eh...liked the documentary about the making of it better.

Ironically, it is best to avoid films that use the 'two thumbs up' marketing alone along with any 'one-word' reviews. Especially if it comes from Larry King.

Thankfully I know which hack's like to get there names all over region 2 DVD's.

Believe it or not, I had never seen this movie before last night. Well, it never looked that interesting to me, you know? Sure, it's Ridley Scott, and yeah, Tim Curry's pretty cool as the Devil's son (albiet with some terrible dialogue), and yeah, much of the photography and lighting is pretty good (with the exception of the close-ups - for some reason, ol' Ridley can't seem to get a single one right). However, this sucked. Tom Cruise - sucked. Mia Sara - well, as pretty as she was, she couldn't look scared to save her life - they shoulda hired an actress from the horror genre. And WTF is up with every shot having random shit floating in the air? Pollen, feathers, steam, bubbles? In Hell?

Granted, we watched the director's cut, hoping it would be good. After all, I thought Scott's DC of Blade Runner was better than the theatrical. But this was tedious to the point of fighting sleep. Many times I felt like walking away, going to smoke a cig, read a book - anything but watch another poorly-realized, drawn out scene with no charisma between the characters.

No wonder I never watched this before. I should really learn to trust my instincts more often.

I liked this movie, I grew up with it. It's my Labyrinth. But if I saw it for the first time at this age, I'd probably hate it too.

That cover on Legend is one of the ugliest things I've ever seen.

Unfortunately it seems Dan Mindel has been Tony Scott's regular for some time.. He shot 'Spy Game' & 'Enemy of the State' and also did additional camera on 'The Fan' & 'Crimson Tide'. It doesn't appear this duo is stopping anytime soon.

btw.. I read somewhere that Keira had a butt double for this. I only wonder how necessary that butt shot really was?

What a coincidence - I thought Legend made Labyrinth look like high art.

I like Dave Kehr's take on Legend. A film I still retain a fondness for....

Extensively reedited after its disastrous European premiere, Ridley Scott's expensive fantasy features Tom Cruise as a fairy-tale hero fighting to free a beautiful princess (Mia Sara) from the clutches of an evil lord of darkness (Tim Curry). An introductory crawl tries to set the minimal plot up as a Manichaean fable of the eternal struggle of good and evil, yet the unimaginative action is anything but cosmic, and Scott's prissy, pseudo-Victorian presentation effectively defuses the sexual themes built into the genre. There's nothing left but a series of pretty but airless soundstage compositions, which Scott is unable to relate spatially--a failing that deprives the film of the crucial sense of a complete, alternate world. It all seems to be taking place in somebody's basement. With David Bennent, Alice Playten, and Billy Barty; the elaborate but unconvincing makeup effects are by Rob Bottin.

I liked the special effects and the soundtrack. Don't know how it would stand up if I were to see it again.

ps. I always hated labyrinth.

Sometimes casting director seems like a pretty sweet career.

I never thought Labyrinth ever reached its potential for greatness. I mean, a script by Terry Jones! Direction by Jim Henson! Character design by Brian Froud! And David Bowie was totally cool in the part!

But then... Jennifer Connelly was absolutely terrible. They shoulda hired someone younger. And those goddamn music video sequences that the studio insisted on adding were atrocious. Plus, the endless re-writes of the original script - Terry Jones has publicly stated that the final film bears almost NO resemblance to the original concept he wrote. For a glimpse of what could have been, check out Lady Cottington's Pressed Fairy Book by Jones/Fround. And if you ever watch the film again, keep the FFWD button on standby for when the music sequences start up.

But I admit - as terible as Labyrinth is, it entertained me far more than Legend.

Labyrinth has what Legend lacks--a sense of fun. Don't knock Connelly too bad, she was only 15 at the time. Yeah, the music sucks (Bowie often negates this era of his career, too), especially that first one--like an outtake from the Muppet Show. But I still like that creepy fantasy sequence where Bowie stalks Connelly in a ballroom.

Neverending Story >>>>>>> Labyrinth + Legend

Well, the book was, at any rate.

Ever see the sequels to The Neverending Story? They ended the story a lot quicker then the producers may have hoped.

Last nights simpsons ep "seemingly neverending story" >>>>> neverending story

I saw #2---even more depressing than the first, no fun at all. There's a very good reason why you can find #2 in the budget bins at Walmart.

