MOVIES

[MIKA27]

I have to admit that "The Departed" is a damn good movie.

The Departed is a DAMN fine movie indeed however, some may not know, this movie is a remake of a Hong Kong classic 'Infernal affairs' and in my opinion whilst the remake is brilliant, the original is even better.

Infernal Affairs (Traditional Chinese: 無間道 , Simplified Chinese: 无间道; Jyutping: mou gaan dou; Mandarin Pinyin: 'Wú Jiān Dào' ) is a 2002 Hong Kong crime-thriller film directed by Andrew Lau and Alan Mak. It tells the story of a police officer who infiltrates the crime gang, and a police mole secretly working for the same gang. The Chinese title means "the non-stop path", a reference to Avici, the lowest level of hell in Buddhism. The English title combines the law enforcement term 'internal affairs' with a reference to Inferno, the Latin name for Hell. Due to its commercial and critical success, Infernal Affairs was followed by a prequel, Infernal Affairs II, and a sequel, Infernal Affairs III, both released in 2003.

Pre-release publicity for Infernal Affairs focused on its star-studded cast (Andy Lau, Tony Leung, Anthony Wong, Eric Tsang, Kelly Chen and Sammi Cheng), but it later received critical acclaim for its original plot and its concise and swift storytelling style. The film did exceptionally well in Hong Kong, where it was considered "a box office miracle" and heralded as a revival of Hong Kong cinema which at the time was considered to be direly lacking in creativity.

Miramax Films acquired the United States distribution rights of this film and gave it a limited US theatrical release in 2004.

The Infernal Affairs series was then remade by Martin Scorsese in 2006 as The Departed, starring Matt Damon, Leonardo DiCaprio, Jack Nicholson and Mark Wahlberg. It went on to receive four Academy Awards, including Best Picture, a Best Director win for Scorcese and Best Adapted Screenplay for William Monahan at the 79th Academy Awards becoming the only remake of a foreign film to win Best Picture award.

[zxcvbnm]

I think The Departed is one of the greatest films ever made.

I'm looking forward to seeing a new Scorcese film called Ashecliffe aka Shutter Island which inevitably stars Leonardo Dicaprio. It is slated to be released October 2, 2009.

Another movie I am very interested to see this year is called Inglorious Basterds directed by Quentin Tarantino. It is primarily a look at World War II through the eyes of Quentin Tarantino who also wrote the movie. No pun intended, it is going to be sick. It is said to be released August 21, 2009.

Also I know there are a lot of Aussies on this forum and I know that Hugh Jackman is from Australia. I have to say that I just saw X Men: Origins and it was probably the worst film I have ever seen in my life. I really enjoyed the first two X-Men movies too. This one was incredibly terrible though.

[mkz]

"Infernal Affairs" is way above "The Departed" IMO.

One of the best action-movies made in many years if you ask me... I dont understand why it was needed to do a remake of it.

[MIKA27]

I think The Departed is one of the greatest films ever made.

I'm looking forward to seeing a new Scorcese film called Ashecliffe aka Shutter Island which inevitably stars Leonardo Dicaprio. It is slated to be released October 2, 2009.

Another movie I am very interested to see this year is called Inglorious Basterds directed by Quentin Tarantino. It is primarily a look at World War II through the eyes of Quentin Tarantino who also wrote the movie. No pun intended, it is going to be sick. It is said to be released August 21, 2009.

Also I know there are a lot of Aussies on this forum and I know that Hugh Jackman is from Australia. I have to say that I just saw X Men: Origins and it was probably the worst film I have ever seen in my life. I really enjoyed the first two X-Men movies too. This one was incredibly terrible though.

I am yet to see Wolverine and am surprised to hear you say it was terrible considering I believe it was Jackman in the XMEN series that made it such a success.

Growing up and collecting the comic books, I'd have to say that out of all the characters, Wolverine/Jackman was the most authentic and true likeness. Magneto was the worst depiction.

[FireDigger]

"Infernal Affairs" is way above "The Departed" IMO.

One of the best action-movies made in many years if you ask me... I dont understand why it was needed to do a remake of it.

Yes, Infernal Affairs over The Departed for me too. For those who don't follow Hong Kong cinema, it was a big deal for Andy Lau and Tony Leung to be in that movie together.

