Ricky1985 wrote:

To be honest, Burn, I've avoided quite a few of them, and only seen the ones I thought would be worth watching. Analyse This/That, Meet the Parents 1/2/3, I thought were quite good. You couldn't pay me enough to watch Stardust, I avoided What just Happened? And one or two others, too. So maybe I'm a little ignorant to how bad some of these films are?

Yes ... erm, wait. Is this some kind of evil genius trap?

No answering for taste is what it comes down to I guess. But I seriously dislike Billy Crystal, so Analyse This/That were non starters.

It's a bit like I was saying about von Sydow - he's so great in the early 60s Bergman films I've been watching lately that you want to believe that he, Max von Sydow the actor, has some special insight into the human condition. And then he shows up in Solomon Kane and The Wolfman.

Captain wrote:

I quite liked Stardust. Guilty pleasure?

asajoseph wrote:

Yeah, I thought Stardust was pretty decent too.

Me too actually, well, I enjoyed it aside from the sky pirate bit. I was going to say that I enjoyed it up until the sky pirate bit, but the end isn't too bad either, the fight scene where Andrew Strong is a zombie puppet is highly enjoyable.

Klaus wrote:

I just watched Mega Shark vs Crocosaurus. It was pretty awful. Some of the hype from trusted sources led me to believe that it was going to be similar to Sharktopus or perhaps even Frankenfish (which is almost as amazing as its title suggests) in quality. It wasn't, though. It was a very poor film. It wasn't even as good as its prequel, Mega Shark vs Giant Octopus.

Would you say its as good as Piranha 3D?

Burnwinter wrote:

Yes ... erm, wait. Is this some kind of evil genius trap?

I just realised there are a few more than I thought when you started listing them, and that I had sub-consciously avoided the ones I thought would be crap.

Me too actually, well, I enjoyed it aside from the sky pirate bit. I was going to say that I enjoyed it up until the sky pirate bit, but the end isn't too bad either, the fight scene where Andrew Strong is a zombie puppet is highly enjoyable.

Mark. We've done this before.

Biggus wrote:

Klaus wrote:

I just watched Mega Shark vs Crocosaurus. It was pretty awful. Some of the hype from trusted sources led me to believe that it was going to be similar to Sharktopus or perhaps even Frankenfish (which is almost as amazing as its title suggests) in quality. It wasn't, though. It was a very poor film. It wasn't even as good as its prequel, Mega Shark vs Giant Octopus.

Would you say its as good as Piranha 3D?

Hah, no. Piranha was much better (I didn't watch it in 3D though). Didn't care for it that much either though.

I just read that Michele Soavi is working on a sequel to Dellamorte Dellamore: http://twitchfilm.com/news/2011/01/michele-soavi-preparing-cemetary-man-sequel-katakomb-klub-dead.php

Great, great news. In my opinion Dellamorte Dellamore is the second best zombie film that has been made in the last twenty years. Easily Everett's best role ever. I'm not sure how a sequel with the same characters could possibly work though, considering the way the first film ended. Still, if they manage to pull off the same kind of atmosphere it's going to be great.

Last B-movie(ish) monster film that I enjoyed was The Host.

Saw 127 Hours, absolutely loved it. The scene everyone is waiting for is every bit as stomach turning as you'd think. James Franco is very, very good. Just a very good film.

Also saw "The Ward" - absolutely terrible film, awful, but fuck me Amber Heard is stunning!

Mega Shark vs Crocosaurus, Sharktopus.....I thought you were joking Klaus.
Am I the only one who's never heard of any of them before? Sounds like they could be fun.

The only monster creature film I've seen in the last 10 years or so was Anaconda, the one about the giant psychotic snake.
It was awful but the final ten minutes were ridiculously funny.

Never heard of them either. Not my kind of thing, find them just so boring, bordering on comical.

Captain: Have you seen Frankenfish? The setting is interesting in that one. It takes place out in a swamp where a shoal of mutated fish is staging an attack on a small community of rednecks. Pretty solid production all around with lots of entertainment. The CGI is a bit meh but it's the only film I've ever seen where a house shoots a girl in the face.

y va: Didn't care much for Anaconda. Anaconda 2 was pretty good, though. I think the extended title was "The Hunt for the Blood Orchid" or something like that. A group of research scientists try to track down this rare type of flower in Amazonas but along the way they stumble on a bunch of huge snakes that are hellbent on fucking up their plans.

I think that's what I found so funny about Anaconda, the idea that a gigantic snake would be hanging out and hunting down people just for the hell of it.
I like the idea if a whole gang of them doing so
Might take a look at Anaconda 2 then.

Captain wrote:

Last B-movie(ish) monster film that I enjoyed was The Host.

ahh, i saw that.. decent for what it was (really, a b-movie) but not much more than that

Just watched The Damned United. Although it was completely different in tone to the more hallucinatory book, ie funny, I thoroughly enjoyed it. Solid 7-8/10 for me. Michael Sheen put in a cracking performance.

Klaus wrote:

Captain: Have you seen Frankenfish? The setting is interesting in that one. It takes place out in a swamp where a shoal of mutated fish is staging an attack on a small community of rednecks. Pretty solid production all around with lots of entertainment. The CGI is a bit meh but it's the only film I've ever seen where a house shoots a girl in the face.

Haven't seen it but will give it a try, thanks.

Ricky1985 wrote:

Burnwinter wrote:

Me too actually, well, I enjoyed it aside from the sky pirate bit. I was going to say that I enjoyed it up until the sky pirate bit, but the end isn't too bad either, the fight scene where Andrew Strong is a zombie puppet is highly enjoyable.

