Grade Anything

[Drake 53]

I posted about that in the Batman thread. There's Batman: The Animated Series from the early 90's, The New Batman Adventures from the late 90's, then Justice League, Batman Beyond, and the new The Batman series.

I think Chicken is talking about the first one.

[Andy 60]

The one with Mark Hamill as the Joker? hehe

[Drake 53]

I think he does the voice of Joker for all of those series, save the newest one.

[Andy 60]

He still voices something in the new series though. Just been demoted. :p

[Chickenman 9]

Yeah. The early 90s series was damn near perfect.

And Mark Hamill is the man.

[Mara 29]

I know I saw one in the '90s when I was a kid... probably the first one.

Would watch it every afternoon. :p

[Mara 29]

Beowulf

[beware, spoilers]

I would probably give it a C or C-.

While the beginning was very entertaining and I enjoyed most of the action scenes, at the end, I was very disappointed.

From a few things I had heard before seeing it, it sounded like the screenwriters and director may have taken a few liberties with the fragmented original epic poem. But, I wanted to see it since I love the story so much. And since I missed it in the theater, I rented it. (Which turned out to be good: Free > $6.50).

Anyway... when it was starting out, perhaps about the first hour or so, it was pretty good. I was actually hopeful about the rest of it. It seemed to be mostly following the story that I knew.

But then it got all ... weird and jilted. I mean, making Grendel Hrothgar's son? I think they were reading way too far between the lines. Perhaps adding their own interpretation to the missing parts?

The part that really got to me, though, was the end with the dragon. And making Beowulf king over Hrothgar's kingdom. Maybe I am remembering wrong, but I thought he went back home to his own land and became king there. And that is where the dragon appeared; he wasn't Beowulf's "lovechild" son with Grendel's mother.

I don't think all the awesome action scenes (apparently Beowulf was a gymnast in a past life?) and interesting way of filming it like part animation could save this move from it's bad fundamentals.

After it was done, I was infuriated at how they ruined the original epic.

C/C-

[Radioactive Isotope 29]

Beowulf was suppose to kill Grendel's mother, not sleep with her. i seem to remember her being even uglier than Grendel. yeah, storywise, that movie was pretty bad. but i saw it in 3D, which made it bearable.

[Mara 29]

Yeah, I had such high hopes for it. Silly me.

I was kind of looking forward to seeing Beowulf cut off Angelina's head. Sigh.

[Princess 35]

Yeah, it was pretty cool in 3d, even if the CGI looked Shrekish at times

[Uncle Du 22]

The Day the Earth Stood Still - A

I thought I had read the book back in the day, but I think I was thinking of War of the Worlds for some reason. Any way, without reading the book, I think this was a good movie. Really makes you stop and think more than awe you with special effects and whatnot. Had me thinking we deserved what we were getting.

And Keanu Reeves is really good at playing a human with no emotion. ;)

[Ender 8]

The Day The Earth Stood Still - F

Keanu Reeves bent the original over and raped it beyond recognition. The end.

Edited December 17, 2008 by Ender

[Drake 53]

Sure, because Keanu wrote and directed it too.

I thought it was alright. It certainly wasn't the original but, then again, we're not in the 50s anymore and it's not the Cold War. Granted, they could have geared it towards the continual wars going on around the world but the environment is something that concerns everyone. I thought it was a good message.

As for the acting, I thought Keanu did okay as Klaatu. Certainly not as good as the original but this is Keanu we're talking about here. Anyway...Will Smith's kid was as useless and 10 times more annoying than the kid from the original. Would have been better if he tossed out a "Gee, mister!" and "Golly!" here and there.

I'll give it a B, I think.

[Uncle Du 22]

Guess I'll have to check out the oldies.

Seems to be the going trend with remakes and whatnot. If you grade I Am Legend by the book, well, the movie ain't nothing like it. At all. In the slightest. But I still thought the movie was awesome. Times might change, but messages don't.

Edited December 17, 2008 by Du

[Radioactive Isotope 29]

I Am Legend gave me nightmares for a week. i luff it!

[Uncle Du 22]

What gave you nightmares? I actually shed a tear when he had to kill his dog. Damn Will Smith is a good actor. I think people don't give him enough credit.

[Drake 53]

Yeah. The part with the dog was damn sad. I teared up and I never do that for a movie.

[Radioactive Isotope 29]

yeah, poor doggie.

it was the idea that diseased mutant zombies took over the world at night and chased/killed/ate anything and everything was pretty freaking scary to me. and the "Darkseekers" were pretty dang scary looking.

[Uncle Du 22]

The only part that really kinda freaked me out was when you first see them, when he's in the building looking for the dog. They were all just standing around in the dark. Friggin creepy.

[Mara 29]

Gosh, guys, I haven't seen I am Legend yet. :p

[Uncle Du 22]

Hey, we can't help that you haven't seen a movie that's been out for over a year and a half. :p

[Mara 29]

I know.

I already heard about the dog from another person, anyway. :p

[Uncle Du 22]

Taken

Grade: BAD ASS

Nothing beats seeing Liam doling out some pain, especially to the thugs in this movie. As a parent, it's basically exactly what I would want to do if someone ever hurt my child. The action is really quite good, and there is one part of the movie that shocked the s*** outta me.

He shoots one of his old friends wife to get his point across about how serious he is.

I think what I really liked about this movie, was that it's right to the point. Even though you kinda know what's gonna happen, it's wondering how exactly he's going to take care of this problem that's awesome. Definitely a must see. Especially if you liked Rob Roy. And if you've never heard of that movie, don't talk to me again until you watch it. :p

[Chickenman 9]

I really really want to see Taken. :puppydogeyes:

[James the Defender 7]

Legacy of the Force series: B+

It would have been an A, but the last book was horrible!!!!!! I can't even remember it's name it was so horrible!