T2 Judgement Day - 1991

Kathy wanted to go to sleep early tonight, this gave me an opportunity to watch a "shoot em up". I chose Terminator 2. I have seen this movie before though it has been a while.

There seem to be four phases of the movie:

• The beginning where Sara is locked in the mental hospital, and John O Conner is acting out his frustrations. The two terminators arrive from the future, one to protect John, one to kill John.
• Terminator to Terminator warfare, lots of nifty special effects.
• The race South to get weapons. This is also where we have the major relationship building phase.
• The battle to destroy the original terminator parts stored at Cyberdyne and the last battle of the terminators.

I always find time travel movies interesting. I am not sure the idea of going back in time makes sense, time seems to move forward. It stopped once, in one way or another, or at least the sunset was held back, but never went back. Assuming you *could* go back in time, the thought that one person could change history is a bit overdone. There are lots of people playing on the stage if you get my drift.

Great special effects, especially considering the era. The molten metal terminator was pretty cool. I am glad I have this movie and will almost certainly watch it again. If you are in the cybersecurity field, you almost certainly know this, but the author of the computer worm netsky, Sven Jaschan, was a fan of terminator. So, if you ever pronounce the worm, call it Net Sky, not Net Ski.

Goodbye Girl - 1977

I have seen this movie before, like a thousand years ago, but really smiled when Kathy ordered this from Amazon. Personally, I find the first half of the movie quite sad, but the dialog is incredible. The play of words between Paula McFadden, (Marsha Mason), and Elliot Garfield, (Richard Dreyfuss), is incredible, an extraordinary job. Dreyfuss reminds me of someone I went to college that is also an actor; shout out to Dr. Chip Straley.

Lucy McFadden, (Quinn Cummings), turns in quite a performance as a tween.

The romantic scene on the roof was fun, this is the night after Elliot kissed Paula in the bathroom and it was not returned. Then the next night as they danced on the room, Paula says, "Are we going to sleep together tonight?'

The painting the apartment scene really cracked us up. The painter puts the one color on the wall and Paula says no. The painter mixes in a lighter color and bang, the color of the wall is a perfect pattern match for the color in our entertainment room.

Anyway, I am deeply thankful we have this in our collection. As a security guy of many years, I am a bit paranoid. I don't want Netflix, Amazon prime etc to have what we watched, when we watched it etc. Of course Amazon, ( and everyone else after this blog post), will know we bought the movie, but this one had zero chance of showing up in the DVD or Blue Ray bin at Wal-Mart if you get my drift.

Anyway, I fully expect we will watch it again. There is an interchange in the movie where Paula says, "Another Goddamn actor. "I happen to have a lawyer acquaintance?" Right out of A Streetcar Named Desire. Stanley Kowalski in summer stock, right?" This is something Kathy and I do and have done for years. It is actually something we learned from Hunter. We will sometimes use movie lines when communicating in public, because it tells the back story too, so anyone else that is with us, hears the words we say, but does not get the full meaning. I have no doubt we will watch this movie a couple times. (Security people, this paragraph is why I sent this to my SANS Google + circle)

Parents, I think this movie will be fine for kids. There is no nudity, though there is a scene where some ladies are dancing in bikinis in a bar, but I am from Hawaii, I have seen a lot of bikinis, so you have to make up your own mind. There are two scenes with violence, but in one there is no injury, in the other Elliot gets a black eye. But the movie has a happy ending, everything is carefully done.

Red Dog, (The most famous dog in Australia) - 2011

I have seen this movie before, I love this movie, don't think this is your standard animal movie; it is, but it is uniquely Australian. Some of the cinematography is fantastic.

Red Dog arrives at a rough and tumble mining town. There are so many themes woven in I can't tell them all, there is Red Dog, but much more. The primary characters from all over the world. They are on the side of the ocean in Australia, so of course there is the deadly shark named Lord Nelson. You can already guess, if you have a Red Dog, then there is also going to be a Red Cat. The Western music playing for the showdown with Red Dog and Red Cat was just too funny.

The scene where  meets up with Johnny is totally awesome. Soon after we meet Nancy, a pretty girl in a mining town that is almost all guys. She puts Red Dog in his place on the bus.

