The Celluloid Adventures of Brock Landers

[Brock Landers]

JoBlo asked for me to move my topic "Films I Viewed This Weekend (a ongoing series)" over to the General Forum...so here it is...renamed...reinvigorated...renewed...more to come...

here we go...

Monday:

- "Simpatico" - Albert Finney is the standout performance as a horse racing commissioner who gets blackmailed into fixing a race by a young Nick Nolte, Sharon Stone and Jeff Bridges. Catherine Keener has a good little role, even though it is only to tie up some of the loose ends in the plot. The flashback sequences are pretty decent but it is murky viewing as the director tries to pull off some cool technical shots with lackluster results. Jeff Bridges was a real disappointment as well as a horrible looking Sharon Stone...Nick Nolte reminded me of Albert Finney's role in the stranger than fiction Vonnegut book to film transfer of "Breakfast Of Champions", scraggly and looking like a bum...but he does an alcoholic well...just check out "Affliction"...overall I did not like this film, except for a few moments...and the horse-shooting ending was pretty damn lame...they should have shot the screenwriter, not the horse...

Tuesday:

- "Tao of Steve" - This film starts off not looking that good but as the film moves along it is easier to identify with Dex's (Donal Logue)character. Dex is a "slacker" living in Sante Fe New Mexico. He has a part time job as a kindergarten teacher and spends the rest of his time philosophizing, smoking pot, drinking beer, binging on food and hanging out with his buddies (playing frisbee golf or poker). Oh yeah...and he is severely overweight. The funny thing is that his attitude towards woman allows him to become a type of fat Don Juan. Donal Logue does a great job in this role, supplying lots and lots of charm and eloquence when dealing with the opposite sex. He is having an affair with a married woman and sleeps around with all kinds of women with the help of his philosophy towards women. The philosophy revolves around the "Tao of Steve"...anybody can be a steve, but most are just stu's (the opposite of a steve) A steve is one who follows the rules passed down from the steve's before them and one who lives with the coolest steve's as their idols...(Steve McQueen, Steve Austin(the six-million dollar man) and steve from Hawaii Five-O. In order to be a steve and get lots of women, one must never be thinking of getting laid or want to get laid, because women can smell an agenda miles away...secondly one must excel at at least one thing in front of the woman he wants...but he must not want her...thirdly, one must always remember that women chase that which retreats...they don't want easy prey, they want a lion...think of the thrill of a chase or "be a bunny rabbit". There are several other intricacies to being a steve...but I want to keep this short...The film is really about how Dex learns that being a steve is not all it is cracked up to be...sleeping with hundreds of women because you are afraid of true love is not a good thing...There is a really cool dog in this film and it chronicles just how well a fatman can do with women...It is a lot of fun, a little slow but worth the wait...I want the soundtrack...

- "Romeo Is Bleeding" - I haven't seen this one in a while, but last night I got the urge...mostly because I absolutely drool when I think about the swedish actress Lena Olin (also in "The Unbearable Lightness Of Being" & "The Ninth Gate"). "Romeo Is Bleeding" revolves around her sadomasochistic character. Lena Olin plays Mona DeMarkov, a woman way beyond the normal femme fatale...and one of the two people that made me watch this film...the other being Gary Oldman. Oldman plays a New York Detective named Jack Grimaldi. Grimaldi is one "Bad Lieutenant" kind of like his role in "Leon: The Professional". His wife is played by Annabella Sciorra and his mistress by Juliette Lewis. Grimaldi plays the NYPD and the mob on one another and it ends in his downfall. Roy Scheider is interesting as the Mob boss. Mona plays the villian who plays everybody against everybody else...she is so powerful. Peter Medak ("The Krays"), directs well...but the film belongs to Lena Olin...amazing.

- "Kids In The Hall: Brain Candy" - I still couldn't sleep, so I stayed up and checked this one out. I remember when it first came out, expecting so much more from these crazy canucks but it turned out to be not such a great film. I still like it because of the characters they play and the wierd cross-dressing fetishes they display...the funniest part to me is when the mom comes home and asks the kids where their dad is and they reply "he's upstairs masturbating to gay porn". The TV series was much better...

Wednesday:

- "Nurse Betty" - I went into this film expecting certain things, since I read so many reviews of it, but what I really came out of it with is a charming, eloquently stated quirky piece of great filmmaking. The cast was excellent, Morgan Freeman was the standout performance and when he said "they killed my son" near the end of the film, it really broke my heart. Morgan Freeman has proven himself over and over to be one of the best actors working in film today, and definitely in my top ten...Chris Rock and Greg Kinnear had some cool moments and Renee Zelweeger(sp?) really looked genuine...also Aaron Eckhart plays one of the best SOB's I have ever seen in my life...it must be an inborn talent. The story wasn't the most solid, but overall I really enjoyed this one and left with a good, reflective feeling inside.

- "Happy, Texas" - Whenever I am feeling down, this film really has an uplifting effect...laughter really is the best medicine...and Steve Zahn must be the doctor. He is hilarious as the redneck Wayne Wayne Wayne Jr. and has some hilarious lines..."The light is green". Jeremy Northam does a really good job considering I have only seen him in Mamet's "The Winslow Boy" before...here he plays the total opposite...The plot is pretty solid and William H. Macy turns in another great supporting role. A fun little film with not much to say...but plenty of laughs...

...also here are some of my original posts:

Friday:

- "Freeway" - A really original take on little red Riding hood, Reese Witherspoon
is hilarious and Kiefer is strange...Bokeem Woodbine turns in a short but sweet
performance...It really deserved more attention...

- "Dream with the Fishes" - This film is a light-hearted romp through suicide,
death & redemption...a sundance fave...great soundtrack...fresh cast...David
Arquette is at his odd best...

Saturday:

- "The Samurai Trilogy" - These three films starring Toshiro Mifune were a sort of
follow-up to his Kurosawa roles...different director, but still well done...The first
one won an oscar for best Foreign language film...they are also in color...If you
are a fan of Toshiro Mifune or just swords and samurai's, these three are a
must...think Kurosawa's "Yojimbo" meets David Carradine...

- "Christine" - I really enjoy Stephen King and even though most of his film
adaptations are shit, I will still sit through any more that they put out ("Pet
Cemetary" is still my favorite)...directed by John Carpenter...A killer car...pretty
good acting...not a bad horror flick...it has the same feel that "Sometimes They
Come Back" did...ahh nostalgia...

Sunday:

- "Vigilante" - This William Lustig film made Robert Forster a big time seventies
star and Fred Williamson ain't bad in it either...all around it is a lot of fun action
on the "Death Wish" tip...cleaning up the neighborhood is always fun...it's got a
Mr.T meets "The Warriors" feel to it...

