I thought that Pitch Black was just meant to be a sci-fi horror/thriller that was rushed for the quick boom of space films, that included Red Planet, Titan A.E., Space Cowboys, What Planet Are You From?, Battlefield Earth and Mission to Mars, all released in 2000. Maybe not a direct correlation but after The Matrix sci-fi and 'space' caught on big. From what I remember Pitch Black was originally meant to be a one off story focusing on the crew and it's survival, yet because the character of Riddick was so well liked and Vin Diesel had become mega popular they decided to devote an entire movie based on him.

Hah well Space Cowboys really doesn't fit in there at all. I get what you mean though, there was a mini-boom right around then, which included John Carpenter's (terrible) Ghosts of Mars. Pitch Black is the only one I can think of that really had any lasting appeal.

Funny, I came to this thread to ask a question about Pitch Black and noticed people were actually talking about it.

My question is, what do these thousands of creatures feed on? They can't live off a dozen humans every twenty years, can they?

Be Cool - 4/5

Starring John Travolta. The title speaks for itself, "COOL" movie. Hilarious crime comedy with interesting twists.

Elysium - 3.75/5

I enjoyed this, and at some parts it was better than the director's previous outing District 9. But at other parts it was really about the same in quality. The story of a man in a dystopian Earth far in the future who wants to get up to the "perfect space station" Elysium to heal himself has some really good social commentary here and there. Like District 9 it's heavy handed at times, but it's not unintelligent either. Movies are a picture of what society's concerns are at the time, and for that I think both of these movies have some good relevance to them. While not hugely subtle or mind-blowing, the film doesn't dumb itself down either and the fact that it's pushing a more sober and intelligent point of view than most blockbusters to mass audiences is a good thing in my eyes - anything to get people thinking. There's a clear ideology and point to this and I like that.

Matt Damon is really good in this and proves why he's one of the best actors in the business today - he's likable in any kind of scenario and makes you give a shit, plus he picks roles that play to his strengths and aren't always the same shit over and over. Alice Braga as the female lead, Frey, is also good and the film gets points for making her a real character instead of one of those token sci-fi gals we see all too often. The problem with this, like District 9 before it, is that the film underpins its own intelligence and in the second half just turns into a regular action movie. It's good even then, but I think this could have been a better film if it had stuck to the more cerebral commentary of the earlier scenes. Still worth a watch for the stellar acting, cool scenery and fast-paced plot though, either way.

I saw The Wolverine, and The Wolverine was awesome. I also saw Elysium and Elysium was also awesome. I wanted to see 2 Guns, but that never happened. Maybe tomorrow. Also, I've been trying to figure out what M. Kruger's accent was supposed. That's definitely one of the strangest accents I've heard.

I think it's South African. Anyone from SA to clear this up.

Also, I loved the Wolverine except for the ever changing motives of Harada (if I'm not mistaken, to be specific, the leader of the black clan ninja). His end goal changes faster than Usain Bolt runs.

Well, they show the giant "elephant graveyards" with massive amounts of bones of dead creatures. They also make it clear that the bio-raptors die in direct sunlight so they can only really come out every 20 years. Both of these things make it seem, to me, like they're not really evolved to survive as part of a functioning ecosystem on that planet. My guess is that they're an invasive species that's dying now that there's nothing left to eat (it showed them even killing one another toward the end).

