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Ghost (1990)

I am rewatching this as I type. Just to see how much, if at all, I have changed since I last saw it about five years ago.

Patrick Swayze, Demi Moore and Whoopi Goldberg star in this movie where Swayze is murdered, and instead of going to "the other place" stays on earth as a ghost to protect his partner (Moore).

Famous for the Pottery Scene, which has been spoofed in Movies and TV Ads ever since, plus the second coming of the Righteous Brothers fabulous 1960's hit "Unchained Melody".

Demi never looked more beautiful with her boyish short hair cut, Swayze was his usual stoic self, but Whoopi stole the entire movie as the fake Medium who suddenly and much to her surprise, found out that she really could hear ghosts, and with extreme reluctance helped Swayze in his quest. She was hilarious, and deservedly won an Oscar for Best Supporting Actress.

This is still a bit of fun, and while it is aging, it is aging gracefully, and worth a look if you have not seen it before, or have not seen it for many years.

7/10

Norm

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Geelong, VFA Premiers 1878, 1879, 1800, 1882, 1883, 1884, 1886, AFL Premiers 1925, 1931, 1937, 1951, 1952, 1963, 2007, 2009, 2011, .

The Foxtel Movie Channels can sometimes be a feast or a famine. Today has been a feast, and this brings me to

To Sir With Love (1967)

I mentioned earlier in this thread that 1967 was a stellar year for Sidney Poitier, and this is the second of his three triumphs that year.

It is about a school teacher who takes up a job in East End London and has a bunch of misfits as students, and tries to turn them into people who will become responsible adults. Compared to earlier movies with the same plot (the most famous being Glenn Ford's The Blackboard Jungle, which oddly enough also had Poitier in it as one of the students), the students are pretty tame, but it is well told, and shows the trials and tribulations of teenagers who are about to go out into the real world, and how a good teacher can focus their thoughts.

Apart from Poitier, the rest of the cast is British, and as can only happen in Great Britain, all the supporting cast are more than adequate, even brilliant at times. Apart from Suzy Kendall they are all pretty much unknown these days. The other exception is Judy Geeson, whom when I originally saw this, fell in love the first second I saw her.

8/10

Norm

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Geelong, VFA Premiers 1878, 1879, 1800, 1882, 1883, 1884, 1886, AFL Premiers 1925, 1931, 1937, 1951, 1952, 1963, 2007, 2009, 2011, .

It took 3 nights, but I finally finished On the Beach. I read the book years ago in school as an independent study (somehow the school board thought it was appropriate for 12-year-olds...not sure if I am the way I am now because of being exposed to such things, or if I am naturally morbid and thus gravitated towards the book).

It was so many years ago since I read the book, but I still remembered the story, and have had the DVD sitting on the shelf quite awhile but it was always a "don't get around to it" thing. Now that I have, I realize I wasn't missing much.

Not a bad movie, the opening credits raise one's hopes, with a cast including Gregory Peck, Ava Gardner, Fred Astaire (not looking perky here) and Anthony Perkins. But the script is overly melodramatic, and the seeminly non-stop playing of Waltzing Matilda through the film gets a tad annoying in its repetitiveness. The film was obviously aimed as a message at the era it was produced in, especially the closing shot.

7/10

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On the Beach, the original, was a reasonable interpretation of Neville Shute's book of the same name, unlike the recent made for TV remake which needs to be arrested on sight for impersonating a movie.

My main objection was that it was made perfectly clear in the book, that Dwight Towers (Gregory Peck) never ever had an affair with Moira (Ava Gardner) as he needed to remain faithful to his dead wife and family. That's who he was. This was one of the main themes of the book. He just wanted to go home to his late wife and children.

The remake is worse. He just deserts his command to stay with Moira. This from the Chief Executive Officer of the US Navy!

But Hollywood prevailed, as they wanted a love story, so they went fishing together and had an affair. It would improve the whole thing by miles if the whole "gone fishing" scene was simply expunged from the movie. And, I might add, get rid of quite a few of the revolting Waltzing Matilda bits.

Norm

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Geelong, VFA Premiers 1878, 1879, 1800, 1882, 1883, 1884, 1886, AFL Premiers 1925, 1931, 1937, 1951, 1952, 1963, 2007, 2009, 2011, .

Last night my beloved and I went to see "Headhunters" (2011) at the Westgarth here in Melbourne.

I thoroughly recommend it. It's a subtitled Norwegian film about a guy who assesses executives for senior management positions. He lives a double life and also steals valuable paintings from the homes of the people he interviews.

It's a brilliant movie, that one can be forgiven for thinking that Quentin Tarantino has had a hand in making (black humor and some "Did they really have to show that"? gore along the way).

Aksel Henne plays Roger Brown, the Head Hunter/ Thief, and Synnove Macody Lund plays his beautiful wife/ Gallery owner.

The Rock (1996)

Sean Connery and *cough* *cough* Nicolas Cage.

Action movie about expatriot American soldiers who invade Alcatraz (now a tourist resort) and take all the tourists hostage to try and blackmail the Government into paying compensation for American soldiers killed in covert operations.

Connery was the only person ever to escape from Alcatraz, and *cough*, *cough* Cage was a Chemical Warfare expert. They team up and head off to "The Rock" to try and save the world.