- "Semi-Tough" - Burt Reynolds and Kris Kristofferson together forever...man
what a bunch of womanizing seventies studs...typical Burt and Kris...lots of
funky outfits...Think "North Dallas Forty" meets "Smokey & The Bandit" with a
dash of "Pat Garrett & Billy The Kid"...it really is great...

Monday:

- "Farinelli" - it has been described as a sex, drugs & rock and roll story from a
different century by Peter Travers from Rolling Stone...This foreign film about a
supremely famous castrato singer is all about just that...sex, drugs and rock &
roll...its got groupies, Mozart & lots of lavish outfits...the brother aspect is
interesting and overall it is very well made...

- "Zero Effect" - Every time I view this film I have to use the two ob's...objectivity
and observation...it really is a great film, from the stars to the story to the
tension and mystery...great performances all around...Think "The Spanish
Prisoner" meets "The Pink Panther"...makes you want to live on a diet of tuna
fish, TAB and methamphetamines...

more to come...

Speaking of "Freeway 2", wasn't Vincent Gallo wacked out?...what a wierd
performance, but I still dig him immensely...although he is a pretentious prick...

"Spanish Prisoner" is definitely one of David Mamet's best films...what's with his
fascination with short-haired, high-strung women?...Oh well, it still is a great
film...reminiscent of some of his earlier work like "Homicide" or "House Of
Games"...

I also really dig Pryor/Wilder teamwork...they are definitely one of the best
comedy duo's ever...

I re-watched "Princess Mononoke" myself last week...it really is
interesting...everytime I hear Billy Bob Thornton it makes me think of his
voice-over in that film...

Gary Busey: That's funny you mention him because last evening, after watching
"Platoon", I got a craving for some Chris Farley so I put in "Black Sheep" and
Busey plays a fucked-up vietnam vet...

Busey: "How about I go over to your momma's house and start a fire in her
panties?"

David Spade: "You really out to work up to that...it doesn't leave you anywhere
to go..."

Oldman is great in "Leon: The Professional" as the pill-popping classical
music-listening psychopathic detective...

One last thing: "Minus Man" is definitely one of my favorite serial killer flicks
ever...It is really eerie and gets me hooked everytime I turn it on...I mentioned
this before, but Brian Cox and Mercedes Ruehl both turn in outstanding
performances in this film as well...I really dig the detectives too...

Friday:

"Bad Boys" - Sean Penn is the face of adolescent angst in this teenage revenge
flick that marked a great beginning for one of the most talented actors in the last
couple decades...My favorite scene is the one involving the Swede and the
pillowcase full of soda cans...Penn's performance is full of anger and contempt
and this is really a great little film from the backup cast to the "Street Smart"
feel...

"Carlito's Way" - After watching Penn in "Bad Boys", I had an urge to compare
his performances in these two films, to sort of watch an actor who has really
matured into a "Johhny Depp" actor...choosing the interesting roles over the
blockbuster films...opposite Al Pacino, Penn is able to hold his own and I would
dare say that he is the standout performance in the DePalma film...he sort of
reminded me of the character in "Hurly Burly" except balder...(keep in mind, I
have seen most of these films numerous times before, but they still have some
"quality" to make me want to see them again...whether it be story, acting,
screenplay or direction...)

Saturday:

I called my best friend Saturday morning, who lives in a city not far away, and
got no answer...so I called his father and asked if he knew where he was...his
father, who never really agrees with me on anything, just said he's dead...I
asked him to repeat what he said, and sure enough he said dead...I asked him
what happened, he just replied that he had killed himself by putting a plastic
cleaner's bag around his head then hanging himself with a belt in his guestroom
closet...I asked him when and he said late Friday night...I asked why and he
replied I don't know, then he hung up...needless to say I broke out the liquor...

I "woke up" on Sunday in the early AM on the floor of the den...I was soaking
wet with all of my clothes on and the room was spinning...I stumbled around
trying to piece together the preceding day and when I got to the patio I found the
hot tub still running and two bottles floating in the water, one was an empty
bottle of tequila, the other was a bottle of sleeping pills...that explained why I
was wet and felt awful...upon further investigation, I found a copy of the Stewart
Sutcliffe/early Beatles indy film "BackBeat" (a present from my friend) in the
VCR with a copy of "Crossing The Bridge" sitting on top of it...and Pink Floyd's
"The Wall", "SNL's Best Of Chris Farley", "SLC Punk", "Little Odessa",
"Amongst Friends", "Leaving Las Vegas" & "The Texas Chainsaw Massacre" in
the DVD changer...so I guess that is what I watched on Saturday...I really don't
remember...

Sunday:

I was in the mood for long, hot and tedious, so with the aid of a blender,
Marguerita Mix, and some Cuervo...I watched two David Lean epics, "The Bridge
Over The River Kwai" & "Lawrence Of Arabia"...fucking stupid bastard...

Vincent Gallo is definitely one of my actors to watch...his career has been full of
lackluster films (except Buffalo 66)...but he is definitely a unique guy...

* spoilers *

"Buffalo 66" is great not only because of the great performances, like Gallo,
Ricci, Gazzara, etc... but because of the not so great acting, like Jan Michael
Vincent and Mickey Rourke...

I especially like the collage edits and the slow-motion aspect-differentiated
close-ups, like in the "shoot-out" with the placekicker...and the bullet is great...

Ricci, of course gives a sense of encouragement and sensitivity to the
high-strung character played by Vincent...i thought it was pure genius to have
the entire beginning of the film revolve around him desperately trying to find
somewhere to take a piss...and a hilarious urinal scene with oliver Platt as a bit
of a fairy...

Gazzara has always been a favorite ever since I viewed John Cassavettes "The
Killing Of A Chinese Bookie" and he really plays indignent well...

Overall, it is just a inconsequential jaunt down a semi-autobiographical story
from Gallo's past...full of little pieces from his home town, experimental shots
and scenes and a tour-de-force of actor as director, human as God...taken to
snide & snotty but lovable extremes by Gallo...great film...

[This message has been edited by Brock Landers (edited 09-14-2000).]

[Brock Landers]

I hope no one minds but that first post was getting kind of long...so here we have continued...

Thursday:

- "Silver Streak" - I really dig the whole Pryor/Wilder comedy duo thing. This film is behind "Stir Crazy" as a true classic in the comedy genre with that duo. This film has a decent plot and a cool trainwreck and of course some of the most colorful characters around. The part with Pryor and Wilder in the stealing the jaguar and in blackface is my favorite. This is one of those films that was made before political correctness took over Hollywood (and films like "Blazing Saddles" became extinct). The plot revolves around an Agatha Christie "Murder On the Orient Express" (another excellent film) story...a murder...a disappearance...confusion ensues...everyone is a suspect...and Wilder plays the Cary Grant role with the ladies and the bad guys i.e. via "North by Northwest" means...and the touch with "Jaws" from the bond film is great...

