Movies you saw for the 1st time. September 2011

The Emperor Jones (1933)

the Paul Robeson classic "morality play" drama-musical was on one of the HD movie channels late night. had seen cuts but never the whole movie. was worth watching just to see the stereotyping of blacks in 1930's America and the acting-singing of Robeson

Paul Robeson was THE great black bass voice of the 1930's. he was the Roscoe Lee Browne or James Earl Jones of that era. was a GREAT actor and singer and one of the first black entertainers with crossover appeal for white audiences in music and films.

Step Brothers

I'm so tired of Will Farrell but this movie is stupid funny

Joe and Max (2002). the story of the Joe Lewis vs Max Schmeling boxing matches in the late 1930's. worth watching if your into boxing and/or history

it's on the Movieplex HD channel again friday Sept 23rd again @ 4:45 am and 3:05 pm pacific time.

To Kill A King (2003)

based on the history of the English Civil War which ended with the arrest and execution of King Charles I and the Parliamentarians (aka "The Roundheads") establishing a Republic lead by Oliver Cromwell. mostly the interaction between Cromwell (Tim Roth), Thomas Fairfax, general of the Rounhead Army (Dougray Scott), Fairfax's wife, the Lady Anne (Olivia Williams) and King Charles I (Rupert Everett).

well acted by all involved and a different roll by Roth compared to his usual Reservoir Dogs, Pulp Fiction, Even Money style rolls (BUT not to worry, like his roll of Archibald Cunningham in Rob Roy, he's seriously menacing)

worth watching IF you like historical drama or English history. repeats on the EPIX1 HD movie channel again wednesday sept 28th @ 4:00 am pacific time.

Things to Come (1936)

WOW!!! What a TURKEY!!!

screenplay was written by H. G. Wells and is a loose adaptation of his own 1933 novel The Shape of Things to Come. interesting to see what "futurists" like Wells thought the next 100 years would bring to the world. kinda funny how he got it just about ALL WRONG ex for the terror bombing of cities during WWII and they got the use of poison gas in those scenes incorrect.

probably a movie that the decendants of great actors like Raymond Massey, Ralph Richardson and Cedric Hardwicke would like to forget.

the whole damn movie looked like a propaganda argument for a "One World Order" style government.

Fallen (1998)

was on the HD Movie late last night and just happened to watch. started as a murder mystery and morphed into an "angles & demons" style psyco thriller. pretty good acting by Denzel Washington, John Goodman, Donald Sutherland and James Gandolfini and the plot had a bunch of crazy "twists"

I saved it on the DVR and will watch it again because it's a movie you just can't "page thru".