Best/Worst of 2007

[Angelakillsluts]

Originally Posted by Despare

Extinction was a really fun action flick... not really a horror but that's ok. I guess I'm just not one of those people who go into a movie with a preconceived notion that the movie will suck because it's based on a videogame. Oh, and I'm a fanboy.

I hated the other resident evil movies, I thought this one was quite entertaining though.

[massacre man]

I can't really form a list so I'll put it simply.

Favorite movie of 2007: Knocked Up.
Least favorite movie of 2007: Transformers.

Still haven't seen (But want to): Sweeney Todd, No Country For Old Men, Juno.

[ChronoGrl]

Originally Posted by joshaube

Oh, don't get me wrong. I love the Resident Evil video game series. I love survival horror video games in general (my favourite being Silent Hill, if you could label it so...) I am also not the type to judge a movie just because it's based on a comic book / video game, or if it is a sequel or a remake / re-imagining. I liked the first RE movie, I liked the second RE movie, and I had somewhat imagined that I would at least like this movie... but by god, it was bad. There were some redeeming moments, but those were only redeeming due to the cheese factor and unintentional funniness.

See, I went into it thinking it would be awful, awful, AWFUL... But my boyfriend is a diehard zombie fan and just HAD to watch the first two movies (in the theater of course), which followed, naturally, that he HAD to see the third one. And, me, being the supportive wonderful girlfriend that I am, agreed to go with him (he's a lucky man... I see the lame action films, and have no interest in the hyper-girly-chickflick films, so there's nothing I can trade in for watching Resident Evil III, Spiderman III, and Ghostrider in the theater. :( )... That being said, I thought that Resident Evil III honestly wasn't all that bad... I saw it as a simple action, post-apocalyptic zombie film. And I enjoyed it. Mind you, that's without ANY sort of frame of reference whatsoever... No exposure to the video games or the first two movies. Without that frame of reference, I thought that the movie stood up fairly well on its own. She was a pretty badass superhero, and I liked the sort of RoadWarrior themes running throughout... Then again, I have said before that I AM a sucker of the post-apocalyptic... Honestly, I thought that the scene with the crows (which I know that you hated), was really well-done and the concept of [*SPOILER*] birds eating the rotting meat and becoming zombies definitely made sense... I mean, there were zombie-dogs... Why not zombie-birds? [*/SPOILER*]

So I'm not sure that Resident Evil deserves the bad rep that people give it. It was just entertaining, action gore. I had LOW expectation... And it surpassed them (it helps to have low expectations - I truly try to live my life that way). Oh, and I REALLY liked the beginning. Though the ultimate big bad at the end was kinda lame (as you already noted).

Originally Posted by joshaube

Chronogirl, I've been wanting to see JUNO for a long time... but living in a small town, it's not coming here. :(

Oh, Honey... Suck. I know you've been wanting to see it, too (something I noticed and immediately decided I LIKED about you). Though, I've noticed that Juno's been making it to some major theaters out here (sure, I'm near Boston, but it's moving beyond the Dirty Water)... It's already up for a Golden Globe for Best Comedy; I have a feeling that it'll be up for Oscar-nominations, at which point it should circle the major theaters and even reach out to the po-dunks. :p I'll keep my fingers crossed for you.

[Castlewood]

Hey guys... I just joined!! Good to be here.

My favorite films of 2007 are:

- The Mist
- 300
- Zodiac
- Rob Zombie's Halloween
- Smokin' Aces
- Live Free or Die Hard


Yes, I know some of them are labeled as "sucky"... but I particularly loved The Mist and Zodiac

[ChronoGrl]

Originally Posted by Castlewood

Hey guys... I just joined!! Good to be here.

My favorite films of 2007 are:

- The Mist
- 300
- Zodiac
- Rob Zombie's Halloween
- Smokin' Aces
- Live Free or Die Hard


Yes, I know some of them are labeled as "sucky"... but I particularly loved The Mist and Zodiac

Welcome!

You know, I've actually wanted to hear back from the people who LIKED Rob Zombie's Halloween... I'm not a huge fan of Zombie, so, to tell you the truth, I want to hear more about the appeal. If you please, I would like to hear more about what you like about the movie... Either here or the Rob Zombie's Halloween Thread, also in Modern Horror Movies.

[Despare]

Originally Posted by ChronoGrl

I want to hear more about the appeal. If you please, I would like to hear more about what you like about the movie... Either here or the Rob Zombie's Halloween Thread, also in Modern Horror Movies.

I liked Zombie's Halloween but I think the best thing about the film wasn't actually "in" the movie at all. Remakes are pouring out of Hollywood now and the biggest problem with them is the lack of creativity used in reshaping the original. Zombie reimagined the film and wasn't afraid to add a lot of material of his own to flesh out the story and make the film truly his. I'm not against remakes at all, if they interest me I'll watch them and if they're good I'll buy them... if they're bad I won't. I feel the same way about remakes as I do cover songs, if the artist makes the material their own and really embraces it then there's a chance the outcome will be decent. If not then they're just shoveling more crap down our open throats trying to make the most money with the least work. Now I'm not suggesting that simply changing the original as much as possible is the way to go but some imagination and willingness to contort the source material is a must. The same goes with Asian translations. To paraphrase Chan Woo Park, I hate when they make an American remake by simply changing the actors and locations to their American counterparts but some remakes can be good and maybe even great. Ummmm, so yeah, I liked the Halloween remake and even though the backstory was weak the story still played out well. I think he even did a good job holding back with his giant Michael, sure he used more brute force than the original did but he still stalked his prey and I liked that. I bet Zombie held back there and I really think he could have turned Michael into more of a beast and less of a monster. Also, I liked the theatrical release MUCH more than the workprint and before anybody judges the film they should have scene the theatrical release.

