Vertigo - Alfred Hitchcock

2.5/5

I tried to get the big hooppla about it but just can't. good movie no doubt, I iked the acting, atmosphere, optic and cinematography and all, but the story? meehhh.... nice but at the level of an average Columbo epsiode at best. and they should have kept the twist til the end like orignally planned, and not given it away after 2/3rd of the movie
good, yes. but best of all times? no way. Citizen Kane is running circles around it. it's not even the best Hitchcok movie if you ask me, I waaaaay prefer Psycho and Rear Window. those I can watch once a year and not get bored, while Vertigo can have another break for 10 years now

[Edited 3/20/15 5:33am]

We watched "Horrible Bosses 2" last night. It should have been titled "Horrible Writing, Ewwww".

Zing!

The original was very funny, and "2" was too - for the first five minutes. In fact, the first five minutes had us rolling on the floor. So what happened after that?!?

Basically the rest of the movie was the three guys all talking at once, and very rarely saying anything funny. Also, a not-aging-well-at-all Jennifer "Jen" Aniston, The Artist Formerly Known As America's Sweetheart™ is once again reduced to spouting porn bromides. But this time they aren't so funny and the director gets so desparate at the end that he has The Artist Formerly Known As America's Sweetheart™ going lesbian on Charley's wife. Which might have been a little funny if Charley's wife didn't have three baby triplets with her at all times.

Even Jamie Foxxxxx as Motherf***er Jones couldn't save this one. And answer me this - why didn't Motherf****er Jones show up and buy the Three Stooges' loan and save the company? It would have been much more fun if the Three Stooges had ended up with Motherf****er Jones as their boss than Kevin Spacey. IMO, they should have left Spacey after the first scene in prison, which was the only other really funny scene in the movie.

Oh yeah - those were spoilers. Well, I guess if you haven't figured out by now that I always post spoilers in my reviews, then you just haven't been a big enough fan of my writing. What's wrong with you?!?

This movie was so unfunny that I didn't even watch the bloopers at the end. I just couldn't see any way they would make me laugh.

So the bottom line on "Horrible Bosses 2" is this - if you want to spend $6 on 5 minutes of really funny stuff then go ahead and rent this movie. The good news is that you only have to watch the first 5 minutes, since that's where all the laughs are.

I can only give this movie 5 out of 100 Possible Good Minutes, because that's really all there is.

SquirrelMeat said:

Yesterdee, was my birthday; my family treated me to dinner and a movie. Yep, I left my home to see a movie.


Alfred Hitchock, "Rear Window" . * * * * 4/4

TD3 said:

Yesterdee, was my birthday; my family treated me to dinner and a movie. Yep, I left my home to see a movie.


Alfred Hitchock, "Rear Window" . * * * * 4/4

Happy belated birthday!

RodeoSchro said:

TD3 said:

Yesterdee, was my birthday; my family treated me to dinner and a movie. Yep, I left my home to see a movie.


Alfred Hitchock, "Rear Window" . * * * * 4/4

Happy belated birthday!

Thank you

Ps. "Rear Window" may still be playing near a theatre near you date(s) - March, 22 thru 25

Focus 5 / 10

The Cobbler 5 / 10

Sort of a coming of age movie about a 15 year old boy in Texas whose father is a brutal alcoholic. The kid sees a father figure in Nicolas Cage (who, by the way, delivers a great performance as Joe Ransom, another brutal (semi)alcoholic in the movie).

Great acting, great movie, beautiful landscapes, and a very touching story.

Nice to know that Nicolas Cage still has some of the fire in him that once made him such an enjoyable actor. I don´t like the word comeback but this is a good movie to showcase Mr. Cage´s talent. Poor man has been ridiculed for so long and chose the wrong movies but this one is highly recommended. The pace is a bit slow, but not too slow.

Five out of five.

Kingsman: The Secret Service (2014) - A spy organization recruits an unrefined, but promising street kid into the agency's ultra-competitive training program, just as a global threat emerges from a twisted tech genius.

