The Gold Bug

Director: Robert Fuest
Writer: Edward Pomerantz
Released: 1980
Cast: Anthony Michael Hall, Roberts Blossom, Geoffrey Holder

Star Wars: The Clone Wars

Director: Dave Filoni
Writers: Henry Gilroy, Steven Melching, Scott Murphy
Released: 2008
Cast: Matt Lanter, Ashley Eckstein, James Arnold Taylor, Dee Bradley Baker, Tom Kane, Ian Abercrombie, Kevin Michael Richardson, Samuel L. Jackson, Anthony Daniels, Christopher Lee

Easy Rider

Director: Dennis Hopper
Writers: Peter Fonda, Dennis Hopper, Terry Southern
Released: 1969
Cast: Peter Fonda, Dennis Hopper, Jack Nicholson

Apocalypto

Director: Mel Gibson
Writer: Mel Gibson, Farhad Safinia
Released: 2006
Cast: Rudy Youngblood, Dalia Hernández, Gerardo Taracena, Raoul Trujillo

Black Water

Directors: David Nerlich, Andrew Traucki
Writers: David Nerlich, Andrew Traucki
Released: 2007
Cast: Diana Glenn, Maeve Dermody, Andy Rodereda, Ben Oxenbould, Fiona Press

Tropic Thunder

Director: Ben Stiller
Writers: Ben Stiller, Justin Theroux, Etan Cohen
Released: 2008
Cast: Ben Stiller, Robert Downey Jr, Jack Black, Jay Baruchel, Brandon T. Jackson, Nick Nolte

NIKKI says: So, who knew this was gonna be the most freakin' hilarious thing ever? Okay, so not EVER, but it was damn funny. I'm so over Ben Stiller, which made me shrug this one off as yet another vanity piece for the guy to go around yelling and making stupid faces. Consider -- he's really only got one classic in his comedy list and that's Zoolander. Everything else is just annoying. So, how is it that this works? Well, I think it has a lot to do with the fact that his character in this movie is very much like Derek Zoolander. A passionate innocent, with a huge ego and a small brain. Welcome back, Ben. I like you again.

So, this new Ben is on the set making a movie in the jungle with rebel drug makers trying to kill him which he thinks is fake movie magic but after certain bizarre circumstances becomes completely real. He fumbles his way through the whole thing as his friends and fellow actors try to save him. Jack Black plays a heroin addict on detox whose only claim to fame is fart-joke movies, and Robert Downey, Jnr plays an Australian actor so immersed in his character of a black man that he can't stop talking like Mr. T.

Their mission to get Ben and go home occurs as Ben's agent, Matthew McCaonaughey, tries to get Tivo to his client trapped in the jungle without entertainment. He has to battle the big studio boss, Tom Cruise, to make this happen. But Tom wants to let Ben die and claim the insurance and buy Matthew a plane. So, Matthew has a moral dilemma on his hands, and Tom Cruise dances around a lot like a sex-monkey FREAK.

It's so ridiculous, I could not stop laughing. Who thinks of these things? I did enjoy the parallels between actors on set and soldiers in the jungle. That was very clever, and the way the whole thing pulled together with Cruise as some crazy President-like guy sacrificing his actors for money -- it was good.

I can see us going back to it every year like we do with Zoolander. Maybe we can double-team the both of the them?

"A little twig-man Oscar. I 'm going to call you Half-Squat, and you can call me ... papa."

Half-squat.

3/5

WALL-E

Director: Andrew Stanton
Writers: Andrew Stanton, John Reardon
Released: 2008s
Cast: Ben Burtt, Ellisa Knight, Jeff Garlin, Fred Willard, John Ratzenberger, Kathy Najimy, Sigourney Weaver

NIKKI says: There's just something about that little trash machine that's had me obsessed with seeing this film for a while. I hate the cinema these days, though, so I was happy to wait for DVD much as it was killing me. But, a spur of the moment decision led us to the movies to finally see it. And I absolutely loved every second of it. Which is to say, I loved every second of Wall-E. Is there anything in the universe ever that is cuter than him? I can't think of a single thing. I can't think of a single moment in my entire life -- and I've seen a lot of CUTE -- that rivals the heart-melting two seconds when Wall-E tips his trash can lid hat to mimic Michael Crawford in Hello Dolly. There's nothing cuter in world history. And it makes me want to give this movie five stars.

