AUGUST(ly titled) Watching Thread

[Gabriel Girard]

Seems that in their haste to delete spammers the moderators erased the recent postsé Oh well, here goes nothing!

[Dunnyman]

Seems that in their haste to delete spammers the moderators erased the recent postsé Oh well, here goes nothing!

and plenty of posts as well?
OH well....
Girlfriend insisted I get into Downton Abbey. I resisted. After finally giving in, I wondered why. Amazing show, with incredible character development, superb writing, and one hell of a talented cast. I'm told that it just gets better as we work into season two and hopefully I'll be caught up before season three starts.

[Attrage]

Well thankfully I pedantically keep a copy of everything I write

Legend – (director’s cut) - I had avoided this film since I first saw it as a kid, because despite being a Ridley Scott film, I remembered it being, well, shit. But seeing the blu-ray on sale for 15 bucks and reading on the back that it contained the “lost” director’s cut of the film, I decided to give it another watch. And while my original opinion hasn’t changed much, I can say two things: the director’s cut is without doubt the superior version of the film, and the film is not shit; it’s just not very good.

The good: Jerry Goldsmith’s score is sublime. Tim Curry’s performance, not to mention that awesome costume and mask, is great. Mia Sara does nicely, especially in the later scenes where she is under his spell and dressed in that black dress (the dance scene is pure Ridley Scott, it’s superb). The fleshed out scenes of Darkness trying to seduce her add layers to what was already a nice sequence in the film. All the set design, costuming, and make up, is first-rate. *spoiler* I also liked the alternative ending for the film, despite it crossing dangerously into “it was all a dream” territory, I liked it far better than the “run off hand in hand into the sunset” ending of the theatrical version – even as a kid I found that terribly cheesy.

And so on to the bad: For the Lord of Darkness, he’s a little short on minions. Blix is a nice character, but the other two comic-relief goblins are annoying at best. The costuming is gorgeous, but I just couldn’t buy the premise that the Lord of Darkness would leave a task as important as, you know, destroying innocence and plunging the world into eternal darkness up to a devious goblin and a hapless duo of idiotic midgets. I also don’t buy that, even in avarice, he would clearly spell out not once, but twice during the film, exactly what his one massive weakness was. It’s like giving the good guys a manual “How to Destroy Me”, it just didn’t work for me.

So, all up, I think the film is an interesting early Ridley Scott piece, I’ll use the phrase a “successful failure”. It won’t be getting many repeat viewings from me, but was enjoyable enough.

[mavrach]

Maybe I should save this post somewhere for safekeeping...


Santa Sangre - Well that was insane. The story of a circus boy whose mother's arms are cut off, then proceeds to kill people using his arms as if they were his mother's. It's a seriously strange movie, but if you're ok with that you should give this a viewing. I think to describe any further what happens would spoil the tone, but rest assurred there is an elephant funeral.

The Weight of Water - Skip to the 25 minute mark to see Elizabeth Hurley's boobs, then throw the DVD in the trash.

The Toxic Avenger 2 - The charm of the original seemed to be missing from this one. The first half hour is one long fight sequence. I can see where the idea for a children's cartoon came from. It seems strange to seriously try to review a Troma film; a bad movie of theirs isn't far off from a good one. This just didn't work for me.

The Treasure of the Sierra Madre - First viewing, this was much different from what I'd expected. For classic films, I try to not read up on them at all anymore, because most reviews seem to spoil the hell out of them. So going in I was expecting some sort of Indiana Jones-type adventure. What I got was a trio of broke golddiggers who start to become suspicious of each other once they start to get successful. Only my third Humphrey Bogart film, but I get the sense that his dark performance here is way against type.

[molly1216]

The Relic...yes that one the one by Peter Hyams for god knows what reason
decent B monster movie... i just remember it having a decent behind the scenes of the museum and a monster who rips peoples heads off.
i do remember liking the books much better.
too bad it doesn't rip of Penelope Millers head too.

