I've been dealing with an illness lately. One of the bright sides is I've had some time to catch up on the movies that have been piling up.


Below (DVD) - I watched this in bed at 3 am Tuesday night. Not my usually schedule and probably not the ideal situation to critique a movie. Anyway, Below is your typically weird haunted WWII submarine thriller. The story has some holes but it effectively conveys the tension that being confined in a haunted submarine while hunted by a German destroyer must feel like. The DVD seemed very sharp upscaled to 1080p almost too much so. Might suffer from excessive edge enhancement but the one time I specifically looked for it on the 47" LCD I watched it on, I couldn't detect any. Bigger screens may show this better. I found this movie not great but very watchable... 3 out of 5 stars.


The Searchers (HD DVD) - WOW! This is a great movie and a great HD DVD. It's been a year or two since I last watched it on DVD. This disc held me spellbound throughout. Please excuse the cliche, but this HD DVD blew me away. Great looking HD is everywhere. Very little of it is great looking AND great content. This movie is a masterpiece made more so by it's presentation on this disc. 4 out of 5 stars.


Cinderella Man (HD DVD) - I love this movie. The HD DVD looks and sounds good but it's not spectacular. 4 out of 5 stats.

Planning on watching FLIGHTPLAN this weekend. Before I watch it, if anyone thinks I shouldn't let me know.

Just like anything some like it some don't. It was a waste of Jody Foster's talent. :(

T

Last night, the wife and I watched "World Trade Center". She's been wanting to watch it for some time, but I've been wary of it. I still find images of the towers and the aftermath on 9/11 painful - and even after visiting Ground Zero twice (and having been in and around the towers many times).

The movie was OK. The subject wasn't sensationalized, which was a relief. But the story about the trapped cops could have been any mine cave-in. I don't think there was anything in particular that made this a 9/11 story.

Randy

Last night I watched The Punisher on Blu Ray with a friend who is a fighter. This was just OK as a movie and the look was not particularly great.

After, we watched some ultimate fighting on Spike. The last fight ended with a very gruesome kick to one guys head. The power resulted in him being knocked unconscious and falling with his leg and foot twisted as he fell. He didn't regain consciousness for too long IMO. I like to watch fights but this is the human male at his most basic so I'm not sure a regular diet would be for me. :eek:

Art

I was out having drinks with some friends and happened to see that fight being shown in the bar. Top of the foot direct to the ear dropped that guy like a sack of wet hair. I was suprised the winning fighter didn't show ANY concern for the other guy who just layed there still, being tended to for what seemed like at least 3 minutes. He was flexing for the cameras and making his psychotic killer faces. Classy.

Dan

Last night, the wife and I watched "World Trade Center". She's been wanting to watch it for some time, but I've been wary of it. I still find images of the towers and the aftermath on 9/11 painful - and even after visiting Ground Zero twice (and having been in and around the towers many times).

The movie was OK. The subject wasn't sensationalized, which was a relief. But the story about the trapped cops could have been any mine cave-in. I don't think there was anything in particular that made this a 9/11 story.

Randy

I must agree Randy except you didn't mention the wives. The wives I thought were very good and their portrayal is what made the movie touching. Hopefully you have seen "Flight 93". That was masterpiece. Probably the best movie I saw last year.

T

I've been dealing with an illness lately. One of the bright sides is I've had some time to catch up on the movies that have been piling up.


Below (DVD) - I watched this in bed at 3 am Tuesday night. Not my usually schedule and probably not the ideal situation to critique a movie. Anyway, Below is your typically weird haunted WWII submarine thriller. The story has some holes but it effectively conveys the tension that being confined in a hunted submarine while hunted by a German destroyer must feel like. The DVD seemed very sharp upscaled to 1080p almost too much so. Might suffer from excessive edge enhancement but the one time I specifically looked for it on the 47" LCD I watched it on, I couldn't detect any. Bigger screens may show this better. I found this movie not great but very watchable... 3 out of 5 stars.


The Searchers (HD DVD) - WOW! This is a great movie and a great HD DVD. It's been a year or two since I last watched it on DVD. This disc held me spellbound throughout. Please excuse the cliche, but this HD DVD blew me away. Great looking HD is everywhere. Very little of it is great looking AND great content. This movie is a masterpiece made more so by it's presentation on this disc. 4 out of 5 stars.


Cinderella Man (HD DVD) - I love this movie. The HD DVD looks and sounds good but it's not spectacular. 4 out of 5 stats.

Is it a "haunted" submarine, or a "hunted" submarine? (You use both terms...) I presume you meant "hunted", because I can't think of any other "haunted" submarine movies that would make this movie typical of that genre.

The movie was OK. The subject wasn't sensationalized, which was a relief.
Yeah, had the same sense of relief too. Throughout the movie, I expected Cage to work in one of his typical running-away-from-the-roaring-explosion-type scenes. Thankfully, didn't happen.

It was a Bond weekend and finally saw the new one and two older ones.

Casino Royale - Guess I'm in the minority with this one...I didn't really see what all the hype was about this one. Yes some great chase scenes but it seemed too long and drawn out at times. Seems to me that they are building a new Bond character.

The 2 older ones were part of the "newly restored" versions that have just come out.

"Die another Day" with Pierce Brosnan (and Halle Berry).
"Thunderball" with Sean Connery.

They did do a great job in restoring these movies. Great visually and sonicly. I recommend fans to take a new look at these. I'm renting the others in the series I'm that impressed!

-t

Haven't seen flightplan yet. Still on the menu.
I saw Walk the Line tonight. Decent flick. I think most movies are just better in a nice theater though.

Also started "The Guardian" but haven't had a chance to finish it yet. Looks good so far.

Is it a "haunted" submarine, or a "hunted" submarine? (You use both terms...) I presume you meant "hunted", because I can't think of any other "haunted" submarine movies that would make this movie typical of that genre.

Sorry Steve that was a typo. Believe it or not the sub is "haunted."

I was trying to be sarcastic when I sad that it was "your typical haunted submarine" movie. I probably should have added the :rolleyes: icon to better convey my intentions.

Haven't seen flightplan yet. Still on the menu.
I saw Walk the Line tonight. Decent flick. I think most movies are just better in a nice theater though.

Also started "The Guardian" but haven't had a chance to finish it yet. Looks good so far.

bqmeister does your HT need upgraded??? or you must have one awesome local theater??? :D My HT is heads and shoulders above the local theaters here.

T

watched "March of the Penguins" (HD DVD). Learned a lot and the story helped keep me interested. Some of the video was shot in low lighting so you did see some "film like" grain.

This week we were able to watch:

Deja Vu - prety to very good, time travel / parallel futures, Denzel and a very pretty actress / damsel needed help. 3.5 / 5

Pursuit of Happyness: Was skeptical at first since I'm not a huge Wil Smith fan, but was pleasantly surprised. A predictable rags-to-riches story, but engaging nonetheless. Funny and heart-wrenching at the same time, particularly if you have young children. Great interaction between Wil's character and his son (played by his real son). Recommended.

Watched "Next" with Nicholas Cage in theatre. Not bad. Philip K Dick story. A few people laughed at the ending.

Just got back from Spiderman 3...not bad. Not as good as #2 but decent. Some memorable scenes but some segments that were plain tough to watch.

Dan

On deck for tomorrow nite: A Casino Royale / Martini Party.

Drove me to by a Blu Ray player...

Watched Alpha Dog last night with the wife ! HD DVD via XA2/RS1 beautiful .I am in my late 40's and the movie was better than I thought it would be. I couldn't watch Crank another teen age movie. But this was well acted not overly violent basically well written. Some of the editing could have been better but it was good entertainment .

Watched Alpha Dog last night with the wife ! HD DVD via XA2/RS1 beautiful .I am in my late 40's and the movie was better than I thought it would be. I couldn't watch Crank another teen age movie. But this was well acted not overly violent basically well written. Some of the editing could have been better but it was good entertainment .

I agree, I viewed it last night myself, Hard to watch the scene near the end with the kid :( ...then again I was unaware it was based on a true story untill the very end...I recommend this movie, it's a great sleeper. BTW..lots of cursing :( , some great nudity :)

watched "John Pinette / I'm Starvin" stand up comedy
His comedic timing wasn't as good as it is in "Just For Laughs", but the material still had me laughing side splitting hard.
I made the mistake of trying to eat dinner while watching it. No such luck. Ended up quite amused, and hungry.

We watched Dejavu last night. Is it me or is this whole premise hard to buy ? Anyway took 45 min. to get over my disbelief then Densel pulled me through . Johnathan

Yesterday my daughter had a group of friends over for a Spider-Man marathon. We then took them all to see #3.

Mini Review: Weakest of the three. Too many supervillians. Too much angst and acting. 20 minutes too long. :D

Randy

Watched Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the Eighth Dimension! 1984 (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00005JKEX)
The old ones are the best.
This one is middle aged. :)

johnathan:
I enjoyed DejaVu.
If you wish to reexperience the same feelings, run to see "Next" with Nicholas Cage.

Watched Nanny McPhee (2006) (http://www.amazon.com/dp/B000F1IQNM)
I'd never heard of this, so it was a bit of a sleeper for me.
Reminded me of the Walt Disney films of 30 years ago. I knew what had to happen, and I didn't mind getting there.

Watched 2 this weeked....

