Stratovarius Community

NordicStorm wrote:

OPOJ wrote: I, Robot -> OMG!!! And think that Asimov wrote that in 1950!

Unfortunately (or fortunately, I haven't seen the movie yet so I don't know), he didn't write that in 1950, he didn't write it at all...
Someone (20th Century Fox?) bought the rights to "I, Robot" and decided to use elements (like the three laws of robotics and the character of Susan Calvin) from the short story collection in another screenplay, written by someone else. Which means that Isaac Asimov's name in the credits is little more than a marketing ploy to get in the "geeks" .
Which is OK, this is Hollywood after all. It's certainly not the first time it has happened. But for those of us who have Isaac Asimov as their favourite author it's a bit disheartening to see :/
Although I don't think a movie based on Asimov's more famous works (The Foundation series), I'd rather see a miniseries...

Have you read the book? I haven't.
Well, I was a little curious about this issue after seeing the movie and even doubt for a moment that the whole story is really based on the book as some people say.
My mom has the book at her home, I'll try to read it next week (too lazy and busy lately). If I get to a conclusion I'll let you know.

Yeah I have read it, Asimov is one of my favourite authors His books aren't really action packed spectacles and most of them are dialogue driven. So when you see the trailer for the movie and it features robots going berserk, you become a bit suspiscious

Has any of you (Americans) seen The Exorcist: Part IV already? I read that it's a smash hit at the box office. Is it as good as the original or just Hollywood's latest attempt to rake in some more cash? I'm looking forward to some reviews.

Cheers,

Damien

Damien, I haven't seen the movie, but reception has not been good. Although it did perform surprisingly well in its first week of release, word of mouth has not been kind to it. It looks like it'll fall to fifth place this weekend.
I don't know if you have followed the whole ordeal, but there's actually two versions of this movie: the first one was directed by Paul Schrader and is supposedly a "psychological drama/thriller". Apparently this was not what the executives at the movie company wanted, so they fired Schrader, hired Finland's own Renny Harlin and started again from scratch, script rewrites and all. This "gorier and scarier" version is the one in theaters currently, the original version is supposed to get a straight to DVD release soon. Although I'm not the biggest Exorcist fan (I've seen the first one and thought it was pretty alright), it would be fun to compare the two versions...

Anyway, moving on to my latest seen flicks:

Absolon
Surprisingly well made B-movie starring everyone's favourite Scotsman Christopher Lambert, some washed up British model with a big chest, Hellboy Ron Perlman and Lou Diamond Philips, who's doing his best Agent Smith impression through most of the movie. It's a futuristic thriller set in a world where most of earth's population has been wiped out by a virus and the remaining population are slaves to the cure that must be taken on a regular basis, Absolon. Lambert is a cop investigating the death of the creator of Absolon. After that it degenerates into the usual conspiracy "the government controls us and anyone questioning the status quo must be stopped" thriller, with Diamond being the main bad guy (doing his best Agent Smith impression, as I already mentioned).
The story does have its holes, but overall a pretty enjoyable movie.

Identity
Great thriller starring John Cusack and Ray Liotta. Ten strangers end up at a motel in the middle of nowhere. Then they start dying one by one. Think "Psycho" meats "Ten little indians". It starts of as your typical "whodunnit", but the twist ending is...wow. It screws with your mind! Highly recommened movie. Apparently the trailer completely spoils the movie, so don't watch it if you plan on seeing the flick...

Donnie Darko
Another great movie, even if I think I need to watch it a few times before I'll understand what's going on
Donnie Darko (Jake Gyllenhaal) is your average teenager. Well, apart from the fact that a jet engine falls out of nowhere into his bedroom, and it surely would have killed him, had he not been out on the yard talking to a giant rabbit who's telling him the world will end in 28 days. And then it gets even weirder. If you like weird movies, this one is for you!

Donnie Darko is one of the best films ever made, a complete mindfuck. I've had it on DVD for a couple of months and I'm only just begining to understand the whole plot! Plus its where Gary Jules' version of Mad world was first heard, fantastic piece of music for a fantastic film!!

King Arthur

Wasn't vry impressed by this movie. The costumes were nice and it had a lot of action, but they completely raped the legend of Arthur (well, the best known out of many that is).
Most legends say he was a noble Englishman, who lived in a castle in Camelot. The movie mentioned something about a British man in Roman service with 6 men by his side, referred to as 'knights'.

I hoped the movie would shed an intersting light on Arthur's legend, but it didn't move me at all. The movie wasn't a complete waste of money, but I can understand why it didn't become a blockbuster.

