What have you been watching? (DVD or Films on TV)

[justcheckin]

I watched Red Dawn on TV the other day. It was the first time I've ever seen it. It was very interesting. I didn't realize who all was in it so it was quite an adventure of a movie. Pretty cool. I also saw there is a re-make coming. Also very cool.

[so sorry]

I watched Red Dawn on TV the other day. It was the first time I've ever seen it. It was very interesting. I didn't realize who all was in it so it was quite an adventure of a movie. Pretty cool. I also saw there is a re-make coming. Also very cool.

Great 80s flick. Pushes all the right buttons for me.

[DennisMM]

I enjoyed it. One hell of a laugh.

[so sorry]

Watching My Godfather Bluray. I'm not sure I could love a movie more.

[Peven]

just finished watching "The Limits of Control", directed by Jim Jarmusch. really liked it, reminds me of the quiet austere style of Melville in "le Samurai" but with a real indie, metasymbolic flavor, leaves a lot to interpretation. Isaak De Bankole has more than enough charisma and screen presence to keep your attention despite having less than about 30 or so words of dialogue, most delivered one word at a time.

[Peven]

watched "The Guard" this afternoon with Brendan Gleeson and Don Cheadle and it lived up to the positive reviews I had read. cool little movie, same kind of feel as "In Bruges". only problem was I missed some dialogue thanks to the damn heavy duty Irish accents

[minstrel]

Pearl Harbor. My roomie put it on and I can't escape it. Fucking Michael Bay just loves blowing shit up. Explosions everywhere. If something isn't exploding, he's yawning, and so am I. I am SO BORED with this stupid blow-everything-up movie. Oh, yeah, there's tension between best friends and some romance, but who cares? Shit blows up.

[TheBaxter]

pearl harbor had kate beckinsale. that was its one redeeming feature. but then it also had josh hartnett, cancelling out any positives that come from having kate beckinsale.

what ever happened to josh hartnett anyway? he must have disappeared into the same hole of talentless, charisma-deficient prettyboy actors that freddie prinze jr got swallowed up by. one day channing tatum will join them, and then they can all make a movie together that no one will watch.

[Spandau Belly]

I'm pretty sure Michael Bay had it in his mind that PEARL HABOR would be his TITANIC. Bay thought he would make the action historical romance that would sweep the Oscars and carry him into that prestige circle of guys who can make movies that are entertaining, hugely profitable, and also respected. But obviously that didn't happen (see TEAM AMERICA for details and further mocking). That's when Bay started his war on critics and awards, he frequently makes public attacks trying to paint critics as a bunch of snobs who can't have fun and stating that awards aren't important (despite being a voting Acedemy member) and that he isn't trying to win awards, but I think it's pretty obvious he does want to win acclaim and awards.

I think PEARL HARBOR might actually be the only time somebody has tried so blantantly to recapture the type of movie TITANIC was. I revisited TITANIC for the first time in several years during its recent 3D theatrical re-release. I've been defending that movie since its initial release, although it's not a huge personal favourite of mine and I've probably only seen a few times. Maybe it's because of PEARL HARBOR that any flaws I used to see in TITANIC seemed lessened, but I liked TITANIC more than ever. I used think Billy Zane's character was a one dimensional wifebeater, but he actually seemed better developed upon this viewing and the romance portion of the film didn't really seem as corny.

[TheBaxter]

titanic gets its bad rep because of all the tweener girls who went gaga for leo and saw it 20 million times just to watch him die over and over. naturally that's going to create a backlash among more respectable movie fans like ourselves, but really it's a pretty good movie. just because tweener girls like something doesn't automatically mean it's bad, it just usually means that. (see: twilight, and justin bieber)

[Al Shut]

what ever happened to josh hartnett anyway? he must have disappeared into the same hole of talentless, charisma-deficient prettyboy actors that freddie prinze jr got swallowed up by.

Wasn't he in that movie with Gackt recently?

[Peven]

just watched "Rare Exports", and I now have a new favorite Christmas movie and a must buy to add to my dvd collection. this is going to be a part of my standard Christmas Eve viewing along with "A Christmas Story" and"Elf". also makes me want to check out more Finnish films, I dig their style

[Spandau Belly]

She was marked for death, but she was hard to kill, now she's out for justice and above the law, but most of all Gina Carano has gone...

HAYWIRE!

This is a formula action film that is designed to serve two people: Gina Carano and Steve Soderbergh. When it is serving Carano it gives her fight scenes to show off her physical ability. When it is serving Soderbergh it gives him time to fuck around with different cameras, lighting schemes, and filters. When it is serving Carano, it is pretty entertaining; when it is serving Soderbergh, it is less so.

Soderbergh goes after all these different looks and feels, and I would say he probably achieves most of them. He gets the warm palettes of a Kryzstof Kieslowski picture, the new wave swagger of an Agnes Varda movie, the pulsing funk of a blaxploitation flick and manages to work them all together so that they aren't totally jarring and I'll give him points for that. But his exploration of all these styles always seems to take away from what the film should be about: kicking ass and keeping the audience's heart pumping. The film features several long footchases during which the blaxploitation score (which is really well done for a modern throwback to blaxploitation scores) cranks up and robs the sequences of any energy or tension they had and Soderbergh starts messing around with different styles and disengages from the thrill of the chase.

I think he sees this film, and many of his films, as excercises in style; but even as such, it's not exactly engaging. I've seen some other artsyfartsies bring their fancy flourishes to b-movies lately, such as DRIVE and HANNA, and the results were much better.

