Movies you saw in August

The Aviator (2004) Leonardo DiCaprio's "tour de force" as Howard Hughes with Cate Blanchett as Katharine Hepburn, Kate Beckinsale as Ava Gardner, John C. Reilly as Hughes executive  Noah Dietrich, Alec Baldwin as PanAm chairman Juan Trippe and Alan Alda as Senator Owen Brewster of Maine. Matt Ross is excellent as Hughes's mechanic-engineer Glenn "Odie" Odekirk as is Ian Holm as Hughes advisor Professor Fitz

a great movie about a great man. Best Picture Oscar nomination for the movie which won the Gloden Globe. Best  Supporting Actress Oscar win for Blanchett and nominations for Best Actor - DiCaprio (who won the Golden Globe), Best  Supporting Actor - Alda and Best Director - Martin Scorsese. plays again on Encore-Classic Monday August 4th @ 8:50 am and Saturday August 9th on Encore (HD) @ 4:35 am and Encore-West @ 7:35 am. I am an aviation history NUT so I rate it of four

I got in on the tail end (last 30 minutes) of Deep Blue (2003) which is a 90 minute movie taken from the 2001 BBC nature documentary series The Blue Planet about life in the worlds oceans. the cinematography is absolutely spectacular as is the George Fenton classical style music score which is almost a symphony. excellent movie just to "mello out" with although it does have some "predator on prey" violence. I am going to record the repeat Tuesday August 8th @ 5:05 am & 2:15 pm on the Starz Kids & Family channel. no rating until I have viewed the whole movie

Mad Max 2: The Road Warrior (1981) the second of the Mel Gibson "Mad Max" post-apocalyptic action film trilogy. stars Gibson in the title roll along with Bruce Spence as Gyro Captain. still fun for action fans after all these years and has an unbelievable 100% "fresh" rating from Rotten Tomatoes as of February 2014 (which I think is a bit much). plays again on IFC Thursday August 7th @ 8:00 pm & 11;00 pm pacific time. recording is recommended because IFC is over-run with commercials. rate it of four

Monster (2003) Charlize Theron's "tour de force" as prostitute/serial killer Aileen Wuornos, who was executed in Florida in 2002 for killing six men. with Christina Ricci as Selby (based on Wuornos's real life lesbian lover Tyria Moore) and Bruce Dern as biker bar owner Thomas who befriends Aileen. BOTH the Best Actress Oscar and Golden Globe for Theron. her transformation from the stunningly beautiful Charlize into the skanky Aileen is absolutely amazing. excellent drama the actually garnered a lot of sympathy for the real life Wuornos. has an 82 % "fresh" from Rotten Tomatoes and many top critics thought it was the best movie of the year. plays again on showtime again Monday August 4th @ 5:00 pm, Wednesday August 6th @ 5:05 pm and Sunday August 8th @ 8:35 pm. all time pacific. rate it of four

Dude, Where's My Car? (2000) one of my favorite "stupid funny" movies with Ashton Kutcher and Seann William Scott as stoners Jesse and Chester. completely ridiculous plot BUT with lots of dumb but funny sight gags and lines. SO BAD I think it's GOOD. critics all hate it and it has an 18% fresh on Rotten Tomatoes BUT has gained a cult following and I think it's a fun only 80 minute movie. seems to be no "in between". people either LOVE it or HATE it. plays on Starz-Edge channel again Monday August 11th @ 9:20 pm pacific. "Party Like A Rock Star, Kick a Little Azz". rate it

reviewed The Crew (2000) end of last month. plays again on Showtime-Extreme Wednesday August 6th @ 1;20 am pacific and on their Flix channel Monday August 11th @ 12 noon pacific.

