DigDog
Lifer
- Jun 3, 2011
- 14,351
- 2,814
- 126
IronWing
No Lifer
- Jul 20, 2001
- 72,119
- 32,444
- 136
MrSquished
Lifer
- Jan 14, 2013
- 25,892
- 24,227
- 136
back when Liam Neeson did good movies, before he became a world-class assassin/action hero
SteveGrabowski
Diamond Member
- Oct 20, 2014
- 8,638
- 7,261
- 136
IBMJunkman
Senior member
- May 7, 2015
- 867
- 375
- 136
Just saw the new Jason Statham movie, The Beekeeper. 8/10.
IMDB has mixed reviews. I liked it. Then again I am easy. I like the Taken series and the John Wick series. Heck, I go back to the original Death Wish.
Saw the movie at a casino theater. Doubled my money at the roulette table first. Paid for the movie, popcorn and drink.
IMDB has mixed reviews. I liked it. Then again I am easy. I like the Taken series and the John Wick series. Heck, I go back to the original Death Wish.
Saw the movie at a casino theater. Doubled my money at the roulette table first. Paid for the movie, popcorn and drink.
mikeymikec
Lifer
- May 19, 2011
- 20,065
- 14,477
- 136
Underworld: Director's Cut (2003)
Overall it's an improvement on the theatrical cut. The final battle in the lycan base is expanded as well as scenes where Selene is stealthing her way though the base improve the film as an action flick. The character called Erika (the one jealous of Selene being the target of Kraven's infatuation) gets some extra scenes which help explain her actions (they weren't necessary scenes per se and their inclusion doesn't fundamentally alter anything).
One scene's inclusion is a bit bizarre whereby an underling tells Kraven that Viktor wants to see him then Viktor tells him that he sent for Selene not Kraven; this kind of weirdness IMO is part and parcel of Les Wiseman not doing a particularly good job of directing this film. I watched it for the first time on BR (as well as being my first watch of the Director's Cut), and I noticed moments I hadn't noticed before such as one character talking to another but the other actors in the scene just stand there without direction and no ad-lib.
In my opinion this will always be a vampire action flick which isn't going to go down in movie history for being remarkable, but I liked it more when I saw it at the cinema and I got the 4k BR as a present. I enjoyed it this time more than I thought I would.
Overall it's an improvement on the theatrical cut. The final battle in the lycan base is expanded as well as scenes where Selene is stealthing her way though the base improve the film as an action flick. The character called Erika (the one jealous of Selene being the target of Kraven's infatuation) gets some extra scenes which help explain her actions (they weren't necessary scenes per se and their inclusion doesn't fundamentally alter anything).
One scene's inclusion is a bit bizarre whereby an underling tells Kraven that Viktor wants to see him then Viktor tells him that he sent for Selene not Kraven; this kind of weirdness IMO is part and parcel of Les Wiseman not doing a particularly good job of directing this film. I watched it for the first time on BR (as well as being my first watch of the Director's Cut), and I noticed moments I hadn't noticed before such as one character talking to another but the other actors in the scene just stand there without direction and no ad-lib.
In my opinion this will always be a vampire action flick which isn't going to go down in movie history for being remarkable, but I liked it more when I saw it at the cinema and I got the 4k BR as a present. I enjoyed it this time more than I thought I would.
Remember reading the "graphic novel" (normally would prefer "comic book" as being a less pretentious term, but it seems quite inappropriate in this case). Was a pretty bleak and depressing read (especially considering it was by the creator of Fungus the Bogeyman and other-such jokey children's books)...but also pretty much on-point as a response to the ridiculous nonsense the government was putting out at the time about "how to survive a nuclear war".
DigDog
Lifer
- Jun 3, 2011
- 14,351
- 2,814
- 126
i watched Never Been Kissed - https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0151738/
1999 film which i had never seen before. I'm pretty sure i had this in my wishlist because it's got a 17yo Jessica Alba in it, but was disappointed that she's got a relatively minor part and doesn't look anywhere as hot as she will do a few years later.
Drew Barrymore stars as a 25yo (virgin) copy editor in a newspaper who wants to become a journalist, but everyone from the boss to the owner tell her she is too nice and dumb to be the killer that a journalist needs to be.
