Testy Area 51 (3 Viewers)

[Elizabeth S]

Saw Arbitrage today. It was pretty good, and Richard Gere was a perfect fit for the role. Killer Joe also opened today, but I will probably wait for the blu-ray. Sounds too violent/intense for me to see at the theater. I do find watching at home usually softens the impact.

 

[Ruz-El]

I was going to try to see Killer Joe this weekend but have a touch of the flu. I'l probably miss it now in the theaters.

I did see Resident Evil: Retribution though on a sneak peek. It's as stupid as all the other Resident Evil movies. Fashion models fight bio-zombie things in Raccoon city. Again. I think this was billed as the last one, but you guessed it- it's left open for a sequel. Michelle Rodriguez returns to the franchise and it's great to have her back. Milla is as stunning as ever kicking the shit out of monsters. There's a couple of good fight scenes, one at the beginning and one at the end. The middle is laughable. Plots are set up and abandoned, characters introduced, forgotten and then remembered only to be forgotten again. Anderson will never make a picture that makes sense story wise. It's in 3D, which I can't see of course, but things fly out towards the camera so I guess that works.

I'm looking forward to seeing The Birds this week. A newly struck 35mm print. The Master is out here this week too, I think, Hopefully. Cue creaming of jeans!

 

[ChristopherDAC]

I admit that I didn't go to see The Master in 70 mm at the Toronto International Film Festival. Instead, I saw a movie which was all static shots of buildings!

 

[Elizabeth S]

I saw The Master yesterday. I believe I have a strong contender for my least favorite film of the year. There's a weird tone to the film and I found much of it incredibly boring despite the good performances. I think a little bit of these unlikeable characters went a long way for me. Should have stayed home and scrubbed the bathtub.

 

[Dennis Nicholls]

Hey Zen...
Now that you are back....
Is there anything I can do to fix this part? Maybe some superglue?

 

[Ruz-El]

Originally Posted by Elizabeth S /t/81187/testy-area-51/28500#post_3979401
I saw The Master yesterday. I believe I have a strong contender for my least favorite film of the year. There's a weird tone to the film and I found much of it incredibly boring despite the good performances. I think a little bit of these unlikeable characters went a long way for me. Should have stayed home and scrubbed the bathtub.

I'm still waiting for The Master to show up in my stupid town. I went to that screening of Frankenstein (1931). A brand new restored 35mm print that was shown widescreen with the projectionist bumping the picture down if heads were getting cut off or up if the hunchback disappeared off the bottom of the frame. They didn't have the right aperture plates, so it was impossible for them to show it properly. It was also out of focus for the first 2/3rds. I'm still heartbroken over it. I complained, but not too loudly. The theater is owned by a bunch of kids and they're doing their best with the very limited funds they have.

It put me off going to anymore films so I didn't see Killer Joe. I might check out Dredd this weekend if The Master still doesn't show here.

I did watch Women In Cages. Really good. Pam Greer is great as the horrible lesbo head matron and the gorgeous Roberta Collins steals the show as a junked out double crosser. It plays more straight then the Jack Hill classics The Big Dollhouse and The Big Birdcage, but is still a lot of fun. The Bluray triple feature of all the titles released by Shout Factory is of ridiculous quality on the 2 films I've watched so far, and has a pretty solid documentary as well. 3.5/5

Oh, also watching that Monroe bluray set. The only film in it I had seen before is River Of No Return. I'm really enjoying them. Last one watched was No Business like Show Business. Ethel Merman is one brassy broad, her voice could violate the Geneva conventions. A fun film though, O'Conner and Monroe steal it away handily.

 

[Zen Butler]

Hey Zen...
Now that you are back....
Is there anything I can do to fix this part? Maybe some superglue?

Dennis, JB Weld Qwik will get that back on the road. What is that from?

 

[Dennis Nicholls]

Zen,
Hey it's a long tragic story here. http://forum.miata.net/vb/showthread.php?t=451888 The poor guy not only threw a rod but also took out the side of his block and even mangled the motor mount.
As for me, I'm now driving a "beater Miata" due to some financial issues. I paid $2,600 for it back last Thanksgiving. Lots of deferred maintenance but it's cleaned up halfway decently.
Now has 148K miles, leaks no fluids, and gets 32 mpg. Compression in the 170 psi range all cylinders (new spec 182 psi).

