I saw it. I preferred the original. It was darker. But the Washington-Travolta remake was ok.

Nothing tops the original "Pelham"--one of the best and most under-appreciated action films.

I re-watched "Crimes and Misdemeanors" last night. I'm not a big Woody Allen fan, but this was his best and most ambitious film. Brilliant.

Very dark comedy, TB. I thought Allen really proved he could go in another direction with that film.

Martin Landau is so understatedly brilliant in everything he does, it's a travesty he only won one Oscar (for "Ed Wood"). I thought he deserved another as Matt Damon's law professor in "Rounders."

I have never been able to get into Woody Allen. I've only seen a couple of his films but he's simply not funny to me. If I see his name in a movie it's an automatic, I'm not interested.




TIS

TIS, you got me curious, so I googled her. According to Wikipedia, she had a near-fatal stroke in 1981, and started a bed and breakfast after rehab.

A stroke? Wow, she couldn't have been that old even in 81. Never really heard much more about her after the scathing book about her mother.



TIS

Last night I watched much of TCM's 1945 Caesar and Cleopatra with Claude Rains and Vivien Leigh. It also had Michael Renne and Stewart Granger in it. It was kind of a bizarre period piece. The sets were relatively sparse like those of the Silver Chalice with Paul Newman. It was almost like a Shakespeare movie. The leads were superb, but the dialogue was certainly not what you'd expect; much of it was lighthearted. There was no drama to it and I felt like the leads were privy to an inside joke.

Went to see Captain America today. I really enjoyed it!

If you are a superhero / comic book fan then you'll love this movie.

Tommy Lee Jones steals the movie with his witty one liners.

Word of advice to anyone that plans on seeing this movie: Do not leave when the movie ends. Make sure you stay when the Credits TOTALLY finish rolling to watch the sneak preview trailor.

I can't wait to see this movie! I love the retro 1940's appeal as they did when the made "The Phantom" with Billy Zane - BTW, a super hero movie well made before its time, worth seeing! It also has Treat Williams and a relatively unknown gorgeous brunette named Catherine Zeta Jones. Thanks DC - are you also a closet comic book nerd as I? Did you catch any of the ComicCon coverage?

Just saw the film "Swingers" again for probably the tenth time. One of my favorite films, a 90s classic, the comedy in it isn't over the top and crude like a lot of movies today. Vince Vaughn is brilliant in it, a break out roll for him, but its also worth noting John Favreau was also good although he's often known today for his work as a director. Anyone else seen swingers?

Do you like slapstick?

Insidious
I just watched this film.
Many modern horror films go for the gross out. Usually this involves buckets of blood and/or torture. I don't often like those sorts of films. So it was surprising that the creators of Saw could also make a throwback horror film like Insidious, which is full of such cliched but still effective moves like jump cuts, wide shots from above, creepy sounds in the dark and being alone in a dark house and thinking you saw something move. Really one of the most frightening things is to be alone or to lose control. When you go to sleep at night what are the noises that you hear? Is it just the house settling? If you dream is that just as real as what's going on during your waking hours? Insidious uses these fears quite well for the first 2/3rds of the film. It also gives a nod to classic horror themes explored in HP Lovecraft's The DreamQuest of Unknown Kaddath.

A writer/musician and her school teacher husband move into a really nice and older appearing home. They have three kids, two boys and a girl. They are still in the process of unpacking but the wife notices that some things are either lost or are moved from where she put them. She gradually comes to have more of a sense of unease with this house. Her husband ignores her feelings but he's having strange blackouts of his own. And their oldest son seems to be the most changed by the house.

After a few paranormal events which even her husband can't ignore the family flees the house. But that doesn't end the issues. Good stuff. It's a lost art of making you jump or look over your shoulder in horror films and this film shows that some people still have it. The last third of the film ups the ante quite a bit with regard to special effects and such. It loses a little of the dread that the first portion of the film had. B movie star Lin Shaye also appears as a paranormal investigator.

Lincoln Lawyer
This was a so-so drama starring Matthew McConaghey as Mick Haller in the title role. Mick's a defense lawyer who doesn't mind stretching the rules in order to defend his client. He does quite a lot of business from the backseat of his Town Car and demands cash upfront.

Mick's hired to defend a wealthy young man (Ryan Phillipe) accused of attempted rape. But of course things aren't what they seem and Mick finds himself trying to solve old crimes, defend his client, uphold justice system ethics, protect his family, stay alive and stay out of jail all at the same time. Interesting but most of the story twists were telegraphed way ahead of time. No real surprises. The story ran a little long but it wasn't the worst way to spend 2 hrs. This film also had Michael Pena, William Macy, Marisa Tomei, John Leguizamo, and Trace Adkins.

Hey Lilo!

Hmmm I guess mostly no. I know I'm very outnumbered here but I have never been a Three Stooges fan but I do love the Marx Brothers.

Years ago (in the 70's) my husband and I went to see "Sleeper" Woody Allen's new movie at the time. We went with another couple. They were cracking up during the whole film. Both my husband and I didn't get the appeal and didn't laugh at all. Honest though, I DO have a sense of humor.

TIS

I'm not the biggest Allen fan but his early movie "Take The Money And Run" had a lot of slapstick and Borscht Belt humor although the film was uneven and choppy.

After five minutes he knew he was going to marry this girl. And after fifteen minutes he completely gave up the idea of stealing her purse.
But YMMV of course. To each her own.

