Topic: KinkyCyborg's Random Reviews 2010

[Jimmy]

She did manage to land a few names in Freddie Prinze Jr.

When he was one? I don't think anyone had watch I Know What You Did Last Summer (and the sequel) or She's All That or Summer Catch or Scooby-Doo because of him... he is more a washed up C movies actor than anything else in my book, a little bit like Shannon Elizabeth or Ashton Kutcher or Pauly Shore

[KinkyCyborg]

She did manage to land a few names in Freddie Prinze Jr.

When he was one? I don't think anyone had watch I Know What You Did Last Summer (and the sequel) or She's All That or Summer Catch or Scooby-Doo because of him... he is more a washed up C movies actor than anything else in my book, a little bit like Shannon Elizabeth or Ashton Kutcher or Pauly Shore

I thought he was pretty good in Brooklyn Rules, but aside from that all his roles have been quite forgettable.

[KinkyCyborg]

Mad Dog Time



Title:Mad Dog Time
Year: 1996
Director: Larry Bishop
Rating: R
Length: 93 Min.
Video: Pan & Scan 1.33:1
Audio: English: Dolby Digital: 5.1, Spanish: Dolby Digital: Dolby Surround
Subtitles: English, French, Spanish

Stars:
Ellen Barkin
Gabriel Byrne
Richard Dreyfuss
Jeff Goldblum
Diane Lane

Plot:
Richard Dreyfuss heads an all-star cast in this wickedly funny gangster spoof that explodes with rapid-fire wit and deadly double crosses. An "irresistibly nuts" ('Rolling Stone') glimpse of the criminal underworld, 'Mad Dog Time' is "a comedy masterwork" (American Urban Radio Networks)!

Mob boss Vic is coming home from his most recent stay at a mental hospital, and, before you can say "bada-bing," his ambitious "friends," rivals and underlings are looking to put him -- and each other -- six feet under. Seems like the only one still loyal is Vic’s hired gun Mickey Holliday (Jeff Goldblum)...except that while Vic was away, Mickey was getting very friendly with his boss’ girlfriend. So who’ll be left standing when the bullets start to fly? All bets are off!

Extras:
Scene Access
Feature Trailers
Closed Captioned

My Thoughts:

Black comedy that spoofs gangster life. An all star cast and many unexpected cameos make this a fun watch but many of the performances were preposterous and over the top which I suppose might have been intentional... but it started to get tedious and redundant.

I've never seen Gabriel Byrne acting so silly but in a way it was refreshing. Jeff Goldblum seemed out of place as the cool hitman. Too many roles for him as a rambling intellectual likely prevent me from giving him a fair shake.

Diane Lane was gorgeous but had way too little screen time. I started to feel a bit sorry for Richard Dreyfuss as it has been some time now that I've seen him in a meaningful role outside of his classics that I keep watching over and over again.

The cameos of Billy Idol, Rob Reiner and Richard Pryor added some flavor, even if their parts had little importance.

I have mixed feelings about this one. A great cast with some good individual performances blended into a shambles of a movie. I'll likely need a second viewing of this to get a more focused perspective.  I'm curious to hear anyone else's thoughts who might have watched it.

KC

Rating:

[KinkyCyborg]

Nefertiti Resurrected



Title:Nefertiti Resurrected
Year: 2003
Director: Matthew Wortman
Rating: NR
Length: 98 Min.
Video: Anamorphic Widescreen 1.78:1
Audio: English: Dolby Digital: 2-Channel Stereo
Subtitles:

Stars:
Dr. Joann Fletcher

Plot:
Has the famed Egyptian beauty, Queen Nefertiti , been found in a secret chamber deep in the Valley of the Kings?

A Discovery Channel Quest expedition, led by Dr. Joann Fletcher and a team of internationally renown scientists from the University of York Mummy Research Team, hopes to find out. If they're right, the finding will be one of the greatest archaeological discoveries since Nefertiti's stepson – King Tutankhamen – was discovered in 1922.

"Great Royal Wife" of the "renegade" pharaoh Akhenaten, Nefertiti was a mother of six who helped lead a religious revolution that changed Egypt and the world forever. Yet after her death, her enemies destroyed all evidence of Nefertiti's life.

