What was the last movie you've seen?

[Hobie-wan]

Just got back from a quote-along showing of Holy Grail at Alamo Draft House. I also now have some hollow coconut halves. Obviously I've seen this film many times in theaters along the way an down the DVD, but it was still fun.

Apparently they're showing quote-along Princess Bride next weekend. I'm going to try to hit that as well.

[BoringSupreez]

Just got back from a quote-along showing of Holy Grail at Alamo Draft House. I also now have some hollow coconut halves. Obviously I've seen this film many times in theaters along the way an down the DVD, but it was still fun.

Apparently they're showing quote-along Princess Bride next weekend. I'm going to try to hit that as well.

What's a quote-along?

[Limewater]

Kind of a double standard isn't it? 300 got good reviews and Sucker Punch didn't? I liked 300, but like you implied it really had no substance. I think sometimes that 300 simply managed to ride on the success of Sin City, which actually did have SOME substance.

I don't think that it's a double standard so much as Sucker Punch was just an inferior film.


<spoiler alert>



Sucker Punch: I'm including a spoiler alert, even though I'm probably not including too many spoilers. I went into SuckerPunch with an open mind. I actually saw it with my wife early in its release. A few things really killed the film for me, though.

1. And this is the most minor-- It was too darn loud during action scenes. This may just be the fault of the theater, but the aural assault didn't make me enjoy the action scenes more. It made me hope they would be over soon. I had a headache for hours after coming out of the theater. If I had been warned, I would have brought earplugs.

2. Action sequences without consequences are boring. The action scenes by themselves were fine. Other than the sound, they did not bother me. I probably could have enjoyed them except for one major problem. Zack Snyder seems to have gone out of his way, through two layers of abstraction, to eliminate any sense that what's going on during the battles matters at all. It doesn't take a whole lot to make an battle scene enjoyable. You just need a character to cheer for, a reason to want him or her to succeed, and a reason to not like the bad guys. Sure, we have a main character to cheer for, and enough back story to empathize with her, but there is no sense until the very end of the film that these battle scenes have any kind of consequences, and the enemies they face are generic with no "in world" analogs with what's supposed to really be going on in the movie.

By abstracting the film once from the in-film reality (going from an asylum to some sort of nightclub) and then once more (each of what's-her-name's dances being displayed as a battle), there's no sense that anything at all is at stake. So what if she doesn't defeat the samurai robot things? Does it matter? It's only the final battle sequence where they finally show that the battle hallucinations have any bearing at all in relation to what's really going on, and then it only ever ties back to imaginary night-club world.

Again, a battle sequence without consequences is boring. If he wanted them to have some bearing on the plot, he should have established that earlier.

3. Characters. He should have included more than, like, two. The first ten minutes of the film were fine. The last ten minutes were also not too bad. In the middle, we have crap like Vanessa Hudgens showing up, standing around, and then going, "I'm going to betray you now." Terriffic! At least in 300, they establish why Ephialtes turns on the Spartans.

There are other reasons, but I'm out of time. A few changes and this could have been a fun, watchable film.

[Hobie-wan]

Just got back from a quote-along showing of Holy Grail at Alamo Draft House.

What's a quote-along?

During key scenes there were karaoke style color changing subtitles for everyone to say the dialog along with the movie. Of course true fans didn't need that nonsense. They also handed out coconut husks for people to clop along with the horse noises. I was waiting for friends (who mostly didn't show up) so I missed out on getting some of those for the movie. I did grab some on the way out though. They also handed otu some little inflatable swords for everyone to go nuts during the Lancelot swamp castle scene. That turned out to be a bit subdued though as Alamo is a food/movie theater.

I'm trying to figure out what they could do for props for Princess Bride. Though maybe renting the film for the showing is more expensive than MPHG so it will just be quote-along.

[G-Darius]

This week i have watched Unstoppable and The Road on dvd,the latter was interesting although it made me uncomfortable with the cannibalism lol.

[Ack]

Witchfinder General - I've been wanting to watch this one for a while now, as I'd been told it was one of Vincent Price's best roles. What I got was a revenge story centered around Vincent Price as Matthew Hopkins, the "Witchfinder General." In the film he accuses, interrogates, and executes those accused of witchcraft for pay with the help of his much-hated torturer companion John Stearne. Plus, Price played the role seriously, giving Hopkins a sadistic and selfish edge that really sets the film.

Near the beginning of the film Hopkins is sent to discover if priest John Lowes is a witch. His niece, Sara, offers herself up to him in exchange for letting Lowes live, which Hopkins eagerly accepts. Later Stearne forces his way on Sara, and upon discovery, Hopkins orders the torture and execution of Lowes. But Sara's husband-to-be, Richard Marshall, swears revenge on Hopkins and Stearne. The rest of the film involves further torture, brutalization, and murder (with a particularly vivid burning-at-the-stake scene). The film ends as it begins, with a woman screaming bloody murder, as both Richard and Sara seem to have gone mad.

If you're a fan of 1960s horror, Vincent Price, or torture films, this is definitely one worth watching. I thought it was quite good.

[Sideroller]

Yojimbo - Directed by Akira Kurosawa which some of you may be familiar with. A FANTASTIC film. Although it was made in the mid-fifties it is still a fairly humorous film and still very kick-ass. Yojimbo tells the story of a wandering samurai who comes to a gritty town run by two rival gangs. He plays a sort of double agent for both sides because he is so strong - both gangs want him, and in the process he fights to save the town and it's oppressed inhabitants. Toshiro Mifune plays the samurai and does an excellent performance. If you've never seen a Kurosawa film this would be a good place to start. It's not too long and is not as melodramatic as most of his other works. The cherry on top of this masterpiece is the interesting cast of characters. Kurosawa actually based this film off of American Westerns and in turn A Fistfull of Dollars (starring Clint Eastwood) was inspired by it!

Bottom line: see this film! It's isn't non-stop action through-out but it will keep you intrigued as the plot moves forward quite quickly and is full of twists and turns.

[YoshiEgg25]

2011 Movies:

Blades of Glory
The Darjeeling Limited
Robin Hood: Men in Tights
Scream 4 *NEW*

Please, no one see this movie. Forcing humor into a shitty hack and slash equals utter shit.

[Sideroller]

Don't you mean SCRE4M??

I only know one person who liked that movie. Everyone else said it was just a bunch of horror movie references referencing each other.

[YoshiEgg25]

Don't you mean SCRE4M??

I only know one person who liked that movie. Everyone else said it was just a bunch of horror movie references referencing each other.

My friend who wanted to go liked it. I and another friend thought it was shit.

And yeah, it was like they were parodying their own series while trying to change it. Problem was that they did a shitty job at it.