Kind of fun, if too long.  I love stories about secret societies and, frankly, found myself rooting for the Illuminati throughout the film.  The film spares us the ridiculous event in the book finale of Langdon parachuting from a helicopter by hanging onto some large cloth.

FF=0

Finally watched this with sound. I’d caught glimpses of it on 4 transcontinental flights while touring and typing, and I’m amazed at how little the sound added. This is true visual storytelling. Yes, I missed the “Squirrel!” bit with the dogs, and some verbal humor, but on the whole, the heart of the story was told just fine through the images, nowhere more so than in the backstory of the old man’s marriage.  I highly recommend this film.

FF=0

What a romp. If you’ve seen the trailer, you have a pretty good idea what the film is about.  The opening sequence in the French farmhouse is expertly wrought suspense.  For the rest, it could have been a grim, brutal film, but Tarantino maintains a slightly cartoonish edge in the more violent scenes.  Christoph Waltz steals the show with his portrayal of an SS colonel.

FF=0

I never would have expected a police procedural from Kurasawa, but then, considering his deliberate style, he was perfect for it. A long film, but I didn’t hit the FF button once.

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Wow. Double noir. Some Hamlet overtones from Kurasawa and a lot of depth to Mifune’s character – a man out for revenge who isn’t quite cold-blooded enough to pull it off. Tragedy all around. It clocks in at over 2 hours but, again, I never hit the FF button. (Am I losing my edge?)

FF=0

This is a crazy film that doesn’t make a whole lot of sense but is fun to watch because of the crisscrossing storylines.  It uses cell phones as a sneaky and nifty way to work in lumps of exposition.  I had a good time with it.  (I probably would have FF’d some in the beginning had I controlled the remote, but once it gets rolling, it grabs you.)

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I really liked this.  It’s both heart wrenching and gut wrenching.  The CGI is seamless.  The film has a unique structure, starting as a documentary and then into the real lives of the people making it. There’s horror, yes, but it’s tinged with wonder.  Echoes of “The Fly” and “Bladerunner.”  You really need to see this.

FF=0

I heard some negativity about this (mostly from Terminator purists) but came away liking it a lot.  (Obviously I’m not a purist.)  Tom Monteleone was staying over my place after visiting his agent in NYC and we both thought it was a great action flick with a few surprises and some unexpected substance (yes, echoes of Bladerunner again).

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When my cable was out I popped in my DVD of Carpenter’s version.  After almost 30 years, still one kick-ass film. I hope nobody tries to remake it. (This, btw, was not a remake. It went back to the original story – Campbell’s “Who Goes There?” – which the Howard Hawks film ignored.)

FF=0

About a floating pirate rock radio station off the UK coast in 1966 and their battle with the British government that wants to shut it down.  A super ensemble cast and a ton of fun.  Really…see this.

FF=0