I understand you now. Yeah, having not seen all of it, I can't necessarily comment on that (and it was many years ago now, so I don't remember much)...jpanimation wrote: By intense, I don't mean violence. I mean the whole movie just didn't seem very gritty or real.
What Movie Did You Just Watch? - Shh! It's Starting!
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blackcauldron85
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DaveWadding
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dvdjunkie
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Watched a classic 80's flick called The Wraith, which has just been re-released with a new Dolby Digital 2.0 soundtrack, and anamorphic 1.85:1 video.
Starring Sherilynn Fenn, Charlie Sheen, Nick Cassavetes and Randy Quaid, this is just a lot of fun, about a mysterious stranger in a mysterious car that comes to a small town in Arizona to wreak havoc on the teenagers that are responsible for another teen's death.
Written and directed by Mike Marvin, this film was overdue for a release in this form. The first DVD was a cheesy, at best, pan & scan version with a mono soundtrack and washed-out color. Here we get a great 80's soundtrack with music by Billy Idol, Ozzie Osbourne, Robert Palmer, Motley Crue and more. Just 90 minutes of pure fun.
Starring Sherilynn Fenn, Charlie Sheen, Nick Cassavetes and Randy Quaid, this is just a lot of fun, about a mysterious stranger in a mysterious car that comes to a small town in Arizona to wreak havoc on the teenagers that are responsible for another teen's death.
Written and directed by Mike Marvin, this film was overdue for a release in this form. The first DVD was a cheesy, at best, pan & scan version with a mono soundtrack and washed-out color. Here we get a great 80's soundtrack with music by Billy Idol, Ozzie Osbourne, Robert Palmer, Motley Crue and more. Just 90 minutes of pure fun.
The only way to watch movies - Original Aspect Ratio!!!!
I LOVE my Blu-Ray Disc Player!
I LOVE my Blu-Ray Disc Player!
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Lazario
I only JUST found out about this earlier this week (thanks for nothing horrordvds.com!). A few freaking days ago. A long overdue Lionsgate release. Though if Anchor Bay had had the rights instead, this movie would have been out, in widescreen, a decade ago! And then, we might have actually gotten an interview with Sherilyn Fenn. And maybe a couple other cast members.dvdjunkie wrote:Watched a classic 80's flick called The Wraith, which has just been re-released with a new Dolby Digital 2.0 soundtrack, and anamorphic 1.85:1 video.
Starring Sherilynn Fenn, Charlie Sheen, Nick Cassavetes and Randy Quaid, this is just a lot of fun, about a mysterious stranger in a mysterious car that comes to a small town in Arizona to wreak havoc on the teenagers that are responsible for another teen's death.
Written and directed by Mike Marvin, this film was overdue for a release in this form. The first DVD was a cheesy, at best, pan & scan version with a mono soundtrack and washed-out color. Here we get a great 80's soundtrack with music by Billy Idol, Ozzie Osbourne, Robert Palmer, Motley Crue and more. Just 90 minutes of pure fun.
Speaking of Lionsgate's laziness. The fact that they literally copied Chimera's region-1 special edition of Audition but haven't ported over the UK special features for the special edition of my last watch:
is criminal. Oh, and... Yay for the release of Silent Night, Deadly Night 3, 4, and 5...in fullscreen. BOO!!!
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PeterPanfan
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Alice in Wonderland (2010) - I really, really liked it. All the actors were great, and not a single cast member brought the film down. The CG was visually amazing, although the story itself was slow at times, but also felt rushed at others. The colors and costumes and make-up were done extremely well, and the scenery was great too. Recommended.
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blackcauldron85
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UmbrellaFish
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To Kill a Mockingbird- I'd probably like this movie more if I hadn't read the book, but, as usual, it's just not how I'd pictured the story. It's close in some cases, mainly in the casting of Jem and Scout, but I think a big problem is I don't think the score fits the story, either. Peck's Atticus Finch is not as I would have imagined him, but I can live with that because it's a strong portrayal of the character. It's not a bad movie, it just can't leave up to my expectations, I guess.
