What ELSE (other than KUNG FU) has everyone been watching?

[OpiumKungFuCracker]

The Tillman Story- The Bush Administration is evil, Friendly Fire killed him but after watching the documentary I think he was murdered....

[sifu44]

I've been watching Taken with Liam Neeson. Pretty decent movie. It takes a few minutes to get going but once it does, fasten your seatbelts and enjoy the ride. I've also been watching Red. All I can say is Helen Mirren with a machine gun, too sexy. The movie is a pure popcorn flick. Fun and mindless. John Malkovich (sp?) is good too.

[masterofoneinchpunch]

Some thoughts and comments and random blather on Vengeance(2009: Johnnie To): (WARNING SOME SPOILERS)

While I enjoyed the film it is not among my favorites from this director. When watching the one making off feature I noted that Johnnie To stated that the film itself was not unique. There are tons of references to previous To films and I wonder if that is a detriment or boon to To fans. I mean beyond the obvious use of hired triad hitmen (which is why it was fun to watch the not-so-good ones in The Odd One Dies).

Simon Yam: how many times has he played this role? I think I prefer when he gets to do something different like in Sparrow or PTU. Didn't seem much different than Boss Fay in Exiled.

Cooking scene: while I enjoyed the placement of the cooking scene of the former chef Costello this has been used in a few To films most notably (for me) in Breaking News where two different triads get together (with hostages) and have a meal.

Park nighttime gun fight scene: I loved this. It was shot beautifully. The use of the moon being covered by clouds was aesthetically awesome. However, it reminded me of two similar scenes in Triangle and to a lesser extent the hand-to-hand judo scene in Throw Down.

Costello: of course the character is named after Alain Delon in Le Samouraï whom To has been wanting to work with for a few films (including the on/off/on/off remake of The Red Circle), I believe for this film as well.

Now I have no issues with references to work in a film and it certainly becomes fun to spot them, but a certain amount of repetition makes it seem less fresh coupled with several issues clyde mentions above. Ultimately I feel (as I've read in certain interviews) that maybe he has hit a crossroads on what to do next (partially why he is thinking of the Mainland market as well as doing more romantic comedies). After all it's just a coincidence. Just like the use of umbrellas in this film like in Sparrow.

I did not have any issue with the English language used in it. It is actually the most realistic part of the film where English is used as a bridge between different cultures and often when you hear it (for English speakers) it sounds clumsy. This has been done in several HK films before most notably Gen-X Cops and Tokyo Raiders (when they hire a popular Japanese entertainer that doesn't know Cantonese).

Is it strange that Ebert loved this film but did not like Exiled as much?

I'll probably eventually do a full length review of this, but it will not be soon. I have a few other To films I would like to go over in detail before seeing this one again.

[ShaOW!linDude]

ROCK SLYDE --- starring Patrick Warburton, Andy Dick. (Comedy) (Oh, and there are a bunch of cameos.)

PW is a private detective Rock Slyde. AD is Bart Schwartz, a religious cult guru of Bartology. It has some funny bits though not a lot. AD is funny as the guru and the humor is subtle which is surprising when you consider how over the top he can be. PW carries the film with a dry monologue injected with abstract observations and confessions. There's some chuckles but I think it could've been soooooo much funnier. I DVRed it. It's up to you.

KILLSHOT ---- stars Mickey Rourke, Diane Lane, Thomas Jane, Joseph Gordon-Levitt.

Based off of a Elmore Leonard book. DL and TJ are a married couple who witness MR, a Native American hitman, participating in an extortion attempt with JGL, a young, brash, swaggering loser. Pretty good. MR is quiet spoken and has a good presence. He's all business. I particularly enjoyed JGL's performance. He plays "crazy mad" really well. Scary, unpredictable, selfish. No doubt each and every one of you have encountered someone like this. He'll crack you up without intending to. Worth a watch.

[TheFlyingPanda]

RED HILL

Saw it this weekend and I gotta say... Freaking good! It was like No Country for Old Men/ Gritty western and suspense in a small town Australia. Good story, I'll definitely get a copy for my western collection.

