DVC, I saw it first many years ago, but I recently watched it again, to see if it still cuts the mustard, or my aging may have affected my original highly-praised opinions.

Gladly, I was wrong. :p

Tomorrow Never Dies ***

My third time viewing this Bond and this was the most enjoyable. Jonathan Pryce shined as the evil journalist Elliot Carver

The World Is Not Enough ***

The first time around I thought this movie was complete sh*t. I'm glad it wasn't the 2nd time around (and the same goes for Tomorrow Never Dies). I'm looking forward to finishing this series in the next few days. I think Denise Richards has got to be the hottest Bond girl ever

Tsotsi
Gavin Hood 2005 South Africa (1st time; big screen)
A young hoodlum living on the streets of Soweto's life is changed when steals a car, not knowing there's a baby in the back.
Powerful if prone to late sentimentality; it has a rare mix of disturbing violence and uplifting reflection, driven along by its score and lead performance.

Oceans Eleven(1960)- Average **/****
Not exactly a wonderful spectacal of film by any means, but it was mildly entertaining. Havent seen the remake, and dont plan to so I cant compare it either way

Paradise Now- Amazing ****/****
This was an incredibly well done take on the other side of the fence, especially in this mainly pro Israel country. The "controversy" surround ing this film mainly had to do with the obvious anti Israel sentiment, but politics aside, it was one of the best films of last year, and absolutely deserved the Golden Globe.

Requiem For A Dream- Amazing ****/****
Previously, I had only seen the first half of this movie, and was very surprised by the second half, as it is almost a diffrent film. Nonetheless, it is probably the best "drug" film I've ever seen. More an experiance than anything else

DOMINION: PREQUEL TO THE EXORCIST (2005) - ***/5

Writer/Director Paul Schrader delivers a quiet and atmospheric supernatural film that feels like the proper prequel to THE EXORCIST....of course, Morgan Creek, production company behind it, felt that this film would lose money, so instead they decided to refilm most of it with Renny Harlin, which turned out to be quite a horrifyingly bad movie itself, and funny enough, it still tanked in theaters quite badly.

I'm not saying its great or even that its very good, but it is a nice movie worth checking out.

I just watched Russell Crowes first movie as an Aussie skinhead in Romper Stomper. It was cool to see him in such a raw movie.

Deer Hunter ***
Very powerful portrayal of tragedy although a bit overdramatic. A bunch of friends from a small American town serve in vietnam war. One tragic incident completely changes their lives. Great acting and direction.

I'm in the middle of Deer Hunter right now, first viewing. Seems like it has extreme potential, I just need to finish it. Kind of interesting to watch while contemplating Cimino's other work. I actually made myself sit through The Sicilian a couple years ago. :rolleyes:

Die Another Day *** 1/2

I totally forgot Michael Madsen was in a James Bond flick too. I'm glad this movie was as enjoyable as it was as it was (unfortunately) Brosnan's last Bond film.

"The deer hunter" is one of my fav movies ever. Such a great cast and such a powerful story. Who could ever forget the Russian Roulette scene? The only flaw I can think of is the marriage scene. Unbearably long!
Too bad Cimino never did anything as remarkable later in his career.

I love what I've seen so far for the fact that each individual shot Cimino sets up looks as though it could be a painting. Each is a stand-alone, beautiful, well-lit, well composed shot , and so far, the sometimes tedious story has been kept interesting. If it weren't so late I'd finish it now.

I always thought The Deer Hunter was one of those films that must be watched in full. Glad you're enjoying it.

I watched The Deer Hunter for the first time a couple months ago. I wasn't immediately blown away, I thought the wedding at the beginning, like Lavi said, was WAY to long. However, I realize the reasoning for it.

At the end of the film, I was completely satisfied. Just a great film, and a strong contender for the best film of the 70s.

The re-release of the DVD last year sucked, though. Why the hell do they have a second disc if all they have on there is three extended scenes? I felt robbed!

Why is it that everyone complained about the length of the wedding? I feel like maybe I might've accidentally skipped some of it during one of my stop periods, because I was anticipating this infinitely long, drawn out sequence, and I ended up feeling as though it wasn't all that bad length-wise.

Eating an orange in segments has that effect.

I didn't find the wedding scene very long. Since I was expecting it to be a war film, I felt at one point that the film took too long to introduce the war. But later I realized that the movie is less about the war and more about tragedy in the lives of the characters.

