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SiCKO is out on DVD today. 2007-11-08 13:10:30
Michael Moore’s next documentary is comparing highly profitable healthcare industry to other countries’, and HMO horror stories told in a humorous and satiric way, pretty much Michael Moore’s trademark style he used in previous movies such as Fahrenheit 911. George W. Bush, John Graham, Richard Nixon, William Maher and others star as themselves.If you liked this post, buy me a beerShare This
Shrek The 3rd comes out on DVD and HD-DVD on Nov. 13th 2007-11-08 12:43:53 Shrek
The Third comes
out on DVD and HD-DVD on Nov. 13th
The 3rd installment of Shrek’s story directed by Chris Miller and Roman Hui is about Shrek becoming a hair to the land of Far, Far Away. He doesn’t feel like giving up his swamp, so he recruits Donkey and Puss in Boots to install Artie as the new king. Prince Charming is plotting coup d’etat.
DVD and HD-DVD features include Artie’s yearbook, Shrek’s guide to parenthood, Lost scenes, Technology behind Shrek, Goofs, Learn to Donkey Dance, Make your own video and more.If you liked this post, buy me a beerShare This
Redacted (2007) R 90min 2007-11-15 01:23:38 I was driving home from work and listening to NPR and they were just interviewing Brian De Palma about this movie. When I got home and turned TV on - there it was - the movie I just heard about.
Brian De Palma is writer and director famous for such films as Scarface, Wise Guys, The Untouchables, Casualties of War, Mission: Impossible, Snake Eyes, and last year’s The Black Dahlia. And now he wrote and directed Redacted. It’s a docudrama, a reenactment about a real-life unit of U.S. soldiers who raped a 14-year old Iraqi girl and killed her and her family in 2006. Four of the soldiers were convicted and fifth is still faces charges.
Brian De Palma was approached by HD-NET with an offer to make a documentary about Iraq for $5 million dollars as long as it was shot in HD, and when he began doing research for the film he found a lot of material not only in regular sources such as public record, court materials, newspapers, but also Internet stuff: blogs of wives of soldiers
Running With Scissors (2006) R 120min 2007-11-14 11:00:17
This all-star cast movie is based on Augusten Burroughs’s best-selling novel memoir.
The plot: Augusten Burroughs (Jack Kaeding -> Joseph Cross) was growing up in a dysfunctional family, with alcoholic father (Alec Baldwin) and mentally unstable mother (Annette Bening) with her delusions of grandeur. As a boy he was handed over to his mother’s therapist, Dr. Finch (Brian Cox) for adoption, and spends his adolescent years with his eccentric family. He skips school and practices cosmetology, gets an older male lover (Joseph Fiennes) and becomes friend with Finch’s younger daughter (Evan Rachel Wood).
I suppose this movie qualifies as a dark comedy. These families, both Burroughs and Finch, are so dysfunctional and everybody is so psychotic I could not wait for the movie to end because I felt like I’m going to get infected with this psychosis if I watch it any longer. Every character felt repulsive, yet somehow I also cared for every character. I felt c
My first pictures of the Moon through the telescope 2007-11-20 02:09:00 Tonight for the first time I tried to make pictures of the moon through my new telescope, Meade ETX-125AT.
Around 10:30pm I went outside, setup tripod and the telescope on it. Attached 26mm eyepiece to the eyepiece port. Attached Meade #64 T-adapter with T-ring for my Canon EOS 20D to the accessory port.
The pictures are here: http://MaxiMovieBlog.fotki.com/my-first-photos-of-moon/ and here: img_1457.JPG
As you can see, they are quite lousy. And the reason is that I’ve done everything wrong:
a) The night was cloudy, although I could see the moon clearly with the naked eye
b) By the time I took 2nd picture it began to fog in and the moon disappeared in the thick fog in less then 5 minutes, so I packed and left.
c) The exposure was too long, but I didn’t take a flashlight with me, so I didn’t see the settings and could not change them! That’s just stupid! I just set the camera to flash-less shooting mode, which gave me .8 second exposure.
d) I did not have r
No Country for Old Men (2007) R 122min 2007-11-25 02:04:03 Written and directed by Joel and Ethan Coen, this is the best chase movie ever!
The plot: a hunter named Llewelyn Moss (Josh Brolin) walks on the aftermath of a drug deal gone bad in the middle of th desert somewhere in Texas and discovers suitcase with two million dollars. He tries to disappear with the money but all sorts of people are on his trail, including a psychopathic killer.
