Now Showing - What We Watched - Page 237

Loved them both, (my kind of humor) no time for movies or even TV lately between work, High School sports, Birthdays and hunting seasons... I did pick up Piranha 3DD in 3D for hopefully Wednesday or Thursday viewing.

Watched The Raid Redemption (2011)
3/5 (amazon 4.4/5, imdb 7.7/10, rotten tomatoes 88%)
Writer/Director Gareth Evans' film is a non-stop barrage of fisticuffs, knife/machette fights, battons, shoot-outs, and even an axe. The hand to hand martial arts combat scenes alone are at least half the film's running time. It is a well choreographed exercise in action movie mayhem and it succeeds wholly in its intentions. Yet it has characters -- it's no Sophie's Choice, but there's a plot, good pacing, and it's reasonably well acted. It easily hangs together. If you like action films, this micro-budgeted indie flick shot in Indonesia (yes, it's subtitled but, believe me, the dialogue is relatively minimal) has got to be on the top of your must-see list.
in "The Raid: Redemption." Uwais plays an upstanding cop who is part of a SWAT team in Jakarta. The plot is very simple on the surface. The officers must infiltrate a slum apartment building that houses a gangland overlord and his band of criminal mercenaries. But on their way to the penthouse suite, they must fend off countless attacks as their numbers dwindle. There is a little political back story, as well, with corruption and greed factoring into the equation as to just why the building is being raided in the first place. Relentless action. The pacing is dynamic and the tension escalates throughout. There are some terrific combat scenes, lots of gunfire, and an endless array of hand-to hand fight sequences. The martial arts aspect to the fighting is exciting and extremely well done without being too over the top. The camera work is both fluid and at times surprisingly creative (they pull off a great drop-down shot early on using one camera but two cameramen). Most importantly though, it's choreographed into the action itself. The camera is the 3rd (or 4th or 10th) player in the fight scenes, moving with the actors to give the audience a clear view of the lightning fast techniques while highlighting the incredibly kinetic nature of the fights themselves. And kinetic is the only way to describe the fighting. The choreography in The Raid is the some of the most aggressive I've ever seen. There's no dancing around, no sizing each other up, no slow-mo, and definitely no waiting around for a downed opponent to regain his feet so the fight can continue. The actors go after each other like their lives really are at stake, attacking relentlessly from whatever position they find themselves in, using whatever weapon is available. Silat (the primary martial art on display here) is a viciously practical close-quarters system, and it's full range of open-handed combination strikes, knees, elbows, and grappling techniques is on full display; along with some knife-work that's almost too fast to keep track of. This is a particular treat for martial arts fans who have seen a lot of Karate, Kung Fu, or Muay Thai films. The mobility and variety of attack angles employed by Silat fighters is distinct and makes the already aggressive choreography doubly unpredictable. These guys never stop moving. The stunt work is top notch, and you really get a feeling throughout the movie that these guys are hungry for it. This is their big shot to bring Indonesian martial arts to a western audience, and they pull out all the stop to make it happen. While the level of violence has been criticized by some as being gratuitous and misanthropic, what I see is an incredibly driven crew of young, talented Indonesians going balls-out to earn their indigenous martial art a permanent place in the genre canon. As far as I'm concerned, they succeed and then some.

Much better than The Expendables.

Jurassic Park Trilogy - DVD Special Edition - Well I can say I love all three of these movies, my favorite is the first one just for the sheer magic I felt the first time I saw it at the theater. They are showing their age, but still hold up pretty well. Apparently there is a JP IV in the works. Clickie Will be interesting to see where they go with that one. While my favorite is the first I love some of the scenes from the other films the nod to Godzilla comes to mind from the second, and the satellite phone retrieval from the third. I probably need to look at getting the trilogy on BR. Ah memories.

While I was taking a trip down memory lane I also watched Airplane! The don't call me Shirley addition. A true classic, what can I say. Still a good laugh!

