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Post by angilasman on Jul 26, 2011 10:51:46 GMT -5
Sherlock Jr.
Classic Buster Keaton film dedicated mostly to a wild dream sequence where impossible things happen and Buster does some of his most bizarre (and awesome) stunts. Thankfully, the KINO Blu-Ray includes a new musical score along with the older one by the Club Foot Orchestra (which was refreshingly experimental but too often very distracting).
The General
Here's where putting Keaton in HD really pays off: not only is the picture quality of this 1920s film print crystal clear, but it's also the most visually rich of Keaton's films anyway. It looks amazing.
The movie is a classic. A peculiarly authentic Civil War epic comedy that is essentially a giant chase scene - at first towards the North, and later Southern bound.
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Post by inlovewithcrow on Jul 26, 2011 13:50:35 GMT -5
having a major movie fest with (i assume illegally uploaded) youtube versions.
Mr and Mrs Smith: yawn. Didn't make it through much more than half
Enemy of the State: Didn't make it through half because it scared me too much.
Virus: did make it all the way through, though it's mediocre and derivative
Mindhunters: better than the box office gross (the movie lost money) would suggest. Not a great movie, but okay, a kind of And Then There Were None/The Thing set-up where someone is killing the others and we don't know who.
And I got to rewatch Twilight, with my Real player giving me the rifftrax. Oh, I laughed.
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Post by TheNewMads on Jul 26, 2011 14:56:00 GMT -5
i finally got around to seeing "Benny and Joon," which i don't have much to say about except that it has lots of buster keaton references for the weird coincidence factor with "sherlock jr."
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Post by inlovewithcrow on Jul 26, 2011 15:50:31 GMT -5
Dedication (2007) an indie romantic comedy that is severely underrated. Billie Crudup does an award-worth turn as a terribly neurotic and misanthropic children's book author. The character put me in mind of Anne Tyler neurotics--but worse. This guy says to a little girl at a book signing, "there is no Santa Claus" in a shockingly mean way. He's something, but Crudup's performance makes you like him and pity him. He's forced to work with a young female illustrator and that's the romance. The two male supporting roles are brilliantly done, as well. It's funny and sad and very different, as one must say of any romantic comedy that opens with a scene in a porno theater. The only screenplay by a guy I hope does many many more. Highly recommended.
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Post by Joker on Jul 26, 2011 22:02:00 GMT -5
Def-Con 4 (1985)
The crew aboard a nuclear missle launching satellite gets a bird's eye view of a global thermonuclear war and manages to survive and drift through space for a while until their satellite is brought down by a computer transmission from the surface. One astronaut gets out to get help for an injured comrade only to find the world a savage tundra of scavenging cannibals and a selfish survivor (Maury Chaykin). Then things go from worse to hell as he gets captured by the soldiers of an ex-preppie-turned-despot who wants the guy's food stash from his satellite. A nearby sailboat could take this noble astronaut back to his family along with all of the other prisoners away from this dictator. Time is running out since there is one last active warhead stuck in the spacecraft with 60 hours until it's detonation flying by.
They made a lot of post-nuke flicks in the 80's and most people can remember the iconic poster from this Canadian production with the skeleton in a spacesuit buried in sand. The movie takes place in a soggy, muddy world where hope is at a bare minimum and the most vicious thrive. The hero is a bit whiny and really wants no fight as he keeps attempting to barter the food store he has with people who would gladly just kill him and take it. It's pretty low budget so don't expect a Fallout-level of production value. It's the same sort of remnant pile costuming and junk stapled together sets you'd usually get in a mediocre story.
The Adjustment Bureau (2011)
David Norris (Matt Damon) is an aspiring politician running for congress when his campaign is derailed by embarassing photos from his college days. On the night of his concession speech he meets a beautiful young ballerina named Elise and falls in love. He meets her again on a bus and these two people seem to have a connection. That's when he walks in on a team of agents erasing the memory of his staff and is warned by the agents in charge of his destiny that he has to stay away from that woman and never reveal their existence or he'll be labotomized. Three years later he runs into the Elise again as he tries to run for congress again. Now he's being chased by the fedora-wearing agents everywhere he goes. He can't walk away from this love in his life so a more ruthless agent (Terence Stamp) is brought in to force Norris to see reason so that he can be something more for mankind - under these people's thumb...
This movie is based off of the short story by Philip K. Dick so the paranoia and overwhelming enemy elements are prominent. The mind-bending chases remind me of Tom Servo's ability to appear anywhere by going offscreen. The ultimate question of freewill for yourself versus bending to the will of others for the good of all makes this a much more interesting sci-fi movie than most.
