Miscellaneous Movie Musings

[Strangler Lewis]

Re-watched it in the Christmas spirit just the other night. I don't think it's the seamless web they think it is, but it's fun, moving and you care about the characters.

[Bornieo: Fully Loaded]

Saw No Country for Old Men and I really enjoyed it. I thought it was very smart and made me feel like I was seeing something really different as opposed to the "usual" hollywood flicks. I thought the ending, though I "wanted" the just deserts, was pretty perfect. I think going outside the relm of what we expect as an audience and making us think about what we saw and why is the reason I enjoyed it so much. Plus it was the first time in a LONG while that Tommy Lee Jones broke out of his "Fugitive" acting shell.

9 bornieo's out of 10!

[Gemini Cricket]

Wow. I mean, just wow.
So, I got Transformers used on DVD for $5. Watched it. And I'm stunned for several reasons:

1. Some of the best visual effects I have ever seen. Truly fantastic. This film's going to win a Best Visual Effects Oscar. Without a doubt.

2. Shia LeBouf is really good. Very likable. I can see why he was picked for Indy 4.

3. With 1 & 2 being said, this is a crap film. Horrible dialog, bad acting everywhere, too much cheese and just stunningly bad performances from Voight and Tuturro.

4. Michael Bay should be forced to retire. Yuck. This film was exactly like Armageddon. Bleh. Cookie cutter romance, car chases, and other dreck.

5. Okay, LeBouf and his family were funny. But, hello, the mom saying, "Are you masturbating?" American Pie, anyone?

It was worth the $5 I paid. And a whole heck of a lot of work went into making this flick... but geez... what a piece of garbage.

Not to mention that half of the film was this weird orange/bronze color. Bleh.

Oh well, curiosity got the best of me. I'm glad I saw it. Loved the battle through the building shot. Nice stuff...

[innerSpaceman]

All that ^ plus I think the effects were terrible. Um, but it was like the highest grossing film of the year.



Figures.

[Alex]

I too wasn't bowled over by the effects. But I saw it on IMAX, I'm wondering if I'd like them better on a TV.

I thought it was tops too on the box office but apparently it is third. But the actual top one managed to suck even more than Transformers: Spider-Man 3.

The top 10 money earners is a pretty creaky list, having to get to #6 before you find an actually good movie (as opposed to just ok):

1. Spider-Man 3
2. Shrek the Third
3. Transformers
4. Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End
5. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
6. Bourne Ultimatum
7. 300
8. Ratatouille
9. The Simpsons Movie
10. Wild Hogs

I'd like to take a moment to shake my fist in ire at the people of America that launched Wild Hogs to that spot on the list, prompting Disney to greenlight Wild Hogs 2 which I will have to watch and review. Way to ruin an evening two years in advance America!

[LSPoorEeyorick]

Are those measured by box office, international box office, or gross post-budget? Because, sadly, I think that Wild Hogs might've been a better bargain than #10. (Blech, blech, blech.) I ask because it strikes me that the other films might have hemhorraged more funds through effects and market-market-marketing.

I find it kind of disheartening that the top three were not movies I enjoyed. In fact, I thought the top two were so bad that I considered walking out on them. I felt unclean after watching them - and not in the good way.

On the upside, Potter, Ratatouille and Simpsons were delights of my viewing year.

In other (semi-related) news, Tom just realized that Wild Hogs is probably William H. Macy's top-grossing film. This made us both feel sad. He suggests that someone ought to cast him in a Pixar flick posthaste, so that he can be prouder of his top-grosser. (Or so I can be prouder of his top-grosser, but something tells me that it wasn't Macy's favrorite credit, considering his previous body of work.)

[CoasterMatt]

They've started filming Land of the Lost at Universal... I can't wait to see what happens with that.

[Magic Mountain]

I saw Fletch Lives and of course, there was a quick Disney reference: Fletch singing "Zip a dee doo dah" I rented it partly so I could get a good look at the hat he was wearing during that scene because I want to buy one like it.

[Gemini Cricket]

Originally Posted by Magic Mountain

I saw Fletch Lives and of course, there was a quick Disney reference: Fletch singing "Zip a dee doo dah" I rented it partly so I could get a good look at the hat he was wearing during that scene because I want to buy one like it.

Howdy and welcome!

You know, I haven't seen either Fletch movies. I've never gotten around to seeing them. But I hear people talk about Fletch all the time...

[Ghoulish Delight]

The original is a great movie. Lives is...not so good. I mean, it has its charm, but it's mostly just a retread of the first.