Topic: DCO third annual November Alphabet Marathon - discussion/review/banter thread

[richierich]

Title: The Proposal

Runtime:104
Certificate:PG-13
Year:2009
Genres:Comedy, Romance

Plot:Sandra Bullock is at her funniest in the fresh, laugh-out-loud romantic comedy The Proposal. On the verge of being deported and losing the high-powered job she lives for, the controlling Margaret announces she's engaged to her unsuspecting, put-upon assistant Andrew (Ryan Reynolds). After proposing a few demands of his own, the mismatched couple heads to Alaska where they have four short days to convince his quirky family and a very skeptical immigration agent that their charade is real. Featuring a star-studded supporting cast, including Mary Steenburgen, Craig T. Nelson and the delightfully inappropriate Betty White, this madcap comedy will have you saying "yes" to The Proposal again and again.

My Review:
Yes, its a romcom specifically designed for a woman viewer, but I must admit, like nearly all Sandra Bullock films, I really enjoyed the fun and light-heartedness of the movie, and it left me with a big smile on my face.
You could spend hours writing about negatives of the film, clichéd script, obvious ending, Hollywood conveyor belt, predictability, age-gap etc etc etc.
But on the positives, the casts chemistry works really well, Bullock is adorable, the story is a feel-good surety, the comedy is light hearted with some good laugh out loud moments, Betty White steals every seen as the Grandma, and it is very watchable.
Go into this with a glass of wine, your sense of humour, and a non-serious viewpoint.

My Rating
 

[Najemikon]

Wow...Vertigo...I was thinking of reviewing that during this marathon, too.  But I wasn't sure...so I think I'll pass on it now...I do have at least one other "V" movie in my collection...and it's a western.  I love westerns but strangely enough don't plan to review too many of them during this marathon, though my first review is going to be of one.

Intriguing! I just watched my first entry for the marathon and it is also a Western... I wonder if you started where I did? 

[RossRoy]

WALL-E

WHAT THEY SAY

The highly acclaimed director of Fiding Nemo and the creative storytellers behind Cars and Ratatouille transport you to a galaxy not far away for a new cosmic comedy adventure about a determined robot named WALL·E. After hundreds of lonely years of doing what he was built for, the curious and lovable WALL·E discovers a new purpose in life when he meets a sleek search robot named EVE. Join them and a hilarious cast of characters on a fantastic journey across the universe. Transport yourself to a fascinating new world with Disney·Pixar's latest adventure, now even more astonishing on DVD and loaded with bonus features, including the exclusive animated short film BURN·E. WALL·E is a film your family will want to enjoy over and over again.

MY THOUGHTS

What a marvelous movie! Entirely deserving of all the praise it got. It is actually incredible how Pixar can get so much emotions through, even when the characters don't speak. Prime examples here are Wall-E, EVE and that cleaning robot. But if you go back in the history of Pixar, just look at their Luxo short. It's a lamp! But just the way it moves, and you understand everything you have to. And they just keep perfectionning their technique. It's astounding how Pixar can keep churning out winners after winners. The guys love their craft and it shows. I loved every minute of Wall-E! It's such a nice story and it is told so well. So many little things add up to create a whole. Just the dancing sequence. It is so pretty to look at, and it holds so much meaning for Wall-E, him who evolved for so long, alone, on a desolate Earth, listening to dancing numbers from musicals! Watch this movie. It is well worth it. It is top notch cinema. Too bad so many artists lost their way and are now churning out money grabbers these days.. Thank God Pixar is still around with their care and love of cinema.

RATING

[Rogmeister]

Wow...Vertigo...I was thinking of reviewing that during this marathon, too.  But I wasn't sure...so I think I'll pass on it now...I do have at least one other "V" movie in my collection...and it's a western.  I love westerns but strangely enough don't plan to review too many of them during this marathon, though my first review is going to be of one.

Intriguing! I just watched my first entry for the marathon and it is also a Western... I wonder if you started where I did? 

