Saturday, March 28, 2009

Minority Report ...







I'd be offended, but would also end up doing the same thing. It's one of those things that will keep race an issue. Then again, classism is more prevalent in society outside of the major cities, though it's often reported as racism. The media is the biggest pusher of racism, I think it would have died down alot had they not continually pushed it. Then again, lawyers try to use it even when it wasn't an issue. Though I've got to wonder, being mostly "white", how many times I've been passed over for someone who met the affimative action requirements for a company though less qualified.

IJ4 Feelings...
















Much the feeling from Indiana Jones 4. Biggest problem was that it had been established in the previous three films that Magic/God/Myths were real. Then you brought Aliens/Sci-Fi to the table. The above comic reminded me how I felt about the movie when I heard about that. Specifically :"You got your crappy sci-fi all over my fantasy RPG."

That would be useful for dating ....

Sunday, March 15, 2009

Kangaroo Ninja

I wonder if this was a new cvharacter for Pixar or Disney...

Saturday, March 14, 2009

First Movies...

The new Witch Mountain movie made me think about the movies I saw during my childhood. So what was your first Big-Screen movie. No, not on TV, or a Theatrical release on Video. Only at some kind of theater.

I'm not sure if it was animated, it would have been Disney in the early 70's, but I have only vague memories of where/when I saw those. The first one I can remember is probably Herbie Rides Again at a Drive-in.

Fast Times at Ridgemont High was the first R-rated film I saw. Again, at the Drive-in.

The drive-in was a great place, the cost was per carload, not per person. So, if you had siblings, as I did, and parents who weren't wealthy, again as I did, then it only made sense to go that way.



Movies I watched at the theater growing up:
(note: 1987 - those later in the year technically were after I was an adult.)

1973
Charlotte's Web
Robin Hood


1974
Herbie Rides Again
Benji

1975
The Apple Dumpling Gang
The Return of the Pink Panther
The Adventures of the Wilderness Family
Gus

1976
The Pink Panther Strikes Again
Freaky Friday
The Bad News Bears
No Deposit, No Return
The Shaggy D.A.

1977
Herbie Goes to Monte Carlo
Pete's Dragon
The Rescuers
Candleshoe
Star Wars
Oh, God!
The Bad News Bears in Breaking Training

1978
Revenge of the Pink Panther
The Cat From Outer Space
The Bad News Bears Go to Japan
Watership Down
Return from Witch Mountain

1979
Just You and Me, Kid
The Black Hole
The Muppet Movie

1980
Herbie Goes Bananas
Airplane!
The Empire Strikes Back

1981
Fox and the Hound, The
The Last Flight of Noah's Ark
The Devil and Max Devlin
Raiders of the Lost Ark
The Great Muppet Caper

1982
Fast Times at Ridgemont High
The Dark Crystal
48 Hrs.
The Secret of NIMH
Trail of the Pink Panther

1983
Something Wicked This Way Comes
KRULL
Trading Places
Return of the Jedi (1983)
Flashdance
WarGames
Mr. Mom
The Outsiders
Christine
Rumble Fish
Blue Thunder
Class
Eddie and the Cruisers
Curse of the Pink Panther
Private School
Sudden Impact

1984
Conan the Destroyer
Ghost Busters
Beverly Hills Cop
Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom
Gremlins
The Karate Kid
Police Academy
Footloose
Romancing the Stone
Purple Rain
Star Trek III: The Search for Spock
The Terminator
Sixteen Candles
Splash
The Natural
Red Dawn
Revenge of the Nerds
Bachelor Party
Starman
The Last Starfighter
Firestarter
Greystoke: The Legend of Tarzan, Lord of the Apes
The Muppets Take Manhattan
Johnny Dangerously
Streets of Fire
Tightrope
Night of the Comet
Moscow on the Hudson
Blame It on Rio
Runaway

1985
The Black Cauldron
Back to the Future
Rambo: First Blood Part II
Rocky IV
Cocoon
The Goonies
The Breakfast Club
Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome
Weird Science
Ladyhawke
Pale Rider
Police Academy 2: Their First Assignment
Teen Wolf
Enemy Mine
Brewster's Millions
Mask
Desperately Seeking Susan
Young Sherlock Holmes
Silver Bullet
Phenomena
Once Bitten
King Solomon's Mines
Just One of the Guys
Volunteers
Vision Quest

