[ComicGuy89]

Watched a few movies recently. Star Trek II, III, IV, VI and the Harry Potter series. Love them to bits.

[Dr Kain]

M - It started out really slow for me but then the last hour just flew buy really quickly. I loved the search for the killer that was done by the Crime Syndicates and then the entire trial. That was just pure irony and it was great. The only real issue I have with the movie is that it just stops without any warning. One of the mothers is talking, finishes her sentence, and then the movie just goes back to the disc menu without any warning. That kind of soured the immersion of the movie as it was like, "Wait, what? Did my disc just glitch?" Overall, I give it a 7/10 stars.

Well, that is it, no more Film Noir movies in my collection to watch at the moment. :-(

A New Hope - This movie does a great job of setting up the Star Wars universe as we are shown to a lot of great and interesting looking creatures throughout the movies. It is just amazing at how there is such diversity shown in a galaxy from just one bar scene. The characters are well done and they do a great job of building up the movie's conflict before the main character is even introduced to the plot. Luke is a likable character who is young and shows his faults while the rest of the crew is also interesting and well rounded characters. Plus this movie introduces Darth Vader, who is one of the most badass villains in cinema history. The movie is not perfect though as some of the dialog comes off wooden and the fight between Obiwan and Vader leaves a bit to be desired. Nevertheless, the plot is good and the movie builds up its own mythology within the universe and leaves the viewer in suspense of what this universe entails. Overall, I give ANH a 9/10 stars.

Jaws - There is nothing else to add about this movie that hasn't already been said in the past. Plus, it was nice to watch a good shark movie before I get dragged into watching Sharknado 2. -_- Overall, I give this movie a 9/10.

[Dr Kain]

The Empire Strike Back - One of the greatest movies ever made. Easily 10/10 stars.

BTW, I forgot to mention this yesterday when I watched ANH but I just noticed for the first time that when the ST's are entering the room where C3PO and R2 are in, one of them bangs his head on the door. lol

Return of the Jedi - A really good, albeit flawed, finale to the Star Wars saga. I do feel the movie should have had Wookies in it instead of teddy bears, but the ending makes it all well worth it. I give this movie an 8/10 stars.

[thunderstrike541]

And now, I am preparing myself for quite possibly my biggest marathon ever, which will probably last me a month or two. Here is my second go at a Disney Marathon.

This marathon will consist of:

EVERY Disney movie that I own (79 movies in all unless I happen to get Frozen sometime in the near future)

3 Disney flicks on Netflix (Atlantis, Lilo & Stitch 2, and Brother Bear)

Power Rangers Wild Force - Power Rangers RPM (I am skipping MMPR2010)

The first three Bionicle movies

Pearl Harbor (Touchstone Pictures was owned by Disney for a time..... Gotta love technicalities >_<)

Guardians of the Galaxy

and Iron Man 3, Thor 2, and Captain America 2.

If I lose my sanity..... well..... let's just hope that doesn't happen.

[thunderstrike541]

Day 1:

Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937):



Disney's first full length animated movie, Snow White, is pretty enjoyable. It has pretty memorable songs such as High Ho and Whistle While You Work. It is a timeless classic that can be enjoyed by all ages. Some of my favorite scenes involved the witch, and I'll have to admit, I was kinda terrified during the Queen's transformation sequence. I mean... look at it!

Also: Snow, you can't just marry a man you just met! All joking aside, this movie is a must see.
I give this movie a 7.5 out of 10.

Pinocchio (1940):



Ah, Pinocchio. Origin of the famous song, "When You Wish Upon A Star". Another one of Disney's timeless classics....


Did Disney enjoy scaring the sh*t out of little kids back then?!?! In Snow White, we had the forest scene and the Queen's transformation, and now we have, well, feast your eyes:

Anyways, like Snow White, there are quite a few memorable songs in Pinocchio, such as When You Wish Upon A Star, My Little Wooden Boy, and I've Got No Strings. Again this movie is a must see (unless you get scared of well..... See the YouTube videos above).
I give this movie a 7 out of 10

Tune in tomorrow when I review Fantasia, Dumbo, Bambi, and *cringes* The Three Caballeros.

[XW1n5t0nX]

Just finished The Stepfather and my lord was it a phenomenal movie. It got me to jump inside my skin twice, had a great suspense to it, Terry O' Quinn was great, and it was a great character study. Just another great movie to add to the list.

Hell this year as a whole I've seen arguably great movie after movie after movie.

[Dr Kain]

I absolutely hated The Stepfather. It was just terrible. The acting was extremely poor. The characters were stupid. THe worst part was, the movie had absolutely no suspense because you already knew he was really going to kill them.