I added 5 points, because it was Sean Connery (before his horrible decisions in his final couple of movies) and subtracted 5 points because it was *cough* *cough* Nicolas Cage.

Fairly well done action/adventure, and worth a watch.

6/10

Norm

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Geelong, VFA Premiers 1878, 1879, 1800, 1882, 1883, 1884, 1886, AFL Premiers 1925, 1931, 1937, 1951, 1952, 1963, 2007, 2009, 2011, .

I finished watching a British police comedy titled "hot fuzz" it is very funny and the plot is good and the actors and setting in England is great, the police are funny and I feel you should watch it. It was on tv so I do not know when it was made.

The other movie is titled "super troopers" it is also funny police movie also worth watching set in the US.

Waterloo Bridge 1940.

Vivian Leigh, just after her Oscar triumph in Gone With the Wind and Robert Taylor star in this 100 tissue remake about a young Ballerina who falls in love with a Soldier during WWI. They decide to get married, literally within 24 hours of meeting, and then things start to go wrong.

He gets called back to the front before they can marry, is later reported as dead, and then she has to do something slightly less reputable to make a living, having been fired from her dancing job, and is pretty well done for 1940. Then, of course, he reappears alive and well. It's just a weepie, but a good one.

As usual with (mostly) British casts the supporting cast is brilliant, but special mention must go to Virginia Field who as Kitty, Moira's prostitute friend) is brilliant. The musical score is also superb.

The ending is as good as it gets for a weepie. And Vivian Leigh never looked more beautiful, even in Black and White.

9/10

Just knowing what happened to her not many years after this makes me very, very sad.

Norm

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Geelong, VFA Premiers 1878, 1879, 1800, 1882, 1883, 1884, 1886, AFL Premiers 1925, 1931, 1937, 1951, 1952, 1963, 2007, 2009, 2011, .

That's Entertainment (1974) /That's Entertainment Part 2 (1976)

These turn up on TCM fairly often and deservedly so. MGM, in it's dying days as a film production company released these as compendium clips of highlights of the great MGM musicals of the 30's and 40's, with a little background narration.

I cannot even list all of the star power that appeared in the clips (except, of course, Judy Garland), but this was in the "good old days" when the major studios had it's stars under tight contracts, and they made as many movies per year as the studio decided, and owned it's own chains of theatres. Changes in USA Law in the early '50's helped kill the studios as monopolies, as they could no longer own both studios and movie theatres, and while it took MGM a few years to completely die, the writing was on the wall, and most of the stars were released.

These are two movies you don't even have to watch. Just listen to the great songs as background music. They made a lot of money in the the '70's, and showed that while MGM may not have much of a future, it sure had a helluva great past.

9/10, 7/10 (part two definately had some spotty moments.

Norm

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Geelong, VFA Premiers 1878, 1879, 1800, 1882, 1883, 1884, 1886, AFL Premiers 1925, 1931, 1937, 1951, 1952, 1963, 2007, 2009, 2011, .

On the one hand, I used to think of these as a bit of a 'cash cow', cobbling together clips from old productions--like the ubiquitous "clips reel flashbacks" episode that every sitcom does after a few season (and that fans will jokingly say shows the writer's couldn't think of a story that week, so wrote a bare-bone frame that strung the clips together).

On the other hand, these of course came out in the days before VCRs [kids nowadays are spoiled, with online downloads], so the only chance people had to see old films was when a rep cinema was screening them. And putting together a string of talent like that becomes the cinematic equivalent of a kid's Halloween loot-bag sugar overdose.

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Collecting Mongolia; Thailand; Indo-China; Mourning Covers; OHMS.
My online 'store': http://stampsfromaethelwulf.blogspot.com/

I could not resist this one as it does not turn up on TV, even Pay TV all that often, but it was on today, and of course I was fairly young when I first saw it.

Mary Poppins (1964)

Julie Andrews, Dick Van Dyke, David Tomlinson and Glynis Johns star in this Disney offering about a Nanny with superpowers who comes to an English Victorian era disfunctional family where the mother is a self centred suffragette, the father is a workaholic and the children are totally ignored and really just need a bit of love and cuddles, and parents who actually care about them.

It's a good but not great kid's Musical, and of it's era, but none of the music really stands out and to me and is pretty much mechanically "music written by the numbers". The best is "Feed the Birds", which is emotionally satisfying but too brief, but the supposed show stopper "Let's Go Fly a Kite" does not even approach any Rogers and Hammerstein showstoppers.

Probably best remembered for Julie Andrews, snubbed as the potential lead for My Fair Lady made in the same year, for Audrey Hepburn. Julie. who had starred and got rave reviews for the Broadway production of My Fair Lady was simply not "famous" enough to star in the Movie version.

But it was Julie who walked away with the Oscar in her debut starring role. Audrey never even got nominated.

The cast is satisfying throughout, and overall it is a pretty good entertainment. Horribly dated now.

Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious.

7/10

Norm

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Geelong, VFA Premiers 1878, 1879, 1800, 1882, 1883, 1884, 1886, AFL Premiers 1925, 1931, 1937, 1951, 1952, 1963, 2007, 2009, 2011, .

Catwoman (2004)

Academy Award winner Halle Berry, what were you thinking? Golden Globe award winner Sharon Stone, what were you thinking? Benjamin Bratt what were you...oh, wait!

