I saw Clint Eastwood's "Letters from Iwo Jima" this morning on AMC, showing the Japanese side of the battle. Very good, but I was really disappointed that they showed it dubbed into English, instead of the original version which was in Japanese with English subtitles. I don't like dubbings. If I were Japanese I might be offended, because it almost suggests Americans are so limited that it's too much trouble for them to read subtitles (although apparently the original subtitles were in small print, something that caused complaints).

i need to see that movie still...the way its suppose to be shown...but, hey we are Americans too lazy to read.

Saw the Bruce Willis flick "Hostage" last night on cable. It was actually a fairly decent cop movie. Willis plays a hostage negotiator in LA who moves his family out of the city and becomes a small-town cop after a failed negotiation. Of course, the sort of thing he was hoping to escape hits him again when a family is taken hostage by a group of car-jackers that followed them home.

The car-jackers have picked the wrong house, though. The father is an accountant for the mob, and they want their information extracted from the house ASAP. They then take Willis's family hostage so that he will retrieve an important CD from the crime scene and exchange it for his wife and daughter. He needs to rescue the hostages so that he can rescue the hostages, which is an interesting concept and made the film unique.

While we of course are asked to suspend disbelief several times, the pacing was good, the various criminals interesting, and Willis turns in an understated performance. I recommend seeing it.

Is that the one with the rapper co-star? We all know how "in the know" I am when it comes to rappers. Can't think of his name? If so, I saw most of it on HBO and yes I thought it was pretty good.


TIS

Its done for the same reason why all those Japanese movies back in the day (like GODZILLA) were dubbed for American consumption: Because most mainstream audiences are able without exerting much effort, i.e. brain attention span.

But yeah I despise dubbing on principle. That said, I don't think Japanese would be that offended, considering all foreign tongue movies (especially ours) get shipped over there dubbed. Plus it actually gives actors in those countries jobs dubbing over.

In fact the only markets where foreign film imports aren't dubbed are markets so small, its not economically feasible to spend the time and money to put out a unique language track for that territory. Like Portugal.

Flipping stations around I see Leprechaun is on. I have never really seen it, But, Jennifer Aniston???? Must have been her first movie. Anyway, the little leprechaun is kind of a creepy ol' chap.

Some stars started out with horror flicks, like Johnny Depp (Elm St. I think) and of course John Travolta in Carrie. Oh, and Jamie Lee Curtis was the horror queen for a while with Halloween movies.

TIS

I'll repeat my criticism I posted at FCM: There is no story, just an outline. There are no characters or people, but archetypes. Never once was I ever compelled or really taken by the story.

That said, at certain times AVATAR does work in spirit as an Edgar Rice Burroughs-inspired daydream fantasy. Before that term got hijacked by that Sword & Sorcery bullshit. But in 2010 America with an awful economy, two never-ending (ill-advised?) wars...doesn't going to outer space to save the day and get the girl sound like a nice diversion?

That escapism probably why the bland THE BLIND SIDE made $200+ million and going to bag that chick from SPEED an Oscar.

You gotta start somewhere.

Consider George Clooney, who doesn't exactly survive the 80s obscure slasher RETURN TO HORROR HIGH.

I never heard of Return To Horror High. I'll have to look up a clip of it. I can't see Clooney in a horror flick, but wait, then again, he was wasn't he? A vampire movie that I can't recall the name of.
He's so pretty!!!!

TIS

Just watched BOONDOCK SAINTS again to prepare for the new sequel I got from Netflix -- I forget how much I love that movie!!

Yeah I also love me some silly Tarantino wannabe clone. To use a Caponian trademark word: Rubbish.

Interesting how that "fanbase" really seems to despise the sequel.

I guess this means Troy Duffy will never make another movie now.

Then again OVERNIGHT was far more entertaining than SAINTS.

Also a buddy of mine reviewed SAINTS II.

http://outlawvern.com/2010/03/10/boondock-saints-2/

Ignoring the post above from some Caponian wannabe (lmao)... I actually enjoyed the sequel!

Sure, neither of the films are perfect -- I think the editing is very questionable in spots. Downright "WTF was that?" sometimes. And some of the acting is just straight-out bad (and sometime awesome). BUT, unlike some of the "scholars" on this forum, I can actually enjoy a movie without picking it to pieces and being a negative doosh about life.