[thunderstrike541]

Day 2, Part 1:

Fantasia (1940):



Fantasia is Walt Disney's third animated feature film. It consists of seven musical segments: Tocccata And Fugue In D Minor, The Nutcracker Suite, The Sorcerer's Apprentice, Rite of Spring, The Pastoral Symphony, Dance of the Hours, and Night On Bald Mountain. Each of these segments had a piece of classical music to go with them. Personally my favorite segments were The Sorcerer's Apprentice (Mickey's first ever appearance in a Disney Animated Feature) and Night On Bald Mountain (the debut of Chernabog).

There isn't really much else to say.....
I give this movie a 7.25 out of 10

Dumbo (1941):



Dumbo is one of Walt Disney's many masterpieces. It, like Snow White and Pinocchio before it, has many memorable songs, such as Pink Elephants on Parade, Baby Mine, and When I See An Elephant Fly. Unlike the three movies before it (Snow White, Pinocchio, and Fantasia), Dumbo doesn't seem to have any terrifying scenes. The closest scene to that would be the Pink Elephant Scene.



This Thing. The original Megazord.

This movie is about an elephant. With big ears. That can fly. Because..... DISNEY!!! The elephant befriends a mouse after his mother is locked in a cage after trying to protect him from a rude kid. After a failed circus stunt, Dumbo becomes a clown, gets drunk, and learns how to fly with some crows.

While Dumbo is a classic, it is really short, with a total of 64 minutes.
I give this movie a rating of 6.75

To be continued.....

[Locke]

Just rewatched The Conjuring on Bluray.

Based loosely on real life Ed and Lorraine Warren - and one of their cases - the Conjuring envisions them as basically a superhero duo seemingly more inspired by the urban fantasy genre of the likes of Harry Dresden and John Constantine than anything else. Lorraine literally has superhuman abilities the movie never once questions and while Ed has no real powers of his own he's learnt ways of battling demons through human techniques and science, including most importantly, the art of exorcism. Having characters who are basically always in control, and have methods of seizing control again once it slips away from them, really forces Wan to do some interesting things with his film to stop us getting too comfortable. It seems we spend so much of the horror genre following characters running away (and never in the right direction!) it's nice to watch a film like The Conjuring where they take a stand at the start, and don't wait for all the ethnic minorities and hot girls in the cast to die first.

The only real issue I have with how The Conjuring is written is sequels. It's pretty clear, early on, that what the producers really wanted here was a franchise and honestly I'd be perfectly happy for one. BUT... The movie skims over a lot, and also requires lots of logic leaps too, seemingly worried it may end up burning through material that could be used for later films. It doesn't really get in the way of the experience overall but it's only when the film finishes that you realise how dumb or confusing so much of the film is despite a very simple narrative on paper. The film pretends to have a rich mythology, and hints at the complexity of it all, but never actually fills in the details - or never really in any meaningful way at least. Despite this, a lot of the crucial moments of the film require us to have an understanding and belief in the universe of The Conjuring, yet the movie never puts in the effort for us to have that kind of faith in our understanding of the inner workings.

Once the scares begin though, Wan never takes his foot off the accelerator, it's the kind of film where the moment moment you decide to relax is a decision you're swiftly punished for. Honestly the scares come so unrelentingly it should probably be boring but it spends a lot of time setting the scene, and the atmosphere, making good use of ambient and natural sounds and lighting. Subtly changing the atmosphere in the room can have a big effect when a director like Wan is behind the camera.

The Conjuring is not without set piece moments, either, but it's a film that tries to scare you from the inside out - basically forcing you to scare yourself - rather than just trying to shock you or make you jump by banging pots and pans. The all out bombast of the Insidious films is wonderful but it never really worked all that well so thankfully when this film comes down to a battle for Carolyn's soul, it's a downplayed, personal and emotional affair that requires us to care about the characters, with the performances to back it up, in a way rarely seen in modern horror. The almost throwaway moment where the possessed Carolyn looks at April, and April looks back... just all the stuff that dances through April's face...just WOW.

Most crucially though is the Conjuring's ability to understand what the audience is already scared of, what they have always been scared of and always will be. Those strange bangs and creaks in the middle of the night - it's just the house settling...right? That shadow in the corner of the room, it's just the moonlight hitting the table...right? That isn't a person standing in the window, right...it's just a trick of the light...right? That door didn't close on its own, it's just a draft...right? It even taps into our childhood fears, like the concept of the monster in the wardrobe or under the bed. Why is the unknown so terrifying to us?

[Dr Kain]

The Conjuring was not pretty decent, but it lost me when they started to go into the whole exorcism crap. I hate exorcism movies because the actors try to take them way too seriously and it just comes off laughable. I do not know why, but I can accept grown ups who wear spandex and fight evil but I cannot accept stupid demonic possessions where they need to get some priest in to perform the ritual at all.