Movies thread

[ZaichikArky]

Discuss/rate/recommend/not recommend movies you've just seen and want to share with everyone.

I just got back from seeing District 9. I swear, one of the best alien movies EVER made, and apparently it was made with a low budget too(didn't seem like it). Has anyone else seen it?

You don't have to talk about District 9, just talk about any movie you want to discuss .

[Lord J Esq]

As soon as I see Ponyo, I'm gonna be all up ons this thread. And if any of you mooks spoils it for me, I'll rip out your hearts and eat them while they're still beating! 

[KebreI]

I am looking forward to seeing 9 next week.

[ZaichikArky]

Hehe. I saw Ponyo in theaters when I was in Japan. I didn't think anyone would want to see it with me, so I went all by my lonesome. I thought it was ok. I'm a big Ghibli nut and while Ponyo was better than some other movies, I guess it was just a bit too immature for me. What I liked most was the song, which I learned almost completely by heart because my little kids would come into class and sing it for me all the time XD;

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r0lk-GEhYdY&feature=related

Whoa, apparently there's an "official" English version now.

[Romana]

Going to see District 9 this weekend or next week! Looking forward to it.

[Radical_Dreamer]

Going to see District 9 this weekend or next week! Looking forward to it.

It's really good, but had a couple things that bothered me.

[GenesisOne]

It's really good, but had a couple things that bothered me.

Well, other than the slum conditions, the alien prostitution service, and the abnormal growth on the agent's arm, I didn't think much else was wrong with it.

[ZaichikArky]

I found a couple things wrong with District 9, but overall it really was one of my favorite movies. These days, it's so rare to have an alien movie that is not actually about aliens taking over the world. To me, this movie seemed like a version of ET for more mature audiences. The people writing flames on yahoo movies hated the shaky camera (I think this was attributed to the movie basically being a mockumentary), but that didn't bother me. There was a few things about the plot that I found kind of odd, but nothing that would cause me to really dislike the movie in any way.

[GenesisOne]

I didn't know how a terrible movie critic spoke...

... until I met a Yahoo! Movies user.

Anyways, ZaichikArky, what was it about the plot that confused you?

[Lakonthegreat]

I recommend that everyone see these two movies in the near future.

Everything Is Illuminated - Elijah Wood is a young Jewish man from the United states chasing his family history on a tour of the Ukraine. The wonky characters with all their quirks make this movie hilarious at the start, but there is a HUGE paradigm shift in the very middle of the movie that will just leave you sideswiped. I laughed, I cried, it's just amazing. 9/10

This Is England - A young English boy in 1986 is tortured at school until he meets a young skinhead named Woody. Woody takes him under his wing until the leader of Woody's gang gets out of jail and comes back. This furious man named Combo embodies the British Nationalist's radical ideals, and ends up stealing the boy's affections from the laid-back Woody. Plus you get to see a 20-year old girl make out with a 10-year old kid, which is a pretty funny scene. 10/10, if only for the emotional impact of the last 20 minutes.

[Radical_Dreamer]

It's really good, but had a couple things that bothered me.

Well, other than the slum conditions, the alien prostitution service, and the abnormal growth on the agent's arm, I didn't think much else was wrong with it.

I should have been more clear. I'm not talking about content. Not in that sense, anyway. I mean in terms of the plot. The main thing that bothered me is that all of the factions had the same goal (prawns leave earth) so the whole conflict was entirely meaningless. I don't think the things you mentioned were things wrong with the film itself, although I can understand why they might have made people uncomfortable.

[ZaichikArky]

Anyways, ZaichikArky, what was it about the plot that confused you?

It wasn't so much confusing, it was kind of more unrealistic. I'll explain (highlight to read the spoiler).

First the things you mentioned were somewhat unrealistic. About the arm growing faster than the rest of the metamorphasis. The slum conditions I just found kind of gross. What most bothered me, however, was how the aliens were portrayed. Basically, it seemed like Christopher was the only intelligent alien there. We know that the aliens created these incredibly powerful biological weaponry , but the movie portrayed them as being no better than rats. At one point even Wikus  says "I always knew you were intelligent!" So to me it made it unlikely that the aliens were portrayed as rats (or prawns really, bottom-feeders) who had little intelligence when all along they were capable of what humanity can only dream of. Some other things I found kind of silly. The whole Nigerian warlord in the wheelchair wanting to be a prawn for one.

Everything Is Illuminated - Elijah Wood is a young Jewish man from the United states chasing his family history on a tour of the Ukraine. The wonky characters with all their quirks make this movie hilarious at the start, but there is a HUGE paradigm shift in the very middle of the movie that will just leave you sideswiped. I laughed, I cried, it's just amazing. 9/10

Hey I watched that one. LOVED it. That movie was seriously hilarious, especially with the character of the Ukranian pimp (for lack of a better word) and his antisemitic grandpa. Made it even better for me since I could understand the Russian.  

Guys, you just keep replying to this thread so fast!

Not in that sense, anyway. I mean in terms of the plot.

Highlight spoiler again... Yes and no. The big subplot to that was not so much of the aliens right to go home, it was that Wikus was the key to using the aliens' weaponry. Without Wikus, the MNU would not be able to use the weapons so he was incredibly valuable and the goal was to capture him alive so that he could be used to activate the weapons. So the aliens going home was only one major factor.

[Radical_Dreamer]

Highlight spoiler again... Yes and no. The big subplot to that was not so much of the aliens right to go home, it was that Wikus was the key to using the aliens' weaponry. Without Wikus, the MNU would not be able to use the weapons so he was incredibly valuable and the goal was to capture him alive so that he could be used to activate the weapons. So the aliens going home was only one major factor.

This is true, but the entire plot of Wikus being a resource to the MNU only exists in the context of both the prawns and the human citizens of Johannesburg wanting the prawns to go back to their home planet. If MNU had been more interested in finding prawns of Christopher Johnson's intelligence/type the whole situation could have been resolved long before the Wikus plot even began.

While it's unclear to me how they knew this, one of the interview clips does indicated that man kind knew that the prawns had a drone class and a leader class. Looking for leader class prawns should have been a huge priority from the moment the prawns arrived.

[V_Translanka]

Again, strange that I thought you were against the mega threads, ZaichiArky and then you make this though usually people make individual movie threads and they work out fine, but w/e...

I think Big Fan sounds interesting. At the very least I can't help but like the main cast teaming of Patton Oswalt & Kevin Corrigan. Trailer

[ZaichikArky]

Again, strange that I thought you were against the mega threads, ZaichiArky and then you make this though usually people make individual movie threads and they work out fine, but w/e...

No, it was opposite. You don't recall properly. As I remember it, I know that you are against the mega threads and I champion them... I actually prefer one huge movie thread as opposed to Zeality making individual movie threads(it seems like he's the only one who does that). But if anyone wants to continue making individual movie threads, I'm not going to complain. I think this kind of thread works better anyway if it's something like Lakonthegreat's post about these two movies he recommends because it would probably not be appropriate to make a thread like that.