Movie Chat

<p> <img alt="Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull" src="http://entimg.msn.com/i/150/mo/OneSheets/new4/indyskullposter_150.jpg" /> </p> <p> Over the past month, respected publications such as the New York Times jumped on the bandwagon of early negative buzz for &quot;<a class="art" href="http://movies.msn.com/movies/movie.aspx?m=2109424">Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull</a>.&quot; But for industry insiders the word from mandatory distributor screenings was nothing new. Rumors have been flying for months, including that director <a class="art" href="http://movies.msn.com/celebs/celeb.aspx?c=123313">Steven Spielberg</a> was phoning it in and producer <a class="art" href="http://movies.msn.com/celebs/celeb.aspx?c=312084">George Lucas</a> was disappointed even after dumbing down the script himself. So, what a surprise then to actually watch &quot;Kingdom&quot; and realize, &quot;Gee, it&#39;s not half bad.&quot; Granted, the movie&#39;s got a ton of problems, but it&#39;s easy to come up with five reasons why it still works and why you hope the whole gang comes back for more. </p> <p> <a class="art" href="http://movies.msn.com/celebs/celeb.aspx?c=256654"><strong>Harrison Ford</strong></a><strong>&#39;s still got it:</strong> Even at 65 years old, Ford has a classic charisma that action stars half his age would die for. Sure, he&#39;s got a plethora of stuntmen to step in for lots of the tough stuff, but they were around 27 years ago on &quot;<a class="art" href="http://movies.msn.com/movies/movie.aspx?m=482">Raiders of the Lost Ark</a>,&quot; too. Unlike his last thriller, the horrid &quot;<a class="art" href="http://movies.msn.com/movies/movie.aspx?m=2057988">Firewall</a>,&quot; where it appeared he&#39;d have a heart attack in the middle of the film, the longer he&#39;s on-screen in &quot;Kingdom,&quot; the more you suspend your disbelief about his seniority and, once again, root for Indy to save the day. </p> <p> <a class="art" href="http://movies.msn.com/celebs/celeb.aspx?c=320914"><strong>Cate Blanchett</strong></a><strong>&#39;s hilarious accent:</strong> Smartly mocked by Indiana Jones in a very early scene, Blanchett delivers a Russian accent that&#39;s hard not to giggle at. Luckily, she&#39;s playing her Soviet dominatrix so straight (the words &quot;Tranny fierce!&quot; come to mind) that she becomes more and more convincing as the movie wears on. </p> <p> <strong>There are genuine thrills and surprises:</strong> Don&#39;t get me wrong, Spielberg, Lucas and the numerous screenwriters have included some cringe-inducing moments, such as when Mutt (<a class="art" href="http://movies.msn.com/celebs/celeb.aspx?c=476862">Shia LaBeouf</a>) swings across the jungle a la Tarzan, but for the most part the action scenes are inspired and filled with true tension. Early word was that the movie never allowed the viewer to think the main characters were in any true danger, but that&#39;s hardly the case. </p> <p> <strong>It looks damn good:</strong> Most Spielberg films have amazing production values, but I was struck at how much better &quot;Kingdom&quot; appears than the last installment, &quot;<a class="art" href="http://movies.msn.com/movies/movie.aspx?m=309">The Last Crusade</a>.&quot; Many fans will say it&#39;s sacrilege to claim &quot;Kingdom&quot; cinematographer Janusz Kaminski, no slouch with two Oscars to his credit, outshined the legendary Douglas Slocombe, who shot the first three films. But, watching &quot;Last Crusade&quot; again, the only inspiration in that movie appears to be <a class="art" href="http://movies.msn.com/celebs/celeb.aspx?c=275718">Sean Connery</a>&#39;s performance. With the contributions of up-and-coming production designer Guy Dyas (&quot;<a class="art" href="http://movies.msn.com/movies/movie.aspx?m=542954">Elizabeth: The Golden Age</a>&quot;), &quot;Kingdom&quot; turns out to be the most authentic looking Indy film since &quot;Raiders.&quot; </p> <p> <strong>It doesn&#39;t feel anticlimactic:</strong> After almost 20 years since &quot;The Last Crusade,&quot; there was concern that the reunion might feel forced like numerous other franchises that have outlasted their welcome in the 21st century (see &quot;<a class="art" href="http://movies.msn.com/movies/movie.aspx?m=38959">Rush Hour</a>&quot; and &quot;<a class="art" href="http://movies.msn.com/movies/movie.aspx?m=470770">Die Hard</a>&quot;). Far from it, &quot;Kingdom&quot; has enough pizzazz that you hope Lucas and Spielberg can convince Ford to don the fedora one more time. Lord knows we don&#39;t need a solo LaBeouf &quot;Indy&quot; movie. </p> <p> So, the lowdown is that the latest Spielberg/Lucas collaboration may not live up to the quality of some of this summer&#39;s other blockbusters, such as &quot;<a class="art" href="http://movies.msn.com/movies/movie.aspx?m=2076905">Iron Man</a>,&quot; &quot;<a class="art" href="http://movies.msn.com/movies/movie.aspx?m=2078444">Kung Fu Panda</a>&quot; (really) and (most likely) &quot;<a class="art" href="http://movies.msn.com/movies/movie.aspx?m=2081095">The Dark Knight</a>,&quot; but there are worse ways to spend two hours of your Memorial Day weekend than traveling around the world with Dr. Henry Walton Jones Jr. </p> <p> <em>&quot;Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull&quot; opens nationwide May 22</em> </p>

