What are your favourite films. Which films do you love? Which films do you hate? What do you think could be made into a film which hasn't been thought of yet? I will start things off... with the Haunted Mansion! :P

The Haunted Mansion
Starring: Eddie Murphy, Terence Stamp, Jennifer Tilly, Nathaniel Parker, Marsha Thomason.
Rating: 8/10

The Haunted Mansion is one of my favourite films. It is based off the ride at Disneyland in America. Eddie Murphy plays Jim Evers, a workaholic real estate agent, who takes his wife and kids to an old house in the middle of a swamp. He and his kids soon learn that Master Gracey, the owner of the mansion, and his servants are all dead, and the mansion is cursed, after Gracey's love killed herself. Now, with help from Ezra and Emma (Wallace Shawn, Dina Waters), and Madame Leota, a disembodied head in a crystal ball, Jim and his kids must search for the reason why the bride died, by venturing through a graveyard, a mausoleum and even several odd rooms from the mansion.

I enjoy this film, as I've never been on the ride before. The CGI effects are awesome, especially how they pulled off Madame Leota. The only bad part was the role-casting for Leota. Glenn Close would have been better playing her, as Tilly has a "bubbly voice".

All in all, very good.

How did I KNOW this would be here, Rotgut? :P

I Enjoyed the Haunted Mansion too. It wasn't the most original of movies, but there was something endearing about it. And I rarely get tired of Eddie Murphy ^_^ I've aso been on the ride - also cliche and not-at-all-scary, but I still enjoyed it for some reason.

I thought you'd been on the ride?

I went on Phantom Manor in France. The Haunted Mansion is in two places in America, in Tokyo and eventually to be in Hong Kong.

Ah, right. technically they're practically the same ride, I believe. Only the mechanics etc are slightly more advanced on the Florida Version.

I've also decided that this topic is also where you can put about your fave tv shows. So here is one I'd like to share with you.

Shoebox Zoo
Starring: Rik Myall, Alan Cumming, Simon Callow, Siobhan Redmond, Jason Connery, Tony Donaldson, David McKay, Peter Mullan, Bill Paterson and Vivien Endicott-Douglas.
Rating: 9/10

The second best BBC show I've seen, after Ace Lightning of course. It tells the quest of a 11 year old girl named Marnie, who is given a shoebox full of four toy animals by the legendary Michael Scot. Marnie soon discovers that the animals are alive and were once humans, but were transformed into their present forms by Scot, after they stole and lost his Book of Forbidden Knowledge. Marnie soon finds herself on a dangerous quest to find the book. But, Toledo, an evil shapeshifter, is after the book as well. Throughout the first series, there are several twists in the first series, including Marnie's mother was around 1100 years ago, Wolfgang turns out to be Micheael Scot's son, Toledo was created by Scot, and Wolfgang dies after being cast into a fire by Toledo.

The Shoebox Zoo consists of four animals, but will be joined by a wooden horse named Hunter. The Zoo is led by Edwin (Myall), a pompus and arrogant metal eagle. Ailsa (Redmond) is a cynical golden adder who has a problem trusting others. Bruno (Cumming), is a friendly and good-hearted stone bear who is a bit thick in the head. And there is Wolfgang (Callow). Wolfgang started the whole mayhem by stealing the book, after learning to hate his father, and turning the other animals against Scot. Wolfgang perished in the fire of Marnie's house after Marnie had to choose between him and the book.

In all, Shoebox Zoo is an entertaining programme and can be enjoyed by most ages. But Marnie can have tantrums over the most pathetic things.

I've seen that. Marnie seems a little sueish to me (though you're ight about the tantrums) and they killed the character I really actually liked but... meh, it's not a bad show.

A wooden horse can NOT replace Wolfgang :P

Yeah. I have to say I find both of those infuriating.

The Haunted Mansion is completely unoriginal, lacks substance and they seem to have lose sight of the story amidst all the gags and special effects.

Showbox zoe is essentially the same, though with a Sue worse than Kat as the lead character.


Shall comment with my fave movies later...

