Ahira's Hangar

Very cool! 1959 street gangs in Brooklyn. Great cast: Stephen Dorff, Brad Renfro and Matt Dillion. Congers up West Side Story and Lords of Flatbush feel--very violent, beware! The true human being is the meaning of the universe. He is a dancing star. He is the exploding singularity with infinite possibilities. <i></i>

Has any2 else seen Panic Room? I just rented it and was blown away! It takes a really thin plotline and makes it work! The room itself, the young girl and Forrest Wittaker make the movie excel. Wittaker's performance is outstanding, reminisient of another great film: Ghost Dog. Dwight Yokum is great! I'd love 2 talk about this film! Your thoughts? The true human being is the meaning of the universe. He is a dancing star. He is the exploding singularity with infinite possibilities. <i></i>

Changing Lanes is a damm good movie: solid 9! A combination of The Firm and Falling Down. Road rage takes on a new meaning in this super-intense highly intelligent thriller starring Ben Affleck, Samuel L. Jackson and William Hurt--c u in Daredevil soon Ben!
If the brain were so simple we could understand it, we would be so simple we couldn't.
Lyall Watson
<i></i>

While I REALLY liked this movie alot--un42nately I have 2 give it an 8, instead of a 9. Great cast! Willem DaFoe, Sam Neill and the absolutely gorgeous Irene Jacob. Fabulous scenery and great treatment of pre-WW1 Dutch East Indies--dark story! The more literary types out there have already guessed, by now, that this is based on a Joseph Conrad story. It's not ez 2 turn Conrad in2 the big screen--The Heart of Darkness is about the only 1/2 way transferable book, where as The Secret Sharer might b a better book, but almost impossible 2 convert.

They must have had a very good screenwitter 4 Victory as my mom, who is a major Conrad freak, say he didn't write women that well--but Alma's screen persona is better written than Heyst's (Dafoe). I kno it can't b overdubbing but I've noticed both in Spidey and Victory that Dafoe is now begging 2 sound a little bit like a character in a import Martial Arts film. His lips don't xactly move in sync w/what he's saying... It's kind of strange...

It's very different from his mezmerizing per4mance in Platoon. It made me want 2 c White Sands w/Dafoe and Mickey (the man) Rourke again...Sam Neill is SO crazy in Victory that I give him the Lord Foul award! It could b that Niell and Rufus Sewell, as and xtremly slimy cutthroat who bounces around the island better than Gollum, made this film a 9, but Dafoe's voice, NOT his acting which was 6 times better than in Spidey, knocks it down 1 notch...odd--FIRE THE SOUND EDITOR!!!


If the brain were so simple we could understand it, we would be so simple we couldn't.
Lyall Watson
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Well I seem 2 b the only posting full movie reviews here since since ol' mhoram stole the show, so 2 speak, w/his ever popular movie ratings topic! But I'll continue nonetheless cause the movie The Badge is so good it deserves it's own review!

I REALLY like good whodunits based in and around New Orleans, mayb its the party, devilmaycare attitude, Mardis Gras, spookiness of the swamps, great Cajun music--or all of it combined. The Badge combines all elements and is a very engrossing and powerfully acted drama, Billy Bob Thorton turns in an amazing perfomance, as do Patricia Arquette, William Devane and Sela Ward. I won't spoil--you have 2 rent this movie--but 2 or 3 times Thorton really gets in people's faces so hard it just blows u away! Definately Thorton's best preformance since Sling Blade and Arquette's best since The Hi-Lo Country (one of my fav movies of all time!!!).

I now, finally, have a top a top eight list of New Orleans area based movies. (or movies in which some of the action takes place in New Orleans):
1. AngelHeart--Mickey Rourke and Robert DeNiro
2. Down by Law--Tom Waits (yes the musician)
3. The Big Easy--Dennis Quaid and Meg Ryan
4. The Badge
5. Heaven's Prisoners-Alec Baldwin
6. A Murder of Crows-Tom Berenger and Cuba Gooding Jr.
7. Easy Rider-Fonda, Hopper, Nicholson
8. Double Jeopardy-Tommie Lee Jones and Ashley Judd And now Danlo looked in that direction, too. He remembered that snowy owls mate in the darkest part of deep winter, and so along with this beautiful white bird perched in a tree a hundred feet away, he turned to face the sea as he watched and waited.

Ahira, Ahira, he called out silently to the sky. Ahira, Ahira<i></i>

Last week I saw 'The Quiet American' and I really enjoyed it .. I highly recommend it!!