On a whim she is sent undercover in a highschool, and being that she's still clumsy and clueless, she is hated by the popular kids and only makes friends with the nerds.
Her boss forces her to "get cool" because he believes there's no story for the newspaper to sell in what she's doing, and she fails at this too, despite outside help from the newspaper crew, until her even-older highschool-dropout brother (the lead from Idiocracy) also joins the same highschool with a fake ID, and with lies and schemes convinces the cool guys that his sister is "cool".
Obvious finale with the highschool Prom, where Barrymore comes clean and scolds the popular kids for being cruel and unprepared for life.
There is a secondary plot with a teacher who "likes" her which isn't great, and serves as her "kiss" that she never had before.
While this wasn't a great film and, i'm certainly not the target audience, i think it was overall well made (barely PG13, probably for having girls say "the first time for sex") and would suit well a female 16-22 audience. I remember it being quite popular on release, too. Pacing was a bit slow. Costumes were nice. The Idiocracy guy was good, and so was supporting Molly Shannon. Red Hair guy from Anchorman was also ok.
Obviously the premise is stupid, but it's the kind of plot these films have.
7/10 - not for me, but overall ok.
(probaby 6.5/10 is a better rating, it's 6/10 on IMDb)
1999 film which i had never seen before. I'm pretty sure i had this in my wishlist because it's got a 17yo Jessica Alba in it, but was disappointed that she's got a relatively minor part and doesn't look anywhere as hot as she will do a few years later.
Drew Barrymore stars as a 25yo (virgin) copy editor in a newspaper who wants to become a journalist, but everyone from the boss to the owner tell her she is too nice and dumb to be the killer that a journalist needs to be.
On a whim she is sent undercover in a highschool, and being that she's still clumsy and clueless, she is hated by the popular kids and only makes friends with the nerds.
Her boss forces her to "get cool" because he believes there's no story for the newspaper to sell in what she's doing, and she fails at this too, despite outside help from the newspaper crew, until her even-older highschool-dropout brother (the lead from Idiocracy) also joins the same highschool with a fake ID, and with lies and schemes convinces the cool guys that his sister is "cool".
Obvious finale with the highschool Prom, where Barrymore comes clean and scolds the popular kids for being cruel and unprepared for life.
There is a secondary plot with a teacher who "likes" her which isn't great, and serves as her "kiss" that she never had before.
While this wasn't a great film and, i'm certainly not the target audience, i think it was overall well made (barely PG13, probably for having girls say "the first time for sex") and would suit well a female 16-22 audience. I remember it being quite popular on release, too. Pacing was a bit slow. Costumes were nice. The Idiocracy guy was good, and so was supporting Molly Shannon. Red Hair guy from Anchorman was also ok.
Obviously the premise is stupid, but it's the kind of plot these films have.
7/10 - not for me, but overall ok.
(probaby 6.5/10 is a better rating, it's 6/10 on IMDb)
Last edited:
SteveGrabowski
Diamond Member
- Oct 20, 2014
- 8,638
- 7,261
- 136
The Iron Claw - 8/10
Loved watching Kerry Von Erich back in the 80s and this was such a great illustration of the hell pro wrestlers put themselves through to become stars.
Loved watching Kerry Von Erich back in the 80s and this was such a great illustration of the hell pro wrestlers put themselves through to become stars.
DigDog
Lifer
- Jun 3, 2011
- 14,351
- 2,814
- 126
i watched again .. for the third time?
In The Mouth Of Madness - https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0113409/
Spoiler for a 30 year old film.
I had to write the plot somewhat out of sync, because it's out of sync in the film.
Sam Neil - playing "John Trent" is good as the "ordinary man" investigator, it's a good casting, and it's maybe also good acting, but the character is a bit iffy. "Crazy" John Trent is a far better character and allows Neil to deliver some far more interesting lines, but only lasts about 10 minutes.
Julie Carmen is the woman whose job is to go crazy, and her acting is .. meh.
Jurgen Prochnow (yes, the Dune guy) is ok as Sutter Kane, and none other than Charlton mf* Heston as the publicist, obviously gives a great performance for what little onscreen time he has.
