Thanks Irish, I just edited it and gave it 3 stars.

Good man. On a 4-star scale, correct? Pick anything else up at Blockbuster today?

Actually, I never got to Circuit City tonight or Blockbuster, but I did pick up 4 dvds at K-Mart this morning, very cheap (4 for $20)

1) Miami Blues (1990)

2) Robin and the Seven Hoods (1964)

3) The Firm (1993)

4) Wise Guys (1986)

Notes On A Scandal ***
(First Viewing)

Barbara Covett (Dame Judi Dench) is a veteran and cynical schoolteacher who is close to retirement. She is barely tolerated by her less brilliant and acerbic colleagues who know nothing about her private life which consists mainly of taking care of Portia, her aging cat, and spending countless hours alone. The only means she has found to take the edge off her desperate loneliness is writing in her journal. When Sheba Hart (Cate Blanchett), a younger, attractive woman, joins the faculty as an art teacher, Barbara watches her from afar and has nothing but caustic things to say in her diary about her clothing and her care-free manner. Despite her disdain for this woman, Barbara finds herself reaching out to her. Sheba responds by inviting her to dinner at her house to meet Sheba's lecturer husband (Bill Nighy), who is twenty years her senior, and their two children, a sexy and rebellious 16-year-old daughter and a younger boy with Downs Syndrome. Instead of opening herself to these people, Barbara immediately sees them as competition to be beaten in the battle for Sheba's attention. Later, when Barbara discovers her new friend in a classroom having sex with Steven (Andrew Simpson), a 15-year-old from the school who has artistic talent; she realizes that knowledge of this secret gives her power over Sheba which she can use for her own purposes. Barbara promises to not tell anyone but insists that the affair must end immediately. Sheba says she will but finds herself drawn back to the boy again and again. Sheba seems uneasy with Barbara's friendship and is appalled when she discovers the older woman might have a sexual interest in her. The tenuous relationship between the two women reaches a crisis point when Barbara's cat is dying and she asks Sheba to go with her to the vet. She chooses to go with her family to see their son in a play instead. In revenge, Barbara sets in motion the scandal that will rock both their lives in ways they never imagined.

Glad to see the Academy got it right and nomiated both Cate Blanchett and Judi Dench for this film. I haven't seen The Queen or Dreamgirls yet so I can't say whether or not I agree with the winners. But these 2 actresses worked wonderfully together and I would have liked to have seen/heard this movie receive more press. A GREAT story again with great performances. Nothing too fancy, but just a straightforward great storyline.

Boogeyman *
The first half is scary as hell, many many unexpected shocking moments. The second half was dragging, with not much scary scenes. It ends very ridiculously though.

I agree svsg. I saw the once once and thought it was terrible. I'd probably give it zero or only 1/2 star

Question of the Day...which Boogeyman is more crappy?

The movie, or the WWE Wrestler?

WISE GUYS (1986) ***

I picked this up at K-mart yesterday in the 2 for $10 bin. It's an old favorite that I must have seen 20 times on VHS back in the 80's.

Danny DeVito and Joe Piscopo star as Harry and Moe, two gofers for New Jersey mob boss Mr. Costello (Dan Hedaya), who dream of one day opening the first Italian-Jewish deli. The boys are sent to place a routine 10k bet on a thoroughbred at the Meadowlands and take it upon themselves to put the money on their own horse, My Baby, and naturally lose. In turn, they are each given the contract, to kill each other! Hilarity ensues when Costello dispatches hit man Frank "The Fixer" Accavano, played brilliantly by Captain Lou Albano, to track the boys down and kill them. They flee to Atlantic City in hopes of being protected by "Uncle Mike" and casino host Bobby D (Harvey Keitel). This movie was directed by Brian DePalma sometime in between SCARFACE and CARLITO'S WAY and the results are hilarious. "Thank yooooooou Mister Accavano."

It's one of my favorite mob comedies ever. Why doesn't someone out there start a thread on the best mob comedies ever ? C'mon Ronnie, make yourself useful.

