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Post by Pulpmariachi on Sept 16, 2007 9:10:05 GMT -5
I know, it's a short film (16 minutes), but I had to bring it up. This was our last in-class viewing of a silent film, and we just went into surrealism. Anyone else see this? It's very bizarre. I can see where David Lynch may have got some inspiration. Also, within the first minute or so of the picture lies one of the most disturbing images I had ever seen in any film. If you have the chance to see this (Hell, you can probably find it on Youtube), check it out. I feel it is an important aspect of film history. I saw this. Probably one of the better short films. The opening really is great. Then there's the whole priest thing which is good. But it's Bunel and it's surreal. They go hand in hand. I agree that Bunuel is surreal, but his surrealism is usually subdued, as part of dreams, or in the backdrop. I think the blatant weirdness in this one comes more from the Dali influence. www.archive.org/details/ChienAndalou |
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Post by Heineken Skywalker on Sept 16, 2007 9:21:42 GMT -5
BEERFEST (2006)
Concerns an underground beer-drinking competition in Germany that's held every year. Like FIGHT CLUB, except with beer.
Hilarious if you don't mind lowbrow humor, and it's funnier than 10 POLICE ACADEMIES and a lot of Adam Sandler's filmography. No one will ever convince me that BILLY MADISON is a funny movie.
I expected to hate this one, okay it's from the Broken Lizard comedy group who made SUPERTROOPERS, but, they're also responsible for DUKES OF HAZZARD ('nuf said on that one.), but I'd be lying if I said I didn't laugh hard and often. One of those, so stupid you have to laugh kind of movies.
After the main characters find the recipe for, make, and then taste, what is supposed to be the best beer in the history of beer, one of my favorite lines: "I wish it were winter so we could freeze it into ice blocks and skate on it and melt it in the spring time and drink it!". That line is said with such child-like innocence that it totally cracked me up.
7/10
PLAZA SUITE (1971)
Walter Matthau gives a tour-de-force performance as three different characters in this comedy based on a Neil Simon play, which concerns three different casts of characters all checking into the same hotel suite, at different times over the course of the film.
6.5/10
THE LAST MAN ON EARTH (1964)
Based on the novel by Richard Matheson, "I Am Legend". Vincent Price plays the only survivor of a world-wide plague who must fight off the plague's victims, who are now a weird zombie/vampire hybrid. Should've been much more terrifying than it is. Price literally shoves off the hordes of zombies that surround him in a couple of scenes.
Trivia: Was remade in 1971 as THE OMEGA MAN, starring Charlton Heston and has been remade again in 2007 as I AM LEGEND, starring Willl Smith.
4.5/10
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Post by Termination on Sept 17, 2007 3:26:16 GMT -5
The Hurricane (2000) (HD DVD)
HD Video - 9/10
HD Audio Dolby Digital Plus - 9/10
The Host (2006) (Blu-Ray)
HD Video - 10/10
HD Audio Dolby Digital - 8/10
HD Audio dts - 9/10
HD Audio LPCM - Reference
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Post by slayrrr666 on Sept 17, 2007 10:34:49 GMT -5
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Post by frankenjohn on Sept 17, 2007 14:08:20 GMT -5
On Golden Pond- It took the whole movie to grow on me but by the end it had my heart. The performances from Henry Fonda, Jane Fonda, and Katherine Hepburn are amazing. The cinematography of the beautiful lake was captivating and the score was good too. It really is just a wonderfully heartfealt film that does something I've never seen: in two situations grabs you and threatens to change the mood of the story but releases you and lets you enjoy the happy. A+.
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Post by ZapRowsdower on Sept 17, 2007 21:58:21 GMT -5
In the Heat of the Night (1967, Norman Jewison) (Viewing Assignment for Story Structure class)
I can't believe it took this movie being assigned for me to finally find the time to watch it. It was brilliant! The relationship between Sidney Poitier's character and Rod Steiger's character was executed perfectly as the film captures racism and bigotry in the South. A masterpiece of a screenplay makes this one of the greatest films of all time. 10/10
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Post by ZapRowsdower on Sept 19, 2007 8:25:36 GMT -5
The History Boys (2006, Nicholas Hytner)
An interesting look at students seeking an education at Oxford. Sounds boring, right? But the characters remain interesting enough to make the film anything but. This film seemed to come and go very quietly last year. To tell you the truth, I don't even think the art house theaters in my area got it. But it's a good film. 8/10
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Post by Heineken Skywalker on Sept 19, 2007 8:43:59 GMT -5
Slayrrr, you're so cool, Brewster!
Frankenjohn, you old poop!
Zap, they call me Mr. Tibbs!
ICE STATION ZEBRA (1968)
Cold war thriller about a U.S. submarine on a mission to retrieve a Russian satellite that has crashed at a British weather station in the North Pole.
Some good suspense as some characters aren't sure they can trust each other, and a top-notch cast including Rock Hudson, Patrick McGoohan, Ernest Borgnine and Jim Brown, are kind of hindered by a film that would've benefited from some tighter pacing and editing. I found too many scenes meandered and went on a little too long. It's about 2 1/2 hours long and could've easily been under two without losing anything important.
