Just Watched Movies: 2008

[Heineken Skywalker]

SISTERS (1973)

Early Brian De Palma film about twins (pre-Lois Lane Margot Kidder) accused of a brutal murder by a neighbor (Jennifer Salt) who witnessed the whole thing. When she can't convince the police of what happened, she takes it upon herself, with the help of a private investigator (Charles Durning), to find the body and solve the mystery.

Sounds better than what I actually saw. The best things about it were De Palma's direction, with his usual nods to Hitchcock and some nice split-screen effects. The Hitchcock tribute continues with a good score by Bernard Herrmann (PSYCHO, THE BIRDS). But after the murder, I thought the movie in general was pretty dull.

4/10

[slayrrr666]

Friday Night Lights-See thoughts in Movie Genre thread.

Radio-See thoughts in Movie Genre thread.

[Heineken Skywalker]

THE CHAMP (1979)

BREAKING AWAY (1979)

My thoughts in the Movie Genre of the Month thread.

[Heineken Skywalker]

JERSEY GIRL (2004)

Kevin Smith tries something different from his usual ViewAskew Universe and the results are.... okay.
Ben Affleck plays a single dad raising a young daughter, trying to get a new job in his field after an embarassing incident gets him fired, and falling in love with a new woman (Liv Tyler).
Nice performance by George Carlin as Affleck's dad and a big celebrity cameo near the end of the film is pretty funny and unexpected.
Not a great movie, but as far as romantic comedies go, you can do much worse.

6/10

Or you can do better, like...

KNOCKED UP (2007)

Judd Apatow's follow-up to THE 40 YEAR OLD VIRGIN is the pretty hilarious tale of Ben (Seth Rogan), an immature, pot smoking slacker, and Alison (Katherine Heigl), a woman who has just received a promotion at her job with E!, The Entertainment Network. They meet in a dance club, have too much to drink and have a one-night stand. Complications arise when Alison ends up pregnant and now these two, who are practically strangers, try to get to know each other, and even date, for the sake of the baby.
Some of the funniest moments are between Ben and his slacker buddies, who are trying to get a website up and running that highlights female nude scenes in mainstream movies (Completely oblivious of http://www.mrskin.com), and Ben bonding with Alison's brother-in-law, Pete (Paul Rudd).

8.5/10

THE SANDLOT (1993)

My thoughts in the Movie Genre of the Month thread.

[slayrrr666]

Tale of a Vampire-Absolutely crap, nothing at all horrific going on in an absolutely cliche tale of a vampire finding his long-lost love in the heroine, and while there's a couple of gory kills thrown in to make it seem like this was a horror film at heart. Dull, lifeless and completely skippable.
1/10

And, this does spoil my two-week marathon of watching nothing but vampire films in order to coincide with the Board's Best Vampire Film compition only if Q had finished by then.

[Heineken Skywalker]

IDIOCRACY (2006)

Mike Judge (OFFICE SPACE) wrote and directed this comedy about a soldier (Luke Wilson) who, through a military experiment, awakens many years in the future. A future so dumbed-down that it automatically makes him the smartest man alive.
Would be really funny if it wasn't kind of sad. Sad in the sense that even though it's a satire and supposed to be broadly exagerrated, it doesn't seem too far off from exactly where this world is headed.

6/10

ALL THE RIGHT MOVES (1983)

My thoughts in the Movie Genre of the Month thread.

[Pulpmariachi]

Stranger than Fiction (Marc Foster) -- meta. A-.

[Heineken Skywalker]

THE BOXER (1997)

My thoughts in the Movie Genre of the Month thread.

[slayrrr666]

Bloodrayne II: Deliverance
Once again, I find it very hard to understand why Uwe Boll is hated amongst filmgoers, as he provides another really impressive and entertaining film. Tons of action, including a spectacular gunfight at the very end during the showdown with the other vampires, a rousing street-fight early on to get it going, and then a few fights scattered here and there. It's just cheesy fun and it's quite enjoyable. It's a western more than a horror film, hence no review for it, but I feel good as I ended my two-week vampire kick with some good stuff.
9/10

Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story-See thoughts in Movie Genre thread.

Blades of Glory-See thoughts in Movie Genre thread.

[Heineken Skywalker]

TROPIC THUNDER (2008)

If you've seen either THE THREE AMIGOS or GALAXY QUEST then you know that the idea of actors being mistaken for the characters they're playing and then getting into a situation way over their heads, is not a new concept. But I'll be damned if that idea, like in the two previous movies, doesn't work yet again.
Ben Stiller is the action star trying to make a comeback, as his last attempt at a serious drama failed miserably. Jack Black is the goofy comedian trying to earn some serious drama cred by appearing in a war film. And Robert Downey Jr. is the serious thespian who takes the term "method actor" a little too seriously and goes through a procedure that changes his skin color so that he can play an African-American character.
The three of them, along with a young actor who admires them, and a rapper-turned-actor named Alpa Chino (say it fast) are dropped off in a jungle to film their Vietnam epic, but are mistaken for real soldiers and the hilarity ensues.
Lots of great movie industry jokes as well as a supporting cast of big actors in smaller roles that are hilarious.
Make sure you get to the theater early so you don't miss the fake trailers for the three actors' previous films that play before the actual movie gets going. Not to mention the energy drink ad. Within two minutes the theater was laughing harder for that than the entire running time of the "real" trailer for that upcoming piece of shit, DISASTER MOVIE, that played just before ....THUNDER. Seriously, you could've heard a pin drop. But not during TROPIC THUNDER. We laughed hard and often.

9/10

[Pulpmariachi]

Forrest Gump (Robert Zemeckis) -- I hadn't seen this movie in nearly a decade and I bet you Heiney wouldn't let me count it for the Movie Genre of the Month Club, despite it featuring TWO instances of organized sports. It's a lot better than I remember it being. In fact, I liked it a lot more now than when I initially saw it.

[Heineken Skywalker]

Aug 17, 2008 18:44:07 GMT -5 Pulpmariachi said:

Forrest Gump (Robert Zemeckis) -- I hadn't seen this movie in nearly a decade and I bet you Heiney wouldn't let me count it for the Movie Genre of the Month Club, despite it featuring TWO instances of organized sports.

"Instances" do not a Sports Movie make. We see Tom Cruise wrestle in BORN ON THE FOURTH OF JULY, and we see him hitting a baseball at a batting cage in A FEW GOOD MEN. That doesn't make them Sports Movies. Nice try though.
And I agree it's a good movie. ;D

[ZapRowsdower]

Aug 17, 2008 18:42:45 GMT -5 Heineken Skywalker said:

TROPIC THUNDER (2008)

If you've seen either THE THREE AMIGOS or GALAXY QUEST then you know that the idea of actors being mistaken for the characters they're playing and then getting into a situation way over their heads, is not a new concept. But I'll be damned if that idea, like in the two previous movies, doesn't work yet again.
Ben Stiller is the action star trying to make a comeback, as his last attempt at a serious drama failed miserably. Jack Black is the goofy comedian trying to earn some serious drama cred by appearing in a war film. And Robert Downey Jr. is the serious thespian who takes the term "method actor" a little too seriously and goes through a procedure that changes his skin color so that he can play an African-American character.
The three of them, along with a young actor who admires them, and a rapper-turned-actor named Alpa Chino (say it fast) are dropped off in a jungle to film their Vietnam epic, but are mistaken for real soldiers and the hilarity ensues.
Lots of great movie industry jokes as well as a supporting cast of big actors in smaller roles that are hilarious.
Make sure you get to the theater early so you don't miss the fake trailers for the three actors' previous films that play before the actual movie gets going. Not to mention the energy drink ad. Within two minutes the theater was laughing harder for that than the entire running time of the "real" trailer for that upcoming piece of shit, DISASTER MOVIE, that played just before ....THUNDER. Seriously, you could've heard a pin drop. But not during TROPIC THUNDER. We laughed hard and often.

9/10

I agree 100%. I gotta say Tropic Thunder is the funniest movie so far this year, and probably won't get beat.

[Heineken Skywalker]

Aug 18, 2008 4:45:40 GMT -5 ZapRowsdower said:

I agree 100%. I gotta say Tropic Thunder is the funniest movie so far this year, and probably won't get beat.

Yeah, I don't go see too many comedies in theaters, usually wait until they hit dvd or cable, but I had a feeling about this one.

REMEMBER THE TITANS (2000)

My thoughts in the Movie Genre of the Month thread.

[slayrrr666]

Before I go into this, as it's gonna be huge, but I started this when I thought Q was going to start his Vampire thing in the horror section and this was a way to coincide with it.

Innocent Blood-Actually a lot of fun, as it mixes two seemingly different subgenres together into a really great entry.http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0104511/usercomments-54

The Insatiable-Really only has good stuff when it goes into the vampire-on-the-loose scenarios, but pretty bad elsewhere.
www.imdb.com/title/tt0462362/usercomments-18

Rise: Blood Hunter-Somewhat interesting variations on the genre but nothing that hasn't been seen before.
www.imdb.com/title/tt0389328/usercomments-74

The Hunger-Absolutely terrible, with no redeeming qualities except for some mainstream-acceptable sleaze and nudity.
www.imdb.com/title/tt0085701/usercomments-105

Darkness: The Vampire Version-Some real fun to be had in the extreme, over-the-top gore and a lot of action-packed encounters.
www.imdb.com/title/tt0106669/usercomments-32

Kingdom of the Vampires-Somewhat interesting as it details an unusual relationship, but nothing really all-too important here.
www.imdb.com/title/tt0239094/usercomments-3

The Vampire's Night Orgy-Some solid Gothic atmosphere and Eurotrash equal a lot of fun amongst a few mild flaws.
www.imdb.com/title/tt0069047/usercomments-12

Bram Stoker's Dracula-Overrated, but actually tries to have some good stuff when it wants to.
www.imdb.com/title/tt0103874/usercomments-553

Nosferatu the Vampyre-A lot of great stuff inside some minor flaws that manage to hold it down somewhat, though not altogether.
www.imdb.com/title/tt0079641/usercomments-132

Interview with a Vampire-Actually a lot of fun when it tries but really only suffers from the whinning vampire syndrome.
www.imdb.com/title/tt0110148/usercomments-379

Queen of the Damned-Pretty much a carbon copy of it's original entry, only with less gore and a little less fun.
www.imdb.com/title/tt0238546/usercomments-692

A Polish Vampire in Burbank-A ton of goofy, cheesy fun that is so corny that it becomes a bunch of fun after a while.
www.imdb.com/title/tt0089823/usercomments-14

Outback Vampires-Doesn't have a whole lot going for it, but there's some parts that are worthwhile when it gets to them.
www.imdb.com/title/tt0143788/usercomments-3

Vampiyaz-Not all that good for an urban vampire film, but it has a few moments of redeeming value spread throughout.
www.imdb.com/title/tt0415348/usercomments-20

Vegas Vampires-A modern-day Blaxploitation entry that only gets problematic with it's ten-thousand different plotlines.
www.imdb.com/title/tt0393939/usercomments-7

So, all that plus Bloodrayne 2 and Tale of a Vampire were my controbution to that project.

Shaolin Soccer-See thoughts in Movie Genre thread.