What general film/series have you just seen.. marks out of 5

[saltysam]

Nighthawks 3/5 Solid 80's Stallone cop thriller with Rutger Hauer on great form as the terrorist Wolfgar. the rereleased german blu-ray despite being part of a 3 film on one 50gb disc is a massive improvement on the crappy old upscale single disc,being proper HD. Sadly the musical substitutions and edited climax are still present.

[Markgway]

Nighthawks 3/5 Solid 80's Stallone cop thriller with Rutger Hauer on great form as the terrorist Wolfgar. the rereleased german blu-ray despite being part of a 3 film on one 50gb disc is a massive improvement on the crappy old upscale single disc,being proper HD. Sadly the musical substitutions and edited climax are still present.

I keep hoping Arrow will get a hold of this.

[Markgway]

Adventures in Babysitting (1987-USA) **½
Teen babysitter Elizabeth Shue (appealing in her first starring role) is forced to take her young charges on a rescue mission into the big bad city where trouble lurks around every corner. Plays like an After Hours for teens; enjoyable, but not great.

[saltysam]

I keep hoping Arrow will get a hold of this.

yeah,it's a film that's never been treated well on home video,there's so much an SE of this could offer.it's clearly been pre-released edited down,i've read stories of a much longer cut,watching it there's clearly some things that don't gel Billy Dee Williams gets a pretty bad injury and is in hospital,next time we see him he's back on full duties solid film though

[Markgway]

All of Me (1984-USA) **½
The spirit of a dying woman is mistakenly transferred into her lawyer's body.
Steve Martin is funny in this uneven comedy that never quite hits its stride.

[Markgway]

Captain America: The Winter Soldier (2014-USA) **
Super-sized, super-loud super movie with super special effects and wall-to-wall carnage that bludgeons the life out of intriguing political angle... and it goes on far too long. When did Disney films get so violent? (Uncle Walt is probably rolling in his grave).

The Grand Budapest Hotel (2014-UK-Germany-USA) N/A
I managed 30 min of this infuriatingly arch farce before switching it off.
Any more and I might've put my fist thru the monitor.

Chillerama (2011-USA) *½
Extremely vulgar parody of dated drive-in exploitation pictures displays some creativity and wit at first, before giving way to the tired, the crude, the gross, and the obvious. The cast are mostly unknowns, though Eric Roberts cameos as General Bukkake (which tells you all you need to know...)

[grim_tales]

Captain America: The Winter Soldier (2014-USA) **
Super-sized, super-loud super movie with super special effects and wall-to-wall carnage that bludgeons the life out of intriguing political angle... and it goes on far too long. When did Disney films get so violent? (Uncle Walt is probably rolling in his grave).

The Grand Budapest Hotel (2014-UK-Germany-USA) N/A
I managed 30 min of this infuriatingly arch farce before switching it off.
Any more and I might've put my fist thru the monitor.

Chillerama (2011-USA) *½
Extremely vulgar parody of dated drive-in exploitation pictures displays some creativity and wit at first, before giving way to the tired, the crude, the gross, and the obvious. The cast are mostly unknowns, though Eric Roberts cameos as General Bukkake (which tells you all you need to know...)

BIB: To be fair a few early Disneys were quite dark/violent for their time (Snow White, Dumbo, Pinocchio...)

[Markgway]

BIB: To be fair a few early Disneys were quite dark/violent for their time (Snow White, Dumbo, Pinocchio...)

Yes, I remember the scene when Snow White headbutts a dwarf.

Seriously though, there are so many people beaten, shot and killed in CATWS that barely a minute of screen time goes by without a murder of some sorts.

[Markgway]

The Firm (1993-USA) ***

[Markgway]

Birdman or (the Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance) (2014-USA) **
A faded movie star plans his artistic comeback on Broadway.
More an actor's showcase than an actual movie and if you enjoy watching actors "act" this will be right up your street, however many will find it self-important and pretentious. The continued-take direction is bravura, but like the relentless jazz score, irritating after a short while. Keaton's performance is a tour de force and will be remembered long after this slight Best Picture winner has faded from memory. It's not quite Forrest Gump, but we won't be waxing nostalgic about Birdman in years to come.

[Killer Meteor]

BIB: To be fair a few early Disneys were quite dark/violent for their time (Snow White, Dumbo, Pinocchio...)

Yes, I remember the scene when Snow White headbutts a dwarf.

Seriously though, there are so many people beaten, shot and killed in CATWS that barely a minute of screen time goes by without a murder of some sorts.

Disney's 1950 Treasure Island has a body count to rival a Stallone movie...and the kid shoots a pirate right in the eye!

[Markgway]

Disney's 1950 Treasure Island has a body count to rival a Stallone movie...and the kid shoots a pirate right in the eye!

I haven't seen it.

What I was getting at is that it's changed days since Dick Tracy had to be released under the Touchstone banner because it was felt too violent for the Disney brand.

[Killer Meteor]

Disney's 1950 Treasure Island has a body count to rival a Stallone movie...and the kid shoots a pirate right in the eye!

I haven't seen it.

What I was getting at is that it's changed days since Dick Tracy had to be released under the Touchstone banner because it was felt too violent for the Disney brand.

Same for Nightmare Before Christmas...which has now been rebranded as a Disney film.

