I caught the end of Domino at a friends house on Friday night. I can't rate it, I admit nor make final judgement. I can criticize what I saw. Not horrible but Tony Scott has done beter.

House of 1000 Corpses * 1/2

Two young couples take a misguided tour onto the back roads of America in search of a local legend known as Dr. Satan. Lost and stranded, they are set upon by a bizarre fmaily of psychotics. I had never seen this movie before and the only reason I watched it was because I'm gonna watch The Devil's Rejects when it comes out because ronnie's been raving about it. This movie wasn't scary and had minimal gore. I heard from some that if you liked this one, you won't like Rejects and vice versa. So since I didn't like this one, hopefully Rejects will be better

Bewitched *

Egomaniacal star Jack Wyatt (Will Ferrell) casts unknown Isabel (Nicole Kidman) as his co-star in order to monopolize the limelight and regain his top spot on Hollywood's A-list. Another romantic comedy that I should have stayed away from but only watched it for Nicole Kidman. However, Ferrell was funnier in this movie than his last movie that I saw, Kicking & Screaming

I just rewatched Heat, and my god, I have to say, what a film. Im actually thinking of bumping it up on my list even though it was already at #8. Just perfect in every aspect.

Irish, does gore make a good film?

Masculin Féminin/Masculine Feminine
1966, Godard, Fr/Swe 1st time
15 precise facts about the children of Marx and Coca-cola; or, a politically charged romp through pop culture.
A film so of its time that today it runs the risk of falling into obscurity; what keeps the attention is Godard's visual style of filmmaking, and the endless fun with which he tells a story.

Mick

I think if it's done right it can add to the movie. A lot of movies just don't scare me anymore and there's no reason to see them unless there's something else

Broken Flowers
2005, Jarmusch, US/Fr 1st time; big screen
A middle-aged man recieves an anonymous letter from a past love claiming he has a son to her.
A simple, linear approach works wonders for, essentially, a film containing the most subtle of performances from Murray, whose protagonist wanders with nonchalant boredom through Jarmusch's eccentric world.

Mick

HOUSE OF 1,000 CORPSES - **1/2 out of 5

Compared to the very Metrosexual/Californian Michael Bay trying to make his TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE remake, this is superior...if flawed.

Why did I enjoy Zombie's directorial debut? Maybe because there are some ideas presented that either Bay isn't clever enough or ballsy enough to bring out besides the manufactured-scares that constitute "Jump scares" for which some people think are essential for every horror picture, just like some folks who think action movies are "weak" without an orange-explosive fireball somewhere...which incidently sounds like a Michael Bay movie.

I do think that Zombie at least went overboard really with that music video "filter" shots that distracted from what was happening, and with the superior sequel THE DEVIL'S REJECTS, Rob Zombie was wise enough to dump.

But really, you gotta dig how there is a lesbo-perv pretty sister of the family full of ugly Texan white trash retards...or the idea of the family being part of an ancient cult of Christianity(where eating the body of Christ is literal), the really stunning camera-zoom shot where the expected death doesn't occur when it expect it, which makes us the audience nervous...and even the downer of an ending. While the film isn't perfect, it is a creative admirable effort from a reject child of the 70's.

In a way, the original TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE(as I'll review for RRA'S CULT MOVIE REVIEW) wasn't the jump-scare garbage stuff that Irishman probably expected. If anything, that movie was full of stuff that is supposed to make the audience shock in awe of a rather disgusting family culture that is just "wrong"...Hell, that film has zero gore really. While I won't say HOUSE OF 1,000 CORPSES is as good as TCM, I felt it was a more noble respectful homage of a remake than Bay's pathetic remake.

However, for sure THE DEVIL'S REJECTS(***/5) is a superior picture in narrative-direction and does away with the damn filter stuff. Besides, more Captain Spaulding in Sid Haig, who was charismatic in memory in HOUSE.

Glad Rejects does away with the filter stuff because that was kind of annoying me too throughout the picture but I'm happy to hear there's more Captain Spaulding in the sequel. He was pretty enjoyable

Ya, I loved the opening to HOUSE with the dimwit "Good Ole Boys" trying to rob Spaulding's gas station...

"Fuck ya Grandma!"

Yeah that was very funny. He was my favorite character probably

And in THE DEVIL'S REJECTS, we learn why he has the name "Captain Spaulding".......

Anyway, I used the 3/$25 deal at BLOCKBUSTER and because of a nice bonus cache of money I received, I went for it.

KUNG FU HUSTLE - ***1/2 out of 5

Very amusing kung fu/comedy/crime/musical/Religious picture from the Land of the Dragon of China. Funny how some fight sequences were more amazing than the 200x more expensive MATRIX sequels.

DODGEBALL - ***/5

Considering that I hated the previous Vince Vaughn/Ben Stiller collaboration in STARSKY & HUTCH(yeech!), I was surprised to find that I quite enjoyed this movie, or at least much more than I expected. Feels like an 80's formulaic comedy of sorts...hell, who did notice the GI JOE/COBRA joke through-out the picture? One of several consecutive financial hit films for Vince Vaughn...He's so Money!

THE INCREDIBLES - ****/5

Dammit, I remembered really enjoying the latest effort from PIXAR Studios back in theaters last year, and it did deserve the Best Animated Feature Oscar. However, my DVD from Blockbuster was damaged.

Damn you Cock-Buster!!!

Not to mention Bay didn't even have success with his "Jump Scare" attempts.

Mildred Pierce (1945) First Viewing
Directed By: Michael Curtiz
Rating: ****/****

Excellently written and performed Noir melodrama about a mother (Joan Crawford in her Oscar-Winning Role) who puts her children's wants and needs ahead of her own as she tries to give them the best the world has to offer, but entangling herself in murder alligations, loveless marrages and bussiness transactions.

