Testy Area 51 (2 Viewers)

[Elizabeth S]

I saw Safe yesterday. It's getting surprisingly good reviews, considering Statham's films aren't usually popular with the critics. I enjoyed it, but I can't say it's anything very different for him. He's just amazingly good at this type of role. The young girl was a lot less annoying than in the short snippets from the trailer.
Watched Mademoiselle Chambon on Blu-Ray last night. Vincent Lindon is like this generation's Gerard Depardieu, appearing in every other French film made. This one was a slow-burn about a married man and his attraction to his son's teacher.

 

[Steve Christou]

I saw The Avengers earlier in the evening and it was spectacular, my ears are still ringing. The film is over 2 hours long and its nearly 90 minutes before we see our heroes finally get it together and go after the villains. The climax is incredible, the effects are flawless. Though there was a feeling of deja vu when arch villain Loki opens a interdimensional portal or gateway over the city to let an invading alien army in, wasn't there something similar at the climax of Transformers 3 last year?

It did seem strange seeing a big sci-fi movie without Taylor Kitsch as the star.. [wink] All the actors in The Avengers have their moment to shine, the scene stealer here is the Incredible Hulk he made the audience erupt with applause a couple of times, and laugh too. There's a great line in the film which was in the trailer Loki brags "I have an army" and Tony Stark responds with "We have a Hulk". Mark Ruffalo was good as Bruce Banner.

Fans of Scarlett Johansson, and they are legion, will be glad to know she has plenty of show time, the fight sequences are all dazzling. There is quite a bit of chit-chat in the mid section after all this is Joss Whedon he directed and wrote the screenplay too, but the film is never boring. Tom Hiddleston is enjoyably villainous but the invading alien army are fairly anonymous, who are they and who cares?

I saw the film in 2-D, the friend I was with hates 3-D, I may go and see it again next week in 3-D. Oh yes there is a scene in the middle of the end credits, which seems to introduce an old villain from the comics possibly for an Avengers sequel.

Best superhero movie of all time? Not sure about that but it's up there with the best. Highly recommended. 5 stars out of 5.

 

[Mike Frezon]

Originally Posted by Steve Christou /t/81187/testy-area-51/28260#post_3922178

Fans of Scarlett Johansson, and they are legion, will be glad to know she has plenty of show time, the fight sequences are all dazzling.

"Legion," indeed.

Very glad to hear, Steve!

 

[Ruz-El]

Ah good! the Avengers is good! Nice! I'll try to catch it this weekend. Saturday is Free Comic Book Day. That will be a nice day ender if I can get in. I'll probably catch Safe too for my Stathom fix. It's against The Raven on my radar. Neither are supposed to be all that great sadly.

I've seen a few films since my last check in!

Chimpanzee - Disney True Life Adven.. I mean, Disney Nature knocks it out of the park again with this one. The Tim Allen commentary is a bit jokey compared to the superior African Cats film but it's still a great way to spend time in a theater. The jungle photography is gorgeous on the big screen and the story is equally amazing. 4/5

The War Horse - The Spielberg film that I couldn't give a shit about ended up being pretty darned good. A well done story, good performance and yeah, it's was nice. Wish there was more of the goose in it though, he was a scene stealer. 3.5/5

Hugo - A childrens film about a film restoration shouldn't of been good, but I really liked this. Probably because I enjoy old movies. Really got me wanting to watch Georges Melies films so I ended up spending the money I got back from my taxes on the Melies and Edison (respectfully) box sets. Sigh. 3.5/5

Out Of Sight - Revisited the old Soderberge film that doesn't get talked about much anymore is still pretty god damned great. George Clooney is in full superstar mode and Jennifer Lopez will never again be as appealing as she is in this film. Sad she's so shit now that she's a brand instead of an actress. 4/5

 

[Mike Frezon]

Originally Posted by Russell G /t/81187/testy-area-51/28260#post_3922431

Really got me wanting to watch Georges Melies films so I ended up spending the money I got back from my taxes on the Melies and Edison (respectfully) box sets. Sigh. 3.5/5

In case you missed http://www.amazon.com/Restored-Limited-Edition-Steelbook-Blu-ray/dp/B006XEH7EO

And I am really hoping to get to Chimpanzee in the theater.

