ntnon

I'd hoped to watch this at Christmas, but couldn't because I don't have it.. and neither does the library. They have Live Free or Die Hard but not the original. Which is odd, and a little annoying.

They do have all the Transporter films, though. So I got the first one out, and really quite enjoyed it. Mr Statham appeared out of nowhere (to me, at least - and according to the documentary featurette, possibly to himself!) a few years ago and was suddenly everywhere. And now I'm more baffled than ever about the 'why'! He's great at the fighting, but on the acting front... less so. Still, it was enjoyable. Lots of great choreography, some exciting plot turns. I may get the other two out for next month.

Today I watched The Italian Job again. It's great. I didn't have it lined up, and it's bumped out a couple of the checklist possibles, but... I saw it was free, and it's just such a great, exciting, happy film. What struck me, though was quite how funny and quotable it is. Everyone knows "you are only supposed to blow the bloody doors off!," but there are so many more one-liners that are almost as good. Mocking the mafia, whingeing about sitting in the back of the van... such a great script for a brilliant film.

Ash Ketchum

Are you watching the Jackie films in their original Cantonese with subs or are you watching them dubbed in English? The dubbing diminishes them somewhat.

lisadoris

So I've finally watched all of the Bond films (woo hoo). I have to say I find the Daniel Craig movies to be the strongest of the bunch (I tend to erfer the serious ones to the over the top ones). The first two Brosnan films were really good but the last two were a mess. I do have to ask, what is the obsession with underwater sequences in Bond films? It seems like ever other film had a underwater fight were you couldn't really tell who was who.

BobO'Link

Absolutely! But sometimes finding a good copy in OAR *and* in the original language with English subs can be quite a chore.

indiephantom

I think the best action scenes for Bond have him either skiing or in the air. I'm surprised when people say they liked Craig the best. I've found his to have the least re-watch value of the entire series. I grew up in the Moore/Dalton era so that may be part of it, but I tend to like my set-pieces, girls and gadgets. Moore's were made during the coolest period in movies and there are strong influences from everything from Grindhouse and Blaxploitation to Studio Blockbusters. I once took a university course on Bond and saw how useful it was to watch these chronologically as you have done.

Top 5:
Licence to Kill
From Russia with Love
For Your Eyes Only
On Her Majesty's Secret Service
You Only Live Twice

Super X

Spent most of my viewing this week on TV episodes, but looking to get some more films in this weekend. The wife and I plan to watch "Demetrius and the Gladiators" and "The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey" later today.

LJG765

I'm about halfway through the list myself, been intermingling other movies so I don't get burnt out, though. I think the first 4 or 5 are all on water! The one that got me was the one with the 20 min. underwater scene, Thunderball. Could have really picked up the pace of the movie if they had cut it.

BobO'Link

Have you made it to Never Say Never Again, the Thunderball remake?

LJG765

That's the only one I don't own. I'm renting it from the library and probably will get it next week depending on how much snow we get Monday. So, I hope to get to it, but not sure if I will.

ntnon

Dubbed, unfortunately. I could only find them at the Library, and it was a surprise they were even available. Couldn't really hope that they'd be otherwise than dubbed. (Although it seemed at several points that they were speaking/mouthing English...)

Oh well. Maybe some day I'll see they "properly" and be able to (re-)appraise them higher than now.

ntnon

I've been enjoying these, so if you get a chance for any more (say Euro-Crime, Police, Western, War, Swashbucklers) that'd be great!

And if you need any more ideas, what about pure "Adventure," "Sword and Sandals" or "Mafia" movies...?

BobO'Link

After mentioning Never Say Never Again to LG765 I had to break out my copy and watch it again. While not part of the official cannon it's still an interesting Bond film and better than several of the "official" ones. I *still* don't care for the video game part but I rankle any time junk like that is included in films in attempts to make them look "cool" or "modern".

After finishing Mission Impossible S3 I picked up where I'd left off on Star Trek: Enterprise with S3. While I really enjoyed the season as a whole I feel there was *way* too much emphasis placed on time travel motifs and episodes. After watching the last episode of the season I was basically "What!?!?! Again!?!?!". I've read that S4 is the best of the series so we'll see. I may try to finish the series before this challenge ends but I have quite a few films I'd also like to work into the schedule.

