December Marathons - DISCUSSION AND REVIEW THREAD

[Jimmy]

WARNING - TARANTINO FANBOY REVIEW 

[Jon]

My son fell asleep after an hour of this, I struggled through but it was excruciantly and unnecessarily long and drawn out, difficult to follow, full of mumbling poor accents, and generally disappointing after we built ourselves up to an expectant high of viewing a supposedly good movie.
The characterisations were totally underdeveloped, the action felt like it was plonked in to wake the viewer up, the plot noticeable by its absence, and the direction blatantly pointless. The 30's feel of the film, complete with the depression era, had obviously taken a lot of thought and was visually successful, but this appeal waned when you realised the film lacked any substance. And the music they used throughout the film, some kind of ill-fitting rock - why??
Christian Bale was simply dreadful, his accent made him nigh on impossible to understand, Depp was uncharacterisically hollow in passion for the role, the only actors who walked away with any justifiable plaudits would be Marion Cotillard as Dillingers girl, and John Hoogenacker as one of the drafted in specialist agents.
Give me the untouchables over this any day.

I watched this other night and pretty much disagree!  It is flawed, but... well, I'll catch up with my own review later.

The Untouchables is still the best though. 

[goodguy]

Haven't seen Public Enemies, but I never got the fuss about Michael Mann either.

[Emma]

Haven't seen Public Enemies, but I never got the fuss about Michael Mann either.

...At the risk of becoming very unpopular...

I have not seen Public Enemies because I don't like Johnny Depp 

[Tom]

Title: Don: The Chase Begins Again
Year: 2006
Director: Farhan Akhtar
Rating: FSK-12
Length: 162 Min.
Video: Anamorphic Widescreen 2.35
Audio: German: Dolby Digital 5.1, Hindi: Dolby Digital 5.1
Subtitles: German

Stars:
Shahrukh Khan
Priyanka Chopra
Arjun Rampal
Isha Koppikar
Boman Irani

Plot:
A huge Indian contingent embarks on a dangerous cat-and-mouse trail of capturing DON (Shah Rukh Khan) - the ruthless drug mafia in Malaysia. When DON gets seriously injured in a police encounter, the word that he is dead begins to do the rounds. The reality, of course, is that DON is held captive in a secret location, while his bumpkin of a look-alike, Vijay, is polished and sent to take down DON's gang. In a bizarre twist of fate, when the man shielding the humble and streetwise Vijay, is killed, the latter comes to terms with the horrifying realization that both the police and the gang are out to nab him for different reasons. In a desperate attempt to prove his innocence, he is aided by the glamorously staggering Roma (Priyanka Chopra), and handsomely striking, Jasjit (Arjun Rampal), who owes Vijay a favor for care-taking his son during his imprisonment. But will Vijay be successful in his mission' Based on the successful erstwhile classic of the same name, which featured the legendary Amitabh Bachchan, the contemporary and stylishly crafted DON, features Bollywood czar Shah Rukh Khan playing a double role in one of the most defining performances of his career, teamed for the first time with former Miss World, Priyanka Chopra. The biggest and most keenly awaited motion picture of 2006, DON is a high-octane, tension-filled, twisty roller coaster of a ride, with just the right dose of glamour, action, suspense & romance.

Awards:

Filmfare Awards	2007	Nominated	Best Actor Award	Shahrukh Khan
Filmfare Awards	2007	Nominated	Best Movie Award
Filmfare Awards	2007	Nominated	Best Music Director Award	Shankar Ehsaan Loy

Extras:
Scene Access

My Thoughts:

Although nothing special, I enjoyed this movie. There was a fact which I found unrealistic at first, but the ending explained it for me.
There are a lot of martial arts fights in this one, which usually is a plus
The songs are average and add nothing to the story. This is one of those films, where the songs are there just for the sake of it (because it is expected in Bollywood movies).

