DVDizzy Forum

Watched Pretty Woman -10th Anniversary Edition and had forgotten exactly how charming this movie is. Starring Richard Gere, Julia Roberts and Jason Alexander this modern day story of romance just made me laugh and cry and sometimes at the same time. Julia Roberts is at her best as Vivian, a young lady off the streets, who is picked up by Richard Gere who can't drive the Lotus car he is in and is lost trying to find Beverly Hills. Laura San Giacomo is brilliant in a supporting role as Vivian's roommate. I will definitely not wait these many years to watch this film again. I had forgotten how well made it is, and the extras are very worthwhile. Maybe this will get a Blu-ray treatment really soon so we can get an anamorphic print to view.

BelleGirl wrote:The Great Mouse Detective for the first time on my own dvd.

Which do you prefer: the original version? Or the Dutch version, like me?


Thelma & Louise (1991)

For the... fourth time? I lost count. Somebody please explain to me why this is considered a "women's movie". Because it stars two women? Then why is a film starring a man (the vast majority of all movies) never called a "guy flick"? I love this one, and I'm sure I'll revisit it a lot in the future.

Oh, and Geena Davis <3

Chinatown - It was pretty good. I definitely like it better than The Matlese Falcon and Double Indemnity, but I think it's on the same level as Out of the Past for me. I don't really know what else to say. I liked it and it was pretty good. I probably won't ever watch it again (at least not any time soon), but it was enjoyable.

Just read the review of Unstoppable on DVD Dizzy, and once again I am appalled at the lack of research done in finding out about the sources for this story of this Tony Scott action movie.

A mild reference is made to a train called the "crazy eights" as the basis of this story. If the reviewer did his homework he would have found out that the story of "Unstoppable" was based on the 'misadventures' of CRX 8888 in the state of Ohio, and it was a "coaster" on at least three separate occasions, one of which lasted about two hours.

Tony Scott, Director of "Unstoppable" wanted as much realism as he could get for this movie which stars Denzel Washington and Chris Pine, along with Rosario Dawson. He based this movie on a combination of those 'adventures' of CRX8888, leading to more credible scenes in the movie.

If a person is going to do a decent review of a movie, he should do his homework on it, just a little bit more.

Other than that, the review was pretty decent, and I found to be very agreeable on most points in the review.

dvdjunkie wrote:Just read the review of Unstoppable on DVD Dizzy, and once again I am appalled at the lack of research done in finding out about the sources for this story of this Tony Scott action movie.

If a person is going to do a decent review of a movie, he should do his homework on it, just a little bit more.

No offense Junkie, but the reviewers are writing about the films; they aren't writing a history book.

Even more films I've watched:

Land of the Lost - I usually enjoy Will Ferrell films, and I grew up with Land of the Lost, so I was wanting to see how they did with this film. At first I was hesitant about them changing the dynamic from a father and 2 kids, to 3 unrelated adults, but adult Holly was quite cute, so all is forgiven! It was pretty fun, and it captured the feel of the original show, but was far enough from it that it really isn't a "remake."

Iron Monkey 2 - A vastly inferior (and confusing) "sequel" to the first film, this one is a mess on all levels, and not really worth watching.

New Mr. Vampire - Spinning off from the Mr. Vampire series, this had a couple of competing brothers who are priests. One decides to cause trouble by resurrecting a corpse, and chaos ensues. There are some pretty funny sequences when a young grave-robber accidentally resurrects a female corpse, who is mysteriously bound to him, copying his movements exactly.

Magic Cop - Lam Ching-ying plays an updated version of his Taoist Priest character from the Mr. Vampire films, as a police officer who has to deal with a gang using black magic to aid them in drug deals. There are some younger cops who dismiss anything supernatural, until "Uncle Feng" saves them from a killer zombie controlled by the witch.

Poison Ivy - I was going to start this last night, and got too tired. I'm starting it next. It's a summer camp movie with Michael J. Fox and Nancy McKeon.

dvdjunkie wrote:Tony Scott, Director of "Unstoppable" wanted as much realism as he could get for this movie which stars Denzel Washington and Chris Pine, along with Rosario Dawson.

