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      CommentAuthorDemetris
    • CommentTimeDec 3rd 2007
    HOT FUZZ !!

    I am SO IMPRESSED right now i honestly don't know what to write! It took me a while to understand what all this was about and i knew from the beginning it was a "bit" twisted, coming from the team behind "Shaun of the Dead", but nothing could have prepared me for what i just saw! This must be - easily - one of the smartest, coolest and most caustic and outrageously well-filmed movies ever! Nothing you might read or hear about it can actually give you the slightest idea of how clever this movie is, making a trip throughout genres, making to-the-point and damn clever fun of everything and everyone and at the same time being DAMN serious (greatly aided by the killer David Arnold action ride) DAMN professional and TOTALLY exciting and rousing! Don't be mistaken; if a filmmaker can put you on the edge of your sit biting your nails in agony in a gorgeous fight / action scene amidst corn flakes, bolonez sauce, milk and pasta, then he's got something really good going on wink

    Definitely recommended, definitely 5-star!
    Love Maintitles. It's full of Wanders.
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      CommentAuthorDavid
    • CommentTimeDec 3rd 2007 edited
    Haha, agree with your every word. I saw this with my brother when it came to cinemas, and I've sat down with several friends forcing them to watch it. None have been disappointed.

    Not only does it succeed in poking fun at so many movies through it's clever wit, but it actually surpasses them and creates one of the most entertaining action sequences ever! There isn't a single dry moment in the film -- from the editing, camera angles, outrageous sound effect, and David Arnold's score, it non-stop hilarity.

    Easily one of the funniest films made in the last ten years.

    The last new movie I saw was Elizabeth: The Golden Age which I didn't dislike as much as the critics, but it was a far cry from the first film. So much emphasis was put on the visuals and trying to make every shot look like it could hang in a gallery, that the story and characters fell flat.
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      CommentAuthorDemetris
    • CommentTimeDec 3rd 2007
    Exactly!
    Love Maintitles. It's full of Wanders.
  1. But don't expect Simon Pegg to be funny in every movie he does!! Pegg as Scotty in the new Star Trek movie? A big "negative" in this house!
    The views expressed in this post are entirely my own and do not reflect the opinions of maintitles.net, or for that matter, anyone else. http://www.racksandtags.com/falkirkbairn
    • CommentAuthorTimmer
    • CommentTimeDec 3rd 2007
    I haven't seen Hot Fuzz yet? I did enjoy Shaun Of The Dead so I'll look forward to it.
    On Friday I ate a lot of dust and appeared orange near the end of the day ~ Bregt
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      CommentAuthorRalph Kruhm
    • CommentTimeDec 3rd 2007 edited
    We saw The Tudors. Beside a wonderful score, beautiful costumes and, for a US TV series, surprisingly bold sex scenes (all three combined having a nice effect on the audience biggrin ), it felt like a medieval version of Dallas. I still wonder how Sam Neill got into that one, then I remembered Merlin 2, and didn´t care. Its historic accurance is probably non-existent, the only characters to identify with either die, become fanatics or total losers (or both).
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      CommentAuthorThor
    • CommentTimeDec 3rd 2007
    Yeah, I liked HOT FUZZ too. Smart film, although not rolling-on-the-floor-and-laughing-type funny.
    I am extremely serious.
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      CommentAuthorDemetris
    • CommentTimeDec 3rd 2007
    Yeah, i didn't see it as a very funny film either. But it made me giggle with its caustic satire and it's soo damn clever. I wouldn't certainly not characterize it a comedy though.
    Love Maintitles. It's full of Wanders.
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      CommentAuthorFalkirkBairn
    • CommentTimeDec 3rd 2007 edited
    Ralph Kruhm wrote
    Beside a wonderful score, beautiful costumes and, for a US TV series, surprisingly bold sex scenes...I still wonder how Sam Neill got into that one...

    Looking at the production company details, there seems to be a few countries involved in getting this series off the ground: US, Canada, Ireland. Maybe that explained Sam Neill's involvement.