Bubba Ho Tep. Kickass!

Nicko wrote:Donnie Darko is one of the best films ever made, a complete mindfuck. I've had it on DVD for a couple of months and I'm only just begining to understand the whole plot! Plus its where Gary Jules' version of Mad world was first heard, fantastic piece of music for a fantastic film!!

Definitely one of the weirdest movies I've seen ...

NordicStorm wrote:Damien, I haven't seen the movie, but reception has not been good. Although it did perform surprisingly well in its first week of release, word of mouth has not been kind to it. It looks like it'll fall to fifth place this weekend.
I don't know if you have followed the whole ordeal, but there's actually two versions of this movie: the first one was directed by Paul Schrader and is supposedly a "psychological drama/thriller". Apparently this was not what the executives at the movie company wanted, so they fired Schrader, hired Finland's own Renny Harlin and started again from scratch, script rewrites and all. This "gorier and scarier" version is the one in theaters currently, the original version is supposed to get a straight to DVD release soon. Although I'm not the biggest Exorcist fan (I've seen the first one and thought it was pretty alright), it would be fun to compare the two versions...

Anyway, moving on to my latest seen flicks:

Identity
Great thriller starring John Cusack and Ray Liotta. Ten strangers end up at a motel in the middle of nowhere. Then they start dying one by one. Think "Psycho" meats "Ten little indians". It starts of as your typical "whodunnit", but the twist ending is...wow. It screws with your mind! Highly recommened movie. Apparently the trailer completely spoils the movie, so don't watch it if you plan on seeing the flick...

Yes, Nordic mate, I know about all the hassle surrounding the release of this film. At one point it seemed like it was never going to come out. It was initially set for release like a year ago, but then got postponed again and again. Anyway, I was sort of alarmed when I heard that the production company had given a thumbs-down to the film's first version, because that generally means that it is too good and - say it is not so - artistic / psychological for the populus at large. So, it looked as though they were going to turn the sequel / prequel to a classic horror film into something of the Scream variety, with gore and violence obscuring the original film's more subtle elements. Even though the 1973 original also had its weak more "graphic" moments, I refer to the owl's head twist and the projectile vomit scene, the opening scenes of the film in the Middle East and the suspenseful scenes shot in Washington were nothing short of magical. Let's just hope that the sequel does not tip the balance in favour of gore and violence too dramatically.

About Identity: That is a great film indeed. Rent it if you get the chance. Play it on a big-screen TV with the lights turned down and enjoy. Go to the bathroom before the film starts, though, because it pours throughout the entire film.

Cheers,

Damien

Shrek 2 - one of the funniest movies ever
Life Is A Miracle - new film from Emir Kusturica, 2.5 hours of great mix of comedy and drama with war in Yugoslavia in the background. Recommended to everyone who likes different from Hollywood movies ...

OPEN WATER ..... it was fine but I thought it would be different...

@Shurik - shrek 2 is great!!

I saw "I, Robot" on Monday and I must say I enjoyed it immensely. I thought the story was pretty cool and actually made some sense.

memento...great film...

Nicko wrote:@Shurik - shrek 2 is great!!

I saw "I, Robot" on Monday and I must say I enjoyed it immensely. I thought the story was pretty cool and actually made some sense.

I liked Shrek 2 ever more than Shrek, there are so much funny characters added, best of them are Puss In Boots and Fairy Godmother

for some reason the Fairy Godmother really annoyed me, but Puss in Boots was hilarious! I have a cat so when that scene were he coughs up the furball came on I was in stitches!! I liked how they included the other fairytale characters as well, like Pinnochio, they just made it even funnier!

King Arthur :viking: Pretty weird movie but good concept, to find the true story behind the myth, but still think Ginevere as a warrior princess is out of place

eXistenZ - extremely fucked up movie, written and directed by David Cronenberg.
Eternal Sunshine Of The Spotless Mind - also pretty weird movie about a couple who erase each other from each other's memories, only to understand that they still love each other. Written by Charlie Kaufman, who also wrote Being John Malkovich and Adaptation. IMO one of the best Jim Carrey's roles, Beside Man On The Moon and Truman's Show ...

I, Robot

Good movie, a lot better than King Arthur, which I saw last week.

It had a good combination of action and supense, and Will Smith is always funny, no matter how serious he's supposed to be! XD

......i just see the haunted....kinda of good, i like the teacher-student action and the final battle.
And equilibrium- i find it better than matrix, i like the history and i just love the "kid in feelings" cleric, and theres a lot of violence too!!!

