The movie thread, vol. 2

[Alinestra Covelia]

Gran Torino was good. Although it had a bittersweet question at the end though - you just know that some other gang will move into the area after that one got taken down. But it was a good deed that Clint Eastwood's character did, in the short run.

[Nostromo]

You look like a member of the Manson family in that photo.

[GePap]

Last movie I saw was Waltz with Bashir. Excellent film.

I saw Eagle Eyes and Babylon AD on DVD.

Babylon AD was too short to develop the characters and plot well enough, and at the same time it dragged on at the end. Quite an accomplishment, to make a movie too short and too long. The action and acting were mediocre.

Eagle Eyes had nice action set pieces but the plot is preposterous. The acting was blan except for Billy Bob Thorton.

[Nostromo]

I just saw "2001: A Space Odyssey" on blu-ray. Still looks great!

[MarkG]

Seven Pounds: seemed like a great story but badly executed...
Will Smith should probably go back to killing giant alien bugs...

[Tuberski]

Just watched "Vantage Point". Not a bad movie, but the end is kinda lame.

ACK!

[Nostromo]

Salaam Bombay. Very good movie!

[DaShi]

I'm going to see "Valkyrie".

And Sloww was never heard from again.

[Dis]

just saw Gran Torino. And while you could say that about the ending of Gran Torino, sometimes his endings are a bit simplistic. Million Dollar Baby had that same problem. People on the imdb boards all went ape**** that it wasn't realistic. And perhaps this wasn't realistic either, it was there just to pull those heart strings and pull a few tears out if you are capable of any human emotion. And for someone who always wanted a father figure growing up to teach me to be a man, well I loved it so much . Now if only I could learn to be a man. Oh well, too late for that now.

[Alinestra Covelia]

I just saw "2001: A Space Odyssey" on blu-ray. Still looks great!

There's one shot that I just can't figure out for the life of me how they managed to film. All the others I could figure out a low-cost way of doing the special effects. But this scene I can't figure out how they did it.

It's when the two astronauts walk down a circular corridor away from the camera. At the end is a ladder leading "down" from the corridor. But the problem is, "down" is rotating around the corridor from 6 o clock (where it normally is) around 12 o clock (to where "up" usually is) and all points in between!

The astronauts are unperturbed. They climb onto the ladder and then down it, rotating clockwise in our field of vision until they vanish from sight.

I can't figure out how they did it.

[Nostromo]

I was wondering the same thing. Here's what I found:

The cylindrical corridor which linked the hub of the centrifuge to the rest of the ship, was constructed of two separately rotating sections, with the camera mounted securely to the corridor end. With the hub end rotating, the actors could walk down the static corridor and then step onto the hub as the port came to a position at the bottom. As soon as they stepped across onto the hub, it would stop and the corridor would begin to rotate in the opposite direction. From the camera's point of view the apparent rotation remained constant, but the actors seemed to be completely defying the law of gravity.

http://www.visual-memory.co.uk/sk/2001a/page3.html

[Supr49er]

Just watched "Vantage Point". Not a bad movie, but the end is kinda lame.

ACK!

Yeah. Interesting Rashomon like different points of view in the beginning.
But the writer(s) didn't know how to end it so cue the Hollywood chase scene.

[Lorizael]

I've seen a lot of movies recently for some reason.

Grosse Pointe Blank: Absolutely excellent. I wonder why I hadn't seen it earlier. Also Minnie Driver is hot.

Forgetting Sarah Marshall: Funny in parts, but the characters were ridiculous and the plot was utterly predictable. But Kristen Bell and Mila Kunis are hot.

Cloverfield: Surprisingly good. I had to walk out in theaters because it was going to make me vomit but on my laptop screen it was just fine. Also Odette Yustman and Lizzy Caplan are hot.

Next: Neat concept, but hello, can we have some exposition, please? Just a bit? Anything at all? Nope. Okay. Fine. But Jessica Biel is hot.

Good Will Hunting: Moving and well told, but a bit sappy and with a basic plot we've all seen before. Minnie Driver is still hot.

Click: Adam Sandler is an idiot for not realizing the potential of the pause button. Jesus Christ this movie was infuriating. Comedy + drama with a message + slapstick humor aimed at a small child = flaming piece of ****. But Kate Beckinsale is hot.

[ricketyclik]

Next: Neat concept, but hello, can we have some exposition, please? Just a bit? Anything at all? Nope. Okay. Fine. But Jessica Biel is hot.

I was thinking about that, and it occurred to me that it's a fantastic way to set up a sequel that isn't a let-down because all of the interesting stuff was in the first, which is almost always the case with fantasy/sci-fi/supernatural.

[BeBMan]

Yesterday I saw Oliver Stone's "W". Found it rather bad.