Well, I've just watched mine...I haven't seen your review yet (have you posted it yet?) but will put mine up in about 5 minutes, as soon as I type it up...it could be in the very next post of this thread...

[Rogmeister]

100 Rifles (1968)  110 minutes

Director: Tom Gries (who also co-wrote the screenplay)  Music: Jerry Goldsmith
Cast: Jim Brown, Raquel Welch, Burt Reynolds, Fernando Lamas, Dan O'Herlihy

Plot: A lawman (Brown) after a bank robber (Reynods) ends up helping a female revolutionary (Welch) in Mexico defend an Indian village against a tyrant (Lamas).

My Thoughts--This was not an outstanding western, though it did have its moments.  Raquel Welch (in one of her 3 westerns, two released in 1968 and the other 3 years later) is quite possibly the sexiest woman ever to set foot in a western.  She's sultry, fiery and looks good taking a shower (even though she is actually clothed, though briefly so, in her shower scene which is done in the movie to distract some enemy soldiers) and, of course, gets a bed scene with the lead, possibly one of the first romantic scenes on film between a black man and a white woman?  Probably not, but it's interesting.  Burt Reynolds, as a half-breed, looks a bit odd wearing a huge black sombrero, but I enjoyed him in the role.  In fact, though this is a western, I didn't see one traditional-looking cowboy hat in the entire picture though Brown's came closest.  There's lots of good-looking visuals in this movie, a requirement for a good western, as the movie takes place entirely in Mexico.  The film does drag a bit in spots and perhaps a bit more prudent editing and a slightly shorter running time might have helped there.  It does finally pick up steam in the last half-hour of the picture so I liked it overall...I just didn't love it.  My one quibble is one of the lead characters dies in the film...but we never see it happen.  That character is running along the rooftops helping fight the enemy...and the next time that person is seen, he/she is in the arms of someone...already dead.  I hated that. 

[RossRoy]

Ratatouille

WHAT THEY SAY

From the creators of Cars and The Incredibles comes a breakthrough comedy with something for everyone. With delightful new characters, experience Paris from an all-new perspective. It's "terrific moviemaking!" raves Leonard Maltin of Entertainment Tonight. In one of Paris' finest restaurants, Remy, a determined young rat, dreams of becoming a renowned French chef. Torn between his family's wishes and his true calling, Remy and his pal Linguini set in motion a hilarious chain of events that turns the City of Lights upside down. Ratatouille is a treat you'll want to enjoy again and again.

MY THOUGHTS

And another winner by Pixar. It's a good little story. I did find the whole Remy controlling Linguini to be going a bit far, but it's a kid story again so you have to hhave some magic in there! The animation is, as usual, top notch. Some expressions on the characters are priceless. The movie almost would make you accept to have rats in your kitchen!

RATING

[Achim]

MOVIE / DVD INFO:

Title: The Gate
Year: 1987
Director: Tibor Takacs
Rating: PG-13
Length: 86 Min.
Video: Anamorphic Widescreen 1.78:1
Audio: English: Dolby Digital Stereo, Commentary: Dolby Digital Stereo
Subtitles: English, Spanish

Stars:
Stephen Dorff
Christa Denton
Louis Tripp
Kelly Rowan
Jennifer Irwin

Plot:
After an old tree is removed from the ground, three young children accidentally release a horde of nasty, pint-sized demons from the hole in a suburban backyard. What follows is a classic battle between good and evil as the three kids struggle to overcome a nightmarish hell that is literally taking over the Earth.

Extras:
Scene Access
Audio Commentary
Trailers
Gallery
Interviews
Closed Captioned

My Thoughts:

This film came recommended by a few here on the forum and I must say the film exceeded my expectations. A little Canadian effort into the teen horror genre of the 80s (e.g. Monster Squad of the same year, which this film owns easily) it has excellent special effects (especially the minions kept amazing me) and decent acting from the child actors who after all have to carry the film. Stephen Dorff, who is not yet recognizable comapred to how we know him now, is at a very early career stage here and obviously still had to learn a lot.

