my dvd collection

i've been writing my thoughts and reviews about movies for a while now. i've actually compiled quite a few entries about different movies. also, it would seem, i have collected quite a few dvds. i have been collecting movies for quite a while now, and have accumulated a rather extensive set of movies. as a way of getting my money's worth from these investments, i figured i should rewatch them. i will, over the next several months (ok, years...) watch all my movies again and write a bit about them. this is a pretty monumental task, considering i have over 400 dvds. below is a comprehensive list of all the movies i own, as well as my thoughts on them so far. click the movie titles to read what i think about them. as i continue to watch and write, i will also continue to update this list with links. i have put them into categories below, many of them dont exactly fit into one section easily, so i have listed them where i think they fit best. check it out and enjoy- i sure have been!

comic book movies
300 (special edition)
watchmen (the ultimate cut 3 disc)
watchmen: the complete motion comic
the crow (special edition)
iron man (special edition)
constantine (special edition)
v for vendetta (special edition)
from hell
hulk
the incredible hulk (special edition)
spider-man (special edition)
spider-man 2
the league of extraordinary gentlemen
x-men (special 1.5 edition)
x2: x-men united
x-men: the last stand
blade
blade II
blade trinity
hellboy (special edition)
hellboy (directors cut 3 disc special edition)
hellboy II: the golden army (special edition)
batman (special edition)
batman begins (special edition)
the dark knight (special edition)
kick-ass

animated or children's movies
the ultimate avengers: the movie
batman: gotham knights
batman: the dark knight returns part 1
the amazing screw-on head
hellboy animated: sword of storms
hellboy animated: blood and iron

beowulf (director's cut)

final fantasy: the spirits within (special edition)
aladdin (special edition)
the lion king
the lion king 1 1/2
the corpse bride
labyrinth
wallace and gromit: the curse of the ware rabbit
mirrormask
the incredibles
lilo and stitch
finding nemo
monsters inc.
tmnt
the princess and the frog (blu ray)
chronicles of narnia: the lion the witch and the wardrobe (special edition)
charlie and the chocolate factory (special edition)
the bear
prince of egypt
joseph: king of dreams
testament: the bible in animation (7 disc series)

comedy
role models
i love you, man
undercover brother
saving grace
the hangover (blu ray)
superbad
the rocker
zombieland
telladega nights: the ballad of ricky bobby
elf
ferris beuller's day off
napolean dynamite (special edition)
saved!
in gruges
cabin boy
saving grace
rush hour 2
stuck on you
the brothers bloom
niagara motel
shawn of the dead
the tv set
dodgeball
anchorman: the legend of ron burgandy
anchorman: wake up, ron burgandy
wedding crashers
the foot fist way
the big tease
40 year old virgin
school of rock
blades of glory
evolution
galaxy quest
the hitchhikers guide to the galaxy
mystery men
bill and ted's exellent adventure (special edition)
bill and ted's bogus journey
ghostbusters (special edition)
ghostbusters 2 (special edition)
bruno
bernie
extreme days
shanghi noon
shanghi knights

television series
sliders. season 1 (tv series)
sliders. season 2 (tv series)
sliders. season 3 (tv series)
sliders. season 4  (tv series)
firefly. season 1 (tv series)
farscape. season 1 (tv series)
farscape. season 2 (tv series)
farscape. season 3 (tv series)
farscape. season 4 (tv series)
starhunter. season 1 (tv series)
spawn (tv series)
spawn 2 (tv series)
the infininite worlds of h.g. wells (tv mini series)
spider-man. season 1(mtv tv series)
sports night. season 1 and 2 (special edition tv series)
scrubs. season 1 (tv series)
becker. season 1 (tv series)
the critic. complete series (tv series)
bill and ted's excellent adventures, best of (tv series)
my so-called life. complete series (tv series)
jesse stone: night passage
jesse stone: death in paradise
jesse stone: no remorse
jesse stone: innocents lost
rome. season 1 (tv series)
greg the bunny. season 1 (tv series)
dinotopia (tv series)
macgyver. season 1 (tv series)

macgyver. season 2 (tv series)

macgyver. season 4 (tv series)
macgyver. season 6 (tv series)
clerks animated (tv series)
batman: the animated series. season 1 (tv series)
animaniacs. season 1 (tv series)
undeclared. season 1 (tv series)
the office. season 1 (tv series)
the office. season 2 (tv series)
the office. season 3 (tv series)
the office. season 4 (tv series)
the office. season 5 (tv series)
the office. season 1 (british tv series)
the office. season 2 (british tv series)
band of brothers (tv series)
how i met your mother. season 1 (tv series)
how i met your mother. season 2 (tv series)
how i met your mother. season 3 (tv series)
reba. season 1 (tv series)
the young indiana jones. volume two (tv series)
the young indiana jones. volume three (tv series)

classics
metropolis
spartacus (criterion collection)
citizen kane (2 disc set)
lawrence of arabia (special edition)
the birth of a nation
the greatest story ever told

horror
frailty
the texas chainsaw massacre (remake special edition)
tucker and dale versus evil
willard
the cell

identity
bone dry
the exorcist: the version you've never seen
feast
ravenous
dawn of the dead

stargate
stargate (special edition)
stargate sg-1: children of the gods
stargate sg-1 season 1 (tv series)
stargate sg-1 season 2 (tv series)
stargate sg-1 season 3 (tv series)
stargate sg-1 season 4 (tv series)
stargate sg-1 season 5 (tv series)
stargate sg-1 season 6 (tv series)
stargate sg-1 season 7 (tv series)
stargate sg-1 season 8 (tv series)
stargate sg-1 season 9 (tv series)
stargate sg-1 season 10 (tv series)
stargate sg-1 the ark of truth
stargate sg-1 continuum
stargate infinity (animated tv series)
stargate atlantis season 1 (tv series)
stargate atlantis season 2 (tv series)

stargate atlantis season 3 (tv series)