"7 Days in May" - 1963 - Kirk Douglas and Burt Lancaster Screenplay by Rod Serling
Very good acting. A couple of moments of political posturing but great overall.

"Blood Diamond" - 2006 - Leonardo DiCaprio and Jennifer Connelly
Pretty intense look at the 'conflict diamond trade'.

Both very good movies though I enjoyed seeing 7 Days... more.

-t

We watched Volume 1 of Drive In Movie Classics, with a double feature of Attack of the Giant Leeches and The Screaming Skull.

I told our son that when I was a kid, the only nearby theatre was a drive-in and how my parents would take me and my sister to weekend double features to see cheesey horror movies.

"What's a drive-in?" was his response.

So I explained, and told him about the concession stand, the small speaker that hanged off of the window, kids playing in between the cars before everything started, and falling asleep in the backseat at the start of the second feature.

The DVD we watched has intermission bits ("Let's all go to the lobby..."), trailers, a couple of cartoons, and Distorto sound, which puts the movie sound into the left front speaker, with ambient drive-in sounds in the others (cars and footsteps on gravel, screen talk, etc.).

He fell asleep by the time The Screaming Skull started.

Basmentbob
I don't know why I felt that way as everyone in the house loved it. Guess it is a fault of mine . Crazy that Matrix and Batman Begins sit just fine with me. Guess when it is presented that way it throws me off . But Hell I'm working on it ha ha. Johnathan

We watched "Happy Feet" with the kids. It was much better than I had anticipated, with a number of laughs and some really good animation, though not something I need to watch again.

We also watched "Dog Soldiers" (without the kids). We had seen and been impressed by "The Descent" and thought we'd watch the writer/director's earlier horror effort. It was good and kept us both entertained, but it also left us with a lot of questions afterwards. I'd recommend it as long as you realize that it is not as polished as "The Descent".

We have also been watching "The Jewel in the Crown" BBC series about the Raj. While the sound and video are nothing to write home about given that it is an older series, it is a good series that I think gives you a better sense than the "Ghandi" movie of what life was like for the British and Indians in India during the end of Raj. Highly recommended if you don't mind a series that takes its time introducing characters and events. It certainly does not shy away from depictions of racism and class issues.

Watched Fourth Protocol (1987) (http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00004YRKM)
It's amazing how many films I've seen the end of, but never seen the first fifteen minutes of.

The URL shown, and the one I ordered, is obviously french. The DVD that arrived is italian. But there's an english audio track, so all's well. Picture quality is excellent.

Watched "The Queen" with Helen Mirren. What a great movie and all the performances were incredible. Wife and I both loved this one.

I watched the Hitcher the other night. It was good but more sedate than I remember the first one. Then I watched Wolf Creek . Believe it or not in a amateur kind of way it was well acted. Some of the dialog was too real.

Last night I watched Troy in HD DVD wow a very nice transfer and good movie to boot ! Johnathan

Saturday we watched Slave of the Cannibal God from 1978, with an in-decline Ursula Andress and an in-ascent Stacy Keach. The wife remarked as the credits rolled, "so those are the sadists responsible?"

Watched "Hard Candy" (2005) last night. This suspenseful drama from director David Slade will keep you on the edge of your seat. I kept thinking I knew what was going to happen next... but it didn't. :confused:

Watched "Hard Candy" (2005) last night. This suspenseful drama from director David Slade will keep you on the edge of your seat. I kept thinking I knew what was going to happen next... but it didn't. :confused:

That movie was a little demented (okay, a lot). Was worth the one watch but that was about it. Something about it (the unrealistic ending, maybe) didn't sit well with me.

Saturday night, after a long day of yard work, the wife and I decided on something light. We watched "The Trouble With Harry."

This 1955 Hitchcock is a trifle, but it's light and fun, and has some of his trademark suspense - just right for Saturday night!

Randy

Saturday night we watched Dream Girls HDDVD . Glad it was a netflix rental. The movie portion was great but they kept trying to make it a musical/drama.I don't mind either or. And musical numbers in a movie are great .This movie didn't seem to know what it was ! Some of the songs seemed clearly above the range and reach of some of the stars IMHO !

It was a beautiful transfer and great sound track ! Like I said the acting was head and shoulders above the singing. Most all of the group agreed . Johnathan :cool:

Saturday night, after a long day of yard work, the wife and I decided on something light. We watched "The Trouble With Harry."

This 1955 Hitchcock is a trifle, but it's light and fun, and has some of his trademark suspense - just right for Saturday night!

Randy


That's a great Hitchcock flick! Didn't know it was on DVD...
I'll have to find that.

Thanks for the reminder.
-t

Saturday night we watched Dream Girls HDDVD . Glad it was a netflix rental. The movie portion was great but they kept trying to make it a musical/drama.I don't mind either or. And musical numbers in a movie are great .This movie didn't seem to know what it was ! Some of the songs seemed clearly above the range and reach of some of the stars IMHO !

It was a beautiful transfer and great sound track ! Like I said the acting was head and shoulders above the singing. Most all of the group agreed . Johnathan :cool:

Watched that Saturday night as well. Regular SD DVD though...

It certainly got a lot of build up.
I didn't know it was a musical though. Nothing wrong with musicals...
Some great singing though... was that really Eddie Murphy singing??

Story was predictable but well acted. It looked very nice and sounded good.
Glad too, that it was a rental.

-t

The Boxer (HDNet) - Pretty good movie. Solid acting, compelling story. 3 out of 5 stars.

Babel (DVD) - Absolutely horrible movie. I wanted to gong this movie and turn it off, but I kept hoping that something was going to happen that would elighten me as to why this movie got so much attention. It never happened. The common thread in this movie isn't the rifle, it isn't the inability of people to listen to each other, it's people either acting wholly irresponsible or just plain stupidly. Much of what happens in this movie could have been adverted with 2 seconds of clear thought.

Maybe that's the profound message here. Babel: Many people doing stupid things and blaming the consequences on others. If Babel would have stayed true to itself and billed itself as such I would have liked it much more, but instead it tries way too hard to be something more than just a movie. Babel asks a lot of the viewer and doesn't give very much in return. Whatever this movie was trying to say, I wasn't listening. 2 out of 5 stars.

We just watched "Hell's Angels", the 1930 WWI bi-plane movie Howard Hughes made for about $3.8 million (apparently about $45 million in today's terms), adding sound and some color to what started out as a black and white silent movie. We learned of the movie while watching "The Aviator" and were curious. It turned out to be a very entertaining movie with some very unique and memorable scenes and amazing stunts. Recommended.

Watched Fourth Protocol (1987) (http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00004YRKM)
It's amazing how many films I've seen the end of, but never seen the first fifteen minutes of.

The URL shown, and the one I ordered, is obviously french. The DVD that arrived is italian. But there's an english audio track, so all's well. Picture quality is excellent.

This is a favorite of mine, a real true-to-life spy adventure movie. I remember seeing this when I was in high school and loving it. Totally engrossing. And Pierce Brosnan plays a great bad guy.

Battleground (DVD) - Made in 1949, Battleground follows a squad of 101st Airborne Division soldiers as they fight their way through the Battle of the Bulge. While I tend to have a lot of patience for movies that look or sound great the same doesn't extend to old black and white pictures. The less flash and flare the better the movie has to be and Battleground is pretty good. For me it effectively conveys the feeling of being surrounded, outnumbered, and without hope. These guys are cold, tired, cutoff, but still not quite ready to give up. Being within about 5 years of the actual battle the actors seemed genuine and their plight seemed believable. Instead of modern day movies about the period with modern day versions of a 1944 U.S. soldier. With decent acting all the way around and a very young looking Ricardo Montalban Battleground is a very good little film. 3.5 out of 5 stars.

The other night I watched "Smoking Aces" followed by "Night at the Museum". I really liked Smoking Aces. There were a number of just great scenes that were darkly funny.

Night at the Museum was mediocre to disappointing. The special effects weren't anything to write home about and the story was rather thin.

Dan

The Boxer (HDNet) - Pretty good movie. Solid acting, compelling story. 3 out of 5 stars.

Babel (DVD) - Absolutely horrible movie. I wanted to gong this movie and turn it off, but I kept hoping that something was going to happen that would elighten me as to why this movie got so much attention. It never happened. The common thread in this movie isn't the rifle, it isn't the inability of people to listen to each other, it's people either acting wholly irresponsible or just plain stupidly. Much of what happens in this movie could have been adverted with 2 seconds of clear thought.

Maybe that's the profound message here. Babel: Many people doing stupid things and blaming the consequences on others. If Babel would have stayed true to itself and billed itself as such I would have liked it much more, but instead it tries way too hard to be something more than just a movie. Babel asks a lot of the viewer and doesn't give very much in return. Whatever this movie was trying to say, I wasn't listening. 2 out of 5 stars.


I actually really enjoyed Babel. The Asian scenes seemed out of place/contrived, but loved the rest of the movie.
Part of that love for the movie was the cinematography. An absolutely beautiful movie.

But also really enjoyed the contrast with the police here and the police in (peru?). There, guilty until proven innocent.

I agree the movie looked very nice. I watched the DVD upconverted to 1080p on an LCD panel and I thought some of the scenes looked spectacular. Unfortunately, despite some very nice photography, I couldn't get into Babel.

Pirates of the Caribbean: Curse of the Black Peal (Blu-Ray) - Looked and sounded great. Very fun movie to watch. 3.5 out of 5 stars.

