Movie reviews - Living and Dying, Beowulf & Grendel, This Movie is Not Yet Rated.

[zeegler]

I spent the day yesterday catching up on some movie watching, and I figured I'd share my thoughts with you guys.


Living and Dying

A few weeks ago I posted a thread about a movie I had seen called The Last Legion. I claimed that it was most likely the worst movie released in 2007. I was dead wrong. Living and Dying features even worse casting, acting, plot, and special effects than the previously mentioned film. I don't even know where to start chopping this one up. It's basically a robbery-gone-wrong/hostage movie starring Ed Furlong, Michael Madsen, and a bunch of nobodys. The gunshots sound like sound clips cut and pasted from someone's computer. Half of the cast have French accents for some reason, even though the film is set in the U.S. There are weird, uncomfortable pauses throughout the film, obviously a result of very bad editing. The "surprise ending" is so weak, it's laughable. If I didn't have my Sudoku book with me, there is no way I would have made it through the whole film.


Beowulf and Grendel

Don't be confused. This is not the brand new release called just Beowulf. This is the virtually unnoticed movie that came out in 2005, featuring Gerard Butler of 300 fame, as Beowulf. It's about the hero Beowulf who arrives to save the Danish from a murderous troll named Grendel who has been preying upon his subjects, and generally making his life miserable. Beowulf finds out along the way that the reason behind the troll wreaking such havoc, is that he was somehow wronged by the Danes, and struggles with his decision to kill Grendel. I liked this movie a lot. The acting was great, the plot was good, and the scenery and costumes were all done very well. The only real drawback was that many of the actors had strong accents. Compound that with the fact that some of the dialogue itself is written in an odd, almost Shakespearean way, and I think some people would find it hard to follow along.


This Film is Not Yet Rated

This is a documentary about the corruption inherant in the movie ratings system. Some of the themes talked about:
-The MPAA (movie rating board) is made up of raters whose identity is kept secret, and they don't have to answer to anyone.
-The MPAA is biased towards big studio releases, and against the independants.
-Violence is prevalent, and freely accepted, while sexual content is highly restricted.

It's really quite an eye opener, and seems to be presented truthfully. If you like documentaries and exposes, you might like this one. It's worth watching.

[Spivonious]

I saw Beowulf and Grendel last year. I found it odd that Beowulf had a Scottish accent :P Other than that, good movie, if a bit slow moving.

[GodOfRhythm]

Beowulf and Grendel is a great movie, really refreshing in these days of high-adrenaline, fast cut action movies and whatnot, I found it awesome to see a movie with a slower pace and realistic action scenes.

It really felt authentic. And I pretty much worship Gerard Butler, so yeah....

[zeegler]

Beowulf and Grendel is a great movie, really refreshing in these days of high-adrenaline, fast cut action movies and whatnot, I found it awesome to see a movie with a slower pace and realistic action scenes.

It really felt authentic. And I pretty much worship Gerard Butler, so yeah....

I know what you mean man. He's sooooooo dreamy!!

[VitaminG]

Put it back in your pants, zeegs

I just had to look up Beowulf and Grendel. I was afraid it might have been the awful Grendel I caught on cable last week. Looks like it's not though - the version I saw was made for TV in '07 & looked like the budget ran in the hundreds. Check it out at your peril: IMDB Grendel

B&G looks to be a good'un. I'll have to check it out.

that doco was a good one. It was a very interesting watch, and spawned much discussion after we saw it. It's interesting the number of people who flatout won't let their children see any nudity (not even a boob or a bum), and yet don't think twice about letting them watch Arnie or Sly taking the top of a bad guy's head off in a spray of blood. And a lot of that stems from the ratings these organisations place on films & the public's reliance on the censorship system providing adequate protection over what their children watch, rather than watching the pictures first and making up their own minds about whether it is a film they are comfortable to share with their children.

[QuantumRider]

Here in the land of the rising sun, we have tits, ass, swordplay, decapitation, mutilation, and (gasp) people smoking cigarettes, all in cartoons for kids

Despite this, there is very little crime in the country.

My biggest disappointment, however, was upon renting my first Japanese "adult" video. The most important parts were blurred out It was the first and last time that I rented a video from the curtained off section of the store...

[Endrik]

Here in the land of the rising sun, we have tits, ass, swordplay, decapitation, mutilation, and (gasp) people smoking cigarettes, all in cartoons for kids

Despite this, there is very little crime in the country.

[zeegler]

Here in the land of the rising sun, we have tits, ass, swordplay, decapitation, mutilation, and (gasp) people smoking cigarettes, all in cartoons for kids

Despite this, there is very little crime in the country.

My biggest disappointment, however, was upon renting my first Japanese "adult" video. The most important parts were blurred out It was the first and last time that I rented a video from the curtained off section of the store...

Yeah the Japanese have a very different sense of what is acceptable than we do. From what I understand (please correct me if I'm wrong) it's okay to show pissing, shitting, and other weird stuff, and nudity is okay, including pubic hair, but actual penises and vaginas always seem to be blurred out.

[QuantumRider]

Yeah the Japanese have a very different sense of what is acceptable than we do. From what I understand (please correct me if I'm wrong) it's okay to show pissing, shitting, and other weird stuff, and nudity is okay, including pubic hair, but actual penises and vaginas always seem to be blurred out.

Pretty much everything is OK except for penises and vaginas.

If there's a scene in a film where someone is urinating, they will blur the penis/woman's vaginal area out.

The defecation scenes tend to be filmed REALLY zoomed in, because anuses and poop are OK, but the bits just forward of them are not

If you wish, I will PM you a link to a particularly tasty example that illustrates the oddities of Japanese censorship.

[zeegler]

Pretty much everything is OK except for penises and vaginas.

If there's a scene in a film where someone is urinating, they will blur the penis/woman's vaginal area out.

The defecation scenes tend to be filmed REALLY zoomed in, because anuses and poop are OK, but the bits just forward of them are not

If you wish, I will PM you a link to a particularly tasty example that illustrates the oddities of Japanese censorship.

Um, not. That's quite alright.