DVD Voice

Wasn’t really sure about Triangle. The idea of a movie set in Bermuda has its appeal right about now! So I watched this while the white glow off the snow reflected into the room.

So, its a horror movie, well, supposed to be, wasn’t too much horror – it was more of an attempted clever who-done-it type full of twists and deja-vu moments. Melissa George is a single mother who has an autistic son and though she seems sweet she acts likes she’s stressed out and at her  limits. She’s accepted an offer to go sailing with some friends. While sailing around the winds die down and a storm kicks up capsizing their boat. A large ship passes by and picks them up. Only no one is on the boat – except a killer. As they go about exploring the ship and begin to realize what is going on it turns into a very Bermuda Triangley atmosphere and while seeing the same scenes from different angles you slowly begin to learn what’s going on. Don’t want to spoil it for you.

Bottom line, there are worse movies you could spend the evening watching. This will keep you at least entertained. Then again, there are better movies out there! If you choose to watch it, enjoy it, its ok.

Christopher Smith wrote and directed this film that also has Liam Hemsworth and Rachael Carpani.

Rated R. 98 minutes (1 hour 38 minutes). Profanity. Some bloody violence.

With all the snow coming in tonight and the weekend meaning I’ll be stuck at home all weekend I stopped at Blockbuster on the way home and hunted up something to see. I ended up with Marcus Dunstan’s The Collector.

This looked interesting, sort of, and was done by the people behind Saw IV, Saw V, and Saw VI. It isn’t as good as Saw. In Saw you saw twisted stuff, but at the end of it you sort of understood what was going on and maybe a glimmer of why. It was a morality thing. This movie, I’m really not sure why all this happened or what for. It just happened.

Basically a handyman is working a job and notices where the home owner (a jewelry guy) has a safe. He also happens for be a freelance safe-cracker at night. So he arranges to sell what he gets and goes back that night to get it. He knows the home owner has left town for two weeks. But he hasn’t. Someone has invaded the house, set up loads of traps and is torturing the family in the basement. The thief-handyman suddenly turns good guy and tries to save the family.

Insert tons of gore, blood, hurts, cuts, violence and sadistic torture and that’s pretty much the story. Some of you may really like this, but I’ll just say that it isn’t for many people. If you liked Saw because you felt it was clever, then stay away from this unless you truly love gory stuff. Honestly I watched an episode of the Sopranos afterwards and so my evening wasn’t a total waste.

Josh Stewart stars.

Rated R. 88 minutes (1 hour 28 minutes). Profanity. Nudity (topless female strippers and a almost sex scene with some great boobs – interrupted by a killer, yikes!) Gore and gratuitous blood. Not for the squeamish. I’m not especially squeamish and this amount of gore was almost too much for me.

I’m not entirely sure how this one made it into my NetFlix queue. I think it was one of those days where I saw the title, thought it looked interested but tossed it to the top of my queue so I could look at it closer at home to decide if I wanted to see it or not. I forget to take things out…

This movie, Bronson, is about Britain’s most notorious criminal, Charles Bronson or Michael Peterson. The actor, Tom Hardy, does a rather intense job as Bronson. But given that the real life Charles Bronson has spent over 36 years in jail (and 30 of that in solitary!) most of it is shot in a prison environment. There is a lot of violence and profanity. It is one of those films that makes you appalled at how people can be so violent. He just didn’t make sense!

In the traditional caper or crime movie, you have the scheme they try, and you see the police closing in, etc and you have some suspense. This movie, he’s sent away very early on in the story part of the film for an armed robbery of a post office and he pretty much stays in prison until he gets out almost 20 years later and stays out for 69 days before he’s back in.

The film intersperses him on stage in front of an audience being a famous celebrity and entertaining and some of the other parts of the movie move rather slow. The music choices, what sounded like symphony and opera music was ironically mismatched to the subject matter.

As for the action and fight scenes – a few of those scenes are “ok” but most of them are not as hard hitting as they could be and usually involve multiple prison guards surrounding and eventually beating on him. Far better action movies out there.

Rated R. 92 minutes (1 hour 32 minutes). Profanity – lots and lots of profanity. Nudity – there is a scene with a topless stripper, it was nice, and some other scantily clad females but given this is a prison movie, there are frequent nude prisoner scenes as he prepares to fight the guards and you can sadly see every bit of him you might ever care to. Or you can look away or better yet, not look at this movie at all!

What to say about Pretty Ugly People? Well… I didn’t like it! How’s that?

When I put this in my NetFlix queue it had a higher rating and now it has a rating of 2.6 by 1,332 people. And I agree with them. Wholeheartedly!

First I didn’t know any of the cast. Second the story is kind of a “who cares” sort of deal. The fattest girl in high school calls up a few of her old buddies years later and wants them to meet her at a lodge in Montana for a long weekend and says that “time is running out”. Thinking she’s dying they all come.

