Topic: Some Movies I've Watched....

[Sirgod]

I thought Lords of War was pretty cool, especially since it was based on a true story.

Peace sells, but who's buying? International arms sales accounts for 75% of our military industrial complex's profits.  I can very well believe that some of our arms dealers have a lot more clout in getting out of legal situations courtesy of our govt. than we are led to believe.

This is one of those we will disagree on Bro. I saw it as a hit piece against America, no where did they mention why arms deals where being made by us. Bleh, we just have to agree to disagree on that. Hey one good film though was the Good Shepard. Denny ordered that yesterday, and I actually enjoyed it, even though it was slow in a few parts.

Stephen

[Electric Eye]

I watched Alpha Dog last night, and I must say I was impressed with the way they did the movie.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0426883/

It is almost down to the bone factwise, aas the prosecutor released a lot of classified info on the case to the filmaker and served as an unpaid consultant. Unfortunately the upper management of the court system in Cali recused him from anything more with the case afterwards because they finally caught Jesse James Hollywood years later.

http://www.ifilm.com/video/2780270

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0426883/

One crime, 3 days of knowing about it and not doing something before it got out of hand, 38 witnesses. That's sad. 

[_Rondo_GE The OutLaw]

SHREK - 

Seen on the big screen.  Nothing new just old twists on old jokes but it was fun to watch anyway.  Saw it on the Big Screen on the Theaters.

Disturbia:

Nicely done movie about a kid who finds out that life acan be VERY exciting while under House Arrest.  Shia LaBeouf plays Kale, and underacheiving, troubled kid who loses his dad and bashes his stupid butt teacher in the face.  I got hooked on it right away even though it was nothing special or groundbreakiung, just well done.  The Kale character seems to be an extension of the David Lightman charcter played by Mathew Broderick in WARGAMES (1983), but not as fanciful.

Oddly enough this film has no really big time thematic material or message but it really is well done.  I actually had tickets to see Spiderman III that day but got bored waiting inthelobby so wandered into the Disturbia theater as it was just starting.  The movie sets itself up so quickly then starts clicking and building suspense.

I'd still recommend you go see Spiderman III but this flick will work on DVD just fine.   

[Electric Eye]

I watched "The Good German" last night, thinking that "Oh God, another love story that I have to watch with wifey." Boy, was I surprised. What really got to me is the storyline is loosely based on a very true chapter of WW2 history, Camp Dora was very real, and we were more than willing to forgive Nazi sins so long as we got the brains behind the rocketry program of Nazi Germany vs. the Soviets getting the brains.

Cate Blanchett rules in the film, although I liked the blonde German woman too.

This is not a movie for kids, even though Spiderman is in the movie (The actor, not the character Spider Man). He plays a bad character and the movie is very frank about adult situations.

Another great film, IMHO, is "Pan's Labryinth." It was a movie that you just couldn't seem to stop playing or pause once it began. 

I saw a warning on it at Hollyweird video though "Not for kids, graphic scenes of violence." To that I say "Bah!" They see far worse on TV and in other movies.

[_Rondo_GE The OutLaw]

I watched "The Good German" last night, thinking that "Oh God, another love story that I have to watch with wifey." Boy, was I surprised. What really got to me is the storyline is loosely based on a very true chapter of WW2 history, Camp Dora was very real, and we were more than willing to forgive Nazi sins so long as we got the brains behind the rocketry program of Nazi Germany vs. the Soviets getting the brains.

Cate Blanchett rules in the film, although I liked the blonde German woman too.

This is not a movie for kids, even though Spiderman is in the movie (The actor, not the character Spider Man). He plays a bad character and the movie is very frank about adult situations.

Another great film, IMHO, is "Pan's Labryinth." It was a movie that you just couldn't seem to stop playing or pause once it began. 

I saw a warning on it at Hollyweird video though "Not for kids, graphic scenes of violence." To that I say "Bah!" They see far worse on TV and in other movies.

i CAN GET pan'S labyrinth ON dvd.  GIVE IT A GO.

[Electric Eye]

I can't believe I missed a movie from 1996 that I saw on Sat tv today. Check it out, it rocks!

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0117887/

What can I say? Tom Hanks wrote and directed it. 

[_Rondo_GE The OutLaw]

Alpha Dog

(SPOILERS)

This is a very good movie.  A sleeper I think.  Mostly a bunch of nobodies with Bruce Willis and Sharon Stone playing supporting roles

Emile Hirsh, with cameo's by Sharon Stone & Bruce Willis...a true story about a kidnapping that goes wrong.  Very similar in some respects to FARGO in it's basic plot.  It's also an interesting expose' on the gangsta wannabe California drug culture in the southern Cali suburbs.  This is a crime that never had to happen but the just about everyone makes the wrong decision.  Like FARGO the police are never called into the act until the tragedy is done ... the kidnappers are so afraid of doing "hard time" that they decide choose murder instead ...  a perfect example of how our overcrowded prisons are probably adding to the crime rate.

It's frustrating to watch this movie in some ways because the victim has the best time of his life before they off him. His "handler" even offers to let him go ... twice... and the kid chooses on his own to stay.  Sheesh, talk about living in a dream world.   The head kidnapper, the "Alpha Dog", attempts to make a deal with the kid's older brother who turns out to be a bit of a psychoDog himself, another chance ruined.  The older brother doesn’t even ask whether the kid is all right or not.  Yet the movie is laid out well and as outrageous as the plot seems, it's made plausible by the way the director unfolds the easy, dreamlike “wasted” youth drug culture they all live in. 

