It looks like only 2 stars to me, yup :rolleyes:

I watched Hero finally. The movie is beautifully shot, probably even more beautiful than The House of Flying Daggers. I enjoyed it a lot, yet the message of the movie really bugs me. I simply disagree with the message. They story was kind of like Roshomon and I enjoyed that aspect but the story was entirely a piece of propaganda to promote totalism.

By the way, I watched Sleepy Hollow too. A good and entertaining film for the Halloween season.

The Treasure of the Sierra Madre #30 on the AFI Top 100 List ** 1/2

Dobbs and Curtin meet up in Mexico, and go to work for a contractor, Pat McCormick, who takes them away to remote site and tells them they will be paid when the job is finished. When they are finished, they return to town to find McCormick to get their wages. McCormick gives them a few dollars, and says he'll just go to the bank and pick up the payroll for them. Dobbs and Curtin then meet up with an old prospector, who claims the hills are still full of gold, and if they can get the cash, he'll go with them. They eventually get the cash from McCormick after a little "persuasion", and all three set off for the hills as good friends. This was my first Bogart movie and I was disappointed. I found it to be pretty boring and was looking forward to it ending. Bogart did a good job acting as did Walter Huston.

I watched Godsend , Shall we dance? and Something's gotta give over the weekend. While I found the first two to be nothing but crappy movies (and my question is, once again, why, why talented actors get involved in such forgettable movies?), I totally enjoyed Something's gotta give. Amazing plot and script. Nicholson is great as usual. Who can play the golden hearted bad guy better than he? No matter how old he can get, he will always be sexy as hell! Keaton? Oh, actually I never liked her. Admittely she is a very good actress (extremely good in this very movie and very good looking, for her age), still I cannot help but associate her to Kay.....

Chong qing sen lin/Chungking Express
1994, Kar-wai, HK 1st time
Two unconnected cops both fall for women they shouldn't.
Fast, energetic film which seems to have been thrown together for a bit of fun; that isn't a bad thing, however, as the whole thing looks and feels a gem.

Mick

Mr. Smith Goes To Washington #29 on the AFI Top 100 List ****

Naive and idealistic Jefferson Smith, leader of the Boy Rangers, is appointed on a lark by the spineless governor of his state. He is reunited with the state's senior senator--presidential hopeful and childhood hero, Senator Joseph Paine. In Washington, however, Smith discovers many of the shortcomings of the political process as his earnest goal of a national boys' camp leads to a conflict with the state political boss, Jim Taylor. Taylor first tries to corrupt Smith and then later attempts to destroy Smith through a scandal. Truly a great movie with great performances by Jimmy Stewart that "soldified" his acting career, as well as a great performance by Jean Arthur as Saunders. A movie that can truly make you feel proud to be an American and I'm sure helped to "restore order" if you will in the U.S. so shortly after World War II

I saw High Fidelity for the first time yesterday. A pretty good film, I really liked the format with John Cusack narrating, sometimes directly to the camera. \

Also, his whole obsessive compulisive list making thing is something I can relate to. I was pleasantly surprised.

Excellent film.

Oldboy
2003, Park, Jap 1st time
Kidnapped and imprisoned for fifteen years, and set free under just as mysterious circumstances, a man goes on a mission of revenge, but gets more than he bargained for.
Stylistic theatrics distract from and only accentuate the far-fetched plot; but there is a message here all about the consequences of a care-free childhood, and the finale's twist adds a whole new complexity to the proceedings, which until that point seem all meat but no taste.

Solyaris/Solaris
1972, Tarkovsky, USSR 1st time
A psychologist arrives at a space station orbiting a planet to find one of the crew dead and his wife, who has been dead for several years.
A difficult, slow-moving piece with unforgettable moments of hypnotic boldness: a long sequence in which the camera flying through tunnels and on the motorway, and a scene wherein two different characters seem to merge into one and recur as the camara pans round a room. Fascinating.

Mick

THE LONGEST YARD (2005)- **1/2 out of 5

Not as terrible as I expected, but nothing worth tackling someone over. "I made him shit his pants!"

Where the Buffalo Roam (1980) - ***
Director: Art Linson
A look into the life of Dr. Hunter S. Thompson

I enjoyed this one. I don't know; maybe my idoling of Hunter Thompson is causing biasm. But what I saw was a good, informitive film of Dr. Thompson, and even Oscar Acosta (Referred to as Lazlo in the film). Is it as good as Fear and Loathing? No. But it is a nice piece none the less. I felt Bill Murray gave a great performance, and nailed Hunter's voice exactly, although Depp (in Fear and Loathing) was slightly more keen on little observations such as Hunter's mannerisms, and bizarre sounds. A must see for a fan of Gonzo journalism, and reccomended to the casual fan only after seeing 1998's Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, which would provide a bit more respect.

Hard Eight (Sydney; 1996) - ***1/2
Director: Paul Thomas Anderson
John is a nobody, until he meets Nevada high-roller Sydney... But when an unexpected honey-moon goes wrong, will he go back to a nobody?

I finally managed to see this... And god damn, it was great. PT Anderson is perhaps my favorite director of the new generation, and he never fails to bring in the goods. For a first feature-film, this was a mighty triumph. As always, he squeezes great performances out of his actors, provides and entertaining and fast-paced story, and some great dialouge and visuals. Go out and see it; No, go out and see all four of his films if you haven't already done so.

Trainspotting (1996) - ***1/2
Director: Danny Boyle
A group of friends expirience the Scottish heroin scene.