Catwoman is a superhero, who started off bad as one of Batman's better foes, and turned into a 'tweener later in her career. DC with their usual flair for the mediocre turned this character over to a Work Experience Student to write a script, and failed film students to direct, and the result is absolutely the worst "serious" superhero movie ever made.

I won't bother with the plot which made absolutely no sense, and putting it through Babelfish does not help.

Trash from start to finish, and a complete insult to those of us who grew to love the character. DC, apart from the first two Superman movies, and the Batman reboot, unlike Marvel, seem to be utterly incapable of judging what a "good" superhero Popcorn movie should be all about. Green Lantern - garbage. Jonah Hex - crap. Justice League - been in the pipeline for years, and still not made.

Worst. Superhero. Movie. Ever. A travesty.

1/10

Norm

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Geelong, VFA Premiers 1878, 1879, 1800, 1882, 1883, 1884, 1886, AFL Premiers 1925, 1931, 1937, 1951, 1952, 1963, 2007, 2009, 2011, .

Peter Pan (2003)

Jeremy Sumpter and Rachel Hurd-Wood star in this remarkable retelling of the J. M. Barrie classic about the boy who never wanted to grow up.

It is an extremely dark movie, and not one for the littleuns, about awakening sexuality, and two kindred spirits who band together to try to defeat the evil Captain Hook. There is a lot more in this than other versions of the same play, including the original stage version , and is well worth a wattch or three. By far the best of the big screen versions and sadly underated and underloved.

8/10

Norm

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Geelong, VFA Premiers 1878, 1879, 1800, 1882, 1883, 1884, 1886, AFL Premiers 1925, 1931, 1937, 1951, 1952, 1963, 2007, 2009, 2011, .

Boy's Town (1938)

Spencer Tracy won two Oscars in a row for this and Captains Courageous, and is as usual superb. And Mickey Rooney. For some reason, Rooney tends to be treated as a bit of a joke by a lot of movie fans, but can really act his socks off when he tries, and here he really does try.

A highly fictional version of the founding and early days of a real life USA institution where Father Flanagan founded a home for homeless and delinquent boys, known of course as Boys Town, and how it grew on a tiny and inadequate budget. Rooney plays the real bad boy with a (hidden) heart of gold whom Tracy has faith in, and eventually, as was always the case in the days of the Louis B Mayer days and the Hays Code everything turns out OK in the end.

Boys town still exists to this day, a terstimony of the vision of Flanagan.

8/10

Norm

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Geelong, VFA Premiers 1878, 1879, 1800, 1882, 1883, 1884, 1886, AFL Premiers 1925, 1931, 1937, 1951, 1952, 1963, 2007, 2009, 2011, .

Agnes of God

Brilliant film with Jane Fonda and Anne Bancroft, about a Nun (Meg Tilly) who is totally innocent of life and the world, and murders her new born baby because she simply did not understand what was happening to her.

Fonda is the Psychiatrist sent to the Convent to discover whether Tilly is insane or not, and whether she should stand trial for Infanticide, and Bancroft is the Mother Superior who simply wants to protect an innocent. Most of the Movie is about exchanges between the two, and is two top players at the peak of their form. Tilly is "adequate"

Norm

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Geelong, VFA Premiers 1878, 1879, 1800, 1882, 1883, 1884, 1886, AFL Premiers 1925, 1931, 1937, 1951, 1952, 1963, 2007, 2009, 2011, .

Pretty Woman (1990)

Julia Roberts and Richard Gere. Nice retelling of Pygmalion, and to my mind should have ended the same way. But that's just me. But it is the sort of movie that makes me smile.

Julia Roberts is superb as the prostitute with a heart of gold, and rightly won an Oscar, and Richard Gere is just as good as the ruthless takeover tycoon who becomes smitten with Julia. Who wouldn't? Then of course comes the big deal, and the ups and downs of a growing relationship.

The fabulous song, It Must Have Been Love really caps off a very good movie, plus Roy Orbison's much earlier Pretty Woman brings back other memories.

7/10

Norm

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Geelong, VFA Premiers 1878, 1879, 1800, 1882, 1883, 1884, 1886, AFL Premiers 1925, 1931, 1937, 1951, 1952, 1963, 2007, 2009, 2011, .

2-Headed Shark Attack (2011)

I do watch many more movies than I review here. I just turned this one on, as the description made it look like a so bad it's good thingy, which I usually love. (e.g., Snakes on a Plane)



I watched 10 minutes of it and switched channels, so no review. Anybody willing to sit through it can review it and has my sympathy.

Rated 2.7 on IMDb, and as so eloquently put by one of the reviewers there "This movie sucked" Oh! It starred Carmen Electra which pretty much says it all.

Without seeing the end, but seeing 10 minutes of the "acting" I will barrack for the Shark. Both of it.

Norm

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Geelong, VFA Premiers 1878, 1879, 1800, 1882, 1883, 1884, 1886, AFL Premiers 1925, 1931, 1937, 1951, 1952, 1963, 2007, 2009, 2011, .

10.5 (2004)

Somehow Beau Bridges was talked into being in this! Maybe playing the POTUS is something special, even to somebody who can actually act under normal circumstances.

