DVD Rental Day (2004 - 2010)

[stoops17]

Breach - watched it last night because of lack of interest in what was on cable, the story was alright, a little slow moving and dry for my tastes, I guess I thought it would be different from the previews. I guess they couldn't add to much to it because it was based on the true story. I wouldn't recommend this movie to friends.

[Team Canada]

I'm a big Chris Cooper fan, I thought he was great.

[homer]

If you like Chris Cooper you should check out a couple of his early films - both directed by John Sayles. Lone Star - about a Texas sheriff investigating misdeeds by his predecessors while living in the shadow of his hero father (kinda slow at times but a nice payoff in the end). And the other is Matewan about a coal mine strike in Matewan, West Virginia. Both are great rentals.

 

Edit: I see from IMDB that Sayles is one of the writers for Jurassic Park IV? That seems really odd.

[RobertR]

It's not the first time that Sayles has worked on a genre horror film. Alligator springs to mind. And I think he worked on Mimic as well.

Robert

[homer]

Yeah, he wrote The Howling too.

[strawbossisevil]

Wow, I'm surprised so many people liked the movie 300. I was all excited for it, since I am a big Greek history buff, and I couldn't even get to the end before turning it off. It was just so stupid and over the top. My girlfriend and I lately have been using it as the measure for what a bad movie is. For example, "it was bad, but not 300 bad." And all the talk about the phalanx at the beginning, only to spend the entire (at least from what I saw) movie not in the phalanx formation made it all that much more stupid.

 

Sorry to be disagreeable. But this movie was probably the worst movie I've seen in years.

[GAME05]

interesting you say that about 300, strawboss. i wasn't a gigantic fan of it like everyone else is. at the video store i work at, every single person has heaped praise on it like it's the best thing since, well, something really good. i didn't think it was bad, more like so-so, but it wasn't anything original. the million slow-mo action shots were already done so well in the Matrix, and the large-scale battle scenes were far better in LOTR.

but speaking of copies, Disturbia i thought was ok. basically a copy of Rear Window for the teenage set. and yes, everyone at the store i've said that to has said "Rear Window? never heard of it." but for what it was, the movie wasn't too bad if you are renting a movie to watch with your teens/pre-teens.

also, if anyone hasn't seen Fracture yet, it's a great rental. it's tough to beat anything with Anthony Hopkins in it. very good crime drama.

Lonely Hearts was an interesting true story crime/murder movie, too. every so often Travolta will be in a movie that won't totally stink. i was most impressed by Selma Hayek, who turned in a great acting job in a role that actually required her to do more than just look pretty.

Ultimate Gift is another in the inspirational/change your life vain, and like the rest it's really heavy handed, and the plot is a slow drive on Cliche Blvd. The Stonecutter is another one of those and is even worse--the story goes absolutely nowhere and is a complete bore, just a total waste of time. Peaceful Warrior is probably the best recent release in that genre, not that it's anything too special.

[Katuluu]

Peaceful Warrior is directed by Victor Salva, who is a convicted pedophile. Please don't rent his movies.

 

Saw Superbad last night, and while I enjoyed it, the high point was easily the opening credits, which are downright glorious.

[DuWayne Steurer]

the million slow-mo action shots were already done so well in the Matrix, and the large-scale battle scenes were far better in LOTR.

 

While I don't necessarily disagree with this, as excellent as the visual style of 300 was, I really feel like the way the story was told, and the performances of the actors are what took it from a "pretty good action flick" to "just a really excellent movie overall."

 

At least that's my take.

[Thats Freakin Sweet]

Has anyone seen the unrated version of Pathfinder? I like Karl Urban as an actor and thought the premise of the movie had the makings for a great action movie. I saw it in the theater and was disappointed, so I'm wondering if the unrated version makes it better.

[mothershipconnection]

You typically can't tell the difference with unrated movies. Maybe an extra boob flash or two more F-words. I didn't see the theater version of Pathfinder, but I watched the unrated DVD and thought it was lame.

[Thats Freakin Sweet]

OK, it must not have changed much then. I saw it in a store and thought it said there were 10 or 15 minutes more. When I was watching the theatrical release I thought they did a decent job of building a little suspense or change the feel, then nothing...really, really disappointing.

[7rebmun]

For example, "it was bad, but not 300 bad."

Amen. Same thing around our household. And don't get me started on Children of Men . . .

We've had a streak of pretty terrible movies of late, save for Zodiac, which I thought was well done.