 

[Elizabeth S]

Saw The Masquerade yesterday, a Korean film starring Byung-hun Lee. It's a Prince-and-the-Pauper type of story and I really enjoyed it. Lee is one of my favorite Korean actors, and he was really good. (He's the actor in the "G.I. Joe" series.)
I'm off to see Looper in a couple of hours.

 

[Ruz-El]

I caught Looper and The Master this weekend.

Looper was good. If you saw the trailers you pretty much saw the movie. It was clever, everyone was great in it but in the end it left me a bit flat. It kind of wanders in the middle and forces some typical hollywood bullshit that wasn't necessary. So if you need a Bruce Willis time travel movie, 12 Monkeys is a better bet, but this one was still good enough. 3.5/5

The Master I loved. I can totally understand why Liz didn't like it. There's not much of a plot and no likable characters, but I was in from the get go and the film terrified me due to ways I identified with the characters. Anderson doesn't really give the audience anything, the film is about force of will as much of anything else. Staggering performances from Phoenix and Hoffman to match the stunning cinematography. I'm already looking forward to revisiting it. 4.5/5

 

[Elizabeth S]

I enjoyed Looper although I always have trouble with time travel films. The basic premise of changing the future, meeting your different self, etc. always tangles my brain. Primer is the champion of this. The Spanish Timecrimes, too.

Spoiler: Warning: Spoiler!

I found Cid a spooky little kid -- in the "Pet Semetary" vein -- and he almost stole the movie. I see some viewers found his facial expressions hilarious, however.

Oh well, I guess The Master was worth the wait for you, Russell.

 

[Ruz-El]

RE: Spoiler, Totally agree Liz!

I did enjoy in Looper how they totally avoided the time travel discussion. Pretty smart on their part. I think this is the first film since the 90's to have Bruce Willis with his natural hair, not shaved.

If it's still playing I might try to check out The Master a second time. I can't shake it, it's still occupying my thoughts. Ridiculous!

Though it is horror challenge month. spooooooky!

 

[Mike Frezon]

Haven't heard from Steve in a couple of weeks.

He must still be suffering from post-Olympics fever...

 

[Steve Christou]

[leaps majestically into frame] I'm back I'm home [wipes tear]

Mike, I've been busy watching movies and writing hubs. Good to see you're all still here, well most of you, we're all a decade older now than when this thread had it's birth cry.

I bought the James Bond blu-ray box set, £90, checked all the discs the films look good, some of them look remastered.

Next week Indiana Jones box set, looking forward to that. Temple of Doom is being released uncut here for the first time ever.

I've pre-ordered Prometheus in 3D, I saw it in 2D at the cinema. 3D should give it some more depth.

I've watched a lot of 3D at home and I haven't gone cross-eyed yet. [falls off chair]

 

[Mike Frezon]

A lot of water has flowed under that bridge in the past decade...


And to translate for our US droogs:

 

[Ruz-El]

What was up with that mango post anyways?

Steve, did you buy the monsters set yet for the 3D creature? It's like being love knifed in the eyes! That's how they're billing it anyways. So you should get that!

I'm in horror challenge land. Ugh, every year I do the furshlunginger thing...

 

[Steve Christou]

Russ, I can't remember why I was writing about mangos and bananas back then. I look at some of my early testy posts and wonder if I was on some type of medication at the time. I was so loony, to be fair everyone was a little nuts back then and testy was our asylum.

I'm tempted to buy that monster box set just for Creature in 3D but I read somewhere that the 3D PQ wasn't great, lots of grain too. I hate grain.

I've been watching some classic horror already, The Mummy, The Mummy's Hand, The Wolf Man, Dracula, I've been writing hubs about the famous monsters and it just got me in the mood to watch them.

I should have joined the horror challenge but those guys watch so many its pointless me trying to compete. I know its your favourite time of the year Russ. Horror is your movie genre. Mine is sci-fi.

 

[Dennis Nicholls]

A lot of water under the bridge....
Here in Idaho it's the Perrine Bridge across the Snake River down by Idaho Falls.

 

[Mike Frezon]

Is that how Evil Kneivel got across?!?

 

[Dennis Nicholls]

There's a herd of odd cows south of me. I thought they were yaks, but I have since discovered they are Scottish Highland Cattle.