I’m pretty sure I’ve seen this movie before. I think it was called Rush Hour. Plots are pretty much interchangeable. I picked out the bad guy as soon as he appeared on screen. They totally wasted the Triad plotline. This is the first movie I’ve seen where Jackie actually looked old. The big stunts were pretty ridiculous. Not Transporter 2 ridiculous, but it was pretty close. Overall, this movie should have never been made…twice. Best part of the movie, was the outtakes. I say skip this one, and just watch the original Rush Hour. You’ll get much more enjoyment out of it.

Bought some shit. Mostly stuff to further cement my position as nerd extraordinaire. I bought two anime series. Outlaw Star and Vision of Escaflowne. I also have a framed cel from Outlaw Star. Continuing with the anime theme, I also bought a Vash the Stampede zippo. Also finally completed my Full Metal Alchemist series by buying the last 2 dvd’s in the series.

Bought a spiffy case for it from Paul Champagne. He makes custom DVD cases for movies, TV series, anime, and other stuff. For example, he made me a custom case for all my urban drama DVD’s. It holds Menace II Society, Boyz N the Hood, Juice, New Jack City, South Central, & Fresh. I also bought his Terminator, and Kurosawa case’s awhile back. The Kurosawa one holds Seven Samurai, Yojimbo, Sanjuro, and Hidden Fortress. I’m trying to get him to make one for the Zatoichi films now.

Continuing with my purchases of nerdocity, I also bought 4 graphic novels. Bought Neil Gaiman’s The Sandman: Endless Nights, Death: The High Cost of Living, and Death: The Time of Your Life. The fourth GN is a pre-order of The Killing Joke(hard cover) by Alan Moore.

To round out and finish off my purchases, I got Zatoichi the Blind Swordsman, Vol. 11 – Zatoichi and the
Doomed Man, and Lost: Season 3 on DVD…Allen already hijacked it.

Here’s pics of my Fulmetal Alchemist and Kurosawa cases.

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This is my first experience with these types of movies. Film-Noir I think is what it is. Also my first exposure to James Cagney from what I can recall. I chose this as my first foray into the genre, because it was the only one I knew anything about. Of course that knowledge was from Tupac in the movie Juice and of course it’s now iconic line…”Made it, Ma! Top of the world!”

Anyway, with that said. I really liked it. I really dug Cagney. I really dug Virginia Mayo, and really dug how it played out. A good first introduction to both the film-noir genre, and James Cagney. The ending was good despite me seeing it 400x in numerous incarnations on numerous TV shows. I’ll definitely be checking out more in the genre. I DO think it was maybe 20 minutes too long, but it didn’t hurt the overall experience much.

Went to the movies tonight. Had originally planned to see Cloverfield, but was over-ruled by my movie going compatriots. So we saw Juno instead. And I gotta say, I am not disappointed. It was a very good movie. Juno was so extremely likeable. Her parents had some of the funniest lines of the movie. Especially her dad. Quotables throughout the entire movie. My favorite was “Thundercats ho!” when her water breaks.

Had a similar feel, comedy wise, to Little Miss Sunshine as pointed by my cousin Allen. Just had you smiling the entire movie, with many a laugh out loud moment. I think the previews really didn’t do this movie justice. As I had no interest seeing it. I thought, maybe I’d just catch it on cable. No rush. Now after seeing it, it is now on my to buy list. No complaints at all…well, not a huge fan of the soundtrack…BUT it fit the movie. So can’t complain too much. All in all, a highly recommended movie.

Let me start by saying I really, really liked “The Whole Nine Yards”. I thought it was a smart, comical, joyride. After I saw the initial previews for the sequel, it immediately turned me off. Looked like it(the series) went from comedy to slapstick farce. After watching it, I can safely say my fears were correct. It wasn’t ‘bad’ per se, but it wasn’t good. The only bright spot being Amanda Peet. She kept it somewhat interesting, with her seeming neurotic behavior throughout. Matthew Perry just annoyed me. Bruce Willis seemed bored and when he wasn’t he was engaging in some extreme over-acting. Was pretty ridiculous. Henstridge was a mere afterthought as was the lame addition of Frankie Figs sister. I did smile a little when his new dental assistant, the aforementioned sister, pulled a gun on him.

Final thoughts. Skip this one. Not even worth a rental. Nothing really redeeming in it other than Amanda Peet.