But ... I wished the whole thing had been just Wall-E and Eve running around, because I didn't enjoy myself as much when the humans came into it. I can see the point being made about our fat ass lives and how we're just ruining everything with our need for more, more, more, and easier, easier, easier. But humans on the whole were kinda fat and stupid and I didn't really enjoy that aspect of the movie.

Still, I was distracted from that most of the time by Wall-E and Eve. Ohh, they were just great, and whoever wrote thier little love connection story is a genius, because without words this great love story just came to life. It was fascinating to watch. Two characters who don't really ever say anything, and yet you see every moment, every emotion, every instance that drives them into this relationship. It's adorable.

So, I loved it. If the humans had been made a bit more realistic, I would give it a five.

4/5

Hell Ride, dir. Larry Bishop (2008)

Horton Hears a Who!, dir. Jimmy Hayward & Steve Martino (2008)

NIKKI says:

It was a last minute decision arrived upon after our selected movie (The Alibi) had some sound issues that meant Rebecca Romijn wasn't really speaking her lines but mumbling as though in the middle of a large mouthful. 

I had high hopes for Horton. I read the book as a kid, and have always loved the Seuss-ian Whos. They're pretty much the cutest things ever. It's a sweet story, and deserves to have it's adorable (and ever-timely) message out into the world, and this movie is the perfect vehicle for that. I loved it. Shoot it right to the top of the best-of-2008 list. Finally, there's something there that's not a horror flick.

There's not that much else to say here. Everyone knows the story, everyone knows the big-name actors involved. Everyone is reliable, the story is extremely faithful to its source, and the animation is some of the most realistic I've ever seen. The field of pink clover and the water in Horton bathing pond were especially remarkable. How do they do that? The details in this were amazing, especially in Whoville where every inch of the screen was filled with something interesting. The care taken here shows. I've not been so impressed by an animated film for ages.

(Losing half a point because I still think Kangaroo gets off too easy!) 

4.5/5

Close Encounters of the Third Kind: Director's Cut, dir. Steven Spielberg (1977)

NIKKI says:
Very happy to take a second look at this movie in its new Director's Cut edition. I like the movie. I get caught up in whimsy and the adventure of the whole thing, as I'm sure I'm supposed to. I really enjoy Richard Dreyfuss in all-out manic mode as the man who knows something is out there. But I found watching the movie for only the second time, that I felt bad to Dreyfuss's family who were really just abandoned while he went on his quest into the unknown. I can understand him perhaps leaving his wife behind, she who didn't fully support him in this thing he was going through. But his children?

The scene where Dreyfuss is in the bath, just losing his mind -- those kids really experience something there. That is a tragic moment for them as much as it is for their dad. I feel like Spielberg really did something great there, letting us see how this whole business was affecting the kids. But then the kids just leave and Dreyfuss never gives them a second thought.

I really struggled to fully be with Dreyfuss in those final moments where the aliens take him away. I know I was meant to feel good for him, and happy that his journey was about to take its inevitable next step. But I just sat there thinking -- what about the kids? If this whole thing was just so big that it blocked everything else out of his thinking, then the movie should have let us in on that. Or simply done away with the kids in the first place.

The other thing that bothers me -- why doesn't Dreyfuss take the mud and trees in through the door? Why doesn't he build the thing outside?

Ignoring those issues, it's a good movie. I don't know how much the original cut differs from the director's version, but this one we watched was well-paced and gripping when it needed to be, it had that glittery Spielberg innocence, and some dashes of great humour. It's Spielberg back when he was trying to tell stories instead of trying to change the world.

3/5

Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, dir. Terry Gilliam (1998)

The Bucket List, dir. Rob Reiner (2007)

STEVE says:
So Lyndall says to me, she says, "Please don't do something so cliched as to review Independence Day tonight -- did I just spoil your idea?"