Now, drawing on 13 years of research, Fletcher and her team bring Nefertiti's turbulent reign to life as never before using cutting-edge computer animations to recreate ancient Egypt's great temples; x-rays to reveal the telltale signs of foul play on her mummy; and forensic graphics to recreate the mummy's face.

Have they found the ancient world's greatest beauty?

Extras:
Scene Access
Feature Trailers
Closed Captioned
Interactive Galleries

My Thoughts:

I've been buying up a number of documentaries lately because a few that I have watched recently on TV were very good and I find they provide a nice change of pace from the steady diet of movies that I watch.

Randomly picking this one, I was eager to start watching it as I love docs about history, especially ancient Egypt and given this was a Discovery Channel production I had high expectations.

I hope this show is not indicative of other Discovery Channel releases of which I have a few more kicking around. 

There was nothing at all wrong with the subject matter in this. They were attempting to identify a discovered mummy, the belief being that she was Nefertiti, King Tut's stepmother and probably the only woman in Egypt's history to rule as Pharaoh. Again I find all history fascinating... but this was presented in such a scattershot manner that there was no flow whatsoever. Constant, repetitive footage showed over and over again made it obvious that they were lacking material to stretch this out over 90 minutes.

What made it even worse was the Egyptologist they selected to follow, a Dr. Joann Fletcher. Someone needed to remind her that this was a documentary and that acting was not necessary. She was forever posturing for the camera and her constant WOWs and THIS IS SO NEAT! made it nearly impossible to take her serious or give her any credibility in her field.

In the end, nothing was confirmed beyond refute. As it turns out the Egyptian body that governs ancient culture and relics would not permit deep DNA testing of any mummies so the doddering relic hunter, despite her own firm convictions and beliefs, proved nothing and was left to conjecture and speculation.

Shockingly poor presentation from a well revered entity like the Discovery Channel. 

I'll give this a one... but only because the topic was of interest.
KC

Rating:

[KinkyCyborg]

Valkyrie



Title:Valkyrie
Year: 2008
Director: Bryan Singer
Rating: PG-13
Length: 120 Min.
Video: Anamorphic Widescreen 1.85:1
Audio: English: Dolby Digital: 5.1, Spanish: Dolby Digital: 5.1, French: Dolby Digital: Dolby Surround
Subtitles: English, French, Spanish

Stars:
Tom Cruise
Kenneth Branagh
Bill Nighy
Tom Wilkinson
Carice van Houten

Plot:
"Tom Cruise gives one of the best performances of his career" (Jeffrey Lyons, NBC/Reel Talk) in this action-packed film from the director of the Usual Suspects and X-Men . Based on the incredible true story of Colonel Claus von Stauffenberg (Cruise) and his ingenious assassination plot targeting Adolph Hitler, this engrossing thriller reenacts the daring operation to eliminate one of the most evil tyrans th world has ever known. Co-staring Kenneth Branagh, Bill Nighy, Tom Wilkinson, Terence Stamp and Eddie Izzard, Valkyrie delivers gripping suspense and pulse-pounding excitement from start to finish!

Extras:
Scene Access
Feature Trailers
Closed Captioned

My Thoughts:

Enjoyed this as I do with most movies of historical significance. Cruise's performance was a bit stiff, but overall I thought he did a decent job. Bill Nighy was exceptionally good in his role!

The resistance to Hitler's manifesto by many in the German hierarchy and military is well documented and despite some 15 odd assassination attempts by Germans on his life he managed to stay alive to watch his nation fall to allied troops, taking his own life in the hours leading up to the taking of Berlin. Had the near miss portrayed in this movie had been successful it would likely have dramatically rewritten many of the horrific events that took place during that war, and saved countless lives but in one way I'm glad he survived the attempts on his life for no other reason than so that he could witness the demise of his life's work... knowing his failure.

According to Amazon there is a documentary about the Valkyrie attempt that I would love to get my hands on.

KC


Rating:

[Antares]

As much as I dislike Cruise, this film was pretty good. He was the only weak spot in it.