Very silly, but a lot of fun. The way the fight scenes were filmed looked amazing. And the last pre-credits scene was awesome. 1/2

[Edited 3/31/15 15:54pm]

Z.O.M.G.!!!!! I just spent one hour watching the two greatest things ever posted to YouTube. Get this:

Someone actually took the time to count and post every single person/thing killed by Arnold Schwarzenegger and Sylvester Stallone! We're talking a body count in excess of 1,000! All annotated!

The Stallone video is worth watching for the "Tango and Cash" scene. Awesome sauce! And yes, I know "Awesome sauce!" is lame-o, which is why it is the perfect exhortation when talking about "Tango and Cash". Trust me, but watch the video!

I was semi-distressed to see that Sly leads Arnold in body-count by 30 or so bad guys but you have to remember these mitigating factors:

1. Arnold took six or seven years off to be governor of the largest state in the country
2. The Terminator only killed people in the first movie, so Arnold spent two entire "Terminator" movies basically killing no one but the bad Terminator
3. Stallone wiped out an entire country in "Rambo 3"

If not for the magnificent, overlooked-by-Oscar tour defroce known as "Commando" the body count disparity would be even greater. Wow, did Arnold lay some waste in "Commando"!

It's interesting to note that in 35 "Rocky" movies, Rocky has actually killed no one. Which makes "Rocky III" an even greater movie than I thought it was, which hardly seems possible. If you haven't seen "Rocky III" then your life is not complete.

These are both rated 10 stars out of a possible 5 stars. Enjoy!


ARNOLD


SYLVESTER STALLONE

RodeoSchro said:

Z.O.M.G.!!!!! I just spent one hour watching the two greatest things ever posted to YouTube. Get this:

Someone actually took the time to count and post every single person/thing killed by Arnold Schwarzenegger and Sylvester Stallone! We're talking a body count in excess of 1,000! All annotated!

The Stallone video is worth watching for the "Tango and Cash" scene. Awesome sauce! And yes, I know "Awesome sauce!" is lame-o, which is why it is the perfect exhortation when talking about "Tango and Cash". Trust me, but watch the video!

I was semi-distressed to see that Sly leads Arnold in body-count by 30 or so bad guys but you have to remember these mitigating factors:

1. Arnold took six or seven years off to be governor of the largest state in the country
2. The Terminator only killed people in the first movie, so Arnold spent two entire "Terminator" movies basically killing no one but the bad Terminator
3. Stallone wiped out an entire country in "Rambo 3"

If not for the magnificent, overlooked-by-Oscar tour defroce known as "Commando" the body count disparity would be even greater. Wow, did Arnold lay some waste in "Commando"!

It's interesting to note that in 35 "Rocky" movies, Rocky has actually killed no one. Which makes "Rocky III" an even greater movie than I thought it was, which hardly seems possible. If you haven't seen "Rocky III" then your life is not complete.

These are both rated 10 stars out of a possible 5 stars. Enjoy!


ARNOLD


SYLVESTER STALLONE

Force Majeure – 4/5 Pretty great drama that bears a fair amount of resemblance to The Loneliest Planet; a character’s instinctive act in a crisis changes how he’s viewed. Unlike The Loneliest Planet, this movie is not soul-crushingly boring, which might mean Sexton didn’t like it as much.

"It Follows." 7.5/10.

Music was great. Like its own separate character in the movie.

damosuzuki said:

Force Majeure – 4/5 Pretty great drama that bears a fair amount of resemblance to The Loneliest Planet; a character’s instinctive act in a crisis changes how he’s viewed. Unlike The Loneliest Planet, this movie is not soul-crushingly boring, which might mean Sexton didn’t like it as much.

I gave both movies the same rating. I don't know why the impression I got from the American trailer was that Force Majeure would be more comedic than it was. It was quite serious.

3 cœurs / 3 Hearts (2014) - A tax inspector (Benoît Poelvoorde), his new bride and her sister become entwined in a love triangle.

