Author Topic: What Are You Watching? (DVD's & Blu-ray's)  (Read 25886 times)

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Mac

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Re: What Are You Watching? (DVD's & Blu-ray's)
« Reply #150 on: December 10, 2011, 06:05:12 am »
Powder Blue

What a coincidence. In a recent PEOPLE magazine, the main article was celebrities worst movies... and most you've never heard of. It just so happens to point at Powder Blue for Jessica Biel. And it was on one of the cable channels last night.

I don't think it was that bad, in fact it wasn't bad, just a dark, depressing movie. Boat load of stars and they do a fantastic job of acting. Just the main story is cliched with a stripper (Biel) and those people around her. Biel's stripping alone is worth the rent. She is good very good. As the article points out, the most awkward moment is when she does a lap dance with her dad (Note: She doesn't know he is her dad).

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Mac

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Re: What Are You Watching? (DVD's & Blu-ray's)
« Reply #151 on: December 10, 2011, 06:16:21 am »
The Clinic

This was a nice surprise to accidentally run across. A tight thriller (horror is stretching it) about 6 women abducted and their babies surgically removed in an old warehouse. The pacing was good and the story keeps you engaged. I was really surprised to see Andy Whitfield (Spartacus) who had died just months ago from cancer.

Not a great film, but something worth spending time watching.



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Chiprocks1

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Re: What Are You Watching? (DVD's & Blu-ray's)
« Reply #152 on: December 10, 2011, 06:59:18 am »
Powder Blue

What a coincidence. In a recent PEOPLE magazine...

Do you mean Entertainment Weekly? They ran an article on the worst of the worst for some very big movie stars last week.
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Michael Scott To Meredith: "You've slept with so many men, your starting to look like one. BOOM! Roasted! Go here.

Mac

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Re: What Are You Watching? (DVD's & Blu-ray's)
« Reply #153 on: December 10, 2011, 07:04:19 am »
Quote
Do you mean Entertainment Weekly? They ran an article on the worst of the worst for some very big movie stars last week.

Probably one in the same
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Mac

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Re: What Are You Watching? (DVD's & Blu-ray's)
« Reply #154 on: December 14, 2011, 06:37:36 am »
Cowboys and Aliens



Ever since this came to the theaters, I heard not so good stuff. It was ‘dark’. The characters were not consistent. The criticism was focused on the characters and the atmosphere of the film. I had not read the graphic comic and would guess a majority of folks had not as well, so I can’t compare if it was faithful. I can only give my first impressions.

I don’t know what people were expecting. I certainly didn’t. I mean mixing two genres like that seemed to be risky task. I liked what I saw. Not a great film, but a very entertaining one. They depict the old west, in a very gritty way. It was survival. It was not the glorified way of looking at westerns. The aliens were not E.T. either. It was pretty intense. I liked all the characters, even if it was not the typical Harrison Ford. Harrison Ford’s character did tend to go one way then the next, but in the context of the film, it makes sense. Excellent CGI.
I’m not a big fan of Western era movies, but there are exceptions.

I recommend it.
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Mac

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Re: What Are You Watching? (DVD's & Blu-ray's)
« Reply #155 on: December 14, 2011, 09:13:35 am »
All Good Things

You would think, I mean would think, a cast with Ryan Gosling, Frank Langella, Kirsten Dunst (OK, Dunst really doesn't do anything for me actor wise), this would have some interest. Hey, it's supposedly based on true events.

Meh

What a slow, melodramatic flick. It lost me after 20 minutes. I started reading after that. My wife continued. She did not finish. Boring!!!
Gosling while weird, was trying to do that with little dialogue. The others just going through the story.

Avoid

« Last Edit: February 03, 2012, 06:46:01 am by Mac »
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Chiprocks1

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Re: What Are You Watching? (DVD's & Blu-ray's)
« Reply #156 on: December 14, 2011, 09:15:54 am »

I started reading after that.