[Masterofoneinchpunch]

BIB: To be fair a few early Disneys were quite dark/violent for their time (Snow White, Dumbo, Pinocchio...)

Yes, I remember the scene when Snow White headbutts a dwarf.

Seriously though, there are so many people beaten, shot and killed in CATWS that barely a minute of screen time goes by without a murder of some sorts.

Disney's 1950 Treasure Island has a body count to rival a Stallone movie...and the kid shoots a pirate right in the eye!

I love that film. I saw it many times growing up and bought it on DVD as well. It's with Darby O'Gill and the Little People as among my favorite live action Disney's.

[Killer Meteor]

Me too! And the ship used for it, the Ryelands, went on to appear in another of my faves: Moby Dick. It later became a tourist attraction and then suffered the same fate as the Wicker Man...it burnt down

[Masterofoneinchpunch]

Me too! And the ship used for it, the Ryelands, went on to appear in another of my faves: Moby Dick. It later became a tourist attraction and then suffered the same fate as the Wicker Man...it burnt down

I did not know that. Good information there. Too bad that beautiful boat burnt down (like many reels in the Universal fire.) I like that adaptation from John Huston as well. I'm a fan of the book, though I know many chapters would/should not make it into a filmed version. Huston adapted so many films from books and was mostly successful at it during his career. I'm a fan of his.

[Markgway]

The Lego Movie (2014-USA-Australia-Denmark) **½
If you can get past the redundant concept of CGI-animated Lego(!) there's enjoyment to be had from this clever, witty family movie. Will Arnett's egotistical Batman is a standout.

[grim_tales]

I really enjoyed that, much better than I thought it would be

[Masterofoneinchpunch]

I really enjoyed that, much better than I thought it would be

Everything is Awesome!!! Fun film. Blocky animation was sometimes interesting, though it took me a while to get used to it. It was the first big hit of 2014 here in the States. I enjoyed seeing it in the theater, but I haven't rewatched it yet. Somewhat surprised it did not get nominated for AA Best Animated feature (though it did come out early in the year.) I ended up giving it ***/****.

[Killer Meteor]

Dragon: The Bruce Lee Story (1993)

Probably the worst major studio DVD ever (so bad I stuck with the VHS!) has finally come to blu-ray.



8/10

[Markgway]

Still, they could at least have mentioned Betty Ting Pei. She did the same for Linda in Bruce Lee & I...

[Markgway]

The Guest (2013-USA) *½
American soldier Dan Stevens returns from the Middle East to stay with his fallen comrade's grieving family... and brings trouble with him. Risible thriller squanders strong first act potential; even genre mash-ups need to make some semblance of sense.

[Masterofoneinchpunch]

Birdman or (the Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance) (2014-USA) **
A faded movie star plans his artistic comeback on Broadway.
More an actor's showcase than an actual movie and if you enjoy watching actors "act" this will be right up your street, however many will find it self-important and pretentious. The continued-take direction is bravura, but like the relentless jazz score, irritating after a short while. Keaton's performance is a tour de force and will be remembered long after this slight Best Picture winner has faded from memory. It's not quite Forrest Gump, but we won't be waxing nostalgic about Birdman in years to come.

Watched Birdman last night (and I'm caught up again on Best Picture winners having seen them all.) One thing I noticed (and later confirmed when I read some comments from the director) is how much the film Russian Ark influenced the camera movement and idea of long takes in the cinematography. I loved the acting in the film and liked the cinematography. Some of the references were too easy (pot shots at popular actors doing costume characters) and the flip-flop of west coast and east coast acting philosophies got a little annoying (I don't think the director was taking a stance either way.)

It went for that sort of Being There ending, but it didn't quite work for me. Honestly I thought the film could have ended after the gunshot. The magical moments in Birdman could always be explained in that film until that last shot (when he does that magical flying around, later a taxi driver comes to collect money from him for example) -- so that does make it different from the rest. It does seem that (along with the nose) truly turns into Birdman. In a way that shot reminds me of the shot in Fight Club (along with the presence of Norton -- one of his jokes also seems to come directly from that film as well.) The shot doesn't kill, but jars the protagonist into another way of thinking.

I recommend the David Bordwell article (BIRDMAN: Following Riggan’s orders) on this film where he goes over quite a bit of the technical details and structure of the film. One of the best reads on the movie.

[grim_tales]

I really enjoyed that, much better than I thought it would be

Everything is Awesome!!! Fun film. Blocky animation was sometimes interesting, though it took me a while to get used to it. It was the first big hit of 2014 here in the States. I enjoyed seeing it in the theater, but I haven't rewatched it yet. Somewhat surprised it did not get nominated for AA Best Animated feature (though it did come out early in the year.) I ended up giving it ***/****.

I think I gave it ***.5/***** (cant quite recall), it was funny and clever - but I did like how the end twist explored the ethos of Lego itself and how adults and kids viewed it differently Even though I was never a big lego person I'm not good with my hands... I agree about the animation, when the figures were talking it seemed like CGI and then there were parts that looked like they were literally animated with lego which seemed odd

"I work in black, or sometimes very very dark grey"

[Markgway]

Honestly I thought the film could have ended after the gunshot.

Indeed, it should have.

Gunshot. Applause. Fade to black.