DVDizzy Forum

Summer Holiday (1948) one of the Freed Unit at MGM's rare misfires....it was ok....I did enjoy The Stanley Steamer production number....and I LOVE Gloria DeHaven's voice!

The Birdcage

I love this movie. I laugh so much every time I watch it. The relationship between Robin Williams and Nathan Lane in this movie is just magical. Hank Azaria as their flamboyantly gay housekeeper, Agador, steals every scene that he is in with his fantastic one-liners. Great casting done on their part.

The scene where Armand (Williams) is trying to teach Albert (Lane) how to "act straight" is one of the best scenes I have ever seen in a movie. It is hilarious. It's my favorite part. This movie is definitely recommended if you just want to kill time and have a fun laugh.

I just watched Drunken Master 2 (or The Legend of Drunken Master.)

This was a great film, one of Jackie Chan's best! Anita Mui was great in this as well, playing Jackie's step-mom.

Just watched Anchors Away for the umpteen-millionth time. One of my more favorite Gene Kelly musicals, probably because I think was way ahead of its time with dance number featuring Kelly and Jerry the Mouse. The glorious 50's musicals live on at MGM!!!!!

After Drunken Master II, I watched Demolition Man last night.

All The King's Men (1949)

The classic tale of a simple, but honest countryfellow who educates himself and tries to change the corrupt state of politics, but ends up being corrupted himself in the end. A strong performance by Broderick Crawford as Willy Stark, but otherwise nothing really special. Not a bad film.

Piranha (1978) - Not really what I was expecting, but still a decent B-Movie.

I might go over the features on the DVD later.

Kick Ass - 4.4/10 - Bleh.

What Happens in Vegas- 2/5- I hate Cameron Diaz. I really, really do.

DaveWadding wrote:Kick Ass - 4.4/10 - Bleh.

I'll trust your opinion.

Scarred4life wrote:What Happens in Vegas- 2/5- I hate Cameron Diaz. I really, really do.

A lot of people think she's an amazing actress. I don't really see it.

PixarFan2006 wrote:Piranha (1978) - Not really what I was expecting, but still a decent B-Movie.

I might go over the features on the DVD later.

You have the Blu-Ray?

What did you expect the movie to be? I hated it at first, but the second viewing is a real eye-opener. However you felt about it the first time, it'll change when you watch it again. Give it a few months. Half a year. You'll see what I mean.

As comedy, it's moderately observant. Sometimes funny. As a character study, it's genuine to the stereotypes it likes and leaves little to the imagination. As a drama - and by that I mean, in so far as the Dante character is really pissed off and hates his life and the Veronica character actually means she loves him when she says she does - it kind of wins you over by the end. These things come together to make the film strangely attractive as an experience, but I can't lie and say I thought it was cuttingly funny or had a keen sense of wit. So many ideas are just dead-in-the-water on arrival or have been handled better elsewhere (the cigarettes vs. gum scenes). Oh, and... the acting takes a long while to get used to. And the movie keeps you waiting for the best characters to show up and really pay-off. The guy playing Randal and the girl playing Caitlyn are the best. She pays off right away but comes in way past the halfway mark. With him, we have to wait past moments that mean absolutely nothing like his "self-sucking" speech. A lot of it's predictable, but as a whole, it comes together rather well and it's easy to ignore the dumb stuff coming from the Jay character (who is not funny at all) or references to lame things like Jaws and Star Wars. I was won-over somewhere around the $500 fine scene, at the end, I went back to the beginning to watch the first 25 minutes over again (to find out if we saw anyone selling kids cigarettes).






Well-made, technically. But it's ingenuine, overlong, and I don't understand why the characters actually tell us we're watching a movie. Is this a movie about movies or is it actually about freeing ourselves from materialism and greed? Is it about freedom or just flashing pictures of penises on the screen? The first 47 minutes are masterpiece-quality, the ending is ruined by the repeat cigarette-burns reference, and the middle is full of a bunch of stuff best left for book readers. Flashy CGI video games might be fun to sit and play for 2 and a half hours but to sit there and watch... no thanks.

Beauty and the Beast (1946) - Huh. I don't really 100% know how I felt about this film. I did really enjoy it. There were some moments that were kinda like.... wtf? The end was really, really random (Beast turns into the equivalent of Gaston and they jump into the sky!?). It was a gorgeous film, it was enjoyable, it followed the fairy tale (somewhat) closely. But it wasn't really as good as the Disney version. The dialogue seemed a little clumsy (bearing in mind that I don't speak French and am going by the subtitles alone), and it was a little annoying how the characters just came out and announced their emotions. I mean, I understand that that's how fairy tales work, but it doesn't translate well to film. That's what I like about the Disney version: It doesn't follow the original story as closely, but it makes a wonderful film. Plus, it seems to me that everyone already knows what the moral is going to be from the beginning (the Beast even says, "I have a good heart." NO, really!? You DO!? I couldn't have guessed!) The character doesn't grow or change. He's sweet (and totally whipped) from the second he meets Belle. It's just.... It wasn't as good of a film. (I did notice something interesting.... There's one bit where Belle's dad is running about outside the castle, and the score does this little six-note sequence that is EXACTLY like a more ominous version of the first six notes leading into "Something There." Am I imagining things? I mean, it only happens once....) Still, good movie. Just one question: Who names a horse Magnificent!?

