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Harry's DVD Picks & Peeks - 4th Wk of Nov: Jackie Chan, Lou Reed, bad assery, Cujo and more!!!
Hey folks, Harry here with an on time DVD PICKS AND PEEKS! You know what that means? Yup, I’m caught up. So now I can bang out some film reviews I’m behind on – and I can start enjoying these Kurosawa films… well, you’ll see what I mean at the end of the column. As usual the Images and Titles will link you over to AMAZON where you can learn more – and if you care to purchase it via the link, you’ll have a small portion of your purchase price kick back to support this column. Now on time! Woo Hoo!!! SO – let’s jump in…
Tuesday, November 24th, 2009
ANGELS & DEMONS
You know… I know this is a big A film release, but it feels like a serial. You have this adventurous Professor Robert Langdon, on another wacky and deadly serious adventure regarding the Catholic Church. This time there’s an antimatter bomb, a murdered pope, kidnapped Cardinals and a devilishly hidden secret path to each Cardinals’ killing site. There’s all manners of cliffhangers and outrageously big sequences – and I’ll be damned if I didn’t have fun. And I absolutely enjoyed it on Blu Ray. I love Ewan’s character – and while I absolutely didn’t buy a second of the plot, I loved the fantasy of it all. Can’t wait to see how it all wraps up with the next one!
FUNNY PEOPLE
FUNNY PEOPLE didn’t hit wide audiences the way Apatow’s other works have, but then this isn’t like his other films. Oh sure, there are familiar cast members, similar beats and sources to the humor, but in the midst of it all is cancer, a story of life and death, sexual affairs and… well, pretty universally loathsome characters that really tend to treat each other rather shitty. But that is exactly what sets this apart from his work and makes it his best feature, even if it isn’t filled beginning to end with the “ha-ha’s” Sandler is fantastic here. So is Seth Rogen, who is most definitely not playing himself. If you missed this theatrically, you really do owe it to yourself to check it out on Blu.
GHOST IN THE SHELL 2.0 (Blu)
You should steer clear of this. Oshii pulled a Lucas on this – and started replacing the gorgeous animation of the original with really dodgy at best CG – and it just loses the soul of the original. You have been warned. Proceed at your own risk.
GOMORRAH (Criterion) (Blu)
Scorsese really got behind this brilliant modern mob film from Italy by Matteo Garrone. Now, don’t go into this with the polished mob work of Francis. Also, don’t bring the sleazy awesome of Fernando Di Leo’s mob pictures. This is a very frank and documentary like approach – but what you get from that is a very very frank look at what the modern mob looks like. Brilliant film and Criterion did a bang up job with this Blu. The print looks like a window into a rather terrible reality.
Here’s the extras:
FIVE STORIES – A 60 minute doc on how they made the film. Outstanding.
New Video interviews with the director and his star, Toni Servillo.
An Interview with screenwriter Roberto Saviano.
A short video with Servillo, Imparato and Cantalupo.
Deleted scenes, the trailer!
As usual, a great job!
THE MONSTER SQUAD (Blu)
The Alamo’s Zack & Quint are planning a naked watch party of this at the High Ball THANKSGIVING night. I actually don’t know that, but it is something I suspect. You see, both of these kids worship the living fuck out of this film. Much like my sister. So on the first THANKSGIVING, on which they can give thanks for Lionsgate giving us this Blu Ray release – I can just imagine Zack & Quint kicking each other in the nards, whilst dancing naked. I have to tell you, this vision makes me giggle. It really does. But if you’d like to see it for yourself – I dare you to drive by the High Ball THANKSGIVING night, where I suspect these two will going at it. Seriously though, that probably won’t happen. Probably. It has the same stuff as the earlier standard def release, only the film is in 1080 p – which is why Zack and Quint are naked celebrating. These are scary men.
ANGEL HEART (Blu)
Often times people ask me what is a good title to show off the awesome of Blu Ray. If you don’t know why this film is perfect for that, you’re probably emasculated… or unfamiliar with the greater glory of ANGEL HEART. First off – you have Robert De Niro playing Satan. You’ve got Mickey Rourke acting his ass off. You have an Alan Parker directed film that is stunningly captured. Oh. And there’s Lisa Bonet. This is a Hall of Fame fuck scene with Lisa Bonet – and I remember when I snuck in to see this with 3 other friends, because we were sophmores in High School, that had all cultivated hard ons for Lisa Bonet for years on the Cosby Show – and when we heard she had her tits out in ANGEL HEART – we were unstoppable. Noone could have kept us from seeing this movie… repeatedly. It nearly melted our brains, and ANGEL HEART is a wonderful wonderful film, but no film is more wonderful than the amazing sight of Lisa Bonet boning in this film. It’s a moment in life worth revisiting in the particular perfection of clarity that Blu allows us. Seriously… How many wanked it in the 80s on Skinamax with this film?
THE GOLDEN AGE OF TELEVISION (Criterion)
I’ve only had time to watch one of the Episodes of this amazing set, but at $35 – the set is completely worth it for the rare 1956 Live Telecast of REQUIEM FOR A HEAVYWEIGHT – written for the small screen by a young writer named Rod Serling. It starred Jack Palance, in a role that Anthony Quinn played when this award winning telecast was turned into a feature. What is preserved on this Kinoscope is an astonishing performance by Palance. But what blew me away was the amazing performance from longtime Vaudville and Slapstick comedian Ed Wynn in his sole dramatic performance. It also features his son Keenan Wynn, who is also amazing in the piece. The lovely Kim Hunter of PLANET OF THE APES fame figures prominently in things – and look for Max Baer to play a role too! This is an amazing drama – tremendously well done, especially for a live production. If you click over to Amazon at the above links – you’ll discover the other titles that are a part of this set. They are uniformly highly regarded. And I look forward to working my way through them to discover unseen performances by the likes of folks like Cliff Robertson, Edmund O’Brien, Mickey Rooney, Mel Torme, Paul Newman, Julie Harris, Piper Laurie, Andy Griffith as essentially Gomer Pyle, and Rod Steiger. You have commentaries by directors like John Frankenheimer, Ralph Nelson and Daniel Petrie Sr. There’s also interviews with the casts. This is a really remarkable set. We’re lucky that Criterion put this baby out!
