Just a bit of light entertainment movies really

This release is much better than the first one.It's about 50 minutes longer and adds so much more to the story.

Catch a Fire - Tells the story of Patrick Chamusso, a black mine worker in South Africa who becomes a reluctant freedom fighter when his family is terrorized and he is tortured by Afrikaner security forces. Nick Vos, played by Tim Robbins, is hot on his trail. Nicely directed by Phillip Noyce, well-told story that moves along briskly, although ultimately not as emotionally satisfying as other films about the struggles of black South Africa against apartheid, like Cry Freedom.

After having the flu, I got to see a couple movies:
The Lord of he Rings Trilogy - I don't know what else to say. I hadn't seen it on the big screen since we got it (2 years), so it was great to watch all 3 back-to-back-to-back. Pretty cool, and very intense.

Sideways - Hilarious movie. Helps that I was just in Buellton a couple months ago and recognize the sights. Pretty funny. Giamatti is excellent, so was Church, Oh and Madsen. Great cast, and one funny movie. It's one of those small, funny movies that gets ya, kinda like Napoleon Dynamite and Little Miss Sunshine.

And rounding out my 2005 Oscar Best picture Nominees (I've seen them all now, Sideways and the next one just today)
Million Dollar Baby - Great movie. I love sports movies, and although, like many great sports movies, it's more a character driven movie, the boxing is quite prominent. Was it the best movie that year? I don't know. I think it was better (subjective) than The Aviator, about the same as Ray, but I think Sideways and Finding Neverland were better movies. Just me though.

District 13 - In Paris in the not-too-distant future, the government has abandoned various troublesome areas of the city, leaving the streets to be controlled by gangs of heavily-armed thugs. Two unlikely allies have to infiltrate one of those fortified areas, one to rescue his sister who was kidnapped by the district's maniacal kingpin, the other to fufill a mission given to him by his employers. Along the way, they execute some amazingly athletic and acrobatic stuntwork; the opening sequence alone puts the beginning of the new Casino Royale to shame. It's a lot of silly fun, that takes on a little more resonance because of the race riots that tore apart France a couple of years ago.

:rolleyes: The WIGGLES and lots of thier video's...sheesh my 3 year old loves them. I guess thier not too bad, some of thier songs are kind of catchy. Beats Barney hands down.;)

Crank - Poisoned by a rival mobster, hit-man Chev Chelios (Jason Statham) has only one hour to live. Unfortunately, finding out what happens to him means sitting through eighty minutes of ridiculous story, idiotic characters, bad dialogue and irritating camera work.

Statham's decline from his peak in "Snatch" and "The Transporter" continues...

The Black Dahlia - aka '2 hours of my life I won't get back' - Very disappointing film. Scarlett Johannson is wasted in this over-the-top mess.

It seemed like more than 2 hours, and a flawed take on noir films.

Too bad as I had hoped for better.

Barnyard on the other hand was a riot. Not sure why the male cows had udders, but other than that, it's the best animated laugh I've had in a while.

The Limey
Quoted from a review: "Director Soderberg cuts everything down to the basics for "The Limey" - boom, boom, boom - everything comes right down to the point. Terrence Stamp plays Dave Wilson, an ex-con on his way to California to find out what happened to his daughter - he seeks revenge on the man who he thinks was responsible for her death, Valentine (Peter Fonda), a record producer who spends his days in his gorgeous house atop a hill. For Wilson, there is nothing else besides the task at hand."

Enjoyed this one - good direction, acting, and video.

24 - Season 4

Discs 5 & 6 are on their way from Canflix.

The Science of Sleep - Imaginative, fanciful, whimsical, confusing, surreal, mindbending and just plain weird. It seems to be a love story that takes place somewhere between a dream state and reality, in which the police drive cardboard cars. Or something like that.

I don't recommend it at all, save some of the dogfights and a trench scene. Apparently the Director's Edition is better? but I can't vouch for it.

Kids were away this weekend, and for once there really wasn't anything else that had to be done, so, me and the wife decided this weekend would be a great time to break in the new projector.

Miami Vice
me or the wife did not like this one, it seemed very long, that usually means you are not enjoying yourself. 5/10.

Little Miss Sunshine
I thought it was ok, wife did not think so. It was a good family flick, but not worthy of film of the year, or anything along those lines. 6/10

Crank
Wife really enjoyed this one, I thought it was good. It delivered pretty much what you were thinking. I agree with the earlier comment of Statham, the last couple of films have not been very good. 6/10

Unknown
Several guys wake up in a warehouse, in various states of hurt (gunshot, tied to chair, bleeding etc..) with memory loss, not knowing what they are doing there or who is the good & bad guys. It is a descent movie, keeping you interested enough to keep guessing who is who, with a couple of twists in the end. 6/10

The Illusionist
I thought it was very good, wife did not like at all. I generally enjoy watching Edward Norton in any movie. 8/10

Lady in the water
I usually enjoy M nights work, but this one was definitely the weakest of them all. Just didn't get or like the whole story line. 5/10

The Guardian
I like these kind of movies where the new kid comes in to take over from the legend, and this did not disappoint. Very good movie. 7/10

All in all, it was a great movie weekend, with, in my opinion The Illusionist being the best of this bunch.

Six Feet Under - Seasons 1 - 5
We bought the "big box" (S1-5) for Christmas, and after many evenings of viewings since then, we watched the final episode last evening. We are definitely "In Memoriam" today!! What a "wonderous" ride it has been though this series -- so beautifully done!!!

Jesus Camp - Oscar-nominated documentary about the indoctrination of kids from middle America into the evangelical Christian movement, preparing them to become "the army of God." The scene in which the kids pray and speak in tongues to a cardboard cutout of George Bush is just plain freaky.

Departed - Excellent movie, you pick up more each time around
24 - Season 1 and 2 - I just got into the show, it must have conflicted with something else I was watching. I can't believe how I missed it, but now I have the pleasure of 5 seasons to catch up on
An Inconvenient Truth - I guess Al Gore does have a personallity. It was quite an eye-opener.

Firefly is one of the many great series cancelled before it's time. For any of you enjoy a good sci-fi I recommend you RUN to the store and pickup the series on DVD. Absolutely amazing show.

I finally took many posters good advice, and can now confirm that Firefly really is quite good, if perhapses a little "cute". I'm watching the widescreen content upscaled though my nice Oppo 981 player and it's been a treat.

I especially agree on the humor and occasional adult themes, for the most part really good character development in a western/sci-fi setting. I'm actually a little sad I've only got three more episodes to watch.

Fot the past month we've been working our way through the Star Trek Original Series boxsets.

What a great piece of television history.

I purchased all 3 seasons at Wallymart for $62.88 each set. Unfortunately, disc 1 of season two is labelled as such, but it contains the episodes from disc 3. I fired off an email to store@startrek.com, but haven't yet had a reply. I can't return the second set because there are none left. Oh, well.

Great 50 minute episodes ! Classic TV.

just picked up the departed.

Should get to watch it tonight.

Almost done 24 season 2. About 84 more hours to go! (Get caught up)

Picked up Seven with Brad Pitt for 7.99. Good movie havent seen it in ages.

"What's in the box?!?!" - Se7en