[kcmontie]

If you get a chance, you should see SlumDog Millionaire. Its quit heavy but very inspirational. Plus, it makes me happy that I don't live in Mumbai.

[Jakester]

The top two movies of all time for me is a no-brainer:

* The Shawshank Redemption: Great acting and extremely moving. Just brilliant all around. I find it quite revolting that "Forrest Gump" beat this movie for best picture. Not that "Gump" was bad, but come on!

* Casablanca: Incredible dialogue. Almost every line of this movie is perfectly crafted, and I appreciate it more each time I watch it.

Rick: " . . . and remember, this gun is pointed right at your heart."

Captain Renault: "That is my LEAST vulnerable spot."

[demiurgic]

Not picking the common classics, here goes.

Dersu Uzala - from 1975 about the Goldi people of Russia/Sibera. A Gem. In Russian but directed by the amazing Akira Kirosawa.

Les Miserables (The Movie, not the musical)

Cinema Paradiso - Italian. Simply must see.

Tampopo (Dandelion) - Jozu Itame - Humorous genius and a must for any food lover.

Riding Alone for Thousands of Miles - Yimou Zhang . A story of a father who has a second chance at being there for his kid.

Kagemusha (Red Beard) - Akira Kirosawa A young doctor is broken in by an older wiser one.

Speaking of Kirosawa, 7 Samurai, Dreams, Rashoman, Ran, are generally known as good too, but, IKIRU isn't.(Story of a man who is a cog in the beurocratic wheel of a Japense office and is devoid of life, pretty much. The kicker is how he becomes a real human being in his little way)

Quick Art picks -

Werner Herzog's - Wrath of Aguirre. Realism to the max.

Battle of Algiers. A docu-drama-fact worth watching

Citizen Kane - I adore this movie for it's Lighting. Bloody genius.

American movies will need a section of their own. Too many, in several genres.

From early gangster/Mafia to true stories, SOME art pieces, Charlie Chaplin's work, great HEIST movies and of course WESTERNS!~ for another time...

....

[MIKA27]

Film Review - Defiance

Source: Heraldsun.com.au

Defiance (M)

Director : Edward Zwick (Blood Diamond)

Starring : Daniel Craig, Liev Schreiber, Jamie Bell, George McKay, Allan Corduner, Mia Wasikowska

Rating : ***1/2 --------------------------

Rounding off a very busy period for Holocaust dramas is Defiance, at once the most commercially appealing and thematically unconventional of the group.

You won’t find anything resembling the lyrical storytelling of The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas, the studied heart-tugging of The Reader, nor the pointless hand-wringing of Good.

No, Defiance is, first and foremost, a straight-out action movie. An action movie where an armed and tactically astute Jewish militia give the German enemy a taste of their own poison.

The remarkable true story outlined here begins in 1941. Nazi forces have conquered Belorussia (now known as Belarus) with ease, and are now systematically arresting or executing the 100,000 Jews living in the landlocked eastern European nation.

Among those already dead are the parents of the Bielski brothers : Tuvia (Daniel Craig), Zus (Liev Schreiber), Asael (Jamie Bell) and Aron (George McKay).

With a bounty on their heads that local police would dearly love to collect, the Bielskis flee deep into the forest they know so well from their days as black-market smugglers.

The nearest road is more than 20 kilometres away. The woodland terrain is treacherously inhospitable if entered without a specialist guide to show the way.

Therefore the Bielski camp soon becomes the perfect hideout for many hundreds of Jews who survived the first wave of extermination in the region.

In time, the camp swells into a virtual town, with its own housing, medical clinic, metal shop and bakery.

More importantly, many of the thousand-plus refugees living there eventually become highly skilled partisan soldiers, exacting swift and brutal strikes against both German occupying forces and Belorussian collaborators.

According to director Edward Zwick, Defiance is designed to remind movie audiences that "not all Jews went meekly to the ovens."

To his credit, Zwick backs up this archly provocative statement of intent by skilfully interlacing several powerful action sequences with an equally gripping character-driven drama.

The flawless performances of Daniel Craig and Liev Schreiber hold the key to the film’s hard-earned success.

Craig’s Tuvia clings to the hope that diplomacy and compassion will ultimately guarantee his people’s survival.

