Finally got around to watching this movie today. Found it to be rather intriguing. I mean... It's not a comedy but there were parts of it that were so over the top that you can't help laughing. It's odd.

The other thing I found interesting when I went to read up on it, was that lots of movie goers raved about Brad Pitt's performance. I can only guess it's because he's the familiar face in the movie. He clearly was not the best character there. That honor, in my opinion, goes to Christoph Waltz who played Hans.

In spite of what he stood for, I actually rather liked and was impressed by him. It's a damn fine actor that can make an irredeemable character appealing in any way. I'm glad he won an award for the role. He deserved it.

The other character I found really interesting was Shosanna/Emmanuelle. I almost wished we had been allowed to see the time between her escape and her acquiring of the cinema.

The other thing I wish they had given a hint about was why Hans let Shosanna go in the first place.

So two thumbs up. It's not the sort of movie that you'd want to watch over and over again, I don't think. The gruesome parts are too gruesome for that, but it's thought provoking in its own way. The first chapter, especially where Hans breaks LaPadite without so much as raising his voice or touching him, is very tense. That scene, along with the scenes where Emmanuelle is approached by Zoller and later when Hans questioned her made me ponder what it would be like to live in a constant state of fear. Chilling.

So yeah, I seem to have become addicted to watching this ridiculous movie. Maybe I can get a charity started. No excuses. It's an incredibly silly movie and the more I watch it the sillier it becomes. I just can't seem to help myself.

My main complaint, aside from the plot, is the special effects. I can't believe that between the two of them, Lucas and Spielberg, this is the best they could do. I mean... Isn't that the job of Industrial Light and Magic????

Okay. Since this movie's only been out a few weeks, I'm going to put the review behind a cut just in case any one of the three or four people that read my journal haven't yet been to see it.

( Minor Spoilers )

Live long and prosper!

Okay, firstly, the director... I believe that's Michael Bay, needs to be shot into space. I found the action scenes annoying because the camera keeps rolling around the shot. I suppose the effect they wanted was a roller coaster type ride view, which it does give one, but it also makes it nearly impossible to actually see the scene because the camera is whizzing around so bloody fast. Joining Mr. Bay in space is the person who felt the film needed to be 2.5 hours long. There should be a law that you have to get special dispensations in order to make a movie over 2 hours. A bit of judicious pruning would have left a trim tighter movie.

But what to prune? Well, as I expected, the girl was really superfluous. They could have left her out and there would have been no damage to the movie.I wouldn't have minded if they would have beefed her role up and really made her part of the movie. However, my feelings about her may stem from the fact that I really felt it was rude to be making out on top of your robot car. I'm pretty sure she's there to cancel out the 'I'm so gay for my car' vibe the lead has going on.

I give the transformers two thumbs up. Ten out of ten. The transformers have more personality that 99% of the actors. I still don't like the fact that they look NOTHING like the 80s Transformers but the new forms work because the robots are doing much more actiony things than the cartoons ever did. However, it REALLY weirded me out to see Optimus without his face plate. He looked almost naked without it. So while I don't like the new forms as much as the retro transformers, I can see why Mr.Bay chose to update them. The other weird thing was that Shia, who plays the lead, kept transforming himself from geeky 17 yr old to hunky 21yr old. It was sort of disconcerting to watch :-)

So over all:

10/10 for special effects. No big surprise there.

5/10 for plot. Also no big surprise I'm sure.

Basically, if you like big explosions go see a cheap matinee. If you don't .... skip this movie. If you're a die hard Transformers fan... curl up in a ball and cry for the raping of your childhood.