The practical effects are okaish, nothing compared to that masterpiece which is The Thing. The cinematography is also not fantastic, but passable.
And, the story is good, but it's also kinda disappointing.
On the first viewing, this film gives you the perfect depiction of a man descending into madness; what was first just a shadow around the corner of the eye, becomes full blown horror shortly thereafter, but never giving the protagonist the chance to reach rationally to it, or scream, or try to act against it. And later on, the protagonist can't even run from it.
Now, i did watch this 2 times before (at least, that i can remember) and i have had a love/hate relationship with this film. It does deliver some classic horror in spades, without resorting to common tropes, but on trying to watch the film more carefully and to analyze wtf is going on, only leads to disappointment.
Any my reasoning is that John Trent / Sam Neil's protagonist, can't actually DO anything in this film, he is a protagonist incapable of affecting the outcome of anything in the story - he can only observe and accept the facts.
The .. "villain" .. if we can call him that, is not impacted in any way by the .. "hero"'s efforts to win; if anything, he is aided by them. And Kane goes on to smoothly win in his plan without any deviation or resistance from Trent.
.. i mean .. that's the script. But i feel that something's missing here, something that the Twilight Zone episodes had, a kind of horror sensation where the protagonist's own actions are his undoing, and even when the story's own blind cruelty act against the protagonist ("Time Enough"), the protagonist has at least a portion of his own being to blame for the situation.
I gotta say, if you just watch this one time, it will be a wild ride, but i doubt you'll understand what you've watched. And in the end, this is what we want, from films - the experience on the day. Rewatching films is for nerds.
My vote: 7.5/10, but even 8/10 for the first viewing.
In The Mouth Of Madness - https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0113409/
Spoiler for a 30 year old film.
Sam Neil plays an investigator (insurance fraud, but it's your classic PI character) who is recruited by a publishing company to find the artist Sutter Kane, who has since disappeared. As the guy writes best-selling novels and is worth a fortune, they want him back, and specifically they want Kane's last book, which the publisher has already paid for.
Sam begins to investigate and finds a clue in the cover art of Kane's books, pointing to a map location called Hobb's End. Throughout this investigation and his arrival at Hobbs End, he witnesses stranger and stranger thing.
Now, Sam is not a particularly perceptive person. He ignores details that the audience sees, he's quite blunt and extremely sceptic of anything supernatural - he thinks it's a complicated insurance fraud scheme.
In Hobbs End, however, Sam seen manifestations of horror that cannot be rationalized; specifically, he meets Sutter Kane, who explains that what Sam has experienced up to now is Kane's writing of Sam as a character in the book, and even Sam himself did not exist before Kane wrote him in the story.
Sam escapes; Kane hands him the manuscript for the story titled "In The Mouth Of Madness" and uses Sam's scepticism to his advantage. There is still a fragment of Sam that believes he is being set up, and all that he needs to do is return the book to the publicist.
As Sam makes his way back to New York, he starts to have second thoughts and tries to get rid of the book, but can't, despite his efforts the book magically returns. He finally arrives and pleds with the publicist to not publish the book, but the publicist tells him he has already received it months before, and it's been published - there's even a film!
Sam goes insane, and even murders a reader of the book. He is taken to the asylum, where a Detective interrogates him. Sam explain what Kane told him, his books have sold more than the Bible. And just like having enough people believe in the Bible make their religion real, enough people believing Kane's books make the story in the book become real. This was not possible with authors like Stephen King, as the bible was "dictated by God". But Kane's books were dictated by The Great Old Ones (yepp, thats a Cthulhu reference) which empowers the story within to become true.
Over night, the book sales send millions of people worldwide insane, cause grotesque mutations, and essentially the world ends. Sam survives.
Sam begins to investigate and finds a clue in the cover art of Kane's books, pointing to a map location called Hobb's End. Throughout this investigation and his arrival at Hobbs End, he witnesses stranger and stranger thing.
Now, Sam is not a particularly perceptive person. He ignores details that the audience sees, he's quite blunt and extremely sceptic of anything supernatural - he thinks it's a complicated insurance fraud scheme.
