with hte next selection, DVD-eh? selects as a Wildcard
Matchstick Men
Quote:
Originally Posted by imdb.com
Meet Roy and Frank, a couple of professional small-time con artists. What Roy, a veteran of the grift, and Frank, his ambitious protégé, are swindling these days are "water filtration systems," bargain-basement water filters bought by unsuspecting people who pay ten times their value in order to win bogus prizes like cars, jewelry and overseas vacations--which they never collect. These scams net the flim-flam men a few hundred here, another thousand there, which eventually adds up to a lucrative partnership. Roy's private life, however, is not so successful. An obsessive-compulsive agoraphobe with no personal relationships to call his own, Roy is barely hanging on to his wits, and when his idiosyncrasies begin to threaten his criminal productivity he's forced to seek the help of a psychoanalyst just to keep him in working order. While Roy is looking for a quick fix, his therapy begets more than he bargained for: the revelation that he has a teenage daughter--a child whose existence he suspected but never dared confirm. What's more troubling, 14-year-old Angela wants to meet the father she never knew. At first, Angela's appearance disrupts her neurotic father's carefully ordered routine. Soon, however, with his own unique spin on parenthood, Roy begins to enjoy a relationship he never dreamed of having with his daughter. But while he develops paternal feelings for the 14-year-old, she's developing a fascination with Daddy's questionable career
trailer
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6DTM is very pleased to select, with our third wildcard pick, Stranger than Fiction.
I love this little film about Harold Crick, an IRS auditor who suddenly begins hearing a voice in his head, narrating his life. A psychiatrist, unable to help him, directs him to an English professor, who helps him to the discovery that his life is apparently being narrated by a writer who inevitably kills off all her characters. Wonderful existential exploration of mortality. With Will Farrell as Crick, Dustin Hoffman as the professor, Emma Thompson as the writer, Maggie Gyllenhaal as a baking love interest, and even Tony Hale (Buster, of Arrested Development) as Crick's coworker. I'm not fond of Queen Latifah as the writer's publisher-appointed supervisor, but otherwise it's a brilliant cast. In a strange way, I think it has more to say about writing fiction (not necessarily her penchant for standing on ledges but moreso her overall method and thoughts) than many of the dozens of other films that have been made on the subject. Also has a great soundtrack, including one of my all-time favorite songs - That's Entertainment - by The Jam.
guilty pleasure pick time. I think it once had the biggest body count in movie history. Totally cheesy, equally unrealistic: the Schwarzenegger classic
guilty pleasure pick time. I think it once had the biggest body count in movie history. Totally cheesy, equally unrealistic: the Schwarzenegger classic
Commando
The movie that started my crush on Alyssa Milano that has lasted many years.
When the NYPD is unable to stop a severe crime wave caused by the Foot Clan, four new vigilantes, Leonardo, Michelangelo, Donatello and Raphael, will come forth to save the city. Under the leadership of Splinter and together with their new-found allies April O'Neil and Casey Jones, they will fight back and take the battle to Shredder.
The film kept very close to the dark feel of the original comics with only a few elements making it in from the animated series that was airing at the time, such as April being a news reporter, and the turtles having different-colored masks (in the original comic, images in color showed all the masks as being red). The film received positive reviews, was the highest-grossing independent film of all time when it was released, a huge hit at the box office, and became the fifth highest grossing film worldwide of 1990 and the most successful film in the series.
A little bit of a departure from my "draft strategy", I picked this movie because, even though it isn't the greatest film, it's still a lot of fun and I enjoy watching it to this day. All things considered, it's a good little film; much darker and more in-tune to the comic book than the dreadful animated series. I especially liked the focus on Raphael as the one brother who really wanted to be accepted and able to go out in the "real world".
And it was a nice marriage of action, a little bit of melodrama, and humour. Unfortunately, the quality if its sequels really seems to tarnish the reputation of this movie, but when you look at it by itself (especially given the source material), I think it stands up rather well.
Oh, and who can argue the greatness of a movie that gave us "T-U-R-T-L-E Power" by Partners in Kryme?
Trailer:
------------------------------------------------ Michaelangelo: [watching a "Tortoise and the Hare" cartoon on TV] You believe this guy? Come on, Ninja kick the damn rabbit. Do something.