stargate atlantis season 4 (tv series)
stargate atlantis season 5 (tv series)

chick flicks
(keep in mind, most of these were aquired along with the wife...)
return to me
the upside of anger
chaos theory
i'll be there
fireproof
legends of the fall
hope floats
my life
she's the one
miss pettigrew lives for a day
niagra motel
wimbledon
before sunrise
before sunset
two weeks notice
nine months
about a boy
love actually
twilight
aquamarine
material girls
high fidelity
moulin rouge!
meet bill
center stage
sliding doors
someone like you
born romantic
the girl with a pearl earring
a good woman
an american rhapsody
the brothers bloom
uptown girls
born romantic
where the heart is
two can play that game
the banger sisters
the craft
failure to launch
mean girls
ever after
romeo + juliet
american teen
the perfect man
rumor has it
whatever it takes
legally blonde
legally blonde 2
to wong fu, thanks for everything! julie newmar
the devil wears prada
in her shoes
emma
reality bites (special edition)

sports movies
bobby jones: stroke of genius
the greatest game ever played
field of dreams (special edition)
for love of the game

drama
cast away (special edition)
apollo 13 (special edition)
million dollar baby
rko-281

titanic (3 disc collectors edition)
united 93
a dangerous method
under suspicion
shadowlands
juno
the name of the rose
amadeus (directors cut)
southland tales
big fish
traffic
requiem for a dream
pi
almost famous
memento (special edition)
revolver
frequency
once
buried
breakfast on pluto
a river runs through it
eternal sunshine of the spotless mind
catch me if you can
rockstar
the spitfire grill
matchstick men
time changer
waking life
confessions of a dangerous mind
one last minute
beyond the gates of splendor
noise
american psycho
magnolia
kiss kiss bang bang
solaris
royal tenenbaums (criterion collection)
the life aquatic (criterion collection)
the darjeeling limited
the usual suspects (special edition)
the machinist
roger dodger
forrest gump (special edition)
arlington road
amazing grace
igby goes down
synecdoche new york
hollywoodland
frost/nixon
basquiat
copying beethoven
the visitor
tideland
the nin9s
the squid and the whale
bubble
the sixth sense (vista series)
unbreakable (vista series)
lady in the water
green street hooligans
poolhall junkies
shooting gallery
the last castle
heist
defiance
insomnia
max
eastern promises
flash of genius
american splendor
open range
amistad
alexander (directors cut)
alexander revisited (2 disc)
saving private ryan
munich
gettysburg
gods and generals
genesis
esther
jeremiah
solomon
one night with the king
the nativity story
the apocalypse

sci-fi and fantasy
death race
death race 2
death race 3: inferno
immortal
transformers (two disc special edition)
serenity
serenity (special edition)
event horizon (special edition)
the island
sunshine
fortress
x-files: fight the future

x-files: i want to believe
soldier
moon
the cell
minority report
mirrormask
underworld
underworld: evolution
blade runner: the final cut (special edition)
terminator 2: judgement day (special edition)
terminator 3: rise of the machines
total recall
the abyss (special edition)
outlander
12 monkeys
the fountain
the prestige
equilibrium
doom
star wars episode 1: the phantom menace
star wars episode 2: attack of the clones
star wars episode 3: revenge of the sith
star wars episode 4: a new hope
star wars episode 5: the empire strikes back
star wars episode 6: return of the jedi
resident evil
resident evil: apocalypse
resident evil: extinction
back to the future
back to the future: part 2
back to the future: part 3
pitch black
riddick: dark fury
chronicles of riddick
the time machine
reign of fire
the brothers grimm
sky captain and the world of tomorrow
star trek VI: the undiscovered country (special edition)
star trek VII: generations (special edition)
star trek VIII: first contact (special edition)
star trek IX: insurrection (special edition)
star trek X: nemesis (special edition)
star trek (speical edition)

dark city (blu ray)

independence day (special edition)

highlander
time crimes
age of the hobbits

a.i. (special edition)
alien (special edition)
aliens (special edition)
alien 3 (special edition)
alien resurrection (special edition)
avp: alien versus predator
lord of the rings: fellowship of the rings (extended special edition)
lord of the rings: the two towers (extended special edition)
lord of the rings: the return of the king (extended special edition)
primer
matrix (special edition)
animatrix (special edition)
matrix reloaded (special edition)
matrix revolutions (special edition)
pan's labyrinth (special edition)
sphere
the village (vista series)

adventure
jurassic park (special edition)
jurassic park: lost world (special edition)
jurassic park III
indiana jones and the raiders of the lost ark
indiana jones and the temple of doom
indiana jones and the last crusade
indiana jones and the kingdom of the crystal skull
congo
the rundown
king kong
the mummy
the mummy returns
the scorpion king
pirates of the caribbean: curse of the black pearl (special edition)
pirates of the caribbean: dead man's chest (special edition)
pirates of the caribbean: at world's end (special edition)

action
the fugitive
u.s. marshals
spy game
kingdom of heaven (4 disc special edition)
troy (special edition box)
nick of time
i am legend (special edition)
behind enemy lines
collateral damage
eraser
bad boys II
transit
the grey
day of wrath
phone booth
the sum of all fears
layer cake
cellular
chaos
the bank job
walking tall
hard rain
the bourne identity
the bourne supremacy

the bourne ultimatum
crank
the raid: redemption
the big bang
ocean's eleven
ocean's twelve
ocean's thirteen
ned kelly
reservior dogs (special edition)
pulp fiction (special edition)
inglorious basterds (blu ray)
seven (special edition)
fight club (special edition)
the hunt for red october
smokin' aces
smokin' aces 2: assassin's ball
live free or die hard
boondock saints

