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SCOTT (SCOOP) BUTKI
A cynical idealist; To Read Me Is to Know Me (Mostly)
Articles Posted: 1155; Links Seeded: 7452
Member Since: 2/2007Last Seen: 11/05/2009
Member Since: 2/2007Last Seen: 11/05/2009
530 Comments
PrintWhat Movies Have You Watched So Far This Year? How Were They? I'll Share First
News Type: Other — Tue Jul 8, 2008 1:20 AM EDT
One of the best books I've read about movies.
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A new movie discussion has begun since this is sooooo long. The new discussion is hereWhy? I explain why over there but it's mostly because a)this has gotten so long and b) with the dividing articles up thing it takes forever to get to the bottom now)
I started over here a campaign of sorts for some of us to see at least 50 movies this year and then compare notes. It doesn't matter if the movies are old or new. TV series on dvd (which is pretty much how I see 95 percent of my tv shows) count… but with one season counting as one movie.
We also did this last year though that time I was asking for people to try to do 100 books and movies. I cut those goals way back for the movie and book challenge for this year.
Here is my list of movies I saw last year… and yes I came up a few short. I am SUCH a slacker.
I had some rare free time Saturday so I decided to write up my list of movies I've seen so far this year. These are in no particular order. If others want do the same that'd be great.
Last year I tried to write more full-length reviews – this year some reviews are a few words and some are a full review. If you want me to elaborate on an opinion or challenge me feel free – I'm always open for a good debate.
1,2,3 – Lost – Seasons 1-3 – Well, I've done it – I watched all 3 seasons of Lost. In January I decided I wanted to see what the fuss was all about. I didn't make my goal of watching all the dvds in time for the start of season 4 – heck, I didn't even finish season 3 until this weekend, a week or two after season 4 ended. I almost quit early in season 3 when the writing and plot were driving me crazy. But then I began reading not only Television Without Pity's recaps of every episode (I love that site and read all of its recaps for all of the shows I watch) but also Steve Watt's great Lost in the Vines recaps and that kept me going.
I hope season 4 comes out on dvd before season 5 starts so I can catch up in time to actually participate on time in the discussions for season 5, which is supposed to be the series final season.
For what it's worth season 3 has some cool extras, the most interesting of which is called the Lost Book Club. It talks about the books mentioned or shown on the book. Stephen King's The Stand is cited by the writers as both an influence and inspiration for the show but also being akin to Lost in that it's long and sprawling.
There is, as with most things Lost, meaning behind every item mentioned, and this includes the books. It is no coincidence, for example, that Juliet's favorite book is Stephen King's Carrie, whose character, like her, is, in their words "vulnerable" yet capable of "commiting an act of great atrocity."
The idea of Desmond saving one book – a Charles Dickens novel - to read before he died was stolen from author John Irving supposedly having the same plan. And the writers think Sawyer would really identify with some of the characters in Ayn Rand's Atlas Shrugged.
I also wrote a separate review of Season One of Lost here
4– Kung Fu Panda – Fun. Cute. Think Shrek meets Jack Black. It took me a while to get used to Dustin Hoffman's voice but it worked. I haven't liked a Jack Black movie since High Fidelity and School of Rock but I liked this one. I left feeling like I needed to go eat some noodles
5 -Devil's Playground (Documentary about a fascinating Amish ritual - I reviewed it here. It was one of many weird movies I showed at my Unitarian church, partially because how often does one get the chance to show movies like this or Dogma or Life of Brian at church?
6, 7 - Shootist and El Dorado – Normally I'm not a fan of John Wayne movies. I don't think he's that great an actor and most westerns are pretty blah.I was underwhelmed by El Dorado. I liked the Shootist (starring Wayne as an infamous murdering marshall) more for two reasons: first the final 30 minutes were pretty thrilling. But second, and more importantly, I was entertained by the variety of the cast. For example Ron Howard was in it. You know, the guy from Happy Days. And Harry Morgan aka Colonel Potter (check) of MASH played the town marshall, though not very convincingly. I kept expecting him to ask Radar for help. (The New York Times review of the movie, when it came out in 1976, said Morgan "grossly overacted" and said Wayne "looked more like a (train) conductor… than any kind of Western Hero."
Lastly, Jimmy Stewart played his doctor. It was fun to see such a varied cast. Only after it ended did I realize that the female lead was played by Lauren Bacall. I thought that voice sounded familiar.
8 – Rio Bravo – I might have appreciated El Dorado more if I'd seen it AFTER I saw Rio Bravo which I belatedly realized was a sequel of sorts. Rio Bravo blew me away from the long dialogue-less opening scene (a bigger deal then than now when Wall-E raises eyebrows because for much of that movie there is almost no dialogue). Hey, I wonder if I'm the first person to mention a John Wayne movie and Wall-E in the same sentence. But I digress (hey, I didn't name my newspaper column in college "Butki's Babbles for nothing). Rio Bravo is an excellent movie although I could have done without the singing by Ricky Nelson.
8 - Indiana Jones - I gave the movie my take here.
9,10 - Born Free and Duma While a bit dated – loved the scarfs! – Born Free is a cute story about a couple raising a lioness. Enough said. Duma is charming on a different level. Warning: It might make you want to go get your own pet cheetah.
11 - Bringing Up Baby – I love this movie. It's a classic screwball comedy with great acting by Cary Grant and Katharine Hepburn. If you've never seen it you should go do so.
I first saw it a few years ago because it was included in this book: The A List: The National Society of Film Critics' 100 Essential Films. I had pledged to see all 100 movies and read the the accompanying essays and reviews essay about them in this book, The A-List. It was part of my continuing campaign to further educate myself about the arts but especially about cinema. I saw it again at a church movie night about two weeks ago.
12 – Hank Williams documentary
13 - Five People You Meet in Heaven – This was better than I expected. I expected it to be sappy, new agey nonsense but it was actually entertaining and an intriguing way of looking at what heaven might be like.
14 - Leatherheads - This is one of those movies that should have worked but didn't. The actors were good and the writing sounded like it could work but it just didn't click. I think it would have helped if it had been cut a bit shorter
15 - Michael and Me: Reflecting On Michael Moore's Sicko
16 – Soldiers in the Army of God – This is one of the most unsettling documentaries I've seen in some time, even more so than Jesus Camp . I'd picked it for a discussion because someone told me it'd make a good sequel for what could happen when the kids from Jesus Camp get older and bolder. God help us if that's true. This is a behind-the-scenes (with plenty of interviews) look at the nutjobs who think they are doing the lord's work by planning and killing doctors who provide abortions.
Making the viewing of this movie even more unsettling was that I watched it with a woman who survived the Holocaust so each time the abortion was termed a modern day holocaust I'd look at her and think ok, as tasteless as I found that comparison she must hate it even more. That experience is part of what led to this article on things not to say unless you want to expose your ignorance.
17 – Sweeney Todd- I just couldn't get into this which has less to do with the quality of the film but my interest in musicals, albeit one directed by the great Tim Burton.
18 – No County For Old Men. Good movie. That said, I'm not sure it deserved the Oscar or was even the Coen's best picture – I liked Blood Simple and Raising Arizona much better- but it was still pretty good.
19 – Carter Family Documentary
20 – Into The Wild - The best review I've seen of this movie came here by Phaedrus. What I wrote there was:
I've said this elsewhere but normally I think movies are inferior to the books but there's been two notable exceptions and this is one of them because the movie has his "sister" narrating, expressing a viewpoint I don't recall being as strong in the book.
21 – /sbutki.newsvine.com/_news/2008/04/28/1456999-documentary-reviews-good-film-about-hank-williams-poor-movie-about-patsy-cline>">Review: Patsy Cline Documentary
22 – Shane – I didn't think I'd like this one. As I said above I'm not much of a fan of westerns with the exceptions of ones like The Searchers which raise issues of hate and bigotry (link to article about that one) That said, the pull of this movie is the relationship between an older man, Shane, played by Alan Ladd, and a young boy who worships him. It's been more than seven years since my dad died but still movies with a good father-son-type relationship (in this case they are not really father and son but the boy acts like he'd prefer him as a father) draw me and bring back a flood of memories, good and bad, about my own dad. Even without
23 - Documentary Movie Review: Oswald's Ghost
24, 25 – Mini-Docu-Reviews: The History of the Joke and When Stand Up Stood Out
26 - CSI – Season 7 – I think this series has gone downhill over time (and it doesn't help that there are now 300 shows sort of like it) but weak episodes of CSI (like recent books by Robert Parker) are still better than the average program. But that's not necessarily saying anything. I guess one could call CSI my tv guilty pleasure but I'm not sure I necessarily feel guilty about it.)
27 – Once – Mykola wrote the best review I saw of the movie. I wrote many comments over at his review. Long story short I was blown away by this movie. It's a bit slow but I think that helps with the feel of the movie. The music is incredible.
28 - Anatomy Of A Murder - This title inspired my piece on my love of things most fowl . This movie has been widely praised and deservedly so. Not the best Hitchcock-Jimmy Stewart movie (I prefer Rear Window) but still one of the 100 best movies ever made.
29 - Numbers - I have seen the show before but never in sequential order and I didn't know until recently that they are using real math. Last night I watched the commentary for the pilot and the actor who plays the head geek said that in preparing for his role he listened to the lost tapes of Richard Feynman and said he even cribbed part of a line from Feynman (the line was "let's do an elementary exercise and by that I don't mean it's elemental") which the actor shortened to 'Let's do an elementary exercise" (which robs the sentence of the best part) but when the actor said that line was a shout-out to Feynman I was quite pleased. I love Feynman.
Unfortunately while I really like what they are doing on the first season (I'm halfway through it) from what I've seen of the more current episosdes they have gone way downhill. From one recent episode I saw it looked like they were starting to take stories straight outof the headlines, a la Law And Order (a franchise I despise, but that's another story.)
30 - The Office – Season 3 – The Office started out fresh with great writing but each season seems to have dropped a bit as far as being funny with some of that humor replaced by pain. I mean, I know they say humor is pain plus time but that doesn't necessarily mean pain is funny to everyone. It took me a while to make it through season 3 because I was finding each episode less funny and more cringe-inducing whereas with prior seasons it was cringe-inducing AND funny. I'm not sure if I'm even going to watch season 4 when it comes out on DVD.
The British version might have been on to something when it stopped before it got redundant and less funny
31-34 - Jaws, Jaws 2, Jaws 3d, Jaws: The Revenge - I was working at a house where the resident watched these four movies together. Were it not for that I would never have seen these four movies.
The first Jaws was the first scary movie I saw. I recall it scared some from swimming but not me. But my brother, being the kind of guy he was, would play the Jaws soundtrack (or at least he said he did) while lifeguarding on the Southern California coast and watch swimmers decide to come back out of the water. Fear trumps pleasure.
For the other three Jaws movies I was reminded of movies like Nightmare on Elm Street only instead of Freddy Kreuger coming back each time it was this shark.
35 - Thoughts on the movie Recount
Movie #36 and 37 Paper Moon and Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid. Saw both of these last nite at my church movie night. I'd seen the latter before but it was more than ten years ago so by the end I'd forgotten exactly what happened and was as much on my edge of the seat as the first time. The writing and acting on this movie are just breath taking.
Paper Moon was great. I see now why some have spoken so highly of Tatum O'Neals tour de force as the lead actress at age 7 I sort of cringed each time she'd be shown smoking not because I thought it was real (I'm not that dense) but because it made me think of how much it would freak out the anti-smoking folks if that were to happen in a movie today. It also reminded me how much I love the book and movie of Thank You for Smoking.
It was interesting to see Madeline Kahn in a serious role – I'd only see her in comedies and satires (Blazing Saddles and Young Frankenstein) and had no idea she'd also played straight, serious roles as well.
This morning I read the Wikipedia entries and Roger Ebert's reviews on both movies because I like to hear the trivia stuff and compare opinions with my favorite critic.
However, I think Ebert completely missed the mark in his review of Butch Cassidy, which he says
You can see, in "Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid," the bones of the good movie that could have been made about them.
But unfortunately, this good movie is buried beneath millions of dollars that were spent on "production values" that wreck the show. This is often the fate of movies with actors in the million-dollar class, like Newman. Having invested all that cash in the superstar, the studio gets nervous and decides to spend lots of money to protect its investment.
Ebert does get one thing right – the criticism of the ending:
And then the violent, bloody ending is also a mistake; apparently it was a misguided attempt to copy "Bonnie and Clyde." But the ending doesn't belong on "Butch Cassidy," and we don't believe it, and we walk out of the theater wondering what happened to that great movie we were seeing until an hour ago.