CUJO (Blu)
The reason I don’t have a really big dog. There’s a movie coming… that mines some of the territory of this film. I won’t give the title away just yet, as it is probably most likely part of my line up for BNAT1138. But don’t we all love CUJO. I love how utterly fucked this situation gets. I love how it is essentially the most fucked version of OLD YELLER ever – and it is a testement to the genius of Stephen King – that he thought this story out completely. And really… haven’t you been dying to see that drool in crystal clarity? Just put the family pets in the backyard. You wouldn’t want to give them any ideas.
FRAILTY (Blu)
Brilliant directorial work from Bill Paxton. I LOVE this film. It is such a simple premise. A pair of brothers living with their father. One day, dad comes in and says, “Sons, God has given us a purpose. We’re demon killers” At that point he comes back with a lead pipe, a pair of old gloves and a hatchet and tells you they’re magical weapons from God to kill the Demons. And then there’s suddenly a list of demons, but with human names. And yup, you, your brother and pops are gonna go capture and kill these demons in human form. You’re gonna build a killing basement with your dad! Aren’t home projects the best? This is a scary film. Because, what if Dad isn’t crazy, what if he’s telling the truth? LOVE THIS FILM. Beautiful transfer.
THE WAY OF THE GUN (Blu)
A fucking brilliant action crime film directed by the writer of THE USUAL SUSPECTS and VALKYRIE! Christopher McQuarrie pointed at the far wall and sailed this film over it – and the entire country was looking the other way. There are fantastic movies that just fly past the vast populace that enjoys movies – and years later an opportunity like… the film hitting Blu Ray happens – and you have a chance to discover a film that can become incredibly addicting. I LOVE THIS FILM! I did not get sent a screener of this – but this is the film from this week that I am getting tomorrow. THE WAY OF THE GUN is just scary great. The score, editing, sound design, writing and performances are universally great. Turn the sound up, and if you have the right Home Theater – this film will knock your ass in the dirt. Can’t wait to pick this Blu up!
SUPERMAN: THE COMPLETE ANIMATED SERIES
Frankly – wait. Even if this never comes on Blu-Ray, which it will eventually. You don’t want double sided discs? Right? I hate those things. Wonderful series, shame it gets treated like this.
NEW POLICE STORY (Blu)
It is hard to believe that the last completely cool Jackie Chan film was 5 years ago with this. I really enjoy this film – and getting it in Blu Ray is a treat. Yes, I know Jackie did KUNG FU PANDA, but I wouldn’t call that a Jackie Chan film. Also, he was very good in THE FORBIDDEN KINGDOM, but that also didn’t feel like a Jackie Chan film, but rather a film that had Jackie Chan in it. NEW POLICE STORY is 100% a Jackie Chan movie – and he’s really really great in it. I like the story and the action – and he’s doing quite a bit with his character. Check it out!
ROCK AND RULE
Do you remember this crazy bit of awesome? It never got theatrical release in the United States – because somebody had their head up their own ass. Now don’t get me wrong, the animation is shoddy, some of it is clumsy – but dammit the music makes this other wise limp dick hard to fuck up. The soundtrack kicks ass with 4 songs from Deborah Harry, 3 songs from Cheap Trick, 2 songs from fucking Lou Reed, a song by EARTH WIND & FIRE, and a song by Iggy Pop. That… by itself… is the reason to have this incredibly bizarre and rocking film. How can you not want it? How many animated films with music by Lou Reed do you know?
That’s it for today! And I’m officially caught up. I’m working my way through Criterion’s huge Akira Kurosawa – 100th Birthday set:
AK 100: 25 Films Of Akira Kurosawa (Criterion Collection)
This doesn’t come out till the second Tuesday of December – but it has 4 Kurosawa films that have never been released in the United States prior to this. As I’ve been working on the column tonight, I decided to give one of these a peek… SANSHIRO SUGATA from 1943. The film is still missing 17 minutes of the original cut – and yes, it is Kurosawa’s first film – and you know what I’m discovering tonight? Kurosawa had it from the beginning. The thing that’s boggling my mind is the idea that during World War II, Akira Kurosawa was shooting a Samurai flick. And it is pretty damn good! I plan to watch all 25 films prior to the release of this set, but if you’re putting together wish lists for your family and friends to pick up for you – you should definitely put this on the list!
Come back next Tuesday when we’ll be truly irate about TERMINATOR SALVATION, NIGHT AT THE MUSEUM: BATTLE OF THE SMITHSONIAN – while praising things like LOCK, STOCK AND TWO SMOKING BARRELS (blu), SNATCH (blu), MST3k: XVI limited edition, 5th Season of SNL, INTO THE STORM, THE MASK OF ZORRO (Blu), THE GREEN MILE (Blu), GIMME SHELTER (Criterion Blu), A CHRISTMAS TALE (Criterion Blu), PAPER HEART, SECONDHAND LIONS (Blu), SILENT NIGHT DEADLY NIGHT 3,4,5 box set, GREMLINS (Blu), THE JAZZ SINGER, FLAME & CITRON, DEATH WARRIOR, WHITE OUT and that’s about it.
See you in a week!
Here’s the extras:
FIVE STORIES – A 60 minute doc on how they made the film. Outstanding.
New Video interviews with the director and his star, Toni Servillo.
An Interview with screenwriter Roberto Saviano.
A short video with Servillo, Imparato and Cantalupo.
Deleted scenes, the trailer!
As usual, a great job!
