Page 1 of What I watched this week (w/e Sunday 12th June)

On DVD:

The Battle of Algiers - Directed in an almost documentary style, this account of the guerrilla war against the French occupation of Algeria in the 1950's is well acted, scored by Ennio Morricone and directed by Gillo Pontecorvo with some eerie parallels to the current situation in Iraq. :D

Laura - An investigation into the murder of Laura Hunt is complicated when the dead woman appears, alive and well; Gene Tierney, Dana Andrews, Clifton Webb and Vincent Price are all ideally cast and they are well directed by Otto Preminger. :D
Commentary - the first commentary by David Raksin and Jeanine Basinger is never particularly interesting, as neither have the greatest of delivery and Raksin doesn't say much anyway, but there are some decent snippets of information. :¦

Hotel Rwanda - The international community and, in particular, the U.S. is shamed in this gripping and thought provoking drama which follows the true story of Paul Rusesabagina, a hotel manager in Kigali during the 1994 massacre. Don Cheadle, Sophie Okonedo and Nick Nolte are all excellent, as is Terry George's assured direction and fine screenplay manages to convey the scale of the horror, the impotence of the international community without ever over sentimentalising. :D

The Lavender Hill Mob - In this brilliant crime/comedy movie from Ealing Studios Alec Guinness is a quiet bank employee who masterminds the theft of £1,000,000 from his own bank. Guinness as good as you'd expect and the direction by Charles Crichton (probably best known for directing A Fish Called Wanda) is excellent; Audrey Hepburn even appears for 15 seconds saying all of 3 words! :D I read at IMDB that a remake has been announced which can only be a bad thing. >:(

Scrubs: Season 1 - As they say in a later season, Scrubs is just like ER, but half as long and twice as funny; the show revolves around the lives of new doctors JD (Zack Braff), Turk (Donald Faison), Elliot (Sarah Chalke), a supervising resident (John C. McGinley) and a janitor (Neil Flynn) who is determined to make JD's life hell. The script is sharp and the cast is perfect with all actors impressing, especially John C. McGinley to crack wise whilst turning the interns into residents. :D

King of the Hill: Season 4 - As good as the first three seasons, KotH is still fresh with excellent performances from all the voice actors and well written episodes. :)

Fantasia - Wonderful classical music is played by the London Philharmonic Orchestra as elephants, mushrooms, flowers, fish and brooms all dance and move in a visual spectacle which gained a following in the 60's drug culture. :)

Phenomena - Gruesome death scenes, a remote private school, a girl who can mentally communicate with insects and a serial killer - it must be a film by Dario Argento! Jennifer Connelly is the daughter of a famous American actor who goes to study as a prodigious Swiss private school where a previous student was brutally murdered and decapitated. Donald Pleasence is excellent a wheelchair bound Professor who specialises in insects and Connelly puts in a very good performance in one of Argento's best films. :)

Wonderland - A dramatisation of the quadruple murder case of 1981 at 8763 Wonderland Avenue, LA which appeared to centre on the involvement of legendary porn star John Holmes. For once, Val Kilmer doesn't suck in a lead role and is very good playing the drug addled mess of a man that Holmes became after the curtain came down on his porn career. :)

Das Boot: The mini series - Before the film, Wolfgang Petersen directed this gripping TV mini series which was then cut down to make the film Das Boot. The DVD does not separate the film into individual episodes, letting it run as one film over two discs and, whilst not as tight as the film, the mini series makes for gripping viewing thanks to superb direction and excellent performances from every member of the cast. :D


On cable:

Beetle Juice - Tim Burton's brilliantly wacky movie about a couple (Alec Baldwin and Geena Davies) who die in a car accident yet return to their house as ghosts, determined to rid it of the awful couple (Catherine O'Hara and Jeffrey Jones) and their gothic daughter (Winona Ryder) who can see the ghosts. As their early efforts prove ineffective, they call on bio-exorcist Betel Geuse (Michael Keaton), an unpredictable ghost who does his best to scare the household. :)


At the cinema:

Sin City - Visually stunning and beautifully acted and despite the thin story lines, Sin City managed to find a fan in someone who has never read a comic book or graphic novel. The DVD is on order! :D

The League of Gentlemen's Apocalypse - This was not what I was expecting having seen the trailers and the available clips on the internet but I really enjoyed it; the story was inventive and cleverly done, with the 'League' acquitting themselves well in their many roles. :)


Downloads:

South Park: Season 8 - More brilliant stuff from Matt Stone and Trey Parker who are clearly nowhere near running out of ideas. :D

Family Guy Episode 404 - After its two week hiatus, Family Guy returns as Meg gets a make over, enabling the Griffins to form a band. :D

American Dad! Episode 105 - We finally get to see how Roger ended up living with the Smiths as Stan struggles to cope with competition in the work place. :D



My Top 20 Horror Movies ---- My DVD Collection

This item was edited on Sunday, 12th June 2005, 23:27

Sudden Impact- Starting slide a bit, but still good.