I just saw Resident Evil Apocalypse today and what can I say? I thought it was too short and didn't cover enough, left a lot of open spots but otherwise it was a pretty kick ass movie. That is if you like a lot of crazy action scenes, which I do so I really liked the movie. I took 3 other people with me and they all liked it too. So overall I was satisfied.

Ju-On:The Grudge - Another japanese horror movie, pretty scary one. It's about a haunted house, ghosts and a powerful curse ...
Underworld - idiotic and boring Blade clone, avoid at all costs.
Final Destination 2 - I found it pretty entertaining, if you liked the first one - this one is as good as the first.

I liked Shrek 2 ever more than Shrek, there are so much funny characters added, best of them are Puss In Boots and Fairy Godmother
I have heard only great comments about it, that it was even better than the first one. Difficult to believe, because the first one was already REALLY good

eXistenZ - extremely fucked up movie, written and directed by David Cronenberg.
One of the most brain masturbation movie ever. But still really great one !

Final Destination 2 - I found it pretty entertaining, if you liked the first one - this one is as good as the first.
Actually I am a huge fan of the first one, but I really hate the second one.
To me it was just a quick-producing movie using the same story than the first one to get money. The first movie was scary, the second one was so ridiculous that I laughed all the time. That final scene, with the hand in the plate... I hadn't seen anything that ridiculous since 70's horror movies

The Village
The new movie by M Night Shyamamamamalan. I thought "The Sixth Sense" was pretty good, "Unbreakable" was great, "Signs" was pretty decent, but this one...was pretty "eh.". Especially annoying was the fact that you could see the twist ending coming a mile away about halfway through the movie. Even so, Shyamamamalan threw in so many twists it was bordering on ridiculous. No, scratch that. It was ridiculous.
And poor Adrien Brody. He went from pianist in...uh..."The Pianist" to...village idiot?!? Sack your agent promptly.

cliff wrote:
I liked Shrek 2 ever more than Shrek, there are so much funny characters added, best of them are Puss In Boots and Fairy Godmother
I have heard only great comments about it, that it was even better than the first one. Difficult to believe, because the first one was already REALLY good

eXistenZ - extremely fucked up movie, written and directed by David Cronenberg.
One of the most brain masturbation movie ever. But still really great one !

Final Destination 2 - I found it pretty entertaining, if you liked the first one - this one is as good as the first.
Actually I am a huge fan of the first one, but I really hate the second one.
To me it was just a quick-producing movie using the same story than the first one to get money. The first movie was scary, the second one was so ridiculous that I laughed all the time. That final scene, with the hand in the plate... I hadn't seen anything that ridiculous since 70's horror movies

Both Final Destinations are not horror movies, merely a teen flicks with a doze of mysticism. I found both of them equally entertaining ...
If you think that eXistenZ was a brain masturbation - what do you think about Videodrome?

Now this is a topic I think we need to bump back up.

Here's a few flicks I've seen lately:

Constantine
Bleargh. What the hell is this? Some sort of supernatural Catholic film-noir thriller with Matrix sfx thrown in for good measure. Keanu Reeves plays the same guy he always plays. Or rather, his character is decidedly different from other characters he has played, it's just that Keanu has the acting abilities of a sponge and is thus unable to do anything but his usual shtick. Peter Stormare as Satan at the end of the movie is just about the only highlight.

The Butterfly Effect
Surprisingly well made movie starring Ashton Kutcher as the miracle wunderkid that can go back in time and change the past, only to discover his changes alters the future...I'd be inclined to call it a poor man's Donnie Darko, as the two movies share several plot points (time travel, causality). A pretty good movie though, although it did confirm what I have always suspected: Ashton Kutcher can't act.

21 Grams
I was very impressed with this drama starring Sean Penn, Naomi Watts and Benicio del Toro. The movie has a non-linear plot, jumping back and forth in time between several story arcs. Which was confusing for the first 15 minutes, but it started to make sense after that. The story is essentially about the three characters and how they affect each other, even though at first it seems as if they have little do with one another. Really, an excellent movie!

Me saw A Time To Kill last week which was kool...set in the US in the 30s or something when racism is big issue some black dudes 10 year old daughter gets raped by these 2 white guys, so he shoots them both and then fights for his right in court...recommended

I saw The ring 2...I think is a good movie, even if in my opinion is more sad than scaring...

The Ring 2 - not even close to first one. Good suspence movie, but nothing special, not scary at all ...

Donnie Darko. cooooool

i saw the crow:salvation . it was very nice:)