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Alot of other good flicks this week too. Wish Monster Squad was on Blu.
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what kind of extras, if any, are on the Angel Heart Blu?
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Way to ruin the movie in the third sentence, dick.
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"Not So Funny People" would've been more apt.
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It's bad enough that you're a shill for Disney, but your street cred is in the negative numbers at this point.
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The book is great, even the kid dies at the end its that depressing! But the film is shockingly bad.
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Gomorrah.
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Monster Squad is on Blu....
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He plays a character called Louis Cyphre - it's not exactly the most closely guarded plot point is it?
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another movie and not just write for Singer. I remember The Way Of The Gun when it was released on video, I liked it a lot. The was one great funny scene when a guy jump into fountain and it turns out it's full of broken glass... Ouch. And alson, it has Del Toro in it.
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had more than just Lisa fucking, right? There was actually a pretty decent story, great acting and Rourke in his young prime.
put it back in your pants. -
whoa, what the hell is the deal with that? you're saying a bunch of people are gonna get together at a movie theater, get naked and watch Monster Squad? that is either the stupidest idea I've ever heard or the greatest idea I've ever heard, I can't say I want to see Quint naked, but of there were hot nerd babes there sign me up! it's too bad though that I got a bit f a pot-belly from spending too much time on the internet, but hey, I got a pretty good sized dick!
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Jackie Chan is DEAD now. There's this chinese corpse doing films with Will Smith's son that sort of resembles him, but the real Jackie Chan DIED years ago. I weep everytime I watch Drunken Master 2.
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Why? Dee Wallace is FANTASTIC, the cinematography by a pre-Die Hard Jan De Bont is ace, and it's overall just well-constructed and SCARY as fuck. Whose balls DON'T crawl up a little when confronted by a large, growling dog? That's the genius of Stephen King...taking a simple, universal phobia or fear and leaning on it mercilessly (like the wonderful "Something To Tide You Over" segment of Creepshow...just the idea of being buried up to the neck in sand at the beach while the tide is coming in is scarier than anything else in that movie). Honestly, Cujo is terrific, but then again, 1983 was a good year for superior King flicks (Christine, The Dead Zone)."Cujo's not hungry no more. Not no more..."
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that movie scared me so bad as a kid (as did allot of Stephen King movies), it was one of the few horror movies I saw that could plausibly happen and the idea of a cute dog turning into a monster was so disturbing, honestly is it any wonder that I would grow up to become a big Stephen King fan?
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Nov 24, 2009 7:17:51 AM CST
heck you could even say it's more plausible than Jaws
by the_crimson_king
Jaws scared allot of people because being eaten by a shark is something that could really happen too, but there's still allot of unrealistic things about the shark's behavior in Jaws and besides I'm not gonna look up any actual statistics, but I'm willing to bet more people are killed by dogs than sharks, I'm not saying Cujo is a better movie than Jaws, but calling it "shockingly bad" is wrong
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...bitter disappointment. Call me a romantic, but sex combined with blood and dead chickens or whatever it was soured the mood completely.Complete system failure at liftoff.I was hardly a man of the world at that point, so I don't know exactly what I was expecting. I guess I was wishing she had fallen on harder times and ended up in HOLLYWOOD HOT TUBS or something instead.
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...to see angle heart.
All I remember were LB's tits and totally being blow away that I didn't get louis cypher until MR figured it out.
Stupid kid I was... -
I saw this pic in an issue of People magazine relating to GOMORRAH http://tinyurl.com/y8d2ngt and I WTF'd times a 1000, seriously what the fuck is going on there? I guess I'll just have to see the movie, but that pic makes me laugh my ass off, I mean two scrawny dudes in their underwear carrying guns while walking next to a river?
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Enough said.
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Cause I think its awesome to this day. I get chills just thinking of the first scene where he's pretty near rabid and resists hurting his owner and his very first kill scene. And then there's the Who's the Boss kid w/ his eyes rolling back in his head. What's not to like?
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It was a jujitsu/judo film; in general, the lack of swords should have tipped you off. Small note: the lead character turned up later as an older detective in High and Low.
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Yes, I know that now. I was just putting the film in, and had just seen the image on the box - and my first thought was - Samurai. Amazing what you learn about a film after you've seen more than a still and a title.
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Being as all the American actors in it were prisoners of war corralled into the movie. It's not a great film, but that one fact alone makes it a very creepy and interesting viewing experience.
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starring in The Spy next door?!?
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Seriously, don't you have a goddamn soul?
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actually it is!
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You have restored my faith in humanity. I'd never met anyone that didn't openly share my love with CUJO. That muddy bloody St. Bernard gave me a wicked set of the shiveys...
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Holds up amazingly well. I was very hesitante to see. "MY NAME" CHE-CHE "IS HORACE" so I wated like 2 years before picking up the DVD. And surprisingly it held up great. One of the few movies to visit from my past that was still as good.
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the spy next door looks awful. poor jackie chan.
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Cannot wait to see this film!!! ITS NEXT UP ON MY QUEUE! I GOT A MOVIE IN! But its on short wait! AHHHH I'm gonna be pissed if they don't send it. Been dying to see this. I used to live in Naples, seeing the trailer I was like!! Fuck me that's were I used to hang out.
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I worship Lou Reed.
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According to this http://www.criterion.com/films/12522 it is. And Harry, I'm not the biggest scholar, but I think that Seven Samurai was his first samurai movie, although he had done period pieces in the 40s and early 50s (Rashomon, Sugata). I still prefer Stray Dog from that time until Seven Samurai changed the game forever.
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The dude that wrote the book, is under 24 hour protection who has to move like every other day or something. I wonder if that is still in effect.
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If you like Lou Reed, then you'll love robotic Lou Reed http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BMIgZmmO1c4
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I know another "book" came out, but is the project a definite go? The last movie is, as Harry said, a complete and silly fantasy. But what hurt it most was that it was kinda boring. I wanted to fast-forward through it mentally for most of the movie. Ron Howard needs to get away from these movies and re-learn his love of films, methinks.
