King Kong
Merian C. Cooper / Ernest B. Schoedsack 1933 US (Nth time; TV)
A film crew travel to Skull Island in search of a giant ape, and bring it back to New York to make profit.
Fast-moving, succinct film which works on two principal levels; a suspense film, not least in the camera trickery during the scenes in which Kong fights his prehistoric rivals, and a romance, not least in the fact that the ape is the only character provided with sufficient enough emotion to touch the audience.

Die xue shuang xiong (The Killer)
John Woo 1989 HK (1st time; TV)
A hired assassin falls for a singer he accidentally blinded on the job, and, with both his employees and the cops after him, does one last job to make enough money to pay for new corneas for her.
There is something irresistable in the way Woo creates his world of flying white doves and death-defying heroes that, for all the ridiculous one-liners and crude montage edits, there lies a sort of fascination in how it will all pan out. [Dubbed version.]

A Night at the Opera
Sam Wood 1935 US (1st time; TV)
Otis B. Driftwood associates with three stowaways on a voyage from Europe to America, and havoc ensues when they arrive there.
Up there with the Marx's best work; there's hardly a delay in Groucho's introduction, Chico and Harpo delight with musical interludes that lend a lasting weight to a lightweight affair. One memorable scene after another, and the villains' undoing at the hands of the Brothers was never as sweet.

Son of Kong
Ernest B. Schoedsack 1933 US (1st time; TV)
Carl Denham returns to Skull Island and happens across King Kong's benign son.
A quickly-made sequel to King Kong, pleasant enough, but neither here nor there as regards duration or purpose; Denham's ambitious profiteer, the real bad guy in the original, is here redeemed as the romantic hero. The effects are just as impressive as the first film.

Taxi Driver
Martin Scorsese 1975 US (Nth time; DVD)
A New York cabbie, tired of the filth of the streets, decides to clean them through his own violent means.
Scorsese captures urban loneliness with convincing vigour; the fixed shots from the cab driving through New York at night have a cumulative repulsiveness about them, and Schrader's episodic script builds up to an unsettling climax of such raw energy and powerful violence that it will most likely linger in the mind for days after, not least due to the intensity with which De Niro portrays a man desperate to find himself some justice and purpose, whatever the consequences.

The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance
John Ford 1962 US (1st time; TV)
A senator from Washington returns to the West to mourn the death of an old friend.
Possibly Ford's finest film, serving in turns brutality and laughs, with a dressing of bitter nostalgia for good measure; photographed in stark black and white, the clash between the Old West and the New has never been as fascinating, with Wayne playing the tough, lawless enigma and Stewart the lawful idealist, both with fantastic conviction.

Superman Returns ***
(First Viewing)

What a great summer blockbuster! This definitely exceeded my expectations, as I had heard some negative reviews prior to watching it. Kevin Spacey was AWESOME as Lex Luthor and Brandon Routh was a spitting image of Christopher Reeve, IMO. My only casting concern was Kate Bosworth as Lois Lane but she did a fine job as well, as did Parker Posey. Probably my third favorite movie of the year thus far behind only V for Vendetta and United 93.

In two hours, I'll see if Irish is right-e-o.

Based on our viewing tastes, I wouldn't be surprised to see the complete opposite in your review to what I've written so I'm prepared

Oh don't be so negative.

Besides, I've only slapped you twice on two movies, unless I'm mistaken: FANTASTIC FOUR and X3.

Besides, we liked BATMAN BEGINS....but again, we'll see.

Yeah I remember about Fantastic Four and X3. I did enjoy Batman Begins as well but not as much as others here. I personally feel it's a little overrated, but that's just me. We all know my favorite comic book movie is Sin City which some here feel is overrated

SUPERMAN RETURNS (2003) - ***

Solid good would-be myth, if only dragging at times in pace. However, this is a good flawed film. Still, a great moment in the stadium, truely a scene that does work with what its supposed to do: An uplifting sequence.

Still, one question I do ask people......what logic is there in Luthor's scheme, save for the stabbing point?

Anwyay, at least I finally watched a decent movie this summer.

Did you stay after the credits ronnie? If so, was there anything? I didn't stay

Nashville
1975/Altman

I don't know man, I just don't know. While I respect Altman's vision and I did enjoy his in depth exploration of the southern city and its many different characters, I just felt as though the end result was just too broad and expansive, too stretched out, and too far reaching. There were just so many characters, I failed to care about or even recognize most of them by the end of the film. And in a film where he seemingly wanted to tell a whole lot of story, I find it strange that Altman decided to have several songs performed in full. And man, I just find his camera work so uninspiring. Ultimately a very muddled film.

