Author Topic: Tom's Random Reviews  (Read 926585 times)

Offline Tom

  • Mega Heavy Poster
  • *******
  • Posts: 6271
  • Country: de
    • View Profile
    • Cinematic Collection Viewer
Re: Tom's Random Reviews
« Reply #870 on: February 06, 2011, 12:06:11 PM »
     The Men Who Stare at Goats (2009/United States)
IMDb | Wikipedia

Kinowelt Home Entertainment (Germany)
Director:Grant Heslov
Writing:Jon Ronson (Original Material By), Peter Straughan (Screenwriter)
Length:93 min.
Video:Widescreen 2.35
Audio:German: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1, English: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1, Commentary: DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 Stereo, Commentary: DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 Stereo
Subtitles:German

Stars:
George Clooney as Lyn Cassady
Ewan McGregor as Bob Wilton
Jeff Bridges as Bill Django
Kevin Spacey as Larry Hooper
Stephen Lang as Brigadier General Dean Hopgood

Plot:
In this comedic look at real life evetns that are almost too bizarre to believe, reporter Bob Wilton (Ewan McGregor) teams up with Lyn Cassidy (George Clooney) and discovers an experimental top-secret wing of the U.S. military. Here soldiers are trained to change the ways wars are fought through New Age psychic powers by passing through walls, reading the enemy's thoughts and even killing a goat by simply staring at it.

Inspired by Jon Ronson's non-fiction best-seller of the same name, this is an eye-opening and hilarious story of the government's attempts to harness soldier's paranormal abilities in order to combat its enemies.

Extras:
  • BD-Live
  • Commentary
  • Deleted Scenes
  • Featurettes
  • Photo Gallery
  • Production Notes
  • Scene Access
  • Wendecover


My Thoughts:
I saw this movie last year at the cinema. I enjoyed it. But this movie's absurd humor is not for anyone. The people I watched it with last night were bored by it.

Rating:



Offline Tom

  • Mega Heavy Poster
  • *******
  • Posts: 6271
  • Country: de
    • View Profile
    • Cinematic Collection Viewer
Re: Tom's Random Reviews
« Reply #871 on: February 11, 2011, 07:26:03 PM »
     Kites (2010/India)
IMDb | Wikipedia

Rapid Eye Movies (Germany)
Director:Anurag Basu, Anurag Basu
Writing:Anurag Basu (Screenwriter), Robin Bhatt (Screenwriter), Akarsh Khurana (Screenwriter), Sanjeev Dutta (Screenwriter), Rakesh Roshan (Story By), Rakesh Roshan (Story By), Anurag Basu (Screenwriter), Robin Bhatt (Screenwriter), Akarsh Khurana (Screenwriter)
Length:125 min.
Video:Widescreen 2.35
Audio:German: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1, Hindi: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1
Subtitles:German

Stars:
Hrithik Roshan as Jay
Barbara Mori as Natasha
Nicholas Brown as Tony
Kabir Bedi as Bob
Madhuri Bhatia as Teji

Plot:
A wounded man searches for his sweetheart in the Mexican desert while on the run from the police, bounty hunters, and others.

Extras:
  • Featurettes
  • Kites: The Remix
  • Scene Access
  • Trailers


My Thoughts:
I became curious about this movie, when I learned that Brett Ratner made a re-cut of this movie to appeal more to western audiences. I wanted to know how this experiment turned out. The Hindi cut was a great dramatic love story and some nice action scenes. It didn't really have any musical numbers. Only one elaborate dance number, which didn't really fit into this movie. It was early on. Of course this one was cut from the international re-cut version. The main difference between the cuts was the first half hour of the movie. The re-cut version dived directly into the main story, whereas the Hindi version sets up the characters and situation a little more. Probably the middle ground between those two would have been perfect. Another difference is the score, which was completely redone in the international cut. And the international cut puts more focus on the action. There are some subtle differences in the romance part of the movie. Not really something which I can put my fingers on, except that I noticed some removed bits. But in a whole I had the feeling, in the Hindi version this romance and thus the tragedy comes across better.
This movie stars Hrithik Roshan (Krrish, K3G) and Barbara Mori, an unknown Mexican actress. They both did a great job.

