Did you see a movie at the theater or rent a video? This is the item for
sharing your opinions and thoughts about the cinema, big and small screen.
Remember that good things happen to those who rate.

241 responses total.

fitz, did you see "Bound" yet?  I'd like to know what
you thought of it.

Well, taking from the success of the Star Wars trilogy rerelases, a lot of
people (myself included)  arent' really satisfied with video.. particularly
in this case, it's a whole new experience on big screen.  I do wait on movies
I'm only so-so about seeing, though

Not really a criticism, but I recently saw proof that Sky Woodman actually
does work at United Artists Theatre at Briarwood.  O yeah, I saw the revamped
Star Wars and thought that it wouldn't have been as fun if I hadn't also known
that the character Jabba was originally supposed to be human - which I learned
from watching one of thos "The making of . . ." thingies.

(Jabba means "toad" [or "frog"?] in Polish.]

Re: #1  Nope.  Myra's two jobs confound even things as simple as seeing a
movie.  We did rent a handful and I, of course, slept through the 'serious'
stuff.  I did stay awake for:

The Nutty Professor  C-

I thought, after reading other reviews, that I would like this Ed Murphy
showcase.  However, apart from the special effects there isn't much to enjoy.
Myra had heard that there exists a touching story once one gets past the
bathroom humour:  The reality is that perhaps only one-half hour of  film
would be left after the cut.

Joe's Apartment C+

It's sort of like combining the Chipmunks with Animal House.  There are a lot
of laughs from insects lampooning human behavior.  Original songs!  Check out
the "Kitty-Cat Rodeo".  

For those who missed the MTV short that is the core element in this movie,
Joe's apartment is infestated with some 40,000 cockroaches who adore Joe's
contempt for household cleaning.  The rascals talk about Joe and even to Joe,
but they have the upper hand in apartment building.

For those of us who reached adulthood in the mid-sixties, Joe's Apartment is
so much like either we or someone we know had to endure.  The rating might
not be so high, but it was definately worth the rental.

How about the scene in the "Joe's Apartment" short where the cockroaches fell
into the lap of Joe's date, after helping them with music, refreshments, and
pulling the condom out of Joe's shirt pocket?

Well, the cockroaches formicated on the wrong television screen and Myra dove
under the covers crying, "EEEYUUU!"  

i saw most of trainspotting tonight, again.. i really really like that movie,
it's one of my favorites, and the best part is that it doesn't glamorize drug
addiction at all, it's pretty damn realistic, which makes the movie pretty
upsetting, and sad at parts, yet amusing at others.. I'm just glad i had a
chance to see it in the theatre.

This item is now linked to the cinema conference.

Crash was fun if you have a strong stomach..

I just saw Howard Stern's Private Parts. Hysterical!! O.k., while I don't
appreciate EVERYTHING he does, I DO appreciate him standing up to the F.C.C.
The actor who portrays his program director at WNBC, in N.Y., had me in tears
throughout the entire second half of the movie. And anyone seeing this movie,
stay until ALL the cridits are done, or you'll miss one of the funniest parts
of the film

  Howard Stern is a pimple on the ass of society.

This response has been erased.

  I loved that movie. It's on the list of ones I would like to buy.

yeah, i agree, 4 weddings and a funeral was a good movie:) also, murial's
wedding.. another feel good wedding type movie.

Seeing as how "The English Patient" just made a sweep at the Oscars, I suppose
I'm going to have to see it:>

Not quite a sweep, actually.  Best female actor and male actor
awards went the way of other films.

"English Patient" is the one best picture nominee I haven't
seen. I've a mind to remedy that, but right now I believe it's
playing only at the yucky State Theater in Ann Arbor, so I plan
to wait until it shows elsewhere.

I was glad to see Frances McDormand win best actress for
"Fargo". What an amazing role-playing job she did. Seeing her
as herself at the award ceremonies, it was hard to recognize
her as the same person. Or see her in "Lone Star", where she has
a small but memorable bit as the sheriff's neurotic ex-wife. She
seems to be able to put on different personalities like a
chameleon.

The Star Wars trilogy was very cool on a big screen, but I'm *still* mad that
they adjusted the Ewok song at the end of Jedi!!!  I wanted to hear the
yub-yubs!  They made it some weird techno thing...

my firiend and I were discussing that, it's one of thos e times wehre the
wewoks almost sound like they're speaking english.  If only they could have
changed the ewoks, too...

I hate those damn Ewoks.   ;)

I haven't seen Jedi yet.  I thought that the first movie was great on 
big screen.  I wasn't that enamored of the digital additions, though.