BTW, if you've not seen Bonnie and Clyde you need to – it's one of the best early attempts at the type of stylized violence that thanks to directors like Quentin Tarantino are so in vogue these days
A few trivia tidbits: Director Peter Bogdanovich wanted to change the name and after hearing the song "It's Only a Paper Moon (by Billy Rose, Yip Harburg, and Harold Arlen)" had an idea. Wikipedia then says:
Seeking advice from his close friend and mentor Orson Welles, Bogdanovich listed Paper Moon as a possible alternative. Welles responded — "That title is so good, you shouldn't even make the picture, you should just release the title!"[2] Director of photography László Kovács used a red filter on the camera on Welles' advice."
The Simpsons referenced the movie in an episode, according to Wikipedia
"it is referenced by name when Homer Simpson and Bart Simpson try to trick Ned Flanders into receiving a fake Bible by saying that his deceased wife, Maude ordered it before she died. This prompts Ned to say after a few moments, "Wait a minute, this sounds like that movie Paper Moon...".
Switching movies, according to Wikipedia,
Goldman's script, originally called "The Sundance Kid and Butch Cassidy," was purchased by 20th Century Fox for $400,000. The two starring roles were originally given to Newman and Steve McQueen, but McQueen left after failing to come to an agreement about which actor would receive top billing. Warren Beatty was considered for one of the lead roles, and Marlon Brando, who at the time had minimal box-office draw, was considered at one point due to his role in an earlier Western, One-Eyed Jacks. At one point, Max Olsen and Paul Newman were expected to star, and they discussed using the new "staggered but equal billing" later introduced for The Towering Inferno. Eventually, Newman and Robert Redford were chosen, but initially Newman was to play Sundance and Redford Cassidy. 20th Century Fox did not want Redford to play the part, but director George Roy Hill insisted. Redford later noted that this film catapulted him to stardom and changed his career forever.
My god, can you imagine Brando in one of those leading roles? I sure can't.
In the scene where a railroad car is blown up, the railroad car was built for the scene out of balsa wood and toothpicks. The budget only allowed for one take, and therefore an unusually high amount of explosives was used. The explosion was huge, and the line "Think ya used enough dynamite there, Butch?" is reported to be an ad lib, according to locals who observed.
From Wikipedia:
" In the US version of The Office, the character Dwight (in a moment of comedy) compares Michael Scott to Mozart and himself to Butch Cassidy (who he says are legendary friends).
All in all, both are great movies, worth checking out and this was a good example of a time when I got more out of it after reading the Wikipedia trivia.
38 - The Dark Knight - Saw Dark Knight last nite. My only regret was that I didnt see it until about 11 pm so I wasn't as alert as I'd like for the last hour. Now I'm going back to look at my seeds about heath channelling sid vicious, media mistakes, etc to see if I agree with these ideas.
I thought the movie was very entertaining. As others have mentioned I too had trouble at first getting used to Bale's voice.
I thought the fight scenes were pretty well done.
Ledger's performance was amazing.
And NOW I finally know what the pencil reference some made about the movie is all about.
Adds new meaning to the line about the pen being mightier than the sword.
#39 - Hellboy 2 - My opinion falls between the praise of this one and the criticism of this one. It made me laugh, though, which is what I most wanted. The irony was I went to the movies to get away from trolls and talk of trolls here and guess what was in the movie? Trolls! Argh.
#40 - Abbot and Costello Meet Frankenstein - Just watched this. Funny. Not laugh out loud funny but pretty funny. Nuff said.
#41 - Across The Universe – I wanted to like this movie more than I did. I mean, I love the Beatles, their music, their lyrics. Heck I once turned "yesterday" into "guppday" and sang it to my late great pet guppie at about age 7.
But this movie seemed spotty to me. Parts seemed forced, while other parts seemed genius. The casting of Bono and Eddie Izzard seemed perfect but did they need to throw in Janis Joplin and Jimi Hendrix clones?
Roger Ebert loved it but I think James Berardinelli nailed it better here when he said
One could never argue that Across the Universe isn't ambitious. However, like many ambitious movies, this one fails spectacularly. Glenn Kenny of Premiere magazine called it "the perfect disaster" and, while I think that's a little harsh, I understand where he's coming from. Elements of Across the Universe are shockingly awful and the film lasts at least 30 minutes past the bearable stage. But if you like the Beatles and the idea of hearing about 20 covers of their work fills you with a perverse joy, this may be the movie for you
My biggest beef was that it was sooo much longer than it needed to be, like a double album that would have been better as a single album. The two dvd set has some extras which adds a bit of background about the movie but won't make you like the movie if you've decided by then you don't like it.
# 42 - God Grew Tired of Us - A documentary about the Lost Boys of Sudan. I knew some information about this awful situation but this filled in a lot of gaps. It seemed to lack closure but so does much in life – including the situations of many involved. Very thought-provoking, especially about the difficulty a few had assimilating into the United States.
It made me outraged all over again about a local backlash against some African immigrants who were located here. Many locals were absolutely hateful to them.
# 43 - Freedom Writer -- Great inspiring movie. It triggered this memoir piece
# 44 - Wall-E - Now THAT was a visual feast. I loved it.
I nominate the cockroach for best supporting actor... actress.. insect?
Amazing how much the movie did with absolutely no dialogue at all.
45 - Juno - I was supposed to screen this movie at church for a discussion but nobody showed up. Frustrating. The teens didn't want to see it with a-dolts and adults didn't see the appeal.
I read before hand the reviews by Roger Ebert and James Berardinelli and both pretty much nailed it.
This from Ebert sums it up:
Jason Reitman's "Juno" is just about the best movie of the year. It is very smart, very funny and very touching; it begins with the pacing of a screwball comedy and ends as a portrait of characters we have come to love. Strange, how during Juno's hip dialogue and cocky bravado, we begin to understand the young woman inside, and we want to hug her.
Has there been a better performance this year than Ellen Page's creation of Juno? I don't think so. If most actors agree that comedy is harder than drama, then harder still is comedy depending on a quick mind, utter self-confidence, and an ability to stop just short of going too far. Page's presence and timing are extraordinary. I have seen her in only two films, she is only 20, and I think she will be one of the great actors of her time.
But don't let my praise get in the way of sharing how much fun this movie is. It is so very rare to sit with an audience that leans forward with delight and is in step with every turn and surprise of an uncommonly intelligent screenplay. It is so rare to hear laughter that is surprised, unexpected and delighted. So rare to hear it coming during moments of recognition, when characters reflect exactly what we'd be thinking, just a moment before we get around to thinking it. So rare to feel the audience joined into one warm, shared enjoyment. So rare to hear a movie applauded.
I also read the comments about it at Wikipedia and was encouraged by this comment: :
The film has also received criticism from members of both the pro-life and pro-choice communities regarding its confrontation of abortion.
I take that as a good sign. That said I did not see Waitress or Knocked Up (two other movies getting attention for being about teen pregnancy– neither held much interest or appeal for me.
The movie is by Jason Reitman. I loved his adaptation of Thank You For Smoking
I highly recommend this movie and am kicking myself for not seeing it earlier.
The extras are cool - the deleted scenes add some context and the commentary is interesting.
Besides any movie with Belle and Sebastian can't be all bad.
I'll end this mini-review with this exchange:
Punk Receptionist: Would you like a free condom? They're boysenberry.
Juno MacGuff: No, thanks. I'm off sex right now.
Punk Receptionist: My boyfriend wears them every time we have intercourse, it makes his junk smell like pie.
and this one:
Juno MacGuff: Ow, ow, @!$%#ity-ow! Bren, when do I get that spinal tap thing?
Bren: It's called a spinal block. And you can't have it yet, honey. The doctor said you're not dilated enough.
Juno MacGuff: You mean I have to wait for it to get worse? Why can't they just give it to me now?
Bren: Well, honey, doctors are sadists who like to play God and watch lesser people scream...
[Juno lets out painful scream, Brenda checks her watch]
Bren: @!$%#. [to doctor]
Bren: Hey, can we get my kid the damn spinal tap already?
Speaking of which, House returns, I think, next Monday and I won't be around to recap the first episode because I'll be a) on a cruise ship headed to Jamaica and b) on my week-long Newsvine fast. so... if anyone wants to recap that first one for me that'd be excellent.
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{"commentId":2140402,"authorDomain":"sbutki"}
Coming soon (things I'm watching this week)
Bones – Season 1
Buffy – Season 3
NCIS - Season 1
Criminal Minds - Season 1
Dexter - Season 1
and Time Bandits
I'm open to suggestions on what else I watch. Should I check out NCIS, for example? My library has that show and I may check it out.
{"commentId":2140402,"threadId":"308727","contentId":"1646366","authorDomain":"sbutki"}
- 3 votes
#1 - Tue Jul 8, 2008 7:38 AM EDT{"commentId":2140692,"authorDomain":"basseq"}
I'm a big fan of Dexter, Scott. It sounds like you're a crime-show nut, but on a whim, I'll suggest Firefly (sci-fi fantasy), The Office, Arrested Development, and 30 Rock.
{"commentId":2140692,"threadId":"308727","contentId":"1646366","authorDomain":"basseq"}
- 3 votes
{"commentId":2141830,"authorDomain":"sbutki"}
{"commentId":2141958,"authorDomain":"sbutki"}
{"commentId":2142215,"authorDomain":"sbutki"}
{"commentId":2142765,"authorDomain":"sphinx"}
Ooooh, yeah, Dexter and Firefly are really good.
I thought the premise of Dexter was kinda wonky at first, but the inner-dialogue mechanic really makes it work.
Firefly is just a balls-out awesome space western in the truest sense of the word, even if they completely butcher all the Chinese they try to say. :-P
As for NCIS, I guess I grew to like it, because at first, I thought it was a bit too "Hey, look, I'm like CSI, but not an official spinoff!"
It's essentially CSI in camo, with more sexual innuendo, and with more exaggerated character personas, but with each character having the same role as in Vegas.
{"commentId":2142765,"threadId":"308727","contentId":"1646366","authorDomain":"sphinx"}
- 3 votes
{"commentId":2143804,"authorDomain":"Andimia"}
I watch the entire firefly series at least once ever other month. It's just that excellent
{"commentId":2143804,"threadId":"308727","contentId":"1646366","authorDomain":"Andimia"}
- 3 votes
{"commentId":2143878,"authorDomain":"sbutki"}
{"commentId":2144070,"authorDomain":"sphinx"}
I watch the entire firefly series at least once ever other month. It's just that excellent
Wow. That's intense.
Jack, that's exactly why i was slow to get into NCIS - because it just seemed like a CSI wanna be with a pretty boy in the lead.
Boss or DiNozzo? Oh, and don't forget the hot Mossad girl. Catherine Willows doesn't exactly measure up to her.
{"commentId":2144070,"threadId":"308727","contentId":"1646366","authorDomain":"sphinx"}
- 3 votes
{"commentId":2147050,"authorDomain":"sbutki"}
{"commentId":2151225,"authorDomain":"sphinx"}
What's the deal with the Mossad girl hanging around? Since I've not seen the series in order it seemed odd that she was hanging around.
Yeah... I don't know where she came from, either. I just kinda accepted that she was there.
P.S. - Everyone knows it's actually Probie who rocks the gals' socks off.
{"commentId":2151225,"threadId":"308727","contentId":"1646366","authorDomain":"sphinx"}
- 2 votes
{"commentId":2151268,"authorDomain":"sbutki"}
{"commentId":2160532,"authorDomain":"rachaelmm"}
LOVE Bones.
I used to watch CSI, but the "freshness" wore off quickly for me. I recently got DVR, and I've been recording every synidcated episode of Bones and House played on TNT. Last night I watched about 4 episodes of Bones. I can't get enough of that series. It's got the science-y stuff like CSI, but, I think, better quirky character development.
{"commentId":2160532,"threadId":"308727","contentId":"1646366","authorDomain":"rachaelmm"}
- 3 votes
{"commentId":2161182,"authorDomain":"sbutki"}
{"commentId":2162024,"authorDomain":"Andimia"}
The only show that I watch right now is "In Plain Sight" on USA. If it has a strong female lead I'll watch it, except bionic woman.
I can't wait until BSG and Heroes start back up.
{"commentId":2162024,"threadId":"308727","contentId":"1646366","authorDomain":"Andimia"}
- 2 votes
{"commentId":2164118,"authorDomain":"sphinx"}
I can't wait until BSG and Heroes start back up.
