iraq.  I highly recommend it.  There have been two episodes so far, and they have been excellent.  It is done by the folks who created and produced The Wire, about which I have written elsewhere and which I still think is the best television show I have ever seen.  Generation Kill (like The Wire) is very intelligent and well-written, tightly paced, and the combat sequence in the most recent episode was appropriately nerve-wracking.  The show does tend to paint officers, with a couple of exceptions, in an unduly bad light, which seems like a cheap shot.  A couple of Marine captains get especially bad treatment, to the point of being caricatures.  I would be interested in Deano's take on the show, if he has seen it, or anyone else who has recently served in the Iraq War or the military in general. 
 
Saw The Last Samurai on TV last night. Main actor Tom Cruise, so I was biased against it, but actually it's not half bad. I wouldn't go through the trouble of renting it though, if its on TV, watch it, if you have something better to do, do that. It's melodramatic and a little over the top unrealistic, but it has its moments (like the final battle).
 
:) you made me think of the mighty 'Ghost Dog -The way of the Samurai' -Jarmusch

the only common between these two films is the word 'samurai' though
it is an ultra poetic film, with an excellent soundtrack, and Forest Whitaker is just awesome to his role

a great movie -Jarmusch best after 'Dead Man'

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I'm just about through it, a movie on the Independent Film Channel, its called C.S.A., The Confederate States of America.  Its a 'documentary' on the history of the CSA after they won the Civil War in 1964.  Its a pretty interesting (and distrubing) story of how the country set out to control everything to the south of the CSA, all of Central and South America.  The Canadians are in a 'cold war' with the CSA, a wall erected between the CSA and CAnada.  The CSA didn't get into WWII, but was on 'friendly' terms with Hitler, and tried to get him to enslave the Jews, instead of killing them.  The CSA started a war with Japan, during that time, with a pre-emptive attack on Japan.  It's a pretty wild watch, to see how history was so different (Kennedy was a Republican, Nixon a Democrat--- Kennedy won, tried to free slaves and was still assassinated).
 
Just saw Batman: The Dark Knight last night. What with all the hype surrounding Heath Ledger's performance as Joker I haveto say that I wasn't as wowed by his performance as I might have been. Still, it was a good character portrayal, very creepy. The entire movie was something of a different superhero movie, with creepy parts, lots of dark, sinister bits, and plenty of insanity. I quite liked it, although it left more of a disturbing impression than a satisfying one. The only thing I didn't like were the amount of explosions and the length of the movie. Especially after the jail scene I felt like I was waiting for when the movie would reach its real climax and end. But go see it, its worth every cent.
 
I saw The Dark Knight tonight. All in all, I must say it was a great film that surpassed all my expectations. Far more entertaining than it's periodically rather dull predecessor, and easily the best comic book movie I've seen.

However, I still don't see the masterpiece the critics are raving about. Certain aspects were excellent, such as Heath Ledger's portrayal of the Joker which is nearly as good as the reviews would have you believe, but sometimes the story felt more like a ball in a pinball machine than anything. I understand that this was partly intentional, a way to make the film feel as chaotic as its villain, but there are other ways to manifest chaos than explosions. I'm afraid it reached the point where the climax lost a lot of its power due to the sheer excess of similar situations earlier in the film.

Still, it's a very enjoyable and worthwhile experience with a few unexpected twists to it, so I would recommend it if everyone wasn't going to see it anyway.
 
I thought the The Dark Knight was very good but not as good as The Prestige (for me one of the best 21st century films I've seen until now), which is from the same director and also with Christian Bale and Michael Caine.
 
Forostar said:
I thought the The Dark Knight was very good but not as good as The Prestige (for me one of the best 21st century films I've seen until now), which is from the same director and also with Christian Bale and Michael Caine.
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The Prestige was a fantastic film, to be sure, but the climax and final twist was a little disappointing, particularly when you consider that up until the final revelation, it had been entirely believable.  That said, the pretty non-linear storyline and play-off between Jackman and Bale's characters was fantastically well done.  Despite the plot giving me a headache.  'Now is this in the present, the past, the distant past, or somewhere in between...?'
 
Forostar said:
I thought the The Dark Knight was very good but not as good as The Prestige (for me one of the best 21st century films I've seen until now), which is from the same director and also with Christian Bale and Michael Caine.
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I don't think you can compare the too as they fall under different genres, they are both good films, but that's as far as I'll go.
 