Now I'm about as patriotic as I am religious (six-of-one, in my opinion), and, no, I hadn't considered watching Independence Day (I shudder to think), but she got me thinking about watching something not necessarily patriotic, but something representative of America.

Easy Rider leaped to mind. What better represents the US than a couple of redneck Texans blasting Captain America to hell?

But we had The Bucket List at the house and it was due back -- overdue, likely -- so we decided to have a look at that instead.

Not a bad choice. Nicholson and Freeman are both reliable actors, if not great -- only because they seem be the same guy every time you see them, but they do it well so I'm not complaining. I expected the movie to be a little more saccharine than it was, actually, and the fact that it wasn't boosts it an extra half-point. The idea of two guys, both dying of cancer, going around the world in a last-ditch effort to do all the things they never got to do is the kind of thing that usually sends me right into a diabetic coma. But Nicholson and Freeman made the premise easier to swallow (or distracted me from it, I'm not sure which), and I found myself enjoying the movie in spite of myself.

On a side note, I must point out the scene where the two are riding pillion on a motorcycle, Nicholson behind Freeman, and I smiled silently to myself, thinking again of Easy Rider, specifically the scene where Nicholson is riding with Captain America. See, Morgan Freeman used to be on an educational TV show back in the day, called The Electric Company. On the show, he played a character named Easy Reader. So you see...

I'm giving The Bucket List a 3/5.

NIKKI says:
It just seemed like the perfect movie to cry to. Plus, while Steve feared the premise of two guys going about doing everything they want to do before they die, I crave such stories -- if one of them had've been a teacher with adoring students, I may have passed out from gleeful anticipation.

It was okay. Short and sweet were the words I think I used when it ended. It didn't pad out its premise, or overstay its welcome. It was quite simply about living a full life. There's nothing wrong with that. Steve's right that it held off on the sugar, which I think sets it apart from other movies like it. There's no big crying scenes, no watching the old guy get spottier as he loses consciousness. It didn't yank at the heart strings. I enjoyed that.

I also got into the discussions the guys were having. Morgan Freeman ever wise, and Jack ever wise-cracking. They were fun to watch. Were they any other actors, perhaps they wouldn't have been so endearing.

So, it was inoffensive fun, without the Tuesdays with Morrie melodrama.

3/5

Return of the Jedi, dir. Richard Marquand (1983)

The Empire Strikes Back, dir. Irvin Kershner (1980)

Star Wars, dir. George Lucas (1977)

Rogue, dir. Greg McLean (2007)

STEVE says:
Kind of a Gilligan's Island meets Lake Placid thing going on here in Greg McLean's follow-up to the surprisingly good Wolf Creek.

Don't get me wrong: Rogue wasn't bad. It wasn't anywhere near as good as Wolf Creek, but it wasn't bad. It was much more of a popcorn flick than the other film, so it's already being graded on a curve. I liked it because it managed to take a pretty standard Man vs. Beast premise and had the characters deal with it in ways that didn't go along with convention. Nine times out of ten, at least.

The effects weren't bad, either. We rewound and watched frame-by-frame when one fellow got chomped by the croc, and could barely spot the CGI. Later, of course, it became more evident, but in all it was a mix of CGI and practical effects that didn't have me rolling my eyes every fifteen seconds. It receives an extra point for that alone.

3/5

NIKKI says:
I expected more -- more chomping, more slashing, more blood, more suspense. I expected Wolf Creek crocodile-style. Instead, director Greg McLean gave me a steadily-paced human drama with a big croc in it.

Well-played Greg McLean.

As Steve mentioned, this one took all our expectations and twisted them slightly. Like the scene where they suspend a rope across a river between two trees for the trapped tourists to shuffle across by hand and feet... Steve said -- so how many people will get across before one dies? I made a guess, he made a guess, and we were both so wrong it was embarrassing.

The 10 Little Indians plot device is discarded here, this is not a typical slice-and-dice. No one is here purely for the kill-factor. These characters are developed, their descents into fear are honest and compelling, and while the movie is not afraid to throw a curve-ball or two about, it doesn't rely on its twists to keep us interested.

