At Middleton

Robocop (2014). Wasn't bad, liked the "more human" aspect of this one.

Gambit

I really loved this one. Although the Coen Bros. only wrote it, they may as well have ghost directed it. Their fingerprints were all over it.

Big Trouble In Little China

After a long day of running errands, it was the perfect film to watch.

Fried Green Tomatoes. Still a good movie but the extended edition felt a bit long.

A young Harvey Keitel plays a record producer who is forced to watch his record company marginalize the production of an album with a promising group (played by Earth, Wind, And Fire) to concentrate on the promotion of a newly signed (and queasily insipid) "family singing group" in a typically corporate clueless bid to compete with other family singing groups that are currently in vogue.
It's not necessarily a new story about the conflict between art and commerce, but Keitel is great to watch as the consummate professional artist who has to navigate between the two poles- and the story is well paced with a strong, and very entertaining finish.

The Bd looks pretty good for the most part. Colors and contrast look a bit wan at times, but that may just be because so many other older catalog titles are so heavily manipulated in those areas on their Bd releases.
The only unfortunate thing is the HD version on disc is actually a censored TV safe version. There were only two scenes were the dialogue replacement was noticeable and clunky- but they were both high energy, conflict scenes where the over dubbing called even more attention to itself.
The uncensored version (it's only a PG film anyway) is included in standard def.

It's discovering titles like this- that I've researched a little, but are otherwise blind buys- that make this hobby so worthwhile.

The Chronicles of Riddick (2004)

From this set:

Finishing up the set with Arabian Nights from


Probably the strongest of the three films. It not only has more of a structure, but Pasolini has more on his mind here than just mocking organized religion or being content with a bawdy punchline. It may be the most sexually explicit of the three- stopping just short of actual penetration- but there's also a sense of wistful sadness underlying few of the vignettes, that makes the film as a whole feel a little more nourishing.
Ultimately I appreciate the idea of these films more than enjoying the films themselves. Unlike Salo though, I don't really regret putting the time in to watch them, though I don't expect to ever have an urge to revisit them again either.

Point Break (1991)
Back to the Future (1985)

National Lampoons Vacation

#4 of 4 from this set:

The Ninth Gate

Likewise this evening.

I'm not sure it was entirely historically accurate - but it was very good. And score another stellar hidef transfer of a 70mm feature from Fox.

'55 Days' - well wow, didn't know what to expect going into it - but that was high entertainment - some of the stunt work looked 'ouchy'

Riddick (2013)

From this set:

21 Jump Street (2012)

Didn't really bring anything new to the cop/buddy genre. A few chuckles but expected more. Tika Sumpter is smoking hot.



Been wanting to get to a good war movie since the 6th. Saw most of it last night, just have the finale battle scene to finish up this evening.

Though I didn't realize it when I pulled the titles out, it turned out to be a Mala Powers double feature.

Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit


Harrison Ford is the only guy that can play Jack Ryan and not Affleck or Pine.


Double Impact

I remember watching this in the theater back in 1991 but the music seems like it came from the 80's lol.

The styles, trends, fads, etc that we associate with certain decades don't usually start until several years in. I don't think of popular entertainment from 1981 as typically reflecting the 1980's as much as things from 83 up into the early 90's.

Escape Plan

#1 of 4 from this set:

#2 of 4 of the above.