Movies you saw for the first time July

Sleepers (1996) well acted legal drama with an All-Star cast including Robert De Niro, Brad Pitt, Kevin Bacon and Dustin Hoffman. plenty of "twists and turns" in the plot and definitely worth watching. it is inferred at the end that the cases of abuse at the reform school were based on true incidents. it's on Encore-Drama Fri July 5th @ 10:40 pm and again Sat July 6th @ 5:00 pm pacific time

The Professional  aka Leon (1994) I can just NOT up pass this classic gangster "shoot 'em up" when it's on TV. made stars out of Jean Reno as Leon and Gary Oldman as Stansfield. started a young Natalie Portman's film career as Mathilda. in my opinion, all three could have been nominated for Oscars. it's on the Sundance channel Fri July 5th @ 9:30 pm and re-peats Tue July 9th @ 6:30 pm pacific

I rate both movies    of three

other excellent actors I should have listed in Sleepers, Bruno Kirby as Shakes' Father (first big role was the young Clemenza in Godfather II), Vittorio Gassman as King Benny and Frank Medrano as the bodega owner Fat Mancho

I thought the four boys that played the young, Shakes, Michael, Tommy and John were also excellent in difficult roles esp when they were in Wilkinson. in order, Joseph Perrino, Brad Renfro, Jonathan Tucker and Geoffrey Wigdor. all are still active actors BUT with nothing as good as their work in Sleepers

got to thinking about Kevin Bacon as Nokes. seems like every role this guy plays is some kind of psycho nut. makes you wonder

considering that 1994 was a somewhat "weak year" for Best Actress and Best Supporting Actress nominees, I could definitely have seen Natalie Portman doing a Tatum O'Neal and winning an Oscar.

same with Gary Oldman. when have you seen a better acted menacing psycho villain as Norman Stansfield? it is a crime he is NOT even listed in the American Film Institute "Top 50 Villains" when they STILL have lame picks like "Man" in Bambi, "The Shark" in Jaws and "Martians" in War of the Worlds. his character IS listed @ #34 on the Flavorwire "The 50 Greatest Movie Villains of All Time"  

Hotel Transylvania (2012). I'm usually a sucker for "toon" movies like the Toy Story and Cars series. those along with Finding Nemo (2003) and WALL-E (2008) are some of my favorite movies of all time period BUT this mess from Sony is just plain stupid, NOT very funny and the CGI is weak. same with the recently viewed Pixar movie Brave (2012). VERY surprised John Lasseter's company would make absolute tripe.

BOTH are definite

Goon (2011) really FUN hockey themed comedy BUT don't think you need to be a hockey fan to enjoy it. bunch of really funny lines and "sight gags" throughout. fight at the end between Seann William Scott as Doug "The Thug" Glatt and Liev Schreiber as Ross "The Boss" Rhea with the finale music from Puccini's "Turandot" is spectacular. I put the coffee shop talk between the same two second only to the similar scene between Pacino and Deniro in Heat.

VERY under-rated movie that is quickly achieving Slap Shot like "cult" status. airs on Showtime channels late Fri July 7th @ 11:50 pm, early Saturday Sat July 8th @ 2:50 am and Thur July 11th @ 5:00 pm pacific time.   

Goon was really pretty good.

But it was almost like they couldn't decide if they were making a comedy or a drama.

I think it could have been an excellent movie if they had made it a drama about Liev Schreiber's character and what it's like to recognize the fact that you're being pushed out and replaced by the young guy.

You just watched these 2 movies?

obviously NOT BUT had been a long time since I had seen either Sleepers OR The Professional on a movie channel SO thought I would advise they were on for those that might like to watch or record

YOU got a PROBLEM with THAT?

Calm down. I was simply going by the title of this thread.

I will agree. LOT of funny lines and scenes BUT the story of Doug trying to "make it in the world" is actually kind of touching. he's a tough guy but NOT a bully. a real "gentle giant" that SO is nice to everyone he meets unless they give him crap. I find it really sad his parents crap all over his being a hockey player.

one character I could have done without in the cast was Jay Baruchel as that foul loud mouth "hanger on" Pat. I don't think the guy is really germane to the plot, NOT funny and is just plain annoying.

was cool to see former Canadiens and Penguins "inforcer" Georges Laraque in a couple of "cameo" fights. in real life, "Big Georges" would have beat the crap out of either Doug or Ross.