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Post by Frameous on Jul 26, 2011 23:00:12 GMT -5
They made a lot of post-nuke flicks in the 80's and most people can remember the iconic poster from this Canadian production with the skeleton in a spacesuit buried in sand. This about sums it up for me. I knew of other titles of its ilk, but the VHS box art always called to me. It looked so freaking great, but I never rented it, knowing I would be let down. Even after reading your review, I want to see it for myself. Still, here's to you, brother. Your words truly struck a chord with me (as they usually do).
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Post by Mighty Jack on Jul 26, 2011 23:45:05 GMT -5
Dedication (2007) an indie romantic comedy that is severely underrated. Billie Crudup does an award-worth turn as a terribly neurotic and misanthropic children's book author. The character put me in mind of Anne Tyler neurotics--but worse. This guy says to a little girl at a book signing, "there is no Santa Claus" in a shockingly mean way. He's something, but Crudup's performance makes you like him and pity him. He's forced to work with a young female illustrator and that's the romance. The two male supporting roles are brilliantly done, as well. It's funny and sad and very different, as one must say of any romantic comedy that opens with a scene in a porno theater. The only screenplay by a guy I hope does many many more. Highly recommended. I liked this one as well. Yeah it went down some predictible romantic comedy avenues, but over all it worked. I liked the relationship between Crudup and Tom Wilkenson's characters. Also loved Crudups depressed dialog... "Life is nothing but the occasional burst of laughter rising above the interminable wail of grief" ------ Bridget Jones’s Diary (2001)I thought I’d finally watch this because everyone likes it --- and frankly I was horrified. It’s so bloody cutesy. Watch Bridget make dinner - bwa ha ha... oh how adorable, the soup is blue! Ha ha, now she tries to use the blender and it makes a mess all over her - Tee-hee, I’ve never born witness to such comedic delights! Now she’s running out in the snow in her underwear, ha ha, Oh how darling. She has such cutesy friends, and cutesy relationships and cute mother of God somebody shoot me before I choke on more freakin cute than one human should be forced to endure in a lifetime! Damn you Roger Ebert, and your critical hell spawn that recommended this inhumanly cute abomination. Damn you all! –MJ breaks down sobbing and runs out into the snow wearing nothing but his cute Batman underoos... the scene is not adorable in the least-
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Post by Satchmo on Jul 27, 2011 1:49:55 GMT -5
Mystic River- A movie I've wanted to see for a while but never got around to until now. Maybe the second best revenge movie I've ever seen (next to Memento, my all-time favorite movie), and certainly one of the best movies that Clint Eastwood's ever directed; a tall order, considering his body of work. I'm also gaining a lot of respect for Eastwood as a composer (he writes the music to his films as well).
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Post by Crowfan on Jul 27, 2011 11:09:18 GMT -5
Captain America. A rocking, fun, action-packed adventure about Steve Rodgers, a 98 pound weakling who tries unsuccessfully to enlist in the US Army. After 5 failed attempts, he meets scientist Abraham Erskine, who wants to try an experiment, injecting Rodgers with a blue serum that will bulk him up and give him healing powers. The experiment works and Captain America is born. He eventually goes overseas and single-handedly rescues 400 soldiers from the clutches of Hydra, led by Johann Schmidt, AKA The Red Skull, who also got Dr. Erskin's blue serum before it was perfected. The action is non-stop.
I know I'm biased cause Captain America has always been my favorite of the comic book superheroes. But even if you've never read the comic, you can enjoy the movie. Highly recommended.
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Post by inlovewithcrow on Jul 27, 2011 23:27:54 GMT -5
I borrowed my neighbor's Johnny Depp collection to re-watch Edward Scissorhands, after liking Ed Wood so much, but my opinion did not improve upon this watching.
However, I did rather like (~ a 7 of 10 liking) From Hell--I liked it a good deal more than I see typical reviewers liked it (though my two favorite reviewers liked it at about the level I did). Atmospheric, well-acted (I particularly liked Robbie Coltrane's supporting performance), and surprising me a few times in its plot. My one complaint is that they wedged everything imaginable in there: Jack the Ripper, Irish independence, Antisemitism, the invention of the lobotomy, Freemasons, the Victorian epidemics of syphilis and laudanum addiction, the Elephant Man, classism, organized crime, and the kitchen sink. Yeah, it's bloody--would be NC-17 for the violence, if we lived in a culture that thought bloody violence was worse to see than lovemaking. But either I'm numb to violence after a week of film-watching or something about it seemed unreal, for it didn't bother me. Just warning you, though, buckets of SFX blood in there.