Small Soldiers...not the sean astin...the Joe Dante one with Denis Leary, and Tommy Lee Jones and Frank Langella as action figures alive in the real world..yeee ha...
love it.

Rewatched Captain America .... Red Skull seems to have been sent to Thor's universe. any takers?

[azul017]

Inglourious Basterds - It's been the second time since I've seen it, and I finally get why Tarantino has an ardent fanbase. Lots of memorable dialogue, and the primary characters are fully rounded out. What's even more striking is that he's careful and thorough in developing this alternate world, it feels real and lived-in. There's some amazingly shot and edited scenes throughout (especially the montage of Shoshanna and Bridget preparing for the grand guignol finale at the theater).

Even though Brad Pitt gets singled out as the standout in this movie; Christoph Waltz, Diane Kruger and Melanie Laurent keep the film glued together. Mix that with Tarantino's signature graphic violence, and it escapes its grindhouse wish-fulfillment tendencies. I don't think it's perfect, but it's a good film. I'm not on the Tarantino bandwagon (I'm iffy on his upcoming Django Unchained), but this film emphasizes his best qualities as a filmmaker.

Now, if Tarantino would actually grow a pair and let an actual composer score it instead of tracking in Ennio Morricone... this film would be even better.

[molly1216]

started watching Levinson's Sphere... half way through i got very bored..i think that's why i didn't finish it the 1st time....

i queued up Wild Geese...yes that one... i saw it in the theater in 78.. is it me? or is something wrong with the soundtrack? the voices seem to be pitched higher than normal...or perhaps that was how brits talked back then. (How did Moore get the Bond role by being that fey?) late 70s were a strange time...great hollywood actors were on their last tour of duty and were poping up some terrible crap, Lancaster, Peck, the british contingent, if they were in something you went to see it even if it was crap, we hadn't YET spawned a decent supply of studly action heroes, our reigning heroes still looked like they drank themselves to sleep every night. i don't remember if i liked it or didnt like it in 78, I remembered it made me laugh. i think my standards were slacker back then...there was this mad fascination in the 70s with mercenaries and soldiers of fortune, i think i was one of the 1st subscribers to Solder of Fortune magazine in 75, what the heck was i thinking.....remembering that line in Clerks II..."what were we studying to be? batman?" of course that's before private armies for hire became a growth industry, there is something unclean about this sort of film now.

[Attrage]

Small Soldiers...not the sean astin...the Joe Dante one with Denis Leary, and Tommy Lee Jones and Frank Langella as action figures alive in the real world..yeee ha...
love it.

My favourite part is the Spice Girls used as "psychological warfare"...classic

[molly1216]

Small Soldiers...not the sean astin...the Joe Dante one with Denis Leary, and Tommy Lee Jones and Frank Langella as action figures alive in the real world..yeee ha...
love it.

My favourite part is the Spice Girls used as "psychological warfare"...classic

i like the attack of the gwendy dolls.

[molly1216]

Small Soldiers...not the sean astin...the Joe Dante one with Denis Leary, and Tommy Lee Jones and Frank Langella as action figures alive in the real world..yeee ha...
love it.

My favourite part is the Spice Girls used as "psychological warfare"...classic

i like the attack of the gwendy dolls.

[mavrach]

Immortals - Recent Greek mythology flick that focused more on humanity and a small handful of the Greek gods, and the threat of "titans" (who were about the size of feral humans). As awesome as parts of it got, the pallette made every location look the same and failed to make the scale seem as grand as it was intended to be. In the end it just made me want to rewatch 300 and replay the God of War games.

Clerks - I watched the hell out of this one in high school but haven't seen it since. Very amateurish in both the acting and directing departments, but that's forgiven because that's half the charm. Forgetting Kevin Smith's history, it's impressive how he personally financed a $27K movie and took the back door entrance into Hollywood. This movie should never be compared to the greats out there, but that's not what this one is about.

