Special edition of Crash comes out early April.

I just watched King Kong. It was a little drawn out but good none the less.

All the special effects were really cool. The 5.1 was used really well too as there was a lot of effects coming out of the rear two speakers.

4/5

A Sound of Thunder - Time travel conundrums! Dinosaurs! Evolution run amok! Edward Burns as an action hero! Catherine McCormack in distress! Ben Kingsley in a grey fright wig! I knew this was a bad movie when I saw it on the shelf, but it was a cold, rainy afternoon, there was nothing at the multiplex that tickled my interest and I've already seen all the "quality" movies that have found their way to the BB in recent weeks; but this was beyond bad. Cheesy bad special effects, including some of the worst green screen effects I've ever seen, improbable plot twists and some brutal, brutal acting. How do actors like Burns, who forged his career in small romantic dramedies, and Kingsley, an Oscar winner for crying out loud, end up in dogs like this? Just pulling in a quick paycheque between quality projects?

My wife and I watched the much-hyped Peter Jackson version of King Kong tonight, and to say we were disappointed is an understatement. Aside from the moments of intimacy between Kong and Ann - the only scenes that were worth anything - this movie was a piece of cr@p.

The bloated story moved along far too slowly (and too slow-motionedly); supposedly "dramatic" moments were remarkably dull; characters were uninteresting and/or irrelevant; and some scenes and dialogue were so stupid we thought we were watching a parody of the original movie, not a loving homage to it!

Of the film's numerous low points, the two worst offenders were the dinosaur stampede (it's impossible to suspend enough disbelief to get through this one) and Anne's Vaudeville performance for Kong (WTF?! :o ).

Anyway, if you feel you must rent this movie, just fast-forward to the last ten minutes with Kong and Ann together on top of the Empire State Building. The rest of the movie is just filler.

Tonight's movie was Fantastic 4. Five astronauts are accidentally exposed to cosmic radiation which endows them with super powers. When one of the five turns to evil, the other four must team up to stop him.

Based on reviews, we expected a goofy superhero flick...and that's exactly what we got. It was enjoyable enough, although the goofiness did start to wear a bit thin in the last half hour.

Watched King Kong last night, Brokeback Mountain a few nights ago. My lady-friend was just blown away by Kong. Her "kind of movie" (sci-fi fantasy, or whatever it falls under?) - she now says it's the best she's every seen!! I enjoyed it, but only mildly so, and did find myself nodding off at times. We equally-enjoyed Mountain though. We sure had doubts before getting into this movie, but they were well-set aside after only several minutes into the viewing. And "wow", the quality of the video was sure something to behold!!

Lovely Alberta scenery in Brokeback. Travel Alberta, you won't be disappointed.

Watched the Chronic-What?-Cles of Narnia. Again. Disappointing to say the least. Something about the pacing of the movie was off and threw me. Like, where the hell does Santa come from? Why do they celbrate Christmas in Narnia at all? There's no connection with any of the characters, except the Beavers (best part of the movie). I'm not sure excatly what would save it...extended edition maybe. Like some of you say Kong was too long, I think this movie was too long.

I didn't watch it here, so I can't comment on video/audio. I'll bring it home soon though so I can listen to the Enhanced Home Theater and DTS mixes.

I liked it in December:
I've never read the books (I have never read LOTR either) and I thought it was still an excellent movie.
http://www.digitalhomecanada.com/forum/showpost.php?p=307152&postcount=13

Maybe I was disappointed because I didn't get to see it on my own system. I don't know what it was. It didn't seem to connect as much as it did in the theater. However, I had my reservations back then too, but I didn't discuss them here.

Maybe a 3rd viweing at home will change my mind.

Just watched War of the Worlds DVD tonight. I thought the special effects were awesome and should have won an award. I wonder if some of Tom Cruise's antics (the couch jumping incident on Oprah) and some of his bizarre over-the- top pronouncements turned the Academy voters off and they cast their votes elsewhere (King Kong)
Dakota Fanning is an excellent actress and has a believable, natural delivery unlike kid actors of the past who spoke in a very stagey and stilted way.
Steven Spielberg's idea of using the tripod fighting machines was how H.G. Wells described the Martian craft in his original sci-fi story (written in 1898!)

The Weather Man I would not recommend. Very mildly funny.

