Topic: Weekend Movie Marathon: Celebrity Birthdays January 17-23

[addicted2dvd]

Weekend Movie Marathon
Celebrity Birthdays: January 17-23
After 2 weeks without watching any movies to speak of... I decided it was time to hit some movies this weekend. I felt I wanted a theme as I haven't done one in a while. But at the same time I felt that I wanted lots of freedom... lots of choices to choose from. Whether I seen them before... or out of my unwatched pile. So I decided to see which celebrities had birthdays this past week... and choose something that I have with them in it in my collection. I figured that would give me lots of choices.

Celebrity Birthdays: January 17-23

January 17: - Aaliyah - John Hamilton	January 18: - Jason Segel - Kevin Costner - Danny Kaye - Cary Grant - Oliver Hardy	January 19: - Drea de Matteo - Dolly Parton - Tippi Hedren - Jean Stapleton	January 20: - Skeet Ulrich - Lorenzo Lamas - Bill Maher - Patricia Neal - DeForest Kelly
January 21: - Wolfman Jack - Geena Davis	January 22: - Piper Laurie - Bill Bixby - John Hurt - Linda Blair - Balthazar Getty	January 23: - Randolph Scott - Gil Gerard - Rutger Hauer - Mariska Hargitay - Tiffani-Amber Thiessen

Movies to Choose From:
BOLD titles are titles in my Unwatched pile.

- The 10th Kingdom (Rutger Hauer)
- 3000 Miles to Graceland (Kevin Costner)
- Alien (John Hurt)
- Assault on Precinct 13 (2005) (Drea de Matteo)
- Batman Begins (Rutger Hauer)
- Beetlejuice (Geena Davis)
- Big City Blues (Balthazar Getty)
- The Birds (Tippi Hedren)
- Blood Angels (Lorenzo Lamas)
- Bone Eater (Gil Gerard)
- Buffy the Vampire Slayer (Rutger Hauer)
- Can't Hardly Wait (Jason Segel)
- Captain Kidd (Randolph Scott)
- Carrie (Piper Laurie)
- Confessions of a Dangerous Mind (Rutger Hauer)
- Contact (John Hurt)
- The Craft (Skeet Ulrich)
- Cutthroat Island (Geena Davis)
- Darkwolf (Tippi Hedren)
- Death of The Incredible Hulk (Bill Bixby)
- Dogville (John Hurt)
- Dracula III: Legacy (Rutger Hauer)
- Dragonfly (Kevin Costner)
- Earth Girls are Easy (Geena Davis)
- EdTV (Bill Maher)
- Eulogy (Piper Laurie)
- The Exorcist (Linda Blair)
- The Faculty (Piper Laurie)
- Flash Gordon: Space Soldiers Conquers The Universe (John Hamilton)
- The Fly (Geena Davis)
- The Flying Deuces (Oliver Hardy)
- From Dusk till Dawn 2: Texas Blood Money (Tiffani-Amber Thiessen)
- The Guardian (Kevin Costner)
- Gung Ho! (Randolph Scott)
- Hard Cash (Balthazar Getty)
- Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone (John Hurt)
- Hell Night (Linda Blair)
- Hellboy (John Hurt)
- Hellboy II: The Golden Army (John Hurt)
- Hemoglobin (Rutger Hauer)
- His Girl Friday (Cary Grant)
- House 2: The Second Story (Bill Maher)
- I Love You, Man (Jason Segel)
- In Harm's Way (Patricia Neal)
- The Incredible Hulk Returns (Bill Bixby)
- The Inspector General (Danny Kaye)
- Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull (John Hurt)
- Jocks (Mariska Hargitay)
- John Q (Bill Maher)
- Judge Dredd (Balthazar Getty)
- King Ralph (John Hurt)
- Lack Placid (Mariska Hargitay)
- Ladder 49 (Balthazar Getty)
- The Long Kiss Goodnight (Geena Davis)
- Lost Souls (John Hurt)
- Love Story (Gil Gerard)
- Marnie (Tippi Hedren)
- Merlin (Rutger Hauer)
- Miss Congeniality 2: Armed and Fabulous (Dolly Parton)
- Motel Hell (Wolfman Jack)
- Mr. Holland's Opus (Balthazar Getty)
- Open Range (Kevin Costner)
- Operation Pacific (Patricia Neal)
- Queen of the Damned (Aaliyah)
- Rage at Dawn (Randolph Scott)
- Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves (Kevin Costner)
- Romeo Must Die (Aaliyah)
- Salem's Lot (2004) (Rutger Hauer)
- Scream (Skeet Ulrich, Linda Blair)
- Scream 3 (Skeet Ulrich)
- Shriek if You Know What I Did Last Friday the 13th (Tiffani-Amber Thiessen)
- Silverado (Kevin Costner)
- The Skeleton Key (John Hurt)
- Spaceballs (John Hurt)
- Star Trek: The Motion Picture (DeForest Kelly)
- Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan (DeForest Kelly)
- Star Trek III: The Search for Spock (DeForest Kelly)
- Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home (DeForest Kelly)
- Star Trek V: The Final Frontier (DeForest Kelly)
- Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country (DeForest Kelly)
- Summer of Fear (Linda Blair)
- Surviving the Game (Rutger Hauer)
- To the Last Man (Randolph Scott)
- Transylvania 6-5000 (Geena Davis)
- Trial of the Incredible Hulk (Bill Bixby)
- Wyatt Earp (Kevin Costner)
- You've Got Mail (Jean Stapleton)
- V is for Vendetta (John Hurt)
- Zorro's Black Whip (John Hamilton)

As usual... if there is something in the above list that you would like me to watch... feel free to post about it. No guarantees I will get to it this weekend... but I will try. There is a fairly nice selection above that I would like to watch this weekend already. Some of which I seen before... others that I never seen.