Terminator 3 - 1.5/5
This movie does almost everything wrong, from the action scenes to the 'jokes', and even something you'd think impossible to fuck up; the cameos. Number 1, this film didn't need any comedy and every instance felt forced. Arnold going to a strip bar is tolerable, not a good introduction but tolerable, but him wearing red Elton John style glasses is crossing the line into parody material. There are many times it relies souly on punchlines like 'You've got to be shitting me?' - 'No. I am not shitting you', which may be funny the first time you hear it but every other time it falls flat and feels forced. 2, This John Connor felt entirely useless and whinny until the end and we didn't need another person to tag along and act all shocked and scream throughout, we had our share of that before, in droves. John Connor should have become a hard ass by this stage, fit and prepared for war without questioning but following orders and giving orders as he was destined to do. 3, It seems Arnold was trying to inject some emotion into the T-whatever which I thought was meant to be lifeless and cold like a machine? Eyes widening and straining in pain are but a few examples. Excusing the obvious bad one liners that are facepalm worthy, I don't believe half of what the Terminator is saying. It seems he has learnt from John Connor and is showing signs of relating to humans yet this is a different Terminator. This Terminator should be as cold as the opening scenes of the T-800 in T2. The T-X is just silly and I don't feel the need to elaborate further. It can control vehicles, why? It has a flamethrower, why? It's only partially liquid metal, why? I'm sorry but the only good part is Kristanna Loken's naked ass, that's all the T-X has going for it. 4, I can't look past the extremely bad CGI which is noticeable during the fight scenes. It looks seriously like a cartoon. Did the computer wizards even stop and think that they are dealing with heavy robots, that maybe they shouldn't be bending and twisting like gymnasts? All in all I can't find any redeemable qualities and can't shake the feeling that it shouldn't have been made.

I found T3 far better than the telegraphed, boring and lowest-common-denominator-appealing T2 and infinitely better than the self-serious trainwreck fourth film precisely because it didn't take itself so goddamn seriously all of the time. None of them can lay a finger on the original, though.

T2 will always be the best, but T3 ain't too bad. The first half is awesome, but I remember the second half getting pretty lame. I agree with darkeningday on the fourth one, that movie sucked - didn't feel anything like a Terminator film. That one was more like a generic modern video game.

T2 is pretty much the pinnacle of action movies as far as I'm concerned. I like all of the movies to some degree, but I could easily rank them T2 > T1 > T3 > T4. Pretty decent gap between 1 and 3, though.

Apparently you've never seen Bad Boys II, if we want to talk about the pinnacles of the action genre.

All I say to people defending such a mess, apart from darkeningday who's film judgement compass is entirely broken and/or just trying to be edgy, is to re-watch it like I did. This was my third viewing and it's faults are now inexcusable. If you still like it after that please explain to me what is good about it, because from what I can tell most like it simply because it has of the rehashed traits of a Terminator film, regardless of how messily executed and entirely at surface level it is.

Wait, which one were you referring to? Which Terminator film?

T3.

To all the people who thought T2 was superior to T1, did you:
a) first see T2 as a child, and
b) see T2 before the original?

I was one of the very few people our age who saw both films for the first time as an adult and in order, so I've often wondered if that influenced my opinion. I personally can't even begin to fathom how anyone could prefer the watered-down, pedestrian Terminator 2 to the white-knuckled, balls to the wall low-budget awesomeness that is the first Terminator.

I suppose I'm one of the few who prefers the original Terminator film over T2.

Terminator as a villain was always the coolest.

I saw them all in order, and when I was a teenager first. T2 is better. The first one was awesome, but T2 has more depth to it and transcends its genre with a lot of comedy, drama, etc. That makes it more mainstream, but it also makes it more relatable and gives it a lot more texture than the first one had. It's got a lot more of an epic feel to it that the original missed. T2 isn't watered down or pedestrian and to claim so just seems insane to me. It's just a matter of whether you prefer the grittiness of the original or the epic flavor of the sequel - there really isn't much of a great divide in quality so much as there is a difference in taste, I think.

Man, the fucking chase scenes in T2? Sarah Connor being so desperate that she resorts to wonton domestic terrorism, instead of just being some personality-devoid plot device? A protagonist willing and able to fight the terminator that's hunting the Connors toe-to-toe instead of running and hiding? THE FUCKING CHASE SCENES?

My reaction wasn't related to your preference of T1 over T2 but your opinion that T3 is far better than T2. I enjoy Terminator 1 and Terminator 2 at an equal level for varying reasons and personally think they are too different to rank. But time and time again, the one that is stays with me is T2 because of the character depth, likeability, fun and suspenseful action scenes and punchy and quotable lines that are quick and direct like a well written comic book. You grow to really care about the characters and all their flaws but in T1 you do that on a more basic and primal level, such as just hoping they live.

I only saw it the one time, back then, and I wouldn't say it's exactly great. But like the last two Die Hard movies, if you can recreate something good even on a surface level only, I'd still say that's at least enjoyable. I wouldn't pretend I don't like something just because it doesn't measure up to the classics.

