I'll agree with you there Jakeroo that Ron Perlman deserves better roles than that in 'Pacific Rim'. It's just the dialogue; the cast simply shouted their way through it!

lol yes, I don't like yelling. I'd probably like James Corden much more (as he's quite talented) if everyone, especially him, didn't seem to be competing for decibels on his show. I miss Craig Ferguson, sigh.

(sorry, I realise this is yelling related and not movie related lol)

Anyway.

Agony: other non romance based "chick flicks" that women don't necessarily care for:

"Sisterhood of the Travelling Pants": First off, real friends would never be that nasty to each other. Catty? Once in awhile maybe, but constantly? Nope. And there is no way all those girls can fit in the same size of denims. I can't tell you how many times I rolled my eyes at that movie.

"Confessions of a Shopaholic": oh puhleez. We're not all stupid, with money or otherwise.

There are lots of others....

Does anyone here know of a GOOD one???

"How to Make an American Quilt"?
"Girl, Interrupted"
"28 Days" (w/Sandra Bullock)
"Mighty Aphrodite"
"Moonlight Mile"

None great, some better than others but all these flicks click with chicks

"Super" - Rainn Wilson, Ellen Page, Liv Tyler, Kevin Bacon, Nathan Fillion, Michael Rooker

One of the 'Average Joe can't take it anymore so he turns himself into a superhero' (with some intercession from God). Ho hum. No, wait a minute, Rainn Wilson is his subtly hilarious self. Ellen Page is a scene stealer extraordinaire. Twists are sudden and add to the plot. There are a couple of moments of violence that arrive with such a bang, you'll jump.
And really, has Kevin Bacon ever chosen to be in a bad movie? This ain't a great film but it has helped shape this genre.

One of the ignored Early Christian epics, undeservedly so:

"Barabbas"

Anthony Quinn, Ernest Borgnine, Arthur Kennedy, Jack Palance, Silvana Mangano

The biggest drawback I note here is that it was filmed and stored on Technicolor film stock and as a result, the DVDs made from it all show the typical fade, oxidize, burn tend toward a brown tone. The filming format was Technirama, an alternative to Cinemascope where the film advances horizontally rather than vertically inducing some uncommon skewing of the recorded images. The bright colors are gone. This stands out particularly during the sequences at the sulfur mines which should be bright yellow but show as a taupe to greyish washing on all images.

But it has that cast, story, Dino de Laurentiis produced, a near exact replica of the Coliseum and a filming of Christ's crucifixion done during a real solar eclipse going for it. The story is based on 1951's Nobel Laureate in Literature Pär Lagerkvist' story of the same name. Details of Gladiator training and weaponry, the fake battles put on for Nero's enjoyment and man versus chariot are some of the better action depictions I've seen in this epic type. Well worth following up on what is said to have happened according to the Gospel of Mark to the man who was saved directly from death by Christ's sacrifice. Quinn is superb.

So was it someone here who recommended "Mr Brooks"? Enjoyed it very much.

There are a few missteps here and there, but on the whole this was a well plotted, very well acted serial killer thriller that takes a different direction than most. Kevin Costner and William Hurt are terrific together, just terrific. It's worth watching just to watch the two of them.

"Zorba the Greek" - Anthony Quinn - Love of life, so much so that when your heart gets full, which happens often, either with joy or sadness, dance until the fullness calms down. Then go back to living life.

Just finished watching the first of the pair, "Night Watch". Stand alone it is good. watching them out of order was okay. On some future night I will view them both in order and am sure I will enjoy them. There be zombie-ish creatures afoot!

A couple of Sci-Fi 'B' types:

"From Other Worlds" - Cara Buono, Peter Bartlett
"Outerworld" - Tracy Davis, Hans Bachmann

The first is an effort to give reason to sci-fi abduction films and it is plausibly presented.
The second follows the path of 'I know something you want to know and I'm going to be rich and famous for knowing it' without nary a stumble. Great miniature (80's graphics done in camera effects) graphics.

The first is character driven. The second is action driven. I liked the second better.

"The Graduate"

Haven't watched this since soon after it was first made, and gotta say - I wouldn't want my daughter dating him either, what a creepy young man he is.

OK, yeah, it's a farce, and some bits still hold up. All in all though, "he loves her so he stalks her" bit rings a little unpleasantly these days. Love the ending, though - the two of them on the bus, and their expressions.....

re: the Graduate..it made me uncomfortable the first time I watched it and it didn't improve any 20 years later when I watched (part of) it again. Nothing wrong with the acting though, or the music. The amusing part (to me) about this movie is that Anne Bancroft was less than 6 yrs older than Hoffman when it was filmed

Watched one movie today:

"Lucy" (with Scarlett Johansson). Visually very good, great graphics. Copies elements of Fifth Element, 2001 Space Odyssey and perhaps Matrix, maybe some others as well. If you like Asian gang movies, there are parts of this movie you will enjoy. If you like action/car chase movies, there are parts of this movie you will enjoy. If you like a woman as the "heroine" instead of a man (intentional in this movie, I suspect, due to the primate connection) then you might enjoy this movie. But all together? Kinda silly and not very thought provoking. Movie pretty much anticlimatic for the last half hour. Nobody did this "general idea" better than Arthur C. Clarke.

I I'm up for some "Lucy" having just watched a different sci-fi film that borrowed heavily for a female lead.

"Jupiter Ascending"

Mila Kunis, Channing Tatum, Sean Bean, Douglas Booth, Eddie Redmayne, Tuppence Middleton (what a moniker!) and Terry Gilliam

I was reminded of "Stargate", "The Island of Dr Moreau", "Dune" (all versions), "Final Days of Planet Earth" (for some of the theme) and "The Matrix", and probably more. All together in a wonderful action CG movie that mixes the blues, oranges and gold colors that many films tend to center on individually.