The film takes its time to set up the characters and explore their relationships. Nothing feels overly contrived when each plot point is made to move the story towards the inevitable opening of The Gate. It almost feels like a teen comedy for a while, but a good one at that. Good writing, with some hood jokes, keeps our attention up. We are about half way into the movie when all hell breaks loose and the kids have to go against the demon and his minions. The ending is ultimately rather typical for its time and would be considered lazy screen writing today.

I thought that the PG-13 was well stretched in a few spots

(click to show/hide)

somebody's face gets ripped off and an eye is poked out (the latter is only visible very briefly though)

Best insult: "Suck my face until my head caves in!"

[Jimmy]

How is the dvd quality Achim? I own the first canadian release and it isn't best dvd material (it's just a vhs conversion to dvd). BTW if you find it the sequel is also good, at least if I remember correctly since I haven't seen it since its theatrical released.

[Achim]

How is the dvd quality Achim? I own the first canadian release and it isn't best dvd material (it's just a vhs conversion to dvd). BTW if you find it the sequel is also good, at least if I remember correctly since I haven't seen it since its theatrical released.

I know I forgot something... I already wanted to mention above that the DVD quality is quite good, Lionsgate apparently cared enough to do a nice clean-up job. If your version is quite bad and you like the film a lot then an upgrade should be in order.

At least in DVD Profiler I couldn't see any version of the sequel. It is mentally noted that I want to get the sequel at some point...

[Jimmy]

Thanks it was already on my wishlist, but with Lions Gate we can't never be sure if the job will be right or not. My budget for november is already spend, but I will try to get it in december or january.

At least in DVD Profiler I couldn't see any version of the sequel. It is mentally noted that I want to get the sequel at some point...

Not the best quality, since it's fullscreen like the original I own, but you can get the Canadian released on Amazon.ca for not too much.

[Najemikon]

Wow...Vertigo...I was thinking of reviewing that during this marathon, too.  But I wasn't sure...so I think I'll pass on it now...I do have at least one other "V" movie in my collection...and it's a western.  I love westerns but strangely enough don't plan to review too many of them during this marathon, though my first review is going to be of one.

Intriguing! I just watched my first entry for the marathon and it is also a Western... I wonder if you started where I did? 

Well, I've just watched mine...I haven't seen your review yet (have you posted it yet?) but will put mine up in about 5 minutes, as soon as I type it up...it could be in the very next post of this thread...

Nope, not that one! Nice review, Roger. Only vaguely heard of that one before, but I like the cover... 

[Najemikon]

3:10 to Yuma
3 out of 5



In Arizona in the late 1800s, infamous outlaw Ben Wade (Russell Crowe) plagues the Southern Railroad. When Wade is captured, injured Civil War veteran Dan Evans (Christian Bale) - struggling to survive on his drought-plagued ranch and desperate for money - volunteers to escort him to the "3:10 to Yuma", a train that will take the killer to trial.

As remakes go, 3:10 to Yuma is a very good one, simply because it's good enough to stand on it's own and it goes in a different direction. In direct comparison, it falters, but does of course have many advantages for a modern audience. And let's not forget this is a bona fide modern Western with a first rate cast and there's not enough of them these days, so it's to be congratulated.

It's basically a road movie with a posse trying to keep notorious outlaw Ben Wade (Russell Crowe) from being rescued by his vicious gang. As members fall by the wayside through death or cowardice, only farmer Dan Evans (Christian Bale) holds true, desperate to earn money for his ranch and respect from his sons. The last act of the film is spent with the two of them in a hotel room before a gauntlet run for the train. Over the course of the story, Wade, a fairly honourable chap despite a murderous habit, builds respect for the plucky Evans and even amuses himself by helping him.

