2012 Movies

bumblemusprime · Post by **bumblemusprime** » Mon Jan 02, 2012 7:45 pm

It's going to be one hell of a year, eh? Prometheus, Avengers, Hunger Games, Dark Knight Rises and some short dude with hairy feet.

Brendocon · Post by **Brendocon** » Tue Jan 03, 2012 6:29 pm

It's all about Wrath of the Titans, baby.

Spider-Man ReReturns
Jack the Giant Killer (but not the one off of Fables)
Ghost Rider 2
GI Joe 2
Bourne 4
John Carter
Total ReRecall

Christ there's some ***** out this year. It's going to be awesome.

Post by **Best First** » Wed Jan 04, 2012 11:17 am

GI Joe 2 looks like the best and worst things ever at the same time. It's an art.

Brendocon · Post by **Brendocon** » Wed Jan 04, 2012 5:58 pm

Also, The Muppets.

Unless you're in America. Which I'm not.

Brendocon · Post by **Brendocon** » Sat Mar 10, 2012 3:21 pm

John Carter [of Mars] was good solid fun.

Took a while to get going, but overall good stuff. Typical Disney family movie live-action 3D fantasy sci fi adventure stuff, but that's not necessarily a bad thing.

Quite a sobering thought that the story is 100 years old, given its obvious similarities with a lot of other recent genre films.

Somewhat concerned about awareness/marketing, though, Opening Friday night, Cineworld's second biggest screen, seating ~400 people... and there were about 50 of us. A lot of people I've spoken to have no idea who the character is, and I don't think the generic title's really helped.

Did spend a few minutes giggling when Ciaran Hinds and James Purefoy swept in wearing costumes that looked like they'd been pilfered from Rome's leftovers. Talk about being broken out of a story.

Post by **spiderfrommars** » Sat Mar 10, 2012 7:13 pm

SKYFALL *pow*

Optimus Prime Rib · Post by **Optimus Prime Rib** » Mon Mar 19, 2012 4:59 am

After reading the entire Hunger Games trilogy in a matter of hours, I can say it better damn well be good.

Good lord that's some good writing.

Impactor returns 2.0 · Post by **Impactor returns 2.0** » Mon Mar 19, 2012 8:18 pm

Can't wait for prometheus that looks amazing!

inflatable dalek · Post by **inflatable dalek** » Sun Apr 22, 2012 7:34 pm

Cabin in the Woods is good fun, though not as mindblowing as some would have you think. It's basically a lost Angel season 5 episode (Acker even brings her sexy scientist costume), but a good one.

The real problem is that, because it's dealing with the clichés of teen horror films (it's easy to imagine what's happening here happening behind the scenes in every bad one you've ever seen), the main teens are one dimensional and impossible to care about and the lead is very dull. And they didn't have the budget to pull of the all CGI final as well.

Loved the Surprise Celebrity Villain, they seem to be making a habit of this after doing the same in a film last year and I think every movie would be improved by them showing up at the end and going "It was me!".

I was surprised the ending seems to suggest no sequels though as the set up is a very obvious one for a franchise, you could go through lots of horror film types with this.

Brendocon · Post by **Brendocon** » Sat Jun 02, 2012 8:43 am

Prometheus.

Reasonable. Good. Some cracking bits. Most of the film was in the trailers, sadly. Left the cinema with a sense of underwhelmedness verging not quite on disappointment.

So-so, really. 6/10. Could have been a 7 if they hadn't based the marketing around the dna it shares with another film.

Full of lovely philosophical questions that would be insightful and interesting if not for the fact BSG finished three years ago, thanks.

Yaya · Post by **Yaya** » Sat Jun 02, 2012 3:12 pm

Anybody seen Chronicle? Awesome stuff, probably my fav of the year after The Avengers.

Post by **Kaylee** » Sat Jun 02, 2012 8:29 pm

Brendocon wrote:Prometheus.

Reasonable. Good. Some cracking bits. Most of the film was in the trailers, sadly. Left the cinema with a sense of underwhelmedness verging not quite on disappointment.

So-so, really. 6/10. Could have been a 7 if they hadn't based the marketing around the dna it shares with another film.

Full of lovely philosophical questions that would be insightful and interesting if not for the fact BSG finished three years ago, thanks.

Spoooooilers...

I'd go along with the 6/10 although I'd describe it as 'meh'. I was hoping for something really special, and I got all the same crap from the last three Alien movies recycled *again* - a mysterious, ancient pyramid full of nasties, a bunch of humans who are mostly just fodder for death, lots of stuff that is less shocking than it is contrived and no freaking answers.

Basically I'd hoped this movie might give me some insight, some story: something to make the backstory and threads of all the previous movies make some sense. Mythos building. I thought it was going to give some awesome twist about where the aliens came from and where humans came from - what our place is and how they relate to us.