The formula plot borrows heavily from KILL BILL (that's really saying something about the level of originality here, isn't it?) and the BOURNE movies, but it is well enough constructed to keep the main character and the audience uncovering the conspiracy piece by piece throughout the whole film. The fight scenes are energetic and well choreographed. The fight choreographers do a good job tailoring the fighting styles to each actor's physique. Fassbender fights the way skinny guys fight, Channing Tatum fights like a more musclar jock guy etc. And Carano's victories over these opponents are all based on her finding the weakness in their fighting styles and thinking fast. The fights are fairly brutal in their impact, but not bloody nor do they dwell on the sadism.

As for the acting, nobody is really given any big opportunities to show off their chops. The characters are pretty grounded and their interactions are kept short and to the point. Carano does well for her debut role, sometimes she's a bit wooden, but she generally fares as well as Seagal or Van Damme or other guys who are hired for their physical ability to make movies like this.

If there's one problem among the cast and characters it's placing Ewan MacGregor as the main villain. He just can't really come across as a physical or intellectual threat. He's sort of like Paul Reiser's character in ALIENS, just this selfish wimpy businessman who fucks people over. And a character like that just doesn't have the weight to be the main villain. The film sets it up so that, just like in KILL BILL, MacGregor is both Carano's former lover and the boss of her mercenary squad who betrayed her. But unlike KILL BILL, they fail to exploit the emotional power he would have over her.

So all and all, this movie wasn't terrible but I definately can't recommend it. If you want an asskicker b-movie, go see THE RAID. If you want to see a director fuck around with different aesthetics, rent a Seijun Suzuki movie like TOKYO DRIFTER. If you want both worlds in the form of an artsy b-movie, rent DRIVE or HANNA.

[caruso_stalker217]

Last week I was sitting on the toilet with a shotgun in my mouth, ready to finally end it all. Only one thing stopped me. It was the knowledge that I had never seen MADEA'S FAMILY REUNION, which happened to be #387 on my List Of Things To Do Before I Die. I'll admit that I didn't see its predecessor either, which I hear lacked the heart, wit and orgasms of its successor.

And, boy, does this succeed.

I went into this film without the knowledge that it was a modern update of the Frank Capra wartime classic KRAMER VS. KRAMER, reenacted mostly with puppets. Luckily, I didn't care. The film centers around Madea, a kindly black grandma/revolutionist/man, who has fallen on hard times after the bank forecloses on her home. Forced to sell off her assets and move in with her estranged granddaughter (played by "Desperate Housewives" alum Felicity Huffman), Madea discovers that the world has changed a lot since she was a girl (women wear pants now, for example).

Her granddaughter has problems of her own. Having recently been divorced from her husband, she now finds herself in the midst of an ugly custody battle over her bi-lingual daughter, Darla (one of the puppets). Huffman discovers that sharing an apartment with a loud, gun-toting black granny is a sort of double-edged sword. On one hand she gets a lot of useful nuggets of wisdom and emotional support. On the other hand a lot of people get shot, including her ex-husband, Ray Romano.

The stand-out here is undeniably Marlon Brando, who has done cinema a great service by returning from the grave and donning a dress to play the film's title character. It is this performance which proves that Brando was, is, and will forever be the greatest actor who ever lived, died, and then came back to star in the film that legitimizes this statement. As Madea, he is the glue which holds the family (and puppets) together.

If this film has a weak-point (and modern science tells us that this must be so) it is the misguided attempt to insert David Lynch-style weirdness into the story. The scene where Madea discovers that Darla has been huffing paint fumes could have been emotionally taut, had it not been for first-time director Mary-Kate Olsen (sans Ashley) who insisted that it be shot backwards and then reversed, with polka music playing over the action. The Darla puppet also looks very fake. You can clearly see Frank Oz's arm sticking out of her ass in the infamous "banana split" scene. Also, the novelty of her speaking a combination of English and Romulan wears off very quickly.

And speaking of kitchen appliances, I thought production designer Darryl Shatze did a wonderful job of selecting a refrigerator that looked like it had come straight out of the '60s. It gave me a nostalgic feeling, even though I was born in 1986 and have never heard of Richard Nixon.

As for the other actors, they all do very well, though fall short in comparison to Brando's intimate and intriguing performance. Huffman was, in my opinion, robbed of a best supporting actress nomination for her heartbreaking portrayal of a mother at her wits' end who just wants to tell her puppet how much she means to her. I must also give props to Mandy Patinkin, who makes a brief but unforgettable cameo as a rapist with a heart of gold whom Madea helps to start a frozen yogurt stand.

So there you have it. A simple film that swept the country like wild fire, burning everything in its path, man and beast alike. It lit up our houses and our hearts, but not once did it preach to us about politics and the evils of unclean women. Instead, it showed us a world of promise. And that gave us hope. It certainly gave me hope. I have since pawned my shotgun and used the money to help raise awareness for mentally-challenged dogs everywhere.

Thank you, Mary-Kate Olsen. Thank you, Marlon Brando. Thank you, MADEA'S FAMILY REUNION, for opening my eyes to this brave new world and for keeping me regular.

[Spandau Belly]

Last week I was sitting on the toilet with a shotgun in my mouth, ready to finally end it all. Only one thing stopped me. It was the knowledge that I had never seen MADEA'S FAMILY REUNION, which happened to be #387 on my List Of Things To Do Before I Die.

Wait, does that mean you had already accomplished 386 things with your life? I find that hard to believe.