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Also saw that for the first time like a year ago. Cool creepy film. Whatever happen to Mickey Rourke?
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Seeing as his first movie was "Grand Theft Auto," he should make a video game movie with a badly-wigged Tom Hanks as Tommy Vercetti in Grand Theft Auto Vice City.
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Yeah thats what we need, a GTA movie rated PG.
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It was 2 and a half hours watching characters I did not like and I did not care what happened to them.
The only saving grace of this film was Jonah Hill. Sadly he is hardly in the film... -
Sorry all, but age catches up to you eventually. Even with that, Remember that no matter how many crappy american flicks Jackie makes, the money from those movies he uses to fund kick ass movies featuring new kids he discovered like Gen X Cops and the new movie Coweb. Also, his kick ass stuff he's saving for Asian markets. Shinjuku Incident was kick ass for him,though more of a crime movie, and his upcoming remake of Jet Li's Shaolin Temple with him, Andy Lau, Nicolas Tse and Jacky Wu Jing looks like it will kick all kinds of ass next year. He's also about to start shooting one final Armor of God film. Harry, try tracking down Shinjuku Incident. You'll find that New Police Story wasn't the last kick ass movie he did.
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Nov 24, 2009 9:26:59 AM CST
"Evil spelled backwards is live, and we all want to do that, don
by billyeveryteen
Rock and Rule rocked! I love how the band is angrly wailing about the shithole they live in, then after they get elecrtostoned, they sing a happy tune about their Ohmtown.And yes Yoko, Reed is a god.
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Harry, please don't let your sister anywhere near the Highball on Thanksgiving.
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Nov 24, 2009 9:55:40 AM CST
What about that movie mans best friend?
by supercowbell5thecowbellhasspoken
Came out in the mid 90s if I remember. It was a rip off of cujo, but it was hilariously bad. It used to scare the shit outta me when I was a kid though.
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I've had that DVD for at least 3 years now, so why is it listed? Got it along with BC Rocks.
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Nov 24, 2009 10:08:33 AM CST
And where's my Rumble in the Bronx bluray damn it
by supercowbell5thecowbellhasspoken
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Fuck you too! That's just...Jesus!
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Yes they have changed some of the animation and even the sound effects but you did not mention that the original version is also on the disc. This is the only way to get GITS on Blu-ray and it is a terrific disc. It's also been out at Best Buy for over a month.
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...he's been a free ticket to cool music cred for far too long. I'm waiting for the backlash so aspiring music hipsters have to go out on a limb...really take a risk and say they worship STRYPER or some such.No free rides.
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Lou Reed is fantastic in Rock and Rule.
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He's really the only living rock figure that could go toe-to-toe with The Sovereign in The Venture Brothers. Maybe Jimmy Paige too, since he worships the devil and all (but he might be a better as an aquaintence of Dr. Orpheus).
Me likely the Kurosawa collection even though it does not include The Quiet Duel, Dersu Uzala, Ran, Dreams, and Rhapsody in August. Why not? -
Ghost In The Shell 2.0 also includes the ORIGINAL VERSION, so you shouldn't skip it as Harry suggests. Man, things will only go more downhill on AICN once Harry has a kid.
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It's 'no one,' and when the game is lost you 'lose,' not 'loose.'
Do they have schools in Texas? -
Some of those are his most interesting movies. I'm guessing there might have been a rights problem with some of the later ones, but skipping a great early Toshi-Kuro collaboration, The Quiet Duel, makes no sense. And Dersu Uzala would probably make my Top 3 Kurosawa movies; to me, it's THE best man-vs-nature movie ever made.
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Full name Mok Swagger,but Mick Jagger threatened to sue if they used it.
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Before I come over there and fuck start her head". Best. Line. Ever.
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Does anyone know which version this is? I have it on dvd but I've read on other boards that there is an 'original' version that is longer, with (some) different voice actors, and different editing. Thanks.
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but I do love Rock and Rule.
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From one of the Amazon reviews-
"Perhaps the real gem is the alternate Canadian version of Rock & Rule presented here in fullscreen format. The main differences are that a different actor was used to voice Omar, much of the dialogue is more risque, and it runs a few minutes longer in the credits. The original negatives for this version were lost in a fire and the best remaining print source was used, so the quality is sometimes not too great and has imperfections, yet it's well worth watching." -
Those of you who know only "Walk on the Wild Side," get some VU + Nico and (especially) White Light, White Heat --ASAP.
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Nov 24, 2009 1:27:55 PM CST
Way of the Gun proves that Bryan Singer is talentless.
by liesandpicturesofalsolies
In that Usual Suspects is all the screenplay and twist. Without that fucking amazing twist that ties everything together, that movie would be so shoddy. The directing still is shoddy, but it is forgivable for a gritty crime film.
Also, Cujo is a pretty good movie, not great, but scary as hell. I also love the fact that Stephen King has no recollection of writing the book because he was so hammered at the time. -
... that mines the same territory as CUJO is ... SANTA BUDDIES. Disney decided to go in a different direction - darker, more intense.
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... is the music, why not just get the CD imported?
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... I love me some ROCK'N'RULE. I effing love that movie. Despite the shoddy animation, which I never saw as shoddy so much as that weird style that was popular with low-budget animators for, like, a week in the 80s.
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I've met Dan Pintauro a few times in my life on different occasions and got to talk to him and he's actually a pretty cool dude. We did discuss the forever-scary CUJO and how it haunts me to this day. I happened to be wearing a CUJO t-shirt the second time and honestly had not thought about the connection. I just dig the shirt (www.fright-rags.com IT'S AWESOME!) and felt like a first class tool after I realized what I had done. I wear one of about 10 horror t-shirts in near constant rotation, and that's one of them. OOPS!