LOVE The Marx Brothers! "Duck Soup" is my all time fave!

Groucho was the best!...."Last night, I shot an elephant in my pajamas...How he got in my pajamas, I'll never know!" LOL

We watched "Horrible Bosses" the other night. Freaking hysterical! Kevin Spacey plays the best asshole ever. Highly recommend it.
And hey, Jennifer Anniston is nasty and sexy in it, so there you go....worth the price of admission!

Ironclad
written and directed by Jonathan English.



This is about the 1215 siege of Rochester Castle. King John was extremely aggrieved at being forced to sign the Magna Carta. If a King could be limited by men and the King got his authority from the Church and God, then the Magna Carta was not only treasonous but blasphemous. That was King John's (Paul Giamatti) attitude anyway, and he was sticking to it. Giamatti chews up the scenery but it's fun.

So King John decides to travel across Britan with a group of Danish mercenaries finding the various barons or other leaders who forced him to sign the document. When he catches them he just completely ruins their day. When the King asks you if that's your signature on the document, the correct answer is no.

The final castle that King John has to subdue is Rochester. The King is opposed by Baron Albany (Brian Cox) and a small group of warriors (sort of a Magnificent Seven) that Cox finds around England in a kind of Blues Brothers "We're putting the band back together" montage. These guys aren't really that well fleshed out but they don't need to be. There's a young naive squire, a rambunctious brawler, a fellow who's only in it for the money, a ladies man, an old guy ready for One Last Assignment, an archer, etc.

The lead guy and deadliest warrior is a Knight Templar named Marshall (James Purefoy). Marshall doesn't say much and is haunted by atrocities he committed on crusade.

These fellows get to Castle Rochester, kill King John's scouts who were there and organize the castle to resist, over the objections of the castellan, the pragmatic Cornhill (Derek Jacobi). Cornhill has a loveless marriage with a young wife (Kate Mara) who almost immediately shows interest in the celibacy sworn Marshall. I mean like she goes into heat.
This role was supposed to have been played by Megan Fox but small as it is I thought Mara did a good job with it.

King John's forces show up and the REAL bloodletting begins. We're already seen hints of what Marshall can do but he kicks it up several notches. This is an extremely violent movie. I have new respect for what a five and half-foot Templar sword can do. Some might find this either cartoonish or disturbing. The film doesn't hold back. It uses that "Saving Private Ryan" shooting style for a lot of the battle scenes. Charles Dance (Tywin Lannister for Game of Thrones fans) has a small part.

My girlfriend and I went to see RISE OF THE PLANET OF THE APES on Friday. As suggested by the title, it is an origin story. It is about a researcher (James Franco) who has been working on a vaccine for Alzheimer's. Naturally, the drug is being tested on chimps, and the results show that not only does the drug repair brain damage, it IMPROVES cognitive functions. From here, it's pretty easy to see where this is headed, so I'll leave the story bits at that.

As to whether or not it was a good film, the answer is an emphatic no. It was, in fact, A GREAT FILM! The story is pretty heavy (for a summer blockbuster), and the special effects are among the best I have ever seen. They are so good, you actually develop an emotional investment in the apes, and by the 2nd half you're rooting for them! Forget the Tim Burton remake (which wasn't bad, but not great either), and see this movie!

X,

Thanks for the review. I really had no intention of seeing it (be it theater or HBO)until I saw the previews last week and found it really intriguing. The apes looks a little to the creepy side (more so than the other ape films.) And from what I saw the effects did look good.

TIS

Just watched THE OTHER GUYS with Will Ferrell and Mark Wahlberg. Now i like Wahlberg a lot and usually have a chuckle at Ferrell but this was dire, utter shit

Yogi, all you have to say in order for me NOT to watch a movie is to tell me that Will Ferrell is in it. Other than "Elf", that man should not make movies. I don't get it as to why he is considered funny.

It was complete, utter shit, and I couldn't help but laugh my ass off. And of course, Jeter had a cameo, so maybe that had something to do with it.

Hey TIS, you watched Unstoppable. Did I miss something? At the end, why was Ned in front of the microphone instead of the two guys who actually stopped the train? I thought that was odd.

Oli,

The two heroes were more or less in the background in the end, weren't they? I guess I kind of dismissed it at the time, but it would have made for a more climatic ending to attribute more due praise to the two heroes.

Maybe that's just one reason why I found this film to be only average/so-so.

TIS

Actually, I thought it was somewhat exciting. 16 million tons of train - that's quite alot to stop at 70 mph.

If anyone can do it, it's Denzel!

I recently watched "Spartacus" and as it was the latest film to enter my list of all-time favorites, I felt I had to mention it here.

I did a quick search around GBB and found out it's been quietly praised here and there but I don't recall seeing a real discussion about it.

Laurence Olivier's performance as Crassus was just overwhelming, one of the best I've ever seen and the battle scene when the Roman army is lining up its legions against the slaves made me jump out of my chair like few times before. it's crazy to think they did that before CGI and huge special effects.

coincidentally I had to watch another movie starring Kirk Douglas, Billy Wilder's "Ace In The Hole" and I have to thank my sweet teacher Michelle for bringing this one up and making us watch it because otherwise I would never do it.

a great, visionary film that will always be relevant as long as humans behave the way they do.

How about 7 Days in May? Have you ever seen it?