[Bloo]

Last week I was sitting on the toilet with a shotgun in my mouth, ready to finally end it all. Only one thing stopped me. It was the knowledge that I had never seen MADEA'S FAMILY REUNION, which happened to be #387 on my List Of Things To Do Before I Die.

Wait, does that mean you had already accomplished 386 things with your life? I find that hard to believe.

Well to be fair 376 involve masterbaution

[caruso_stalker217]

Last week I was sitting on the toilet with a shotgun in my mouth, ready to finally end it all. Only one thing stopped me. It was the knowledge that I had never seen MADEA'S FAMILY REUNION, which happened to be #387 on my List Of Things To Do Before I Die.

Wait, does that mean you had already accomplished 386 things with your life? I find that hard to believe.

Well to be fair 376 involve masterbaution

What he said.

[minstrel]

Last week I was sitting on the toilet with a shotgun in my mouth, ready to finally end it all. Only one thing stopped me. It was the knowledge that I had never seen MADEA'S FAMILY REUNION, which happened to be #387 on my List Of Things To Do Before I Die.

Wait, does that mean you had already accomplished 386 things with your life? I find that hard to believe.

Well to be fair 376 involve masterbaution

What he said.

On my list, watching MADEA'S FAMILY REUNION has been crossed out and replaced with still more masturbation. Actually, almost everything has been crossed off and replaced with masturbation.

[TheBaxter]

Last week I was sitting on the toilet with a shotgun in my mouth, ready to finally end it all. Only one thing stopped me. It was the knowledge that I had never seen MADEA'S FAMILY REUNION, which happened to be #387 on my List Of Things To Do Before I Die.

Wait, does that mean you had already accomplished 386 things with your life? I find that hard to believe.

Well to be fair 376 involve masterbaution

What he said.

On my list, watching MADEA'S FAMILY REUNION has been crossed out and replaced with still more masturbation. Actually, almost everything has been crossed off and replaced with masturbation.

what about masturbating to MADEA'S FAMILY REUNION?

[Ribbons]

Last week I was sitting on the toilet with a shotgun in my mouth, ready to finally end it all. Only one thing stopped me. It was the knowledge that I had never seen MADEA'S FAMILY REUNION, which happened to be #387 on my List Of Things To Do Before I Die.

Well to be fair 376 involve masterbaution

what about masturbating to MADEA'S FAMILY REUNION?

#388

[Spandau Belly]

LIGHT OF DAY

This the Joan Jett version of PURPLE RAIN. I chose to watch it because I have the hots for Joan Jett and because I figured after seeing Paul Schrader's remake of CAT PEOPLE it would be fun to see what else he got up to without Scrocese.

Unlike PURPLE RAIN, I think somebody who didn't like Jett's music could still like this movie because it doesn't spend as much time on music performances. The flip side to that being that the music and the drama don't completely gel as powerfully as they did in PURPLE RAIN.

The film is a about Jett and her brother (played by Michael Jesus Fox) are young twentysomething renting a home together, playing in a band together, and raising Jett's child who she had as a teenager and won't disclose the identity of the father. Jett is the badass liveforthemoment one, Fox is the levelheaded niceguy who frequently gets stuck cleaning up Jett's shit and brokering peace between Jett and her condescending Christian mother. I like that the movie is not about making it big. Jett gets a pretty good monologue about she doesn't even think about fame or fortune, she's just happy to be able to express herself creatively, and Fox says the same thing later in the flick. The film focuses more on the family drama, which plays out fairly well. Schrader is obviously working through his issues about his religious upbringing, but he balances the characters out well enough so that the movie isn't just some bitter fuck-you to his mum.

Jett is really fucking hot in this, but also does a good job playing herself. Her acting ability surprised me and I think she would've been awesome in a Walter Hill movie like THE WARRIORS or if they'd made those STREETS OF FIRE sequels they were planning on doing. Fox is cast to type playing the same upbeat niceguy concerned about his family that I think he played in most movies and his tv show. Jett and Fox have the same mullet.

So I liked this movie, it was a solid little drama. I doubt many other people would make the effort to see it now, but I'm glad I did.

[SilentBobX]

Just got Goldfinger(SE dvd) for $5 and loving it. Packed with extras and loving every minute of it. And Thor on bluray. Badasses weekend, for sure.

Mahalo

[Spandau Belly]

So instead of watching all this promotional PROMETHEUS stuff that will probably just spoil the movie, I figured I would check out a movie that looks similiar. Warning: I don't think there's any way to discuss this film without being spoilerish, so if you haven't seen this film yet and plan to, don't read this review.

SUNSHINE

Danny Boyle was considered for both ALIEN 3 and ALIEN 4: RESURRECTION, but got passed over for other directors, so it was neat to see him try his hand at the space thriller genre without the constraints of a big franchise. He and screenwriter Alex Garland do a good job of having the crew of this mission cause all their own problems without it becoming frustrating or having us think they are incompetant. And they do an excellent job of pushing the crew into an increasingly hopeless situation while always dangling some hope for salvation in front of them. They play against our knowledge of sci-fi movies by doing things such as establishing a HAL style computer and then occassionally having it linger in disagreement with the crew just long enough for us to think it's turning evil but then not. They also toss out the red herring of whether Chris Evans's character will go like Michael Biehn in THE ABYSS. Stuff like that was very clever.

The performances among the crew are all well grounded. Chris Evans does a really good job with his character, which could've easily come across too much like an action hero or like the stereotypical hot-headed army guy they always have in these movies, but he finds the right balance. Rose Byrne also does a good job with her character showing good emotional range. Cilian Murphy is good, but I've seen him dressed as a girl in a couple movies now and sometimes when I see him I get these flashes of him dressed as a girl. Maybe he should keep some stubble on.