    I saw the first one but something more interesting started on another channel and so that took over my interest. From what I've read, it's a bit too much of a talky porgramme rather than an action piece?
    The views expressed in this post are entirely my own and do not reflect the opinions of maintitles.net, or for that matter, anyone else. http://www.racksandtags.com/falkirkbairn
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      CommentAuthorRalph Kruhm
    • CommentTimeDec 3rd 2007 edited
    Talky? I think I haven´t seen a series with so much dialogue EVER, which wouldn´t be a problem in itself. It´s just that it doesn´t lead anywhere. The whole series is about Henry trying everything to get his **** into Anne Boleyn, which is way too less content to support ten hours of historic drama. Because both history and drama get lost very quickly and it all becomes hormones getting in the way of brains. If they had just cut out the dialogue and played it as a silent movie it might have actually worked better, because the pictures are so beautiful, as is the score, and some of those girls are just... shame

    As a matter of fact, the only action scenes I remember are Sam Neill grabbing an old cardinal by his neck and Henry falling into a pool of mud. Unless you call the stuff that happens in four-postered beds action. Then you get a lot of it.
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      CommentAuthorMartijn
    • CommentTimeDec 5th 2007
    Just the thing that bothered me with Rome... slant

    Currently Watching: Invasion (TV series)
    Bit of a cross between American Gothic (well, same scenario writer), Lost and Invasion Of The Body Snatchers.
    It's pretty cool and well paced, with a nice eye for detail and how to create tension, but at the end of the day it's not really all that scary (yet; I'm only up to episode 11 of 22). I like the way the intrigue is built while you still have no idea how the characters could indeed act different than they're doing. It's quite intelligent that way.
    'no passion nor excitement here, despite all the notes and musicians' ~ Falkirkbairn
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      CommentAuthorRalph Kruhm
    • CommentTimeDec 5th 2007 edited
    Rome is something we wanted to try out soon. Is it really that bad? We´ve heard nothing but praise until right now.

    Didn´t Invasion end after only one season?

    Currently watching The Shield 3rd Season. A great series without any doubt. Intelligent plots, real people, stunning developments.
    • CommentAuthorAnthony
    • CommentTimeDec 5th 2007
    Transformers!

    The DVD came out today (well, yesterday and I watched it last night), all in glorious HD. I can't quite express how amazingly clear the picture is. It's the first movie I've seen in HD and my God, you'll never want to go back to standard def again! tongue

    Obviously I saw the film at the cinema, and cars that transform into big mother robots and blow the hell out of everything never gets boring. Anthony Anderson's ''SHUT UP GRANDMAAA!'' quote is hilarious. biggrin
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      CommentAuthorBobdH
    • CommentTimeDec 5th 2007 edited
    THUNDERBIRDS

    Oh dear... I didn't have a single feel of nostalgia! Well... only a bit, when I saw the planes / rockets, but it didn't have any of the original Thunderbirds feel! It was just too sweet / sacharine / childish / morally, horrible, with bad acting and a ridiculous story! Accompanied by a by-the-numbers score from Zimmer that could only entertain me with the full orchestral version of the original theme. slant
    • CommentAuthorTrekkinD
    • CommentTimeDec 7th 2007
    Watching Mr. Bean's Holiday right now for the second time. It seems much more in tune with the series than the more Americanized version a decade back. A lot more of Rowan mugging as Mr. Bean, one of the producer's goals with this movie was to make it more along the lines of the slient comedies of eras past. I thought that the movie created by William Defore's director character, was hilarious and egotistically overblown. Howard Goodall, wrote a charming score.
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      CommentAuthorDavid
    • CommentTimeDec 7th 2007
    Ralph Kruhm wrote
    Rome is something we wanted to try out soon. Is it really that bad? We´ve heard nothing but praise until right now.


    I haven't seen the second season of Rome, but I enjoyed the first. It's not exactly (or at all) historically accurate, but I found it to be a very entertaining show. It's over the top, but I liked that about it. I would definitely rent it first though since the DVD set is so expensive.
  2. Thanks, we´ll get them from friends of ours who have the set. I´ve nothing against over-the-top or historical inaccurance if at least something is happening.
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      CommentAuthorMartijn
    • CommentTimeDec 7th 2007
    Yeah, well, I have this unwritten rule that any film/series that needs more than three sex scenes to get up to steam (so to speak) probably isn't worth the effort. Which is the reason I stopped watching Rome after an hourinto the pilot episode. It was like Caligula Light, but without the actual acting stardom in that monstrosity. (So basically a lose-lose situation!)

