saw a plethera of movies over the vacation. i saw the shooter, the simpsons, halloween, borne ultimatum and potc3.

the shooter- even though this seems like a run in the mill fugitive movie, the direction and acting made it better, especially wahlberg and glover. faqua knows how to direct this movie with the right pace, tension and sequence. this was a decent movie.

the simpsons- let me start by saying that i stopped watching the simpsons when i left college ( which is roughly ten years ago). so i was a fan of the show but not really a fanatic. however, with the movie, they are obviuosly allowed to do more than what they can do on the fox network. contradictory to the "south park" film, they cleverly use this freedom in some scenes like the bart skateboard scene. this has humor for everyone, including subtle opposed to "in your face" humor, very similar to the show. the writers hit a homerun with this movie the same as the show they kept going for almost twenty years which is a feat in itself. good movie.

halloween- i thought the original halloween was the scariest movie ever. one reason why could be that i was VERY young when it came out so that image was embedded. however, it was the nature of the "shape" that was scary. it was relentless and unpredictable. it can attack whenever and wherever it wanted but seemed content sometimes waiting and kicking the suspense factor to a boil. so this movie had heavy shoes to fill. well, giving micheal myers a background examining why he is what he is was to me a mistake. it "humanized" him which to me made him less threatening. plus zombie put too much of his imprint in the movie with sadistic violence, gore and rape. there was little suspense since once you see him he pretty much killed. this seemed like the other horror movies that are out today. a little disappointment.

borne ultimatum- best movie of the summer. i am a fan of the other borne movies and this was just a lateral movement which is fine with me. i like the fact that finally most of the action is in new york. damon proves that he was "borne" to play this role ( corny, i know but i couldn't resist) and he seemed like he relished it more this time around. the plot is cleverly layered out as we start to learn more about borne. if this is the end of these series of films, it is a fitting end unlike other trilogies that came out in the summer. however, i wouldn't mind a little more borne in the future.

potc3- i am not that big of a fan of the series but unlike the population, i liked the second pirates a lot, more than the first one which i thought was overrated. "at worlds end" was on its way being the worst of the trilogy. it was getting too long and very confusing with people switching alliances almost as much as switching clothes. but then the last hour was well worth the wait. the action and sfx were jaw dropping. so this confused me more. it was how i felt with spidey 3. the action sequences in that movie were killer too. so it was almost a poor movie until the last hour saved it greatly. however, this is a trilogy that i am happy it ended.

I checked out National Treasure (no actually I was forced to watch this movie)

And I am Legend

National Treasure cann't stand Nicholas Cage and felt the plot was kinda of dumb not connection from the beginnig to end

I am Legend: Reminded me a lot of 28 Days Later but visually it was incredible. But felt that the movie was missing 45 minutes left a lot plot holes.

VDesai,

No **** it looked very intriuging from the previews and all the reviews have said nothing but very positive things. Now im definetly going to check this out.

Daniel Day Lewis is a great actor. You don't see him much, because he can only shoot about once every few years, I heard, because of a medical condition. But when he's in there, he is Oscar worthy! I still think he should've won for 'Gangs of New York'.

Seeing him in this film, do you think he has another shot at the Oscar?

Its always a pleasure to see Daniel Day Lewis in a film b/c the guy is definetly among the elite its just unfortunate that we don't see more of him. He had the best performance in Gangs of NY by far.

Also V did you seen The Orphanage yet? Thats the other film I want to check out

[Edited by - bitty41 on 01-13-2008 1:06 PM]

BTW, here are the top 10 movies that I saw that were released in 2007 and could be considered at Oscar time (though some of the best movies don't always get that kind of consideration). I still haven't seen a bunch of stuff like Ratatouille, Perseopolis and Diving Bell, so take it with a grain of salt:

1) There Will Be Blood
2) No Country for Old Men
3) Once
4) Zodiac
5) Juno
6) The Bourne Ultimatum
7) Away from Her
8) This is England
9) The Wind that Shakes the Barley
10) The Namesake

Honorable mention to Eastern Promises, 310 To Yuma, I am Legend, Superbad, Hot Fuzz, Grindhouse, Talk To Me and The Simpsons Movie

well, i saw some movies, one old and one new: rocky balboa and cloverfield.

rocky balboa- though i am a rocky fan, i was very skeptical about seeing this especially after the debacle of rocky V. i finally got around to watching this and i have to say that i am glad i saw it. definately one of the better ones. stallone has definately come full circle with his directing and writing by going away from one dimensional characters ( uh, clubber lang?) and adding depth to the characters. even the portrayal of philly is engaging as rocky realize times have changed ( classic reaction to a woman with an interracial child). mason dixon is a different character altogether who, despite his hard exterior, is hurting inside because of the unfair criticism of his defense and the state of boxing. obviously there are similarities with this character to holyfield and the scene with dixon and his old trainer is touching. you realize that this is the first fight that you do not want ANYONE to lose. the fighting scene was awesome and more realistic than the other rocky fights. very convincing fight with a "twist" that explains why rocky had a chance to win. highly recommended.

cloverfield- as far as monster movies go, this is one of the best. this is one of the rare films that tells the story of this magnitude through the eyes of pedestrians. sort of like "war of the worlds". this made the story more suspenseful and more terrifying. there were definately some shocking moments and the "blair witch" vision made it more authentic. warning: do not see this on a full stomach though. the camera shakes more than "the blair witch project" and i had to turn away to prevent myself from getting queesy. the creature itself can be scary in one scene and then looks like those aliens from "the dreamcatcher" in another. but man did it do damage. there were also some shocking deaths ala "deep blue sea" that makes you wonder if ANY of them will survive. good start for the 2008 movie season. highly recommend for those with strong stomachs.

How did any of you like 'Cloverfield'? I hear it was pretty good.

Posted by VDesai:

Heath Ledger found dead in his apartment. Shocking news. Really one of the up and coming actors...

whoa, for real?

WOW. 28. and a young daughter.

i can't wait to see this movie... definitely my must see for this summer: