DVD reviews, anyone?

[Vanessa]

A while back, it was discussed on another thread that maybe we should start a DVD thread, so I guess I will now. ;D

I watched The A-Team on DVD yesterday & really liked it although, it was over the top in some places, & it was insane in the action dept. & I totally adore Liam Neeson & Bradley Cooper, so those are 2 great reasons to watch the movie, at the very least. Also, that super talented guy from Johannesburg that starred in District 9, Sharlto Copley, was great comic relief in this. I highly recommend it to any that love action thrillers & don't mind over the top action. You really gotta suspend disbelief in this one!


I also watched Empire of the Sun, a Spielberg movie released in 1987 that stars Christian Bale as a child set in WWII in Shanghai. I have no idea how I missed this jewel of a movie all these years. It was excellent & based on the autobiography of J. G. Ballard, who Bale portrayed in the movie as Jim Graham. If you are a lover of Spielberg & / or Bale, I HIGHLY recommend this movie. It was outstanding & oh yeah, John Malkovich, Miranda Richardson, & Ben Stiller are even in it.


I also saw Knight & Day on Friday which was exactly like I thought it would be, but I did enjoy it for what it was. Over the top, campy romantic action thriller. If you like Tom Cruise & / or Cameron Diaz, you will probably like it.

Next up, I have several I need to watch: The Ghost Writer (Ewan McGregor), The Expendables (Stallone), The Losers (Jeffrey Dean Morgan), Takers (Paul Walker), & Letters to Juliet (Amanda Seyfried).

I'll be back with my thoughts on those as I watch them.

Anyone else? I always like to hear real people's opinions on movies, (but hate the critics).

[KD]

Haven't been watching many movies lately, but I do recommend Good Will Hunting (Matt Damon), The Adjustment Bureau (Matt Damon, again, for those who won't watch it in theaters), and recently, Aliens (Sigourney Weaver).

Loved the first and third movies to death and enjoyed the second movie.

[Vanessa]

Hey KD, I loved Good Will Hunting myself, & it introduced me to Matt Damon & Ben Affleck when it came out. I am a HUGE Aliens fan myself & Ripley was my hero, completely. "Get away from her, you bitch!!!" Love that line & will always love that movie. The Adjustment Bureau looks really good to me & I have been wanting to see it, but money is scarce right now, so I have not been to the movies at all lately except for a free prescreening I got to go to of "Paul" last week. It was pretty good, Simon Pegg is always good for a laugh & of course Seth Rogan is always funny.

I have yet to finish The Ghost Writer, I started it & got through the 1st hour & had to stop when something came up, I do intend to finish it, but it is a little slow & extremely bleak looking with the setting being on a New England island where it looks really gloomy due to it raining a lot. McGregor's character seems a little detached in this. It is a Polanski film & you can definitely tell his style in it, so I am hoping it gets much more interesting as it goes along.

[KD]

I heard The Ghost Writer was terrific, but then again, I will watch anything with Ewen.

[KD]

Just watched Alien starring Sigourney Weaver. That movie is ridiculously scary. Ellen Ripley is the most badass chick on the Frontier.

[Vanessa]

KD, you are talking about the 1st one, right? I have to tell you when I first saw that movie back in 1979 (& yes, I actually saw it in the theater), it scared the shit out of me when that baby alien burst out of Kane's (John Hurt) abdomen & then was loose running & hiding all over the ship. That was an unbelievable neverbeforeseen type of horrifying movie scene. Now, they do all kinds of shit. However Ripley became my hero & went on to be my favorite female hero of all time in Aliens in 1986. No one has matched her heroism since, in my opinion.

[KD]

I am talking of the first one, Vanessa! Although I liked Aliens too. Alien 3 was sort of disappointing, especially since I'm usually such a big stan for David Fincher.

Ripley is such a freaking bad ass I can't even begin to praise her enough. I like how she never had a love interest/conflict during the series. She isn't defined by her love life.

The whole movie is brimming with so much sexual imagery and somewhat subtle yet conspicuous themes of homosexual rape, alien pregnancy, and interspecies rape, it was sort of distracting. The phallic like alien baby with TEETH bursting from Kane's chest after the facehugger inserted a penetrating limb down Kane's throat is scaring to me.

[KD]

Plus it didn't help that the adult form of the Alien had a head shaped just like a huge penis. Oh, and don't get me started with all this "monster-feminine"motifs and "womb" metaphors.