In between episodes of Enterprise I watched a few movies. One was that copy of Black Cat (1991) I received by accident. Wow... that was a painful viewing. Much of it made little sense and seemed just pointless. I got the bad taste of that one out of my mouth with a couple of Jackie Chan films I'd not yet seen, Dragon Lord and Operation Condor. Unfortunately my copies are dubbed but they were at least *fun* films!

orlmac

Does anyone have a link (or list) of the movies that were originally rated gp and m. I've never tried to do this part of the checklist and thought I would like at it but I can't find any listing of movies that were originally rated this.

BobO'Link

^Use the advance search at IMDB, do a search on *one* of the genre types selecting one of the ratings they list. Once your search is completed replace the rating in the URL bar.

For example:

Search using "Action", "Feature Film", rated "G":
http://www.imdb.com/search/title?certificates=us%3Ag&genres=action&title_type=feature

Now replace the "g" after us%3A with "m":
www.imdb.com/search/title?certificates=us%3Am&genres=action&title_type=feature

or "gp"
www.imdb.com/search/title?certificates=us%3Agp&genres=action&title_type=feature

You can simplify additional searches by replacing the genre entry with the new one desired.
action
adventure
crime
mystery

Some may seem to return incorrect results by showing different ratings but if you look at the full ratings break outs on those films you'll find they've been re-rated and would have had the search rating you selected at some point.

I don't know why they don't provide "GP" or "M" as ratings in the advance search unless it's because they are older and many younger people have never heard of them and would be confused by their addition.

When doing advance searches be careful on the genres. If you select 2 (or more) it matches *all* your selections. To get breakouts you have to do a separate search for each type. It would be nice if they offered a "and" or "or" choice on those selections which allow multiple selections.

davidh777

The remake? I like that one quite a bit. The original seemed dated to me (granted, I saw it a few years ago, after I saw the remake).

shadokitty

I see if anyone is interested and has time to watch an episode or two, Cloo is airing a MacGyver marathon today. Just thought I'd post it so ppl knew about it.

Ash Ketchum

I've been busy with a freelance writing job and haven't had time to do more of those lists. I'll get back to them this week.

Some of the films I had to watch for this freelance job were eligible for this challenge, some weren't. So yesterday, I took a break from it to finally watch stuff specifically for this challenge. And then I kept stopping in the middle and starting something else. I got through 45 minutes of a very good samurai drama, but it required more energy and patience than I could muster. I then got through about 7 minutes of ACROSS 110TH STREET before I realized I wasn't in the mood for a flashback to the early '70s. (I hadn't seen this film since it came out.) I then put in a 48-minute ultraviolent anime piece called RIKI-OH (1989), and while it matched my mood, I had trouble staying awake during it. I kept nodding out and having to rewind to read the subtitles I missed. So it took considerably longer than 48 minutes to watch it. It's based on the same manga that formed the basis for the Hong Kong classic, THE STORY OF RICKY (1991), which I ought to also re-view for this challenge. It was then 4PM and a western was coming on the Western Channel that I wanted to see and would have been great for this challenge. Instead, I opted to record it and then went into the bedroom to lie down and put in a random anime DVD in my bedroom player.

And that turned out to be just the ticket. A TV series called "Speed Grapher" (2005) that's just perfect for this challenge. It's about a news photographer who infiltrates a secret sex club for Japan's Power Elite and is then on the run with an heiress whom he'd rescued from the club and who had somehow transferred to him a special power that his camera unleashes. It's got crime, violence, illicit sex, political corruption, suspense, high school life, a sexy policewoman, car chases, etc. along with a touch of the supernatural. It's surprisingly bloody and raunchy for a TV series, even in Japan.

I wound up watching all four episodes on the disc and have four more volumes (16 more eps.) on my shelf (but not the entire series). I looked it up on IMDB and the reviews indicate that the animation quality drops off in later episodes. So I better enjoy what I have while I can.

orlmac

Thank you very much! This will really help me.