Once I got past the far-fetched premise, I found it enjoyable--mostly because I love Charlotte Gainsbourg and Catherine Deneuve, who admittedly is a bit wasted in her role.

Viridiana (1961) - Viridiana, a young nun about to take her final vows, pays a visit to her widowed uncle at the request of her Mother Superior.

One of my favorites by Luis Buñuel. 1/2

El ángel exterminador / The Exterminating Angel (1962) - The guests at an upper-class dinner party find themselves unable to leave.

More unconventional than Viridiana and that takes away a bit of its appeal for me. Still very good though.

I watched Exodus: Gods & Kings PPV yesterday...It was terrible and beyond boring. Christian Bale is an Acting Genius but he could not save Exodus from being a cinematic flop. I can't believe Ridley Scott THOUGHT he had a great film when the editing was done. The movie is awful..

Brendan said:

Going Clear: Scientology and the Prison of Belief (2015) [img:$uid]http://s26.postimg.org/3terj3sjd/image.jpg[/img:$uid] A large congregation rises as one to salute a two-story portrait of the profit (L. Ron Hubbard) hung above a monstrous stage barren but for a single ostentatious pulpit (think "Citizen Kane" scale) squeezed by the new commander and chief with a militarily precision that carries no doubts. Humility grows as you do. And a true religion — despite its many human flaws — is open and upfront and can be summed up in seconds. The opposite way is built on a pathological self importance that survives only in a praise worthy of those considered wise enough to stay instructed in it. Such is the grand glimpse and almost too-bizarre-to-be-believed narrative heard on "Going Clear: Scientology and the Prison of Belief" adapted from a book of nearly the same name. The story is told through the extraordinary bravery of some of its ex-members, secured by decades of experience and indoctrinated to the highest levels. Apparently HBO has lawyered-up significantly to brace for the inevitable. Hopefully some day that'll play a part in bringing more of its opposite strength to bear. 4.5/5 ----- [Edited 4/6/15 3:53am]

I knew very little about Hubbard, it was nice to get some back ground story. I don't believe in any institution who bullies their ex-members or forbids communication with family or friends that don't believe the same things (That's what cults do.).

I watched most of “The Adjustment Bureau” Sunday morning, while getting ready for Easter brunch. Well, I have to say – TNT sure picked a sublime Easter movie for Easter morning!

The Bible says that everything we will do in our life is written in a book, and that God knows what is in that book. He knew us before we were formed in our mother’s womb.

This movie is based on that premise, except it has Men With Magic Hats. I wonder if any consideration was given to using Men Without Hats songs in the soundtrack? “Day After Day” would fit, and if we threw in some Men With Magic Hats that had Australian accents, “I Come From a Land Down Under” would have been awesome, too! Oh wait – that is Men At Work. Bummer. I guess there was no place in this movie for “The Safety Dance”, altough I missed the first 30 minutes so maybe there was a scene with dwarves and hot chicks running around in midevil clothes. Somebody fill me in if there was, I’ll go find this thing on NetFlix and watch that scene.

Matt Damon is some politician that makes a dandy speech after meeting a semi-beautiful woman in the bathroom and, of course, falling instantly and totally in love with her. So much in love that, if I was paying attention while dressing, he quits Congress and goes to work for an investment bank. Also, he spends three years looking for this chick and what do you know? He runs into her on the bus! However, little does he know the guy running after the bus is a Black Man In A Magic Hat who is chasing him.

Now things begin to get somewhat murky. See, the Black Man In A Magic Hat is trying to keep Matt Damon from meeting the semi-beautiful woman but fails somehow – even though he’s one of the Guys that knows everything before it happens. I think. But Matt Damon meets the semi-beautiful woman, gets her number, and then she flips him the bird when she gets off the bus. True love!

