Little Miss Sunshine - I loved it!

Catch A Fire - Terrorism and apartheid abound in this film set in early 1980's South Africa based on the life of activist Patrick Chamusso. BTW, it's also playing on TMN these days. Very good movie, especially the focus at the end of the movie on the real-life Chamusso today and his current work with South African orphans.

Popped in Poltergeist on DVD the other night, it had the same intensity it did when I first watched it, but occassionally would dwell on the corny side of intensity in a serious manner though, thus still keeping the movie intense to continue watching. The DVD copy looked clear and crisp on my LCD and was amazed at the colour and general contrast of the film.

I purchased this movie the other day at Rogers.I watched this before but the movie freaked me out again the second time I watched it.I watched it on a Toshiba A2.The first time I watched it I don't remember the video looking as good as it did upconverted to 1080i.The audio was great also.There were times when I was looking around the room for sounds coming from the rear speakers.The movie itself is one of the best horror dvds I have watched.I highly recommend watching this movie if you haven't seen it or give it a second viewing if you have already seen it.

Keeping Mum
Maggie Smith, Rowan Atkinson, Patrick Swayze.

Found it last week in the "Diamond in the Rough " section at Blockbuster.

It's a British black comedy and every one of the cast members does a stand up job. Very many genuinely funny moments. ( In spite of all the murdering going on ! ;) )

The Brits have the best sense of humour.

Black Snake Moan and Little Miss Sunshine. Both good pics.

Quoting eljay's earlier review:
"Notes on a Scandal - Sheba, the newest faculty member of a London school, is befriended by Barbara, the school's reclusive veteran teacher, unaware of Barbara's darkly obsessive and amorous intentions. When Barbara discovers that Sheba has been carrying on an extra-marital affair with a young student, she seizes the opportunity to solidify her hold on Sheba by means of deception and manipulation. Will the disclosure of the affair destroy Sheba's marriage and drive her into Barbara's waiting arms, or will it enable Sheba to free herself from Barbara's obsessive grasp?

The simple-yet-solid story is driven by both a wonderful performance by Cate Blanchett and an amazing and effortlessly powerful performance by Judi Dench. This is an excellent movie, well worth watching." .... eljay

Finally got around to seeing this movie ... and what a viewing experience it was!! Two women, two strong obsessions. "Heavy" story, powerful, gut-wrenching performances. So well-worth a view!!

It's an excellent movie AND it's got Cate Blanchett!! :D

(I really like Cate Blanchett.)

eljay ... sure cannot disagree with anything you've said re: Notes on a Scandal. We sure enjoyed it, and it is still much on our minds today. Judy Dench is such a 'master' at what she does .. such a delight to watch -- and like you said, almost effortlessly, and yet so powerful. I like Cate Blanchett as well, and she was sure good in this role. She seems to be doing everything so well these days. And 'yes', sure "some nice" to look at!! :D
This was a movie we've always wanted/desired to watch, and now that we have, it's a movie we will definitely watch again .. maybe some time over the winter.
Cheers & good viewing!!

I'm glad to hear that you enjoyed the movie...and Ms. Blanchett! ;) My wife and I also intend to watch it again at some point - it's one of the best films we've seen this year.

Offside - A group of enthusiastic Iranian soccer fans are on their way to the big stadium in Tehran to cheer their team on to qualify for their first ever trip to the World Cup; they've got their tickets, their faces are painted, they've wrapped themselves in Iranian flags, they've got posters of their favorite players. They're also breaking the law. Because these fans are women, and they're not allowed in the stadium. But nothing is going to stop these feisty fans from enjoying the experience of Iran's biggest ever soccer match. A great little slice-of-life film that also provides a fascinating glimpse into a foreign culture.

The Number 23 - Bemused, at first, by the strange familiarity of the narrative in the book he's reading, Walter Sparrow quickly becomes unsettled by the novel's tale of betrayal and murder and by the protagonist's obsession with the number 23 - a number which begins to intrude dangerously into his own life.