Some people take shit too seriously, when they should learn to enjoy things more. It's not that difficult.

If you liked BDS1, you should enjoy BDS2. If you hated BDS1, then watch it again without the stick up your\\\\\\

What do you mean comrade? Now excuse me I've got to lecture people about the joys of Marxism and how it is so not an irrelevant dead ideology. What Americans hate it? Well its their fault for not getting it. The wanker lot!



Translation: Yeah they suck, but I like'em regardless!



That's like saying Michael Bay maybe likes his explosions too much.



Really? I'm one of the scholars now? Thanks for the degree.



Geoff you're many thing. Published book author isn't one of them, unlike that one guy's review I linked (two books in fact), the guy who "take shit too seriously."

Amazing Geoff, you always play that snobbish elitist card against anybody who disagrees with you.

I like to think I'm more American because I'm more open to dissention to my opinion, thus I love America more.



But what if the stick is more interesting and more entertaining than the movie?

Now posh off.

Nah, I only play that card against you. Others I outright ignore.

I just watched Phantom Punch which is a movie about Sonny Liston. I wasn't so much interested in Sonny Liston as I was interested in seeing a new movie from the director Robert Townsend and intrigued by what seemed like a pretty good cast in Ving Rhames, Stacey Dash, Nicholas Turturro, David Proval and Bridgette Wilson-Sampras.

However the movie is never really believable. It doesn't draw you in and I'm not sure why. Part of it could be the inconsistent depiction of segregation. On one hand we do see the racism and bigotry from police (especially) and media that was endemic at the time. The idea that police could casually call a man's wife out of her name or newspaper writers could throw around monkey jokes is astounding.

On the other hand we see Liston moving freely in Las Vegas or St. Louis nightclubs and casinos but Las Vegas did not end segregation in casinos until 1960, well after Liston had started his career. In addition, although Rhames captures the fear and intimidation that Liston evidently engendered in his opponents, the script never gives Rhames enough to work with. We never know WHY Liston was so scary or what drove him. While Rhames can play menacing better than anyone, at this point he's maybe 5-10 years too old to play Liston.

Because we never know why Liston frightened people so much the shocking nature of his loss to Muhammad Ali never translates to the viewer. It's just ho-hum. And speaking of Ali, can you really have a movie depiction of a man known as the Mouth from the South and not have him speak a single line of dialogue? Epic Fail. The fight scenes are shockingly bad. Completely unbelievable. Really bad, I say.

Turturro plays Liston's mob connection/friend and David Proval is Turturro's boss. Proval does scary almost as well as Rhames. Stacey Dash and Bridgette Wilson are the love interests.

Dash and Wilson are probably the best things about the movie but it's not for their acting ability.

Liston's death was quite suspicious and was thought by some to be mob connected. Men who are scared of needles don't die of "heroin overdoses" especially when the autopsy doesn't reveal enough morphine in his body for an overdose. The movie's take is that it was mob connected but also for the most obvious and primal reason.

This movie was based in part on a book by Rob Steen. I would like to read that book.

I would give this film 2 out of 5 stars. I guess most of the blame would have to go to the director and writer(s). I still can't believe that a cast that good was in a movie that turned out like this. I would almost want to see this remade with mostly the same cast but a different director/writer. And no the movie does not resolve whether Liston took a dive in the second fight against Ali.

We watched "The Blind Side" last night. While I can see where some people might think it a bit too sappy and too Hollywood Happy Endings, it's nice to see a feel-good film once in a while.

I enjoyed the performances and was glad to see the photos of the real Michael Oher and his "family" at the end. As for those who have pooh-poohed Bullock's Oscar, I think her performance was quite understated. She could have ruined it by being more over the top with it, but I think she played it well.

I know that most of us on this Board think that the GF is the best movie ever made, but I just finished watching the Raging Bull and it is one hell of a great movie. DeNiro's perfomance surpasses his in GFII and Pesci's suprasses his in Casino or Goodfellas.

Believe it or not Oli, I have never seen Raging Bull. The only thing I can say is I usually an not drawn to sports themed movies (Rocky was an exception). I have heard nothing but good about it though. Someday this century, I'll get around to it.


TIS

No doubt, Oli. Amazing that it was voted best film of the '80s on virtually every major critic's forum, yet it was beat out by "Ordinary People" for the Oscar in 1980. How's that possible? That's why I don't even watch the Academy Awards. They're all about politics and political correctness.