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Post by Joker on Jul 28, 2011 1:14:43 GMT -5
13 Assassins (2010)
In 1844 feudal Japan a cold psychopathic shogun's son is on the verge of becoming the nation's leader. His despicable killing of innocents and sadism make the other noblemen outraged that he will begin to dabble in politics so they commission one noble samurai to assemble a group to kill him. Because of the lack of noble samurai he manages to put together a team of twelve warriors to fight. On the long trip by foot across the countryside they find a thirteenth fighter hanging in a net and buy up a small bordertown to set up a trap to kill their target before he can reach an allied province. Can 13 warriors win against the over two hundred soldiers this evil man has brought with him?
The answer to that question makes this one of the most explosive, gory, and spectacular samurai epics ever. Takashi Miike directs the film with an eye for great preformances and incredible fighting. The underlying message of justice over the rigid Japanese samurai warrior code makes it a much more powerful film.
Battle: Los Angeles (2011)
Aging Staff Sgt. Michael Nantz (Aaron Eckhart) is about to retire from the military after losing his whole company in Iraq when meteors begin to crash into the ocean and the marines are mobilized at Camp Pendleton to meet the invaders from space slaughtering their way into L.A. Under the command of a younger 2nd lieutenant his team must accomplish a rescue mission to save a handful of people in a police station in Santa Monica. But soon they find out that they're overwhelmed and outgunned by the hard to kill alien foot soldiers. One complication after another sets back their task as no one seems to be able to evac their civilian charges as time ticks away before all of Santa Monica will be decimated by bombing.
My brother was watching this with me and predicted two important story points before they happened. He had never seen the film, but watches war films and The Military Channel religiously. It's that predictable. I could tell how it would end simply because I know the fact that Hollywood can't get the use of military hardware and locations without the consent of the U.S. military, and they won't agree unless they're portrayed in a flattering light.
One thing about real life warfare and movies is that movies are clearly in black and white when it comes to the sides of a conflict. In real life people can still be the bad guy even when they have the noblest intentions in mind. In this movie the marines are basically as heroic and self-sacrificing as in a Michael Bay film. The budget was $70 million and they shot in Louisiana on a military base. The explosive action and frantic warzone camerawork is probably the only good part. The hoo-rah heroic speeches became irritating after a while and the film seems to be a recruitment tool for the military. Well, it's been eight years we've been in Iraq and almost ten in Afghanistan with no real strategy to win either one from politicians in Washingtoin, D.C. so they need to boost recruitment somehow.
I would suggest that people not join the military based on the sexy images of it in movies. Things have to be made cool looking to be more palatable for films - especially a PG-13 flick. It's always easy to kill an evil alien than shooting another human in the face. The gooey scene where Eckhart cuts into a wounded alien with a combat knife to find a vital spot I suppose is gratifying, but since the precise spot is never really used again in the film it seems unnecessary. If it was some human guy they were torturing bloodily it would not be as "fun" for an action film.
In real life people are broken by war. They come back home with post traumatic stress disorder and need counseling sometimes just to function in society again. War is a terrible thing that wrecks people physically and mentally and the people we fight are not evil faceless aliens without humanity. Real life is very different and wars seem to be about profits above victory now as they just don't end anymore. Please don't be fooled by big budget summer flicks. I wish people would take several steps back from anything political and just look at what they are actually fighting for instead of these rah-rah military flicks.
So in the end 13 Assassins is a better film as it protrays the blood-soaked nightmare of warfare more realistically than the below average military commercial Battle: Los Angeles.
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Post by inlovewithcrow on Jul 28, 2011 22:31:12 GMT -5
Spies Like Us. Gah! I had to look it up on imdb to ascertain whether or not it was supposed to be a comedy (it was). But I didn't even crack a smile once. Admittedly, by half-way through I was playing solitaire, too, but I don't think I missed any great comedic moments.
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Post by Mighty Jack on Jul 29, 2011 4:44:48 GMT -5
Insidious Funniest comedy I've seen since Paranormal Activity.
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Post by TheNewMads on Jul 29, 2011 7:59:28 GMT -5
Spies Like Us. Gah! I had to look it up on imdb to ascertain whether or not it was supposed to be a comedy (it was). But I didn't even crack a smile once. Admittedly, by half-way through I was playing solitaire, too, but I don't think I missed any great comedic moments. if you liked that, you'll love "three amigos!" it's like spies like us, only stupider. weird that john landis did so many bad comedies, after "animal house" and blues brothers.
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Post by inlovewithcrow on Jul 29, 2011 10:36:32 GMT -5
Wow. That statement was so mind boggling, it was like a short LSD trip, but free.
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