[Tuukka]

I watched Buffalo 66 and I loved it! Great performances, great script and excellent direction (Maybe a bit overdirected at times, but great anyway). What really made me love the film was the wonderful lead character created by Gallo. I really felt for him and thought that he was very believable and three dimensional nut cake. You rarely see characters like that. I give the film 8,5/10.

Brock, I would like to know if you have seen the following brilliant films:

The reflecting Skin (9/10)

Swallowtail Butterfly (9/10)

Sonatine (9/10)

I once posted a topic at "cult films", raved about those movies and asked if anyone has ever seen them. Nobody answered. If you have seen them, what did you think about them?


[This message has been edited by Tuukka (edited 09-16-2000).]

[screamfan]

woah brock that must of taken you years to write.

[QUENTIN]

just a very quick (I don't have much time) overview of the past week. But keep in mind due to school I have had to cut down from my 5 movies a day to about 2 or 3 a day. Also I will coime back and edit this adding a mini-review to each one, for now just stars.

Monday:

Broadcast News *** 1/2

Cruel Doubt ***

Nurse Betty *** 1/2

Tuesday:

Say Anything ****

The Outsiders ***

Saturday Night Fever ***

Wednesday:

Swingers *** 1/2

Sleepy Hollow *** 1/4 (yes, the not often-used one fourth)

30 minutes of The General so far ****

Thursday:

Army of Darkness **

Reservoir Dogs ****

the rest of The General, overall ****

Friday:

Cruel Intentions ***

The Last Detail *** 1/2

[ToasT]

Did Princess Mononoke ever come out on VHS to buy?

[cow]

Movies i watched this week
The Producers ****- Mel Brooks best film
a Shot in The Dark- ***1/2- Sellers is The MAN!
The Apostle-****- yeah so?!?!?
Guess Whos Coming to Dinner- ***- a nice little movie about pregudice

[This message has been edited by cow (edited 09-17-2000).]

[retardinAz]

This week I saw(on a ***** star scale):
Taxi Driver: ****
One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest: ****(the ending was great)
Nurse Betty: ***1/2
American Psycho: **
Mission to Mars: **1/2
Goodfellas: ****1/2(deserves a place on my top 10, I just don't know where)
Romeo Must Die: *1/2
Blue Streak: **
The Shawshank Redemption: *****
Clerks: *****
Dogma: ****
Mallrats: ***1/2
Chasing Amy: ****
first 30 minutes of Raging Bull: ****(I could say the total of the entire movie, but I'm only marking what I saw this week /ubb/smile.gif)
The Cherokee Kid: **1/2
Beyond The Mat: ***3/4

[QUENTIN]

American Psycho behind Mission to Mars and Beyond The Mat 1/4 behind Taxi Driver! Holy fried sheep nuts retardinAz!

[retardinAz]

You didn't like Taxi Driver, Quentin? I thought you liked DeNiro. I would have rated Beyond the Mat better if had not been for one part, the Jake the Snake and daughter scene. I thought that it hung on that for too long and just wasn't very interesting to me. My favorite part, and one of the greatest scenes in a movie I have scene in a long time, though, is the scene when Mick Foley's kids have to watch Mick getting his arse kicked by The Rock. Those kids added more emotion to that scene than any actor could ever pull off.
As for Mission to Mars and American Psycho, I don't see why you all hated Mission to Mars. Aside from the ending, which was a little too touchy-feely for me. I think that for what it was trying to accomplish, Mission to Mars did well. I really like it's three main stars(Sinise, Robbins, and Cheadeale(sp?)) and with these three, how can you go wrong? I thought that, although Bale gives an Oscar-worthy performance, American Psycho was just a little TOO weird for me, and my rating will probably change after multiple viewings. It just had too many things that made you say "wuzza-what?" Kinda like Fight Club, which I am still yet to see a second time, I'm waiting for Cable. What was your guys's problem with MTM? And Quentin, what is your problem with Taxi Driver?

[Brock Landers]

Friday:

- "Jerry & Tom" - A small time film from 1998 that was recently re-released on DVD, about some bumbling hitmen. It definitely has its moments. Saul Rubinek, the director, has been in the industry as a TV actor for a long time, and it shows. Joe Mantegna is the highpoint of this film, although I think he is the highpoint of many films...just check out "Liberty Heights" for proof of that. Sam Rockwell plays his stupid-as-a-sack-of-wet-hammers partner in the hit man game and does pretty good, looking like a poor man's Donnie Brasco with a mustache. William H. Macy gets whacked-out in a short scene and Charles Durning is great as an aging trigger man who claims to have been on "the grassy knoll"...as well as taking out Elvis in the 90's after his staged death. Ted Danson even has a small part as a witness relocation stool pigeon and Sarah Polley has a little piece of history on film too. Overall the film is not that great...but if you take all the good parts and press them together...you have about 1/2 of the running time of the film. Lighthearted at times, and deadly serious at others...I really enjoyed it as low-key rental.

- "Scarecrow" - This 1973 film from director Jerry Schatsberg has always been one of my favorites since Gene Hackman reminds me of my dead uncle in it...a hard-living asshole who everybody loved. Al PAcino gives a phenomenal performance as a not-quite-sane man who decides to tag along for the ride with Hackman. They live like drifters, riding in empty train cars, hitching rides, staying, sleeping, eating, drinking and fucking wherever they can whenever they can.
The story is the only flawed thing about this film since the acting is great and the photography very well done. It makes you feel like a hobo watching it.

Saturday:

- "To Live & Die In L.A." - not a great film by any means, it still has some interesting parts, Willem Dafoe and a decent car chase. It was directed by William Friedkin ("The French Connection" & the newly-restored "The Exorcist") and you can see his eye for details, but this is no "The French Connection", this is more of slick cop flick with stupider cops. Dafoe turns in a good performance, as always, as Eric Master aka counterfeitor...the film also stars William Peterson and a small bit from Turturro. I don't know how to feel about the blonde that became semi-famous from this flick. Not an entire waste of time as a last minute video selection. "Uncle Sam don't give a shit about your
problems. You want bread? Then go fuck a baker."