Actually, Burn Notice is starting back up, as well. It's one of those summer shows, about a dumped-by-his-agency spy trying to eke out a "normal" living, with a trigger-happy girlfriend in tow, a washed-out sugar-mama-hopping friend who informs on him to the FBI, and searching for the circumstances surrounding why he was "burned" (kicked out of spydom).
Season 1 was pretty awesome, though there was a climactic event at the end that could mean Season 2 is completely different.
{"commentId":2164118,"threadId":"308727","contentId":"1646366","authorDomain":"sphinx"}
- 3 votes
{"commentId":2167557,"authorDomain":"sbutki"}
{"commentId":2168549,"authorDomain":"Andimia"}
I liked In Plain Sight but it's at a terrible(at least for me) time slot (Sunday at 10) and so I keep forgetting to watch it.
My media center records it so I can watch it Monday evenings.
{"commentId":2168549,"threadId":"308727","contentId":"1646366","authorDomain":"Andimia"}
- 2 votes
{"commentId":2168998,"authorDomain":"sbutki"}
{"commentId":2173059,"authorDomain":"Andimia"}
A media center is a computer built specifically for recording, storing, and playing TV, or movies usually using a TV set instead of a computer monitor.
{"commentId":2173059,"threadId":"308727","contentId":"1646366","authorDomain":"Andimia"}
- 3 votes
{"commentId":2175450,"authorDomain":"sphinx"}
Well, more broadly, a media center used to be interchangeable with entertainment center which, for a gadgetphile, would be the TV, VCR, Bluray burner, DVR, surround receiver, speaker amp, etc.
What Andimia is referring to is a media center PC (or home theatre PC), which replaces the playback/storage capabilities of separate media components with a computer hooked up to a TV. They got a boost with the release of Windows XP Media Center, and are now becoming increasingly mainstream, as public mentalities veer toward convergence and products which bridge the TV-PC gap (such as the USB-based EyeTV over-the-air TV recorder) become more popular.
{"commentId":2175450,"threadId":"308727","contentId":"1646366","authorDomain":"sphinx"}
- 3 votes
{"commentId":2193201,"authorDomain":"sbutki"}
{"commentId":2193293,"authorDomain":"sbutki"}
{"commentId":2200850,"authorDomain":"sphinx"}
a new car, preferrably a hybrid, preferrably under $20,000, now that I've got a laptop you've reminded me that the list is still - sorta - at two.
The other one being a DVD player? If your laptop has an optical drive, it most likely can play DVDs, and you can hook up your laptop to your TV, though nowadays, a separate DVD player might be cheaper than the laptop hookup cable.
The dvd player I use at work has a feature I love where it pauses for ten minutes and then resumes.
Hahaha, it took me a while to understand that as sarcasm.
{"commentId":2200850,"threadId":"308727","contentId":"1646366","authorDomain":"sphinx"}
- 3 votes
{"commentId":2201482,"authorDomain":"sbutki"}
{"commentId":2203192,"authorDomain":"sbutki"}
{"commentId":2206472,"authorDomain":"sphinx"}
in about five minutes the show will automaticallly resume which is perfect timing (really, not sarcasm) because by then I'll have finished typing this post.
Oooooooh. Got it. I've never seen a DVD player that auto-resumes after pausing, thus my assumption of sarcasm.
I have a separate dvd player at home and work but what I don't have is one that records tv programs.
Well, depending on how willing you are to watch TV on your laptop (and what cable TV service you have, if any), you can take a look at TV tuners for your laptop. Hook u your coaxial cable (the thick, single-wire, TV signal cable) to the tuner, plug the tuner into your laptop, and voila. Your laptop just became a DVR.
{"commentId":2206472,"threadId":"308727","contentId":"1646366","authorDomain":"sphinx"}
- 3 votes
{"commentId":2211150,"authorDomain":"sbutki"}
{"commentId":2249579,"authorDomain":"sbutki"}
{"commentId":2292853,"authorDomain":"ProgrammerDude"}
Here's two more votes for FIREFLY and NCIS.
It's a tragic they cancelled FIREFLY. Jack Huang said it well:
Firefly is just a balls-out awesome space western ...
It's a personal vision of Joss Whedon's, so it's unlike most of the SF-by-committe schlock that's the fast food of TV SF.
NCIS is my favorite drama currently on TV. I like the characters, and I usually watch a show because I'd like to hang out with the characters. (SEINFELD was a notable exception: I wouldn't have let any of those jokers into my house or spent one second with them, but the writing was just too tasty to miss.)
I've watched CSI since the beginning, but none of the spin-offs, and it's been kind of a border-line thing. I like that science is put forth as "cool"; we need more of that. But the show is so over-stylized that it annoys me. And I have lawyer friends who hate The CSI Effect.
And the re-occuring kiped-from-SEVEN bit with the flashlights... the constant flashlights. The real CSI's laugh, because they know that in the real world you bring in flood lights and light that sucker up!
I really don't think of NCIS as a CSI spin-off so much as a JAG spin-off, and I was a JAG fan. One thing I like about JAG and NCIS (and Tom Clancy) is the idea that the military isn't this evil institution, but is comprised of men and women trying to do a good job in often difficult situations. I never had the honor to serve, but I've worked with military people a lot, and I have a great deal of respect for them.
{"commentId":2292853,"threadId":"308727","contentId":"1646366","authorDomain":"ProgrammerDude"}
- 3 votes
{"commentId":2299861,"authorDomain":"sphinx"}
I like that science is put forth as "cool"; we need more of that. But the show is so over-stylized that it annoys me.
That's partly why I don't like CSI:NY as much as the original. Living just outside NYC, the location appeals to me, and Gary Sinise is awesome, but the over-the-top flashy-animation computer "equipment" they use is just cheesy, especially the projection screen they just happened to put between two server racks and their "let's talk about 'data' and track criminals using the magical computer" Batcomputer that's even more gussied up than CSI: Vegas'.
{"commentId":2299861,"threadId":"308727","contentId":"1646366","authorDomain":"sphinx"}
- 4 votes
{"commentId":2301443,"authorDomain":"sbutki"}
{"commentId":2303858,"authorDomain":"sphinx"}
I haven't followed any of the CSIs for a while now, but I have heard of the Peterson debacle. Grissom did seem more marginalized as CSI went on, as the rest of the team (even Greg and New Slightly Creepy CSI Dude!) became more central to the internal interactions of the CSI team.
Can you give a short description of The Wire?
I like CSI, Dexter, and Criminal Minds (favorite out of those is difficult, but probably Criminal Minds), and those are all technically "cop shows" (kinda), so is The Wire more of a traditional beat-cop show? What's its vibe?
{"commentId":2303858,"threadId":"308727","contentId":"1646366","authorDomain":"sphinx"}
- 4 votes
{"commentId":2305985,"authorDomain":"ProgrammerDude"}
I think I watch CSI these days mostly out of habit, so I don't have much opinion about Peterson leaving. There was a similar flack about Patinkin leaving CRIMINAL MINDS.
I wasn't sorry to see Jorja Fox's character leave. No insult to the actress, but I never liked Sara Sidle. Too much of a downer, and I mostly watch shows where I'd like to hang out with the characters.
Interestingly, to get the spelling of the actress and character, I hit her entry on Wikipedia, and it was quite interesting. Could be I don't much care for the actress, either, but not knowing her personally or the details, I'll reserve judgement.
I'm not familiar with HOMICIDE or THE WIRE (a co-worker was raving about the later at lunch last week, though). I was a big HILL STREET BLUES and NYPD BLUE fan. And I liked the first incarnation of LAW & ORDER. I occasionally watch L&W:SVU if there's nothing else on, and I'm in the mood.
I watched the first season of DEXTER in the background while I was working one day, and it was intriguing, but so far I haven't been able to bring myself to watch it again with my full attention. It's that "people I'd like to hang out with" filter kicking in again.
My best friend is way into CRIMINAL MINDS, so I bought the first two seasons on DVD knowing I could always give them to him if I didn't want to keep it. I almost certainly will. I enjoyed watching the shows once, but probably won't ever re-watch them.
For "cop" shows, I'd have to vote hugely for NCIS, which I just love. I'd gladly hang out with any of those characters, especially Abby.
{"commentId":2305985,"threadId":"308727","contentId":"1646366","authorDomain":"ProgrammerDude"}
- 3 votes
{"commentId":2372979,"authorDomain":"sbutki"}
{"commentId":2385515,"authorDomain":"sbutki"}
{"commentId":2495979,"authorDomain":"sbutki"}
{"commentId":2507453,"authorDomain":"ProgrammerDude"}
Nah, just a wait and see attitude. [shrug] Seems reasonable casting.
As I've mentioned (above and elsewhere), I watch CSI more out of habit than anything else. It's always been a bit of a love/hate thing for me. I wouldn't cry if it were cancelled. The last couple years it's been conflicting with the NBC Thursday Night Comedy block anyway.
Speaking of which.... ER... a show that I find way past its prime and aging badly. I'd love to see something better in that timeslot. Is that just me; any big ER fans here?
{"commentId":2507453,"threadId":"308727","contentId":"1646366","authorDomain":"ProgrammerDude"}
- 3 votes
{"commentId":2511303,"authorDomain":"stevehouse"}
Any thoughts?
Yes. "Morpheus?"
{"commentId":2511303,"threadId":"308727","contentId":"1646366","authorDomain":"stevehouse"}
- 2 votes
{"commentId":2859806,"authorDomain":"ladybug331"}
Do you remember that old movie "Time Bandits" - that was SUCH a weird movie. I actually (I'm embarrassed to say) have it on VIDEO...
Oh well, maybe the kid will want to watch it some time. That sure brings back memories!
{"commentId":2859806,"threadId":"308727","contentId":"1646366","authorDomain":"ladybug331"}
- 3 votes
{"commentId":2860162,"authorDomain":"sbutki"}
{"commentId":2860593,"authorDomain":"ProgrammerDude"}
Well, Time Bandits was a comedy. (It reminds me of the Bill & Ted movies, which I've also enjoyed. Keanu Reeves as a stoned surfer dude always seemed like natural casting to me.)
Brazil is a beast of a totally different nature! (I, too, like it more than Time Bandits, but that's really an apples and goldfish comparison.)
And I think I like Twelve Monkeys even more. I was going to say that perhaps Gilliam gets better with each film, but Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas and The Brothers Grimm weren't quite as enjoyable, and Tideland was just ... weird. David Lynch weird.
Maybe (at least for me) Twelve Monkeys is Gilliam's peak. (The Fisher King, which is pretty good, was right before that.)
{"commentId":2860593,"threadId":"308727","contentId":"1646366","authorDomain":"ProgrammerDude"}
- 3 votes
{"commentId":2860952,"authorDomain":"sbutki"}
{"commentId":2865311,"authorDomain":"ProgrammerDude"}
No idea, actually. I've never seen it end to end.
{"commentId":2865311,"threadId":"308727","contentId":"1646366","authorDomain":"ProgrammerDude"}
- 3 votes
{"commentId":2869877,"authorDomain":"ladybug331"}
Oh yeah - I really like Twelve Monkeys...and the Baron is great! I caught it again for the first time in a long time awhile back...it was on T.V.
I think you did have Time Bandits in the list but somehow I missed it - oops reading too fast!
{"commentId":2869877,"threadId":"308727","contentId":"1646366","authorDomain":"ladybug331"}
- 3 votes
{"commentId":2140509,"authorDomain":"jaap"}
I've been catching up with NCIS and am now on Season 5 and loving it. I've been watching 2 episodes a day for what seems like months!
Also, Dexter Season 2 started on one of my cable channels this week so I'll be watching it.
I can easily meet your challenge of seeing 100 films in a year, but not writing them up - the furthest I take it is to give them my vote on IMDB. Here's my list (since January 06).
I've seen the first 7 episodes of Lost Season 3 so far - it just gets better and better.
You didn't mention Heroes - are you a fan?
{"commentId":2140509,"threadId":"308727","contentId":"1646366","authorDomain":"jaap"}
- 4 votes
#2 - Tue Jul 8, 2008 8:00 AM EDT{"commentId":2140550,"authorDomain":"sbutki"}
{"commentId":2140591,"authorDomain":"jaap"}
I think NCIS is more broadly focussed than CSI etc. Although forensics comes into it, the investigations are more like a typical FBI show - sorry, can't think of any examples.
There's also more humour, I think.
We've had 2 Heroes seasons on TV here and the 2nd ended with a trailer for the 3rd. I understand Season 3 is to be broadcast in the States in September, but I'm not sure when the UK will get it.
