DVDizzy Forum

I went and watched The Lovely Bones again to get my thoughts upon second viewing. Mostly still the same, and it's a bit depressing, but I enjoy the film nonetheless. I just dont see how it could be considered one of the worst adaptations of recent years.

Mr. Magorium's Wonder Emporium- I recorded it last night on ABC Family and watched it today. It's a cute movie, but nothing great. It's got some nice things about it, but its largely just a cute whimsical film. Some moments are amuzing, and others a tad dumb. not a bad movie.

Ill be in my lonesome corner, but Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakuel isnt bad. It's average, but the songs are okay and while there is no drop of classic Alvin blood, the characters are still true to themselves. It's corny, but watchable.

And as usual, the rental gets programed with no features whatsoever. I hope they're on youtube.

ajmrowland wrote:Ill be in my lonesome corner, but Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakuel isnt bad. It's average, but the songs are okay and while there is no drop of classic Alvin blood, the characters are still true to themselves. It's corny, but watchable.

And as usual, the rental gets programed with no features whatsoever. I hope they're on youtube.

I loved it. I'm not saying it's a masterpiece, but I thought the Chippettes and David Cross made the movie. On the Chipmunks' end it was lacking somewhat (definitely missed Dave having a daily presence for the 'munks), though I don't really agree that there is none of the classic Alvin in the current one. He spouts too many one-liners, but I still felt he had his true Alvin moments. Not enough, but some, and I think Simon and Theodore have been excellent in both films. I wish they would've let Alvin keep his cap from the end of the first movie though, I gotta say. And, the first movie over all was much better, but having the Chipettes gives the second one a ton of extra points in my book. Thought they were very well done, though I didn't like them ending up *spoiler alert* --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------living with the Chipmunks. They should have had their own home with a live-action Ms. Miller, ha.

Been at least ten years since I watched one of my favorite Disney live-action flicks, The Last Flight of Noah's Ark starring Elliott Gould.

Just a pure fun movie to watch, and I am glad that it is in my collection.

As a follow-up we watched Melody Time and the grandkids just loved this one. It truly has something for everyone.

slave2moonlight wrote:

ajmrowland wrote:Ill be in my lonesome corner, but Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakuel isnt bad. It's average, but the songs are okay and while there is no drop of classic Alvin blood, the characters are still true to themselves. It's corny, but watchable.

And as usual, the rental gets programed with no features whatsoever. I hope they're on youtube.

I loved it. I'm not saying it's a masterpiece, but I thought the Chippettes and David Cross made the movie. On the Chipmunks' end it was lacking somewhat (definitely missed Dave having a daily presence for the 'munks), though I don't really agree that there is none of the classic Alvin in the current one. He spouts too many one-liners, but I still felt he had his true Alvin moments. Not enough, but some, and I think Simon and Theodore have been excellent in both films. I wish they would've let Alvin keep his cap from the end of the first movie though, I gotta say. And, the first movie over all was much better, but having the Chipettes gives the second one a ton of extra points in my book. Thought they were very well done, though I didn't like them ending up *spoiler alert* --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------living with the Chipmunks. They should have had their own home with a live-action Ms. Miller, ha.

By "Classic" I meant the music. Otherwise, it was a nice movie. A few weird things here and there, but good. just sayin. I didnt like that end part much either, but I guessd it was temporary.

Just watched The Emperor's new Groove with my father. We both enjoyed it much. It is a lighthearted but hilarious movie. My father remarked: "how could they make this up"?

Still I'm wondering how the film could have been had it remained 'The empire of the sun' with the prince and pauper theme. Not much 'prince and pauper' in it anymore, but instead a moral lesson: 'spoiled egoistic person gets a lesson in humility and becomes a better person for it' (oh wait, that is still a bit like prince and pauper) . TENG manages to convey this message without being preachy.

Kung Fu Hustle - One of my most favorite films...

I have to watch it just about every year. Shaolin Soccer isn't far behind, but the music, period feel, and Looney Tunes elements really push Kung Fu Hustle over the top for me.

Of course, since I watched KFH yesterday, I have to throw Shaolin Soccer in there, as well.