I just finally picked up a Blu of African Cats. It's very hard to ever find those Disney nature discs on sale anywhere...

 

[Ruz-El]

I saw that one out there, but I went for Quantity with:

And paired it up with:

I've found that with the Disney Nature films too Mike. I loved the African Cats blu, it was at a lower price for the first week of release then it went up and stayed at $32-$34 ever since around here. The pricing has gone bonkers. A place wanted $45 for War Horse. I guess between the Blockbusters of the world going broke and killing the previously viewed market and some high profile download sites getting busted the studios figure they can charge what they want again for films. I found the two boxsets above for sale new for about $55 each plus shipping. Hard to justify buying a Bluray,DVD (I'll never watch since it has the Blu) and Digital Copy (I'll never use since they're shit) of one film for close to the same price.

 

[Elizabeth S]

I plan to see The Avengers today. Glad to hear Steve's positive review.

 

[Steve Christou]

I hope you enjoyed The Avengers Liz, it's broken records everywhere. Anyone else see it? I may go tomorrow and see it again, this time in 3-D I just found out there's an extra scene at the very end of the credits which I missed. Damn!

The top 10 all-time opening weekends, as compiled per BoxOfficeMojo.com stats:
The Avengers, $200.3 million
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2, $169.2 million
The Dark Knight, $158.4 million
The Hunger Games, $152.5 million
Spider-Man 3, $151.1 million
The Twilight Saga: New Moon, $142.8 million
The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn—Part 1, $138.1 million
Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest, $135.6 million
Iron Man 2, $128.1 million
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1, $125 million

 

[Ruz-El]

Hard to believe that the Twilight films did so well. You think they would budget them so they didn't look like shit compared to the rest of the list. I didn't get out to Avengers like I planned this weekend, I'll probably go next week now. Lame!

Watched Heartbreak Ridge, the Eastwood film from the 80's. It has not held up well at all. Poor Mario Van Peebles!

also watched the documentary on George Harrison that Scorsese did. Living In The Material World. Loved it. I give it a recommend whether you're a Beatle fan or not.

 

[Ruz-El]

Rooty Toot Toot (1951, UPA)

 

[Elizabeth S]

I did not have a very good experience starting off The Avengers. First, the theater mistakenly put on the 3D trailers for the 2D showing, making many of wonder if we had somehow ended up at the 3D showing of the film (without glasses). Some people left to inquire, and they turned up partial houselights while they corrected it. They started playing the correct trailers, but left the partial houselights on until about 10 minutes into the film. They also failed to open the curtains all the way, so the very left and right sides of the screen were viewed through the curtain. And when the subtitles came on for Black Widow's scene, about a third of the bottoms were cut off. By this time, I was ready to leave the theater and get my money back but it got corrected just then. I wrote a complaint letter about everything and I hope I get free tickets.
I enjoyed the movie, but I think I expected even more because of the hype. The Hulk certainly had the best parts, and I'm glad Mark Ruffalo got the part. I did stay to the very end of the credits because I figured there had to be another scene there.
I also saw The Five-Year Engagement with a free Fandango ticket from one of my Blu-Rays. Wow, this was not funny. How many times do they have to cut to the flashback of him in a pink bunny suit? It wasn't funny the first time. I like both Segel and Blunt in the right thing, but their engagement is not the only thing that felt like five years.
I finally saw Somewhere on Blu-Ray. It was interesting enough, but when it was finished, my reaction was "So?" It was hard to gauge exactly how big a star Dorff's character was -- was he Mark Wahlberg, Chris Evans, or gee, Stephen Dorff?

 

[Ruz-El]

Is Somewhere the Sofia Coppola film? It flew totally under my radar. I loved her other two pictures but all signs point to this one not being as good.

