So at Wal Mart they had Match Point on DVD, new, for $3.98. I didn't know anything was cheaper than the $5 bin. There were also a bunch of other DVDs, but I either had them already (Catch Me If You Can), didn't really need them (Mission: Impossible III), or were they were really bad (Yours, Mine, and Ours).

But then today at Blockbuster they had some 4-for-$20 on previously viewed DVDs. Why not, they work perfect? So I got Children of Men and Casino Royale while my friend got The Pursuit of Happyness and Hollywoodland. So all in all, a sweet DVD-buying splurge for me.

Continue reading...

Two movie notes, one on a movie that came out this week, one I just bought on DVD.

Last night I went and saw Superbad, which was a great experience. Normally I don't laugh at dick jokes, but they're met with some witty allusions from other characters, so it's just great. That probably made no sense. An example would be something like, Seth makes a joke about how he dated the hottest chick ever two years ago, and now his sex life is over, all down-hill from here. Then Evan says, 'Like Orson Welles.' Get it? If you do, congratulations. Out of the sold out theater, I think one of my friends and I were the only two people to laugh/get it.

But those jokes are definitely backseat to the vulgar, inappropriate, yet ultimately true statements made by the protagonists. And for once the 'lesson' at the end of the movie isn't done in cliche. Sure, the motif is a bit old-fashioned, but it plays out well.

My only real gripe with the movie is length. The scenes with the police officers for the first thirty minutes they had on screen were funny, but when the same two cops kept showing up it grew tiresome. While the rest of the movie stayed fresh, the cops became redundant, their jokes predictable. I guess, though, since Seth Rogan (who plays one of the cops) was a co-writer, he had to give himself as much screen time as possible.

Rating: 6/7

Now, seven months ago, because I was lazy, I gave Mulholland Dr. a 10/10 because Naomi Watts has lesbian scenes topless. Now, that's definitely a good reason for a perfect score, but there's a lot more to the movie than hot lesbian action.

I try to use the word 'masterpiece' sparingly. Mulholland Dr., if not a masterpiece, is very, very close. It is definitely David Lynch's best film. The movie clocks in at 145 minutes, with scenes ranging from music auditions to murders. There's quite a few storylines, and you can honestly double the count of however many characters you have, because the last forty or so minutes will fuck you over once you think you have the movie put together.

That's why this movie is so great. There are plenty (I've read a dozen, all of which could be valid) of theories, and am pretty stuck on my own. But still, every time I watch the movie, I question myself. To explain plot points would take pages, and it still would make no sense. Let's just say that there's a thin line between dream and reality, and nothing is really certain when it's all said and done.

I would type up my interpretation with a spoiler alert, but I know people would read it anyway without seeing the movie, so I won't. I'll leave it up to you, and if you're lucky you'll enjoy drawing your own conclusions.

Rating: 7/7

Continue reading...

Two things about DVDs:

First off, I can tolerate previews on a DVD, but I don't see the point of having a preview for the company that produced the movie (i.e. Miramax). Who cares if a bunch of best picture winners came from Miramax? The same can be said for numerous companies. And, regardless, I'm going to buy a movie I like on DVD whether it's from Miramax, or DreamWorks, or FOX, or whomever. Plus, I already have this DVD, because I'm watching it.

Secondly, I went to the DVD setup to put on subtitles, and the options were Spanish, and 'English for the hearing impaired.' Since when did English subtitles become only for the hearing impaired? I'm not hearing impaired and I happen to enjoy subtitles on my movies (when they're accurate--that is another rant for another time). Maybe 'for the hearing impaired' has stuff like [moans] or [softly], but either way, that phrasing bugs me.

Stupid Miramax.

Continue reading...

Wow, I haven't mentioned movies in three posts. That must be some kind of record.

I went and saw Grindhouse again, and it was even better than the first time. Still think Planet Terror was the better of the two, but I enjoyed Death Proof a lot more during round two.

I watched The Godfather earlier today. That movie only gets better with subsequent viewings, though this time I noticed something freaking weird. During the funeral, when Al Pacino stands up and sits down, there's some woman's face that randomly appears in the bottom right of the screen. After some research, it's his mother, and is because of some lens reflecting or whatever. Odd...

The Queen comes out on DVD Tuesday and I'm excited.

I've been slacking on the viewings, but here's some lightning reviews:

Mutiny on the Bounty - Gable is obviously amazing, and this movie is obviously great as well. I almost want to see the remake with Brando, but who knows if I ever will (probably will). 8.5/10
Modern Times - Charlie Chaplin is also, obviously, amazing. 9/10
Volver - Almodovar disappoints with his most recent. Penelope Cruz delivers, but it's not enough. 6/10
Top Hat - Fred Astaire? Ginger Rogers? I actually kind of want to buy this movie.... 8/10
Scoop - Woody Allen's latest is terrible, I'm sad to say.... wait, I already reviewed this one. Ok, guess I can stop now.

Slowly chipping away at AFI's 100... though they're updating it soon. I wish they'd hurry up and do that so Toy Story and American Beauty and LotR3 and maybe a few others can bump some of the ones I'm dreading. I'm also looking for an All About Eve bump up, fingers crossed. Why do I place so much on this list? AFI isn't really that great (especially since they didn't put The Departed in their Top Ten of 2007). I think their list is just the best overall. Maybe once I finish the whole list I'll reorder it. Yeah, I get that bored. It's fun to think about, though...

Continue reading...

A couple days ago I was at Target and I saw the special edition of 'One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest' for $19.99. Now, as we all know, that movie is easily one of the best films ever made. Normally the SE is ~$23, so I picked it up.