And Michael Vartan was a good hero. That was the movie's biggest surprise for me.

I also enjoyed seeing John Jarratt, the horrible vicious killer freak from Wolf Creek as a grieving widower. The scene in which he and a small girl share a brief look of understanding is far too special for a Deadly Croc flick. But, of course, this isn't that flick.

3.5/5

Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, dir. Steven Spielberg (2008)

NIKKI says:
Well, this was a surprise. I did not think I'd like it as much as I did. Truth be told, I didn't think I'd get it. I was expecting much talk about arks and covenants and I envisioned myself just missing the point and just waiting for the climax.

How wrong I was. I was with the movie all the way through, and I loved how it was all about aliens and Area 51. There were a few things I didn't get, like why Oxley took the head in the first place, but I'm sure Google can answer that for me. Otherwise, I followed things quite well.

The action scenes were good. I loved the dual car fighting, when Shia and Cate Blanchett were back-and-forthing over two jeeps, and she has the head, then he has the head, then she lands on another car altogether, and then Shia is swinging through the jungle with the monkeys. Somehow, I never questioned the realism of that -- see, I finally got what it was like to be wrapped up in an Indiana Jones adventure. Very cool.

And the ants! The other thing I worried about with this was that it would play too much to the kiddie crowd, but it really doesn't. The ants were the main evidence of that. Gory!

Overall, I enjoyed it. It's currently my favourite of the series.

4/5

STEVE says:
George Lucas has spent the last few weeks promoting Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull by telling all and sundry, basically, "Don't get your hopes up." He reckons that high expectations, not his own mediocre script and tepid direction, are what killed The Phantom Menace, and wants to make damn sure that doesn't happen here.

The difference, of course, is that Crystal Skull has the double advantage of having a good writer in David Koepp, and a great director in Spielberg, so there's no way, really, that expectations could possibly kill it. Right?

Right...?

Well, it's like this. I liked Crystal Skull. I didn't love it, but I liked it, and I don't think that has anything to do with the altitude of my expectations (which were both high and exceeded, by the way, Mr. Lucas). There is simply no way that this movie was going to be better than Raiders - apologies to Nikki - but it certainly had every chance in the world of being better than the previous two sequels. My expectations were based solely on how it compared to the original adventure, and not how it fit into the series, or whether it "beat" the last one, which is how these things are usually judged. Each sequel has to be "better, stronger, faster" than the one that came before it, raising not only the expectations of the audience, but the responsibility of the filmmakers to the point of absurdity, so that after ten movies Jason somehow ends up in space.

David Koepp seems to understand this, and has written not just "another movie" in the Indiana Jones franchise, but a direct sequel (or at least a companion) to Raiders. And in this way, it was better than Temple of Doom and Last Crusade. It beat them without trying to beat them, but by ignoring them completely.

Hats off to you, Mr. Koepp.

4/5

Raiders of the Lost Ark, dir. Steven Spielberg (1981)

NIKKI says:
Another great pic for the big screen. This is the kind of movie that was made to be seen in cinemas -- noisy, action-packed, lots going on in any given scene. The movie was so awesomely big, I was noticing the bugs buzzing around on set. Just perfect.

I'm glad we watched this, really, as we're going to see the new movie this week sometime. I've only ever seen this movie once before, so now I'm caught up on most of what I'm sure will be referenced in Kingdom of the Crystal Skull.

Even with all its good points, I'm still not really drawn to this kind of movie. I don't know what it is, but adventure and swashbuckling and all that stuff just doesn't really grab me. I found, during bits of this film, that I was zoning off a bit. I know the action scenes are great, but they just don't do for me what I know they are supposed to. I feel this way about Star Wars, Pirates of the Caribbean, National Treasure and all those big sort-of movies that are about the effects and caves and ships, and, I don't know.