"Who's an animal? Your mother's an animal, you son of a bitch!"

Raging Bull is #4 on the AFI's 2007 list of 100 best American movies ever, behind only Citizen Kane, The Godfather, and Casablanca.

There are numerous cases of one movie beating another at the Oscars and/or the box office, yet turning out to be not as highly regarded in the long run as it's competitor. Some examples (the first movie represents the Best Picture winner that year, the second the one that's more popular today):

1941-How Green Is My Valley/Citizen Kane

1968-Oliver!/2001: A Space Odyssey

1980-Ordinary People/Raging Bull

1981-Chariots of Fire/Raiders of the Lost Ark

1990-Dances with Wolves/GoodFellas

1994-Forrest Gump/The Shawshank Redemption (and Pulp Fiction as well)

Raging Bull is a fantastic movie, and I think Jake LaMotta just might be DeNiro's greatest role. He took a completely unsympathetic character, a bum, an abuser of women, a man completely without class or perhaps even morals, and made you actually want to see what happened in his life.

Cathy Moriarty and Joe Pesci are also stellar. Moriarty is just gorgeous, but I don't think she ever lived up to the potential she showed in this role. And Pesci is beyond Pesci - just great.

My mother grew up in that neighborhood. The LaMotta brothers were older, but she knew them, and they often went to the same CYO dances. She said that they were real "cafones", and usually ended the evening in a fistfight, just like in the movie.

'Ordinary People' is an outstanding film. It got Robert Redford a Best Director Oscar as well. 'Raging Bull' great as it is was probably a bit too abstract to have gotten the majority of Best Picture votes back in 1980.

As for 'The Blind Side'...as soon as I saw it I knew that Sandra Bullock would get at the least a nomination. She does give an understated performance, and at the same time dominates the film. That takes quite a bit of talent & skill. ( I loved the scene where she calmly tells off her snobby girlfriends: "Shame on you...I've got the check" )

Have any of you watched The Express on Cinemax about Syracuse running back Ernie Davis who died at 23 in 1963 after winning the the Heisman Trophy and entering the NFL? It not only illustrates his talents, but also the racial prejudice he faced and which abounded in the south.

I'm watching 'Judgment At Nuremberg'...right now on Turner Classic. One of the best movies ever made, great performances by all, including Best Actor winner, Maximilian Schell.

Just watched Michael Jackson's THIS IS IT and got saddened all over again. Regardless of what you may think of him, he was a terrific musical artist. And he continues to be sorely missed.

JG, do you recommend it? I always saw him as such an unhappy man child. That's really the only way I could describe him.

I watched 44 inch Chest with Ray Winstone, John Hurt, Ian McShane, Tom Wilkinson, Stephen Dillane and JoAnne Whalley. I thought that it was going to be another British gangster movie. The cast was good.

But this was an incredibly boring movie. Nothing happens. Nothing. Absolutely nothing. Even at the very end when one gets hopeful that something might happen, nothing happens.

It might have worked better as a play. Since most of the movie takes place in one room it certainly felt very stagey.

I caught a little bit of Pacino's "You Don't Know Jack" last night. Unfortunately it was late and I fell asleep.

It didn't seem like a bad movie at all. I "like" that from what I saw Al didn't go into one of his screaming rampages. Don't get me wrong I love him, but he was getting over the top with that IMHO. Only from the part I saw, he played Dr. Death very lowkey, softspoken. I'll have to catch the entire thing later.

Oh, and I didn't realize Susan Sarandon was in it and was amazed at hold old Brenda Vacarro looked (of course we never age do we?) . Anyone remember her? I remember she was going with Michael Douglas and was kind of pretty. Then, she seemed to balloon up.

TIS

TIS, I saw some of it on Saturday. I liked it very much, but I ended up missing it because we had to go out. I need to see if it's on HBO On Demand.

While you were sort of surprised at Brenda Vaccaro, I was just amazed that John Goodman was still alive. He is one big man.

SB,

Yes, Goodman IS one big guy. First thing I thought of when I saw him in it was that he and Pacino were also in "Sea Of Love" together as well (I liked that movie) . I never minded Goodman, but I think Roseanne was probably his heyday no?

Oh, and I have HBO too. We should be able to get any HBO movie on demand. Unless of course, it's too new. I'll have to check.

TIS