His Take: There is a risk this movie takes. And that risk is of being too indie. Being too pretentious. I think casting John Krasinski is what perfectly keeps the film in check. He is soft and understated, but with just enough quirkiness to keep the film from losing its indie cred. I’ve loved watching him for years on The Office and have developed a slight man-crush on him. He is at least in good company. My other man-crushes include Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Ryan Reynolds. Rest assured, should I ever get the opportunity to make movies I’ll be casting all three in a buddy-cop movie. It might even include a dog. Wait. Scratch that. Have you seen Turner and Hooch? Rough. I love how this movie is about searching for a home. I love that it comes from the perspective of the unborn child. When they do finally make it home, it makes me cry. It is pretty powerful, and the music is well cued. I love that it handles questions that I’ve always had about people who have children. It is very human, especially when they visit Canada and their college friends who cannot have children of their own. Plus, I don’t know if you’ve ever slept on a trampoline at night before or not, but this movie knows what’s up. Its got it. Now all that is left to be said….how come I never thought to wear goggles to my self defense classes? 4.5 out of 5.

His Take: Where to begin? (I originally typed “Where to being?” and found it oddly appropriate a typo.) Autobiographical? OK. The first time I saw this was with my best buddy, and it would have been circa the 7th or 8th grade; which, by itself is plenty without this huge beast influencing one’s mental attitude. His dad had actually done tours in Vietnam, and things didn’t go so well for him resulting in his eventual suicide a while after being back in the States. To have seen this right around the time that we were beginning to formulate our identities as men is a pretty daunting exercise. To be able to say I feel we both made it out of our teenage years well adjusted is most likely even more daunting. But in general the whole scene, phrase, and philosophy of “absolutely never get off the boat, goddam right, never get off the boat” has stuck with me all this time. It was years later, when I read Conrad’s Heart of Darkness, I began to understand how Vietnam reflected the darkest parts of our nature, especially as Americans, that we sometimes find ourselves susceptible. There are numerous reasons to count this classic among best of the best, but the most important to me is a reminder to always be aware and wary of our dark depths. That there is a battle that wages within each of us, and that battle is between good and evil.
Also of note is Laurence Fishburne’s screen debut, Robert Duvall with his famous, “Charlie don’t surf!” and the morose death party that gives Captain Willard his grim assignment that includes a youthful Harrison Ford, and every second Marlon Brando is on screen. Brando shines even more once you realize the history behind his performance. This movie has a weight to it that few others do. It is elegant in its implementation right down to the choice of music. The fucking thing begins with The Doors’ “This is the End.” I think the actors in this movie may be too young to understand exactly how powerful their performances are, or maybe it is Coppola’s deft handling of their talents, or maybe they were and will always be just that gifted. I love the scene with the French family as it is stubborn stagnation sticking to its guns dichotomized with acceptance of the carnal pleasures of sex and violence. I don’t see how any Westerner could get away without experiencing this. Perfectly shows the Western dilemma without being encumbered by Western guilt so typical of modern movies. Still as beautiful now as then. 5 out of 5.

His Take: OK. So I have to admit it. I am a nerd. A geek. A technoweenie. I’m pretty sure I would get kicked out of the club(yes that is the Lamer’s Guild, for all you non-technology geek movie fans out there) if I didn’t at least have Hackers in the collection. That of course is how it all starts. You find Hackers in the $5 bin, oh glorious glorious $5 bin. You begin wondering what other movies out there can satisfy your technolust. A quick google search and another trip to the $5 dollar bin and you end up with Wargames, Sneakers, and Antitrust in the collection as well. This one definitely has its issues. It is more a thriller attempting to make a political statement about technological economies than an actual movie about computer hackers. Though there is enough in here to make it worthwhile. My personal favorite is the “code poet” tshirt Teddy wears that he obv got from Thinkgeek.com. I’m enjoying the bat-shit crazies Tim Robbins is playing later in his career, and I love going around saying, “The compression is great. Who’s doing this?” So in conclusion, you take the thriller out and what you have left left is…well…not a lot. But it should be enough to geek out over. (I bet the grammar geeks are going to love that last sentence.) 3 out of 5.