3/5 Stars

I have the chance to see Nashville onscreen next month; my thoughts after a first viewing read: "A kind of musical tableau, genre-bending and energetic in its freeform direction."

Very casually photographed; any other way would have been inappropriate, I think. I gave it two stars.

The Spiral Staircase
Robert Siodmak 1945 US (1st time; TV)
New England, turn of the century - a mute servant in a mansion is suspected to be the next victim of a serial killer whose victims are all in some way afflicted.
Superlative, atmospheric horror, full of recurring motifs, the best being the opening: a group of people watch a silent film while a voyeuristic murder takes place upstairs; throughout thereafter, the next victim is a silent mute in a house full of mirrors. Set entirely in one night and one setting, it doesn't really have anywhere to go; but the title is key, and only becomes significant in the final ten minutes or so - everything else is merely padding.

Stagecoach
John Ford 1939 US (1st time; TV)
A stagecoach with a prostitute, a pregnant woman, an outlaw, a gambler, a bank manager, a doctor and a reverand must travel through Monument Valley, with the imminent threat of Apaches.
One of those now famous classics which hurtle along without a moment to spare; it happens to be a number of things: a credible romance (the scenes with Wayne and Trevor are electric), a fully realised character ensemble, a sharp social commentary, a suspenseful action film and a biting comedy. Andy Devine steals the show as the bumbling stagecoach driver.

LAWRENCE OF ARABIA (1962) - ***** - Masterpiece

I saw this film way back in 1999, but there is a difference in seeing a long epic great film as a younger guy, and actually see it as a full-fledged film nerd.

Of course, its still one of the greatest pictures in history, and you know what sucks?

Everything that could be said about it, its been written.

But yet, I do forget that truely, "Nothing is Written"

If I'm not at work next Friday, I'm catching Lawrence of Arabia on the big screen.

I rented it and it mysteriously didn't work on my DVD player. It wasn't even scratched or anything, it just kept giving me some kind of error message once I got past the menu.

I'll see it eventually.

Fight Club


Too lazy to write a proview now...tomorrow.

Annapolis **
(First Viewing)

A decent military movie that quickly turned into Rocky VI. James Franco, Jordana Brewster and Tyrese Gibson were enjoyable but this is an easily forgetable movie.

Irish, do you watch "popcorn" flicks because you enjoy them or just because you've already watched all the classics?

Hagen, who doesn't watch popcorn?

Though with ANNAPOLIS, without seeing it, I can sense its stale popcorn, though at least its not pissed-on popcorn like say BAD BOYS 2.

I don't.

Maybe depends on your definition of popcorn, but generally, I don't.

Fight Club
1999/Fincher

3rd or 4th viewing

Wow, what a film. The type of movie that is so extremely well crafted and has so much to say that it almost makes you not even want to make movies anymore because you know you'll never make anything as good as this. I love everything that this film has to say and I love the way it says it. I love Edward Norton and Brad Pitt and Helena Bonham Carter and David Fincher. Probably the best work any of them have ever done/ever will do. Such a finely paced, exquisitely executed piece of cinema. Intensely edited, so innovatively shot. Every shot packs such a punch, and clearly shows evidence of serious contemplation in search of perfection. This generation's Apocalypse Now. Biting and acidic in tone. Tragically, unforgivingly, and viciously beautiful. And oh man, isn't "Where is My Mind?" just the perfect capper?

5/5 Stars

Fort Apache
John Ford 1948 US (1st time; TV)
A stubborn lieutenant-colonel arrives at Fort Apache with high hopes for military conduct and fame.
A film all about conflict: that between the cavaliers and the Native Americans is dealt with exposively at the climax, in one of Ford's most dramatic setpieces; but there are also personal battles, such as the exciting clash between Wayne and Fonda throughout the film. But this is Fonda's film, it must be said, and his portrayal of a self-destructive, obsessive colonel trying to juggle between duty and ambition is fascinating to watch.

Heathers
Michael Lehmann 1988 US (1st time; VHS)
A high school girl becomes fed up with her friend and decides to play a trick on her; when it turns out to have deadly consequences, things get worse…
The American high school as a metaphor for society itself, as Christian Slater points out towards the end; a clever subversion of teen flick conventions, highly original and with a macabre humour reminiscent of Ealing's The Ladykillers. The ending seems strangely tame.