1986
Flight of the Navigator
Highlander
Top Gun
Crocodile Dundee
The Karate Kid, Part II
Back to School
The Golden Child
Aliens
Ruthless People
Ferris Bueller's Day Off
Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home
Stand by Me
Labyrinth
Big Trouble in Little China
Cobra
Pretty in Pink
Short Circuit
Police Academy 3: Back in Training
Heartbreak Ridge
Raw Deal
Jumpin' Jack Flash
F/X
Iron Eagle
Crossroads

1987
3 Men and a Baby
Fatal Attraction
Beverly Hills Cop II
Good Morning, Vietnam
The Secret of My Succe$s
Lethal Weapon
Dirty Dancing
The Witches of Eastwick
Predator
RoboCop
Raising Arizona
The Running Man
Empire of the Sun
The Lost Boys
Planes, Trains & Automobiles
Overboard
No Way Out
Police Academy 4: Citizens on Patrol
Throw Momma from the Train
Adventures in Babysitting
Near Dark
*batteries not included
Stakeout
Mannequin
Some Kind of Wonderful
Blind Date
Harry and the Hendersons
Less Than Zero
Summer School
Revenge of the Nerds II: Nerds in Paradise
Project X
Three O'Clock High

Friday, March 13, 2009

Battleground (1949) - DVD Review

Okay, definately hollywood version of the battle. My neighbor across the street was near there for the Battle of the Bulge. Messier, colder, and less considerate. This could probably use a remake. Overall, a good story, but I didn't really feel deeply enough for the characters, and the ones I did feel for, they survived. As a War film for its time, I'd give it 7 out of 10 stars. I'd probably drop a star or two modernly as it would not really hold up.

And yes, there really was a bunch of Nazi infiltrators who dressed up in American uniforms/equipment and spoke english, and did alot of damage. They were Otto Skorzeny's Grief Commandos from the SS Panzer Brigade 150 and were officially named Einheit Stielau. Of the 2500 that were to break into allied territory, only 44 managed to do so and 18 were captured and shot as spies.

Sunday, March 8, 2009

Not your kiddy superheroes...

I went and saw Watchmen at the theater.
Not having seen the graphic novel, I'd give it an 8.5 out of 10 mostly because of the ending. Interestingly enough, others agree.

NOT a kiddified Superhero flick. Definately R for sex, violence, etc. If this had been done by other than a major studio, it would probably have gotten an NR-17 rating.





*** SPOILERS AHEAD ***





I'd say there were points I disagreed with...

First, that a psychopath like The Comedian would be tolerated. But then I think of the blue wall that the police have. Yup, "good cops" tolerate bad ones because, for reasons that I can't fathom, they think they owe them something because they have the same uniform. I feel more sympathetic towards Rorschach. He goes after bad guys, and isn't just willing to pull the company line. I think Rorschach was insane, but not mad, while Rorshach was both mad and insane.

Finally, I would have thought killing Ozymandias and not Rorschach would have been a better final solution. Ozymandias would have been punished, and Rorschach would have probably been okay with keeping quiet after that, though I understand that they were probably following the graphic novel.

The last part is the kicker ... I think it's going to hurt the numbers in the end. While there are alot of fans, there are alot of non-fans who will see this and not understand that it may be because the graphic novel went that way. Like I've said in previous posts ... think of it as Watchmen : Re-imagined.

Even with my complaints, It's still worth seeing at the theater. Everyone says it's better the second time. With money being tight, I'll wait for DVD.

To the readers:

Thanks for your patronage.

I thought I'd share where you're coming from...

1. United States 55
2. Germany 9
3. United Kingdom 6
4. Australia 4
5. Canada 3
6. Brazil 2
7. Nicaragua 1
8. Croatia 1
9. Norway 1
10. Japan 1

Saturday, March 7, 2009

I'd like your thoughts ...

Was reading an article from moviemaker and the following question popped up.

If you had made a film at 16, what would it have looked like?

My answer:
It probably would have been a post-apocalyptic film. Very dark. That's where I was at that time. It would have been mediocre. The other possibility was a fantasy film, and it would truly have sucked.

Thursday, March 5, 2009