- "East Is East" - This working class Indian story that takes place in London is actually very funny and dramatic. It reminds me of one of my favorite films of '99, "My Son The Fanatic"...like "My Son The FAnatic" it stars Om Puri, who played Nahari in "Gandhi". He is a fantastic actor with a face I would liken to Morgan Freeman's in the soulful worn look medium. I am really happy that Miramax has decided to release more of these "foreign" (they speak convenience store english) films. It just reminds us that there are lots of great stories out there waiting to get told.

- "Catch-22" - This Mike Nichols ("The Graduate") film is one of the most hilariously oddball anti-war trips I have ever seen presented on the screen. It takes place in World War II and revolves around Alan Arkin, a huy who can't handle flying missions anymore and will do pretty much anything to get out of it. Arkin is great as a nuerotic psuedo-psychopath (the nude scene on the runway is funny). Lots of imagery and thought provoking stuff as well as slapstick humor. All-Star Cast including Orson Welles, Anthony Perkins, John Voight, MArtin Sheen, Art Garfunkel, Bob Newhart, Buck Henry and on and on... "Let me see if I've got this straight: in order to be
grounded, I've got to be crazy and I must be crazy to keep flying.
But if I ask to be grounded, that means I'm not crazy any more
and I have to keep flying."

- "Modern Romance" - I was in the mood for Woody Allen, but then I wanted so circa-"Spinal Tap" Bruno Kirby...so I settled for this one. I have always had a soft spot for Albert Brooks films...maybe it is the nuerotic humor or maybe I feel sorry for him (serious back hair afro)...either way, his films usually are pretty true to the way things really are...in a funny way. Their is a great scene where he takes qualudes and it is so true...calling up old friends, listening to music, trying to drive, etc...he clearly has experienced this behavior before. Bruno Kirby is fun to watch and the Meadowlark Lemon (Harlem Globetrotters) and James L. Brooks (directs bad space film with George Kennedy) cameos are great. Co-stars Kathryn Harrold...

Sunday:

I was in the mood for football so I watched these two films.

- "Any Given Sunday" - Full of passion and energy this film has absolutely nothing to do with football...except the strained "win-one-for-the-gipper" plot...Otherwise, it is brilliant colorful and fun to watch. Oliver Stone should do music videos for Puffy Combs (Combs was eventually replaced by Jamie Foxx). I enjoyed it but felt empty afterwards as if nothing had happened...except two hours of rock music, pro wrestling and Pacino's jowls flapping...

- "North Dallas Forty" - this film is everything that "Any Given Sunday" isn't. Director Ted Kotchoff gives us a semi-autobiographical look at the alleged Dallas Cowboys of the seventies. Nick Nolte turns in one of my favorite Nolte performances (behind "Affliction") as a drug-taking beer-swilling out-of-shape aging football player. It is a brilliant performance. MAx Davis co-stars as his friend and quarterback to his receiver. Charles Durning also gives a heightened performance and has many others like Bo svenson in it.

Joe Bob: I never seen titties like yours before. Could I show
your titties to my buddy O.W.?

Maxwell: You had better learn how to play the game, and I
don't mean just the game of football.

Joe Bob: Where's your gun, Elliott?
Phil Elliott: Freud says that guns are an extension of your dick,
Jo Bob.

Phil Elliott: Jo Bob is here to remind us that the biggest and the
baddest get to make all the rules.
Charlotte: Well I don't agree with that.
Phil Elliott: Agreeing doesn't play into it.

Conrad Hunter: People who confuse brains and luck can get
into a lot of trouble.

Jo Bob: I love your legs. They got your feet at one end, and your
pussy at the other, and I wanna fuck you.

Jo Bob: I've never seen titties like yours. Could I show your
titties to my friend O.W.?

Maxwell: Ladies, ever had a quarterback sandwich?

Coach Johnson: This is national TV. So don't pick your noses
or scratch your nuts.

The only similarities I could identify between "Any Given Sunday" and "North Dallas Forty" were the off-field partying the players do...man, what a fucked-up world...

[This message has been edited by Brock Landers (edited 09-18-2000).]

[Brock Landers]

Tuukka...I remember seeing "Sonatine" on the Quentin TArantino Rolling Thunder Pictures Video...it was pretty decent but I didn't like the reference on the video about being "GoodFellas". I don't like either film better, it is just a peeve of mine. It was interesting and stylish without making to much of the violence. Wasn't the director known as Beat Takeshi?

I saw "The Reflecting Skin" years ago on laserdisc because the director Philip Ridley wrote one of my favorite films "The Krays". It was very atmospheric if I remember correctly. Another reason I saw it was because I really did Viggo Mortensen ever since I saw his powerhouse performance in Sean Penn's "The Indian Runner". I remember something in "The Reflecting Skin" about the Dove family...which is interesting because doves play a big part in "The Krays"...by the way Mortensen will be in all three Lord Of The Rings films...

[QUENTIN]

retardinAz I LOVED Taxi Driver IMO it is the greatest film of all time, I'm saying you rated it WAY too LOW. To rate it only 1/4 of a grade above some crappy behind-the-scenes fake wrestling movie is a travesty...

[This message has been edited by QUENTIN (edited 04-16-2001).]

[retardinAz]

Uh, QUENTIN, I was the one you were supposed to be replying to, not screamer. Anyway, I thought that, though, it was a great movie, Taxi Driver just kind of lagged in a few spots. For me, Beyond The Mat was great. As a huge wrestling fan, I can appreciate what is being told in this movie. I don't think that you have watched the movie Quentin. If you had, you wouldn't be able to call it crappy or fake. Let me ask you something Quentin. You love movies, right? Well, how can you trash wrestling for it being fake(which it isn't)? Wrestling is less fake than movies. If you don't like wrestling because it is fake, then you shouldn't like movies either.

[Brock Landers]

Monday:

- "Things Change" - This David Mamet film is more in the vein of his earlier works like "Homicide" & "House Of Games" than "The Winslow Boy"...poetic at times and uncomfortable silences at others. Stars Don Ameche in one of his best roles ever, as an old shoe-shiner who gets offered money and a boat in order to confess and do time for a murder he did not commit. He is both naive and charming, full of grace at all times. Joe Mantegna also stars as a fallen from grace mafioso who gets babysitting duty, to make sure Ameche turns himself in. Some of the old Mamet standbys appear like Ricky Jay and William H. Macy...but the film belongs to the Ameche/Mantegna duo. It almost seems to me an ode to screwball comedies from yesteryear with a distinct Mamet twist to it in the form of stylized dialogue, words that almost hynotize and make the story seem almost surreal in nature. Ranks with Mamet's best works. At times like watching "The Godfather" at other times like watching "Mickey Blue Eyes". All of the pieces just fit...

