IndustriousAngel

Some rather large plotholes but otherwise a tight emotional thriller. nice!

Disney in top form; this really was surprisingly good. The songs fit, the images are beautiful (some scenes are pure genius - the lantern festival; the musical number in the inn) and there's lots of fun for children and grown-ups alike. Exactly what we expect from a Disney film (and get too rarely).

One of my favourite Pixar films. I get why it didn't do that well at the box office - rats? - but it was really charming, funny and had some nice action scenes. Very rewatchable too, also for kids. Recommended, A.

My favourite from the Star Wars series.

Just home from seeing this. I liked it a lot; a disaster movie without action: Strange idea but nicely realised. Performances were good but the best thing were the documentary-like pace and restraint. The score was fitting; a very cold film as a whole. Light could have been better; I really dug the docu-style but in places (especially when shooting against windows) it was a bit overdone. Hey, that's film and not TV!

My surprise film of last summer; often lough-out-loud-funny, completely over-the-top, and you get the impression that the actors (what an ensemble!!) had lots of fun and a great time while shooting. As far as action comedies go, maybe my favourite one from this century.edit: and yes, it was great seeing Ernest Borgnine once again on the silver screen - grew up with this face on TV every other week; I honestly hadn't known he was still alive! Go Cabby!

From the fact that we're regulars at the triple-nonstop-showing every december at my theatre, it can be gathered that we like Jackson's "Lord of the Rings" very much (I tend to count them as one over-long film as that is really what it is). Now, I love those books since I first read them (which is about 30 years ago), and there are flaws in the film for sure, but on the whole the product is a lot better than could reasonably be expected, and in parts simply stunning. The production design is mostly superb, the acting never atrocious, the camera- and lightwork excellent, and special mention goes to Howard Shore for a really memorable and moving score anf of course to PJ for pulling this off in the first place.I prefer the extended cuts (with some exceptions); sadly here they're never shown in theatres.What worked for me and what didn't:Did not work:- Elves. Ok, they're difficult to frame, but with the exception of Galadriel they were not convincing and often stiff (Elrond, Celeborn, even Legolas)- The stair scene in Moria (from "Fellowship") - served no purpose at all and completely interrupted the action. Besides, who would build such a stair?- Lothlorien: The one place where I didn't like the set design.- Music: While I really like Shore's score on the whole, the fanfare from "Fellowship" is much too loud and bombastic.- In the extended cut of RotK Aragorn chops of the head of the Mouth of Sauron. This not only contradicts the book literally, but runs also against how his character is portrayed.- Faramir leading Frodo & Sam to Osgiliath served no purpose; lost time.- It is mentioned now and again that no one can use the One Ring. This contradicts the book and is silly since part of the dangerousness of the ring is, that it COULD be used to overthrow Sauron. Galadriel, Elrond, Aragorn, Gandalf, Saruman - every one of them could have used it. Why exclude this possibility from the film? A "message" (if there is one) of the book is that you can or should not get rid of a dictator by replacing him with a new one.- The paths of the death sequence was too much like standard horror fare.What worked:- The close-ups. Often the camera stays on faces or hands; good move.- The score in TT and RotK- Aragorn and Gandalf: Very good casting there.- Frodo. Good casting; I was sceptic - but his smile at the grey havens (end of RotK) shortcircuits with his innocent smile at the beginning of FotR when Gandalf arrives in Hobbiton. Great heart-rending effect which can only be experienced if you watch the 3 parts back-to-back.- Most of the set designs, but especially: Rivendell, Isengard and Minas Tirith.- The big and small battle sequences - you get a sence of spatial relations and what goes on.- The script: Difficult to cram such a book in 11 hours but they did better than expected.- The Balrog/Gandalf fight; especially their fall (beginning of TT) - great scene!- The costumes, weapons etc.: ground this fantasy in reality- The seriousness. No post-modern self-concious storytelling here; just a plain tale.- Time to breathe. No nonstop action, instead the characters are given precious moments to maybe just sit and think.- Time to say goodbye. The multiple endings were much ridiculed at; I think they work very well - again, can be better experienced if you watch the 3 parts back-to-back.So, while it may not be possible to like everything in an 11 hour film, it is as near to perfect as I could hope for. Thank you PJ