At the register for check-out, the DVD came up to be $10.00. And it rang up as the right movie. I think those little pleasant surprises are the things that get me through everyday life. Unexpectedly saving ten dollars is amazing.

Continue reading...

The semester has been winding down, and this week is finals week. I have two tests on Friday, and both are pretty important (obviously?). I also have a DVD buying addiction, and have these movies in my possession, still unopened: Being John Malkovich, Amelie, and Cabin Fever.

Now, I've seen BJM and Amelie before, but not Cabin Fever. I bought it because it was like $4.50 at Wal Mart, and I kind of wanted to see it, and I figured that was close to the price of renting it anyway. So what does all this have to do with anything?

Tonight at about ten o'clock, since I'm doing all my studying tomorrow, I figured I'd finally get around to watching Cabin Fever. But then at around eleven, one of my friends said I should come to the library to study. I did. So in conclusion, I'm anticipating Cabin Fever to be so bad that I'd rather study than sit through its 90 minute runtime, even though I did buy it. Maybe it will be one of those things I always say I'll do, but never actually do.

In other very important news (so important that it's at the bottom of my post...), today I've reached somewhat of a milestone in my movie viewing quest. I've now seen 66/100 of AFI's 100 Greatest Movies (you can see my checklist here). That's two-thirds down (I round decimals down, shut the fuck up), one-third to go.

Most recent viewing: 'My Fair Lady'
Rating: 9/10
Notes: Yay Audrey Hepburn, though I got sick of her Dad pretty fast. Some pretty catchy songs, too. Also, some scenes dragged on a bit too long, but it gives time to take in the amazing costumes and scenery, so it's all right.

Continue reading...

Lately I've been playing a lot of Kingdom Hearts 2, which is a PlayStation 2 game centering around Disney worlds/characters (Disney partnered with Squaresoft, AKA makers of the Final Fantasy games, AKA best games ever). The first KH was amazing and the second one is very addicting, but that's beside the point.

So playing the game just makes me more pissed off at the Disney "vault," which is defined as them selectively releasing certain movies for a short amount of time, then vaulting them up for years. Some examples include Beauty and the Beast, Sleeping Beauty, Snow White, and The Little Mermaid. I've been wanting to buy, well, all of them, and today I was at Target. I saw a big poster above the DVDs for The Little Mermaid. It was next to a Prince poster (ugh), but didn't say anything like "music from the movie," so I was like "SCORE!"

But guess what? It was no where to be found. I searched every damn inch of their terrible DVD selection, and couldn't find it. Or the original Sabrina, which they had plenty of a few weeks ago. Sigh. Such is the life of a DVD buying addict.

Edit: Ok, either I'm a retard, or Target needs to properly label their items (and by "items" I mean "posters"). I checked their website, which says the DVD will be available Oct. 3rd. I guess this explains why I couldn't find it. Thank you for letting me know while I was there, Target.

Continue reading...

I will never understand movie producers, or the general public opinion on movies. How does some of the stuff that's come out even get green lighted, much less made and released widely in theaters? I'm not even talking about 'John Tucker Must Die' or 'My Super Ex-Girlfriend'-bad, because at least those movies have some appeal. I'm talking about 'Little Man,' 'Garfield 2,' and 'Scary Movie 9823498792'-bad - movies which would only be seen by people no smarter than the popcorn they're munching on.

It's so stupid how if you go to Blockbuster they may not have any copies of 'All About Eve' or 'Sunset Boulevard,' two amazing older pieces of cinema, but they'll have 30 DVDs of 'White Chicks.'

Then there's the people whose thought process goes something like this:

"Oh my God, 'Fantastic Four' was the best movie EVER! Jessica Alba is SO HOT! 'Chinatown?' Who the hell is Roman Polanski? 'A Streetcar Named Desire?' Black and white movies are soooo boring! I can't wait until they make a 'Fast and the Furious 4' because the other 3 were so fucking cool."

Not that I'm some movie guru or anything, but I wish the masses could at realize that they are picking up the trash that's being peddled to them, which leads to more trash being produced, because it's easy money for the studios. I know a lot of movie judgment is based on opinion, and I like my fair share of movies that are barely "decent," but sometimes you have to be a true dunce to like, or even pay to see, some of the crap that comes out. Yes, I'm talking about you, people who saw 'You Got Served.'

Continue reading...

Today I was at Best Buy making some routine DVD purchases ('Jaws' and 'Army of Darkness') and at the checkout there was this box of whoopee cushions, labeled free if you purchase a copy of the new 'Pink Panther' movie. I'm sorry, but if you're using the concept of a free whoopee cushion to sell a movie, that means two things:

A) The movie was atrocious and a disgrace to the original.

B) No one older than 7 wants a whoopee cushion.

I love the original 'Pink Panther' movies and this remake does nothing more than piss me off. How does one go from Peter Sellers, who was quite possibly the funniest actor ever, to Steve Martin, who's making 'Cheaper by the Dozen 6' and way beyond his prime. What a joke. The only way I would buy that movie is if it came with two $20 bills and an incinerator so I could destroy the movie and make the world a better place - except for the ozone layer, but who really cares about that?

Continue reading...

So the UCF library has a pretty extensive DVD section which I rent from regularly (free DVDs > lots). Thursday I dropped a bunch off in the return, and today I got this email.

Subject: Chinatown DVD

Hello,

This email is to inform you that you returned the movie 'Chinatown'
without the dvd inside of the case. Please return at your earliest
convenience.

Thank you,
_____ _______
Media Services Dept. UCF Library

Yeah, it was still in my DVD player... Oops.

Continue reading...