Well, I look at it this way:we might bet the OOT before we ever get The Abyss and True Lies on Blu-ray. Whoopee.
Skyscraper- Though frequent compared to Die Hard, which it rips off plentifully, this almost feels more like a disaster movie. It’s derivative as hell, but The Rock is reliably charismatic, and it’s nice to see a female lead who while in trouble, gets to do something useful in the plot instead of being a damsel in distress. Ridiculous in places, even if obviously knowingly, it’s a far cry from the humanized hero of John McClane, but it’s enjoyable enough junk food without delusions about what it is.
Con Air- A gigantic, glossy, high-concept action thriller from Jerry Bruckheimer. The Bruckheimer formula with touches of the Spielberg formula, it mixes brutal and sadistic violence with maudlin sentimentality. As usual, Bruckheimer populates the film with a terrific cast (and Nicolas Cage), lots of one-liners, and enough explosions to satiate the adolescent-minded. A major guilty pleasure of mine.
Pacific Rim- There are several problems with this film. I do not care. At all. I grew up on tokusatsu and Gundam Wing reruns, and this was made for me. Almost literally, it seems. Giant mecha square off against giant monsters. I’m also an avid Guillermo del Toro fan, and seeing an off-kilter art house fantasy filmmaker given $200 million to make a film that combines genres known to 37 people in the United States pleases me beyond what I’m capable of articulating. There are definitely problems-some stilted dialogue, limited characterization-but the film is so wildly visionary, I’m happy to forgive them. A blast.
A Quiet Place- John Krasinski hits out of the park with this high-concept horror thriller. The rare movie that has the goddamn sense to be 90 minutes long, it milks it’s premise about monsters than hunt by sound for all it’s worth, adds in a little solid (if perfunctory) emotional depth, and wows with a lean, mean B-movie style.
I’d like to read that Nottingham screenplay which became Ridley Scott’s Robin Hood if I can ever find it.
Prom Night- One of the “classic” slasher movies that came out in the wake of Halloween. Carpenter was my film teacher’s favorite punching bag, and I confess that Halloween has never been a favorite of mine, but I appreciate it more the more knockoffs I watch. Prom Night is slow, boring, and even at 94 minutes, feels way too long. No interesting characters, no suspense, no style, flat direction, simply dreadful and dull.
The guy down the street is blairing his annoying loud music again. Apparently, it never occurred to him that other people might not want to listen to it.
I hate bulshit. I can tell when you’re lying or insincere. Just be upfront and tell me. I’m an adult, I can take it. I’d have more respect for you in the end.
I, um, apologize. I simply meant it largely as a joke.
Or you can just admit that you can’t tell the difference between lossy and lossless audio and get on with your life.
Yeah, but what fun would that be?!
The first three Mission: Impossible films were only released with lossy DD 5.1 in the U.S. I can order a Scandinavian version of the trilogy, but it omits the extras, so I’d have to buy the two-disc version of III in the U.S. And I’m betting that we won’t be getting any new releases fixing this to tie in with Fallout. Sigh. First-world problems.
What did you think about the different cuts?
The Donner cut was better — up until the end. I would’ve given it 6/10 if it wasn’t for that stupid ending.
What basically happened was, from what I understand, that they were going to use the “spin the Earth” ending for II. Once they realized it’d work better for the first film, they moved it, figuring that they’d figure something out when they got to II, but once Donner got canned, that’s all they had to fall back on.
wait, so could a very kind superman fan explain to stupid old me the different cuts available for the movies and all that?
As short as possible version: The producers, the Salkinds, hired director Richard Donner because he was the flavor of the month, having come off of a hit horror film called The Omen. Donner had artistic aspirations, whereas the Salkinds were in it purely for the money. Donner brought in his own screenwriter to completely rewrite their (according to him, completely unworkable) script. Superman and Superman II were shot back-to-back as a mega production; Donner finished about 70% of the second film before locking it to finish production on the first film. It wound up being the most expensive movie ever made up to that time. It was a big box office and critical hit, but the Salkinds didn’t want to deal with Donner again, so they unceremoniously fired him, and brought in director Richard Lester to work on the sequels. Lester reshot a bunch of Donner’s scenes as well as new scenes for II to qualify for a director’s credit, so there’s tons of extra footage. Years later, they did the best they could to reconstruct Donner’s cut. There’s also an extended cut of the first film, supervised by Donner, and a TV version with a lot of extra scenes. And presumably fan edits and deleted scenes.