Still is what it was before, the greatest movie of the new-millennium because it's really about the oncoming of the new-millennium and how ridiculously hard-to-believe everything has become. That only addresses the takeover of everything with character by everything cheap we've had to endure (though some of us have, disturbingly: gladly) and the fact that the end of the movie is existential / not entirely real. Of course, there's a whole lot more to the movie. Everything, nearly 10 years later, holds up beautifully. And the movie continues to reveal itself as something with tons more guts than other drama / comedy hybrid movies this last 10 / almost 10 and a half years.







Obviously it's Hollywood (and I'm not referring to the fact that the story is 90% about show business), so... it's on its' own wavelength rather than everyone's. But it really knows what it's talking about. The parent vs. child bickering is incredibly lightweight for a drama but the stuff about the sort of 'one day at a time' recovery of someone with a serious problem does hit very close to home. And hey, the acting more than makes up for the lightness of the material and there's just enough cleverness to the dialogue to make it worth mentioning.

@ Margos: I wish I could help you with your questions about certain plot points in Metropolis, but it's been quite a while since I watched it. Maybe jpanimation can help you?

I've never seen the 'new', so-called 'complete' restauration, but I own a dvd from 2001 which also claims it has all the footage that was left. I guess they keep on finding new material. Maybe I'll watch it ob YouTube, but that's not really the way to watch such a masterpiece. I'm just lucky German is no problem to me at all!

I've just watched A woman of Paris (1923), a film directed by Charles Chaplin in which he doesn't play a part himself. I'm a sucker for silent films; it's hard to explain why, but I just marvel at them. But this one I found really boring, even for a 1923 film.

Never quite thought I'd see the day when I began to think Tenebre was edging itself closer to masterpiece status than Opera, but we're getting there. I always felt Tenebre might have been a victim of a lower budget, maybe even the suppression of Argento's keen mastery of the 2.35:1 widescreen ratio. Then Opera tries to recapture the old Deep Red days and it just can't. Mostly because Goblin are gone and Argento borrows way too much from his close friend Lamberto Bava's Demons movies. He may have started the trend of using hard rock songs by popular international bands the year before Demons, but the fact that he continues to use them here is not wise. Only one of them is actually able to enhance a scene ("No Escape" by The Group Norden Light). The film as a whole does easily edge out the troubled Phenomena and the completely nonsensical Inferno. But I used to give this film more credit than Tenebre because it seemed to care about the characters more. Now I see that purity is more important and Tenebre has that advantage over Opera. As for budget, this is Argento so he can make any of his movies look like it cost a million more than it did. So, the fact that this film looks better than Phenomena was a step in the right direction. It lacks that the charm of that film being Argento's last supernatural feature (prior to the quite wretched Mother of Tears in 2007, 20 years after Opera). But is able to come up with another very unique and signature feel for this film that sets it dramatically apart from his other slasher films (Deep Red and Tenebre). And unlike Phenomena's Jennifer and Suspiria's Suzy, Opera's Betty is almost completely unsympathetic. Which is good. For a change, she's a different voice for an Argento film and is just about the only character I think would serve well in a true sequel. Except for maybe Trauma's Aura. Other Argento films have stronger, more interesting main characters. In this case, there's more going on in spite of Betty than inside of her. The supporting cast are a mixed bag. Demons 2's Coralina Cataldi-Tassoni is fabulous (as usual- I first caught her in Troma's Evil Clutch and Argento fan Loris Curci hates that film). She always has energy to spare, and apparently, she liked working on these films so much that she returned for Mother of Tears. An interesting note, the killer (this isn't a spoiler since the film shows us his identity in the first half hour) from 1995's Copycat, an American actor, turns up in this film alongside Argento's usual international melting pot - this time of Brits, Italians, and Betty (Cristina Marsillach) is Spanish. Typically stunning, a little shoddy (mostly due to music, though the needles gag is imperfect in design - you can't put the actress at risk and that comes through loud and clear during the scene), but full of vague Argento wonder and skill.

As a family in the new home we watched Disney/Pixar's Finding Nemo and the fabulous Up.

With the grandkids, it was a different experience watching these two films because they are getting older now and pay more attention to the movies. The six-year-old and the five-year-old were the most attentive in "Finding Nemo", and it was a joy to hear them cheer for the finding of their favorite "fish are friends, not food".

"Up" was just a perfect night cap for a movie, and everyone enjoyed watching this as a family. What a great night at the movies, in the Junkie Home Theater.

