dibot

Member since 5/25/2007, last signed in awhile ago.

"The Movie Never Changes"

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Interested in: Fantasy, Horror, Science & Technology, Theater

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Prom Night

Prom Night x 2 + Sidney Poitier ...
By dibot in dibot Blog
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"I will never catch up on my reviews. So in my obviously ill-advised quest to watch original horror films and then their remakes, I took in both Prom Nights. The 1980 version starring Jamie Lee Curtis ("The Kid & I") and Leslie Nielsen ("Superhero Movie"), sort of a strange combination, is actually very entertaining. The set-up with some kids playing around in an abandoned building is creepy. And then the deaths are okay, with one really great one involving a severed head. But the remake. I don't even know why these things happen. I don't even know why I go to them. It's a sickness. Anyway, I didn't notice that the new version was PG-13 until we were sitting in the theater. And not that a PG-13 horror movie can't be good, but a PG-13 slasher? The definition of slasher is bloody, violent death. And if you can't see it then the movie must rely on other things, like plot, acting, character development and atmosphere which were all pretty much missing from this mess. It gets two s ... " [More]

Once

Once August Rushes Young Guns t ...
By dibot in dibot Blog
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"August Rush = totally lame. Saccharine sweet, poorly acted, cheesy dialogue. I kept groaning almost anytime someone opened their mouth. The kid, Freddie Highmore ("The Spiderwick Chronicles"), is trying to find his parents who don't even know he exists. They just had one really great night together and just "feel" that someone is out there. Almost every single movie cliche exists in this film. Avoid. Avoid. Young Guns II is not a real improvement on the first film. Everyone who made it alive out of the first movie is back and they brought some friends. Viggo Mortensen ("Eastern Promises") and Gil Grissom (William Peterson) take a bow. This time the story is told in flashback with Emilio Estevez ("Bobby") as a really unconvincing old Billy the Kid trying to get a pardon for his past crimes. His young Billy is equally fake, only now, instead of the steely glare, he's got the maniacal laughter. Lame and disappointing. But Keifer still ... " [More]

Southland Tales

I Am the Science of Southland P ...
By dibot in dibot Blog
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"Shame was downright action packed compared to the last couple of Bergman ("Saraband") films I've watched. Max Von Sydow ("Rush Hour 3") and Liv Ullmann ("Saraband") are a very unhappily married couple whose house seems to be in the middle of a war zone. Neither half of the couple are very cool. They both do some pretty despicable things. This wasn't my favorite of his films. I am Legend pretty much rocked. Set in the future where a virus has wiped out much of the human race, leaving behind scary vampire/zombie like creatures, Will Smith ("The Pursuit of Happyness") has been living alone for three years in NYC. The first part of the film really takes its time establishing Smith's lifestyle and complete loneliness. Then it gets tense. My only real complaint is that the monsters were way too fake. When are people going to learn that CG will never be as cool as makeup? Michel Gondry ("Be Kind Rewind")'s The Science of ... " [More]

No End in Sight

No End to the Dreadful Dark Igu ...
By dibot in dibot Blog
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"Dark Ride is one of the After Dark Horrorfest movies from 2006. And, I gotta tell you, it's just not that scary. A group of college kids who never utter a word of realistic dialogue, take a detour from their spring break vacation to visit a carnival ride in the middle of the night. Great idea. The kills are sort of good . There are a couple of creepy moments, but this was pretty much one ridiculous thing after another. Penny Dreadful is another of the After Dark movies, but this one is actually really good. A girl who has an intense fear of cars takes a trip with her doctor to try and over come her terror. They pick up a hitchhiker and things go very, very wrong. This movie is creepy and extremely tense. The acting was pretty good. Rachel Miner ("Tooth & Nail") really sold the anxiety and the fear. Loved it. Night of the Iguana is based on a Tennessee Williams ("The Yellow Bird") play. So, of course, it's quite a bit messed up. A minister, Richard ... " [More]