It's a hard, well told story of morals with plenty of action. James Mangold's solid direction lacks subtlety, but all credit for finding several ways to get quite large explosions into a horse opera! He's no Eastwood or Costner, but obviously loves and understands the genre as well as anyone and it seeps out of the screen. The cinematography is gorgeous and the sets are very detailed and varied.

Action and photography aside, this is first and foremost a tale of character and morals. Russell Crowe and Christian Bale are both superb and convincing. Crowe is lethal and vicious, but a charmer, while Bale holds our sympathy against him despite his Evans being nothing like a modern hero. Ben Foster plays Wade's right-hand psycho and he does a good job, but he's fairly one note and a good representation of the film being a bit too blunt overall. Peter Fonda is one of many character actors who round out an excellent cast, playing out a strong screenplay from the writer of Collateral, another story about an enigmatic villain. It's engrossing stuff and two hours flies by.

In fact, everything bad about this film is only because of the original. The changes to the story aren't completely necessary, reducing much of the films running time to mere set-pieces. I was disappointed to hear comments by Mangold and his producers on the Blu-Ray when they said they felt it needed opening out to more of a "journey". It didn't need to open out and sadly reveals a lot of their version to be messy overdone filler that undermines some of the characters (keeping Wade in custody is more luck than judgement). They also change the ending and while I prefer the original, they at least had good intentions. The values and motivations are the same, but the result is given weight by a sub-text about religion. I'll come back to that in a moment though.

It's important to understand that the 1957 version was a political film, written in some ways as an answer to the very liberal High Noon. It's a lean and straightforward screenplay that works very well because of well placed ambition by all concerned. Good though the modern cast are, Glenn Ford and Van Heflin are of a different time and their delivery of the dialogue is more straightforward, making their intentions easier to relate to. Better too is the character of Charlie and it's easier to understand Wade's frustrations and respect for Evans without the endless back and forth toying Crowe's version does.

(click to show/hide)

Finally, in the end of the original, Wade leaves it late to help Evan's, finally having had enough of the barbaric Charlie and deciding it isn't worth it on balance. He can escape from Yuma anyway and can afford the honourable Dan some margin to rebuild his life in a way he never could. The new one is identical, if messier, except Dan is killed. Wade boards the train after slaughtering his own men in cold disgust (hence earlier references to the "Right Hand of God" and the symbol on his guns). It's a very Catholic thing about life being a struggle, redemption in death and all that, but it doesn't sit right with me. I prefer to know that Dan earned his right to a decent life. I had the same problem with American Beauty. What's wrong with a happy ending? 

[richierich]

Title: Role Models

Runtime:101
Certificate:15
Year:2008
Genres:Comedy

Plot:Unconventional salesmen, stuck-in-a-rut Danny (Paul Rudd) and lady's man Wheeler (Seann William Scott), spend their days promoting Minotaur energy drink to school students. Full of self-loathing and driven to delirium after being dumped by girlfriend Beth (Elizabeth Banks), Danny lashes out on an energy drink bender, trashing both the company truck and school property, resulting in the arrest of both him and Wheeler.
Wheeler and Danny are faced with a choice; either do time in jail or clock one hundred and fifty hours as mentors for troubled children. These unlikely role models are assigned to the most difficult children on offer, making them contemplate jail as an easier option! Danny is paired with dorky role playing loner, Augie (Superbad's Mclovin' Christopher Mintz-Plasse), whilst Wheeler is the latest victim of booby obsessed, foul-mouthed Ronnie (Bobb'e J. Thompson). Let the fun begin!

My Review:
Oddball teen comedy attempting to portray some moral life-choice message, it is a mish mash of a script that confuses the viewer on whether he is watching a bawdy humourous film, or a feeble attempt at an insightful light-hearted family movie, but with sex and swearing??
I'd be surprised if anyone over the age of 15 would find this movie entertaining or funny, there are a few chuckle moments, but mostly I felt uncomfortable listening to kids curse like navvies or draw male genatalia at every opportunity. Even worse was the sickly ending, after watching about an hours worth of dull dungeon and dragon style re-enactments.
Poor mans American Pie only truly suitable for a boy going through puberty.

