AGDI @ The Movies

[Angelus3K]

I was going to revive my old thread (similarly titled AGDI at the Movies) but it's been put into the Archive for prosperity.

Anyway, I've recently started going to the movies every week or so if I can with some friends and have recently seen Step Brothers and Pineapple Express. I thought they were both absolutley hilarious although I think Step Brothers was funnier but only because Pineapple Express is more of an action/comedy.

Anybody else seen these movies or anything else recently they'd like to comment on?

[Brainiac]

I was going to revive my old thread (similarly titled AGDI at the Movies) but it's been put into the Archive for prosperity.

There is no prosperity here; this is non-profit. Posterity is something you should be familiar with, Ang.

I'm also curious to hear opinions on Tropic Thunder, particularly if people thought certain parts of it were really as offensive as publicized.

[Angelus3K]

Haha Brainiac, right on. I won't edit my comment for posterity and prosperity of the humour (if that even makes sense lol!)

I've not seen Tropic Thunder yet as its not out in the UK till next week I think, trailers look funny though.

[Spikey]

The Dark Knight was horrible, I think. Maybe it was above average for a superhero movie when it comes to acting, but I think that was all.

I mean, why is Batman talking so strange? It sounds like he needs strepsils as soon as he puts on his suit. Bale was better off being the Machinist.

And then the morale, that Batman is still needed because if you're really good then you can also be really evil? And because of that, Heath Ledger with hilarious make up in a nurse outfit can convince a man (whose family he just murdered in front of his eyes) to become Two Face? Because it wasn't personal? I was like, rolling on the floor, under my seat, laughing, and couldn't stop. But like I said, I was the only one.

[Broomie]

The Dark Knight was horrible, I think. Maybe it was above average for a superhero movie when it comes to acting, but I think that was all.

I mean, why is Batman talking so strange? It sounds like he needs strepsils as soon as he puts on his suit. Bale was better off being the Machinist.

And then the morale, that Batman is still needed because if you're really good then you can also be really evil? And because of that, Heath Ledger with hilarious make up in a nurse outfit can convince a man (whose family he just murdered in front of his eyes) to become Two Face? Because it wasn't personal? I was like, rolling on the floor, under my seat, laughing, and couldn't stop. But like I said, I was the only one.

I do agree to an extent. It was still a very well made film but it was these kind of inconsistencies and parts of the story which just left me unimpressed. It really is one of the most overrated films ever but I'm not arguing over people's tastes because I can defintely see why people like it. I don't think it was horrible but I wouldn't agree with the majority.

I did see RocknRolla which I thought was great! Guy Ritchie's latest gangster flick does not disappoint and everything we all loved from Lock, Stock and Snatch still resides in RocknRolla. What made the film so good though was the characters and overall direction. Story was okay but Johnny Quid, the 'rocknrolla' stole the film and he didn't even appear in the film till about 30-40 minutes in. (if you exclude the introduction at the beginning) Go see this, it will not disappoint like Revolver did.

I've seen Tropic Thunder (I wonder how?) and I gotta say this is one funny effin' film! I was laughing so hard at this and RBJ's character was just brilliant. I didn't see anything offensive about it, but than again I'm so easy going and don't believe in a god it's hard for me to be offended by anything but I can see why it's been issued as controversial. I just found all those bits hilarious but I'll let you be the judge of that. I found it to be very entertaining and I will definitely see this again once it arrives in cinemas.

[Senor Matt]

The Dark Knight was horrible, I think. Maybe it was above average for a superhero movie when it comes to acting, but I think that was all.

I mean, why is Batman talking so strange? It sounds like he needs strepsils as soon as he puts on his suit. Bale was better off being the Machinist.

And then the morale, that Batman is still needed because if you're really good then you can also be really evil? And because of that, Heath Ledger with hilarious make up in a nurse outfit can convince a man (whose family he just murdered in front of his eyes) to become Two Face? Because it wasn't personal? I was like, rolling on the floor, under my seat, laughing, and couldn't stop. But like I said, I was the only one.

I'm sorry Spikey but I have to disagree with you completely on this. I thought The Dark Knight was one of the best movies I have seen in a long time. I thought it was very intelligent and well written. However, I can understand if someone finds parts of it unrealistic, But at the same time, can anyone name for me a superhero movie where one doesn't have to at least suspend a little belief? All things that involve superheros have to have at least some fantasy in them. As do most movies. That's why we go to movies, to escape into a fantasy for a little while. But as far as superhero movies go I think that this one is probably the closest to reality that any of them have ever come, and that is another reason I like it.

Also, I didn't see that morale you came up with about him being evil to be good at all.

Spoiler Alert!