Shoe... BOX.... zooo *starts hyperventilating*

Don't get me started. It's a blatent rip off on Ace Lightning (and no, not just because it's got CGI). Marnie even virtually directly quotes Mark on something! *headdesk* And she's a sue, and spends the whole time whining, but of course she's allowed to, because her mother has recently died (which we are reminded of in virtually every episode). I did watch about the first six eps, and the only decent character was Wolfgang. (I unfortunately missed him being burned to death. I'm actually hoping the rest will soon follow).

Do I get bonus points for picking out that Wolfgang was that guys son by about ep 2 or 3? :)

I see we all hate Shoebox Zoo, then... :unsure:

It's not the WORST show I've seen, but now they've killed the only morally ambiguous character (I think - I only saw a few episodes) it might just lose it's charm. (The burning scene was quite emotional btw H.) And yes, Marnie makes Kat look like Heather Hoffs. <_<

On the topic of Haunted Mansion

All true...and yet I still really enjoyed it... I don't know why it's just for some reason I adhered to the cliches. maybe I liked that kinda stuff when I was a kid?

Oh, H, where does Marnie quote Mark?

Another...in fact, my favourite movie: Scooby Doo 2! :wacko:

Starring: Freddy Prinze Jr., Sarah Michelle Gellar, Matthew Lillard, Linds Cardellini, Seth Green, Peter Boyle, Tim Blake Nelson, Alicia Silverstone.
Rating: 10/10 :D

Scooby Doo 2 rocks! We join everyone's favourite cowardly canine and his friends in the awesome sequel to the first film. Scooby Doo and the gang are celebrities in the town on Coolsville, and are attending the opening of the city's criminology museum where a exhibit of their enemies' costumes is displayed. But during the opening, an evil masked figure named The Evil Masked Figure, attacks with the Pterodactyl Ghost, who has been transformed from a costume into a living pterodactyl. The two villains steal two costumes of former monsters and escape.

The next day, Heather Jasper-Howe, a newsreporter, turns the press against Mystery Inc. The gang believe that one of their enemies may be behind the case, and they select Mr. Wickles, the original Black Knight. The gang go to Wickles' manor and discover a book that explains how to create monsters! At the same time Scooby and Shaggy bump into a familiar face: The Black Knight! The gang fight him and then make their escape.

Shaggy and Scooby sneak off to the Faux Ghost, a nightclub where all of the criminals the gang unmasked hang out. They are chucked out into the garbage when the villains discover them.

Meanwhile, Fred, Velma (who has become a hot chick to impress Patrick (Green)) and Daphne, along with Patrick stop at the museum and discover that the rest of the costumes have been snagged.

Scooby and Shaggy follow Wickles to the old mining town in Coolsville where they discover a secret laboratory and the two taste different potions and morph into several different forms. The other three arrive in time and the five discover a secret chamber that has a monster-making machine within it. Velma believes Patrick is the Evil Masked Figure, and she Daphne and Fred go off to explore. Shaggy and Scooby discover the machine's control panel and accidently start, transforming the Zombie, Captain Cutler, Miner 49er and the Tar Monster into real monsters. The gang flee from them, but are suddenly chased out of the mine by the Skeleton Men and the 10,000 Volt Ghost.

The gang are forced to drive to their old high school clubhouse when the monsters invade the city. But they then realise that they can reprogramme the control panel so it will destroy the monsters. They are interrupted by Captain Cutler, but Fred sends him flying into a lake by hitting him with the Mystery Machine. The gang dash across Coolsville towards the mine, chased by the Pterodactyl Ghost and the zombie, who is driving a fire truck. The lose them and get to the mine.

The Black Knight appears on a ghost horse and battle Fred in a jousting match. Daphne tries to fight the 10,000 Volt Ghost but is electrocuted. Velma goes to distract the Skeleton Men, while Scooby and Shaggy pluck up some courage and flee from Miner 49er, the control panel in their hands... and paws.

Daphne and Fred get trapped between their opponents, but thanks to some quick thinking from Daphne, she absorbs the 10,000 Volt Ghost with some jumper cables and blows up the Black Knight at the same time.