VERY funny "dark comedy" crime film staring Richard Dreyfuss, Burt Reynolds, Seymour Cassel and Dan Hedaya as four old retired "wise guys" living in an old Miami South Beach hotel BUT the place is being over-run with yuppy's and the management is trying to force them out. SO they decide to stage a fake murder to scare the yuppies off BUT the corpse they use is the body of drug cartel boss's father and everything gets CRAZY NUTS. also stars Jennifer Tilly (who has really gotten porky since staring in "Let It Ride" with Dreyfuss), Lainie Kazan and Miguel Sandoval as the cartel boss.

only runs 90 minutes BUT is packed with oodles of sight gags, funny lines and "screwball" situations. is one of the funnier movies I have seen recently and well worth recording. I laughed my butt off throughout. it is almost as funny as the mentioned "Let It Ride". Rotten Tomatoes says it STINKS, I think it's GREAT. rate a    of four

"Dude, Where's My Car" is one of a small handful of movies that I actually had to just fast-forward to the end because it was so god-awful bad.  It wasn't even stupid....it was something else below that.  A movie so bad that not even semi-hot girls could save it.   I felt dumber after watching it.  

like I said BWS77, people either LOVE it or HATE it.

GOOD to see you OUT the BOX

'Smiley Face'

From 2007, had never heard of it. Stoner comedy. Kinda fukin' funny!

re-visited Predator 2 (1990) last night on HD Net Movies channel. stars Danny Glover and Gary Busey with Ruben Blades and Bill Paxton. check out the late "trash TV" host Mort Downey as the obnoxious reporter Pope (must have been type casting). it is my favorite of the Predator or Predator vs Aliens series as I thought it was much better plot than the original with Schwarzenegger. my 2nd fav is Alien vs. Predator (2004). rate it

I would rate the Predator series in this order.

Predator with Arnold

AVP

Predators with Brody

Predators 2 with Busey

AVP Requiem

 

Just watched Rampart on Netflix. Wow what a movie. That has to be some of Harrelson's best work I think.

  I tried to watch it but i couldn t go past 20 min mark.
It failed to make me laugh . Most of jokes were predictable and i could see it coming, maybe that s why i didn t laugh. I figure it s the things to come so i stopped watching.

I've been meaning to watch that one..I remember Ebert gave it 4 stars.

Guardians of the Galaxy and enjoyed it at its best...a funny action movie

I like to take a libertarian attitude but how is this movie not a garage- sale scavanger -hunt? AO liked it so everything is cool .

then you missed the scene where the mouse burns down the drug lords house which was hilarious

Need for Speed - Pretty dope movie better then i thought it would have been

finally got to watch Nebraska (2013) staring Bruce Dern, June Squibb, Will Forte and Stacy Keach. "dark comedy" that got a bunch of Academy Awards nominations for for Best Picture, Best Director (Alexander Payne), Best Actor (Dern), Best Supporting Actress (Squibb) and Best Original Screenplay (Bob Nelson) BUT it is a very slow moving movie that had my Mrs falling asleep. has a few very funny lines and site gags but overall was pretty "arty-smarty" BOR-ing. it was like they made a movie about the family Thanksgiving dinners at my grandparents farm years ago when I was a kid.

plays again on the EPIX1 channel Friday August 15th @ 10:00pm and Saturday August 16th @ 3:00pm if you are interested. I rate it only    of four

 The Words (2012) .........movie about a guy that publishes someone elses book..........stars Bradley Cooper & Jeremy Irons...........interesting movie that could've been great...........on Showtime.

The Book Thief was near classic status.  I would give it 3.5 stars out of 4.  I highly recommend it, kind of sad how it ends but the ending is perfect which is rare for movies.

LeRink I'm shocked you think Predator 2 is the best of the series.  The original is the perfect action movie.  No dialog just Arnold vs the Alien in the jungle for an hour.  You will never see another movie like it again. The one with Brody was pretty good.  Predator 2 was downright awful and the worst of the series.  

Rampart is a nasty movie.  Enjoyed it but it's not a great movie.  Decent but how anyone could give it 4 stars is mindboggling.

 

Guardians of the Galaxy looks dumb.  Just has that feel to it, hope I'm wrong.  Will watch it at some point.  

