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Let's try to be broad-minded about this
Since the Movie Trade-off thread is incredibly crowded with miscellaneous getting partners, picking movies chit chat i made this thread specifically for members to post their thoughts about the movies their partners had them watch and have space for a partner rebuttal if need be. So post away!

If you want to join post here
http://www.movieforums.com/community...ad.php?t=19242



I guess I'm first.



A Bittersweet Life

A simple revenge story with some good action sequences. The main character is just interesting enough to keep you guessing what his next move is and for a revenge movie that really takes no major twists or turns - it unexpectedly works. The visuals are also well done , in their own subdued way (bittersweet ?).

Thanks Pyro I enjoyed this one.

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Will your system be alright, when you dream of home tonight?
First is the worst, Second is the best:



The China Syndrome (James Bridges, 1979)

Another one of those movies that I probably would've been scared more way back then, when it was pretty relevant. That whole Three Mile Island thing going on, I'd probably be scared this was going to happen and move far away from any of those things. But it was well written, entertaing, with some nice performances all around. Worth a watch, not much else.

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I used to be addicted to crystal meth, now I'm just addicted to Breaking Bad.
Originally Posted by Yoda
If I were buying a laser gun I'd definitely take the XF-3800 before I took the "Pew Pew Pew Fun Gun."





This Is Spinal Tap
Rob Reiner, 1984

I constantly hear how great and funny this movie, but it literally did absolutely nothing for me. Then again, I really had no interest in it what-so-ever, and the only reason I even watched it was because of the movie trade-off game. This is easily one of the blandest films that I've ever seen. I didn't even laugh good at it once, but I did chuckle it at it a few times. The armadillo joke was the main thing that made me chuckle. I'm still not going to let this put me off from seeing some more 80's comedies, because I still really liked Clueless. I actually like rock and roll music too, but I guess I just like it better when I'm listening to it. I can see now why I never really had any interest in seeing it.




I guess I'm first.



A Bittersweet Life

A simple revenge story with some good action sequences. The main character is just interesting enough to keep you guessing what his next move is and for a revenge movie that really takes no major twists or turns - it unexpectedly works. The visuals are also well done , in their own subdued way (bittersweet ?).

Thanks Pyro I enjoyed this one.

Glad you enjoyed it, it's a not life changing movie or anything like that but seemed to remember you rating Oldboy and I see this as an almost action equivalent of that film.
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Welcome to the human race...


ALTERED STATES
d. Ken Russell, 1980

I probably shouldn't have started watching this at about 2:30 in the morning after a long day at work but whatever. I wanted to watch this at night and so I did. I guess you could consider this watching in an altered state, but anyway...



In short, I did like it. The visual style was excellent (especially in the case of the effects-laden hallucinations/bending of reality that the film so frequently indulged in), which did cause problems for the films because in between those parts did seem to be somewhat uninteresting. Maybe it's because I was seriously tired or something, but yeah, I found this movie hard to watch at time due to how many long, dull breaks there were (and by dull I mean "no crazy s*** going on all over the screen). I think I'll definitely give it another viewing sometime soon, though.

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I really just want you all angry and confused the whole time.
Iro's Top 100 Movies v3.0



I thought it was pretty interesting how his character is almost entirely disconnected from what's happening around him and only curious into his science.



Bright light. Bright light. Uh oh.
But he does like sex and drugs and (seemingly) rock and roll! Altered States is just a trip. Paddy Chavevsky, the screenwriter/novelist, disowned it because he said that director Ken Russell cut out the heart and soul of it. I agree with him, but since it's so rare to get Russell to put so many extreme things into a film which actally mostly makes sense, I'm happy about it.

I'm going to watch The Elephant Man now since Sarah hasn't seen the whole thing.
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It's what you learn after you know it all that counts. - John Wooden
My IMDb page



Welcome to the human race...
I thought that was actually something of a character flaw that detracted from the movie to an extent. it makes it harder to empathise with him. I found Jessup comparable to Roy Neary in Close Encounters of the Third Kind or Seth Brundle in The Fly in his rampant obsession with reaching a goal (such as Neary finding aliens or Brundle's experiments with teleportation) that could alienate a viewer.