The Relic - Molly sold me on rewatching this one. I'd only seen it once when it first came out. A fairly decent monster flick about a rabid shaved wooly mammoth locked inside a museum in Chicago. This was close to being a victim of early mid-90's CGI, but it knew to keep to the shadows and keep the monster hidden for the first half. Penelope Ann Miller and Tom Sizemore lead a snarky cast that constantly reminds you to not take the proceedings too seriously.

I Love You, Man - My third viewing, this focuses on Paul Rudd who's about to get married that realizes that he has no male friends to be in his wedding party. So he focuses his efforts on finding a best man. Say what you will about the Judd Apatow bromantic comedies, but I enjoy them. They're like hanging out with friends.

Vacuuming Completely Nude in Paradise - A short Danny Boyle TV movie about a trainee who rides along with a door-to-door vacuum salesman who's pure rage energy and uses that to supplicate people into buying his vacuums. This one belongs to Timothy Spall, who I've mostly seen playing goffy rat-faced evil henchman in stuff like Enchanted or the Harry Potter series. But while this does have Boyle's signature energy, I'd only recommend it for his fans. The movie is ugly and nasty, and I was waiting for it's 75 minutes to be done with.

Miss Bala - An interesting new movie that mostly went under the radar. AV Club's review basically said "why the hell aren't people talking about this one???" That sold me so I checked it out. It's a semi-true story of a local Mexican beauty pageant entree who witnesses then gets pulled into a cartel against her will. A "how worse can it possibly get" scenario.

[mavrach]

Conan the Barbarian (2011) - Much like Immortals, this was close to being awesome but ultimately was a mess. Everything that was actually happening was intense, the tone was dark, and it's nice to see a fantasy film that isn't afraid to go for the hard R rating. The cast highlights were Ron Perlman as Conan's father, and Rose McGowan as an evil witch. And this tops Apocalypto for the most badass birthing scene ever.

But there were too many weak points to counter these. There is obviously a lot of mythology in the Conan cannon, most of which is glossed over. We get a short crash course in the opening, narrated by Morgan Freeman of all people. Is anybody else getting sick of Morgan Freeman narrating everything at this point? I wish this world would be fleshed out a little more to give it character. Speaking of which, the rest of the cast was empty. Conan comes off like a regular tough guy, and he definitely needed to have some more character moments. And the fight sequences came off terribly, hard to follow any of them.

[Andrew Forbes]

Conan the Barbarian (2011) [....]
Is anybody else getting sick of Morgan Freeman narrating everything at this point?

Word. And he was definitely the wrong choice here. I liked the movie a lot, but the introduction didn't have the doom-laden, epic feeling that it needed. Now, if they'd gotten Michael Wincott...

[Attrage]

Conan the Barbarian (2011) [....]
Is anybody else getting sick of Morgan Freeman narrating everything at this point?

Word. And he was definitely the wrong choice here. I liked the movie a lot, but the introduction didn't have the doom-laden, epic feeling that it needed. Now, if they'd gotten Michael Wincott...

Haha odd...I just watched Spielberg's War of the Worlds last night and groaned to myself during his opening narration for that...I mean for Chrissakes he's not even in the movie, for a start. But hey...the guy does have a cool voice.

Speaking of the movie, this is one I go back and forth on. Sometimes I think "wow, this a really cool movie," like when Cruise emerges from the house to discover the crashed jumbo jet - the slow crane reveal panning out over the wreckage is awesome, but then other times I'm rolling my eyes.

[mavrach]

Small Soldiers - I watched this to death when it first came out, but haven't seen in in about ten years. While most of the movies I watched in my late teens haven't passed the adulthood test, I had so much fun with this one. The premise is close to being stupid, but it sells itself by diving into the idea that these toys would fight back, turning household gadgets into military craft. The soldiers use every war movie cliche in the book (the voice cast are members of The Dirty Dozen!) to make it obvious that the villains of this movie are regular toys that play back.