Rating:

[Tom]

Title: Loser
Year: 2000
Director: Amy Heckerling
Rating: FSK-6
Length: 92 Min.
Video: Anamorphic Widescreen 1.85
Audio: German: Dolby Digital 5.1, English: Dolby Digital 5.1
Subtitles: Arabic, Bulgarian, Czech, Danish, Dutch, English, Finnish, German, Greek, Hebrew, Hindi, Hungarian, Icelandic, Norwegian, Polish, Swedish, Turkish

Stars:
Jason Biggs
Mena Suvari
Zak Orth
Thomas Sadoski
Jimmi Simpson

Plot:
Nerdy, good-natured Paul Tannek is a square peg in the round hole that is New York University. His pot-smoking, girl-chasing rommates hate him, everyone else on campus ignores him...and to make matters worse, the girl of his dreams, Dora Diamond, only has eyes for their literature professor (played by Greg Kinnear from AS GOOD AS IT GETS). But when fate puts them together, Paul and Dora get a chance to figure it out and maybe even prove that sometimes, even losers can get lucky. Jason Biggs from AMERICAN PIE and Mena Suvari from AMERICAN BEAUTY will win your heart in this outrageous romantic comedy that's definitely a winner

Awards:

Teen Choice Awards

2000

Nominated

Film - Wipeout Scene of the Summer

Jason Biggs

Extras:
Featurettes
Music Videos
Production Notes
Scene Access
Trailers

My Thoughts:

Better than I remembered. I enjoyed revisiting this movie. After American Pie Jason Biggs was typecast as the loser guy. A role which he simply fits into. It is worth to see this movie for the cute Mena Suvari alone.
As far as I remember it is because of this movie that I have bought Wheatus self-titled album and Everclear's "So Much for the Afterglow" album. Two CDs I still like to listen to today.

Rating:

[Rich]

Title: Scooby-Doo: The Movie

Runtime:83
Certificate:PG
Year:2002
Genres:Comedy, Adventure

Plot:Zoinks!  Two years after a clash of egos forced Mystery Inc. to close its doors, Scooby-Doo and his clever crime-solving cohorts Fred (FREDDIE PRINZE JR.), Daphne (SARAH MICHELLE GELLAR), Shaggy (MATTHEW LILLARD) and Velma (LINDA CARDELLINI) are individually summoned to Spooky Island to investigate a series of paranormal incidents at the ultra-hip Spring Break hot spot.
Concerned that his way cool theme park might truly be haunted, Spooky Island owner Emile Mondavarious (ROWAN ATKINSON) tries to reunite these notoriously meddling detectives to solve the mystery before his supernatural secret scares away the college crowds.
Scooby and the gang will have to overcome their personal differences and forget everything they think they know about fake ghouls and phony creatures to crack the case, save themselves and possibly... the world.  RUH-ROH!
My Review:
Cute little family film, utilising clever CGI to make scooby the real star of the film.
The casting was pretty good, although I was disturbed to find Velma (Linda Cardellini) sexy at times! Matthew Lillard did well acting with thin air to create a good false chemistry with the dog. The humour is intentionally aimed to the junior viewer, plenty of slapstick and fart jokes. Needless to say i found it quite funny.
Pleasant afternoon viewing

My Rating
 

[Tom]

The casting was pretty good, although I was disturbed to find Velma (Linda Cardellini) sexy at times!

That happens when they cast sexy Linda Cardellini ("Freaks and Geeks") in such a role.

[Emma]

Tom, I enjoyed Looser more then I though I would because alot of people I know hate it.... glad I found someone else who enjoyed it :p... personally I thought the cat were cuter though 

I was very shocked when I watched Scooby Doo.... I couldn't believe it was the girl from Freaks and Geeks.... (I should buy that on DVD!)

[DJ Doena]

I never watched F&G the reason to by Scooby was simply Scooby and Buffy and the guy from Hackers and from Wing Commander and the other guy from Wing Commander (who's now father of Buffy's child...). What could go wrong? And nothing did, I enjoyed it very much.

[Rich]

Title: Stealing Christmas

Runtime:90
Certificate:NR
Year:2003
Genres:Family, Drama

Plot:Tony Danza, Lea Thompson and Betty White star in this modern take on the classic tale Dr. Seuss' How the Grinch Stole Christmas. After bungling his latest heist, bank robber Jack Clayton (Danza) flees the big city and winds up in the small town of Evergreen. There, he's mistaken by Sarah Gibson (Thompson) and her daughter, Noelle, as the Santa Claus they've hired to promote their family Christmas tree farm. Jack plays along with the misunderstanding while casing a local bank job. That is, until his growing affection for Sarah, his encounter with a kindly shopkeeper (White) and his conscience cause him to question his criminal ways in this hilarious, heartwarming holiday tale you'll want to watch again and again!