[masterofoneinchpunch]

small spoilers; random blather:

Imitation of Life (1934: John M. Stahl):

Remakes are a strange beast. Most tend to be weaker imitations of the original. Occasionally the remake is better like with John Huston directing The Maltese Falcon (1940) and with the remake of this movie done by Douglas Sirk in 1959. That is not to say this is a poor film, it certainly is one of historical cinematic importance, but it is not as beautifully done as the Sirk version, nor does it quite have the emotional tug (though its melodramatics are overdone at times). I have been going over all the 1930s films to eventually do a top 30s list and this Academy Award nominated film was easily enough available since I have the double-disc set with the Sirk film.

Delilah Johnson goes to the wrong place in applying for a colored job, but talks her way into the life of Beatrice 'Bea' Pullman (Claudette Colbert) a struggling mother of a young daughter who really cannot afford the help, but cannot turn down Delilah who will work basically for free as long as they do not turn down room for her daughter whose pallor is that of a Caucasian. She turns into a godsend as her recipe for pancakes and Bea's knowledge of syrup help turn them into a successful franchise. But as their financial statements are strengthening their mother daughter relationships are turning sour especially the daughter Peola who is growing unhappy.

The original in fact made a more risky choice in starring Fredi Washington as Peola a very light African American in the appropriate role which was not done in the remake. Her acting is not that good (no matter what the extras tell you) as her vocal range is stilted as well as her demeanor in much of the film. I did like that she was trying to make more of herself compared with the remake (though the profession in the remake makes it much more heartbreaking to the mother especially when she sees what she does).

I also noticed that many 1930s films have a particular type of male lead like Warren William (Satan Met a Lady (1936)) here where you just could not see him as a lead in a 1940s and beyond movie. I am not exactly sure, maybe it is the thin mustache and ineffective demeanor.

For those who are not as familiar with Claudette Colbert, I will discuss one issue with her that might annoy you the next time you see her perform. She only likes the left side of her face filmed. If a film gets slow and you start to ponder this it becomes so apparent and annoying because she is so conscious of it. In several scenes where she crosses the room to the right she either covers his face with her hand or she has a hat to cover what she considers an imperfection a bump on the side of her nose.

Now Sirk does reuse specific scenes for his version. The funeral scene of Delilah Johnson/Annie Johnson was done quite similar with her daughter losing it and throwing herself at the casket. An earlier scene of Delilah Johnson/Annie Johnson visiting her daughter and her getting upset because she was "passing" was also redone. Both films are quite effective with these scenes. I liked Sirks approach with making the main Caucasian an actress instead of an owner of a pancake company. Lana Turner turns in a performance that is actually less likeable than Claudette Colbert's but Sirk knows this and puts a few barbs here and there like when her Daughter tells her to stop acting and the most important line in the remake where she basically tells Annie that she didn't know she had so many friends.

I do feel both films would be of interest to cinema goers interested in race relations. I feel both do not compare to William Faulkner's Light in August in dealing with a similar issue whose lead character Joe Christmas conflict of inner turmoil is absolutely heartbreaking.

[Cesare]

Among many other things...

Srpski film - nothing new in terms of what it is trying to say and I am not quite sure whether this film was worth making at all. Good film - but I guess I would have been better off without watching it.

Pandorum - basically just a bunch of SF cliches thrown together, but the overall result is IMHO very good.

Valhalla Rising - not bad, overall a very pleasant watch (I like slow, minimalistic films) - but I was slightly disappointed. That film feels kinda empty and at moments comes dangerously close to crossing the line between expressivity and self-parody. Glad I saw it - but film history has not been rewritten and all is still quiet and asleep in Valhalla, methinks...;-]

Trolljegeren - flawed, but enjoyable. Hated the "handycam" thing, loved the trolls (less Blair Witch and more Kittelsen next time!).

[ShaOW!linDude]

SNAKE-EATER

REDBELT

Posted on "My Many MiniReviews".

[AlbertV]

A MIGHTY WIND - Funny mockumentary from Christopher Guest that revolves around the world of folk music. Eugene Levy and Catherine O'Hara were great as the former lovebirds who reunite for a big show when their former manager dies. Guest, Michael McKean, and Harry Shearer (aka Spinal Tap) were funny notably Shearer as a group called The Folksmen. If you like Guest's movies, this is a fun film to enjoy.

