What are the big Memorial Day releases? I haven't even been paying attention.

APOCALYPTO, LETTERS FROM IWO JIMA, EPIC MOVIE (for the teenage crowd), THE GOOD GERMAN, and VENUS

You'll be first in line to buy it..

Umm no See my review above

Teenagers liked EPIC MOVIE??!

Wow, thanks for thinking very LITTLE of us...:D

ONCE A THIEF
(First Viewing)

Once a Thief is an action/comedy/romance movie involving the plight of three master thieves (in the mode of Pink Panther). All three were raised by the same father and in fact were most certainly street orphans. The story begins with a successful art heist followed by a pledge to make this the last crime ever for the trio. The plot revolves around the theft of a mysterious "cursed" painting and how its obsession affects the family.

Sadly, this is the worst John Woo film I've ever seen (and that includes MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE II). Luckily, Chow and Woo ended their relationship on a good note with HARD BOILED the year after this film's release. Some action but the comedy was weak and overall, Woo should stick with the shoot 'em up flicks.

I watched American History X yesterday. What a coincidence we have a heated debate on racism in another thread. I was reminded of DJ all the time. Review to follow in the evening.

You know what I would like to see sometime? The alleged Director's Cut. The one that claimed by the director would have guaranteed Norton the Oscar(if Norton hadn't taken the movie away and only got a nomination.)

Teenage is synonymous with dumb-shit?

No, teenage is meant for, the teenage (or younger crowd). Didn't have a lot of people yesterday over the age of 20 hassling me for EPIC MOVIE. Now APOCALYPTO, forgeddaboutit!

Yeah, but at the same time, did you have many people who were intelligent asking for the movie?

Irish, quit using customers of Blockbuster. I'm sorry, but thats like depending on PLAYBOY subscribers to tell you what fucking is like.

I'm telling you man, large breasted blonde women with a hankering for anal sex in stopped elevators; that's how it happens in real life.

ARCHANGEL (2005) - **

Don't you love it when suddenly an actor becomes famous as a marketing selling name, companies and distributors dig up their old works and re-release them?

A year before becoming possibly the best James Bond, Daniel Craig starred in the BBC TV picture adaptation of Robert Harris' mystery book about a western historian researching the opened-up Russian archives when he comes upon possibly Joseph Stalin's diaries...only to discover something more dreadful is on the arise...

Never read the book, but since I enjoyed Harris' FATHERLAND and ENIGMA novels, I'm sure ARCHANGEL was a good read.

BBC movies, like HBO, has great street cred for producing small movies that look and sometimes are as good as movies sent out to theatres. In this case, its like the digital cameras that hack direct-to-DVD horror productions are using were (again) shot on the cheap, and we get one giant underwhelming movie.

Really, your cinema history fails when it begins good, churns along allright, but by the 2nd half, you continuously lose interest and care of the mystery itself because of how weepy the filmmakers make it. Despite that, I was willing to give the movie a "watchable but forgettable as hlel" rating until the ending....

...when the opening quote is re-prised, and you immediately want to throw your shoe at the TV screen. Really, the only people that do such amatuerness are people who are unsecure of their own talents, and of the audience.

I loved Fatherland too!

Yeah, too bad the HBO movie tried its damn best to be commercial friendly and as cheerful as possible(though in a movie where the Nazis WIN and European Jewry is extinct, how IS that even practical?)

Still, Rutger Hauer is awesome.

FATHERLAND (1994) - **1/2

Yeah but I did find it funny that so many customers have complained about PAN'S LABYRITH being subtitled. In fact, a gentleman was going to rent it and a coworker of mine knew the man and struck up a conversation with him. She was telling him how she enjoyed the movie, however she warned him it was in subtitles. Once he heard that word, he put the video down, wrapped up his conversation and left. Too much effort to read and watch a movie I guess

They're callled LAZY BASTARDS.

Oh I know. When he left I laughed at the guy. I understand where he was coming from because I was like that 5 years ago or so. But I did think of you

Haha, I can't even begin to respond to that.

PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN: AT WORLD'S END
(First Viewing)

After Elizabeth (Keira Knightly), Will (Orlando Bloom), and Captain Barbossa (Geoffrey Rush) rescue Captain Jack Sparrow (Johnny Depp) from the clutches of the Kraken, they must face their foes, Davey Jones (Bill Nighy) and Lord Cutler Beckett (Tom Hollander). Beckett, now with control of Jones' heart, forms a dark alliance with him in order to rule the seas and wipe out the last of the Pirates. Now, Jack, Barbossa, Will, Elizabeth, Tia Delma, and crew must call the Pirate Lords from the four corners of the globe, including the infamous Sao Feng (Chow-Yun Fat), to a gathering that will make their final stand against Beckett, Jones, Norrington, the Flying Dutchman, and the entire East India Trading Company.

Probably the weakest of the trilogy IMO. If you thought PIRATES 2 was long, this one's even longer (so prepare yourself). Not as much humor in this one and Johnny Depp I didn't find to be as loveably as he was in the original.

American History X **

Depending on where you live, you might react differently to the issues of race addressed in the movie. As with Crash, I feel that the issue of racism has been treated in a very direct way, which I did not like much. It could have been a little subtle, but that is not to be expected since the main character is a neo-nazi, who are... well, not subtle at all in thier ideas. I don't know how true are the depictions of jail environment that is acutely divided into neo-nazi and black groups.
Now moving on to the cinematic part, Edward Norton packs in a very powerful performance, one of his best IMO. His physical appearance and transformation is all so believable. There is a flashback scen in the end at the dinner table. His appearance and demeanor in that scene is so different from the initial ones that they almost look like two different actors. Great great acting.

There are some great scenes, but the overall execution of the film leaves me somewhat unsatisfied.

RRA, I did not understand your comment on Edward Norton's role. Do you feel that he hijacked the movie to pad up his role?

Irish, are there lot of slimey creatures in this part too, as with pirates 2? That is something I don't want to see

Not as much as PIRATES 2 but Davy Jones and his crew are still around

Who knows. I just know the film's credited director CLAIMS that "his cut" of the movie is better, and would have won Norton the Oscar. Norton hated THAT cut and basically got New Line Cinema to play it his way(or he threatened to disown it).

Still, I would like to see that original edit for kick's sake.

If that is true LLC, it would have been appropriate....and chilling.

I forget where I read it; perhaps the miscellaneous facts section of its wikipedia page? I don't recall. Or perhaps it was IMDB trivia. I know, neither sound that fruitful a source.

But I've thought it over many times. Both would add a nice emotional spike to the climax. The alternative suggesting that you can never really correct a warped mind... I like it. I think I prefer it, actually, on the basis that I'm just a dark mother fucker.

I was expecting that ending, though I am not sure which one I would have liked more.

South Park - longer and uncut ***
It is just outrageous, politically incorrect and at the same time hilarious. Creativity wise, great effort. I haven't seen the original, but I felt that the 'longer' version is a little too long.

I know this is off the subject but I heard Martin Scorsese had to cut about 45 minutes of GANGS OF NEW YORK (it was almost 4 hours). That is most definitely a movie that I would like to see the extended version, but Miramax (or whoever owns the rights now) has been reluctant to release it