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The Champ - Unrated
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April 23, 2009
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N/A
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Executive Koala (Koala kacho) - Unrated
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It's called "Executive Koala" and features a red-eyed koala holding an axe on the DVD cover. Either you're gonna wanna watch it or you're not, and I won't judge you either way. If you do watch it, it's a hoot, and one of the most bizarre movies I've ever seen. It's a mash-up of murder mystery, horror spoof, musical, love story, boardroom drama, and kung fu flick featuring a guy dressed in a koala costume and three-piece suit. If you're game enough to add this to your queue in the first place, I'm guessing you're going to enjoy it. As long as you don't expect it to make a whole lotta sense, I think you'll get a kick out of it.
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November 28, 2008
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N/A
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The Young Savages - Unrated
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November 23, 2008
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N/A
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Hellboy II: The Golden Army (Hellboy 2) - PG-13
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November 23, 2008
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N/A
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WALL-E - G
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November 23, 2008
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N/A
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Star Wars: The Clone Wars - PG
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Fun Star Wars adventure with the occasional eye-rolling dialogue that the franchise is becoming known for. Luckily, George Lucas only produced this, so it was written and directed by people with some talent. Like the Clone Wars cartoons of a few years ago, this one can almost make you forgive the many, many mis-steps Lucas made when making Episodes 1-3. The big problem I have with all of these Clone Wars tales is that their outcomes are all moot. While they can make for exciting adventures, in the end we know that any victories in these are fleeting as we know the inevitable outcome of the Clone Wars. Story-wise, the Star Wars franchise is backing the wrong horse. I'd much prefer to see stories taking place after "Return of the Jedi", since the universe is unlimitless, whereas with the characters in the Clone Wars, you know where all these characters are going to end up (i.e. mostly dead). Oh well, just the lamentations of one sad geek.
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November 14, 2008
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N/A
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The 4th Dimension - Unrated
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WhatEVER. One of the more frustrating, pretentious movies I've seen in awhile. The synopsis on this one made it seem like it would be interesting, along the lines of "Primer", a GREAT small-budget sci-fi. It is sooooo not. So very, very not. I'll give the filmmakers credit for some strong cinematography, but the rest of it is a first-year film school mess with a first-year film school ending. The story was way too abstract for any kind of thoughts on the nature of space-time to seriously be considered, and besides, the ending negated any of it anyway. If you like pretentious indy films that think they're saying something profound when they're not, you are in for a real treat.
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November 7, 2008
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N/A
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Flash Gordon - PG
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Hee hee! One of the campiest movies I've yet seen. Oh, it's bad all right, but it's a very fun kinda bad, and despite the ridiculous acting and dialogue, the art direction, set pieces, and costume designs are actually really, really colorful and great. Max von Sydow is always fun to watch. There's not many guys who can bring dignity to roles like Brewmeister Smith and Ming the Merciless, but if anyone can do it, it's the Max. And you can't beat a soundtrack by Queen. Great fun!
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November 3, 2008
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N/A
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The Incredible Hulk - PG-13
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Being one of the few who actually enjoyed Ang Lee's art house version of the Hulk, I loved this one as well, but for different reasons. This one's a good old-fashioned superhero smash-em-up, and yet again, between this and "Iron Man", I'm very excited about the kind of movies we can expect from Marvel Comics now that they're producing these movies themselves. Tight direction, solid acting (kudos to Marvel for getting quality performers in these adaptations), and above all, excellent special effects. The close-ups of the Hulk were spine-tinglingly good, you could really feel the rage in his eyes. This is not the introspective Hulk of Lee's film, this is straight-up "Hulk smash!" from the get-go; no deep exploration of Bruce's psyche, no real development of his relationship with Betty, and that's just fine. 'Cause the Hulk smashes stuff up real good, and that's what we're here to see. And a great little kicker at the end; I'm really excited with seeing Marvel make an effort to have continuity in the Marvel universe from film to film. Great action movie for geeks and non-geeks alike.
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November 1, 2008
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N/A
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The Happening - R
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Oh, M. Night, what's happened? Actually, I think I figured out what's happened. "The Happening" is not a particularly good movie, mostly due to really horrible dialogue and equally horrible acting (I enjoy Mark Wahlberg and Zooey Deschanel, but this is a great example that without good direction, they're way out of their league acting-wise). All that being said, if you don't take it seriously it's enjoyable enough. And the movie takes itself seriously enough that you don't have to feel you're withholding. So I figured out M. Night's deal. He needs to stop directing and he needs to get a co-writer on his films. Like George Lucas, he needs to put aside his ego and let someone else help flesh out some very cool ideas rather than doing it all himself, because as with each new Star Wars movie that Lucas is directly involved in, M. Night's potentially amazing films are a lesson in increasingly diminishing returns. "The Happening" could have been a humdinger of a sci-fi thriller. It's not. But it is good for a laugh or two.
