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Post by ZapRowsdower on Aug 28, 2007 17:37:30 GMT -5
The Nanny Diaries (2007, Shari Springer Berman; Robert Pulcini)
It's a cute, engaging comedy-drama/social commentary/satire thingy. Scarlett Johansson is brilliant and beautiful, as usual, and Laura Linney was great. All the elements were there, except for a certain... spark. Coming from the writer-directors of American Splendor, you'd expect that spark to be there. Not quite sure I'm using the right word, but there's sort of a feeling that something more should be there. Not one of the better movies this year, but it makes for a fine date movie (better than most date movies). 7/10
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Post by Termination on Aug 28, 2007 21:45:11 GMT -5
A Christmas Story (1983) (Blu-Ray)
HD Video - 8/10
HD Audio Dolby Digital - 7/10
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Post by Termination on Aug 29, 2007 3:25:42 GMT -5
A Guitarscape Planet (2006) (Blu-Ray)
HD Video - 8/10
HD Audio Dolby Digital - 9/10
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Post by Heineken Skywalker on Aug 29, 2007 18:05:58 GMT -5
AMERICAN PSYCHO (2000)
Christian Bale gives yet another fantastic performance as a young man who works on Wall Street by day and is a homicidal maniac by night. Funny, horrific and a great commentary on the vapidness and materialism of the 80's. Enjoyed this one more the second time around.
7/10
WALT DISNEY TREASURES: THE CHRONOLOGICAL DONALD - VOL. 1
Disc One
Collection of shorts from the 30's and 40's starring Donald, the duck with a hat and a shirt, but no pants.
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Post by Termination on Aug 29, 2007 22:59:25 GMT -5
Nature's Colors With the World's Greatest Music (2007) (Blu-Ray)
HD Video - 9/10
HD Audio Dolby Digital - 9/10
HD Audio LPCM - Reference
New Orleans Concert: The Music of America's Soul (2006) (Blu-Ray)
HD Video - 8/10
HD Audio Dolby Digital - 8/10
Nine Inch Nails Live: Beside You in Time (2006) (Blu-Ray)
HD Video - 10/10
HD Audio Dolby TrueHD - 10/10
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Post by Termination on Aug 30, 2007 3:22:39 GMT -5
Shuttle Discovery's Historic Mission (2006) (Blu-Ray)
HD Video - 9/10
HD Audio Dolby Digital - 8/10
HD Audio dts - 8/10
A View from Space With Heavenly Music (2006) (Blu-Ray)
HD Video - 8/10
HD Audio Dolby Digital - 9/10
What Dreams May Come (1998) (HD DVD)
HD Video - 8/10
HD Audio Dolby Digital Plus - 8/10
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Post by Termination on Aug 30, 2007 18:37:00 GMT -5
Meet the Fockers (2004) (HD DVD)
HD Video - 8/10
HD Audio Dolby Digital Plus - 9/10
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Post by ZapRowsdower on Aug 30, 2007 21:44:45 GMT -5
Ratcatcher (1999, Lynne Ramsay) (Viewing Assignment for Language of Cinema class)
An interesting character piece about a boy living in the "ghetto"... or the Scottish equivalent of. Glad to see the subtitles automatically came up. They were speaking English, alright, but I still couldn't tell what they were saying. This is about as extreme as the Scottish accent gets. But enough of that. Good movie. I love how the camera always matched with a child's view. Surprised to see William Eadie (the lead actor) hasn't done anything since. He's a good actor. 8/10
Pulse (2001, Kiyoshi Kurosawa) (Viewing Assignment for Language of Cinema class)
No relation to Akira Kurosawa, from what I read. When I saw the American take on this film, I thought it was an underrated, scary film. I had no idea how much they bastardized the original. That film changed the entire purpose of the ghosts, and removed all the philosophies. This film had a much deeper take on where we go when we die. It offers more of a feeling of dread, and while creepy at the right moments, it actually just leaves you feeling kinda depressed at the end... which I suppose was the point. Forget the remake, this is the version to see. 8/10
Balls of Fury (2007, Ben Garant)
Openly recommending this one is somewhat difficult, and within my group I was in the minority of liking it. But I thought it was funny. Basically, if you're into the scathingly ridiculous, you should dig this movie. I did feel disappointed about a few things... You kinda get the feeling that Walken phoned this one in - partially because he wasn't given good enough material to work with. I did enjoy Dan Fogler's performance, though. It's a fun comedy, but not as great as it should have been. 7/10
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Post by ZapRowsdower on Sept 1, 2007 2:10:55 GMT -5
Halloween (2007, Rob Zombie)
Posted a review in Review Hell.
