RoboCop 2 (1990)

Irvin Kershner ( of Star Wars: Episode V - The Empire Strikes Back fame) director & Frank Miller (he wrote The Dark Knight Return, and Dark Knight) on story!!

What a combo!!

Sequels do not get better then this!!

And being rated R, there are ALL KINDS OF violence in this one as well. WAY more then Robocop!!

Anything that is good about the 1st movie is augmented here!!

And it is great.

I believe this this trilogy is probably the last few big budget movie using the Stop Motion (Made famous by King Kong and Ray Harryhausen).

Also the video transfer for this movie is much much stronger compared to the 1st one.

If you like Scifi and violence, go for this.

(Again don't laugh many a people here are born after 1990)

My Two Sen

This post has been edited by Mov_freak: Aug 11 2013, 10:53 PM

RoboCop 3 (1993)

Here is a movie on how-to.

How to NOT make a sequel!!

First, they made it more appealing to kids (more like appealing to kids parents) by making it PG13...

Then they hired a TV director to direct this movie!!

Do not get me wrong, alot of TV directors when on and made good movies (eg. Joss Whedon anyone?) and have to add, this movie is SO BAD and basically killed the Robocop franchise, that the director, Fred Dekker had to stop directing... On that note, this feels alot more like a TV movie rather then a feature film...

Then when Peter Weller did not comeback as Robocop, they hired Robert John Burke as Robocop, and I can tell you, he does not know "the robot" as well as Peter...

Even with Frank Miller behind the script...

I have watched this before, and I knew it is a bad movie.

I forgot how bad it is until now... It is gonna take me a good decade before I can forgot how bad this movie is...

Hopefully with it recorded here, I do not have to make this mistake every again...

For the love of everything that is good, AVOID THIS LIKE THE PLAGUE!!!

Even if you have ABSOLUTELY nothing to do, AVOID THIS!!

I have watched this CRAP so you don't have to...

My Two Sen...

Shadow of a Doubt (1943)

This is Alfred Hitchcock's favorite movie.

He has a formula. His leading man is always brunette and his leading lady is blond. If you watch his movie, you will notice is is always true, there are exceptions... Namely Rope (1948) and this!!

This movie is one of the movies that Hitchcock film on location. He is not happy with going on location, because he has no control over lighting...

Interestingly, I believe I've only watched this once before, on Australia TV...

The story is unique, in a sense that the leading man plays the uncle to the leading lady...



Interesting movie and the ending...

Unusual even for a Hitchcock movie

Lover of Hitchcock movie, you know what you should do.

My Two Sen

So... which year was that??

ZU Warriors from the Magic Mountain (1983) (not the be confused with [Zu Warriors (2001)]

This is a blast from the past!!

Probably Tsui Hark BIGGEST project after film school (he supposedly went to the same film school as Lucas, and they know each other).

They are some practical shots here that I still wonder how they did it!!

They also hired the special effects guy from Star Wars to help out with effect (later part of the movie)

And Frankly I like what the did in the first half rather then the second half

This is a far cry from the 60s Black and White Buddha's Palm serials!!

Flying sword and cymbals (I kid you not). Laser beams, flying beings!! FUN!!

(ZU period in Chinese history supposedly occurred a couple of thousand years before Qin Dynasty)

The video transfer is not up to par with what Shaw Brothers did for their library...

Frankly I have not seen anything outside of Shaw Library that impresses me and alot of it boils down to how well the masters have been kept, and I don't think they are WELL kept at ALL.

Still a hoot to watch after all these years...

Warning many of you will laugh at the production value.

It is more of a nostalgia for me!!

My Two Sen

This post has been edited by Mov_freak: Aug 21 2013, 03:57 AM

Dark Angel (1990)

Ah... Dolph Lundgren. After playing the bad guy in Rocky IV (1985), everyone expected him to be a BIG star!!

He was first pick for the role of He-Man in Masters of the Universe (1987) and were in several high profile projects namely The Punisher (1989) and Universal Soldier (1992), with equally unlucky Jean-Claude Van Damme) and have to add, true movie star status had always alluded him.

