The Woodsman - A good film that won't appeal to everyone due to its subject matter. Kevin Bacon played his role convincingly.

Suspect Zero - Another "Seven" ripoff with an absurd plot that gets more convoluted as the movie progresses.

Criminal - A remake of Argentinian film "Nine Queens" starring John C. Reilly. I found it to be Mediocre. It doesn't really improve on the original film and is less satisifying as a result.

Hmmm, sounds like we had similar viewing over the weekend, 99. I thought Kevin Bacon was good in The Woodsman, but I had a lot of problems with the film in general. Considering the nature of his crimes, Bacon's character seemed to have a relatively easy transition back into society, no community outrage over the location of his apartment, no apparent restrictions on his comings and goings and, given the heightened state of alertness about these kinds of things these days, it seems unlikely that Bacon's character would be the first and only one to tweak that something was amiss in the neighborhood.

As for Criminal, I totally agree with your assessment. I rented it for the cast, but even John C. Reilly and Maggie Gylenhall couldn't make it as enjoyable as the original.

Fat Albert
Now before you laugh, I would like to say that I am old enough to have watched this show when it was on TV in its first run and I did like it as a kid. I have always liked Bill cosby and respect him alot.
The movie stuck to its original theme and I thought that the actors and costume design were done and chosen very well. I realy enjoyed the music used in the movie so much so I may go out and buy the CD sometime down the road. The story was entertaining and wasen't long. and you even learn some things about why Bill cosby made these characters in the first place.
Go rent it, its worth a look and good for kids as well to see. 3.5 out of 5

Hotel Rwanda - Viewed Sunday eve. Can't say we were overly impressed with this movie.

We certainly felt it was a decent depiction of the story about the hotel manager and his heroic efforts to save his countrymen during this terrible crisis in Rwanda, and it was certainly well-acted by the lead. But for us, the movie as a whole, just seemed to leave us looking for more. Heh, this was a good story, but wasn't there so much more that could have been told around it? Maybe we were asking for too much?

There was some good acting by several of the locally-hired actors. Wouldn't say the same for Nolte though, he looked and acted like he was "out to lunch" most of the time.

After seeing the movie, we're glad it was not voted "best" picture.

I liked Hotel Rwanda a lot.

Wouldn't say the same for Nolte though, he looked and acted like he was "out to lunch" most of the time. .

Well no wonder, he was acting the part of a Canadian UN officer!

After seeing the movie, we're glad it was not voted "best" picture.

It wasn't nominated, which was a shame since it was way better than the actual "winner". Hollywood awards go to "Hollywood" movies.

"It wasn't nominated" - right. I was a bit concerned with the accuracy of my last statement -- thus, some editing - but obviously not enough!! Whatever, in "our humble opinions", we disagree that this picture was better than the winner (which was 'Ray', was it not?).

Heh, this was a good story, but wasn't there so much more that could have been told around it? Maybe we were asking for too much?

It certainly lacked the sheen of, say, The Killing Fields, another great movie about survival in the face of genocide, but HR was a pretty low-budget film. There was a story in a recent issue of Premiere magazine about the filmmakers struggling to pull together the financing to be able to realize their project, which had been percolating for years. In fact, it almost fell apart at the last moment.

And yeah, Nick Nolte chewed up every scene he was in; thankfully he wasn't in too many.

For the record, Million Dollar Baby won Best Picture.

Currently running in Movie Central is a movie calle Sometime in April. Also a movie about Rwanda in those dark times. Has anyone seen it? And how might it compare to Hotel Rwanda?

Hotel Rwanda started to gain momentum at the Toronto Film Festival where it won the People's Choice Award. This is when people started to take notice of the film. Before screening at the Toronto film festival Hotel Rwanda was off the radar and did not get much attention from critics or the media. The Toronto film festival basically gave Hotel Rwanda, which is a very low budget film, the exposure to the public it needed and a venue where people could become aware of the movie and spread positive word of mouth about it.

I must have been a little too heavy into the afternoon wine when I posted some of my comments yesterday :p Seems I couldn't get Academy Award winning 'categories' straight (best pic vs best actor, etc., etc.).

Thanks Nels. And thanks to you, and the others who posted some of the background info to the film -- such has helped us to appreciate the movie more than we had from the viewing.

We did enjoy the movie and it's story. But despite it being a UK/South Africa production, for us, it actually looked a little too "Hollywood". Cheers!

Currently running in Movie Central is a movie calle Sometime in April. Also a movie about Rwanda in those dark times. Has anyone seen it? And how might it compare to Hotel Rwanda?

This is the HBO flick that aired a few weeks ago on HBO:

http://www.hbo.com/films/sometimesinapril/?ntrack_para1=leftnav_category4_show1


"Ray" didn't win best picture but it was nominated. Good flick.

review of "April"

http://www.usatoday.com/life/television/reviews/2005-03-17-sometimes-in-april_x.htm

Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind - What a movie this is. I expect this from Kaufman now (kind of like M. Night Syamalan). Great acting too. I was involved in this movie from teh start. Highly Reccommended. (Watched it on MCHD)
and...
Snatch - Love this movie. One of Guy Richies best, next to Lock Stock. What a web he spins here, all intertwining and interconnected. Great story and I expect to see more from Richie along these lines and a little less of that other movie with his wife (Swept Away) (DVD - There is a Superbit version available, but this was the original 2 disc release)

Watched Meet the Fockers last night - after all the serious viewings of late, it was a pleasant change of pace. A fun movie. Hadn't seen 'Meet the Parents', so didn't have any pre-ideas of what to expect. Thought all actors played their parts well, but especially enjoyed Dustin Hoffman -- some of his antics and facial expressions were quite priceless.

Fockers is great. I think it is as good as 'Meet the Parents' was, if only for Hoffnam and Streisand.

'FOCKER OUT!'

I expect to see more from Richie along these lines and a little less of that other movie with his wife

Guy Ritchie has already filmed another movie called Revolver. Apparently, from what I have read, the film is having a tough time finding a distributor because it is not supposed to be very good.

Revolver IMDB Profile
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0365686/

Next batch of dvds from vhqonline came in......

Elektra:

Ok film. Surprisingly better than I thought it would be but then again, didn't really have any expectations either. Better than Daredevil at least.

Flight of the Pheonix:

Just an OK film as well. Filled with clichés and over-acting. Don't recommend.

War of the Worlds:

Original sci-fi from the 50's. Great fun despite being just pan and scan and kind of grainy. Recommend this film - its sure to be better than the upcoming Tom Cruise special effects ridden pending disaster.

War of the Worlds... Original sci-fi from the 50's... its sure to be better than the upcoming Tom Cruise special effects ridden pending disaster.

I may have been inclined to think the same thing if some amateur hack director was in charge of the production. Steven Spielberg isn't exactly incompetant. He is an experienced veteran that has dealt with this subject matter before. I don't think anyone should disregard the contemporary big screen adaptation of War of the Worlds so quick.

I may have been inclined to think the same thing if some amateur hack director was in charge of the production. Steven Spielberg isn't exactly incompetant. He is an experienced veteran that has dealt with this subject matter before. I don't think anyone should disregard the contemporary big screen adaptation of War of the Worlds so quick.

I couldn't agree more. if there was one guy left of the planet to make good science fiction movies I would choose Spielberg. So until it's seen, and the verdicts are in I am betting on a wonderful, truly remembered re-make.

Cheers,

I hope you guys are right. From the few clips I've seen, I'm a little worried that it will be a special effects fest and that the story and acting will be left in the dust.

I'm a little jaded after the remake of "The Time Machine". Hopefully Speilberg will pull it off.