rate the last movie you saw

[AndyDursin]

GRAVITY
9.5/10

Now there's a movie. Not a lot to talk about in terms of story -- really, it demands to be seen on as large a screen as possible, just so one can appreciate the amazing level of detail in the cinematography and special effects. Cauron balances tension with humanity brilliantly, but there's no overdosing on cerebral thought (don't worry, this isn't Clooney's SOLARIS!) -- just a straight-ahead tale of tension with an ending that's just spectacular and perfect in every sense. A real, genuine cinematic experience, meant to be seen in as large an auditorium as possible.

[mkaroly]

GRAVITY
9.5/10

Now there's a movie. Not a lot to talk about in terms of story -- really, it demands to be seen on as large a screen as possible, just so one can appreciate the amazing level of detail in the cinematography and special effects. Cauron balances tension with humanity brilliantly, but there's no overdosing on cerebral thought (don't worry, this isn't Clooney's SOLARIS!) -- just a straight-ahead tale of tension with an ending that's just spectacular and perfect in every sense. A real, genuine cinematic experience, meant to be seen in as large an auditorium as possible.

I wish I could see this, but my deep disdain for Sandra Bullock prevents me from seeing anything she is in. Any other actress and I would be there in a heartbeat.

[AndyDursin]

GRAVITY
9.5/10

Now there's a movie. Not a lot to talk about in terms of story -- really, it demands to be seen on as large a screen as possible, just so one can appreciate the amazing level of detail in the cinematography and special effects. Cauron balances tension with humanity brilliantly, but there's no overdosing on cerebral thought (don't worry, this isn't Clooney's SOLARIS!) -- just a straight-ahead tale of tension with an ending that's just spectacular and perfect in every sense. A real, genuine cinematic experience, meant to be seen in as large an auditorium as possible.

I wish I could see this, but my deep disdain for Sandra Bullock prevents me from seeing anything she is in. Any other actress and I would be there in a heartbeat.

you are missing out Michael. Shes good and the film is probably going to become a classic. Go and see it!

Also...just curious...why the disdain for her? Ive been a fan and shes always been likeable not to mention conducted herself with class offscreen. Julia Roberts I find grating at times but Bullock has done a great job keeping her career going with different types of films including this one. Her performance in this movie is also tremendous and believable...she dials it down and doesnt go out of character at any point.

[AndyDursin]

One other thing on GRAVITY I will add -- this movie could be ruined by an obnoxious audience. If the crowd who typically turns out for Sandra's comedies shows up, they're going to be out of their element to a degree, so...I don't know what you can do to avoid that, but the movie's use of silence early on (it turns louder in the final third) is notable.

[mkaroly]

I just don't like her as an actress - the only film I sat through which she was a part of (and that I can remember) was SPEED. I don't particularly find her funny or compelling to watch in a movie. She isn't as offensive and heinous as Julia Roberts, but I just never cared for her. I don't have a good reason.

[Monterey Jack]

I just don't like her as an actress - the only film I sat through which she was a part of...

Then how do you know you don't like her as an actress if you've only seen her in one movie almost twenty years ago?

[AndyDursin]

LAST AMERICAN VIRGIN
8/10

Now available in a great UK Special Edition Blu-Ray with plenty of extras, including a half-hour interview with Diane Franklin and Lawrence Monoson.

Still the single most devastating ending of any film, ever, in my opinion...screw "Seven" or the '78 "Body Snatchers." Nothing hits you in the stomach the way this movie's conclusion does!

[mkaroly]

I just don't like her as an actress - the only film I sat through which she was a part of...

Then how do you know you don't like her as an actress if you've only seen her in one movie almost twenty years ago?

Because she was so unappealing and annoying in that one that I never wanted to see her again. Even seeing brief moments of her acting in trailers does absolutely nothing for me wanting to go and see anything she is a part of. I feel the same way about Adam Sandler - a couple of skits on SNL basically prevented me from seeing any movie he has ever been in. Can't stand him either. She and Julia Roberts are the female Adam Sandlers to me...gross and unappealing in every way as actors/actresses.

[Paul MacLean]

This is England

"Chavs in the Hood" would be a more accurate title for this admittedly well-acted but but dreary and pretentious "social statement" about urban, working-class youths. The story concerns Shaun, 13-year-old boy whose father has been killed in the Falklands war, who finds solace by joining a gang of skinheads.

The premise is sound, but the film's political perspective often seems skewed. References to the Falklands War and jabs at Margaret Thatcher endlessly pervade the film (the title sequence is a preachy montage of bloody news clips of the war). Yet the film's villain -- a sociopathic, racist skinhead -- himself despises Thatcher, and blames her for the death of Shaun's father, suggesting the filmmakers actually share the the skinheads' misinformed perspective on a certain level!

Watch Harry Brown instead. It pointedly addressed the problem of urban gangs -- without making excuses for it (and proved eerily prophetic).

[Monterey Jack]

Gravity (2013): 10/10

Figures that one of the only non-horror films I'll be watching this month is the tensest piece of filmmaking I've seen all year. Brilliant.

[Paul MacLean]

Wings of the Dove

One of the many British period pieces that flourished during the 90s, though this one is a little darker than most. Based on Henry James' book, the premise initially seems one of the classic old chestnuts -- Helena Bonham-Carter plays an heiress who will lose her inheritance if she marries the man she loves. The twist in this story is that she persuades her lover to seduce a wealthy young friend of hers who is terminally ill, in hopes she will leave her estate to them.

