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The Football Factory (2004)
Directed by: Nick Love
Written by: Nick Love and John King

So being an American it is hard for me to grasp the point of these football organizations or firms I believe they called themselves, also what is even more mind blowing to me is that these firms or whatever they are called actually exist to some extent, not saying that this movie is a documentary. I watched Green Street Hooligans a while back and when I started this film I immediately was reminded of it, the main difference in my opinion was Green Street Hooligans was more of a youthful thing whereas The Football Factory is more grown up and older people that are involved in these “firms”. As I said I am American so if I am getting this wrong that they really exist just let me know and I will correct my mistake.



I am a big fan of Danny Dyer who plays the main character who is going through something big in his life, everyone telling him that he needs to grow up and stop kicking peoples face’s in. Dyer’s character starts thinking he is having some kind of breakdown because he starts seeing things on TV and Billboards that he thinks are talking directly about him, also he keeps having the same nightmare over and over where he is the one getting kicked in the face. The movie is basically building up to the big match between their team (it never sais exactly where this takes place so I have no idea) and their arch rivals, basically planning how they are going to beat the piss out of the other people that really is what this movie is about. There is a sad kind of side story about Dyer’s grandfather and his best friend, they had went through WWII together and bean best friends ever since. They have plans to move to Australia and live out there few remaining days drinking and enjoying the girls in bikinis. This was a good movie but just boggled my mind that people would actually go through all the trouble just to beat the crap out of another group of people over a football match, still I suggest if you have not seen this then you should watch it.

I'm American as well but I've been to London a few times and have met some people in the " firms " . There really is no age limit. Of course, when you go to a soccer match to fight you better be in shape. And believe me when I tell you, they do take their soccer seriously. Having said that, it's not confined to England. In East Europe there are some fan clubs that make English ones look like boyscouts.



Memories of Murder (2003)



I have been trying to figure out how to sum up a brief summary of this movie as well as my feelings about this movie. I will start with the beginning of the movie, 1986 South Korea's first serial killer strikes and a dead body is found in a ditch in I guess what you would call the backwoods of South Korea. I am kind of bored with the movie already, there is no blood in a serial killer movie and the story is just starting off really slow. An investigator from Seoul comes to the small town to help out the police with the obvious disaproval of the local police. I thought it was interesting but I am not sure how true of how they depicted police interigations in South Korea at the time, but honestly I would completely believe that is not far from the truth, I think that American police wish that they could get away with doing some of that roughing up stuff sometimes. The interigations are quite brutal and basically they kept you in the basement at the Police Headquarters with no food or water, sometimes hanging you upside down until you confess to the crime wether you comitted it or not, so yeah it's not the most effective way to go about that.
Murders continue to happen and patterns start to emerge one of which is that the women that are killed are always wearing red shirts or tops, also that it is always raining and the same song is always requested on the radio just before the killings happen. They try to lure him out on rainy night using a female police officer dressed in a red dress on a rainy night, nothing happens, something that is a continuing theme it seems in this movie. I really wanted to like this movie but it was just way to long and drawn out, and the fact that a lot of this film is just botched police work and interogations that go nowhere. The movie is way over 2 hours long and should have been condensed down to 90+ minutes IMO.



I probably would have enjoyed this movie much more but the DVD that I got was dubbed which I always hate, and because of thin walls and annoying neighbors I had to use the subtitles anyways, normally there would be nothing wrong with that except that the subtitles did not match the dubbed dialoge and that just annoyed me so much. If you are going to watch this movie then make sure you do not get a dubbed copy.


The DVD copy I got.
I'm surprised that you give Detective Dee a higher grade than Memories Of Murder. No doubt you were irritatted by the bad copy you viewed. To me Memories Of Murder is one of the best movies to come out of South Korea, wheras Detective Dee...... is just an average Chinese movie.