Velma loses the skeletons and finds herself in a shrine which is to Jonathan Jacobo, the original Pterodactyl Ghost. Patrick appears and saves Velma from the Pterodactyl Ghost who flies off with him.

Shaggy and Scooby, meanwhile, have lost Miner 49er, but find themselves facing the Cotton Candy Glob, but since he is made out of food, the two eat him. :P

The gang are reunited, but find the remaining monsters waiting for them in the Monster Hive. The Tar Monster captures Fred, Velma and Daphne, and Shaggy is trapped against the wall. Scooby spies a fire extinguisher and freezes up the Tar Monster. He grabs the control panel from Shaggy and dodges past the Skeleton Men, Zombie (who's trousers are pulled down, revealing underwear), and Miner 49er. He reaches the monster machine and starts it up, destroying all the monsters, including the Pterodactyl Ghost, which flies in at the wrong time.

The gang emerge triumphant with the masked figure in tow. The unmask him to reveal that he is Heather! She had her cameraman, Ned, assisting her in her plot. But then Velma rips Heather's head off, revealing that she is really Jonathan Jacobo in disguise. He is taken away and Velma confesses to Patrick that she likes him. The gang then celebrate their victory with Big Brovaz.

I like this film a lot, as it brings back memories from the tv series and you can really remember a lot of the characters from the series. I love it!

:wub:

Ah, Scooby doo: you see I'm part of the original generation of this - i remember watching the original series but have never seen the movies, to be honest I just don't think it gels in Real Live action as it did in 2D when I was ten years old. never seen it and not really planning on it. Especially not now you've just ruined the ending for me :P

I don't think it's an exact quote, but she says: "Why me? I'm just a kid?!" She even makes some comment about the whole thing of finding the book or whatever it is they're doing being 'like some kind of game', totally out of the blue and out of context. *headdesk*

Ow...

Ow ow ow ow ow!!!

Come back, Mark, all is forgiven >_<

In a way, AL and SZ have some sort of similarity. The main characters are both kids, they are looking for a magical item, and the main villain is a bald freak.

"Sort of" Similarity? I'm afraid, Gut, that the similarities go far further than that. As H says, Marnie even practically quotes Mark at points, she's a canon sue does a lot of whining (kinda like Mark early series one - except Markl doesn;t get his whining brushed off on the excuse of a dead mother - dead mother being cause for angst being all very well, but now when we're reminded of it every single damn episode.)

I've seen worse shows, but honestly, soimetimes it makes me nuts. And btw if that portal had been in her locker the whole damn series why didn't she notice ebforehand? :P

Good point. In Ep. 2, we see the Zoo in the locker and we see the backwall and no tunnel.

Maybe she had to actually "realise" it was there before it would appear? But then with all the instances of the number eleven (I think - was the nubmer eleven used as often as I think it was?) you'd think she would've guessed about the locker sooner.

I've only watched one episode of "Shoebox Zoo" when it was airing on CBC. I found it rather strange; isn't the villain a shapeshifter? (omg ish male LI :rolleyes:) And you know what else? Polls were in from kids around 8/9ish-13/14ish and it was shown the top, what, 3 kids shows? "Shoebox Zoo" was in them. (Hey, what about Ace Lightniiiiiing?!)

I don't see why when you can watch the original, which aside from everything else (ie. shameless copycatting) makes much better use of low budget CGI. :P

But, yeah, as far as I'm concerned, it's a ripoff. I practically made a list of like... I don't know how many, but a fair few things that were very much similar... *cuts off rant before she scares people*

Well, season two of Shoebox Zoo ended last week and it is much better than the first series. Toledo was back and became woman! Wolfgang was ressurected in the final episode and Michael Scot and McTaggart both died. The ending was a bit crap though. Marnie destroyed the book which she'd spent an entire year looking for and she then goes and leaves the animals in a junk shop like her mother did.