Let's try to be broad-minded about this
Do the Right Thing




I can't get that song "Fight the Power" out of my head now! But i really liked how Spike Lee just presented the audience with a situation and i went back and forth on which message i thought the movie was trying to promote (Martin Luther King's or Malcom X) when i realized it isn't it's letting you decide and i liked that about it.



Chappie doesn't like the real world
The Wild Bunch (Sam Peckinpah 1969)



I just finished watching this and am wondering why I haven't watched a whole lot more westerns. I am sure most aren't this good, but I think it's also a genre I haven't watched enough of.

At first I didn't think I was going to be able to have any vested interest in any of the characters, and therefore unable to care for what happened to any of them, but I was completely wrong. I even got a little teary eyed at the end.

The action scenes were tense and exciting (especially the scene at the bridge) and the dialog was fantastic. There is a quotable line in almost every scene.

There were a couple of times I don't think I understood the male camaraderie type humor, but that was fine.

Thanks, Iroquois. You done good. A



Bright light. Bright light. Uh oh.

The Good Guys

I've watched Mr. Vampire (1985) twice now, so I'll try to write something. I haven't been posting too much lately because I'm very sore around my backside area, so sitting for very long is just too painful. Ricky Lau directed this mostly humorous tale which follows the workers at a highly specialized mortuary. There are various kinds of undead which the Master and his "employees" have to deal with, including hopping vampires, undead corpses and ghosts composed of flesh. In fact, when the movie began, it almost reminded me of Monty Python and the Holy Grail with the hopping vampires standing in for the horseless knights. There are quite a bit of martial arts and stunts, two romances, some suspense, lots of Jackie Chan-styled humor, most of it played out extrememly broadly. Sometimes, it was difficult for me to tell how the various undead differentiated themselves, but I think I finally got it. Then by accident, I actually had the English language soundtrack on briefly (I watched it in both Mandarin and Cantonese), so that version reminded me of Woody Allen's What's Up, Tiger Lily?. There seem to be about seven or eight sequels to this film, so if you wonder why we get so many sequels nowadays, maybe we can say it's because of Hong Kong. One other major thing which crossed my mind was the time frame and costumes of the movie. Some of the costumes seem 20th-century while others seem 1000 years older. I guess the point is that it's an alternative universe so when it takes place doesn't really matter. After all, it's only a movie.



One of the villains



Okay, so I watched Little Big Man. What did I think of it? It was decent, at a couple hours and 20 minutes it kept me entertained. I feel kind of like giving a synopses would be a little too "middle school" so I will just say that the thing I liked best about it is the main character, played by Dustin Hoffman, who is a passive opportunist, probably like most people (especially us movie watchers), and the movie I think leverages that aspect in telling a story of violence and self-critique to get us to think ironically about passivity, about viewing historical events as passive knowitalls. Some of the attempts of broad humor fizzled a bit (which is interesting because all the attempts in Mr. Vampire still do it for me) while others worked. I like how the main character constantly transitions from side to side though (being a white man raised by injuns).

don't really feel like giving ratings at the moment but I liked it.



he reminds me of a 90-year old afrikaans tracker i knew when i was a teenager, who advised me to masturbate a-plenty (no, i didn't get molested).



Will your system be alright, when you dream of home tonight?
So Rice and I decided to start Round Dos early.


BEHIND THE MASK: THE RISE OF LESLIE VERNON (Glosserman, 2006)

Alright so this is one of those movies that I've always wanted to see. I just never had time.

I'm glad I finally did. This was freakin' hilarious. The writing by Glosserman and David Stieve was pure genius. They put you right into the world where all the movie serial killers you've heard of, are real. So we follow the beginnings of another person wanting to join their likes, Leslie Vernon, being followed by a news team crew.

Nathan Baesel's like a little Ryan Reynolds. Sure he wasn't as good as Ryan'd be, but he did well for a debut. He could be a guy you want to go out and have a beer with, then a scary mother when he wanted to be. He completly stole the show.

Not sure what else to say besides, great rec Rice. Rating:



Why wasn't I involved then? I've been ready for round 2 for like a week and half now.



Bright light. Bright light. Uh oh.
rice has been sick so I'm sure that we'll get this straightened out soon enough. I'm not sure who my partner is for the second round or if I keep lines. MovieMan, look in the other thread; there's something in there about Round 2 and you.



Will your system be alright, when you dream of home tonight?
Well it just kind of happened last night.