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I tried watching it, I was really disappointed with it. It was done poorly, I actually shut it off, and I am a huge Tyson fan.Originally posted by Madden4LifeComment
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I've only used instant-play a few times so far. For some reason I feel very awake right now, even though I've smoked a pretty fair amount, so I might hit up First Snow or Tyson after the Proposition.Comment
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I had high expectations for this movie but I didn't like it.
9
Directed by Shane Acker.
2009. Rated PG-13, 79 minutes.
Cast:
Elijah Wood
Christopher Plummer
Martin Landau
Jennifer Connelly
John C. Reilly
Alan Oppenheimer
Crispin Glover
Plot: Man has been completely destroyed by it's war with machines. A group of dolls created shortly before this that have been given life, is the closest thing to humanity left. Each is known only by a number, and appear to be made of burlap. Together, they try to overcome what man couldn't.
The Good: It's an interesting take on a post-apocalyptic world where man vs. machine has technically become machine vs. machine. The overally dusty look works well and aids in the mood of the story. The moral dilemma of whether to run and hide or stay and fight is played quite nicely. On top of those things, we get excellent visuals during the many chase sequences.
The Bad: At only 79 minutes, it doesn't seem to fulfill it's potential. So much more could've been said and done. It's PG-13 rating ensures that it's not strictly for kids so worrying about the audience's attention span shouldn't be an issue. Therefore, it should've been free to expand it's world, situations and relationships, becoming a serious epic. Instead, it ends and leaves us feeling like it pulled it's punches.
The Ugly: We get perhaps the most menacing use of Somewhere Over the Rainbow, ever.
Recommendation: First, don't go in thinking this is another cuddly kiddie flick because it's not. Though the creative minds behind The Nightmare Before Christmas and Corpse Bride are producers, Tim Burton and Timur Bekmambetov, don't even think this is in a similar vein to those. This is not a musical and is a rather humorless affair. That said, it is a fascinating watch. I just wish there were more of it to see and absorb.
The Opposite View: Calvin Wilson, St. Louis Post-Dispatch
What the Internet Says: 7.0/10 on imdb.com (2/1/10), 57% on rottentomatoes.com, 60/100 on metacritic.com
MY SCORE: 7/10
The point of this movie....had no point, if that makes sense.
So these little dolls come together and stop this machine for what reason other than survival? Humans don't come back, the world is still lifeless, and what if they had failed and all died? The main machine would just keep building an army of machines to do what? All the humans are already dead, the machines are just gonna sit there for eternity?
It seemed as pointless as a all out war between roaches and ants.
Maybe it's just me but overall I didn't see the point of the main plot.Comment
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Yea Houston, the trailer with that great ass music made it seem like they were supposed to help save the human population, but instead it just ended.Comment
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Blood of Dracula's Castle
Directed by Al Adamson and Jean Hewitt.
1969. Rated R, 84 minutes.
Cast:
John Carradine
Paula Raymond
Alexander D'Arcy
Gene Otis Shayne
Jennifer Bishop
Robert Dix
Vicki Volante
Ray Young
Glen (Shayne) inherits a castle when his 108 year old uncle dies. He wants to move in with his fiance/model Liz (Bishop) but first, he has to evict the elderly couple that rents the place. What he doesn't know is that they're really vampires who keep girls chained up in the basement to supply them with blood. That really sounds interesting, but it's not, in the least. This version of Count Dracula (D'Arcy), who now prefers to go by Count Charles Townsend (what the _?) and his bride Countess Townsend (Raymond) are full-fledged members of the bourgeoisie. No neck biting or villainously sexy seductions for these two. Instead, they have mute deformed giant Mango (Young) round up any young hotties that find themselves in the woods on the castle's property. By the way, despite a number of scenes in these woods, whenever we see exterior shots of the castle they're nowhere to be found. In fact, in these shots the castle appears to be in a desert. Anyhoo, Mango brings the ladies back to the house, chains them in the dungeon...er...basement, then drains just enough blood from them to fill the two wine glasses our blood suckers are fond of drinking from. They sip with delight and inquire about what "vintage" it is. For the most part, that's all they do. No, we don't even get to see the blood draining. There's also their butler/cultist George (Carradine) who worships the moon god Luna and the Townsend's buddy Johnny (Dix), who is a hoimicidal maniac. Johnny is crazy under normal conditions but keeps telling us he's so much worse when there's a full moon. Foreshadowing be damned, we never actually find out if this is the case. The dialogue is hokey when it's at it's very best but mostly cringe-inducing. My twelve year old son could choreograph far better fight scenes and don't even get me started on the copy and paste job they tried to pass off as someone being on fire. I'll admit, some allowances have to be made for it being over 40 years old. However, this was released the same year as Rosemary's Baby and the year after Night of the Living Dead, two horror classics. This steaming pile holds no frights, provokes no thought and may indeed cure insomnia. It's quite possibly the lamest vampire movie ever made, including the Twilight movies. At least those have enough charm and melodrama to appeal to millions of teenage girls. This might only appeal to those involved in making it. Maybe. And why the hell does Dracula rent, anyway?
