I'm sorry but I hated Chinatown. And it goes against every grain of knowledge ever passed down in film classes.

Nothing to be sorry about. Everybody has their likes and dislikes. It works for me. Maybe it's because I've never taken a film class?

It's a cliche with some truth in my case..."I don't know art, but I know what I like".

Of course I'm one of those freaks that liked the end to 2001, so I know I'm a little off. :shrug:

I know FMB will put a hit out on me when I admit to this, but I've never seen Chinatown. I know I should, but I just never got around to it.

IMO, it's worth a rental though it's certainly not everyone's cup of tea.

Just watched something that really impressed me. It was a made for HBO film called "Conspiracy". The script was almost entirely translated from the minutes of the Wannsee Conference. Kenneth Branagh plays Heydrich and Stanley Tucci is Eichmann. The whole film basically takes place around the conference table, and it is one of the most chilling things I've ever seen.

Your wife got excited. She crossed her legs a little too quick. Do you understand what I mean, pal?

Most people never have to face the fact that, at the right time and the right place, they're capable of anything.

In 1979 I was walking through University Mall in Pensacola, Florida and a TV store had movie posters of "Chinatown" in the window.

This was at a time when only Sony Betamax VCR's were available, and they were expensive and were primary used to record from television since there was little or no theatrical films yet available.

I asked the man what's with the "Chinatown" poster, he said we've got the new RCA video-disc player for $499.00, you can play movies at home on your television. I said do you have "Chinatown"? He said yes, it's $24.99, I said I'll take one video player and one "Chinatown" video-disc.

While I'm at it, here's my latest DVD ratings in order of rental:

Cloverfield - 9

Juno - 7

There Will be Blood - 9

Before the Devil Knows your Dead - 5

Lions for Lambs - 3

Walk Hard, the Dewey Cox Story - 7

I Am Legend - 8

The Mist - 8

Atonement - 6

American Gangster - 7

Michael Clayton - 8

30 Days of Night - 6

Gone Baby Gone - 8

Assassination of Jesse James - 9





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It's neo-noir. . . the same vein as L.A. Confidential.

Chinatown is one of my favorites. Apologize, and do three Hail Marys and an Our Father for those who don't like it.

You didn't like Before the Devil Knows You're Dead? How come?

How could you hate "Chinatown"?

It's based on a real character and real happenings. William Mulray based in part on the real William Mullholland, who designed waterways, reservoirs (like the one just behind my home - Lake Hollywood) and is responsible for the largest engineering tragedy in US history (a dam in Santa Clara he designed immediately broke and killed 450 people). The California Water Wars were real and that very same water led to the growth and population spurt of Southern California.

Throw in some intrigue, incest, Jack Nicholson and John Huston - what's not to like?

Boring. As. Hell.

Lame dialogue. Lame pace (exceptionally slow). Lame acting outside Jack.

I was amused when I read that a script for a sequel (Cloverleaf) mutated into "Who Framed Roger Rabbit".

But it was nominated for 14 Academy Awards and one for Best Screenplay.

I don't understand how you couldn't like it.

Yay! You liked the movie and it got a lot of awards

He didn't like the movie and found it to be a waste of time.

Good for you.

;)

Awards don't mean everything. Could have been a slow movie year. ;)

I should have said something about unrealistic. ;):p

:LOL:


Eggzactly!