{"commentId":2140591,"threadId":"308727","contentId":"1646366","authorDomain":"jaap"}
- 4 votes
{"commentId":2142068,"authorDomain":"sbutki"}
{"commentId":2161257,"authorDomain":"sbutki"}
{"commentId":2168421,"authorDomain":"jaap"}
Scott, you've inspired me to write a review on the latest film I've seen - Journey to the Centre of the Earth in 3D. I've posted it to the Movies, Etc group. I'll try to do the same with the next one I see.
Thanks!
{"commentId":2168421,"threadId":"308727","contentId":"1646366","authorDomain":"jaap"}
- 3 votes
{"commentId":2169031,"authorDomain":"sbutki"}
{"commentId":2169627,"authorDomain":"jaap"}
Thanks - I've asked to join the group
{"commentId":2169627,"threadId":"308727","contentId":"1646366","authorDomain":"jaap"}
- 2 votes
{"commentId":2170491,"authorDomain":"sbutki"}
{"commentId":2140582,"authorDomain":"tigerblade"}
Oh god. I should have been keeping a list. I'm sure I'm getting pretty close to 50 already (my weeknights are pretty boring, so... movies).
I'll have to look back through my Netflix rentals and box office releases to see if I can piece together a list.
{"commentId":2140582,"threadId":"308727","contentId":"1646366","authorDomain":"tigerblade"}
- 3 votes
#3 - Tue Jul 8, 2008 8:14 AM EDT{"commentId":2142252,"authorDomain":"sbutki"}
{"commentId":2143561,"authorDomain":"tigerblade"}
I know you can see your rental history - at the top of your Queue page there's a link for it.
{"commentId":2143561,"threadId":"308727","contentId":"1646366","authorDomain":"tigerblade"}
- 2 votes
{"commentId":2143667,"authorDomain":"tigerblade"}
After looking at my Netflix history this year and Wikipedia's list of movies from 2008, here's a preliminary list. This is by no means complete, it's just what I can remember offhand. Between Netflix, my DVR, and *cough* torrents *cough* other sources, I average about a movie a day. This is only about 70 so far. I'll try to update again later as I remember more.
1.21
2.Diary of the Dead
3.Indiana Jones 4
4.Iron Man
5.10,000BC
6.Jumper
7.Incredible Hulk
8.In the Name of the King: A Dungeon Siege Tale
9.Cloverfield
10.Untraceable
11.The Bank Job
12.Vantage Point
13.Doomsday
14.The Ruins
15.The Forbidden Kingdom
16.Pathology
17.Wanted
18.Rise: Blood Hunter
19.Dog Soldiers
20.Lions for Lambs
Netflix (reverse chronological order – most recent first)
1.Funny Games
2.Black Snake Moan
3.Instinct
4.The Package
5.Lost in Translation
6.Just Cause
7.The Virgin Suicides
8.Primal Fear
9.No Good Deed
10.Tape
11.Sexy Beast
12.Shallow Grave
13.Normal Life
14.Croupier
15.Wilderness
16.Heat: Special Edition
17.The Day of the Jackal
18.Shoot 'Em Up
19.Dragon Wars
20.House of Flying Daggers
21.Proof of Life
22.Mulholland Drive
23.The Ninth Gate
24.Confess
25.Straw Dogs
26.Virtuosity
27.30 Days of Night
28.Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End
29.Jericho: Season 1
30.Night on Earth
31.3:10 to Yuma
32.Bound
33.Snatch
34.Shattered
35.Thr3e
36.Black Moon Rising
37.Silent Running
38.Eastern Promises
39.Sunshine
40.Metropolis
41.The Way of the Gun
42.The Last Sentinel
43.Dark City
44.Meet Joe Black
45.The Office: Season 3
46.The Office: Season 2
47.The Office: Season 1
{"commentId":2143667,"threadId":"308727","contentId":"1646366","authorDomain":"tigerblade"}
- 2 votes
{"commentId":2143894,"authorDomain":"sbutki"}
{"commentId":2144079,"authorDomain":"tigerblade"}
I think what I'll do rather than fill a giant comment box here is write a response article, Scott. It'll probably be easier anyway.
I'll try to write that up tonight after I get home from work.
{"commentId":2144079,"threadId":"308727","contentId":"1646366","authorDomain":"tigerblade"}
- 2 votes
{"commentId":2144092,"authorDomain":"sphinx"}
For me, Jumper had a good premise, that could've potentially grown into its own franchise. But, they went way overboard with "Holy s---, it's Samuel L Jackson" and "Hayden Christensen movies require lame romantic storylines."
The concept is really cool, and visually, it's a good movie. The story's crap, though.
Oh, and Dragon Wars is a cinematic tour de force. It's like Korean WALL-E. It's that good.
... and yes, that was total sarcasm.
tigerblade, I like your choice of Primal Fear. One of my favorite movies ever, and it's what got me permanently hooked on both Ed Norton and sociopath movies.
{"commentId":2144092,"threadId":"308727","contentId":"1646366","authorDomain":"sphinx"}
- 4 votes
{"commentId":2147072,"authorDomain":"sbutki"}
{"commentId":2167574,"authorDomain":"sbutki"}
{"commentId":2140720,"authorDomain":"basseq"}
- Wanted
- Iron Man
- The King of California
- No Country for Old Men
- 300
This is hard... I know I've seen more...
{"commentId":2140720,"threadId":"308727","contentId":"1646366","authorDomain":"basseq"}
- 5 votes
#4 - Tue Jul 8, 2008 8:39 AM EDT{"commentId":2140977,"authorDomain":"SandyFrost"}
I don't watch much TV except for sports.
I've never seen CSI or Desperate Housewives or Seinfeld.
The latest movies I've seen are, in no particular order:
Kung Fu Panda
Iron Man
Narnia 2
Indiana Jones and the Crystal Skull
I'm looking foward to X-Files 2, Hell Boy 2 and the new James Bond movie.
It took me a while to get used to Daniel Craig as a blonde blue-eyed James Bond. Of course, there is no substitute for Sean Connery but Craig, IMHO, did pull it off in Casino Royale.
I mean, come on. James Bond has issues.
Craig did a good job of showing a conflicted Bond afflicted with emotional pain from his past and present.
At home, my most recent DVDs watched are:
Spy Games
Bourne Ultimatim
Hunt for Red October
"Hunt for Red October" is one of my favorite movies. Tom Clancy wrote about a two story windowless building at CINCLANTFLT on an east coast Navy base. I worked there as an electronics tech. I took care of the crypto gear that handled the traffic from the hydro phones that listened for sub traffic in the Atlantic. Well, that and Sean Connery is in it.
I hope he makes more movies. He's one of those men who gets better as he ages. And his acting includes some wild characters in movies like like "Zardoz," "Highlander" and "Dragonheart."
Who didn't cry when the dragon died?
My other fav movies are:
Seven Years in Tibet
All the President's Men
What's Love Got to Do with It?
The Godfather
Thanks,
Sandy
{"commentId":2140977,"threadId":"308727","contentId":"1646366","authorDomain":"SandyFrost"}
- 2 votes
#5 - Tue Jul 8, 2008 9:26 AM EDT{"commentId":2168019,"authorDomain":"sbutki"}
{"commentId":2168089,"authorDomain":"sbutki"}
{"commentId":2141845,"authorDomain":"sbutki"}
{"commentId":2143924,"authorDomain":"sbutki"}
Also, what's on deck to be watched next? I'm watching the Sands Of Iwo Jima (not entirely by choice) today in exchange for the resident I work with giving Time Bandits a try tomorrow. I remember loving Time Bandits when I saw it in the theater but am curious how it compares to my memories.
That reminds me has anyone seen that documentary made about Terry Gilliams' travails while making Baron Manchuson? I might check that out sometime soon. Details on it are here.
{"commentId":2143924,"threadId":"308727","contentId":"1646366","authorDomain":"sbutki"}
- 4 votes
#7 - Tue Jul 8, 2008 3:57 PM EDT{"commentId":2144102,"authorDomain":"sphinx"}
In theatres: Wanted & Dark Knight
At home: Be Kind Rewind and Vantage Point
Just watched Les Choristes last night. Fantastic movie. Even my tween sister, who's usually into action and romantic comedies sat through it willingly.
{"commentId":2144102,"threadId":"308727","contentId":"1646366","authorDomain":"sphinx"}
- 4 votes
{"commentId":2147081,"authorDomain":"sbutki"}
{"commentId":2147236,"authorDomain":"stevehouse"}
I second Be Kind, Rewind. I've got it rented, just haven't popped 'er in yet.
{"commentId":2147236,"threadId":"308727","contentId":"1646366","authorDomain":"stevehouse"}
- 4 votes
{"commentId":2149229,"authorDomain":"sbutki"}
{"commentId":2150942,"authorDomain":"Emily"}
I'm really looking forward to Dark Knight.
I'm so pumped for Dark Knight!
Early reviews have been very good. I think with that positive hype, plus just the fact it's a Batman movie, and unfortunately Heath Ledger's last film, it will be huge at the box office.
I saw Wanted and it was pretty good - very much a "boy" movie (shooting things and Angelina Jolie). It had some good moments and a plot-line to speak of, I like Morgan Freeman and I love James Macavoy.
{"commentId":2150942,"threadId":"308727","contentId":"1646366","authorDomain":"Emily"}
- 4 votes
{"commentId":2151296,"authorDomain":"sphinx"}
Ah, so I watched Vantage Point last night. It was certifiably "eh." They kinda half-assed both the "oh, look, I'm exploring new ways to tell a story... by rewinding" and the "there's some hocus-pocus that just kinda happens without any background whatsoever." Kind of a letdown. They should've picked one and just went with that: the former would create a stereotypically gritty war/terrorism movie, and the latter would be a nice conspiracy thriller.
I saw Wanted and it was pretty good - very much a "boy" movie (shooting things and Angelina Jolie). It had some good moments and a plot-line to speak of, I like Morgan Freeman and I love James Macavoy.
Hehehe, d'you like the "flying keys + tooth" moment? I like how Wanted recognizes that it's balls-out over-the-top, and pokes fun at itself making itself even more over-the-top. I feel like that's missing from a number of action movies which have no plot, yet take themselves way too seriously.
P.S. - I'm not really a big fan of Angelina Jolie. ... she has butt lips.
{"commentId":2151296,"threadId":"308727","contentId":"1646366","authorDomain":"sphinx"}
- 4 votes
{"commentId":2151314,"authorDomain":"sbutki"}
{"commentId":2151585,"authorDomain":"sybiletc"}
vantage point
oh, look, I'm exploring new ways to tell a story.. by rewinding"
That is what I was thinking, like they didn't have a whole movie, so they retold a 10 minute movie in many different ways.
I was expecting a better movie.
{"commentId":2151585,"threadId":"308727","contentId":"1646366","authorDomain":"sybiletc"}
- 3 votes
{"commentId":2153295,"authorDomain":"Emily"}
she has butt lips
lol. no comment.
Wanted was a good popcorn movie. Lots of slow motion blood/violence though - slow motion action is okay. The concept of bending bullets was cool, as were the healing pools. I liked the twist at the end.
I got so bored at Vantage Point...after they re-wound it the third time I didn't really care anymore. I didn't quite understand the point of the movie.
What have you been watching lately, Emily?
Let's see...I saw Hancock last weekend. The first half was pretty good - it was clearly in the 'comedy' category and had some good laughs. It was a different perspective to the traditional "suphero" concept. Then it veered in the dramatic direction and kind of lost its footing. There were some inconsistencies and plot holes, I'm not a huge fan of Will Smith in dramatic roles.
Wall-E (very cute!)
Get Smart (well done - laughed out loud several times; Steve Carrell is the man)
Incredible Hulk (liked this one much better than the first one, Ed Norton is a great actor)
Iron Man (awesome - Robert Downey Jr. surprisingly good)
Chronicles of Narnia (blah)
Jumper (very cool concept, Hayden Christensen still needs to learn how to act)
Indiana Jones (it's Indy so how can you not love it..but s----s----..really)
I watched Kundun via Netflix last week. It chronicles the early years of the Dali Lama. Very pretty film to look at. Another Martin Scorsese film I enjoyed.
{"commentId":2153295,"threadId":"308727","contentId":"1646366","authorDomain":"Emily"}
- 5 votes
{"commentId":2153664,"authorDomain":"sbutki"}
{"commentId":2153720,"authorDomain":"tigerblade"}
Scott - I think she's alluding to one of the critical plot points of Indy 4 but trying to keep from spoiling it for anyone who hasn't seen it.
If you see the movie, you'll immediately know what the missing letters are.
{"commentId":2153720,"threadId":"308727","contentId":"1646366","authorDomain":"tigerblade"}
- 4 votes
{"commentId":2153946,"authorDomain":"sphinx"}
The concept of bending bullets was cool, as were the healing pools. I liked the twist at the end.