Regards,

RTROSE

After "The Raid Redemption (2011)"
it seemed appropriate to

Watched Rumble in the Bronx (1997)
3.2/5 (amazon 4.1/5, imdb 6.6/10)
Always lots of fun.
I think Jackie Chan's hands moved faster than the fighters in The Raid Redemption, but there were fewer fights and more story.
And the end credits to Rumble in the Bronx feature all the injuries as they happened.

Watched The Sinking of the Laconia (2010)
2.8/5 (amazon 3.4/5, imdb 6.8/10)
A 171 minute documentary/drama BBC mini-series telling the true story of the WWII german submarine that sunk the Laconia, and then stuck around to rescue the survivors, with hundreds of them on the deck of the submarine, a half dozen wooden lifeboats being towed behind like little ducklings, and a big red cross on the side. Eventually an american bomber attacked and they had to submerge and run. Shortly after this incident the german high command issued the "don't rescue survivors" rule.

Watched Horrible Bosses and Contagion.

Horrible Bosses - we all got some good laughs. Another that I would NOT have felt totally ripped off at the theater. We ALMOST get to see Jennifer Anniston's good parts.

Contagion - Wouldn't have felt totally ripped off, but I think there were some parts that a soundtrack would have helped. This is one of those Matt Damon-no-soundtrack-"serious" films. Good supporting cast and actually, a pretty good story that raises some interesting questions, but I think at times it just felt slow.

I just watched the Extended Director's Cut of this movie and concur with the above, although I'd probably give it a 3/5. This would have been a good one to watch with a surround sound setup, but I live in a condo and had to suffice with having my headphone volume turned up!

Watched "Battleship" over the weekend.
Not bad, not great, but it was entertaining enough to earn a 3 out of 5, for my (sometimes mindless) tastes
(probably a buy whenever it is on sale)

Watched Starship Troopers 4: Invasion (2012)
2.4/5 (amazon 3.8/5, imdb 5.8/10, rotten tomatoes 46%)
Animation, similar style CGI to Final Fantasy Spirits Within, or some video games (Halo).
Not as good as the original, but probably better than the last two, and probably a must see if you've watched the previous 3.
Casper Van Dien has an Executive Producer credit, but this looks like an all japanese production with some unknowns doing the voices, and it's a thin B-movie.
The characters -- Captain Carmen Ibanez, Johnny Rico, Carl Jenkins -- are back, but they are not voiced by Denise Richards, Casper Van Dien, Neil Patrick Harris. Carl Jenkins character is less likeable than he was in the first film.
Whereas the original had co-ed shower nudity that was part of the different society makeup, this one has japanese level anime topless nudity without an obvious point. Similarly, while the original raised thoughts about what it means to be a citizen, there are no thoughts after watching this.
It started off pretty good, but never really picked up, but fortunately it didn't nose dive either.
The special features are mostly pointless, talking about how the book had power suits and they wanted power suits so they made a movie with power suits. Then they go on about how when they were 12 years old they saw the cover of the book and it had power suits on the cover.

Played
- Catwoman (2004, Halle Berry )
- Men at Work (1990, Charlie Sheen)
- Assault on Precinct 13 (1976, John Carpenter)
- The Adventures of Robin Hood (1938, Errol Flynn)

Men at Work was better than I remembered.

Played Kingdom Of Heaven (2005, Director's Cut, 190 minutes)
Having seen the 144 minute version several times, I bought the BluRay version, oh it might have been last year.
I'm not entirely sure how, but I don't think I ever watched the Director's Cut before -- because although my intent was to have it on in the background, every few minutes was a scene that I hadn't seen before. Eventually I clued in that it was an extended cut, and not that I had also forgotten that I had alzheimer's. I think the shorter version is a better movie, but I enjoyed the longer version as well, such as when Balian was discussing seige tactics with King Baldwin (Jerusalem). I didn't like the final battle with Guy de Lusignan, but I see in real life he not only lived, he got the girl (Sibylla).

Lol I actually had this same surprise when I picked up the movie on blu ray. turned out it was the directors cut. It really changes it into a different movie though. More back story and such. To be honest though I would like to have both versions because sometimes Id like to see the original.