Time for Plan B by The Guys In The Magic Hats. Matt Damon runs into them as they are re-programming his partner, and he says, “WTF?!?” And then he takes off running but The Guys In The Magic Hats catch him on account of they can go through special doors, and they tie Matt Damon up. The Head Guy In A Magic Hat then decides that, rather than erase Matt Damon’s mind and make him a blithering idiot (which sounds redundant, since after all he was a politician), they make him promise not to tell anyone what he saw. Oh, and also he can’t ever see the semi-beautiful woman again. Because it turns out that if they get together, nothing happens. But if they stay apart, Matt Damon becomes president and saves the world. Toughest choice since Sophie had to decide which child lived and which one died! (I guess that was the choice she had. I never saw that movie. Looked like a downer to me.)

You can guess what happens next – Matt Damon ditches the girl, decides to run for the Senate, is way way waaaaay up in the polls, and then finds out the semi-beautiful woman is going to get married, so he shows up at the wedding just in time to tell her that he loves her, that his love transcends his potential ability to save the world, and that he’s really not crazy. Did you guess that? You should have!

To prove he’s not crazy, he takes the semi-beautiful woman with him as the Men With Magic Hats chase him. Luckily for him, The Black Guy With A Magic Hat has given him his Magic Hat, so now Matt Damon is A Guy That Also Has A Magic Hat. BUT BUT BUT – Matt Damon must NEVER EVER turn the door handle on the magic door counter-clockwise. Clockwise is cool; but counter-clockwise is UNCOOL.

Matt Damon takes the semi-beautiful woman through Magic Doors that end up in Yankee Stadium and then the Statue of Liberty. This convinces the semi-beautiful woman that Matt Damon is not actually crazy.

But The Men In Magic Hats trap Matt Damon so what does he do? What would YOU do? Turn a doorknob counter-clockwise, of course!

Which blows up the entire world.

Kidding! This puts Matt Damon and the semi-beautiful woman in a giant office which presumably is The Office Of The Chairman. You and I know The Chairman as God but He is really The Chairman. However, Matt Damon nevers gets anywhere close to The Chairman. I’m getting tired of capitalizing stuff so let’s just say that Matt Damon is spared and gets to keep his sanity, stay with the semi-beautiful woman, and probably also save the world as president of the United States, because he chose love over all else.

The Head Guy With A Magic Hat gets a letter from The Chairman, which I am guessing means The Chairman is going to scramble his brains.

I really liked this movie. It would have been good even on some other day than Easter. But since I saw it on Easter, I give it 4 Easter eggs out of a possible 5 Easter eggs.

Changeling
This movie had me on the edge of my seat yelling at the screen. With all the details I was thinking it must be a true story to have all these different aspects and specific dates... it was a true story.

Under The Skin (2013) - A mysterious woman seduces lonely men in the evening hours in Scotland. Events lead her to begin a process of self-discovery.

After watching this a second time, I like it even more.

RodeoSchro said:

I watched most of “The Adjustment Bureau” Sunday morning, while getting ready for Easter brunch. Well, I have to say – TNT sure picked a sublime Easter movie for Easter morning!

The Bible says that everything we will do in our life is written in a book, and that God knows what is in that book. He knew us before we were formed in our mother’s womb.

This movie is based on that premise, except it has Men With Magic Hats. I wonder if any consideration was given to using Men Without Hats songs in the soundtrack? “Day After Day” would fit, and if we threw in some Men With Magic Hats that had Australian accents, “I Come From a Land Down Under” would have been awesome, too! Oh wait – that is Men At Work. Bummer. I guess there was no place in this movie for “The Safety Dance”, altough I missed the first 30 minutes so maybe there was a scene with dwarves and hot chicks running around in midevil clothes. Somebody fill me in if there was, I’ll go find this thing on NetFlix and watch that scene.

Matt Damon is some politician that makes a dandy speech after meeting a semi-beautiful woman in the bathroom and, of course, falling instantly and totally in love with her. So much in love that, if I was paying attention while dressing, he quits Congress and goes to work for an investment bank. Also, he spends three years looking for this chick and what do you know? He runs into her on the bus! However, little does he know the guy running after the bus is a Black Man In A Magic Hat who is chasing him.