The third act has some pretty big problems though. It didn't ruin the movie for me, but it definitely took it down a few notches. When the crew comes upon another identical ship that was sent on an identical mission and went AWOL they introduce Mark Strong as this movie monster character and it turns into a slasher movie. This plot developement isn't the worst idea, but Strong's performance is so overthetop monstrous and Boyle films him like he's superhuman. It may offend some religious people that the third act also equates religion to insanity. This didn't offend me, but it just felt like a theme that was dumped in too late in the movie and handled poorly. If the movie was supposed to be about the conflict of whether the sun is the force that sustains the universe or if it's God, they should've developed that earlier. And if the film is going to be about science versus religion, then they should find a more interesting way to pit these two forces against each other rather than fist fighting.

But all and all, I liked this movie. I'd say it's fun for the whole atheist family and if PROMETHEUS is this good, I will leave the cinema satisfied.

[caruso_stalker217]

So instead of watching all this promotional PROMETHEUS stuff that will probably just spoil the movie, I figured I would check out a movie that looks similiar. Warning: I don't think there's any way to discuss this film without being spoilerish, so if you haven't seen this film yet and plan to, don't read this review.

SUNSHINE

Danny Boyle was considered for both ALIEN 3 and ALIEN 4: RESURRECTION, but got passed over for other directors, so it was neat to see him try his hand at the space thriller genre without the constraints of a big franchise. He and screenwriter Alex Garland do a good job of having the crew of this mission cause all their own problems without it becoming frustrating or having us think they are incompetant. And they do an excellent job of pushing the crew into an increasingly hopeless situation while always dangling some hope for salvation in front of them. They play against our knowledge of sci-fi movies by doing things such as establishing a HAL style computer and then occassionally having it linger in disagreement with the crew just long enough for us to think it's turning evil but then not. They also toss out the red herring of whether Chris Evans's character will go like Michael Biehn in THE ABYSS. Stuff like that was very clever.

The performances among the crew are all well grounded. Chris Evans does a really good job with his character, which could've easily come across too much like an action hero or like the stereotypical hot-headed army guy they always have in these movies, but he finds the right balance. Rose Byrne also does a good job with her character showing good emotional range. Cilian Murphy is good, but I've seen him dressed as a girl in a couple movies now and sometimes when I see him I get these flashes of him dressed as a girl. Maybe he should keep some stubble on.

The third act has some pretty big problems though. It didn't ruin the movie for me, but it definitely took it down a few notches. When the crew comes upon another identical ship that was sent on an identical mission and went AWOL they introduce Mark Strong as this movie monster character and it turns into a slasher movie. This plot developement isn't the worst idea, but Strong's performance is so overthetop monstrous and Boyle films him like he's superhuman. It may offend some religious people that the third act also equates religion to insanity. This didn't offend me, but it just felt like a theme that was dumped in too late in the movie and handled poorly. If the movie was supposed to be about the conflict of whether the sun is the force that sustains the universe or if it's God, they should've developed that earlier. And if the film is going to be about science versus religion, then they should find a more interesting way to pit these two forces against each other rather than fist fighting.

But all and all, I liked this movie. I'd say it's fun for the whole atheist family and if PROMETHEUS is this good, I will leave the cinema satisfied.

Like pretty much everybody who has seen this I also had issues with the third act. Mostly due to guest director Tony Scott's method of shooting the Strong character, which I remember went something like pointing the camera at his elbow or something and then shaking it violently and then during post-production adding some more shake in the computer and I think some digital-Vaseline was added to the digital-lens.

If the aim was to give me a headache and make me kinda fucking hate the movie, it worked.

[so sorry]

Does the movie Drive not have its own thread?

I'm a little shocked by that...

Anyway, caught up with this over the weekend and I hate to use it, but here it is: meh. Not sure what all the fuss was about. I'd say it was OK, although nothing to write home about or even rewatch IMO.

But I will give it a plus up for surprising me with the head shot of big tits Hendricks...that made me jump a little!

[Spandau Belly]

sosorry, anything related to DRIVE is found in the Director's folder under the thread for Nicholas Wingdings Refn.

I also rented a small movie that got quite a bit of hype on the internet...

THE GREY

I really liked this film. It lived up to its hype. I'll admit, despite the hype I had low expectations because this Joe Carnagehands hasn't really impressed me in the two other films I saw from him. And he also refuses to change his name Carangehands even though I write it that way. I saw his Guy Ritchie movie, SMOKIN' ACES and his Bret Ratner film THE A TEAM. This time he's trying to ape Ridley Scott, who is probably more worth imitating.

Lately I have felt faily burnt out on this whole dead-wife-as-a-substitute-for-character-development thing, but they played it very well here. And all the other characters are well realized too. The film is well shot and pretty touching. It's not as much about pulpy thrills as THE EDGE, it's probably more like THE WAY BACK, but I found it flowed a lot better than THE WAY BACK. Good pacing etc.

Liam Neeson is really good in the lead role. And the environments are really well done. It never feels stagey. I'm sure there was some digital snow employed here and there, but I never noticed it.

So good job on hyping this one, internet guys. Solid flick.