The good: This movie is full of suspense and doesn’t let go till the end. This is a very dark chase movie, and probably the best part of it is the realism of the chase - not some crazy Hollywood flick with car getaways and jumping from one roof to another. The most realistic thing about this chase is that it’s very slow. The time stretched so slowly that it creates suspense because everybody knows that bad things are going to happen and no matter how you prolong the chase it is coming to an end and that the destiny is going to catch up with the hero. Adding to the suspense and realism i Read more:Country
, Old Men
Movies opening this weekend (Nov 23, 2007) 2007-11-24 00:48:23
August Rush (2007) PG 100min - a talented, but charismatic young Irish guitarist and a cellist-girl have a magical encounter one night above New York’s Washingon Square, but at her father’s insistence are torn apart, leaving behind a child, August Rush, who becomes an orphan by circumstance. Now he’s cared for by mysterious stranger, and he’s using his musical talent to find his lost parents. Drama/Music.
Enchanted (2007) PG 10min - princess Giselle (Amy Adams) from classic Disney animated film falls in love with a handsome prince (James Marsden). His mother, evil queen (Susan Sarandon) got really upset about it and decided to use her black magic to banish her from animated world into real-life modern-day Manhattan. The girl has to survive in the world without love and find a way to get back to her lover. Fantasy/Comedy/Kids/Family
Hitman (2007) R 110min - The Hitman (Timothy Olyphant) is an assassin raised by a secret organization only known a “Th
Enchanted (2007) PG 107min 2007-12-02 01:53:58 This movie was…………………. really fun! Very enjoyable! An unexpected surprise. Clever and charming. We went to see it in the theatre because nothing else was staring within 20 minutes and I thought I’d treat Elena to a movie she might like for once: something with a princess, prince, romance and wedding, without guns and violence - she loves these sort of movies. And I thought I can suffer through one cheesy and sterile Disney movie. Not so.
The plot: In the classic animated Disney world the evil Queen Narissa (Susan Sarandon) tries to prevent Giselle (Amy Adams), a classical Disney Made from marrying Prince Edward (James Marsden) in a bid to retain her crown, and sends Giselle to one place that doesn’t know anything about romance and love at first sight: real-life modern-day New York City. Soon after her arrival, Giselle’s views on life and love after meeting a handsome single-father divorce attorney (Patrick Dempsey) and Read more:Enchanted
Hairspray (2007) PG 117min 2007-12-01 02:12:20
A number of stars are cast in this musical comedy: John Travolta, Michelle Pfeiffer, Christopher Walken, Queen Latifah, Jerry Stiller… Directed by Adam Shankman. Lesslie Dixon wrote the screenplay for the movie. John Waters was the author of the original 1988 screenplay.
The plot: 1962. Moderately obese and rather short, but cute Tracy Turnblad (Nikki Blonsky), a Baltimore high school student, is obsessed with becoming one of the dancers on the local Corny Collins Show and dreams of being with the lead dancer of the show, Link Larkin (Zac Efron). Tracy’s mother (John Travolta!) is a laundry woman and thinks that fame and publicity may hurt her daughter, but her dad (Christopher Walken) supports her. But the show’s production manager Velma Von Tussle (Michelle Pfeiffer) casts her own daughter Amber (Brittany Snow) in the lilly-white-only show and tries to maintain that status quo. Tracy with her new friends, Meybelle (Queen Latifah) and Seaweed (Elijah Kelleys
Movies to see this week (Nov 30, 2007) 2007-11-30 12:49:13 Opening in theatres:
Awake (2007) R - In United States, more then 60,000 people every year experience what’s called “anesthetical awareness”, a condition when anesthesia fails during surgery, so the patient can feel the pain, but because he/she is paralyzed, cannot do anything about it. This is a story of one of the “victims”. Drama/Thriller.
Badland (2007) R - Yet another Iraq-related movie about a soldier who comes back from the duty there, but is unable to cope with everyday life and goes on the crime spree across United States. Later he is offered a chance for redemption, which might be as horrible as his crimes. Drama.
The Diving Bell And The Butterfly (2007) PG-13 - a.k.a. “Le scaphandre et le papillon”. True story. A full-of-life person (editor of Elle) gets a stroke at the age of 45, and his entire body is paralyzed - except his left eye. He uses it to blink out his memoir. Based on novel and life-story of Jean-Dominique Bauby. D
Movies to see this weekend (December 07, 2007) 2007-12-07 05:32:13 Opening in theatres:
The Golden Compass (2007) - Nicole Kidman, Daniel Craig, Sam Elliott, and Ian McShane star in a movie based on Philip Pullman’s novel, an exciting fantasy adventure set in an alternate world where people’s souls manifest themselves as animals. An organization known as Gobblers kidnapped a child, and 12-year-old girl Lyra (Dakota Blue Richards) is at the center of the story trying to rescue her friend, and ends up saving both her and our world.