She’s not fat anymore and wants them all to go hiking. The hike proceeds to self-destruct. On it truths are revealed about most of the group, including that she’s a virgin and just wants to get laid. Isn’t that the subject of many better done teenage sex comedies like American Pie and Fast Times at Ridgemont High? This one is rated R, but it is solely because of the profanity.

The opening credits was a cartoon, and did a neat transition from cartoon to real life character. That was honestly the most fascinating part of the film.

It isn’t without some redeeming qualities. The scenery is great. It underscores that people should find happiness within themselves instead of seeking a spouse or a career or a lifestyle to make them happy — that is, if you aren’t happy with who you are and with yourself, then you cannot be happy based on external factors. That change must truly come from within, your decision, not changing to be someone else based on societal pressures. And if who you are is who you are then be yourself, and enjoy life. And don’t judge others on stereotypes and first impressions, evaluate them on their merits. But these points may sound like a lot of redeeming points, but trust me, the sum of the parts doesn’t make an even better movie. You have to really pay attention and read between the lines to pick these things up.

Anyway… if you never ever see this, your life won’t have a big sucking void in it.

Also – this is supposedly a comedy. It gives comedy a bad name. Also supposedly an indie movie – also giving indies a bad name! I like indy films, this tempts me to swear off them!

Rated R. 109 minutes (1 hour 39 minutes). Profanity. Nudity – well, male figures are seen, but no body parts visible, thank god!

A sudden change from the violence of martial arts and murderers in the antartic, as tonight Netflix sends along Holes. This is a Walt Disney movie with Sigourney Weaver, Shia LaBeouf, Jon Voight, Henry Winkler, and Tim Blake Nelson. It’s about a camp for juvenile offenders, Camp Greenlake, in Texas on the site of a ghost town and large dried up lake. To teach the boys character they are required to dig a hole, 5 feet deep and 5 feet wide, everyday.

It becomes obvious that they are looking for something and while the movie unfolds it begins telling the back story of Stanley Yelnats’, Shia LaBeouf’s character, family and that of the townspeople of the lake. Not to try to give much away, but Stanley is from a family that has been cursed and is unlucky – part of why he’s in the camp to begin with, even if he is out of place.

The movie is just fun. It’s not an edge of your seat type of event, but a fun enjoyable way to spend the evening. Jon Voight is actually really entertaining as this wild-eyed guard at the camp munching on his sunflower seeds and always looking for the Yellow Spotted Lizards to shoot.

The movie is also full of great little lines, which the little kids will no doubt be repeating for you for days afterwards! It’s a great little feel good story. So stop thinking that you only should watch films for grown-ups, just enjoy it.

Rated PG. 117 minutes (1 hour 57 minutes).

Nothing was scheduled to be at the house from Netflix today so I made a stop at Blockbuster. I like having a Blockbuster handy, it’s nice to be able to go in and browse the movies and make a choice and bring it home right away. I hope they can stay in business, we need them.

Anyway, off the soap box, I looked through the aisles and settled on a fairly new release called Whiteout with Kate Beckinsale, Tom Skerritt, and Gabriel Macht. It’s based on an “acclaimed graphic novel” also not a bad sign. It’s about an outpost in the antarctic where a murderer is loose.

The scenes of ice and snow were great, it did look cold and frozen. The broken cup freezing quickly in -65F was neat! (FYI, this was filmed in Canada in May and June). There are some gruesome parts as well.

Ok. That’s about all the good things I can say about this. It wasn’t very tense. The plot wasn’t so hot (no pun intended) and it just wasn’t very fun. So much for a Friday night. I see the reviews on this on Netflix now, and Rotten Tomatoes, where it only got a 7%! Next time I need to read more reviews…! I almost got Tell Tale, wishing now I maybe did. Tomorrow will be here soon – and it surely has to hold a better one!

PS – It isn’t a horrid movie, it is ok, it just isn’t really memorable enough to have much to say about it or recommend it very highly. You could do worse. At last the guys in the mid-Atlantic tonight could go outside and see their own whiteout…

Rated R. 101 minutes (1 hour 41 minutes). Violence, male nudity and tempting Kate almost nudity – shucks!

As promised, tonight I took the time to watch the sequel to Ong-Bak, Ong-Bak 2: The Beginning. I really enjoyed Ong-Bak last night and was expecting more of the same. I got it. Wow… as much martial arts as you could handle.

But, somehow it didn’t feel as satisfying as the first one. The first one was really out of nowhere, I wasn’t expecting it to be as hard hitting and good. This one, probably was on par, but just didn’t quite ring that same bell!

