Ocean's eleven *
Totally ludicrous movie, but I enjoyed it thoroughly
I have to revisit the debate that Vercetti and Capo were having once regarding good movies vs favorites. I don't know if any of you have the interest/energy for it, but I have some fresh questions in this matter.

The Good Shepherd ** 1/2
(First Viewing)

Edward Wilson, the only witness to his father's suicide and member of the Skull and Bones Society while a student at Yale, is a morally upright young man who values honor and discretion, qualities that help him to be recruited for a career in the newly founded Central Intelligence Agency. While working there, his ideals gradually turn to suspicion influenced by the Cold War paranoia present within the office. Eventually, he becomes an influential veteran operative, while his distrust of everyone around him increases to no end. His dedication to his work does not come without a price though, leading him to sacrifice his ideals and eventually his family.

Overall, a rather dull and pretty uneventful movie. It was somewhat slow and long. I felt Angelina Jolie's talents were wasted on this film as Matt Damon's "wife." It was great to see a cameo from Joe Pesci and it was also great to see Robert De Niro in a decent movie. The last decent movie he did IMO was either 15 Minutes or Meet the Parents. I did however enjoy William Hurt's performance the most because he just seemed very cool, confident and commanded respect when he was onscreen.

The Age of Innocence **
(First Viewing)

Society scion Newland Archer is engaged to May Welland, but his well-ordered life is upset when he meets May's unconventional cousin, the Countess Olenska. At first, Newland becomes a defender of the Countess, whose separation from her abusive husband makes her a social outcast in the restrictive high society of late-19th Century New York, but he finds in her a companion spirit and they fall in love.

Another slow and dull movie that I found uninteresting. My only enjoyment from the film, other than a few select shots from Martin Scorsese, was a young Winona Ryder.

When the kid kicks the midget in the balls, ahhh.....that my friends is good cinema

Whether Vercetti is or isn't, I'm always up for that debate, especially when somebody has new questions to raise.

"THE QUEEN" (2006) ****

You can sign me up for anything Helen Mirren's in--I'd pay to see her play the lead role in "The Two-Ton Tony Galento Story." She is the best actress on this planet.
I was expecting a great performance by her. I didn't much think about the movie. What I got was a stupendous performance in a brilliant film. She looks, acts, walks, breathes so much like Queen Elizabeth that you have to continually remind yourself that you're not watching the real Queen. She has a terrific little intro to new Labour PM Tony (Mr. Modernize Britain) Blair and his Royals-resenting wife (Michael Sheen and Helen McCrory), bests the two of them, and seems to drift back into her vapid little world. But soon enough, Princess Di buys the farm in France, and the pressure's on. First the Royals determine to ignore the event ("She was no longer an HRH," snorts the Queen and her fathead husband Prince Philip, played perfectly by James Cromwell). But the phenominal outpouring makes Blair, who at first seems like a latter-day Brit flower child, step up to the plate and remind the Queen that there's somethin' goin' on and ya don't know what it is, do you, Mrs. Windsor. He gets some support from Prince Charles (Alex Jennings, who plays him as weak but not quite the total airhead he seems to be in real life). Meanwhile, the Royals go on stag hunts at Balmoral and try their best to ignore the frenzy. Finally, the Queen cracks her facade and, in a touching and superbly realized scene, with quiet dignity makes nice to the British people.
As Elizabeth, Mirren manages the extraordinary task of showing the Queen as chilly but not totally without a heart. She manages to balance the stuffy protocol side with her overarching sense of duty, and you're left admiring her at last. Stephen Frears' direction is economical and tasteful. He also adds several wickedly understated funny lines, many of them courtesy of the Queen Mother (Sylvia Sims). This is a first-rate film from start to finish.

I agree, Mick, that this was the best by far of the Bonders. For me, Lotte Lenya and Robert Shaw really made the film--as menacing a pair of villains as ever graced(?) the screen. Shows the triumph of acting over the gadgetry that polluted so many other Bonders.

I'm catching this on Thursday.

The Black Dahlia ** 1/2
(First Viewing)

The Black Dahlia is set in 1940s Los Angeles. Two cops, Bucky Bleichert (Josh Hartnett) and his partner, Lee Blanchard, investigate the death of Elizabeth Short, a young woman found brutally murdered. Bucky soon realizes that his girlfriend had ties to the deceased, and soon after that, he begins uncovering corruption and conspiracy within the police department.

I felt Mia Kirshner was the most enjoyable as Elizabeth Short and Hilary Shawnk and Josh Hartnett did a fine job as well. Brian De Palma did a good job directing but the story in parts seemed to be a little confusing and moved rather fast in parts.