Superbad

My Life as the Other Wild Super ...
By dibot in dibot Blog
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"Voodoo Moon is just your average trashy horror movie with a brother/ sister (Eric Mabius, "Reeker"/ Charisma Carpenter, "Relative Chaos") duo who are fighting to destroy the demon who killed their parents when they were young children. They both have special powers. Some of it is entertaining, but most of the dialogue is cringe-worthy. It wasn't very gore, but I did watch it on Sci-Fi, so that all could have been cut out. I liked the idea, the film was just a bit too cheesy to make it work.I heard so much goodness about My Life as a Dog that I feared it would never live up to the expectations. But it totally did. This film brought Swedish director Lasse Hallstrom ("The Hoax") to the international eye. The movie is depressing, sometimes uncomfortable, often funny and always touching. A young boy whose mother is seriously ill, is sent to live with some relatives in the country. There he meets all sorts of interesting characters. I loved it.The Wild O ... " [More]

The Diving Bell and the Butterfly

Multiple reviews for which I co ...
By dibot in dibot Blog
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"I found the directing as well as the camera work interesting in The Diving Bell and the Butterfly. The point-of-view shots were especially claustrophobic and an inventive way of putting us in the place of Jean-Dominique Bauby, the French editor of Elle magazine, whose stroke left him paralyzed except for one eyelid. It's a good movie, but I didn't think it was great. To me, the idea of it seems better than the actual film. Death at a Funeral is one of the funniest movies I've seen in a long time. A British comedy that focuses on a family gathering for a funeral, this film has lots of laughs as well as touching moments. My favorite bits involve Alan Tudyk (Wash from "Firefly"). He ends up taking some acid mislabeled as valium before the service, and hijinks ensue. Definitely see this. To investigate the phenomenon that is Tyler Perry, I checked out Why Did I Get Married? And wondered why did I bother? Four couples meet once a year for a retreat where they wor ... " [More]

The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford

Winter Light in the Valley of E ...
By dibot in dibot Blog
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"Always, always behind I am. The weekend before the Oscars, I made a desperate attempt to catch up on the nominated films. I quite enjoyed The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford, even though the film was almost as long as its name. Casey Affleck ("Gone Baby Gone")once again shows he's the real actor in the family. Gorgeous cinematography, the ever glorious Sam Rockwell ("Snow Angels"), and an interesting look at how a man can chose to betray his idol complete the package. In the Valley of Elah wore on my patience almost from the first scene. Of course, Tommy Lee Jones ("No Country for Old Men") and Susan Sarandon ("Enchanted") were awesome, but Charlize Theron ("Aeon Flux") is as drab as the scenery. The story should have been interesting, if not tense. A soldier disappears from base after returning from Iraq and his father goes to look for him. And it sort of tries for a message. But I blame Paul Haggis (& ... " [More]

The Messengers

The Bad Seed Princess Messenger ...
By dibot in dibot Blog
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"Talk about behind The Bad Seed focuses on a seemingly perfect little girl, blond braids, sweet smile. But when a schoolmate has a tragic accident on a picnic, her mother starts to suspect evil beneath the little girl's sweetness. This is an old school suspense movie. The characters are introduced and given plenty of time to impress us (sometimes the wrong way like the grating voice of the land lady). Though I wanted the length to be a bit shorter, this film has to be seen for the double whammy of the ending. Be sure to watch the credits. I left this film laughing in disbelief as well as feeling sort of dirty inside. The Messengers starts out as a tight little PG-13 horror movie. The family moves from the city to an isolated farm house in order to escape some trouble their teenaged daughter caused. Kristen Stewart ("Jumper") stars and pulls off the tortured teen with enough aplomb to make this cliched character seem to have depth. The ghosts are creepy, especially wi ... " [More]