    Reviews for the entire series continue to be positive throughout, though, so I might be tempted to give it another shot when indeed the box set becomes available at our local video rental, but it's not high on my list of priorities, to be honest.
    'no passion nor excitement here, despite all the notes and musicians' ~ Falkirkbairn
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      CommentAuthorRalph Kruhm
    • CommentTimeDec 7th 2007 edited
    I see. Well, anyway there is a lot of things we´re watching and intend to finish before we start something new. There´s Galactica, Heroes, Lost, and some more things. Actually, I´ve no idea how we manage that all.
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      CommentAuthorDavid
    • CommentTimeDec 7th 2007
    Martijn wrote
    Yeah, well, I have this unwritten rule that any film/series that needs more than three sex scenes to get up to steam (so to speak) probably isn't worth the effort. Which is the reason I stopped watching Rome after an hourinto the pilot episode. It was like Caligula Light, but without the actual acting stardom in that monstrosity. (So basically a lose-lose situation!)

    Reviews for the entire series continue to be positive throughout, though, so I might be tempted to give it another shot when indeed the box set becomes available at our local video rental, but it's not high on my list of priorities, to be honest.


    It's been a while since I've seen the entire season, but if I remember correctly, the sex is toned down in later episodes. It's still there obviously, but not with the frequency as it is in the first episode.
    • CommentAuthorTimmer
    • CommentTimeDec 7th 2007
    I really warmed to Rome after a while.

    Worth giving a second chance Martijn?
    On Friday I ate a lot of dust and appeared orange near the end of the day ~ Bregt
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      CommentAuthorMarselus
    • CommentTimeDec 7th 2007 edited
    Coach Carter - Glory Road - Gridiron Gang

    Wow, that´s what I call a copy / paste kinda movies. If a machine could do three films almost exactly, this trilogy would be the result.
    Of course I´ve watched these three things only for the score (poor Rabin in the first two, he has to score between hip hop track and hip hop track; at least in Gridiron Gang he can do something else).
    Anything with an orchestra or with a choir....at some point will reach you
  3. Marselus wrote
    Coach Carter - Glory Road - Gridiron Gang

    Wow, that´s what I call a copy / paste kinda movies. If a machine could do three films almost exactly, this trilogy would be the result.
    Of course I´ve watched these three things only for the score (poor Rabin in the first two, he has to score between hip hop track and hip hop track; at least in Gridiron Gang he can do something else).


    considering I'm a Rabin fan, its true that Gridiron Gang stands out, because Coach Carter I barely noticed in the movie and Glory Road just small snippets, but I think a sole score experience on disk could present some extra surprises. But indeed as movie music experience, Gridiron Gang was noticed the most
    waaaaaahhhhhhhh!!! Where's my nut? arrrghhhhhhh
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      CommentAuthorMarselus
    • CommentTimeDec 7th 2007
    Tommy_Boy wrote
    considering I'm a Rabin fan, its true that Gridiron Gang stands out, because Coach Carter I barely noticed in the movie and Glory Road just small snippets, but I think a sole score experience on disk could present some extra surprises. But indeed as movie music experience, Gridiron Gang was noticed the most


    Yes, "Gridiron Gang" is lika an extension of what he did with "Remember the Titans". And he didn´t have to deal with annoying songs. The score shines specially in the final match (where there´s music all the time) and the more dramatic moments, .
    As for "Coach Carter" and "Glory Road" the music only shines in the final matches (again). It´s like Rabin´s speciality, powerful anthems for final games.
    Anything with an orchestra or with a choir....at some point will reach you
  4. Marselus wrote
    Tommy_Boy wrote
    considering I'm a Rabin fan, its true that Gridiron Gang stands out, because Coach Carter I barely noticed in the movie and Glory Road just small snippets, but I think a sole score experience on disk could present some extra surprises. But indeed as movie music experience, Gridiron Gang was noticed the most


    Yes, "Gridiron Gang" is lika an extension of what he did with "Remember the Titans". And he didn´t have to deal with annoying songs. The score shines specially in the final match (where there´s music all the time) and the more dramatic moments, .
    As for "Coach Carter" and "Glory Road" the music only shines in the final matches (again). It´s like Rabin´s speciality, powerful anthems for final games.


    Indeed, the lack of songs is defintely a big thumps up for the effect in Gridiron Gang, and Rabin is one of those special composers who just knows how to approach sportmovies wink ahh that sounds like a Rabin nut talking here biggrin
    waaaaaahhhhhhhh!!! Where's my nut? arrrghhhhhhh
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      CommentAuthorMarselus
    • CommentTimeDec 7th 2007 edited
    Tommy_Boy wrote
    Indeed, the lack of songs is defintely a big thumps up for the effect in Gridiron Gang, and Rabin is one of those special composers who just knows how to approach sportmovies wink ahh that sounds like a Rabin nut talking here biggrin


    Hehe....then we´re two Rabin nuts talking biggrin
    Sure it seems he gets inspired by sports movies (when the songs let him): not the most complex music in the world but highly effective in the movie and as a listening experience.
    Anything with an orchestra or with a choir....at some point will reach you
  5. We saw Beowulf.