I liked the film; it was a fun evening mostly because of Hemsworth's effortlessly charming screen presence. The story was so-so, bu the contributing actors really good (Hiddleston stands out). The visuals were ok (3D really pointless, wasn't offered in 2D in Austria and Germany) if rather kitschy - obviously out of respect for the comics which I found unnecessary - the whole film works lots better when it does't exhale "comic" or "superhero" but "norse myth". Rewatched this on BR and was fun again; no classic for sure but simply good entertainment with charming actors.

One of the better Superhero films; I had much fun in the theatre but don't plan to re-watch this anytime soon. The main problem from my perspective was that James McAvoy could't deliver as strong a performance as Fassbender; the pair was a bit unbalanced.Could be that this was a script problem; it's always difficult having a hero with virtually no human faults. (Superman comes to mind; I found those rater dull)

One of my favourite films from the last years. Nobody seems to do those simple psycho-thrillers anymore which were around when I grew up (and had to watch them on TV when my parents were out) - and here is one of them, and one of the best: A good old thriller, without any superfluous side-stories or characters or hinted-at deeper meanings, but with: A gorgeous soundtrack, beautiful photography (hope Libatique gets his Oscar someday, not only for Black Swan) and tight direction. Plus Natalie Portman in her most intense role ... superb. Vincent Cassel and Mila Kunis stand their own against her fury, great performances too. Winona Ryder and Barbara Hershey shine. Aronofsky seems to be able to drive his actors to optimum performances.Highly recommende, and: This makes a fine duo with "The Wrestler" for a beer-sodden home video evening!

BCaught this in cinema here after it had its phenomenal run in the USA; the film was funny and in places touching but not as good as I had hoped it would be. Pacing was a problem as well as some rather forced scenes. Dont't plan to buy or rewatch this, but far from a bad film. Maybe this is more of a girl's film but my girlfriend liked "The Hangover" better too.

That's a real feel-good film; saw this again on BR (it gets a bit overlooked but it also features splendid camerawork and lighting, definitely worth being watched in HD). You root for the (to-be) king, for his wife, for the therapist ... actually, what's missing here is a little tension. Every little problem or possible conflict gets smoothed out rather too quickly. But that's a minor gripe.

Saw this in cinemas and now again on BR and it's definitely worth multiple viewings (which is the best thing you can say about a film).

Saw this twice, my opinion:The film is visually stunning and virtually perfect from the technical POV. Nearly nonstop-action and beautiful setpieces keep you entertained throughout; in fact so much that i doubt that this will be a big favourite with children. The colours are stunning (hyper-realism; quite nicely referring to the bright comic artwork by Hergé). Also, it's obvious that Spielberg had a lot of fun with the new medium. Not only the long chase sequence, but many smaller or short shots are simply brillant.However, the film lacks what I would call a human element, which is not the fault of the motion-captaure process (which is perfect) but a problem in the script. As much as I admire the writers' other work, in Tintin they just didn't deliver. As a lifelong fan of the comics, the problem stands out quite clearly to me: In the comics, especially when dealing with exotic places, the place itself and often the people there played a part of their own. In this film, the harbour town in Marocco is strictly background. If, let's say, Tintin had made some friends there among the young (and preferably poor) inhabitants and they in turn had helped him later on, there would have been somebody to root for. It's strange that someone like Spielberg overlooked such an obvious opportunity.As it stands, I recommend this as a fun ride, but doubt its staying power in cinemas - not much repeat business, I would guess. A sequel will happen (this will do reasonable business and also do very well on BR/DVD) and I really hope for a better script.