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I just finished watching The Long Goodbye and How to Train Your Dragon. I'll probably get my reviews for them up tomorrow, but I can already say that I was positively surprised by both of them!
The Personal Recommendation Hall of Fame
Strange Days 1995 Directed by Kathryn Bigelow
Guesses who recommended this one; Cricket, Ed, MV, or Inmate.
Kathryn Bigelow’s Point Break is one of my all time favorites. Near Dark is really cool and I think I'm one of the few who enjoyed K-19: The Widowmaker.
Written and produced by James Cameron, who has almost unlimited credit with me because of Terminator, T2, and Aliens. I also really enjoyed watching Titanic and True Lies in the theatre. And I respect the vision and genius strategic movie business move he made with Avatar.
Strange Days is an action / crime / cyberpunk-thriller / sci-fi flick. It was a bit of an unbalanced and unrefined mess for me. Too many genres, messages, plots and story-lines thrown together.
Released in 1996 totally off predicting and depicting 1999. Crazy technological advances and scientific development. Riots in the streets, military presence everywhere in a span of only 3 years.
The action sequences were solid and the camerawork was pretty smooth.
They also did a great job casting; Tom Sizemore, Juliette Lewis, Michael Wincott, Vincent D’Onofrio and William Fichtner. They all fit their roles perfectly and played their characters well.
Because of the filmmakers involved, I was really expecting (maybe too much) to love it.
Turned out to be a 'mixed bag'.
Sorry to hear it didn't work for you. After reading your Favorites List I thought that this would work for you.
It happens
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What I actually said to win MovieGal's heart:
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What I actually said to win MovieGal's heart:
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~Mr Minio
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Are we supposed to let people know if they guess correctly?
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Sorry to hear it didn't work for you. After reading your Favorites List I thought that this would work for you.
It happens
And bonus points because I got to scratch another one of the sci-fi list, only 11 more for list completion.
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Are we supposed to let people know if they guess correctly?
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Not sure, but July seems kinda too far away, what would you prefer?
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Le Trou (1960)
Directed by Jacques Becker
Believe it or not I did get stuff done around the house today. Just happened to take a couple of extended breaks. Anyway, I haven't seen a good prison movie that doesn't take place in Thailand or the Amazon for awhile so I was due.
Le Trou (The Hole) is a no frills prison break movie. We start out with four guys in a cell who are planning a prison break when suddenly, boom! new cellmate. D'OH! So the four buds give the newbie a good grilling, what are you in for, how long you in for, etc. and they come to the conclusion that he's good to go. They include him in the plan and start getting on with the breakout and let me tell ya, these guys are smart and dedicated. They have every angle covered from prison periscopes to spy on guards, to prison hourglass timer, to prison tools, to dummies in their beds. Everything is covered and the other thing with this breakout is it isn't a one night job. It's going to take awhile. So they not only need to get out but cover up all their work until they're gone. They're pounding through concrete a lot in this movie and these actors give it their all. They were literally pounding through the concrete floor of their cell. No edits, no cuts until they were through. The amount of hammering and hacksawing they do was making me ill. It may sound dull, watching guys hammer and saw, but it's not. Not at all. It's actually really good.
Can't really say much more without spoiling it. Let's just say that the closer they get to finishing the job the more tense things become between the five of them. I have to think that this was another pretty influential movie. It's very good and you will see traces of this in almost every prison break movie of the last 50-60 years. Never heard of this one so it was a nice surprise.
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Still a well thought out pick Ed, going by names and plot description right up my alley, would've pick it for myself too. And bonus points because I got to scratch another one of the sci-fi list, only 11 more for list completion.
And bonus points because I got to scratch another one of the sci-fi list, only 11 more for list completion.
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[center]Sold! I'm not big on animation but that photo and what you wrote really piqued my interest and now I want to watch Rango.
I've watched this one soooo many times
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It doesn't matter to me either way, just wasn't sure if I should let people know when they guess my nominations correctly.
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That's been left sort of open in regards to someone actually guessing right. You can keep quiet or let that person know they guessed right.
@ahwell
Glad to see you enjoyed Paprika. I thought you would.
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Is there a shorter theatrical version of Patton, like with The Abyss, or is it really 2h51? 
not that I care, just asking!
not that I care, just asking!