<p> No Country For Old Men is one of the best movie&#39;s I have ever seen. Some have been critical of the ending but I thought it worked very well. I&#39;ll be surprised if it doesn&#39;t win a handful of oscars. </p>

<p>I don't go out to movies too often, but I believe that this summer I will have to break that habbit.&nbsp; It looks like there are a lot of good movies on the way:</p> <p><a href="http://www.firstshowing.net/2008/02/28/another-full-iron-man-trailer-launches-holy-sht/">Iron Man</a><br /> <a href="http://www.firstshowing.net/2008/03/12/cool-beans-another-new-domestic-speed-racer-trailer/">Speed Racer</a><br /> <a href="http://www.firstshowing.net/2007/12/12/adam-sandlers-you-dont-mess-with-the-zohan-trailer/">Don't mess with the Zohan</a><br /> <a href="http://www.firstshowing.net/2008/03/27/full-bootleg-x-files-2-trailer-hits/">The X-Files 2<br /> Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull</a><br /> <a href="http://www.firstshowing.net/2008/02/12/must-watch-red-band-pineapple-express-trailer/">Pineapple Express</a><br /> <a href="http://www.firstshowing.net/2008/03/12/must-watch-finally-the-incredible-hulk-trailer/">The Incredible Hulk</a><br /> <a href="http://www.firstshowing.net/2007/12/17/the-dark-knight-full-theatrical-trailer-debuts/">The Dark Knight</a>&nbsp; (sooooooo excited)<br /> <a href="http://www.firstshowing.net/2007/12/05/must-watch-chronicles-of-narnia-prince-caspian-trailer/">The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian</a></p> <p>There are others... but these I am most excited about...</p>

<p>So.. there are a few actors/actresses that I absolutely love.&nbsp; Most of them have been in a horrible movie or two, but I will still watch pretty much anything they are in just because they rarely let me down... Who are your favorites?</p> <p>Actors:<br /> <a href="http://imdb.com/name/nm0330687/">Joseph Gordon-Levitt</a><br /> <a href="http://imdb.com/name/nm0005403/">Jason Schwartzman</a><br /> <a href="http://imdb.com/name/nm0000195/">Bill Murray</a><br /> <a href="http://imdb.com/name/nm0331516/">Ryan Gosling</a><br /> <br /> Actresses:<br /> <a href="http://imdb.com/name/nm0540441/">Jenna Malone</a><br /> <a href="http://imdb.com/name/nm0939697/">Evan Rachel Wood</a> - I kind of hate her, but she can act and she's been in some good ones.<br /> <a href="http://imdb.com/name/nm0000207/">Christina Ricci</a><br /> Sadly... I can't think of many... maybe I am biased.&nbsp; I like <a href="http://imdb.com/name/nm1046097/">Rachel McAdams</a>, and <a href="http://imdb.com/name/nm0279545/">Isla Fisher</a> but I don't think they've done much meaningful/difficlut work yet...<br /> &nbsp;</p>