Schreiber’s Zus would rather shoot first and leave the question of moral consequences for later. Much, much later.

MIKA: I for one am really looking forward to watching this. Not only does this look to be filmed beautifully, but the actors themselves do a remarkeble job even down to the accents which I believe authenticates such movies.

Unlike movies such a Valkyrie which was filmed well but sucked when it came to having actors portraying Germans with British and American accents, 'Enemy at the gates' another great film but Russians with British accents didn't sell that well....

[MIKA27]

Exclusive: The Look of Terminator Salvation with Martin Laing

The Production Designer takes us through his visuals for the film.

Source: Rotten Tomatoes.

Production Designer Martin Laing has worked with James Cameron on True Lies, Titanic and Ghosts of the Abyss and has served on films like The Haunting, City of Ember and the upcoming Clash of the Titans. Terminator Salvation, with its bleak view of the future, is easily his most ambitious project to date. On the eve of the film's worldwide rollout, he sits down exclusively with RT to take us through concept art for the film and explain his approach...

"Our Terminator world is quite different from the films you've seen before. In the same way that Warner Bros. took the Batman movies and turned them on their head, in design terms as well as the story, and turned that world into something very dark and really really cool, we're going to be doing the same thing with Terminator. But we're obviously taking a lot of the history that's already been laid down in the first three movies and growing with that. So our Terminators are black in colour, they're very sort of machine orientated. We loved the T-800 which was the silver Arnold figure which you see in the first movie, but we're before all that. We're in a post-apocalyptic world, after the bombs have gone off. Obviously the T-800 is where we end up at the end of the movie, but prior to that we get to see the T-600 and the T-700."

"We've tried to get the reality of these early machines. If you look at a wonderful old steam engine it's black, it's oily, it's greasy. That's the kind of world we're trying to go with here. We've taken quite a few elements from the T-800 which we've already seen. The same shoulder joints, knees that pivot and all that stuff. But we've made him a little bit more brutal. I was with James Cameron for many many years doing Titanic and True Lies and Avatar, and I used to have to stick together the T-800 he had in his office because it was always breaking. So I know all the parts very very well!"

"The Hydrobot is a Terminator that actually goes through the water. Although it actually has the fluid movements of an eel or a fish and it has this ability to swim quite quickly we've tried to keep it real again. It's all mechanical, with a rhyme and a reason behind each element of the design. We did the final design, blew it up to full size and then gave it to the guys at Stan Winston Studios who made it as a 3D model. It's about eight and a half feet long. They puppeteered it on set a few days ago and it really looks very exciting. They move it around like a Jim Henson puppet with green sticks which we'll remove digitally. That reality of actual mechanical parts, that really would work, is what we've been chasing with all the design. There's no kind of science-fiction silliness that's going on. We started with Mother Nature, really, looking at various aquatic life, eels and so on. Then we worked on several different designs, honing it down each time. We're trying to establish a reality here. McG has been very clear about the fact that this is a real, grimy, dirty and dangerous world."

"You've seen the Hunter-Killer before in the first three movies. So in the same way that we're coming back as it were from the T-800 to the T-600, we're doing the same thing with the Hunter-Killer. It's a little bit more brutal in its shape. It still has the vertical take off and landing design that was established in the previous films. But the shape and the colouring is very different. We were really lucky to have so many great designs to start with in the original Terminator movies and then we're working backwards to give it more of a brutal, basic feel. In the very early conversations I had with McG he was pushing an idea of a kind of cool silver look, then we came up with the idea of doing everything in black, and it all really started gelling."

"Again this was very influenced by the original design of the Terminator. The spine of it is really taken from the spine of a Terminator and the struts are taken from a Terminator leg. We started with a Ducati, because Ducati gave us some bikes, and then we just built on top of them. So what we really wanted to communicate here is the idea that everything is made at the same factory -- the same machines are building the Moto-Terminator as are building all the other Terminators. We have a very cool chase scene where two of these Moto-Terminators are shot out of a Harvester and have this spectacular cat and mouse chase."