Ant Bully (HDDVD): Decent rental. Typical story, but great PQ as you'd expect from computer-generated animation. Used headphones, so can't comment on SQ.

An adult fairy tale that is well acted and beautifully photographed. Great special effects and story line but not for young children. Really shows off a good AV system and not the usual brainless pabulum that passes for film these days.

An adult fairy tale that is well acted and beautifully photographed. Great special effects and story line but not for young children. Really shows off a good AV system and not the usual brainless pabulum that passes for film these days.

GOOD!! Been wanting to watch this for a couple of days now but waiting on someone to give a short review. Seems to be a period film which I seem to enjoy. Am looking forward to this.

GOOD!! Been wanting to watch this for a couple of days now but waiting on someone to give a short review. Seems to be a period film which I seem to enjoy. Am looking forward to this.

It is an excellent movie, but man is it depressing to watch. I took my wife to see this in the theater a week after we saw Children of Men, and afterwards she said, "THoses were two fantastic movies, but next time we are seeing a romantic comedy of my choice!"

Just watched Charlottes Web in our theater (just finished this weekend) and though it was nothing to really show off your new room, it was a descent flick for the kids. Though, I'm sorry, none of the voices did it for me. Especially Julia Roberts. I think she put NO effort into her reading, she just showed up, read, collected paycheck and went home. Same for Oprah too.

However, we are going to pop in Pans Labyrinth, Eragon (for the heck of it and without the kids of course) and Casino Royale and Rocky Balboa. . . none of which I've seen. I've been holding out on a lot of films to finally sit back in my own theater and watch. It has been well worth the wait.

Friday night - the wife and I watched "Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest". This is the movie I was afraid Jerry Bruckheimer would make when I first heard he was making a movie form the Disney theme park ride. The original was a gem, but the 2nd was loud and needlessly convoluted. Some entertaining parts, but on the whole, not worth the effort.

Saturday night we watched "Pan's Labyrinth". Wonderful movie. Dark and moving.

Sunday we had a house full of teenage girls. They watched the first 2 Pirate movies, then we took them to the 3rd. "At World's End" was entertaining, but doesn't bear thinking about. Just how long does it take to get from the Caribbean to Singapore, especially if you might not have a ship?

Randy

Been a few years since I watched Casablanca. How much fun it was to see it again!

From a technical standpoint this was a HD print. Very nice look.

Saturday night - didn't have a lot of time, but we watched the first episode of "From Earth To The Moon." I'd seen it several years ago on VHS.

For those of you who haven't seen it - it's a terrific mini series, on par with Band of Brothers.

Randy

CptnRandy:

From Earth To The Moon: Spider -- is one of my favourites.

Watched Freedom Writers (HD-DVD) Friday night. Wife is a teacher and picked this one out....was actually a pretty good movie. Then watched 12 Monkeys (also HD-DVD) Saturday night.

Steve

Saturday night - didn't have a lot of time, but we watched the first episode of "From Earth To The Moon." I'd seen it several years ago on VHS.

For those of you who haven't seen it - it's a terrific mini series, on par with Band of Brothers.

Randy

"From Earth To The Moon" is a great mini- series!

Band of Brothers and From Earth to the Moon both came about because of Tom Hanks experience with the movies - Apollo 13 and Saving Private Ryan.

Watched "Kontroll" the other night. Offbeat movie about subway toll control officers in Eastern Europe with a dark, Donnie Darko edge to it. Recommended if you like thought-provoking movies with ambiguous endings.

Just watched Blood Diamond last night. It was a very real look into the African diamond trade. Quite gruesome at times and makes one quite happy they live in such a controlled environment. I couldn't imagine not knowing where my family was if the world I lived in was so chaotic.

O.K. picture quality for DVD could be kind of grainy at times.

My wife and I watched Music and Lyrics last night. I found myself laughing at it quite a bit especially growing up with 80's pop music. I admit a guilty pleasure in liking Hugh Grant actually. He was equally funny in Love Actually. My wife enjoyed it as well. Great date movie.

Watched Freedom Writers (HD-DVD) Friday night. Wife is a teacher and picked this one out....was actually a pretty good movie. Then watched 12 Monkeys (also HD-DVD) Saturday night.

Steve
I watched it to a while back (FW).

Whats funny is my girl always picks out these kinds of movies and i am always nagging that their gonna sucks and guess what? they dont suck it was actually pretty good imo

Watched Norbit and half of Flyboys last night. Norbit...not so funny, really nice picture though, Flyboys looks amazing and is pretty good so far. Will have to finish it this evening.

Ryan

I had low or no expectations regarding this film. It was mesmerizing with great sound and video quality. VERY GRAPHIC violence and not for everyone (especially the young). I enjoyed every minute and will be watching it again.

Double Feature last night ...

Watched the 1953 version of "War of the Worlds" with Gene Barry and Ann Robinson. Then watched the 2005 version of the same flick, with Tom Cruise.

They looked great together. The 1953 version holds up pretty well after all these years and you could see where Spielberg paid homage to it in his version.

Nice touch in having cameos in the end of the Spielberg version too of Barry and Robinson.

I think I may do this same-title double feature with other flicks again.

-t

NBA Finals. Go Spurs Go.

Last night the wife and I watched "Syriana".

Terrific movie. Complex and deep. Well worth another viewing.

Randy

Watched "Freedom Writers" with Hilary Swank. Great film! One of the most powerful and moving movies I've seen in quite a while.

I watched "BRIDGE TO TERABITHIA" on Blu-Ray.......wow what an amazing movie! I would say that the children in this movie are among the best actors I've seen (at any age). The story is great and continues to draw you in throughout, revealing a little more of the "world" each passing day.

The transfer to Blu-Ray was perfect and the picture quality was super crisp. From the subtle sound effects of the school to the antics in the woods, the soundtrack was well conveyed.

My wife and I loved this movie and will probably watch it again REAL soon. BTW we didn't watch it with any kids and we still enjoyed it. I have never read the book before but would like to now. Some people need to get over the book to movie thing though!

Bottom line, if you are a kid at heart....watch this movie. If not, get it for your kids.

My wife and son got me the Season 1 Box Set of Saturday Night Live. We watched the first episode on Saturday. Wow, does this bring back memories.

This weekend we hit the theater and saw "Knocked Up"... This movie was as good as it was advertised, IMO. I think it will be one of those movies that will get better each time you watch it. I probably missed a few jokes the first time through.

This week I can FINALLY get back into my theater after finishing up the cleanup from a flood we had a month ago..

I am really behind in my movie watching..

We watched Seraphim Falls this past weekend. A very enjoyable western with Pierce Brosnan and Liam Neeson.

I will second the endorsement of Seraphim Falls. Funny to watch an Irishman and Englishman play the role of civil war rivals . But they pulled it off. Johnathan

Johnathan - Both actors are born Irish...Brosnan just moved to England at a young age.

Watching who killed the electric car, Very good so far.

Watched "History Boys" the other night... my dad went on and on about how good it was, I thought it was just 'ok'. Acting was solid, I was looking for a little more.

Just got done watching the Eragon DVD. Looked beautiful on my HD-A2 and RP CRT. I really enjoyed the movie, and got lost in the story and the visuals.

We just watched "You, me and Dupree". My wife enjoyed it and I thought it was okay but nothing special.

Tonight we are going to watch "Night at the Museum". I have seen it but my wife hasn't. I was hoping to hold out on watching this until I am able to get a Blu-Ray player. This just means I will have something to compare...

Big movie week.

Breech- Good well acted. I liked it way better than "The Good Shepard"
The Fountain- What a jumbled mess.
Ghost Rider- A bit dark for my comic book tastes, but great visuals.
Apocalypto- Well made, good story line, interesting characters. A good watch if you don't mind subtitles

Big movie week.

Breech- Good well acted. I liked it way better than "The Good Shepard"
The Fountain- What a jumbled mess.
Ghost Rider- A bit dark for my comic book tastes, but great visuals.
Apocalypto- Well made, good story line, interesting characters. A good watch if you don't mind subtitles


I wanted to watch "Breach" this evening, but my wife choose "Night at the Museum"...

I am going to try and pick up Breach on night this week...

Saturday watched "Flags of our Fathers"
Sunday watched "Letters from Iwo Jima"

Both were excellent. I enjoyed seeing the 'other' perspective with "Letters..."
Highly recommend watching both.

-t

Saturday night the wife and I watched "The Dish" - great, gentle comedy. And perfect timing, too. We've been watching "From Earth to the Moon" and were able to watch "The Dish", then watch episode 6 of FETTM, which is about the moon landing.

Randy

We had some family in town over the weekend. We one movie that that we had been meaning to see, and one that my wife was required to see.

My wife is currently working on a small James Bond project, so we rented Casino Royale, which we hadn't seen yet, but was on our list of movies to see. It was enjoyed by all.

On Saturday, we watched Thank You For Smoking. It was one of the funniest movies we've seen in years. My dad wasn't thrilled with the idea of watching it as he thought it was going to be an anti-smoking documentary; instead, he loved it. We had only rented it, but will be buying it.

Last weekend we watched

Night at the museum It was likable and my wife laughed so it helped my mood for it !
Breach Very well acted . I enjoyed the entire cast and the movie !
Ghost rider I am not a comic book fan but this was at least entraining and a beautiful transfer !

