Clearing the brain so it keeps working
Movies/Reviews
Is it summer?
Jun 12th
Nice day today, even if it was a little humid. Played a little Putt-Putt with my youngest. We need a little practice, neither one of us broke par today. Hmm. I didn’t have my stealth putter either. That may have been the difference.
Saw the A-Team today, so I will give you the rundown.
If you liked the TV show, you should like this movie. I liked the fact that the actors did not try to play the roll the same as the TV actors, but they kept some of the signature lines. This movie was exactly what I expected. Lots of things blowing up and well designed plans. I just love it when a plan comes together. Good movie for those of us feeling nostalgic over old TV shows.
***** Minor spoiler ******
I did like the story line of this movie. I remember watching the TV show and they always said they were fugitives “for crimes they did not commit”, but never said how this top notch team was framed. This story does it, and makes it believable.
Not a review, but a recommendation…
May 7th
IRON MAN 2 — Let’s see…. Comic book movie? check. Cool FX? check. Decent story line? check. Some humor? check. Believable comic book action? check. Downey plays Stark as a Jerk? Check.. Bad guys, good guys? Check. Cool fights? check. Entertaining for me? Double check.
Ok, it had everything I wanted in a movie tonight. With most comic book movies, I don’t really care if it follows the storyline in any comic before. Heck, most of them have had multiple dimensions, timelines, worlds anyway. What is one more? When you go to one of these movies, you should know what to expect. All you need to ask is if the story you just watched was fun. That’s what comic books are all about, and that is what movies based on comic books should be.
Iron Man 2 was fun. That’s it! No terrible acting that made me remember it was a movie. No strange bad effects to ruin the believability. The CGI was integrated into the live shots well. 2 hours of escapism. Fun stuff.
Full review comes later with spoiler alerts but not here. Just my recommendation. This is a movie I will go to the good theater to see again. Maybe more than once. And then when it comes out on home disk, it is coming home with me. Can anyone say Marvel Comic Movie Marathon?
I didn’t know that.
May 6th
A few years ago a movie came out and was release to critical defeat. As for myself I enjoyed the movie except for a few minor problems. I found it to be an enjoyable waste of time (just what I like in most movies).
The movie was The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen. One of the biggest things that bothered me was the introduction of Tom Sawyer into the movie. On top of that he was a Pinkerton agent. I kept saying to myself, why bring in that character as a detective. Didn’t make much sense to me. Of course Dorian Grey wasn’t in the original comic either, but that didn’t bother me as much.
Then I got my Nook! (Yep, another Nook post. Think I could get money to write reviews for my Nook?) I just finished a short story, from Mark Twain, that I never read or heard of before. The story was called Tom Sawyer, Detective. While he was not a Pinkerton agent, he did use observation to solve a crime. So now after the years I’ve complained about Tom Sawyer being a detective in that movie, I guess that following the path that Twain left, it isn’t that far out into left field.
There is another story that I have yet to read about Mr Sawyer and Mr. Finn called Tom Sawyer Abroad. Tom and Huck are on a balloon expedition in Africa. I guess that allows the trip to England for Tom anyway.
Just one question about the movie, if the film people actually knew about these stories: Where was Huck? 
Even with all those movies…
Apr 15th
I was looking for a collection set to add to my movie library. A few years ago Universal studios released their “Monster Collection” as a boxed set (DVD or VHS). 8 movies in all. Since I had the ones I thought I wanted, I didn’t bother with the set.
Now some of my old VHS tapes are showing there age, and I thought it may be time to pick this up if it was still available anywhere. I did a quick search and found used DVD sets going for over $200. And a new “In the box” set going for close to $500. NO WAY would I pay that much for these movies, I can get them cheaper buying them one at a time when I see them at video stores. The Wolf Man at Wally World was only $7.50
A further search found that those same movies will released as a collection again at the end of this month. Pre-Orders are less than $50. I’m sure if I time it correctly, I can get if for less than that. Here is a toast to patience.
Some movies just don’t get old
Apr 8th
I like a lot of movies. I have a lot of movies. So all is well with the world in that respect. I have been on a classic movie kick recently. Ok, more than just recently. Last year, just before Christmas, I borrowed the movie Nosferatu from a friend. Wonderful silent ‘Vampire’ movie. I think that movie still holds its own against some of the newer movies. After that I just had to watch all of the classic Horror movies I own. Dracula, The Wolf Man, The Mummy and The Invisible Man were jut like I remembered them. I would love to have those movies on some ‘newer’ media. I have them on tape, and never felt the need (until now) to get them on DVD or Blu-Ray. Good Movies.
Just this past weekend and tonight I watched another couple of movies that just don’t get old for me. I watched Casablanca with my youngest over the weekend. She may or may not comment on it. I really enjoyed it. It has been a few years since I last saw it. I just finished watching The Maltese Falcon this evening. Another movie I haven’t seen in years, but the story still works today.
Finally there is one other movie I’ve been thinking about watching. It is a bit strange that I don’t have it in my collection of movies. Another Bogart film that I saw many times from 1984 to 2003. And we were not watching it for Bogart. My lovely bride loved the acting of Katharine Hepburn, we watched a number of her movies more than once. I just don’t understand why we never purchased any. After looking through all of the movie I own, I don’t recall any movies with her in my collection. I may have to do something about that. Anyway, I really want to see The African Queen in the near future. I heard is was just released to DVD.
The point of all of this? Not much really. I just like to watch some of these old classics over again from time to time.
