A frolic in Cambodia

[notcasesensitive]

Originally posted by Alex_de_Large
In the theater:
"National Treasure" - a poor man's Indiana Jones; wait for video. Nick Cage sucks as an action hero. Diane Kruger is pretty hot, though.

DVD:

'Van Helsing" - ugh. Horrible. Glad I didn't pay to see it.

"THX-1138" - I haven't seen this is years. The DVD remaster is terrific; it looks very fresh and timely. Duval is terrific.

"The Terminal" - sappy Speilberg crap. Hanks coasts through the flick, hardly breaking a sweat. The best character was the little Indian janitor Gupta.

"The Limey" - more style than substance, though that's not necessarily a bad thing.

Tivo:

"The Cooler" - I've been looking forward to seeing this for some time. Was just "eh" in my opinion. I probably built it up too much. Now that I've seen it, I think I remember someone complaining here about the very end of the movie, and I tend to agree.

"Love Actually" - Tivo picked this as something I would like. Lord knows why. I've never shown a predisposition for sappy love stories. There were a couple of good story lines, woven in with some horrible, banal ones. I should have just fast forwarded through everything involving the English-Portugese plot line. And the one with the kid. I did enjoy Alan Rickman, but then I always do. And it was far too long. Isn't there some rule that romantic comedies can't be longer than an hour and a half? This clocks over 2 hours.

[Bad_Rich_Chic]

Originally posted by Alex_de_Large
"The Limey" - more style than substance, though that's not necessarily a bad thing.

I really liked this movie. The use of the old Ken Loach film clips was pretty nifty - it's nice to see any excuse to use an old Loach film. And Fonda was just a delight - to the extent there was substance, he, by simply being his corrupted hippy self, was it, purely by being all style and no substance. I thought the whole thing was quite an amusing bitch-slap at what's become of '60s counter culture.

BR(my movie watching was limited to seeing Species III on SciFi - the whole thing was a big ad campaign for the unrated DVD version, which apparently has a lot more gross slimey alien sex. I wouldn't bother, it was pretty idiotic.)C

[Hank Chinaski]

Originally posted by notcasesensitive
movies

I finally saw Harry Potter #3. Best book- worst movie. I think it had a different director than the first 2.

Nothing visually new happened, and they cut out huge chunks of the book. It was like they were going through the motions knowing they'd have a guarenteed audience.

Book #4 presents the biggest challenge from size and storytelling- I hope they get back to really thinking about how to present the story by then. Otherwise it'll be a long 3+ hours.

[greatwhitenorthchick]

Originally posted by Hank Chinaski
I think it had a different director than the first 2.

It did. That's why it was so much better than the first two.

[Alex_de_Large]

Originally posted by greatwhitenorthchick
It did. That's why it was so much better than the first two.

Agreed. I thought it was the best movie of the three.

[Hank Chinaski]

Originally posted by greatwhitenorthchick
it was so much better than the first two.

Insightful. I hadn't thought of it from that angle.

[Alex_de_Large]

Someone get this guy some skin care products.



spree: news story about Unkrainian politician Viktor Yushchenko's skin problems.

[Replaced_Texan]

Originally posted by Alex_de_Large
Agreed. I thought it was the best movie of the three.

Same here. Though it doesn't look like Cuaron signed on for the next one.

I imagine writing the screenplay for the fourth has been a challenge, given how freaking long that book is.

[Pretty Little Flower]

Originally posted by Hank Chinaski
I think it had a different director than the first 2.

Yes, new director for #3. Which does not explain, however, why it was better than the first but not as good as the second.

[greatwhitenorthchick]

Originally posted by Pretty Little Flower
Yes, new director for #3. Which does not explain, however, why it was better than the first but not as good as the second.

Gibberish like this is the reason why no one listens to you.

[ThurgreedMarshall]

Originally posted by Alex_de_Large
Movies seen

I saw "My Life as a House" over the weekend on one of the movie channels. Kevin Kline. Formulaic flick about a guy diagnosed with terminal cancer who spends his last few months bonding with his son while building a house. Predictable. Sappy. But good.

Watched "Glory" again on Date Night. I wonder how it feels for Ferris Bueller to be so thoroughly blown off the screen by supporting actors. Obviously it happens all the time, but damn. If I was the star, I'd up the effort a bit. That said, Andre Braugher is an over-actor.

TM

[Pretty Little Flower]

Originally posted by greatwhitenorthchick
Gibberish like this is the reason why no one listens to you.

Your avatar is the only reason why anyone even notices that you still post here.

[Gattigap]

Originally posted by notcasesensitive
Tivo:

TiVo's "try this, sucker!" feature introduced me to two (gurgle, gack) network prime-time shows I'd never seen before.

Arrested Development. I remember reading about this series, that critics loved it but it can't find an audience. I now understand why -- its humor is manic and completely off-kilter. I only occasionally followed the plot, but still, I think I like it, which approval, the producers should understand, carries a high correlation with abrupt cancellation. If someone else watches this show and is willing to explain why the characters were in Mexico looking for their apparently dead father who fled in a ladder truck, let me know.

Boston Legal. David E. Kelley Retread is surprisingly not bad. Yes, it's populated with quirky, over the top characters that couldn't make it in to Ally McBeal, but James Spader is funny, and even Shatner displays more acting in one episode than exhibited during some 8 seasons of (over)acting in Star Trek. Good to see that Mark Valley has rebounded from the death of Keen Eddie, another unfortunate show that I cursed with my approval.

[greatwhitenorthchick]

Originally posted by ThurgreedMarshall
movies

Since we are all sharing,

I was sick on Saturday so watched the following movies:

Trading Places
Planes, Trains and Automobiles (thank you to TM for reminding me of how funny this movie is)
Species
North by Northwest
A Fish called Wanda

I was so out of it that most of them just blended into each other and I had seen them all before, but still, sort of enjoyable.

Is Date Night Thursday, Friday or Saturday? I have a date soon. With a Canadian. Who plays hockey (not professionally). Excitement abounds.

[greatwhitenorthchick]

Originally posted by Pretty Little Flower
Your avatar is the only reason why anyone even notices that you still post here.

Did you say something? I was too busy admiring my hot bod.