IrmoGamecoq
Thanks for the info on the Englishmen !

Johnathan

***Edit***
Eight below Almost made for TV feeling.But it was a very touching movie as me and my wife are both dog lovers !

"Whose life is it anyway". (richard drayfus, 1981) Better than I remembered it. Fine acting by everyone. Gripping. Wide audience.
I seem to remember a different -- happy -- last 60 seconds though.

Breech-Good story line and kept me watching but I had higher hopes of more action. Thought it would a little more "Bourne Identity"

A Simple Plan - Great acting by Billy Bob Thornton (Did I just say that?) and good suspense. Recommend.

Next up - Shooter

I must be getting old. Or my taste is dwindling, but regardless, here is what we watched just today.

Harry and the Hendersons.

Remember this? Sure you do. Well, even though I enjoyed the movie as a kid, watched it a million times, for some reason, it just doesn't resonate with me today. I actually found myself. . .bored. Just bored watching it. Very few movies have me watching the digital counter on the DVD, but I was anxious for this movie just to end. For some reason, the charm just isn't there anymore. It's odd. Of course, the makeup and costume still work I think, really well done, but besides that, I feel like I just wasted 2 hours of lamp life on a dud.

oh well. I would recommend viewing this on a regular t.v., save your lamp hours for something better from the 80's. Like. . .Willow!! :D

Watched Black Snake Moan on HD DVD. Very moving movie with great acting (Timberlake's acting was okay).

Story line is great, but if your looking for something politically correct, try somewhere else :)

I can see almost anyone being able to relate to the movie, even if your not from the South.

Poseidon (HDDVD): Pretty bad one. Awful script & acting. Only marginally better than a made for TV movie.

We watched The Patriot on Blu-ray last night. The movies is okay (7 out of 10) but the picture quality and uncompressed audio was amazing!

"Lady in the Water" boring... dozed off three time and ended up stopping it before the end. Wife said she was wondering how long I was going to keep watching it.

Space ships on the 4th.

"Independence Day" of course...
Watched "The Dish" as well.

-t

Last night, some teenagers in our neighborhood got together and filled a car trunk with Big fireworks. They brought them over to the park in our development and put on a show that bettered the nearby cities of Naperville, Oswego and Aurora. It was incredible. Our son was jumping up and down with glee. We and several neighbors were shaking our heads, laughing, saying, "kids are putting this on."

I watched Antarctica Dreaming: Wildlife on Ice HDDVD . Wow what a beautiful picture. I have the Big Lebowski on HDDVD to view this week end. I like this movie the more times I see it. Johnathan

Looked for a 4th themed movie. So watched "Patriot Games" - hey, it had the word "Patriot" in the title!

Randy

Shooter - 8.5/10 - I saw that the reviews for this movie were poor and I know it didn't do well in the box office but I loved it. I thought the acting by Wahlberg was great and although I found Glover to be a bit of annoyance I found the plot to keep me interested the entire time. If I can get through a movie without looking at my watch then I think it is a winner and I didn't look once in this movie.

Shooter - 8.5/10 - I saw that the reviews for this movie were poor and I know it didn't do well in the box office but I loved it. I thought the acting by Wahlberg was great and although I found Glover to be a bit of annoyance I found the plot to keep me interested the entire time. If I can get through a movie without looking at my watch then I think it is a winner and I didn't look once in this movie.

I enjoyed this movie as well. We went to the theater and saw it and I am deciding on whether to pick this one up on DVD or wait until the Blu-Ray comes out.

Glover was a tad annoying throughout the movie.. Did he purposely try to talk like that or has something happened that I did not know about???

Watched "Ghost Rider"

wow. horrible movie. that's all i have to say. . .

Watched Shooter last night. Decent film, nothing that's going to go down as one of the most amazing films of all time, but with all the gorgeous scenery I kept wishing that the PQ could have been slightly better than it was. I will gove kudos for: they didn't do the standard cheese and allow Wahlberg to kiss/boink the widow of his fallen comrade.

...Glover was a tad annoying throughout the movie.. Did he purposely try to talk like that or has something happened that I did not know about???


You know my wife and I were thinking the same thing. I think he was doing it on purpose but if that IS the case then yeah it was super annoying.

Next up - The Fountain

Watched Astronaut Farmer (http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00005JPLE/).
I hadn't seen this in theaters, and rather enjoyed it. There are a few slow spots, and one worrying one. Good subwoofer effects, and at least once I was up on my feet with a big smile on my face.
I don't know what you can say about a day in which you have seen four beautiful sunsets.
John Glenn, astronaut

Watched two movies tonight:

Harsh Times: I found this movie to be painfully slow. Christian Bale played his character well but I could care less what happened to him in the movie so it was hard to hold my interest. Cinematography was good so I'll give this one a 4/10.

The Machinist: Figured I would give Bale a chance to redeem himself in this highly recommended Brand Anderson flick. The plot was well written but confusing at times. Also found this one to be a little slow at times as well. Nice twists at the end and Bale had to drop at least 40 pounds to play this role. For this I give it a 7.5/10.

Watched Last Mimzy (http://www.amazon.com/dp/B000Q66FB6/)
I've seen a lot of junk in the past couple of months, and now I've seen two good films in one day. I am content.

Watched Shooter last night. I've seen worse. I agree with what Spyder said about it. 6.5/10

A week ago or so I watched Near dark. It was the first time I'd seen it and I thought it was pretty good for a modern day vampire movie. 7.5/10

Snakes on a Plane is next on the list...

Dan

Snakes on a Plane is next on the list...


Hmmm...the best way I can sum this one up....Comedy-Horror with a little romance :p

Apocalypto: 5/10. Pretty weak movie, considering he also directed Passion of the Christ and Braveheart. Seemed to start out nicely, which was encouraging, but just went downhill from there. Seemed just a collage of random scenes. Also, maybe it's just me, but throughout the movie just got the feeling he told the extras to act "weird and creepy", which got old quickly.

Apocalypto: 5/10. Pretty weak movie, considering he also directed Passion of the Christ and Braveheart. Seemed to start out nicely, which was encouraging, but just went downhill from there. Seemed just a collage of random scenes. Also, maybe it's just me, but throughout the movie just got the feeling he told the extras to act "weird and creepy", which got old quickly.



I'm fairly new to the arena here but I will say that it's not as bad as a 5, maybe a 6/10. It had a decent plot and it did start out great but in the end, it's hard for me to recreate the movie in my head (like other great movies out there)

I didn't actually rent the movie and from what I've read over the Intertubes, Comcast is a joke. I actually paid $5.99 to enjoy this movie at 110" but it seems that their compression techniques and practices really take away a lot from the whole movie experience. I wanted HD all the way, not HD when the scene is still. Every time it was a fast movie sequence, the picture gets pixelated and just painful to watch.

The GF and I also saw Bruce Almighty and enjoyed it. Granted it's not one of those thinking person's movies, it was an enjoyable movie to watch at the end of the weekend.

Raise the Red Lantern (HDNet Movies): Not the greatest HD PQ, but still an interesting movie. Basically, a sort of chick-flicky movie about bickering Chinese concubines, but definitely kept my interest.

On paternity leave (does my man-card get revoked for this?), so watchin' plenty of movies of late.

Freedom Writers (HDDVD): I liked it. A good rental. Predictable and similar to Stand and Deliver, but still an inspiring story. Great performance by Hilary Swank. I usually could care less about 'Extras", but more info about what became of the original Freedom Writers would've been nice.

Pride (DVD): Another feel-good formulaic predictable movie, but I liked it too. Basically about a coach who creates a swim team for inner city kids. Terrance Howard kicks butt in any movie.

I watched Snakes on a Plane last night. I liked it actually. It was a little more graphic than I thought it would be but still fun with a few good laughs too. Pretty good audio too.

7/10

Dan

DKaps:
I remember thinking when watching Snakes On A Plane, it's cool to have a film deliver exactly what you expect.

Watched "Music and Lyrics" last night. Hugh Grant and Drew Barrymore...
Nice little romantic comedy. I know lots of folks can't stand Hugh Grant but I'm not one of them. :)

I'd watch it again and actually might this weekend with some friends.

-t

Finally watched an old DVR of "Last King of Scotland" last night. Good show. Lots of tension filled moments. Forrest Whitaker was just excellent.

Dan

Finally watched an old DVR of "Last King of Scotland" last night. Good show. Lots of tension filled moments. Forrest Whitaker was just excellent.

Dan
Might pick that up tonight. Thx.

Watched "Fast Food Nation": Not sure if I completely "got it", but still an interesting movie. Greg Kinnear was good as usual and Wilmer Valderrama did a respectable job. Had cameos by Bruce Willis and Kris Kristofferson (what?!). I think I'll stay off the burgers for a couple days. ;)

We watched "The Holiday" last night. Neat little romantic comedy somewhat in the vein of "Love Actually" due to the (partly) English setting. We enjoyed it quite a bit.

Loaded with stars too: Cameron Diaz, Kate Winslet, Jude Law, Jack Black, Edward Norton, Shannyn Sossamon, Rufus Sewell, AND Eli Wallach...

Well we've been catching up on a few classics and stuff we just put off watcing lately as the wife has been placed on strict bedrest (pregnancy related) so she's a captive audience :D So far we've knocked off: Office Space, What about Bob, Borat, MI:3, The Incredibles, 16 Blocks, plus a bunch of DVR'd shows. Helps the time go by at least:(

Saturday night was the wife's pic. We watched "Dead Calm". Passible.