The African Queen- A great movie! I really enjoyed it.
Gigi- Okay, I'm sorry, but there are better movie-musicals out there. I'd like to see a straight-forward adaptation of the original B'way play, meaning without music. According to Robert Osbourne's commentary after the movie on TCM, there was a 1940s French film. I wonder if they ever made another?
Lord of the Flies (1963)- A long time ago, my grandmother showed my sister and I a few minutes of the 1990s remake on TV and I've been traumatized, and incredibly curious about the story, ever since. So, I finally watched the 1963 original and thought it was quite interesting. Now, I might just have to pick up the book.
Why am I watching all these movies? Because my DVR list is hideously backed-up.
I've got-
Alien, All the President's Men, An American Dream, The Asphalt Jungle, Citizen Kane, Frances, From Here to Eternity, The Graduate, How the West Was Won, In Cold Blood, Inherit the Wind, The Night of the Iguana, The Nun's Story, Of Mice and Men (1939), Oklahoma!, Oliver!, The Postman Always Rings Twice, Quo Vadis, Stage Door, Sunset Boulevard, and Tootsie...
And I'll be renting Ponyo today.
The African Queen- A great movie! I really enjoyed it.
Gigi- Okay, I'm sorry, but there are better movie-musicals out there. I'd like to see a straight-forward adaptation of the original B'way play, meaning without music. According to Robert Osbourne's commentary after the movie on TCM, there was a 1940s French film. I wonder if they ever made another?
Lord of the Flies (1963)- A long time ago, my grandmother showed my sister and I a few minutes of the 1990s remake on TV and I've been traumatized, and incredibly curious about the story, ever since. So, I finally watched the 1963 original and thought it was quite interesting. Now, I might just have to pick up the book.
Why am I watching all these movies? Because my DVR list is hideously backed-up.
I've got-
Alien, All the President's Men, An American Dream, The Asphalt Jungle, Citizen Kane, Frances, From Here to Eternity, The Graduate, How the West Was Won, In Cold Blood, Inherit the Wind, The Night of the Iguana, The Nun's Story, Of Mice and Men (1939), Oklahoma!, Oliver!, The Postman Always Rings Twice, Quo Vadis, Stage Door, Sunset Boulevard, and Tootsie...
And I'll be renting Ponyo today.
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DaveWadding
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UmbrellaFish
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Ponyo- Lovely little film. Frankie Jonas and Noah Cyrus were better than expected, especially Jonas. I think it was a very good re-imagining of The Little Mermaid tale, too. Of course, I'll have to pick this one up on BD sometime. Right now I've got that final credits song stuck in my head-Ponyo, Ponyo, on a cliff by the sea, blah, blah, blah, blah...
Dont look back (1967)
Finally, I got to watch D.A. Pennebaker's world-famous fly-on-the-wall documentary (really a 'reality soap' before they existed) about Bob Dylan's 1965 tour of England -his last as an acoustic performer. Filmed with an unobtrusive camera, Pennebaker follows Dylan and his entourage wherever he goes. For a fan like me, this is the most exciting thing to see! Much more than just a concert film, it registers everything Dylan says and does and gives you a tiny glimpse into his character.
Of course, it's hard to tell if Dylan is truly unaware of the camera or if he's acting. If he is, he's a great actor, and if he isn't, he's the most amazing person ever. I especially like the way he fools around with the press. These conservative journalists don't know anything about folk music and they try to catch Dylan in a few standard definitions, but Dylan refuses to be defined by them and therefore doesn't give any straight answers to their questions, but starts to philosophie instead. Other great scenes include the way he politely and charming tells off some girl fans who dare to tell him he doesn't sound like "himself" on Bringing it all back home (pretending they know him better than Dylan himself) and the discussion with 'the science student'.
Dylan once again blew my mind away.