Ratatouille

A Bunch of Reviews
By dibot in dibot Blog
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"Pixar's latest Oscar contender, Ratatouille, is an interesting story of a rat who wants to be a chef, a man who can't cook and how they become a team. The animation and voice work are, of course, top notch. The characters and voice acting are also well done. However, I felt that the movie lagged a bit in the middle. And I just wasn't that into it. Maybe I'm prejudiced against rats.Surf's Up, another Oscar nominated animated film, this time from Sony, follows a penguin who longs to be a great surfer. The film is set up like a documentary, with the film crew interviewing friends, family and rivals of the main character, Cody. I really enjoyed this device, something I don't think I've seen in an animated film before. There were many parts where I laughed out loud, especially at the young penguins. But I didn't really feel the connection between Cody and his idol. Cool animation, though.La Vie En Rose is a biography of sorts of French singer Edith Piaf. ... " [More]

Away From Her

Reaping Screwfly Solution Away ...
By dibot in dibot Blog
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"Well, I really wanted to see The Reaping because I love rivers of blood and biblical plagues. And Hilary Swank ("P.S. I Love You"). And the film had all three of those things. Sometimes atmospherically creepy and sometimes jump scary, the plot was just a bit too thin. Swank plays a professor who specializes in debunking religious mysteries. She's called in to investigate what seems to be a series of biblical plagues affecting a small town. She has a past of a terrible event where she lost her faith. Stephen Rea ("Stuck") is a priest and former friend who tires to warn her she's in danger. Though some of this is pretty cool, I could see where it was going before it went there.For Christmas, my husband got me Masters of Horror: Joe Dante - The Screwfly Solution as a companion piece to Season 3 of 90210, both staring the fabulous Jason Priestley ("Made in Brooklyn"). I had not watched any of the Masters of Horror series before, and so I wasn't ... " [More]

Idiocracy

Legend of Idiocracy Lookout
By dibot in dibot Blog
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"The Legend of Drunken Master is a really enjoyable Jackie Chan ("Rush Hour 3") flick. The martial arts and fight sequences are well choreographed and some of the dialogue and characters, especially the step-mother are hilarious. The plot is kind of light. A group of thieves are smuggling Chinese artifacts out of the country and selling them on the black market. Chan has to stop them using a form of fighting of which his father does not approve, Drunken Boxing. This is an entertaining movie and a good showcase of Chan's skills.I feel that Mike Judge ("Office Space")'s Idiocracy will get funnier over time. I remember the first viewing of Office Space when I didn't get why everyone thought it was so great. And then I watched it again. And again. Now I love it. Idiocracy has a few laughs and many more chuckles. The story follows an average man who is frozen in an army experiment and forgotten. When he awakens 500 years in the future, he's the smartes ... " [More]

Juno

There Will be Atonement for Jun ...
By dibot in dibot Blog
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"I am in love with There Will Be Blood. Though director P.T. Anderson ("Punch Drunk Love") clocks in another super long movie, I was entranced almost every single minute of the film. Daniel Day-Lewis ("The Ballad of Jack and Rose") stars as oil man Daniel Plainview and the film follows his life as he digs his first well until he's an old man. The story doesn't feel that it needs to cover every little detail of this time, we're given what's important and allowed to fill in the gaps ourselves. As Plainview builds his empire, he meets a young preacher, Paul Dano ("Little Miss Sunshine"), and the interaction between the two of them is some of the best in the film. I loved this power struggle. I also loved Day-Lewis' acting. Amazing. Also, the score was fabulous. Almost like another character. I felt that, if I weren't unable to take my eyes from the screen, I could close them and still know what was happening, just from the music. Sc ... " [More]

Lists

2008 (1)
movies seen 2008

bad horror (54)
It's not a bad thing.

Films I've seen (388)
Films I've seen

oscar movies (65)

2007 (66)
movies seen from 2007

2005 (19)
movies seen from 2005

2006 (46)
movies seen from 2006

bergman (5)

Films I want to buy (21)
Films I want to buy

2002 (14)
movies seen 2002

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