    First, a word about the technicalities: Beside the fact that the character movements were still kind of wooden at times, and most extra characters looked like people taken right out of the Shrek universe, I was quite surprised by the level of reality achieved in some character scenes. Nearly all main characters had some really, really convincing moments where gestures, skin tones, movements, and speech expressions were nearly perfect. Most convincing were King Hrothgar (in the more quiet moments), Ursula (King Beowulf´s beautiful pet), and Beowulf´s friend and adjutant. Beowulf himself looked best, of course. I never saw Polar Express, but I think this new movie has some really great character shots.

    There were some problems with character sizes, though. I had some difficulties to get Grendel´s size right and was very surprised how damn big he was when he came face to face with King Hrothgar.

    Landscapes and buildings / cities / castles where absolutely fine. That very long shot from the hall back into Grendel´s cave was amazing.

    The dragon was pure genius. What a nasty bastard. Very well done. Grendel himself was not what I would have thought, and IMHO a rather bad design, even if well executed.

    That golden horn was fantastic! But most equipment stuff and clothing were.

    The witch. Well, how to say it best... she was okay, I think. Some of her movements were quite perfect, the body was fantastic. I didn´t love her face, though. That came over as totally unrealistic.

    Although we didn´t see it in 3D, it was at times very three-dimensional and believable. I can imagine that seeing it in 3D must be double the fun at least.

    In the end, I think Beowulf is a great achievement technically, but still far from being the perfect illusion. There is no need for that, though. The eye candy in this movie is amazing and fun to watch enough.

    Storywise, I love this take on the legend. I love how it builds up, I think the writing and timing of the acts is crystal sharp. I loved most of the dialogue, too. There were some very cheap lines along the humor stuff, but they still worked. But almost all of the more quiet scenes were great and even moving, sometimes. A lot of scenes were so good I totally forgot those were animated characters.

    I will talk about the music over at Alan Silvestri´s topic, but let´s just say that I will get that CD as fast as possible, and you will get what I´m thinking.

    Overall, I think this was a great fantasy movie with a great storyline, good acting, good script, and amazing effects. I will so absolutely own the best-possible DVD edition of this the day it comes out. There are too few really good fantasy movies who carry such honesty in character motivation and story development. Beowulf has one epic story to tell and never leaves that path. I love that to-the-point narrating at times, when it´s done right. With this one, they nailed it.
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      CommentAuthorMartijn
    • CommentTimeDec 9th 2007
    Thanks for the extensive review, Ralph.

    I'm still working up the courage to try and completely ignore everything we know about the Beowulf legend, England's oldest epic, and accept that it's a polished, Americanized "re-imagening" (DRAGONS? In BEOWULF???), much in the First Knight vein.
    I just hope it's better than the latter, but if not, it at least has some technical novelties to display which in and of themselves are more than interesting enough.

    That said, I was always a bit anxious about such re-invention excercises. I remember not enjoying Twain's A Connecticut Yankee In King Arthur's Court at all when I read it! dizzy
    'no passion nor excitement here, despite all the notes and musicians' ~ Falkirkbairn
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      CommentAuthorRalph Kruhm
    • CommentTimeDec 9th 2007 edited
    The dragon is a part of the original Beowulf legend, though it´s within the second half of it which is often ignored. And I didn´t find the movie to be americanized. As a matter of fact, it totally goes against the recent outburst of prudery going on over there.
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      CommentAuthorMartijn
    • CommentTimeDec 9th 2007
    Ralph Kruhm wrote
    And I didn´t find the movie to be americanized. As a matter of fact, it totally goes against the recent outburst of prudery going on over there.


    Like we find in Rome and Deadwood? biggrin
    No, just kidding.
    But how do you mean? Is there a lot of swearing, sex and/or violence?

    The dragon is a part of the original Beowulf legend, though it´s within the second half of it which is often ignored.


    shocked
    You're absolutely right! I had completely forgotten about that! (In my defense: it has been about 23 years since I last read it shame ). I probably forgot, because it felt so completely tagged on to the more coherent story of the fight against Grendel..
    'no passion nor excitement here, despite all the notes and musicians' ~ Falkirkbairn