[TheBaxter]

there are a few basic rules in hollywood you can count on. one of these is that, any time there is a decent film made out of a Stephen King book, it will one day be remade as a crappy made-for-tv movie. The Shining, Children of the Corn (not that great a movie, but the tv-movie remake made it look like the Godfather), Salem's Lot (the rare case of a quality tv-movie being remade as a crappy tv-movie). and last night, i happened to run across another one.... Carrie. this is not the version of Carrie that is apparently being remade again as a theatrical release (the even rarer case of a remake of a crappy tv-movie remake of a classic film), this is the 2002 version that most people, like me, have probably forgotten, and with good reason.

i flipped over to this on tv because i thought it was the original, but didn't take too long to realize that wasn't the case. so i missed the 1st 1/2 hour or so but really i didn't miss anything. i vaguely remembered it from the first time it came out (mostly i just remembered the crappy tv-movie quality cgi effects) so i figured i'd keep watching and see how it held up. first of all, it's funny seeing a movie like this and seeing all these people who eventually moved on to more well-known roles in Lost and Battlestar Galactica. it's funny, it's not the first time i've seen actors from those shows turn up in earlier shows, it's always kind of amusing. emilie de ravin (the pregnant chick from lost) plays the bitchy nancy allen role of the girl who dumps pigs blood on carrie at the prom (spoiler!). she's ok, in a way she's probably better as the bitchy chick than as the whiny pregnant girl. and dualla from BSG plays the amy irving role as the girl who tries to befriend carrie and makes her boyfriend take her to the prom, unwittingly setting her up for humiliation. she's kind of terrible. though in her defense, that's as much the writing of her character as anything, including a ridiculously stupid "twist" ending that i'll get to later. interestingly enough, she also played the linda hamilton role in the crappy tv-movie remake of children of the corn (where she was also awful by the way), which gives her the distinction of having starred in TWO horrible tv-movie remakes of stephen king films. quite the honor.

carrie herself is played by angela bettis, and she's ok. she's not quite the actor that sissy spacek was, but she looks the part more than spacek, because she's not as pretty, but she's still ok looking enough to clean up well for the prom scenes at the end. and when she gets doused in pigs blood and goes dark phoenix on the town, she's got a good convincing stare to work with. carrie's mom is played by frances something, the woman who was the mom on six feet under and the dead old maid on american horror story. her performance is much more restrained than piper laurie's, which means it's probably more realistic but far less entertaining. the dude who plays carrie's prom date is completely forgettable outside of looking like he's old enough to be everyone's dad, and the guy who plays the bitchy girl's boyfriend probably would've done a good job as one of the columbine killers. rena sofer (from 24 and Heroes) plays a really hot teacher who's supposed to die but doesn't, and made me wonder what ever happened to rena sofer.

and then there's david keith as a detective which gets me to one of my major beefs with this remake. it's told in flashbacks as this detective investigates the fire at the prom, and it's just a stupid and lazy storytelling device that sets up my other major beef with the film, which is the ending. through the whole investigation, the detective suspects that dualla is hiding something, but he can't pin anything on her. so after she's questioned and released, she goes and finds carrie, who we find out from another flashback that after carrie's mom tried to drown her in her bathtub after the fire, dualla went to the house and gave her mouth-to-mouth and saved her. and then she drives carrie out of town in disguise, but not after a really bad "homage" to the classic "hand from the grave" scene from the original, where they visit the graves of carrie's mom and other kids who died in the fire, and you're waiting figuring carrie's mom's hand is gonna shoot out of the grave and grab her like carrie's hand from the original, but it doesn't happen, instead carrie turns to leave the grave, and runs smack dab into the ghost of her mom who says "your sin will find you" or something like that... then, after that lame jump non-scare, carrie wakes up in the truck as they're driving out of town, and looks over at the driver seat where she sees a vision of dualla being replaced by the bitchy girl who also says something scary, then wakes up again. besides the lame "twist" on the original's shock ending, the whole notion of carrie surviving at the end totally ruins the whole point of the story, but then the remake as a whole was entirely pointless to begin with.

so now that this is being remade AGAIN, probably with some current hot young star like amanda seyfried or chloe moretz, the makers of that film should be locked in a room with this remake playing in a constant 24-hour loop, and they shouldn't be allowed to leave until they realize what a bad idea another remake of this story is.

[Bloo]

I think (and I could be wrong) that this was a backdoor sequel for a Carrie TV show on the heels of the successful Dead Zone TV show

[TheBaxter]

I think (and I could be wrong) that this was a backdoor sequel for a Carrie TV show on the heels of the successful Dead Zone TV show

i can see how that ending would set up a show where carrie travels from town to town, using her psychic powers to help people... a shadowy flight into the dangerous world of a girl who does not exist. Carrie White, a young loner on a crusade to champion the cause of the innocent, the helpless, the powerless in a world of criminals who operate above the law.... the world of the White Rider.

give her a Dumbledore talking car and you've got a hit.

[so sorry]

Just watched My Week with Marilyn. Pretty good flick...Michelle Williams nailed the role for sure and deserved all the accolades she got. Good movie to catch with your honey...

[so sorry]

Mad Max. Fantastic beginning to an awesome trilogy (yeah I said it, Beyond Thunderdome was a good flick).

Max has every reason to be mad by the way.

And the V8 Interceptor? Beautiful fucking machine.

[SilentBobX]

Watching Thor, Daria, Chasing Amy and Trollhunter the past 2 days. Quite the run of different tastes.

Mahalo

[Spandau Belly]

BULLHEAD

This film is one of those minimalist character-driven European crime pictures that we've been seeing a lot of in the last while like REVANCHE, the PUSHER movies, and DER RäUBER. It tells the story of Jacky, a rural Flemmish Belgian who was born into a small community known as "the hormone mafia" because they deal in selling illegal hormones to the farming community. As a prepubescent boy he is castrated by a bully. Jacky then must take hormones to induce puberty so he can grow up and at least look like a man. He grows up to be a junky hooked on illegal hormones just like the ones he sells. He is a big hulk with emotional problems and roid rage, you never know what's going to set him off and how.