Cerebral, you are OTM.

Nah. Didn't see the point, really.

The best thing about the first film was that it made me read the book, which is a more excellent story than the film would have you believe. The first film ends at the 1/2 way point in the story, and Bastian's adventures really take off in the second half. However, since the first film kinda flopped, I didn't think they would be able to invest the money to develop the rest of the story properly.

It really is an excellent book, guys - a modern Alice in Wonderland fantasy. It's one of those books that I occasionally loan out and it never comes back. Like Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas or Good Omens.

#3 reaches the point where it is sooooo bad it's good but only beacuse you have a 25 year old Jack Black playing a high schooler. The rest is pretty painful. The kid from Free Willy plays Bastian and the special effects look like they cost $500 total. And there is a parody of Easy Rider with a cheap looking rock person riding a motorcyle while Born To Be Wild plays.

Fucking awesome. I must see this.

Best $15 spent this week:

Sunset Strip was amazing.

I finally found this movie at my local Blockbuster (some ass had it forever...probably using it as a coaster or something), and it is absolutely brilliant. It was especially intriguing since i am currently studying many of the theorists addressed in the movie. I also love the cell-shaded animation (the correct term for the technique is called "rotoscoping"). A great film that makes you think, and one that you will want to discuss with friends. This has me truly excited for Richard Linklater's next film, A Scanner Darkly.

Yes, it's when you shoot film footage and basically trace it frame for frame adding a cast of.. well whatever silliness you choose to do. This makes up almost all of what Ralph Bakshi's been calling animation for decades. It's not a new trick and by know means is it that cool. Slacker's ten times better than that one IMHO.

point taken. yet i at least find it to be a neat trick, regardless how unoriginal it may be. i also think that it was a wise move to use that art style for Waking Life, since it really complimented the whole dream narrative. besides, i think that had the film been shot without the rotoscoping, it would have been unbearable to watch for most people (myself excluded; im somewhat of a philosophy nerd ) as far as Slacker's, ive never had the chance to watch it (Linklater's Slackers that is...i did happen to see a really horrible '02 movie called Slackers with Devon Sawa, but im assuming that is not the film to which you refer )

film class

I really wanted to like this movie, but the animation gave me a huge bloody headache after 20 minutes. I had to leave the room. My wife finished it, tho, and said it was pretty good. She was surprised at how much the animation affected me, considering all the fiddlin' I do with my eyes on a regular basis. But I swear, my head hurt after 5 minutes, and proceeded to hurt all the way thru the night.

At the risk of sounding like a stoner, I still think Dazed and Confused is Linklater's best. I could relate to every character in that one.

i have done the unthinkable and somehow avoided (unintentionally) Dazed and Confused throughout all these years. i guess i should get on that and rent it soon. although im not sure that it can top Linklater's remake of Bad News Bears...that had the Billy Bob factor going for it which can not be underestimated...

edit: this just in...an early review for Linklater's A Scanner Darkly from a screening at SXSW:

http://www.rottentomatoes.com/news/comments/?entryid=304297

meh. s'alright I guess. Least offensive performance by Travolta to date..maybe I was just drunk. ah well.



I really thought this one was kinda stupid. Linklater was obviously taking off on what he'd successfully done with Slacker and adding the animation to heighten the effect but its just dull. Best sequence is the conversation with the bartender and that's all that really amused me. I just get the impression that this is for people who thought 'Dude Where's My Car?' was high art.

Waking Life was awesome and I liked it much more then Slacker. Especially if you've studied post structrualism and linguistic theory which is what most of the conversations were about.

I don't know where you got that Dude, WMC comparison.

i highly doubt the target audience for Dude Where's My Car would be up on their Saussure and Lacan...but i suppose i could be assuming...

Meet my latest obsession....

Watched this baby for the 2nd time last night, such a funny, kick-ass movie. Gore + physical comedy + quality dialogue = awesome flick!!!

I missed that show for years after it went off the air, I'm gonna get it for when my Gran'Daughter gets to be 4-5.

My point of comparison is based on the idea that it's usually stoners who are into this. I suppose the philosophical debates have their merit but I hardly felt that it changed my outlook on the flick.
Clearly I did not find it nearly as engaging as you did.