Blood Work- A very good Clint Eastwood movie could of eaisly been a Dirty Harry movie, but did have a predictable ending though.

Mr and Mrs Smith- very funny and excellent action sequence, had plenty of sharp dialogue refering to their marital problem, Vince Vaughn is very funny in this one.

The League of Gentlemen- Was an okay film but like most TV series, it would of been better if it just made for television. The best and most loved characters only had five minute roles, whilst the three mediocre characters were all the way through the film.

Unlike most of the British movies that are based on television series, this film does kick off and it seems to be on to a winner, but the pace suddenly stops when the three are stuck in the real world and it then it doesn`t go anywhere or advance the plot.

The medieval scene was okay but Monty Python did it a lot better and of course funnier with cameos from Peter Kay and Simon Pegg, both didn't say anything funny, Kay had a line and Pegg just sat up on wall looking bored.

What also grated me was that they seem to forget what happened in the previous episodes such as Lipp being a paedophile vampire which wasn't mentioned at all in the movie, Hillary escaped to the Caribbean in the television in season 2, but in the film he`s escaped from prison, there were lots of plot holes and unexplained situations such as how did Geoff and the Dark One escape from the Medieval times back in to Royston Vasey?

Like Season 3 it started of very good but as the film progressed, it slowly went downhill and had a very weak predictable ending.

floyd


DVD collection

This item was edited on Monday, 13th June 2005, 08:41

Ok my first time posting in here!! So bear with me

On DVD

Beverly Hills Cop boxset: Some of Eddie Murphys funniest stuff in my opinion the first 2 are great films very funny and entertaining. The kind of films that I like to watch over again occasionally. The humour is rather old but still casues me to laugh. The final film is a money spinner in my opinion not as good as the first 2 but had to watch it just to finish the box set. Out of the extras I only managed to watch the deleted scenes did not really miss much. :)

Blade Trilogy: First film is brilliant, liked the style of shooting and the camera angles used especially during the fight scenes. The second film was watchable but not that great thing it went a bit OTT on some of the scenes and storyline. The final fim was dire badly shot, rubbish storyline and killed it off for good IMHO!! :¦

In the cinema

Sin City Have avoided all the threads about it thus far so I didnt pick up any spoilers. Loved the film I havent read the comic so I don`t know how well it stuck to the series. Liked the way it was shot the black and white was a bit arty, I think that having the multicoloured blood was a bitt odd maybe should have stuck to one colour. Loved the way all the storylines interlinked throughout was thinking about the film for a while afterwards. I think it will be a marmite (love it or hate it) type of film. 8)

On TV

The mystic Indian massuse Ok sounds pornographic but it wasn;t. Set in Trinidad about a crazy indian who wants to be an author but has no money and how he makes money and tries to live a good life with his cunning father in law trying to make money out of him and his ways at every opportunity. Great film not the kind i would normally watched throughly enjoyed it even with the bad indian jamaican accents. 8)

This item was edited on Monday, 13th June 2005, 09:01

Downloads:

Family Guy - Utterly superb. The SW refs are great, and when Quagmire
SPOILER:
Hammered the nail into Joe's leg without him noticing
I laughed out loud. Excellent stuff.

American Dad! - Still the poor relation to the Griffin family. Some funny moments, but the characters don't do it for me at present.

Miami Vice (Pilot) - Never seen it before, an interesting combination of bright colours and gritty storytelling. Don Johnson was great as Crockett, and the alligator was just funny . Not sure if it was enough for me to locate the rest of the series, but it might have whetted my appetite for the movie.

Tszyu vs Hatton - Saw the American version of the fight and it was a belter. Don't usually watch much boxing cos it's usually on PPV, but this fight was at times more a street fight than a traditional bout of fisticuffs. Tremendous stuff and hopefully we'll see more of him on terrestrial now.

The Comeback - Lisa Kudrow's first gig post-Friends. She plays a fading actress who appears on a reality show in order to get herself a gig on a new sitcom. As it's from HBO, I guess it tries to be like Curb Your Enthusiasm in that it's a sitcom based around reality. It tried to be too clever for its own good at some stage, and it's not a 'priority download', but I may stick with it.