Hehehe, oh man. You need to read the "Movies in 15 Minutes" rendition of Wanted. It's what pushed me to change my preconception of Wanted from "meh, Matrix wannabe with tattoos" to "holy f---ing s---, move of the year!"
Then it veered in the dramatic direction and kind of lost its footing. There were some inconsistencies and plot holes, I'm not a huge fan of Will Smith in dramatic roles.
That's what I keep hearing -- that the second half either sucks goat testicles, or Hancock is the unholy mashup of its two halves, which could be decent movies if treated separately.
I got so bored at Vantage Point...after they re-wound it the third time I didn't really care anymore. I didn't quite understand the point of the movie.
I think they tried to create the love child of Traffic and Black Hawk Down, but started sampling the ganjaweed halfway through conceptualization.
Ed Norton is an amazing actor. I forget where but Jack and I were commenting yesterday about how incredible he is.
I thought we were talking about that today, too, regarding Primal Fear. I guess I should check timestamps more closely.
If you see the movie, you'll immediately know what the missing letters are.
Wait, I watched the movie, and I think I know what she's referring to (it's completely ricockulous, even by Indy standards), but I still can't figure out s----s----. I feel like I'm playing Wheel of Fortune. Is the last letter an S?
{"commentId":2153946,"threadId":"308727","contentId":"1646366","authorDomain":"sphinx"}
- 4 votes
{"commentId":2154911,"authorDomain":"sbutki"}
{"commentId":2154938,"authorDomain":"sbutki"}
{"commentId":2158362,"authorDomain":"sphinx"}
it was one of the most disappointing parts of the movie, namely the last 30 minutes.
I figured as much. That was just like "WTF? You swung us around God-knows-where for... this?"
Can I buy a vowell? Maybe an a for the word and a i for the second?
Done. So the last letter is an S.
{"commentId":2158362,"threadId":"308727","contentId":"1646366","authorDomain":"sphinx"}
- 4 votes
{"commentId":2158919,"authorDomain":"sbutki"}
{"commentId":2159684,"authorDomain":"sphinx"}
I could also have done without the cgi monkeys too
Dude, the Tarzan scene was wickedtastic.
{"commentId":2159684,"threadId":"308727","contentId":"1646366","authorDomain":"sphinx"}
- 4 votes
{"commentId":2159805,"authorDomain":"sbutki"}
{"commentId":2160094,"authorDomain":"sphinx"}
To me it smelled of Lucas saying "Oooh, look what cool things we can do. Ok, they don't advance the story but isn't it cool anyway?"
That's why it's so awesome, like the ants.
{"commentId":2160094,"threadId":"308727","contentId":"1646366","authorDomain":"sphinx"}
- 4 votes
{"commentId":2160220,"authorDomain":"sbutki"}
{"commentId":2161215,"authorDomain":"sphinx"}
I know you will probably disagree with this but I think there's such a thing as too much CGI and, like good satire, can become problematic when done too much.
Oh, I totally agree that there's such a thing as too much CGI, and I think that's why I like ILM's philosophy of "good CGI is invisible CGI," or paraphrase.
There are exceptions like A Spider Man or I.
The King and I, but with Tobey Maguire? :-P
but if I'm watching an action movie where no CGI is really needed for a jungle scene it's a bit like a movie where the camerawork is shaky in that blair witchy kinda way and you just want to yell, "quit it!"
Yeah, I'm not a big fan of "I'm so gritty I don't buy Steadicam mounts." I hated Cloverfield for that, since the entire movie hinges upon "I shot this on my Handycam, spur-of-the-moment, which is so awesome."
But, blending it into real camera work, a la Black Hawk Down, can give you some impressive results.
{"commentId":2161215,"threadId":"308727","contentId":"1646366","authorDomain":"sphinx"}
- 4 votes
{"commentId":2161281,"authorDomain":"sbutki"}
{"commentId":2161395,"authorDomain":"sphinx"}
Who is ILM?
Industrial Light & Magic.
Typo: "or paraphrase" should be "paraphrased."
So if i don't like that effect should I skip Cloverfield?
Cloverfield is what happens when the Blair Witch kids hold the camcorder for a Godzilla/Independence Day mashup.
{"commentId":2161395,"threadId":"308727","contentId":"1646366","authorDomain":"sphinx"}
- 4 votes
{"commentId":2168035,"authorDomain":"sbutki"}
{"commentId":2168101,"authorDomain":"sbutki"}
{"commentId":2168106,"authorDomain":"sphinx"}
The hype surrounding it was insanely huge. Heck, they didn't even plan on calling it "Cloverfield" before the hype train took that code name and made it publicly famous.
It's one of those movies that has only its "indie" and "artsy" concepts going for it (OMFG, the movie is exactly as long as a DV tape? Jeezy chreezy!), and falls flat in execution.
{"commentId":2168106,"threadId":"308727","contentId":"1646366","authorDomain":"sphinx"}
- 4 votes
{"commentId":2180855,"authorDomain":"sbutki"}
{"commentId":2180938,"authorDomain":"tigerblade"}
Someone here needs to step in on Cloverfield's behalf and stand up for it. I thought it was an awesome movie (if a little nauseating from the constant shaky-cam). Sure, the characters don't get real deeply developed, there's not really a deeper meaning, it's just a good old fashioned monster movie. JJ Abrams has said he wanted to give America its own monster like Japan has Godzilla, and I wouldn't be surprised if he succeeded.
Scott - I highly recommend you at least try this one out. Hell, I liked it enough to buy it. Though, it has a VERY different effect when watched on a television screen than it did on the giant vision-filling theatre screen, so... there's that to watch out for.
{"commentId":2180938,"threadId":"308727","contentId":"1646366","authorDomain":"tigerblade"}
- 4 votes
{"commentId":2182092,"authorDomain":"sphinx"}
Tigerblade probably has a point. I don't mean this as condescension, but there must be some sort of reason why it gained such a hyped cult following -- I just can't see it.
there's not really a deeper meaning, it's just a good old fashioned monster movie.
I disagree. Cloverfield's cinematic style and completely different from any of the classic monster movies, like the Godzilla megaseries or King Kong. It honestly has far more in common with Blair Witch Project not only in terms of camera work, but in balancing "normal people looking terrified" and "hey, actual scary stuff."
JJ Abrams has said he wanted to give America its own monster like Japan has Godzilla, and I wouldn't be surprised if he succeeded.
But the problem is that it isn't a pure monster movie. I'll try to minimize the spoilers, but the random flashback-esque cut-ins lie completely outside of the monster movie genre, and serve only to try fleshing out a couple of characters. The movie tries to flesh out characters into, at least, cliche niches, but makes the roles so stiff that it's painful to watch the actors stay so confined within their roles.
Cloverfield has the same amount of character development as Resident Evil, sans conspiracy theory.
Though, it has a VERY different effect when watched on a television screen than it did on the giant vision-filling theatre screen, so... there's that to watch out for.
I only watched it on a TV. My guess is that the effect is better on a TV, noting the "this was shot by a normal bloke on a normal camcorder" feel it tries to go for.
Again, this is just my quite cynical take on it. A number of people liked it. It simply didn't appeal to me.
{"commentId":2182092,"threadId":"308727","contentId":"1646366","authorDomain":"sphinx"}
- 4 votes
{"commentId":2182682,"authorDomain":"sybiletc"}
I dont' want to get to deep or anything, but I too, loved it. I know many who didn't, but I did. I did see it on DVD, which may be a little different from all the shakey in a theatre setting, but honestly, I am so used to the last 15 years of watching my own home movies do the same thing, that it didn't bother me at all. Yes, I am a horrible video person, yet I always seem to end up with the camera.
{"commentId":2182682,"threadId":"308727","contentId":"1646366","authorDomain":"sybiletc"}
- 4 votes
{"commentId":2185478,"authorDomain":"Andimia"}
You really missed out if you didn't see it in theaters. There's a lot of "oh @!$%#!" moments that are so much better when you feel like you're there. The Blair Witch was a boring walk through the woods and you never really saw anything. Cloverfield is more like: OHMYGODTHERESAMONSTERATTACKINGTHECITYANDWEHAVETOGETAWAY!!!!
{"commentId":2185478,"threadId":"308727","contentId":"1646366","authorDomain":"Andimia"}
- 5 votes
{"commentId":2193616,"authorDomain":"sbutki"}
{"commentId":2199811,"authorDomain":"sbutki"}
{"commentId":2200911,"authorDomain":"sphinx"}
The town where they filmed part of Blair Witch, where they claimed this all happened, is about 15 minutes from me.
Hmm, do you live near the DC area? I was in high school when Blair Witch came out, and I think I remember something about it being filmed somewhat near my school, though the main hullabaloo was because my high school was called Blair.
That year, our F.I.R.S.T. robotics team called ourselves the Blair Robot Project, with four wrenches arranged to look like the Blair Witch symbol. It was an unparalleled feat of awesomeness.
{"commentId":2200911,"threadId":"308727","contentId":"1646366","authorDomain":"sphinx"}
- 5 votes
{"commentId":2201403,"authorDomain":"sbutki"}
{"commentId":2201425,"authorDomain":"stevehouse"}
That year, our F.I.R.S.T. robotics team called ourselves the Blair Robot Project, with four wrenches arranged to look like the Blair Witch symbol. It was an unparalleled feat of awesomeness.
I hope you automatically won for that.
Relatedly, I'm essentially the Lego robotics teaching assistant at science camp right now. It's a blast.
{"commentId":2201425,"threadId":"308727","contentId":"1646366","authorDomain":"stevehouse"}
- 4 votes
{"commentId":2206507,"authorDomain":"sphinx"}
I hope you automatically won for that.
Nah, we didn't get past regionals, because someone decided that instead of just having a corporate sponsor, they'd have GM simply build the robot for them. Yes, I'm still bitter. GM essentially built them a Transformer. We got phone consults from NIST engineers.
I live in Hagerstown, MD, about 90 miles from DC and Baltimore.
Ah, okay. My school was in Silver Spring.
{"commentId":2206507,"threadId":"308727","contentId":"1646366","authorDomain":"sphinx"}
- 5 votes
{"commentId":2208956,"authorDomain":"stevehouse"}
You know, Jack, I think in your case I would have hired a professional saboteur. The headlines would have been hysterical.
-Terrorists attack competition robot
-High school F.I.R.S.T. team robot destroyed. al-Qaeda has not declared involvement, nor has it declared uninvolvement.
-Robot malfunctions, Transforms self to death
{"commentId":2208956,"threadId":"308727","contentId":"1646366","authorDomain":"stevehouse"}
- 4 votes
{"commentId":2256870,"authorDomain":"sbutki"}
{"commentId":2293072,"authorDomain":"ProgrammerDude"}
Okay, so in this branch we have VANTAGE POINT, CLOVERFIELD, Indie Jones and DARK KNIGHT...
Agreed that VANTAGE POINT was kind of "eh", but I actually sorta liked the rewind effect, and, since I knew from previews what the deal was, I had some fun predicting which timeline they'd pick next and spotting the background action they'd key off of. But for the most part it was predictable, and I take a lot of points off for that.
Didn't see CLOVERFIELD, didn't want to see CLOVERFIELD, and nothing said here or anywhere else has changed that. Seems like a "must miss" to me, but I really hate the shaky camera effect.
Indie Jones was a fun ride, but like a roller coaster, that's about all it was. I confess that I have an intense dislike of Spielberg's work. As a story-teller, I think he's a cheat, and the only place his style of story-telling works at all for me is when he tells fairy tales.
The Indie Jones movies are fairy tales, and they're about the only Spielberg works I can tolerate (and even so, they're filled with what I call "Spielbergisms"). One rare exception is MINORITY REPORT, which wasn't bad, and which almost made up for the abomination that was AI.
Saw DARK KNIGHT this week, and it was pretty darn good. I think I liked IRONMAN better, but it might be due to my allergy to hype and hyperbole. It is a shame we'll never see Ledger's Joker again. He nailed the Batman's psycotic arch-nemesis.
I. HULK (is that like I ROBOT?) wasn't bad. I'm one of four people in the entire world who actually liked the Ang Lee version. (What he did with camera work and editing gave such a cool comic book feel, and I liked the 'Hulk jump far' bit.)
Also, one more vote for "what does everyone see in Angelina Jolie"?? I have a fair bit of respect for her as an actor, but she's not at all on my list of Hollywood Stars I'd like to, um, date.