Build my gallows high (1947)
Also known as 'Out of the past' in the US. One of the worst films I ever sat through. Why this scores an 8.1 on IMDb, I'll never understand. It's a very run of the mill film noir. Everything about it is cliched: the carbon characters, the cringe-worthy dialogue, the acting; it's all very bad. Making it worse is that lead actor Robert Mitchum has only one facial expression during the entire movie. I only watched it all the way through because I was bored, but I was glad when it was over. The ending stunk, too. The only good thing is Kirk Douglas' acting. But still, avoid this junk like the plague.
A mighty heart (2007)
Very disappointing, because I had such high expectations. It's the story of Daniel Pearl, the 'Wall Street Journal' journalist who was kidnapped and killed by jihadists in Pakistan. It's not a bad film if you're just looking for a reconstruction of what happened. But you can watch a documentary for that. The film was advertised as a portrayal of how his pregnant wife Marianne (also a journalist in Pakistan) dealt with the situation. But it's anything but.
While Angelina Jolie is extraordinary in her role as Marianne, we don't get to know her and what she's going through. The only time we get access to her feelings, is at the very end of the film. That's way too late. The film is mostly about the search for Daniel, following clues and arresting people. This is presented as a 'ticking timebomb'-scenario: will they find Daniel in time? But we already knew Daniel was beheaded by his kidnappers, so this doesn't work. I wanted to see how Marianne dealt with it, but I didn't get to.
Angelina didn't only act great, but her physical transformation into Marianne was perfect. The big adventage is that she's dark-skinned for this role and has curly dark hair, which makes her ten times more beautiful (I like dark women), so yeah... I enjoyed that. And she was pregnant too, which made her ten times more beautiful on top of that. (Because I find pregnant women very attractive --yes, I'm weird that way.) And then there was Archie Panjabi as Asra. I know for sure I've seen her before, but where...? Also an extraordinary beauty. So there was enough for me to enjoy anyway.
Finally, I got to watch D.A. Pennebaker's world-famous fly-on-the-wall documentary (really a 'reality soap' before they existed) about Bob Dylan's 1965 tour of England -his last as an acoustic performer. Filmed with an unobtrusive camera, Pennebaker follows Dylan and his entourage wherever he goes. For a fan like me, this is the most exciting thing to see! Much more than just a concert film, it registers everything Dylan says and does and gives you a tiny glimpse into his character.
Of course, it's hard to tell if Dylan is truly unaware of the camera or if he's acting. If he is, he's a great actor, and if he isn't, he's the most amazing person ever. I especially like the way he fools around with the press. These conservative journalists don't know anything about folk music and they try to catch Dylan in a few standard definitions, but Dylan refuses to be defined by them and therefore doesn't give any straight answers to their questions, but starts to philosophie instead. Other great scenes include the way he politely and charming tells off some girl fans who dare to tell him he doesn't sound like "himself" on Bringing it all back home (pretending they know him better than Dylan himself) and the discussion with 'the science student'.
Dylan once again blew my mind away.
Build my gallows high (1947)
Also known as 'Out of the past' in the US. One of the worst films I ever sat through. Why this scores an 8.1 on IMDb, I'll never understand. It's a very run of the mill film noir. Everything about it is cliched: the carbon characters, the cringe-worthy dialogue, the acting; it's all very bad. Making it worse is that lead actor Robert Mitchum has only one facial expression during the entire movie. I only watched it all the way through because I was bored, but I was glad when it was over. The ending stunk, too. The only good thing is Kirk Douglas' acting. But still, avoid this junk like the plague.
A mighty heart (2007)
Very disappointing, because I had such high expectations. It's the story of Daniel Pearl, the 'Wall Street Journal' journalist who was kidnapped and killed by jihadists in Pakistan. It's not a bad film if you're just looking for a reconstruction of what happened. But you can watch a documentary for that. The film was advertised as a portrayal of how his pregnant wife Marianne (also a journalist in Pakistan) dealt with the situation. But it's anything but.
While Angelina Jolie is extraordinary in her role as Marianne, we don't get to know her and what she's going through. The only time we get access to her feelings, is at the very end of the film. That's way too late. The film is mostly about the search for Daniel, following clues and arresting people. This is presented as a 'ticking timebomb'-scenario: will they find Daniel in time? But we already knew Daniel was beheaded by his kidnappers, so this doesn't work. I wanted to see how Marianne dealt with it, but I didn't get to.
