Movie Tab II

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Brazil

Never saw this movie before until just now (the 132 minute cut.) Thought it was great - and funny. Not sure why the lead character's beautiful, long blonde haired fantasy woman is a short haired mannish lesbian in real life and why she was worth chasing after. Not sure why this movie is called Brazil -- where were the Brazilians?


Wise Guys

Danny DeVito and Joe Piscopo in an old 1986 comedy about guys trying to steal from the mafia. Not very funny, but still a pretty decent film. Biggest laugh was seeing two old Italian women working out to Richard Simmons.

Particles of Truth

An artsy fartsy vehicle from 2003 starring Gale Harold (Queer as Folk) as a germaphobic author who spends most of his time in his car. Meets a visual artist (Jennifer Elster) suffering from childhood issues and whose father is currently dying of AIDS. Not bad, not great.

Horrible Bosses

Saw it yesterday. Liked it very much. Better than Hangover Part 2. I'll do a full-written review of the movie today.

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The Little Girl Who Lives Down The Lane 1976 Nicolas Gessner


"School is having people tell you what life is and never finding out by yourself"
I have to say that I really enjoyed this film,Its a dark and kind of twisted tale of a little girl trying to make it on her while have to hide alot of secrets. Its a good movie,Its well written and well directed and I loved the acting.


How to Steal a Million 1966 William Wyler


"American millionaires must be all quite mad. Perhaps it's something they put in the ink when they print the money"

A great funny comedy and very entertaining.Watching this film just reminded me how much I love Audrey Hepburn,She was lovely probably my favorite part of the film was her performance.


A boy and His Dog 1975 L.Q Jones
'
"A cautous young fellow named Lodge / Had seatbelts installed in his Dodge. / When his date was strapped in / He committed a sin / Without even leaving the garage. That's clever, isn't it?"


Heat 1995 Michael Mann

"Well ya know, for me, the action is the juice."


Platoon 1986 Oliver Stone

"You talking about killing? Hmm? Y'all experts? Y'all know about killing? I'd like to hear about it, potheads."


Heavenly Creatures 1994 Peter Jackson

"Mummmmy! "

True Grit

+

Couples Retreat




Open Range

Vertigo


+


Rango

+


Lost in La Mancha

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The Mist



Second viewing.
Good movie. This could have become a good film trilogy i think. But instead they took a cheap ending to the film.

Harry potter and the Sorcerer's Stone - Good first film, but the later ones were better. I kind of wish that the director of the last few excellent Potter films had directed the entire series.

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"You, me, everyone...we are all made of star stuff." - Neil Degrasse Tyson

https://shawnsmovienight.blogspot.com/

How to Eat Fried Worms- pretty funny but don't watch if you have a weak stomach.

Live Free or Die Hard
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 +
Fast Five - Unrepentantly trashy and bombastic and more entertaining for it.
Soul Surfer
Captain America
Skyline
24 Hour Party People - Cleansed my cinematic pallet after a week of movie lard.

127 Hours -


Wauw.

+ is just above average for me, and I'm one of those reprobates who still enjoys an "average" movie, I just rate them lower than most people. I liked the earlier entries that had a bit more horror, adventure, and mystery to go with the central Voldymort/War of the Wizards storyline. I would give those (particularly Chamber and Prisoner) a , which is an unmitigated good movie in my books.

Captain America is just dull. The one remarkable effect the movie has (the transformation from nottie to hottie) isn't enough to recommend it and just about everything else about it is borrowed, unimproved, vague and poorly thought out (ooh, mind-controlled laser weapons that are... equally effective to traditional hand-fired projectile weapons in every way).

I agree with you about 127 though, excellent movie.

I would write a few reviews, but I just haven't been feeling it.



Amarcord (Federico Fellini, 1973)

Crumb (Terry Zwigoff, 1994)

Ride With The Devil (Ang Lee, 1999)

From Dusk Till Dawn (Robert Rodriguez, 1996)

The Doom Generation (Gregg Araki, 1995)

Source Code (Duncan Jones, 2011)

** Source Code is now available on DVD and Blu-ray. Go get it! **

The Mudge Boy. An enjoyable film about an apparently gay boy coping with his mother's death. There were a few too many awkward moments - something which few films get right - but besides that I have no complaints. 4.5/5

Malefique. Not enough of a "horror" feel for me, but still a pretty good French film. 4/5.

Autumn Sonata. Most of the film takes place in one house - a rather cozy looking house, I must say - but the story and dialogue are top notch. Excellent acting by Liv Ullman and Ingred Bergman, masterful direction by Ingmar Bergman. 4.5/5

Let Me In. Decent-enough horror film, though definitely not deserving of the praise it received. Never really liked Smit-McPhee, but Chloe Grace Moretz is the best child star around. I just wish there had been more killings and more blood. Those are the things that make vampire movies great (take the hint, Twilight Saga). 3.5/5

Live Like a Cop, Die Like a Man. People get killed, people have sex. The usual for Eureo Sleaze like this poliziotteschi. 3.5/5

Imaginary Heroes. I didn't like Emile Hirsch in this film, which is disappointing because he was starting to become a favorite of mine. Sigourney Weaver and Jeff Daniels were wonderful, as always. The story was almost alright, if a little absurd, but it was - like nigh any other movie - fun to watch. 4.5/5.

Penn & Teller Get Killed. I wouldn't say this film is even up to the level of Live Like a Cop, Die Like a Man. The worst movie I've seen in a while, I'll give it a 2.5/5 just because the first twenty minutes were wonderful.