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The animation is "shoddy?" Uh, Harry, did you see the same film I did?
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Speaking of ROCK & RULE, I much prefer the company's TV special, ROMIE-0 AND JULIE-8. Nelvana kicked ass on that one and it absolutely should be out on DVD. A COSMIC CHRISTMAS as well, while we're on the subject.
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Both the movie and the film were mediocre at best, unless you experienced them as a very young kid (which appears to be the case here). And correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't CUJO the book that King claims to have written in such a coked-up state that he doesn't even remember writing it?
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Now you frighten me. I was actually going to sit through Angels & Demons on DVD because the preview looked kind of fun, but I didn't go to see it in the theater because I thought Davinci Code was ungodly boring. I'm sure I'll still sit through it at some point, but is it actually more boring than the original?
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He sounds like a wailing cat. He can't hold a tune to save his life. He's vile, which is why he's perfect as Mok Swagger.
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than the first one. Better story and acting. Unfortunately, people here would rather see shit like Ultraviolet Part Billion,
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have you seen the shinjuku incident? it's probably one of chan's best performances in i don't know how long.
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Singer had nothing to do with "The Way Of The Gun". It was made by the guy who was "all screenplay and amazing twist".
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I really enjoyed it, actually wanted to go back and see it again after about 3 weeks or a month and it wasn't playing anywhere anymore. Then I thought I'd wait for the second run $3 theater. And then, nothing. Damn. Might pick this up tonight.
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Very well acted.
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The thing that stands out in my mind was the 360 degree pan inside the car that was a nice effect and little Danny Pintauro crying, crying, crying his eyes out. I wasn't a parent when I originally saw it, but just the thought of that little boy crying like a wreck unnerves me.
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Nov 24, 2009 3:24:01 PM CST
Harold! Shinjuku Incident! Scottadkinsfist is Right Jackie's sti
by charyoutree
Shinjuku Incident was great and even Rob-B-Hood was better than most of his American cack, plus it had Yuen Biao in it, which is worth it alone.
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that is DaVinci and this (just like I could give a rats ass about Twilight). But, this looks to be a helluva lot better than the first, so I may give it a try. Its "24-like" all in one day...yes?
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Who started this 24 comparison nonsense?
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Would be awesome except for those of us who already have most of his stuff. Hope they release the 5 other movies separately.
Plus, the discs are stripped of all extras, and Seven Samurai is on one disc...have fun with the compression on that. -
Nov 24, 2009 4:07:27 PM CST
Hey idiot who claimed Way of the Gun proved Singer is talenteles
by spectrebeeyatch
He didn't direct that movie dumb ass try again. There are a couple movies out that I want on DVD and I'm glad because I haven't had any movies to buy in a while.
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Bill Paxton definitely has potential to be one of the upper tier of actor cum directors....if he gets some more directorial work.
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Even though he had nothing to do with the movie...
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He's made some strides since then with movies like Flags, but back then I wouldn't be caught dead watching one of his movies.
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SO obvious, in your face. The actors they got to play the two kids as adults even LOOKED like their opposites from how the film made it seem so the "twist" was to me totally revealed the minute they showed the two adult actors. "Okay, YOU look like ... " "and YOU look like ... Hmmmm." I never once bought into that. And what's more, why give the obvious pandering ending? Leave it up to US to decide if it's real or not.
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One of the few times I've been very glad a movie has played on On Demand at the same time the flick was in theatres. It was playing nowhere near me, but I still got to see it. And it was really great.
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and Air Bud is the citizen Kane.
J/K But Cujo did to Rottweilers what Jaws did to Sharks. -
either here or in HercVault. John Crichton weeps....
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gave me a bonetr during Angel Heart
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He was a St. Bernard. You're thinking of MAN'S BEST FRIEND, who was half rottie.
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Um ... this DVD has been around for quite a while now from Unearthed ... great transfer of the U.S. cut (which unfortunately has Paul Le Mat as the lead voice), and a lousy bootleg-quality transfer of the highly-preferable Canadian cut. The difference between the two is that the U.S. version is a PG movie, while the Canadian version, which refers to the demon as "Satanic" (instead of the "otherworldly" reference in the U.S. cut), has some disturbing images towards the end and lots more drug use, is maybe a PG-13-to-light-R. The Canadian version also makes a lot more sense. It also has the original Nelvana cartoon special (ala "Rome-O and Julie-8" or "Cosmic Christmas"), "The Devil And Daniel Mouse", which inspired ROCK & RULE. Like I said, it's been out for years now, is this a re-release? And they need to package it with the Marvel comic adaptation, which used frames from the movie in a beautiful glossy edition and is how most U.S. kids knew about it back in the day. Oh, AND a legit soundtrack album.
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At what point did I say that Bryan Singer directed Way of the Gun? My whole point is that Way of the Gun is a good movie with a good director (which Bryan Singer is not).
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I'm not fuckin' kidding. I haven't exactly been on the Seth Rogen hatewagon but I wouldn't say I was actively seeking his work out, but holy shit did I love Observe & Report. It's like a bizarro alternate reality. Also, I just bought the movie for 9 bucks at Best Buy the other day, which was sweet since I'll be rewatching the fuck out of it.
On that note, maybe I'll put Funny People in my Netflix queue. Maybe. -
the book that Angel Heart was based on. It's really really good.
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I have to land on the dislike side of this film (and book TBH). It's basically 2 hours of a woman and her kid stuck in a small car in the middle of nowhere. Yes there are tense moments but the whole thing felt like a stretched out TV show to me.
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Why can't we comment in the amazon advertisements that Herc puts up? Seems kinda silly since we're the ones buying the discs?
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Waiting for the blu release of that BRILLIANT series. Hands down best sci-fi on television that nobody saw.