In Hobbs End, however, Sam seen manifestations of horror that cannot be rationalized; specifically, he meets Sutter Kane, who explains that what Sam has experienced up to now is Kane's writing of Sam as a character in the book, and even Sam himself did not exist before Kane wrote him in the story.
Sam escapes; Kane hands him the manuscript for the story titled "In The Mouth Of Madness" and uses Sam's scepticism to his advantage. There is still a fragment of Sam that believes he is being set up, and all that he needs to do is return the book to the publicist.
As Sam makes his way back to New York, he starts to have second thoughts and tries to get rid of the book, but can't, despite his efforts the book magically returns. He finally arrives and pleds with the publicist to not publish the book, but the publicist tells him he has already received it months before, and it's been published - there's even a film!
Sam goes insane, and even murders a reader of the book. He is taken to the asylum, where a Detective interrogates him. Sam explain what Kane told him, his books have sold more than the Bible. And just like having enough people believe in the Bible make their religion real, enough people believing Kane's books make the story in the book become real. This was not possible with authors like Stephen King, as the bible was "dictated by God". But Kane's books were dictated by The Great Old Ones (yepp, thats a Cthulhu reference) which empowers the story within to become true.
Over night, the book sales send millions of people worldwide insane, cause grotesque mutations, and essentially the world ends. Sam survives.
I had to write the plot somewhat out of sync, because it's out of sync in the film.
Sam Neil - playing "John Trent" is good as the "ordinary man" investigator, it's a good casting, and it's maybe also good acting, but the character is a bit iffy. "Crazy" John Trent is a far better character and allows Neil to deliver some far more interesting lines, but only lasts about 10 minutes.
Julie Carmen is the woman whose job is to go crazy, and her acting is .. meh.
Jurgen Prochnow (yes, the Dune guy) is ok as Sutter Kane, and none other than Charlton mf* Heston as the publicist, obviously gives a great performance for what little onscreen time he has.
The practical effects are okaish, nothing compared to that masterpiece which is The Thing. The cinematography is also not fantastic, but passable.
And, the story is good, but it's also kinda disappointing.
On the first viewing, this film gives you the perfect depiction of a man descending into madness; what was first just a shadow around the corner of the eye, becomes full blown horror shortly thereafter, but never giving the protagonist the chance to reach rationally to it, or scream, or try to act against it. And later on, the protagonist can't even run from it.
Now, i did watch this 2 times before (at least, that i can remember) and i have had a love/hate relationship with this film. It does deliver some classic horror in spades, without resorting to common tropes, but on trying to watch the film more carefully and to analyze wtf is going on, only leads to disappointment.
Any my reasoning is that John Trent / Sam Neil's protagonist, can't actually DO anything in this film, he is a protagonist incapable of affecting the outcome of anything in the story - he can only observe and accept the facts.
The .. "villain" .. if we can call him that, is not impacted in any way by the .. "hero"'s efforts to win; if anything, he is aided by them. And Kane goes on to smoothly win in his plan without any deviation or resistance from Trent.
.. i mean .. that's the script. But i feel that something's missing here, something that the Twilight Zone episodes had, a kind of horror sensation where the protagonist's own actions are his undoing, and even when the story's own blind cruelty act against the protagonist ("Time Enough"), the protagonist has at least a portion of his own being to blame for the situation.
I gotta say, if you just watch this one time, it will be a wild ride, but i doubt you'll understand what you've watched. And in the end, this is what we want, from films - the experience on the day. Rewatching films is for nerds.
My vote: 7.5/10, but even 8/10 for the first viewing.
SteveGrabowski
Diamond Member
- Oct 20, 2014
- 8,638
- 7,261
- 136
Just watched Grave of the Fireflies and I think that might have hit me harder than any war movie I have ever seen. My great uncle I never got to meet or even see a picture of died in the same way in Japan during the war, of malnutrition with no access to medicine and with the same constant diarrhea near the end until his death at age 7. My grandmother was a few years older and was able to survive the war but it was hell on the young. I'm glad the film didn't come out until 3 years after she died because she would have probably seen it and relived horrible memories.