Guarding Tess. Not exactly what I expected, but I've lightened up on Nicolas Cage lately. He's far better at making movies than his uncle Francis. I was expecting something more similar to Driving Miss Daisy, so I was pleasantly surprised by this one. 3/5.

The Lost Boys: The Thirst. The last of the series for me to see. Nowhere near the level of the original, but far better than The Tribe. I just wish there had been more vampire-fighting and killing. 3.5/5

Broadcast News - 4/5
Into the Mirror - 3.5/5
Swimming Pool - 4/5
The Black Cat - 4.5/5
Vampyr - 3/5
Persona - 4.5/5

Russian Ark - 3/5
Red Desert -2/5

The Expendables (Sylvester Stallone, 2010) -

Hype is a dangerous thing, especially with something like this. I'm late to the party here, plus it's not like I had high expectations for this anyway - I don't really dig on modern action movies. Stallone's attempt to make a sort-of-throwback to action movies from the 80s feels kind of misguided. Plot and characterisation almost feels completely meaningless (and not in a good way - yes, it's possible), the action's not especially impressive and it ultimately feels rather empty. I'll probably end up giving it a second chance anyway.

Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid (Sam Peckinpah, 1973) -

So it's about lawman Pat Garrett pursuing his old friend, outlaw Billy the Kid. That's about as far as the plot stretches, really. Some fine photography and the Dylan songs were not only good, but they fit the movie perfectly (too bad the guy's acting wasn't so great), but the film just felt kind of empty. It almost bears comparison to The Wild Bunch in being about two friends forced into a movie-long chase by forces beyond their control, but at least there was more meat to that film in both action and storyline. Here, it just feels like treading familiar ground with little invention. Still, worth watching at least once or twice. Will probably watch this one again as well.

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2 (David Yates, 2011) -

You should know the drill with this movie. Defied my expectations. Don't intend to watch again.

Jackass 3D (Jeff Tremaine, 2010) -

As I've mentioned before, I've tended towards altering my viewing habits and summarily my expectations from films. There's no way this film was really going to get a high rating, but I gave it a rating that accurately reflected the middling quality (if that) and the stupid fun associated with watching these dudes take their foolishness to new heights.

Straw Dogs (Sam Peckinpah, 1971) -

I seem to be giving out a lot of 3-star ratings nowadays. It's like it's replaced 3.5 as my go-to rating for a good film that I recognised but ultimately didn't care for. Like Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid above, Straw Dogs definitely deserves a second viewing, though I'd probably consider it a better film than Garrett, if only because it feels more immediate. Great exercise in ambiguity and the climax is a stunner forty years on.

Hard to Kill (Bruce Malmuth, 1990) -

Think this might be the first time I've watched a Steven Seagal movie all the way through. It's about what I expected - hackneyed, cheesy, and the action isn't even that good. It's still mildly entertaining, though I have no idea how long it's going to be before I bother with another Seagal movie.

The Rock (Michael Bay, 1996) -

Guilty pleasure? Maybe. As far as high-concept blockbusters full of explosions and whatnot go, it's surprisingly rewatchable and well-made. Plus Nicolas Cage and Sean Connery make one very entertaining double-act.

The Way Back - 3/5
Nice siberian escape film set in WWII era. Nothing really new, but well done.

Season of the Witch - 3.5/5
These days I really do not like Nicolas Cage, but given that the film had Ron Perlman and Claire Foy, it was still good. I thought it was quite bold of them to make a movie (these days anyway) where the supposed "british" protagonists do not even have an accent. In fact, few of the actors were even british, save the Altar boy from Misfits, and Claire Foy, that I could tell. Is it me, or do they seem to be doing a lot of these dark age/black death/pagan evil vs. the catholic church films? I mean, you have Black Death with Sean Bean, Season of the Witch, and The Eagle that I've seen so far, and I have Witchville in my que to receive soon. Apparently Centurion was much the same, with a witch as the nemesis, so The Eagle my even be a rip off of that film - who knows? I grant you that going in, I thought the film would end up being yet another uneducated and trite condemnation of the things done by men in God's name.....(and therefore, of God - because I find few people are willing or able to separate the two)...and so I sighed because I thought it would be simplistic and tiresome. All I can say is - to Nick Cage's credit, it wasnt.

The Eagle - 3.5/5
Yet another pagan evil/barbarians vs. the establishment/established church film, but I thought they did this one well. I have no comment on the whole slave helping the oppressing authority destroy the slave's hope/lands/etc., save that I thought it was trite. Perhaps they were going for the whole "honor before all, even countrymen" ideal, but given the circumstances I found it hard to believe. I was more impressed with the concept that a small group of people could manage to stop a massive advancing army from entering into their territory and destroying them by simply debilitating and humiliating them - essentially making it too costly to stay there, or come any further. Amazing. Im not learned enough in the history to know if the story is literally accurate or simply whimsical fiction, but the idea that the Romans, who we know at one time took over the known world, were terrified enough to leave a certain geographical area alone - well that is quite a feather in the cap of the defending army, and speaks volumes to the worth of a psychological campaign of terror on your enemies. In order for me to survive, I need to break your mind - and I have. Now why in the world would one slave help you undo that??? One man's hero is another man's traitor. Best quote: "See you in the afterlife, Roman!"

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something witty goes here......

Serenity (Joss Whedon,2005)

The Graduate (Mike Nichols, 1967)
Vertigo (Alfred Hitchcock, 1958) (cinema)
Pitch Black (David Twohy, 2000)
The Dead and the Deadly (Ma Wu, 1982)