Like, where the hell does Santa come from? Why do they celbrate Christmas in Narnia at all?Makes about as much sense as the requirement for a monarchy and the acquisition of wealth (gold and jewels) in a supposedly "free" land...but it's in the book.

<short sidebar, not a hijack>
I recently re-read the Chronicles' seven books and I found them to be very much children's fare, with relatively simple story-lines, characters and dialogue. The moral and religious lessons - the books' supposed strong points - are equally simplistic, with the added "bonus" of being obviously biased against non-Europeans and non-Christians.

How these books came to be favourably compared with Tolkien's The Hobbit / The Lord of the Rings is beyond me since, in my opinion, the comparison has no merit.
</short sidebar, not a hijack>

I'll be renting the movie anyway, just out of curiosity. And because I like Tilda. :D

History of violence - Some good fighting action with an ok story. Not good for the kids.

Transporter 2 - If you saw the first one you will be able to sit through this one. Lots of action with good sound.

These are my first two DVD rentals i've watched since the purchase of an entry level surround sound system...and i'm liken it.

Bad Santa - I never saw it before. I was laughing out loud through most of it. Thornton's character is rude and crude and he played it perfectly. Lots of funny lines to remember.

Capote - I really liked this one; interesting character study and provided a "behind-the-scenes" backdrop to a book I read a long, long time ago.

Although for the life of me I don't know how Hoffman's co-stars didn't burst out into laughter each time he spoke. The inflection was so perfect and so comical I don't know if I could've kept a straight face.

The Chronicles of Narnia I have to say I really enjoyed it. The picture quality was excellent, the 5.1 track was good and the animal cg was VERY well done.

Tilda Swinton was fantastic as the witch and not overly dramatic or cheesy. I think it really appealed to the little kid me in, like Zathura. Although some of the the themes of the film were obviously Christian, I still think they had universal appeal.

And how cute was that little girl? :D

My wife and I watched The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe tonight. It was reasonably entertaining, with a number of moving/emotional moments, beautiful scenery and some nifty CGI (gryphons are so cool).

It was also quite faithful to the book, albeit somewhat more graphic in its depiction of violence. That point notwithstanding, it's unmistakably a movie intended for children. Surprisingly, what I enjoyed the most was that, IMO, young actress Georgie Henley did a fantastic job with her portrayal of Lucy. She added a tremendous amount of charm to the film.

And Tilda? Yeah, I like Tilda... :D

Memoirs of a Geisha - Girl meets boy, girl loses boy, girl gets boy in the end. A mediocre story wrapped in stunning cinematography. If only it had been offered in Japanese with English subtitles...

Brokeback Mountain - Excellent, highly recommended. Haunting and powerful story of loss and regret. Heath Ledger should've won Best Actor and this should've taken Best Film.

Aeon Flux - Decent enough SF flick, enjoyable and visually stunning. Liked it better than I thought I would, but maybe that's because I knew nothing about it going in.

Hawaii, Oslo - Five characters converge on an Oslo street in tragic circumstances on the hottest night of the summer; the movie then rewinds each of their stories to tell how they got there. This is one of Blockbuster's new "Festival Collection," of international films you might normally only see during a major film festival. Good movie and good PQ on the dvd, there seems to be some promising titles in the collection; a welcome alternative to some of the crap that normally clutters the shelves at the local video rental stores.

Just finished off The Constant Gardener yesterday. I thought it was a little draggy in parts but well-acted. Not your traditional Hollywood ending.
Earlier in the week I watched War of the Worlds. I really liked the special effects and was a good remake of the 1953 version.
BTW A few years ago, I down loaded the Orson Welles classic 1938 radio play of War of the Worlds and it still held up pretty well. In those days they had to do all the sound effects live as they had no pre-recorded sounds or electronic synthesizers and to get the sound effect of the top of the alien cylinder slowly opening, they had a soundman unscrew an empty mayonnaise jar in the men's tiled bathroom several levels below the studio. He had to watch for a red light to come on and that was his cue to begin. It occurred to me that if he had dropped the jar it would have ruined the whole effect as the radio shows went out live in those days.

Memoirs of a Geisha - Girl meets boy, girl loses boy, girl gets boy in the end. A mediocre story wrapped in stunning cinematography. If only it had been offered in Japanese with English subtitles...

Or, y'know, if they had casted ACTUAL JAPANESE actors in the roles. The top 3 Geisha were played by Chinese women. Huh?

And what was the deal with Sayuri's modern interpretive dance in her "coming out performance"?