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The Hunt For Gollum (2009)
Directed by: Chris Bouchard
Written by: Chris Bouchard


This is a British film that takes place just before the first Lord of the Rings film, I had never heard of this film until stumbling upon this on Youtube so I figured it had to do with the LOTR story so I would give it a shot, this is a short film coming in around 39 minutes. I thought that they did a great job keeping in mind that the film was made with less then a 4,000 dollar budget, the makeup on the orcs was done well and coming up with a lookalike for Viggo Mortensen and Ian McKellen if that is what they were trying to do then I give them an A for effort.
Basically the story is Gandalf getting Aragorn to find Gollum because Gandalf belives that he knows the location of the ring, Aragorn sets out on his journey with a few decent fight scenes along the way (less then 4,000 dollars), this being a short film I am not sure how much more I can say without giving away to much. If you are a LOTR fan and you have not seen this then definitely give it a shot, it's only 39 minutes so even if you don't like it than it's no big deal.

I did not like the way it ended, all I am gonna say on that.
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Immortal (Ad Vitam) (2004)
Directed by: Enki Bilal
Written by: Enki Bilal


Nyc year 2095. A floating pyramid has emerged in the skies above inhabited by
ancient egyptian gods. They have cast judgment down upon Horus one of their
own. Now he must find a human host body to inhabit & search for a mate to
continue his own life. There is a series of gruesome murders going on where
all the peoples heads have exploded, turns out that if Horus tries to inhabit
your body and your not a match then that is what happens to you. Horus
finally finds a fitting body of a man who has just escaped from prison, during
his accidental escape Alcide Nikopol (Thomas Kretschmann) loses one of his
legs which Horus replaces with a steal beam he magically turns into a
perfectly good replacement. Having a steal leg turns out to be not such a
great thing as it weighs a ton and that's the catch, as long as he agrees to
help Horus then Horus will make sure Alcide can move just fine and the weight
will not bother him if not then he will have to drag his leg around for the
rest of his life.



Horus uses Nicopol to find the girl that he has already selected, Jill (Linda
Hardy) is a blue haired blue skinned hot girl. Her character I really didn't
understand all that well, she is some kind of alien that was brought to Earth
for some reason that I did not understand. With the help of Horus's magic
Nikopol is able to seduce Jill so that Horus can use her to procreate, this is
another part I didn't understand but for some reason Horus needs to have a
child and it has to be with Jill. The bad part of using "magic" to seduce a
woman is that when it wears off in the morning she does not remember anything
and needless to say she feels extremely violated, luckily Nicopol calms her
down and is able to form a friendship with Jill that blooms into something
more throughout the movie. This is a really interesting movie and beautifull
movie as the characters and movie are half live action and half CGI, I
definitely suggest this movie to anyone that likes the bizzare and unusual.




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Right At Your Door (2006)
Directed by: Chris Gorak
Written by: Chris Gorak


Brad (Rory Cochrane) and Lexi (Mary McCormack) are living together in Los Angeles and on this fateful morning she goes off to work. The next thing Brad nows there are reports on the radio of a series of blasts in the city. It turns out that not only is this a terrorist attack, but that the bombs were dirty bombs that are filling the air with toxic clouds of deadly ash. Of course Brad tries to contact Lexi, but the phone lines are jammed and when he jumps in his car to try and go and find her, his efforts are stopped by the police. Chances are she is already dead, but Brad simply does not know one way or the other. So he returns home and seals up his doors and windows against the toxic cloud that is coming, and waits for Lexi to call or get back home.
Of course his wife shows up after sealing himself in, he can't allow her in or else risk contaminating himself so a lot of the movie is spent with them sitting seperated by plastic talking about the good memories of their past.



I should have been bored but I wasn't, I found this movie entertaining from beginning to end and the movie did have a shocking twist ending that I did not see coming. There is a very minimal cast in this with only 3 characters that have any real amount of screen time and maybe another 3 that get about a minute or less screen time, the music was good and I thought the acting was really good also. This really makes you wonder if you would be able to do this to someone you love, if you could go on watching the person you love getting sicker and sicker, hopefully a choice I will never have to make.