The reason he wants those murders pinned on him at the end is so that the criminals believe that he is capable of killing even though not killing people is one of his cardinal rules. Fear and intimidation are Batmans greatest weapons against the criminals and when that one crime boss told him that he knew he wouldn't kill him, Batman realized that the criminals had figured out his rule, and if they all knew that then he would lose his greatest weapon. Thus if everyone believed that he killed those people he would able to keep his fear factor, which is what he needs to be an effective crime fighter.

And the reason Bruce Wayne makes his voice all deep and raspy is twofold. One, if he talked in his regular voice I think it wouldn't take long before someone recognized it and there goes his secret identity. Two, a deep raspy voice sounds more intimidating than any other kind, and intimidation is what Batman is all about.

[Brainiac]

And the reason Bruce Wayne makes his voice all deep and raspy is twofold. One, if he talked in his regular voice I think it wouldn't take long before someone recognized it and there goes his secret identity. Two, a deep raspy voice sounds more intimidating than any other kind, and intimidation is what Batman is all about.

An excellent depiction of this can be found in the early and late work of Kevin Conroy as the voice of Batman. Early in The Animated Series and recently in Gotham Knight, Conroy had a distinct vocal pattern for both Bruce and Batman. It not only keeps the two characters quite separate, it demonstrates the differences between them in the nature of vocal tone.

[Angelus3K]

I've seen Tropic Thunder (I wonder how?) and I gotta say this is one funny effin' film! I was laughing so hard at this and RBJ's character was just brilliant. I didn't see anything offensive about it, but than again I'm so easy going and don't believe in a god it's hard for me to be offended by anything but I can see why it's been issued as controversial. I just found all those bits hilarious but I'll let you be the judge of that. I found it to be very entertaining and I will definitely see this again once it arrives in cinemas.

Ugh there are no decent releases about at the moment so it must have been some washed out cam job you watched lol. Can't beat Orange Wednesday's at the cinema! (Thats buy one get one free ticket days for those outside of the UK).

[Chief]

I just saw King of Kong. great movie.. fascinating look at the video game obsession / record breaking. It's basically about one guy's quest to beat the all time high score of donkey kong, one of the most difficult games of all time!
i highly recommend it!!!

http://www.billyvssteve.com

[Vildern]

Spoiler Alert!

The reason he wants those murders pinned on him at the end is so that the criminals believe that he is capable of killing even though not killing people is one of his cardinal rules. Fear and intimidation are Batmans greatest weapons against the criminals and when that one crime boss told him that he knew he wouldn't kill him, Batman realized that the criminals had figured out his rule, and if they all knew that then he would lose his greatest weapon.

I've been wondering about that too. Thanks!

And yeah, great film.

[Music Head]

I disagree. I believe...

'...Batman and Gordon realize the loss of morale the city would suffer if Dent's murders became known. Batman persuades Gordon to preserve Dent's image by holding Batman responsible for the murders. Gordon destroys the Bat-Signal, and a manhunt for Batman ensues...'

[Vildern]

Why not both? A good creation allows room for multiple interpretations, even if some are more depended on the viewer.

[Senor Matt]

Actually, I agree that both those reasons are true. He did it for more than one reason.

[Broomie]

Thought I'd renew a movie thread than start a new one. So many greats have recently come out, the Oscars took place, Slumdog Millionaire (which is a fantastic movie) pretty much sweeped up most of the prestigious awards and we're on track to hopefully another good year of films. Hopefully, anyway.

So, in the topic I thought I'd mention how much I really want to see this film. Coraline. Anyone seen it, what did you think of it? Us UK'ers have got to wait till May to see it, unless of course I delve into a few certain sources to see it early but it seems it's worth the wait if I want to get the true 3D experience.

And plus, does anybody want to talk about any films they've recently seen? I'm about to go watch Frost/Nixon and share my views on that a bit later.

[DrJones]

I recently watched "Bolt", which is basically the Truman show but with a dog, and having Malcolm McDowell acting as two characters instead of one.

It wasn't a very good movie, but it was the only movie I could see on the new 3D theater that opened last week, and I also had free tickets.

About Slumdog Millionarie, I haven't seen it yet, but the oscars are a joke. Penelope Cruz won the "best support actress" for an horrendous film that Woody Allen only made because the morons we have as politics here gave him an absurd amount of money, claiming that it was well spent in the name of Marketing (that's why the name of the movie is Vicky Cristina Barcelona). Of course, it was no surprise that they would waste another absurd amount of money in buying the oscar, because the movie is awful. Do yourself a favor and don't go to watch it. It's a communist movie funded with Nazi gold.

[Lady Pyro]

This post gets a spelling error warning: I'm on a computer that doesn't spell check and I'm not one for doing it manually. Please sound things out. Preferably outloud and in public.

I've read Coraline and from what I can tell from the copious amount of spoilerific trailers, it looks pretty faithful. The exact same thing can be said about Watchmen, which has my comic book geekitude in full blown hysterics, although I probably wont see it until it's been out for a month (I hate crowds in theatres).