{"commentId":2293072,"threadId":"308727","contentId":"1646366","authorDomain":"ProgrammerDude"}
- 3 votes
{"commentId":2373049,"authorDomain":"sbutki"}
{"commentId":2144144,"authorDomain":"mightyblogger"}
Iron Man was the only movie this year that has lived up to the "marketing" of any movie. The others I have seen have been disappointing because of the misleading commercials or straying so far from their original books/graphic novels.
Books are always so much better... I like my imagination.
{"commentId":2144144,"threadId":"308727","contentId":"1646366","authorDomain":"mightyblogger"}
- 4 votes
#8 - Tue Jul 8, 2008 4:29 PM EDT{"commentId":2153678,"authorDomain":"sbutki"}
{"commentId":2144166,"authorDomain":"Andimia"}
I'll be able to add more once I get home.
- 1. Diary of the Dead
2. The Incredible Hulk
3. Iron Man
4. Indiana Jones and the kingdom of the crystal skull
5 .Jumper
6. Cloverfield
7. Doomsday
8. Wanted
9. Rise: Blood Hunter
10. Queen of the Damned
11. Imagine Me and You
12. Tape
13. Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle (it was on TV and I was bored)
14. Firestarter (more Drew Berrymore)
15. Painkiller Jane (the movie)
16. Dragonwars (awful movie)
17. Reign of Fire
18. The Last sentinel
{"commentId":2144166,"threadId":"308727","contentId":"1646366","authorDomain":"Andimia"}
- 2 votes
#9 - Tue Jul 8, 2008 4:31 PM EDT{"commentId":2144883,"authorDomain":"stevehouse"}
I haven't seen many movies this year. From 2005-2007 I saw @!$%# tons because I worked at a theater, so it was free. Here's what I can remember seeing this year, in order of my remembering them:
Iron Man Really good, and I'm watching for a sequel.
Hancock The two parts are excellent standing alone, but when you paste them together it's not quite as good. Still liked it though.
The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian I can't really remember the movie much. I spent the whole time going "Wow. All the bad guys are brown people with accents, except for the one who goes good. And when he almost goes bad, he gets an accent."
Wall-E I was actually a little bit disappointed in this one. The preachiness everyone was @!$%#ing about, to me, got a little tedious. But the animation was glorious!
Kung Fu Panda Oh my sweet Lord. The opening scene had me stunned. Absolutely breathtaking animation! The rest of the movie was excellent, too, and I've got to say that Jack Black was the perfect casting move.
Jumper Samuel L should never be the bad guy. Ever.
Untraceable This was a pretty enjoyable movie, but really predictable.
I'll be watching Be Kind, Rewind in the next day or so too.
{"commentId":2144883,"threadId":"308727","contentId":"1646366","authorDomain":"stevehouse"}
- 3 votes
#10 - Tue Jul 8, 2008 5:45 PM EDT{"commentId":2147245,"authorDomain":"stevehouse"}
Ah! I forgot Doomsday, which I'd been looking forward to since last fall when I found out about it. Quite a delicious post-apocalyptic reinvention of Heart of Darkness.
{"commentId":2147245,"threadId":"308727","contentId":"1646366","authorDomain":"stevehouse"}
- 3 votes
{"commentId":2151771,"authorDomain":"Andimia"}
I forgot Doomsday, which I'd been looking forward to since last fall when I found out about it.
I thought it was twistedly awesome and Rhona Mitra kicked major ass.
{"commentId":2151771,"threadId":"308727","contentId":"1646366","authorDomain":"Andimia"}
- 4 votes
{"commentId":2156014,"authorDomain":"sbutki"}
{"commentId":2156122,"authorDomain":"stevehouse"}
Doomsday is the newest film from director Neil Marshall (Dog Soldiers, The Descent). He's staring to get a bit of a cult following, mostly because he's the man.
A deadly virus wipes out the population of... Scotland? The northern part of the big British Isle. So they quarantine it. Build a huge wall with a gigantic no-man's-land, etc. Some twenty years later, Rhona Mitra's character is sent over the wall. The virus has reappeared outside of quarantine, and she's off after the man who was working on a cure. From here, the plot takes several nods from Joseph Conrad's classic Heart of Darkness. The character of Kane (the cure guy) is based on Kurtz. Two of the team members, while in a Humvee-esque vehicle, are attacked from buildings on both sides, invoking when the ferry is attacked by natives and the foghorn is all that turns them away in the novel. There were quite a bit more but I can't remember them.
Also, they encounter post-apocalyptic anarchist cannibals and a medieval society, both surviving remnants of humanity (which the gubmint insists do not exist). Lots of stuff blowing up and lots of fighting. Marshall also uses graffiti to explore how humans cope with the unthinkable. I won't give anything away, but random spray-painted messages that you may notice throughout the film depict different ways that desperate people try to reconcile themselves with what they have to do to survive.
Literary nods, thinkin' stuff, chicks kicking ass, and splosions? Win.
{"commentId":2156122,"threadId":"308727","contentId":"1646366","authorDomain":"stevehouse"}
- 5 votes
{"commentId":2157392,"authorDomain":"sbutki"}
{"commentId":2293134,"authorDomain":"ProgrammerDude"}
I fell in love with Rhona Mitra when she was on BOSTON LEGAL, so it was fun seeing her in DOOMSDAY.
Scott, if you're looking for TV Season DVDs, I'll recommend BOSTON LEGAL (currently in it's fourth season). The Shatner/Spader pairing is a delight, and Shatner is clearly having a ball with the role. (There've been a number of fun, sly TREK references.)
I especially love how they've taken to "breaking the fourth wall". One of my favorites was when Spader's secretary tells him not to get involved with a woman, because "she's just a guest star. You should get involved with a regular." Reminds me of some of the fun they had on MOONLIGHTING.
{"commentId":2293134,"threadId":"308727","contentId":"1646366","authorDomain":"ProgrammerDude"}
- 3 votes
{"commentId":2150707,"authorDomain":"stolte-sawa"}
I haven't liked a Jack Black movie since High Fidelity and School of Rock but I liked this one.
You didn't like Be Kind Rewind? Oh, you must not have seen it, then. :)
{"commentId":2150707,"threadId":"308727","contentId":"1646366","authorDomain":"stolte-sawa"}
- 4 votes
#11 - Wed Jul 9, 2008 1:21 PM EDT{"commentId":2151350,"authorDomain":"sbutki"}
{"commentId":2151790,"authorDomain":"Andimia"}
when you can get Myk to stop watching BSG reruns?
Hey! there's nothing wrong with watching BSG over and over.
{"commentId":2151790,"threadId":"308727","contentId":"1646366","authorDomain":"Andimia"}
- 5 votes
{"commentId":2151936,"authorDomain":"stolte-sawa"}
See it--it's a joy. Seriously.
Myk and I are actually engrossed in two series at the moment: the first, Death Note, is an anime we're watching in the interim on the recommendation of my cousin's boyfriend Chris. It's about an overachieving Japanese high schooler who uses a shinigami's "notebook of death" to murder criminals in the name of justice. It's a little heavy-handed, but fun and gripping enough.
We're also watching Dexter. We're about to start season two and we're loving every minute of it! Defamiliarizing basic human experiences by associating them intimately with a serial murderer is @!$%#ing brilliant. Michael C. Hall is a hell of an actor, too.
{"commentId":2151936,"threadId":"308727","contentId":"1646366","authorDomain":"stolte-sawa"}
- 5 votes
{"commentId":2153649,"authorDomain":"stevehouse"}
Death Note is delicious! The first episode I caught happened to be the one where he kills Raye Penber at the subway, and, obviously, I was hooked. Got caught up on the Internet, and then just finished 'er off in subtitles while I was at it. (Aside: Wasn't the finale on Adult Swim last Saturday?)
{"commentId":2153649,"threadId":"308727","contentId":"1646366","authorDomain":"stevehouse"}
- 4 votes
{"commentId":2153708,"authorDomain":"sbutki"}
{"commentId":2153955,"authorDomain":"sphinx"}
I think viewers probably start identifying with him and supporting him killing some pervert scumbag and then go, "whoa, I just felt kinship with THAT guy"?"
Then they'd go "That's so hot."
{"commentId":2153955,"threadId":"308727","contentId":"1646366","authorDomain":"sphinx"}
- 5 votes
{"commentId":2156166,"authorDomain":"sbutki"}
{"commentId":2156795,"authorDomain":"stolte-sawa"}
Huh. Thanks. It writes less about the morality of Dexter than it uses the show to comment on content watchdog efforts, but it sums up the crux of the show nicely:
Unlike CSI, Dexter is informed by a philosophical question: whether humanity is more than the sum of one's outward actions.
I've long felt I tread precariously on the line of sociopathy and watching this show has given me a new vocabulary with which to confront issues I've been grappling with for a long time, so my stake in its resolution is pretty personal. I know I'm not the first person to relate intimately to Dexter, and I won't be the last. There's a lot of comfort in that, actually. Well, relief, anyway.
{"commentId":2156795,"threadId":"308727","contentId":"1646366","authorDomain":"stolte-sawa"}
- 4 votes
{"commentId":2157410,"authorDomain":"sbutki"}
{"commentId":2158803,"authorDomain":"stolte-sawa"}
Besides I always figured Myk was more the sociopath in the relationship.
No, but he has a more finely tuned sense of propriety. I think they call it "maturity."
{"commentId":2158803,"threadId":"308727","contentId":"1646366","authorDomain":"stolte-sawa"}
- 4 votes
{"commentId":2158940,"authorDomain":"sbutki"}
{"commentId":2160299,"authorDomain":"stolte-sawa"}
Wow, is it that time already?
{"commentId":2160299,"threadId":"308727","contentId":"1646366","authorDomain":"stolte-sawa"}
- 4 votes
{"commentId":2161300,"authorDomain":"sbutki"}
{"commentId":2293215,"authorDomain":"ProgrammerDude"}
I haven't liked a Jack Black movie since High Fidelity and School of Rock...
I sometimes find Jack Black a bit much, but for my money, he's been a perfect match for some roles. For example, HIGH FI and SCHOOL were perfect for him. ENVY and TENACIOUS D were good, too, I thought.
In fact, looking at his filmography, I guess I'd have to say that I usually like him.
{"commentId":2293215,"threadId":"308727","contentId":"1646366","authorDomain":"ProgrammerDude"}
- 3 votes
{"commentId":2151777,"authorDomain":"sybiletc"}
I had decided, since our youngest child is now 13, to rent some movies this summer and watch, that they were too young to see. also have been watching some choices they have made.
So far this summer we have watched.
Firestarter,
Misery - both old Stephan King movies hubby and I saw in the theatres. both good.
Forever Knight - old vampire cop TV series I loved when it was new, daughter loved it.
Whatever happened to Baby Jane - creepy old movie with Joan Crawford, Bette Davis, great movie
Truman Show - fairly good Jim Carrey movie
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless mind (17 yr old recommended) I thought was boring, blah
Alvin and the Chipmunks - I loved it
Mr. Magorium's wonder Imporium - pretty good actually
Sisterhood of the traveling pants - Girl movie, kinda stupid
Vantage point - was okay, but was expecting more from it
Baptist at the Barbeque - Mormon family movie, actually pretty funny if you are familiar with the church
Twister- Always love feel good disaster movies in the summer
Sicko - Michael Moores health care movie, just what you expect
Bye Bye Birdie - silly old musical, daughter was in a production of this, so she likes it
Jurassic Park - another feel good terror movie, I like the first one
The Birdcage - I love this movie, 13 yr old loved it too
Castaway - I hate this one, 13 yr old thought it was horrible, loosing wilson got to her
The Birds- one of my favorite old alfred hitchcock movies, good movie
Day of the Animals - sick, horrible old scarey movie about the ozone. (Netflix has some movies you can't find anywhere else) 13 yr old did NOT watch this one, I like this one, saw it first as a teen.
Fun with Dick and Jane - The original with jane Fonda - a good movie
The Wax Museum - great movie, the old Vincent Price version
Drillbit Taylor - pretty good for that kind of movie,
Can't think of any more off the top of my head.
{"commentId":2151777,"threadId":"308727","contentId":"1646366","authorDomain":"sybiletc"}
- 2 votes
#12 - Wed Jul 9, 2008 3:02 PM EDT{"commentId":2151817,"authorDomain":"Andimia"}
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless mind (17 yr old recommended) I thought was boring, blah
Awwww, that was a great movie. There was actually a moral to it.
{"commentId":2151817,"threadId":"308727","contentId":"1646366","authorDomain":"Andimia"}
- 2 votes
{"commentId":2153726,"authorDomain":"sbutki"}
{"commentId":2154732,"authorDomain":"Andimia"}
What was the moral? Besides that if something seems too good to be true, it probably is.