other
joy electric: picture book
daniel tosh: completely serious

craig ferguson: a wee bit o' revolution

craig ferguson: does this need to be said?
dinner for five
colin quinn: long story short
mxpx b-movie
brian vander ark live at aquinas collage
murderball
i am comic
the september issue
ringers: lord of the fans
mysteries of the bible (7 disc set)
d.c. talk: free at last
audio adrenaline farewell
tom petty: racing down a dream
acadamy award nominated short films 2005
civil war documentary (four disc set)
the first days of christianity (4 disc documentary)
the exodus decoded

anchorman: wake up, ron burgundy

when anchorman came out on dvd they had a special at best buy where it was packaged with another movie called 'anchorman: wake up, ron burgundy'. what this is is a whole other movie made up of all the outtakes of the first film! when they made anchorman they must have had so much good stuff and so many ideas that they figured they would just film them all and figure out later what they actually wanted to use. in the original film we are introduced to veronica corningstone as she begins working for the news team. she and ron start dating and co-anchoring the news. the big news story in the film is that of a captive panda bear having a baby. this second film follows many of the beats of the first one, but there is a whole different news story, this one involves a poorly organized terrorist group called 'the alarm clock'. what is really interesting is that this film follows almost exactly the original film, with the news guys hanging out, harassing veronica, ron taking veronica to a restaurant on a date. except that all of the footage from this one is different than the original- they must have had so many good takes and funny bits that they literally made two movies! its obvious that the original got the better jokes and funnier takes, but this one is hilarious too! there are some really funny bits with the guys lost in the woods, champ sharing his honest feelings, ron trying to be a reporter, and a bunch of other funny things. the original movie had hours and hours of extras, and the amazing thing is that this one does too- and none of it is the same! i dont know how they got so much good material, but i like it! this one is not as good as the one in the theater, but if you are a fan of that one, this certainly shouldnt be missed!

blades of glory

this film is a pretty good example why casting is so important. the material itself is quite flat, but because the film has such a great cast, it rises above it (well, barely...) and turns out to be a pretty funny film. its about two ice skaters who are worst enemies, but when they are kicked out of the professional sport, they must rely on each other to reenter in couples skating. with will ferrell and jon header as the two leads, they perfectly play the macho big-egoed buffoon and then nervous rich prissy boy who hate each other so much! we even have some great supporting players with will arnett and amy pohler, along with the best of all: jenna fisher! most of the film is pretty lame and the situations are predictable and obvious, but there are some really great bits in it because of the obvious improve by the actors. and for some reason when will ferrell gets mad but can only use pg rated words, it becomes the funniest thing ever! in this particular dvd there are also a bunch of really funny extras, like outtakes, alternate takes, interviews with the characters (not the actors, but the actors continuing to play the part- very funny!). a pretty good movie that is funnier than i would have thought going in.

the village

this movie gets an bad rap, and i think it is unfair. its the forth big film from m. night shamalan, and after his huge success with 'the sixth sense', everyone put unbelievable expectations on his following work (including himself...). i have always been a huge fan of his work (well, until this atrocity), he has a great ability to tell interesting stories with believable characters. he did kind of find himself in a jam because he tried to bill himself as 'the great twist ending guy'. this one has a twist ending, but most people didnt find it satisfying. i, on the other hand, found the ending to inspire much thought and debate- a great conversation starter. the story follows people who live in a 19th century village which has formed a truce with some creepy creatures that live in the woods. they stay out of the woods, the beasties leave them alone. when there is a horrible accident, one of the people must venture through the woods into the cities to get some medicine or else the injured man will die.
in this movie, like his films before it, shamalan is a master of creating characters and relationships we care about. from the mysterious relationship between the elders, to the blossoming love between the main characters, we see a society that is really interesting- i wanted to know their story! the twist is a very interesting one, but even without it, i still cared for the people involved. i feel that this is shamalan near the top of his game (in my opinion, 'unbreakable' is still his best).

walking tall

i'm always up for a movie starring the rock! this movie is about a man who comes home from the military to find the town he grew up in has become over run by crooks who run the new casino. after he tries to stand up against it, he is beaten and left for dead. he goes in to set
things right. eventually he becomes the sheriff of the town, and along with his best friend johnny knoxville, tries to free the town from all the corruption. the bad guy fights back and tries to have the rock and his family killed. the story is short (as is the movie- only about a 75 minute run time), but the action is long! this movie certainly doesn't take place in the real world, where the actions taken would lead to a long time spent in prison no matter how justified they are. but that's not the point of the film, so it doesnt waste any time dealing with real world results. this movie is all about well deserved revenge: good against evil, no matter the cost. the rock and knoxville are at their charismatic best here, rock doing the heavy action, knoxville doing the heavy comedy and nutshots... i loved it, but i'm a bit bias cause i love almost anything the rock is in!

hellboy animated: blood and iron

this is the second of two animated hellboy movies. this one follows through on a lot of the promise of the first one, giving us a fully formed world as well as an incredibly interesting story to go along with it. the story follows a group of people who are going into a castle to try and confront and destroy an evil hungarian blood countess. the real great idea with this story is the way in which it is told: it is told as a series of flashbacks. we go back in a series of flashbacks and see where this countess came from and why these guys have decided to hunt her down, all the while we are also following hellboy and the gang as they try and track her down as well. as the film progresses we begin to learn more about the situation as the characters learn it as well. this creates a wonderful mystery we other wise wouldnt have if shown in the right order (in fact, one of the extras is that you can watch the flashbacks in the right order, in doing so it definitely looses a lot of the suspense and intrigue they build by doing it in reverse). over all, this is by far the better of the two animated features, and worth the watch for any hellboy fan.

hellboy animated: sword of storms

this is the first of two animated hellboy movies. the hellboy animated world is a bit different than the world of the live-action movies, and the world of the comic books. in this animated world prof. bruttenholm is alive and well, he actually goes out on missions with the gang as well.
this adventure one takes hellboy and brings him somewhere we havent seen him before: japan. the story begins when two japanese gods are released and hellboy and the gang have to try and make things right again. the story feels a bit disjointed, more like its a series of individual events strung together to make a story (this thought is confirmed after hearing in the commentary that the whole story stemmed from the image of hellboy with a sword). there are some nice moments, like when hellboy is chased by a bunch of floating heads. over all, it does a decent job of showing itself as a unique entity apart from the movie and comic book, but the story itself is rather weak.