Insomnia - (Erik Skjoldbjærg;1997;Norway)
A Swedish cop goes to Norway to investigate a murder, but after killing his partner must cope with guilt and insomnia from the sun never setting.
A very direct and piercing film. Although Nolan did do some things better, this film manages to be better. Skarsgård's excellent performance is the highlight, relying on mostly subtle facial expressions that reminded me of Bill Murray. It's more disturbing, especially in showing the protagonist as a man not much better then the killer, morally. The opening murder is especially poignant.

sure, but the wedding scene is too long nonetheless. Another dance bit and I'd have committed suicide.

Oh dear lord Lavina, apparently Cimino is even worse in HEAVEN'S GATE.....which if I ever get the guts to confront that 3 hours, 39 minute legendary disaster, I'll say if its worse or not then DEER HUNTER.

Actually, THE DEER HUNTER is a really good film, but a great movie? No way. Good work from DeNiro, Walken, Cazael, Streep, and others, but does it equate to the execution brilliance of APOCALYPSE NOW or whatever, but ya I can still see why people love it...I'm just not one of the groupies.

Michael Cimino's THE DEER HUNTER (1978) - ****

P.S. - After HEAVEN'S GATE's bombing, Cimino almost was hired as writer/director of this studio project in the early 80's. What is the movie?

FOOTLOOSE.

Yes, I would have laughed if this was a joke, but no its reality...and I sorta feel bad, of sorts. From Oscar to disaster to FOOTLOOSE.

Neverless, Cimino did a rather good job with YEAR OF THE DRAGON in 1985 with a pre-fucked-up Mickey Rourke. Not a great or perhaps even real remarkable picture, but its a rather mentally-consuming "procedural cop" dramatic exercise.

Why should a movie be compared to others to evaluate it? I mean, Apocalypse now is a masterpiece IMO and one of my favs ever, but that doesn't mean I necessarily have to keep it in my mind as a holy standard to judge other war movies. I like to evaluate a movie per se. Comparing movies is a natural thing of course, but IMO it should not be the prevalent criterion. It's not fair, I mean.
Now, as for the groupies thing, you darn aristocrat..... :p Ok, you said you see why people love it, so why don't you tell us?

You gave it four stars anyway. Great movie!

Casino Royale * 1/2

I only watched this because of the remake coming later this year with Daniel Craig and also I was curious how it was. It started off good but the final fight scene in the Casino was absolute crap!

Just watched A History of Violence. Yes I know I'm way behind in the times, but I was stuck in the hospital when it came out in theaters.

Am I the only one who didn't think it was nearly as violent as everyone said it was? It was made out to be this horribly graphic film. I didn't think it ws that bad. Sure the sex was pretty graphic, but it was there for a reason, not just thrown in for entertainment value.
The son bored me though. I thought his plot line was a little predictable.

Well, depends what you mean "graphic".

In terms of violent action itself, the film isn't remarkable really, but its HOW its used that makes it more than it actually is. There is not a better example of this than when that last scene with Ed Harris, of which I give Cronenberg great credit, for he took me by surprise.

This is late as well, but I was surprised to see Irishman actually improve his rating score for the film on his 2nd viewing......, but hey its all good.

It's known to happen from time to time A 2nd viewing usually does me good (all the expectations are gone)

In The Mix * 1/2

Some of these rappers actually can somewhat act. I thought Usher was pretty impressive. However, this movie did suck and was hardly funny. Poor poor poor Chazz Palminteri

The sum of all fears **
Morgan Freeman, Ben Affleck. A movie about US-Russia relationships, nuclear bomb and such. It was never boring, at the same time it was full of usual hollywood cliches mostly to do with CIA. Ben Affleck is not very convincing in the role, but Morgan freeman plays his usual wise old man role well.

Alec Baldwin played the best Jack Ryan, I think. Harrison Ford was too old, Affleck too young.

Johnny Cash: The Man, His World, His Music (1969, R. Elfstrom)
Filmaker Robert Elfstrom follows Johnny Cash on tour, back home, and everywhere else in this documentary about Cash that spanned 1968-69.

The thing that makes this documentary great and the best about Johnny Cash is that it's Cash the human, at home with his parents, on his tour bus with June Carter and Carl Perkins, at Wounded Knee, and particularily a wonderful recording session with Bob Dylan. A fantastic documentary, and it's amateurish/grainy visuals aren't necessarily bad, as it gives the film a gritty homemade feel.

Taxi Driver - (Martin Scorsese;1976;USA)
A socially isolated ex-Marine taxi driver grows in the need to lash out violently.
Possibly the greatest character study ever, and Scorsese's best film. DeNiro plays his character with a focus that comes rarely. He pierces the screen with every scene. A million years could go by and this film will still maintain it's relevance. Bernard Herrmann ended his career perfectly with the excellent Jazzy score. The supporting cast is also great, especially Shepherd, Foster, Boyle, and Keitel. My second favorite film and one of the ten best ever.