"What's happening in this movie is that Terminators are going out and they're either wiping out humans or they're capturing them and bringing them back for their skin and their hair. If you listen to the dialogue in the first movie you can hear Kyle Reese say to Sarah Connor, while they're in the car, that they're harvesting humans. So we really are trying to stick to the mythology that's been established before. The ultimate goal of Skynet is to create one of the T-800s that you see in the original movies. So we have a Transporter which is based very much on the way that cattle are transported on the freeways of the world. Those sort of very scary trucks where you can only see the eyes of the cattle as they go by. We've done the same kind of thing for humans, and ours fly. They're designed to take humans to Skynet for processing."

"This is a Harvester, and we also have the Aerostats which are a kind of medium-size Terminator. Again, we've gone for as much of a sense of realism in this really dark world as we can. Cameron said to me with Battle Angel that the important thing is that the designs always are able to do the jobs they're designed for and it's the same with this movie. The Aerostat's job is to go out and they search for humans, they fly over the landscape, and when they spot humans they send out for one of the Harvesters who come in, very much like a big storm-trooping soldier, and load the living humans into the Transporters."

"Marcus (played by Sam Worthington), is our hybrid. He is half-human and half-Terminator. He has the endoskeleton of all the other Terminators. But he also has the brain and heart of a human. The heart is simply left there to pump oxygen through his brain to keep it alive. The other guys have batteries at their centre he has a human heart. He bleeds and has nerve endings and so on. So he's a true hybrid. Obviously we have several different designs because as he goes through the film he gets more and more battered and you see more of what's underneath. He starts out pretty untouched in his black knickers, but then he gets roughed up quite a bit!"

Terminator Salvation is released in the US on 21st May, the UK on 3rd June and Australia on 4th June.

[Ken Gargett]

http://cache.gawker.com/assets/images/kota...r_salvation.jpg[/img]

why the hell does a terminator need teeth?

[Ken Gargett]

I think The Departed is one of the greatest films ever made.

I'm looking forward to seeing a new Scorcese film called Ashecliffe aka Shutter Island which inevitably stars Leonardo Dicaprio. It is slated to be released October 2, 2009.

Another movie I am very interested to see this year is called Inglorious Basterds directed by Quentin Tarantino. It is primarily a look at World War II through the eyes of Quentin Tarantino who also wrote the movie. No pun intended, it is going to be sick. It is said to be released August 21, 2009.

Also I know there are a lot of Aussies on this forum and I know that Hugh Jackman is from Australia. I have to say that I just saw X Men: Origins and it was probably the worst film I have ever seen in my life. I really enjoyed the first two X-Men movies too. This one was incredibly terrible though.

thoroughly enjoyed taratino's early stuff but for the worst film ever, daylight second, more daylight third, that last load of toal crap he made. if he hadn't have made some good flicks before this total load of disgraceful hogwash, then he would be banned from ever touching a film again. appalling. called deathcar or something like it. worst ever.

[Ken Gargett]

The top two movies of all time for me is a no-brainer:

* The Shawshank Redemption: Great acting and extremely moving. Just brilliant all around. I find it quite revolting that "Forrest Gump" beat this movie for best picture. Not that "Gump" was bad, but come on!

* Casablanca: Incredible dialogue. Almost every line of this movie is perfectly crafted, and I appreciate it more each time I watch it.

Rick: " . . . and remember, this gun is pointed right at your heart."

Captain Renault: "That is my LEAST vulnerable spot."

two crackers but if i recall, casablanca also missed best pic (when i say recall, i mean i recall reading somewhere).

i gave up on the oscars when - and no disrespect to a trrific actor - kingsley (gandhi) beat dustin hoffman (tootsie) for best actor. thought that was a brilliant performance.

[PointSource]

Can't wait for Terminator Salvation!

Has anybody viewed 'American Psycho' starring Christian Bale? It's insane. The book by Bret Easton Ellis is.......extremely objectionable. But a terrific read.

[Ken Gargett]

Can't wait for Terminator Salvation!

Has anybody viewed 'American Psycho' starring Christian Bale? It's insane. The book by Bret Easton Ellis is.......extremely objectionable. But a terrific read.

saw it a year or two ago. i remember it being better than i expected but i don't remember much more than that.

[PointSource]

saw it a year or two ago. i remember it being better than i expected but i don't remember much more than that.

The book is infinitely better. But Christian Bale as Patrick Bateman is a perfect match.