barbershop

we came across this the other night on tv, i had never seen it so diana wanted me to watch it. she said that it was a favorite of hers and her sister. the story follows ice cube as the owner of a barbershop. he has fallen on some hard times and doesnt really care for the shop he inherited from his father. he decides to sell it to a shady guy who is going to turn it into a strip club. over the course of the film he starts to understand the importance of the barbershop in the community and his own family, so he tries to get it back before its too late. much of the movie is just the people who work in the shop and the locals of the community hanging out and having a good time among friends. cedrick the entertainer, one of the workers in the shop, was funny in this film as the wise-cracking old guy who doesnt care what he says. he's funny, but i dont understand why his wig was so terrible. it was meant to look like he was an older man, greying around the edges, but instead it just look like the put little white clumps of cotton into his wig and called it good. many of the little side plots are fun, like the white guy trying to be black, the two guys who steal an empty atm, and the african barber who is just trying to impress a lady. i can see why this movie spawned a couple sequels (i would consider 'beauty shop' with queen latifah a sequel since the character started off appearing in 'barbershop 2').

terminator salvation

i finally got around to seeing this one and i dont understand what all the hatred for this movie is all about. there have been so many people complaining about it and saying how bad it is. i dont know, for what it was, it was pretty good. maybe after all the negative buzz ive been hearing about it i went in with really lowered expectations. the story, which is basically just a fill-in-the-gaps look at what the war with the machines looked like after the judgement day they kept eluding to in terminator 2 and 3. the details of this look at the war follows john connor as he tries to lead the resistance and track down kyle reese, his father. there is also a strange story that follows sam worthington through understanding what has happened to him. everyone does a pretty good job in this, especially the guy playing reese, and of course sam worthington (i forsee him becoming a really really huge star, mark my words...), they both just draw you in and make you care about their journeys. also, the special effects are really really cool! at times it really seemed like they were trying to turn terminator into transformers with the size and scale of the robots involved. the film didn't really seem to fit very well into the terminator mythology or style of the first three films. those were more action/chase films where they are just trying to stay one step ahead of the bad guys. this one, on the other hand, felt more like a war/rescue movie. as i understand it, if the film had been a success there were plans on making this the start of a whole new trilogy. unfortunately, this will most likely be the end of the line for the terminator franchise. with an unsuccessful tv show that just got cancelled, to this failure, its sad to say that the terminator's story will not continue.

ultimate avengers

i was figuring that this was going to be pretty lame, but it turns out to be not too bad. the story starts with captain america in world war II. he's fighting the germans and gets frozen in time. fast forward to present day when they find him, and he's trying to wrap his brain around what happened. just then there is a threat by an alien force, so nick fury tries to assemble a group of superheroes to help save the day. to help work with captain america, he enlists iron man, ant man, the wasp, hulk, and thor. as they battle the bad guys they all show up and use their skills in defeating these bad guys. the animation is alright, but its not as good as it could be. some of the stuff doesnt really work so well, like when fury tries to enlist all the different guys its pretty cheesy and disjointed, but the thing that saves this movie is all the stuff with captain america. when he awakens in our day and tries to understand the changes and relationships he missed out on, it actually is done with great care and is even a bit emotional.

reservoir dogs

this old classic is the first film from director quentin tarantino. it shows off his directing style of grizzly violence and quick dialog. when the film starts we join the gang of criminals as they eat breakfast before a big heist. after the opening credits we join them again after the score goes south. they meet up at the designated location and one of them has been shot. as he lays dying, the rest of them try to figure out what they should do about it, not wanting to get caught. they begin to suspect that one of the men is actually an undercover cop, and they begin to plunge deeper and deeper into chaos as they question and grill each other. no longer trusting one another, the stakes are raised as their tempers flare up. flashbacks show us what happened leading up to the heist and who we should or shouldnt trust. as things begin to boil over, a cop shows up and he is captured and tortured. the dialog is quick and witty, each character's motivations become clear, and we see them arrive at the unfortunate, but inevitable, conclusion. a tense film that doesnt pull any punches. the clever mind behind 'pulp fiction' and other great films starts to come into focus on this film.

hard rain

honestly, the only reason i remembered this movie was because i am a
big jars of clay fan and i knew their song 'flood' was on the soundtrack.
also, christian slater and morgan freeman make a pretty good cast, so
i figured i wasnt in for anything too terrible, right? the story follows a
couple of armored truck drivers trying to empty out the banks in a
flooded area so it doesnt float away. well, as happens any time there is
an armored truck in a movie, it gets robbed. slater, the driver, takes
the money and hides it before the bad guys, freeman, can get it. the movie is them a cat and mouse game of trying to stay one step ahead
of the bad guys, even when there are good guys who become bad and
bad guys who become good. over all the film is pretty basic, but the
added element of a town thats flooded, with water levels rising, is
pretty interesting. one thing i kept thinking when they would show
wide shots was 'how did they do that?!? this thing must have cost a
fortune to make!' some of the stuff with the rising water is pretty
thrilling, but over all its just ok.

u. s. marshals

having recently rewatched 'the fugitive', and owning a copy of it wrapped with this movie, i felt compelled to give this one a go. one of the many, many great things about the first film was the supporting team around tommy lee jones' character. in this film the spotlight is put on them as well. this time they are after another man wrongly arrested and escaped. wesley snipes plays a guy framed for murdering two fellow fbi agents, he's on the run and must prove he was not guilty. as the story unfolds, jones and his men start to uncover the truth about what happened and actually work to keep this man alive. though the introduction of robert downey jr. as a new member of the marshal's team mixes things up a bit, the film is able to build on the relationships between this team and how they work together. the movie is good, but not as good as its forerunner. but i guess if you compare any movie to 'the fugitive', its going to fall short. all in all, a pretty good film. i would be surprised of they don't try and resurrect this franchise sometime again soon. well, as long as jones is up for it!