Although Jacky isn't the type of character a lot of people will dress up as for Halloween, he is totally memorable and brought fully to life by Matthias Schoenaerts who brings his A game in a performance with the physical and emotional commitment of a Scorcese era DeNiro. This performance is like when we saw Tom Hardy in BRONSON a few years ago and it's like "Yup, here's your career, you've earned it."

When the film is a drama about life without balls, Schoenaerts sells it and it is really engaging. When it gets more into the gangster stuff like a rural version of THE DEPARTED it's not as strong, but not bad. For a debut film, I was impressed. The film I kept thinking of was P.T. Anderson's first film HARD EIGHT aka SYDNEY in that the movie isn't earthshattering and is obviously borrowing a lot from Scorcese, but you can sense the potential for writer-director Michael Roskam once he's done a bit of that necessary on the job learning and found his own voice.

I know some guys said they saw THE GREY and it made them want to call their wives and tell them how much they love them. This movie made me at least want to send a Christmas card to my balls.

[Ribbons]

The film Barry Munday was also about a life without balls, although I suspect this one is somewhat different.

[caruso_stalker217]

PSYCHO II. I enjoyed this more than the original. Maybe it's because I went into it not knowing what would happen. Didn't really get that luxury with the first. Perkins fucking locks this shit down. As with the original film he is the best thing here. Meg Tilly is good despite her awkward dialogue delivery. She seems to get her shit together right at the end of the movie and begins acting naturally and gives a pretty good performance. Also, she's easy on the eyes. Cute as a motherfucker.

The plot gets a little muddled and there are way too many scenes of Tilly telling Perkins to hang up the phone. I think I got that he should hang up the phone after the forth or fifth time he should have hung up the phone yelling about it isn't going to solve anything if you're not part of the solution you're part of the problem that's not your mother Norman.

There's also a very good Goldsmith score and there are some pretty cool Hitchcockian shots, mattes and such. And the shovel scene is pretty fucking awesome if you ask me.

Overall, I thought this was a darn good film and fits pretty well with the original even if there are more shots of people getting stabbed in the face and shit to update it to 1980s times.

I'll have to watch PSYCHO III now. I saw parts of that on television and besides Jeff Fahey I don't remember much.

[Spandau Belly]

Yo Ribbons, is BARRY MUNDAY good? I think I debated renting it when I was in a dramedy mood but went with LARS AND THE REAL GIRL.

[caruso_stalker217]

Watched THE ARTIST. Liked it so much I picked up the Blu-Ray today.

[Ribbons]

Yo Ribbons, is BARRY MUNDAY good? I think I debated renting it when I was in a dramedy mood but went with LARS AND THE REAL GIRL.

It's okay... there's something kind of off about the whole concept, but it has some quirky charms. Patrick Wilson does a good job of playing a dope. It also definitely leans more towards the comedy than the drama (or even dramedy... very little drama to be found).

[Spandau Belly]

So I saw the above animated gif on a site I go to and it made me laugh, but didn't recognize the movie. Thankfully, justcheckin identified it for me as SCREWBALLS, so I watched it. I'm no expert in this subgenre, but I've seen my share of teen sex comedies and this one is by far the most ridiculous that I've seen. I find myself thinking back and laughing more in retrospect than I did when I watched it a few days ago. Every scene in this movie is just propelled forward by the zaniest cartoon logic playing the most outrageous gags beyond their ridiculous conclusion.

This movie creates a strange alternate universe. It's set in this mishmash era that takes every decade from the 1950s through to when this was made in the 80s and combines them, sorta like the sex comedy version of STREETS OF FIRE or something. They drive vintage 50s/60s cars, go to a drive-in and watch a Pam Grier movie (70s), use 80s technology, read Playboy magazine, and the prices for most things seem to be from the 80s (I mean, $9.00 for a dildo? in the 1950s, $9.00 would buy you a house and they probably didn't have sex shoppes in the 50s anyway). I'm not sure how intentional this anachronistic stuff was, but anyway, it's not the definitive trait of this movie's world. What really sold me on this movie was just how fucking upbeat and liberated everybody was. In between all the blowjobs, orgies, strip-bowling matches, gym class devoted to breasts-enlarging excercises, burlesque shows, and public masturbation it's all sunshine, wholesome smiles, and high-fives. It's all just so surreal.

There's only one character in this movie who won't take off her clothes and fuck with a smile if you asked her to, and she's the focus of the film. The basic story is that this group of dudes make a pact to see this one prudish girl's tits. But unlike most sex comedies, they aren't a bunch of sexually frustrated guys. All off their schemes to see this chick's tits play out cartoonishly like if the Coyote wanted to see the Roadrunner's tits. They fail in many of their overly-complicated ways to see this one girl's boobs, but fuck every other woman (including teachers) along the way, and the female characters all join in on the quest to see the prude's tits.

Anyway, I've seen my country's government fund all sorts of trashy exploitation movies, but I've never seen the text 'Funded by the Government of Canda' appear on the screen over a shot of tits. It made me feel patriotic, or at least glad I saw this wacky movie.