Randy

Well we've been catching up on a few classics and stuff we just put off watcing lately as the wife has been placed on strict bedrest (pregnancy related) so she's a captive audience :D So far we've knocked off: Office Space, What about Bob, Borat, MI:3, The Incredibles, 16 Blocks, plus a bunch of DVR'd shows. Helps the time go by at least:(
Office Space and Borat are way up there on my "top comedies" list.

As we're going to move soon, probably watched my last movie for a long while:

Blood Diamond (HDDVD): Good, maybe 7/10. Unique story and was definitely and Oscar nomination worthy jobs by Djimon Honsou and Leonardo. PQ was excellent, probably one of the better HDDVDs I've seen. Many great scenery shots.

Last night, the wife's pick. We watched "Clear and Present Danger" - mainly to follow up on watching "Patriot Games" on July 4. Not bad.

First movie watched on the newly installed JVC RS1!

(yes, I know, not the best pic to show it off, but it did just fine).

Randy

On Thursday night I watched Sin City in HD with Salina and eight of her friends. I've seen that movie about ten times easily and still enjoy it.

Last night House on Telergraph Hill alone with a glass of wine. Another good film noire and a great great DVD transfer as many of these have been. Pretty amazing what care can do for a transfer even for a 50 year old movie.

Art

Friday night double feature...

Watched "Apollo 13" and then "The Dish" in commemorating the anniversary of the first men on the moon....38 years ago!

I know the movies are out of order but it played well to the crowd. :D
"The Dish" throws out date captions during the movie and finally someone in crowd noticed that Friday was the anniversary date. Thought I would have to draw attention to it but the younger of my daughters noticed!!

-t

I watched "sky high" last weekend with my nieces and nephews and then "Casino Royal" with my brother after the kids were in bed. I've seen both before but enjoyed them both again (both viewed on blu-Ray on the 71" 1080P DLP upstairs).

Cheers
Calvin

Had our Casino Royale outdoor martini party last night. Weather cooperated wonderfully (we had 80 degree high in July and an evening low of about 65). Had four different martinis available and a crowd of about 35 people showed up for it.

Many hadn't seen the movie before and they were raving about it. Those that had seen it enjoyed it again.

rsante:
I hope you stirred your martini, and didn't shake it - being faithful to the 007 books rather than the movies, which were botched by some uncouth screen-writer way back with the first movie.
When you shake a martini instead of stirring it's not a martini anymore; it's a drink called a Bradford (http://www.abc.net.au/science/k2/moments/s118518.htm).
Everyone knows that in stirring, the drink is stirred with ice cubes for a few seconds, and then decanted. This causes only a slight mixing of the drink with the ice cubes, which means that the drink becomes cooler, but is not strongly diluted. Shaking, on the other hand, means shaking the drink vigorously in a shaker, so the drink gets diluted with a large amount of water.
As for the vodka vs gin, well, it's 007.

Ah, but if you believe that the original martini was invented in Martinez, California (or in San Francisco) as many do, then it was originally shaken, not stirred. But given that so many people these days consider the bastardized "vodka martini" to be a true martini, whether you like your gin martini shaken or stirred is a minor quibble. A martini does, however, need to contain some vermouth or else it is just a chilled shot of gin and not a cocktail!

Ah, but if you believe that the original martini was invented in Martinez, California (or in San Francisco) as many do, then it was originally shaken, not stirred. But given that so many people these days consider the bastardized "vodka martini" to be a true martini, whether you like your gin martini shaken or stirred is a minor quibble. A martini does, however, need to contain some vermouth or else it is just a chilled shot of gin and not a cocktail!

The things I learn in these forums!! Remarkable stuff. :)

-t

Friday night, my wife and I saw Transformers...and while the Transformers thing was about a year or 2 past my formative years (I had moved on to girls by then), I was enthralled. Great summer blockbuster.

Last night, we watched "Catch & Release" which was also very good. Kevin Smith was notably good in his role.

Saw Pulse and King Kong this weekend.

King Kong was a visual masterpiece. Jack Black was so much better than I thought he'd be.
Loved Kong vs. the Dinosaurs. Great cheesy fun.

rsante:
I hope you stirred your martini, and didn't shake it - being faithful to the 007 books rather than the movies, which were botched by some uncouth screen-writer way back with the first movie.
When you shake a martini instead of stirring it's not a martini anymore; it's a drink called a Bradford (http://www.abc.net.au/science/k2/moments/s118518.htm).

Okay, then I guess I had a "bradford" party. ;) We had four choices for the martinis. The Vesper (from Casino Royale), a chocolate, an apple, and a cosmo. Great turn out, rave reviews afterwards, but definately the most expensive outdoor movie party we've ever had.

Watched Shooter [HD DVD] (2007) (http://www.amazon.com/dp/B000QUEQBI/)
Good little action film.
I don't think you understand; these boys killed my dog.

Watched Streets of Fire [HD DVD] (http://www.amazon.com/dp/B000QEIOU8)
Comparing it to the DVD, I think the HD DVD's video is much improved (the DVD's was bad, definately not a reference video, e.g. at the beginning concert with her in the red dress under the red spotlights), but IMO the DVD's audio was much better than the HDDVD's audio -- except at the concerts where they are at par with each other (i.e. both great).

I watched "Contract" last night. It stars John Cusack and Morgan Freeman and it wasn't that bad, especially for a DTV release. I was kind of shocked to see those two actors in a DTV movie.

Watched Mission: Impossible - The Second TV Season (1966) (http://www.amazon.com/dp/B000NOIX66), first episode 'Widow'.
That was surprisingly good.

Also saw Transformers in the theatre. uh, 6 on 10. With just some minor improvements in dialog, mostly Optimus Prime's, it could easily have been an 8. The action, especially the F22 fight, and the transformers transforming, was great. Basically, whenever a transformer was on screen, and they weren't talking, it was a great movie.

Contact, with Jody Foster - loved it, lots of special effects and eye candy.

StarWars episode II, what can you say, one of the better in that series.

A Night at the Museum, pretty good, lots of subwoofer exercise with the TRex and Wooly Mamouths.

Friday: The Englishman Who Went Up a Hill and Came Down a Mountain - gentile humor.

Saturday: The Hunt for Red October

Randy

Saturday: "The Conversation" - Highly recommend it.

Friday Night - Happy Feet
Saturday night - StarWars episode III
Sunday Night - Polar Express

Saturday Night: Master and Commander....what a great movie.
Sunday Night: The Bourne Identity
Monday night: The Bourne Supremacy ...like it better than the first one

-t

Wedesday Evening: Premonition
Thursday Evening: Along Came A Spider
Friday Evening: Monster's Ball
Saturday Evening: The Perfect Man
Sunday Afternoon: Brother Bear

What a variety... huh?

Sunday; "The General" - was ok

Saturday Night: Brubaker.... great Redofrd flick

Sunday nite (kids choice): The Original Freaky Friday kids enjoyed it.

Last Nite: Walk the line.. well done if a little slow.

TONIGHT WE DINE IN......


sorry


TONIGHT WE WATCH 300!


my wife hasn't seen it yet. she had no desire to, until i was previewing a DIVX of it the other day (not my DIVX, our neice's fiancee's). so now she wants to see it!

Thrus night: shooter...liked it
Fri night: Rumor has it.....I slept

last night was 300

4/5

Last Friday: The Queen..... we both loved it. 4/5 amazing performance by Helen Mirren.
Last Saturday: Children of Men....Only thing I can say is I thought it would be better. 2/5. I can't believe Owen turned down Casino Royale to do this. I didn't hate it, just didn't love it. My wife didn't like it.
Yesterday: Shooter... Liked it alot. Good action sequences, wish there were more. Few plot holes but to be expected. Looking forward to reading the book this was based on.

Next up: Premonition, The Prestige, Hannibal Rising and 300. May also try to squeeze in the new Bourne.

Watched 300 on HD-DVD was just as good as the first 2 times I saw it in the theater (maybe better as I got to watch it in my HT !)

Children of Men....Only thing I can say is I thought it would be better. 2/5

Agree. I saw it last week and was let down. Two different people told me it was one of the best movies they saw this year. It was really dark and depressing but well made so I can understand why some people liked it. Just not my cup of tea.

I comepletely disagree about CoM. I loved it. Went out and got the HD DVD.

Last night we watched "Gingerbread Man".

Only OK - not the best of Robert Altman

Randy

As per previous post, we watched:
Premonition- we both liked it but it tried too hard to be convoluted. Didn't take much to figure out the sequence of events. Took some of the 'oomph' out of it after that, just going along for the ride. 2.5/5.
The Prestige: We both loved this one. Don't know why it didn't resonate with audiences, maybe it came out at a bad time I guess cause I didn't even remember it too well. I think it came out around the same time as 'The Illusionist', similar magician fare. Either way, I give this movie the dge over the latter mentioned. Very well done, just couldn't believe these guys went at it for so long and went so far to out do each other. 4/5.
Didn't get around to 300, or to finish Hannibal, but did get to see the new Bourne: Loved it! 4.5/5. As a fan of the book series, I won't comment on that aspect, loved the films for what they are. That being said, would love to see them tackle the last book.