A realistic movie from Tony Scott? That's a bit much to ask! He makes popcorn flicks. Just enjoy them, but don't pretend they're anything but that.

Just working my way through the rest of the 2010 Oscar contending animated features. I’ve already seen Despicable Me, How to Train Your Dragon, Legend of the Guardians, Shrek Forever After, Rapunzel, and Toy Story 3. Now I can mark three more off my list:

My Dog Tulip (2009) 5/10 - boring and pointless; like My Neighbors the Yamadas, it tries to capture the irrelevant everyday. It’s just some guy narrating his struggle to raise a dog, no actual story or character development. For anyone who has seen the Dog Whisperer or owns a dog, you will notice right off the bat that this guy does just about everything possible wrong, and some of which could be considered irresponsible, abuse even. While this is drawn like a children's book, it features some graphic images that parents may not want their children to see, if they want to avoid having to explain some things for a little while longer. I appreciate them being creative in their art direction but I just didn’t care for the style (or animation for that matter). Suffice to say, like My Neighbors the Yamadas, I pretty much hated it.

Summer Wars (2009) 7/10 - the next film by Mamoru Hosoda, the man responsible for The Girl Who Leapt Through Time (a movie that very much impressed me). It's the story of a high school boy visiting a girl's family get-together (held to celebrate their grandma's birthday) while pretending to be her fiancé to make the grandma happy before she dies. It starts off well enough, with interesting characters and scenario but it begins to lose focus towards the end as it starts concentrating on the DigiWorld..err...OZ. The end basically rips-off Hosoda's earlier film, Digimon: Our War Game, in addition to being filled with a number of other anime clichés that were hard to digest. I also hated just how into these games the characters would get, even before any real world stakes are raised, as they act out all the emotions their characters are feeling (think Randy in the South Park classic, Make Love, Not Warcraft). It's at this point that the main character (unintentionally?) does the SpongeBob crazy eyes thing. Still, the stuff happening in the real world between the family members is truly the heart of the movie. The only other problem I had was the grandma and her endless monologues and cheesy motivational speeches. I wanted her dead so I wouldn't have to hear another and when she finally dies, she gives another speech in the form of a letter (is there no escaping her cheesy monologues?). In the end, it just didn't resonate as The Girl Who Leapt Through Time did.

For those interested, below is a link to a site outlining many of the similarities between Summer Wars and Digimon: Our War Game:

http://daemoncorps.wordpress.com/tag/our-war-game/

The Illusionist (2010) 6.5/10 - Sylvain Chomet’s best film yet, but still disappointing, since I really wanted it to be great. It looks and feels more down to earth then either The Old Lady and the Pigeons or The Triplets of Belleville (look for cameos from both), but it retains Chomet’s unique style. Once again, like his previous efforts, this is essentially a silent film told entirely through visuals (which is very cool, no dub required). The animation is drop dead gorgeous and there is always something interesting going on in those regards. There was a couple of gags that had me laughing pretty hard. Unfortunately, the story is rather dull at times. Neither of the main characters grow or learn anything from their experiences and the story doesn’t really go anywhere. That said, it held my attention with the interesting visuals and the excellent direction, just didn’t hold up to my expectations. Still worth a look.

It’s sad that the only hand drawn animated features are the foreign ones. They’re also the only ones to make bold artistic choices in their style and direction (as opposed to the 'safe' computer animated features). Now I just need to see Megamind and I’ve hit all the major Oscar contenders.

Goliath wrote:

BelleGirl wrote:The Great Mouse Detective for the first time on my own dvd.

Which do you prefer: the original version? Or the Dutch version, like me?

I cannot tell, since I haven't tried the Dutch version yet. I choose the original version by default. (In once tried to watch "Hercules" in Hungarian for fun -with subtitles on of course, but I quickly got tired of it. )

Saw Inception the other night. I really enjoyed it, but I don't understand the hype at all. I think I mostly didn't understand how everyone said it was soooOOOoo confusing...not really. Still, I thought it was an interesting concept to have the "die to wake up" thing. Kind of refers to a bunch of Plato's ideas.