[QUENTIN]

Sorry screamer I did mean that to retardinAz. Wrestling is mostly fake and pretends to be real. Also it is by horrible people who read very stupid lines screaming at each other idiotically, I won't call them wrestlers because they do not wrestle (I used to wrestle REAL wrestling, you want to see real wrestling you can put it on NBC they have Olympic coverage that shows what actual wrestling looks like) I will not call them actors because they cannot act.

However good movies can be great, and I did watch most of Beyond The Mat and found it to be only slightly better than the wrestling matches because it atleast showed them as real people, who although aren't actually "pile driven" or anything can be hurt in the ring, and do have families.

Besides that though it wasn't very good, and it was not even a billionth of the worst scene in Taxi Driver (which is still a great scene) and I just can't believe you don't give Taxi Driver the full amount of stars. Name the scenes you didn't like and why you didn't like them please.

[retardinAz]

Quentin, I will answer your question, after you answer mine. You can't honestly tell me that you don't like wrestling because it is fake. Wrestling isn't fake. It's choreographed. Sure, the endings are planned from the beginning, and the wrestlers do the moves so that the person can't get seriously hurt most of the time, but it isn't fake. These people are seriously hurting themselves. There isn't a single wrestler is the WWF,WCW, or especially ECW that isn't injured in some sort of way, be it a broken finger or a broken collar bone. Many people have become paralyzed, hospitalized, even killed from wrestling. And don't tell me that's just because they made a mistake, or because freak accidents happen, because, while they are only hurt during accidents, accidents happen frequently in pro wrestling. I understand your point of view sort of, because to fully understand and respect wrestling, you have to watch it. And I can tell that you, Quentin, do not. I have a few questions for EVERYONE on this board:
1. Have you ever watched a wrestling event(not just one match, the whole show)?
2. Did you enjoy it?
3. Do you agree with what I say, or with what Quentin says?
4. Why?

[QUENTIN]

1.Actually I have seen a few shows
2.No I hated it, it is up there with watching a bug light at the level of intelligence you need to have to enjoy it (not personally saying you retard, but as a general rule)
3.Quentin /ubb/smile.gif
4.Because I almost always agree with myself

[ColonelColinCaine]

1. Yes, once.
2. First 30 minutes were great; got boring really fast.
3. I'm kind of divided.
4. Not really sure; while I agree it's really fake, I can still understand what retardinAZ is trying to say.

[doctor drew]

Dammit, it's time for someone to come to retard's defense! Unlike most males aged 18-35 who are too ashamed to profess to watching wrestling, thinking they'll be mocked or ostracized by their peers, I ADMIT that I periodically watch professional wrestling. Why, you ask? Because it's probably the most entertaining 2 hours on television. Most people quickly dismiss wrestling as being "childish", fake and devoid of any socially redeeming qualities. Most people who make such arguments probably have NEVER watched a wrestling broadcast, they've never even given it a chance. Most people say: "How can you watch wrestling? It's fake and choreographed!" If you've watched wrestling recently, they admit themselves : "Yes, it's scripted, it's pre-determined." They don't even refer to themselves as wrestling anymore, they're SPORTS ENTERTAINMENT. Wrestling in the year 2000 is nothing like what was going on during your father's childhood and people often make that assumption. When you watch a movie, the actors have memorized their lines, have dialogue coaches and perform in front of the camera. How diffrent is that from wrestling? How much talent does it take to be an actor in Hollywood? A lot less than it takes to be a professional wrestler, no offence to starving actors. These athletes (damn right, athletes) train hour upon hour to perfect their craft and often risk their own personal health for their sake of entertainment for the fans. If you've watched wrestling recently, these guys really do alot of mind-blowing crazy shit (Pardon my french) with tables, chairs and ladders.

Don't be so quick to dismiss professional wrestling or its fans for that matter. Wrestling fans are often labelled as rednecks, hee-haws, etc, etc but most of us are quite intelligent people. Give wrestling a chance before you judge it, I think you'll be pleasantly surprised.

'drew

[retardinAz]

Thank you Doctor. That is the main point I was trying to bring by asking those questions: How is Professional wrestling THAT much different from movies and television?

[The Troll Man]

1) Yes, and "proper" wrestling too (with Big Daddy!).

2) Preferred pro wrestling, although the lines screamed at each other were just as bad in both.

3) At the moment, retardinAz

4) Can see where both are coming from, but this is from an entertainment perspective so fake or not, entertainment is the issue, and I don't think comparisons with the "proper" sport are really useful

Incidentally, there was a programme on UK TV last year where a guy went to professional wrestlers and said what you said, Quentin. So they got him to do about half of the training they do every day, and he had to give up because he was throwing up, etc. And this wasn't an unfit guy... I have respect for what these people put themselves through in the name of entertainment.

If you think they're all so fake, then you must REALLY hate method actors who go through the same processes, like De Niro for Raging Bull for example... wow, that film was so fake! /ubb/wink.gif

Also of the people I know, far more of the more intelligent people like WWF (specifically not WCW, by the way!) than those who are less intelligent, who keep on moaning about how fake it is, an argument they often apply to movies too... then, that's just the people I know... it isn't even close to black and white...

You're perfectly entitled to your opinion, Quentin, but suggestions that only stupid people (except for retardinAz) like pro wrestling aren't fair...

[This message has been edited by The Troll Man (edited 09-20-2000).]

[Brock Landers]

Everything I know about wrestling I learned from "Ready To Rumble"...

anyways...back to films I saw...

Tuesday:

- "Almost Heroes" - I couldn't pass up on the limited theatre showing this week of Chris Farley's last film...It still sucks, but it makes me sentimental. Stars Chris Farley, Matthew Perry, Eugene Levy and is directed by Christopher Guest. This "Lewis & Clark" film is easily one of the worst films ever made...but I just love that big fat (dead) bastard...

- "Alice et Martin" aka "Alice & Martin" - This french film directed by Andre Techine and starring Juliette Binoche ("Damage" & "The Unbearable Lightness Of Being") was showing at the same theatre as "Almost Heroes" so I decided to check it out as well. The story is about this young man who at the age of ten is sent from his mother to live with the dad he never knew, then at the age of twenty going pretty wacko and killing his father before disappering into the country then Paris. When he (Alexis Loret) gets to Paris, he stays with his stepbrother (an out of work actor) and Binoche (a hardly working violinist) who let him crash at their pad. He falls for Binoche, stalks her, turns into a famous male model, lots of cool french smoking ensues, gets Binoche pregnant, goes nuts again after Binoche tells him she is pregnant, turns himself into the police for killing his father, goes to jail and continues to write Binoche love letters...that is the plot. The film is about much more though. It has some cool camera shots and phenomenal acting as well...I enjoyed it...it wasn't a great film...but at least it wasn't your run of the mill Hollywood crap...I like change sometimes...