arlington road

a good thriller with an unexpected and shocking ending. this film deals with a father, played by jeff bridges, who lost his wife a year before. his son has been struggling with making friends and being social until a new neighbor boy moves in. the neighbor's father, played by tim robbins, seems nice enough, but as bridges gets to know him he starts to uncover a suspicious past. this film seems a bit ahead of its time, as it deals with terrorism and attacks on american soil. bridges does a wonderful job of portraying a man suffering from the loss of a wife, trying to be a good father, and coping with life. it seems like he starts to unravel and makes unfounded claims about this new neighbor in his and his boy's life, but those claims start to look a bit more accurate then anyone else things. no one believes him, and he starts to spiral into paranoia. this seemingly mundane drama slowly crafts itself into a very taut thriller.

year one

i couldn't make up my mind on this inconsistent movie. at times i was amused, at times frustrated, and at other times, just plain bored. diana and i went to go see with with a couple friends recently, and i was interested because jack black can be really funny, and michael cera looked great in the commercials too. the unfortunate truth is that most of the good parts are all spoiled by the commercials. the story follows a couple hunter/gatherers as they get kicked out of their village and find themselves in the middle of a bunch of old testament bible stories. eventually they get to the city of sodom, where they must free the girls they long after. some of the stuff was pretty funny, like the interactions with the biblical cain and abel and abraham and isaac (i guess timelines go right out the window to service the jokes). at times it seemed like this was going to be a pretty witty farce of old bible stories, turning them on their head and making light of all the characters in them, but it turns out that those jokes are only in the film for about 10 minutes, then it meanders into broad comedy that is no longer witty, and also not very funny. over all, the first half hour is wonderful, witty, and really funny, the rest of it is pretty tired and
predictable.

revolver

this is a guy richie film, a director known for gangster movies like 'lock, stock, and two smoking barrels'. he launched the careers of vinnie jones and jason statham. in this film statham is back where he started, this time with a long haired wig! here he plays a guy who just spent a few years in jail. once he gets out he finds success, but also finds out he has only a few days to live. a couple guys show up and give him an ultimatum: give us your money and we will help you get revenge on the guy who put you in jail, or die unavenged. the story starts out as a pretty simple one, but it quickly turns into a much more complex study of philosophy and what existence truly is. when all was said and done i was a bit confused, but in a good way. the stath does a great job, per usual, and richie does a fair job of building the story and then flipping it and expanding it in a way that's not too frustrating or without cheating to get us to its conclusion. i look forward to watching this one again to see what i may have missed.

the host

this is a korean monster movie. the story revolves around a lazy good-
for-nothing guy who's daughter gets taken by a creepy looking fishy
beast, the guy then tries to save his daughter, screwing up at every
occasion. the family must work together to save the daughter and try
and get free from the crazy creepy beast. the story is the just a slight
variation on so many monster movies, but it has a little added twist in
that its a korean film. so it allows a slight glimpse into the life of the
korean culture. the effects are surprisingly good here, through out
almost the entire film i was never taken out of it because of a poor
quality monster, most of the time i just forgot it was fake and just enjoyed the story unfolding!

day watch

this one isn't nearly as good as night watch. the first one is so strange and so eclectic, it builds a whole new mythology and interesting world. this follow up feels like its watered down. its as if the director found such success with the first one that someone gave him a ton more money for the sequel, but also took away so much control over what he could do- this one feels like it was made to please everyone, which as we know, usually means it pleases no one. some of the oddities are still there, but the story line is much more generic and formulaic. the ending though is very satisfying, and that alone makes it work. thats the problem though, its the only thing that works. it almost feels like it could have been condensed into about twenty minutes (instead of the outrageously long two and a half hours that it is...) and added to the end of the first film to make it one solid vision and one complete film.

night watch

this is a russian movie about vampires. i had rented this one once before, but didn't realize that the disc had two sides. i ended up watching the side that did not have an english dub, so it was really confusing and hard to follow. this time i didn't make the same mistake! the story is about this hidden underworld where there are people working for the light side, and the dark side. they are constantly trying to keep a balance in this world. both sides have people who work for them who keep the other side in check. those who work for the light keeping the dark in check are called night watch, those who work for the dark keeping the light in check are called day watch. over the course of the film we get to know some of the agents from both night and day watches. they are all on a quest to find and turn the one chosen boy who will, once and for all, tip the scales in the favor of which ever side he chooses.
the director behind this film is truly a visionary. his unusual sense of style and storytelling perspective are very unique. after this movie, and its sequel were such huge hits in russia, he was given a hollywood movie to try his unique style (the film he made was 'wanted'). this particular film, though, benefits greatly from the different perspective and ideas presented. russian culture has many similar things as us, they have myths and legends about vampires and other things, but they are certainly different than the ideas we are used to. the film works from those culturally understood ideas. they don't bother to explain the russian history of these myths and legends, which just adds to the mysterious quality of the film. in it curses are taken literally, the light and dark sides of the battle are portrayed in ways that are different than they are in western movies. all this together adds up to a pretty strange film- which was actually really cool! (now that i watched it in english...)

pineapple express

i've never been a big fan of stoner movies, so this one didn't initially appeal to me, but it was a free rental, so what are you going to do, right? the story is about a weed smoker who goes to his dealer to get some stuff, when he leaves he witnesses a murder, freaks out, and convinces his dealer to go on the run with him. hijinks ensue. the movie turned out to be pretty fun. it stars seth rogan, but he not the draw here, the real draw is the other two- james franco does a really funny job as the drug dealer, and danny mcbride is hilarious as 'red', a guy who gets caught up in everything. the movie does a pretty good job of mixing the stoner movie style with the action movie style, and ends up being a pretty strange, fun little ride.