You know what I was watching the other day? Patrick's Planets. PAGANISM ROCKS!!! :lol:

As for fave movies, I will one day get around to making a list, though I expect Rotgut (and maybe a few others) are not yet old enough to get into them. >_< I'm a massive horror fan, I grew up with Hellraiser, Hannibal Lector and the X Files. I have to say though Saw is the only really original horror film I have seen of late. Creep wasn't too bad either, drew on some old London Underground myth from the 70's.

So yes, I shall reccomend that you all watch...

Saw for good twists and Creep for a good old fashioned monster done in a modern way.

Hellraiser's 1 to 3 for the blood and gore, 4 for the sci-fi, and 5 and 6 for the amazing plot twists.

The Chucky movies are the best American horror comedies. Got to love the little doll.

13 Ghosts and The 9th Gate both draw on some interesting Bible/Satanist theory and myth, and 13 Ghosts also has a slight Hellraiser link.

Se7en is of course the all time best psycho-thriller, Silence of the lambs, Red Dragon, Manhunt and Hannibal would be my faves if they had stuck to the books. I reccomend reading the Hannibal Lector Trilogy before viewing the movies so you can see what I mean. The movie endings suck.

I wasn't a fan of the Blair Witch Project, luckily I don' fall victim to group hysteria very often. Blair Witch 2, Book of Shadows though I thought was much better. The acting wasn't great , but it's well worth watching if you like witchy themed movies.

Carnival of Souls, re-filmed by Wes Craven and based on the original from ... some time ago was my 14th birthday film. Yes, it freaked everyone out, one girl even threw up. Not a great film, but the night was so fun.

The original Carnival of Souls though, now that would blow anyone a way. A total classic, a gem of a masterpiece!

Also, look out for anything by Tim Burton. I'm a massive fan, and have seen just about every movie he has created.

Salo: 120 Days of Sodom is the most sick and strange but entertaining thing you'll ever see. If you want to scar your mind, that of your children, and that of your children's children, watch this. It was based upon De Sade's unfinished masterpeice 'The 120 days of Sodom', whihc ought to tell you enough. Be warned though, I believe this movie is banned in Australia, and the US, and I wouldn't want any of you being prosecuted.

My Bloody Valentine is not just a wonderful UK band, but also a wonderful 80's slasher movie. Not many people remember it now, but it's well worth a watch if you liked Scream.

Memento is another recent film that is worth buying a copy of it just so you can watch it 20 times. It's one of the ones where if you look away for a second you miss something vital and can't understnad the rest of the plot. Great suspence.

The Evil Dead trilogy is something you MUST SEE. As with the Nightmare on Elm Street.... Well, there are 6 of them, so it's like a double trilogy. A double dose of Freddy. Who could ask for more?

Last of all I will mention House Of 1000 Corpses. Rob Zombie rules. ^_^

xx
Feef

Certainly up on your horror films, Feef... amen to most of them.

I've never been a major horror fan, though when I;min the mood I can settle down for a good creep out. I prefer psychological thrillers to all out horror.

I did see The Descent recently, which, though not insanely original, had some interesting twists with the trapped victims having more to fear from each other than the monsters they were trapped with. However I was extremely annoyed by the "it was just a dream" sequence at the end of it. Maybe I'm a wimp, but I just like to see at least ONE person make it out alive in a situation like that...

Small Soldiers
Starring: Tommy Lee Jones, Kirsten Dunst, David Cross, Jay Mohr and Gregory Smith.

I like this film a lot. It is about a group of action figures, the Commando Elite and the Gorgonites, who are built with microchips that are used in military weapons! Major Chip Hazard (Tommy Lee Jones) is after the Gorgonites as he thinks they are alien invaders, but they are really looking for peace. This film is full of gags, action and a bit of violence. The Gorgonite character, Insaniac is wild and says some lines at the wrong time. E.g.: When Kirsten Dunst is taken prisoner and she has a kidnapped video recorded, he asks if there is anything else on tv.

It is gory in some parts. Gregory Smith is wounded by an electric potato peeler, one Commando is killed when Gregory drops him in a blender thing and there is a lot of fire and deadly weapons, including a skateboard with a chainsaw attached to it!

All in all, a good, but violent film.