My Rating
 

[Tom]

Title: Road Trip
Year: 2000
Director: Todd Phillips
Rating: FSK-16
Length: 90 Min.
Video: Anamorphic Widescreen 1.78
Audio: English: Dolby Digital 5.1, German: Dolby Digital 5.1
Subtitles: Danish, Dutch, English, Finnish, Norwegian, Swedish

Stars:
Breckin Meyer
Seann William Scott
Amy Smart
Paulo Costanzo
DJ Qualls

Plot:
THE RULES OF CHEATING

When you're in a committed relationship and have sex with another person it's not cheating if......

You're in different area codes.

You're with two people at the same time, because they cancel each other out.

But it is definitely cheating if you videotape it and someone accidentally mails the tape to your girlfriend, which to his horror is exactly what happened to Josh. Discovering the mistake, Josh tows two of his college buddies and one not so eager kid who happens to own the car on a raucous 1,800 mile road trip from Ithaca, New York to Austin, Texas to save his lifelong romance.

Road Trip Unseen & Explicit shows you what they didn't dare show at the cinema

Awards:

Anatomy Awards	2001	Won	Best Breasts B Cup	Amy Smart
Blockbuster Entertainment Awards	2001	Nominated	Favorite Supporting Actor - Comedy	Tom Green
MTV Movie Awards	2001	Nominated	Best Cameo	Andy Dick
MTV Movie Awards	2001	Nominated	Best Comedic Performance	Tom Green
MTV Movie Awards	2001	Nominated	Best Male Breakthrough Performance	Tom Green
MTV Movie Awards	2001	Nominated	Best Music Moment	Tshe "Twisted Sister" Bus Scene
Teen Choice Awards	2000	Nominated	Film - Choice Chemistry	Amy Smart, Breckin Meyer
Teen Choice Awards	2000	Nominated	Film - Choice Comedy
Teen Choice Awards	2000	Won	Film - Choice Liar	Tom Green
Teen Choice Awards	2000	Nominated	Film - Choice Sleazebag	Andy Dick

Extras:
Booklet
Deleted Scenes
Featurettes
Music Videos
Scene Access
Trailers

My Thoughts:

I haven't watched this movie for years. I still enjoyed it though like I did then. The breakout character for me was DJ Qualls. Without him this movie would have only been half the fun. Seann William Scott is fun as a Stifler-like character. At the time of this movie's release it was still a rather new character, but he only seems to be doing it since. Though if all the making ofs and audio commentaries I have seen, which are mentioning him, are to be believed, Seann William Scott is a real nice guy in real life. Very different to his Stifler persona.
Another performance I enjoyed is Tom Green as the tour guide.

Rating:

[richierich]

Title: 17 Again

Runtime:98
Certificate:12
Year:2009
Genres:Comedy

Plot:If you somehow had the chance, would you do your life over? Thirtysomething Mike O'Donnell would. Then one mysteriously magical moment, Mike gets his chance. He's suddenly back at Hayden High where he's the star of the basketball team, a total hottie and a classmate to his own teenage kids...which gives Mike a chance to go from not-so-good dad to really cool friend.
Zac Efron (Hairspray, the High School Musical movies) and Matthew Perry (Friends ) are 17 Again and fabulously funny as the younger and older Mike in a good-time time-warp comedy that proves the best year of your life is the one you're living right now.

My Review:
Tired old story, man unhappy with his life, gets visited by angel (in this case janitor), wishes he could go back in time, does and ends up at school with daughter hitting on him, sorts out nerdy son into popular kid, hits on wife, realises he doesn't want to change, goes back to proper age and he and wife live happily ever after.
And thats about it, except it stars the gorgeous Leslie Mann to add some beauty to this sorry excuse for a movie.

My Rating