Weld Hall Film Forum

THE BARBARIAN INVASIONS
DIRTY PRETTY THINGS
FINDING NEMO
IN AMERICA
LOST IN TRANSLATION

AMERICAN SPLENDOR
CITY OF GOD
THE LORD OF THE RINGS: THE RETURN OF THE KING
MYSTIC RIVER
SEABISCUIT

CITY OF GOD
THE LORD OF THE RINGS: THE RETURN OF THE KING
LOST IN TRANSLATION
MASTER AND COMMANDER: THE FAR SIDE OF THE WORLD
MYSTIC RIVER

THE LORD OF THE RINGS: THE RETURN OF THE KING
LOST IN TRANSLATION
MASTER AND COMMANDER: THE FAR SIDE OF THE WORLD
MYSTIC RIVER
SEABISCUIT

Shohreh Aghdashloo - HOUSE OF SAND AND FOG
Patricia Clarkson - PIECES OF APRIL
Marcia Gay Harden - MYSTIC RIVER
Holly Hunter - THIRTEEN
Renée Zellweger - COLD MOUNTAIN

Keisha Castle-Hughes - WHALE RIDER
Diane Keaton - SOMETHING'S GOTTA GIVE
Samantha Morton - IN AMERICA
Charlize Theron - MONSTER
Naomi Watts - 21 GRAMS

Alec Baldwin - THE COOLER
Benicio Del Toro - 21 GRAMS
Djimon Hounsou - IN AMERICA
Tim Robbins - MYSTIC RIVER
Ken Watanabe - THE LAST SAMURAI

Johnny Depp - PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN: THE CURSE OF THE BLACK PEARL
Ben Kingsley - HOUSE OF SAND AND FOG
Jude Law - COLD MOUNTAIN
Bill Murray - LOST IN TRANSLATION
Sean Penn - MYSTIC RIVER

I recently watched WET HOT AMERICAN SUMMER based on friend's recommendation.

I haven't laughed that hard at a movie in a long, long time. Perhaps since I first saw DUMB AND DUMBER. I was CRYING.

Probably no one else is interested in this stuff but I figured if I didn't
put it out there everyone would be E-mailing me individually.
Universal Studios Home Video have announced the Region 1 DVD release of
three Monster Legacy Collections for 27th April 2004. Arriving with a retail
price of $26.98 each are the Dracula, Frankenstein and Wolf Man Legacy
Collections, each offering several classic horror movies spread over
two-discs.

Each set features the original classic films that inspired the forthcoming
epic adventure film Van Helsing and are being released in the wake of said
films theatrical release. On each collection you will find an exclusive look
at how these classics inspired the director of Van Helsing along with
completely remastered audio tracks for each film in DD2.0 Mono with
additional bonus features also present...

Dracula: The Legacy Collection includes Dracula (1931), Dracula (Original
Spanish Version), Dracula's Daughter, Son of Dracula and House of Dracula
with the following bonus features:

* "The Road to Dracula" original documentary
* Feature film commentary from film historian David J.Skal
* Brilliant new score by famed composer Philip Glass, performed by the
Kronos Quartet and more

Frankenstein: The Legacy Collection includes Frankenstein, Bride of
Frankenstein, Son of Frankenstein, Ghost of Frankenstein and House of
Frankenstein with the following bonus features:

* An original documentary on the making of the Frankenstein films
* Additional commentary from film historian Rudy Behlmer
* "The Frankenstein Files: How Hollywood Made a Monster" an original
documentary by David J.Skal and more

The Wolf Man: The Legacy Collection includes The Wolf Man, Werewolf of
London, Frankenstein Meets the Wolfman and She-Wolf of London with the
following bonus features:

* "The Wolf Man" making of documentary
* Feature film commentary from film historian Tom Weaver and more

And finally for the collector Universal will be releasing The Monster Legacy
DVD Gift Set which includes all three Monster Legacy Collections and
exclusive hand-painted busts from the award-winning Sideshow Collectibles
creative team. Retail is $79.98...

This film is one of the elite films that I've stopped watching half-way through because I thought it was incredibly boring. Now there is a new DVD release with several sites proclaiming it's brilliance and a sequel is being released later this year called If Not Now with the original two leads, Ethan Hawke and Julie Delpy, attached.

Richard Linklater has only done if for me once as a filmmaker and that was for Dazed and Confused (beyond brilliant), however, I have yet to see School of Rock or Waking Life and I've heard only good things.

Anyone have a view on Before Sunrise that may enlighten me as to why it's a popular cult film?

One of the reasons for starting this blog was to eliminate a ton of e-mail flooding some of our boxes day in and day out. All of them enjoyable, but sometimes "the man" expects us to earn our paycheck and not just show up to collect it. One specific reason there were days when the e-mails wouldn't stop is when Rob got on a kick to compile Top 10 Lists of things dealing with films. For example, "The Top 10 animal nudity scenes," or "Top 10 British Films where nobody says, 'actually'," or the classic, "Top 10 Films where Ben Affleck doesn't cry." These have all been discussed with disgust. (ba dum bum)

If you'd like to be invited as a participant and create your own lists for people to comment on, please let Chuck, Jason, Rob or myself know.

So please see the link to the left entitled, "Rob's Batlistmania!" if you're the anal type like Rob is.

Or if you just like lists.

I insinuate nothing.

Does anyone have any first-hand info on these discs? Are the more recent releases the same as those issued back in the late 90's? It's so hard to keep track.

It's awfully quiet for a film blog... (crickets)

PS - note to new 'bloggers'--you must post and publish in order for your post to be seen. However, I believe when the next person posts and publishes, yours will come up as well.

Greetings, all...

First of all, a big thanks (or "shout-out" as the kids say) to Darin (or "D-Dawg" as the kids also say) for getting this message posting (or "blog" as the kids call it, too) up and running.

