Author Topic: Trap's Movie Thread  (Read 229411 times)

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Offline Sectionhand

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Re: Trap's Movie Thread
« Reply #40 on: March 11, 2011, 05:21:16 AM »
" Edge Of The City "  starring John Cassavetes , Sidney Poitier and Jack Warden .

Offline radioman

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Re: Trap's Movie Thread
« Reply #41 on: March 11, 2011, 05:35:09 PM »
Ok

Just went to see "The Grace Card" today and I highly recommend it to everyone. It is up there with "Fireproof" and "Facing the Giants".

Sept 30, another good movie will be hitting the theatres - "Courageous".
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Offline trapeze

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Re: Trap's Movie Thread
« Reply #42 on: March 11, 2011, 06:10:52 PM »
You mean Bridges. Jeff Bridges, not Jeff Daniels.
 ::exitstageleft::

Thanks. I fixed it. That's what happens when I am tired and try to write.
In a doomsday scenario, hippies will be among the first casualties. So not everything about doomsday will be bad.

charlesoakwood

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Re: Trap's Movie Thread
« Reply #43 on: March 11, 2011, 08:31:46 PM »
"The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada" stars two favorites Tommy Lee Jones (Pete) and Dwight Yoakam (the sheriff).  A modern western set in a (pre-narco war) border state.  A post adolescent dumb-ass, thinking he is being fired upon, kills the Mexican goat herder and friend of rancher Pete, Melquiades Estrada.  

The killer discretely buries Melquiades but shortly the body is found and re-buried in town.  The sheriff is a slacker and is pressed upon by Pete to find the killer. There is good interplay between Pete and the sheriff.  Shortly Pete ferrets out the killer and takes him and the body of Melquiades, on a (Homeric?) journey to self-awareness and the final burial of Melquiades at his homestead.    

This is an excellent movie; good script, development, and acting.  
It is a three act play: the killing, the development of the characters in town, then the journey through the wilderness to the resolving of issues.  The only variation from tradition is that the third act is the longest. In another era John Wayne would have played Pete's role.

ETA:
The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada




« Last Edit: March 25, 2011, 01:20:39 AM by Charles Oakwood »

Offline trapeze

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Re: Trap's Movie Thread
« Reply #44 on: March 12, 2011, 09:54:58 PM »
Dark City (1998)

Directed by Alex Proyas

Rufus Sewell
William Hurt
Jennifer Connelly
Kiefer Sutherland

This is a dark movie. And I usually don't like dark movies. One of the reasons that I liked The Fifth Element is because it was bursting with color which is what I would want a science fiction future to be, bright and hopeful.

Dark City is something entirely different. It takes a little while to figure it out but I don't think I am going to spoil anything by saying that the protagonist and most everyone he interacts with are humans who have apparently been abducted by aliens and re-located on some kind of a giant spacecraft that resembles a human city, a city that perpetually exists at night time. The humans are being experimented on for some unknown purpose. Every night at midnight they are all made unconscious and the world is re-arranged, people change identities...it's pretty weird.

The protagonist is somehow different from everyone else and he is able to stay awake during these blackouts. The film begins with him exhibiting this for the first time (we don't know how long any of them have been like this). He witnesses the aliens, pale humanoids in long black overcoats, making the changes and it isn't very long before they discover him and his life is then in danger from them. He is already in danger from his fellow humans because a police detective believes he is responsible for a series of murders. He is clueless, not able to fully remember who he is, how he got there or much of anything else. He discovers that he has the same ability to affect reality as the aliens do, making him able to fight their schemes.

The film is visually arresting even though it is dark and everything takes place at night. It is one of those films where you can see it several times and still not see all of the details of the sets. And I have seen it more than once, always an indication that, for me, it's a good movie. There are many twists and turns. The plot is strange but easy to follow, interesting and keeps you guessing until the very end about just what is real and what is delusion.

EDIT: Almost forgot to mention Kiefer Sutherland gets to play a mad scientist type (he has been mostly co-opted by the aliens and is seen frequently jabbing an ominous looking hypodermic needle into people's brains...and he gets to talk oddly) who sort of helps the protagonist.