The Thin Red Line (1998)
Directed by Terrence Malick
Written by James Jones (novel), Terrence Malick (screenplay)

I went and saw this movie in theaters when I was 18 and I hated this movie. I watched this again about a month ago and have a whole new take on the movie. When I was 18 I think I was expecting a super action packed movie instead of beautiful cinematography, a great story, and amazing acting from the insanely huge and great cast. Nick Nolte, James Caviezel, Sean Penn, Ben Chaplin, John Cusack, Adrien Brody, John C. Reilly, Woody Harrelson, Jared Leto, John Travolta, George Clooney, Elias Koteas, and many more.



This is the battle for Guadalcanal Island, Nick Nolte plays a intense career officer not seeming to care about how many of his men die but just caring about getting the mission complete on his superiors time table. Nolte's anger is so convincing that you are sitting there waiting for him to stroke out in one of his yelling rants. The cinematography is amazing, every shot is a masterpiece. The scenes that stuck out the most to me were the shots of the sloping fields with the tall grass, those shots made me really not want to look away from the screen. If you are one of the very few people who have not seen this movie then definitely do.


Just read through all your reviews, this is the one that really stood out to me.
Totally agree with you, it's a movie that seems like a pile of tosh on first viewing. To be honest, I actually left the cinema about 30 minutes before the end.

Over the years though, it's certainly grown on me. It's beautifully made.

Nice review.





Red Cliff (2008)
Directed by: John Woo
Written by: John Woo and Khan Chan

The year is 208 AD. After years of civil war, a deathly calm has fallen of northern China. One by one, the rebel warlords have met their end under the sword of Prime Minister Cao Cao. Now, even the Han Emperor bows before his power. Yet from the south, a challenge is heard. Two leaders arise against Cao Cao's tyranny, the aging Liu Bei, and the inexperienced Sun Quan. So Cao Cao petitions the Emperor to brand these men as traders, and declare a new war against the peaceful Southlands.

I watched this movie a couple years ago and got it again thinking that I was getting the International version but wound up with the Theatrical version which I had seen before. I was disappointed but I watched it again anyways because it is just the kind of Epic Asian film with huge battles that I love, when you are watching this you might think that this was a movie written by Sun Tzu the famous writer of the Art of War (500 BC), this movie is all about military battle planning and strategies to use against your enemy. The only thing I bad I have to say about this movie is that there is only one character that you really get an emotional attachment too and that was Zhuge Liang (Takashi Kaneshiro from House of Flying Daggers and more).



Anyone who likes epic medieval war films I think would really like this movie.

You are absolutely right about that!





In Bruges (2008)
Directed by: Martin McDonagh
Written by: Martin McDonagh

Two hit men, Ray (Colin Farrell) and Ken (Brendan Gleeson) are on a sort of makeshift holiday in Bruges, Belgium after a hit gone wrong. While awaiting word from their boss, Harry (Ralph Fiennes), Ken is interested in sightseeing and the history of the place, while Ray couldn't be more unimpressed and can't wait to just get to the bars for some pints. Ray is bored with the whole place, he’s also got a guilty conscience since it was his fault that the hit got screwed up. Ken is the older and more mature one, he enjoys art, architecture and learning about the local architecture, I think he knew what was coming so he was using this time to relax and have a brief respite from what he knows is a powder keg waiting to explode. I am not a huge Colin Farrell fan but I found his acting in this to be excellent and it was nice that he got to play an Irish character so he actually got to use his native accent. When Ray’s mistake is finally revealed it is quite a heartbreaking story, I thought that Farrell managed to portray Ray’s guilt and his attempt at redemption in a very moving way, I also love that Ray is charming, annoying, childish, and totally screwed up nut about to crack. Gleeson’s acting is also very convincing in playing the exact opposite as the quiet, calm person. He seems to be tired of the whole business of death but he knows he’s got to do what has to be done even if it means coming to blows with his evil boss Harry. When Harry is offered the Uzi his riff is hilarious about how he’s not in LA looking to go on a drive by and shoot twelve ten year olds.