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Nov 24, 2009 10:29:09 PM CST
Man, I don't care what you think about me.
by liesandpicturesofalsolies
It doesn't change the fact that Bryan Singer is terrible.
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[re: Rock and Rule] I just (stupidly) assumed there wouldn't be any info on Amazon. Thanks again. I'll look next time.
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Jake - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Qyl2Vt9seM Neytiri - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FY_RTaKbSiE Dr. Augustine - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K4mJUkGVKlI Selfridge - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T2kUOrr7zZM Chacon - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uyeTXZ6NcKk Thanator - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A2FAVxbXWRI AMP Suit - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PzyC_66id_I The Scorpion - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cM-DR8itsCw
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I contacted Criterion about the Seven Samurai single disc. They said that it uses the same master as the new 3 disc release. However, since the commentaries and extras are stripped off, the movie fit on a single disc. Kurosawa is my fav. director, but this box set really is a disappointment. Coming from Criterion, it is really shocking. None of the Eclipse discs have been remastered. All 5 of them are the same as the Postwar Kurosawa box set discs. No extras, linen bound (not even leather bound) and a pretty useless book make this a sad Criterion release.
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want to keep you from seeing Angel Heart? Did you say something bad about HERMANS HERMITS?"Noone could have kept us from seeing this movie…"
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Was that the one where the dog had chameleon DNA combined with his own and had the ability to "blend in" with his surroundings like the fucking Predator's cloaking device? Hilarious.
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Don't worry, I understood what you meant. Some talkbackers are a bit on edge and like to take insult where none really exist.
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Nov 25, 2009 3:00:46 AM CST
Frailty is awful. Also, why diss the animation from Rock N Rule?
by pop_aristocrat
Rotoscope classic. Poor design choice with the animal hybrid thing, but the motion is fluid. It made Nelvana a staple of our youth.
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He stopped pre production on Armour of God 3 to do an american crappy done-to-death cop-babysitter film. This alone proves he is FUCKING DEAD.
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Must. Have. It.I also call bullshit on "Rock N Rule." The animation is NOT "clumsy," but it IS uneven in parts. There are some pretty amazing work in that movie.
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Looks like pure ass turd.
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I have high hopes for the sequel, The Lost Symbol is written like a movie, takes place in a very short period of time, has huge action set pieces, should be decent if they get a cast as good as Angels
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The book is great, i read that an impressionable age and it made me terrified of those bloody dogs, but the film never did it for me. Doesnt the film have a different ending?
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Thank you, my internet amigo.
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for making me want to see Angels and Demons. My boycotts never stand strong.
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...Harry comes acrosslikesome dangerous, mysoginistic, sex-starved predator with his objectification of Lisa Bonet.*shudder*
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TWOTG has a great scene with Sarah Silverman. She plays "The Raving Bitch" and she gets punched in the face to shut her up. It is great to me and I like SS, but sometimes she does need to get punched to shut-the-fuck-up. That scene was on youtube and it may still be there. I highly endorse it.
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It's one of the stupidest movies I've seen in years, which is what makes it fun. I can just imagine Ewan McGreggor reading through the script twice and laughing his head off whilst saying to his agent: "You've gotta be fucking kiddin' me, right? Is this thing real? And I'm playing THIS guy?" before laughing for another hour and a half.
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Consider the mind--the strange, inscrutable mind--that realized if they wanted to jack up sales of "Frailty"'s Blu release, they could just design the cover to look kind of like "Twilight" or "New Moon". I kind of wish this film had been released on Blu a couple of years ago, so we could see the marketing hacks design a cover resembling something from Pirates of the Caribbean...
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Perfect morning coffee read. I hope you dedicate a full AICN feature to that Kurosawa set.
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Nov 25, 2009 8:21:21 AM CST
Cujo the Book was great, the film was average
by nomoredirtyjokespleaseweareyanks
till the last 20 min, then it goes pretty apeshit. Wish they had of killed the kid though.
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Superman set, this is the only time since reading the dvd reviews that I would love to own most of the items listed. I have a special place in my heart for each of those films. I don't get the hate for Frailty. It's original and pretty fucking scary. I wish the ending would have been left a little more open but thats kind of nitpicking
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You should seek out a great film called Get Crazy for the wifey..Lou Reed plays a Dylanesque
character named Auden, Malcom Mcdowell play a Jagger like clone named Reggie Wanker. It is an Alan Arkush directed comedy about the closing of a rock palace on N.Y.E.
It has a slew of Roger Corman stable stars..The hook on it is real rock and roll stars play non rocker parts and the actors play the rock stars..It is dated slightly being filmed in the 80's but it is a lot of fun..This is a hard to find film but worth seeking out..It really deserves a DVD release... -
Seemed to excel in the girlfriend bitch role, see Evolution/School Of Rock. Too bad critics have labelled her some sort of "comedy genius".
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Whatever happened to Alan Parker?
And thanks for giving away DeNiro's identity in the movie for those who hadn't seen it. Sure you ruined it for them. -
Would pick up Danny Torrance at 40 and working in a hospice. According to a report in the Observer.
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Or standard dvd? And is it the original or the Neil Diamond version? Fuck, I will pray for Neil Diamond version on Blu - I fucking love that film.
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Wow... that doesn't sound like a very good idea.. King isn't even half the writer he was back when he wrote "The Shining". And yet part of me is very interested in this news.
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This time with a good director. The book was pretty good and yet the film fizzled, I seem to recall. Or maybe I need to see it again. Dunno, but I remember being pretty disappointed afterwards. Actually come to think of it, today they would probably have a CG St.Bernard and fuck the whole thing up all over again..
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And Maconahey-hey finally got to keep his shirt on and rely on acting. I liked Frailty... As for Cujo, I saw it wayyyy too young and now I still take two steps back when I see a freaking rottweiler...
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I guess I am cured then !