I'm tellin' ya, Dazed and Confused is the best he's done. Sure, it's cast with total stoner characters, but they all have more depth than yer average teen flick. I would say D & C is really more of a serious character study on a very experiemental time in adolescence. Serious because there's nothing unrealistic about anything that happens in the film (no overdosing horses, like in the atrocious Half-Baked). These are justa bunch of high school kids who are looking to have as much fun as possible in a nowhere town in the mid-70's.

And that's why I love this film. The characters are so well-played that you really know these people - you went to school with variations of them!

A Close Shave is very good.

Cheap Rental Weekend!


Rent - Way better than I expected. My wife was the one who wanted to watch this and I didn't. She didn't like it, I did. Fairly surprising. Though we both agreed that the Baz Lurhman film "Moulin Rouge" sort of made the mark for how good modern musicals can be, this was at least better than "Evita" or "Chicago," imo.


Jarhead - Much prefer "Three Kings" as far as the original Gulf War goes, but this one had its moments. Loved the brief appearances of Chris Cooper and Dennis Haysbert and felt Jake Gyllenhaal gave the best performance I've seen from him yet.


A History Of Violence - WOW!!! Just incredible. Cronenberg really got away from that nonsense of crazed psychotic dream stuff and made a lean, mean film that doesn't shy away from its primal center.


Domino - Loved Mickey Rourke, a naked Kiera Knightley wasn't bad, the film had its amusing moments, but was really badly executed.


Flightplan - Awful in every possible way. Not one moment of it was worth the time.

I got caught up in this on Comedy Central. I've seen it a couple times, and while I tend to be a sucker for above-average teen comedies, this is one of the better ones. I think it might be the only time that Heath Ledger has actually played an Australian. If you're too cynical, it might not be for you, but it's fun and I really enjoy it.

Yeah, I watch that one when it's on Comedy central too, Paul.

This one was real good:

Final film of the weekend was "Good Night and Good Luck," it was good, but not quite great. Still, there were some really interesting ideas and points brought up and Strathairn was quite stirring in the Murrow role. Clooney did a much, much better job in his second directing turn for sure.

Best film on journalism is still "All the President's Men"

I heard he was called in to replace someone else on this? I don't know who. It wasn't really his baby at all which would explain the lack of his usual wacky material. He once took his name off a film as well (replaced as 'Alan Smithee') which I still haven't figured out which one it was.
He was once set to do 'Total Recall' but was replaced by Paul Verhoven and back in the day was offered 'Return of the Jedi' but turned it down.

I really gotta check this out.

Won the Oscar for Best Screenplay in 1951. Montgomery Clift and Shelly Winters were nominated for Best Actor & Actress, but didn't win.

It's OK-- terribly dated in a lot of ways, with a hokey ending, but it's beautifully acted. Shelley Winters was dynamite.

True dat.

I'm not sure it's the best the Linklater has done (I'm a fan of "Suburbia" myself), but it definitely is underrated. You'll be happy to know that Criterion is releasing a 2-disc version of Dazed & Confused.

I was in the mood for something mindless and amusing. This one's got that in spades.

No I won't.

I got Frankenstein, the Legasy Collection from the library, it contains Frankenstein, Bride of Frankenstein, Son of Frankenstein, Ghost of Frankenstein & House of Frankenstein.

Most people here have seen (and love) the original & Bride, but Son has Basil Rathbone as the young Baron & Bela Lugosi as the murderous Ygor, and it's also obviously the basis for Young Frankenstein. Ghost is the start of the slow slide into Abbott & Costello Meet... movies with Lon Chaney, Jr. as the Monster, and an increasingly unreliable (but still one of the best things in the movie) junkie Lugosi reprising his role as Ygor in this "But we could put a Good brain in the Monster" Movie. And in House it's the first of the Monster Mash-ups with the Monster, the Wolfman, and John "Papa" Carradine as Count Dracula, all working for the evil & mad scientist blah blah revenge on his enemies blahblahblah...

More fun with insomnia:



This was pretty solid. Cronenberg still leaves things a little more grisly than I care for, but it's a nice little slice of allegory. Viggo and Maria are beyond solid, but I'm scratching my head as to how William Hurt got a nomination out of this. Still, highly recommended and worlds better than Crash. (which isn't saying much.)