No, it more like "it's better to have loved and broken up horribly then not be able to remember love at all."
{"commentId":2154732,"threadId":"308727","contentId":"1646366","authorDomain":"Andimia"}
- 2 votes
{"commentId":2156220,"authorDomain":"sybiletc"}
Yes, I am replying to myself. After reading your comments, I started a conversation here at home about that movie, and was informed that I am wrong. I did not watch it with everyone else, the one I was thinking of, everyone here has agreed was a bad movie, and we do not remember the name. I have clues. It was out on DVD sometime in the last few months, it has something with an A in the title and it seems to me, it was filmed in an "artsy" manner...(I tried looking though IMDB, but not enough clues, until someone here remembers more about who or what)
I didn't rent it from netflix, or I would have it on my account.
I have thought of a couple more I have watched lately.
Cloverfield, I really liked
Strange wilderness - I quit watching after a few minutes
The Wedding singer - one of my favorite movies
Evolution - I also like this one
Wild hogs - loved it
Ghost Rider - loved that one too
{"commentId":2156220,"threadId":"308727","contentId":"1646366","authorDomain":"sybiletc"}
- 2 votes
{"commentId":2160278,"authorDomain":"sbutki"}
{"commentId":2167350,"authorDomain":"sybiletc"}
It means I didn't watch Eternal Sunshine... I rented it from netflix, the rest of the family watched it, and I was doing something else. They put in the movie I rented from our local video store, then I came in and started watching that, watched the whole movie, and it was the one that sucked.
I will figure out which one it is, when I go to the video store down the street tonight or tomorrow.
{"commentId":2167350,"threadId":"308727","contentId":"1646366","authorDomain":"sybiletc"}
- 2 votes
{"commentId":2180624,"authorDomain":"sbutki"}
{"commentId":2182689,"authorDomain":"sybiletc"}
The Movie I saw, and thought was Eternal sunshine was "The Air I breathe".
{"commentId":2182689,"threadId":"308727","contentId":"1646366","authorDomain":"sybiletc"}
- 2 votes
{"commentId":2193580,"authorDomain":"sbutki"}
{"commentId":2202217,"authorDomain":"Andimia"}
{"commentId":2216921,"authorDomain":"sbutki"}
{"commentId":2162301,"authorDomain":"stevehouse"}
Watched BKR last night. Be Kind, Rewind Although for the first fifteen minutes or so I couldn't understand half of Mos Def and Danny Glover's dialogue, once that ended this was a really good one. It seems to have flown under the radar a little, so here's a brief synopsis: Through a crazy accident, Mike's (Mos Def) conspiracy-theorist friend Jerry (Jack Black) becomes magnetized, and proceeds to erase all the VHS tapes at Mr. Fletcher's (Danny Glover) video store, where Mike works. When a woman comes in asking for Ghostbusters (and all the tapes are on the floor), she says she'll be back for it in a few hours. Not knowing what else to do, Mike and Jerry shoot their own version of the movie and accidentally create a neighborhood phenomenon.
Wait til you see how they decide to make Lion King. I almost peed.
{"commentId":2162301,"threadId":"308727","contentId":"1646366","authorDomain":"stevehouse"}
- 2 votes
#13 - Thu Jul 10, 2008 6:16 PM EDT{"commentId":2376503,"authorDomain":"tigerblade"}
Just finished Be Kind Rewind... eh. Not so much. Didn't do it for me.
Mos Def is good, Jack Black is Jack Black, Danny Glover is very understated, and... it's just dumb. I dunno, I've heard rave reviews of it, but... meh.
{"commentId":2376503,"threadId":"308727","contentId":"1646366","authorDomain":"tigerblade"}
- 2 votes
{"commentId":2163777,"authorDomain":"sbutki"}
The debut episode of Burn Notice for this season is on now. I seeded a story on it and linked to two related ones - over here.
{"commentId":2163777,"threadId":"308727","contentId":"1646366","authorDomain":"sbutki"}
- 2 votes
#14 - Thu Jul 10, 2008 10:23 PM EDT{"commentId":2164128,"authorDomain":"sphinx"}
Dammit! I thought it was next week! Oh well. There's always Bittorrent.
{"commentId":2164128,"threadId":"308727","contentId":"1646366","authorDomain":"sphinx"}
- 3 votes
{"commentId":2166912,"authorDomain":"sbutki"}
Last nite I had an idea.. ok, actually I had lots of ideas including for a memoir piece I'm working on later.. an idea about this topic and this site.
I get the impression we have a bunch of Netflix users, some of whom have commented here and some of whom have commented at Brian Ford's piece on Netflix, and I'm wondering if there is interest in some of us connecting or sharing our Netflix accounts. Let me know if there is interest in the idea and then we can figure out how to proceed with said sharing.
{"commentId":2166912,"threadId":"308727","contentId":"1646366","authorDomain":"sbutki"}
- 2 votes
#15 - Fri Jul 11, 2008 12:04 PM EDT{"commentId":2167742,"authorDomain":"tigerblade"}
Netflix has a Community section where you can link up with other users - you can compare tastes, recommend movies, etc. That may be a good way to connect if you're looking to do so.
Though one of my colleagues noticed that something's odd with the taste comparisons - apparently the numbers are different on each side of the window. For example, it shows me that my colleague and I are 68% similar, but it tells her that we're only 43% similar. Odd.
{"commentId":2167742,"threadId":"308727","contentId":"1646366","authorDomain":"tigerblade"}
- 2 votes
{"commentId":2180601,"authorDomain":"sbutki"}
{"commentId":2171434,"authorDomain":"sybiletc"}
it shows me that my colleague and I are 68% similar, but it tells her that we're only 43% similar. Odd.
This was explained to me in this way. (By a friend of mine, but it made sense, so I think it is accurate) Your colleague has marked that they have liked 68% of the movies that you have also liked, where as you have only marked 43% of the movies they have marked that they have liked. Could be there is a catagory such as musicals that they have many marked they like in, but you have not. They could still have 68% of the movies you have marked too, they just have others that you don't.
I hope I explained that so it makes sense, because It does make sense in my head, but sounds odd when I reread it.
{"commentId":2171434,"threadId":"308727","contentId":"1646366","authorDomain":"sybiletc"}
- 2 votes
#16 - Sat Jul 12, 2008 12:29 AM EDT{"commentId":2172611,"authorDomain":"tigerblade"}
Yeah, it makes sense if that's what's driving the comparisons - just sheer quantities of movies that you've marked the same. Which falls in line with what I've heard - people who were at an extremely high similarity rate (but one of whom had only a few movies rated) suddenly dropped drastically when the one person went in and rated a few hundred movies.
Thanks for the explanation!
{"commentId":2172611,"threadId":"308727","contentId":"1646366","authorDomain":"tigerblade"}
- 2 votes
{"commentId":2181160,"authorDomain":"msjane"}
For all you fellow movie lovers, the AFI site has a list of the top 100 best movies, though it changes year to year, many of the classics make the top of the list each year. It's a fun site for movie lovers. I am going to try to meet the challenge of 50 movies! I'm new to your site and looking forward to hearing what others have to say. I belong to a book club and it's been great, however being able to share WHEN I can instead of having a set time that has to work out for everyone's schedule is definitely a plus.
{"commentId":2181160,"threadId":"308727","contentId":"1646366","authorDomain":"msjane"}
- 3 votes
#17 - Sun Jul 13, 2008 8:15 PM EDT{"commentId":2182125,"authorDomain":"sphinx"}
I've always been meaning to do a "Bone Up On Movie Culture" binge where I proceed to watch all the old classics or critically ultra-acclaimed, but I never get around to it.
{"commentId":2182125,"threadId":"308727","contentId":"1646366","authorDomain":"sphinx"}
- 2 votes
{"commentId":2199866,"authorDomain":"sbutki"}
{"commentId":2199931,"authorDomain":"msjane"}
I would definitely be interested! My husband and I had tried to see every movie on the AFI list last year, we didn't quite make it. However, I saw awesome movies I otherwise wouldn't have sought out for viewing.
{"commentId":2199931,"threadId":"308727","contentId":"1646366","authorDomain":"msjane"}
- 2 votes
{"commentId":2200388,"authorDomain":"sbutki"}
{"commentId":2181840,"authorDomain":"MinnieApolis"}
ERROR ERROR ERROR
No wonder Anatomy of a Murder wasn't your fave Hitchcock movie -- that's because it was directed by Otto Preminger, another film auteur but nothing quite like Hitch.
Rear Window is a fave Hitch movie of mine, too, tho. Perfect casting, and the script was written for Grace Kelly. Hitch had rather a crush on Kelly and worked with her in 3 films: Rear Window, To Catch a Thief, and Dial M for Murder. He wanted very much to bring her out of retirement after she married Prince Ranier, and it was even announced that she would star in Marnie, but the uproar in Monaco put an end to that fantasy. Besides, I think she would have been wrong for the part.
I could write about John Wayne films too but that's enough for now.
{"commentId":2181840,"threadId":"308727","contentId":"1646366","authorDomain":"MinnieApolis"}
- 3 votes
#18 - Sun Jul 13, 2008 10:27 PM EDT{"commentId":2199874,"authorDomain":"sbutki"}
{"commentId":2182149,"authorDomain":"nearing"}
Just saw Gonzo: The Life and Work of Dr. Hunter S. Thompson
Was excellent.
I have always admired Dr. Thompson but never knew what made him tick until last night. Great man, great Flick!
The soundtrack was fantastic.
{"commentId":2182149,"threadId":"308727","contentId":"1646366","authorDomain":"nearing"}
- 4 votes
#19 - Sun Jul 13, 2008 11:14 PM EDT{"commentId":2199878,"authorDomain":"sbutki"}
{"commentId":2205248,"authorDomain":"sbutki"}
Oh man, Peterson's leaving CSI. Damn!
Speaking of leaving I'm leaving now for the airport (3 hour drive) to fly to Texas so unless the airport has wifi I'll be offline for the next 12 hours. If bored enjoy my new story I posted in the comments here about my dealing with my stage fright in a new way, or join Raat's discussion as I feel that others of you are, like me, multi-taskers or at least when watching tv.
And remember, don't let the bastards get you down.
{"commentId":2205248,"threadId":"308727","contentId":"1646366","authorDomain":"sbutki"}
- 2 votes
#20 - Wed Jul 16, 2008 12:10 PM EDT{"commentId":2219647,"authorDomain":"sbutki"}
{"commentId":2219709,"authorDomain":"sybiletc"}
I have watched a couple more this week
Bonneville - this was a fun movie, nice and clean and just full of good female friendship
Mama's boy- this was a good one too, hard to explain, 29 yr old living with his mom, hates her new love.
{"commentId":2219709,"threadId":"308727","contentId":"1646366","authorDomain":"sybiletc"}
- 2 votes
#21 - Thu Jul 17, 2008 11:43 PM EDT{"commentId":2228010,"authorDomain":"sbutki"}
I'm at vinemeet, sharing a hotel room with Roy. We're watching Evan Almighty which is not nearly as bad as reviews like this one from the New York Times suggested Have others seen it? Did you like it?
That will be movie #35 -
#34 - Thoughts on the movie Recount
{"commentId":2228010,"threadId":"308727","contentId":"1646366","authorDomain":"sbutki"}
- 2 votes
#22 - Fri Jul 18, 2008 11:56 PM EDT{"commentId":2230888,"authorDomain":"sybiletc"}
I liked Evan Almighty. Thought it was funny and fun. I didn't like Bruce Almighty when it came out, and I am a big fan of Jim Carrey. I didn't expect to like Evan, but I did.
{"commentId":2230888,"threadId":"308727","contentId":"1646366","authorDomain":"sybiletc"}
- 3 votes
{"commentId":2238171,"authorDomain":"sphinx"}
After watching a couple seasons of The Office, Evan Almighty becomes progressively less funny, because you realize that Carell's character isn't uptight enough to bring out Carell's signature dry, awkward, fish-out-of-water humor.
Speaking of movies, though, seeing WALL-E again tonight, and Dark Knight tomorrow. w00t!
{"commentId":2238171,"threadId":"308727","contentId":"1646366","authorDomain":"sphinx"}
- 5 votes
{"commentId":2254479,"authorDomain":"sphinx"}
Just saw Dark Knight last night.
My bite-sized review: Great movie. Weird pacing. Joker could be creepier. Bale's masked jowls look weird. Pencils are awesome. Sonar? Really?
{"commentId":2254479,"threadId":"308727","contentId":"1646366","authorDomain":"sphinx"}
- 3 votes
{"commentId":2256170,"authorDomain":"stevehouse"}
Sonar? Really?