Steve said to me when I brought this up that he couldn't understand how I could give Fame 4.5 stars when it has no plot and is just about a bunch of people dancing. That's a hard one. It's just a matter of interest, I guess. I don't relate to a movie like this the same way I'd relate to a movie like Fame. And, plus, I don't have the history with a movie like this one. I was 21 the first time I saw it, 20 years after its release. The same year I saw Star Wars for the first time.

At the risk of going on about it, I know it's not a bad movie. It's a fun, adventurous, rip-roaring ride -- exactly what it is supposed to be. Isn't it weird, though -- I feel like there's something wrong with me because I'm not into Indiana Jones! I can't explain it. I used to tell Steve that space movies just leave me cold, but I've since rethought that as I love Alien and I loved 2001. I think it's more to do with adventurous missions -- I can't think of one movie featuring such a mission that I am hugely into. I don't know. Will ponder more and see how the new movie goes later this week...

3.5/5

STEVE says:

"We are simply passing through history. This, this is history."

Which pretty much sums up the way I feel about this movie.

This pick was kind of a cheat, as I have seen Raiders in the theatre at least twice - once in its original run and once in re-release - but with the new movie coming out, I wanted to watch the other three as a lead-in, and now that we have this screen, why the hell not?

4.5/5

Jaws, dir. Steven Spielberg (1975)

STEVE says:
So we got offered this LCD projector. Nikki's friend Trish who works at a local kindergarten says they've got one they're looking to get rid of but can't find a buyer. Meanwhile, I'm getting light-headed. I've wanted one of these for years but haven't been able to put the $1300 together to pick one up. Turns out the kindergarten only wants $350 for it.

Light-headedness turns to outright dizziness, and I'm starting to sway back and forth. Nikki grabs my arm to steady me. That's about 26% of what we'd pay for one new.

And a new one wouldn't come with a big-ass 6X6 screen.

I was thinking we'd just project the movies onto the wall, or a sheet, something. But the screen is part of the package. Yeah, that sealed the deal.

So we brought it home and have been watching the occasional movie on the screen, only taking it out on special occasions, but those occasions came more and more frequently until finally we just hooked our TV up to the computer and are now using the screen exclusively.

This week is dedicated to Movies We Wish We'd Seen In The Theatre. My first pick was Jaws.

If you haven't seen it by now, chances are you're not going to. And if you have, there's no need to recap. You already know it's awesome. I'll say only that, getting to experience it finally on a big screen (not 40 feet tall, but still mighty impressive) was like seeing Star Wars or Blade Runner again in widescreen instead of the crappy VHS pan and scan version I'd been subjected to for years. Very nearly a religious experience.

4.5/5

NIKKI says:
Lovecraft Week is over and Steve and I have moved into a week of "Movies We Want to Watch on the New Awesome Screen". Steve picked some big sci-fi and horror pics -- all among his favourites, while I've gone for something a bit, let's say, dance-ier (which involved a trip to the video store with eight dollars in silver coins to buy Xanadu... more on that during the week).

We flipped a coin to see who started, and ended up with a night of huge sharks! It was so great. Steve up on the couch with Fulci, me down on the floor resting on some huge pillows, looking up at the wall consumed by beaches and boats. It was great. It really felt like the cinema.

And a great opening movie. I'd forgotten just what a brilliant movie Jaws is. It's the quintessential movie when it comes to pacing and structure. There's not a superfluous or redundant moment -- every word, every action is necessary to develop and further the motion. It's just superb on that level. And it's still scary. I still jump and squeal when the shark pops his head out. As well, I still laugh at the jokes, I still get freaked out when Quint acts mental, and I still feel the frustration Brody and Hooper go through when faced with Amity's Mayoral roadblocks. It all holds up magnificently.

I really love, too, that the final action takes place in the daytime. I never really thought about it before, but Quint's demise and Brody's eventual blowing up of the shark are all in broad daylight, which really subverts the standard notion of horror or terror. It's bright as Quint is swallowed, so instead of creeping that up in darkness, we're watching it take place in morning light, no Hitchcock-y shadows, no crazy camera moves -- and it's way more horrifying.

So, great experience, heaps of scary fun. A brilliant movie that gets better with age.

4.5/5