Recent viewings

[FatFreddysCat]

"Quantum of Solace" (2008)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f6acw690AqQ
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Daniel Craig's second spin in the 007 tuxedo picks up right where the preceding "Casino Royale" left off. Still seeking revenge after the loss of his beloved Vesper Lynd in "C.R.," Bond travels from Haiti to Austria and finally to Bolivia, where a crooked industrialist has plans to commandeer the South American water supply. As usual, Bond beds a couple of hot women and lots of stuff crashes and blows up.

[alandhopewell]

alan- I'm intriqued. what was the deal beyond wtf?

     This flick was just wrong, on so many levels. Boring, crude, stupid, insulting, perhaps someone else might like it, but I didn't even want to give it the time of day.

[Rev. Powell]

alan- I'm intriqued. what was the deal beyond wtf?

     This flick was just wrong, on so many levels. Boring, crude, stupid, insulting, perhaps someone else might like it, but I didn't even want to give it the time of day.

I was intrigued too. Watch those adjectives---lester and I consider "wtf?" to be a compliment applied to a movie. If you say "boring," we'll ignore it, though.  

[Frank81]

alan- I'm intriqued. what was the deal beyond wtf?

     This flick was just wrong, on so many levels. Boring, crude, stupid, insulting, perhaps someone else might like it, but I didn't even want to give it the time of day.

Boring, crude, stupid, insulting? It sounds  like Academy Award  material these  days by those  who make films.

[Vik]

Invasion of the Bodysnatchers (original)
Didn't really meet my expectations, considering it's seen as such a classic. The first half was sort of boring, after that it got really going and was pretty good. Unfortunately I knew how the whole thing was going to go because once upon a time I read this Simpsons parody comic of it. 3/5

[Jack]

Ghosts of Goldfield (2007) - some college students who are apparently majoring in ghost hunting (it's for their doctoral thesis of course  ) go to a haunted hotel and sure enough, it turns out just like every other haunted house movie. As predictable a movie as I've ever seen, it's like somebody spend the day watching a haunted house marathon on SyFy and copied ALL their plot elements verbatim. We're treated to an abundance of flashbacks to fill us in on the backstory that we figured out ourselves five minutes into the thing. About half of the movie is people walking down hallways; I was so engrossed in it I went upstairs and got a bag of chips. Characters ranged from okay to awful. Thanks for the loud mouth jerk character - they're always soooo enjoyable to endure. Rowdy Roddy Piper had a small role and pretty much stole the show. 2.5/5.

[FatFreddysCat]

"Armored" (2009)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l2EmUSsMZp4
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Urban "heist" flick with Matt Dillon and Laurence Fishburne as part of a group of disgruntled armored-car security officers who plan to fake a robbery of their own trucks and take off with a huge load of cash. Naturally, things end up going wrong pretty quickly and soon the participants are at each other's throats. Decent (if a bit routine) little thriller.

[claws]

Wheels of Terror (1990)

In a small rural Arizona town a stranger driving a dirty dodge is molesting and killing young girls. The daughter of a school bus driving single mother becomes the next victim, but mom won't have any of that. What follows is a 30 minutes bus vs. dodge duel/chase ending in a deadly showdown.

Interesting concept, atmospheric setting, passable execution. The overuse of random slow motion can cause unintentional giggles, and the drama is a bit too corny at times. Other than that this was still entertaining enough. 3/5

[Rev. Powell]

FASCINATION (1979): A highwayman burns his fellow brigands and holes up in a chateau where he meets two seductive women who are expecting mysterious guests at midnight. This is director Jean Rollin's most conventional horror tale, with all of his atmosphere and nudity and little of his rough-edged, surreal oddness. That leads some people to conclude it's his best film, though actually the straightforward presentation merely prevents it from being his worst. Plentiful nudity makes it fun for the whole family! 2.5/5.

[ChaosTheory]

WATER FOR ELEPHANTS, which was somewhat better than I was expecting, and COWBOYS & ALIENS, which was surprisingly even worse.

[alandhopewell]

     I'd seen this a few years back, thought it was okay, but I was watching it with a bunch of distracting loud idiots, so I wanted to see it again. I ran across a copy of it for about $4.50, so I decided to buy it.

     Great investment.

     This picture kicks ass, without blood, gore, tits, loud faux metal music, just a good story, and an understanding of what has the capacity to reach inside the viewer and squeeze....

     Now, I want to see the Japanese original, JU-ON.

