Slew of movie reviews...

[MinionZombie]

I've recently been on a mini-bender watching new flicks (or at least new to me), so I figured I'd share my thoughts:

Ocean's 12:

Generally cack, the style of the film has that effortless sense of cool, like the main characters, but beyond that the plot was daft flitting around all over the place getting in and out of trouble, the first (of the new breed) was better, just concentrate on one bank job thank you...also, many characters seemed to have piss all to do because Clooney and Pitt were hogging all the scenes.

Disturbia:

Was skeptical at first because I'd heard it was PG-13 and had been successful in America, so I figured teeny-bopping mug-fest, but actually it was really good. Even though it'd be nothing without "Rear Window", it's a smart new take on the themes without being a remake and brings it into our age. Parts were all well played, the lead in particular was convincing and his next door neighbour girlfriend person was smoking hot, yes please! :p:D Also quite funny in places, so over all a really enjoyable flick.

Dead Silence:

Again, I was skeptical - PG-13 horror about a doll...which isn't that an enticing summary to be honest, but I sat down and gave it a chance - as it was made by the guys behind SAW (Leigh Whannell and James Wan) - and I, again to my surprise, totally dug this flick. It's styled like a classic ghost story and feels like one of the classic horrors of the 1930s, just filmed today. It was genuinely creepy with a few moments that really dig give me the willies, and all from a PG-13...just goes to show that if you fashion a film to a particular rating to begin with, you're more likely to come up trumps ... unlike cutting down to a rating *cough* Die Hard 4 *cough* when the film comes out worse off as a result, fortunately though Dead Silence was enjoyable, creepy and felt smart, all down to it feeling - as I said before - very much like a Universal horror movie from the 1930s, just filmed today. :)

So 2 out of 3 ain't bad, for my next mini-bender will be:

The Host (should hopefully be fun)
Wild Hogs (expecting relative cack)
Black Snake Moan (expecting to see Christina Ricci getting shagged a lot) :lol:

[RustyHicks]

Thanks for the reviews.
Ocean's 12 wasn't that grand,
I prefer the first.
Think they're coming out
with Ocean's 13 next

[Tricky]

Have you watched flags of our fathers/letters from iwo jima yet?i watched flags last night & got quite into it,the flashbacks are a bit confusing but on the whole its a good film & touched the old heart strings a bit,especially how life turned out for Ira Hayes who was obviously suffering post traumatic stress.I think il watch letters either tonight or during the week,looking forward to seeing the battle from the japanese perspective :)
One of the problems i did find with flags was the use of actors who have been in numerous other war films,such as "buck compton" from band of brothers,barry pepper (sniper in saving private ryan,photographer in we were soldiers) & adam beach playing ira hayes (ben in windtalkers).Its not a bad thing as all are very good actors in my opinion,but you cant help thinking of them as the characters they played in the other films,especially barry peppers as your thinking "hang on werent you blown up in a bell tower in france,what you doing in the pacific?"
Ive been dredging the net for pictures of wrecks & bunkers all over the pacific islands today so its obviously sparked off an interest :)

[MinionZombie]

You know, I was really looking forward to Flags/Letters - WW2 flicks from both perspectives directed by Clint Eastwood ... yet I was sadly disappointed to be honest. I just didn't "feel" them, they felt removed, problematic, overlong, ponderous and such like...they weren't atrocious, but I didn't feel affected by them that much, I wasn't that interested throughout and eh...just wasn't feeling it in general to be honest. :(

[Tricky]

The best pacific war film ive seen has got to be the thin red line,it was slaughtered by critics when it was released & i didnt like it on the first viewing,but ive come to realise how great it is with repeated viewings & its really moving on so many levels :)

[EvilNed]

I liked Flags of our Fathers much more than I liked Letters from Iwo Jima. Why? Because Flags of our Fathers had a plot and characters. It was interesting following the characters. It was more about the political agenda surrounding the picture and the propaganda machine at work and what it did to people. Few real war footage in it.

Flags of Iwo Jima is the opposite. It's a standard warfilm. I've seen it dozens of times before, but under other titles. It's clichéd and standard, except molded around japanese soldiers. It's also much simplified, and could have jumped deeper into the mind of the Imperial officers, who are now either portrayed as noble, good to their men and serving their country's honour... OR portrayed as cruel, evil to their men and serving their country's honor.

I'm sorry, but if I'm gonna get an imperial or nazi officer portrayed as a good guy I want a little depth to him, like in Der Untergang.

As a matter of fact, if you want a kickass war film based on the Axis point-of-view I highly recommend Der Untergang. It's very different than Flags from Iwo Jima and is much much better in every way.

[Tricky]

Yeah ive seen der untergang a few times & it is a very good film,it humanises hitler but also shows how deluded & cruel he was.I like most war films really,if its based on an actual battle & the equipment,tactics & scenery are right then i enjoy it for the historical take rather than the artistic one :)

[MinionZombie]

Aye, "Thin Red Line" is a great film. I watched it recently, but didn't like it as much as I did the time before...probably because I was watching my 4:3 pan & scan f*cked up version, which just spoils the vision...but yes, it's a great film...is there a longer version with all the stars who got cut out, put back in?

It's quite a deep film, very artistic and spiritual...very different to Saving Private Ryan, which is visceral and blunt...just putting them next to each other because:

Initially I preferred Thin Red Line and was a bit opposed to SPR because it was so popular, then got into SPR in a big, bad way - especially helped by Band of Brothers (which is just phenomenally brilliant)...so my positions kinda switched...I think the story behind Thin Red Line is much deeper than SPR, easily...but in terms of capturing the visceral terror of war, SPR is in a league of it's own...depends which mood you're in really.

I preferred Flags over Letters, because aye the whole political angle of Flags was interesting, seeing how the propaganda of the situation affected everybody it came into contact with...meanwhile Letters was pretty basic, just that it was Japanese soldiers instead of Americans...

Speaking of that "other side of the war coin" thing, while we don't really see the Japanese from their POV in Thin Red Line, you do see the coin's other side when the Americans assault that camp and just storm through them like a hot knife through butter. The enemy are overwhelmed and the remnants are left shattered, resentful and terrified. I found that to speak far greater volumes than Letters from Iwo Jima.

[MikePizzoff]

Thanks for the reviews.
Ocean's 12 wasn't that grand,
I prefer the first.
Think they're coming out
with Ocean's 13 next

Ocean's 13 was released in the US in the beginning of June.