Watched Damn the Defiant! (1962)
3/5 (amazon 4.6/5, imdb 7.0/10, rotten tomatoes 100%)

Set in 1797 at the beginning of the Napoleonic Wars, it's based on Frank Tilsey's novel Mutiny and stars Alex Guinness as a fair-minded captain of a frigate (not a ship-of-the-line) locked in psychological conflict with his manipulative, coldly malicious first officer (Dirk Bogarde), and the parallels with the famous true story are clear. However, there were many naval mutinies during this period, and this large-scale saga, which includes some spectacularly staged widescreen naval battles, offers a realistic depiction of life in the British navy at the time--from the press gangs and floggings to the appalling food and living conditions.
Director Lewis Gilbert--who previously helmed Sink the Bismarck! (1960)--strikes a good balance between the personal drama and sweeping maritime adventure. Guinness successfully varies his firm-but-fair officer from The Bridge on the River Kwai, Bogarde is chillingly hateful, and Anthony Quayle gives strong support.
The way the ship and the crew rise to each occasion, even during the 'mutany', makes it worth the watch.
The Plot

Edited by BasementBob - 9/14/12 at 9:17pm

Watched "Bernie" with Jack Black.
Hadn't heard anything about this and was in the mood for a comedy, was listed on Redbox's web site as a comedy.
Well it was a very unique story (actually based on a factual "situation" in a small east Texas town) and was MUCH more than a comedy!!
Many of the characters were actual townspeople talking about the "situation". I'm originally from small town and could understand the "simplistic straight-spoken naivety" that is expressed, almost to the point of making fun of the locals.

I'm not a big Jack Black fan. I have found some of his stuff to be funny, and some of it to be just "stupid-funny".
However; this might be his best performance yet. Good Movie - For me i give it a 4.0/5.0

Watched 12:01 PM (1990)
1.3/5.
25 minutes. The link is to the YouTube copy (all of it in 3 ten minute parts)
Kurtwood Smith plays Myron Castleman, an everyman who keeps repeating the same hour of his life, from 12:01 PM to 1:00 PM. The character is fully aware that the time loop is occurring, although no one else appears to be aware of the repeating hour. Each time the hour resets, Myron retains his memory (or as the film puts it, his consciousness).
The 1 hour time loop is caused by a cosmic event -- will he be able to overcome it?

Watched Groundhog Day (February 1993)
3/5
The 1 day time loop is caused by God or Cupid?
Good piano solo, and it's got a famous groundhog driving without a licence! (celebrities get away with stuff ya know)

Watched 12:01 (July 1993)
2.5/5
The 1 day time loop is caused by a mad scientist -- will he be able to overcome it?
Barry Thomas is the average office worker. He becomes attracted to Lisa Fredericks [Helen Slater; Supergirl, Secret Of My Success] who works in the same company. After work, Barry witnesses the murder of Lisa and goes to a bar to get drunk. Later that night, there is a storm and Barry gets a shock from a lamp's faulty power wire at exactly 12:01 am. The next morning, he realizes that everything is happening exactly as it did the previous day. The next morning the day is repeated again. It is now Barry's job--being the only person alive who is aware of this time loop--to stop the murder of Lisa, and stop the time loop or be caught in time forever.

We watched The Hunger Games over the weekend. It was *ok* but not as good as I had hoped. I have the feeling that the books would have been pretty good, though.

Played
- Midway (1976)
- 2010 (1984 with Helen Mirren as the russian commander)
- Real Genius (1985)
- Real Men (1987 with a very fit James Belushi)
- Chain Reaction (1996)
- The Postman (1997)
- Shaolin Socker (2001)
- 44 Minutes (2003)
- Red (2008 with Brian Cox. Not 'Red 2010' with Brian Cox)


Real Genius: Best popcorn movie ever made. It brought the house down.

The Postman: I always liked the scene where they're riding horses together at the gallop, and the horses veer off their separate directions (right before the boy hands him the postcard as he rides past). The girl postwoman who lusts after The Postman turns out to be Annie Costner, daughter of Kevin Costner.