Which is an enigma, he is tall, good looking, athletic and smart (he has a master's degree in chemical engineering, which he got through a scholarship)

Looking at this movie, from a script point of view, it is actually decent. Almost at par with the original Terminator (1984). Even the production value is almost that of Terminator!!?!

The difference is Craig R. Baxley (the director) with an estimated budget of $7,000,000 is a much better Stunt Coordinator (although he had since done TV Series which I like, like Human Target) could not do what James Cameron achieved with an estimated budget of $6,400,000 in Terminator. The difference, the passion for making movie. I believe James Cameron poured body and soul into the making of Terminator, while Craig R. Baxley wanted good stunts in this movie, and it shows...

Dolph Lundgren is actually decent here and spoke with a convincing American accent!!

The Good Alien and Bad Alien (I kid you not, that is how they are referred to in the end credits) could have been much MUCH better...

The premised for the whole movie is also quite decent, and when you are watching the movie, you just feel that it is... lacking...

Shame, this was suppose to be the movie which would launch Dolph Lundgren into stardom... Now, he is designated to plays the "Hey I Know That Face" thug roles in movies...

Video and Audio is decent and are nothing to shout about...

My Two Sen

This post has been edited by Mov_freak: Aug 15 2013, 04:43 PM

Scooby-Doo! Stage Fright (2013)

Now for something completely different!

I watch alot of Scooby Doo.

I actually think the live action movies are actually decent.

This year Warner Brothers seems to have a couple of direct to video Scooby Doo animation planned.

A few bits of trivia that some of you might not know are, Frank Welker the voice actor, voices both Scooby Doo and Fred Jones, Casey Kasem from American Top 40 is the original voice behind Shaggy and now Matthew Lillard (from the Scooby Doo live action movie has taken over the role) and Mindy Cohn from The Facts of Live (1979 - 1988) is the voice behind Velma!!

This direct to video animation is actually pretty good!!

Scooby Doo meets American Idol + Phantom of the Opera!?!!!

Does this intrigue you??

My Two Sen

Teen Beach Movie (2013)

Now from something really REALLY completely different.

What is this REALLY old uncle watching this!!!

Well... I was sitting infront of the TV watching *GASP* Assteruk... and the ad came on for THIS!!!

And I went, okay... maybe I'll watch it.

And I did!!

This is what is interesting about this

1) Like High School Musical (2006), which retells the story of Grease (1978) [which in it self is a musical adaption of Romeo and Juliet, but with a happy ending], this is a modern retelling of West Side Story (1961)!

2) The script for this TV Movie is actually stronger then some of the big budget movies!!! What gives??????

This movie does not pretend to be anything then what it is. And actually makes fun if itself... That is actually quite brilliant...

It pays homage to alot of the Saturday matinee beach movie from the sixties with Ms. Annette Funicello (from the Mickey Mouse Club... er the original Mickey Mouse Club... No, no not when Ryan Gosling, Christina Aguilera, Britney Spears and Justin Timberlake... Before that, more like Kevin Corcoran and Annette Funicello....? Oh never mind!!

Lots of music, lots of fun and woman empowering.

The message to little girls in this movie, is much MUCH healthier than the one in Twilight, that's for sure....

If you want a fun movie to watch with your little kids... Go for it!!

My Two Sen

Pain & Gain (2013)

With Michael Bay as director, Mark Wahlberg & Dwayne Johnson as leads, should be an okay film RIGHT!!?

WRONG!!

I thought Mark Wahlberg had gone on the record and said he would not be in a movie he would not be proud to show to his kids... Well, he would probably keep this from them for a long... LONG time.

It is bad.

Michael bay directing a COMEDY... Granted a Dark comedy, but a COMEDY????

There is absolutely, positively nothing that ir redeeming about this movie.

Even with the great Tony Shalhoub, this movie is a DUD!!!

There is NOT one likeable character in this movie. NOT ONE!!!?!

