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OK, here's the rundown on Lone Star..I rented the dvd a few yrs ago and ripped an mp4 copy cuz I knew I'd need it for some reason...funny how that works. It's not bvery big, def under 2gb...it plays fine on VLC media player..on windows media player I'm not getting an image, probbaly need to update it..so..if you want it, I have it. It's NOT blu ray quality, but I figure you can download it worry free, pop it on a thumb drive or sd card, and pop that bad boy into your hdtv so you can kick back and take it in...it's a lengthy affair so I recommend reclined viewing and not upright computer monitor viewing, which is what I'll be doing for most of these films lol (I promise to use an ottoman). Just let me know. It beats buying a dvd. Wish it were a blu ray but a lot of companies think dramas dont sell as well in HD so...whatevs.
Just wondering, what type of movie is lone star? It has pretty good reviews put the cover puts me off cause it looks pretty cheesy. might decide to watch it.



Just wondering, what type of movie is lone star? It has pretty good reviews put the cover puts me off cause it looks pretty cheesy. might decide to watch it.
The artwork doesn't match the gravity of the movie unless it's the sheriff's badge and skull version. It's a fictional historical mystery drama with a brave twist. Terrific performances across the board, great camera work and editing, and some humor. Good dialog from an excellent writer/director.



The artwork doesn't match the gravity of the movie unless it's the sheriff's badge and skull version. It's a fictional historical mystery drama with a brave twist. Terrific performances across the board, great camera work and editing, and some humor. Good dialog from an excellent writer/director.
Think I'll give it a try. I'll tell you what I think.



Women will be your undoing, Pépé
In Contratiempo, did the actress who played Virginia remind anyone else of Glenn Close? I kept picturing her in that role in my mind.
I was lol
and it was in a good way too
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Women will be your undoing, Pépé
great to hear you enjoyed Contratiempo, @cricket though being a mystery film it is kinda up your (dark) alley. I plan to do a rewatch at some point to revisit everything knowing what I know and will probably enjoy it even more.

Read your review @Citizen Rules and I knew there were some aspects you'd enjoy; Jackson's character for one.
I remember when this first came out and they played up Jackson holding the end of the chain to Ricci, making it seem like a grindhouse revisit, and was hugely hesitant about seeing it and then found out what the movie was REALLY about and was happily surprised.



Save the Texas Prairie Chicken
I'll watch some of these in the next couple of weeks. The only ones that I cannot obtain from the library are:
Dom Za Vesanje
La Grande Illusion
Empire of Passion
Contratiempo


As I am not officially a part of this this time around, I am not going to rush to see those. But once I am done with the others, I may still take the time to watch them.

M is something that I should've seen years ago, but it is kind of like The Godfather for me. It is one of those movies that has been on TV enough times, but I have never actually gotten around to watching it. No real reason for that. It is just what has happened. Unlike The Godfather, I have never even seen one scene from it. I have always wanted to watch it, though, because my grandmother always talked about how creepy Peter Lorre was to her in that movie when she was a kid.

Like I said before, I watched Lone Star, and fairly recently, and I wouldn't need to see that one again. I won't comment on it until others have watched it.

The more I think about it, the more I think I have seen Night on Earth. If I have, it hasn't been since it was probably first on TV back in the early 90's.

And I am debating over whether or not I will give Passengers a try. Neither Jennifer Lawrence nor Chris Pratt are anything to make me really want to watch a movie. And to have them combined in one film.....
I will save that one for the end to make up my mind about watching it. Besides, it would be a little while before I would be able to watch it, anyway, I think. I think there are still enough people with requests on it before I could get it, anyway.
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If you're interested in Dom Za Vesanje (Day of the Gypsy) Cricket posted a dailymotion link for it, back on pg 10

http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xznm3o which looked like a pretty decent copy with subtitles
On Dailymotion the video's title is Time of the Gypsies (1988) pt1. There's also a pt2 and pt3.



I just finished watching Passengers. I'm going to bed soon though, so I won't get a review up tonight. I'll just say that I was pleasantly surprised since I had heard quite a few mediocre to negative things about the film, but I ended up liking it. This HoF is off to a good start for me.