Rating:



Offline Tom

  • Mega Heavy Poster
  • *******
  • Posts: 6271
  • Country: de
    • View Profile
    • Cinematic Collection Viewer
Re: Tom's Random Reviews
« Reply #872 on: February 12, 2011, 03:42:44 AM »
     A Film With Me In It (2008/Ireland)
IMDb | Wikipedia

Capelight Pictures (Germany)
Director:Ian FitzGibbon
Writing:Mark Doherty (Writer)
Length:87 min.
Video:Widescreen 1.85
Audio:English: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1, English: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1
Subtitles:Dutch

Stars:
Mark Doherty as Mark
Neil Jordan as Director
Laura Way as Casting Assistant
Amy Huberman as Sally
Keith Allen as Jack

Plot:
Doherty plays an unsuccessful actor and clarinet player who ends up with a large number of dead bodies on his hands. Together with his friend Pierce (Dylan Moran), they attempt to escape their predicament by re-writing the day's events as if it were a film. As the body count mounts, they pitch ideas back and forth desperately searching for a way out.

Extras:
  • BD-Live
  • Bonus Trailers
  • Scene Access
  • Trailers
  • Wendecover


My Thoughts:
In a guy's apartment three deadly accidents happen in a span of a few minutes. Fearing that the police would think that he murdered them (which it awfully looks like), he is trying to cover it up after a bad advice from his best friend. Nice black comedy with a lot of laugh-out moments. I first saw it at the FantasyFilmFest. I don't remember it starting this slow. Also I enjoyed more with a big crowd.

Rating:



Offline Tom

  • Mega Heavy Poster
  • *******
  • Posts: 6271
  • Country: de
    • View Profile
    • Cinematic Collection Viewer
Re: Tom's Random Reviews
« Reply #873 on: February 12, 2011, 03:46:46 AM »
     Knight and Day (2010/United States)
IMDb | Wikipedia

Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment (Germany)
Director:James Mangold
Writing:Patrick O'Neill (Writer)
Length:117 min.
Video:Widescreen 2.40
Audio:English: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1, French: DTS 5.1, Portuguese: Dolby Digital 5.1, German: DTS 5.1, Spanish: Dolby Digital 5.1, Russian: DTS 5.1, Spanish: DTS 5.1, Other: Dolby Digital 5.1
Subtitles:Arabic, Catalonian, Chinese, Danish, Dutch, English, Finnish, German, Greek, Norwegian, Portuguese, Romanian, Spanish, Swedish

Stars:
Tom Cruise as Roy Miller
Cameron Diaz as June Havens
Peter Sarsgaard as Fitzgerald
Jordi Mollà as Antonio
Viola Davis as Director George

Plot:
June Havens finds her everyday life tangled with that of a secret agent who has realized he isn't supposed to survive his latest mission. As their campaign to stay alive stretches across the globe, they soon learn that all they can count on is each other.

Extras:
  • BD-Live
  • Bonus Trailers
  • Digital Copy
  • Featurettes
  • Scene Access
  • Trailers


My Thoughts:
I found this movie quite boring. I had hoped for a funny spy/action movie, but I didn't find it funny and the visual effects were below average.

Rating:



Offline Tom

  • Mega Heavy Poster
  • *******
  • Posts: 6271
  • Country: de
    • View Profile
    • Cinematic Collection Viewer
Re: Tom's Random Reviews
« Reply #874 on: February 13, 2011, 06:39:20 PM »
     The Vampire Diaries: Season One (2009/United States)
IMDb | Wikipedia

Warner Home Video (United Kingdom)
Length:889 min.
Video:Anamorphic Widescreen 1.78
Audio:English: Dolby Digital 5.1
Subtitles:Dutch, English, Swedish


Plot:
Dark, brooding, pulsing with bloodlust and transcendent with romance, The Vampire Diaries - which started as a series of must-read novels by L.J. Smith - has become a must-watch television hit. Season One offers unforgettable characters, living and undead. They are vampire brothers Stefan and Damon, one good and one evil; Elena, a double for the beauty both brothers loved some 150 years earlier; plus Jeremy, Bonnie, Matt and more denizens of Mystic Falls, VA. All are caught up in a spellbinding web of secrets, passion and terror.