Beauty and the Geek - This week, the guys were educating the girls on how to check the oil and change a tyre on their car, the girls were showing the guys how to massage. I'm not sure this one worked as well as last week's cos not all the guys knew how to pop the hood themselves! Still some good moments though.


TV:

Magnum PI (Pilot) - Was on C5 on Weds afternoon, thought I'd give it a shot. It's not bad for the 80s and from the guys who gave us such gems as Quantum Leap and Knight Rider. Wasn't sure about the voice-over, and the 'Nam Flashbacks, but there were nice cars and pretty women, so that counts in its favour.

House - watched it when it first aired in the US and supported it when it aired on Five this week cos it deserves to be a hit. Hugh Laurie is great as the doctor who dislikes people, and the supporting cast (including Billy from Neighbours!) are all good. I gets better throughout the season, believe me.

Dr Who - Great episode, the whole reality TV idea gave it a contemporary twist (maybe they should incorporate the elimination ideas into future series of Big Brother?). Slightly disturbed with the Daleks at the end as well! Roll on next week!


DVD:

The Woodsman - Really good film, excellent performance from Kevin Bacon on difficult subject matter, but he deals with it well. Good performance from Mos Def too as the cop who's keeping an eye on him. Recommended.

AI: Artificial Intelligence - I really like this film, although it would be better if you cut out the last 20 minutes. I'm a sucker for the whole artificial intelligence thing (as a kid, I cried when Johnny 5 was beaten up in Short Circuit 2 :P ). Hayley Joel Osment gives a great performance and the SFX are stunning (especially Teddy).

Carrie - Never seen this before, bought it cheap from DVD Soon the other week. What a bargain it was! Sissy Spacek is great as the shy girl with telekinesis who isn't socially acceptable and pulls off the scared teenager with powers heightened by her emotions to great effect. Combined with a chilling score and a tight story, this film is really good.

Mars Attacks! - I love Tim Burton films, and although not his bet work, this parody of 50's B-movies has its moments. A truly amazing cast (Jack Nicholson, Annette Bening, Michael J. Fox, Glenn Close etc) ham it up well, but I feel it lacks at certain edge to make it a classic film. Turn your brain off and enjoy.

Chris.

The Station Agent (2003) - when a dwarf inherits a remote disused railway station building he thinks that it will be the ideal spot to get away from the glaring eyes of the big city masses. A number of locals befriend him - each with their own problems. a gem of a film in which nothing much really happens but the various characters keep it interesting. A nice mixture of humour and humanity. If you liked Straight Story then this has the same feel about it. Recommended

Last Man On Earth (1963) - a low budget sci-fi horror film made in Italy and starring Vincent Price as possibly the last person on earth after a mysterious plague has decimated the population. An early example of the zombie vampire mutant film this has a strange eerie quality to it and the low budget seems to help it with the rather downbeat story

Bubba Ho-Tep (2002) - basically a one joke movie with Elvis Presley alive if not exactly well and living in a Texas rest home. Cue an ancient mummy stealing the souls of the residents and Elvis must tackle the evil one with the help of a delightful nutcase who thinks he is JFK. Bruce Campbell is great as Elvis and some of the humour is very funny. The Mummy aspect and special effects are played down so this is more of a comedy than a monster film. Great fun though.

House By The Cemetary (1981) - an Italian horror from Lucio Fulci set in the US. When a family moves into an old house strange things begin to happen. Standard plot but Fulci does come up with some good set pieces and as usual the gore count is pretty high - particularly in the effective climax. The problem I have with most of Fulcis films is that the narrative is often very week and some of the plot holes are a bit of an insult to any intelligent viewer. Probably the most accessible Fulci picture though.

Mask Of Fu Manchu (1932) - an early Fu Manch movie with Boris Karloff as the master villain attempting to acquire the sword and mask of Genghis Khan in order to rule the world. Tremendous stuff from start to finish with Karloff devising devilish tortures for his European victims. Watching this film now you cant help but have some sympathy for Fu Manchu, the Europeans all come accross as a bunch of colonial tomb raiders and hero Nayland Smith is a pompous arse.

Andy

DVD

The Isle - finally caught up with my copy of this curiously thought-provoking Korean movie made 4 or 5 years ago. The cinematography is amazing (and they know it) with 99% of the film set on water. Watch out for the nasty bits with fish-hooks if you`re a bit faint hearted! :D

Haibene Renmei Vol. 2 - just as good as Vol. 1, though the pace remains `gentle` throughout. If you like your anime fast and furious (like `Fist of the North Star` etc) then leave this well alone. If, on the other hand, tiy enjoyed the dream-like surreal air of `Lain` then you`re going to love this!! :D

History of Jazz - a 4 disc, ten documentary set out later this month. Still wading through the first coupla discs. Not really as intriguing/creative as the better contributions to Scorsese`s Blues set, but some nice archive material pulled together in typically glossy American style (corny VO artistes reading OTT scripts...). Fans of the genre will enjoy it though.... :)

The Cat in the Hat - the kids started watching this again and found myself drawn to it. It didn`t deserve tha lambasting it took on its release.It`s actually good fun, if very much in the mould of the (Superior) `The Grinch`.