I remember seeing that. :) It was a rather strange movie. But not too bad. I did like all the general household stuff they were putting together and using as weapons. :ph43r:

I vaguely remember it. I don't think it was all that violent. (If it were, I'd probably remember it much more clearly! :P )

If I recall rightly I specifically avoided that moive... =S

Oh, Xmas joy. Kids films dominate the listings for a week or so, matching the utterly awful with the even worse.

Toy Story 2 is on! Anyone else reminded of Ace when they see Woody/Buzz? (Yeah, either of them).

xx
Feef

Yes. :D The Buzz Lightyear of Star Command has a few analogous characters to Ace, as well--standard kids' fare, and the characters aren't really as interesting. Though I do want to see slash between Buzz and his blue-skinned nemesis/friend.

Warp Darkmatter. :P

Buzz: You're evil!

Warp: Hey, my last name's 'Darkmatter'. Go figure.

Or something like that. :)

I knew that. :P Just trying to draw analogy between Warp and LI there.

They are SO a couple. :P

Okay, you're gonna think I'm a complete and utter wacko! Yesterday morning, I watched a Barney the Dinosaur movie, and then the Jimmy Neutron movie. And this morning, I watched the Powerpuff Movie...and I found it emotional!!! :blink:

What's up with that!!!?

Now stay calm! I've still got Doctor Who Christmas Special to look forward to. They get attacked by a Christmas Tree and Santas blast fire at Rose and Mickey with trumpets.

Okay I confess, I saw the powerfpuff girls too and while I wanted to die from overexposure to the nauseating effect, I DID think it has quite a nice moral message for little kids.

Rotgut, do you like any movies which DON'T consist of isnanity?

Er... :blink: :huh: :P

I'll take that as a no them. :P

I recently saw the anime movie Vampire Hnter D, which although not the best anime example in my colelction, I found impressive noentheless. Set in a VERY distant future (about 10 000) it tells the story of a girl claimed as the next bride of a great vampire, and needing a vampire hunter, who turns out to be a D-vampire (pronounced Damn-peer) - half human half vampire, and coincidentally, the decendant of Dracula himself., to destroy him. It's slightly lacking in story and meta (though there are some nice revelations of a nuclear war having a deveastating effect on the world.) and Doris seems to bend a bit to the will of the scriptwriter, but not too bad and she's not the worst character going. I'm also rather fond on the great vampires daughter, who chose death as a nobelwoman over freedom as anything less after discovering she was perhaps, the thing she hated most - a halfbreed.

I've always admired anime and manga, my first real time I saw anime was when I watched Pokemon (which I'm a big fan of). I've got five of the Pokemon movies (cause only five have come out in the UK at the time! And there's eight at the moment and a ninth in the making). Other anime I've seen are Digimon, Cardcaptors, Yu-Gi-Oh (third favourite anime, after Digimon), Flint the Time Detective, Astroboy and Sonic X. I saw two episode of Fullmetal Alchemist (manga), but they were in french as I was in Paris at the time.

Yes, those are all nice starts into the world of manga (cardcaptors/cardcaptor Sakura = fun! ^_^) but trust me - there is Oh SO much more to it than that. What you
ve seen so far seems to be a colelction of manga aimed mostly at children (except YGO which was aimed at older teenage boys before it came to america and got flaming edited beyond belief) Reccomended reading/viewing I might give you Include Final Fantasy Unlimited, Spirited Away, Nausicaa of the valley of the wind, Black Jack, You're under arrest, Ghost in the Shell, Akira, Scry-ed, Get Backers and (because anna will kill me if I don't mention it :P) Full Metal Alchemist. Take a look, you'll see it goes far beyond those examples.

*gives points*

It's made by the same producers (BBC) as Ace Lightning, probably why they're smiliar.

It ended. Dangit, it had a great plotline. Oh well, at least they brought Wolfgang back from the dead.

*people cheer*

Films I like:

Pokemon 2000: The Power Of One
King Kong
Asterix and Obelix VS Caeser

I adore Pokemon!

My latest show craze is Sonic Underground.