A 10.5 Richter Scale Earthquake hits the West Coast of America and Canada in this 3 hour borefest. There are more cliches in this movie that I would ever have thought possible, and I only saw 20 minutes of it. Watch at your own risk. For anything else, see 2-Headed Shark Attack immediately above, and have "fun".

It must be that time of the Month. So bad, it's bad

1.5/10

Norm

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Geelong, VFA Premiers 1878, 1879, 1800, 1882, 1883, 1884, 1886, AFL Premiers 1925, 1931, 1937, 1951, 1952, 1963, 2007, 2009, 2011, .

The Winslow Boy (1999)

Adequate remake of the great 1949 movie of the same name which starred the great Robert Donat.

In Edwardian England, an upper class schoolboy is charged with stealing and cashing a 5/- Postal Note, and is expelled from the Naval Academy. The rest of the movie is the unfolding of the story, the support from his family in insisting on a Public Trial, and the Court Case which follows.

Jeremy Northam plays the Barrister defending the boy (the role origianlly played by the great, great Robert Donat), and nobody else in particular is present, well, Nigel Hawthorne of Yes Minister and Yes Prime Minister fame, although as in most English films, the cast is reasonably good.

The main problem I have with the remake is the introduction of a love interest (after all this is 1999), which was quite distracting and totally uneccesary.

6/10

Norm

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Geelong, VFA Premiers 1878, 1879, 1800, 1882, 1883, 1884, 1886, AFL Premiers 1925, 1931, 1937, 1951, 1952, 1963, 2007, 2009, 2011, .

Back to the Future Part III (1990)

Michael J. Fox, Christopher Lloyd and Mary Steenburgen star in this satisfying conclusion to the hit series. Marty (Fox) has to go back to the American West to save Doc (Lloyd), and alter the future and alter his own destiny, as he knows, from his visit to the future in Part II that he threw his own life down the Toilet.

While, IMHO the least best of the trilogy, it is very entertaining, and contains the same sort of time travel anomolies, questions and paradoxes as the first two. If you have a spare 5 hours, watch all three in one sitting.

8/10

Norm

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Geelong, VFA Premiers 1878, 1879, 1800, 1882, 1883, 1884, 1886, AFL Premiers 1925, 1931, 1937, 1951, 1952, 1963, 2007, 2009, 2011, .

Norm! We seem to have similar taste in movies and Sci-Fi books! I'm enjoying your recommendations here on Stampboards Film Forum
What do you think of 'Game of Thrones' ? The HBO adaptation on GRR Martins novels.

I just watched 'Tower Heist' with Ben Stiller, Eddie Murphy, and Mathew Broderick as the heroes, and Alan Alda as the bad guy.
It's an old style comedy-crime caper. Thoroughly enjoyable Saturday night viewing. I'm not a fan of Ben Stiller's 'cardboard cut-out' style of acting, but everyone else makes up for his lack of emotion.

I'd give it a thumbs-up 7/10 and a few

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It's good to shoot the breeze with like-minded people.

Modern TV series are a bit out of my Radar, so I have not seen any of Game of Thrones.

I will put it on my watch list, as I have read one of George R.R. Martin's books, and several of his short stories, and enjoyed them. The Novel was Tuf Voyaging which I found brilliant, and the travels and travail of Haviland Tuf's adventures, as a real anti-hero, were as gtood as I have come across. Are you familiar with this book? (Actually this collection of linked short stories)

I would love to see it turned into a series.

ETA (12:15) Just scrolling through the Movie Channels, guess what I found on Showtime 2, unfortunately half over? Season One, Episode 10 of Game of Thrones. I will watch the last half hour to get some flavour for what it's about, and when it reruns (it will) I will watch the full series from episode one.

Norm

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Geelong, VFA Premiers 1878, 1879, 1800, 1882, 1883, 1884, 1886, AFL Premiers 1925, 1931, 1937, 1951, 1952, 1963, 2007, 2009, 2011, .

Along Came a Spider (2001)

Morgan Freeman and Monica Potter. A sequal of sorts to Kiss the Girls, and the ongoing adventures of Dr. Alex Cross, who tracks serial killers for a lving.

Stupid convoluted plot about a kidnapping of a young schoolgirl, a Senator's daughter, (Mika Boorem) by a phsychotic copy cat killer, who uses the Lindburg kidnapping as his template, and then attemps to lure Freeman into his web. More twists and turns, some genuinely surprising, than your average Water Slide. The plot and story development is quite impossible, and ridiculous.

But... Morgan Freeman. How can you not want to watch him act? He turns a four into a seven just by being there.

7/10

Norm

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Geelong, VFA Premiers 1878, 1879, 1800, 1882, 1883, 1884, 1886, AFL Premiers 1925, 1931, 1937, 1951, 1952, 1963, 2007, 2009, 2011, .

A League of Their Own 1992.

Great cast, including Tom Hanks, Geena Davis, Madonna, Lori Petty, Jon Lovitz, Bill Pullman, Rosie O'Donnell and an early appearance by Tea Leoni. Madonna and O'Donnell. of all people were actually very good. Directed by Penny Marshall of Happy Days and Laverne and Shirley fame.

I said early on this thread that I would review this movie when it came back on, so here it is. It is a highly fictionalised version of the introduction of the Americam Womens Professional Baseball League in the early days of WWII, when all the men were off fighting and women had to take the front line at home.