Christine (1983) the John Carpenter directed horror-revenge classic from the Stephen King novel about a malevolent 1958 Plymouth Belvedere and the effect on it's owner and those around it. stars Keith Gordon as Arnie, Christine's teenaged owner, with John Stockwell and Alexandra Paul as Arnies friends. Harry Dean Stanton plays a police detective and has Robert Prosky in one of his best rolls as the junkyard/repair shop Darnell. GREAT 1950'-60's soundtrack. plays again on Sony movie channel Sunday August 17th @ 5:20 am and Thursday August 21st @ 4:20 am pacific time. it's a personal favorite so rate it

Black Robe (1991) story of the a a young French Jesuit priest trying to bring the Catholic faith to the indians in Quebec in the mid 17th century. has some decent action and Sandrine Holt who plays the Algonquin indian girl Annuka is a stone fox. it was a somewhat interesting history BUT rather slow at times. played on MGM movie channel. rate it

Henry V (1989) Kenneth Branagh in the title roll from the William Shakespeare play with the great Paul Scofield (best Actor Oscar for his portrayal of Sir Thomas More in the 1966 A Man for All Seasons) as the French King. also with  Derek Jacobi, Ian Holm, Emma Thompson, Judi Dench, Robbie Coltrane and Christian Bale. both Best Director and Best Actor Oscar nominations for Branagh. I think his St. Crispin's Day speech (aka Band of Brothers) one of the best ever. plays again on MGM channel Tuesday August 19th @ 12 mindnight. must see for Shakespeare fans and I rate it

St. Crispin's Day speech on YouTube >>> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=680NlRI3v2I

[Quote: Originally Posted by 165yds] The Book Thief was near classic status.  I would give it 3.5 stars out of 4.  I highly recommend it, kind of sad how it ends but the ending is perfect which is rare for movies.

[quote]

I didn't know Carpenter directed 'Christine'...No wonder I really like a movie with a stupid  f u c k i n g  premise.

I think Carpenter's use of that 1950's-60's soundtrack as "leitmotifs" for different scenes was brilliant. they had a 10 minute segment after the movie discussing how he and screen writer Bill Phillips came up with the idea. also thought Robert Prosky as the junkyard/repair shop owner Darnell was one of his best movie rolls ever. Christine probably appeals to anyone that was ever bullied in high school

watched the Robin Williams movie Good Will Hunting with Matt Damon (1997) over the weekend.1st time had seen it and thought Williams deserved his Best Supporting Actor. excellent story well acted by all involved. rate it of four

also re-watched his Dead Poets Society (1989), Cadillac Man (1990), One Hour Photo (2002), Awakenings (1990) and Jakob the Liar (1999). not really a fan of Dead Poets Society (just too depressing) BUT think  Cadillac Man, One Hour Photo and Jakob the Liar are ALL under-rated. Williams probably should have had another Best Supporting Actor for Awakenings with Robert De Niro. Jakob the Liar also a somewhat depressing "dark comedy" because of the story line (how do you make Polish j ew's trying to survive in a nazi getto funny?) BUT thought it was a very well acted Williams and the rest of the cast.

watched The Professional (aka Leon) (1994) once again last night for the hundredth time and it is STILL one of my all time favorite crime-action movies. has compelling characters, a pretty much non-stop action plot and even somewhat of a "father-daughter" love story.

looking at the 1994 Oscar nominee's and winners, I can NOT understand how this movie along with Jean Reno as Leon (one of the best "anti-hero's" ever), a then 13 year old Natalie Portman as Mathilda and esp Gary Oldman as the corrupt DEA boss Norm Stansfield did NOT get Oscar or Golden Globe nominations. probably not "arty-smarty" enough. Portman was for sure a better actress at that age then Tatum O'Neal was in her 1973 "Paper Moon" for which she got a Best Supporting Actress Oscar. Oldman as Stansfield is on numerous "best villians" lists and is probably the most evil psyco murderer since the Reverend Harry Powell in The Night of the Hunter. movie also features Danny Aiello as the mob boss Tony who Leon works for

I always thought they should have done a sequel 10 or 12 years later with Mathilda, now in her early 20's, either working for Tony OR the CIA "taking out the garbage" plays again on the Indieplex channel again Sunday August 24th @ 4:35 am and 4:05 pm pacific time. rate it

the professional - in my top 10, so many great performances, Oldman amazingly sinister as the corrupt DEA official.