Instead it was 'the aliens are weapons', some mysterious [composite word including 'f*ck'] whom we learn nothing about whatsoever made humans and then decided to kill them and lots of things happen for no reason other than the script said-so. Basically the same cheap hand-waving from the last few movies in a new outing.

It wasn't awful, and I really liked the opening scenes of landscapes and space. They were stunning. Some of the characters were good - well fleshed out and likeable, which is a big step up from the last three outings (AVP, AVP2 and Alien Resurrection). I just had some really high expectations.

It had none of the suspense or claustrophobia of the first Alien or just the out-and-out fun of the Aliens.

That said, Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter looks so utterly diabolical I may have to watch it...

Brendocon · Post by **Brendocon** » Sun Jun 03, 2012 3:54 pm

That's part of the problem though - it's not there to specifically give answers about the origins of the aliens, as it's not technically part of the Alien franchise. Or shouldn't be viewed as such, anyway.

It's a non-prequel to Alien in the same way that Captain America is a non-prequel to Iron Man. It shares a universe and feeds in some of the ideas, but it's not there to set up and explain the other.

So, we divorce Prometheus from the other films and judge it on its own merits...

And it's still fairly meh, with vague handwavey plots, dodgy dialogue, roughly sketched characters and things that don't really seem to happen for any particular reason.

:/

Post by **Kaylee** » Sun Jun 03, 2012 4:43 pm

Brendocon wrote:That's part of the problem though - it's not there to specifically give answers about the origins of the aliens, as it's not technically part of the Alien franchise. Or shouldn't be viewed as such, anyway.

It's a non-prequel to Alien in the same way that Captain America is a non-prequel to Iron Man. It shares a universe and feeds in some of the ideas, but it's not there to set up and explain the other.

So, we divorce Prometheus from the other films and judge it on its own merits...

And it's still fairly meh, with vague handwavey plots, dodgy dialogue, roughly sketched characters and things that don't really seem to happen for any particular reason.

:/

Post by **spiderfrommars** » Sun Jun 03, 2012 5:29 pm

I expected something really not good at all after seeing some of the reviews, but definitely enjoyed it. Nice to see Ridley tackle sci-fi again, and as you would expect it looks lovely and really takes its time to immerse us in its world.

That's really why I much prefer the first half, as let's face it, the monsters were no match for the legendary Giger design (Could they not get Giger to design something new?). Also, any sci-fi film that tries to answer the BIG QUESTIONS usually fall short (even 2001 botched it a bit).

Fassbender's performance was brilliant, Elba kept things fun, Theron looked lovely and Rapace was a just about an acceptable proto-Ripley. But some of the supporting cast were given weird material, such as the two scientists who storm off in a huff after discovering alien remains! The "I love rocks!" thing was totally weird.

The kill scenes were wonderfully intense though, and gave me a good squirm. But Ridley failed to top the classic chestburster scene several times here, and the operating scene bordered on the farcical.

But I liked it, I liked it. More than Avatar actually.

Post by **snarl** » Thu Jun 07, 2012 10:44 pm

I just watched promotheus...(I am a massive Alien/Aliens fan)

I have to admit that I did a little 'man-cry' at the end through sheer disappointment.

The viral campaign was better than the film and I'm an upset fan. I won't say that it is straight up rubbish but is this the film that has been some thirty years in the making? Really?! I didn't watch much of Lost, but from what I did see, it played out like they made up the story as they went along and this also had the same kind of feel.

Although I wanted guns and Xenomorphs running amok I absolutely knew before going into the cinema that this was/is not what prometheus is about. What I did expect was a film that pushes the boundaries of the genre and a (sensible) exploration into the whole history/ legacy... However it simply did not deliver. Yes it looked fantastic but so what? (they spent quite a bit of money!) Theres not much on display that we haven't seen before or haven't seen done better.

The plot holes and characters are pretty unforgivable, I don't accept that the viewer has to make quantum leaps in story arcs for things to make sense. The biggest issue for me was that it simply wasn't suspenseful. After the worm thing (which was greeted as it were a small dog - if you encountered an alien, would you really behave like that? The characters were ******* morons!) burst through the helmet, I thought the floodgates were going to open but no!

Yaya · Post by **Yaya** » Thu Jun 07, 2012 11:24 pm

HA! This looks like it could be the best animated film since Toy Story 3:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qUkizsF4680

Genius concept.

Aaron Hong · Post by **Aaron Hong** » Sun Jun 10, 2012 3:53 am

Yaya wrote:HA! This looks like it could be the best animated film since Toy Story 3:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qUkizsF4680

Genius concept.

I still can't believe they secured all those copyrights just for that scene. Please don't let them get altered for the actual movie...

Post by **Kaylee** » Sun Jun 10, 2012 4:50 pm

Yaya wrote:HA! This looks like it could be the best animated film since Toy Story 3:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qUkizsF4680

Genius concept.

That looks awesome!