Consider yourself warned kiddies!! CONSIDER YOURSELF WARNED!!!!!

My Two Sen

This post has been edited by Mov_freak: Aug 21 2013, 03:54 AM

You are welcome.

You want to hear something insidious...

There is an actor in there who LOOKS exactly like Zac Efron and another actress who looks EXACTLY like Selena Gomez....

I'm hypothesizing that Disney actually have a factory somewhere which "manufacture" their young stars!!!! *Shivers*

Iron Man 3 (2013) Addendum

Well, I have to say, this movie is better at second viewing...

The story feels better flesh out...

And I appreciate Tony/Robert, more. Having more time to see how invested he is in the role.

I remember that when I was watching this in the cinema, the air force one sequence was breathtaking. I remember thinking to myself, how did they make that so believably using green screen. The answer, it was shot practical, which explain why... WOW...

I feel that the special bonus is a little thin. Apart from the making of the Air Force One sequence, what I like most is the Peggy Carter's (Hayley Atwell) Marvel One-Shot: Agent Carter short. It does explain what happened to the character, after Captain America got frozen!! I am also glad that she would also be appearing in Captain America: The Winter Soldier (2014). YEAH!!!

Pic and Sound quality, FANTASTIC!!

My ADDED Two Sen.

This post has been edited by Mov_freak: Aug 23 2013, 10:38 PM

The Jungle Book (1967)

This is suppose to be Walt Disney second last project before his passing...

And have to add, my favorite hand drawn animation...

I believe most people would be familiar with the movie, what I would like to highlight here are

1) The animation supposedly had a second ending story boarded... And they showed it here... A VERY different movie indeed. Each ending has it's own merit, and I believe the ending that made it, is the better.

2) If you are a Disney animation fan, you would have probably heard of the term The Nine Old Man, there is a special documentary here where Olie's son, goes around to most of the children of The Nine Old Man to find out from them first hand, how it was like grown up with one of the Nine Old Man as dad... Very informative...

If they are pulling all these stuff out for Bluray releases... I'm really at lost as to what additional information can they present in the 4K (which I don't think will take off)/8K releases!!!

My added two sen.

Elysium (2013)

Hahahahahahaha!

Do you know why I'm laughing?

I almost gave Elysium a miss at the cinema.

Now that I had watched it, in the cinema, boy am I glad I did not!!!!

Neill Blomkamp wowed me with his District 9. And now, Elysium!!



Many a directors have impressed me, M. Night Shyamalan with his The Sixth Sense (1999) , Oxide Pang Chun, Danny Pang with their The Eye (2002) (Hong Kong) and Simon West with his Con Air (1997) .

The difference is that their subsequent movies got progressively worst!!

It took Neill Blomkamp 5 years from District 9 to write and make this and by taking his time to get the story right, I Am WOWED, AGAIN!!!!

Jodie Foster is juicily bad!! Sharlto Copley from super geek to super villain!!?! Diego Luna, I believe would be the next breakout star!! Matt Damon, whom I thought was a miscast, turned out to be NOT (and boy am I glad I was wrong)!!!

Good script people, GOOD SCRIPT!!

Very original (well the concept is NOT original, but by Jove the presentation IS!!!)

And to add to THAT, because it is R rated (for violence), the censorship board, did nothing to THIS!! (Good/Bad depending on your point of view)

So, in short, do I recommend this to anyone who would not be disturbed by the violence!??

And the verdict is YES!!!!

My Two Sen.

Wow... You hate it. You REALLY hate it!!

This post has been edited by Mov_freak: Aug 25 2013, 05:31 PM

Ace Ventura: Pet Detective (1994)

Okay, lets address the elephant in the room here...

This is by no means a material to use as HD reference material.

PQ and SQ is just okay.

Even the color of this movie is... dull!!

In 1994, this movie was... the bomb!!! From a comedy movie perspective.

This movie made Jim Carrey into a household name. With his "in your face" brand of humor.

With comedies that we are exposed to nowadays, this movie is almost... tame!!

Try this out on a lazy Sunday afternoon if you have nothing better to do/have not watch it before.