There is no point in me telling you any more about the movie, I recommend it highly.

Parents, not sure what to say. there is no nudity, I suppose there is some vulgar language, but I didn't pick up on it, there is some violence, but it is done carefully. My guess is this would be appropriate for kids that can understand loss of life. We don't see it happen, but it is an important part of the story.

Blade Runner - 1982

I do not own this movie, but thought I would stream it to see if I wanted to add it to the library. I like, but do not love Ridley Scott movies. There is some serious star power in this movie. Wow that is a young Harrison Ford. And, I enjoy M. Emmet Walsh, I like him best in Mighty Quinn.  Rutger Hauer is an extraordinarily skilled bad guy. So many movies cast Daryl Hannah as a ditzy blond, but she is pretty scary in this movie.

I didn't make it to the end of the movie so I do not think I will add it to the library at least not at this time.

Home Alone - 1990

I have seen this movie before, but it was over 20 years ago. We saw it in the $5.00 bin at Wal-Mart and thought why not, we host guests fairly often. I was shocked  at how badly Kevin, (Macaulay Culkin), was treated by his family, but it does set the plot up nicely.

I had forgotten some of the details of the set up, the power outage so they had to rush through the airport. Harry Lime, (Joe Pesci) coming by dressed as a police officer to case the property. And the kid across the street coming over and getting his head counted so they left thinking they had everyone.

The polka experience driving across the country was fun and I had forgotten John Candy was in the movie. And there were some touching moments, I remembered it as all slap stick. The home defense section of the movie is very creative, probably would not work, but certainly creative.

Touching ending, but that is all I will say about that. Glad we have it in the collection, but I probably will not watch it again unless we have a young person over.

Parents, you have probably seen the movie, there is no nudity, I do not recall any foul language, there is some violence, but it is what I call cartoon physics violence, reminds me of the Three Stooges.

Eat, Pray, Love - 2010

I don't think there is a movie that Julia Roberts has starred in that I did not like. We own this movie and have watched it several times. I like it better than Kathy. Don't fully understand the beginning, but I am intrigued by the idea of a woman, that knows she needs to find herself.

The idea she had was to travel for a year, Italy to taste food, India to find God, Bali to find Love. I think the script is excellent and Roberts performance is excellent.

There are some awesome lines, In Italy, Julia types to her former boyfriend, "Ruin is a gift, ruin is the road to transformation."

The movie is touching and you can see Julia's character healing and growing stronger with each transition. Almost all of us have loved and had it fail and you know how much it hurts. This is a great exploration of that topic.

I am thankful we have this disk and I will watch it again and encourage you to see it. There are lots of unique bits to absorb, consider or even reject.

Parents, there is no nudity or violence that I recall seeing. Christian parents, there is a line in the movie you want to be aware of, "God is in us and he is us".

Private Benjamin - 1980

We have this movie and have seen it before, but it has been a while and I had forgotten a lot. I find the storyline to be a bit contrived, but Goldie is quite funny.

There are some great lines, for instance when they are handing out the uniforms, Judy says, "Excuse me, is green the only color these come in?"

When Judy mentions the latrine needs cleaning, gets the really cool smile and you can tell what is going to happen next. Then Captain Doreen Lewis says, "Can I see your toothbrush?"

I had forgotten the fight over the blanket in the barracks. The scene where her parents find out she has joined the Army is awesome. This is a big turning point in the movie.

They really build up to an important ending. I am glad we have the movie and don't expect to see it many times, but I do think I will watch it again.

Big Fish - 2003

I had not seen this movie, hadn't even heard of it. I sort of like Tim Burton films. The opening was very promising. The beast fish story cracked me up and reminded me of Grumpy Old Men, or was that Grumpier?

There are some great lines in the movie, here is an early one, "We were like strangers who knew each other very well."

The glass eye scene kinda reminded me of Beetlejuice, not sure why, probably because they were both Tim Burton films.  Truly enjoyed the "monster" or "creature" scene. The bones outside the cave were a wonderful touch. Really identified with the jumping spiders, I have experienced that myself, in Hawaii we have cane spiders that jump. That part of the movie could have developed a bit more.