6.5/10
MASTER OF THE WORLD (1961)
A mad scientist (Vincent Price) has a plan for peace, he uses his airship to bomb military targets all over the world. A young Charles Bronson is a government agent on a mission to stop him. Good effects for its time. The look, set design, costumes, etc. reminded me a bit of Disney's classic 20,000 LEAGUES UNDER THE SEA. Fitting, since both are based on Jules Verne's novels. Didn't really involve me though.
5/10
MADHOUSE (1974)
Vincent Price plays an aging horror actor and Peter Cushing is his scriptwriter. However, a series of murders commited in the style of the actor's most famous character, Dr. Death, hamper his comeback. Nice teaming of two horror icons, and lots of clips are included of old Price horror movies, but unless you're asleep, the big "twist" is no surprise.
5.5/10
THE BORDER (1982)
Jack Nicholson plays a U.S./Mexico border patrol agent who gets involved with a young Mexican woman whose baby has been kidnapped and put on the black market. Meanwhile, his apathetic partner (Harvey Keitel) is involved in shady dealings.
Pretty good, underrated movie and a very subdued performance from Nicholson who is usually more "in your face".
7/10
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Post by LivingDeadGirl on Sept 19, 2007 21:16:25 GMT -5
Zodiac 3/4- A little long, but pretty good.
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Post by Heineken Skywalker on Sept 20, 2007 8:38:26 GMT -5
WALT DISNEY TREASURES: THE CHRONOLOGICAL DONALD Vol. 1 (1934-1941) Disc 2 More shenanigans with the second funniest animated duck in history. GHOST RIDER (2007) Like BLADE before it, here's another movie based on a Marvel Comic that features a dark side and an occult twist. The hero here, Johnny Blaze (Nicolas Cage), a motorcycle stunt rider ala 70's superstar Evil Knievel, sells his soul to the devil (Peter Fonda) to save his father, and becomes the Ghost Rider, a supernatural bounty hunter of evil souls. After seeing the trailers, I fully expected to hate this. "Uh, oh, they've totally camped this up.", was my first reaction. And there are a few moments of campiness within the film, let's face it, every comic book movie has them, but it also handled most of the film pretty seriously, which is what the subject matter deserves. The effects and the stunts are pretty good, and Cage and Fonda are both decent. Sam Elliot, in his second Marvel movie, he was also General Ross in THE HULK, is also good as the narrator and a previous Ghost Rider. This isn't on the same level as the SPIDER-MAN or X-MEN movies, but it's entertaining enough and is better than ELEKTRA and THE PUNISHER. This is probably hovering more around the level of FANTASTIC FOUR or DAREDEVIL. Bring on IRON-MAN! www.apple.com/trailers/paramount/ironman/ 6.5/10
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Post by ZapRowsdower on Sept 20, 2007 12:31:16 GMT -5
Color of Pomegranates (1968, Sergei Paradjanov)
After watching this, my phone went off and a strange voice with an Armenian accent told me I was going to die in seven days. All joking aside, this is essentially the definition of surrealism. A biopic that relies very little on dialogue, but instead tells the story with images. Strange, even nightmarish images. When I finished watching this film, I had a strange feeling I should have smoked some pot and THEN watched it. Odd, considering I don't smoke pot.
WHAT. THE. FUCK./10
3:10 to Yuma (2007, James Mangold)
Second time, still the strongest film of the year. Let's see how it holds up against Eastern Promises tomorrow. 10/10
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Post by Phoenix on Sept 20, 2007 16:12:03 GMT -5
Watched Blade Runner: The Director's Cut. I think I prefer the original but maybe just for nostalgic reasons.
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Post by Heineken Skywalker on Sept 22, 2007 1:20:41 GMT -5
HOLLYWOODLAND (2006)
Good film about George Reeves, the actor who became famous in the fifties for playing the Man of Steel on TV's ADVENTURES OF SUPERMAN. Reeves died tragically in his Hollywood Hills home, the victim of a gunshot wound.
Part film noir and part biopic, the story revolves around a private detective who is hired to find out if Reeves' death was indeed a suicide as was concluded by the police, or if he was in fact, a murder victim.
Adrian Brody and Diane Lane are both very good as the detective and Reeve's girlfriend respectively, but I have to give a big thumbs up to Ben Affleck as George Reeves. Affleck, who usually smirks his way through his movies, manages to give a well-rounded performance and makes Reeves a tragic character.
He doesn't look very much like the real Reeves (I was a huge fan of that tv show as a kid) but I quickly forgot about that and just got into the performance and the film.
7.5/10
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Post by ZapRowsdower on Sept 22, 2007 2:28:59 GMT -5
Eastern Promises (2007, David Cronenberg)
A good screenplay is what separates this film from A History of Violence. The dialogue went down much easier this time around, and I found the film much easier to appreciate. Kudos to the principal cast - Mortenson, Watts, Cassel and Mueller-Stahl for their incredible... dare I say tour-de-force performances. I was left a little cold by the ending though. It seems as though the movie ended without showing us something very important first. But other than that, it's a great film. 8/10
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Post by LivingDeadGirl on Sept 22, 2007 18:55:21 GMT -5
The Astronaut Farmer 2/4- Cute, but not as good as I'd read it was...
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