King Kong: Deluxe Extended Edition *** 1/2
(First Viewing)

Set in the 1930s, this is the story of a young and beautiful actress Ann Darrow from the world of vaudeville who finds herself lost in depression-era New York and her luck changes when she meets an over-ambitious filmmaker Carl Denham who brings her on an exploratory expedition to a remote island where she finds compassion and the true meaning of humanity with an ape Kong. The beauty and the beast finally meet their fate back in the city of New York where the filmmaker takes and displays the ape in quest of his fame by commercial exploitation which ultimately leads to catastrophe for everyone including a playwright Jack Driscoll who falls in love with Ann and plays an unlikely hero by trying to save her from Kong and her destiny.

I think I finally got my fill of Kong with the added 13 minutes which had some pretty cool extra creatures and "fight scenes" if you will. Visually speaking, this is one of the best movies I've seen in recent memory and in my top 3 for films last year. Naomi Watts was great as was Jack Black (I still don't understand what people had against him in this picture?).

My two cents, having just seen it:

The Queen
Stephen Frears 2006 UK / France / Italy 1st time; big screen
In the several days following Princess Diana's death, the Queen of England's reputation comes under threat, and is saved by newly-elected Prime Minister Tony Blair.
There is one moment here in which the camera sweeps us away into a breathtaking shot of rural England, craning high over head and belying any suggestion of either CGI or even an aircraft of some sort. As a whole, though, it looks like a shot-for-TV film, the kind of topical two-parter that might find its way onto channel 4; nothing particularly wrong with that, although with the aesthetic flatness comes an emotional emptiness, of vague interest because of performances, but little to none to those who are not interested by the English monarchy, the English government, or Princess Diana's death. Frivolous.

I realize this is only news but I still thought it was worthy enough to discuss:

Deep Does Mercury?

It would seem that a natural progression for Johnny Depp after modeling Jack Sparrow after a flamboyant, slightly effeminate classic rocker would to be to actually play a flamboyant, slightly effeminate classic rocker. And, according to The Independent, that's exactly what he may be doing in the not too distant future. Depp's apparently been approached about portraying Queen frontman Freddie Mercury in a biopic being developed by Robert DeNiro's company, Tribeca Productions. Queen guitarist, Brian May, recently confirmed that the film is in active development, mentioning "Discussions are at an early stage" and had this to say about Depp possibly playing Mercury: "He would be a worthy counterpart for Freddie on screen. I don't think I can say any more right now."

Source: JoBlo

I believe Johnny Depp can play ANY part put in front of him and I think he would make a GREAT Freddie Mercury. Thoughts?

Yep, I can definitley see that. Good choice.

Spike Lee is on tap to direct a film about James Brown's life...who can play him? I don't have the article around, but I do remember reading about it.

Yeah I heard that too Don Andrew. I wouldn't be surprised to see Jaime Foxx but I don't know if they'll go with him since he already has done Ray Charles. What about Eddie Murphy?

The Quest **
(First Viewing)

Chris embarks on an odyssey of self-discovery that spans the globe. Kidnapped and enslaved by gun smugglers, sold by pirates and thrust into the murky underworld of gambling and kickboxing, Chris' journey takes him to forbidding Muay Thai Island where deadly martial arts are taught, the colonial splendor of British East Asia, the dank back alleys of Bangkok, desolate deserts once trod by the warriors of Genghis Khan and finally, the ancient Lost City. There he must face the ultimate test of his manhood in the fabled Ghang-gheng, the ancient winner-take-all competition in which the deadliest fighters from around the world employ the most spectacular feats of martial arts skills ever displayed in order to win the prized Golden Dragon.

Jean-Claude Van Damme's one and only directorial duty and it is an easily forgetable movie. There wasn't a whole lot of action in the film and for the little action there is, the fight scenes are weak and uneventful. Roger Moore was in the film but he was mediocre at best. To me, this tried to be more of a "feel good" movie rather than an action film.

The Chronicles of Narnia - The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe: The Extended Edition ****
(First Viewing)

Based on the classic novel by CS Lewis. Four London children are sent to a professors country home in order for protection during World War II. There they find a magic wardrobe which leads to a mystical land called Narnia, which is being ruled by an evil witch. To defeat the Witch, they must join forces with Aslan, the lion God of Narnia, and the great battle between good and evil.

I gave this film 4 stars because in the genre of children/family movies, this film is an instant classic. Great set designs and shooting locations along with great CGI work (a lot of CGI work was needed for this film but it wasn't corny or overly done). Tilda Swinton was great as the stone cold, heartless White Witch as was Georgie Henley as innocent little Lucy Pevensie. Nothing of subsequent value made a difference in the 7 extra minutes of added footage. I'm looking forward to the second movie in the trilogy which is what I hear Disney is going to do, The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian. It looks like Disney has another cash cow trilogy on their hands, The Chronicles of Narnia that is following in the footsteps of the Pirates of the Caribbean trilogy.