Chain Reaction: always good

Played Under Siege (2006)
Where the damsel says "The safest place on this ship is right behind you"

Watched Safe (2012)
3.6/5 (amazon 4/5, imdb 6.5/10, rotten tomatoes 85%)
Pretty good action flick, bad guys always miss by the hundreds, good guy never misses and bad guys die at a rate of about 15 per 10 bullets.
Almost as good as Transporter 1 I thought. Not as good as The Professional, but some similarities.
Where the damsel tries to keep up because the safest place in the city is right behind Jason Statham.
Mei, a young girl whose memory holds a priceless numerical code, finds herself pursued by the Triads, the Russian mob, and corrupt NYC cops.
Coming to her aid is an ex-cage fighter whose life was destroyed by the gangsters on Mei's trail.

Most of the standard Damsel In Distress formulas with modern variations are used, acceptably well.
Edited by BasementBob - 9/18/12 at 1:44am

Well I have been watching some of my library again for the umpteenth time, some I have not watched in the theater yet.

Smokey and The Bandit - HD-DVD Yup I said it HD-DVD baby (the real HD format). What a classic. Full to the brim with wit and snappy one liners. While I have seen this movie several times I still laugh out loud. Funny stuff.





Star Wars III Revenge of the Sith. DVD Another great movie to watch again. With watching it in my theater for the first time what struck me the most was how well the audio was mixed for just a "regular" DVD and how much LFE there is as well. I guess I would really like to get the whole series on BR.

Regards,

RTROSE

RT, even though it wasn't "mother approved", I watched "Smokey" a few months ago with my 7 year old boys. They laughed and recited lines for weeks. I remember when I first watched it. I was too young too.

We have the Star Wars Bluray set, and have now watched through it twice already. They are very well done and if you're on the fence, I say do it. I know with young kids in the house, we'll watch them many times over before they leave.

I'm still wrapped up in a busy schedule with graduate school, work and work. We manage to get one movie in per weekend. Usually some junk the kids pick. Well, two enjoyable documentaries on Netflix streaming....The Monopoly Story and Being Elmo. Both good! The Elmo one was very inspirational.

Guys,

Smoky and the Bandit - That was what I call a cornball classic, and Jacki Gleason was the bonus material.
I still need to purchase the BR version of the Star Wars series, and re-watch both venues.

And then there's the need to purchase the Indiana Jones series.
Maybe Is should go back and get my masters; just so I can continue to afford this hobby

I just picked up Titanic on 3D Blu-ray disc and watched it last night on my LG 55LW5000 Passive 3D TV. Considering they are taking a 15-year-old movie and retrofitting it with 3D, they did a pretty good job. I'd rate the overall experience as a 4 out of 5. After the ship sunk and they were in the water, it looked like the ocean was extending into my living room!

I did have a bit of a scare at first though with the 3D. I put the disc into my PS3 and the 3D mode of my TV engaged automatically as it always does when a 3D movie is detected. Well, within a short period of time, I could tell something was not right. Motion was slow and the movement of people in 3D was just horrible. I had to stop the movie, disengage the 3D mode, then re-enable the 3D mode with the "checkerboard" pattern (rather than the default mode) and then start the movie again before things were right. After that, it was great and the movie played without any issues.

Craig, did you see Ralph's review of the Indy Blu's? Doesn't look worthy of the money to me. AND I'M PISSED about it!

By the way, I'm getting a Master's to make half the money....now tell me how bright that is!

I won't quibble with Ralph's review - he's always very thorough and fair, IMO. I went out last night to the multiplex and caught Raiders of the Lost Ark on one of their fancy Sony 4K projectors. I've seen reviews of this restoration that suggest that it makes the movie look like new - that's not true - especially in the grainy, crushed opening sequence. But the movie does look really good in most places. The soundtrack was, as Ralph said, very dynamic and the score is spread out nicely. There's lots of directional effects in the mix - I noticed in particular several occasions where the sounds of the whip move around the soundstage - maybe even a little too strongly for my taste - but I really enjoyed it.

I don't own the DVDs and will probably spring for the Blu-rays once I get finished building and can divert some money to watching.

