Y'all have got to see this movie. Christian-yum-tum-ticular-Bale, Sean Bean... Puppies! This movie has everything.
Ron found it on a list of underrated movies, and we Netflixed it. SciFi premise, amusing firearm martial arts ("Gun Kata" just sounds funny, don't it?). War has been eliminated by eradicating human emotion using drug therapy. Bale is a top 'cleric' of the new order. His job is to find and destroy 'sense-offenders'. He's really, really good at his job. Then he misses a dose of his emotion-repressing meds. Fun ensues.
Another one that would fit nicely here is called "Cube". Takes place in a cube-shaped room that has a door in each wall. Each one leads to another cube-shaped room. But some of them are booby-trapped. A bunch of people are there trying to get out. Very independant, low-budget-y fun.
Please share your own amusing movie finds. Posted by Book (Member # 5500) on :
Speaking of Bale, he's the next Batman in the new Christopher Nolan (Memento) Batman Begins movie. Sounds pretty cool.
Posted by Eduardo_Sauron (Member # 5827) on :
At last someone recognizes Equilibrium's greatness! :-)
I loved the movie!
Posted by Ryuko (Member # 5125) on :
Wha-hoy, I just saw that movie a few days ago. It was very good. Like Fahrenheit 451 and 1984 all mixed! And Christian Bale... Mmm... Taye Diggs... MMMMMMmmmmmm....
It made me all warm inside and excited for the new Batman movie.
Also, they had this new style of combat called gun-kata... It's like kung fu only with guns. GUNS. The only thing cooler is the short katana fighting scenes. I love me some katana...
[ April 02, 2004, 06:50 AM: Message edited by: Ryuko ]
Posted by Bob the Lawyer (Member # 3278) on :
The only thing that saved Equilibrium was that I really wanted to like it. If I wasn't willing to put so much effort into liking it, I wouldn't have.
Cube, on the other hand, was just plain bad. The sequel, Hypercube, was even worse.
Posted by Olivet (Member # 1104) on :
*noogies Bob*
Ryuko-- I couldn't remember his name!Taye Diggs.mmmm.
I liked how they subtly changed the coloring of the scenes after he stopped taking the drug. How he stopped wearing his gloves and started *touching* stuff. There were also some neat hints that Taye Diggs' character and the boss guy were not dosing-- it made me wonder if they were allies or not...
I thought Cube was interesting, especially for a film done on the cheap. It was tense and amusing, if the end was kind of disappointing (in a film-school-y, self-important, arty sort of way) that didn't make the journey any less interesting. It was fun for me to try to pick out who would crack in what way, and it did manage to surprise me a couple of times.
Posted by KarlEd (Member # 571) on :
I really liked Cube. I can't really say why, exactly. It's . . .well. . .different. I certainly wouldn't call it BAD, but I could see why some people wouldn't care for it.
Dark City is one of the most underrated Sci-Fi movies. Most people I've talked to never even heard of it.
His work in The Pledge is probably one of Jack Nicholson's best performances ever, but no one I know has seen that one either.
Posted by Book (Member # 5500) on :
I assume someone here has seen American Psycho, right? That's like the official Christian Bale drool movie.
[ April 02, 2004, 09:56 AM: Message edited by: Book ]
Posted by Olivet (Member # 1104) on :
Yes, Book, I have. There's something equally horrific and amusing about a naked man with a chain saw...
KarlEd, Dark City! Of COURSE! Very underrated. I loaned my copy to my sister, and she still hasn't watched it. *sigh*
I have also seen The Pledge, and while I didn't care for it as a *story* it was definitely an actor's movie. That's the movie that made me realize how much like Jack Nicholson my fathe always looked.
Posted by Chaz_King (Member # 3184) on :
Equilibrium is one of the better action movies I have seen in a while... so much fun, I bought the DVD the day it came out.
Cube is a great way to prove that people can do interesting sci-fi movies on a low budget. Although I have to admit that this movie totally depends on the opening scene. My girlfriend at the time missed the opening scene, and the suspense just wasn't there if you don't see that scene. It makes the movie.
Posted by Bob the Lawyer (Member # 3278) on :
See, Olivet, the gloves thing really bothered me. He's taking them off in every scene! Why is he even wearing gloves? There's one scene where he takes them off to touch something and then they cut to another scene where he's wearing them just so he can immediately take them off again! My friends and I started betting on how many times he'd have taken them off by the end of the movie (sadly, there was no winner. We couldn't agree on how many times they'd already been removed). And yes, we saw it at home so we weren't tormenting people near us.