Interesting how they weave crows throughout the plot. Here on the lake we have nesting eagles, and also crows. Crows torment the eagles, or at least try to. When the eagles land in a tree, the crows fly all around them. They chase the eagles when they fly.

Absolutely nuts movie, but I liked it and think I will watch it again.Very touching, I plan to watch again.

Parents, I am not aware of any nudity or graphic violence, but I think the subject matter is not appropriate for young childres.

Desperately Seeking Susan -1985

Great movie, great soundtrack. I own this movie in both houses and love to watch it. Hilarious opening and it just keeps going. Madonna shows a lot of depth. She is clearly more than just a singer.

My favorite lines, "At least he's not a PhD." and of course the all time classic, "Why can't you take a valium like a normal person". It is interesting, but Leslie Glass, (Laurie Metcalf), is not the strongest talent on the film, but she does get some of the best lines.

Gary Glass, (Mark Blum) does a great job at being an unlovable rascal.  I think this is my favorite Rosanna Arquette, (Roberta Glass, Gary's wife) role in any movie. I do not really an eye for fashion, that is Kathy's department, but they sure dress Roberta funny in the first half of the movie. Aldan Quinn, who ends up with Roberta also delivers an outstanding performance.

Bottom line, of course you have seen this movie, but I think it is a candidate for a second viewing.

Parents, this is not a good choice for young children, end of story.

Kindergarten Cop - 1990

I love this movie. I love the contrast between the opening where John Kimble is a rough and tumble street cop and the first day teaching kindergarten when he drops exhausted into the bed. Kathy and I could both relate. She was a teacher for 25 years. I would have a bad day at work and wanted to share what happened to me, but then Kathy would share things like, "We had a bomb scare and they sent the pregnant secretary back into the building to search for the bomb." Then, I got connected with the SANS Institute and authored and taught their Intrusion Detection Course. After the first day teaching, I caught up with Kathy in our hotel room. I said, "I never knew teaching could be so tiring" and she erupted into laughter.

There are some great lines in the movie, one from his partner Phobe, "Kimble, if you were any stiffer we could take you surfing", is one of my favorites.

I enjoyed the love interest play. The bad guys are good at being bad guys.

This is a movie I have at both houses. It is not my absolute favorite, but it is my favorite "Arnie", Say what you will but this guy can act.

Parents, there is some violence, a reference to drugs, no nudity. I would have let my kid watch this movie at pretty much any age, in my view is a good family choice.

Romancing the Stone - 1984

In the first two minutes of the movie, we see a bit of a beautiful blond girl's charms, but still clearly in the PG arena. We see an improbable knife throw, I think it is a Scottish dirk. And here a great line, "he raped and murdered my sister, stole my ranch, shot my dog and stole my bible".

Twas all fiction though, she is a writer, Joan Wilder, (Kathleen Turner, and this is where set really gets her start). She is the city mouse of all city mouses, and she has to go rescue your sister. She gets on a bus, the wrong bus, but he the landscapes are incredible. She would have been history, but Jack, (Michael Douglas), shows up and pulls off a rescue. This is followed by a long chase in the jungle.

A major plot change occurs in a crashed drug smuggling plane in the jungle. They take shelter in side, leading to an insane line, "throw another kilo on the fire". They have a conversation and the relationship is born. Later at first kiss, she initiates it.

Now they are a couple, how much trust there is, who knows. There is a concept they get some money and buy a boat. Several of my peers, SANS instructors, have living on a boat with their families and traveling the wet world as a dream. I dunno, I like living in a house and putting my big boat, a canoe in the lake in our back yard.

Oh God - 1977

This is a fun one. I saw it a long time ago in a theater. We were watching the movie and Kathy remarked Jerry Landers looks like a young John Denver. Well there is a reason for this, he is a young John Denver. He actually was in several movies, I am considering picking up Walking Thunder.

Great screenplay, lots of talent, great lines, what is not to like. One of my favorites in the early part of the movie is when Jerry is telling God, (George Burns), why he can''t do it. Jerry says, "I don't belong to a church", God replies, "Neither do I."