His Take: This is actually pretty straight forward. It’s very nice seeing a young Mike Ness, back when he was still vibrant and full of vitality. I enjoy the clips of random homeless guys who wander into the free shows and dance. Seems back in my punk rock show attending days those type of quirky people were always showing up and starting a scene. Why, I remember one time these skinheads were there causing a ruckus and waiting in the parking lot to beat up the keyboard player of one of the bands. These days I’m too old to put up with BS like that, but I do still enjoy a good punk show. This documentary captures the right on the edge of despair lifestyle I think too many punks come too dangerously close to, and is a nice vivisection of the particular era. Look for the meetup with Minor Threat and the interview with Ian McKaye at the DC leg of the show. I always love old footage of Minor Threat and listening to Ian speak. Seriously good times for people serious about that time. Solid 4 out of 5.

His Take: This falls in the category of “Can’t believe I missed how funny and awesome this is the first time around” which includes Zoolander. I laughed so hard during this watching that you’d think it wasn’t me that watched it the first time. I really think it was just a bias against Will Ferrell. I used to hate his movies, but ever since seeing Talladega Nights, Stranger than Fiction, and Winter’s Passing, I’ve really come around. I would really like more Vince Vaughn and Paul Rudd, but other than that this one is solid. In fact who wants to sign the petition to get them in a buddy cop movie together. Now that would be the Jam. Burt Reynolds could make an appearance, with that kid from Webster and they could show Paul and Vince how to really make a buddy cop flick. Man, does anyone remember Turner and Hooch? Wow. I actually saw Dan Finnerty on Jimmy Fallon and it got me wanting to see Old School again. I love The Dan Band’s rendition of “Total Eclipse of the Heart.” I effin need it more than eva. Seriously though, Will Ferrell is a funny dude, and it’s sad that it took me watching his more serious work to realize the brilliance of his comedic mind. Now if you don’t mind I’m going to go bathe in some Sex Panther. Stay classy, interwebs. 4.5 stars out of 5.

His Take: When I was in the Netherlands and it was awesome and we went to a library and as expected they had mostly books in Dutch and I was still learning Dutch, but not that I’ve actually mastered it or anything, and am totally thinking about learning Spanish now instead, there were a few books in English. So few in fact that I ended up reading Bret Easton Ellis’s Rules of Attraction. Being a fan of Hubert Selby, Martin Amis, and Chuck Palahnuik I fell in love immediately. So it’s no surprise that I’m into American Psycho in a big way. Christian Bale is always amazing in everything he is in. (Why do we not have El Maquinista in our collection?) The movie is pretty standard fair. You’ve got anti-Reagan, anti-80′s yuppie coked out scum. It’s very interesting thinking of this piece as a period piece, but ultimately I think that is exactly what it is. More appropriately, an indictment of that particular period. it might be sick, but my favorite parts, as any of my friends can attest to as we generally quote them, changing them to fit our own contexts of course, include “Don’t just stare at it, eat it!” and the moment he drops the chainsaw and it hits the blond call girl. I love how comical the film is, which further adds to how ridiculous the 80′s were. Seeing Christian Bale doing a bunch of crunches is pretty rad too. Man that dood is buff. Not as badass!(TM) as when he drops down from standing into a pushup in Batman Begins though. The other part of this movie is discussing with your friends if you think the guy is really pulling off these murders or if he’s just insane. This particular viewing I have to go with, he’s just insane and no one is actually dead. But this is one of those movies that I keep flip-flopping around on like Total Recall in what is actually going on. Some people have told me to look for the bloodstain on the collar, but I actually couldn’t see it this time. A fantastic view of how disturbed and out of whack modern capitalist America has become. Love its darkness and comedy. 4.5 out of 5