The concept is interesting and the pace is pretty good right up until the "twist" - about twenty minutes before the end of the movie - at which time it falters and the movie drags lamely to its conclusion.

Heroes on HD DVD. Watched the unaired pilot. Interesting alternative version but I can see why it was retooled.

Year of the Dog - Molly Shannon plays a non-descript secretary who lives a life of quiet, if lonely, routine until her little beagle, Pencil, goes on a nighttime prowl, with tragic consequences that send Shannon on a personal journey of activism and single-minded commitment. Low-key, quirky, bittersweet comedy, directed by Mike White who's previously written the screenplays for Nacho Libre, School of Rock and Chuck and Buck.

To Sir, With Love - Unable to find work as an engineer, Mark Thackeray accepts a position at an East End London school and is assigned to teach a class of "difficult" students from troubled backgrounds. Overwhelmed at first, he decides to treat them as adults, a move that slowly earns him their respect and instills in them a sense of self-respect.

Although it's rather dated, with a story that is both quite tame and, at times, clumsily told, this is a charmingly sincere film with some wonderful moments in it, strong performances by Sidney Poitier and a number of the other the other cast members and a beautiful theme song that I could listen to pretty much forever.

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The Fly (1986) - with Jeff Goldblum, Geena Davis, John Getz. Directed by David Cronenberg. and The Fly II (1989) - with Eric Stoltz, Daphne Zunga, Lee Richardson. Directed by Chris Walas. The single disc editions boxed in The Fly Collection - released August '07.

Two sci-fi/horror films with solid performances, some absolutely great makeup, strong doses of pseudo-science, eroticism, and much good old-fashioned "gore & goo" - some of the latter can be very disturbing stuff, literally making your skin crawl and stomach churn - great horror film stuff!! Chris Walas and Stephan Dupuis won an Oscar in 1987 for best makeup in The Fly. Chris Walas made his directorial debut in the sequel.

One re-make, one sequel ... both well-worth a view, or re-view, if you've seen them before. I had never seen The Fly II, and it's been a long while since I first viewed Cronenberg's Fly. Glad I saw and picked up the box -- we gave them consecutive night viewings .... good stuff for dreams -- ouch!!! :eek:

The Wind That Shakes the Barley - Socialist director Ken Loach takes a break from his examinations of the plight of the contemporary working class in Ireland and Scotland to tell this gritty story, through the eyes of a young would-be medical student, of the formative years of the Republican Army in Post WWI Ireland when the working class and rural farm workers mobilized against the brutal occupation of their country by British troops. Cillian Murphy gives a gripping performance as the student-turned-soldier who, as he says in a powerful scene near the end of the movie, "didn't want to get in this war and now can't get out of it."

Be forewarned though, the all-Irish cast speaks with very thick accents and you really have to pay attention to the dialogue.

Based on the past "good hype" about Firefly (though I had never seen an epsiode of this one season tv series), I was tempted get and watch the recently-released movie Serenity. But after reading reviews of the movie, I decided to change my mind, and get and watch Firefly first!!!
We've now watched the first four episodes of Firefly, and wow, it's everything everyone said it was - fun and exciting - and we're really enjoying it!! I haven't seen a good "western" like this one in ages!!! :)
And from what we've seen so far, we will definitely plan to do Serenity later!!

Mrs. Henderson Presents - A hard-nosed, wealthy widow purchases a theater and, with the help of a hard-nosed theater producer, delivers entertainment, joy and boobies to her patrons.

Judi Dench and Bob Hoskins did the best they could with their roles; unfortunately, despite their decent performances - and boobies! - the lightweight, uneven story and rote dialogue made for a dull movie.

I'm Reed Fish - In the small town of Mud Meadows, there's no hiding when your personal life becomes a shambles. Especially when you're the "morning man" on the town's community radio station. A Zach Braff movie without Zach Braff, but it really could have used him to infuse some energy.