Jedi didn't have that many.  It's great as it is.  

Is the State Theater really all that bad?  (Serious question.)

I think so. It's the former balcony of the old State Theater,
chopped up into two auditoriums. Narrow, uncomfortable seats
that don't face directly at the screen, somewhat shabby
appearance, and I don't think the projection and sound equipment
have been updated since the early 1980's. I'll go there if it's
a movie I really want to see that's unlikely to play anywhere
else locally -- otherwise, I avoid it.

Be careful of the sound system at Briarwood.. I've been tracking it since Star
Wars came out.  The saturday it was out, it was fine, but by sunday it was
sounding a bit wobly.  Empire was adequate, from a distance, but the buszz
was horrible in Jedi.  andy er any mildly deep noises buzzed like crazy.  

Still, Showcase isn't always an improvement, if you'r ein the nosebleed
setats.  Like I was the first night of Star Wars.

I must have a problem - I can actually understand Wookie!!!

Well, for Jedi we took otter's advice and sat in the third row for the scooter
scene on Endor.  Oh my goodness...  It was *wonderful*.  I kept grabbing my
chair and ducking.  Thanks, Kae!

Think of how that would look in, say, 3D :)  The speeder bike scene and the
space battle on the big screen give me chills

Well I for one LOVE the ewoks, I mean they are one of the most important
elements of the whole movie. I don't know why ppl think that Yub Yub has to
mean anything , I mean alll the Star Wars languages are all made up  or are
distortions of english. It makes me laugh when Trekkies try to speak Klingon
or Romulan, Star Warsians are silly to try to make sense of any of the
language. THAT'S WHY THEY HAVE SUBTITLES!!!!

What?  that was odd.  Actually, George really went for realizsm in his
languages... he looked into dialects of african and asian languages for many
of the languages the aliens use.  When did yub yub mean anything?  

The ewoks are annoying little critters, ifyou ask me.  Cute, maybe, but it
really held the movie down from matching the quality of the other two films.
Just ask any Sci Fi magazine.

and why do they call them Ewoks?  It is the sound they make as they fall out
of their trees!  

EEeeee-WOK!

i recently bought 'return of the attack of the killer tomatos'
it was hysterical! te writers knew it was a bad movie and proceeded
to make fun of it throught. and george clooney was in it. and john astin.

        Watched the face acting in the last two Star Wars movies,
Empire and Jedi.  Do you believe like me that Yoda had more believable
facial expressions than Mark Hamill?

        Talk about storytelling:  George Lucas creates perhaps the 
most hated villian in movie history and *nobody* in the theature
cheers his death.  Many could shed a tear over it, seeing Darth
Vader/Anakin Skywalker redem himself to himself and his son.

Oh, they would have cheered his death after just the first movie or even after
the first two.  But after he heaved-ho the emporer for zapping Luke, folks
were inclined to be sympathetic...

i could have done without a Tarzan yell from Chewbacca, thanks.

I thought that was a nice touch, actually.  

When I was watching empire on the big screen, and Luke was screaming "NO!!!"
I was trying to remain serious, but I carcked up because his mouth is soooo
bloody ridiculous :)

I saw "Private Parts" yesterday...I thought it was a decent movie but I
was disappointed in that I dont think it showed HOward Stern accurately.  
What Stern doeson his radio show is really too hard core for a major studio
movie.  So you dont really see his twisted brilliance on screen.  
Forinstance, they dont show in the movie typical Stern bits, like whenb he
has a lesbian on the show, and calls his wife up on the air and begs her to
do a three-way, and then calls her parents (his in-laws) on the air to ask
them to convince her to do the three-way.  Stern ends up talkingto his mother
in law for twenty minutes about lesbianism.  On another show, I remember Stern
had the father of a porno star on and had him identify her out of several
recordings of female moaning, and then from a lineup of pictures of women from
the waist down.  Stern is at his best when he really pushes the envolpe and
they dont show that in the movie.

That said, the movie isnt bad...its a decent romantic comedy.

Taht wouldn't fit in with the Stern as nice guy motif that pervades the movie,
and it was probably unnecessary.

Well, after many a day away from the Michigan Theater, I returned for a
showing of the lyrical Czech film _Kolya_.  The tale of a former Czech
Philharmonic cellist who winds up with a displaced Russian six-year old is,
like its characters, both big and small.  Big issues, political and social
wind deftly through a small, simple tale of a little boy's journey through
the geography of the familiar and the foreign.  Wry, charming, and wonderful!

- Backtalk version 1.3.30 - Copyright 1996-2006, Jan Wolter and Steve Weiss