As for Cube, my girlfriend really wanted to watch it because they used the same set for every scene. Hoooo boy. I agree, it was an interesting idea and they could have done something with it, but it went way too far into wacky land. The characters were never able to sell it to either of us.
Posted by Olivet (Member # 1104) on :
It wasn't just the taking off/putting on of the gloves, it was the way the camera focussed on the hands of people not taking the drug. As a matter of fact, I think that was my first clue about his boss-- the scene where he was glove-less and touching his desk, even sort of yelling and looking angry. But I accept that some people just have different sensibilities about such things. Also, the environment of seeing a movie (and the company) can also color the experience.
Posted by katharina (Member # 827) on :
Trust me - it's wonderful. It's written and directed by Elaine May, and Walter Matthau is the romantic lead.
[ April 02, 2004, 11:34 AM: Message edited by: katharina ]
Posted by Ryuko (Member # 5125) on :
KarlEd: Dark City was cool!! It had Richard O'Brien in it!!! Richard O'Brien!!! Anyhow, it was an interesting story with a few flaws, but still.
Olivet: Dah-rool. Also, I really liked the clues about the not-dosing folks too. Mmmm.. Good movie. Not necessarily great, but good. Posted by Sal (Member # 3758) on :
BobtL, but it had Emily Watson! Is there anything else that needs to be said?
Posted by Book (Member # 5500) on :
Dark City was a great movie; like a comic book kinda movie in its atmosphere, but with a much, much better plot and overall technique.
Posted by Eduardo_Sauron (Member # 5827) on :
I acknowledge that Dark City and American Psycho are also fantastic (and underrated) movies, but man...Equilibrium was amazing.
The glove thing: remember he was trying not to feel things (at first). Then, he was trying to conceal the fact that he felt things. So, he only took his gloves off when he thought nobody could see it, or when he just could not control himself.
Well...at least, that's the way I saw it.
And...good to see Ryuko and KarlEd again on the same thread as me! Hi, guys!
Posted by KarlEd (Member # 571) on :
Oi mano! (Got your email. Will respond this weekend from home.)
Olivet, I think a lot of people had the "story" problem with The Pledge. I can understand why because the movie isn't remotely about what you think it's about and that only slowly dawns on you as you watch it. I think this would make a good movie to watch with several people and then talk about it afterwards.
Posted by pH (Member # 1350) on :
What was that movie called where they were on a Survivor-ish game show where the point was to hunt down and kill everybody else?
Posted by Book (Member # 5500) on :
Hmm... That sounds like a lot of movies.
Posted by Strider (Member # 1807) on :
Series 7.
Posted by Miro (Member # 1178) on :
I watched Equilibrium a couple days ago. I really wanted to like it, I just couldn't buy it. There were cool parts, though.
Posted by Olivet (Member # 1104) on :
The Returner. Nifty live-action movie that was very ... Anime-esque. The fx work was spotty in places, but the story was fun and the acting was good. The physicality of the characters was amazing.
You know how Chow Yun Fat always seemed so... almost balletic in the old Woo movies (and, to a greater or lesser extent, Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon)? Well, these actors just... move cool. Their follow-throughs on the action stunts are just very impressive.
Another movie that's worth a look.
Posted by MrSquicky (Member # 1802) on :
First three movies I thought of: Dark City The Big Hit Iron Monkey
Posted by Ryuko (Member # 5125) on :
Hi Ed!!
Also, I lurv the Iron Monkey. When I saw it in the theater, it was SO good that I had to see it again. Then I bought it. I haven't watched it yet, though. Hmmm...
Posted by Eduardo_Sauron (Member # 5827) on :
Did anyone already see (or know) a movie called "the gamers"? It's an alternative movie about a group of people who play D&D (the film alternates between real life and what's going on durin the game)?
Oh, yes! Hi, Ryuko!
[ April 06, 2004, 06:58 AM: Message edited by: Eduardo_Sauron ]
Posted by Amka (Member # 690) on :
À la folie... pas du tout
He Loves Me... He Loves Me Not
A romantic thriller with Audrey Tautou, from Amelie. This one is cool in the way it is portrayed from her POV at first, then his POV.
Another foreign film I'd recomend is Kukushka or "The Cuckoo". A Finnish soldier and a Russian soldier end up isolated with a Lapp woman. None of them speak the same language, but they all manage to communicate. It's a war comedy.
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