BY THE WAY...I saw the trailer for the Abbie Hoffman bio-pic "Steal This Movie" and I must say that this looks to be the role of Vincent D'Onofrio's career...I really mean that, if the trailer is true to the film than he will definitely win an Oscar as Best Actor...in the trailer he is AMAZING and the film looks pretty good too...also stars Janeane Garafalo, Jeanne Tripplehorn, Kevin Pollak, Donal Logue and Kevin Corrigan to name a few...directed by Robert Greenwald...

[This message has been edited by Brock Landers (edited 09-20-2000).]

[Brock Landers]

Wednesday:

- "Sleuth" - This 1972 film by director Joseph ManKiewicz (his last film) is amazing from the beginning to the end. The stars of the film are Laurence Olivier and Michael Caine. Olivier plays Andrew Wyke, a game-playing detective novel writer who lives for playing games and toying with people. Michael Caine plays Milo Tindle (short for Tindolini), the hairdresser who stole Wyke's wife away. The plot revolves around many intricate twists and turns but the film is really about the acting...both of them are phenomenal (Olivier & Caine got nominated for a Golden Globe and an Oscar in 1973 and Olivier won best actor in 1972 from the New York Film Critics Circle Award) I do believe it is one of my favorite "classic" films. It doesn't rely on special effects but rather great acting and superb dialogue. I don't usually rate films but this is definitely a 10/10...

Thursday:

- "Bring Me The Head Of Alfredo Garcia" - I was in the mood for Oates...and I could watch just about any film as long as Warren Oates was in it. This Sam Peckinpah film is about a piano player (Oates) who stumbles across a scheme to make some dough and gets involved with a bunch of bad-ass hombres in Mexico. It is much slower moving than most of Peckinpah's films, but it definitely has all the blood and gore that I have come to know and love in his films. It is almost surreal how Oates is driving around with a severed head in a bag in the seat next to him...hell, he even starts to talk to it at points...This is not a great film by any means...but I still enjoy watching it. It reminds me of some of those meandering meaningless films like "U-TURN", "NAtural Born Killers" and "Bad Lieutenant" that are fun to watch even though they are pointless exercises in excess...Warren Oates is my god...

- "Lost Angels" - This film marked the debut acting role for Adam Horovitz of the Beastie Boys...and he is really a very natural actor. It also stars Donald Sutherland as a kindly psychiatrist who offers to help the emotionally troubled Horovitz...again, not a great film but it reminds me of when I was younger and I still enjoy watching it. Directed by Hugh Hudson ("Chariots Of Fire") and shot on Super 35 film...the title refers to Los Angeles, where the film takes place...sort of reminded me of Sean Penn in "Bad Boys" but nowhere near as good...


So I was watching the casino sequence in P.T. Anderson's "Hard Eight" aka
"Cigarettes & Coffee" last night and it struck me that there are so many confidence
tricks out there that filmmaker's can use to base a movie on, and also that the
dialogue in "Hard Eight" is tough to beat.

When I say confidence tricks, I mean a twist or turn in the storyline that can throw
an audience into outfield, really take them for a ride. Films like "The Usual
Suspects", "Croupier", "House of Games" or "The Spanish Prisoner", really take
advantage of the fact that the dialogue has you hooked and just when you think
you get it, you don't.

That's probably why P.T. admires David Mamet so much. Not to mention he like to
use Mamet's actors, like William H. Macy as Little Bill in "Boogie Nights".

Dialogue, of late, in film has been thrown to the wayside in favor of explosions,
special effects or gross-out humor. My favorite films are the ones that either
combine the two (like Walter Hill's "Extreme Prejudice") or has such strong
dialogue that is all you need (like "Hard Eight").



[This message has been edited by Brock Landers (edited 09-22-2000).]

[Brock Landers]

It's like they say in "Trainspotting", you have IT and then you lose IT. Sean Connery had IT, Lou Reed had IT, Paul Newman had IT, etc..."Cookie's Fortune" may have been an above average film in this drearily dumbed-down film market but it was not a great film by any means. Altman is a wonderful director and has lots to offer younger filmmakers but he is not at the peak of his game anymore. Saying that "Cookie's Fortune" is great filmmaking is like giving Sean Connery an oscar for "The Untouchables" or Paul Newman an oscar for "The Color of Money". (incidentally, "The Hustler" was just re-released as part of a millenium collection by the studio, it has a great transfer and boy does it stand the test of time.) Just a quick thought, Eric Rohmer has always been good but recently with "Autumn Tale" he has proven himself as still being one of the greatest living directors.

I already stated before that you can obviously compare the two films, "Magnolia" &
"Shortcuts", because P.T. has publicly stated it before, that he willingly admits to using ideas from Altman's work as well as other directors and films, he even showed Altman some of the unfinished film before release to get Altman opinions of the shots he stole and Altman told him he couldn't tell they were his, that P.T. had somehow re-invented certain shots and underlying themes that directly and indirectly have an astonishing effect on the end emotional content. If you want to say that anyone who tries to commit suicide by carbon monoxide poisoning in a garage, in a film, is stealing from Altman than accuse Mike Judge of stealing in "Office Space". In the same way that Altman has a large cast and interweaved storytelling than I will be the first to accuse Quentin Tarantino of a similar type of filmmaking in Pulp Fiction. Julianne Moore is in a lot of films, so I don't see how that means anything, in fact she was hired because she practically begged for the part of Amber Waves in "Boogie Nights" and P.T. fell in love with her style and acting. I guess if having the same actors makes it a rip-off, than he must have also ripped off "Smokey & the Bandit" and any other number of David Mamet films, since he had Ricky Jay and William H. Macy to name only two. Perhaps he ripped off "All the Right Moves" because of Tom Cruise or any of Mike Leigh's films because of Alfred Molina, and concerning "Boogie Nights" he must have ripped off "Blazing Saddles" because of Don Cheadle's black cowboy role. I am really not sure I understand the "GoodFellas" rip-off theory concerning "Boogie Nights" but P.T. admittedly stole some of his shots from Marty Scorcese including as I mentioned before the long tracking shots similar to Ray Liotta entering the CopaCabana in "GoodFellas". I am in total agreement that "Nashville" is a wonderful film but to say that P.T. is not a good, even great in my book, director is ludicrous. Just because he made a movie that portions were based on "Shortcuts" doesn't mean that he isn't a great director. Just because Gus Van Zant remade "Psycho" doesn't mean he is a half-ass director either. Listen, Paul Thomas Anderson loves film, always has. He loves to put new spins on great cinema moments, just check out the shot of the girl at the first party at Jack Horner's pad, where the camera starts at the roof and works down following her down the pool steps, then underwater, following her as she swims to the other side. Also, about one of the most original scenes I have ever seen is at Rahad Jackson's (the drug dealer) place, when the asian young man is lighting off firecrackers while their lines play out progressively.