Now things begin to get somewhat murky. See, the Black Man In A Magic Hat is trying to keep Matt Damon from meeting the semi-beautiful woman but fails somehow – even though he’s one of the Guys that knows everything before it happens. I think. But Matt Damon meets the semi-beautiful woman, gets her number, and then she flips him the bird when she gets off the bus. True love!

Time for Plan B by The Guys In The Magic Hats. Matt Damon runs into them as they are re-programming his partner, and he says, “WTF?!?” And then he takes off running but The Guys In The Magic Hats catch him on account of they can go through special doors, and they tie Matt Damon up. The Head Guy In A Magic Hat then decides that, rather than erase Matt Damon’s mind and make him a blithering idiot (which sounds redundant, since after all he was a politician), they make him promise not to tell anyone what he saw. Oh, and also he can’t ever see the semi-beautiful woman again. Because it turns out that if they get together, nothing happens. But if they stay apart, Matt Damon becomes president and saves the world. Toughest choice since Sophie had to decide which child lived and which one died! (I guess that was the choice she had. I never saw that movie. Looked like a downer to me.)

You can guess what happens next – Matt Damon ditches the girl, decides to run for the Senate, is way way waaaaay up in the polls, and then finds out the semi-beautiful woman is going to get married, so he shows up at the wedding just in time to tell her that he loves her, that his love transcends his potential ability to save the world, and that he’s really not crazy. Did you guess that? You should have!

To prove he’s not crazy, he takes the semi-beautiful woman with him as the Men With Magic Hats chase him. Luckily for him, The Black Guy With A Magic Hat has given him his Magic Hat, so now Matt Damon is A Guy That Also Has A Magic Hat. BUT BUT BUT – Matt Damon must NEVER EVER turn the door handle on the magic door counter-clockwise. Clockwise is cool; but counter-clockwise is UNCOOL.

Matt Damon takes the semi-beautiful woman through Magic Doors that end up in Yankee Stadium and then the Statue of Liberty. This convinces the semi-beautiful woman that Matt Damon is not actually crazy.

But The Men In Magic Hats trap Matt Damon so what does he do? What would YOU do? Turn a doorknob counter-clockwise, of course!

Which blows up the entire world.

Kidding! This puts Matt Damon and the semi-beautiful woman in a giant office which presumably is The Office Of The Chairman. You and I know The Chairman as God but He is really The Chairman. However, Matt Damon nevers gets anywhere close to The Chairman. I’m getting tired of capitalizing stuff so let’s just say that Matt Damon is spared and gets to keep his sanity, stay with the semi-beautiful woman, and probably also save the world as president of the United States, because he chose love over all else.

The Head Guy With A Magic Hat gets a letter from The Chairman, which I am guessing means The Chairman is going to scramble his brains.

I really liked this movie. It would have been good even on some other day than Easter. But since I saw it on Easter, I give it 4 Easter eggs out of a possible 5 Easter eggs.

God, I love your reviews, Schro.

Empress said:

I watched Midnight in Paris (again). What an aweome movie. So sophisticated and unique. Owen Wilson was great and the beautiful backdrop of Paris is gorgeous. The music is beautiful too! One of my absolute favs of Woody Allen.

I watched it, too (Bravo, on Sunday, right?). This was my second time through.

Not one of my favorite Woody's, but undeniably a well-crafted film. And I like the message - that romanticizing the past is just that: a romanticization.

Agree that the photography of the city is really beautiful. Owen Wilson (as usual) is eminently likeable. Glad you enjoyed it!

sexton said:

Under The Skin (2013) - A mysterious woman seduces lonely men in the evening hours in Scotland. Events lead her to begin a process of self-discovery.

After watching this a second time, I like it even more.

Several people whose taste I respect (including you) have recommended this. It doesn't seem to be my kind of movie, though.

Loved it! Some formulaic moments and plot turns, but still enjoyable (and the last shot is clever and moving). Hugh Grant was great (funny and believable). Yet another casting of Allison Janney as an uptight, angry woman, though.