MY SCORE: 0/10Comment
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Why does he rent indeed?
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Dell's Classics Presents:
Network
Directed by Sidney Lumet.
1976. Rated R, 121 minutes.
Cast:
Peter finch
Faye Dunaway
William Holden
Robert Duvall
Wesley Addy
Ned Beatty
Arthur Burghardt
Marlene Warfield
When news anchorman Howard Beale (Finch) goes crazy and promises to commit suicide on the air after learning his contract has been terminated due to sagging ratings, it strikes a chord with the public. So, the network does the only reasonable thing it can: give the delusional old man his own show where he rages against "the machine", so to speak. This is an all too sharp satiric commentary on how programming directors and other TV execs work. Even though it's more than 30 years old, it doesn't feel dated at all. Well, it does slightly because of the small number of networks they're competing with (remember this is from the time when there were only 3 major national networks and a handful of local affiliates no matter where you were in the country). Otherwise, it still feels fresh as we can easily envision TV big wigs contemplating the risks and rewards of giving actual terrorists their own reality show. What's not so far-fetched now was downright prophetic in 1976. Actually, it must've seemed like full blown lunacy, an obviously ridiculous exaggeration of how far TV networks would go to boost the ratings. Now, we understand that there seems to be a place for everything. If someone is willing to do it, there's a network willing to show it. In the lead role, Peter Finch is magnificent. The rest of the cast is outstanding but Finch is truly transcendent. He reaches out of the screen and grabs you. I was this close to opening my own window and screaming "I'm as mad as hell and I'm not going to take it anymore!"
MY SCORE: 10/10Comment
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Hey guys, had a computer crash at home. This means reviews are going to come a little slower for awhile until I can get that issue resolved (as you can probably already tell). On with the show...Comment
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Network was a great movie thats basically forgotten. The movie foresaw a lot of what would eventually happen with television in general and the news in particular.Comment
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The Proposition
Directed by John Hillcoat.
2005. Rated R, 104 minutes.
Cast:
Guy Pearce
Ray Winstone
Emily Watson
Danny Huston
John Hurt
David Wenham
Richard Wilson
In order to save his younger brother Mikey (Wilson) from being hanged by Captain Stanley (Winstone), the new lawman in town, outlaw Charlie Burns has to hunt down and kill his older, psychotic brother Arthur (Huston). It's an intriguing ultimatum, to say the least. Even though Captain Stanley delivers the ultimatum, he has problems of his own. This includes, but isn't limited to, his superiors pressuring him to "civilize" his territory. That territory, by the way, is the Australian outback in the 1880s. Despite it's setting, it's undeniably a dusty, sun-drenched, gun totin' western. Guy Pearce gets top billing and does an admirable job but it's the stressed performance of Ray Winstone as the nearly friendless Captain that carries the day. Even this guy's wife Martha, the wide-eyed and pained Emily Watson, isn't always on his side. The two of them present us with an interesting dynamic. He's the husband who loves his wife and desperately wants to protect her from the evils of the world he inhabits. She doesn't always want to be protected, even when she needs it, and is at odds with the decisions her husband makes. As for our outlaw, Charlie seems a little lacking when you think about the dilemma with which he's faced. He just never seems as perplexed as you think he should. Part of the problem is that the older brother is not only a nutjob, but it feels like the two were never close. That said, we still get a doozy of an ending, not quite what you expect. Now, it's not a spoiler to say the movie ends in a shootout. It also starts with one. That said, this isn't a movie about gunplay. It's about two men trying to solve the problems in their lives. For some, it may be a bit slow making it feel a little longer than it actually is. Rest assured however, when those shootouts roll around, and there are a few others sprinkled in, they're blood-splattering good. The emphasis is on splattering, so some of you gore-freaks might really like it.
MY SCORE: 8/10Comment
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