They Live ***
(First Viewing)

Nada, a down-on-his-luck construction worker, discovers a pair of special sunglasses. Wearing them, he is able to see the world as it really is: people being bombarded by media and government with messages like "Stay Asleep", "No Imagination", "Submit to Authority". Even scarier is that he is able to see that some usually normal-looking people are in fact ugly aliens in charge of the massive campaign to keep humans subdued.

Only the third John Carpenter movie I've seen behind Halloween and Christine. A very compelling and original story about aliens ruling the world starring Roddy Piper and Keith David. I wonder why Roddy didn't have a better acting career than he had? I do have a TON of respect for Keith David after he's appeared in, but not limited to: Platoon, Men At Work, There's Something About Mary and Requiem for a Dream. I knew this was the movie where the infamous South Park cripple fight came from, but it was good to finally see the original. Now I'm intrigued to see more John Carpenter movies such as Escape From New York, The Thing, Big Trouble In Little China, Escape From L.A. and possibly Village of the Damned.

I need to see They Live again.

It was surprisingly good to me for a first viewing. How about any of the other John Carpenter movies I've listed? Seen any of them? If so, what did you think of them?

"The Thing" is one of my favorites. It is often compared very unfavorably to the 1951 Hawks/Nyby "The Thing (From Another World)"--trashed, in fact. Nonsense! Carpenter's version is truer to the original story ("Who Goes There?"). It constantly builds a harrowing sense of suspense, distrust, menace and flat-out horror. The specials are unsurpassed. Great film!

Great, thanks Turnbull, I'll have to give it a look sometime soon (granted I have the time once school begins).

Spiderman 2 **
It is a feel good movie and I liked it a lot. I can watch any movie with Kirsten Dunst in it Toby Maguire is great too as the nerdy hero. Nice happy movie to start the year!

I'm the same way with Nicole Kidman and Naomi Watts but not that dirty slut Kirsten Dunst. I'm sorry, not a slap at you personally, but I HATE that woman

No problem Irish, I too love Nicole Kidman and Naomi Watts.... and Keira Knightley

I love Nicole Kidman, Naomi Watts, Jennifer Connelly, Kristen Davis, Bridget Moynahan, Elizabeth Hurley, Michelle Pfeiffer, Jennifer Love Hewitt, Eliza Dushku, Keira Knightley, Hilary Duff, Natalie Portman, Anne Hathaway, Michelle Trachtenberg, Jordana Brewwster...

Black Christmas (2006) ** 1/2
(First Viewing)

A remake of the 1974 horror movie Black Christmas. The movie tells the story about Billy, a young boy who was abused by his mother as a child. While his mother was cheating on Billy's father, she eventually killed his father and kept Billy in the attic - for good, while she was with her lover and starting a "new" family. As Billy's mother fell pregnant with a daughter and treated her with love, which Billy had never experienced with his mother, Billy came out of the attic after years and brutally murdered his mother and her lover. Cut to present day, a group of eight sorority sisters consisting of Kelli (Katie Cassidy), Dana (Lacey Chabert), Lauren (Crystal Lowe), Megan (Jessica Harmon), Claire (Leela Savasta), Heather (Mary Elizabeth Winstead), Megan (Jessica Harmon) and Melissa (Michelle Trachtenberg) and their house mother (Andrea Martin),who now live in Billy's childhood home, find themselves being harassed by threatening and intimidating mystery phone-calls during Christmas Break and as one of the girls goes missing, the girls begin being murdered one by one by no other than Billy.

This was a bootleg copy so the quality wasn't great but the movie itself was enjoyable. I can't really think of another "decent" Christmas slasher flick and I enjoyed this one. Some pretty nice and exaggerated death scenes with a pretty hot cast makes for a decent holiday horror flick.

Wolf Creek
Greg McLean 2004 Australia 4th time; DVD
Screenplay: Greg McLean; Producer: Greg McLean, David Lightfoot; Photography: Will Gibson; Editing: Jason Ballantine; Music: Frank Tetaz; Cast: John Jarratt, Cassandra Magrath, Kestie Morassi, Nathan Phillips.
Three backpackers, an Australian male and two English tourists, get stranded in the Outback, and take the offered help of a seemingly genuine local.
Effective, confident piece of filmmaking; it looks marvellous, presenting beautiful images of the Australian landscape as if from a postcard, which are contradicted by the brutal violence which occurs. The opening hour is a subtle lesson on how to absorb and ultimately wrong-foot an audience, and after that it is a tremendously sustained gore-fest reminiscent of The Texas Chain Saw Massacre. McLean plays wonderful tricks with character point-of-view... he sets up three main characters, for instance, and makes a point of showing them all together and then in pairs without the other one, and even sometimes alone, so that it is very much a film about three people. But when the terror kicks in, the perspective shifts from one victim to the other, and it is from this (and the brilliant acting helps too) that McLean can induce panic or terror or hope in his audience with ease. The disturbing factor in the scene in which one of the girls is tortured, for instance, stems from the significant fact that we are only seeing it from the other girl's perspective; it would create a very different feel if the camera were to move elsewhere, or if it were the male through whom we were watching the scene. Very bleak, cinematic, and rewarding.