Basically the story is about two sisters (Davis and Petty) who join the league, and grow apart, and then redisicover each other, and a has been alcoholic Coach (Hanks) who rediscovers life.

Relatively famous for several one liners:

"Are you crying? Are you crying? ARE YOU CRYING? There's no crying! THERE'S NO CRYING IN BASEBALL!"

Hanks signing a ball for two kids writes "Avoid the clap, Jimmy Dugan. Hey, that's good advice!"

(again Hanks to an umpire) "Did anyone ever tell you, you look like a penis with that little hat on?"

My favourite however is

"Are you coming? See, how it works is, the train moves, not the station"

Funny (it has some extremely funny scenes) , happy, sad, emotionally satisfying, really well worth the (long) watch, and a beautiful ending which segues to the present day, and a reunion between the players at the opening of the Women's Baseball Hall of Fame. It also has a great score.

Unfortunately the actual Baseball action is less than satisfactory compared to other movies of the same genre, which put is for me, especially from Geena Davis who treats a Baseball Bat like it's a frisbie.

8/10

Norm

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Geelong, VFA Premiers 1878, 1879, 1800, 1882, 1883, 1884, 1886, AFL Premiers 1925, 1931, 1937, 1951, 1952, 1963, 2007, 2009, 2011, .

We saw "The Iron Lady" last week. Meryl Streep gave a blowaway performance. I'd rate her very highly on this. I found the presentation a bit confusing, couldn't tell at a few points whether she was imagining or if something was really happening. I've never been a fan of Thatcher, but this movie gave me a bit of understanding as to why she did some of the things she did.

The last good movie I saw was "War Horse". Following the story of a horse taken from his owner, and subjected to multiple owners and the horrors of WWI, and ends with the reunification to the original owner during the war.

A war movie which both me and my wife loved. She hates this genre including the overly romantic film "Pearl Harbour" which says alot about this film.

It is reminiscent of realistic classical disney films like "Old Yellow" and "Where the Red Ferns Grow" with a happier ending.

I just watched The Last Airbender and loved it.

The story follows the adventures of Aang, a young successor to a long line of Avatars, who must put his childhood ways aside and stop the Fire Nation from enslaving the Water, Earth and Air nations.

A lot of action without blood and not an F word in sight

Largely panned by critics and fans alike, and won five Golden Raspberry Awards including Worst Picture in 2011, what do they know

We saw the Iron Lady last week as well, and my wife and I agree with you Snick1946: her performance is amazing. The Oscar was well deserved. The movie is good, but a little bit longish at the end.

American Beauty 1999

Kevis Spacey and Annette Bening star in this Movie about a middle aged man who falls for an underaged teenager and how it affects his future life.

LOOK - It's not terrible, and Spacey is great as always, and I don't mind the theme at all - the original Lolita with James Mason is still on my watch list and Leon with Jean Reno and Natalie Portman is my present No. 1 favourite Movie of all time.

But American Beauty won 5 Oscars, including Best Picture and Best Actor and has much critical and popular acclaim, and this as in Forrest Gump, is where it loses me.

Maybe I just can't get into the American mind when it comes to what is good, or maybe some movies resonate at the time more than others. But Oscar material? Naah! This is crap! Most of the time, they do at least get Oscar worthy movies to get nominated and sometimes actually win Oscars.

6/10

Nomr

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Geelong, VFA Premiers 1878, 1879, 1800, 1882, 1883, 1884, 1886, AFL Premiers 1925, 1931, 1937, 1951, 1952, 1963, 2007, 2009, 2011, .

Pirates of the Carribbean: On Sranger Tides (2011).

Johnny Depp once again reprises his Jack Sparrow role in the fourth entry of this entertaining series. Probably the worst of the four, but a fairly satisfying conclusion (well, hopefully the conclusion) to the series. With most of the major stars of the trilogy missing, Geoffrey Rush as Barbarossa excepting, the "feel" was not quite the same.

Penelope Cruz is certainly no substitute for Keira Knightley and nobody can replace Orlando Bloom as the hero.

It is the usual histrionics as two groups fight each other to find the fountain of youth with the usual outlandish plot. But quite a bit of fun here, if you leave your coat, hat, and brain at the door on your way in. Not as good as the original ride though.

7/10

Norm

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Geelong, VFA Premiers 1878, 1879, 1800, 1882, 1883, 1884, 1886, AFL Premiers 1925, 1931, 1937, 1951, 1952, 1963, 2007, 2009, 2011, .

...and one I watched earlier today, but still trying to work out what I thought of it:

Tomorrow When the War Began (2011)

A huge budget for an Australian movie (AUD 20M) and starring largely unknowns - Caitlin Stasey, Rachel Hurd-Wood (probably the most famous) Lincoln Lewis and Deniz Akdeniz, it is about a group of teenagers who go into the hills for a picnic, and arrive home to discover that Australia has been succesfully invaded by (presumably) an unnamed Asian nation.

What to do about it and how to survive is the theme which follows. The first of an apparent trilogy, with a TV series to then follow, it has no real ending, although it is a fairly satisfactory conclusion, but it is an interesting story of children making heroes journies, growing up before their time, and doing what they can in a completely unfamiliar situation. Reasonable special effects as lots and lots of really really big explosions plus car chases which are always a bit of fun, plus a bit of self searching from the group.