- note: I absolutely loved Altman's "Vincent & Theo". Tim Roth is brilliant, and the whole "Edgar Allen Poe" atmosphere is great.

Best Depalma film ever, "Body Double".
I forgot to add that the roof to pool/underwater scene in "Boogie Nights" was stolen from an older film called "I Am Cuba", which incidentally was put onto "the Milestone Collection" DVD series because of efforts by Scorcese.

Other "Milestone Collection" favorites:
- "The Trial" directed by Orson Welles, starring Anthony Perkins & Orson Welles, based on Franz Kafka's story.
- "Daddy Longlegs" classic.

P.T. Anderson even says as much in an interview he did in "Screenwriting Monthly", when he was asked about the interweaving storylines in his screenplay. Magnolia, according to P.T. Anderson, was written the way it was because he wanted to give some of his favorite actors and friends some good "spotlight" parts. This technique of showcasing certain actors was also used in "Boogie Nights" to give some great screen moments to the actors, on an individual basis. As far as the meaning of Magnolia, P.T. once said that he writes about what he
knows, which is "the valley", and he wanted to make "Magnolia" into a type of "dramatic cluster-f**k" (or so he calls it), that is to say, many different stories stuck together by an underlying theme, the theme of course being that strange things can and do happen. That all of these characters are brought together by a freak act of nature is what shows how we are all effected by greater things than ourselves, and whatever melodramatic soap opera is playing out in our lives is really nothing important when it comes to the big picture. Take this quote from one of P.T. Anderson's (and for that matter, myself and Jim Jarmusch's) favorite books "Hagakure:Hidden by the leaves" aka "Hagakure:Way of the Samurai", "It is best to think heavily on small matters and lightly upon great matters. For one should make all decisions, great and small, within the time it takes for three breaths."

Unfortunately in this world and time we live in, it is just not possible to watch all great films on the big screen, that is why I have attempted to bring that theater feel home. I always make my screening room pitch black, allowing no light in whatsoever and whether I am watching a reel or a DVD/Video, I always make adjustments with seating and sound to re-enact that feel. Many people do not have the resources to create an at home theater experience, but as I have said before the basics are available for a rather cheap amount (although you are better off to spend a little in most cases). I would suggest, if you can't afford a home theater audio system than at least get a stereo with surround sound capabilities, also a/v cords to connect your hi-fi stereo VCR or DVD player to your stereo. I prefer a larger screen myself (widescreen TV's rule) but you don't necessarily need a giant screen television. If you don't have a house, then try cordless headphones for a loud cinema experience (think Jurassic Park) without getting evicted and please, if you are a true cinephile make sure the film whether on VHS or DVD or Projection Reel has been reproduced in its original theatrical aspect ratio. With that said even if you can't go see "Vertigo" or the "The Wild Bunch" on the big screen, you can still enjoy it in the comfort of your own home. Concerning the buying of films before seeing them, I have always found it to be an interesting way of finding lost classics. Sometimes I end up with a piece of crap but most of the time I pick pretty well. It may be throwing money away to buy movies instead of renting them, but when you watch movies all of the time, it is best to have some handy. If I didn't buy so many films that I have never seen, I never would have come across so many great foreign films, independent films or cult classics, in fact I recently noticed that I have a better selection and more in volume than my local Blockbuster or Hollywood Video, this also includes my favorite local independent video store. I spend way too much on film, but I look at it as a collection of treasured memories that I can leave behind for my kids some day, as well as the fact that I never would have seen a lot of films unless I had purchased them. Video stores for the most part suck. I hate late fees. I hate always having to rewind, and most of all I hate the mindless corporations that run these places, filling them full of garbage and deeming what is "adult-oriented" (brings to mind how Blockbuster put "The King Of Masks" as an adults-only label, which is stupid because it is a children's film that beats any Disney movie) and what is not.

Friday the 22nd of September:

- "High Fidelity" - I watched this one in the theater when it came out, and it really seems to have lost a lot in its repeated viewing on DVD...The direction from Stephen Frears ("The Grifters") is good and Jack Black always cracks me up, but I guess that Tim Robbins really bugged me and what was with John Cusack's hair?...Michael Douglas's Lolita is charming as usual and the guy who plays the balding MOBY lookalike is cheerfully droll. I guess the reason I got tired of this film and its elitist top-5 lists is because Cusack reminded me of myself...and that is not a compliment...I have asked these questions and done these things...overall a good rent...

Saturday the 23rd of September:

- "Slow Burn" - This new film starring James Spader, Minnie Driver and Josh Brolin started off my Spader-fest with a rather slow entry...it is about a girl who is searching for her dead relatives diamonds in a desert all her life, her past family died in the search yet she continues. Then Spader and Brolin, as two fugitives from the law, show up and what do you know...they find the diamonds or rather stumble over them. The film then relies on the tension between the three as they battle in the hot desert to survive and keep the diamonds. Not a bad film, not great either. I like Spader so I enjoyed his seedy performance. Minnie Driver looks good as always, if not a little masculine and Josh Brolin is well...Josh Brolin...6/10...think "Treasure of the Sierra Madre" meets "American Perfekt" with a twist of "Duel In The Sun"...

- "The Music Of Chance" - this is a great film. This is also a slow film. It stars Mandy Patinkin and James Spader as two "gamblers" who get in too deep and have to work off their debt. Spader is great in this film, one of his top five roles. Also has a great supporting cast...M. Emmett Walsh, Charles Durning, Chris Penn, Samantha Mathis ("Courtney" in "American Psycho")...It feels like a Mamet film except even slower, great dialogue and first rate acting, I think it was a play at some point...think "The Hustler" meets "Chatohoochee"...

- "Bad Influence" - A great eighties film made at the end of a generation, the nineties...directed by Curtis Hanson ("L.A. Confidential" & "Wonderboys") and written by David Koepp ("Stir Of Echoes"). Stars Rob Lowe and James Spader. Another typical Lowe "Bad Boy" performance...fun to watch, think "Less Than Zero" mixed with "Strangers On a Train"...7/10

...more to come

[This message has been edited by Brock Landers (edited 09-26-2000).]

[RicochetShaw]

I've got to bring back a classic.

[The Professional]

Movies I saw today /ubb/frown.gifsunday)

Retroactive(8/10): good, underrated movie.

Cliffhanger(8/10): a good popcorn flick.

First Blood(8/10): another good movie.