Yesterday afternoon (rainy, for once), the wife and I watched "The DaVinci Code" not bad - actually fixed a couple of week points from the book.

Randy

I comepletely disagree about CoM. I loved it. Went out and got the HD DVD.

Don't get me wrong, maybe it was the timing involved with the viewing of this flick as well as the theme/subject matter resonating with my wife and myself (going through a difficult pregnancy right now with our first). Chalk it up to "Wrong film at the wrong time". I was actually anticipating this movie even before it was released, but that was a while back.
If this is 'TMI', then sorry for sharing.

Hot Fuzz (HD DVD) - Funny parody of cop movies. Not a lot of big laughs but it has something funny every few seconds. Very good movie. 3.5 out of 5 stars.

Shooter (HD DVD) - Pretty run of the mill action movie that goes downhill as it tries to wrap everything up near the end. Slightly above average 3 out of 5 stars.

That makes a lot of sense actually. Good luck!

I Love Hot Fuzz!!!!!

As per previous post, we watched:
Premonition- we both liked it but it tried too hard to be convoluted. Didn't take much to figure out the sequence of events. Took some of the 'oomph' out of it after that, just going along for the ride. 2.5/5.
The Prestige: We both loved this one. Don't know why it didn't resonate with audiences, maybe it came out at a bad time I guess cause I didn't even remember it too well. I think it came out around the same time as 'The Illusionist', similar magician fare. Either way, I give this movie the dge over the latter mentioned. Very well done, just couldn't believe these guys went at it for so long and went so far to out do each other. 4/5.


My thoughts exactly......

Watched 12:01 (http://www.amazon.com/dp/B000BZN1NM)
The movie "12:01" interestingly, being time loop movies, were made three years before and shortly after Groundhog Day.

Watched "Shooter" ...
Thought it was well made and reminded me of the Bourne movies for some reason...maybe because they're fresh in my mind. Thought Mark Wahlberg did a fine job here as he did in "The Departed". I think he's turning out to be a fine actor.
Not sure why Danny Glover sounded the way he did in the movie though.
Never seen Kate Mara or Michael Pena before.
4 out of 5 buckets of popcorn.

-t

Michael Pena was in Crash and that flick with Nick Cage about the twin towers last year. He definitely seems to be gaining in popularity and exposure, good for him.
Danny Glover's speech impediment was somewhat distracting. I will have to look up Kate Mara to see what she was in prior to this movie.

Watched TMNT and The Monster Squad.

I'm sorry to say, I enjoyed Monster Squad as a kid. . .but as an adult, wow, this movie is horrible. I began to actually second guess myself, wondering if perhaps I really did smoke something when I was young? And as far as the PQ, its far from a demo disc.

TMNT however, was pretty good. It had plot holes the size of a black hole, but there is something about the grittiness of the animation, and the clever use of depth, that makes it really stand out. Great little flick. I was watching everything on an Oppo Upconverter DVD player, and it looked great. Can't imagine what a BR or HDDVD must look like.

Tomorrow. . .The Host.

Ah ha! Michael Pena was the guy in Shooter! I thought it was the Native American dude from Flags of our fathers.

It's this guy http://www.imdb.com/gallery/granitz/5878/Events/5878/MichaelPen_Charb_13091126_400.jpg.html?path=pgallery&path_key=Pe%F1a,%20Michael

Not this guy http://www.imdb.com/gallery/granitz/5615/Events/5615/MelanieLyn_Caulf_12169708_400.jpg.html?path=pgallery&path_key=Beach,%20Adam

Watched Fracture (http://www.amazon.com/dp/B000R4SMCW)
Interesting. For a change I didn't guess how it was done.
Cinematrography was nice, but the plot reminded me of something like a McCloud movie.

Watched Babylon 5: The Lost Tales (http://www.amazon.ca/dp/B000PHX8RA)
a "direct-to-DVD distribution model for an SF series"
Reminded me of the quality of Crusade (a B5 spinoff), but probably a must for B5 fans. I think they've upgraded the resolution of the graphics generator a bit, as the StarFury's look better than I remember. I hope that wasn't a new dress

Watched Doctor Who: The Keeper of Traken (http://www.amazon.com/dp/B000NJXG7M) and Doctor Who: The Beginning (1963) (http://www.amazon.com/dp/B000CNESV2) It's been a while since I've seen these.

This past week I watched the following:

1. "The Librarian: Quest for the Spear" (2004)
2. "The Librarian: Return to King Solomon's Mine" (2006)

Both these movie were make for TNT and are Indiana Jones’s type adventure/comedy movies. On a rating from 1 to 5 stars I give them both 4 stars each. These were rented from Netflix and were well worth the watch.

3. "I also watched "300", which I think deserves a 4.5 star rating. It has been many years, but I remember the original 1962 release "The 300 Spartans" as also being an exceptional movie, which I also have on DVD, but have not gotten around to watching yet.

Best Regards,
Don

The Alien Seeker News
alienseekernews.com

Just watched Sunshine...absolutely amazing movie...

Over the weekend I watched 300 (HD DVD). I had seen the movie at the local AMC theater and liked it, but upon review I like it bit more than I remember. The Dolby TrueHD sound in my un-treated (less than ideal) living room was superior to the theatrical showing and the picture was crisp and clean. 4 out of 5 stars.

Got some catching up to do.

Last Monday: The Spanish Prisoner - terrific con movie
Last Tuesday: Open Range - beautifully shot modern western
Wed and Thursday: more Costner - The Postman. Yawn. Absolutely nothing to do with the very nice novel
Friday: open house & poker with the crew from work. We watched "Hot Fuz" Very funny and very active bass!

And Saturday night the wife requested we polish off our Jack Ryan series and we watched "The Sum of All Fears".

Randy

Friday evening I watched a rather bad Sci Fi called Spaceways. saturday night a much better film noire Kansas City Confidential. Last night Casino Royale in HD ( again) with Angela ,my mother in law and her new boy friend.

Art

OK. How many of you all are throwing a High School Musical 2 party tonight? We worked it in to my 11 year old's birthday celebration. A couple of the Mom's stayed to watch too.

Can't remember the last time I had this bad a picture up on my screen. Kids aren't complaining though they usaully have a pretty good eye.

No party but my 6 year old and I are watching it right now. Well I'm not watching more like monitoring :D I'm just in the same room.

I watched Shooter last night with my wife the Hd version.We both loved the movie.Mark Wahlberg is a good actor that has the potential to be one of the greats ! I liked the movie and had herd complaints about it .But those were unfounded for us.

It seemed that Dany Glover had some kind of dental appliance in his mouth ? Johnathan

Watched Spiderman 3 on Thursday night. The movies was predictable (had the plot after the first couple of scenes) and not enjoyable. Don't know if it was all plot related or the fact I was watching it at 40,000 feet on a 13" TV on an airplane :(

Just finished Hot Fuzz - 4 of 5 (for content). Little graphic on the violence, just a warning.

Really enjoyed it.

The wife picked "What Women Want." Not bad, great picture.

Not nearly as funny watching Mel Gibson play a drunken, philandering bore as it might once of been.

R

Watched fracture with a full house last night.Everyone loved it. I did figure it out early on but I am a sucker for Anthony Hopkins. Age group was 14 to 73 years old. They all enjoyed it. Johnathan

Watched 300 today on DVD (good thing I didn't buy HD DVD). Can someone please pinch me because I think I'm still sleeping....at least this movie put me to sleep.

No real plot to the movie other than go to battle sacrifice for your country....the end (sorry didn't mean to spoil it).

Falls on my "won't watch again" list of movies.

Watched Disturbia the other night. Really liked it. I tried to steer clear of any spoilers and whatnot on the internet and since I haven't seen Rear Window yet, I was on the edge of my seat all the way through. I enjoyed the humor that was well placed throughout as well.

Another vote for Disturbia. Thought I was killing time but I really got into it. Much better than I expected.

Disappointed in Shooter. Lots of thumbs up around here. It was adequate but far from good.

Pulled 'Pay It Forward' off the shelf and watched it last night.
Great story line...

Watched The Good Shepherd last night. I think my expectations were too high...again. Not bad and worth watching but I wasn't wowed.

Watched "40 year old virgin - unrated" Saturday night.

Wow! I had heard this was a good funny movie... pretty disappointed.
Way too much vulgarity. Turned it off about half-way through.

Don't know what I was expecting but it sure wasn't this! :eek:

-t

via netflix i watched recently...

Grand Prix
City of God
Ikiru
Apt Pupil
Kon-Tiki
Henri Cartier-Bresson: The impassioned eye

Watched Darkman (HD DVD) last week. JULIE!!!! Although it's served with a heavy dosage of cheese, it's still an ok movie. I can see how this one could go either way depending on your taste. 3 out of 5 stars.

Saturday night we watched Disturbia (HD DVD). Everyone seemed to like it just fine. Definately something I recommend. 3.5 out of 5 stars.

Last night I tried to watch Ghost Rider (DVD) but couldn't stay awake. This is not a very good movie. I'll finish it up tonight, but it's not something I'll be revisting any time soon. 2.5 out of 5 stars.

Picked out "Fracture" at the video store last night. The wife and I really enjoyed it... I recommend watching it.

Last night I watched Batman Begins on HD DVD.....I just got my HD DVD player yesterday, so BB was my very first HD experience. Loved the movie, thought it was even better in HD. I had no idea Bruce was wearing a blue shirt the first time he went into the bat-cave. ;-)
Tonight is 300 (also on HD)

Watched Wild Hogs last night. Pretty funny throughout. Had it's moments of comedic suspense too.