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(and God knows there are enough clues) doesn't detract from the movie, just like knowing Pacino's in The Devils Advocate. Its watching the protaganist's journey downward (or not) thats the story.
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You mean Devil's Avocate is about the devil? Damn you have RUINED MY LIFE !!!!
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Nov 25, 2009 1:43:07 PM CST
There's another horror film called Rottweiler isn't there?
by rene_belloq_12inch_figure
about a robot dog.
Cujo should maim Beethoven and Beethoven's Second -
I just watched the trailer for Rottweiler...HILARIOUS !!! I would love to have a killer robot dog....
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ooh, the dog is mean. Just fucking shoot it.
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I'll leave it to myself that Vader is Luke's father and Bruce Willis is a dead man, then..BTW, is it mere coincidence that the 3 major male acting forces of the '70s..DeNiro, Pacino and Nicholson have all portrayed the devil? Still think Ray Wise did the best though.
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I don't know why he's not in more stuff. He's my hero since Twin Peaks. Scary Fucker! and Business Hugs.
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In little nicky... How dare you ! That was the performance of a lifetime !!!!
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When you are 5 and your cousin is forcing you to watch it.....My revenge is set....as soon as I see him again I'll make him watch Mamma Mia!!!! (evil laughter)....
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Peter Cook, Elizabeth Hurley, Peter Stormare, Viggo Mortensen, Victor Buono, Jeff Goldblum and Trey Parker.
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Blast from the past....I had to look up Viggo Mostensen and saw he was the one in The Prophecy ? I remember loving that film... Don't remember Jeff Goldblum playing the devil at all... Of course I was pulling your leg with the Harvey Keitel comment. Out of the big 3 I pick Jack.... I think the devil should look like Jack and talk like Jack...
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I'm part of a pitbull advocacy group, so I hve some Statistics for you here. Three people per year are killed by dogs-to give you some perspective, 3 children per day die at the hands of thier parents. The most common dog to bite and or attack you would be a labrador-which makes Cujo even scarier, since he was the loving family pet that you don't expect to attack you. These numbers are kind of products of the odds tho, cuz 50% of pet dogs in this country are retriever types. As for sharks, there are 50-70 shark attacks per year, with 5-15 fatalities. All in all, Cujo was scarier, not because the odds are higher, but because the story is more plausible. Sharks don't hold grudges, and patrol the beach looking for food, great whites normally attack out os confusion, not anger. Then again, rabid dogs don't sit and wait outside your car either...all in all, Cujo was much better in my opinion...sorry for the long comment
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where Goldblum plays a serial killer that may or may not be the devil...As far as Jack...yup, the devil should be a horndog, and his WOMEN! speech in the church in Eastwick is classic. I did like the snake oil salesman technique Wise used in Reaper though.
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did anyone ever think, "If only that mom and her kid hadn't been driving a Pinto?" you know damn well that car's not gonna start...
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if his rabies had progressed to that point-he would have died very quickly...within hours, not days
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what happened to Mickey Rourke/ He's enjoying a HUGE comeback, with Sin City as his springboard, Aronofsky's The Wrestler? great film...the upcoming expendables? I'm happy to see Mickey back in the spotlight...Can't wait for Sin City 2!
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Little movie called Iron Man 2. Also called striking while the iron is hot, no pun intended. Methinks Series was being sarcastic.
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i'm pretty stoned right now, so sarcasm vie type was a little lost on me haha...
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I wanted to love it - I often love such experimental "failures" - but found it disappointing and plodding.
"Gomorra" is great. Esp the Massive Attack track over the end credits. -
to tighten the material and keep the movie on focus. And that producer would be...oh...Judd Apatow. The director. And writer. No wonder it was the movie that just kept going and going and going.My daughter and I rewatched Liar Liar last night, and that clocked in at about an hour twenty. I said if it was made today it would be 2 hours long with a lot of padded scenes. Yes, it was a gimmick movie, but aren't Apatow's also, in a way.
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It felt like it turned into a Lifetime movie about halfway in.
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After Cujo, my favorite killer dog movie.
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Do I win a prize ?
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GOTTA love MAN'S BEST FRIEND. The scene where MBF swallows the cat? It is pure cinema gold: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QSlFOaFQJpU
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Apatow has Rob Zombie and Water Shit Anderson syndrome, he wants to put his family/wife all of his movies that second part was such a waste of time. To me, give me a movie about the goings ons and how hard it is when you start a career as a standup comic, that shit was golden, the backstabbing, making friends with somebody who is famous. That was golden, I didn't give a shit about the family or the kids on the second half.
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Someone 'lifted' the sound from that scene and put it with a clip of the Superfriends. Silverman is the voice of WonderWoman, her boyfriend is Superman and she's raging on Batman and Aquaman.There used to be a tinyurl of it, funny as hell!
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Nov 25, 2009 11:22:39 PM CST
Just saw funny people man that movie was almost a
by supercowbell5thecowbellhasspoken
great flick but damn it was fucking frustrating and felt like two different movies. Adam sandlers character was a nice guy one moment, and a fucking douchebag outta nowhere in another. And then they go to his ex girls house for a good fucking 40 mins in the movie giving it a fuckin completely different vibe and ends that part of the movie on a sour note. Also, I don't need to fucking see 3 different scenes of slow songs making Adam sandler get emotinal. Apatow mustve fired his editor.
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Cujo, Alligator (scared the SHIT out of me catching it on TV as a kid), and even Cat's Eye (which is actually a more consistent Stephen King anthology film than the overlong Creepshow). If they remade Cujo now, the dog would be CGI for half the running time, there'd be a blaring Hans Gregson-Jablonsky "musical" score, and there'd be shakey-cam attack sequences. Fuck the haters, Cujo is pretty much the best possible "big dog attacking people stuck in a car" movie that can possibly be made. Hey, maybe if Dee Wallace shot her kid, then got out of the car to discover the dog had died on it's own, people would like it more...