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November 1, 2008
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N/A
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The Seventh Seal (Det Sjunde inseglet) - Unrated
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October 21, 2008
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N/A
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Le Scaphandre et le Papillon (The Diving Bell and the Butterfly) - PG-13
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October 13, 2008
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N/A
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Recount - Unrated
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Does it lean to the left? Sure, probably. But overall, it seems like a fairly even-handed look at one of the most embarrassing moments in American democracy. And sadly, it doesn't seem that any real lessons were learned in the end. Another close election, which this current one is shaping up to be, and we've got Florida 2000 all over again. That there weren't immediate calls for standardized election processes to be put in place across the country so everyone was voting on the same machines with the same standards is an unbelievably depressing. All right, off the soapbox. The movie itself did a great job of explaining just what the hell happened those 36 days in November and December of 2000, showing just how a dimpled chad or a hanging chad could occur (something I was always a little fuzzy on) and gives some great detail as to the legal manueverings on both sides of the contested election. Superb performances by everyone here, particularly Kevin Spacey and Tom Wilkinson. There are no villains here, unless you're extremely partisan, in which case you'll villify the Democrat or Republican of your choice regardless. The two who come off the worst here are Katherine Harris (arguably the most "biased" performance, Laura Dern still does an excellent job) and Joe Lieberman. A great, frustrating, tense political film.
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October 12, 2008
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N/A
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Superman II: The Richard Donner Cut - PG
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October 5, 2008
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N/A
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The Other Sister - PG-13
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October 5, 2008
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N/A
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Forgetting Sarah Marshall - R
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Yes!!!! The Apatow alumni really know how to make a comedy that's actually hysterically funny. Like "The 40-Year-Old Virgin", "Superbad", and "Knocked Up", this is another in a line of hysterical and raunchy movies that still manage to have a heart without sacrificing the laughs. Jason Segel plays his role perfectly, which is no surprise if you've seen him in similar types of dumped guy roles in "Freaks and Geeks" and "Undeclared". And he's also an extremely brave man, as you get to see ALL of him in more than one scene. Plus there's great roles for Paul Rudd, Bill Hader, Jonah Hill, etc etc. And make sure you catch the "Line-o-rama", gag reel, and the raw footage of the "video conference". It's fun to know that not only is the movie funny, but everyone who was making it were laughing just as hard during the production.
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October 5, 2008
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N/A
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Heartbeeps - PG
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Here's my reaction to "Heartbeeps": "Whaaaa. . .?!?!?" Just awful. This is one of those movies where you finish it mystified as how it ever got made. The concept of two robots starting a family of robots and trying to learn about the world, I can dig that. But I cannot comprehend how this one made it out of the script stage. The dialogue, the action, the characters, all of it is slow and awkward and boring. The only two robots who had any kind of redeeming qualities were the two actual robots in the group, the Catskill model and the little guy crafted together out of junk. The robots portrayed by Kaufman and Peters look and sound annoying and ridiculous. Somewhere deep, deep, deeeeeeep down there might be the grain of an idea for an actual good movie, but it's not this one. Stick with "batteries not included", "A.I.", "Short Circuit", hell even try "Making Mr. Right" if you want to see a decent "robot movie". Yuck!
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October 5, 2008
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N/A
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Die Fälscher (The Counterfeiters) (The Counterfeiter) - R
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October 4, 2008
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N/A
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St. Elmo's Fire - PG-13
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Blech. Every single character is either unlikeable or unbelievable. About halfway through, I started yelling at the screen: "Really? That's what you're going to do?" The characters' motivations and actions are all either completely selfish, completely unrealistic, and many times both. I could KIND OF connect just a smidgen to Wendy and Kirby, and Wendy was the only one who seemed like a real person, but considering how these people treat each other, there is no way any kind of friendship would last in this self-centered group. Really brings to mind that phrase "With friends like these, who needs enemies?" A couple bright spots, Rob Lowe actually saying "This is our time to live on the edge" with a straight face and in the special features we're treated to the music video of "St. Elmo's Fire (Man in Motion)", which is a hoot, especially as John Paar uncomfortably walks through the room saying hi to all the cast members as he belts out that awesome tune in some tight, tight jeans and huge hair. I'm sure there's some kind of nostalgia thing going on here for those who really like this one, but all I'm nostalgic for are the days before I sat through "St. Elmo's Fire".
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October 3, 2008
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N/A
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Tae Guk Gi: The Brotherhood of War - R
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September 30, 2008
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N/A
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The Foot Fist Way - R
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September 29, 2008
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N/A
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Baby Mama - PG-13
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September 29, 2008
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N/A
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Star Trek III - The Search for Spock - PG
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September 29, 2008
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N/A
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Star Trek IV - The Voyage Home - PG
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September 29, 2008
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N/A
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Star Trek II - The Wrath of Khan - PG
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September 29, 2008
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N/A
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2195 ratings
351 reviews
