Carrie Fisher’s dad passes

    The loss of the great Eddie Fisher. RIP

http://www.comcast.net/articles/music/20100924/US.Obit.Eddie.Fisher/

LiveJournal Tags: obituary,entertainment news

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• "Only Eddie Fisher, as a boyhood friend of the frantic playgirl, seems like something dragged in from left field." (althouse.blogspot.com)

The Town

Ben Affleck has certainly laid righteous claim to his corner of the Director's  sandbox with this formidable, suspenseful,  complex, fast-paced story. It’s the best heist flick since “The Italian Job”. “Hurt Locker’s” Jeremy Remmer  brings ferocity   +10 on a scale of  1 to 10 to this well-acted and effective thriller. Remmer should receive a best male supporting actor nomination for his role in this   flick. IMO a Best Picture  nomination is also a possibility!

Must be seen on big screen?	Yes	good story, great acting, possible  best picture  and best  male supporting actor nominations
wait for DVD or rental?	No	I see no reason to wait; best picture this year to date save maybe  for “Inception”
OK for your elementary school child?	No	violent; but not as bloody as I thought it would be
OK for your child  14 or under?	No	some scenes of explicit sexuality  and  potty mouth throughout
OK for Family movie night?	Yes	as long as willing to  heed remarks above
Comments?	Overall probably best picture this year to date

LiveJournal Tags: The Town,heist flicks,robbery movie,Affleck,Remmer,Boston

The American

This story, albeit terse and tense, seems to develop slowly,  and it probably took  Clooney’s  personality portraying craftsman “Jack”, to make the movie worthy of the suspenseful thriller it is. At some points its almost the inverse of an action thriller. Any other male lead, and this might have have been   boring except it is a thrilling work. I was halfway through the movie before the  real plot presented itself,  and it was a surprise at that.  The American isn’t  as good as “Fracture”, but in that same vein.  I enjoyed “The American”; while  it’s a film worth seeing, the ending leaves me feeling like I didn’t quite have a full meal.

Must be seen on big screen?	Not a must, but worthwhile;  yes, with  wide, beautiful panoramic views of numerous spots in Italy	Yes, it’s a film worth seeing
wait for DVD or rental?	thing about this is once you’ve seen it you’ve seen it	it is NOT boring
OK for your elementary school child?	No	sporadic violence,  bad language, and explicit sexual content
OK for your child  14 or under?	No	unless you  want them to see Clooney have sex in a couple steamy scenes
OK for Family movie night?	No	more explicit sex and violence than I’d prefer to watch with my parents
Comments	Rated R

LiveJournal Tags: The American,Clooney,suspense,thriller

Machete

The  relentless, incessant, persistent, insane,   graphic violence throughout Machete,  right up to the  hari-cari scene that serves as the end of the flick won’t cause Machete to come off at the top of the box office, even with its pertinent political  poignancy and variegated casting. If you aspire to see Lindsay Lohan in a threesome or Cheech Marin nailed to the cross   in explicit gruesomeness,  this might be for you.  Otherwise,  if you are squeamish at all, avoid this   movie. If either “Crank” or the  “Saw” series are your idea of a good movie, this could be right up your alley, as such Machete is an extremely violent action thriller with a current affairs political agenda  as topic.

Must be seen on big screen?	No	save your money for  the rental
wait for DVD or rental?	No	many will not enjoy the  persistent  gory violence
OK for your elementary school child?	Never	graphic violence
OK for your child  14 or under?	Zero chance	graphic  executions
OK for Family movie night?	nope	makes Texas Chainsaw Massacre look like a Disney flick
Comments	in al fairness  story moves along	extensive violence will turn  most away

LiveJournal Tags: Machete,violence

Takers

Takers take. No doubt, eh?  The action theme this week is reunited brothers doing dastardly deeds done  downtown; this time in  a heist flick  a la Italian job  styling,  although  the gangs are the Russians vs the celebrated reuniting of  Boyz from the Hood with some unsuspected cop activity thrown  in and  voila, its an action flick that moves right along with a couple surprise twists.

Must be seen on big screen?	No advantage seeing this on  a big huge screen if money’s tight this  pay period, wait it out.  Better plot than Expendables though.	good casting collection of  African American  actors. Didn’t notice if this was a Spike Lee production  Story overall gave me my  action flick  adrenaline fix
wait for DVD or rental?	everybody just wastes everybody eventually  and you might like to rewind to see who does who how, where,  more slowly	plot has at least one  twist some will say they expected but I think  many will be surprised
OK for your elementary school child?	totally shocked at how many parents couldn’t get a babysitter  & had dragged along their young, young kids to see this tonight. NO, not for  mine!	extended graphic violence throughout
OK for your child  14 or under?	Pass.	not even a trace of a  role model for youngsters in this movie!
OK for Family movie night?	If willing to tolerate a pretty violent theme, OK	R rated, mostly for extended scenes of graphic violence
Comments	Found it ironic that Matt Dillon was cast as  the lead cop	an acerbic Samuel Jackson hunting down the bad guys  would’ve been  a  more wise choice IMO

LiveJournal Tags: action movies,heist flicks

Expendables

Imagine all your favorite action movie heroes piled together in  one  dubious debacle; yup, Schwartenegger,  Stallone, Statham, Couture, Crews, Li, Lundgren, Willis,  myriad others all cast as  buds from previous  mercenary follies together  and reunited once again. What else could they do  but bond and blow shit up?  There were a few choice  moments of subtle hilarity  and humor throughout,  but I don’t see this testosterone party appearing as a big screen version2.

Must be seen on big screen?	No, but entertaining for action flick freaks
wait for DVD or rental?	If your money’s tight, yes	many low light scenes will get rewound  & reviewed for believability
OK for your elementary school child?	OMG NO	graphic violence
OK for your child  14 or under?	Not when mine were 14, no	fully deserved its “R” rating
OK for Family movie night?	Yes if all 17 or older
OK to watch  it with Mom  & Dad?	Dad would like it but Mom   would  leave the room	language  and graphic violence
Comments?	great cast collection	loose plot that didn’t matter in the end

LiveJournal Tags: Expendables,action movies

Avatar returns August 27th

If you missed the second most  visual cinemagraphic event of our lifetimes the first time you skipped over Avatar, I recommend don’t miss it this time! 

I feel too that I’m seeing  recently many movies relying heavily on the "gimmick" of 3D to make make up for crappy scripts and plotless junk while looking to make a buck in markets  exploiting new technologies. Duly note  you pay a surcharge of  about $3 a ticket for 3D.  That’s pushing  the average ticket cost towards $14, unless you’re over 50 and can get your tix for the discounted Senior rate of  $8.50 without the 3D.

My friend Rick commented recently he and wife blew a $50 bill at the movies last month when they each had a drink and shared a large popcorn.  I don’t think Rick knew about asking for the Senior discount. Point there is that ticket cost are continuing to jump upwards.

Re-releasing Avatar, is clearly profit taking, but   Avatar is  worth every penny unless you have an 80 foot home theater screen and a 10,000 watt Dolby Digital sound system at home to boot. Highly recommended by TheDad for its unprecedented and stunning visual presentation.

Oh, Disney’s Fantasia was years ahead of itself too.

LiveJournal Tags: Avatar,movie reviews