Michael Caine was brilliant in it .. and even Brendon Fraser in his role was compelling. Go see it if you can .. or when it comes on video/dvd. <i></i>

This movie was very interesting, highly intelligent and suspense filled. Had a very good cast, Sean Penn, Catherine McCormack, Sarah Polley, Josh Lucas (guy who played the x-hub in Sweet Home Alabama) and Elizabeth Hurley. Based on the novel of the same name by the outstanding author of The Pilot's Wife, Anita Shreve. Very cool story and 2 or 3 outstanding acting jobs raise/save this movie from being a dull 8 2 a very positive 9, could have been a 9 and 1/2 or 10 if Hurley concentrated on acting a little more than showing off gorgeous bod. A must see! (Video )

McCormick plays a photographer who is in the process of doing a historical photo eassy on a horrible double-murder that took place on the islands off Portsmouth, New Hampshire in the late 1800s. Penn plays her husband, a famous poet named Thomas. They enlist Penn's brother, Lucas, 2 sail them out 2 the island, combining work w/pleasure. Jean (McCormick) does a little 2 much research and begins 2 question the quilt of the man who was hung. So now we have a 2 part film that alternates from now 2 1875, or so, and back again. On one hand u have the events leading up 2 the murders and on the other u have kinda a dinner party/conversation drama where all 3, as well as Hurley who plays Lucas' girlfriend along 4 the ride, play off each other personalities and help 2 analyse the events.

Sarah Polley does an outstanding job as the 1800s Fisherman's wife, and prob deserves an Oscar nod as Best Supporting Actress. McCormick (Moira in Braveheart and from Dangerous Beauty) and Lucas (He is a very good up and coming actor) do great work and the music and cinematography r beautiful.

If there r any drawbacks 2 this movie it is probably mainly due 2 Hurley being miscast. Her acting wasn't necessarily bad, she somehow didn't fit and didn't convince in her role which was probably the most important "present day" role in the movie. I could c Nichole Kidman or Julianne Moore, and prob a # of other good modern actresses solidifying the role and raising the movie from a 9 2 a 10 rating. And I've never said this b4 (cauz I love Penn) but Penn could have shown a little bit more emotion. I can't believe I just said that, but the director, Kathry Bigelow, tended 2 focus on the female character a bit more and prob thought Penn could carry his
own weight.

Again if another actress played Adaline and Bigelow gave Penn a kick in the pants from time 2 time it would have been, almost, flawless...

And now Danlo looked in that direction, too. He remembered that snowy owls mate in the darkest part of deep winter, and so along with this beautiful white bird perched in a tree a hundred feet away, he turned to face the sea as he watched and waited.

Ahira, Ahira, he called out silently to the sky. Ahira, Ahira<i></i>

Posted: Fri Aug 08, 2003 3:23 pm Post subject: Solaris

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This was a brave attempt in filming an excellent story by Stanilav Lem, imho, one of the greastest Sci-fi authors ever. The main prob is this movie should have been made much earlier. The trouble is that alot of previous Sci-fi movies both in space, on earth and underwater have liberally borrowed or superceded the plot device.

Tho, in a very cool way, it seeks 2 recapture the "feel" of 2001 those of us who have seen the great Event Horizon will, doubtlessly, see the similarities. Fortunately it is the "mirror effect" that differentiates Solaris from that. There isn't nescessarily great evil at work here--the mind parasites r a naturally occuring phenomenon trying to understand themselves though humans. It's almost as if they r drawn 2 us because we have something they need but can't understand.

It's beautiful the way u almost begin 2 feel sorry for them...a tragic "culture clash" but is it? In a way it goes byond our version of God and takes us 2 a new dimension of "heaven" it's totally wild that way and if I elaborate futher (which I'd love 2 since it opens up very fresh areas 4 complex debate) I'll spoil worse than I already have...

*Intellectually this movie is incredibly stimulating...
*I even approved of Clooney's acting...
*Jeremy Davies' acting is stunning...
* the electronic soundtrack is astounding...
However (and mayb it was the video I rented, but I doubt it...) the sound levels and sound editing left alot 2 b desired--sometimes the soundtrack clashed with the dialougue--sometimes what Davies said was so quiet u barely heard it, other sound problems.
*The planet itself was 1 of the best actors, but there could have been some better editing in general.
_________________
...every human being is by
his/her very nature a contradiction between material flesh and
unquantifiable consciousness.~SRD

Fall far and well pilots!

Danlo is back and the galaxy is falling down around him
And now Danlo looked in that direction, too. He remembered that snowy owls mate in the darkest part of deep winter, and so along with this beautiful white bird perched in a tree a hundred feet away, he turned to face the sea as he watched and waited.

Ahira, Ahira, he called out silently to the sky. Ahira, Ahira<i></i>

This thread is for top ten listing of movies. Well here goes, not neccessarily in the order given, but these all fit in TOP TEN:

Godfather
Godfather II
Star Trek IV
A fish called Wanda
Casablanca
Big Sleep
Godfather III
Star Wars (original, 1976 release)
Annie Hall
Star Trek II

I'm a geek taraswizard
Allan Rosewarne N9SQT/WDX6HQV
Chicago area
W/T forever, always
Plan C - http://planc.bravepages.com/main.html<i></i>