The movie has a great ending, the kind of ending I love and I think I can say that without giving away too much since I do not believe I have voiced my opinion about the type of endings I love, it is very emotional and has an interesting twist right at the end. Oh yeah I haven’t mentioned the racist midget (Dwarf) who while on a cocaine bender starts going off on a rant about how there’s a war coming between the black people and the white people and not to mention the Vietnamese people, I should probably just stop there before I get into trouble but I thought the midget did the perfect job as some great comic relief. If you haven’t watched this movie then I really suggest you do.

Loved this movie. I would call it dramedy, very hard to pull off dark and funny at the same time.






Tae Guk Gi: The Brotherhood of War (2004)
Directed by: Je-gyu Kang
Written by: Je-gyu Kang and Sang-don Kim

Jin-tae is a street smart shoe shiner who also works odd jobs to help his younger brother Jin-seok to study and go to college to be the savior of their very poor family, Jin-seok is the smart one in the family on his way to university and a much better life. The joy of this South Korean family fills the screen for the first moments of the film, only to change abruptly on June 25, 1950 when suddenly the North Koreans attack at the 38th parallel, forcing communism and death down the throats of the South Koreans. Jin-seok get’s drafted the South Korean way by being put into the back of a truck and being told you are going to fight, older brother Jin-tae forces himself into a situation where he will be drafted so he can look after and make sure his younger brother is safe. The degree of honor and camaraderie amongst the entire South Korean platoon, and especially between the two brothers is a very touching and emotional element portrayed in this film. Jin-tae makes a deal with his CO that if he can get a medal that they will discharge his brother, Jin-tae becomes obsessed with killing and volunteering for every suicidal mission that comes up. This leads to a rift between the two brothers, the younger not wanting the older to take care of him, and thinking that all the killing is starting to affect him in a very bad way.



The remainder of the film explores the progress of this war with great detail, visually depicting the atrocities of war more brutally than any other war film that I have ever seen. But overriding the visuals of the war is the relationship of the two brothers and what they go through to stay together to try and make it back to their mother and Jin-tae’s fiancé. The ending to this movie is great and I have to admit that this goes on the very short list of movies I have cried at the end of.



There are very few films that I am familiar with about the Korean war, I believe that this movie did it justice in the way of showing all the brutality and the way people can turn on each other under those types of situations. This film has all violence and limbs being blown everywhere as Saving Private Ryan, Platoon, and Hamburger Hill combined. If you like war movies then you have to watch this, I have never seen a movie of that genre that can compare.

Nice review. One of the best movies to come out of South Korea.



Yeah, I thought RIGHT AT YOUR DOOR was a fairly solid little gem, tense and believable, though low-budget and somewhat amateurish.
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The Toxic Avenger (1984)

This is the second Troma in a row that has been recommended to me, I know a lot of people do not like these movies but I get a kick out of them, if you are looking for a serious horror then please look elsewhere.



98 pound Melvin is basically a doormat for anyone who wants to just walk all over him, and not to sound mean but if I saw him in real life I might find it hard to resist also I mean wow the teeth on that kid, I am really hoping that was some kind of movie magic and not the real deal. As you can pretty much guess from the title Melvin has an unfortunate encounter with a vat of toxic waste while the drivers of the toxic waste disposal truck were getting REALLY HIGH and did not notice anything. That is one of the main reasons that I like Troma films, the mix between comedy and horror. There is also a romantic twist thrown in when Melvin meets saves a blind woman from a group of thugs and they wind up falling in love, the make-out scenes were the hardest part of the movie to watch I mean that is a girl that is dedicated to her job.



I think that the best laugh I got out of this movie was the voice when Melvin got turned into the Toxic Avenger, the voice over they did was perfect and hilarious. There is also the gratuitous nudity which did not hurt at all, what killed it for me was the overacting of the main bad guys, all the screaming and yelling, the “I just can't take it anymore I've gotta drive something” that kind of was a bit over the top for me even for a Troma film.
All in all I thought this was a good movie and would suggest this to anyone who likes movies that are a little different, a nice mix of comedy and horror and all that B-Rated goodness. So thanks to Sexy for recommending this one, I did enjoy it.