<p> <img alt="Forgetting Sarah Marshall" src="http://entimg.msn.com/i/CS/059779h1.jpg" />In desperate need of a vacation after being unceremoniously dumped by his sitcom-star girlfriend, a man travels to a lavish Hawaiian resort to nurse his wounds and forget his heartache, only to discover that his ex and her handsome new boyfriend are currently staying at the exact same island hotspot. Peter Bretter (Jason Segel) may be just another struggling musician, but for the past six years he&#39;s been dating Sarah Marshall (Kristen Bell), one of the hottest stars on television. </p> <p> <img alt="88 Minutes" src="http://entimg.msn.com/i/150/mo/OneSheets/new4/88_mins_150.jpg" />Jon Avnet directs Al Pacino in the thriller 88 Minutes. Pacino plays a university professor who occasionally assists the FBI in matters of forensic psychiatry. As the film opens, the professor learns that someone plans to kill him in 88 minutes. As with the like-minded thriller D.O.A. (both the original and the remake), the protagonist must use his skills in order to track down who has hatched this evil plot and hopefully prevent his own demise </p> <p> <img alt="The Forbidden Kingdom" src="http://entimg.msn.com/i/CS/060052h1.jpg" />Legendary martial arts stars Jackie Chan and Jet Li come together onscreen for the first time ever in director Rob Minkoff&#39;s time-traveling take on the Monkey King fable that finds an American teen transported back to ancient China after wandering into a pawn shop and discovering the king&#39;s fighting stick. Once there, the adventurous teen joins an army of fierce warriors who have sworn to free their imprisoned king at all costs. </p> <p> <img alt="Where in the World Is Osama bin Laden?" src="http://entimg.msn.com/i/150/mo/OneSheets/new4/WITW2_150.jpg" />After revealing just what a diet of Big Macs can do to a person, filmmaker Morgan Spurlock takes a tongue-in-cheek look at another threat to our collective well-being in this witty documentary from the maker of Super Size Me. When Spurlock learns that he and his wife are expecting a baby, he decides that he wants the child to grow up in a safer world than we know today, so he takes it upon himself to track down the most dangerous man on Earth, Osama bin Laden. </p> <p> <img alt="Pathology" src="http://entimg.msn.com/i/CS/057635h1.jpg" />Milo Ventimiglia (of the blockbuster TV series Heroes), headlines this dark crime thriller, which marks the sophomore directorial outing of Marc Schoelermann, following the 2006 telemovie Hexxx. Ventimiglia portrays a young intern, newly arrived at the University Hospital in Philadelphia, who stumbles onto a psychopathic group of colleagues playing a vile game. They regularly select one of their members (on a rotational basis) to commit the &quot;perfect murder,&quot; while the rest use forensic methods to try to determine exactly how the homicide was executed. Alyssa Milano (of TV&#39;s Who&#39;s the Boss? and Charmed) co-stars as Ventimiglia&#39;s fiancée, while thesps Johnny Whitworth and Lauren Lee Smith are among the perpetrators. Mark Neveldine and Brian Taylor (of Crank fame) scripted </p>

<p> I&#39;d normally be inclined to just name this &quot;favorite horror flicks&quot; but some of them transcend genres... so, it is what it is. </p> <p> I grew up on horror flicks. My Dad, Sister, and I were loyal Friday Night horror movie watchers on the USA channel (b-rated horror movie central) To this day, I still LOVE me a good (or cheesy) horror flick. Here are some of my favorites, broken down into my own sub-categories: </p> <p> Zombie movies: <a href="http://imdb.com/title/tt0289043/">28 Days Later</a>, 28 Weeks Later (this was surprisingly a good sequel), Dawn of the Dead (2004) </p> <p> Vampire movies: The Blade Trilogy (my favorite was #2, but I enjoyed all 3), The Lost Boys, Dracula (1992) </p> <p> Slasher movies: <a href="http://imdb.com/title/tt0338095/">High Tension</a> (this movie is terrifying with one heck of a twist at the end), Nightmare on Elm Street series (of course) </p> <p> Monster movies: <a href="http://imdb.com/title/tt0263488/">Jeepers Creepers</a> (yes, it had some cheesy parts, but it also had some seriously scary scenes), Candyman, <a href="http://imdb.com/title/tt0468492/">The Host</a>, Hellraiser, Dolls and Troll (totally cheesy 80&#39;s movies), Silver Bullet, IT </p> <p> Alien movies: <a href="http://imdb.com/title/tt0106912/">Fire in the Sky</a> (this one is based on a true story. At the time this event supposedly occured, my Dad was actually on a hunting trip in that same part of Arizona-- scary), Signs, and of course Alien </p> <p> Here&#39;s some more I&#39;m just not going to categorize: Poltergeist, <a href="http://imdb.com/title/tt0404032/">The Exorcism of Emily Rose,</a> The Exorcist (the extended version they re-released a few years back had some crazy stuff, ie: backwards crawl down the stairs), Pet Sematary </p> <p> I&#39;m sure that I&#39;m forgetting some... </p>

<p>I probably can't even answer my own question quite yet, because I'll have to think back several years. With the advent of rottentomatoes.com and other reliable sources, it's actually been quite a while since I've gone to see a really bad movie(although some of the chick flicks my wife has dragged me to would almost qualify).</p> <p>So I'll have to think about it for a while and&nbsp;come back with an answer.</p> <p>Anyway, what's the worst movie you've ever paid to see, and why was it so bad? And, no I won't refund your money....</p>

<p>Most of the time I find indie movies so much more enjoyable than the big blockbusters... I've rented a few recently that I really loved:</p> <p><a href="http://imdb.com/title/tt0405163/">The Amateurs</a> - Citizens of a small town, under the influence of a man in the midst of a mid-life crisis, come together to make an adult film.</p> <p>The &quot;man in the midst of a mid-life crisis&quot; is&nbsp;Jeff Bridges- if you loved him as &quot;the Dude&quot;, you'll love him in this one.</p> <p><a href="http://imdb.com/title/tt0388182/">King of California</a>&nbsp;- An unstable dad who after getting out of a mental institution tries to convince his daughter that there's Spanish gold buried somewhere under suburbia.</p> <p>This one stars Michael Douglas and Evan Rachel Wood.</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p>&nbsp;</p>

<p>This is my favorite site for movie news... it's a pretty good blog :)<br /> <br /> <a href="http://www.iwatchstuff.com/">www.iwatchstuff.com/</a></p>