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"Ravenous" (the terrible and already used once title) AKA "Burning Bright" MUST be the BNAT "Cujo" inspired film. I've been racking my brain trying to decode Harry's clues (but that's part of the fun!) Anyway, "Burning Bright" sounds fantastic; an original idea in the horror genre! I also have detected clues from Harry's Twitter Accoun that convince me we'll be seeing "Legion" as well. I'm getting pumped!!!
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Fantastic post, illustrating just about everything wrong with the horror movie industry right now - and the thing is? You're totally right. ALL the things you mentioned are precisely what WOULD happen. Not what MIGHT. What WOULD. You forgot ONE thing, though. You forgot the interview with the director where he promised that his vision of CUJO would be "a lot darker, more intense, and edgier" than the original.
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dancing caveman?
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...big Ginger's raving misogyny?Worrying.And Lewis Teague rules...bitches!
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When they remake Jaws (not "if"..."when"), whatever Platinum Dunes beer commercial hack making it will no doubt boast how it's "more faithful" to the Peter Benchley novel that Spielberg's "dated" film, so we'll be forced to watch a TOTALLY UNNECCESARY subplot with Brody's wife having an affair with Hooper. And the thing with Cujo is...aside from the "redemptive" new ending, it's EXTREMELY faithful to the book. Pretty much all a remake would do would be to have the kid die, which is exactly what The Mist did...and look how *that* killed that movie's box office. And it's funny how people complained about The Mist's suicide ending being "too abrupt", yet if they had had the characters waiting around for a few days before opting out, you've got a virtual rerun of Cujo.
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I'm probably one of the six or so geeks in the world who just didn't like THE MIST. Everything up to the ending succeeded because Darabont merely reinterpreted King's prose into script form (see also: SHAWSHANK REDEMPTION and THE GREEN MILE). The ending in THE MIST movie was both unnecessary and badly handled. The novella left it open-ended (and maybe even more of a downer, since it suggested that the mist had completely engulfed everything and that there might not be an escape from it), why couldn't the movie do the same? He drove for an hour and then, everybody decided to give up. Plus, five seconds after everybody else is dead, the mist is gone. And no slight against Jane, but his reaction shots at the ending, when he realizes he stumbled into a lousy Twilight Zone bit of irony and the Army dudes in Hazmat suits show up, were just awful. He looked a lot less like he just offed his kid and a lot more like somebody just keyed his car. Anyway, given how much Darabont loves his upbeat endings, he should have stuck to his M.O. here.
CUJO never rang my chimes, either. It was one of those stories that worked better on the page; on-screen, it was an hour of Dee Wallace and a pre-outed Danny Pintauro screaming while a Jello-covered St. Bernard tries to climb into their station wagon. I'm not even sure Coppola could have come up with an engaging way to do that.
For the record, JAWS the novel was lousy. If you listen to the supplemental stuff on any version of the DVD, it goes into detail about how Benchley's first draft of the script had all kinds of unnecessary subplots regarding the Mafia, etc. They barely even got into the water. -
I really am tired of these comedies that try so hard to tell these emotional stories. Just make me laugh. I mostly blame Appatow for this horrific trend. Did Pineapple Express really need to be two hours? Good grief.
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I thought long and hard about blowing that secret but at the end of the day, like you said, guessing is half the fun, especially for us poor unfortunates who'll probably never get to do an actual BNAT. Have a great time you lucky SOB
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Maybe GAN was trying to tell us something?
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However, it can lead to disappointment if you end up convincing yourself that you're going to see something huge (and impossible/unfinished) like "Iron Man 2" or something like that. But I love the guessing/wishing. It's the closest thing to what it was like to be a kid on Christmas Eve. I have a list of 10 to 15 guesses that are true possibilities for new films (of course, he can't show that many; maybe 2 or 3 biggish films and 2 or 3 foreign and/or underground types of films). There's always a musical, so I'd say NINE is a shoe-in for that. I'd say SHERLOCK HOLMES is a possibility, as is AVATAR. Some things may be more likely as clips or presentations, say like CLASH OF THE TITANS. How about THE EXPENDABLES? Do you think Stallone would let anyone see that so early? See, it's fun! Keep in mind, though, like everyone else, I have no inside information. I'm just plain guessing.
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Not only is it a terrible, borderline retarded movie, Lionsgate's version doesn't even have real subtitles, just a word for word transcription of the typically shitty dub that The Weinstein Company had made for it ("releasing" this film in the US was a joint venture between those two godawful companies).
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I agree with everyone in the talkbacks who thinks Lou Reed is amazing. I remember seeing a dvd or movie version of the live version of Berlin at a film festival a few years ago, and goddam that was just bloody amazing. One of those performances that just sucks the air out of the room because its so intense. Wow. On another note I also agree with Harry Weinstein about the new police story. I made the mistake of seeing this in the cinemas when it 1st came. One of the few movies I've ever walked out of. Horrible. Bleh.
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It used to be you couldn't post in it until Thursday, now you can't post in it at all.Why?
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just can't compete with the opening 5 minutes. It's a pretty good movie in its own right, but I mostly just feel disappointment that it's never as fun or hilarious as its before-the-credits sequence.
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what the FUCK the new Harry gif is a reference to, this has been bothering me for DAYS people!
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like someone said earlier. he needs someone who will cut that shit down and make a decent movie instead of a saccharine hunk of crap. and why are his characters always so... well... gay? i never had the weird touchy feely relationships with my friends like his characters do. cant identify with them.
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but thats not saying much. wait, does Maximum Overdrive count as good? then that wins. i still crack up watching that dumbass movie.
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When i watched it about 12 years ago. shit me right up. way of the gun = awesome.
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I heard they were remaking that. One remake I actually wouldn't mind if they do it right.
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Is that a tip of the hat to the Mentalist? - however, the phrase there was horses assery
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