You're posting in the wrong thread then.
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Michael Scott To Meredith: "You've slept with so many men, your starting to look like one. BOOM! Roasted! Go here.

Mac

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Re: What Are You Watching? (DVD's & Blu-ray's)
« Reply #157 on: December 18, 2011, 08:02:58 pm »
Rise of the Planet of the Apes

Meh! Wasn't expecting much and didn't get much. While not a remake, its new story telling explanation of the apes uprising. While it desperately tries bring new interest in the overall story, I think it is way over the top and the third act just gets ridiculous.

Beautiful CGI, but there are scenes not treated well and it's cartoonish.

« Last Edit: February 03, 2012, 06:59:30 am by Mac »
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Mac

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Re: What Are You Watching? (DVD's & Blu-ray's)
« Reply #158 on: December 18, 2011, 08:09:25 pm »
Barney's Version (3-1/2 stars)

 Just a perfect stage for Paul Giamatti. A story taking broad strokes of Barney's life, loves and loss and beautifully presents it in a manor wondering what will happen next. The lives he touches and impacts makes this flick, rather engaging. I recommend it. It starts off slow, so give it a chance and it will get better.
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Mac

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Re: What Are You Watching? (DVD's & Blu-ray's)
« Reply #159 on: December 19, 2011, 09:55:27 am »
Bag Of Bones

OK, so it wasn't on DVD, but A&E. History has shown, it's difficult at best to bring Stephen Kings books to film. Bag Of Bones fails miserably. We were set up to watch this 2 parter on A&E, so dreading the advertisement onslaught. I did remember VOD and we were able to watch this 4 hour flick in 3 hours.

Honestly Pierce Brosnan did a great job... for awhile. I would imagine a mediocre talent would have completely made this unwatchable. Anyway, Brosnan could only carry it so far and then it just completely unravels into crap the last hour.

Here's a pretty good perspective...

Quote
By: Ryan Daley

Adapting the works of Stephen King for the big screen is always a tricky proposition. Richly drawn characters are his strong suit, but trying to convey his characters’ constant internal monologues can prove troublesome for screenwriters. This is especially true of Bag of Bones, King’s 1998 “comeback” novel about a successful writer struggling with the accidental death of his doting wife. Back in ‘98, both readers and critics lauded King’s newfound literary style, but the private thoughts and feelings of grieving protagonist Michael Noonan dominate the narrative, making for a difficult film adaptation. A&E recently bunted this Pierce Brosnan starring two-parter onto the airwaves, and in the hands of screenwriter Matt Venne and frequent King hack artist Mick Garris, King’s beautiful novel is both padded out and stripped to the bone. Out with the rich characters, in with the dream sequences. And oh, those dream sequences.

After his wife is killed by the oft-utilized CGI bus wipe, Michael Noonan retreats to a lake house to cope with the tragedy and work on his new novel. While at the lake house, Noonan encounters a host of distractions: single mom Melissa George, ghostly messages from beyond the grave…and a ****ton of visions. The paranormal activity is standard-issue King––phantom lines on the laptop, spectral fridge magnets, etc.––but the dream sequences…well, they spiral completely out of control. After a commercial-free initial 30 minutes, AMC really started packing in the ads, and sometimes, believe it or not, the dream sequences were layered three deep between commercial breaks. I’m not kidding. During Part One in particular, the prevailing pattern went: dream sequence, ponderous dialogue scene, dream sequence, dream sequence, then back to commercial. If you removed the dream sequences and commercial breaks, Bag of Bones would be 20 minutes long.

In his defense, Brosnan seems to be taking the proceedings seriously…perhaps a little too seriously. He chews every scene with a neck-vein bulging intensity, even when his dialogue approaches the ludicrous. One has to wonder if he ever got around to watching Garris’ finished product (“It’s a good one,” Brosnan bragged to Craig Ferguson last week, without a hint of irony).