Margos wrote:Just one question: Who names a horse Magnificent!?

For that matter, who names a horse Destiny?

Anyway, La Belle et la Bête is probably my second favorite interpretation of the story (my favorite is the 1987-1990 CBS series). I think my favorite from Cocteau is Orphée, his contemporary interpretation of the story of Orpheus. Jean Marais (La Bête and Avenant) plays Orpheus.

If you want to see a shameless remake of Cocteau's film, check out the Faerie Tale Theatre version with Susan Sarandon and Klaus Kinski.

albert

Escapay wrote:

Margos wrote:Just one question: Who names a horse Magnificent!?

For that matter, who names a horse Destiny?

Only Prince Edward would do such a thing!

The Runaways - 5/10 - Not very good. If you want to know about the Runaways, see Edgeplay instead. Much better.

DaveWadding wrote:The Runaways - 5/10 - Not very good. If you want to know about the Runaways, see Edgeplay instead. Much better.

If you want to learn about The Runaways, yes, but keep in mind Joan Jett is not a part of that documentary.

The Runaways was more authentic in its treatment of what the girls were going through in order to become musicians in the first all-girl punk/rock band. Kim Fowley was a demi-god who mis-directed the girls in so many ways.

I think the film was true to the book Cherie Currie wrote and the screenplay is based on.

The film was more about how the band became who they were and their short-lived 15 minutes of fame. Kristen Taylor had Joan Jett down to the attitude, and Dakota Fanning nailed Cherie Currie down to the blond hair and drug use.

"Edgeplay" doesn't show anything about what the band went through and they ignore the fact that Joan Jett was the true driving force in The Runaways.

NOTE to Dave Wadding: You need to learn a little about the history of The Runaways and then watch the movie and see exactly how true-to-the-times the movie was.

I have not been here in a long time so I've got to cover a while here...

When I was in LA (finishing my first movie by the way) I saw Despicable Me. I enjoyed it quite a bit however think it was rather hyped up. Good ol' fashion cartoon violence is always nice though. On my plane back I watched Toy Story 3 again which was almost as emotional the second time. When I got back from LA I had to start on my way to my new home at the U of Ottawa. In an Ottawa hotel I saw the last 30 minutes or so of Mr. Magorium's Wonder Emporium which I've seen in the pas and liked. However they also had all you can watch Sony on demand titles from the 40's to 2001 so I watched the 1991 TV movie I Still Dream of Jeannie and boy was that cheesy. I did enjoy seeing Barbra Eden again as our favorite non Disney genie but it seems more dated now than the original series! After that it was time for Lou Costello in The 500 Foot Bride of Candy Rock. I had wanted to see it for a long time and it was really quite disappointing. It was pleasant but far from a good film. It rarely was able to keep my attention. After moving in here I saw The Expendables with some new friends. That was... Interesting. I can't tell if I liked it or not. Parts were boring and seem disjointed and the direction is generally awful but when there was action that was not plagued with CG it was fun. finally we come to Saturday night. The fateful night when at a local to Ottawa art house/old/classic/etc. movie house my The Rocky Horror Picture Show virginity was lost. they do it every month and now I hope to have the money to do so at LEAST every other.


-Skyler

So I don't forget for my movie blog:

Drag Me to Hell - Not as great as expected... I like Alison Lohman and Justin Long, and they were both fine acting-wise, but I don't know. Just didn't do it for me.

Martyrs - I really enjoyed this. It's French, and was billed as the "Goriest movie of 2009", but I really didn't think it was that gory. Fantastic film, regardless.

Zombieland - Fun, entertaining... exactly what you'd expect. I love Emma Stone!

Lazario wrote:

Scarred4life wrote:What Happens in Vegas- 2/5- I hate Cameron Diaz. I really, really do.

A lot of people think she's an amazing actress. I don't really see it.

It may help if you find her sexually attractive. I don't necessarily consider her an "amazing" actress (in that she can take on any role, deliver every line in an Oscar-worthy performance, and evoke great emotions without being heavy-handed), but she is entertaining to watch.

I just finished The Last Dragon, it was OK, I haven't seen it before.