dr. strangelove

this one is always hailed as a classic, but i'm not entirely sure why. the film is a comedy that features some classic bits by peter wellers, a comedian known for playing multiple parts in films. here he plays a british officer stationed in the u.s. where the head of the base has shut off all communication and send his fleet of airplanes, loaded with nuclear missiles, off to drop their load on russia. the president gathers in his war room and his men try their best to try and stop this disaster from happening. wellers also plays the president and dr. strangelove, who is advising the war room about how to stop the planes. some things go right, but there are some things that go very very wrong. i appreciate the film for what it does, but i think i may have missed something on why it is so special. it is worth watching just for sellers alone, he is hilarious in all three roles. the best part of the film is the crazy dr. strangelove, with his thick austrian accent and his inexplicable arm that seems to have a mind of its own and is usually fighting with strangelove. one thing that is pretty interesting is that even though so much has changed in the world since the film was made, the story and situation it portrays is still a very real fear. the same story has been made many times since then, movies like crimson tide are basically just a rehash of this original idea.

valkyrie

in this film tom cruise plays a nazi. but hes a good nazi! after being injured in battle, loosing his hand, his eye, and other parts from an explosion, he decides its time to stand up against hitler. he, and a few others, feel that hitler is giving germany a bad name and feel that they must act against him. this leads to a plot to assassinate hitler. they make plans and have everything all set to go, but as the event unfolds, things keep going wrong.
one might think that the thrill and tension of this story would not really exist, due to the fact that we know from history that they fail. well, we also knew the titanic was going to sink, but the movie was still a lot of fun to watch. its not the results that make it a good story, rather the path that let them there. bryan singer does a great job of keeping the tension high and showing us how something planned so well can fall apart so quickly. tom cruise gives a fine performance as the ring leader of this plan. cruise usually plays the same character: someone who is great at something who looses it all and must rebuild himself better than ever (need an example? try watching every single movie tom cruise has been in...) but in this one, he doesnt allow himself or his persona to get in the way. this is a good movie with some great casting that shows some pretty cool world war II thrills.

mystery men

shoot. i hate revisiting movies that i liked and realizing that they are not really as good as i remembered them. unfortunately, this one fall prey to exactly that. the last two times i saw it i really enjoyed it, but this time i saw behind the curtain and realized that it should have been a lot better. i mean, look at the cast! this thing is packed full of good stars! this thing should be really funny and really well acted, but its not. it's a one joke movie and doesnt even do that great at the one joke. oh well, at least i've still got 'zoolander'!

live free or die hard

having never really been on the 'die hard' band wagon, i came into this one having actually only ever seen the third one. i know, i know, its a travesty. so, not having much connection to the franchise or the character, i was able to watch this with fresh eyes. turns out its not too bad!

the story centers around a disgruntled former government employee who warned of the possibility that hackers could get into the government files and stuff. he was not listened to, so he decided to go bad and do it himself to show them the weaknesses. well, john mcclane is not too fond of that idea, and the movie goes from there. as the story unfolds, it becomes obvious that bruce willis isnt john mcclane, but rather he's superman because he is apparently invincible... i went and saw this in the theater with my dad (who is a big die hard fan) and enjoyed it a bit. seeing it again, this time it was the 'unrated' dvd, its obvious that this movie series needs to be rated 'R' because it benefited so much from the more fittingly hard language. hearing him say his famous tag line is critical for the series! granted, its till ridiculous and totally unrealistic, but somehow the language makes it all better.

the animatrix

ah, remember the hype that was 'the matrix' sequels? i, unlike almost everyone, really loved the sequels, especially matrix reloaded- i thought it was amazing! well, when everyone was eagerly awaiting the two follow up films, we got a direct to dvd collection of short animated films set in the matrix world. as someone who was definately on board that matrix hype machine, i snatched it us as quick as i could! my friends and i watched them and enjoyed them, these nine short films were the perfect morals to wet our appitites for the full lenght movies!
now, six years later, with all the hype gone (in fact, it still feels like the opposite is true- there is still a lot of matrix sequel hate out there), i thought i would take a little bit of time and revisit these stories and see if they still hold up all these years later. each of the individual short films are given their own post, so check them out below!
the final flight of the osirus
the second renaissance 1&2
kid's story
program
world record
beyond
a detective story
matriculated

animatrix: final flight of the osiris

i remember this one was attached to another movie when it came out in the theater and matrix excitement was at its peak. this nine minute story is animated in a photo realistic style. it starts with a duel between two characters inside the matrix, they flirt with each move, and by the end they are both almost naked. then they come out of the matrix and have to deal with the robots that are tracking them. this is a simple story, but a cleaver and elegant way to share some of the visuals and story drive of the two sequels to come. we see our first glimse of the surface world, as well as the fact that the machines are trying to dig their way to zion, the human city. at points the cg looks really great, almost lifelike, but over all it has that lifeless feel to it, you know, dead eyes and all.

animatrix: the second renaissance 1&2

with visuals both beautiful and shocking, this two part collection is certainly the most powerful. it tells the story of what happened in history to get to the point they are at in the matrix. it starts with how man created robots, but the robots became self aware. there was a murder committed by a robot which lead to humans destroying millions of the robots they used to rely on. involking such powerful images as the vietnam war vietcong murder, tienemen square, and a brutal rape/killing, but having the robots be portrayed as those whom the violence is directed is very powerful and startling. the robots revolt and create their own city whose economy flurishes as man's economy falls, man is unwilling to make any comprimises with the robots.

in part two it continues the history of the robot/human situation that lead to the world of the matrix. though not nearly as powerful as the first part, it still caries some punch. the history picks up with man attacking the base city of the robots. since the sun is the major energy source for the robots, man decides to blot out the sky. the war rages on. the robots adapt and turn to the last unlimited renewable resorce: the electronic pulses of energy given off by man himself, thus leading to robots using humans as a power source. still filled with violent images, they dont have quite the same punch as in the first part. over all, it is a really interesting idea for how things turn out and what leads to robots using man as batteries.