Angelina didn't only act great, but her physical transformation into Marianne was perfect. The big adventage is that she's dark-skinned for this role and has curly dark hair, which makes her ten times more beautiful (I like dark women), so yeah... I enjoyed that. And she was pregnant too, which made her ten times more beautiful on top of that. (Because I find pregnant women very attractive --yes, I'm weird that way.) And then there was Archie Panjabi as Asra. I know for sure I've seen her before, but where...? Also an extraordinary beauty. So there was enough for me to enjoy anyway.
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ajmrowland
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jpanimation
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Fantastic Mr. Fox (2009) 6/10 - not so fantastic. Wes Anderson's movies, with their dry humor, just don't appeal to me. They seem boring and pointless. Knowing this, I skipped this movie in theaters and just watched it on the net and still feel robbed. While its not nearly as bad as his other films (probably his most watchable), it's just not that interesting. The whole whistle-whistle click-click thing the fox does is annoying and physically impossible, and the "cuss" thing was also annoying (I'm sure it was an attempt at humor, that like the rest in this movie, just falls flat). Not only are the characters annoying but so is the animation. It's trying so hard to be an indie film and look cheap that it's annoying (especially when compared to Coraline's great stop-mo). I was hoping this wouldn't feel like a Wes Andeson movie but it does very much so (music, characters, humor, and style) and it almost seems like his entire career was building up to this crappy-stylistic animation. The one redeeming factor is the story being kind of entertaining, which I guess we have the author of the book to thank for that. This movie, as with The Secret of Kells, should've never been nominated 2009 Best Animated Feature (praised only for artistic merit). Ponyo was a FAR better film then both of those nominees.
Planet 51 (2009) 6.5/10 - fun little time-killer. My teacher animated on this while he was in Spain and I've got to say, the animation is fantastic. Very much in the same league with Blue Sky. Unfortunately, the story is entirely built on clichés (due to the nature of this being a genre/homage film) and there is a lot of miscast voice actors. If you takeaway the only originality of this film (alien/human swapping place), you have your typical 50's alien movie just full of clichés and stereotypes. Not to say the film wasn't enjoyable, as it was, but the animation just felt superior to the film itself. This is a film that I'll probably watch casually as its on TV, as you can pick up at any point in the movie without feeling lost, and it feels like something straight out of the 90's.
Planet 51 (2009) 6.5/10 - fun little time-killer. My teacher animated on this while he was in Spain and I've got to say, the animation is fantastic. Very much in the same league with Blue Sky. Unfortunately, the story is entirely built on clichés (due to the nature of this being a genre/homage film) and there is a lot of miscast voice actors. If you takeaway the only originality of this film (alien/human swapping place), you have your typical 50's alien movie just full of clichés and stereotypes. Not to say the film wasn't enjoyable, as it was, but the animation just felt superior to the film itself. This is a film that I'll probably watch casually as its on TV, as you can pick up at any point in the movie without feeling lost, and it feels like something straight out of the 90's.
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PeterPanfan
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Lazario
In what way?PeterPanfan wrote:The Opposite of Sex - I honestly expected it to be better
The film was exactly what it wanted to be, apart from being an excellent comedy, I admire its' tight control on itself like few other comedies to ever be made.
I think you must mean, you expected something a little different than what you got.
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Margos
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Alice in Wonderland (2010) - Not perfect. But certainly not the disappointment the critics are calling it. I absolutely loved this film, and all of its fun little moments. The writing was very good as well. And the visuals were flawless. Wonderful movie.
Temple Grandin - Very interesting. I like how they exaggerated a lot of the sights and sounds that she experienced, so that neurotypicals can see what we feel like on a day-to-day basis. And the actress was perfect, she did a very good job portraying Temple. I enjoyed it very much.
Peter Pan - Not my favorite Disney move, certainly. There are some issues with the story, in my opinion, and I don't think it's as effective emotionally as it could have been. But it's so beautifully animated, and the music is fantastic. Even though it is far from perfect, there are still many reasons to love this timeless movie.