His Take: When I first saw the previews for this movie, it seemed more like a post apocalyptic sci-fi romp to me. It was only about halfway through, when they are in the tunnel changing the flat tire, and the shadows of the infected are on the wall at the other end, that I realized this movie is in fact a zombie movie. I have a love hate relationship with zombie movies. When I was little, I saw a zombie movie late at night and at the beginning they plastered “based on a true story” and that blew my mind. I’ve always really liked horror movies, even though sometimes they really creep me out. 28 Days Later is one of the few times I’ve been really creeped out by a horror movie as an adult. I think the main difference there is the whole ultra fast z-boes. I can deal with some Romero era z-boes, just run past em. But Danny Boyle’s zombies are no trivial affair. I think this is what it takes these day and ages. I mean when I watched The Exorcist and Rosemary’s Baby a few years back, it was hard for me to believe that anyone was ever frightened by those films. So this is where we’ve arrived. The ante has to keep rising in order to get our blood pressure up. Just so long as it doesn’t end up at actual snuff films or anything like that. The beauty, to me, of movies is that it is make believe. Once we actually start watching Running Man for real is when I check out.
At any rate this movie is masterful. there are plenty of skewed angles to build tension and heighten the sense of claustrophobia. The grainy voyeuristic hand-held dv look the movie has makes me feel like I’m right there in the shit with them (something that also worked to great effect in Cloverfield and Blair Witch Project) and made me constantly want to look over my shoulder. The music is spot on and adds to the effect of building tension, especially at the climax fight with the soldiers. Cillian Murphy is pure gold in anything he’s in, and he’s not a bad spot to look at, if you know what I’m saying.You’ve got the nod to I Am Legend and Last Man on Earth at the beginning. Little known nerd fact, when I Am Legend first came out in 1954, even though it called them vampires, the story set up, what with disease causing apocalypse and all, was the actual first zombie survival horror genre entry, so Resident Evil, have you paid your dues? Plus, this movie got me to thinking about keeping a machete beside my bed instead of a katana. What? You can never be too prepared for the Zombie Apocalypse, can you? Just remember, if Zombieland taught us anything, its Rule #1: Cardio!
My favorite horror/zombie movie of all time. 5 out of 5.

His Take: My life long obsession with cheesy martial arts movies began when my father put me down in front of Game of Death when some of his friends came over for card night. I remember jumping off the couch and kicking the air, and doing flips and other nonsense. I wanted to be a ninja. So, if its bad and martial arts, I’ve seen it. Well, except for the import of really badly dubbed hip hop influx of kung fu thats taken place in the past decade. Though I did download this one movie thinking it was another and ended up watching it because it is a vampire-fighting-with-kung-fu-chinese-porno. No, I did not make that up, and yes, I will give you copies if you want. It was so odd I couldn’t take my eyes off. Man my love of bad martial arts movies gets me into some sticky situations from time to time. Anyway, I got excited when I saw this in the $5 dollar bin at Walmart(yes blame that bin for the bulk of my collection) because I had loved it as a kid and watched all 5, or how many ever they actually made. With a set up like that you know that only tragedy will come from it. All was not lost however. Even though this movie is bad, especially now that I actually have some martial arts history and training under my belt and realize half the stuff they do in the movie is bo-bo(Hackers computer screens anyone?), and it has Micheal Dudikoff as the action star of all people, and Steve James as the poor man’s Carl Weathers sidekick, this one has exactly one redeeming quality. When I first popped it in and watched it after finding it in The Bin, I’d forgotten all about it. There is a scene where the Bad Guy is showing off his team of ninja’s which will ensure his victory to a potential buyer of some armaments he is selling. Yeah, this plot is that awesome. So the camera pans this field, with all these obstacles set up, and ninjas fighting each other, and they are all in different colors. Yellow, blue, Red. So my first thought was, “What are with these colors? What are they on teams?” And then the obv follow up to that, which makes me LOL to this day was,”Holy Shit! Its Ninja Field Day!” This crapfest is worth that one moment. Something that did catch my eye this time that I didn’t catch the first rewatching because I was too busy LOLing at Ninja Field Day(seriously, how could that not be an awesome band name? Everyone in the band in a different color ninja outfit doing field day stuff while rocking out) is this little nugget of funny. You may not know much about ninjas, and that’s okay because neither do the people who made this movie; when Dudikoff and the main bad ninja(who is very Hispanic looking, actually, Adr. How odd) finally face off, the Bad Ninja Guy gets frustrated(probably because he was never actually in Japan learning Ninjitsu and neither was Dudikoff, but he’s so much better at Ninjitsu)so he resorts to some nontraditional weapons. So, apparently to be a ninja these days, or rather circa 1985, you have to have some tricks up your sleeve. Like your literal ninja gauntlet. Imagine if you will for a minute, the Late Billy Mays. Yes, that’s fine, you can put him in a ninja suit, but by Jehova his beard better be showing. Heh, Ninja beard. “If you call now you too can have the Ninja Flamethrower(TM). But wait. We’ll throw in the Ninja Gauntlet Hand Cannon(TM) complete with 5 bullets. But that’s not all. Act now and we’ll double your offer and you can be the proud owner of the Ninja Gauntlet Hand Laser(TM).” That’s right, a mother frakking laser. I mean, because nothing says authentic ninja more than Hispanic Bad Ninja Guy whose never been to Japan like the Ninja Hand Laser. I don’t think anyone in the world has an actual weaponized laser, but Ninja Bad Guy does. The best part is he missed with it too. Take that home, it’s for you, enjoy that. 1.5 out of 5.