Trevor

All of this Bond talk got me to finally watch one of my older Bond BDs yesterday. Started with Dr. No of course, and while it kept me slightly entertained, I didn't enjoy it nearly as much as I hoped. It was less action-packed than I remember, and Connery never had me fully engaged with his character. I thought I always preferred his films to Moore's, but to be honest I've probably only seen the films once or twice each on average, and pretty much never on disc. So mainly cable viewings as a kid, guess I actually don't really know what my almost adult self thinks of the Bond films. Excited to watch them all in order before year's end.

Moving on to whatever the second film is shortly.

ntnon

No! The original and best.

It's definitely dated, but it's so British that the British-ness shines through the dated-ness for me. Plus it veers so often into broad comedy (I remembered it as being lightly amusing, but this time around there were several points where I actually laughed) that any dating becomes irrelevant because it's unreal enough to fit into a more.. Avengersy universe than the 'real' one.

That said, I haven't seen the remake since it was newly on DVD, and recall almost all of the reviews savaging it (mainly for not being Michael Caine and classic). I enjoyed it quite well, but haven't found the time to re-visit it yet.

ntnon

I hope I trod on the right side of the line in trying to put across that I appreciate all the lists but don't expect you to do them for my/our entertainment and interest!

Story of my life... I set aside some time, and more often than not wind up needing twice as much. Oh well.


That sounds great. Or terrible. And, if it's Japanese, probably both!

Ash Ketchum

The original had Noel Coward and Benny Hill! How could anything anywhere ever compare? (If only they'd had a scene together.)

shadokitty

Just now hit 58 with an episode of Star Blazers on Youtube. Looks like it might be a tight squeeze to make 100 by the end of the month.

mrcellophane

I don't have the luxury of nodding off; my BD player has started freezing any time I try to rewind.

I started watching this series a couple years ago after finding it cheap at Hastings. I need to finish it. I did watch a great anime series for the challenge - 009-1. Really fun series about sexy spies with guns in their boobs. I was a bit sad at how episodic the series was since it was only 13 episodes long. However, it surprised me with a pretty complex narrative by the end.

I'm on spring break at the moment and spent the weekend with my grandparents, doing a mystery puzzle and vegging out with Veronica Mars and Monk. We finished up the latter which was both satisfying and saddening. After working our way through eight seasons, it feels weird that there are no more episodes. I suggested Veronica Mars as our next project, and my grandparents enjoyed the four episodes we watched.

I also watched the atrocious Fantastic 4 (2005) which cannot even be saved by the eye candy of Chris Evans and Iaon Gruffudd. Everything in the film is a muddled mess with a weak narrative and some of the most annoying superhero characters. The sad thing is that the filmmakers squander a lot of talent and good production values on a lousy script and poor direction. Afterward, I watched the far superior Who Framed Roger Rabbit? which I had taped off the Disney Channel on the same tape as Honey, I Shrank the Kids. That was a double feature staple of my childhood. I am a huge fan of noir, and this is a great homage to that narrative form.

LJG765

Got in two Bonds today, A View to Kill and For Your Eyes Only. I think I'm ready to move on past the Moore Bond. They're almost cartoony in parts with the characters, gadgets and so on.

Never Say Never Again just came in at the library, so as long as it doesn't snow, I'll pick it up tomorrow and give it a watch soon.

I'm trying to average 2 Bonds a day, to try and finish before the challenge ends. I have 11 left, 10 movies and a bonus DVD that I picked up somewhere-Bond Girls are Forever. I could get away with one a day, but we'll see what I feel up to, I guess.

I've filled in some of the checklist with the Da Vinci Code and followed it up with the sequel Angels & Demons. I'm not a huge Tom Hanks fan but really enjoyed these. I was pleasantly surprised at how good they were. I actually only picked up the first at Big Lots because it came with the codex thing (I have a weak spot for stuff like that), so it was a blind buy that turned out well.

Well, got to figure out what to watch next...another Bond for three today or something else that I just picked up, like the Hobbit... hmmm...