[fighting Foot Soldiers] Michaelangelo: Hey Donny, looks like this one is suffering from shell shock. Donatello: Too derivative. Michaelangelo: Well, I guess we can really shell it out. Donatello: Too cliché. Michaelangelo: Well, it was a shell of a good hit. Donatello: I like it. Step up.
Last edited by Flamesguy_SJ; 11-14-2008 at 12:11 AM.
^^^ Good pick! Loved that whole trilogy, but the first was definitely the best one.
Team Pineapple Express would like to select in the category of Wildcard, The Kingdom.
This film stars Jamie Fox, Jennifer Garner, Chris Cooper, Ashraf Barhom and Jason Bateman.
Plot Summary from IMDB.com:
Quote:
When a terrorist bomb detonates inside a Western housing compound (known as The Kingdom) in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, an international incident is ignited. [...] FBI Special Agent Ronald Fleury quickly assembles an elite team and negotiates a secret five-day trip into Saudi Arabia to locate the madman behind the bombing. Upon landing in the desert kingdom, however, Fleury and his team discover Saudi authorities suspicious and unwelcoming of American interlopers into what they consider a local matter. Hamstrung by protocol-and with the clock ticking on their five days-the FBI agents find their expertise worthless without the trust of their Saudi counterparts, who want to locate the terrorist in their homeland on their own terms. Fleury's crew finds a like-minded partner in Saudi Colonel Al-Ghazi, who helps them navigate royal politics and unlock the secrets of the crime scene and the workings of an extremist cell bent on further destruction.With these unlikely allies sharing a propulsive commitment to crack the case, the team is led to the killer's front door in a blistering do-or-die confrontation. Now in a fight for their own lives, strangers united by one mission won't stop until justice is found in The Kingdom
Trailer:
I think it's quite a smart film and really enjoyed it, though there are some scenes that are difficult to watch, and are rather disturbing. It wasn't just a "USA is the best" ra-ra type movie. It showed culture differences, etc and tried to show different perspectives.
Definitely a very relevant film in this day and age.
With the end of the draft drawing near, we're very happy to steal this film with such a late pick, as our Wildcard #4. One of the very few instances in which we actually enjoyed a movie with Tom Cruise (post-1988) in it. A star-studded cast performing in a film by a director with an impressive resume... One of the most popular horror novels of recent history... And a film with a subtext that continues to reveal itself, almost 15 years later. Interview with the Vampire!
Quad rugby as played by the US team, between 2002 games in Sweden and the 2004 Paralympics in Athens. Young men, most with spinal injuries, play this rough and tumble sport in special chairs, seated gladiators. We get to know several and their families. They talk frankly about their injuries, feelings in public, sex lives, competitiveness, and love of the game. There's also an angry former team member gone north to coach the Canadian team, tough on everyone, including his viola-playing son. We meet a recently injured man, in rehab, at times close to despair, finding possible joy in quad rugby. After Athens, the team meets young men injured in war: the future stars of Team USA. Written by {jhailey@hotmail.com}
With our 3rd Wildcard pick team Yippie-Kay-Yay is happy to select:
Running Scared
No not the 1986 Billy Crystal-Gregory Hines buddy cop movie of the same name.
Paul Walker plays Joey Gazelle, a low-level Mafia thug who finds himself in the middle of a drug deal gone wrong, with a hail of gunfire and some dead undercover cops as the net result. Fleeing from the scene, Joey is charged with getting rid of one of the steel snub-nosed revolvers used to kill the cops. Instead, he stashes the gun in his own basement, just in case he ever needs insurance against his own gang. Unfortunately, Joey's 10-year-old son, Nicky (Alex Neuberger), and his best friend, Oleg (Cameron Bright), see where the weapon is hidden. Oleg, whose Russian mob-connected stepfather is physically abusive towards him and his mother, steals the gun to exact revenge. Shooting his father in the shoulder, he runs away with the "hot" gun. This forces Joey to embark on a nightmarish 18-hour journey to locate Oleg and the gun before his own gang, the Russian Mafia, or bad cop Detective Rydell (Chazz Palminteri) finds them or the true link between the gun and the crimes. In a film dedicated to directors Sam Peckinpah, Walter Hill, and Brian De Palma in the closing credits, Kramer splatters the screen with a level of violence that would make those masters proud. Drained of bright colors, stylish, and feverishly fast-paced, RUNNING SCARED is one bloody thrill-ride.