Also I've got to hand it to the effects here, mostly CGI and some models. When CGI often goes wrong, it makes people look like dolls. Here they're actually animating dolls, so that ends up working in its favor.


Millions - My last Danny Boyle movie, and from looking at the synopsis and box art, I wasn't expecting much. I should've known better, because Boyle brings his signature energy to an unusual setting for him: it's about two kids who find a sack of money and one of them has visions of saints visiting him, and in turn wants to give it all away to the poor.

The crazy thing about the family-freindly Millions is how close this movie is to Boyle's dark and violent Shallow Grave. But while the latter's trio is consumed by paranoia over their opportunity, the kids here come to view the cash as a burden. And both movies feature a protagonist hiding in an attic from the true criminal owner of the cash.

[mavrach]

Clerks II - I'd avoided this until now for reasons that were confirmed by watching the movie, but that didn't keep me from having fun anyway. Just by nature of having some Hollywood power behind it, makes this a completely different kind of movie than it's $30K budgeted predecessor. It focuses on the two clerks from the original movie, 10 years later as their store burns down and they work at a fast food resturaunt (Kevin Smith's Mooby's found in several of his movies). The overall thrust of the story is a typical "will he date the right girl?" romantic story, so that's the letdown. But I guess there's only so much hanging around behind a counter that you can film, and I can't imagine it being possible to make a sequel to a movie where nothing much happens. However, it's a lot of fun to catch up with Dante & Randall, and there's a certain energy brought to the table here that rises above the flaws. Simply put, it's a funny movie.

Following - Christopher Nolan's Clerks, if you will. His first movie, very low budget. It's a hell of a first effort, with a pretty tight plot for its meager 70-minute runtime. With it's out-of-order chronology it feels like a trial run for Memento. It's about a writer who begins following strangers, and he's noticed by a fellow who burgles homes to learn about people's lives. Worth checking out.

[Gabriel Girard]

Clerks II - I'd avoided this until now for reasons that were confirmed by watching the movie, but that didn't keep me from having fun anyway. Just by nature of having some Hollywood power behind it, makes this a completely different kind of movie than it's $30K budgeted predecessor. It focuses on the two clerks from the original movie, 10 years later as their store burns down and they work at a fast food resturaunt (Kevin Smith's Mooby's found in several of his movies). The overall thrust of the story is a typical "will he date the right girl?" romantic story, so that's the letdown. But I guess there's only so much hanging around behind a counter that you can film, and I can't imagine it being possible to make a sequel to a movie where nothing much happens. However, it's a lot of fun to catch up with Dante & Randall, and there's a certain energy brought to the table here that rises above the flaws. Simply put, it's a funny movie.

Any movie with Rosario dawson dancing to the Jackson 5' ABC while wearing a tank top. Can't be all bad. Soeme pretty funny stuff in there. Maybe the last decent movie will do. Still have to see Red State.

[mavrach]

Any movie with Rosario dawson dancing to the Jackson 5' ABC while wearing a tank top.

Bouncy, bouncy!!

[Steve T Power]

Clerks II - I'd avoided this until now for reasons that were confirmed by watching the movie, but that didn't keep me from having fun anyway. Just by nature of having some Hollywood power behind it, makes this a completely different kind of movie than it's $30K budgeted predecessor. It focuses on the two clerks from the original movie, 10 years later as their store burns down and they work at a fast food resturaunt (Kevin Smith's Mooby's found in several of his movies). The overall thrust of the story is a typical "will he date the right girl?" romantic story, so that's the letdown. But I guess there's only so much hanging around behind a counter that you can film, and I can't imagine it being possible to make a sequel to a movie where nothing much happens. However, it's a lot of fun to catch up with Dante & Randall, and there's a certain energy brought to the table here that rises above the flaws. Simply put, it's a funny movie.

Any movie with Rosario dawson dancing to the Jackson 5' ABC while wearing a tank top. Can't be all bad. Soeme pretty funny stuff in there. Maybe the last decent movie will do. Still have to see Red State.