There is a bit of a slow start. Bobbie, (Teri Garr), does a pretty good job of being the confused and worried wife. One thing that is pretty nifty is that Jerry's message goes viral. The religious editor would not publish Jerry's message that God wanted him to share. But God convinced him to try again. This time he got one line in an article. That led to other papers and TV and that of course leads to trouble. Trouble for Jerry, trouble for the Landers family. His kids start to put distance between themselves and Jerry. You can imagine what the kids in school did to Jerry's kids.

Somewhere in the middle of the movie, Jerry appears before a multi-denominational religious panel. They give him a set of questions written in Aramaic and he agrees to be locked in a hotel room and answer them. God shows up as a bus boy and answers the questions.

Love the scene where Jerry takes the questions to the TV evangelist and calls him a fake.

Parents, no violence or nudity stood out for me. Obviously the movie will have a few takes that will run counter to what some denominations teach. In fact, I will go out on a limb and say that something in the movie will run counter in some way to what all denominations teach. But at the end of the day, if you are willing to let your kids watch Joshua, (2002), or show it in your church, this is not so different.

I am glad we saw the movie, not at all certain I will watch it again, so it may end up in the trade box.

One thing puzzles me, if you know the answer please answer by comment, why is there so much orange in the movie? Play on John Denver's last name with the Broncos?

Leap of Faith - 1992

I have seen this movie before and I like it. It opens up as something between a charade and outright blasphemy. Jonas Nightengale, (Steve Martin), puts on a Vegas quality show in tiny towns across the country.

I don't usually like Steve Martin, but this is a role that he really shines in.

The tent set up scene, is truly awesome. There are amazingly high quality lines in the movie. Whoever, wrote this script was just plain on.

The interplay between Liam Neeson and Debra Winger is just gorgeous. We have this movie in both of our houses and watch them from time to time. The interplay between Steve Martin and

Parents, what do I say?  No violence or nudity caught my attention. The ending left me hopeful, but I am not sure how kids would process a flim flam man. In particular, Christian households should be prepared to discuss the movie after watching it.

Almost an Angel - 1990

What the heck, any collection needs a Paul Slogan sleeper. The short plot line, a life long crook saves a boy from being run over in a street. In a dream he meets God, (played by Charlton Heston).

I had never seen this movie before, hadn't heard of it, Kathy picked it out somehow and blessed me with commentary throughout the movie . . . Kathy: "No you can't fly, probationary angels can't fly. Certified angels can fly, faculty fellows can definitely fly."

There are some great lines, I am not sure why this did not do better. The drug dealer intervention scene was priceless.

There is a possibility that politics and economics of the movie industry kept this movie down. I surely do not know. However, Kathy and I enjoyed it and if you get the chance to watch it, I would think there is a better than even chance you would to.

We have this in our library and we can watch it later. I do plan to watch it again.

Parents, I think this should be OK for kids of any age, obviously the theology is incorrect, but the violence/nudity etc is much more like a Disney film than most of the entertainment available.

Conan the barbarian - 1982

If I was stranded on a desert island with not much than a cold fusion energy source, a 1080p/Blu-Ray screen and 200 or so movies, I would pick this as one of them.

It really is an amazing movie. Incredible talent in the actors, a solid plot. A good balance between violence, a sense of wonder at what might be possible, and some humor. I was really struck by the opening, steel is what you can trust. I personally only trust in God Almighty, but there are a number of edged weapons in my house. They are something I know and understand. Most of them are fairly short; in close quarters a Scottish Claymore really can't be used to advantage.

After Conan's mother is beheaded by Thulsa Doom, and he is put into hard labor, we understand he is forged to become a great warrior. Love the cinematography where he is morphed from a boy into Arnold, er, uh, Conan.

They take him from slave labor to a gladiator style fight, he wins, no surprise or it would be a very short movie. There is intermittent narration from this guy with the coolest voice. As a successful gladiator he is taken to the East to learn advanced fighting technique. In a strange plot twist he is freed from captivity, chased by wolves and falls into a hard to believe burial chamber where he acquires a sword from the skeleton of an ancient king.