The movie was about 30 minutes to an hour overlong though--like most other action movies these days.

Watched Due Date on Blu-ray, starring Robert Downey Jr. and Zack Galiafanakis. From the trailers you would think this is going to be a knock-down laugh-a-minute movie, and I am sad to say that you really have to wait a long time for any type of chuckle. The whole premise of "two and a half men" being the focal point of going to California, along with Downey trying to get home for the birth of his baby, should have produced more laughs, but honestly, the laughs that are there are good, just not enough of them.

BelleGirl wrote:I cannot tell, since I haven't tried the Dutch version yet. I choose the original version by default. (In once tried to watch "Hercules" in Hungarian for fun -with subtitles on of course, but I quickly got tired of it. )

Oh, okay. You see, I grew up with the Dutch version as a kid. Did you know the Dutch voice of Basil was done by Paul van Gorcum (who you undoubtely know for his role as the Baron in 'Bassie & Adriaan'). Now if *that* doesn't make you curious...

My library has been getting my favorite movies on Blu-Ray and I've been like a (fat) kid in a (free) candy store:

The Godfather (1972) 9/10 -I've only seen this once before and was entirely impressed. Surprisingly, I loved it even more this time. I looked for flaws but this movie is as close to flawless as you get. Prefect pacing, characterizations, musical score, cinematography, story; it's all just so excellent. No scene feels unnecessary or overly long or rushed. Add to that me being a huge sucker for these period pieces and you've got one of my all time favorites. I seriously need to own this movie.

As for the PQ on the Blu-Ray, it looks bad. Overly grainy and soft, but it can't be helped. For anyone who has read about the amount of abuse that Paramount inflicted on the original negative, you would be impressed that it looks as good as it does. The next time the Blu-Ray trilogy pack goes on sale, I missed it for $25 on Amazon, I'll pick it up.

The Shawshank Redemption (1994) 8/10 - great movie, holds up on second viewing but I'm not sure why it's #1 on IMDB. Far better then your average prison break movie. You just get soo engrossed in the story and wrapped up in the characters. The major flaw is the endless amount of endings, much like Lord of the Rings, in which it dragged. Also has a well suited score by Thomas Newman.

Braveheart (1995) 7.5/10 - pretty good movie. It depicts the horrors of imperialism inflicted by monarchs and one man's fight for freedom. You get involved in the story and characters. The pacing feels a little off though as some sequences feel a little repetitive. It has the same runtime as The Godfather and yet it feels too long, where as The Godfather felt just right in length (it also felt like it used it's runtime more effectively, more seemed to happen then in Braveheart). Still, above average film directed by Mel Gibson. It also contains what is possibly James Horner's finest film score, incredibly moving and memorable.

@ jpanimation: I absolutely agree with your score on The Godfather- Part II and The Shawshank Redemption, but I loathe Braveheart with passion. I only like to point out all the on-screen goofs.


Un prophete (2009)

A prison drama/action film like you've never seen before. Malik (brilliantly played by Tahar Rahim) is an Arab Frenchman who gets sought out by the Corsican gang to commit murder on one of their rivals in prison. After that, Malik becomes the one Arab in the Corsican gang (whose leader is played by Niels Arestrup as a villain you love to hate), who is feuding with the other Arabs. Malik plays a delicate and smart game in which he sides with one group or the other, depending on his own personal gain. At 155 minutes, it's at least half an hour too long, but other than that, it's really worth all the international praise it has gained.

I decided to check out some of Makoto Shinkai’s work, after hearing how great he was and holding out so long. I was hoping to find the next Hayao Miyazaki or Satoshi Kon (or at the very least rank have him rank up there with television greats like Kenji Kamiyama or Shinichirō Watanabe). I was disappointed to say the least.

Their Standing Points (1999) 6/10 - Makoto Shinkai’s first short. A pointless little thing centered around a cat talking about how much he loves his owner. Like much of his work, it places precedence on the cinematography. Not much worth seeing but at least it was only 4 minutes in length.