Some more on T2 - I just love how everything connects together so well. It's a damned fine story. You get killer action, an explosive, fast paced plot, and characters who develop and make connections and change - each element has its resolution, and the movie is as touching and funny as it is action packed. It's a really well rounded flick. It pulls in all the ground-roots elements of a good story and makes something compelling. The first one is dark and foreboding and then T2 rounds out the story, providing closure. They shouldn't have actually made any more sequels - these two together were a perfect duo.

T1 is way more of a moodier noir thriller with some action scenes sprinkled in, and T2 is more of a straight-up action movie. T3 is full-throttle popcorn action, though. I'm also not even acknowledging TS because that movie was like, seventy-five percent junk. I like them all for different reasons, honestly. As for your question, DD, I saw T2 when I was super young, like six or seven and it scared the fucking hell out of me. I only saw bits and pieces of T1 around that time, but when I was able to see it in full I was able to appreciate it for what it was.

Honestly I think T1 missed its mark a little by making it obvious from the beginning that Arnold really was a robot from the future and Kyle Reese really was there to save Sarah Connor. It would have been a lot more interesting if there was doubt involved, like maybe Kyle Reese is just insane, or maybe he's in league with the Terminator, or maybe he himself is the Terminator, etc.

As it stands, T1 is entertaining but there's basically zero depth to it. The characters know all the facts, the viewers know all the facts, it's just two people trying to escape a killer robot from the future, with zero twists, except that Kyle Reese bangs Sarah and is John Connor's father. Considering they went for a serious approach, rather than a Robocop-style B-movie actionfest, I think this was a missed opportunity.

That 'Hasta la vista, baby' line where The Terminator shoots the frozen T-1000 seriously gave me chills as a kid. Even though it only temporarily stopped it, the mere fact that the T-800 used that line after John Connor taught it was so satisfying.

So it's come across my desk that Aidan Gillen is a shite actor. Based on the reports I'm receiving from management, I think I'm going to have to sign off on that. At first my impressions of his work performance were positive; I hadn't received any complaints about his first couple seasons as Littlefinger, though reviewing his response sheets from last year I surmised he was falling into self-parody. That was the first sign something was amiss, and I take responsibility for not having acted more quickly at that point. Be that as it may, it wasn't until I looked into his employment history with The Wire that I realized we might have a fraud working for us. Disturbed though I was, I yet lacked conclusive evidence of willful neglect and/or sabotage. I gave him the benefit of the doubt. It was a risk, I admit that. I decided to give him one more chance, perhaps to issue a formal disciplinary writeup to try and control any further damage. But after last night, having witnessed his worst performance yet in the role of the laughably bad CIA agent in the beginning of The Dark Knight Rises, I've made the decision that we have to terminate him. And don't think I didn't give this a good deal of handwringing, I did. I had a glass of scotch over it. But my mind's made up. The company can't have men like him dragging it down. It's bad for morale and it's bad for the bottom line.

I saw Elysium last night and boy was that a fun ride! It did the futuristic dystopia vs. utopia/poor vs. rich theme tastefully, and it had some great fight scenes (Damon vs. the secret agent at the end). I've always loved Matt Damon's acting, and he surely didn't disappoint in this film.

I don't get the big problem everyone has with Aidan Gillen. If you want a truly awful actor, look no further than James Remar. How that guy keeps getting work is beyond me, perhaps they are getting him confused with the much better Clancy Brown.

I think the problem may be that he's fucking terrible. Just a hunch?

I can't imagine anybody other than James Remar playing Dexter's father.

The guy who plays Littlefinger, OTOH, I'm starting to see why people find him annoying lately. He had a line somewhere around late season 2 that went something like "Joffrey's not the sort of BOY who gives away his TOYS." No actor could have made that near-rhyme sound decent, but the way Gillen is delivering dialogue these days, it was cringeworthy.

Wait, why am I talking about TV in the Movie Thread? Back on topic!