[JaseSF]

Mr. Lonely (2007): A lonely Michael Jackson impersonator (Diego Luna) eeking out a meager living in Paris, France meets up with a Marilyn Monroe impersonator (Samantha Morton) and agrees to move with her to a commune in the Scottish Highlands of fellow impersonators including her husband a Charlie Chaplin impersonator (Denis Lavant) and her daughter a Shirley Temple lookalike as well as numerous other impersonators including the Pope, the Queen, the Three Stooges, Sammy Davis Jr., Madonna, James Dean, Buckwheat and Little Red Riding Hood. Meanwhile in the jungles of Africa, a miracle involving flying nuns is underway.

This is a weird-a$s movie from director Harmony Korine. It tries to be arty intellectual but honestly I just think it's mostly crap. Sure it tackles some big issues such as finding one's identity and dealing with questions as to whether the price and desire for fame is truly worth it. Here it seems to be suggested that for many who reach for the stars, they are destined to crash and burn pretty badly yet perhaps for a little while they might fly high. The film just seems obsessed with giving us the weird visuals of having the various lookalikes interact such as having Michael play ping pong with Charlie, the Three Stooges shooting sheep, etc. not to mention flying nuns. This is one of those films where it does seem the filmmakers were under the influence of some recreational drug or another. The only element here truly worthwhile is the visuals, especially the beautiful scenery and landscapes involved. *1/2 out of ***** stars.

Notting Hill (1999): a famous popular movie actress named Anna Scott (Julia Roberts) meets and unexpectedly comes into the life of a travel book store owner named William Thacker (Hugh Grant) turning his life upside down in the process after he falls for her hard.

For me personally, this has its good moments and it has moments where it just doesn't work so well. There is a level of believability to a lot of the characters especially as to how Thacker's family and friends and other people react to the famous Ms. Scott and how she herself feels a bit uneasy with the situation. The characters also prove likable with Rhys Ifans stealing the show as Thacker's goofy and scruffy Welsh roommate Spike providing most of the film's humor and lightheartedness which is needed with some most seriousness surrounding the relationship between Thacker and Scott. What largely hampers the film are all these long lulls with musical interlude montages as we see Scott's fame get in the way of their relationship hopes. Also Scott is in many ways flippant here with regards to her feelings seems to me and doesn't seem at all certain what she wants be it Thacker or anyone else. *** out of ***** stars.

Sherlock Holmes (2009): Sherlock Holmes (Robert Downey Jr.) and his stalwart companion Dr. Watson (Jude Law) match wits with a criminal mastermind/sorcerer? named Lord Blackwood (Mark Strong) who has seemingly returned from the dead to plague them and threaten the safety of the world at large.

This is in many ways a dumbed down comic book action hero take on Sherlock Holmes. Despite this and once one can accept this isn't your usual Holmes style story, this isn't too bad really. The plot moves fast and is actually a little more complex than I expected it to be and there's plenty of great visuals and lots of action and excitement that keeps the movie going. It kind of feels similar to the Brendan Fraser Mummy movies in some ways, an action/comedy oriented take on something that typically you don't see in that type of genre. It's actually kind of fun but yeah it'll never replace the old Basil Rathbone/Nigel Bruce films. ***1/2 out of ***** stars.

[retrorussell]

The Long Goodbye (1973).  Good Elliot Gould flick (and he has not had many good ones) where he plays Phillip Marlowe in contemporary LA, investigating the apparent suicide of his friend and the murder of his friend's wife.  Naturally all is not what it seems, or this wouldn't be a detective/murder mystery movie, would it?  Good performances, especially by Gould as the chain-smoking PI.  Some funny signs of the times (like the yoga/acidhead/hippie group of women next door) and some good quick cameos (Arnold Schwartzenegger, David Carradine) make this enjoyable.

[claws]

     I'd seen this a few years back, thought it was okay, but I was watching it with a bunch of distracting loud idiots, so I wanted to see it again. I ran across a copy of it for about $4.50, so I decided to buy it.

     Great investment.

     This picture kicks ass, without blood, gore, tits, loud faux metal music, just a good story, and an understanding of what has the capacity to reach inside the viewer and squeeze....

     Now, I want to see the Japanese original, JU-ON.

Most Unrated Versions don't add anything important to a movie, but The Grudge really benefits from the Director's Cut. This film is most effective watching with a crowd.

[JaseSF]

I liked the American versions of THE GRUDGE and THE GRUDGE 2 as well as the Japanese JU-ON: THE GRUDGE film but I didn't care so much for JU-ON: THE GRUDGE 2.