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Is there a shorter theatrical version of Patton, like with The Abyss, or is it really 2h51? not that I care, just asking!
not that I care, just asking!
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i just finished moon. lots of spoilers ahead, so don't keep reading if you haven't seen it.
it was good for the most part, although i had some problems with it. i've wanted to watch it for a while because it always seemed up my alley, even though i knew very little about it other than it's a low-budget sci-fi directed by david bowie's son in which sam rockwell is very good. this is the only duncan jones films i've seen, and i know the rest are supposed to be huge messes. i imagine the restraint that comes with a low budget is probably why this one manages to be so narratively successful, although i can still identify what seem like some directorial shortcomings. he can be quite inventive, but he doesn't seem particularly adept at crafting mood or dramatic tension. i think i was hoping for something a bit quieter and more meditative based on the poster. there was definitely an eeriness to the beginning and i thought the film seemed quite promising, but a doppelgänger was about the least interesting direction it could've gone in imo. it doesn't even make much of an attempt to explore the deeper implications of cloning in any meaningful way, although the scene where he talks to his daughter was very good and the closest it came to doing so. the rest of the film is mainly carried by the fact that rockwell is such a naturally-compelling performer. however, the relationship between the two of them felt a bit underwritten and you can definitely feel the limitations of having one actor play two characters in the same scene. i would've liked a couple more scenes where the two of them just talked.
with that said, i still found it quite charming and watchable and it's always nice to see an original low-budget sci-fi. it maybe leans a bit too heavily on its references, specifically 2001, although i appreciated the way it subverts our expectations by combining two of hollywood's greatest villains, HAL and kevin spacey, into an a.i. character that actually wants to do good. probably would've liked this more if i saw it when it came out, as there have been a number of films about movie stars stuck in space in the past ten years, perhaps unfairly leaving this one to feel redundant.
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it was good for the most part, although i had some problems with it. i've wanted to watch it for a while because it always seemed up my alley, even though i knew very little about it other than it's a low-budget sci-fi directed by david bowie's son in which sam rockwell is very good. this is the only duncan jones films i've seen, and i know the rest are supposed to be huge messes. i imagine the restraint that comes with a low budget is probably why this one manages to be so narratively successful, although i can still identify what seem like some directorial shortcomings. he can be quite inventive, but he doesn't seem particularly adept at crafting mood or dramatic tension. i think i was hoping for something a bit quieter and more meditative based on the poster. there was definitely an eeriness to the beginning and i thought the film seemed quite promising, but a doppelgänger was about the least interesting direction it could've gone in imo. it doesn't even make much of an attempt to explore the deeper implications of cloning in any meaningful way, although the scene where he talks to his daughter was very good and the closest it came to doing so. the rest of the film is mainly carried by the fact that rockwell is such a naturally-compelling performer. however, the relationship between the two of them felt a bit underwritten and you can definitely feel the limitations of having one actor play two characters in the same scene. i would've liked a couple more scenes where the two of them just talked.
with that said, i still found it quite charming and watchable and it's always nice to see an original low-budget sci-fi. it maybe leans a bit too heavily on its references, specifically 2001, although i appreciated the way it subverts our expectations by combining two of hollywood's greatest villains, HAL and kevin spacey, into an a.i. character that actually wants to do good. probably would've liked this more if i saw it when it came out, as there have been a number of films about movie stars stuck in space in the past ten years, perhaps unfairly leaving this one to feel redundant.
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Most Biblical movies were long If I Recall.
seen A Clockwork Orange. In all honesty, the movie was weird and silly
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I see we're revealing what we choose for people after they watched it so...
I choose, Eyes Wide Shut (1999) for Miss Vicky, not to make her suffer, but I had read the Parents Guide Content Advisary before and remembered it was all about naked bodies, sex and orgies!... not my thing but I know she likes that, so even though it was directed by Kubrick I hoped the sex stuff would win her over.
I choose Galaxy Quest (1999) for John-Connor and he guessed it right! The reason was I seen he had a lot of fun-action type movies in his Top 10 profile so I thought this one seemed to suit his taste.....I just looked and he doesn't have any Top 10 profile movies, did I dream that? or did he delete them?
I choose, Eyes Wide Shut (1999) for Miss Vicky, not to make her suffer, but I had read the Parents Guide Content Advisary before and remembered it was all about naked bodies, sex and orgies!... not my thing but I know she likes that, so even though it was directed by Kubrick I hoped the sex stuff would win her over.