All kidding aside, it was a pretty damn good year for cinema in 1974:


Best Picture
Chinatown, Robert Evans, producer (Paramount)
The Conversation, Francis Ford Coppola, producer (Paramount)
The Godfather Part II, Francis Ford Coppola, producer; (Paramount)
Lenny, Marvin Worth, producer (United Artists)
The Towering Inferno, Irwin Allen, producer (20th Century Fox)

Best Actor
Art Carney, Harry and Tonto
Albert Finney, Murder on the Orient Express
Dustin Hoffman, Lenny
Jack Nicholson, Chinatown
Al Pacino, The Godfather Part II

Best Actress
Ellen Burstyn, Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore
Diahann Carroll, Claudine
Faye Dunaway, Chinatown
Valerie Perrine, Lenny
Gena Rowlands, A Woman Under the Influence

Actor in a Supporting Role
Fred Astaire, The Towering Inferno
Jeff Bridges, Thunderbolt and Lightfoot
Robert De Niro, The Godfather Part II
Michael V. Gazzo, The Godfather Part II
Lee Strasberg, The Godfather Part II
Robert De Niro, The Godfather Part II

Actress in a Supporting Role
Ingrid Bergman, Murder on the Orient Express
Valentina Cortese, Day for Night
Madeline Kahn, Blazing Saddles
Diane Ladd, Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore
Talia Shire, The Godfather Part II

Directing
John Cassavetes, A Woman Under the Influence
Francis Ford Coppola, The Godfather Part II
Bob Fosse, Lenny
Roman Polanski, Chinatown
François Truffaut, Day for Night


Original Screenplay
Francis Ford Coppola, The Conversation
Robert Getchell, Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore
Paul Mazursky and Josh Greenfeld, Harry and Tonto
Robert Towne, Chinatown
François Truffaut, Jean-Louis Richard and Suzanne Schiffman,
Day for Night

Screenplay Adapted From Other Material
Julian Barry, Lenny
Paul Dehn, Murder on the Orient Express
Francis Ford Coppola and Mario Puzo, The Godfather Part II
Mordecai Richler, screenplay; Lionel Chetwynd, adaptation,
The Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz
Gene Wilder and Mel Brooks, Young Frankenstein

I just watched 300 last night. Great flick, if you don't mind all the violence.

Jet Li's Fearless was pretty good, as well.

Also watched Wild Hogs on Sunday. It was alright for a hokey, recycled jokes kind of fun movie. Definitely not a great movie, but worth a rental.

Wow, what a year for Coppola that year. Incredible.

The Towering Inferno?? WTF??

Always been a guilty pleasure flick of mine but hardly Oscar worthy. McQueen and Newman were so cool in that flick. :)

A guilty pleasure for me too. Fred Astaire was good as the con artist as well, but his best non dancing role was Julian Osborne.

The image of Philip Seymour Hoffman naked and having sex during the opening credits ruined any chance I had of enjoying the film.

You are undoubtedly not the only one.

And that's a sad fact.

harsh times was the worst movie ever

The Chronicles of Narnia and the gay prince Caspien. 7/10


DVD rentals:

The Mist 6/10

Day of the Dead 6/10

Narnia worth going to see? I thought it looked EXACTLY like the first one. Story, story, epic battle, end.

What didn't you like about the mist?

Was this the Day of the Dead that consisted of an army base and Dean Cain? I'm a zombie movie nut, but if this was the same one I'd have to give the flick like, a 2-3. It was garbage.

I didn't think it was that bad, i like zombie movies also. It kept my interest all through it.

Narnia was alright. Mainly for the kids i went. Battle scenes were good.
I caught myself nodding off a little during the dialog between the characters.

The Mist was alright. 6/10 means better then average but not great. I read the book so it kept with the storyline. The main story had them shacked up in the store 85 percent of the movie, maybe that was it.

I guess I'm more of a fan of the slow, more methodical zombies - like Night of the Living Dead, and the original Dawn of the Dead.

I just dislike quick, fast zombies.

I guess I may be a zombie movie snob.

I just saw Cloverfield, nothing that great. Entertaining modern day Godzilla type movie, worth 1 watch I guess. 6/10

ok, watched The Assassination of Jesse James. It was good, but really long. After the 1st 2 hours I was thinking "just kill him already" but it was ok. 7/10

I also watched Juno last night. Entertaining, different, it was pretty good. The girls personality may have been a little over the top 6.5/10

edit- better not add any spoilers in case some of you really wanted to see it

Lars and the Real Girl. Witty and very heart warming.