« Last Edit: March 15, 2011, 11:52:09 PM by trapeze »
In a doomsday scenario, hippies will be among the first casualties. So not everything about doomsday will be bad.

Online IronDioPriest

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Re: Trap's Movie Thread
« Reply #45 on: March 13, 2011, 08:51:01 AM »
Dark City (1998)...

Oooh, definitely a fave. The money shot at the end brings me chills every time I think about it.
"A strict observance of the written laws is doubtless one of the high duties of a good citizen, but it is not the highest. The laws of necessity, of self-preservation, of saving our country when in danger, are of higher obligation. To lose our country by a scrupulous adherence to written law, would be to lose the law itself, with life, liberty, property and all those who are enjoying them with us; thus absurdly sacrificing the end to the means."

- Thomas Jefferson

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Re: Trap's Movie Thread
« Reply #46 on: March 13, 2011, 09:42:24 AM »
Memento (2000)
Starring Guy Pearce, Carrie-Ann Moss, Joe Pantoliano
Directed by Christopher Nolan (Batman Begins, The Dark Knight, Inception)

This movie is a thinker. There are times when I like to kick back and simply be entertained without having to think too hard about what I'm seeing, and other times when I want to be forced by the film to maintain my attention or else be completely lost. Memento is the most bizarrely enjoyable complex bit of mainstream film-making I've ever seen. Look away for a moment, and you're forced to back up to rewatch what you missed, or the rest of the film will not make sense. But maintain your attention, and what unfolds is nothing short of brilliant. It gives you just enough to keep you constantly asking whether you're getting it right, and then feeding you bits of understanding to give you confidence that you are.

The film is about a man with short-term memory-loss trying to solve his wife's murder. He can remember nothing after the traumatic event of her murder, and he forgets everything that does not have his immediate attention. So as he attempts to solve the crime and seek revenge, he's forced to keep notes of everything either written, in photographs - or the really important facts - on tattoos covering his entire body, some backwards so he can read them in the mirror.

And to top it all off, the movie unfolds in reverse, revealing scenes in sequential backwards order. The last thing you see in a given scene is the first thing you saw in the scene preceding. It sounds really complicated, and because of its unique concept, it is. But a "flow" is established with the first "time-jump", and it becomes apparent that this concept is going to be absolutely integral to the film.

The dialogue dynamics caused by his memory loss is completely unique to any film - and I LOVE unique, well-written dialogue in book and film. It is well-acted, dark, disturbing, suspenseful, and creates a "mood" unlike any other film I've seen. You get to the end and you "feel" a certain way that is rather inexplicable, like you're not entirely sure what you just watched, but you know you liked it.

You may get to the end of the movie and say "I have to watch that again, cuz I'm not positive about _________." But if you're into intellectually stimulating films, it won't bother you that you feel you might have missed a detail. In fact, after seeing the film 4 times, I think it's intentional. I think that a feeling of being unsure of everything you've seen is built right into the film. As you watch this character interacting in a world he can't remember based on a strict set of "facts" that he manically tries to maintain, and you watch people who know of his condition manipulate him, there is a panic and uncertainty that draws you in, and that you share with the character as a viewer.
« Last Edit: March 13, 2011, 09:47:01 AM by IronDioPriest »
"A strict observance of the written laws is doubtless one of the high duties of a good citizen, but it is not the highest. The laws of necessity, of self-preservation, of saving our country when in danger, are of higher obligation. To lose our country by a scrupulous adherence to written law, would be to lose the law itself, with life, liberty, property and all those who are enjoying them with us; thus absurdly sacrificing the end to the means."

- Thomas Jefferson

Offline trapeze

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Re: Trap's Movie Thread
« Reply #47 on: March 16, 2011, 12:16:47 AM »
Moon (2009)

Directed by Duncan Jones

Sam Rockwell
Kevin Spacey (voice)

This was one of the better pure science fiction movies I have seen. (By "pure science fiction" I mean it mainly seems to adhere to the laws of physics unlike Star Wars type movies where, for instance, spacecraft zip around the vacuum of space as if aerodynamics were in play. Pure scifi films mostly play by the rules rather than make them up.)