[Michael L.]

The magical life of Long Tack Sam

Very good story/documentary about the life and times of Long Tack Sam.

http://longtacksam.com/

I love that movie. As a videographer, a magician and a lover of vaudeville era entertainment, it grabbed me in all levels. Have you read the (comic) book?

[AlbertV]

BIO ZOMBIE - Hong Kong witty homage to George Romero's DAWN OF THE DEAD, featuring Jordan Chan and Sam Lee as two video pirates who lead survivors in a war against zombies in a mall. Would you believe this was directed by Wilson Yip? Funny at times, the effects were nothing special but interesting nonetheless and Wayne Lai goes from tough guy to pure wussy.

KISS: X-TREME CLOSEUP - Excellent documentary from 1992 with interviews with KISS, music videos, a look at the 1978 film KISS MEETS THE PHANTOM, and more stuff. VH1 Classic shows an edited version now and again, but I have the full 90-minute video.

[ShaOW!linDude]

ALL-STAR SUPERMAN --- the new DC animated release. It's.......okay. To me, it's not the best story. I mean, it's not boring, it moves at a good clip but it's just........I don't know. They should've chosen another story IMO. The animation is great as always in DC's stuff but I didn't care for the way Supes was depicted. It was almost like they made him look different from the other characters. The voice talent was tops as always, too. I find it to be an timely ironic piece of film considering the recent passing of Joanne Siegel (wife of Superman co-creator Jerry Siegel and the inspiration for Lois Lane) and Dwayne McDuffie, writer of this animated movie, who died earlier this week.

[Lionclaw]

ALL-STAR SUPERMAN --- the new DC animated release. It's.......okay. To me, it's not the best story. I mean, it's not boring, it moves at a good clip but it's just........I don't know. They should've chosen another story IMO. The animation is great as always in DC's stuff but I didn't care for the way Supes was depicted. It was almost like they made him look different from the other characters. The voice talent was tops as always, too. I find it to be an timely ironic piece of film considering the recent passing of Joanne Siegel (wife of Superman co-creator Jerry Siegel and the inspiration for Lois Lane) and Dwayne McDuffie, writer of this animated movie, who died earlier this week.

I personally thought All Star was the worst DC animation they made out of these new series of movies. The plot was a mess and there was no action to help that. Its a shame really. They really need to start branching of to other characters.....

[ShaOW!linDude]

I wholeheartedly agree, Lionclaw.

[Dragons Fury]

watched hawaii five-0 , ncis la today , gonna watch the tourist tonight

[masterofoneinchpunch]

The Social Network (2010: David Fincher) ***½/****

Here is a film that is impossible for me to review without interjecting my own experience as a software engineer. Most of what is shown in the film I have experienced in microcosm -- everything from a lawsuit, intellectual theft, the CS courses, spending countless hours writing source code, dealing with some of the most emotionally inept humans on the planet (and some of the most brilliant), being part of a start-up during the .dot com era, having a company grow exponentially (that company fell faster than Icarus, but that has not happened to Facebook, yet), money freely flowing and being betrayed. There are not many industries that are as paranoid as the software industry. The amount of non-disclosure agreements, paranoia and intellectual theft make the industry feel more like cloak and dagger than what an outsider to the industry might just think as a playground for nerds and geeks.

Mark Zuckerberg has an idea. Well technically (the best kind of correct) two twin rowers the Winklevoss's have an idea (both played by Armie Hammer). To improve a social network specific to Harvard. They recruit Zuckerberg after he performs a hack that brings down the school network with a program that allows users to compare the looks of randomly chosen females downloaded from several sites. But Mark avoids the two and with a business partner and best friend Eduardo Saverin (and one additional programmer) set out to create their own version of a social network for the school. Ideas are constantly stolen and you expect that they will be stolen. So it is a bit harder for me to feel for the Winklevoss's on this issue. Their naivety seems a bit much for Harvard, but it does happen. Its exponential popularity helps excite the interest of nerd-badboy (played by Justin Timberlake) Sean Parker whose narcissistic behavior is legendary and only upstaged by a company he helped create in Napster. With this unholy union the company expands even more. But at what cost and will it survive the enemies that have been created not only by the success, but by the enemies created from within the company.