It is well-acted and beautifully shot, though not in league with the best period movies of that decade (like Howard's End or Remains of the Day). Edward Shearmer's score is decent and lyrical, but I personally felt it need to be darker, considering the sinister plot of the two leads.

The final scene of this film really threw me for a loop though. The entire movie is essentially proper and family friendly, with only one (very sanitized) love scene. Then, in the final moments, Bonham-Carter suddenly takes off all her clothes for a very gratuitous sex scene (complete with views of her shaggy crotch)!

Overall a good movie, but be prepared for that incongruous finale (especially if you have kids)!

[Eric Paddon]

Fantastic Voyage (1966) 8.5 of 10

-Got the Blu-Ray last week and finally popped it in this evening. I'm not sure I see a whole lot of upgrade this time out (or maybe its just my needing better glasses!) but the film is always enjoyable to watch. Outstanding F/X that still hold up well today, a straight-ahead adventure story, no moral equivalence doctrine in the Cold War subplot and Raquel Welch to boot! I also give them credit for using just a minimal amount of redressing to turn the drab corridors of the LA Sports Coliseum (where JFK was nominated in 1960) into a credible looking secret military complex in that vaguely defined futuristic period that late 60s film and TV always envisioned.

-The one flaw is the thing that happens most often in films where there's a "race against the clock" and that's how seconds and minutes stretch longer than they should. When someone says 24 seconds and then twenty seconds later it's only down to 19 seconds, you'd think the writers/editors could have paced it a little better. The final sequence when they start with six minutes left to get out and do the operation it would have been a little simpler to have just added a few extra minutes and let everything synch better with the real time element!

[Paul MacLean]

The Three Musketeers (1993)

Although this is "my kind of movie", for some reason I never got around to watching it until now. I'm a huge fan of the George McDonald Fraser / Richard Lester adaptation from 1973, and I have to say this version doesn't really measure up. It's not terrible, but it is uneven, and clearly modeled on Prince of Thieves (right down to Michael Wincott as the henchman in black, and the Bryan Adams song over the end credits).

While I didn't initially warm to a bunch of "brat packers" playing Alexander Dumas' heros, I have to admit they won me over. Each one -- Sheen, Platt, O'Donnell and Sutherland -- were all charismatic and heroic. And although I generally preferred the performances of Lester's film, I'm forced to admit that these rugged, rowdy young bucks probably look and behave more like real musketeers than Richard Chamberlain or Frank Finlay.

On the other hand, Tim Curry is so over-the-top as Cardinal Riechlieau I half-expected him to start twirling his mustache. The character as written is also completely one-dimensional and nothing but a standard "evil" guy -- in contrast to the much more complex refined Richlieau of the Lester film (played by Charlton Heston in one of his best performances). Michael Wincott is sufficiently good in the role of Rochforte, but again his character is very one-dimensional (and why does this guy wear black in every movie?).

The action scenes lack energy -- the cutting fails to create tension and the fights are generally much too slow-moving. The best scenes are actually the character interactions (particularly the tavern scene). The romantic moments are also very touching -- too bad there are almost none of them. D'Atagnon's romance with Constance isn't developed at all, and they have only two brief scene together.

The overall story arc is good, but the dialog less so, and its "clever" one-liners and witticisms pretty stilted. The script could have used another re-write. Michael Kamen's score however is one of his best -- and better than his work on Prince of Thieves (which I always felt was one of his more perfunctory efforts). Otherwise, despite some appealing things, there's not much that's very striking about this Three Musketeers, which is pretty formulaic.

But it was still better than The Musketeer!

[Monterey Jack]

-Captain Phillips (2013): 9/10

Exceptional, gripping film, and for once Paul Greengrass' shakey-cam didn't bug the hell out of me. Tom Hanks is superb.

-Escape Plan (2013): 5/10

Eh. No amount of nostalgic appeal the viewer attaches to seeing Stallone and Schwarzenegger finally having a feature-length team-up can salvage this tepid, cheesy, formulaic thriller. The Schwartz is loose and engaging and delivers a few funny lines ("Yuoh heet like a vegetarian...!"), but the action sequences are rote and poorly shot and edited, and the impressive supporting cast (Amy Ryan, Jim Caviezel, Sam Neill and a shockingly bloated Vincent D'onofrio) is utterly wasted.

[Eric Paddon]

The Eagle Has Landed (1976) 7 of 10

-Went through the Blu-Ray tonight which looks superb. And while this cut may not be the longer one that has been released overseas it *is* longer than all previous versions released in the US because that scene I mentioned of Larry Hagman confronting a German soldier and getting mocked that I only remembered seeing on an NBC TV airing in the late 70s is present this time. I think in general a few more scenes contributing to the point of what an incompetent boob Hagman is also looked relatively new to me during the first assault.

-The film itself is very faithful to the novel (which was also done in a superb BBC radio drama) but the changed ending from the novel I feel blunts the subtext of the original story regarding Steiner and his men. In the end, Steiner and his men can not be seen as the honorable anti-Nazi soldiers of the novel even though the film tries to preserve this illusion by retaining some of the novel's other points that supported this, but ultimately the changed ending removes this and makes the film weaker than the more faithful radio drama I felt (though it has to be conceded the changed ending makes better cinema).