Extras:
  • Commentary
  • Deleted Scenes
  • Featurettes
  • Outtakes


My Thoughts:
"Dawson's Creek" goes vampire. This is about the basic premise. It even is created by the same guy. At first glance, it looks like a Twilight TV series (although I have seen Twilight, I only can go on my impression on it). But it is based on a 1991 trilogy of books (pre-dating Twilight). But it was obviously made to cash in on Twilight's success.
Overall I enjoyed this series. Even though you do not really feel this series is something special, you cannot help to continue watching it.
This season's cliffhanger makes me want to continue with season 2. Although I am unhappy with a character's death in the finale
(click to show/hide)

There is something which really bothers me, which doesn't really have to do with this series. Recently Microsoft pushes their product placement. That on itself doesn't bother me. Apple has done it for years. I first noticed in when I recently watched the ninth season of Smallville, where instead of seeing Apple logos on all notebooks we suddenly see Windows logos and the Watchtower computer all running with a fresh install of Windows 7. Then I saw Room in Rome, where they really pushed Microsoft Bing and a Google Earth like application. And in this series, all the characters are using the search engine Bing. So far so good. But one scene did go too far and pulled me out of the series. One character proclaimed, that she "binged" it, with the camera closing in the Bing website, so that you knew what the hell she was talking about. It was quite obvious that they are trying to bring this verb into the vocabularly of the viewers to compete with the success of "to google".

#EpisodeRating
01Pilot
02The Night of the Comet
03Friday Night Bites
04Family Ties
05You're Undead to Me
06Lost Girls
07Haunted
08162 Candles
09History Repeating
10The Turning Point
11Bloodlines
12Unpleasantville
13Children of the Damned
14Fool Me Once
15A Few Good Men
16There Goes the Neighborhood
17Let the Right One In
18Under Control
19Miss Mystic Falls
20Blood Brothers
21Isobel
22Founder's Day



Offline Tom

  • Mega Heavy Poster
  • *******
  • Posts: 6271
  • Country: de
    • View Profile
    • Cinematic Collection Viewer
Re: Tom's Random Reviews
« Reply #875 on: February 16, 2011, 10:42:01 PM »
     Outsourced (2006/United States)
IMDb | Wikipedia

Concorde Home Entertainment, EuroVideo (Germany)
Director:John Jeffcoat
Writing:George Wing (Writer), John Jeffcoat (Writer)
Length:99 min.
Video:Anamorphic Widescreen 1.85
Audio:German: Dolby Digital 5.1, German: DTS 5.1, English: Dolby Digital 5.1
Subtitles:German

Stars:
Josh Hamilton as Todd Anderson
Matt Smith as Dave
Rudolf Rodrigues as Rickshaw Driver
Jai Neeraj Raj Purohit as Man Catching Train
Siddharth Jadhav as Gola Vendor

Plot:
After his entire department is outsourced, an American novelty products salesman (Hamilton) heads to India to train his replacement.

Extras:
  • Interviews
  • Scene Access
  • Trailers


My Thoughts:
This movie was a lot of fun. It was fun watching the main character being confronted by the Indian culture. I haven't been to India but as far as I can tell it looks being as faithful to the actual India as possible.

Rating:



Offline Tom

  • Mega Heavy Poster
  • *******
  • Posts: 6271
  • Country: de
    • View Profile
    • Cinematic Collection Viewer
Re: Tom's Random Reviews
« Reply #876 on: February 17, 2011, 12:19:42 AM »
     Moonlight: Season One (2007/United States)
IMDb | Wikipedia

Warner Home Video (United Kingdom)
Length:664 min.
Video:Anamorphic Widescreen 1.78
Audio:English: Dolby Digital 5.1, German: Dolby Digital 2.0 Surround
Subtitles:English, German



Plot:
Any private eye knows a lot about other people's secrets. L.A. private eye Mick St. John (Alex O'Loughlin) has a secret of his own. He's a vampire, dwelling in a covert netherworld complicated by friendship with an undead finance honcho (Jason Dohring), memories of the alluring ex-wife (Shannyn Sossamon) who turned him into a vampire, and a relationship with a human (Sophia Myles) he feels drawn to protect - and maybe to love. But no matter how tempting, Mick knows a vampire-human romance is eternally dangerous.

This 16-episode, 4-disc set of the series voted the 2008 People's Choice Award for Favorite New TV Drama is a sure entertainment bet for all who like their vampire stories sleek, intense and passionate.