Coates was great

two funniest short scenes in the movie have to be Kim Coates as Coach Hortense "This AIN'T Fukking BASEBALL" speech and "Belchie" the goalie vs the two Russians screwing with his mask >>> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2xGKMVAB6SA "You Might Want to Wash before You Put On"

Splitting Heirs  (1993) pretty much unknown English "screwball" comedy written by Monty Python's Eric Idle who stars along with Rick Moranis, John Cleese, Barbara Hershey and Catherine Zeta-Jones. critics absolutely ripped on it (has an unreal low score of 8% on Rotten Tomatoes) BUT even though it starts out slow, it has a lot of "Pythonesque" lines and scenes and it gets "screwball" funny the 2nd half. Cleese as the comical villain Shadgrind is very funny.

it's on the Cinemax channels again Sun July 7th @ 1:45 am & 4:45 am and repeats Wed July 10th @ 12:35 am. runs just under 90 minutes. worth a watch/record IF you like Monty Python style English humor

Precious-

This is about a fat black chick that overcomes abuse. Usually these movies are uplifting, but this one lacked that to some degree. It was well acted. Mariah Carey plays a role with no makeup and a little mustache.

I watched...........Vicky, Christine, Barcelona...

Ya, kinda weak, but there were some smokestacks in this for sure. The Spanish countryside with the hotties keeps this thing mildy interesting. Scarlet Johnasen is nice.

Blow - with Johnny Depp

definitely under-rated Depp movie based on the life of cocaine smuggler George Jung. only - about the movie is it has Penelope Cruz as his wife and I can't STAND that B!TCH.

Elizabeth: The Golden Age (2007) sequel to the 1998 film Elizabeth both staring Cate Blanchett as Elizabeth I of England. BOTH are highly fictionalized for dramatic effect but good entertainment IF you like "The Tudors" style "English history". Jordi Molla as Philip of Spain is one wicked scary guy. excellent sea battle against the Spanish Armada at the end. the English use of fire ships in the battle is accurate BUT the fleet was lead by Sir Francis Drake NOT Sir Walter Raleigh as suggested in the film.

 IF you like "period pieces"  if not. on Showtime channels again Wed July 10th, Sat July 13th, Sun July 14th and Mon July 15th

Club Fed  (1990) definitely the WORST movie I have seen in YEARS. sat thru 1st 15 minutes and could feel my brain oozing out of my ears so just deleted it. only thing that could have made it worse would have been a rap "music" soundtrack

Lords of Dogtown (2005) In the mid-70's, a group of teen surfers from Venice, California formed a skateboarding team known as the "Z-Boyz", turning a fad into a sport by introducing a number of wild surfing-influenced moves that had not been seen before. The Z-Boys are the basis and stars of the film, but it's Heath Ledger as ''Skip Engblom'' (the Z-Boy's mentor), who steals the show.

Highly recommend it.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E0K6lUm5ynw

Elizabeth: The Golden Age (2007) sequel to the 1998 film Elizabeth both staring Cate Blanchett as Elizabeth I of England.

revisited the 1998 Elizabeth "prequel" to The Golden Age about the early part of her reign. more "court intrigue" in the 1998 film and it should really be viewed before The Golden Age. ending is almost a 16th century "Godfather" style "taking care of the family business". it's on Showtime daily Thur July 11th thru Mon July 15th and again Thur July 18th.

happened to catch Angel Heart  (1987) with Mickey Rourke, Robert De Niro and a VERY tasty Lisa Bonet. well acted psycho horror mystery with some crazy "plot twists" esp at the end. it's on Encore again Tue July 16th @ 10:40 pm  

Blow and Lords of Dogtown are some good flicks for sure.

Goons-

Somebody mentioned this movie. I really enjoyed it. It was real cheesie but had some laughs and likeable characters.

Machine Gun Preacher-

This movie is based off real events. A junkie turns preacher, then violent missionary in Africa. It was very mediocre but worth a watch if you are in a pinch.

I watched this last night for the 20th time. Talk about underrated movies.