Contratiempo aka The Invisible Guest

As stated with previous reviews, this IS a murder mystery, if you haven't watched it yet, DON'T read any further.
The Management



There wasn't an overload of twists, simply a new perspective on how things were, or as CR aptly described: additional pieces to the puzzle, and that worked very well for me.

A very good movie and quite an enjoyable mystery film to start this HoF with, thanks Sarge!
The more I read reviews, the more I realize what wasn't apparent while watching it. There were a lot of pieces to the puzzle that I mistook for a bit of overload. I may need to revisit this at some point. Great review!



You can't make a rainbow without a little rain.
Yeah I can see that. During the movie I thought she looked like a character Meryl Streep would play. So you watched the movie? Did you know who done it before the ending?

Yes, I watched Contratiempo. I usually don't watch movies with subtitles, but everyone seemed to like this movie a lot, and I couldn't read much about it because you guys kept saying to "go into this movie blind", so I decided to watch it.

WARNING: "SPOILERS about "Contratiempo"!!!!" spoilers below
At the beginning, I was sure he did it, not only because there was no way that someone could have gotten out of the room, but also because that's the way these movies usually go. They make you think that the suspect is innocent, but he ends up being guilty at the end.

But this movie had me going back and forth on my decision of who was guilty. At first, I thought it was him. Then when he was explaining how it was all her idea, I wasn't sure anymore. But then when she was with the missing guy's parents, I didn't think she was the one who decided to cover it up because of the way she acted around his parents, and I was pretty sure it was him again.

The part that they really got me on was the lawyer being the missing guy's mother. I knew she was up to something, but I didn't know what, but I had no idea that she was his mother in disguise until the very end.


I haven't seen most of the movies in this HoF, but if I was in it, I think this movie would have a good chance at being at the top of my list.
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You can't make a rainbow without a little rain.
The more I read reviews, the more I realize what wasn't apparent while watching it. There were a lot of pieces to the puzzle that I mistook for a bit of overload. I may need to revisit this at some point. Great review!

I thought the same thing about Contratiempo. It reminded me of The Sixth Sense in that as soon as I found out the twist at the end, I wanted to rewatch it to see all the clues that I missed along the way.





Passengers (2016)
Dir. Morten Tyldum
Starring: Chris Pratt, Jennifer Lawrence, Michael Sheen

I think the largely negative reception this film received when it was still in theatres was mostly due to how the film was marketed. It was presented as a suspenseful, sci-fi film where two unlucky passengers find themselves in over their heads when things start to go wrong with the ship. The scenes of romance and action were accompanied by a hint that something wasn't quite right with their situation, and that perhaps the reason for their voyage was not quite what they expected, or even that the malfunctions were intentional. This, as anyone who has seen the film would know, is incorrect.

Passengers is instead a story about loneliness, romance, and how we cope with situations out of our control. Outside the final act, the sci-fi setting exists only to increase the stakes, and to cause further isolation of the main characters. I found the set-up to be much more interesting than I expected, since I had mentally prepared for “just a love story in space”. The scientific inaccuracies might have bothered me if the film was trying to be the sci-fi adventure that was advertised, but since that was clearly not the case, I was more than willing to forgive those details. I had more issues with the film's morality, which was a major element that seems to have divided many viewers as well.

This paragraph may contain spoilers, though I will try to remain vague. I didn't actually have a problem with the plot's set-up, since it was clear that the circumstances arose out of desperation, during a period of mental anguish. It was understandable from the character's perspective, and the film doesn't shy away from calling it immoral. It does serve as an interesting and original centre of conflict for the plot, which is amplified when things start to spiral out of control around them. What I actually have some issues with is how this is eventually resolved. Moral justice is not served, and it appears as though the character is rewarded for their selfishness. I would've preferred a drastically different conclusion, not only to this story, but to the climactic events near the end as well.

Despite my qualms with the film's ending, I did enjoy Passengers for what it was. It was a little more suspenseful than I anticipated, and I thoroughly enjoyed the production design. Since I knew the science fiction elements were not a major aspect of the main story, I was honestly surprised by the first shot we see of the Avalon. It's shape and movement was very impressive and quite eye-catching, and the interior spaces were beautiful as well. I probably would've been disappointed had I seen this in theatres with only the trailer to go off of, so I'm glad that I've seen it now with just enough knowledge to temper expectations, but without having the story spoiled.


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