The story revolves around a mining facility on the moon and its lone caretaker, Sam Bell (Rockwell). He has a HAL9000-like computer as his sole companion and is able to view occasional video messages from his family back on Earth. As the movie opens he is near the end of his three year shift and is eagerly awaiting his replacement so that he can leave the Moon and go home. But the time in isolation has apparently taken a toll on him both physically and mentally and he seems close to losing it.  He ventures out to check on an automated mining machine, suffers a crash, and wakes up in the computer automated infirmary in a very confused state. And that's when things really begin to get strange. He discovers that the computer (voiced by Spacey) has been lying to him and that things are not at all what they appear to be. It's not long before he discovers an ominous secret about the reality of the facility and his own mortality.

I usually have a hard time watching a film with one actor. They bore me because it is so hard for one actor to carry it off. But Rockwell gives an outstanding performance and the story is interesting enough to keep me wondering how things are going to turn out. The big secret is revealed about one third of the way into the movie and then it really does come down to, "Okay, now what are they going to do with it?"

There are moral and ethical questions raised (not particularly deep ones) that do make you think a bit after it's over and that's always a nice thing. Much better than the usual forgot-what-it's-about-five-minutes-outta-the-theater feeling that I am usually left with. So, a good film.

One more thing...Who is this director Duncan Jones? Turns out he is the son of uber wierd music icon David Bowie.
In a doomsday scenario, hippies will be among the first casualties. So not everything about doomsday will be bad.

Offline radioman

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Re: Trap's Movie Thread
« Reply #48 on: March 18, 2011, 09:46:42 AM »
Look for 'Atlas Shrugged' Part 1 coming in September!

http://www.atlasshruggedpart1.com/?gclid=CLKLm4at2KcCFcKd7Qodnxp45w

From the book of the same title by author Ayn Rand. This should be a good one for a change!!
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Offline AlanS

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Re: Trap's Movie Thread
« Reply #49 on: March 18, 2011, 10:54:07 AM »
On conservative actors, don't forget Andy Garcia. ::USA:: The "True Grit" review has me intrigued. I may actually have to see the movie. I was already to hate it after seeing the original so many times.
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Offline radioman

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Re: Trap's Movie Thread
« Reply #50 on: March 18, 2011, 10:55:44 AM »
On conservative actors, don't forget Andy Garcia. ::USA:: The "True Grit" review has me intrigued. I may actually have to see the movie. I was already to hate it after seeing the original so many times.

i watched it and highly recommend it!! 5 stars!!
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Offline AlanS

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Re: Trap's Movie Thread
« Reply #51 on: March 18, 2011, 11:00:14 AM »
I forgot to mention one of my movies:
Lonesome Dove

Robert Duval
Tommy Lee Jones
Ricky Schroeder

Really great flick with the only downside being they didn't kill off Robert Urich soon enough. ::hysterical:: And I still don't care for little Ricky Schroeder.
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Offline AmericanPatriot

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Re: Trap's Movie Thread
« Reply #52 on: March 18, 2011, 11:39:50 AM »
Quote
I forgot to mention one of my movies:
Lonesome Dove

Excellent movie.
Made for TV, I believe. But great

Offline trapeze

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Re: Trap's Movie Thread
« Reply #53 on: March 20, 2011, 02:43:56 AM »
Days Of Thunder (1990)

Directed by Tony Scott (who directed Top Gun and figured he could get away with it a 2nd time)

Tom Cruise (who thought he was making a serious and thought provoking film and, as usual, was delusional)
Robert Duvall (who should have known better but must have needed the money)
Nicole Kidman (who was only in this because Cruise made her do it)

I hate this movie. For me, Top Gun was barely tolerable because anyone who knows anything about the way that jet fighter pilots behave knows that almost nothing in that flick was even vaguely realistic. Days Of Thunder is Top Gun with stock cars. And I love NASCAR. This monstrosity makes a complete mockery of NASCAR in the same way that Top Gun makes a mockery of Air Force pilots and Naval aviators. So I hate it.