[Castlewood]

Originally Posted by ChronoGrl

Welcome!

You know, I've actually wanted to hear back from the people who LIKED Rob Zombie's Halloween... I'm not a huge fan of Zombie, so, to tell you the truth, I want to hear more about the appeal. If you please, I would like to hear more about what you like about the movie... Either here or the Rob Zombie's Halloween Thread, also in Modern Horror Movies.

Thanks for the welcome!

Well, I thought Rob Zombie's direction was very good. I HATED his first two movies, and well, I had very low expectations about his Halloween... but I was proven wrong.

I think what separates this film from its predecessor's is two things:

1. Michael's origin.. which is fresh and new.
2. The increase in horror.

When I say "increase", I simply mean that the level of intensity and suspense was raised quite a bit. I'm not dissing Carpenter's vision (since I believe Carpenter's film is still the best), but it feels like Rob Zombie tastefully brought the story into a modern world for an audience that craves more blood and guts.

I also think this generation of movie-goers has a lower attention span than back in the 70's.... so I think Rob Zombie's vision mirrored that. I personally don't mind "slower" films - in fact I prefer them - and I love the original Halloween films... but I think Zombie treated the material with great respect.

The original is always superior, though. :cool:

[alkytrio666]

Originally Posted by Castlewood

Hey guys... I just joined!! Good to be here.

My favorite films of 2007 are:

- The Mist
- 300
- Zodiac
- Rob Zombie's Halloween
- Smokin' Aces
- Live Free or Die Hard


Yes, I know some of them are labeled as "sucky"... but I particularly loved The Mist and Zodiac

Zodiac was brilliant...it's really too bad that the general public has their collective head up their ass and let masterpieces like this whiz by...

The 2-Disc director's cut comes out on Tuesday!

[ChronoGrl]

Originally Posted by Despare

I liked Zombie's Halloween but I think the best thing about the film wasn't actually "in" the movie at all. Remakes are pouring out of Hollywood now and the biggest problem with them is the lack of creativity used in reshaping the original. Zombie reimagined the film and wasn't afraid to add a lot of material of his own to flesh out the story and make the film truly his. I'm not against remakes at all, if they interest me I'll watch them and if they're good I'll buy them... if they're bad I won't. I feel the same way about remakes as I do cover songs, if the artist makes the material their own and really embraces it then there's a chance the outcome will be decent. If not then they're just shoveling more crap down our open throats trying to make the most money with the least work. Now I'm not suggesting that simply changing the original as much as possible is the way to go but some imagination and willingness to contort the source material is a must. The same goes with Asian translations. To paraphrase Chan Woo Park, I hate when they make an American remake by simply changing the actors and locations to their American counterparts but some remakes can be good and maybe even great. Ummmm, so yeah, I liked the Halloween remake and even though the backstory was weak the story still played out well. I think he even did a good job holding back with his giant Michael, sure he used more brute force than the original did but he still stalked his prey and I liked that. I bet Zombie held back there and I really think he could have turned Michael into more of a beast and less of a monster. Also, I liked the theatrical release MUCH more than the workprint and before anybody judges the film they should have scene the theatrical release.

I think that that's a really good point... Remakes definitely interest me too. I think that I agree that the backstory was crap, but it was interesting to see how Rob Zombie made that crux of the film, the older Mike Myers part I found significantly more interesting than the backstory because I enjoyed RZ's take. I thought that the death scenes were pretty brutal and, honestly, there were a couple of slashes that really SHOCKED me.

Also - Those last 3 minutes or so... I thought were pretty damn amazing, and I would say that, if you were going to change the ending of a movie, that's the damn way to do it. I think that if he had ignored the concept of creating a past and just focused on JC's movie, the remake would have been pretty strong. But, MAN did the "past" suck. I thought that little Mikey Myers was just... laughable.

I woulda beat him up.

...

Originally Posted by Castlewood

Thanks for the welcome!

Well, I thought Rob Zombie's direction was very good. I HATED his first two movies, and well, I had very low expectations about his Halloween... but I was proven wrong.

I think what separates this film from its predecessor's is two things:

1. Michael's origin.. which is fresh and new.
2. The increase in horror.

When I say "increase", I simply mean that the level of intensity and suspense was raised quite a bit. I'm not dissing Carpenter's vision (since I believe Carpenter's film is still the best), but it feels like Rob Zombie tastefully brought the story into a modern world for an audience that craves more blood and guts.

I also think this generation of movie-goers has a lower attention span than back in the 70's.... so I think Rob Zombie's vision mirrored that. I personally don't mind "slower" films - in fact I prefer them - and I love the original Halloween films... but I think Zombie treated the material with great respect.

The original is always superior, though.

But did you actually like the origin tale?

I definitely agree with the intensity... Zombie's films are definitely raw and bring a bit more to the slasher genre then some of his predecessors. And I thought that there were some aspects of the intensity that definitely added to the film...

But at least you agree about the far superior Original. :p


...


And back on topic... I finally saw No Country For Old Men.

My take: A very pretty, artistic, action film. Definitely makes me want to read the book (has anyone read it)? I feel as though it examines three men with three different objectives, and attempts to examine and call into question their separate purpose and obsession on their objects of striving.

It was pretty, intense, a little slow, but ends REALLY well. Tommy Lee Jones is spectacular.

...

But I am NOT sure that I would necessarily put it on my BEST OF 2007 list.

Anyone want to discuss why it made theirs?

[joshaube]

ChronoGrl, you'll be happy to hear that my theatre finally received JUNO, and I will be going to see it in approximately 20 hours.

I'm looking forward to seeing not only JUNO, but Gone Baby Gone. I'm sure both will make my top films of 2007 list.