I've still not had a chance to see The Avengers and have since had the film pretty near completely spoiled for me. Aw well. The bastards at Marvel might not get my money after all. Currently loving that UPA cartoon collection Jolly Frolics. Why this isn't being heralded as one of the great animation releases is beyond me. 1 disc in and it's better than any of the Loony Toons sets since the last Golden Collection (which wasn't as great as the previous ones) Brilliant cartoon after brilliant cartoon, and most probably don't know it exists. I only stumbled upon it due to a cock up with an order from TCM. Shame.

 

[Elizabeth S]

Yes, "Somewhere" is the Sofia Coppola film. I know her films are more about mood than strong narrative, but it just felt too lingering. Did we really need to see so much of the 2 dancers/strippers/escorts whatever doing their routine? We get it, he has these detached "relationships" with people. Frankly, I didn't think his relationship with his daughter was all that less detached.

 

[Steve Christou]

I see not all the Testy gang has gone to see The Avengers, I think Elizabeth and I are the only ones so far? Tut and tut.

One of the talking points regarding the film is Loki calling Black Widow a "mewling quim" which might not be offensive in the US but in the UK it's the same as telling her she's a "whining c*nt" which is a bit rough for a family film.

I bought Mission Impossible 4 on blu-ray, an enjoyable sequel, nothing special but the stunts are good.

Sherlock Holmes 2 on monday, blind buy.

Amazon sent me a massive book titled "The Art of Walt Disney" an updated edition of a 1970's tome, this one includes Pixar movies. £30 and that was at half the price!

 

[TonyD]

Steve I noticed you gave the Avengers five stars and said it want the best superhero movie or something to that affect.
What was better and for five stars how could it be better?
Anyway I loved it. 4.5 for me.
Hulk was the funniest thing in it.

 

[Steve Christou]

Tony, I gave it 5 stars because I enjoyed it more than any other superhero film in recent memory and that includes X-Men 2, Spider-Man 2 and Dark Knight. So the 5 stars were for "enjoyabilty" one rating aspect that gets ignored, Dark Knight may have had better acting and a more down to earth story but was it as purely enjoyable? Did I leave the theater with a huge grin on my face?

And I reserve the right to lower my rating if the next bunch of comic book movies are a lot better than The Avengers.

The Hulk stole the show! Absolutely. What does he say to Loki? "Puny God" Classic. I actually felt sorry for the villain at that point.

 

[RickER]

I hope to see The Avengers Monday.
Prometheus, that's the one i want to see!

 

[Elizabeth S]

I saw Dark Shadows today as I had a Fandango code to use. I was not a viewer of the TV series. I kind of hated this movie. It's not very funny, not inventive, and reminded me of the movie "The Haunting" with Liam Neeson and Owen Wilson. They could have done so much more with his 1970s culture shock but most of the movie is claustrophobically confined to the mansion. Dud.

 

[Ruz-El]

You pretty much confirmed my suspicions on Dark Shadows Liz. I thought it looked terrible from the get go and the trailer did nothing for me. I'm only curious to see it for Chloe Moretz who is turning into a fantastic actress. she was great in Hugo. And Kick-Ass of course!

I used some points to see The Avengers finally for free and in 2D. It didn't get any of my money for it's billion dollar record. Loved it. I even got teary eyed near the end it was so good. They're going to have very big boots to fill to try to match it in the future. there was a trailer for The Dark Knight Rises, or Batman Rises, whatever it's called. I don;t know, I can't get excited for it. I really liked the otehr two films, but this one just looks off. I'm hoping for the best. I keep forgetting about the Spider-Man film. I'm with Rick, Prometheus has my interest in the future. I've been avoiding all the news and gossip on it so I can go in cold. I hope there's a 2D showing.

 

[RickER]

So, we went and saw The Avengers last night.
With all the hype i was expecting best movie...ever! Cause thats what people are saying.
I liked it. I thought it was a close second to Iron Man. But it sure was not the best movie i have ever seen!
I will own the movie on Blu. I do not just buy anything to have it. But best movie ever? Not to me.
I would give it 3 1/2 out of 5
Tony Stark still ruled, but Dr. Banner was just as cool! Loki looks to much like Commander Data with a bad guy mullet.