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Post by LivingDeadGirl on Sept 1, 2007 10:37:44 GMT -5
Halloween (2007) 3/4- Verryyy nice! Comments in RH
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Post by Termination on Sept 2, 2007 3:49:30 GMT -5
The Lives of Others (2006) (Blu-Ray)
HD Video - 8/10
HD Audio Dolby Digital - 8/10
HD Audio LPCM - 8/10
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Post by frankenjohn on Sept 2, 2007 16:38:32 GMT -5
Halloween (07)- I didn't think I would like it but I found it to definately be a very good horror film. In fact, it's the best horror film of the year. While it follows many plot points of the original, it probably changed more. And while it can't compare to the original, it is still a worthy companion piece. Some really interesting stuff here. Some good cinematography too. Fun genre cameos. B+.
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Post by ZapRowsdower on Sept 3, 2007 0:01:55 GMT -5
The Battleship Potemkin - (1925, Sergei M. Eisenstein) (Viewing Assignment for World Cinema class)
Next week, we're going into the Soviet Montage movement, and Potemkin was assigned viewing. I'm surprised I haven't seen this one yet, because it was amazing. While it was a propaganda piece, I found it to be a very effective human drama. Great editing, as well as one of the most memorable scenes in the History of film (the Odessa staircase). Also increased my appreciation in the art of film editing. Another timeless silent picture. 10/10
The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (1920, Robert Wiene) (Viewed in World Cinema class)
We were finishing up with German expressionism this week. There were some very interesting, original set pieces in this picture. Everything seemed like an abstract work of art - like something out of a nightmare. I suppose this begins to encapsulate what expressionism is all about. There were some disturbing images. I'm willing to bet this was the first time the word "whoa" was used by and audience member in reference to a movie. 8/10
All About Eve (1950, Joseph L. Mankiewicz) (Viewing Assignment for Story Structure class)
I enjoyed this much more the second time around (although this time, my dumb ass was paying attention). The assignment was to figure out who the movie was about. Easy answer, just look at the title. But taking from the rules of storytelling, it's difficult. Essentially, it's supposed to be the character who changes the most. Which at first glance would be Eve. But that begs the question of whether or not she was ALWAYS like that. I'm thinking instead it may have been Margot... the fact that I'm still thinking about this is actually a good thing. Wonderful screenwriting and great direction. Time to up the score from the last time I watched it. 9/10
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Post by Termination on Sept 3, 2007 3:55:02 GMT -5
Immortal Beloved (1994) (Blu-Ray)
HD Video - 8/10
HD Audio Dolby TrueHD - 7/10
The worst balanced TrueHD track I've heard. How the heck did this happen? To clarify, each audio channel does sound good but the mains are 4db above reference, center -2db below reference. The music sounds excellent & actually is the only balanced part of the soundtrack unfortunately. Subtitles are necessary. LFE is sporadic, all over the place in all the wrong moments you'd expect to hear it. A short war scene in the film increases overall db output 25% The video isn't too bad, encoded MPEG-2 I found only color & fine detail as an improvement over SD. Minor speckles of dirt & grain are present & the print seems to have been kept in good shape.
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Post by frankenjohn on Sept 3, 2007 9:37:04 GMT -5
3:10 to Yuma (07)- Another remake, this one also good, but I really felt something missing: the fun. This was a dark movie compared to the original, which was more upbeat and even more suspenseful. Russell Crowe is really great, but I felt that Christian Bale slept through it. I didn't like all the gore because it turned a good old-fashioned western into a revisionist-type movie. B.
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