My Review:
Nearly unpalettable slush, with possibly the worst lead imaginable in the dull & wooden Tony Danza, a film that unsuccessfully tries to cash in on xmas by portraying bad guy turns good storyline, but fails in every way.
Totally unrealistic, obvious from the first 5 minutes, hammily acted, poor cast, amateur direction, pathetic love story, and miserably bad ending that could not have been more sickly if it had tried.
Definately AVOID this pile of poop.
NOTE - Despite what overview says, this bears zero resemblence to The Grinch in any way.

My Rating
 

[Rich]

Title: Wind Chill

Runtime:87
Certificate:15
Year:2007
Genres:Horror

Plot:Desperate to get to Delaware for Christmas, a college student (Emily Blunt, Devil Wears Prada) catches a ride with a strange classmate (Ashton Holmes, A History of Violence). As soon as she begins to uncover that he knows a little too much about her, the stranger decides to take a shortcut down a remote country road. Caught in a raging snowstorm, the young travellers are suddenly forced off the road by a mysterious car. Stranded, they soon realise the cold is the least of their worries.
From Executive Producers George Clooney, Ben Cosgrove and Steven Soderbergh comes this chilling horror about the terrifying legacy of a sinister road that dates back to the terrible events that occurred there in the 1950s.

My Review:
Old fashioned ghost story with the twist of using it within a road trip movie. No real blood guts and gore, but a few chilling and jump out your seat moments. I hope that doesn't make it sound too interesting, because it wasn't.
Both leads are ok without being outstanding, as is the storyline which is pretty simplistic and fairly short. There is not enough suspense to peak any major interest, nor enough characterisation to make you care what happens to the 2 stranded in the car.
Low budget, needed sharpening, and in the end merciful that it was less than 90 minutes long.
Not my cup of tea.

My Rating
 

[Rich]

Title: Cashback

Runtime:102
Certificate:R
Year:2006
Genres:Comedy, Romance

Plot:When art student Ben Willis goes through a painful break-up, he develops insomnia. To kill time, he starts working the late night shift at the local supermarket. There he meets a colorful cast of characters, all of whom have their own means of dealing with the boredom of an eight-hour-shift. Ben imagines freezing time, which allows him to see the beauty of the everyday world and the people inside it - especially Sharon, the quiet checkout girl, who just may hold the answer to resolving Ben's Insomnia.

My Review:
Quirky little British film, written produced and directed by the young Sean Ellis.
It follows a narrative from lead Sean Biggerstaff, an insomniac artist overcoming a break-up who takes a job on the nightshift at Sainsburys. Enter a lot of strange and funny characters, with traits very recognisable in many English people, and some gentle comedy moments. The main story follows his appreciation of the female beauty, and his amazing ability to freeze time by cracking his fingers, allowing him to strip female shoppers and draw them in a variety of poses without their knowledge.
I must admit that many parts of the film I found very erotic, the ladies he stripped were extremely attractive and typically buxom, the flashbacks to his childhood and adolescent discovery of women (through a Swedish student and schoolgirl friend) were sweetly handled but again very provocative, and the whole film feels like we are part of his dreamy existence.
The negatives are few, a football scene was hopeless, some of the dialogue padded and pointless, and one 'time-freeze' aspect that was not particularly explained enough by the end of the film.
But overall this is an original, funny, arousing, bizarre indie film that I feel many members here will really appreciate in their collections.

My Rating
 

[Jimmy]

But overall this is an original, funny, arousing, bizarre indie film that I feel many members here will really appreciate in their collections.

It's already in my collection since Jon had talked about it the first time
Like you I've really appreciated this film

[Rich]

Title: Merry Madagascar

Runtime:27
Certificate:U
Year:2009
Genres:Adventure, Animation, Comedy

Plot:When Santa and his reindeer crash into the island of Madagascar it's up to Alex, Marty, Gloria, Melman and those wacky penguins to save Christmas. Get ready for a sleigh full of laughs in this hilarious new holiday classic.

My Review:
Basically a short special better suited to be an extra from a main film, but I bought this seperately for nieces to watch.
At less than half an hour (including credits) it disappears quickly, but is typical Madagascar humour, penguins on top form, King Julien the funniest and stealing the best lines, and sweet company of characters to make you smile.
However the laughs are so few because of the film length, and the fact it is produced purely for commercial cashing-in, that you can't give it a great mark

My Rating