The Host - You heard right. I saw the new movie from the writer of the Twilight saga. The star of Hanna, whose parents tried to fit every vowel into her seven letter first name, plays an earthling who gets infected with an alien parasite 'soul' that takes over her body. Or at least tries to, but it's not totally successful so most of the movie features this really awkward gimmick where the actress talks (moving her mouth) to represent what the alien is saying, while voiceovers (no mouth movement) represent the thoughts of the human still trapped inside. Did I mention there's also an incredibly lame love triangle? Yeah, you should probably skip this one.

The Wolverine: 3/5. It wasn't as good as I wanted it to be. Still much much better than the latest dump that was released some years ago. Jackman is in top shape both physically (eye candy!) and emotionally and the part where he lost his powers really helped to make the movie more subtle and interesting, we're shown a vulnerable Logan. The pacing was a bit slow at times but the action scenes and the settings were nice.

i didnt particularly care for it. The funeral scene felt too goofy with a strong lack of blood. They really had balls to convert it to 3d, considering it was a last minute decision and there was nothing that was remotely 3d.

Antichrist [2009] - 1.5/5

I could not understand the message/thought this film is trying to convey or maybe I just have to watch it again to fully digest it. Anyway most segments of the film has a very deep depressive mood which maybe the reason why I felt drowsy or maybe has gone into 50% asleep while trying to understand the movie.

It is quite a depressing movie, but I really liked it for that. Plus, the labia clipping scene is absolutely brutal.

The Man with the Iron Fists-When a brutal warlord hides out with his clan in a small village, a mild-mannered blacksmith teams up with a royal emissary and the warlord's vengeance-seeking brother to recover the stolen gold shipment they're hiding in the area. About as effective an old-school HK kung-fu love letter as there can be, as this was a blast and ended up being a ton of fun. The plot is essentially what it should be doing, providing an excuse to display as much fighting as possible using all the available members of each side as possible, with all the performers being as skilled and competent as they should be for such a film. That allows for the non-stop fighting and brawls to be as fun as they are, with the brothel fight between the prostitutes and the warlord's clan, a showstopping fight between the two brothers and a special one between the blacksmith and the murderer of his fiancee who both wield exceptional weapons during the showcase. The multitude of gore works well considering the players involved behind-the-scenes, and the themes employed are all familiar and relatable as well, though it does seem a little too drawn-out at the first as it takes a while to get started, the sleaze present really could've been exploited a little more and it tends to focus a little too heavily on the introduction and dispatch of characters ready to fight for no real reason which makes the storyline a general mess at times. Overall, though, there's a lot to like with this one.

Ghoulies 3: Ghoulies Go to College-After reading from a sacred comic book that contains a spell to conjure a swarm of devilish creatures, a college professor sends them out to ruin the live of a student involved in a despised prank-war ritual with other students who must stop their childish rampage. This here turned out to be quite an enjoyably goofy and silly monster movie that has more than enough assets to make it interesting. The comedy here is outlandish, as the stipulation of this taking place during prank week means that the pratfalls, gags and goofs that occur are all pretty funny in their own right, and when added by with a gaggle of one-liner-spouting creatures that react with the slapstick grace of a silent-film star, the results are nothing short of hilarious. While it works on the comedic level, as a horror film this is quite lacking. One of the biggest problems is the complete lack of fear instilled by the creatures because they are so goofy and cheesy-looking that their scenes don't evoke anything remotely associated with terror or shock, and when combined with the admittedly goofy and ludicrous back-story for their conjuration, and it all spells funny more than screams. That said, there's some more good stuff here in the finale being quite action-packed as it manages to bestow a feeling of real tension because the villain is still treated as though he's serious and the manners in which they go about dealing with it are quite fun overall, and when mixed with real-life special effects and props manages to make for a rather enjoyable effort.

The Conjuring - 2/5

Somebody tell James Wan there are other movies besides The Exorcist and Poltergeist. This has apparently been getting good reviews, so I thought it might be a cut above the usual - not really, I didn't think. Pretty much a bland distillation of every cliche these movies have with some slightly better acting. There's nothing really awful about this except that everything has been seen before, and none of it is scary or surprising. There were moments this coulda been something better, but the movie quickly decided it didn't like those moments, and just kept on being bland and boring. Despite a couple cool visual moments and some impressive acting here and there, there's really nothing about this that is worth spending money on. What kills me is just that there was obvious talent and work put into making this - it wasn't The Devil Inside - but why couldn't that talent have been used for something actually interesting and that hasn't been done six million times before?