The worst part it's all true.  I was on a Jury just recently where an assault charge was decided and some of the young witnesses they called up reminded me too much of these kids…it’s like a lot of these kids have almost NO moral base at all. 

A study in amorality.

Maybe that's what the "a" is for.

[_Rondo_GE The OutLaw]

I can't believe I missed a movie from 1996 that I saw on Sat tv today. Check it out, it rocks!

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0117887/

What can I say? Tom Hanks wrote and directed it. 

My kid was watching that the opther night too.  I've seenit a number fo times.  Good flick.

[Electric Eye]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Wonders

I did not know that Tom Hanks is a ST fan! 

You gotta give him kudos for one thing, he believes in loyalty and family and friends when he makes a movie, a quality that is very rare in Hollyweird.

[Electric Eye]

I'll second that on Alpha Dog. It's sad to know that Cali glamourizes that kind of behavior. And yes folks, it's a very true story.

[Javora]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Wonders

I did not know that Tom Hanks is a ST fan! 

You gotta give him kudos for one thing, he believes in loyalty and family and friends when he makes a movie, a quality that is very rare in Hollyweird.

He used to play AD&D to...   

[_Rondo_GE The OutLaw]

Hanks connects with us because he has a lot of US in him.

Now that you mention him, I watched saving Private Ryan this weekend with my wife who had never seen it.  She really liked it.  Considering it's probably the best war movie made in the last twenty years I'd agree.  In a very distinguished career this is Steven Spielberg's masterpiece.  The movie effortlessly runs us through a small slice of one of the great battles of WWII propelled by a quirky and yet fully believable plot.  It was fun watching it again; that movie brought back the words of my Uncle Johnny who served in the Coast Guard and drove the little boats that carried those men into battle.   He watched some of the greatest battlres in history unfold from the beach,  Normandy AND Iwo Jima... 

[_Rondo_GE The OutLaw]

The Last King of Scotland

James McAvoy (who's only notable role I can remember is playing a Satyr/faun in The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe) plays another unlikely character inthat if "Dr" Nicholas Garrigan, a young, privaledged and niave scotsman fresh out of medical school.   Nick decides to start off his life right...with a little fun and adventure in the storied land of...  uh...  Uganda.

Hot damn!  Bring the sun tan lotion!  Why I couldn't think of a more wonderful place than Uganda...  well maybe Cambodia...  .

Anyway Nick arrives right in the middle of a coup that puts Idi Amin in power.  He's true to his word and has sex with a young african philly (quick cut scene) he meets on the bus.  Things are getting off to a roaring start when he meets the big guy himself and immediately impresses the dictator by shooting a water buffalo injured on the road becasue it broke his conscentration while atttenidng to the dictator. 

At this point many might want to shut her down but the real film is just beginning.  Nick Garrigan is a fictional character who never existed but Idi Amin is real...the film brings that home near the last section when things begin to fall part for Nick...

"Is there anything that you have done that is good, Nicholas? You came to Africa to play the white man. But we aren't a game. We're real. This room is real. .”

...  give an excellent actor a crazy psychopath to play and you have award winning material.  Forrest Whitaker earns his Oscar make no mistake...he captures the tyrants dangerous and playful moods...his quirky and sometimes engaging personality.  The film itself is flawed as there is little of any plot of historical value here, a cautionary tale of a niave idiot who grows up the hard way.  As the film progresses you begin to see the real basis and the very funny irony the maker of the film are spinning...that Nicholas Garrigan symbolizes all those well meaning people who still vaguely think they can help the poor "savages".

But the tables have turned...

Nicholas Garrigan: I can't. It f*cking stinks. I can't help coming back to that moment when I asked you to talk to him. This isn't me. I have to go home now.
Idi Amin: You cannot.
Nicholas Garrigan: What?
Idi Amin: Your work is not finished here yet.

Nick is trapped and things don't portend to end well for him.  He comes to africa for his own amusement and ends up becoming someone's pet.

A must see if for no other reason than Whitaker's very good performance.   

[S'Raek]

Watched Pan's Labyrinth the other week.  Got it for my daughter on her birthday.  It was very good. 

[Electric Eye]

I think the graphic scenes on the mutilations were a lil bit too much though in Last King of Scotland.

Yup, funny how those women would drop their panties in a heartbeat. 

[_Rondo_GE The OutLaw]

Pre-Aids.

Not sure thats going on anymore though.

[Electric Eye]

 

[Sirgod]

Dream Girls....


Must see, Damn good movie playing on PPV.  As a music lover, It's rare to see a drama have so much emotional attachment. Rent this, grab this Push those buttons on the remote. It's that damn good.

Stephen

[Electric Eye]

MMMMMMMMMMM, Dream girls. got my interest already... 

[Sirgod]

MMMMMMMMMMM, Dream girls. got my interest already... 

Jack, I know you love music, and yo uwill like this, not because of your pecker, but because of the music.  there has been very few Musicals done on film. Sadly Live musicals on DVD where not part of them. (read andrew loyd weber) and then see his musicals live.

Stephen