The sad thing is Melvin (Mark Torgl) looked better in Toxic Avenger than he does now.

You might like The Toxic Avenger 2 more. Here's a scene from it:




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The Last Circus (2010)

Directed by: Alex de la Iglesia
Written by: Alex de la Iglesia


In 1937 a happy clown is forcibly recruited to fight in the spanish civil war, he is in full makeup and wearing a womans dress while killing anyone in sight with a machete. I think that right there was a great way to start off such an insane movie. There was a good line in the beginning when the clown asked the general if he could change clothes and the general looked at him and said "No, a clown with a machete, you will scare the Sh*t out of the enemy." I got a huge kick out of that. Skip ahead to the early 1970's and the happy clowns son starts working for a circus as the sad clown who falls in love with an already taken woman. The different characters at the circus are all interesting and the motorcycle stunt guy made me laugh on a few different occasions. The sad clown winds up doing something that causes him to have to go on the run from the police, it is not to far after where things get even more crazy.




I thought this was a beautifully messed up movie, this is not a horror movie but still plenty of gore, I am not sure what catagory I would put this under. There are parts of this movie that will make you laugh and a lot more parts that will have you cringing and just wondering what the hell is going on. I recommend this movie to everyone (unless you hate clowns), this movie is dark and gritty, if you are into that kind of thing then definitely watch this.




One of those films I've had for a while now and have yet to take a look at. Good to see another good review and rating of it, though. I do hate clowns. You can't trust anyone who's a clown.



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Passchendaele (2008)
Directed by: Paul Gross
Written by: Paul Gross


In my opinion there are not that many well done WWI movies, the combat scenes and authenticity in this movie are by far the best I have seeen so far on trench warfare. This movie really shows how much Canada got screwed over in WWI, their casualty rating was disgusting and hard to imagine and that is what I really think was shown in this film. The love story felt like it could have been left out, I am guessing that they just needed some filler because the love story did not make me feel any different about the outcome one way or the other.



Michael Dunne (Paul Gross) get's badly injured during a battle so he is shipped back to Canada to help out the war effort on his home soil. David Mann is a young man wanting to enlist in the army to fight but there is one drawback, he has asthma, David's girlfriends father is a doctor and does not approve of there relationship so he signs a paper saying David's Asthma is gone and he is free to enlist. During all this there is the love story part between Michael Dunne and Sarah Mann (David's older sister), when David leaves for Europe Michael feels it is his job to go along and try to protect him.

This movie has some major religious undertones and overtones in it especially at the end which almost made me choke because it was so in your face. I think this movie has some of the most authentic and graphic trench warfare scenes out of any movie that I have ever heard of, if you like war films and have not seen this one then you have to watch it.




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The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo (2011)
Directed by: David Fincher
Written by: Steven Zaillian and Stieg Larsson


I am such a big fan of the original Swedish version and a even bigger fan of the book on which all this is based, and what I base my comparison on. That was the only thing that bothered me about the Swedish movie/mini-series was that they just basically used the middle of the book and even then very little of it, so many characters were left out and so much that is important to tie it into The Girl Who Kicked The Hornets Nest. I thought Fincher did a great job with the remake, it is almost a shot for shot remake except Fincher included so much more from the book, characters that wind up playing large parts in the trilogy.



I was curious to see if Roony Mara could pull off a good Lisbeth Salander and she did a great job, I was really impressed that she went to all the lenghts to get into character. That being said I think that Noomi Rapace did do a better job in the Swedish version. I went into the remake thinking that Daniel Craig was a much better choice than Michael Nyqvist just going on how the character is described in the book as a very handsome ladies man. Craig did a good job of playing the character but his English accent killed the part, he could have at least tried and pulled off a Swedish accent, so I have to go with Michael Nyqvist as the better Mikael Blomkvist. I thought that even though his screen time was not that much Christopher Plummer did a great job of playing Henrik Vanger. This movie was awesome and I know a lot of people disagree with me on that, This movie is really dark, gritty and just excellent. Fincher's version IMO is the better movie but I'll take the book anyday.