animatrix: kid's story

this one follows the story of a kid who is questioning everything and thinks there is something more beyond this world. he is in school and all kinds of agents start coming after him, he tries to run and eventually jumps off the top of the school building saying that he believes. an interesting little story that deals with the implication of teens who always feel like the world is against them. the story does a good job of allowing us to feel his pain and paranoia, and ultimately see where that leads him. this one even features the voice work of keanu reaves and carrie anne moss. another cool note is that this kid actually shows up in the matrix sequels and plays a fairly important part in them- nice tie in!

animatrix: program

this one is certainly the most generic of the set. it features a white haired woman fighting in feudal japan with a samurai. as they battle they talk about how they are only comfortable in the matrix and not in the real world. the samurai announces that he has struck a deal with the machines to go back and get plugged in again. he tries to convince the girl to go with him. this little story brings up the idea of questioning which is more important: truth or comfort? a difficult question that is a daily struggle as we make decisions about if we should do what is right, or do what is easy. an interesting idea, but one that had been dealt with well already in the first movie when cypher makes a deal with the machines.

animatrix: world record

one of the most stylized of the series, this short film features an athlete running a race, intercut with flashes of his life leading up to the race. as he is racing he starts to become self aware of the matrix. as he realizes that he is actually in a computer program a bunch of agents show up and force him back into the programming. his legs give out and he looses the race, but he also knows what is actually going on. this one is one of the most interesting ones to me, it does a great job of showing how the machines are working against us to make sure humans stay put inside of the construct that they made for them. a glimpse into the decisions that are made between neo and the machines at the end of the third film. this gives an idea of what neo and the people in zion are fighting for.

animatrix: beyond

one of the longest and most unusual film in the series, it clocks in at 13 minutes (most of them are right around the 9 minute mark). it follows a young woman who is looking for her cat. she comes across some kids who are playing in a 'haunted' house. there are many strange things going on there, gravity doesnt quite work right, the walls and hallways sometimes become pixelated, an opened door leads to a room of huge nothingness. the kids love it and play around with it, throwing bottles at the ground watching them break and then reform, and levitating. the idea behind this 'haunted' area is that it is actually a problem in the programing of the matrix which causes agents to show up and replace the area with a parking lot. this idea plays a part later in the films when they make mention of different viruses that can show up.

animatrix: a detective story

a pretty straight forward detective tale, the setting of the story is a cool mixture of forties crime noir, and modern technology. it follows a detective as he get a call to track down a mysterious hacker called 'trinity'. he gets some clues and finds where he can meet her, on a passenger train. as he and trinity are talking some agents show up, one of them even tries to inhabit the detective's body. trinity tells him that what she had planned isnt going to work out, but that she thinks he could have handled the truth if she told him. this one is kind of a nice companion to the 'world record' segment, in this one the detective is a guy who isn't aware at all of the real world, but is almost capable of awakening anyway.

animatrix: matriculated

i dont quite get this one. its very strange, and in my opinion, the least interesting of the whole set. but at least it has a cute little monkey in it! i think its meant to be a look at how a robot falls in love with a real life woman. but there are also a bunch of crazy robot thingies, some strange golden metal bozo the clown looking thing, and a bunch of other stuff too. at the end he finds that the woman does not share his feelings. awe, sad robot!

chronicles of riddick

overblown and boring. somebody sure got suckered into spending a ton of money thinking that vin diesel was a star. the plot takes all the lamest elements of sci-fi and throws them all together. to be honest, if i were about 10 years old watching this, i would have loved it! unfortunately, i am not 10 years old, and this movie is a clunker. by about 10 minutes in it was pretty obvious where this story was going thanks to the oh so subtle writing (sarcasm), unfortunately it took two more hours to get us back to the very predictable ending. i had a very hard time sitting through this movie, there was really nothing of interest to keep me watching. even after watching the first movie and the animated prequel, i still had no real interest in how riddick's story played out. i even got up and mowed the lawn in the middle of it, and i HATE to mow the lawn! that should tell you something...

riddick: dark fury

a kind of cool animated short story that ties pitch black and chronicles of riddick together. as i was watching it i kept thinking 'man, this looks like it was done by one of the guys who did a short film for 'the animatrix'!' and after a quick look at my dvd shelf, low and behold, it is! peter chung directed this short, as well as 'matriculated' on the animatrix collection. the story looks at how riddick and the other two survivors from the first movie make it off the planet only to be picked up by a mercenary ship. there are a few fights, which look pretty cool. they did a good job of integrating computer effects with old fashioned hand drawn animation. over all though, its a fairly meaningless story, and one that could have been told in a sentence or two at the beginning of 'the chronicles of riddick', they certainly didn't need to make a thirty five minute film to give us this info.

pitch black

this movie is a bit of a sci-fi horror type movie. it follows the story of a ship crew as they crash into an unknown planet. they are carrying a very dangerous criminal and as darkness sets in, the planets killer wildlife comes out to get them. they must rely on this criminal and his ability to see in the dark in order to survive. along the way there are many run ins with the alien creatures, some of them played for scares, others for gore. over all its a pretty good b-movie that at times takes itself to seriously. the creatures themselves are actually pretty cool, they do a pretty good job with the creature effects. the characters themselves are not that interesting, and if 'the fast and the furious' hadn't hit it big, vin diesel would never have been given the opportunity to resurrect this riddick character and we would have been spared the follow up movie and we would probably look back at this one as a nice little sci-fi movie.

resident evil: extinction

this one picks up a few years after the last one. we follow a few of the characters who made it out of the last one alive. they have picked up a few more people and have created a caravan looking for any survivors who may still be around after the virus from racoon city got out and infected the rest of the world. they find themselves in las vegas (or at least what used to be vegas) and must try and stop the umbrella corporation's desert base. the great twist of this movie is that it all takes place is broad daylight- fairly unusual for a zombie movie! the zombies have had time to adapt, and can now move quicker and put up more of a fight, which adds a ton to the action scenes. i actually found myself enjoying this third film the most in the series.
each of these movies do a great job of blending from one to the other. while watching them it felt more like i was watching a few episodes of a television series- they lead right into each other. the last five minutes of all three movies are purely there to set up the next one. with this in mind, i eargly await the fourth resident evil movie!