Based on a series of books that I have never heard of.

6/10 for now

Norm

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Geelong, VFA Premiers 1878, 1879, 1800, 1882, 1883, 1884, 1886, AFL Premiers 1925, 1931, 1937, 1951, 1952, 1963, 2007, 2009, 2011, .

I've only read the books that 'Game of Thrones' has been adapted from. Martin himself is one of the producers, so he is making sure the show looks like he intended. I'll have a look for 'Tuf Voyaging'.

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It's good to shoot the breeze with like-minded people.

If you can't get hold of a copy, email me and I will loan you mine.

Norm

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Geelong, VFA Premiers 1878, 1879, 1800, 1882, 1883, 1884, 1886, AFL Premiers 1925, 1931, 1937, 1951, 1952, 1963, 2007, 2009, 2011, .

Going to see Titanic 3D tomorrow night, and would you believe I am really excited. It is ONE movie that needs to be seen on the Big Screen, and I have never seen it at a theatre.

Norm

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Geelong, VFA Premiers 1878, 1879, 1800, 1882, 1883, 1884, 1886, AFL Premiers 1925, 1931, 1937, 1951, 1952, 1963, 2007, 2009, 2011, .

Titanic in 3D

Well, everybody knows who is in it and what it is about, who lives, who dies and (*warning* - spoiler follows) yes, the ship sinks at the end.

I am not 100% sure what I expected when I decided to spend real money on a movie I have seen so many times on the box. But I did come away less than satisfied. The 3D was pretty ordinary, seemed haphazard in its application, and the whole effect on the Big Screen was not that much better than watching it on a wide screen LCD TV from 10 feet away. But, at least I finally saw this in a theatre.

I won't score this, but I would not recommend anybody going back to see it again just because it is in 3D.

Norm

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Geelong, VFA Premiers 1878, 1879, 1800, 1882, 1883, 1884, 1886, AFL Premiers 1925, 1931, 1937, 1951, 1952, 1963, 2007, 2009, 2011, .

The Stratton Story (1949).

Yes, another baseball movie. Just finishing on TCM, and it turns up about twice a year.

James Stewart and cute and lovable June Allyson star in this biography of Monty Stratton, a country "hick" (no disrespect intended) who became a major star in Americal baseball, lost a leg in a hunting accident, then made a memorable comeback, on one leg. The usual happy ending, as was mandatory in those days.

It has the usual MGM high quality supporting cast, including Frank Morgan and Agnes Moorehead, and everybody seems to enjoy the fun, and AFAIK, is one of the more reasonably honest Biographies offered up by MGM in it's heyday.

Stewart and Allyson both play themselves, as they did throughout their respective careers (neither of them had any range), but as always are more than adequate. The Baseball scenes are pretty hokey, but this was 1949, but if you like Baseball or sports hero movies it's worth a watch.

7/10

Norm

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Geelong, VFA Premiers 1878, 1879, 1800, 1882, 1883, 1884, 1886, AFL Premiers 1925, 1931, 1937, 1951, 1952, 1963, 2007, 2009, 2011, .

Grease (1978) John Travolta and Olivia Newton-John. High Schools in the 1950's as they never ever really were, and second (third?) generation nostalgia for eras that never actually happened that way. Great music, so-so plot (boy meets girl, boy loses girl, boy gets girl back), but does hold up over time only for the music.

Olivia Newton-John is, of course far too old to play Sandy, and the moral - how do I get John, I know, turn into a slut, does leave a lot to be desired. But a lot of fun only for the music, and a nice way to sit back and listen to for a couple of hours. And Olivia was pretty purty, for a Pom.

8/10

Norm

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Geelong, VFA Premiers 1878, 1879, 1800, 1882, 1883, 1884, 1886, AFL Premiers 1925, 1931, 1937, 1951, 1952, 1963, 2007, 2009, 2011, .

Lassie Come Home (1943)

A marvelous all English ensemble cast, which only the English seem able to do, including Roddy McDowall, Donald Crisp, Dame May Whitty, Edmund Gwenn, Nigel Bruce, Elsa Lanchester and Elizabeth Taylor, who even at 11 was a true beauty. The first time I saw this many, many years ago, I was in awe of her looks.

All of these play second fiddle to a dog making a heroes journey from Scotland back to England to go home after she (actually, Lassie was a "he") had to sold to a wealthy landowner, because the family that owned him could not afford to keep her (him). Filmed in full colour, which is somewhat unusual for 1943, and on extremely colourful (USA) locations, the Cinematography is superb throughout, but all still plays second fiddle to the dog.

The movie is episodic, as it must be, and simply documents Lassie's journey and those whom he meets and interacts with on the way home. Several 5 Tissue moments, including specifically the episode involving Edmund Gwenn, and the finale (Spoiler follows) when Lassie limps to Mc Dowells school to meet him at the end.

"Lassie, you're my Lassie come home".

A true classic from MGM, and a fine example of how much Louis B. Mayer, despite being a complete arsehole in many respects, managed to get absolutely right during his tenure at MGM.

10/10

Norm

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Geelong, VFA Premiers 1878, 1879, 1800, 1882, 1883, 1884, 1886, AFL Premiers 1925, 1931, 1937, 1951, 1952, 1963, 2007, 2009, 2011, .