[caruso_stalker217]

So I saw the above animated gif on a site I go to and it made me laugh, but didn't recognize the movie. Thankfully, justcheckin identified it for me as SCREWBALLS, so I watched it. I'm no expert in this subgenre, but I've seen my share of teen sex comedies and this one is by far the most ridiculous that I've seen. I find myself thinking back and laughing more in retrospect than I did when I watched it a few days ago. Every scene in this movie is just propelled forward by the zaniest cartoon logic playing the most outrageous gags beyond their ridiculous conclusion.

This movie creates a strange alternate universe. It's set in this mishmash era that takes every decade from the 1950s through to when this was made in the 80s and combines them, sorta like the sex comedy version of STREETS OF FIRE or something. They drive vintage 50s/60s cars, go to a drive-in and watch a Pam Grier movie (70s), use 80s technology, read Playboy magazine, and the prices for most things seem to be from the 80s (I mean, $9.00 for a dildo? in the 1950s, $9.00 would buy you a house and they probably didn't have sex shoppes in the 50s anyway). I'm not sure how intentional this anachronistic stuff was, but anyway, it's not the definitive trait of this movie's world. What really sold me on this movie was just how fucking upbeat and liberated everybody was. In between all the blowjobs, orgies, strip-bowling matches, gym class devoted to breasts-enlarging excercises, burlesque shows, and public masturbation it's all sunshine, wholesome smiles, and high-fives. It's all just so surreal.

There's only one character in this movie who won't take off her clothes and fuck with a smile if you asked her to, and she's the focus of the film. The basic story is that this group of dudes make a pact to see this one prudish girl's tits. But unlike most sex comedies, they aren't a bunch of sexually frustrated guys. All off their schemes to see this chick's tits play out cartoonishly like if the Coyote wanted to see the Roadrunner's tits. They fail in many of their overly-complicated ways to see this one girl's boobs, but fuck every other woman (including teachers) along the way, and the female characters all join in on the quest to see the prude's tits.

Anyway, I've seen my country's government fund all sorts of trashy exploitation movies, but I've never seen the text 'Funded by the Government of Canda' appear on the screen over a shot of tits. It made me feel patriotic, or at least glad I saw this wacky movie.

I've seen that .gif before, but figured the movie couldn't possibly live up to it. I've now added it to my Netflix queue.

Nice sig, by the way. I'll refrain from making any Nastassja Kinski pussy jokes.

[TheBaxter]

Anyway, I've seen my country's government fund all sorts of trashy exploitation movies, but I've never seen the text 'Funded by the Government of Canda' appear on the screen over a shot of tits. It made me feel patriotic, or at least glad I saw this wacky movie.

one more example of how far behind our government is to the rest of the industrialized world.

so, do they get to see the shy girl's tits? (you can spoiler-text the answer to that)

[Spandau Belly]

In response to Baxter: Yes, they find the dress she plans to wear at a sports game when she will sing the national anthem (this movie is set in America so that it would be easier to sell to American distributors) and they line her dress with steal wool and then build giant magnets to rip the dress off while she's singing and that works. It's the very end of the movie. As soon as the dress gets ripped off the credits start popping up on the screen with shots of her cowering in shame and the crowd cheering and high-fiving at her disgrace.

[TheBaxter]

In response to Baxter: Yes, they find the dress she plans to wear at a sports game when she will sing the national anthem (this movie is set in America so that it would be easier to sell to American distributors) and they line her dress with steal wool and then build giant magnets to rip the dress off while she's singing and that works. It's the very end of the movie. As soon as the dress gets ripped off the credits start popping up on the screen with shots of her cowering in shame and the crowd cheering and high-fiving at her disgrace.

so THAT'S how to do it. excuse me, i've got to go to walmart and stock up on some steel wool and magnets

[so sorry]

So last night I watched Evil Dead 2 (its running on IFC) for the first time in probably 20 years. I had forgotten how hilarious it was, and really how great Bruce Campbell was in it. He reminded me alot of Jim Carrey/Ace Ventura in his mannerisms and comedic timing. Good shit from The Chin! My wife was sitting there next to me and lasted thru about 30 minutes of it before she got up and left because it was "so silly and stupid". I told her that was the point of watching it! And she noticed in 2 seconds that the Bobby Joe actress was currently on One Life to Live (U.S. soap opera).

So kudos to IFC for showing this classic horror-comedy!


P.S. I've seen Army of Darkness a number of times over the years and think its a really, really horrible movie. For me they nailed it with ED2 and blew it with AoD.

[Spandau Belly]

THE OMEGA MAN

I used to catch this movie on television every now and then when I was a kid and I've always dug it. I have the DVD and watch it sometimes and I'm always glad I do. It was the first movie of the post zombie apocalypse subgenre that I saw, so maybe it had more impact on me and feels more unique to me than people who saw it after having seen several Romero movies or the previous screen adaptation with Vincent Price.

I find the movie so captivating because of the the way they capture the surrealness of the empty city and because of the characterization of Heston's character. I find the first half more fascinating when we are just watching his daily routine and the various habits he's developed to preserve his sanity and the moments when his sanity briefly cracks. Heston's performance is hugely watchable. He approaches his scenes with the right amount humour that he never seems like he's asking the audience for pity.

The second half is more plot driven stuff, and like most zombie apocalypse movies, the plot becomes about either finding a cure or the escape to a safe colony of survivors.

There's definitely plenty here that modern audiences would probably find hokey and dated. If this had been made even 10 years later the effects probably would've been a lot better. But I still love watching this flick. I'm always glad I do.

[so sorry]

Watched No Country for Old Men last night. Saw it only once before, and didn't think highly of it. This second viewing fared much better. Maybe I wasn't in the right mood the first time, thinking it was boring and slow paced.