Mark. We've done this before.

Just as I reopened this thread I thought to myself "oh shi ... I called him Andrew again, what will young Ricky ever think?"

RtC: Rather enjoyed the Damned United, especially Sheen's self-involved nasal Clough-whine.

No problem Burnsummer.

Haha, that's crazy.

I thought Blue Valentine was a great bit of realist cinema.

i thought it was mundane and the characters (especially Williams) were annoying and unsympathetic, much like I felt when i watched Rev. Road

i guess watching "realistic" movies about loveless and failing relationships just arent my thing.. i dont find them enjoyable or even interesting

Just seen that film about the bloke who cuts his own arm off.

Painful.

USArsenal wrote:

i thought it was mundane and the characters (especially Williams) were annoying and unsympathetic, much like I felt when i watched Rev. Road

i guess watching "realistic" movies about loveless and failing relationships just arent my thing.. i dont find them enjoyable or even interesting

Each to their own I guess.

I haven't seen Revolutionary Road, but I've done the failing relationship thing, and Blue Valentine looked a bit like it. Also thought it was good to see a film about characters who were actually from the working class - I'm a bit over UMC navel-gazing. The performances from Gosling and Williams were superb.

Watched the Fighter last night. Pretty good, can see it picking up a gong or two at the Oscars.

I don't think any one film's going to clean up this year - Inception and the Kings Speech probably my two favorites from the nominations this year, but looking forward to True Grit as well.

Funny. I saw The Fighter over the weekend - thought it was absolute shit. I kept waiting for something, anything unpredictable to happen. I thought Micky would actually lose his title fight etc. etc. No dice. It was uninteresting and unconvincing, and yes Christian Bale lost weight again, but what the fuck for?

Winter's Bone I also saw - and it was an excellent film. It's about ten times as good as The Fighter (only opinion of course). Unusual film.

Saw the King's Speech on Saturday and thought it was excellent.

Great scene from King's Speech:

Burnwinter wrote:

Funny. I saw The Fighter over the weekend - thought it was absolute shit. I kept waiting for something, anything unpredictable to happen. I thought Micky would actually lose his title fight etc. etc. No dice. It was uninteresting and unconvincing, and yes Christian Bale lost weight again, but what the fuck for?

Winter's Bone I also saw - and it was an excellent film. It's about ten times as good as The Fighter (only opinion of course). Unusual film.

Yeah, the formula was pretty generic really, none of it felt all that new. Felt very similar to 127 hours, in that sense, certainly nothing happened in either film that I wasn't expecting, apart from Amy Adams in see-through underwear. That's worth an Oscar, for sure.

Felt the characters were stronger in the Fighter though - good candidates for best supporting actor / actress, which I think is a far stronger category than the Leading Role category this year.

Yeah, it was real workaday Oscar fodder. But it felt like it, from Bale's emaciated frame (uglification equals nomination) to Marky Mark's role which was practically identical to his part in Invincible, right down to the ploddingly rehearsed regional US accent.

The acting wasn't bad I just couldn't see the point. And just to show you how cranky I am, I'm going to claim Amy Adams is nothing special.

Burnwinter wrote:

And just to show you how cranky I am, I'm going to claim Amy Adams is nothing special.

Too far, Burns. Too far.

invisibleman18 wrote:

Saw the King's Speech on Saturday and thought it was excellent.

Me too.

Also looking forward to True Grit, Asa.

Ricky1985 wrote:

Burnwinter wrote:

And just to show you how cranky I am, I'm going to claim Amy Adams is nothing special.

Too far, Burns. Too far.

All I can say is, I prefer Veronicas to Gidgets.

Ricky1985 wrote:

Saw 127 Hours, absolutely loved it. The scene everyone is waiting for is every bit as stomach turning as you'd think. James Franco is very, very good. Just a very good film.

Just saw it myself and I concur. It's a classy film. The various vision / flashback / whatever sequences are quite good as well as the brilliant main thread.

There is something quintessentially Danny Boyle about the film as well. I lack the vocabulary or the brain to describe it though, but it's identifiably by the same director as Trainspotting, The Beach, 28 Days Later, Slumdog Millionaire etc. etc. Might be the way Franco is photographed.

of all the nominated films, I would put them in the following order (my preference only)

-The King's Speech
-The Social Network (very close second, i would not be upset if this won)
-127 Hours (close third)
-The Fighter (distant fourth)
-Inception (distant fifth)
-Black Swan (distant sixth)
-Winter's Bone (very distant seventh)

Havent seen the following yet (but will watch everything except Toy Story before the Oscars)
-The Kids Are All Right
-Toy Story 3
-True Grit

Yet to see The King's Speech. Out of the rest of the nominees this would be my ordering:

Winter's Bone
Black Swan
127 Hours
Inception
The Social Network
The Fighter

I reckon The Kids Are All Right is a very decent family comedy, True Grit is excellent.

That list looks good, Burnsy. Especially the first two choices. I'd have True Grit third. I'd put The Social Network ahead of Inception too. Haven't seen The Fighter yet though.

127 Hours is a firm last in my list, of those I've seen.

I'd probably have it in this order:

Inception
The Kings Speech
Toy Story 3
The Social Network
The Fighter
127 Hours

None of them are bad films, mind.

I'm a massive Coen Brothers / Jeff Bridges fan, so I can see True Grit jumping to the top of that list, if it meets expectation. The Johnny Cash trailer alone is almost Oscar-worthy.

Does anyone remember a film from either the early nineties or late eighties called "Arena"? And if you do, do you have any idea of where I could get hold of it (download or retail is fine)?