There’s a lot more to this-what is who’s footage, who shot what, etc.-that’s seeped into film fan lore, but this is the basic gist of it.
They also scrapped all of Marlon Brando’s footage for II over salary disputes. Superman’s Mom suddenly being the Kryptonian hologram giving advice from beyond the grave made no sense.
The Brando footage was used in the Donner Cut reconstruction, and parts of it were also used for Bryan Singer’s quasi-sequel Superman Returns.
What did you think about the different cuts?
The Donner cut was better — up until the end. I would’ve given it 6/10 if it wasn’t for that stupid ending.
What basically happened was, from what I understand, that they were going to use the “spin the Earth” ending for II. Once they realized it’d work better for the first film, they moved it, figuring that they’d figure something out when they got to II, but once Donner got canned, that’s all they had to fall back on.
wait, so could a very kind superman fan explain to stupid old me the different cuts available for the movies and all that?
As short as possible version: The producers, the Salkinds, hired director Richard Donner because he was the flavor of the month, having come off of a hit horror film called The Omen. Donner had artistic aspirations, whereas the Salkinds were in it purely for the money. Donner brought in his own screenwriter to completely rewrite their (according to him, completely unworkable) script. Superman and Superman II were shot back-to-back as a mega production; Donner finished about 70% of the second film before locking it to finish production on the first film. It wound up being the most expensive movie ever made up to that time. It was a big box office and critical hit, but the Salkinds didn’t want to deal with Donner again, so they unceremoniously fired him, and brought in director Richard Lester to work on the sequels. Lester reshot a bunch of Donner’s scenes as well as new scenes for II to qualify for a director’s credit, so there’s tons of extra footage. Years later, they did the best they could to reconstruct Donner’s cut. There’s also an extended cut of the first film, supervised by Donner, and a TV version with a lot of extra scenes. And presumably fan edits and deleted scenes.
There’s a lot more to this-what is who’s footage, who shot what, etc.-that’s seeped into film fan lore, but this is the basic gist of it.
I have a pair of shorts from a company called Tek Gear. They’re elastic, and have a back pocket for my wallet, which is a godsend. I’ve been searching high and low for years to try to find the same kind, but to no avail. I even contacted the company and got no answer. The goddamn things have to exist, I bought them once!
Big Eyes- A blend of cutting timeless social commentary, Sirk-style melodrama and colors, and character study biopic, Big Eyes is Tim Burton’s best film in years. Terrific performances from Amy Adams and Christoph Waltz in this almost unbelievable true story about an unlikely artist and her domineering husband who built a pop art empire. Gorgeously shot, well-acted, and written with wit and sympathy, Burton abandons his usual Gothic bag of tricks for something new and more than welcome.
I love the TV censor of The Room.
OK, I need to see this.
I’ve only seen Dune. It sucked, but I appreciated some of the style, so it didn’t ruin Lynch for me or anything.
Dune fails as a David Lynch movie and as an adaptation of the novel. It’s almost impressive.
Don’t let that put you off reading the book, or (assuming it’s good) seeing Denis Villeneuve’s upcoming adaptation when it materializes.
It’s long overdue for Peter Jackson-style big update.
Whatever happened to Han Solo vs. Indiana Jones?
Ready Player One (2018) - If it’s Spielberg, I’m there. Been excited about this for awhile, at least until recently when it became clear that this would be some sort of reference fest. Fortunately, the references are mostly background stuff, but occasionally they are legitimately distracting, and with little purpose to the narrative. Still, an incredibly fun trip with some really cool set pieces. If it didn’t fumble its final message, I would have really loved it. Alas. B
Just saw this, and I agree with you. Ending was not well done for sure. But managed to be fun most of the entire runtime.