His Take: The years 1997-1999 have to be the greatest years for cinema. Take that 1982! In all seriousness, when I went off to college in 97, it marked the time in my life when I began seriously watching movies. It didn’t hurt that I had some friends who were really into movies and you could catch a matinee for around 3 dollars back then. Some of my fondest memories of thinking about life come from watching some wonderful movies and then chatting for 8 hours afterward. American Beauty is on that list. It sort of came out of no where and sucker punched me right in my post-modern existential head. It most likely had to do with who I was at the time, but that movie really touched a brother with its suggestion of never being afraid of anything in this existence. Wes Bentley’s character is the pinnacle of confident living in American society these days,an exercise in true Zen. (And way better than Soul Survivors or Ghost Rider by a long shot. Seriously, Wes, seriously?) And the message of the film is one that will never be irrelevant. I just wish that I hadn’t watched it 16 times back in 1999 and I might be able to feel it a little more this time around. Still very beautiful scene work, the actors are all powerhouses; it’s the first time that I actually felt inspired by an Annette Bening performance. It was one of the first movies I can remember that began with showing you how it was going to end, and that has gotten really old these days. But at least no one has played out the “bullet-time” camera work the Wachowski brothers came up with for The Matrix, so I guess I still have that to hold onto. This is one of the highlights of modern cinema, and were it science fiction, it would be my favorite. As it stands, though a solid 5 out of 5.

His Take: This one is too cute to miss. Audrey Tautou is seriously adorable, and not just because she speaks French. Such a light-hearted good natured movie that you can’t help but feel good about the human condition and your place in it. This, I think, is the task of good fiction. I love how serendipitous the story is. I love how it says, “there are no coincidences” in a much-less-dark-way than Magnolia. I love all the little quirks throughout the movie that help to make the characters come alive. They have human flaws as a result of these peccadilloes that set the background for Amelie’s charity. I love the music, the pace, the scenes. I love that everything works out in the end. And I love that it makes me weep tears of joy like a lil babe. 5 out of 5.

His Take: I think I liked this better when it was called “The Doors of Perception” by Aldous Huxley. Seriously, did they just rip the plot off or what? Well obv, we have a major sci fi bent going on here, and really well done hard science fiction I adore, so I do have a soft spot for this movie. It came to me at a weird time in my life and really put me in the tank(lol! humor) and had me reflecting on metaphysics and the nature of our reality. Movies that generally do that scare the hell out of me, but perhaps it was just that time in my life that I was susceptible to being scared by those type movies. Might have been that I was also in a bit of a personal spiritual crisis too, so seeing drug induced images of hellfire and brimstone just weren’t sitting with me so well. Either way, I do like this movie. Even though really the only reason its in the collection is because it was in the $5 dollar bin at Walmart. It was really interesting seeing Blair Brown back when she was hot, because, although she’s pretty sneaky and creepy in Fringe she just doesn’t do it in the making me feel funny like when we used to climb the ropes in gym class department these days. This junk also has Drew Barrymore in it. And, get this, was directed by Ken Russell, which is very interesting to me, because once when my film student buddy insisted on making me watch Ken Russell movies swearing up and down that he was a director to look out for we ended up getting Crimes of Passion which despite being such a horrible movie that none of us remember the plot, has supplied us with two wonderful lines which we recite to this day,”Whores and metaphors don’t mix” and “He makes up in dick what he lacks in diction.” Seriously, dude. You can’t make this up. It really happened! I was turned on to the genre of “body horror” by my partner in crime (s of passion, younknowit!) and found out that Alien and Videodrome both fall into that category. So that’s pretty much the best part of this movie, the transformation of the physical body, other than maybe the ending when it tries to act all 2001 on us. Oh and, man what an ending. If you thought Akira was too much GAIA theory for me, then just check this one out. So, apparently the point of all science, religion, shamanism, and drug taking is to realize that our loved ones are the end all be all, then we flash through colors and bang against the wall until we explode in bright light. Thanks for that, entire history of philosophy, but I’d rather just take this peyote, if it’s all the same with you. 3 out of 5