12 Angry Men
Sidney Lumet 1957 US (1st time; TV)
A juror with doubts about a trial tires to convince the other eleven of a Not Guilty verdict.
A kind of objectification of onscreen subjectivity, and a terrifically handled script relying entirely on dialogue to crank up the suspense. But this is not just a teleplay; the first, introductory shot of the twelve jurors seems to go on forever, thoroughly establishing them in what is to be an overwhelmingly claustrophobic setting throughout. Tellingly, as they become increasingly irritable as the film progresses, the camera gets closer and closer, the sweat more and more visible.

Bread and Roses
Ken Loach 2000 UK / France / Germany / Italy / Spain / Switzerland (1st time; TV)
Mexicans in LA working as janitors form a union to fight for economic justice.
Loach takes an explicit stab at corporate America here, and the exploitation of immigrant workers, with subtler attacks on Hollywood itself, in a rather amusing scene in which the workers hijack a party with famous actors in attendance. It manages to be a captivating, persuasive film without getting too preachy--the one time it does, the emotional revelation is powerful indeed; it is a bit muddled in its scene-to-scene juxtaposition between political and personal, but sensibly doesn't try to mix both at once.

I don't.

Maybe depends on your definition of popcorn, but generally, I don't. [/b][/quote]"Popcorn" is a very loose term for motion pictures that aren't dramas or arthouse films, though the best of the best of such "Popcorn" could range from science fantasy of STAR WARS to the beat-by-beat rocking of RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK to the quite colorful comic bookish-DVD favorites like THE WARRIORS and THE ROAD WARRIOR to such recent pictures like BATMAN BEGINS.

Most of the time, bad movies in general try to use the "Popcorn" label to try to defuse bad word of mouth. Michael Bay is the master of such spin-doctoring. However, there is good "Popcorn" to be found, its just you have to look pretty damn hard to differentiate the really good from the generic-ass garbage that Hollywood usually gives us.

A SHOT IN THE DARK (1964) - ****1/2

Its a pity that Peter Sellers died in 1980. Truely a superb actor, with comic abilities that few after him could ever hope to even close to matching.

Despite such great Oscar-nominated work in movies like DR. STRANGELOVE and BEING THERE, he is mostly known for his PINK PANTHER franchise as the inept policeman Inspector Clouseau.

As those later sequels in the 1970s went further down the hill in jokes and gags, there still remains possibly the best film of the franchise....and to think that not only its the only picture without the "Pink Panther" moniker in the title, but it was actually released 3 months after the surprise success of overrated THE PINK PANTHER.

I think why the franchise has died, despite many attempts to restart it(including a recent effort with Steve Martin), is that Sellers personified Closeau. Sure everyone remembers him falling down the stairs or tripping over himself, but so what? Anyone could do that. But could anyone put themselves in a serious dry humor role, where if not for the clumsy walking and damn general ineptness, the part would have been that of only an eccentric yet generic detective.

Though perhaps the best part of A SHOT IN THE DARK is when Sellers is spinning his globe in his office, and accidently gets his hand jammed on it. In today's time, such a scene would be seen at least 10 minutes before the execution, but in that scene, the genuine surprise element of this is what makes it hilarious, for lack of knowledge of what to come is what helps make comedy work.

Though seeing Sellers acting serious while his trademark jacket is up in smoke is worth a smile on my face as well.

Yes ronnie, you are correct. This movie is VERY stale popcorn. To answer your question Mista, I don't mind popcorn movies at all and this movie looked somewhat interesting from the previews. So I gave it a shot and it sucked. No big deal

I don't.

Maybe depends on your definition of popcorn, but generally, I don't. [/b][/quote]Also, what's your definition of "classic popcorn" movies :p

We talking about a female hair colouring product here?

Vaguely speaking, older movies of the type of which we are speaking. (I'm getting really tired of saying popcorn.)

North by Northwest, Sunset Blvd, Some Like it Hot, Rio Bravo, etc. As time passes, they seem to gain a certain sense of respectability that I feel they may not have quite had upon their initial release.

Sunset Blvd. a popcorn movie? Christ.

Anybody seen the new "The Hills have Eyes"? How does it compare with the original? I read Tarantino preferred the remake.