Bobby ***
(First Viewing)

The story of the assassination of U.S. Senator Robert F. Kennedy, on June 6th, 1968, which centers around 22 people who were at the Ambassador Hotel where he was killed.

By far Emilio Estevez's masterpiece as a director (with Men at Work coming in second) An extremely noticeable cast with Emilio Estevez, Laurence Fishburne, Heather Graham, Anthony Hopkins, Helen Hunt, Joshua Jackson, Ashton Kutcher, Lindsay Lohan, William H. Macy, Christian Slater, Elijah Wood, Demi Moore, Freddy Rodríguez, Martin Sheen, Sharon Stone and Mary Elizabeth Winstead. I sometimes feel history has overlooked RFK due to the enormous shock the country felt when JFK was murdered just 5 years prior. Glad to see Bobby got his movie and what a great and honorable respect paid to him. Unfortunately the man was too dangerous and I think he was going to make some radical changes that scared people who were too comfortable.

No no no, thank yoooooou Mr. Acavano!

I've been meaning to see this Irish. Your review makes it seem as though it is definitely worth a viewing. I'll have to check it out.

No no no, thank you Mister......ah, fork it, this could go on all day.

DC, be careful when you rent BOBBY. Lets just say, without going technical, that Emilio Estevez writes a love letter to Robert Kennedy, but its written like a 5 year old with crayons.

Of course, I'm anal about cinema efforts and execution...

Anyway, Sharon Stone did a really good job in BOBBY...and in the same year of BASIC INSTINCT 2!

Also, I didn't like WISEGUYS but bear in mind I don't like mafia comedies in general. They all seem to either miss the mark or simply want to make fun of the obvious joke targets of the genre.

In fact, maybe the only "mob comedy" that I liked was maybe THE FRESHMAN...

Still, Brian DePalma delivers great technical work on WISE GUYS(remember that surveillance camera POV?)

You didn't like MIDNIGHT RUN ?

MIDNIGHT isnt a mafia comedy. A mafia comedy is a movie that who's primary premise is that its a joke on the Mob and its stereotypes.

MIDNIGHT RUN is a buddy movie mixed with Road Trip movie...and pretty good at it.

Irish Pants, are you copying your synopses from IMDb or something? They're mighty long, compared to your actual review, no?

Brevity's a lovely thing, man, especially when it comes to, well, you know, regurgitating a film's plot.

Capo, IMDB doesn't have a plot summary...but what was the plot of THE LIFE & TIMES OF IRISHMAN anyway?

Thank you Mr Strasberg, for telling me what a buddy movie is. Would I be correct in stating that Bing Crosby and Bob Hope invented the genre, with their "Road" movies ?

Okay, back to mob comedies, MY BLUE HEAVEN ?

There's a restored 1962 mob comedy classic making the rounds in theatres, it's called Mafioso directed by Alberto Lattuada and starring the great Alberto Sordi....Check play dates and trailer here:

http://www.rialtopictures.com/mafioso.html

Grindhouse ****
(First Viewing)

An homage to exploitation B-movie thrillers that combines two feature-length segments into one double-bill designed to replicate the grind house theatergoing experience of the 70s and 80s. In "Death Proof," a psycho named Stuntman Mike (Kurt Russell) stalks and kills beautiful women with his car. In "Planet Terror," a small-town sheriffs' department has to deal with an outbreak of murderous, infected people called "sickos." A gun-legged woman named Cherry (Rose McGowan) and her martial arts-wielding partner (Freddy Rodriguez) take on the zombie army. The two films will be fused together by fake movie trailers.