Goliath wrote:@ Margos: I wish I could help you with your questions about certain plot points in Metropolis, but it's been quite a while since I watched it. Maybe jpanimation can help you?

I've never seen the 'new', so-called 'complete' restauration, but I own a dvd from 2001 which also claims it has all the footage that was left. I guess they keep on finding new material. Maybe I'll watch it ob YouTube, but that's not really the way to watch such a masterpiece. I'm just lucky German is no problem to me at all!

Yup, the 2001 version is about 2 hours long, and it's all they had back then. They found about 25 minutes of the lost half-hour in Argentina in 2008. I doubt that they're going to find the other two scenes (which is kind of a shame, since one is reprised by the famous "Whore of Babylon" sequence, and the other is an epic battle between Fredersen and Rotwang). But yeah, definitely watch the complete version, it really, really helps with understanding the subplots.

Masters of Horror: John Landis: Family

This was the first "episode" of Masters of Horror that I had seen, and I watched it for one reason: Meredith Monroe. I've loved her since her Dawson's Creek days, and this was no exception here. Her acting was superb, as well as the entire episode. Like I said, I had never seen an episode of this Showtime series before, so I didn't really know what to expect. It wasn't as "scary" or gory as I expected it to be, for a Showtime show. It was actually rather comedic, and had a dark humor vibe going for it all throughout. The subject was, of course, very dark, but the actor who played the main character was so... gentle, I should say, that it was hard to see him as a killer. Until the end. The twist, while not necessarily surprising, was both hilarious and depressing. When Monroe says, "She was wearing the same green dress!" and cries into her husband's arms, I felt chills. They were immedietly halted, though, once the other twist was revealed, and the final scene left me reaching to make sure my nose was still intact. (You won't get that unless you've seen the episode, lol.) I'll definitely be checking out more. Which do you guys recommend?

PeterPanfan wrote:Masters of Horror: John Landis: Family

This was the first "episode" of Masters of Horror that I had seen, and I watched it for one reason: Meredith Monroe.

I couldn't get Dawson's Creek out of my head when I was watching this episode.

PeterPanfan wrote:I've loved her since her Dawson's Creek days, and this was no exception here. Her acting was superb

She's got a keen calm under pressure thing going on here... But she can't do it edgy. She's just too TV for Masters of Horror's better work. But if calm under pressure is more important than anything else- she gives that in spades. Which keeps the episode from being really disturbing. And that's a hindrance, a slight negative. I think very few people came to the series for her. But I enjoyed the idea she was in it before I saw it. And I noticed her right away before the show came to DVD and on-Demand and all that. They used to run promo clips on the internet. And though I've only seen her in maybe 4 DC episodes, I knew who she was. She was really great during 1 moment in particular. The bits where he thought she was saying something that she really wasn't. And the shot would cut back to her in calm mode.

PeterPanfan wrote:Like I said, I had never seen an episode of this Showtime series before, so I didn't really know what to expect.

I was really pimping it around here about 2 years ago... But now I'm starting to sour on it a bit. It doesn't hold up well after you've seen the episodes a few times. It's way too made-for-TV when that's exactly what they were trying to avoid.

PeterPanfan wrote:It wasn't as "scary" or gory as I expected it to be, for a Showtime show.

Neither was Deer Woman, John Landis's 1st season episode. But then, his last horror film was Innocent Blood and it's one of my fav's but he's more into interesting ideas and playing with the genre than about scaring people.

PeterPanfan wrote:It was actually rather comedic, and had a dark humor vibe going for it all throughout. The subject was, of course, very dark, but the actor who played the main character was so... gentle, I should say, that it was hard to see him as a killer.

The whole thing was way too gentle. I don't know if that's a problem though, because I've seen the alternative. And if this has to be Saw or Wolf Creek to be scary or gory, I'd rather they kept on with the Hitchcock approach instead. Even though John Landis used to have such a flair for tension and spookiness (An American Werewolf in London, the "Midnight Special" scenes in Twilight Zone: the Movie). All gone now.

PeterPanfan wrote:Until the end. The twist, while not necessarily surprising, was both hilarious and depressing. When Monroe says, "She was wearing the same green dress!" and cries into her husband's arms, I felt chills. They were immedietly halted, though, once the other twist was revealed, and the final scene left me reaching to make sure my nose was still intact. (You won't get that unless you've seen the episode, lol.)

