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radio master666

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Speaking of book to movie conversions has anyone else seen Stephen King's The Mist? It's been out for a while now and I watched it for the second time ever yesterday. Somehow my opinion of the movie has greatly reduced and that's saying a lot given I had it down as the worst movie I've ever seen after the first view.
I saw it a while back and actually liked it. Maybe a second viewing will change my opinion, but I found it enjoyable.
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Speaking of huge disappointments, allow me to share another of my movie reviews with you: __________________ Elysium: (4/10) In 2009, out of the scrapped Halo movie, first-time director Neill Blomkamp shocked the world with District 9, a very unique film about extraterrestrial refugees stuck in contemporary South Africa. It currently holds a 90% fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes, citing its unique story (a rarity in films these days), excellent acting, writing, and (despite its modest budget) special effects. Naturally, expectations were high for his follow up, Elysium. After viewing Blomkamp’s second film, one wonders whether he was pressed for time, because it plays out like a first draft in need of heavy revision. In the year 2154, the ultra wealthy live on Elysium, a utopian space station where crime, sickness, and war are nonexistent. Everyone else is stuck on an overpopulated, impoverished earth. One man, however, has the means to change all of that and bring equality to the two worlds. There isn’t a singular flaw that can be attributed to Elysium’s catastrophic failure, but “absolutely no character development” is towards the top of the list. Our protagonist, Max (played by Matt Damon) is an ex-con who’s trying to stay on the “straight and narrow”. It’s difficult to care about him because he is essentially a cardboard cutout, like every character in this movie. The squalor the earthlings live in is portrayed with excellent, stark imagery, but viewers need more than imagery to stay invested in the “good” characters and their plight. “Why should we root for Max? What makes him so special?” It’s unfortunate that Blomkamp doesn’t answer these questions. Some of the characters are an extreme hindrance to the success of the film. Jodie Foster plays Delacourt, Elysium’s cruel, scheming Secretary of Defense who has a penchant for poor acting including, but not limited to, cringe-inducing lines unbecoming of a two-time academy award winning actress. Kruger (played by Sharlto Copley of District 9 fame) is meant to be a fun-to-watch villain, but Delacourt’s personal mercenary has an incredibly obnoxious, pseudo-French/cockney accent that would be hilarious in a Monty Python movie, but it’s distracting and less than intimidating in this one. The actors are not entirely to blame; it’s difficult for a good actor/actress to perform well when given poor lines. The environments, spaceships, robots, and weapons are a visual treat, as expected. The action scenes have inventive elements, but they are too few and far between, often relying heavily on slow-motion. Ultimately, the film lacks character development and substance, both of which are essential for the kind of story Blomkamp is trying to tell. Considering how great District 9 was, and the enormous potential Elysium had, it’s obvious Blomkamp has some great ideas; it’s just a matter of allowing them to develop.

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I haven't been excited about movies in at least a decade. Mostly because Holly Woods well ran dry way before I was born and only few things over the years have caught my attention. The last few times a movie has come out that I've been into I've either netflixed it or redboxed it. I don't like going to theaters because I don't like how rude people have become. Talking, texting, etc... or in UT people bringing babies that are days old to theaters so you get to listen to them cry the whole time, not to mention the prices...I'd rather just stay home.

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I haven't been excited about movies in at least a decade. Mostly because Holly Woods well ran dry way before I was born and only few things over the years have caught my attention. The last few times a movie has come out that I've been into I've either netflixed it or redboxed it. I don't like going to theaters because I don't like how rude people have become. Talking' date=' texting, etc... or in UT people bringing babies that are days old to theaters so you get to listen to them cry the whole time, not to mention the prices...I'd rather just stay home.[/quote'] I hear that, fortunately I live in the middle of nowhere, It's not to uncommon to go to the movies and find less than a dozen people in the theater.
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I avoid cinemas because the screen being so large means I can't see half the movie, or any of it generally given my taste in movies means they tend to be darker and grittier. Speaking of movies I watched The Hobbit yesterday. It bastardised the book which is unfortunate but I suppose that's the "creative license" of film directors at work. Still enjoyable enough but my one real qualm is that it doesn't feel like a completed film in the same way the Lord Of The Rings trilogy didn't feel like complete films on their own merits.

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I liked Thor too, probably because it didn't have the "feel" of a comic book movie. I really hate that they cast Natalie Portman in it though, I don't think she seemed very believable as a weather tracker person who builds all her own equipment and shit. On the whole though, I don't like comic book movies. They're not bad movies (mostly), but the fact that there's like 6 or 7 of them every year really pisses me off.

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I guess I don't pay enough attention to movies to really care. I typically watch about four or five movies a year, streaming on Netflix, long after they've come out. The most recent one I saw in the theater was Superman, which was a bit ham-fisted and had too many religious overtones for me. Right now it's all in the service of escapism.

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I just saw 'Gravity' the other day. Wow! It was good. I get claustrophobic and I get motion sickness too, so it was a little hard for me to sit through the first 20-30 minutes, but I watched the whole thing and it was worth it. Very good acting and story. A bit hard to believe in places, if you're really strict about science rules in films, but if you just go with it, the movie is fun to watch.

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I saw The Butler a couple days ago. It was ok. While it definitely wasn't a bad movie, Covering 70 years of history and the life of the titular character is difficult when you have just over 2 hours to work with. Many of the characters weren't developed very well, and major events were often only given a scene or two. The pacing was pretty slow as well, so it felt longer. It's a rare feat, for a movie to feel both too short and too long. It's worth watching once, but it would've benefitted from being a 2 or 3 part miniseries, with each installment being 90 minutes.

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  • 2 weeks later...

It's Halloween night, so I've lined up a stack of my favourite horror flicks older and newer kicking off with Halloween, then Friday the 13th, Nightmare On Elm Street, The Shining, Pet Semetary, The Exorcist, Paranormal Activity, Dawn Of The Dead, Texas Chainsaw Massacre and any others that pop into my mind

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