HomerJS
Lifer
- Feb 6, 2002
- 38,198
- 31,062
- 136
Just came back from Godzilla Minus One
9.5/10. If you check reviews everyone loves it and they are right. It’s a story about characters in post WW2 Japan where the main attraction are those characters. Godzilla goes back to his original terrifying self not some intelligent being coming to bring balance back to the world. Just a beast that kills people and destroys things and he’s pissed off a lot. It’s all about the human beings.
If you can, check it out in IMAX or enhanced sound theatre.
9.5/10. If you check reviews everyone loves it and they are right. It’s a story about characters in post WW2 Japan where the main attraction are those characters. Godzilla goes back to his original terrifying self not some intelligent being coming to bring balance back to the world. Just a beast that kills people and destroys things and he’s pissed off a lot. It’s all about the human beings.
If you can, check it out in IMAX or enhanced sound theatre.
Agree. 6/10 from me. Don't think I can watch that again. Maybe specific scenes if I ever feel like it but doesn't seem like something worth watching in full again. To me there is no mystery. He was trapped in the reality created by the author. I think he got transported into the alternate reality the moment that horror writer wrote him into his novel. That's that. Nothing more to ponder on. He can't ever get out of that again.
- Aug 22, 2001
- 31,407
- 30,595
- 146
Birdman - 9/10
I remember hearing some buzz about it but I never pursued info. I have been a Michael Keaton fan since Night Shift. Mr. Mom I still quote. 220 221 whatever it takes.
I still have not looked up anything after watching it.
Or did I miss something? Regardless, I thought everyone turned in excellent performances and it was meta as hell.
I remember hearing some buzz about it but I never pursued info. I have been a Michael Keaton fan since Night Shift. Mr. Mom I still quote. 220 221 whatever it takes.
I still have not looked up anything after watching it.
I concluded he killed himself. His daughter is a space cadet fresh from rehab. She was disassociating by imagining seeing him fly away, instead of lying dead on the sidewalk below. You can hear the first responders.
Or did I miss something? Regardless, I thought everyone turned in excellent performances and it was meta as hell.
DigDog
Lifer
- Jun 3, 2011
- 14,351
- 2,814
- 126
*yawn*
..and you won't find anything, even if you do.
Yes he obviously killed himself, just so that for a few seconds he can feel like Birdman(r) is real. Yes to the daughter thing too.
But this is a film where people want to find more meaning than there really is; "it leaves the audience wondering if he really was birdman", no it fucking doesn't.
Dont get me wrong, fabulous performance by Keaton, but i was disappointed with the content.
- Aug 22, 2001
- 31,407
- 30,595
- 146
Seriously? People did the South Park Poop that took a pee to that movie? 🤣
While we are on the subject of Keaton, https://www.imdb.com/title/tt4276820/reference/
8.5/10
He was also super good in https://www.imdb.com/title/tt9174558/reference/
8.5/10
He was also super good in https://www.imdb.com/title/tt9174558/reference/
MrSquished
Lifer
- Jan 14, 2013
- 25,892
- 24,227
- 136
For All Mankind - season 4 - I do enjoy this show and enjoyed this latest season which ended last Friday. Sure some stuff seems a little nutty, but if you pause and look at the world around us now, it's actually pretty normal. A good alternative history space race series - but extremely character driven. Hoping for a season 5 to close it out.
- Aug 22, 2001
- 31,407
- 30,595
- 146
Nick Offerman is great too! I agree with the score you gave it. Movie could have been watching paint dry. Instead, it was entertaining and rewatchable.
DigDog
Lifer
- Jun 3, 2011
- 14,351
- 2,814
- 126
i finally, 43 years later, watched Escape To Victory - https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0083284/
diligently, the whole 2 hours, from start to finish.
It was ok.
I have to preface this with the fact, in Europe, this film was a MASSIVE success. I guess we're football people (no, not football, but football) so everyone who has ever watched a football game went to see this film.
Starring a shitload of famous people, from Michael Caine to Sylvester "I AM THE LAW" Stallone, to Pele' and another 20 or so footballers of note, Max Von Sydow as the Evil German That Was Not That Evil, and Carole Laure as Exactly One Woman In The Whole Cast.