What bonded me to the movie comes later when they find the head quarters of Thulsa Doom. They are doing some chanting thing. A long, long time ago, when we lived in a duplex in Fredericksburg VA, we were at that part of the movie. There was a loud pounding on the door. I used to keep a special club, a trailer hitch ball on a threaded table leg by the door. Made note of its location. Opened the door. There was this guy; straight out of a movie. "What's going on in here", he asked, "devil worshiping?" No, sir, we were watching a movie. It turned out the tenants downstairs violated the terms of their lease and allowed an additional party to live there.

Parents, this is not a movie for young children. Violence, witchcraft, and brief bits of partial nudity.

Secondhand Lions - 2003

I have seen this movie before and I love it. Two eccentric gentlemen end up living with a boy that has no place to go.

There are tons of great scenes, shooting at traveling salesmen, don't worry nobody dies. All the relatives wanted their money, but not a relationship.

Then through the corn you see a giraffe. Turns out he was on an ACME Animal Transport bringing them a lion, a very old lion. Their plan was to let him go and hunt him, but he would not get out of his crate.

The fight scene, such as it was, in the restaurant after Bud escaped from the hospital which he had to because of a heart attack was pretty funny.

Latter comes the plane, but that is all I will say about that.

Highly recommended, I am thankful we ran across. Parents, if you would be willing to let your kids watch TV reruns of the Beverly Hillbillies, you are probably OK letting them watch this.

TV Charlie's Angels, season 1, the pilot - 1976

Kathy and I were at Wal-Mart and they were selling TV seasons for $5.00. So we brought it home. It was a bit of a trip down memory lane.

The pilot is a little bit different than the follow on episodes. It is much longer, movie length. And there are two handlers, Scott and Bosley, Scott gets cut from the team after this.

The hilarious thing was Tommy Lee Jones as a guest star in the pilot, he seems so young.

I think the collection will prove to be a lot of fun. Tonight, I finished the first season. A couple notes. Two of the angels drive cobra mustangs, one is a cobra II, the other one I have never seen before. I tried to look it up on the Internet, but my GoogleFu is not sufficiently advanced apparently to get the scoop on the second cobra.

One thing that caught my attention is that none of the angels wore the same outfit twice. It was kind of funny seeing the clothes. The lady's outfits could pretty much be worn today and would not stand out, but some of the male outfits were outlandish.

Witness - 1985

We saw this a long time ago, rented it from Blockbuster in Fredericksburg, four houses ago. We were amazed just at the opening, how much we have forgotten.

After, we finish the movie, we intend to watch the documentary on the making of the movie. It is a great action film, but it is more than that, the cinematography is very well done. I think this is one of Kelly McGillis' best performances, the other being Top Gun.

Harrison Ford looks so young in the movie, it is incredible. Though it is action thriller, humor is woven in.

The scene where Eli catches John and Rachel dancing had a huge impact on me both the first time I watched this and this time. Eli was so good when he counseled Samuel, I did not think he was out of line, in fact I thought given the context it was she that was out of line.

The barn raising scene is one of my all time favorites. Another is when he goes into town to use the phone for the second time. I won't say any more than that. Great plot, fine acting, well filmed, what fun. I am glad we have added this to our library and intend to see it again sometime.

Parents, I can't recommend young kids watch the movie, there is a gruesome killing by knife in the opening of, a semi-nude shot of Kelly McGillis in the middle and plenty violence to go around towards the end.

The sessions - 2012

OK, let's get this out of the way first. What is a self proclaimed Christian doing watching a movie with full frontal nudity? Well, I happen to be a polio survivor myself. This movie is deeply personal for me. No, I am not in an iron lounge, at least not yet, but I cannot know that my future is not similar as this.

Mark O'Brien, has a strong religious faith and puts his priest to the test. He wants to lose his virginity, I realize some evangelicals will vote one way, others, the other, but unless you have tasted the ravages of polio, perhaps it is best to be slow to come to an opinion.

The movie is beautifully done. There is nothing easy about the subject matter at hand. However, people will have extraordinary circumstances.

Sorry, we fell asleep, will try to update this latter.

Six days, seven nights - 1998

Let's cut to the chase. Kathy and I have seen this movie before and intend to watch it again. Harrison Ford is an actor, we like to watch. Much of the scenery is from Kauai where we have a duplex. Kathy said, and I didn't do anything to evoke the statement, "This is a movie I would watch again and again."