Zack and Miri Make a Porno is actually my favorite Kevin Smith... and I make no apologies...

[Attrage]

Iron Man (umpteenth viewing ) - Given that Iron Man and Batman are my two favorite super heroes, it came as no real surprise to me that this film and The Dark Knight are my two favorite super hero films (and this is coming from someone who would never refer to himself as a devoted fan of super hero films - for instance, I cannot stand the X Men movies - I find them irritating at best). The only super heroes I ever gave a toss about were the guys who weren't really "super" ie Bruce Wayne and Tony Stark. They're ordinary guys (okay, very rich ordinary guys) who rely on their wits, intelligence, skill and lots of funky gadgets in order to fight crime etc. Try as I might, I can't like the sequel better than this one. Tony Stark's origin story, while lacking the emotional turmoil of Bruce Wayne's, is what makes this movie so riveting. And I think it's pretty good film making by Jon Favreau. I mean, I recall first seeing this film, and really disliking Tony Stark at first, until I realised that's exactly how I was supposed to feel about him - he's a charismatic jerk women fall over themselves for - I freakin hate guys like that but there's a part of me that envies them as well - that's exactly how I felt about Downey Jr's Stark in Iron Man. He's a freakin douchebag - but I want to hang out with the guy.

[mavrach]

Warrior - Amazing movie, one of the best new releases I've seen in a while. Describing it makes it sound silly, and it's plot is nothing original. The best way I'd sum it up is that it gives Bloodsport the Heat treatment. It's about two estranged brothers who enter a MMA tournament, and it goes deeply into their personal lives and their motivations. It works both as an action movie and as a drama. And Tom Hardy continues to be cast as thick lunkheads who end up being rounded characters thanks to his performances.

The Masque of the Red Death - Older Roger Corman film starring Vincent Price. There are a few of these types on Netflix, and they're easy viewing, so I can see myself whiddling through them in the near future. Price gives an insanely hammy performance as a satanist lord of a manor providing protection against death for anybody willing to be corrupted.

Pusher - Nicholas Winding Refn's first movie. There wasn't anything wrong with it, but I just couldn't get into it. I guess it was a bit too real about the lives of drug dealers to actually be enjoyable. Looks like I'll be skipping the sequels.

Swingers - Never saw this one, and I ended up having a lot of fun with it. A perfect indie movie about the rules of dating for single guys. Again this sort of thing has been done to death, but it's made enjoyable by the performances. And reading up on the filming, some interesting ways this was made, i.e. the clubs were real clubs, and patrons were warned they'd be unpaid film extras if they went in

Season of the Witch - I made it 13 minutes in, do I get a prize? All I saw was a medeival movie that was over-produced with too much CGI, and smarmy performances from the leads. I probably would've liked this when I was 10 years old.

Subpecies - The villain is going to be at my autograph show this Friday so I figured why not give it a shot. It was crap, I didn't even make it 13 minutes.

The Thing (2011) - Much better than I expected. For a horror movie, it's one of the better ones out there. It's problem is that it's going to be compared to one of the best horror movies there is: John Carpenter's original. And when that's your criteria, not much will hold up. The monster is mainly CGI as predicted, but it's not terrible. It does make me appreciate all the more that a 22-year old came up with the practical effects for the original 30 years ago. And there's the convenience that the guy who ended up chasing the dog to the US site from the original is the only Norwegian guy on the base who doesn't speak English I mean what could they do, they're not gonna film the movie in Norwegian, it just makes me take the whole thing less seriously. But this movie does hold its own.

Clue - I hadn't seen this since I was a kid, definitely enjoyed it. Nowadays we're jaded by adaptations like this. But this movie knows the source material is fluff so it casts a variety of character actors and tells them to ham it up.

In the Heat of the Night - The structure is a basic procedural, but it's completely based off the idea that the cop leading the investigation in this southern racist town is a black man from Philadelphia. Often film discussions of racism (especially ones that win Oscars) come off as being preachy or over-emotional. This movie speaks by having Sidney Poitier confident and intelligent.