Surprisingly, Garris‘ endgame flaunts some juicy gore, but it all comes in the form of insert shots, which indicates that some sad-sack second unit filmed spurting blood around a stunt double while Brosnan kicked it in his trailer with a mocha latte. But let‘s be honest, there no way that even the juiciest of gore was ever gonna save an endeavor as silly as Bag of Bones, an adaptation that was destined to be weak sauce from the very beginning. It’s one of those King movies that’s all bark and no bite. And it never really had any bark to begin with.

Score: 2 / 10

I gave it two stars. One for at least introducing me to Broadway actress Anika Noni Rose, taking the role of Sara Tidwell and doing a great job singing Frankie and Johnny

« Last Edit: December 19, 2011, 09:58:26 am by Mac »
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Chiprocks1

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Re: What Are You Watching? (DVD's & Blu-ray's)
« Reply #160 on: December 19, 2011, 10:09:42 am »
2 Stars? I had higher hopes for Bag Of Bones. I guess there is no reason for me to check it out on DVR.

My opinions are strictly for myself. If I can save you time, so much the better. I just thought the last hour ruined the decent first half. It's very un-fulfilling. You'll forget about it minutes after you watch it.
« Last Edit: December 19, 2011, 11:58:01 am by Mac »
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Michael Scott To Meredith: "You've slept with so many men, your starting to look like one. BOOM! Roasted! Go here.

Chiprocks1

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Re: What Are You Watching? (DVD's & Blu-ray's)
« Reply #161 on: December 23, 2011, 09:56:38 pm »
The X-Files: I Want To Believe
Chip's Rockin' Art
Michael Scott To Meredith: "You've slept with so many men, your starting to look like one. BOOM! Roasted! Go here.

Mac

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Re: What Are You Watching? (DVD's & Blu-ray's)
« Reply #162 on: December 24, 2011, 07:29:22 am »
Straw Dogs



A remake from Sam Peckinpah's 1971 classic (which I have not seen... yet) comes this reasonably gritty story. It's the classic story of what is deep inside us and what would we do to survive. Lot's of characters, mostly 1 dimensional with Alexander Skarsgard the worst. Many times he just holds this glazed crazy man look. Creepy yes, but WTF. Pretty much from the get go the movie becomes tension filled and it just gets worse as the movie progresses until 'the final siege'.

Recommend at least a rental.
« Last Edit: December 24, 2011, 07:34:30 am by Mac »
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Re: What Are You Watching? (DVD's & Blu-ray's)
« Reply #163 on: December 24, 2011, 07:42:22 am »
Midnight In Paris

Not a bad movie, a good movie with a very interesting premise. Almost twilight zone. For a Woody Allen film, this is a bit of surprise.  Unfortunately it has Owen Wilson, who just doesn't do it for me. Anyway, Owen's character is longing to live in 1920's Paris, in a hopelessly romantic fashion. Living in current times with a fiance who he has nothing in common and parents who are even worse. Well, what do you know, one night on a midnight stroll he is surprisingly picked up, for no reason, and driven to parties and lime light where some of the famous guests include Hemingway, Picaso, Loutrec and others. All his role models and those he has adored and dreamt about. To me the core story is interesting, but none of those characters are really expanded upon. He just pretty much meets most of them. And a love interest does materialize.

But the root of it all is be careful what you wish for. Is really living in another time what you want?
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Chiprocks1

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Re: What Are You Watching? (DVD's & Blu-ray's)
« Reply #164 on: December 24, 2011, 07:48:34 am »
I guess I'm still stuck in the past as I can't move beyond Woody's best and funniest films. Have not sought out any of his later works and even if this one got rave reviews I would still stay away. Give me Bananas any day of the week.
Chip's Rockin' Art
Michael Scott To Meredith: "You've slept with so many men, your starting to look like one. BOOM! Roasted! Go here.

 

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