[KinkyCyborg]

I've never really understood why he seems to be so massively unappealing. My wife just despises him.  While his off screen antics certainly raise a few eyebrows I can't say I've watched one of his movies that I genuinely disliked nor had any real objections to his performances. Far And Away is a movie I can watch over and over again. 

[Critter]

Tom Cruise tends to be a turn off for me as well. I usually put a film back if I see his name on it.

[Najemikon]

I'm the same as you, Kevin. I'm indifferent and enjoy or dislike his stuff on a film-by-film basis, as I would any other actors. I find it really weird how there is a genuine hatred for him.

[Kathy]

I am totally different than some of you - I think Cruise is terrific. I love that he does most of his own stunts plus he's not bad to look at!

[KinkyCyborg]

Perfume




Title:Perfume
Year: 2001
Director: Michael Rymer
Rating: R
Length: 106 Min.
Video: Widescreen :1
Audio: English: Dolby Digital: 5.1
Subtitles: English, Spanish

Stars:
Lysa Apostle
Joanne Baron
Monrena Baccarin
Kylie Bax
Angela Bettis

Plot:
New York City is the epicenter of the global fashion industry, a high-stakes world as powerful as the superstars it celebrates and as tenuous as the trends it exploits. Perfume is the story of two women who are partners in an up-and-coming design firm. Overnight, one will find herself stripped of all dignity. The other will betray her very essence for fashion's ultimate deal. Through it all, we meet the myriad of movers, shakers, players, and lovers that power this cutthroat life of hype, image and artifice.

Extras:
Scene Access
Feature Trailers

My Thoughts:

It's been a long time that a movie made me want to stop watching... and while I did finish it (morbid fool that I am) I fingered the eject button to the very end.

Meant to be a raw, blunt testimonial to the fashion industry, this film is one of those 'artistic' attempts at film making. In reality this is just a convoluted mess of one shitty improvised scene after another. A decent cast, all of whom demonstrate just what piss poor actors they are without a script, manage to embarrass themselves for nearly 2 hours.

Paul Sorvino was the only one who gave a halfway decent performance as a Versace-esque fashion icon. Jeff Goldblum, who constantly jibbers and stammers even with script in hand surely landed himself the role of Special Olympics spokesperson after this debacle.

I bet you a good 1/5 of this movie was lost to dramatic pauses between lines as the actors minds raced trying to improvise their lines. Brutal!

This movie is a classic example of what happens when a group of actors and celebrities all get wasted and stoned at one of their Hollywood parties and one of them declares 'Hey, lets whip up a movie and just make it up as we go along!'

KC


Rating:

[Antares]

I've never really understood why he seems to be so massively unappealing.

For me, it is one thing that he has done in every film since his breakthrough in Risky Business. In every film, and yes, he does it in Valkyrie too, he flashes that Risky Business smirk that made him famous. Every time I see him do it, I want to smack him across the face with a 2 x 4.

[hal9g]

I've never really understood why he seems to be so massively unappealing.

For me, it is one thing that he has done in every film since his breakthrough in Risky Business. In every film, and yes, he does it in Valkyrie too, he flashes that Risky Business smirk that made him famous. Every time I see him do it, I want to smack him across the face with a 2 x 4.

I must admit that I enjoyed Risky Business, Rain Main and Vanilla Sky.  Other than those, I really can't watch him in anything else, although I haven't seen Valkyrie yet.

[Achim]

In every film, and yes, he does it in Valkyrie too, he flashes that Risky Business smirk that made him famous.

Whilt this won't and shouldn't change your mind, but have you considered it not being the "Risky Business smirk" but the Tom Cruise smirk...? It's what he looks like and how he smirks...

[Dragonfire]

I didn't care for Vanilla Sky when I saw it.
I've liked most of his other movies that I've seen.  Yes he does come across as....ummm.  well....arrogant at times, especially in interviews, but if the movie looks interesting, I'll still see it at least once. 

I don't think there are really any actors that will keep me from seeing a movie, but there several I don't really like much.   
I think I'm about at the point where a certain director - who shall remain nameless as to not start up the great debate again - will keep me away...but I'll see.