Temple Grandin - Very interesting. I like how they exaggerated a lot of the sights and sounds that she experienced, so that neurotypicals can see what we feel like on a day-to-day basis. And the actress was perfect, she did a very good job portraying Temple. I enjoyed it very much.
Peter Pan - Not my favorite Disney move, certainly. There are some issues with the story, in my opinion, and I don't think it's as effective emotionally as it could have been. But it's so beautifully animated, and the music is fantastic. Even though it is far from perfect, there are still many reasons to love this timeless movie.
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^My websites promoting my two WIP novels! Check them out for exclusive content!
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PeterPanfan
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No... I expected it to be better.Lazario wrote:In what way?PeterPanfan wrote:The Opposite of Sex - I honestly expected it to be better
The film was exactly what it wanted to be, apart from being an excellent comedy, I admire its' tight control on itself like few other comedies to ever be made.
I think you must mean, you expected something a little different than what you got.
I've heard such amazing reviews for/about it, but it didn't really live up to them that much. Perhaps I went in with too high of expectations.
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Lazario
Don't mean to be rude here but, other than the fact that we've just gone in a circle before anything's been discussed (and I don't mind if you don't want to talk about this)... You just said nothing. What does "better" in your estimation mean? More... what? Less... what? Do you know...what?PeterPanfan wrote:No... I expected it to be better.Lazario wrote:I think you must mean, you expected something a little different than what you got.
But seriously, what does "better" mean, to you, in this case?I went in with normal expectations- and I was blown away. Like I meant to say and probably didn't before, it's one of the most incredible comedies I've ever seen. Yeah I didn't say that. And very much meant to. And one of the very few adult-themed, no-b.s. sex comedies that treats the viewer like they are an adult who is tired of b.s. sex comedies.PeterPanfan wrote:I've heard such amazing reviews for/about it, but it didn't really live up to them that much. Perhaps I went in with too high of expectations.
What did you expect that you didn't get?
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PeterPanfan
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I guess I meant that I assumed it would be something different, like you said before. It actually had more drama in it than I thought it would have. I was in the mood for a sarcastic comedy, and it was one, but I guess it also had much more... heart, I guess, than I was expecting.Lazario wrote:Don't mean to be rude here but, other than the fact that we've just gone in a circle before anything's been discussed (and I don't mind if you don't want to talk about this)... You just said nothing. What does "better" in your estimation mean? More... what? Less... what? Do you know...what?PeterPanfan wrote: No... I expected it to be better.
^^^.Lazario wrote:I went in with normal expectations- and I was blown away. Like I meant to say and probably didn't before, it's one of the most incredible comedies I've ever seen. Yeah I didn't say that. And very much meant to. And one of the very few adult-themed, no-b.s. sex comedies that treats the viewer like they are an adult who is tired of b.s. sex comedies.PeterPanfan wrote:I've heard such amazing reviews for/about it, but it didn't really live up to them that much. Perhaps I went in with too high of expectations.
What did you expect that you didn't get?
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Lazario
Holy hell, I was expecting you to say it was too dark / nasty.PeterPanfan wrote:I guess I meant that I assumed it would be something different, like you said before. It actually had more drama in it than I thought it would have. I was in the mood for a sarcastic comedy, and it was one, but I guess it also had much more... heart, I guess, than I was expecting.
I thought the ending was a bit of a cop-out in that regard (too), if that's what you mean...
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PeterPanfan
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Haha, no. It wasn't "light", but I had expected more.Lazario wrote:Holy hell, I was expecting you to say it was too dark / nasty.PeterPanfan wrote:I guess I meant that I assumed it would be something different, like you said before. It actually had more drama in it than I thought it would have. I was in the mood for a sarcastic comedy, and it was one, but I guess it also had much more... heart, I guess, than I was expecting.
I thought the ending was a bit of a cop-out in that regard (too), if that's what you mean...
And yeah, the ending was a bit of a cop-out...