Mr_Tigg · Post by **Mr_Tigg** » Mon Jun 11, 2012 10:20 am

Must admit that contrary to some of the opinions being voiced on this thread I quite enjoyed Prometheus.

Ok, it wasn't perfect - there were plenty of silly moments. The previously mentioned stupidity of the biologist & geologist being the highlight (as soon as they wandered off you knew what was coming).

The aliens disappointed too (from a design perspective) - too generic, not scary enough. The squiddy thing at the end reminded me of the beast from the end of Hellboy. Nothing on a face-hugger.

However there was plenty to enjoy in the movie as well - the primary cast members were all well cast and the acting was top notch IMO. I found the ideas put forward quite compelling, and visually (aside from the aliens) the film was stunning.

The film chugged along at a nice pace, the dialogue was decent enough to keep me interested, and I found myself swept along with the drama when it all started to unravel towards the end.

Overall I didn't think it was as good as say Alien and Aliens (both 10/10 movies for me), but I didn't expect it to be - Scott's recent films have been quite lame, so I was pleased it wasn't horribly average (like say, Robin Hood).

For me it was a solid 8/10, on a par with say, Danny Boyle's Sunshine (which had a similar structure).

Brendocon · Post by **Brendocon** » Mon Jun 11, 2012 3:03 pm

Didn't like Sunshine either.

inflatable dalek · Post by **inflatable dalek** » Mon Jun 11, 2012 7:10 pm

I think Sunshine is the only film where I've been to the cinema with so many people (about ten of us) and we all thought it was *****.

Post by **spiderfrommars** » Mon Jun 11, 2012 7:29 pm

Sunshine started off well, then kinda petered out a bit.

I'd also give Prometheus an 8. Kermode gave it a 7, interestingly.

bumblemusprime · Post by **bumblemusprime** » Mon Jun 11, 2012 9:14 pm

Speaking of Sir Scott's recent films, I rather enjoyed the (long long looooooong) director's cut of Kingdom of Heaven. Still not an award-winning flick, but interesting, and damn were the costumes, sets, etc, good.

Post by **spiderfrommars** » Mon Jun 11, 2012 10:00 pm

I think that film's main problem was the choice of lead actor.

bumblemusprime · Post by **bumblemusprime** » Tue Jun 12, 2012 12:07 am

spiderfrommars wrote:I think that film's main problem was the choice of lead actor.

Word. Great performances, even with subpar stuff, from Eva Green, Edward Norton, Ghassan Masoud, Liam Neeson, everyone else... shoulda switched Bloom for Ewan McGregor.

Post by **snarl** » Tue Jun 12, 2012 10:56 am

I can't get ...As a standalone, Prometheus still has AIDS, bad AIDS at that.

It's full of ridiculously stuff that I just couldn't overlook that completely mucks everything up.

The scientists have the personalities of ***** and are utter, utter imbeciles. The lack professionalism on show are astounding. And the film hangs on these ****s.

And the main lead is a massively unsympathetic ****.

None of the other characters are developed enough for you to care about their fate - Actually, those two scientists that die first are such ***** I actively WANTED them to die.

Load of ****

Post by **Kaylee** » Tue Jun 12, 2012 5:42 pm

snarl wrote:I can't get ...As a standalone, Prometheus still has AIDS, bad AIDS at that.

It's full of ridiculously stuff that I just couldn't overlook that completely mucks everything up.

The scientists have the personalities of ***** and are utter, utter imbeciles. The lack professionalism on show are astounding. And the film hangs on these ****s.

And the main lead is a massively unsympathetic ****.

None of the other characters are developed enough for you to care about their fate - Actually, those two scientists that die first are such ***** I actively WANTED them to die.

Load of ****

this

Post by **Kaylee** » Wed Jun 13, 2012 10:22 pm

Just seen Snow White. T'was alright, nice to finally see Bob Hoskins and Ray Winstone together in a movie. The actress playing the Queen was awful though, she seemed to conflate 'shouting' with 'acting'. Most unfortunate.

Yaya · Post by **Yaya** » Thu Jun 14, 2012 12:18 am

Karl wrote:Just seen Snow White. T'was alright, nice to finally see Bob Hoskins and Ray Winstone together in a movie. The actress playing the Queen was awful though, she seemed to conflate 'shouting' with 'acting'. Most unfortunate.

I was bored to death in this film. Maybe it was because I wasn't feeling well, but it just seemed old, like the scenes were all taken from past movies. Seems like they ripped off everything from Terminator 2 to the Lord of the Rings. Also thought the Queen hammed it up.

The Dark Knight Rises can't get here soon enough. Though this Tim Burton film Abraham Lincoln:Vampire Hunter or whatever has me intrigued by the sheer craziness of it.

And it looks like Pixar might just have their first flop in Brave. Just seems like yet another animated film with the same basic story. Ah well, ten good films in a row ain't to shabby for Pixar.