I strongly disagree 200%. Everyone his own opinion but I think that films can always be compared, especially when

-they are from the same maker
-the films were made in a row
-both films contain "unbelievable" moments/elements
-both were very dark films and, as I pointed out,
-both even had some of the same main actors
-both films do have some important genres in common, according to the imdb:

The Prestige is categorized as:
Drama | Fantasy | Mystery | Sci-Fi | Thriller

The Dark Knight is categorized as:
Action | Crime | Drama | Mystery | Thriller

Personally I think The Dark Knight can also be seen as fantasy and Sci-Fi.

Why do I like The Prestige better?
I really like unexpected twists in films (that's why I like stuff like e.g. The Twilight Zone). Some things in The Dark Knight were kind of predictable. In the end I think that the acting but especially the storyline in The Prestige was better and way more original. I was really on the edge of my seat. I also recommend everyone to see The Prestige a second time (or more), because it's really a different experience.

Director Christopher Nolan himself said:

Well, any time you make a film that comes advertised as having a big twist, you know people are going to be looking for it. It's very easy to put a twist in a film that nobody will see coming. What's harder — and much more important — is to have a twist that almost isn't a twist. That is to say, if you see the film a second time, you spend the whole time going, ''Of course! They were trying to tell me this all along!''
 
Note the first and in my opinion MAIN genres are  Action and Drama for each film respectively... Batman: Action, Prestige Drama. That they overlap in others is of no matter. two, one is about magic the other about some make believe city with an incredibly high crime rate and it's vigilanty "hero"... again, can't compare them. sorry. Sam Raimi Directed the Evil Dead movies and the Spiderman movies, can you compare those even though all films contain Bruce Campbell? I think not.
 
Onhell said:
Note the first and in my opinion MAIN genres are  Action and Drama for each film respectively... Batman: Action, Prestige Drama. That they overlap in others is of no matter.
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Those genres are listed alphabetically. Both films are mysterious thrillers with fantasy and sci-fi elements. Batman has more action and more criminal scenes of course. But does this make me stop comparing? I can always compare films, at least it's possible to say which I like better.

Onhell said:
two, one is about magic the other about some make believe city with an incredibly high crime rate and it's vigilanty "hero"... again, can't compare them. sorry.
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You just did.

Onhell said:
Sam Raimi Directed the Evil Dead movies and the Spiderman movies, can you compare those even though all films contain Bruce Campbell? I think not.
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I haven't seen them so I can't comment on those films. But again: No need to be spastic. Comparing is no rocket science.
 
Like The Dark Knight, I found The Prestige to be good but uneven. I disliked the way they brought "real" magic into it towards the end, as the best part of the film so far had been the feeling that all the events had a natural explanation, but you didn't know what. I actually felt a bit cheated by the ending; I like a good SF story, but please tell me about it beforehand. So if I had to choose between the two magician films of 2006, I'd almost be inclined to go for The Illusionist.

Now, if you want to see a truly brilliant 21st century film, go see Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. You'll find more than one surprising twist in that one.
 
Since I recently recommended this film to Wasted155, I'll continue in spoilers.

Shadow said:
Like The Dark Knight, I found The Prestige to be good but uneven. I disliked the way they brought "real" magic into it towards the end, as the best part of the film so far had been the feeling that all the events had a natural explanation, but you didn't know what. I actually felt a bit cheated by the ending; I like a good SF story, but please tell me about it beforehand.
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I've noticed that some some people don't like to be surprised. On the otherhand, I do not like to know too much of a story beforehand, unless the content really interests me (e.g. Soldaat van Oranje) or when I just happen to know the book years before the film came out (e.g. LOTR).

I had no problem with the real magic. Earlier in the film it was neatly introduced by Tesla, greatly portraited by David Bowie. It thought that it was interesting that the Bale character actually beat the real magic by using a "simple" trick. To follow this trick while watching the film for the second time is quite cool.

I admit that I hoped that the other character would win this competition, so I felt really sorry for him.

Shadow said:
So if I had to choose between the two magician films of 2006, I'd almost be inclined to go for The Illusionist.
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I liked that one as well, but the competition element in The Prestige I found more exciting. The obsessive eagerness of those characters, trying to find out each others tricks.

Shadow said:
Now, if you want to see a truly brilliant 21st century film, go see Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. You'll find more than one surprising twist in that one.
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I have seen it. Good indeed! Very dramatic, but not really my type of film to rate it as my favourite.
 
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