Atonement (2007) - James McAvoy, Keira Knightley star in this war drama with love triangle about a writer who, when she was 13-year old girl accused a man of a crime he did not commit and about a way she found to atonement.
Grace Is Gone (2007) - yet another Iraq-themed movie about a father who’s wife-soldier was killed in action and rather then telling his daughters the truth he takes them on the road trip to amusement park
Juno (2007) - comedy about teenage pregnancy from creators of “Knocked Up Read more:December
A Good Year (2006) PG-13 114min 2007-12-07 03:42:46
Oscar-winning director Ridley Scott (American Gangster, Numb3rs, Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford, The Company, Tristan and Isolde, Orpheus, Kingdom of Heaven, Matchstick Men, Hostage, Black Hawk Down, Hannibal, Gladiator and many many more) directs this adaptation of Peter Mayle’s best-selling novel (screenplay by Marc Klein), following the romantic misadventures of an Englishman in Provence, France. After inheriting a French vineyard from his uncle Henry (Albert Finney), failed banker Maximilian Skinner (Russel Crowe) moves abroad, where he meats a pretty American woman (Abbie Cornish) who claims to be his long-lost cousin - and his uncle’s true hair. This presents a problem, since Max is trying to sell the house. And it’s not the only problem.
There’s plenty of pretty French women in this movie too, including Marion Cotillard. France is beautiful. Hey, I am saying that just after watching “Mr. Bean’s Holiday“, which
Mr. Bean’s Holiday (2007) G 90min 2007-12-06 02:53:19
The plot: Mr. Bean (Rowan Atkinson) wins a trip to France in his church’s ruffle. On the way from Paris to Cannes he manages to miss his train, separate Russian boy Stepan (Max Baldry) from his father, film director Emil Dachevsky (Karel Roden) who was also heading to Cannes, get a part in the yogurt commercial directed by Carson Clay (Willem Dafoe), get fired within 5 minutes, meet The Girl, Sabine (Emma de Caunes), and sabotage the Cannes Film Festival.
Well, it’s the same old character, low-IQ and good-natured. In the first half of the movie mostly same old jokes repeated again when Mr. Bean played with food etc or tried to entertain the kid. Little innovation. As usual, Mr. Bean doesn’t say much and behaves like a cartoon character. Lots of jokes were based on the language barrier between the three: the French actress, the English Mr. Bean the Russian boy.
It’s a well-natured physical and situational comedy that will make you feel warm and fuzzy.
Read more:Holiday
Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story (2007) R 96min 2007-12-22 01:40:40 From Judd Apatow, the guy who brought you Knocked Up and Superbad - a new comedy starring John C. Reilly!
The plot: America loves larger-than-life musician and songwriter Dewey Cox (a composite character in whom you can recognize Bob Dylan, Brian Wilson, Johnny Cash and others). But behind the music is the up-and-down-and-up-again story of a musician whose songs would change a nation. On his rock "n roll spiral, Cox sleeps with 411 women, marries three times, has 22 kids and 14 step-kids, stars in his own 70s TV show, collects friends ranging from Elvis to the Beatles to a chimp, and gets addicted to - and then kicks - every drug known to man… but despite it all, Cox grows into a national icon and eventually earns the love of a good woman - longtime backup singer Darlene (Jenna Fischer).
*** This paragraph may contain spoilers. *** The movie starts when little 6-year old Dewey and his brother go the barn to play with machetes, and his brother says, “ain’t nothing horr
Hot Fuzz (2007) R 121min on HD DVD 2007-12-26 02:20:42
This is a surprisingly very funny cop-buddy comedy from creators of Shaun of the Dead (2004), director Edgar Wright who co-wrote thr script with Simon Pegg, who starred as main character in both movies. There are no big special effects, but all movies look better in HD. Probably for that reason this movie was released on dual-format disk: one side is regular standard definition DVD and the other side is HD DVD.
The plot: Sgt. Nicholas Angel (Simon Pegg) is an exceptional cop. He is so outstanding, in fact, that he had become a nusence for his coleagues in London: he’s so good he makes everyone else look bad. For his achivements his captain and Chief Inspector (Bill Nighy) of his department decided to “promote” him to a small village of Sandford far away from the capital. But he is so dedicated he got to work of lawman even before he officially went on duty, which immediately made him subject of jokes. At first the village seams crime-free and peaceful, until bo Read more:Hot Fuzz
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