"Touch of Evil" from 1958

OK, I'm always trying to get you all to watch obscure films noir, but this one you've really gotta see. The plot feels like a bad B movie, but the performances will knock your socks off. Forget the stars, they're nothing special (except for Welles, of course) but the whole movie is stuffed to bursting with amazing small moments. Dennis Weaver's motel clerk is like nothing you have ever seen. And there is Mercedes McCambridge being menacing in a leather jacket.

The version I just watched is, I think, the theatrical release - there's another from 1998 restored according to Welles' notes which I'll have to track down.

Yeah, I did! Glad you enjoyed it too.

I think some suitable 'post-break up' movies are "Kill Bill", "Jurassic Park", " Little Miss Sunshine", "Bobby", and the box set of "The West Wing".
When one is ready to put up with a romance theme, move on to "Muriel's Wedding" and "Bridesmaids".


Chicks dig this stuff.

"Age of Adeline" - I saw an ad for this one on my cable provider, so I got it from Netflix. It was actually very good. Definitely a chick flick, but the acting was good, story didn't really drag much and it wasn't too predictable like some movies.

Chavs: You're hilarious. Kill Bill is perfect (but folks, make sure you watch Part 2 as well, it's worth it).

Ladymcb: I've seen the Adaline one and thought it was pretty good (even though I'm not a Blake Lively fan, I thought she did a good job). Love timeline types of ideas...

For instance, has anyone seen "I'll Follow You Down" (2013)? (might have been called "Continuum" in the US) Just try to pretend Haley Joel Osment's character is played by anyone else on the planet and you will probably like it a lot. Mr. Sewell wasn't in this movie enough (drools lol)

Another of my recent string of watching performances by Cecil B. DeMille's son-in-law and Aimee Semple Macpherson's apprentice preacher (can you guess the actor?)

"The Guns of Navarone"

- Gregory Peck, David Niven, Anthony Quinn, Gia Scala, Irene Pappas, Anthony Quayle, Stanley Baker, Richard Harris (uttering bloody this, bloody that and a bunch of other bloodies - which were dubbed ruddy this and ruddy that for the British release) and James Darren

Wow, Gia Scala looks short in this movie, far different than the towering statue of a woman she was opposite Doris Day and Richard Widmark in "The Tunnel of Love" (maybe Widmark was that short?) but a great performance.
This was one of the first fictional epics about WW II and a gang of assembled clandestine operatives. Just remember as the film goes on, this story may not actually have happened, but each scene represents something that did happen to some real brave warriors. As an epic, it drew the best of crews, cast, materials, sets, cameras that were available at the time it was made. My DVD Bonus materials provide a wealthy amount of background stories. Oh, and the actor was...

Speaking of that actor, he was in a film in 1955 called "The Seven Cities of Gold". I thought I'd mention it for two reasons: 1) the film is about Padre Junipero Serra who the Pope just canonized in NYC; and 2) at Amazon it is available as a download rental or as a VHS tape (for $25). I'll wait for the DVD but one of you might like to view it now (and report), it being topical and all. It also stars Richard Egan and Michael Rennie.

Here's as strong a female lead as you can get. The co-star is female also:

"Tank Girl" with Lori Petty, Naomi Campbell, Malcolm McDowell, Ice-T. It is a dystopian comic romp painted upon diverse set design, incongruous charact... aw heck, it's just a campy spending of your time that presents mid-90s rap and grunge music to tap your toes to.

One of my daughter's favourite movies....

"Badlands" 1973.

Eh, I dunno. I can see why people rank this so highly and think it's great, but it never really got to me. The flat affect is supposed to add to the impact, but to me it just stayed flat.

All that said, it's still pretty darn good. The performances are remarkable - I just now looked it up, and Sissy Spacek was 24 when this was made, but she carries off a fifteen year old very well indeed. Martin Sheen is astonishing - it really is his movie. If you haven't ever seen it, it's worth your time.

If you believe the studio blurbs/bios:
Gia Scala: 5 feet 6 3/4
Doris Day: 5 feet 5 3/4
Richard Widmark: 5 feet 8 and a bit.

"Tank Girl" was a fun movie. I fully expected to hate it lol

Warren Oates stands out in the "Bonnie and Clyde" similar "Badlands". Nothing stands out on the silver screen more than senseless gun violence, especially if there's a vintage automobile being driven across the vast wastelands of America. (see below for more)


I got a copy of "The Ultimate Matrix Collection". I won't get into "The Matrix part since I think 99.9% have seen it (it is a benchmark film). The collection also has behind the scene stuff and commentary tracks (one by philosophers and one by film critics - I haven't listened to either yet (over 12 hrs to listen to it)), There is "The Animatrix" disc I already mentioned. But I just watched a very informative 2 hour discussion on the nature of reality by just about every philosophic related individual out there. It is a good quick course in Philosophers of the past and their contribution to our hold on reality. I wish this documentary had been available when I was taking Philosophy in college. It would have enhanced my learning adventure. If you want to locate it apart from the "Collection", it is titled "The Matrix Experience - The Roots of the Matrix".


Adit: From March 14, 2015, this thread: my take on "Badlands":


"Badlands"
Martin Sheen, Sissy Spacek.
One of the crime/murder spree films that occasionally come our way. As is usually the case with these presentations, you must work to not become endeared to the characters because the parts are portrayed so superbly by the actors. Worth the watch to see early Sheen and Spacek performances. Warren Oates plays a pivotal role if you are an Oates fan.

So, Agony, I think we agree that this movie should not be shied away from but not to expect a "Ben Hur" experience?