My Thoughts:
When going in I thought this would be just another vampire doing redemption by helping people series. But this series surprised me. I really enjoyed it. Also some ideas to the vampire mythos were refreshing (though some were more like going back to Bram Stoker, like stake through the heart only paralyzes the vampire).
The ongoing romance storyline was good, as where the cases they were working on. Also nice to see a vampire series, where vampires stay the only supernatural thing. And not introduce magic, werewolves etc.
This is a thing which bothers me with such series or superhero movies and series: First the hero is the only thing different to the "real" world. But then they introduce more and more "super" and extraordinary stuff. This is probably the reason why I never got into superhero comics.
Too bad this series was cancelled so soon. It really would have had the stuff to continue.
The only thing I didn't like about this series was the need for vampires to sleep in freezers. These are a fairly recent invention. What did the vampires do in the past then?

#EpisodeRating
01No Such Thing as Vampires
02Out of the Past
03Dr. Feelgood
04Fever
05Arrested Development
06B.C.
07The Ringer
0812:04 AM
09Fleur de Lis
10Sleeping Beauty
11Love Lasts Forever
12The Mortal Cure
13Fated to Pretend
14Click
15What's Left Behind
16Sonata



Offline addicted2dvd

  • Forum Inventory
  • ********
  • Posts: 17685
  • Country: us
    • View Profile
Re: Tom's Random Reviews
« Reply #877 on: February 17, 2011, 01:01:21 PM »
I watched Moonlight as it aired. And I have the DVD set (haven't watched the DVDs yet)... and enjoyed it as well. The freezer thing had me scratching my head as well though.

I still don't understand why this one got canceled. From what I understand... it was a popular series... did fine in the ratings (when you knew it was on... they played with time and day a bit if I remember right).... It even won a Peoples Choice Award if I remember correctly. Yet they decide to cancel it.

The main character played by Alex O'Loughlin had this series canceled on him. Then the next season he played a transplant doctor on another series... and it was canceled right away. But it seems he finally found himself a hit series. He is now the lead in the new version of Hawaii Five-0.. which seems to be doing great.
Pete

kahless

  • Guest
Re: Tom's Random Reviews
« Reply #878 on: February 17, 2011, 03:19:38 PM »
I own "Moonlight" quite a long time and I only managed it to watch the first four episodes.  :hmmmm:

Thanks for the reminder, Tom to re-watch the whole series!  :D

Offline Dragonfire

  • Mega Heavy Poster
  • *******
  • Posts: 6911
    • View Profile
    • Dragonfire88 Pbwiki
Re: Tom's Random Reviews
« Reply #879 on: February 17, 2011, 07:48:45 PM »
I saw some of Moonlight and liked it.  I may pick up the DVD set sometime.

The way ratings are done isn't that fair really...and it doesn't make sense. 

I just hope Fringe survives since FOX shipped it to Friday.

Friday nights...where FOX sends good shows to die.

Offline Tom

  • Mega Heavy Poster
  • *******
  • Posts: 6271
  • Country: de
    • View Profile
    • Cinematic Collection Viewer
Re: Tom's Random Reviews
« Reply #880 on: February 21, 2011, 10:51:20 PM »
     True Blood: Season Two (2010/United States)
IMDb | Wikipedia

HBO Home Entertainment (United Kingdom)
Length:710 min.
Video:Widescreen 1.78
Audio:English: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1, French: DTS 5.1, Spanish: DTS 2.0 Stereo
Subtitles:Dutch, English, Portuguese, Spanish


Plot:
Welcome back to Bon Temps, home to mystery. Southern sensuality and dark secrets. For Sookie Stackhouse, life is more dangerous than ever after she and Bill become more deeply involved. Meanwhile, Tara finds herself in love and under a spell; Sam puts his trust in an unlikely ally; Jason becoms involved with an anti-vampire sect; Eric recruits Sookie to investigate the disappearance of a 2,000-year-old vampire; and Maryann is revealed to possess a power that can control almost everyone in town. Then, after making a shocking discovery, Sookie, Bill, and Sam must form the last line of defense against a diabolical plan that raises this award-winning series to bloody new heights.