Very well constructed film. The acting was very well executed in almost all scenerios, and the visuals were great. The first shot of the movie, a fast paced on-foot chase accompanied by a bouncy pop-rock song, absolutely pulls you in, before introducing you to an interesting lot of characters... I could go on, but I've had enough of typing for now.

Hard Eight is one my favorites, I like it better then Magnolia and Punch Drunk Love. Phillip Baker Hall just makes that story, he's so perfect for the role.

It is a hard-to-find film, it brings a smile to my face every time someone new is able to see it.

Definetly worth a buy if you cant rent it somewhere, although its very different from Boogie Nights or Magnolia, its still good, a very distinct style.

I feel like each of PT Andersons film have their own distinct style, and it's really breath-taking. He is like the Pink Floyd of film; each film or album has its own feel and style to it.

I once made the observation that Boogie Nights was exactly like Goodfellas except about the porn industry rather then the mafia. If you think about it, both films have strikingly similar aspects. You agree?

I agree. Anderson deffinately took alot of ideas and themes from Scorsese's style for Boogie Nights... Even the way it was shot and edited. I feel like I am watching the lost Mid-90s Martin Scorsese film when I see some of the shots in the film.

Apocalypse Now #28 on the AFI Top 100 List ** 1/2

Captain Willard (Martin Sheen), whose mission is "Terminate with extreme prejudice", receives orders to seek out a renegade military outpost led by a mysterious Colonel Kurtz (Brando) during the Vietnam war. I was very disappointed in this movie as I have heard many good things about it and I know members here really have a passion for it. I found it to be boring and uninteresting in parts but I did think Sheen, Brando and Duvall all gave good performances

Yeah the Vietnam War seems pretty boring to me. :rolleyes:

I bet Irishman's favorite moment in the movie was of course..."I love the smell of napalm in the morning. It smells like...Victory", or the whole battle sequence before that immortal movie quote.

Yeah the Vietnam War seems pretty boring to me. :rolleyes: [/b][/quote]Yeah and I so remember saying that :rolleyes: Thanks for putting words into my mouth! I said the movie was slow and boring IN PARTS. I never said the "real life" war was slow or boring

Unless I am mistaken Irish, you refered to the movie being pretty damn boring, which stuns me. Then again Irish, you may have a point. Why deal with a pompous pretentious dick like Francis Ford Coppola when MICHAEL BAY could have directed an action movie. Screw that surreal nonsense, lets have some cool CGI action!

Okay, I'm being a jackass Irish, and its too bad you didn't make big of it, but hey, that is how life works. No way you would rediscover the film as being a truely great masterpiece.

P.S. - Tarantino digs it.

I didn't say it was pretty "damn" boring, I said it was slow and boring in parts. I didn't say this movie never ended and seemd to go on for weeks on end. And I like FFC but if someone asked me if I would watch this movie again I'd say no. Again I found it somewhat slow but I did like the actors, they did a good job. But as usual, how do I judge movies even though it's "the wrong way?" Based on entertainment and I wasn't that entertained. It's not like a gave the movie a star, I gave it 2 1/2. BTW, I'm not the Michael Bay fan on the board, that belongs to suspect_5. Also, not everyone is going to regard every movie on the AFI list as a masterpiece. Nowhere is it written that "thou shall love Apocalypse Now. I'm sure I'm not the only person who didn't love it.

first time i saw apocalyse now i was 15 and i was expecting a horror movie, that's who it was described to me when i first heard about it. but when i watched it again the second time, i saw what it was...a movie that was so atmospheric...it creeped the hell out of me.

Ok, Irish. Mention a movie you find exciting and interesting, please. I'm curious to know.

How magnanimous of you! :p

Ok, Irish. Mention a movie you find exciting and interesting, please. I'm curious to know.[/b][/quote]Kill Bill Volume 1

let's give him time. I bet if he rewatches it when he's five/ten years older, he'll agree the movie to be a masterpiece.

never watched it but it's on my list. When I read it got anime scenes I decided it can wait.

Thing is, I know some fools on IMDB.com that believe it or not, they conveniently dig every movie that Tarantino recommends. Okay, so what is the big deal? When you read their posts and compare it with their other opinions involving other films, one gets the idea that they only "dig" those pictures because of the QT connection so they would be "hip".

I know, insanity. Sad since Tarantino is a pretty great filmmaker.

I love Tarantino too. He's my 2nd favorite director behind Martin Scorsese. I'll be honest, I'm obsessed with his Kill Bills Volumes 1 & 2 which I'm sure you know all too well by now. I also love Jackie Brown. As for Pulp Fiction and Reservoir Dogs, I enjoy them and they are great movies, but I don't "love" them as much as I love his other movies or as much as other members here love them. But I also love other movies made by other filmakers, which I'm sure you know too. I didn't like Apocalypse Now, but I did love the movie before it on the AFI list (Mr. Smith Goes To Washington). I didn't like The Treasure of the Sierra Madre or Annie Hall that much either, but again I loved the 2 previous movies before them as well High Noon and The Godfather Part II

Insomnia
2002, Nolan, US 1st time
Two LA cops arrive in the Alaskan town of Nightmute to investigate the murder of a teenage girl.
The opening ten minutes, and the final shootout, show just what is wrong with Hollywood today; here we have a well-handled thriller with several effective sequences, but the whole is marred by its catering for Western audiences, who seemingly can't handle the original's subtlety, ambiguity or subtitles.

French Connection, The
1971, Friedkin, US Nth time
Two tough New York cops trail drugs smugglers from France.
Gritty account of a real life drugs bust, showing New York's society in all its messy glory thanks to some inspired directing, photography and acting.

Mick