I would definitely recommend it. Definitely PG-13 though due to some language.

Tonight is 300 as well. Can't wait.

Watched The Host (HD DVD). Interesting Korean language film. I didn't like the light the U.S. is painted in and the movie has a little too much "genre float" but it's pretty good none-the-less. Good acting, likable characters, good story... 3 out of 5 stars.

Has anyone who watched "300" on HD DVD noticed the 'flicker' that some shots had, especially around the background images? I couldn't tell if this was a fault with the disc, or my tv; I do know that they used several filters in post-production to ADD grain and give it a film-like look, so maybe thats all I was seeing, and just didn't notice it before HD.....

Watched 300 last night. Great movie. Loved the visuals and the storytelling. Very moving for this type of movie. Definitely recommended.

Hey,

First time I have seen this thread. Didn't even know it was here, but I definitely like it. I enjoy hearing from us regular folk on what we did and didn't like.

Last night, the wife and I watched National Treasure. I know it isn't real new, but we hadn't seen it yet. I think it was a thoroughly enjoyable movie. Far-fetched yes, but isn't that some of the better ones. Recommended to anyone who hasn't seen it yet. That is those who have nothing against Nicholas Cage. I like his stuff, but I know some absolutely hate him.

Babylon 5 The Lost Tales via Netflix. Mixed reviews and deservedly so. PQ is good but the surround mix was thin. Shots calling for some floor shaking bass just did not have it.

Much talk, no action. Two stories on this disk; the first about demonic possession! Second story is Sheridan going to B 5 for party to mark ten years of the ISA. The story is about the trip not the party. In fact we never see the party, I imagine keeping down the cost of costumes and extras.

90% green screen and CGI. Sets are so minimalist they remind one of a modern play.

The battle scene CGI is well done. The hanger scenes however just didn't look as if the perspective was quite right.

IF you like the B5 series, including the klunkers, Lost Tales is OK but just OK. Unconvincing explanations wasted time explaining why familiar faces are not present or why for example, space suits are not worn (the real answer of course is that the originals are gone and the budget wouldn't allow new ones.

Strangely Boxleitner does some of the dialog more convincingly than in the original series.

I ignored B5 until it was in re-runs, but it captured me and I watched the entire series on DVD. I would have liked more and was hopeful about the Lost Tales. I am still hopeful, but this first one didn't quite do it. I will give them one more chance, but the next release better be an improvement.

Watched "the Guardian"(BR)...family liked it....good PQ and sound..Kevin Costner did a good job.....recomended

I watched, unfortunately, "Catch and Release"

Heed the subject line above. . . stay away. this is a horrible, slow paced, long running mockery of a romantic comedy or whatever it was touting to be. poorly directed, no screen chemistry between a single actor, and pretty much Jennifer Gardner at her worst.

however, there is one silver lining. I didn't waste any lamp hours on it. we just watched it on our t.v.:D

thank. . the lord!

STAY AWAY FROM THAT FILM!:eek:

Saturday night we watched "Vanity Fair".

Strangely, the filmmakers completely missed the entire point of the novel. For those of you who haven't read it, it's a satiric comedy - and I highly recommend it. Apparently they didn't get around to reading the book and simply pulled some plot points out of a classic comics version. And tacked on a happy, sugary ending, as well.

Pointless. Boring. Aggravating.

Randy

Disturbia--good suspense movie. definitely worth checking out. that shia lebouf kid is turning in to your, man, he's in every movie i see.....

Vacancy--kate beckingsale, luke wilson--was okay at best, had suspenseful moments, but not that great

perfect stranger--okay as well, not that great, had some good suspense moments, but nothing special

So last night was Chronicles of Riddick.....great picture, and the DTS track was amazing. Tonight was Mission Impossible 3. Again, amazing picture quality, great movie (JJ Abrams rocks), but I found the sound was a little muffled, especially compared to the amazing Riddick DTS track from last night. Either way, both movies are super fun.

Guitar Hero II on the XBox 360.

I need practice. :o

Apocalypto on BD

PQ was excellent 4/5
movie was about 3.5/5

overall I would recommend it

OK, I will confess that I still like children/family movies at the age of 56, and I don't even have children.

Last night I watched "How to Eat Fried Worms", I found out that this is more a children’s movie then it is for families. If you have young boys in the house, then maybe they would enjoy this movie a lot more then what I did.

For me, I can only give this movie 2.5 stars :p out of a 5 star rating.

Best Regards,
Don

Watched "Music and Lyrics". It was predictable froth, but very funny and well worth seeing.

We watched Zodiac (DVD) Saturday night. Pretty darn good movie. Everyone seemed to like it. 3.5 out of 5 stars.

We watched Zodiac (DVD) Saturday night. Pretty darn good movie. Everyone seemed to like it. 3.5 out of 5 stars.

Just watched Zodiac tonight. Great movie. I love David Fincher's stuff. I too watched the SD DVD. Did you notice that alot of the movie's night scenes were VERY dark? My sister, who saw the movie in theatres, remembers it being dark, but I am not sure if I have my TV calibrated properly.

My TV and HTPC are calibrated using the Get Gray (http://www.calibrate.tv/) disc. I'm quite sure it's not perfect. There are many nighttime scenes but I don't remember having to strain to see anything that I was supposed to see in the movie. I don't remember it being overly dark.

I watched "The Last Mimsy" the other night.
Great family movie and really entertaining, both the wife and I really liked it 3.5 out 5 stars.

300 on HD-DVD. Cool Movie.

Thanks for the input. I will fiddle with the levels when I have some more time. Until then I will just have to settle for the out of the box settings.

Watched Fracture, Perfect Strangers and Hot Fuzz this weekend. Great shows for the most part :)

Hot Fuzz is pretty good. sometimes they spoke a little too fast, or my British is getting rusty, but overall a good little cop movie.:D

I just watched. . .wait for it . . .Resident Evil: Apocalypse.

My thoughts?

I'd rather have had dysentery. :eek:

Hot Fuzz is pretty good. sometimes they spoke a little too fast, or my British is getting rusty, but overall a good little cop movie.:D

I just watched. . .wait for it . . .Resident Evil: Apocalypse.

My thoughts?

I'd rather have had dysentery. :eek:

:D
How are those Resident Evil movies anyways? There's a few of them out right?

-t

oh yeah, and stay away!

there is a thick layer of "cheese" in these films, it took me a moment to figure out why, and then I saw the writer and director credits.

Paul W.S. Anderson (directed the first, wrote the second).

by far one of the worst directors out there. Slick, quick and sterile is the mantra of his style, and unfortunately his films only amount to a sugar rush, and that's it.

My TV and HTPC are calibrated using the Get Gray (http://www.calibrate.tv/) disc. I'm quite sure it's not perfect. There are many nighttime scenes but I don't remember having to strain to see anything that I was supposed to see in the movie. I don't remember it being overly dark.

ok so I feel a bit stupid. I popped in Star Wars Episode III to use the THX Optimizer, and on the screen test where you have to adjust brightness so that the drop-shadow behind the THX logo dissapears came up, my screen was so dark that I COULDNT EVEN SEE THE THX LOGO!! LOL hopefully the fact that I am new to the whole LCD thing will make up for my silliness.

Watched Superman Returns and Deja Vu. Both were good (3 out of 5). Superman was a little long and slow to get rolling.

Watched Fracture, Perfect Strangers and Hot Fuzz this weekend. Great shows for the most part :)

We just watched Perfect Stranger and Fractured and both were good but I give the 'thriller' edge to Fracture. By far this is one of the most interesting exchange between two characters that I've seen in a long time. Where Perfect Stranger fell a little short, I think Fractured picked up the batton and ran with it. Hopkins and Goslin did a fantastic job.

I have one query: Does anybody know the name of the device Hopkins' character builds? The contraption with the concentric rings and steel balls circling?

Watched "Shooter" last night. I love conspiracy movies and this one did not fail to entertain me. 4 out of 5 stars

Don

The Alien Seeker News
www.alienseekernews.com

starscomeout:
You might want to consider Timequest (2002) (http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00023BM66a). Sort of an anti-conspiracy movie. It's no Parallax View (1974) (http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00000IRE9), but at least you've probably never seen it before.

starscomeout:
You might want to consider Timequest (2002) (http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00023BM66a). Sort of an anti-conspiracy movie. It's no Parallax View (1974) (http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00000IRE9), but at least you've probably never seen it before.

Thanks BasementBob for the recommendations!

Best Regards,
Don

The Alien Seeker News
www.alienseekernews.com

Last night we watched, "The Guardian"

We both enjoyed it.

Randy

starscomeout:
Thanks BasementBob for the recommendations
'recommendation' is perhaps a bit strong. 'notification' is a better word.
I watch a lot of films, and it's really nice to see something that's at least watchable that I've never heard of, and TimeQuest falls into that category.
I provided the amazon link so you can read what others thought, and make up your own mind.

We were in the mood for a comedy and had heard interesting comments about "Dogma". It was not nearly as violent as some reviews had led me to believe, and not gory by any means. Some of the actors seemed a bit miscast (George Carlin especially), but it was overall a very funny movie and it makes you think to boot! I'd recommend it unless you're the type who takes the bible literally.