Tom Cruise is a joke as a human being and, although he is capable of good work, he frequently makes dreck like this. Heck, I think he even co-wrote this nonsense.

So yeah, I'm biased against this from the word "go" for so many reasons that I couldn't possibly list them all if I tried. I have mixed feelings about Jerry Bruckheimer productions. They are always ridiculously over the top but that's not always a bad thing. Sometimes it works in a campy sort of way like The Rock or Con Air. But most of the time they fall flat, crushed under their own weight of bad writing, bad acting and just plain stupidity...like Pearl Harbor. And Days Of Thunder.

If you want to see a very good film on NASCAR then I would recommend you instead invest your time and money on the mini documentary put out by the IMAX people, NASCAR: The Imax Experience (2004). It's a few years old (no Jimmy Johnson) but they do an outstanding job of capturing both the history of the sport and the modern experience of stock car racing. The sport is treated with the respect that it deserves instead of, like Days Of Thunder, making the drivers look like lunatics.

This movie should never be seen by anyone under any circumstances. It truly sucks. There are worse movies (I think I'll write about one next) but not that many. Not with a budget like this one had, anyway.
« Last Edit: March 20, 2011, 03:00:04 AM by trapeze »
In a doomsday scenario, hippies will be among the first casualties. So not everything about doomsday will be bad.

Offline John Florida

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Re: Trap's Movie Thread
« Reply #54 on: March 20, 2011, 09:02:35 AM »
All men are created equal"
 Filippo Mazzie

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Re: Trap's Movie Thread
« Reply #55 on: March 20, 2011, 09:02:59 AM »
"Pillars of the Earth", adapted from the novel by Ken Follett.

The line of quality demarcation between feature films and television productions is increasingly blurred these days as the tools, talent, technology, and budgets of television production rivals that of the feature film industry. The results are some very excellent, well-produced, well-acted, well-scripted, and well-directed television programs that cede no quality to theater-released feature films. The screen adaptation of Ken Follett's novel "Pillars of the Earth" is one such program.

It's an 8-part historical mini-series set during the 12th century British "Anarchy", a period when under the reign of King Stephen, the succession to the monarchy was constantly in dispute, and wars and feuds were rampant. Set against that historical period is a fictional tale of the building of a cathedral over decades, and the struggles between people determined to see it built, and those who wished to thwart its building. Rife with political intrigue, corruption, romance, interesting characters, power-struggles, great plots and sub-plots, good, evil, and the bad guys definitely pay for their crimes in the end.

Excellent program; highly recommended.
"A strict observance of the written laws is doubtless one of the high duties of a good citizen, but it is not the highest. The laws of necessity, of self-preservation, of saving our country when in danger, are of higher obligation. To lose our country by a scrupulous adherence to written law, would be to lose the law itself, with life, liberty, property and all those who are enjoying them with us; thus absurdly sacrificing the end to the means."

- Thomas Jefferson

Offline John Florida

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Re: Trap's Movie Thread
« Reply #56 on: March 20, 2011, 09:11:41 AM »
All men are created equal"
 Filippo Mazzie

Offline trapeze

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Re: Trap's Movie Thread
« Reply #57 on: March 25, 2011, 01:41:42 AM »
Okay, and now...the bad.

Battlefield Earth (2000)


Directed by Roger Christian

John Travolta
Barry Pepper
Kelly Preston
and a host of others who wish they had never heard of the damn thing.

Believe it or not I actually read this book when it came out. I was always a big sci/fi reader and I had never read anything by L. Ron Hubbard before. I had no idea what scientology was at the time...had never heard of it.  It was a bad book. I realized this after reading perhaps 200 pages but I was unable to put it down. I kept thinking, "There is no way that this book can keep being this consistently bad." and then when it did, curiosity got the better of me and I wondered, "Could it possible get worse?" Well, id didn't, which pissed me off because I invested all that time reading it through to the end and it just ending up being a crappy book.