[SeriesFinale]

Pathfinder was the most ridiculous and idiotic movie I've paid to watch in a long while...I put it on at 2 AM after coming back from the bar last weekend, and needless to say, given my state I was highly entertained.

 

I can't conceive anyone thinking of Children of Men as a terrible movie...overrated, perhaps, but not terrible. But to each their own. I do agree about Zodiac, however.

 

I rented The Puffy Chair last week, too...slightly amusing and very disjointed indie romantic-comedy (I think you could classify it as that) that I enjoyed but my wife despised...most on IMDB seem to agree with my wife.

[Katuluu]

I have a new favorite movie of the year, The King of Kong: A Fistful of Quarters. Simply an outstanding documentary about two classic arcade gamers who are trying to set the world record for Donkey Kong. What starts out as a simple documentary about video games at some point morphs into an epic battle of good versus evil, and eventually becomes a metaphor for the struggles of simply getting thru life. It's both heartbreaking and hilarious, topped with an outstanding soundtrack of 80's hits.

 

A documentary about nerds who think a high score in Centipede will make girls like you has simply no business being this damn good.

[mothershipconnection]

Kat, is that on DVD? It sounds cool, but Blockbuster doesn't show it on their website.

[Katuluu]

It's still in its theatrical release. My guess is it won't be released on DVD till Christmas or so.

 

I can't remember where you are living now, but if you are in the Milwaukee area it'll open at The Oriental on Sep 14th. The Official Site should have upcoming release dates for other areas.

[mothershipconnection]

I'm in the TC area, but I don't really like going to theaters. I'm a rental kinda dude.

[Katuluu]

Well it's playing at The Lagoon. If you want I can pass you in to it. Leaving you no excuse not to go see it.

[pitchleague]

I've read about that Donkey Kong movie. Sounds very interesting. Didn't realize it was out yet. Thanks for the heads up!

[COOOOP]

I am not a big movie buff, but I recently rented 3 films, Disturbia, Hot Fuzz, and 300.

 

If I were to rank them, they would be in this order:

 

300

I fell for the hype surrounding this movie, It was fairly good, but not what I expected, the action was great, the plot, meh.

 

Hot Fuzz

This was supposed to be the laugh out loud comedy. It was quirky and amusing in spots, but it didn't captivate me. I did like it's premise though.

 

Disturbia

This was the girlfriend's pick. It sucked. Everything has been done to death in that movie.

[RyDogg66]

I have kinda-sorta been out of the movie loop the past 3 years. Between finishing school and having two children, 3 and 1, my movie time was about the first to go. The last thing I saw was "The Good Shepard" and I thought it was pretty bad. When it comes to the theaters it gets hard to remember the last time I was at one, at least with my wife (I recently saw Shrek The Third with my daughter). Let's see, I saw "Walk The Line" a while ago...and there has to have been something more recent than that....

 

Anyway, I'm about to sign up for Netflix to try to get back on the horse now that life has settled down a bit. Anything good come out the last 4 years that I should see?

 

Oh, and is Netflix good?

[Katuluu]

What kind of movies do you like?

[mothershipconnection]

I know people who are satisfied with Netflix, but if you live near a Blockbuster, it's well worth the extra dollar a month to get Total Access, which is basically NetFlix with the option of returning the disk to the store for a new one.

[RyDogg66]

What kind of movies do you like?

I ver much enjoy foreign films such as: Amores Perros, The Princess and the Warrior, Y Tu Mama Tambien, Talk To Her, Maria Full of Grace

I just put Volver on my Netflix que, thought about Pan's Labrynth, but didnt want two foreign movies right away.

Other movies I have seen lately and liked were The Departed and Little Miss Sunshine, probably couldnt be more different.

Genres I dont like at all would be Horror, Sci-Fi, movies like 300 look pretty bad to me, so does all that "Saw" garbage. Movies like Ghost Rider, or actually anything that Niclolas Cage has done since Leaving Las Vegas, big blow them up movies I dont like.

 

I generally like good spy movies, like The Good Shepard, but thought it was slow and very dry. Didnt like it at all.

I have been rating movies on Netflix for the past 10 minutes. Movies at the top of the list and not mentioned above are

 

Eternal Sunshine of The Spotless Mind

Good Will Hunting

Pulp Fiction

Sideways

Adaptation

Big Fish

Chicago

Chocolat

Donnie Brasco

In the Bedroom

Mystic River

Snatch

Trainspotting

 

Right now my Queue is Stranger Than Fiction, Volver and Blood Diamond.