I just ached when I saw the beach and ocean, we do not get to visit Kauai for another two months.

I love the scene when the weather kicks up while they are flying and Robin Monroe, (Anne Heshe), takes the xanex, and is really chilled about the situation they are in.

What more should I say? Watch this movie.

The five year engagement - 2012

I have never seen this movie before or know anything about it; I am guessing this is a Kathy pick.

Gosh, I am not sure I am qualified to comment on a chick flick, other than the fact that I am married to a chick. This is the second movie in two days with weird wedding party toasts.

I did enjoy the Christian Jewish menage with the wedding couple. But got confused with the plot where Violet Barne's, (Emily Blunt), sister got pregnant and ended up getting married first.

The movie gets dark, or sad, or something.

Parents, I did not see any nudity, but I left multiple times including a shower and a beard trim to get ready for church on Sunday. There is certainly a lot of discussion about pre-marital sex and there are some language issues.

We never reached the ending. This movie is just a waste of time. Avoid.

Stick it - 2006

I have seen this movie a couple times and we decided to watch it again tonight. This is your classic troubled teenager Haley Graham, (Missy Peregrym), finds her niche. Haley does a great disaffected teen routine. I love Jeff Bridges as he plays Burt Vickerman, the gymnastic coach. The movie really is casted very well.

Burt starts to turn her around after talking with her at Cadillac Bobs cafe. She starts participating in the exercises. Just before the internal competition to determine who would go the meet there is a line I really love about don't let the leotards fool you, gymnasts are more elite than Navy Seals, there are about 2,000 Seals, but only 200 world class gymnasts. I have no idea if it is true, but it is a great line. 

The choreography as they are preparing for the meet is really excellent, it is a combination of great "tricks" as they call them as special effects.

Good movies, movies you want to watch again play to your emotions. When she walked out of the meet, I felt a lot of sadness while being hopeful that she would turn it around. Of course having seen the movie before I had reason for hope. 

After Burt's accident, when they go out, and they are in the prom dresses doing gymnastics was very rich imagery. 

Haley's narration before the start of Worlds was excellent. I loved this line, "Four events, four judges per event, that equals sixteen judges to tell us how much we suck." The end of the movie? Shall we just say the end is "revolting", but you will have to watch it to see what I mean.

Parents, I am not sure this movie is appropriate for a two year old kid, but for a tween or teen, it should be required viewing. It meets all the criteria to be on our bookshelf.

What's your number (extended version) - 2011

I have never seen this movie before nor heard of it. When we go to Wal-mart we often go by the box of $5.00 and I think this was one of those. We stuck it in the DVD. At least at the opening, the movie left me flat, if fact when Ally Darling, (Anna Feia), was embarrassing herself with the toast at the party leading up to her sister's wedding, I ended up fast forwarding the movie.

The plot is actually clever. When she meets Colin Shea, (Chris Evans), across the hall in her apartment building who is even more promiscuous than she is, a strange twist in the plot is based on two people that do not seem to be able sustain a relationship.

There are a couple fun lines, "Dad didn't take me to many ball games, but we went on a lot of stake outs." "I wouldn't have know I was gay if I hadn't dated you," one of her ex-boyfriends, (who is talking about running for president of the USA says to her. He wanted her for cover, "America is ready for a black president, but they aren't ready for a black gay president".

The movie does get a bit more interesting, the Horse basketball scene in Madison Square Garden was fairly interesting. I also enjoyed the Twitter scene with her father.

Parents, you probably should not let your kids watch this movie. When I was in the Navy on the Kennedy, we had a movie every Friday night, the old style where the movies were on a reel. They tended to be a lot like this, they called them T&A, (don't ask). I even ran the projector when I was not flying. After the aircraft carrier crew watches the movie, we fly it to the destroyers in the carrier battle group with any postal mail for that ship. They would say thanks by sending awesome food back up with the cable hoist. Once, we had been at sea for five months with almost continuous flight ops. Somehow they had come up with fresh peaches, it was so tasty, though when I looked down at the peach and saw half a worm, my joy was a bit diminished. The second half of the movie is well done and touching and not so full of T&A, but the first half is a bit like half a worm in a fresh peach.