Awards:
Won:
American Film Institute Awards (2009)  TV Programs of the Year
Anatomy Awards (2009)  Best First-Time Nude Scene (Lizzy Caplan)
Anatomy Awards (2009)  Best TV Show
Scream Awards (2009)  Best Horror Actor (Stephen Moyer)
Scream Awards (2010)  Best Horror Actor (Alexander Skarsgård)
Scream Awards (2009)  Best Horror Actress (Anna Paquin)
Scream Awards (2010)  Best Horror Actress (Anna Paquin)
Scream Awards (2010)  Best TV Show
Scream Awards (2009)  Best Villian (Alexander Skarsgård)
Scream Awards (2010)  Holy Sh*t! Scene of the Year ("Head Twisted 180 Degrees During Sex":)
Nominated:
Anatomy Awards (2010)  Best Nude Scene - TV (Anna Paquin)
Anatomy Awards (2010)  Best TV Show
Golden Globe (2009)  Actress - Television Drama Series (Anna Paquin)
Golden Globe (2009)  Television Series - Drama
Primetime Emmy Awards (2010)  Outstanding Drama Series
Scream Awards (2010)  Best Breakout Performance Female (Deborah Ann Woll)
Scream Awards (2009)  Best Ensemble
Scream Awards (2010)  Best Ensemble
Scream Awards (2009)  Best Horror Actor (Ryan Kwanten)
Scream Awards (2010)  Best Horror Actor (Stephen Moyer)
Scream Awards (2009)  Best Supporting Actor (Nelson Ellis)
Scream Awards (2010)  Best Supporting Actor (Sam Trammell)
Scream Awards (2009)  Best Supporting Actress (Rutina Wesley)
Scream Awards (2010)  Best Television Prformance (Alexander Skarsgård)
Scream Awards (2009)  Best TV-Show
Scream Awards (2010)  Most Memorable Mutilation ("Heart Cut Out of Chest, Cup Up Into Soufflé and Fed To People":)
Scream Awards (2009)  Scream Song of the Year ("Bad Things": Jace Everett)
Scream Awards (2010)  The Ultimate Scream

Extras:
  • Booklet
  • Commentary
  • Enhanced Viewing Mode
  • Featurettes
  • Picture-in-picture


My Thoughts:
A good series, but not one I really can get into. I just don't really like any of the characters. Also the majority of this season was about clichéd religious group out to get the vampires. And when this storyline was finally over, another stupid one started (minor spoiler ahead). The whole town under mind control and acting shit-crazy.
Also this series is full of corny lines and takes every chance it gets to get the people naked. They have to take advantage of being on HBO apparently.
This season had some interesting aspects though. But I enjoyed Moonlight a lot more overall.

#EpisodeRating
01Nothing But the Blood
02Keep This Party Going
03Scratches
04Shake and Fingerpop
05Never Let Me Go
06Hard Hearted Hannah
07Release Me
08Timebomb
09I Will Rise Up
10New World in My View
11Frenzy
12Beyond Here Lies Nothin'



Offline Tom

  • Mega Heavy Poster
  • *******
  • Posts: 6271
  • Country: de
    • View Profile
    • Cinematic Collection Viewer
Re: Tom's Random Reviews
« Reply #881 on: February 22, 2011, 10:15:50 PM »
     Hinokio (2005/Japan)
IMDb | Wikipedia

Asia Video Publishing, Intercontinental Video (Hong Kong)
Director:Takahiko Akiyama
Writing:Takahiko Akiyama (Screenwriter), Masumi Suetani (Screenwriter), Shoji Yonemura (Screenwriter)
Length:111 min.
Video:Anamorphic Widescreen 1.85
Audio:Japanese: Dolby Digital EX 5.1 (Matrixed 6.1), Japanese: DTS ES 5.1 (Matrixed 6.1), Cantonese: Dolby Digital EX 5.1 (Matrixed 6.1)
Subtitles:Chinese, English

Stars:
Masatoshi Nakamura as Kaoru Iwamoto
Kanata Hongô as Satoru Iwamoto
Mikako Tabe as Jun Kudo
Maki Horikita as Eriko Akishima
Ryoko Kobayashi as Sumire Takasaka

Plot:
Satoru, a heartbroken boy who has withdrawn into his room for a year, uses a remote-controlled robot called "Hinokio" to take his first cautious, fearful step into the outside world again. He goes to school and finds fellowship. Then, through an encounter with a girl called Jun, he reconnects with humanity and feels once again the sensation of warm human touch. But Jun deeply desires to meet directly with the real Satoru, instead of meeting him through the robot. Satoru,who also wants to experience the world directly, activates the robot's sensation mode, exposing himself to mortal threat. Jun risks all in an attempt to rescue him...