I did get to see 'The Tale of Despereux' and it was fantastic! The animation and designs were sooo slick and I went in not knowing what to expect and being very impressed.
(My mother and I goto all the kids movies. We pretend it's research for my job but we're both just three years old)

In movie related news, check out the trailer for 9 (Tim Burtons most recent project). It looks fantastic. I might be more excited about that then I am about Watchmen just because it's not so hyped up.

Aside from that, one of our Game stores (Specifically 'The Last Gamestore') does a screening of an old 80's movie every second Thursday. In case you were wondering, Yes, 'Robocop' is still hilarious, cheesy and wonderful and 'My Bloody Valentine' is still full of plot holes and Nova Scotian beer. We're going to Labyrinth this Thursday, I've seen it a million times but David Bowie in spandex on a big screen? Yeah that's worth 7 bucks. :P

[Broomie]

I saw the trailer for 9. Looks amazingly awesome. I'm looking forward to seeing that on the 9th of September, 2009.

I'm going to be watching Watchmen in IMAX hopefully when it comes out, I really can't wait. Read the graphic novel recently and it was very good, obviously can't expect all of it in the film, especially seeing as the ending has been changed but overall I think Zach Snyder can pull it off. 300 was faithful, I thought it looked great but it was a bit over the top but isn't that what people want from films these days?

Anyway, just watched Frost/Nixon and I must say it was very good. Frank Langella and Michael Sheen were exception in their portrayals of Richard Nixon and David Frost. The structure of the story was very captivating and kept me interested throughout and in the end I felt sorry for Nixon. I've yet to see the real interview between the two but I've seen clips, and the real Nixon didn't seem as resilient as Frank's character but again I haven't seen them all but after watching this I might do that soon.

And about the Oscars. The only people I hear calling it a joke are the people who also wonder how The Dark Knight wasn't nominated for best picture and practically every other award. I wasn't too keen on TDK, way too overrated. It was good and Heath's portrayal of the Joker was freakishly wonderful and totally deserved the Oscar for best support actor. I can honestly say Slumdog Millionaire deserved the awards it got, from best director (Danny Boyle has always been a favorite director of mine) to best music. I've seen it about 3 times now, once by myself, another time with my girlfriend who also enjoyed it and the third time with my family. If you liked films like City of God and The Kite Runner that portrayed the story within a cultural setting it's a brilliant representation. Of course, I've never been to India, just seen footage of these deprived areas and read about them yet it's done so well on screen. The music is also a great touch and the acting is sharp too, especially the presenter of Who Wants to be a Millionaire. Anyway, do yourself a favor and watch it.

[Angelus3K]

Yea I saw Slumdog the other day with my cousin, great film, looking forward to actually watching it again!

Hoping to finally getting around to seeing Dewey Cox story this weekend, my interest being renewed after getting Pineapple Express and Step Brothers on Blu-Ray!!

Also looking forward too Gran Tourino, Seven Pounds, and Yes Man (the latter two have been out for awhile now but not got round to watching yet!!)

[Lady Pyro]

Broomie:
Wait wait wait wait WAIT
They changed the end of watchmen??
WHAT?
The end was the POINT!
WHAT??

I saw Frost/Nixon in it's original form, as a play in the theatre (as I will with 'Doubt') so I probably wont see the movie. It was fantastic then though.

I'm the only Batman fan I know who wasn't impressed with Dark Knight, so I'm not upset it didn't win best picture. But I wont get into it, people get VERY defensive of that movie. I can't help but wonder if people wouldn't get so worked up about opposing opinions on the film if Ledger hadn't died.

Angelus:
What's 'Seven Pounds' about? I've never heard of it.

[Broomie]

http://www.slashfilm.com/2008/10/19/wat ... g-changed/

I didn't read much of it but if you google about it you should fine some interesting stuff about it. I'm just curious how it's been done differently, the film so far looks spot on though!

And I saw Yes Man when it came out over here, I thought it was pretty average. It's essentially the exact same plot as Bruce Almighty, even the ending is pretty much the same. Don't want to spoil things but you'll see what I mean once you've seen it.

[Lady Pyro]

http://www.slashfilm.com/2008/10/19/wat ... g-changed/

I didn't read much of it but if you google about it you should fine some interesting stuff about it. I'm just curious how it's been done differently, the film so far looks spot on though!

That's one of the reasons I'm so surprised! Every trailer I've seen looks scene for scene from the comics!

[DrJones]

I foresee that right before the end of the movie, a giant squid will explode in the middle of the theater.

[Angelus3K]

Angelus:
What's 'Seven Pounds' about? I've never heard of it.

Its the new Will Smith film, according to wikipedia "he sets out to change the lives of seven people after he caused a car crash which killed seven people".

Trailers look quite good for it. Also wanna see Benjamin Button aswell!!