Oh, I hated that 2nd twist. It's really an expansion on the dream sequence in The Last House on the Left (1972). And poorly shot, to me. Not just the gag you mentioned (something remarkably similar was already done in one of Green Day's music videos... "Geek Stink Breath" I believe). Everything from the blood (thanks to the Saw generation, we know there will be blood) (that was actually just a joke, I blame the Saw factory for the stale, boring, stiff look to every horror project now, but we know blood is essential to 95% of horror twists because of the Friday the 13th generation) to the costuming and just the way they were shot. I had to wonder what the point was. Torture or healing. It didn't make a statement. And once you knew what the twist was, all the potential chills drain right out of it. The camera just stays on those same 2 shots. The punch lacks anything. The cram is just unattractive. The gospel song adds nothing either way.

PeterPanfan wrote:I'll definitely be checking out more. Which do you guys recommend?

Then you certainly came to the right guy. I've seen almost all of them. Just shy of about 3 from Season 2.

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First thing to get out of the way... Season 2 is terrible. The most positive thing(s) I can say about Season 2 is: Right to Die. I freaking hate CGI so much I can't explain it. And that episode is heavy on it. But, despite that the episode is the best of the season. It has an amazing story, really smart. Amazing acting. And it's actually scary. But... CGI. So, be prepared to be taken right out of that scared feeling and maybe even have to groan a little bit. There's also one scene there with practical FX work (no computers) that stinks too. The other Season 2 episode that almost bears recommendation is The Screwfly Solution. Because it's a complete disappointment for me and almost everyone else who loves that director (Joe Dante - Gremlins, The Howling, Piranha, Gremlins 2: The New Batch) but if you think about this happening in real life - it becomes so intense... It's the scariest idea I've ever seen in a movie. Because it could almost really happen.

Season 1 is a lot better. More stylish, less plain. A LOT more fun.

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Sick Girl is a MUST! It's quirky but it's impeccable. Everything is at the top of quality. Incident On and Off a Mountain Road is a guaranteed good time and I love Bree Turner anyway. Cigarette Burns is... not perfect but it's really interesting. And there's a certain lapdance scene that should not be missed! Trust me on this one. The token "Teen Drama" themed episode is Dance of the Dead and it's post-apocalyptic. If you've seen anything post-apocalyptic, you should have reservations about that alone. But it has good energy. And I adore that car scene. It's worth checking out for the car scene alone. The first time I saw Imprint, I was emotionally moved. Because I have no heart and I'm told this is a really nasty episode. It was even banned from the original Showtime airing of the 1st season. Nobody knows why. I personally think it must have been the whole Ring subplot. By that I actually mean, jewelry. If you have guts, you might try this because it's actually really beautiful despite all the intense graphic violence.

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If you're a Fairuza Balk addict like I am, you might have to see Pick Me Up. It's more noteworthy for trying to be a different kind of torture type movie. Way talky. But Fairuza's always amazing and, hey, it's Larry Cohen (Q the Winged Serpent was genius, The Stuff is pure 80's schlocky goodness, and It's Alive - the king of freak mutant baby movies; eat your heart out, Basket Case 2). Homecoming is political but boring. Really boring. I say skip, even though it's on the left side. I think you'll love The Fair Haired Child. It just came to me. You've got to see that one. It's got a monster in it and they can be silly. But it's got a lot of heart and smarts. Deer Woman is purely for straight guys. In every way. Truckers, boobs, bars, detectives, beer, casinos, motel hook-ups. And it's not the fun kind of straight either, the bored kind. There's only one truly amusing thing about the episode- the imagination scene. In fact, let me sum it up for ya :

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Cute Faline-deer blinks passively. Truckers scream in utter terror. You've been a lovely audience, g'night everybody! Probably the most famous episode of the show, the big cross-over was Jenifer and since that's Argento- I gotta say: finally the guy gets new-millennium crossover success. That's the biggest victim of not holding up after repeat viewings. Just watched it last Halloween and I squirmed the whole time. Not because it was too scary. But some people have been driven to see it just to see what all the fuss was about. The girl playing her is amazing. You only see her real face for a second but as the monster, she's so amazing to watch. The only thing about that episode I can recommend. Everyone walks away from Chocolate disappointed. Haekel's Tale is a total snooze. And I can't stand Dreams in the Witch House. That's actually a very well liked episode but I hate it so much.