Shallow Grave(8/10): this one surprised me. i had never seen it before and i didn't like it in the begining but it turned out pretty good.

There you go, all movies i liked today.

[Brock Landers]

Very cool, Professional... somehow you managed to watch all 8/10 flicks. /ubb/wink.gif That's a difficult accomplishment in any scenario...

[The Professional]

hehe

[Brock Landers]

Speaking of Sunday, I took a "day of rest" myself and watched:

- "Bad Moon"
- "Anatomy of a Murder"
- "Rope"
- "Needful Things"
- "Until The End Of The World"

... and boy, are my arms tired... /ubb/wink.gif

[screamer581]

Well I'm to lazy to write an essay on each film like Brock /ubb/smile.gif, but this what I have seen lately.

Friday-Requiem For A Dream-9/10 (2nd time I have seen it)
The Cell-7.5/10 (also 2nd)
Saturday-Dog Day Afternoon-9.5/10 (I have lost track on how many time I have seen this one, one of my fave's)
Snatch-7/10 (1st time)
Panic-8/10 (1st time)
Sunday-Nixon-8/10 (I think the 3rd or 4th time)
Three Kings-8.5/10 (lost track)
Cast Away-8/10 (3rd time)
I haven't seen any thing today, but I'm gonna pick up a couple movies later.....

[Snert]

Brock...Are you a fast typer???

[Brock Landers]

Nah Snert... I hunt and peck. It took me ten minutes just to write this. I only use two fingers...

[This message has been edited by Brock Landers (edited 07-09-2001).]

[Alien]

This is what I have seen the past week.

most of them are foreign tho /ubb/smile.gif

Year of The Dragon: Haven't watched all of it, but it's getting good

The Storm Riders(8/10): Excellent Martial Arts meets Dragon Ball Z Type movie

Fireworks(9/10): Incredible Kitano film, I really did enjoy this film alot and I really got into Takeshi's Character. Alot of great scenes are in this baby!

The Killer(10/10) Need I say more? /ubb/biggrin.gif

Sonatine(9/10): Another excellent film, just seeing them play Sumo Wrestling on the beach was cewl.

Rumble in Vancouver(8/10) One of my fav Jackie Chan movies, since it did take place in Canada /ubb/smile.gif.


The Professional (7/10) I watched it in french and it was pretty weird watching it like that, but I give it a (10/10) for the english version

Time Code(7/10) Messed up movie, that's all I gotta say about that.

Ninja Scroll(9/10) Excellent Anime, with some good bloodshed and characters, I loved Tessai and Lord Gemma the best .

To Where He Belongs(6/10) Interesting Triad film, I did like it until this one guy got his ass kicked then he got urine in his mouth :\

Un Baisor Vole(7/10): Seeing a guy in University get it on with one of his teachers is fine by me(after all the teacher was voted hottest girl in Asia )

Jackie Chan's Gorgeous(7/10) a OK Romantic comedy, but the two martial arts scenes are very good. Plus Shu Qi is damn hot :P. Oh yea Jackie said he had alot more fun making this then doing Rush Hour...lol

Wu Tang Master(6/10) pretty insane Kung Fu film directed by Yuen Woo-Ping and starred the Yuen Brothers aswell /ubb/smile.gif

That is all really, yes I guess I have Yello Fever /ubb/smile.gif

[The Professional]

Yes, the professional is a great movie.

[Irene Manor]

Traffic - 9/10: Although this was the most perfect picture I've seen dipicting the war on drugs, I found the daughter scenario to be somewhat forced. Excellent performances all around and extrememly gritty direction made this one a stand-out. I also like the use of multiple film-stocks to add the the effect of the different locales.

American Movie: The Making of Northwestern (9/10) - I first caught this in the local art theater some time back. It is a wonderfully brutal "documentary" of an aspiring mid-western filmmaker who may not be very talented. He lives with his mom at 35, mispronounces anything with more than two syllables, but yet manages to maintain this world were he is a grade-A film-maker. There is quite a bit of speculation over how much of this movie is real; however, I find the fact that the writer and director is also the main character, to be a sign that there was a large level of staging taking place. The cut where the try to push an actors head through a cubbard is a stand-out - Also has a cool track from The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band. This one, you can tell, was a labor of love. It was more difficult to watch on the couch opposed to the big screen, but, then again, I was a bit more tired.

Unbreakable (8/10) - What a cool movie. I was a comic book fanatic from back in the days of allowances and no insurance payments, and this film themes itself on the comic book mentality. Bruce Willis gives another hauntingly real portrait of a tormented soul, and Samuel Jackson plays another mentor-type who plays like an old wise monk. The direction by M. Night S. is perfectly done, and once again provides a twist-ending. My only complaint was some minor technicalities which I will not mention to avoid spoilers.

State and Main (6/10) - This one has an essemble cast with Phillip Seymore Hoffman, Alec Baldwin, Julia Styles, and many others. It is a very quirky comedy, but had many moments that I found to simply be hokey. The acting is a cut above-the-usual, however, much of the direction is uninspired, and sometimes just doesn't work. There is a whole trial suprise toward the end that really pissed me off.

90210: The Graduation (7/10) - The kids from West Bevery made it through their senior year, and begin to recollect. Yes, show boils down to nothing more than trite social BS, but always holds a special place in my mind. How else can you see really old people acting like teenagers without Wilford Brimley being involved? My favorite part was the musical commemoration of Brandon and his heart-throb status - pure absurdity!

[The Professional]

Today's Watched Movies:

Devil in a blue Dress(7/10): I have One False Move on dvd so i decided to check out carl franklins second film. it was pretty good.

Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade(9/10): Hadn't seen this in a while, almost as good as Raiders.

End of Days(5/10): Why i own this escapes me, but it was alright.

Blow Out(8/10): Brian De Palma's best Hitchcock style thriller.

Tomarrow: The Die Hard Trilogy Ultimate Collection.

[mafia]

Mr Landers!!!! A very late reply and question to your very first post on this subject: Do you remember the 'best villain' topic a while ago? You remember I made about two or three posts stating that I think that the best villain EVER played is by Lena Olin in 'Romeo Is Bleeding'?!

What do you think now? I mean, she's hard-core, right?

[Brock Landers]

mafia... I've always loved Lena Olin ever since I saw Philip Kaufman's "The Unbearable Lightness of Being", where she plays Daniel Day Lewis' hot-blooded and kinky lover, who has a fetish for hats. Olin was absolutely wonderful in "Romeo is Bleeding", and I recently like her in Polanski's "The Ninth Gate", although I know she's been in a bunch of other great films. Good call...

And yes... "American Movie" rocks hard, I just love the story and the people in it. Good call....