THIS is why I go to the movies. For my money, it doesn't get any better than a Robert Rodriguez & Quentin Tarantino double-feature. Planet Terror I enjoyed for it's cast (Rose McGowan, Marley Shelton, Bruce Willis and Michael Parks) and also because it had the very grainy look to it that made it visually just look worn and beat down. Death Proof I probably enjoyed more because I'm biased towards Quentin Tarantino but also because Kurt Russell got to play a bad guy (not to mention the hotties: Vanessa Ferlito, Rosario Dawson and Mary Elizabeth Winstead). Not to mention the HILARIOUS trailer's such as Machete, Thanksgiving, Don't and Werewolf Women on the SS. To me, Quentin and Robert's last 2 efforts (Kill Bill and Sin City respectively) just seem to be more personal projects for these directors and it seems to show in the final product because I've enjoyed their latest films to their earlier work. I made a prediction that either 300 or Grindhouse would be my favorite movie of the year and after one viewing, I give the title to Grindhouse with 300 being a close 2nd. Finally, this is one movie that has to be seen on the big screen. Do yourself the favor, fork over the matinée price of $5.50-$6 and SEE THIS MOVIE IN THE THEATERS! Please don't wait for it to come on DVD.

Reservoir Dogs and Pulp Fiction aren't as personal as Kill Bill?

I guess not Capo...

Though honestly, the more budget and insane creative control that QT has gotten over the years, his movies have more and more lack the awesome narrative energy that DOGS contained.

As I pointed out years back in my review of DOGS, sometimes inexperience actually helps. Yet with more directing work under QT, I do wonder...

Even FICTION, a masterpiece in itself, and as great as it is...I credit the screenplay moreso than the direction but whatever.

I'm sure QT's DEATH PROOF delivers but Robert Rodriguez? His scriptwriting is more erratic than my grandpa's alzheimers. Jesus Christ...

Whats funny is, a CHUD website review commented that QT has finally equaled the outright self-exertive creative effort, at the risk of alienating funders and some audiences, at the same rate as one of Tarantino's heroes...Brian DePalma.

Either that is the best, or worst, criticism a director can get.

P.S. - Irish, whats the last movie you hyped to hell that you didn't love?

I educate for free!

Sorry, didn't care for MY BLUE HEAVEN either. Rather damn silly as it is, but eh whatever.

I think the problem I have with mob comedies is that the mafia in reality, and shown in media, is just too easy to ripe up for parody. Plus, many such movies that tried to attack an actor's mob cinema legacy (i.e. DeNiro/Caan) just don't work either.

ANALYZE THIS had a good idea: What if a major mobster gets psychologically unraveled? I mean, its potential...and instead of focusing on DeNiro having to fight back tears while slicing some prick's thumbnails off, it becomes a buddy movie with Crystal...

As for MICKEY BLUE EYES, Hugh Grant just sucks. He always did, and now he's basically the go-to guy for Hollywood Romantic Comedy parts for British Male(unless he wants too much, Colin Firth is on the horn).

I generally think that Tarantino's films have become progressively more messy, more bloated, less controlled and less disciplined as he's moved through each film.

His dialogue is tedious at best now, and his films haven't been of visual interest since Pulp Fiction.

Capo, QT's lesser movies are still better than most people's "best" movies...but yeah, you're right about the "progressively" comment.

I didn't really care for MICKEY BLUE EYES either, but I still enjoy the genre. Don't get me wrong, I couldn't take 5 minutes of Jay Mohr's MAFIA or Stallone's OSCAR, but I think if it's well written and well acted, it's a fun genre.

Let's assume that 29TH STREET is a mob comedy. Now tell me you don't like that one, and I just may have to get our consigliere on your ass!

I haven't seen 29TH STREET. Sorry.

The only media outlet I've seen thats done great mob parody was THE SIMPSONS. Years back, in a Treehouse of Horror episode, everyone was given immortality. Cut to the show's mob comedy-stand-ins for "Tony" and his boys trying to kill a snitch with machine guns. They keep pumping him with lead, and he won't die. Eventually, the mobsters just shrug with fustration and leave.

Now thats funny.

Batman Begins, Casino Royale, Pirates of the Caribbean 2: Dead Man's Chest, Saw III, House of Flying Daggers, etc.

That's probably why I've enjoyed them so much. They're just so outlandish and over-the-top. As I said, I just felt that QT's and RR's last 2 movies seem to come out better because it looks like they REALLY enjoyed themselves poking fun at old Asian martial arts flicks or Grind House films. Sin City wasn't poking fun at anything, it was just simply the greatest comic book movie ever made (sorry Bats, but it's true).