Hannah and Her Sisters
Woody Allen 1986 USA 2nd time; DVD
Screenplay: Woody Allen; Producer: Robert Greenhut; Photography: Carlo Di Palma; Editing: Susan E. Morse; Cast: Mia Farrow, Barbara Hershey, Carrie Fisher, Michael Caine, Woody Allen, Dianne Wiest, Max von Sydow.
Three sisters' love lives intertwine over a two-year period: one of them has an affair with the other's husband, while the third falls for the second's ex-husband.
It is very interesting to note that while many films made in the eighties have dated rather badly, this masterpiece seems to have been made a decade earlier alongside the director's Annie Hall or Manhattan. It has a deceptively complicated visual structure, that looks on the surface very austere but to a keen eye is very stylised and significant in creating meaning; most of the scenes are not only in long-take, but with the characters filmed in long- or medium-shot, which is interesting in itself, but heightened even more by the lengths to which Allen goes to maintain a real sense of space for his actors to be swamped in - the camera tracks and pans so eloquently that it often goes unnoticed. Narrative shows Allen at his best, too; he rarely gets credit for experimenting with the medium, but there are plenty of things to be found here: various characters offering internal monologues that contradict the actions being played out, which allows the film to be funny and psychologically perceptive simultaneously. His best film...?

I saw 338 films last year, 240 were for the first time, and 88 of which were on the big screen.

Snakes On A Plane * 1/2
(First Viewing)

Riding his motorcycle in Hawaii, Sean Jones witnesses the brutal murder of a prosecutor. When the villains come to take out Sean, Agent Nelville Flynn comes to his rescue. In order to protect Sean for the trip back to L.A., Flynn takes over the entire First Class section of Pacific Air Flight 121. Displeased First Class passengers aside, the flight is uneventful until hundreds of angry, poisonous snakes are released into the cabin. Once the snakes begin attacking, it is up to Agent Flynn and Sean to keep the plane in the air and save as many passengers as they can.

A decent B movie that wasn't it was all cracked up to be. Samuel L was his usual bad a$$ self but aside from that, the movie was overrated. My two favorite lines:

"D*mn, are you playing that video game or is that video game playing you, son?"

"Enough is enough! I have had it with these motherf*cking snakes on this motherf*cking plane!"

And so begins 2007...

Leonard Cohen: I'm Your Man
Lian Lunson 2005 USA 1st time; big screen
A tribute concert to Leonard Cohen, with renditions of his songs from Nick Cave, The Handsome Family, Rufus Wainwright, Martha Wainwright, Beth Orton, Antony, Jarvis Cocker and others, juxtaposed with an interview with Cohen himself.
Interesting both as a recollection for fans and introduction for novices, which unfolds as a kind of nostalgic collection of memories from Cohen himself, helped along by the live performances which connect him to the contemporary music scene and beyond. It is helped immensely by the appearance of Cohen himself, shot in close-up and speaking with open, measured control, and by the fact that the live performances are not only very good, but captured for the most part in a very intimate way: the highlights are Martha Wainwright's rendition of "Tower of Song" and Antony's "If It Be Your Will", both shot with the camera zooming in from a distance. Lunson doesn't always play it straight, however, and the film suffers from unnecessary tinkering with visuals and transitions, as if trying too hard to lend a poetry or gravity to a subject whose natural persona already outweighs any attempt at an artistic aesthetic; it keeps cutting, for instance, to an empty shot of a glittery red curtain and overlaying a blurred image of it over certain scenes, and the sound is often cluttered too much with the performances and Cohen's voice intruding upon one another, which isn't helped by an irritating echo effect added in post-production. There is nothing to be gained, either, by the inclusion of Bono and Edge from U2, whose insights seem to be there only to make the film more commercial or accessible; their final performance with Cohen, performed before the same red curtain from before, seems slightly and oddly hilarious, and Cohen's humble presence is undercut by a popular rock group who probably take themselves too seriously - tellingly, in one of the closing talking heads, Bono begins his final tribute with, "To talk seriously for a second..." and you can't help but hear alarm bells over all that he has said prior to that.