Extras:
  • Scene Access
  • Trailers


My Thoughts:
A very good and touching movie. A hikikomori (shut-in) takes his first steps back into the real world with the help of a remote-controlled robot. They really did a great job with the robot. It doesn't look ridiculous at any time. The title of course is a play on "Pinoccio".

Rating:



Offline Tom

  • Mega Heavy Poster
  • *******
  • Posts: 6271
  • Country: de
    • View Profile
    • Cinematic Collection Viewer
Re: Tom's Random Reviews
« Reply #882 on: March 03, 2011, 09:22:48 PM »
     Jesus Christ Vampire Hunter (2001/Canada)
IMDb | Wikipedia

Eclectic DVD, Odessa Filmworks (United States)
Director:Lee Gordon Demarbre
Writing:Ian Driscoll (Writer)
Length:85 min.
Video:Widescreen 1.78
Audio:English: Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo
Subtitles:

Stars:
Ivan Freud as Narrator
Erica Murton as Maggie
Murielle Varhelyi as Maxine Schrek
Tim Devries as Father Eustace
Glen Jones as Father Alban

Plot:
And so it came to pass that technology begat a new High Definition transfer of Jesus Christ, Vampire Hunter, produced from the original 16mm negative. And all who look upon it saw that it was good.

The second coming is upon us, and Jesus has returned to earth. But before he can get down to the serious business of judging the living and the dead, he has to contend with an army of vampires that can walk in the daylight.

Combining kung-fu action with biblical prophecy and a liberal dose of humour, the film teams the Savior with Mexican wrestling hero El Santos against mythological horrors and science gone mad, and also manages to address contemporary sexual politics. And did we mention that it's a musical?

This sure ain't Sunday school.

Extras:
  • Featurettes
  • Photo Gallery
  • Scene Access
  • Trailers


My Thoughts:
What a shitty movie. I expected a fun mix between Jesus Christ Superstar and Lesbian Vampire Killers. I knew that it was a low-budget independet production, but I didn't expect such an amateurish production. And it was so unfunny. And hardly any musical numbers and the ones that were there were horrible. Boring and cheap fight scenes. Jesus lost his long hair and beard after his first scene making him just another guy. I haven't been this disappointed by a purchase for a long time.

Rating:



Offline Tom

  • Mega Heavy Poster
  • *******
  • Posts: 6271
  • Country: de
    • View Profile
    • Cinematic Collection Viewer
Re: Tom's Random Reviews
« Reply #883 on: March 05, 2011, 12:30:04 AM »
     Return to Me (2000/United States)
IMDb | Wikipedia

MGM Home Entertainment (United Kingdom)
Director:Bonnie Hunt
Writing:Bonnie Hunt (Original Material By), Don Lake (Original Material By), Andrew Stern (Original Material By), Samantha Goodman (Original Material By), Bonnie Hunt (Screenwriter), Don Lake (Screenwriter)
Length:111 min.
Video:Anamorphic Widescreen 1.85
Audio:English: Dolby Digital 5.1, German: Dolby Digital 5.1, French: Dolby Digital 5.1, Italian: Dolby Digital 5.1, Spanish: Dolby Digital 5.1, Commentary: Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo
Subtitles:Danish, Dutch, English, Finnish, French, German, Greek, Hungarian, Italian, Norwegian, Polish, Portuguese, Spanish, Swedish

Stars:
David Duchovny as Bob Rueland
Minnie Driver as Grace Briggs
Carroll O'Connor as Marty O'Reilly
Robert Loggia as Angelo Pardipillo
Bonnie Hunt as Megan Dayton

Plot:
Who knew that when he ordered the special, he'd get the dish of his life? David Duchovny ("The 'X'-Files") and Minnie Driver (Good Will Hunting) ignite sparks in this warm-hearted winner about a widower and a waitress who meet and fall in love. Featuring an incredible all-star cast, this hilarious romantic comedy delivers a lot of laughs, tears and joys that will make your spirits soar.

It took a lot of coaxing to get Bob (Duchovny), a recently-widowed architect, to go on a blind date at a quirky Irish-Italian eatery. Once there, he's smitten instantly... not with his date, but with the sharp-witted waitress, Grace (Driver). With unsolicited help from Grace's match-making Grandfather (Carroll O'Connor), Bob asks her out. And as their relationship blossoms, everything seems to be going great, until an unbelievable truth is revealed... one that could easily break both of their hearts for good.