Last night we watched Troy. It was one of the first HD DVDs I bought, and now I see there is a Director's Cut coming out. ARGH!! Oh well, it was a good movie. I remember not liking it much when I saw it in theatres, but due to a rekindled interest in ancient Greece (thank you 300), I rewatched it and liked it a lot more! Plus, it really is a great film visually and showcases the format well.

Last nite, the wife and I watched "Das Leben der Anderen" ie "The Lives of Others".

We both thoroughly enjoyed it..a well done character drama about East Germany prior to the fall of The Wall, and how the Special Police basically kept tabs on everyone. No real action to speak of. I'd give it an 8/10.

The Curse of the Golden Flower - BD

Horrible movie

not a lot of action
more drama than anything else

avoid unless you are a die hard fan of the genre

Curse of the Golden Flower - BluRay

I remember thinking over and over and over during that movie "Hey, there's another really nice carpet."

Better-half wanted to see this...I thought it was a Harry Potter flick...
Anyway, it has to do with Beatrix Potter of the kid's books I used to read to my kids! Renee Zellweger plays Miss Potter.

I didn't think I'd like it but...it wasn't bad at all!
I didn't know that she had done so much for the National Trust in the UK.

3.5 out of 5 popcorns. Good Family movie.

-t

Caught "Aeon Flux" on Showtime HD. Pretty light weight, not much of interest.

Last night the wife picked and we watched "Cellular". Better than I'd expected. Not bad for a lighter action piece.

Randy

Watched Grindhouse Presents, Death Proof (2007) (http://www.amazon.com/dp/B000R7HY0K).
I thought it was a blast. It's got violence and language, and although the girls aren't roll models nor deep characters they are entertaining, even if it's obvious you're listening to Tarantino speak out of these girl's mouths with oh let's call it bad dialog.
It is more than just an homage to the 70's films, it reeks of 70's films, right down to the fake scratched film. :) (except for the occasional cell phone) If you're not old enough to remember Bullet, Vanishing Point, Dirty Mary Crazy Larry, and the French Connection and such, well you might not enjoy this film quite so much -- the car chases are probably the point of the movie.
Oh, and the foreshadowing is simplistic and predictable.
It's not a classic, even a QT classic, as perhaps Reservoir Dogs and Pulp Fiction are, but I don't seriously think QT was even trying to knock one out of the ballpark this time.

the ending is feminist approved, perhaps because in the 70's it was a morality rule of some sort that criminals couldn't get away with it in movies.

I haven't finished the special features yet. I'm hoping the faux trailers are in there somewhere.

I was expecting it to have part 2, namely Planet Terror (http://www.amazon.com/dp/B000UAE7O0) since both were shown in theatres together, but apparently that's next month.


The case says "Warning, Biohazard -- not safe to open until after September 17, 2007." Is that anything I need be worried about?

I watched the first disc of Dexter Season 1 and it was fantastic!! Think of Hannibal starring in CSI with a little Desperate Housewives thrown in. Great show. Twisted and nicely filmed.

Watched "From Beyond" Saturday night.
:D
H.P. Lovecraft, Yunza and Gordon and Herbert West and Screaming Crompton....

what a hoot........

I have been wating for this DVD for decades.... :)

Watched Alfred Hitchcock's "Rear Window"

Excellent movie, 5 out of 5. They do not make movie's like this anymore. Even though I had seen it a few times before, I always finding myself wondering just how the movie was going to end. Mark of a great film to be caught up in the plot each time you see it.

For its time it must have been viewed as very on the edge. The dancer practicing in her underwear and even dropping her top with her back to the camera, the suggestion of impropriety when the girlfriend offers to spend the night and the concern that the landlord may object. A much simpler time.

I wonder what M. Night Shyamalan would do with the film if he every wanted to do a re-make of the movie?

I watched "Confessions of A Dangerous Mind". A really interesting film - but not one I would generally recommend. This is one of those movies where you have to know someone before you can recommend a movie.

But for me - I loved it.

Randy

A few nights ago, "Fracture". I liked it. Great performances by everyone. I had it figured out pretty early but the movie was still very engaging.

Dan

Popped in a Trek film last night.

First Contact.

Very good film. I purchased a huge set of all 9 or 10 films of Star Trek (from the classic Kirk to Jean-Luc-Picard). and though they are not the greatest films, the relationships and characters are just fun to watch (plus these films are just made for a home theater). First Contact, thus far, has been the best BY FAR. Looking forward to watching "Nemesis" and "Insurrection". I hear they both suck, but, I guess I'll find out soon enough.

I would recommend First Contact though.:D

cabbageheat:

I rather enjoyed Star Trek Next Generation "Insurrection". I came out of the theatre humming the Ba'ku Village theme song.

I didn't like "Nemesis" much.

Watched a couple tis weekend...

1) The Astronaut Farmer - Not the worse movie I ever saw but I just couldn't understand where the H*LL a farmer would be able to come up with the money to build a rocket! Not once but twice!! 2 out of 5 popcorns...

2) Traffic - Pretty intense film that I never saw before but heard all the buzz about it for years. I think this was the film that started the current genre of multiple storylines going on at the same time, a la "Crash" etc... 4 out of 5 popcorns.

-t

In honor of the Bettie Page tattoo I got two weeks ago, I watched "The Notorious Bettie Page" with the wife. Very good movie, well acted and directed. Gretchen Mol really becomes Bettie when she puts on the "bettie bangs" wig.

In honor of the Bettie Page tattoo I got two weeks ago, I watched "The Notorious Bettie Page" with the wife. Very good movie, well acted and directed. Gretchen Mol really becomes Bettie when she puts on the "bettie bangs" wig.

Well, I think that calls for pics of the tattoo! (as long as they're safe for work! ;) )

Randy

I just got done watching Remember the Titians. I love that movie.

Bridge to Terabithia on BD

Decent picture and audio quality

movie was ok but I never thought disney would do that to a child in one of their movies

3.5 out of 5

Bourne Idenity

2.75 out of 5

Bourne Supremacy

2.75 out of 5

not a lot of action and some weird endings??

Well, I think that calls for pics of the tattoo! (as long as they're safe for work! ;) )

Randy

If you're interested in seeing it I'll take a pic tonight and post it. The guy did a great job reproducing the image I gave him (a piece of Bettie art by Olivia).

We watched Catch 22. Mike Nichols directed; Buck Henry wrote the screenplay. Great cast-- Alan Arkin, Art Garfunkel, Bob Newhart, Buck Henry, Jon Voigt, Orsen Wells, (a very young) Bob Balaban, Anthony Perkins...

The cinematography was fantastic-- lots of long, wide-angle shots with elaborately blocked action. The last time we saw it was maybe a dozen years ago on p/s VHS on a 25" set-- big difference seeing the full 2.35 frame projected.

As the credits were rolling, the wife remarked, "that was more brutal than I remembered."

Watched "The Pianist" last night..starring Adrian Brody.

Had never seen the film before. Excellent movie!

5 out 5 popcorns.

-t

Wow.

Went to best buy and picked up. . .

COMMANDO (new edition released 9/18):D

This movie still makes me laugh. It's so over the top, so "videogame" like, its insane. This is one of those movies you just need to add to your collection for kicks. The action holds up fairly well, and the new scenes they put in with the Directors Cut were mediocre at best, and the new features also sing the same tune.

But it's all about the movie right? Good buy for DVD. It will be interesting to see what it looks and sounds like in HD or BR in the future.

Cool buy!:cool:

In an earlier post I mentioned that after getting my Bettie Page tattoo that I had the urge to watch "The Notorious Bettie Page." CptnRandy requested I post the pic of the tattoo, so....

http://home.centurytel.net/sante/images/bettie_tat.jpg

The design is from a pin-up artist named Olivia (www.eolivia.com), the subject of course is Bettie herself (http://www.bettiepage.com).

I Photoshop-ed the image to change the outfit from black to red (Go CARDS!) and the tattoo is identical to that image. He did a great job.

Anyway...that's enough of that...

Pretty nifty, Roger!

Pretty nifty, Roger!

Thanks, I'm very happy with it. Gonna build off of it and try to create a baseball-themed half-sleeve.


Last night watched "Grindhouse: Death Proof." Ended abruptly, but watched the whole thing with a smile on my face. The first half is definitely better than the second, but I found it all-around very entertaining. Can't wait for "Planet Terror" next month.

The wife has been wanting to watch "JFK" for some time - had to split it over 2 nights. Well made, but I remain unconvinced of the basic premiss.

I also watched "Red Planet". Unfocused, generally uninteresting.

Randy

Took a break from movies and fired up a Netflix rental, "League of Gentlemen." This is a comedy from the BBC that revolves around the goings-on in a fictitious small community in England. All the main characters are played by the same three guys, and it is truly a bizarre series. Kind of one of those shows where you don't know if you should continue, but can't seem to turn it off.

In other words, I think I really like it. May have to rent season 2.

Took a break from movies and fired up a Netflix rental, "League of Gentlemen."
My wife and I still quote the series to each other eight years after having seen it. Very, very twisted and funny.

We watched Death Proof. Very enjoyable, and fun seeing women speaking Tarantino's dialog, including one scene (and single continuous shot) that reminded me of Buschemi's Madonna speech at the beginning of Resevoir Dogs.

And of course the car-chase-with-a-chick-on-the-hood was great.