Initially I thought you meant indie blu's, as in independant film makers doing something new.
Rather than, as makes sense in context, a review of Indiana Jones...
AVS's Ralph Potts: Indiana Jones: The Complete Adventures (Blu-ray) Official AVSForum Review

Watched It Happened One Night (1934)
3/5 (amazon 4.8/5, imdb 8.3/10)
Clark Gable, Claudette Colbert; Frank Capra; commedy romance

Ellie Andrews has just tied the knot with society aviator King Westley when she is whisked away to her father's yacht and out of King's clutches. Ellie jumps ship and eventually winds up on a bus headed back to her husband. Reluctantly she must accept the help of out-of- work reporter Peter Warne. Actually, Warne doesn't give her any choice: either she sticks with him until he gets her back to her husband, or he'll blow the whistle on Ellie to her father. Either way, Peter gets what (he thinks!) he wants .... a really juicy newspaper story.

Won 5 Oscars- Best Picture, Best Director (Frank Capra), Best Actress and Best Actor for Colbert and Gable and Best Adaptation. It deserved all of them.

Claudette Colbert only accepted to play the role because Capra promised he would double her salary and she would be done in four weeks. She disliked the film so much she didn't even attend the Oscars; when she won for Best Actress she was found about to leave on a trip and was rushed to the ceremony, where she made her acceptance speech in a traveling suit.

A number of Disney characters like Bugs Bunny (replete with carrots), Yosemite Sam and Pepe LePew were inspired by characters in this film.

At one point Gable complains, after explaining what a good woman is, "They don't make women like that any more!"

The special features include the original radio commercial.

Just finished watching "Drive" from 2011 with Ryan Gosling and Carey Mulligan. It's about a guy who works as an auto mechanic and stunt driver. He soon takes notice of a female neighbor at the apartment he is living in but soon finds out that her husband is in jail. He takes a love interest in her and they start to mesh and he also takes well to her young son. Not too long afterwards, her husband gets out of jail and soon lands in hot water for not paying protection money while he was in prison. This triggers an unfortunate chain of events in which Driver (Gosling) feels compelled to get involved in resolving. There ends up being a fair bit of gore as the story progresses but that's about as much as I will say. I'd give this one a 3 out of 5.

Watched The Avengers (2012)
4/5 (amazon 4.4/5, imdb 8.5/10, rotten tomatoes 96%, Decent Films: A, AVS 4.5/5)
A good couple hours of fun.
Probably thanks to Joss Whedon, every character gets a couple of pretty good one liners.
Once again there's an extra scene -- this time a mid credits.
Once again there's an extra scene -- after the credits.
A good sequel to {Iron Man, Iron Man 2, The Incredible Hulk, Thor, Captain America: The First Avenger}
Turn the lights off -- a lot of the first half is dimly lit at night stuff.

Special Features are fun too.
You'll be happy to know the gag reel is set to the music of
Edited by BasementBob - 9/27/12 at 2:49pm

Just finished doing a Lord of the Rings Extended Edition marathon for the very first time (I have the DVD version)...started at 9:50AM this morning and finished at 10:12PM, so 12 hours and 22 minutes in total including breaks. I mostly skipped the credits but did take a short intermission between discs. Went to the 7-11 store across the street to pick up a few things I didn't need after the first movie ended including chips, ju-jubes, and juice which helped. All I can say is WOW, this was a really long marathon. There were a few times where I lost my concentration and started to get into a lull, but I was always able to pull myself out of it quickly. Doing a marathon like this is not something I'd be in a rush to do again any time soon, but I was glad I finally did it for LOTR since I always said I'd do it one day.

Also watched Contagion (2011) and Sink the Bismarck (1960) this week. Both reasonably well done, you could be doing worse. I liked the ending to Contagion and Sink the Bismarck was good for a classic war movie.

Avengers 4/5

Bob pretty well nailed it. I really enjoyed this movie, and my immediate feeling right after it was a 5/5 rating. But after having a night to think it over, there were some pretty glaring issues that knocked it out of my coveted 5/5 ranking Even with this movies hangups, I'd still highly recommend it to anyone that likes superhero movies, or just likes the summer blockbuster spectacle.