Scream 4, starring the usual suspects, Neve Campbell and Courteny Cox.

An unfortunately sad adding to what was quite a funny series send up of slasher movies. The really sad thing about this entry was that it took itself too seriously, which these sorts of things should never do, and as the first three never did. It lost the humour element.

Just. Plain. Bad.

3/10

Norm

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Geelong, VFA Premiers 1878, 1879, 1800, 1882, 1883, 1884, 1886, AFL Premiers 1925, 1931, 1937, 1951, 1952, 1963, 2007, 2009, 2011, .

Men in Black 3 (2013)

Saw it last night in Gold Class and 3D. The 3D did nothing for it at all, and to me at least was somewhat distracting. However Gold Class was great, and I had the Seafood basket, and a few glasses of Red to while away the just under two hours.

Nice conclusion to the hit series where J (Will Smith) has to go back in time to save K (Tommy Lee Jones/Josh Brolin) from being murdered by Boris The Animal (Jemaine Clement) in 1969.

As per James Bond, the Men in Black have a new leader, "O", and he is a she (Emma Thompson)

Not a "traditional" MIB movie, as most of the popular aliens from the earlier movies have either only a cameo, or do not appear at all. And it is not quite as light hearted as the earlier two entries. But it is still a lot of fun for a popcorn movie and Josh Brolin has Tommy Lee Jones' mannerisms and voice down perfectly. Oh, and without spoiling it, there is a genuine "Holy Sh*t" ending. I certainly did not see THAT coming.

7/10

Norm

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Geelong, VFA Premiers 1878, 1879, 1800, 1882, 1883, 1884, 1886, AFL Premiers 1925, 1931, 1937, 1951, 1952, 1963, 2007, 2009, 2011, .

Pierrepoint (2005)

If not last, then a recent one.

The story about a prolific British hangman starring Timothy Spall. It is a sensitive portrayal, the way he places his hands on the condemned's shoulders and looks them in the eyes as he positions the noose really gets to you.

Not the kind of post you want to end with "Kindest regards."

Richard Debney

Although I agree with the movie sentiment...... c'mon....
Halle Berry in tight leather must be worth 5/10 in my book

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It's good to shoot the breeze with like-minded people.

I was back in the UK last month and saw

Avengers Assemble (as it is called in the UK)

The Avengers movie in my opinion is the best Marvel superhero movie so far. Now some of you skeptics might say that that is not a big complement, but nay! I've enjoyed the X-men and Iron Man.
As a kid I used to buy The Incredible Hulk comic on a Saturday, and this movie finally made the big green one a hero! As he should be!
It's an action movie, and as such is excellent. The Hulk even provides some comedic moments. I watched it in 3D, and that was great too. I've seen enough 3D now to know that you have to sit in the centre of the cinema about 10 rows from the front for best effect (take note if you haven't been to a modern 3D movie).
Directed by Joss Whedon, I would expect nothing less than great sci-fi, so I give it a big thumbs up.
All in, a great day out... 8/10

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It's good to shoot the breeze with like-minded people.

Went to see "The Angels' Share" at the weekend, thoroughly enjoyed it, it has some brilliant humour and some good drama, it kept me entertained. Supposed to be billed as like The Full Monty, but it's only similar in as much as its a low budget film with a kind of local viewpoint, like Monty was based in Sheffield, this one's Glasgow orientated. Don't get me wrong it's no blockbuster, but i'd recommend it. Check out http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1924394/

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Donald.
Aus KGV Head Addict !

Field of Dreams (1989)

Fabulous cast including Kevin Costner, Amy Madigan, a very young Gaby Hoffmann, Ray Liotta, James Earl Jones and a remarkable cameo from Burt Lancaster.

The best of Costner's three Baseball themed movies.

But it's not a Baseball Movie. It's a hero's journey and a tale of redemption about a man who hears a voice and follows his dream to build a Baseball Diamond in a corn field and bring back Shoeless Joe Jackson, one of the 8 Chicago White Sox players who were banned from Baseball for throwing the World Series in 1919. It just grows from there into a superb tapestry of human wants and needs.

Funny, sad, dramatic and riveting throughout. Even watching it again and again, I get goosebumps at the end when Ray (Costner) finally understands what was going on, and why it was all happening, and leads to the corniest, but most appropriate line in the whole movie.

It all starts with If you build it, he will come, and grows from there, and it has one of the best musical scores in modern cinema. I don't give 10's very often, but

10/10

Norm

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Geelong, VFA Premiers 1878, 1879, 1800, 1882, 1883, 1884, 1886, AFL Premiers 1925, 1931, 1937, 1951, 1952, 1963, 2007, 2009, 2011, .

I saw Field of Dreams a long time ago and really enjoyed it. I must watch it again.

Last weekend I saw the new Batman movie. I liked it - but it could have just as easily been a "Die Hard" movie. It was not so much about Batman as the "evil plan" which was interesting.
I still think of Batman as the character from the '60s TV show.

8/10.

Ice Twisters (2009)

One of those made for the SciFi Channel movies starring no one in particular.

The Formula for SciFi is first take several passably entertaining movies (Twister, The Day After Tomorrow and I will include 2012 here), mix and stir, get a budget of $20.00, hire a work experience student to Direct and troll the unemployment lines for the cast.