It starts Jaleel White as Sonic, Manic and Sonia and Gary Chalk as Eggman.

Following somewhat along the storyline of the Sonic Comics, Sonic Underground tells the story of Mobius being controlled by the villainous Dr. Eggman (named Robotnik in the cartoon) and his dim-witted bounty hunters Sleet and Dingo. Queen Aleena, the exiled queen of Mobius gave birth to three hedgehogs: Sonic, Manic and Sonia. After visiting the Oracle of Delphius, a seer who resembles an odd warty reptillian anteater in a cloak, Aleena learns she must separate her children and hide until the time was right. 16 years on, the three siblings meet eachother and form the Sonic Underground. After going vigorous training, Sonic, Manic and Sonia begin the search for their missing mother. When they do eventually find her, they are to form the Council of Four and overthrow Robotnik, freeing Mobius from his dark shadow.

I like Sonic Underground greatly as it develops the characters throughout its 40-episode season (although there were originally 65 episode; where the last 25 episodes went I have no idea?). A new addition to the Sonic TV shows is a musical number in each episode as Sonic, Sonia and Manic have their own magic instruments that are hidden in their medallions.

New and old characters are introduced, Knuckles finally making it to the television set. Sadly though, Tails doesn't exist in the Underground World. New characters include Eggman's bumbling minions Sleet and Dingo, Sleet being the caniving one while helpless and hilarious Dingo has a crush on Sonia :P ; posh aristocrat Bartlby who is Sonia's fiancee; and Athair, Knuckles' great-grandfather from the comics voiced by legendary actor Sean Connery! :D

There are a lot of gags, many different characters introduced and only one death which of a learning-robot called ART who joins Sonic Underground but is crushed by a shrinking room. There are one or two sad moments in the series, and even one episode where the hedgehogs are sent to an alternate dimension where they are the villains and Eggman is the hero complete with hair.

This is one of the best cartoons I've ever seen, but needs a second season.

I just thought I'd ressurect this topic too. :welcome: :nuts:

My latest favourite series is Beast Machines, a continuity of Beast Wars. It is a Transformers series.

I've only seen the first three episodes and parts of the finale, but I love it anyway. It takes place sometime after the Beast Wars. The Maximals (the heroes) have awakened on their homeplanet of Cybertron, to discover the entire Transformer race have disappeared and the planet is overrun by mindless vehicle drones called Vehicons. To make matters worse, they have lost their memories, Megatron (the villain - the second Megatron), and there are only four Maximals left:
Optimus Primal - the leader - can become a gorilla.
Cheetor - second-in-command - can become a cheetah.
Rattrap - comical spy/hacker - can become a giant rat.
Blackarachnia - saboteur - can become a black widow spider, once a villain.

So the Maximals have to flee underground where they meet this supercomputer called the Oracle. The Maximals now must find the Transformers, get reinforcements and save Cybertron from Megatron. Old and new faces return, including Rhinox and Silverbolt in different forms, although I'm not saying who. New Maximals include Nightscream (a bat), Botanica (a plant woman) and Savage/Noble (a transformer with a split personality). New badguys are Thrust, Jetstorm and Tankor, Megatron's generals for his army. Waspinator (a wasp from the previous series who blew up a lot) returns in a new form as well.

I love Beast Machines, as it really has good graphics and a whole lot of character developement.

I watched two episodes of shoebox zoo. I hated it and agree with everyone on Marnie, she is a sue and in a big way.

My favourite movie is Firestarter 2 starring Marguerite Moreau and Malcolm McDowell. I know a lot of people prefer the original movie, but Firestarter 2 has more of Stephen King's style, dark, morbid.
Firestarter 2

My favourite show apart form A.L is Dark Angel.

Dark Angel is set in a dark and not so far future. Max(Jessica Alba) is a genetically enhanced superhuman who was created by a goverment agency. And then in the year 2009, she and 11 of her brothers and sisters escaped from Manticore(evil goverment agency). Set in 2019, in Seattle where Max is just tring to escape her past.dark angel

My fave anime are Yu Gi Oh and Sorceror Stabber Orphen!