The final set piece was a blast though.
If only Star Wars were treated with so much care…
2001: A Space Odyssey to have limited 70mm run for 50th anniversary
For the first time since the original release, this 70mm print was struck from new printing elements made from the original camera negative. This is a true photochemical film recreation. There are no digital tricks, remastered effects, or revisionist edits.
It’s almost as if they’re taunting us. It’s a sad world in which clarifications like this even need to be said.
When do we get a list of cinemas and showtimes?!
Any hypothetical positives which may come with Disney purchasing 21st Century Fox are grossly outweighed by the negatives. I want Disney to lose this deal.
The possibility of getting the OOT is very, very tempting though. Not to mention FF & X-Men back at Marvel. But I do see your point.
Any hypothetical positives which may come with Disney purchasing 21st Century Fox are grossly outweighed by the negatives. I want Disney to lose this deal.
Comcast ain’t any better.
I cannot articulate my anger at Comcast right now just for not letting me log into STARZ, let along the other things they do.
I keep vainly hoping thay Arrow will get this in the UK
I’ve uploaded my reconstruction of original gone in 60 seconds score and closing credits to that favorite organ site.
Hello !
Is there a way to get this ?
I planned to sync a VHS audio track on the remastered video, but if yours is better quality, it would be great !
Thank you 😃
I’d assume the easiest way would be to be a MySpleen Member.
I’ve wanted to see that for awhile now. Have you seen A Study in Terror?
No, not yet. Is that one of the Jack the Ripper ones? I’ve seen Clark’s Murder By Decree.
The Seven Percent Solution- Written by Nicholas Star Trek Meyer of Wrath of Khan, The Voyage Home, & The Undiscovered Country, this Sherlock Holmes pastiche is immense fun. Meyer deconstructs the literary hero by having him detox from his cocaine addiction with Sigmund Freud. Along the way, Holmes, Watson, and Freud of course get entangled in an adventure where they must combine their intellects to solve a mystery. One of the key revelations counts as a major retcon which may not sit well with Holmes fans, but it’s an interesting choice. Director Herbert Ross keeps the film moving at an enjoyable brisk clip, Meyer’s script is witty, creative, and above all, fun, and Ken Adam’s period production design is a treat. An absolute blast.
Ninja: Shadow of a Tear- Average straight-to-video action fare with very much above average fight scenes. You get more bang for your buck than lots of bigger-budgeted movies, and Scott Adkins physicality makes him an excellent action star. Director Issac Florentine is no great shakes when it comes to directing drama, but has a great flair for lensing action with clean, coherent battles. Paced out with fight scenes every 10 minutes or so, it’s lots of fun if this is your kind of thing.
it has the most amazing dragon ever committed to film,
Vermithrax Pejorative would like to have a word with you? 😛
I suppose that one was commuted to celluloid and the other to pixels, so I’m technically right 😛. I don’t know, it’s hard to pick between them; Smaug has lots of personality and is really stunning, whereas VP was the most sophisticated special effect money could buy at the time. I see why George R.R. Martin loves the more feral VP. Smaug is amazing too though. I don’t know, it’s a toss-up 😉.
I’m something of an apologist for the Hobbit movies. There Are a lot of things wrong with them, but most of them come down to massive studio interference, like the decision to do three films, and a bunch of the stuff that they added. If you watch the surprisingly candid extras on the DVDs and Blu-ray’s, you will see how insane the production was. Once del Toro Left, Jackson basically took over the project to prevent it from being added to some blockbuster hack. He had almost no time to prepare, in the movies suffered for it.
But there are good things scattered about; almost all the acting is uniformly excellent, there are frequently you some striking visuals, it has the most amazing dragon ever committed to film, and some very fun set pieces. I understand that a lot of people have problems with it, and there are a lot of legitimate criticism is to be made of it, but saying that it is Phantom Menace-level bad is frankly unfair. Given what Jackson had To work with, it is amazing that they even came out coherent.