Gungrave Volume 2 - episodes 1 & 2 - still developing nicely! A little violent for the kids but nicely penned with some excellent character development. Roll on Volume 3! :)

I think that might well have been it this week....

At the cinema:

Mr & Mrs Smith: Very funny, well worth going to see!

On DVD:

Shrek 2: Again! Coz my little sister has refused to watch anything else for the past 2 weeks.
Starsky and Hutch: Quite a good film, well worth the giggle.

On Video:

Star Wars 5: But I fell asleep and only watched the first half hour!
Star Wars 6: Coz I love Ewoks!

Well first off my weekly downloaded Star Trek episodes that I missed off last week's log -

Star Trek : The Next Generation - Season 3 Episodes 23-26 Season 4 Episodes 1-3 - Some of the best episodes of any series of Star Trek and the two part Best of Both Worlds is better than most, possibly all, of the films. Jonathan Frakes in particular stands out as he has to take command of the Enterprise. The story even has repercussions that are felt in the action free follow up episode 'Family' with a superb performance from Patrick Stewart. :D

Now on with this week

DVD

Suspicion - A return to form for Hitchcock after the dire Mr & Mrs Smith this is a romantic thriller that works for the most part although the ending is a little predictable. The film is probably most notable for the first teaming of Hitchcock and Cary Grant and the pair would go on to make three more films together. :)

The Invisible Agent - Universal's Invisible Man series continues and returns to the storyline of the first two films after the previous unconnected Invisible Woman and the film is all the better for it. Peter Lorre gives a great performance, the opening scenes of the film, in particular the part where he plays with a guillotine, are the best in the film. :)

The Caine Mutiny - Enjoyable but flawed WWII movie. The romance between the terrible Robert Francis and May Wynn could have been cut out completely and made the film 30 minutes shorter and much better. On the plus side Bogart is great as Lt. Cmdr. Philip Francis Queeg but has the film stolen from him by Jose Ferrer who only appears in the last 30 minutes of the film as the navy lawyer defending the mutineers. His final drunken speech to the cleared officers is the highlight of the film, his best line is to the cowardly Fred MacMurray - 'If you wanna do anything about it, I`ll be outside. I`m a lot drunker than you are - so it`ll be a fair fight' :)

The Day of The Triffids Episodes 1-5 - Terrific BBC adaptation of the SF classic by John Wyndham. Given the low budget and limited special effects of the time it does a credible job of making the Triffids menacing. John Duttine is very good as Bill and almost erases the memory of Howard Keel in the naff 60's film version. Still got the final episode to watch. :)

Downloaded

Revelations Episode 1 - Intriguing first episode of this mini-series by David Seltzer that marks a return t the themes of The Omen for the writer. :)

Boston Legal Season 1 Episode 9 - James Spader and William Shatner are an unlikely couple but they work perfectly together in this legal drama.. The final scene had me laughing out loud long after the credits had finished. Shats hasn't been this good in years. :D 8)

C.S.I. Miami Season 3 Episode 7 - Extended episode about a robbery during a tsunami that feels a little padded but is still very entertaining. :)

Star Trek : The Next Generation Season 4 Episodes 4-10 - More classic Trek. High points this week are Reunion in which Worf kills another Klingon for revenge (very un-Trek) and Future Imperfect where Riker finds himself 16 years in the future. :)

TV

Doctor Who 'Bad Wolf' - Another good episode although not up to the standard of the previous three. And nice to see a story arc (sort of) running through the series. :D

Cinema

Sin City - Not quite as good as I was expecting but still a great adaptation. It sticks perhaps a little too closely to the original stories even down to the dialogue, sometimes words on the printed page can sound silly when spoken out loud and that's the case on a few occasions here. Stand out performances for me where - Mickey Rourke who was perfect as Marv in the best of the stories, Benicio Del Toro as Jackie Boy and Rutger Hauer in a return to form as Cardinal Roark. :D

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33939245[at]gpj.00N?1116937776">33939245[at]gpj.00N?1116937776" class="forumImage" />
`.....be nice until it`s time to not be nice`

This item was edited on Wednesday, 15th June 2005, 00:23