Some Recent Viewings

[ulthar]

THE MACHINIST - pretty good psychological thriller from the director of SESSION 9
DRACULA HAS RISEN FROM THE GRAVE - Christopher Lee works his magic, seeks revenge against priest who put a cross on his castle door
PRIME - Uma Thurman dates younger man, tell Meryl Streep (her therapist) about it; very funny movie
TEENAGERS FROM OUTER SPACE - other than the annoying girl and insanely naive grandpa, this was VERY enjoyable doomsday-alien-invasion sci fi from 1959.
THE PUNISHER - FBI guy's family murdered in scene that looks exactly stolen from MAD MAX; goes on Rambo-esque rampage to exact revenge, er, punishment.
SAVED! - devout high school Christian girl gets pregnant, questions the way her religion is practiced; very good movie - strong character development and good message; some good dark comedy for a high-school-coming-of-age flick.

[Menard]

Okay. Who is that trying to impersonate Ulthar?

Your ruse is not working. Everybody who knows Ulthar knows how he can go on and on and on and...uh...scuse me...about any topic...especially if it has to do with geek stuff.

Ulthar getting to the point in the shortest space possible? I think not.


No, seriously though Ulthar, give us some of your opinion on these viewings. I think I got the gist of most of them, but am wondering if you liked the Dracula or Punisher movies.

[ulthar]

I liked DRACULA quite a bit, but must confess I liked TEENAGERS better.

THE PUNISHER was ok; I probably would not go out of my way to see it again.  That said, it was an enjoyable actioner with plenty of plot holes and weak set-ups.  I may be in the minority on this, but I do always enjoy Travolta in a bad-guy role.  It's like Vinnie Barbarino finally grew up, ya know?

The fight with The Russian stretched credibilty just a bit too far, but the bow and arrow was cool.  He seemed well armed and well trained for an FBI agent, but I lost count the number of times he was in a dangerous situation with his gun unloaded (no doubt so we could get that dramatic metallic racking of the weapon's slide for emphasis).

Probably my biggest beef was the 'stolen' imagery from MAD MAX - especially how he was running to his wife and kid with a shotgun in his hand.

I'd probably say 3.5 out of 5, maybe a 4; see it once.

[CheezeFlixz]

For me this weekend was cold (for around here anyway) so it was movie fest ...

Flags of our Father (2006)
Ocean 11 (The Original 1960 version)
Freakshow (2006) Some reason it's not on IMDB but Amazon has it.
Doctor Gore (1973)
Hollywoodland (2006)
Dark Portal aka Vidocq (2001)
The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada (2006)
One Million BC (1940)
Bandidas (2005)
Starship Trooper was on TV

ah one of the side benefits of chronic insomnia, but Hollywoodland almost cured it.

[Menard]

I may be in the minority on this, but I do always enjoy Travolta in a bad-guy role.  It's like Vinnie Barbarino finally grew up, ya know?

I'll join you in that minority. I kind of like Vinnie...uh...I mean Travolta in a bad guy role. He seems to have a certain glee or enjoyment of the role when he plays a bad guy and really gets into it.

BTW, sorry, I'd forgotten about that Punisher movie; I thought you meant the Dolph Lundgren one, but was confused about the Road Warrior inference, but I'm not confused anymore....well...for the moment anyway.

[Yaddo 42]

Saved! - I liked because it was a satire, but not played so broad that anyone was a simple caricature - all good or all bad. Mandy Moore did a great job playing a self-righteous type that I knew plenty of in high school but she was still a person.

Dracula.... - I enjoy a lot, but the ending feels rushed and muted in tone, probably due to the budget.

Ocean's 11 - I enjoy as a kind of time capsule of the Rat Pack at their peak of popularity. It's a fun bit of fluff, but the gang is clearly having such a good time, the story is almost an afterthought. Love the ending and the looks on their faces, plus the fun cameos and supporting work from familiar faces.

The Three Burials.... - I enjoyed the characters and the acting more than the story, not everything was predictable, but I was waiting for the twist. The cast really elevated this one.

Starship Troopers - I enjoy it as the dark humored satire that turns the themes of the book upside down. Probably too broad and obvious at times, but it made me laugh at the right points. I'd still like to see a straight adaptation one day though with the power armor and the multiple aliens races in different campaigns among other things.

Cheezeflixz, how is Bandidas? Then again with Cruz and Hayek I'll wind up watching it just to see them even if it's awful.

[CheezeFlixz]

Cheezeflixz, how is Bandidas? Then again with Cruz and Hayek I'll wind up watching it just to see them even if it's awful.

I'm sorry was I suppose to have the volume on?

It was OK a little goofy and silly at time, not either one of them's best work in the least but with Cruz and Hayek dressed like this at times ....



It was eye fodder for the masses ...
Could have been better, could have been worse, I don't think you'll be demanding your 2 hours back if you watch it. I does have re-watchability if nothing more than to see ... umm... the fine acting by the 2 young ladies.

I'd say it's 3 out of 5 at best.

[EDIT] It's had a plot (somewhat), it had a bad guy, a good guy, a couple of HOT tamales and overall it was fun movie, it's not going to win any awards IMHO. But it didn't suck.

[peter johnson]

Dracula Has Risen From the Grave --
"You Can't Keep A Good Man Down" was the original ad tag for this flick.
Own it.   Love it.  Love all the Hammer-Dracs, good or bad.
Christopher Lee may slip his mortal coil any day now, sad to say.  Despite his great athleticism and health, he's nearly 90 now & time waits for no man, etc.
Mortality sucks . . . big time . . .
peter j./denny c.

[Bill C.]

Oddly, I haven't watched much of anything recently.  That's kind of sad.  I need to fix that...

Thanks for mentioning The Three Burials..., though.  That was on my need-to-snag list, along with The Departed and Casino Royale (this is one of those few times I wish I could afford a BD player).

[Torgo]

I picked up both of Eddie Murphy's stand up DVD last week in the form of Delirious and Raw.

Watched them both this past weekend. Laughed myself silly.

"Hey boy!......Hey boy!......"