I though that too, and then I realized that the creepy part was Nolan might actually have given some white coats at the Pentagon some ideas, because of how plausible it seemed.
{"commentId":2256170,"threadId":"308727","contentId":"1646366","authorDomain":"stevehouse"}
- 3 votes
{"commentId":2256679,"authorDomain":"sphinx"}
Nah. Sonar needs directionality (three mics for 2D imaging, four mics for 3D imaging, or a sweeping sound source), which is something current... off-the-shelf technology... lacks. Voice-recognition proximity alerting is plausible, though.
SPOILER
But, I just loved how, at the end, the apparently abandoned (semi-constructed) tower floors were suddenly awash in cellphones whose mics could pick up the shade of the Joker's makeup, and how Batman amazingly didn't get nauseous during SoundVision.
{"commentId":2256679,"threadId":"308727","contentId":"1646366","authorDomain":"sphinx"}
- 4 votes
{"commentId":2256696,"authorDomain":"stevehouse"}
No, Jack! You forgot Movie Inconsistency 1!
Movie Inconsistency Rule #1: Don't question it.
Failing that, you're absolutely right.
{"commentId":2256696,"threadId":"308727","contentId":"1646366","authorDomain":"stevehouse"}
- 3 votes
{"commentId":2257479,"authorDomain":"sphinx"}
Can you explain that one without spoiling the movie?
No.
It's one of the best moments in the movie.
{"commentId":2257479,"threadId":"308727","contentId":"1646366","authorDomain":"sphinx"}
- 4 votes
{"commentId":2263851,"authorDomain":"stevehouse"}
Can you explain that one without spoiling the movie?
Yep, and I can even make something spectacular sound lame: The Joker says he will make a pencil disappear. Then he does it. Fin.
{"commentId":2263851,"threadId":"308727","contentId":"1646366","authorDomain":"stevehouse"}
- 4 votes
{"commentId":2264980,"authorDomain":"sbutki"}
{"commentId":2268853,"authorDomain":"sphinx"}
The Joker says he will make a pencil disappear. Then he does it. Fin.
Hehe, fair enough. It's mindblowing, though.
{"commentId":2268853,"threadId":"308727","contentId":"1646366","authorDomain":"sphinx"}
- 5 votes
{"commentId":2283807,"authorDomain":"tigerblade"}
Just got back from Dark Knight. Pencils indeed... wow.
My mini-review:
Bale as Batman was awesome again. Ledger as the Joker was brilliant. Eckhart's Dent was a bit much for me, but okay. Great action, great lines, great delivery. Pencils can be useful.
{"commentId":2283807,"threadId":"308727","contentId":"1646366","authorDomain":"tigerblade"}
- 4 votes
{"commentId":2293269,"authorDomain":"ProgrammerDude"}
Oddly enough, considering the movie, the sonar thing was the one thing that snapped the cables suspending my disbelief.
Sometimes knowing how technology works can be really annoying. :-)
{"commentId":2293269,"threadId":"308727","contentId":"1646366","authorDomain":"ProgrammerDude"}
- 3 votes
{"commentId":2325502,"authorDomain":"sbutki"}
{"commentId":2325868,"authorDomain":"jfrank"}
But, I just loved how, at the end, the apparently abandoned (semi-constructed) tower floors were suddenly awash in cellphones whose mics could pick up the shade of the Joker's makeup, and how Batman amazingly didn't get nauseous during SoundVision.
Well the fact that he exists in the same world as Superman. I'll let SV pass.
{"commentId":2325868,"threadId":"308727","contentId":"1646366","authorDomain":"jfrank"}
- 3 votes
{"commentId":2330476,"authorDomain":"sphinx"}
The pencil thing really defines your first impression of the Joker. Everything else is a psychological offshoot of that.
Well the fact that he exists in the same world as Superman. I'll let SV pass.
I always thought comic-book crossovers were kinda stupid. Angsty Utility-Belt Man teams up with Invincible Alien Cape Dude to take on Emo Gamma-Ray Mutant, Ancient Tibetan Locked-Away Evil Mutant, and Rich Savior-Complex Uber-Illuminati Guy.
{"commentId":2330476,"threadId":"308727","contentId":"1646366","authorDomain":"sphinx"}
- 5 votes
{"commentId":2330964,"authorDomain":"tigerblade"}
I always thought comic-book crossovers were kinda stupid. Angsty Utility-Belt Man teams up with Invincible Alien Cape Dude to take on Emo Gamma-Ray Mutant, Ancient Tibetan Locked-Away Evil Mutant, and Rich Savior-Complex Uber-Illuminati Guy.
That may be the best summation of the DC universe I've ever seen.
{"commentId":2330964,"threadId":"308727","contentId":"1646366","authorDomain":"tigerblade"}
- 4 votes
{"commentId":2331437,"authorDomain":"sphinx"}
That may be the best summation of the DC universe I've ever seen.
Ha! It's pure chance that those are all DC guys.
{"commentId":2331437,"threadId":"308727","contentId":"1646366","authorDomain":"sphinx"}
- 4 votes
{"commentId":2333207,"authorDomain":"tigerblade"}
Yeah, to be fair the Marvel world is almost the same. You could say that Marvel's Iron Man is a pretty close match to the DC "Angsty Utility-Belt Man."
{"commentId":2333207,"threadId":"308727","contentId":"1646366","authorDomain":"tigerblade"}
- 3 votes
{"commentId":2333820,"authorDomain":"sphinx"}
You could say that Marvel's Iron Man is a pretty close match to the DC "Angsty Utility-Belt Man."
If the new movie is at least semi-accurate, Stark considers himself much more of a bad-dude-pwning badass than Bruce Wayne's reluctant antihero. I'd much rather be Stark than Wayne. Way cooler toys.
{"commentId":2333820,"threadId":"308727","contentId":"1646366","authorDomain":"sphinx"}
- 3 votes
{"commentId":2334821,"authorDomain":"tigerblade"}
I'd much rather be Stark than Wayne.
Well that goes without saying.
{"commentId":2334821,"threadId":"308727","contentId":"1646366","authorDomain":"tigerblade"}
- 2 votes
{"commentId":2385656,"authorDomain":"sbutki"}
{"commentId":2231026,"authorDomain":"tigerblade"}
I just got back from Hancock (went for a weekend morning show, since they're cheaper and I had nothing else to do). I actually quite liked it - there were a few quick twists that you don't really see (at least I didn't... I wasn't trying hard) and you get to actually like the characters.
Not a bad flick.
{"commentId":2231026,"threadId":"308727","contentId":"1646366","authorDomain":"tigerblade"}
- 3 votes
#23 - Sat Jul 19, 2008 1:49 PM EDT{"commentId":2256896,"authorDomain":"sbutki"}
{"commentId":2257264,"authorDomain":"stevehouse"}
I was forced to watch Alvin and the Chipmunks today on the bus to a science camp field trip. My God, it was abominable. The voice acting sounded like something you hear in a high school play at best, and their voices in general have always bugged me.
{"commentId":2257264,"threadId":"308727","contentId":"1646366","authorDomain":"stevehouse"}
- 2 votes
#24 - Tue Jul 22, 2008 10:02 PM EDT{"commentId":2257944,"authorDomain":"sybiletc"}
I actually found this funny, and watchable, and I am pretty picky when it comes to this kind of movie.. actually I can't think of any other real movie with fake animals that I have ever liked.. Must have been my mood.
My 13 yr old daughter thought it was stupid...
{"commentId":2257944,"threadId":"308727","contentId":"1646366","authorDomain":"sybiletc"}
- 3 votes
{"commentId":2258324,"authorDomain":"sbutki"}
{"commentId":2259160,"authorDomain":"sphinx"}
Yes but what does SHE think rocks? Miley and the Jonas Brothers?
It's all about Fall Out Boy, yo.
{"commentId":2259160,"threadId":"308727","contentId":"1646366","authorDomain":"sphinx"}
- 4 votes
{"commentId":2259200,"authorDomain":"amazingsdj"}
yo?
yo mamma?
{"commentId":2259200,"threadId":"308727","contentId":"1646366","authorDomain":"amazingsdj"}
- 3 votes
{"commentId":2260281,"authorDomain":"sybiletc"}
Scott
My 13 yr old daughter thought it was stupid... Yes but what does SHE think rocks? Miley and the Jonas Brothers
No, actually her last new movie "likes" were Ironman, and Get Smart. She is a big fan of old "good" disney movies, we have the original Escape from Witch Mountain, and original Parent Trap, Shaggy Dog, etc. Also, old Jerry Lewis movies.
She is the one who keeps the family informed on new "upcoming" movies. Waiting for the new Farenheit 451, which she told me yesterday that Tom Hanks has backed out of. The Giver is in production now, The Day the Earth Stood Still is coming up, and the new Witch Mountain movie is to be released in December, the same month as Twilight.
She is also fond of musicals, with Bye Bye Birdie, Seven Brides for Seven Brothers, and West Side story all in her recent performance history. One of her goals in life is to play Rizzo in Grease, on Broadway.
We are not sure where her taste came from, but we have welcomed it. The only "musical" my husband and I had ever seen in our lives, before this child was here, was Rocky Horror Picture Show.
{"commentId":2260281,"threadId":"308727","contentId":"1646366","authorDomain":"sybiletc"}
- 2 votes
{"commentId":2260514,"authorDomain":"sphinx"}
Waiting for the new Farenheit 451, which she told me yesterday that Tom Hanks has backed out of. The Giver is in production now
Whoa. Fahrenheit 451 and The Giver?
... okay, the cynic in me has to say that they'll most likely badly execute those books, especially Fahrenheit 451, especially with its oodles of internal dialogue. The Giver would be better, maybe a cinematic vibe that mixes (and this is just off the top of my head) Equilibrium and A Walk to Remember.
the same month as Twilight.
Ah, now there's a teen/tween phenomenon. My little sister is obsessed with the Twilight books, which apparently fits with the current "typical tween/teen" vibe.
{"commentId":2260514,"threadId":"308727","contentId":"1646366","authorDomain":"sphinx"}
- 4 votes
{"commentId":2260895,"authorDomain":"sbutki"}
{"commentId":2262107,"authorDomain":"sbutki"}
{"commentId":2263119,"authorDomain":"sphinx"}
can't believe you just used the word "yo", Jack. I thought I was out of it in only learning the meaning of the word "woot" in the last few months but "yo"?
Just when I was thinking you know something about everything too!
Heh, I like being a bit "old-fashioned" (very relatively) in my casual speech.
I refuse to use "LOL" in writing, for example. I like the sound of "yo," and its brevity.
Also, What's the skinny?" What's the deal with Philly and the manhole covers? I think it's time for you to play citizen journalist and do some investigating, yo.:)
I'm actually just outside NYC now, so snooping around Philly would be rather inconvenient.
{"commentId":2263119,"threadId":"308727","contentId":"1646366","authorDomain":"sphinx"}
- 3 votes
{"commentId":2265040,"authorDomain":"sbutki"}
{"commentId":2270218,"authorDomain":"Andimia"}
The Giver is in production now
NOOOOO!! I loved that book as a child and a movie would just ruin it. As Kathleen Madigan says, "That's what you get for reading."
{"commentId":2270218,"threadId":"308727","contentId":"1646366","authorDomain":"Andimia"}
- 3 votes
{"commentId":2259115,"authorDomain":"rachaelmm"}
Saw Dark Knight yesterday.
I thought it was pretty fantastic. I agree with Jack's comment above that the pacing was a little strange. For the most part, it kept me at the edge of my seat. It made me laugh and cry. Bale's Batman Voice irritated me a little. Ledger's Joker was quite good -- creepy and sociopathic. It's tough to talk about the parts I really liked without giving away plot points, but I'll say that I highly recommend the movie. And Jack, I completely agree that pencils are awesome -- the reaction from the theatre-goers as a whole during that scene was priceless.
{"commentId":2259115,"threadId":"308727","contentId":"1646366","authorDomain":"rachaelmm"}
- 4 votes
#25 - Wed Jul 23, 2008 10:20 AM EDT{"commentId":2259179,"authorDomain":"sphinx"}
Bale's Batman Voice irritated me a little.
That's bothered me a bit since Batman Begins, though honestly, that's because I didn't realize until reading a Dark Knight (p)review that he uses a voice changer in the suit. Then again... that just makes it a bit weirder.
{"commentId":2259179,"threadId":"308727","contentId":"1646366","authorDomain":"sphinx"}
- 4 votes
{"commentId":2385840,"authorDomain":"sbutki"}
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