I liked that one as well. Not as funny as the preview made it look like it would be but entertaining none the less. Definitely something different.

Hitman turned out to be better than I thought it would be. A good mindless escape.

There Will Be Blood.

Absolutely, spectacular. Great flick.

Lions for Lambs, was a short abrupt crappy ending of a movie...

The Great Debaters....great movie

I watched Sweeney Todd the other night. Not bad, I'm not really into musical's though

half-watched it last night while on the internet. I hte musicals. I really wish they'd have done away with the musical aspect and made it a serious horror movie.

Yeah **** originality!

you do realize the musical movie is based on a musical play version of the story. It WOULD be original to go non-musical.

I saw Charlie Wilson's War last night, pretty damn good I must say. 8/10

I'm not usually a fan of musicals either (and I haven't seen Sweeney Todd), but I was surprised to like Moulin Rouge a few years back. In addition to having Nicole Kidman in it, I was impressed with the way they made contemporary, popular music, that was obviously not written for the flick, fit the storyline so well.

Only thing I didn't like was that it glossed over all the ramifications of that operation in one line: "We fucked up the endgame."

You should see Todd. I loved every aspect of it except for the story. Which is a problem with the original play, but I digress. Worth watching at the very least.

Anyone going to see The Strangers? I hope to this weekend.

I want to see that but ill wait for reviews...usually dont go to see movies like that in the theater but im kindve interested

That looks good. The trailer really creeped me out.

It looks good. It was only rating about 43% on rottentomatoes this morning.

here is the based on true events the movie illustrates:

http://www.cabin28.com/


On April 11th, 1981, in a small resort cabin nestled in the Hills of northern California, a triple murder took place so horrific it still haunts the area to this day.

That morning around 9:00a.m., Sheila Sharp, who had stayed the night at a neighbor’s house not more than 15 feet away, walked through her front door, not knowing what she was about to see would change her life forever. Directly inside, on the floor, were her 16 year old brother, John Sharp, and his 17 year old friend, Dana Wingate. Both were bound hand and foot, stabbed, and hammered to death. There was blood on every surface of the cabin. On the blood-soaked couch was her mother, Sue Sharp, also murdered in the same brutal fashion. Amazingly, her 2 younger brothers and a friend were in a back bedroom, untouched. However, her younger sister, Tina, was missing.

The walls had cuts on them, the furniture was busted up, and the victims were beaten. However, no one seemed to hear anything that night. The case quickly grew cold, and rumors of the town being haunted hurt the community so deeply it eventually became a ghost town, with only a hand full of residence living there today.

To this day, the case remains unsolved.

This site is dedicated to helping the living victims of these crimes get closure, and bring a cold-hearted killer to justice. There are many leads and suspects still out there.

One of my favorite films of any kind has a lot of music, but I wouldn't call it a musical. I'm speaking about "Amadeus", the bio-pic about Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart that came out around 1983 and was nominated for a bunch of awards. I believe F. Murray Abraham won for best supporting actor, you'll remember him from Scarface. Anyway, if you haven't seen it, and you have a halfway decent home theater system, get a DVD of "Amadeus" and watch it. I don't care if you don't like classical music, by the time that movie is over you'll be amazed.

The Strangers looks very good. I'm also intrigued by The Happening.


Has anyone else seen the previews for Quarantine? That also looks pretty interesting.

Anyone seen "Dewey Cox"?

It was ok, but not quite as funny as i expected it to be.

yes. and all the dick got old.

OMG. that was very uneccessary.

Just watched Juno and Rambo this weekend.....talk about diametrically opposed.

Juno was outstanding IMO. Ellen Page was excellent. Quick witted comments were really funny to me, and all of the actors were top notch. A couple of scenes were a bit forced (Rainn Wilson bit for example), but even those scenes had some redeeming qualities. I will be recommending this to friends.