Tommy Lee Jones is fucking magnificent, even though he's simply talking slow and looking old.
I do wish the Lewelyn killing was shown...kind of jarring to all of a sudden see him dead on the floor..

[caruso_stalker217]

KILLSHOT

This was one of the Elmore Leonard projects Tarantino was gonna make back in the 90's before he decided to adapt Rum Punch, which became his 1997 masterpiece MAX CHERRY.

I read the book (Killshot) and didn't think Tarantino was much of a fit for the material, aside from the Elvis stuff and some of the wacky characters like the U.S. Marshall who tries to get into the Diane Lane character's pants.

Now that I've seen the movie, I really wish Tarantino had done it because it's kind of a piece of shit.

The casting for this thing is actually pretty much perfect. On paper. Mickey Rourke as a half-blood Indian hitman? Great. Joseph Gordon-Levitt as a white trash psychopathic killer? Excellent. The Punisher and Ellen Aim as the two married people? Could work. Rosario Dawson? You know what, I'll give it a shot anyway.

Nope. It's shit.

They fuck this thing up pretty much right out the gate by hiring a writer who has no idea what he's doing. I mean, it's Elmore Leonard. All you gotta do is transcribe the thing more or less word for word. Then you get somebody to add in the commas and shit where they belong, if you aren't positive yourself. Maybe you move some shit around, truncate. Drop the U.S. Marshall character, which they did. I was expecting that. But they also took out all the funny stuff that was in the book. And turned the married couple into a couple dweebs who aren't even living together because they're having "marital issues." Fuuuuuck you. Like we give a shit about that stuff. Keep it simple, LIKE THE BOOK. Wayne and Carmen are supposed to be likable folks, with a few quirks here and there to make them interesting. But they took that stuff out so they aren't interesting at all. And they turned Carmen into a complete wiener. She was a goddamn boss in the book. Now she's just Diane Lane with her hard nipples showing (although that's pretty faithful to the book).

And then there's JGL. I mean the guy is perfect for the role, how can they fuck this up? Easy. He fucks it up himself. I didn't see that one coming. Man, the character is over the top enough. You don't have to throw more shit on top of that. You're not Nic Cage. In fact, if they'd done this in the '90s Nicolas Cage would have been fucking perfect. Instead we get some career worst acting from JGL. What a letdown.

They give Mickey some cliched bullshit personal motivation crap and change his back story in a stupid way that is completely unnecessary and pretty much ruins the character.

And I really wasn't expecting much from Rosario and they kinda fucked with her character for no reason, too, but I thought she was one of the better parts of the movie. This is coming from a guy who isn't a fan of Rosario Dawson as an actress. So this movie was surprising for all the wrong reasons. Also, that stuff they pulled with JGLshooting her was pretty dumb. At least Leonard left that part ambiguous in the book. Here it's used as another cheap device to give Randy the Ram some more motivation that isn't necessary, especially if they'd just done it like the book.

Not that I'm some kind of purist, mind you. I really enjoy me some Kubrick's THE SHINING and stuff like that. I don't need it to be exactly like the book. As long as it's good. But here it's like they made it almost like the book, but the stuff they did change just made the film and characters weaker.

And also this John Madden guy is not fucking Stanley Kubrick, so fuck him.

Wait, this is the fucking Struggling Background Artist who made SHAKESPEARE IN LOVE and CAPTAIN CORELLI'S MANDOLIN?

[Bloo]

I've had Killshot on my computer for awhile because you know its Mickey Rourke and Elmore Leonard and I love both of those guys not to mention my man boner for Tom Jane. But I've held back on watching this now I'm glad. thanks for the heads up (though knowing me I'll watch it sooner or later.

[caruso_stalker217]

I've had Killshot on my computer for awhile because you know its Mickey Rourke and Elmore Leonard and I love both of those guys not to mention my man boner for Tom Jane. But I've held back on watching this now I'm glad. thanks for the heads up (though knowing me I'll watch it sooner or later.

I've read up on the movie since then and there were a lot of reshoots and shit apparently, which makes sense. It feels very reshooty. The sleazy U.S. Marshall subplot was actually in the film at one point (with Johnny Knoxville in the role) but it got cut due to poor test audience reactions.

Now that I've thought about it, Rosario really is the best thing going for the film. I may have to rethink my position on Rosario Dawson, Actress.

So, yeah, I'd recommend skipping this. But like you said you'll probably get to it eventually. I would definitely recommend the book, though, if you haven't read it already.

[Bloo]

I've had Killshot on my computer for awhile because you know its Mickey Rourke and Elmore Leonard and I love both of those guys not to mention my man boner for Tom Jane. But I've held back on watching this now I'm glad. thanks for the heads up (though knowing me I'll watch it sooner or later.

I've read up on the movie since then and there were a lot of reshoots and shit apparently, which makes sense. It feels very reshooty. The sleazy U.S. Marshall subplot was actually in the film at one point (with Johnny Knoxville in the role) but it got cut due to poor test audience reactions.

Now that I've thought about it, Rosario really is the best thing going for the film. I may have to rethink my position on Rosario Dawson, Actress.

So, yeah, I'd recommend skipping this. But like you said you'll probably get to it eventually. I would definitely recommend the book, though, if you haven't read it already.

I've been rereading Get Shorty and wanting to get the three Raylan Givens books because the Justified cats GET Elmore Leonard, but it's moving up to he top of my list. I want to reread Be Cool as well, hopefully it's not as shitty as the movie, I read it once and remember it well but could be wrong on that. LOL