A must-see.

I didn't like Starsky & Hutch either (I can't believe we're agreeing as of late). I thought more people hyped it up than it was worth. I saw it once in the theater and haven't seen it since. As for the DVDs being damaged, take em back. They have a 30 day guarantee on them

To Kill A Mockingbird #34 on the AFI Top 100 List **

Atticus Finch (Gregory Peck) is a lawyer in a racially divided Alabama town in the 1930s. He agrees to defend a young black man who is accused of raping a white woman. Many of the townspeople try to get Atticus to pull out of the trial, but he decides to go ahead. I thought this is what the movie was about but found that it dealt very much with his children as well, for most of the movie for that matter. Gregory Peck did a good job and it was a nice surprise to see who played 'Boo' Radley

Yea I remember too that was a pretty strange connection to make, because I saw Mockingbird before I got into the Godfather, and then I watched it again later, kind of surprised me. Thats his debut role I believe.

You've got to read the book to fully appreciate To Kill a Mockingbird.

Has anyone seen Waiting. I had already written it off as just another romantic comedy or something of the sort, but ive been hearing its actually decent, and I saw that its a rookie writer/director effort, which I always try to appreciate, seems someone in that position would really have a vision. Any comments?

Irish liked it and Omar hated it. Otherwise I don't think anyone else here saw it.

KINGDOM OF HEAVEN - ****/5

I'll write up a review sometime in the future perhaps, but safe to say I was quite surprised and pleased with Sir Ridley Scott's latest picture that certainly lands him among the top filmmakers alive today.

P.S. - Actually, Wood Elf, err Orlando Bloom, does good...considering how I gritted my teeth whenever he tried to act in PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN or LOTR.

Wow, you actually liked Kingdom? I had heard almost universally that it was bad.

Anyway, I wanted to ask, seeing as there's some Jimmy Stewart fans on here , anyone ever seen him in The Glenn Miller Story?

I saw it over the summer, watched part of it simply because I had heard some of his instrumental stuff on a big band radio station. Seemed pretty much just like a Jimmy Stewart vehicle, still a decent production though, and they played Moonlight Serenade like 50 times.

Kingdom of Heaven is a good movie with a good message. It's not as good as Gladiator but it works. But yeah, Bloom is a shitty actor.

Well, what KINGDOM OF HEAVEN shows is that Bloom isn't really a good actor, but if filmmakers play to make him act in a subtle manner, he is fine. Hell, his "speech" at the climax didn't make me wanna have a root canal, which I expected from Wood Elf.

If anything, GLADIATOR was a populist popcorn entertainment historical period flicks of the 50s/60s(like BEN HUR), while KINGDOM OF HEAVEN is of the humanistic liberal cerebral kind(SPARTACUS/EL CID) from that same time period. Truely, I was more amazed with some battle sequences that Ridley Scott does than I was with TWO TOWERS or even Ridley's GLADIATOR...but that is just me.

I'll explain what I dug about the picture, and so on in my future in-depth review. However, Don Vercetti is right in calling it a very nice picture...but I do like to see the so-called "Director's Cut" from Sir Ridley Scott that supposedly is 30-40 minutes longer than the 140 minute theatrical edit, and apparently fleshed out the story more. Who knows, maybe its a nice picture made better in the longer-expanded cut, as in Sam Fuller's THE BIG RED ONE.

The Evil Dead *

Five friends go up to a cabin in the woods where they find unspeakable evil lurking in the forest. They find the Necronomicon and the taped translation of the text. Once the tape is played, the evil is released. One by one, the teens become deadly zombies. With only one remaining, it is up to him to survive the night and battle the evil dead. A very low budget and cheesy 80s horror movie that I couldn't wait to end. Bruce Campbell was alright as Ash with this being my first viewing of a Bruce Campbell movie, but the movie itself is easily a forgetable one!

Vivre sa vie/It's My Life/My Life to Live
1962, Godard, Fr 1st time
Struggling to pay her rent, a shy woman of Paris descends into prostitution.
As the opening title explains, this is a film told in twelve scenes; every shot, in its rejection of basic cinematic rules, constantly reminds the viewer who is behind the camera, and the narrative dances along with building momentum until the Monogram B Picture finale.

Mick

The Evil Dead II *

Sequel to The Evil Dead where Ash does not manage to escape the evil from the first movie. Retelling the story only leaves Ash and his girlfriend in the beginning for whatever reason. Ash must now survive another night in the cabin accompanied now by the Professor's daughter, a mechanic, an associate of the Professor, and the mechanic's girlfriend. Another very low budget and cheesy 80s horror movie that I couldn't wait to end. Bruce Campbell was a lot better the 2nd time around as Ash, but the movie itself is again easily a forgetable one. I'm not looking forward to watching the 3rd one either

Army of Darkness * 1/2

Ash is time-warped to a medieval castle beset by monstrous forces. Initially mistaken for an enemy, he is soon revealed as the prophecised savior who can quest for the Necronomicon, a book which can dispel the evil. Unfortunately, he screws up the magic words while collecting the tome, and releases an army of skeletons, led by his own Deadite counterpart. This was probably my "favorite" out of the trilogy but that is not saying ANYTHING at all. This was the best performance I've seen by Bruce Campbell (only his 3rd movie I've seen) and it did have a lot of humor in it which was nice, but again, the whole trilogy is something I will not watch again

I heard there were too many goofs and anachronisms, and yes, Bloom is a shitty actor, I heard that too.