God Bless America - Bob Goldthwait directs a story of a middle-aged man who grows sick of our reality show culture and proceeds to go on a killing spree of any offending people. I thought it got too preachy, showing repeated videos of an American Idol equivelant and even a William Hung equivelant. And since frankly I completely agree with the message here, the effect on me was depression.

[Dunnyman]

Finished The Dictator, and it's by far the most complete Cohen movie yet. While Borat & Bruno were extremely funny, they were simply vehicles to hit you with fast and furious jokes and physical humour. He puts together a better story here, with less obvious humour and an actual story arc where his Admiral General Aladeen develops through his experiences. The downside is it's not as consistently funny, yet he gets to show some real acting chops other than his complete immersion into his characters. Aladeen feels and learns from his experiences. There's also still some brilliant stuff as he attempts to be an American black guy, the description of his character's ego trips (the changing of some words in Wadiya is hilarious) and his interaction with his chief weapons designer on what constitutes a bomb. Also not to be missed is a female assassin with a truly ah, formidable weapon. Or weapons. Now when the heck is the Freddie Mercury biopic due? I'm intrigued to see how well he does.

[mavrach]

The Lady Vanishes - Whenever you hear Alfred Hitchcock brought up for discussion, there's a certain selection of his movies that always come up, and they're usually from a later period. So I wasn't expecting much when I tried this one out, but it turned out to be one of his most fun movies IMHO. An older lady..well..vanishes on a train, and another woman is thought to be mad because she seems to be the only person who'd seen her.

Freaks - Overall I liked this one. It borders on continuing to display deformed humans as freaks, but at the same time illustrates their separation from regular society. At only an hour long, apparently there were several scenes that got cut and the footage is considered to be lost.

Predator - This movie never gets old. That is all for today.

Foxy Brown - I've only seen a couple of blaxploitation films so far and they were pretty much all attitude without actually being good movies. Foxy Brown wasn't great but I had fun with it. Pam Grier is great to watch, so I can see how she became an icon of the genre.

The House on Haunted Hill - Another surprise, about an eccentric millionaire who pays five people $10,000 to stay in a haunted house overnight. The finale switched gears but I won't spoil that here. Recommended for any horror fan.

The House of Usher or The Fall of the House of Usher depending where you look - Another Poe adaptation by Roger Corman starring Vincent Price. A dreary start, but it eventually gains momentum. I haven't been able to get into the later Corman movies I've seen and they seem cheap, but these earlier ones are excellent. All good performances instead of relying on aged effects to sell the suspense.

Play Misty for Me - Clint Eastwood's first movie as a director, starring himself as a local DJ who's stalked by a fan played by Jessica Walter. Walter's character is outrageous but her escalating freakouts will make you nervous without her overacting.

Cannibal! The Musical - Being a lifelong South Park fan, I can't believe I never saw this. Made very cheaply (being distributed by Troma should tell you something), it's got that low budget charm. And for having no resources, the songs are catchy even though their silly. I never knew that little jingle at the end of every South Park episode was from this movie either.

[Gabriel Girard]

The House on Haunted Hill - Another surprise, about an eccentric millionaire who pays five people $10,000 to stay in a haunted house overnight. The finale switched gears but I won't spoil that here. Recommended for any horror fan.

original or remake?

Cannibal! The Musical - Being a lifelong South Park fan, I can't believe I never saw this. Made very cheaply (being distributed by Troma should tell you something), it's got that low budget charm. And for having no resources, the songs are catchy even though their silly. I never knew that little jingle at the end of every South Park episode was from this movie either.

We can also hear Cartman's voice at some point.

[mavrach]

The House on Haunted Hill - Another surprise, about an eccentric millionaire who pays five people $10,000 to stay in a haunted house overnight. The finale switched gears but I won't spoil that here. Recommended for any horror fan.

original or remake?