WW2 Nazi prisoner camp. Caine is the guy who used to coach West Ham United (who, i gather, were a decent team back then, when today they are absolutely rubbish), and Von Sydow is the football fan who decides to set up a match between Axis and Allies - german atheletes vs their prisoners. While Von Sydow's intentions are genuine, it's clear to the prisoners and the Allies in general that this will be used as a Nazi propaganda stunt, so they plan to set up a mass-escape during the game.
Obviously this being football, which is more important than life, the Allies decide not to escape just for the chance of winning the game. And because they are the good guys, they win. Kinda.
Allegedly based on a real event, the film is in fact based on a myth which is however based on a real event, the Death Match: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Death_Match
It didnt take place anywhere near the conditions that the film portrays, but the idea is still decent - football as a metaphor for war.
The film is well made, and decently paced for being two hours; it's quite similar to other "prison camp" films (and i couldn't stop thinking about Hogan's Heroes), but does not have the .. more abstract qualities that something like Bridge On River Kwai, or Merry Christmas Mr Lawrence have.
Still, decent film. I can see why people went absolutely nuts about it back in the 80s. Currently 6.6/10 on IMDb (i dont know why these older films all get a lower rating), i would say : 7/10
diligently, the whole 2 hours, from start to finish.
It was ok.
I have to preface this with the fact, in Europe, this film was a MASSIVE success. I guess we're football people (no, not football, but football) so everyone who has ever watched a football game went to see this film.
Starring a shitload of famous people, from Michael Caine to Sylvester "I AM THE LAW" Stallone, to Pele' and another 20 or so footballers of note, Max Von Sydow as the Evil German That Was Not That Evil, and Carole Laure as Exactly One Woman In The Whole Cast.
WW2 Nazi prisoner camp. Caine is the guy who used to coach West Ham United (who, i gather, were a decent team back then, when today they are absolutely rubbish), and Von Sydow is the football fan who decides to set up a match between Axis and Allies - german atheletes vs their prisoners. While Von Sydow's intentions are genuine, it's clear to the prisoners and the Allies in general that this will be used as a Nazi propaganda stunt, so they plan to set up a mass-escape during the game.
Obviously this being football, which is more important than life, the Allies decide not to escape just for the chance of winning the game. And because they are the good guys, they win. Kinda.
Allegedly based on a real event, the film is in fact based on a myth which is however based on a real event, the Death Match: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Death_Match
It didnt take place anywhere near the conditions that the film portrays, but the idea is still decent - football as a metaphor for war.
The film is well made, and decently paced for being two hours; it's quite similar to other "prison camp" films (and i couldn't stop thinking about Hogan's Heroes), but does not have the .. more abstract qualities that something like Bridge On River Kwai, or Merry Christmas Mr Lawrence have.
Still, decent film. I can see why people went absolutely nuts about it back in the 80s. Currently 6.6/10 on IMDb (i dont know why these older films all get a lower rating), i would say : 7/10
A trip down memory lane:
The Sopranos - On the anniversary of the show’s premiere, its creator and location manager reflect on some of its iconic settings and why they were chosen.
I actually watched the show only 2 years ago.
8/10
Almost forgot, just watched Past Lives the other night.
8/10
The Sopranos - On the anniversary of the show’s premiere, its creator and location manager reflect on some of its iconic settings and why they were chosen.
I actually watched the show only 2 years ago.
8/10
🙏 Haven't seen it in a while, I think it's on Max. You have Japanese ancestry?
Almost forgot, just watched Past Lives the other night.
8/10
sdifox
No Lifer
- Sep 30, 2005
- 99,027
- 17,416
- 126
DigDog
Lifer
- Jun 3, 2011
- 14,351
- 2,814
- 126
SteveGrabowski
Diamond Member
- Oct 20, 2014
- 8,638
- 7,261
- 136
Yeah my grandmother was from the countryside around Hachinohe. She married a GI from the occupation force quickly once the war ended probably around 16 or so but my grandfather was really young too (he tried three times to join the army at age 14 and finally got in just in time for the war to be over and to never see combat in it). She would have been way out of his league in normal circumstances but being an occupier in a devastated nation full of desperate girls in poverty and on starvation diets with all the men dead probably has to be pretty great for one's sex life.
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