Voices of a Distant Star (2003) 6/10 - a 25 minute short film written, directed and produced entirely by Makoto Shinkai on his Power Mac G4. He and his wife even did the voice acting, with his only outside help being the piano score. So as far as that goes, I’m impressed with such an accomplishment. Unfortunately, the actual short isn’t very good. The story is boring, I didn’t care for the characters or events, any of it. The character designs are the typical bland fugly anime designs (pointy noses, pointy chins, large eyes, etc.). The animation is poor, almost seems like flash was used. The main redeeming factor is the wonderful background art and cinematography. At this point I have no desire to watch this again. Also, avoid the english dub at all costs, it’s absolutely terrible.

The Place Promised in Our Early Days (2004) 6/10 - Makoto Shinkai’s first animated feature seems to suffer the same problems as his shorts. He puts too much emphasis on the cinematography and background artwork and not enough time on the story or making interesting characters. Him using a piano score for all his works is getting tiresome and the character designs are only a minor improvement. I’m not at all impressed with this guy as he seems more concerned with the visual aspects of these than any part of the storytelling.

5 Centimeters Per Second (2007) 7/10 - Makoto Shinkai’s second animated feature, if it can be called that at just over an hour, is a collection of 3 short films all dealing with the same characters. As always, he seems more worried about the visuals (beautiful backgrounds and cinematography) then the story but the character’s relationships are handled much better here and the whole production feels much less hollow as a result. It also lacks any of the half-assed sci-fi crap he was shoving into his other productions, much more down-to-earth, and yet it deals with the familiar themes found in everything he does (separation and longing). I enjoyed it, the runtime was perfect but I could’ve done without the crappy montage at the end (that’s my major complaint). Still, much better.

I’ve seen the trailer for Shinkai’s next feature and it looks like he’s stealing Ghibli’s character design style, which is great because while I love his background art, I’m not exactly a fan of his current overly anime character designs. Maybe he'll make another risk and not use the tired piano score? Wishful thinking I guess.

The Way We Were - When I wasn't distracted by Babs' bright-red super-long fingernails, I saw some good acting and a decent plot. It's a good way to waste a couple of hours.

Funny Girl - Fantastic late 60's musical extravaganza, with a wonderful performance by Streisand. That final scene STILL gives me chills.

Funny Lady - Not the atrocity many make it out to be, but definitely not the fantastic film the original was. Great musical numbers, as one expects in a Streisand musical film.

Another couple of days, another couple of movies (well, a FEW more than that...)

First up:
Whoopie! A 1930 western/musical in Technicolor, this is the first Eddie Cantor film I've seen. Of course, he sings Makin' Whoopie. There is an extended blackface sequence in this. Overall, the film was enjoyable, although I probably wouldn't watch it again.

Jury Duty - Pauly Shore - If you like him, you know what you are getting, if you don't like him, don't bother. This was a pretty fun film where Pauly tries to stretch out a cushy stay at a hotel during a sequestered jury trial.

The Musical Vampire (aka The New Mr. Vampire 2 according to Wikipedia.) - Yet another one of the horror/comedy films from Hong Kong featuring the unibrowed Taoist priest, this features a vampire that is resistant to traditional magic, unless he hears the music from a pocket-watch.

The Pacifier - Vin Diesel is a SEAL who has to protect some kids while their mother is away. While it's kind of formulaic (Mr. Nanny, The Spy Next Door), it was still fun.

Vampire vs. Vampire (aka The New Mr. Vampire III, I think.) - This time you have a gaggle of Chinese nuns, a western-style vampire who can't be tamed with eastern methods, and a cute kid "hopping" vampire.

Hocus Pocus - Disney's take on witches, with three of them comign back to steal the life force of children.

Night at the Museum - Ben Stiller is a watchman at a musem where everything comes to life. I actually don't mind his acting in this, maybe it's just in some films like Heavyweights or Dodgeball, he's playing a detestable villain, so you aren't supposed to like him...

Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian - the exhibits get moved to Washington D.C., where they have to face off with an evil Egyptian prince who wants to rule the world. Also, Amelia Earhart was poured into some suitably skin-tight pants, which were quite the distraction!