Jesse Eisenberg's portrayal of Mark Zuckerberg is sublime and spot-on. It does not help if you have been around many variants of this personality and their borderline (or full) Asperger's Syndrome. They are certainly easier to take in a two-hour movie, but not as fun when you work with them and every single perceived fault is ripe for an acerbic comment. But the monomania that is displayed akin to The Nutty Professor while stereotypical is quite true. When you are working on a problem or a perceived solution it can dominate you and make you oblivious to anything else. His surly and sarcastic conduct no matter what the setting certainly defies social normalcy (especially in the trials), but that is also quite true of this creature.

While I do feel the film has been overrated, and I am somewhat glad it did not win the Oscar, I do feel it is a good film and I enjoyed watching it. There is some sloppiness to it though. In a particular scene to show Mark Zuckerberg's intellectual prowess as he leaves in the middle of a problem in a CS course (leaving for a personal issue) the professor calls him out and states that not everyone will be successful, in response he of course answers the question to the bewilderment of the professor. This is analogous to the "Jeopardy" scenes in films where answering is to show your mental acuity. Another scene was the "Eureka" scene where an individual comes to him and discusses an idea which facilitates hey The Facebook needs a marital status. That idea has been used way before The Facebook (BBSs for example).

It also seems weird to me that they eschewed the whole MySpace rivalry. I know you have to streamline a story, but that was such an important part of so many decisions and attitude that Facebook went through that it seem like a whitewash of history.

Though I have to admit David Fincher made a difficult subject interesting. If you focus too much on software concepts you will have a film full of jargon that is indecipherable to but a few. He kept this at a minimum with a few references here and there with, I think, only one mention of Perl and a few mentions of PHP. This is wrong in the portrayal because these individuals nomenclature would be esoteric (though still quite sarcastic, the amount of jokes I have heard on design patterns like a Singleton or basic concepts like hash maps could drive a person crazy), but I certainly would not dock the film for taking the high road.

I did have a suggestion for a name change -- drop the The.

An excellent review of this film from another professional programmer Steve McConnell "Why Didn't I Like The Social Network?" whose Code Complete is one of my favorite CS books.

[AlbertV]

THE GREEN HORNET - Review on the main page

WAITING FOR GUFFMAN - Christopher Guest's 1st mockumentary AFTER Spinal Tap. He stars, writes, and directs this funny tale of a stage actor in a small town hoping to return to his glory days in Broadway. The usual Guest stars appear (Eugene Levy, Catherine O'Hara, Parker Posey, etc.). I liked it as his other 2 films as director.

[Fat_Dragon]

Reservoir Dogs

Boondock Saints

Pulp Fiction

[AlbertV]

THE IRRESISTIBLE PIGGIES - Hong Kong comedy about four very unattractive women who work for a local mobile company and befriend a gay designer, a new worker, and his playboy nephew. Michelle Reis, Karen Mok, Kelly Lin, and Shooky Kwan play the titular characters.

TOKYO DRIFTER - Seijin Suzuki's 1966 film is a very vibrant and colorful gangster drama about a former Yakuza enforcer forced back into action when his reformed boss is threatened by a scumbag rival.

SANSHIRO SUGATA - Akira Kurosawa's debut film that revolves around a judoka who challenges in an attempt to make judo Japan's premiere martial art. Great classic film even though it was filmed during World War II and wartime censors cut the film at the time. Nevertheless spectacular.

[ShaOW!linDude]

UP IN THE AIR ---- George Clooney stars as corporate hatchet man hired out to companies who don't have the guts to do their own lay-offs. He has no place of his own as he's almost always flying from one place to another and he likes it that way. I remember hearing a lot of good stuff about this movie when it hit the theaters. I DVR'ed it for a watch. I liked it. It is both poignant and subtly humorous though I thought it properly addressed the issue of lay-offs and didn't seek to make light of them. A rather timely film in light of the recession.