His Take: So there is so much here that should make this campfest be the campfest that campy dreams are made of. Ron Perlman. Written by Joss Whedon. Brad Dourif,you know that Wormfang guy or whatever his name is from LOTR who will forever be Pitr from Dune to me, and that’s really just an interlude to talk about Randall’s re-enactment of the LOTR movies from Clerks II. Classic, heh. And yet. I just can’t get behind it. Sure it has its moments, but it just feels flat on so many levels. I have to admit I do like the mythos that surrounds Ripley. The fact that there are groups bent on the destruction of the xenomorphs and are well aware of who Ripley is, is kinda cool. And the whole science behind being able to clone Ripley with the xenomorph inside her is hella tite. But there are scenes, boy are there scenes. Like why does Ripley have to see the failed attempts to clone her from before? Why does Warrick Brown(see what I did there?) have to unbuckle himself and drop to his demise when he seems perfectly capable of getting out of the situation? Why does the new humanish xenomorph have to kill the queen and go to Ripley as its mother, and man, while we’re on the subject, what an ugly looking creature huh? I do like the hint of evil in Ripley and its a nice change of character that Sigourney pulls off really well. But it still feels like Whedon was just earning his spurs on this one, but at least its better than Shark Attack 3 featuring John Barrowman. Now wow, s’ tuff. 2 out of 5

His Take: I have to say this is my second favorite of the quadrilogy for sure. Not only is it by one of my favorite directors, but it’s also the first one to feel serious with depth and decent tension. Going back to the single alien threatening the humans works mostly because you never know when the one will strike. Fincher captures this tension masterfully. There are some pretty overly obvious religious allusions throughout, but I won’t let this bug me.(I generally prefer more sublime spirituality to my movies.) I don’t really know what else to say. It is the first Alien movie to be effective. Why couldn’t Bill Paxton and Micheal Biehn have been in this one? Oh, yeah. Because this one doesn’t call for any Navy Seals. I love the browns and greys throughout the scenes, and the use of candlelight. Something that I think works here where the first movie failed as far as creating atmosphere and tone. I love the shots of the xenomorphs running along the ceilings of corridors. I love Charles Dance. He was in The Golden Child as my dear brother Numpsi. Oh Eddie Murphy, what ever happened to your glory? At least we have the Beverly Hills Cop movies. Could this be that David Fincher is a better director than Ridley Scott and James Cameron? Maybe so. I want to blame it on the writers, but Dan O’Bannon also wrote the first one, as well as a ton of other movies I love like Total Recall, Lifeforce, and DarkStar, so we can give that man no fault. A solid 4 out of 5.

His Take: This just might be my favorite from the series, and the only reason is Bill Paxton. Seriously, forget all that “listen to your friend Billy Zane, he’s a cool guy” crap. All Bill Paxton, all the way. So dig this. Did you know Paxton was in Terminator? Well he is. That’s just a slice of how aws he is. That’s right I shortened awesome to aws, obv. Anyway fans of Free Enterprise will love the “Bad call Ripley” quote. More action and less suspense than the first one, this one is a total badass! Paul Reiser plays scum to perfection (oh, did you notice him in Funny People? He’s looking pretty rough these days.). And even though Sigourney isn’t as hawt as she was in Alien she makes up for it with her total badass!ness on her bug hunt, (sir!) The plot is just a teensie bit thin in this one, but it is very easy to watch, and I give it the thumbs up. P.S. again with the Michael Biehn as a Navy Seal-type, I told you to look out for that mess. (don’t get me wrong, I approve!) 4.5 out of 5