resident evil: apocalypse

where the first movie was a simple twist on the haunted house genre, this one is just flat out action! alice goes back above ground after the earlier incident, only to find that the virus has infected the whole city! after raccoon city is quarantined, she and a few other people who are uninfected (including the kick-ass chick jill valentine, who i believe is from one of the games). they must save a little girl and try to flee the city before the umbrella corporation drops a bomb to wipe out all those effected by the virus. as a sequel, this one doesn't really hold up. the story is paper thin, it seems more like just an excuse to blow up zombies. the final showdown between alice and the terrible looking creature called 'nemesis' (which i've heard again, is from the game itself) was pretty lame and unnecessary. this is certainly the weekest of the resident evil series.

resident evil

as far as b-movies go, this one is a fun little gem. its basically an old
fashioned haunted house movie. instead of ghosts though, it has zombies! having never played any of the video games this movie is based on, i had no idea what to expect, and no expectations about what it should be. the story starts with alice waking up and not remembering much about herself. as she explores through this mansion she finds herself in, she is taken and brought to an underground facility owned by the umbrella corporation. there was a biological outbreak and everyone died. she is somehow connected and is enlisted to help destroy the rogue a.i. that is running the place. as they try and stop everything, it leads to some cool zombie encounters and a memorable scene in a killer hallway. i thought it was a fun movie, it dealt with the story well, and also leaves enough mysteries and confusion for the inevitable sequel.

the wrestler

a heart breaking look at someone who is far past their prime try and relive their glory days just one more time. a glimpse at what it is like to feel passionately about something and then be told you cant do it anymore, like an artist who is forbidden to paint, or a musician forbidden to play. the main character has spent his whole life in the ring, and found much success there, but that was twenty years ago. he continues to follow that dream thinking that he will once again rise to the top. his focus on this goal has put his family to the side. now, he wants to reconnect with his daughter who wants nothing to do with him. he is a loser who knows hes a loser, deserving of this lonely sad life he finds himself in. as he tries to seek redemption it becomes a story of a man who knows whats best, but cant resist the pull of the long dead dream. this is a brilliant study of a broken man who knows what he needs to do to fix himself, but he just cant get himself to do it.

angels and demons

some people have an aversion to violence, some have an aversion to cussing. diana cant watch a movie if there is anything bad that happens to animals. i figured out my aversion: breaking old stuff. for some reason when ever there is an old artifact or ancient building that gets damaged i cringe! i know its fake, but i cringe in fear anyway. i've always loved history, and i guess my respect and admiration for ancient things gets the best of me. with this in mind, it made watching this movie incredibly difficult for me!i had gone to see 'di vinci code' and thought it really sucked, but i was still drawn to see this one. i had read both books, and this one is definitely the stronger source material of the two. when i read this book i had gotten it at an airport bookstore and read it the whole time aaron and i were in europe visiting my brother. what was really cool was reading about these places in rome where the story happens, and then going out the next day and seeing this places for myself in rome! that excitement returned as i watched the movie, constantly thinking 'oh! we were there!' as far as story goes, i think this movie is actually a pretty good puzzle solving thriller. the story follows a logical line, there are pleasantly of twists and turns through out, but all of it plays (somewhat) realistically. another thing about the movie that i found surprising was the fair handedness used in dealing with the church. there were some jabs at the faith, but they were reasonable and ones that i myself have raised against some of the more unusual traditions of the catholic church. in the end there is definitely a feeling of respect paid to most of the men of faith portrayed in the film.

mummy: tomb of the emperor king

this movie seemed to be an exercise in lack of self restraint. not fans of the whole 'less is more' idea, instead they seemed to go with this approach: more is more, and more than that is even morer! i can just imagine the boardroom conversations as they were writing this one: lets have this one be about a chinese emperor! ok! how about a million terracotta soldiers? ok! how about an immortal witch? ok! with an immortal daughter? ok! got to have the obligatory love story. ok! how about having big foot? ok! and shangri-la? ok! and a three headed dragon? ok! wow, this is going to be the greatest movie ever!
its not. it starts off poorly, and then gets worse from there. i think we all know full well that this thing sucks, so there really is no reason to go through and explain why. i'll just leave it at that.

x-men origins: wolverine

there was some great potential here, but unfortunately, as with most big summer movies, they have to appeal to the lowest common denominator. apparently that common denominator is 'explosions are cool!' the story revolves around how wolverine and his brother sabertooth got to be who they are today. there are many showdowns between the two of them. but with all the showdowns, it raised a big question: how many times can two people, who are apparently indestructible, run at each other with growling faces before its no longer interesting? the answer: one time. unfortunately, it happens about six times in this movie. the brother stuff is good, but then they go off topic and it just becomes a movie about explosions. the first half of the movie is actually quite interesting and rather compelling, but they gloss over all the good stuff in about the first 10 minutes! this is an origin story, so why not really dig into the characters early life? nope, we just get brief glimpses of the two of them in the civil war, world war two, vietnam, etc. they could have just explored those times and it would have been a great movie! there is so much potential, but it falls flat! instead they seem to have to take five or ten minutes to introduce a dozen other characters so as to prepare them each for their own spin off movie. deadpool and gambit get that treatment, merely introduced so as to prepare them for their own movie. deadpool could be good (ok, only because its ryan reynolds), but the guy they got to play gambit was terrible! i was embarrassed for him.
over all, it was a good first half, but then all the good stuff they had built up is squandered during the last 45 minutes.
ps. seriously one of the worst love stories ever! she was brainwashing you to love her so they could set you up for joining the bad guys? why would you even care about her after that?!?