I thought it was alright

Watched this on DVD years ago and also found the story boring. It was the cinematography and production design that kept me watching -- the settings continually gave me the feeling that I was touring an art gallery filled with paintings by the old masters. Have this on blu now and intend to re-watch someday ... when I feel I can sit for 3 hrs without falling asleep.

The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel (2011): Several English retirees decide to take up residence in an Indian hotel which turns out to be not quite as glamorous as the hotel's website indicated. Interesting Jaipur, India setting and a story that generated a few chuckles but overall a mediocre British comedy imo.

The Second Best Exotic Marigold Hotel (2015): Picking up about 5 months after the first installment, the young hotel proprietor has decided to open a second hotel for retirees. Less enjoyable watch for me than the first film.

This song from the sequel is ok

A much better Blu-ray transfer than Batman Forever another movie that came out in 1995.

Holy crap, the 3D in Spider-Man: Homecoming is outstanding. So much depth and some nice pop out effects. Very impressed. I don’t think I saw in 3D in theater so this is first and gosh darn it looks great.

Forgot how much fun this movie is too. It’s like they told an origin story without it being a “true” origin story. Really well cast and made. Tom Holland is terrific and perfect for role. Really puts Maguire and Garfield to shame. He truly captures the fun and spirit of who young Peter Parker/Spider-Man is. Really great all around and look forward to Spider-Man: Far From Home next Saturday.

Black Moon - 2.5/5

A teenage girl fleeing from a war heads to the country and finds shelter in a large house. While there she experiences some very strange encounters with talking animals and humans who communicate telepathically. As a fan of David Lynch and Luis Buñuel, the first half of this surreal film kept me interested, but then it just got repetitive and went nowhere.

Us - 2.5/5

A family's vacation to their lakehouse turns into a nightmare when they encounter their doppelgängers. Jordan Peele's second film has a lot of interesting ideas, but fails in its delivery with some plot holes and by using cliched horror tropes. The brilliance of Get Out was its slow burn sense of dread, which this film could have used.

Looking for Mr. Goodbar - 4/5

A young schoolteacher of deaf children leads a double life. Outside of work she frequents bars looking for the next drug fueled sexual encounter to fill her appetite. Good film from the 70's about a woman trying to break free from the constraints of her strict Irish Catholic father and ho it leads her down a path of self destructive behavior.

We Are the Flesh - 4/5

In post apocalyptic Mexico, a brother and a sister come across an older man who offers to help them survive under certain conditions. A dark, beautiful, trippy and disturbing voyage into the human psyche. Reminded me of Alejandro Jodorowsky, Gaspar Noe and Panos Cosmatos. Not for the easily offended.

The Lonely Passion of Judith Hearne (1987)



Spinster Judith Hearne (Dame Maggie Smith) moves into a rooming house in Dublin run by a strict and judgmental landlady, Mrs. Rice (Marie Kean). Shortly after Judith arrives, Mrs. Rice's brother from the U.S., James Madden (Bob Hoskins), also moves in. At first, Judith and James appear to develop an attraction for one another and anyone not familiar with this story might think they're about watch a mature romance. What we get, though, are revelations about Judith, James, and others in the rooming house that take the story into a much less predictable direction and we wind up with a sobering antidote to romantic comedies and faith-based films.

While well-directed, this movie is not easy to watch as you find yourself deciding whether or not you can empathize with the characters. Some of what's revealed about the leads will be off-putting enough for some people to dismiss the film entirely. If your sympathies are still with Judith until the end, you might consider the ending a happy one...or not, depending on how you read the final moments of the film.

I think Hollywood has conditioned audiences to root for charismatic characters who are almost exclusively extroverts in anything outside of dramas. I think the big problem with First Man is that people were expecting larger than life heroes like we got in other space flight movies (Apollo 13, Armageddon, etc.) instead of a character who's highly introverted. First Man is primarily a character study/meditation on grief, which again clashes with the space exploration theme that audiences expect to be high adventure. Chazelle deserves all the credit in the world for trying something different with a movie involving the space program, but he gave the studio a film that was pretty hard to market accurately while not turning away audiences in droves.

Arctic (2018)

Low-budget debut feature-length film by director Joe Penna that apparently received a 10-minute standing ovation when it premiered at the 2018 Cannes Festival. A man (Mads Mikkelsen) stranded after a plane crash chooses to leave the safety of his camp and undertake an arduous journey with the injured survivor of a failed rescue attempt.

Apparently Ghostbusters 3 (project title: Rust City) will begin filming in our area mid-July. Producers have put out a call for women 60-85 who can roller skate and for black female roller skaters 18-40.

Miss Saigon (2016)

25th anniversary live production that was filmed in London in 2014 and released in theatres by Universal Pictures.

I know most here aren't musical fans, but it's a terrific film with good production for a stage production. Some really good songs and also some really sexy Asian women in the cast.

It's super long though at roughly 153 minutes.

Pretty good though unfortunately is was not just a movie but based in reality too.

Atomic Blonde 3/5



I didn't like it as much as I thought I would. Decent action sequences but didn't care too much about the plot. The soundtrack I loved!

The Dark Tower 1/5



The only reason I'm giving it a one is because I love the books.

The movie was a colossal disappointment for everyone involved. Did they really expect to fit all 8 books into an hour and a half worth of a movie? Read the books and don't waste your time with this movie.

You're right. It reminded me of Soderbergh's Solaris which they marketed as a big budget sci-fi film à la Star Wars but was in fact a profound metaphysical/psychological drama set in space. During the opening weeks people walked out of the cinema during the projection before word got around it was boring ... for them. Of course it absolutely isn't if you're into other stuff than action movies in space!

Paprika - mind-bending anime from 2006 about invading/sharing dreams and blurring lines between dream and reality. Think Inception on LSD. I liked it, though I wish there had been a bit more character development in the beginning. The animation is great and the trippy warped reality of dreams is portrayed well.

This was torture and I hated it.

Getting old sucks but Kathleen Turner Wow WTF

Another Earth (2011) 0.5/5

On the day a duplicate earth is discovered a drunken 17-year-old celebrating her acceptance into MIT crashes into another vehicle, killing a pregnant woman and her young son, and seriously injuring the husband/father. Based on the artwork's description I expected a Sci-Fi film. Instead I wasted 90 minutes on a vapid, ultra low-budget (~$100K) film about guilt and redemption.

After a year of what she described as unbearable pain Turner was diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis in '92. Medications and the excess alcohol consumption she used to dull the constant pain contributed to her weight gain and altered appearance. About 8 years later newly available treatments put the disease in remission allowing Turner to work again ... but not in the type of roles she'd had before.

That sucks.

I wish Brit Marling would do more movies.




2004 Ellen Barkin

Maybe not one of Spike Lee's best efforts

Time to get your 70s disco roller skates out of the cupboard. Just borrow a skirt from your missus!