Since it’s called “The Beginning,” that should tip you off that it happens before Ong-Bak. Tien, Tony Jaa (who also directed), is the son of a nobleman who is orphaned and taken in by the King of the Outlaws. He is trained in all sorts of fighting styles and weaponry. Later in life he seeks revenge. He seems rather intent on killing everyone, and the last 30 minutes of the film is basically a big fight.

I’m not saying the action is good, it is, it’s just that I believe I enjoy a good martial arts movie, but I don’t truly appreciate the intricacies of it enough. Or maybe it’s that I shouldn’t do martial arts two nights in a row?

Oh, the DVD has trailers for John Woo’s Red Cliff and The Warlords. Both look good and I think I’ll have to try them sometime soon. And there was some video of Ong-Bak 3, which from the little bits looked like it may be more interesting, to me, that this one.

Rated R. 115 minutes (1 hour 55 minutes). Violence. Let me repeat that, Violence.

Today is Ground Hog’s Day. Well, actually it was yesterday, but I was having a little difficulty getting my blog to cooperate, so I’m posting this one a day late. Great start, huh?

My first thought was to see Ground Hog Day, but I’m going to pass. I am very interested in another movie with Bill Murray that comes out this week, Zombieland! And hopefully (fingers crossed!) Netflix will send that one pronto!

Since Ong-Bak 2 is coming out this week, I decided to see them both. So for starters we hit the ground with Ong-Bak: The Thai Warrior. Honestly, I knew nothing about this movie. I heard it was supposedly pretty good and an action-martial arts type film.

I was lucky, it was both sub-titled and voice-overed. I listened to it in English, I didn’t feel like reading.

Basically, Tony Jaa, Ting, lives in a tiny village. They are about to celebrate a sacred holiday that is only celebrated once every 24 years when a man named “Don” comes to the village and when he leaves steals the head of On-Bak, a Buddha like statue. One villager must go after and retrieve the head. Ting volunteers.

Country boy in the big city type movie follows. The gangs think they are too tough for him but learn otherwise, there are fights, street chases, car (or tiny taxis) chases, bar fights, and yet more fights. Some of the characters bring in a fair amount of humor and at times it felt like I was watching an anime!

Overall — very good! I really enjoyed this mindless martial-arts. Great stunts and I swear someone had to of gotten hurt filming this! At least it looked that way. If you enjoy a good action movie and want to see some stunts that rival Jackie Chan and Jet Li, then you should enjoy this one as well. And later this week I’ll see how the sequel stacks up!

2003 Rated R. 101 minutes (1 hour 41 minutes). Lots of action violence and blood. Drug use.

Today I finally get this blog started. It was a New Year’s resolution to get this thing going again. And what a choice! I get home from work and Netflix has sent The Signal. It’s a horror film, though I didn’t get very scared or anxious, in fact I laughed a fair amount (feel kinda weird about that given all the brutality).

This is a film by three directors, David Bruckner, Dan Bush, and Jacob Gentry. I didn’t recognize any of the actors. One of them, Justin Welborn, is in Final Destination and one of the Ben 10 TV shows. Aside from that, nothing rang a bell…

So, what’s it about? It’s about a strange “signal” that has invaded the tv and radio and telephone lines. Whoever listens to it, apparently, gets infected as it were and decides it’s a good idea to kill people, or later sees some dead people and thinks they are alive and well. The most clever part to all this mistaken identity is how the filmmakers swapped out the real person with the character they thought they were talking with. Something blocks the character from the camera for a split second and when they come back into the frame it is someone else. Nice.

The other part that I noticed, and you know its odd when you believe you recognize some of the streets or buildings, is that the film takes place in a city called “Terminus”, but actually filmed in Atlanta. Terminus was one of Atlanta’s first names, changed to Marthasville, and then Atlanta. I guess it distracted me to actually see something on the screen that I’ve seen in real life and so I missed a little of the action.

All in all, not a horrid horror movie, lots of blood, etc, gory enough to earn the R rating, but I put this in the category of movies that I will not take time to watch again. There are better things out there so no repeat viewing for me.

One last thing before I go … Interesting that the first movie I end up blogging about is how that television/radio get into your head and make you think what they want you to. Turing me into mush! haha! Also that it takes place on New Year’s Eve, back when I was making the decision to do something creative on the Internet – if you can call this creative! Well, enjoy!

2007 – Rated R. 103 minutes (1 hour 43 minutes). Good deal of blood, gore, killing, profanity, and rear male nudity plus a glimpse of a bottomless female but you don’t see anything.

Welcome to WordPress.

I wonder just how many weblogs have a post that starts just like this one? Should do a google search to find out!

Ok, this is it! I have my WordPress set-up going now and I’m ready to start this blog. Ok, I’m a month late, but hey! I’m getting going. I’m opening the red Netflix envelope now… drum roll! It’s “The Signal”. Yeah, I knew what it was before I opened the envelope. But regardless, get the popcorn and something to drink and let’s get it rolling! See you on the other side!