[MIKA27]

Can't wait for Terminator Salvation!

Has anybody viewed 'American Psycho' starring Christian Bale? It's insane. The book by Bret Easton Ellis is.......extremely objectionable. But a terrific read.

I have seen it, years ago and own a copy on DVD.

I love this movie and have watched it several times.

What I love is Bales performance, he's so good with dialogue, like the scene where he invites one of the blokes from work over after they all meet for dinner;

INT. BATEMAN'S APARTMENT - NIGHT

The living room floor has been meticulously covered with

newspaper.

Owen is slumped drunkenly in a white Eames chair, a glass

in his hand. Bateman is looking through his CDs.

BATEMAN

You like Huey Lewis and the News?

OWEN

They're okay.

BATEMAN

Their early work was a little too New Wave for my

taste. But then Sports came out in 1983, I think they really

came into their own, commercially and artistically.

Bateman walks to his bathroom, taking a large ax out of the

shower. He takes two Valium.

BATEMAN

(Said partly from the bathroom)

The whole album has a clear, crisp sound and a new sheen of

consummate professionalism that gives the songs a big boost.

Bateman comes back out and leans the ax against the wall.

He walks to the foyer and puts on a raincoat, watching Owen

from behind ail the time.

BATEMAN

He's been compared to ELvis Costello but I think

Huey has a more bitter, cynical sense of humor.

Owen is absent-mindedly leafing through the Barneys

catalogue.

OWEN

Hey, Halberstam?

BATEMAN

Yes, Owen?

OWEN

Why are there copies of the Style section all over

the place? Do you have a dog? A chow or something?

BATEMAN

No, Owen.

OWEN

(Confused)

Is that a raincoat?

BATEMAN

Yes, it is.

Bateman moves to the CD player. He takes a CD out of its

case and slides it in the machine.

BATEMAN

In 1987 Huey released this, Fore!, their most

accomplished album. I think I heir undisputed masterpiece is

"HiP To Be Square," a song so catchy that most people probably

don't listen to the lyrics. But they should because it's not

just about the pleasures of conformity and the importance of

trends. It's al~ a personal statement about the band itself.

Bateman puts on "Hip To Be Square."

BATEMAN crosses the room and picks up the ax.

We follow BATEMAN from behind as he walks up to Owen, the

ax raised over his head.

BATEMAN

Hey, Paul?

As Owen turns around, FROM OWEN'S POV we see Bateman swing

the ax toward his face.

Blood sprays onto the white raincoat.

FROM BEHIND OWEN, we see BATEMAN as he yanks the ax out.

Owen drops to the floor. His body falls out of the frame.

We stay on his legs twitching mechanically.

Blood pulses onto the newspaper-covered floor.

BATEMAN

(Raising the ax and screaming)

Try getting a reservation at Dorsia now, you f***ing

stupid bastard!

LOW ANGLE ON BATEMAN as he beats Owen with the back of the

ax.

OFFSCREEN, the sound of the ax hitting Owen.

BATEMAN

(Panting)

F***ing bastard...

Bateman takes his raincoat off, still panting. He folds the

coat carefully in half, bloody side in, and drapes it neatly

over the back of a chair.

He sits back on the white sofa and surveys the scene. He

checks his Rolex and lights a cigar.

OFFSCREEN, Paul Owen's last faint sighs are heard.

MIKA: Now THAT is an awesome scene to name one of many in that film!!!

[jquest63]

Guilty Pleasure: Race with the Devil. 70's movie with Warren Oates and Peter Fonda. Vacationers in large recreational vehicle terrorized by satanists.

[ChicagoWhiteSox]

Inglourious Basterds(2009)[/b]

This movie looks badass!

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0361748/

Here is the trailer in HD- http://www.traileraddict.com/trailer/inglo.../teaser-trailer

Public Enemies[/size]

Here is another new movie coming out that looks really good.

Trailer in HD- http://www.traileraddict.com/trailer/public-enemies/trailer

[FireDigger]

I just watched Taken yesterday, and it was an awesome movie!

Don't get me wrong. It won't win any awards, and a bit over-the-top with the action, but it's a very entertaining movie. Liam Neeson really did a good job portraying a father's love even though I know nothing about fatherhood yet.