THE LOSERS ---- stars Jeffrey Dean Morgan, Zoe Saldana, Chris Evans, Jason Patric. A military squad is set up to take the fall while on a mission and be killed. Instead they survive and seek out the man responsible. This is sort of like the A-Team and both movies came out about the same time. This, however, is based off of a comic book rather than a tv show. I have yet to see the A-Team movie (waiting for it to hit cable). I DVR'ed this. I loved this movie. Great dialogue and great action with a well-worn plot and it worked. Jason Patric is a fantastic villain being both funny and smarmy in his psychosis and egotism. I'll be getting this dvd.

[nectarsis]

Airplane! (Classic)

Karate Kid (2010) Blu Ray (Better than I hoped)

Final Fantasy VII Advent Children Blu Ray

[AndyWayne84]

All Star Superman

Dragon Ball Z : Plan to destory the Saiyans: 1993 verison and 210 verison remake.

FIST OF THE NORTH STAR DVD - 5 MOVIES + 25 ANNIVERSARY + MV

[AlbertV]

MEAN MACHINE - Matthew Vaughn's remake of THE LONGEST YARD but instead of American football, it is the pros and cons in a soccer match. Vinnie Jones heads the cast as the former footballer turned prisoner. Caretaker comes in the form of Massive, played with wit by Vas Blackwood. Jason Statham was awesome as Monk, the character based on Shocknerin the original film. Jason Flemyng has a funny cameo as the color commentator for the match.

COMING TO AMERICA - This is one of those films that will always have a soft spot because at the time, Eddie Murphy and Arsenio Hall were funny in their multiple roles and central roles as a prince and his friend coming from Africa to Queens NY to find the prince a bride.

[teako170]

COMING TO AMERICA

Fun flick!

Some of my recent viewings......

Equilibrium (2002)

Sci-fi future tale ala Logan’s Run with Christian Bale. Decent enough.

Companeros (1970)

Fun Spaghetti Western "buddy flick" featuring Franco Nero & Tomas Milian.

The Hurt Locker (2008)

Big disappointment. Disjointed storyline. Unengaged characters. A jumbled mess.

Orpheus (1950)

French retelling of the Greek myth. Some very cool visuals here.

The Shadow Whip (1971)

Cheng Pei-pei cracks the whip here. Different mainly due to its wintry setting.

Cast Away (2000)

Rewatch. Who would have thought a volleyball could be a companion? Inspiring tale.

Riki-Oh: The Story of Ricky (1991)

I know many like this but had to turn it off early. Just couldn’t get into it.

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (2008)

Brad Pitt's life starts off as an old man and goes backwards. Sounded silly but not bad at all.

Also popped in several indie fu flix - none of which I could finish.

Clones of Bruce Lee, Big Boss 2, and One-Armed Swordsmen (Jimmy & David) were some of them.

[AlbertV]

SCOTT PILGRIM VS THE WORLD - watched this yesterday and actually liked it. Michael Cera was great as the titular character, who was forced to face off against Mary Elizabeth Winstead's 7 evil exes to win her heart. Brad Allan, Zhang Peng, and current JC Stunt team member Han Guan-Hua collaborated on the fight scenes and while some of the fight stuff had that comic book/video game mix that works, some of the fights and stunts were reminiscent of Jackie Chan's style during the glory days of JC's career (80's and early 90's). Fun film IMO.

POSTMAN STRIKES BACK - watched it this morning and I kinda liked it. I am guessing the only reason why Cherie Chung was in the film was to bring in some female character to abide from the mostly male cast. It was interesting seeing Chow Yun-Fat doing full-on martial arts and Bryan Leung was great too as "The Postman". (Yes, I'm using Leung Kar-Yan's English name LOL)

BULLETS OF LOVE - been exactly 10 years since I last saw this movie and I still love the story of this Andrew Lau film. Leon Lai and Japanese actress Asaka Seto have great chemistry. Frankie Ng (Chi-Hung) should have gotten some accolade for his role as Lai's mentally challenged uncle. Terence Yin gave a wonderful menacing performance as Lai's arch nemesis Night, out of prison after 5 years to exact revenge.

GOOD BURGER - Kenan and Kel formerly of ALL THAT (Kenan is now on SNL) were pretty funny in this film adaptation of one of ALL THAT's most popular skits. Kel kept cracking me up as Ed, the counter guy.

Am off from work this week, so I'm trying to watch as much as I can