I choose Galaxy Quest (1999) for John-Connor and he guessed it right! The reason was I seen he had a lot of fun-action type movies in his Top 10 profile so I thought this one seemed to suit his taste.....I just looked and he doesn't have any Top 10 profile movies, did I dream that? or did he delete them?
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The Mission (1986)
Genre: Historical Drama
Who do I think nominated it: Neiba
My reaction: Mixed
I want to thank whoever choose this for me, you must have known exactly what I like, as I love historical drama movies.
But I have mixed feelings about this movie. First the positive: I loved the South American jungle settings! I've only seen a few movies set in the tropical rain forest of South America so it was cool to see this. The magic of the rain forest is hard to explain. I luckily got to visit the Costa Rica rain forest and spent some time in Panama, where believe it or not we took a river journey just like in the movie in long motorized canoes up a slow moving jungle river and visited the indigenous Embera. This was like 10 years ago and they lived along a forest river in elevated thatched roof huts, like we see in this movie. So to me seeing the native people and the tropics in the film was magical.
I wish I could say I liked the overall movie, but I didn't. Robert De Niro was badly miscast and I couldn't buy that this slave trader who had killed his own brother was looking for redemption by joining a group of Jesuit priest. I wish Jeremy Irons had played his role instead. The script itself was pretty weak, but the on location scenery was amazing...so I'm glad to have watched it.
Who do I think nominated it: Neiba
My reaction: Mixed
I want to thank whoever choose this for me, you must have known exactly what I like, as I love historical drama movies.
But I have mixed feelings about this movie. First the positive: I loved the South American jungle settings! I've only seen a few movies set in the tropical rain forest of South America so it was cool to see this. The magic of the rain forest is hard to explain. I luckily got to visit the Costa Rica rain forest and spent some time in Panama, where believe it or not we took a river journey just like in the movie in long motorized canoes up a slow moving jungle river and visited the indigenous Embera. This was like 10 years ago and they lived along a forest river in elevated thatched roof huts, like we see in this movie. So to me seeing the native people and the tropics in the film was magical.
I wish I could say I liked the overall movie, but I didn't. Robert De Niro was badly miscast and I couldn't buy that this slave trader who had killed his own brother was looking for redemption by joining a group of Jesuit priest. I wish Jeremy Irons had played his role instead. The script itself was pretty weak, but the on location scenery was amazing...so I'm glad to have watched it.
Last edited by Citizen Rules; 03-19-20 at 11:21 PM.
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Rango
(2011)
Rango is the story of a pet chameleon, who is an aspiring actor. After falling out of his glass cage and into the Mojave Desert, he has to go on a journey for water and a journey to find out who he really is. The story is a classic western one, where a stranger comes into a town with a problem, and is expected to heroically save them. The difference is that in Rango, the stranger isn't much of a hero. Instead, he's a clumsy chameleon who has no clue what he's doing.
Rango is self-conscious about this and parodies the western. It does this much better than I expected, as it successfully pokes fun at a lot of classical elements from the genre. The predictable story didn't manage to keep me interested throughout the entire movie, but the many references and jokes made this a fun watch.
The animation of Rango is good and the cinematography is fantastic! There are some very beautiful scenes, especially in the parts that take place during the evening or night. The cast of characters is diverse, and they all have unique and interesting looks. The only thing that bothered me visually was the human cowboy that Rango met. He looked like he came out of a bad videogame! Luckily he wasn't on the screen for very long.
Rango is a good looking animated film and a fun parody of the western genre. It's worth a watch if you like westerns, animation or both!
I've watched Rango twice, (once for the animation list and again for the westerns list), and both times I enjoyed the movie, but it just seems to be lacking something to make it a favorite movie for me. I haven't been able to figure out what.
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I choose, Eyes Wide Shut (1999) for Miss Vicky, not to make her suffer, but I had read the Parents Guide Content Advisary before and remembered it was all about naked bodies, sex and orgies!... not my thing but I know she likes that, so even though it was directed by Kubrick I hoped the sex stuff would win her over.
It was a risky choice that didn't pay off. It happens. If nothing else me having to watch it gave some other people a few laughs.
Bambi was my pick for you, btw.
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