Rambo was the most violent movie I've ever seen, and I'm having trouble thinking of another film that's close. It was entertaining, I guess, if you know what you're getting into and don't expect anything more. But the level of violence was almost distracting.

I just watched Rambo last night. I liked it! That part where he pulled out his pistol and killed all of the guys on the boat! YES!!! Typical bad-ass Rambo, but I like it!

I rented Strange Wilderness and Diary of the Dead tonight.


So far, before I rented SW I really thought it'd be an alright flick. I like the whole cast, but the movie was pretty horrible. There were 2-3 parts that really got me laughing.



Now, I'll watch Romero's new zombie flick - Diary of the Dead. I hope it doesn't suck.

Pretty much sums it up for me as well. You knew exactly what was coming well in advance but it still worked as obviously intended.

Watched the documentary "King of Kong" on Netflix instant last night and it was quite entertaining. Lots of unintended humor (at least by others than the director) and a pretty nice story.

Another I watched on Netflix instant tonight was "The Enemy Below". Very engaging WWII sub movie and has held up very well over time.

I really enjoyed Romero's Diary of the Dead. It was cool he tried making it different with the FP camera shooting.

I also enjoyed the new, unique ways they killed zombies.

I enjoyed the Strangers. However, I thought the ending was sort of iffy. And for paying an assload of money to watch a movie at the theater it was a pretty short movie.

Don't buy the soda and popcorn, it will kill your entertainment budget.

And, if you want a better deal for the same product, go to an earlier show that has cheaper prices.

Worth seeing? Gf is not really a horror/scary movie buff, but i thought it looked interesting...

I always have her sneak in our pop and candy, hell sometimes i just grab some fast food and walk in

I went to the matinee. It was still $7 bucks. I had to have a drink, too. I just figured the show would be a bit longer than what, 1hr 20mins?


Sure-Oz - I enjoyed the movie. It had a couple of good jump spots. But, to me, it didn't put itself above and beyond other horror movies. I would probably wait to rent it if I was you.

Thanks, it wasn't on the top of my lists but if its just like any other movie i can wait. Any other movies out right now worth a damn? That Panda one looks like it might be worth a shot.

ALready saw Indy 4 and Iron Man

I remember when my parents would do that when i was a kid. I would be embarrassed. I look back and think how stupid i was to have thought that.

Yes, mine too, saves alot! It is funny how i can just walk in with a mcds bag and they dont say anything

Hey, my gf will even sneak in sodas for us. shissssh pop. It sounds like when you open it. Echoes. Screw movie theaters.

ROFL

Yeah we bring in those 1 liter bottles or whatever,

**** movie theaters anyway, they charge up the ass for everything, and if they argue about what you brought in, just go to the customer service area and say the movie/service sucked, maybe you'll get a refund :)

Nice one, that thread was funny.

When I first trained at AMC, they said people are allowed to bring in other sodas and stuff. Just nothing to excessive. We were to encourage concessions....

You're asking the wrong guy. Typically I'll see any horror flick or any movie that is a must-see theater movie. Other than that I usually don't watch movies at theaters. The movie I saw before The Strangers was Prom Night. AHAHA. I was begged, promise.

lol, that looked like an instant classic.ROFL

I always like horror movies for their comedy content, but i do like to be scared by them once in a while

I was also. Same thing. Concessions are the main income of the theaters.

They make a killing i tell ya...

I do love the occasional movie popcorn and slurpie, but its like $7

It's like $1 per ticket. Everything else is concessions. It's what keeps them alive.


Now, as for their economics, I'm not sure I agree with them. If they bring down the prices you'll have more people buying. So, I think it'd offset.


But what do I know.



I about laughed at their "Prepay concession kiosks". Instead of a line forming at concessions a line forms at the prepay kiosk. And the whole point was to avoid lines. ROFL