[Achim]

Mr Holland's Opus
Alien
The Fly
Indiana Jones...

[addicted2dvd]

boy... didn't take long for someone to spot Mr. Holland's Opus in the list... did it? 

[Kathy]

Pete - Mr Holland's Opus is a wonderful movie - please give it a chance.

[addicted2dvd]

I have nothing against giving it a chance... well maybe one thing (Richard Dreyfuss)... but I will have to see whether or not I can get myself in the mood for it. You have to understand if I am to give it a fair chance I have to be in the right mood to get the most out of it.

[Achim]

I have nothing against giving it a chance... well maybe one thing (Richard Dreyfuss)... but I will have to see whether or not I can get myself in the mood for it. You have to understand if I am to give it a fair chance I have to be in the right mood to get the most out of it.

Agreed on the mood-thing...

But.....you don't like Dreyfuss..? He is a very solid actor! I have liked him since I first saw him in Jaws. I don't Ho around searching every one of his films, but he is far from a reason not o with one.

[addicted2dvd]

I don't know why... for some reason I never could stand him. I don't even think it has anything to do with his acting.... Some reason some people I just dislike from the first time I see them... and for some reason he is one of those for me. Not saying it makes sense... just is what it is.

[Tom]

Eulogy

[Najemikon]

Dreyfuss and Music? 

Ah, well, I suppose Mr. Holland's Opus on paper is probably the worst movie you can imagine! But actually, two wrongs make a right. Two negatives, a positive. They'll cancel each other out and you'll love it!

[addicted2dvd]

  I hope you are right Jon! 

[samuelrichardscott]

Eulogy

Second this one. Very underrated comedy and I enjoyed despite the fact I dislike most of the cast.

[addicted2dvd]

Title: The Fly
Year: 1986
Director: David Cronenberg
Rating: 18A (Canadian)
Length: 96 Min.
Video: Anamorphic Widescreen 1.85:1
Audio: English: Dolby Digital: 5.1, English: DTS: 5.1, French: Dolby Digital: 2-Channel Stereo, Spanish: Dolby Digital: Mono, Commentary: Dolby Digital: Dolby Surround
Subtitles: English, Spanish

Stars:
Jeff Goldblum
Geena Davis
John Getz
Joy Boushel
Les Carlson
George Chuvalo

Plot:
The gritty, realistic performances of Jeff Goldblum and Geena Davis are at the heart of this terrifying tale of a transformation too horrifying to bear...and too relentless to stop! Goldblum's experimental scientist has created a miraculous device...but in the course of testing it, he finds that his DNA is slowly bringing about a metamorphosis which will forever trap him in the body of a hideous monster...the Fly!

Extras:
Scene Access
Audio Commentary
Closed Captioned

My Thoughts:
I decided to watch this one today because today (January 21) is Geena Davis' 55th birthday.

This is an enjoyable movie. It is a bit on the disturbing as well as on the disgusting side. But I think it updated the Vincent price classic well. I can't say that I prefer the original or the remake because even though it has the same basic story — both movies are such a different style from one another that I enjoy each one pretty much the same amount for each of their particular styles. When I want the classic atmosphere of storytelling the Vincent Price version will more then satisfy. But this one is the one I want to see when I want a more disturbed... dark version of the story.

This movie came in a boxset with the sequel that I bought cheap from a friend in Canada. Which is the reason for the Canadian rating.  I really enjoyed this set... especially for the price I paid for it. But if there is one thing that could have been done better... it is the amount of extras. This movie only has a commentary track. Sure that is cool... but I would have liked to seen more stuff added.

My Rating:
Out of a Possible 5

[addicted2dvd]

Title: Eulogy: Widescreen
Year: 2004
Director: Michael Clancy
Rating: R
Length: 85 Min.
Video: Anamorphic Widescreen 1.85:1
Audio: English: Dolby Digital: 5.1, English: Dolby Digital: Dolby Surround
Subtitles: Spanish

Stars:
Zooey Deschanel
Micole Mercurio
Girls in Dorm RoomLucy Boyle
Tania Gunadi


Plot:
When three generations of a deliciously dysfunctional family gather to bury the family patriarch, the beloved granddaughter of the deceased is given the task of delivering the eulogy. In the days leading up to the funeral, family secrets are revealed, old grudges resurface and the household erupts with renewed vigor.

Extras:
Scene Access
Bonus Trailers
Deleted Scenes
Closed Captioned

My Thoughts:
This is one of the many movies that was given to me recently. Before it was given to me I never even heard of it before. Which is kinda surprising since it has so many familiar faces in it. After watching this one I am still trying to decide just how much I liked it. I definitely enjoyed it. Eulogy is a different kind of comedy. A dark comedy for sure. Not something you are going to sit in front of and literally laugh out loud at. I felt some scenes worked better then others... but over-all definitely worth watching. I think Zooey Deschanel was great in it. This is only the second thing I got to see her in. This and Elf... which I also liked her in. But I was really able to appreciate how good she is in this one. If you get the chance this movie is definitely worth checking out.

My Rating:
Out of a Possible 5

[Tom]

Glad you enjoyed it.

[Jimmy]

But if there is one thing that could have been done better... it is the amount of extras. This movie only has a commentary track. Sure that is cool... but I would have liked to seen more stuff added.

The canadian two disc special edition is loaded with extras as you can see below

and the second part is as full, but they cost me more than 30$ each when I got them in the store.