Saw several films over the holiday. Nothing awe-inspiring. Some of the better ones included SOMETHING'S GOTTA GIVE, CALENDAR GIRLS, BIG FISH (cried like a little biatch during the last 10 minutes), and I re-watched last year's CONFESSIONS OF A DANGEROUS MIND. I wish Miramax would've put some more balls behind CONFESSIONS' promotion and release; all they're doing is spiting a good film the support it deserves while we have crap like THE MATRIX and DUMB AND DUMBERER in our faces.

In reference to SOMETHING'S and CALENDAR GIRLS: alls I can say is that if I ever got Helen Mirren and Diane Keaton into a room where it was just the three of us, the Depends would be a-flyin'. Those women were absolutely stunning and were in fine shape ifyaknowwhatImean.

I recently dubbed--er, acquired--GOLD DIGGERS OF 1933 and 1935. I've seen the first one and anxious to look at the more recent of the two. Not exactly complex movies but they also don't bother with the still image/360 degree shot that the F'in MATRIX so thoughtfully brought us.

I hope all of you are having a good New Year and your holiday healthy and happy. I look forward to hearing more from everyone! Great idea, D.

--Chris

I saw THE MATRIX PART III a few weeks ago. Before that, the last movie I saw in the theater was THE MATRIX PART II. And that was back in May I believe...? (And a big factor in the decision to see MATRIX III was because a friend was in town and we wanted to take him to see the Chinese Theater in Hollywood. I thought the film itself was twisted and depressing.)

Is it me or has this year's crop of movies failed to provide adequate reason to get out of the apartment, go find parking, pay $10 ($20 if you bring a lady), then sit in a theater and gamble two hours of your life?

MASTER AND COMMANDER? LAST SAMURAI? COLD MOUNTAIN? KILL BILL? I'm sure they're all quality movies, but are they really "worth" it? What am I gonna get out of LAST SAMURAI that I didn't get from DANCES WITH WOLVES?

A lot of the movies I want to see aren't really necessary for THEATER viewing. I don't think I'm going to lose a lot by seeing SPELLBOUND, FOG OF WAR, ELEPHANT, LOST IN TRANSLATION, AMERICAN SPLENDOR, ELF, MYSTIC RIVER, SCHOOL OF ROCK, BIG FISH or BAD SANTA on DVD am I? They're not exactly what you would call lush cinematic experiences.

So I'm waiting for the DVDs.

Oh yeah, I saw CITY OF GOD and CAPTURING THE FRIEDMANS in the theaters this year. They were both pretty good.

Our friend Rob has chosen to take today off from work in order to catch up on his movie watching. Its good to know the man has his priorities straight. Last I heard, his choices for today were Big Fish and Cold Mountain. I am anxiously awaiting his report.

Things I have seen recently and a quick blurb as to whether or not I liked
it:

Big Fish
A true fable told in a beautiful way. Hard to believe anyone could leave
this film not feeling good about life and wanting to live it in as grand a
fashion as possible. On the down side, I feel as if Tim Burton tamed the
overall look and feel of the film.

LOTR: Return of the King
Excellent way to end the long awaited trilogy. Length and pacing would be
the only negative things to say about this third installment. Now I have to
sit and wait for the DVD and hopefully some day... The Hobbit.

The Last Samurai
As it begins I have a hard time getting past the "Hollywood Heartthrob"
status of Tom Cruise. It also starts out very conventional and
unimaginative. By the end I am sucked into this passionate and overwhelming
story and loved the film. It does however owe a great deal of thanks to
Braveheart.

Cronos
Cool flick! This is Guillermo del Toro's first major film released in 1993
and shot in Mexico. As a director del Toro is often overlooked for the
sheer brilliant creator that he is because many of his films are of the
horror genre. The Devils Backbone is a truly hypnotic film and this earlier
work of his is no exception. PUT IT IN YOUR QUEUE!

The Safety of Objects
Yawn... don't bother with this convoluted tale of neighbors interacting
with neighbors. Trust me no neighborhood ever has this much impact on
itself.

Dumb and Dumberer
hehehehe... don't pay money for it but it does have its funny moments.

Let's try this for now -- if you have a post, just e-mail it to me with "POST" in the title and I'll publish it, then others can comment. Just so we can get moving on this.

Hooray!

--Darin

Neither of these are masterpieces but both are well worth the time.

Not Another Teen Movie is the type of thing it is easy to dismiss, I never
wanted to see it really but just happened to be in the right mood at the
video store when I saw it so I rented it. It's similar to the scary movie
films but instead of parodying Scream and other horror films it parody's the
films of John Hughes. I had always thought it would mainly focus on the
more recent teen films starring the likes of Freddie Prinze Jr. and the cast
of WB TV shows, and I'm sure it does reference them as well, I don't think
I've really seen a single one of those but I did recognize a lot of things
from the Hughes films we grew up on. There are a couple of scenes of going
too far gross out humor, but other than that it has quite a few laughs.

The Imposters is a throw back film to both the films of the silent era
(check out the opening credits scene) and the films of the 30's and 40's
with a dash of Frasier thrown in. It is written, directed and stars Stanley
Tucci (spelling?) he made this after Big Night. I wont explain the plot of
the film but here is some of the cast. Oliver Platt, Lily Taylor, Campbell
Scott, Tony Shaloub, Hope Davis, Billy Connelly (whom I just saw in the Last
Samurai, which was very good) Alfred Molina, Isebella Rossillini, Alison
Janney, Woody Allen (uncredited cameo) a few others I can't remember right
now.

--Posted by Rob

Here we can post comments about movies we've seen and allow others to share their opinions. I'm working on finding a way for everyone to make posts and I'll get back to you soon.

--Darin