My Two Sen

This post has been edited by Mov_freak: Aug 26 2013, 03:43 PM

Hansel and Gretel (Korean, 2007)

I'm the first to admit, I do not watch that many Korean movies.

I don't think this is the first horror movie I had seen from Korea.

Not used to their pacing...

And am lost with the use of Hansel and Gretel...

Start out promising..

There are some spookiness in the middle and then the last bit kinda lost me...

I think the script writer and director, was a little unsure about what movie they are trying to accomplish...

My Two Sen

Thank you kawaii87 for you recommendations. Will check them out. I'm assuming that they are Korean horror.

Okay. Thank you very much. As stated above, will Check them out.

X-Men (2000)

Ah...

I'm sure Disney is still kicking themselves that Marvel had licensed out the movie rights to the X-Men to 20th Century Fox before they had purchased Marvel. I believe they are working very hard to change that, which explains why 20th Century Fox is churning out movie like Wolverine, so they can keep licensing the movie rights to the X-Men (eg. if they stop making X-Men movie, after a few years, the right revert back to Marvel/Disney, like with the Daredevil movie rights. 20th Century Fox had obtain the movie license for Daredevil and because they had not done anything with the material, Disney had gotten back the material. Which explains the reboot of Fantastic Four and on and on...)

Even more so, since the Wolverine's debacle....

This is probably Bryan Singer's most recognized work, okay, maybe 2nd, after X-Men 2.

In 2000 (where I watched this at the USJ Summit's THX cinema), there was not any movie like this, NOW?... We are saturated by movies like this.

The only mystery to me, is that he had chosen to place the lead on Logan / Wolverine (Hugh Jackman) and Rogue / Marie (Anna Paquin [my what a career she is having... From the little girl in the movie, The Piano (1993) to the NOT SO little girl in True Blood (2008)... ) when there are so MANY other characters to choose from...

Another bit of trivia I'm sure most of you already know was, Wolverine was supposed to be played by Dougray Scott, but because of conflict of schedule with Mission Impossible II (2000), he decided to let go of the Wolverine role... A decision in which I am very sure he is still KICKING HIMSELF for!!...

Having said the above, Magneto and Professor X, I admit at their age, I cannot imagine another people in these roles....

I really do not have to go into the movie script and such, but what I'm want to express his is, from a bluray point of view, I'm a little disappointed with the Picture Quality... which is a dash soft... But the Audio quality on the other is, is pretty good!!

My Two Sen

Die Nibelungen: Siegfried (1924)


Now for something completely different.

This is probably one of Fritz Lang best known work (the other being Metropolis (1927))

They are silent movies... (for you young'un, the first movies were silent. They have not really figured out how to record sound, or more specifically, how to synchronize sound with moving picture.)

This is a fantasy movie, with Dragons (the highlight of the movie. A 60 feet mechanical dragon was made for this movie), people with special powers (Siegfried is super strong, invincible and can turn invisible and shape shift).

This is a full restoration.

Note that this movie is 89 years old.

There is no way the picture quality of this would compare to what we have now...

Having said that, as a 89 year old movie, It actually looks... good. Not as impressive as Metropolis (1927), but good.

What impress me most is the soundtrack. Let me explain, Silent movie we almost always accompanied by an orchestra. They would play music and product "sound effects" in synch with the movie.

What the restores did (and this is impressive) as to go back into the archive and look for the original score, and did a modern recording of the said score for the restored movie. Now THAT is dedication!!

Many works from the silent era is fast disappearing.

They are either bio degrading in storage somewhere or is lost completely (even Willis H. O'Brien stuff. He is Ray Harryheusen teacher/mentor).

There isn't much funding to restore them and I suppose, there really is not much demand for said movies (with some exception, like Charlie Chaplin)

This movie is NOT for everyone, but if you are into black & white and silent movie, you cannot go wrong with this!

Bring on Nosferatu (1922)!!!

My Two Sen.

This post has been edited by Mov_freak: Sep 7 2013, 10:40 AM