Awards:
Nominated:
Young Artist Awards (2001)  Best Family Feature Film – Comedy

Extras:
  • Commentary
  • Deleted Scenes
  • Music Videos
  • Scene Access
  • Trailers


My Thoughts:
A nice movie but really no surprises. The first forty minutes were also quite boring until the two main characters finally meet for the first time. Both of them were likable characters. Though I have to say that David Duchovny put more into his man-crush on Larry Sanders (Garry Shandling) and had even better chemistry with him :laugh:
As a matter of fact him seeing on Larry Sanders Show put me into the mood to watch this movie tonight.

Rating:



Offline Tom

  • Mega Heavy Poster
  • *******
  • Posts: 6271
  • Country: de
    • View Profile
    • Cinematic Collection Viewer
Re: Tom's Random Reviews
« Reply #884 on: March 06, 2011, 10:55:04 AM »
     Big Daddy (1999/United States)
IMDb | Wikipedia

Columbia TriStar Home Video (United Kingdom)
Director:Dennis Dugan
Writing:Steve Franks (Screenwriter), Tim Herlihy (Screenwriter), Adam Sandler (Screenwriter), Steve Franks (Story By)
Length:89 min.
Video:Anamorphic Widescreen 1.85, Pan & Scan 1.33:1
Audio:English: Dolby Digital 5.1, German: Dolby Digital 5.1
Subtitles:Czech, Danish, Dutch, English, Finnish, German, Greek, Hebrew, Hindi, Hungarian, Icelandic, Norwegian, Polish, Swedish, Turkish

Stars:
Adam Sandler as Sonny
Joey Lauren Adams as Layla
Jon Stewart as Kevin
Cole Sprouse as Julian
Dylan Sprouse as Julian

Plot:
Thirty-two-year-old Sonny Koufax (ADAM SANDLER) has spent his whole life avoiding responsibility. But when his girlfriend dumps him for an older man, he's got to find a way to prove he's ready to grow up. In a desperate last-ditch effort, Sonny adopts five-year-old Julian (COLE SPROUSE, DYLAN SPROUSE) to impress her. She's not impressed... and he can't return the kid. Uh-oh for Sonny!

Awards:
Won:
Blockbuster Entertainment Awards (2000)  Favorite Actor - Comedy (Adam Sandler)
BMI Film & TV Music Awards (2000)  BMI Film Music Award (Teddy Castellucci)
Golden Raspberry Awards (1999)  Worst Actor (Adam Sandler)
MTV Movie Awards (2000)  Best Comedic Performance (Adam Sandler)
Teen Choice Awards (1999)  Film - Movie of the Summer
Nominated:
Blockbuster Entertainment Awards (2000)  Favorite Supporting Actor - Comedy (Cole Mitchell Sprouse, Dylan Sprouse)
Blockbuster Entertainment Awards (2000)  Favorite Supporting Actress - Comedy (Joey Lauren Adams)
Golden Raspberry Awards (1999)  Worst Director (Dennis Dugan)
Golden Raspberry Awards (1999)  Worst Picture
Golden Raspberry Awards (1999)  Worst Screenplay (Steve Franks and Tim Herlihy & Adam Sandler)
Golden Raspberry Awards (1999)  Worst Supporting Actor (Rob Schneider)
MTV Movie Awards (2000)  Best Male Performance (Adam Sandler)
MTV Movie Awards (2000)  Best On-screen Duo (Adam Sandler and Dylan and Cole Mitchell Sprouse)
Young Artist Awards (2000)  Best Performance in a Feature Film – Young Actor Age Ten or Under (Cole Mitchell Sprouse, Dylan Sprouse)
YoungStar Awards (1999)  Best Performance by a Young Actor in a Comedy Film (Cole Mitchell Sprouse, Dylan Sprouse)

Extras:
  • Featurettes
  • Music Videos
  • Production Notes
  • Scene Access
  • Trailers


My Thoughts:
I haven't seen this movie in years. I remember enjoying it much more. Now I find it mostly an unfunny affair. Interesting to see Jon Stewart in a rather big supporting part. I have a few other movies with him. Even one where he is the lead (Wishful Thinking). Recently I enjoyed it in his recurring role as himself on the Larry Sanders Show. I can't wait to have my faster internet connection so I can finally see his Daily Show more often via the official homepage.

Rating: