Getting caught up.
War Of The Arrows - This Korean movie played in limited theatrical release out here that for some reason included La Habra. So that's where I went and saw it. Basically, the Koreans get invaded by Manchurians and they kidnap this dude's sister and he has to try and save her with nothing but a bow and a few arrows. And he does. The action was done really, really well and other than one ridiculous, stupid scene involving a tiger I really enjoyed this movie. Really tense and well done. If you're into archery at all, this movie is for you. I don't know what the plans for DVD release out here are, but this one is recommended.
The Woman - Oof. This movie was pretty ****ed up. A man finds a "wild" woman out in the woods and decides to capture her and teach her how to be "civilized". Teaching, of course, by torturing, raping, etc. Oh, and his family is forced to help/watch, too. It wasn't quite as good (or shocking) as I'd expected, but I still enjoyed it (as much as one can enjoy a movie like this) and the climax was definitely worth the wait. If you've got the stomach for it, I recommend it.
Paranormal Activity 3 - It's no secret that I'm a fan of this series, and whether or not you like this installment is going to depend heavily on how you felt about the previous ones, but I loved it. It's full of the jump scares that I normally think are kind of cheap, but the way they're done here makes it fun. Of course, the plot is ridiculous, but if you can get past that it's a ton of fun. It's also the first movie that I can remember that actually startled me, to the point where I raised my arm in front of my face to defend myself from what my brain thought was impending doom. Will buy.
Puss In Boots - I was never that big on the Shrek movies. The first two were ok. Never saw the third one. This spinoff, though, is better than the two I have seen combined. It's really funny and almost made me wish I had a kid I could take to see it. Will likely own on Blu at some point after its release.
The Rum Diary - I mentioned this in the Depp thread, but this movie was ok. Not as good as it should have been, but not bad. Mostly worth the watch for Depp's acting, Amber Heard's hotness and Giovanni Ribisi's turn as a burned out reporter who drinks too much and likes to listen to Hitler speeches on vinyl. There are a few really funny parts and enough of Hunter S Thompson's wit to keep it entertaining and watchable, but it doesn't really go anywhere. You kind of wish they would have gone off book a little bit with it and given it a real ending.
The Last Exorcism - This was also talked about in the horror thread. A decent little flick, though the ending left me somewhat unsatisfied. Creepy, with some excellent performances. Absolutely worth a watch if you're a horror fan, but maybe not a buy.
Ong Bak 3 - Oh, Tony Jaa. Why'd you have to go crazy? The first Ong Bak movie is a ****in' blast with some of the best stunt work and fight scenes I've seen in the last decade. The second one was a mess, but still had it's moments. This one, though... Jaa left in the middle of filming because he's wacko, but was talked into coming back and finishing it. I'm going to assume that had something to do with why this movie is a complete pile of **** and a waste of time. And I'm going to hang on to my hope that whatever he does next will be worth watching again. Because this guy is the most exciting action star in the world when he's on his game. So, avoid this movie at all costs. Watch the first one and then The Protector and you'll be fine.
Hot Tub Time Machine - Fun, but nothing special.
In The Mouth Of Madness - My quest to make it through John Carpenter's entire catalog has been slowly inching closer to becoming finished and finding this out of print DVD on sale used at a Blockbuster made me very, very happy. This flick is ****in' weird. Sam Neil plays an insurance investigator looking for a missing writer whose books have been, literally, driving people crazy. And crazy **** happens. I liked it a lot. I like Sam Neil a lot. He should do more work. After having seen him in this and Possession, I would really like to see that one Omen movie he did because he does these kind of flicks real well, it seems.
Picnic At Hanging Rock - Goddamn this movie. Based on a true story about some Australian school girls who disappeared in the mountains on a school trip, many of who were never found. There are some really awesome bits and pieces to this movie where the sound and the atmosphere really ramp up and you think something creepy and awesome is going to happen... BUT. IT. NEVER. DOES. I knew going in that the girls were never going to be found, and once they disappear and the people have been searching for a while, the movie just starts to feel completely pointless. I don't know. I've watched and enjoyed plenty of pointless movies, but for some reason this one just annoyed me. The cinematography was really nice, and I feel like I
should have liked it more than I did, but I didn't. Maybe someday I'll give it another try. Maybe.
Quintet - So I'm scrolling through the movie channels and I see an old Robert Altman film starring Paul Newman about a post-apocalyptic world where ice covers the planet and everyone lives underground. Ok, sounds interesting. Reviews seemed to be mixed, with some people saying it's a horrible piece of **** and others thinking it's brilliant. And for about... 90 of the 95 minute runtime I was mostly in agreement that it wasn't very good. See, everyone in this world is addicted to this dice game called Quintet, which Altman apparently made into a real game with rules and ****. But the rules of the game are never really defined in the movie, beyond occasional things. And for the vast majority of the running time, I felt confused about what the **** was going on in the movie. Why are people killing other people or fighting? It was never explained. Then, in the last five or ten minutes stuff happens and a lot of it made sense. Not all of it, but enough that I was tempted to watch it again to see if the whole thing worked better now that I had a ****ing clue. I decided, though, that it wasn't worth the bother. Maybe someday.
Ghosts Of Mars - Had never seen it. Thoroughly bland, despite a good cast.
Batman: Year One - A favorite comic story of mine adapted into an animated movie. It was good, but it really just made me want to read the comic again. And the Catwoman short film that comes with it was pretty meh. I'd be curious to hear what someone unfamiliar with the comic thought of it. Rent, but don't buy.
The Horseman - Watched this after JD recommended it. Enjoyed it thoroughly. A not completely typical revenge story. Pretty brutal and graphic, which I liked. Good performances. Every time I watch a movie like this, I despair at the inability of Marvel and they're associated studio partners to make a decent Punisher film. This was miles better than any of the three and it was probably really low budget. Recommended.
Blade Trinity - Hadn't seen this since it was in the theater. Really liked it back then, but didn't care as much for it now. It's not bad, but I remembered Ryan Reynolds being funnier and Jessica Biel being hotter. Reynolds still had some funny lines, just not as many. Biel was still hot, but I think it was because she looked so young that she seemed less hot than normal. I think. Still appreciate that Snipes did a lot of his own fight work. Enjoyed watching Parker Posey kind of chew scenery. But the best thing about it is still the vampire Pomeranian.
Christine - I can't explain this one. Seriously. The movie is about a car that gets jealous and kills people. I don't know if the original Steven King story is as ridiculous as it sounds, but... it sounds ridiculous. And this movie is also pretty ridiculous. How can it not be? But, man... I really, really enjoyed it and I'm not sure I know why. It wasn't overly funny or so ridiculous it was funny. And it wasn't really dramatic or the the type of movie where the characters really draw you in. So I don't know. I just know that I had a great time watching it.
Rolling Vengeance - I don't know what prompted me to look this one up on IMDB when I saw it was playing, but I did. And some of the reviews said it was up in the "so bad it's good" category, so I decided to give it a shot. One reviewer called it the "Citizen Kane of monster truck movies". I thought it was ok. Not funny enough to be worth a repeat viewing. You'll watch it with a smirk on your face (especially when you see Ned Beatty's hair), but beyond that you're not missing a whole lot.
Lady In White - Reviews said this was pretty creepy, so I was suspecting some sort of nasty, scary ghost story movie. Then the movie starts and the music is all bouncy and small-town family happy and I was wondering if I had the wrong movie. It starts off really vanilla, introducing all the happy characters in this small town getting ready for Halloween. The main character is a Lukas Haas as a really cute little kid. And he's at school and everybody's happy and la dee da. Then his friends lock him in the school's cloak room as a prank and he sees this little girl ghost. And she's all bouncy and playful and I was almost getting ready to turn the movie off when some unseen ghost figure comes into the room (not sure why you could see her, but not the other one) and starts assaulting her. And then the movie goes from ABC Family to "holy ****, I hope they didn't market this to kids". From then on, it still retains a mostly family movie atmosphere, but with some dark, disturbing bits that make you think it would traumatize the **** out of any little kid that watched it. Murder, molestation, arson... it's dark. Definitely worth a watch, although some of the special effects are horrifically bad and it still retains that ABC family aesthetic throughout when people aren't dying and stuff. But it's worth a watch.