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So... yes I can recommend a few and here's the ones I think have to be seen:

1. Sick Girl
2. The Fair Haired Child
3. Cigarette Burns
4. Incident On and Off a Mountain Road

And though flawed, you should also check out:

5. Right to Die
6. Pick Me Up
7. Dance of the Dead
8. The Washingtonians
9. Imprint (but be warned, it's about as nasty as it gets)

And though heavily flawed... and hugely depressing, you can try The Screwfly Solution. You might walk away from it thinking better of it than I did.

District 9- Good enough, but I'm not very eager to watch it again.

The Princess and the Frog - I'm sure I'm in a very tiny minority but after a second viewing I find it safe to say it's just not a very strong movie. It has heart, and some great characters, but what I found really brings it down is the mediocre music. I have never been a fan of Newman's (the exception being Toy Story 2's "When Somebody Loved Me") and the music here just falls flat on its' face. I can only imagine what heights Menken might have reached with a movie with this much potential. Oh well, I guess a feeling of ho-hum is all I'll ever get from this fairytale. 6/10

Disney-Fan wrote:The Princess and the Frog - I'm sure I'm in a very tiny minority but after a second viewing I find it safe to say it's just not a very strong movie.

You're definitely not alone in thinking that.








The original First Wives Club... or, if you prefer, Best Secretaries Club. This is not nearly the funniest movie ever made or the most clever. Plausibility stretches until it can't stretch anymore. There are a lot of gags here and that's the only real problem. Other than maybe it being almost 2 hours long, which means they run on a bit. But nonetheless it's a movie that makes me yearn for a return to the old way they used to do comedy. With some sense of real character (Lily Thomlin gives us that in spades) and Earthiness. The acting is of course spot on. And the pacing keeps you just interested enough to more than get through. A little ridiculous at times, but a quite satisfying conclusion despite those really bad written codas; "so and so" fell in love with the Xerox represenative? Why- is that supposed to be Fonda's funniest moment in the movie? Great cast. Good ideas. And never runs out of energy.

Wow, Laz, thanks for the recommendations! I plan to watch all the episodes, eventually. Just added two more to my repertoire:


Masters of Horror: Tobe Hooper: Dance of the Dead - My least favorite of the three I've seen. It wasn't horrible, but it wasn't great either. Jessica Lowndes, who I understand to be a main character on the new 90210, starred as Peggy, a teenager/waitress who is still burdened by the death of her sister and father from a weird explosion thing I didn't fully grasp years ago. Living with just her mother, she meets a boy her age at the diner one night, and he basically whisks her away to a bar, run by the MC played by Robert Englund. The "twist", which I had accidentally read about before hand, was kind of expected if you paid attention to how much Peggy talked about her sister, Anna. The other twist, or the ending, was disgusting and I had to turn away from the screen.

Masters of Horror: Larry Cohen: Pick Me Up - I watched this mainly because of Fairuza Balk. The plot was... out there. Two serial killers, one a hitchhiker, the other a picker-upper. The hitchhiker kills those stupid enough to offer him a ride, and the picker-upper kills those stupid enough to accept his offer for a ride. Heh. Fairuza Balk is caught in the middle of these two... literally. They all rent a motel room, Fairuza being in the middle. Some strange things happen after that, I'll leave them for you to decide about. My second favorite of the three I've watched so far. I'll most likely watch one more tonight.

Also, Laz, I was hoping you could answer this question: Do you know which DVD releases of A Nightmare on Elm Street would be the best to get? I was looking at two "collections" on Amazon, one from 1999,a nd the other from 2010... which do you recommend, if either?

Avatar (2009) 7/10 - I'm surprised by just how much my opinion of this movie hasn't changed since my original review (Click Here) written right after I saw it opening weekend in 3D. I found upon second viewing that I dislike the creature designs even more and I didn't enjoy the movie - as a whole - as much (without the 3D effects to distract, little problems I had with the movie were more apparent). Other then that, the review still reflects my feelings towards this movie. Also, the Blu-ray PQ is amazing.