The story, such as it is, involves a Government Agency trying to control weather through a super sekret project involving iddy biddy flying drones. Things go wrong and the iddy biddy flying thingies start creating storms and twisters all over the good old US of A. The heroine tries to abort the Project but Management (Bad Guys) won't let her. Then of course the Drones stop following the Program (Mary Shelley lived in vain)

Enter our hero, a Science Fiction writer (!) who just happens to be signing books when the first storm hits, and tags along to save the world, truth, justice and the American way. He joined the fight because the first victim (who got hit by a CGI car) purchased his latest book at a book signing. If it was Isaac Asimov, it may have had a hint of credibility but this...

The CGI twisters and other "weather" special effects are pathetic. But the real problem is, it takes itself so seriously, it cannot be a "so bad its good" movie.

2/10

Norm

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Geelong, VFA Premiers 1878, 1879, 1800, 1882, 1883, 1884, 1886, AFL Premiers 1925, 1931, 1937, 1951, 1952, 1963, 2007, 2009, 2011, .

Knowing I like SF and post Apocalypse themes, my son recommended this to me so I thought I would give it a try.

The Hunger Games (2012)

It stars mostly people I have never heard of, except for Donald Sutherland. Jennifer Lawrence (Katniss) and Josh Hutcherson (Peeta) play the young heroes, and look purty. Everybody else has bit parts (Sutherland's is a glorified cameo).

The world as we know it, which is BTW a Dictatorship, consists of twelve districts, each of which has to provide a boy and a girl between 12 and 18 years of age to go into a wilderness area and fight to the death with the one survivor being declared the winner. The Hunger Games is an annual event and is of course televised and everybody stands around watching it for the days it takes to play out. The winning district takes great pride in having a winner.

Our heroes are from District 12. Peeta is chosen, but Katniss' 12 year old sister is chosen and Katniss volunteers to take her place.

Sort of The Running Man meets The Truman Show.

The resultant outcome is fairly predictable, knowing that there are at least four sequels in the pipeline already, but it is entertaining, if a bit slow, especially the first hour, but the movie does hold interest to the end, so I cant be too nasty about whole thing, even the acting which is, uuummm, adequate at best.

The violence, of which there must be plenty when you are trying to off 23 other people, is largely off screen and quite muted. Since the novels were written for the juvenile market, the movies target audience required it to be PG 13 at the most, and it shows.

The movie is based on the first of a series of juvenile novels, with as mentioned above, several sequels in the pipeline. The Hunger Games series is the new Twilight.

Can't give it more than 6/10

Norm

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Geelong, VFA Premiers 1878, 1879, 1800, 1882, 1883, 1884, 1886, AFL Premiers 1925, 1931, 1937, 1951, 1952, 1963, 2007, 2009, 2011, .

Lost in Space (1998)

Gary Oldman, William Hurt, Matt LeBlanc, Mimi Rogers, Heather Graham, Lacey Chabert and Jack Johnson star as the Dysfunctional Family Robinson in this first movie of the Lost in Space franchise, based on the 1960's camp TV show.

It was also the last Movie in the Lost in Space franchise, and deservedly so. Looonnngggg framing sequence establishing how the Robinsons hate each other, how evil Doctor Smith is, and how Major West keeps trying to get into Judy Robinson's pants.

Then it starts, the Ship gets lost (that's a shock!), has one mildly interesting adventure involving space spiders, where they pick up the essential cartoon space monkey ("the comic relief"), and then a seriously badly convoluted time travel messy sequence that cannot be understood by anybody, then it ends.

Which brings me to the acting. William Hurt is wooden, Matt Le Blanc looks like he is trying to memorise the next Friends script, Heather Graham and Jack Johnson simply cannot act, Mimi Rogers is not allowed to act, and Lacey Chabert sounds like she swallowed three helium balloons before each take and spent hours in front of a mirror practicing speedtalk.

Only Gary Oldman, wrestling with the awful script, even tries, and only partially succeeds with a reasonable pastiche of Dr. Smith (Jonathan Harris in the original), but even he seemed to eMail his performance in during the latter part of the movie.

The Robot was pretty good though!

Some of the original cast have early cameos so the fun is to try and find them, and its about the only bit of fun in the entire two hours. Its a shame in a way, as it could have made a watchable series. It is just that nobody involved with this dog seemed to care.

Lost Franchise, wait for the reboot - 2/10

Norm

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Geelong, VFA Premiers 1878, 1879, 1800, 1882, 1883, 1884, 1886, AFL Premiers 1925, 1931, 1937, 1951, 1952, 1963, 2007, 2009, 2011, .

The last Cinema film I saw was "Battleship". Based on a classic naval combat game, Battleship was about an international fleet of ships (well US and Japanese) who come across an alien armada while on a Naval war games exercise. There ensues a battle with the aliens mostly played out at sea with destroyers, battleships etc. It starred Liam Neeson (you don't see him much though), Taylor Kitsch, and in her first film role, Rihanna. The characters were extremely forgettable. The action was okay but on the whole I thought the film was only average. The story was poor (well not really much of a story at all) but then I guess anyone going to see a film of this type wouldn't really expect it to be Oscar material. Oh and the aliens seemed pretty dumb as they mostly stand or float around waiting to be shot at. All in all a typical CGI-based summer blockbuster but definitely no "Independence Day".

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With Best Regards,

George