Let's cut to the chase. My partner, when I was an executive at SANS, Mason Brown, taught me that you could not have an infinite sized "book shelf". The team met several times a year to determine what could stay on the roster or if a promising course should be added. That was a virtual shelf, so in point of fact we could have kept them all. However, that would cause us to lose focus. Now at our house we have a physical book shelf. Kathy and I have agreed that we only want movies we intend to watch multiple times. We keep a cardboard box and the movies that are not keepers end up in the box. I understand there are services that let you trade your duplicates and movies you don't want to keep. When the box gets full, I will sort out what to do. This may be a candidate for the box.

Accidental Spy - 2001

I love Jackie Chan movies and what a plus; this one is largely filmed in Hong Kong and also Turkey.

Parents, I would be hesitant to allow young kids to watch this, there is some significant violence. Mostly it is the standard Jackie Chan type of violence where no one gets particularly hurt. This is the only movie I can remember where there was nudity and it is no less than Jackie himself. He is chased from a Turkish spa and ends up in a Turkish bazaar sans towel. I am not a particular fan of a naked male, but they are creative about how he tries to cover himself.  

There is also the magic of Jackie Chan using everything imaginable as a weapon. The defibrillator scene was brilliant. One of the amazing skills Chan has is amazing facial impressions. And I love the way he was doing BASE jumping when BASE jumping wasn't cool.

Usually with a Jackie Chan movie, you have the plot figured out. This movie is coming in with layers like an onion. I like that.

I was trying to multitask, but when he went to spread the ashes on his mother's? grave, I got sucked in. The action was fast, the stunts were incredible, the improvised boat incredible.

I am glad this movie is in my library, I do expect to watch it again.

Where the wild things are - 2009

I used to enjoy reading the book to age appropriate kids. I was not prepared for how sad the beginning of the movie made me feel. The sister telling Max to go play with his friends, the snowball fight ending in the destruction of his igloo, the fit of rage in her bedroom that was almost Asperger-like and him mom being too busy to see what he did in his room. And that school teacher talking about the end of our solar system, that was a harsh little speech. Something needs to change in his life. And so it shall.

The storm at sea in the little boat was quite compelling. Even though I had read the book it was hard not to be impacted.

The meeting of the wild things was fun. It is amazing how calm their voices are even in the wild rumpus. I love the everything you see is yours, except, it is a great monologue.

The rock collection to build the castle which is part mountain with a laboratory to build robots was fun to watch, but I doubt OSHA would approve.

I am glad we have it in the collection, we have guests a lot and while I would be very careful of showing the movie to really young kids, somebody about the size/age of Max would probably enjoy the movie.

Alien - Director's Cut -2003

I have always been fan of Ridley Scott as a director and usually favor Sigourney Weaver. I have seen Alien several times though that was a long time ago., but this is my first time with the director's cut. I am not going to do the which is better, this version or the 1997 theatrical release, just share some impressions.

In the early part of the movie a few things really stood out. One was the effort at computer and control systems. They did a pretty good job seeing this was filmed in 1996, though the green screen terminal really made me smile. The cigarettes on a space ship was a moment of cognitive dissonance, how could you possibly filter the air? And a cat on a space ship? I had forgotten the total mercenary attitude of the crew, you want me to do something you need to pay me. The special effects with the space ship were fun and if real that thing would be huge, you can really understand why they want to mine asteroids.

The landing snafu did not make any sense to me, but for the movie, I am guessing they needed it for the storyline, now that our technology is degraded, we are much more vulnerable. The space suits for the walk to the facility were pretty cool! The breathing sound when they enter the alien space ship is interesting, but there are three astronauts and one breathing sound. The, (I presume dead) alien pilot was a pretty cool. When the one astronaut goes down the hole, I feel the terror you are supposed to feel with a sci-fi horror movie. When he doesn't run when the egg opens, I am thinking idiot. When they let the guy in with the alien stuck to his face, I am thinking, hey, I just watched Jurassic Park 2, Lost World.