The original with Vincent Price.

Cannibal! The Musical - Being a lifelong South Park fan, I can't believe I never saw this. Made very cheaply (being distributed by Troma should tell you something), it's got that low budget charm. And for having no resources, the songs are catchy even though their silly. I never knew that little jingle at the end of every South Park episode was from this movie either.

We can also hear Cartman's voice at some point.[/quote]

I caught that!

[Steve T Power]

Punisher: Warzone - Horrible villains that get more screen time than the hero makes this film totally insufferable, which is a total shame, as Ray Stevenson made an awesome Punisher, the subplot with the FBI agent and the NYC Detective played well, and Lexi Alexander shoots action rather well... The whole thing is a total clustercuss - caught up in being your typical comic-book flick, where this character is anything but.

The Expendables 2 - Unburdened with things like plot, this one totally annihilates the prequel. A total hoot.

[Future Man]

Two turn-of-the-century westerns:

Tom Horn
McCabe & Mrs. Miller

[azul017]

The Expendables 2 - Unburdened with things like plot, this one totally annihilates the prequel. A total hoot.

I was just about to say that. It's so much more of a 1980s throwback, with tons of blood bags squirting and guns blazing, but this was fun. But man, time has not been kind to van Damme, Lundgren, and Schwarzenegger. I mean, yikes!

Loved the quips and one-liners. Not enough Jet Li though.

[Andrew Forbes]

Punisher: Warzone - Horrible villains that get more screen time than the hero makes this film totally insufferable, which is a total shame, as Ray Stevenson made an awesome Punisher, the subplot with the FBI agent and the NYC Detective played well, and Lexi Alexander shoots action rather well... The whole thing is a total clustercuss - caught up in being your typical comic-book flick, where this character is anything but.

"Plaise! Mehstar Poonishar, sar!"

[Dunnyman]

Just got back from ParaNorman and wow, what a fun ride! I didn't realize going in that it was a stop motion flick, so at first I thought that animation was pretty cheezy, but then I got deeper into the excellent story and just dug the movie. Stop motion on the level of Burton, amazing sets and detail, a well done voice crew (no big stars other than John Goodman) and it all added up to a great flick. It might be a bit scary for little kids, but 10 or above should dig it. Now wanting to go see it in 3D! They also showed a solid preview of Frankenweenie, and it looks excellent and a return to classic Burton, plus I love the science teacher so obviously based on Vincent Price.

[Attrage]

Maybe I should save this post somewhere for safekeeping....

That's a good idea. The spammers seem to have been attacking this site pretty mercilessly lately...

[Attrage]

Small Soldiers...not the sean astin...the Joe Dante one with Denis Leary, and Tommy Lee Jones and Frank Langella as action figures alive in the real world..yeee ha...
love it.

I missed the reference the first time I read your post LOL. You mean Toy Soldiers? I actually like that movie, it's reasonably fun. And added movie geek trivia - the military's assault on the school at the end is apparently a text-book perfect example of how they execute an assault on a fortified position. I think that's kinda cool.

[Attrage]

The 6th Day - one of Arnie's post-2000 "I'm still an action hero" movies. I don't mind this one, even if it descends into unintentional farce a few too many times (see the bit where Michael Rapaport and Arnie are hiding in the bushes outside Arnie's house - the way the bushes rustle and move as Arnie's wife comes out...it's truly ridiculous) but it has enough going for it that I give it the occasional rewatch.

[azul017]

Knights of the Round Table - The production values, Rosza's score and stunning CinemaScope photography have held up well, but the dialogue and pacing do leave something to be desired. It's still enjoyable in terms of old-fashioned entertainment, but it's not as well-paced and acted as some of Errol Flynn's best films like Adventures of Robin Hood and Adventures of Don Juan.

And I watched the third episode of Major Crimes, and I like the completely different, cool dynamic Mary McDonnell brings to the Closer spinoff. I think this may become my must-see Monday show in the weeks to come...