Movie about a woman who’s face is disfigured and the father who loves her…sorta. Wiki’s synopses goes like so…
“The plot revolves around the obsessive Doctor Génessier attempting experimental heterografting surgery to restore his daughter Christian’s face which had been horribly ruined in a car accident. With the help of Louise, Doctor Génessier lures young women into his home-laboratory to perform the experiments to restore Christiane’s beauty.”

Unfortunately it fails time and again, and the women he experiments on all die. In the end, Christiane goes mad and kills Louise and inadvertently her father as well.

Decent movie. Acting in some parts bothered me, but the woman who played Christiane was hauntingly effective. Not one I’d watch again, but worth a one time viewing.

I caught this movie on Showtime. Normally I wouldn’t bother with movies on TV. Especially if they’re not in widescreen, but being I’m a big fan of Edward Norton and I’d never heard of the movie I checked it out. Edward Norton did not disappoint…the movie on the other hand was only slightly above average.

Norton’s character was a sad, pathetic, lonely, miserable, disturbed person.

Synopses jacked from imdb, with a mild edit:
Tobe(Evan Rachel Wood) is about 16, living with her dad(David Morse) and younger brother(Rory Culkin) in LA’s San Fernando Valley. She invites a gas station attendant named Harlan(Edward Norton) to come to the beach with her and her friends. He talks country, claims to be from South Dakota, and to have been a ranch hand. They have a great time, his simple expressions seem like wisdom, he’s attentive and polite, and even though he’s more than twice her age, she wants to spend time with him. When her father objects, she rebels. Harlan, meanwhile, thinks she’s his soul mate, and he starts making plans to get her away from her father. Worlds are set to collide, but which ones? He appears to be a down home country boy, but all is not what it seems.

Not sure what I thought of the ending. It was hard to empathize with Norton’s character, but he clearly left an impression on everyone in the movie…whether it was good or bad, I don’t know.

Only the second Korean film I’ve seen. The other being Il Mare, which is also the only love story I own if I recall correctly. Anyway, the Host far different than Il Mare. There’s no love story at all, though there is a giant mutated fish like creature eating people. A story about an ordinary family thrust into a very extraordinary situation. The situation being the aforementioned giant mutated fish like creature eating people.

The story starts with a bunch of formaldehyde being dumped into the Han river which in turn apparently causes a mutation. Said mutated creature starts a rampage killing, eating, mauling, and kidnapping people for later consumption. One of the kidnapped is a little girl and the story revolves around the girls family trying to find her.

The cinematography was very good. Loved the shots on the bridge. Wish there were more shots like it in the movie. The special effects were also very good minus the fire in the end. It looked really bad.

The previews for this movie made it out to be comical, and while there’s a few smiles, the movie is not a comedy in the loosest definition of the word. It’s pretty much a straight creature/monster flick in the vein of The Thing I’d say. If you’re a fan of the genre definitely check it out. Especially if you passed on it due to the misleading previews.

Side note: I loved that they showed the creature so soon and didn’t make you wait 45minutes to an hour for just a glimpse.

Also known as “The Protector” to you lame-o’s who are scared of foreign films. Tony Jaa is back breakin’ necks, droppin’ elbows, and knee’s like no other man in cinematic history. If you’ve seen Ong Bak then you know Tony Jaa owns your soul. If you haven’t then you suck…end of story, no argument needed.

Any way, Tom Yum Goong is very similar in story to Ong Bak, but we don’t watch these movies for the story or social commentary. We watch to see Jaa destroy bitches with his acrobatic, deadly, brutal, gravity defying Muay Thai. And he does not disappoint. There’s about 30 minutes of said story before we get our first ass whoopin’, but once it begins you barely get a chance to breathe. The biggest and possibly greatest 1-on-infinite fight in history is in this movie. There’s a one shot take of Jaa’s character ascending about 6 floors of stairs kicking ass all the way. No cuts the entire scene. It was incredible.

Then there’s another 1-on-infinite scene where he’s breaking bones like a madman. Just brutality at it’s finest.

Then one of my favorite scenes(they’re all good) is Jaa versus the Capoeira guy. I love Capoeira, but it’s rarely ever used in movies. Only one I can think of is the painfully underrated “Only the Strong”. Maybe Jean Claude’s “Bloodsport” but it’s been awhile since I’ve seen it. It was done really well in this movie. Great fight scene.

Even the cheesy ending didn’t bother me. It just seemed to fit. Anyway, check it out. Well worth a purchase if you’re a fan of ass-kicking brutality.