Return of The Living Dead 3 - 3/5

This holds a special place in my heart, as it is the first serious horror film I remember seeing, way back in 1994 when I was 7. After the subpar first sequel to the original classic, which played itself for laughs way more than it should have, ROTLD 3 returns to the serious subject matter that better befits the series. They bring the trioxin back, and this time go into depth about the process of becoming a zombie. The concept that causing yourself physical pain helps alleviate the urge to eat human flesh is a cool twist. This results in getting the incredibly hot Mindy Clarke to strip and cut herself in just about every way imaginable with broken glass, nails, random metal spikes, and just about anything else she can get her hands on. Besides the overt sexual themes, the film still has a light enough tone to elicit some laughs. It features quite a downer ending, but has plenty of practical effects during the climax. Not a genre-defining zombie film, but the best of all the sequels to the original Return of The Living Dead. With today's zombie fad going full force on the big screen and in video games, it is cool to see what the scene was like in the early 90's.

Django (1966)
I feel ashamed to have watched the very original Django film after Django Unchained, even more as when I hear the title song during the intro it feels déjà-vu, which it shouldn't. Having said that, Django is a pretty damn sweet revenge spaghetti western type of flick. The Django character played by Franco Nero is pretty badass and all but there's a certain aura of mystery around him that is interesting. The details of the story are revealed sparsely and you pretty much have to piece yourself everything together, you're just witnessing Django's actions without really knowing his real intentions until late in the film. The shootouts are not particularly impressive but there's something about them, their directness that makes them enjoyable. Django easily kills his foes early on but what for exactly? Although there is a very nice action/stealth scene in which Django tries to steal gold during a party that is really well done and enjoyable. The film is a very direct one as a lot of these films but there's some shades to be found and a bit of symbolism. There's also a big thing about the overall atmosphere and look, the film is bleak as it gets and there's literally mud and dirt everywhere. You never saw a village as decrepit as this one.

The Specialist
Another Sergio Corbucci film but this time with, guess who, Johnny Hallyday as the main character. After seeing Django Hallyday feels a bit unauthentic and seems to deliver a forced performance, but it's not all bad considering it's a much more cartoonish film. It's pretty enjoyable stuff; you got a sheriff who wants no one to possess guns and really wants to uphold the law, yet can be a bit naive and idiotic. You also got the hardboiled anti-hero without a lot of lot emotions and who'll do whatever he feels like. Money theft, fake money, mexicans who want their share, the usual. But it's done in an entertaining manner and you got all the villagers naked near the end by some kids.

Massacre Time
Really wanted to see this one for a long time as this is Lucio Fulci doing a western and apparently it looks like it influenced John Woo a bit. Starring Franco Nero as the main character as well as George Hilton as his brother, who's constantly drinking tequila. Maybe it's because it was my third spaghetti western in a row but while I enjoyed the film it didn't really impressed me. You feel like for 75% of the film it's just Franco Nero's character looking for the reason he came back to his hometown. Still, things are spiced up by some nice drunken brawling and whipping action among others. Despite the relatively low quality of the apparently the best print of the film available, it's a good looking film with nice shots but I think the more spicy bits needed extra beef. The final showdown is an impressive one though and is bit different from the usual of the genre. There's a bit more acrobatics involved, people jumping and falling as well as the shooters moving around. I expected the action to be more reminiscent of John Woo but it's not far fetched to say it could have influenced him. Plus it ends with freaking doves. And there's a character named tequila in Hard-Boiled.

Finally going to watch two films from the Dollar trilogy tomorrow too... about fucking time.

Olympus Has Fallen:

How the fuck did this even get made???! While it's nowhere even close to the idiocy of Stoker, this is still probably the second worst movie I've seen this year. Dear fucking god. Comparable in most ways to the equally-lame Battle: Los Angeles, which also featured stonefaced Eckhart in an equally boring role and opening and closing on a close-up of the American flag waving majestically against crystal blue waters while anthemic trumpets blare triumphantly in the background...

Fuqua's totally fucking lost it; it even makes junk like Shooter look dece... er... watchable.