Tower of Terror - Another Disney film, this time a TV movie based on the attraction. This story about a haunted hotel was OK, it would have been interesting to see it done big budget style (like PotC.)

Watched Young Doctors In Love (1982), a zany spoof of Hospitals and soap operas with a really good cast that includes Michael McKean, Sean Young, Rick Overton, Michael Richards and some early member of General Hospital thrown in the mix. Lots of fun as this film light plot is about a doctor who can't stand the sight of blood, and a group of trainees who can't seem to get the diagnosis correct all the time. Michael Richards steals every scene he is in, and like "Airplane", "Top Secret", and other zany movies of this genre, this one rises to the top of lot. Highly recommended.

Goliath wrote:

Mooky wrote:It wasn't really a public debate per se - I'm not sure how much you know about the war in Bosnia and its aftermath – but basically, the movie caused a public concern over how the side that committed the atrocities discussed in the movie would be shown. It was pretty much a matter of political correctness – thankfully, the director didn't cave in to the pressure and didn't try to sugarcoat anything, choosing instead to tell it like it was. And yes, in the end, the movie turned out to be quite successful and publicly acclaimed.

Well, I think I know quite a lot about the Balkan wars, though not into details, and I'm sure my point of view would differ greatly from those who went through it. I think I wouldn't make myself popular with any ethnic group by claiming all sides have committed atrocities in the wars --that's not to say there were no 'agressors' or 'victims', but like I said, I think that a movie about such a painful and very recent topic will always be one-sided, depending on the country it was made in. I think it's too fresh a topic.

Well, generally I'd agree if the movie explored the background of the war – then yes, a historical distance would be a necessity. However, since the movie is a small, intimate tale that uses certain war events as a backbone for its main topic, there is no need for beating around the bush in identifying the guilty party (which is pretty easy in a case like this), no matter how one-sided that might be. I really like your thoughts on the subject, btw.

But enough of this gloomy matter. I'm sorry for derailing this thread considering it's one of the few ones on UD that wasn't spoiled by constant off-topicness. I always enjoy reading your mini-reviews, guys.

dvdjunkie wrote:Watched Young Doctors In Love (1982), a zany spoof of Hospitals and soap operas with a really good cast that includes Michael McKean, Sean Young, Rick Overton, Michael Richards and some early member of General Hospital thrown in the mix. Lots of fun as this film light plot is about a doctor who can't stand the sight of blood, and a group of trainees who can't seem to get the diagnosis correct all the time. Michael Richards steals every scene he is in, and like "Airplane", "Top Secret", and other zany movies of this genre, this one rises to the top of lot. Highly recommended.

Can you tell me if there was a joke involving a giant catheter bag in this one? I saw something with a joke like that a long time ago, and I can't recall what it was. I watched one called Frankenstein General Hospital a couple of months ago, and it had a giant catheter bag scene, but it seemed different to the one that I recalled.

littlefuzzy wrote:Vampire vs. Vampire (aka The New Mr. Vampire III, I think.) - This time you have a gaggle of Chinese nuns, a western-style vampire who can't be tamed with eastern methods, and a cute kid "hopping" vampire.

Whoops, I goofed on the "aka" title. Some of these Hong Kong movies get confusing on their titles, firstly because of differing translations, and secondly because they may be renamed in order to capitalize on a more well-known film.

I watched The Ultimate Vampire today, this one is the one that should have the aka of The New Mr. Vampire 3. First, the priest's bumbling assistants take out some "Hell Police", thus releasing all the ghosts that the Hell Police were guarding. Then, they spy another priest's pupil secretly using his powers to try to molest a girl while he is in a ghostly state, so they steal his body to cause him some grief. Unfortunately, wild dogs maul the body, and his master brings the pupil back as a vampire, to get revenge on the first priest and his assistants.

I also watched Disney's Haunted Mansion, Eddie Murphy and his family deal with a few ghosts in the film based on the Disney attraction.

Up next, Meatballs - Bill Murray takes part in the usual hijinks as a counselor at summer camp.