I did, though, gain two valuable things from the experience. First, I knew never to buy another thing written by Hubbard (which led me to veer into discovering laughable joke religion that is scientology) and second, that when the movie came out I knew to avoid it like I would avoid venereal disease.

I did watch it on cable when the opportunity presented itself 'cause it was free and I wasn't doing anything and I already knew how godawful it was going to be. Knowing what a piece of crap it was and knowing it wasn't going to improve or even be funny allowed me to watch it and shut if off when it got too horrible. Thus I confess to never having seen it all the way through.

But really you don't have to. When you see a car plunging over the edge of a cliff it isn't necessary to run up to it in order to find out what happens next. The car is going to be crushed and everyone in it is going to die. You just know it.

This is a truly awful picture. The scenes are almost all universally drab and dark. The special effects aren't. The acting varies between just bad and really, really, really bad. The director inexplicably uses that tilted angle shot like they did in the Batman tv series whenever the villains were in the scene...except that it's used almost all the time.  The script is boring. If the script had been horrible then maybe the film would have qualified as camp but it's not. It's just dull.

The only thing that you can do to get relief is to turn it off and toss down some Advil. I'm not sure anyone has ever watched it all the way through. It's said that a lot of people left the theater rather than face blood streaming from their eyes and ears or maybe their brains exploding.

You have to wonder if Tom Cruise tried to stop his fellow scientology cultist Travolta from doing this. Or how he avoided ending up in this piece of garbage. Travolta to this day insists that this was the greatest sci/fi movie ever made. I'm not kidding. I looked it up.



« Last Edit: March 25, 2011, 01:45:54 AM by trapeze »
In a doomsday scenario, hippies will be among the first casualties. So not everything about doomsday will be bad.

charlesoakwood

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Re: Trap's Movie Thread
« Reply #58 on: March 25, 2011, 01:59:35 AM »
Night of the Iguana

Set in pre-tourist Acapulco.  A bus tour including Richard Burton, -de-flocked Episcopal preacher, bus driver/tour guide, alcoholic as Lawrence T. Shannon.  Debora Kerr as spinster taking care of aged poet father,  nymphet Sue Lyon with a screw chaperon.  The bus breaks down in the jungle and the group wind up at a tourist inn operated by Shannon's old friend Ava Gardner and her husband who is in one scene (maybe). 
That is the set up. This disconsolate group stranded at an Inn in the hot jungle. Sort of a "Casablanca" in the jungle, but instead of Nazi's the demons are internal.  The acting is excellent and so is the dialogue.
The only special effects are natural.

Some pulled quotes:
Hannah Jelkes: There are worse things than chastity, Mr. Shannon.
Lawrence Shannon: Yes: lunacy and death.

T. Lawrence Shannon: I thought you were sexless. But you've just become a woman. And do you know how I know that? Because *you* like *me* tied up! All women, whether they wish to admit it or not, would like to get men into a tied-up situation.

T. Lawrence Shannon: I'm panicking!
Hannah Jelkes: I know that.
T. Lawrence Shannon: A man can die of panic!
Hannah Jelkes: Not when he enjoys it as much as you do, Dr. Shannon.

Hannah Jelkes: Who wouldn't like to atone for the sins of themselves, and the world, if it could be done in a hammock with ropes, instead of on a Cross, with nails? On a green hilltop, instead of Golgotha, the Place of the Skulls? Isn't that a comparatively comfortable, almost voluptuous Crucifixion to suffer for the sins of the world, Mr. Shannon?

Maxine Faulk: So you appropriated the young chick and the old hens are squawking, huh?
T. Lawrence Shannon: It's very serious. The child is emotionally precocious.
Maxine Faulk: Bully for her.
T. Lawrence Shannon: Also, she is traveling under the wing of a military escort of a butch vocal teacher.

The Night of the Iguana (1964) - HQ Trailer


Offline Sectionhand

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Re: Trap's Movie Thread
« Reply #59 on: March 25, 2011, 04:40:52 AM »
Mad Magazine's takeoff was "Night of the Banana" .... Something appropriately sexual there which I missed the first time I read it .