His Take: So, the first time I saw Event Horizon I wasn’t impressed. What the hell kind of sci-fi movie is this? Then, after talking with some friends, I went back with the mindset of maybe it is a horror movie. Completely different movie, and in fact, pretty creepy. I’ve come along way from needing my dad to go with me to the bathroom in a dark house after watching The Howling and movies like this don’t really frighten me anymore. These days I’m more off-put by deeply troubling psycho-thrillers that make me question the makeup of reality in a metaphysical/spiritual (read, Burn in Hell) way. Think Cube and Altered States or Primer. Oh, and the really fast z-boes in 28 Days Later. All this is to say that I think I might have grown up in the wrong movie era to be afraid by Alien or The Exorcist. I do love the tone of the movie. And it has that simplistic minimal sci-fi set that I love about so many classic sci-fi films, but honestly I just can’t get behind it as a great work. I can understand the reasons people would say such a thing, but it just doesn’t have a heavy emotional impact on me. Still a great film, and I love the constant heartbeat throughout. You think Ridley Scott did that to make the audiences heartbeat speed up, then they were all tense and didn’t know why? Early version of subliminal manipulation in movies? Mayhaps. Still not my favorite Aliens series movie by a long shot, though Sigourney Weaver is the hawtness, no doubt. I just think it fails to excite me, and to challenge my sense of what a psycho-thriller can be, even be it in space. 2.5 out of 5.

His Take: Do you kats ever think Disney has some demented minds working on its animations? We’ve all seen the topless woman in The Rescuers, and “S-E-X” in the dust-clouds in The Lion King, but I think Alice in Wonderland might be the most demented of all. Granted the source material is pretty out there to begin with, yet it is a bit more cohesive read than one can get from this movie. Most likely Disney just edited the movie to get the most bang for their buck. This little trip down psychotropic lane clocks in at around 75 minutes and is obvious that Disney just wanted to touch on the main scenes from the book. The result of course, is a jagged narrative splattered with musical numbers and encounters with various drug influenced characters who will happily have you checking your metaphysical nature while hitting a hookah, or gulping down little baby bonnet wearing oyster friends without a second thought, or passing out in an opium haze inside extraordinarily large teapots. It’s ok though, because in the end Disney explains it away as a dream sequence. Can we say “Cop out?” I mean, even at the end of Labyrinth all the puppets show up to make Jennifer Connelly know it wasn’t just a dream. Of course whose puppet does Jennifer Connelly not want to make pop up, amiright? Despite all this, I LOVE it! I’ve been a fan of Hunter S. Thompson for years, and this is exactly like Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas for kids. Of course I was a bit shocked on this viewing to see that it is a bit more thin than I remembered it being from my childhood, but the digital reconstruction is fantastic and it looks great. Cleaning up all the fuzz without sacrificing that nostalgic crispness to the animation that Disney amazes me with, and does it before the advent of digitally aided animation. And I didn’t realize it was made in the 50′s which is pretty interesting historically for Disney, but I can’t help but sing along every time the Mad Hatter Tea party scene comes on. So, Kids, if you’re going to watch this one, don’t do drugs and, teenagers, keep on your clothes, and a very merry un-birthday to you!
3.5 out of 5

His Take: The first anime I ever saw was Fist of the North Star and it sparked a summer long obsession with anime. It took me a minute to find something that I really liked as far as anime is concerned, and to this day there are still only a few that I think are worth it. Akira is definitely one of them. I commented “I love how Blade Runner this is,” when we put it on. The first time you see the motorcycle gangs go after each other is pretty astounding. And the music. I don’t really have anything quirky to say about this one. It’s one of the greatest sci-fi/anime romps ever. A little bit too much GAIA theory for me in the end, and it might be the translation on that, but it seems like things are randomly thrown together. But bump that noise. This one still stands the test of time. Not my favorite-of-all-time anime, and we’ll get there eventually, so this one gets a 4 out of 5 from me.

His Take: I really like writing about how much i love meta-narration. Like, a lot! 4 out of 5.

His Take: The Abyss is the reason I can no longer be in a pool while it is dark. And I so used to love the ocean as a child. Well that coupled with some obscure Bible verse about never investigating the ocean(kudos to you if you know which verse, because I’ve long since forgotten)and I haven’t set foot in the deep dark waters in ages. Which is really sad, because we all know the health benefits and healing powers of the salty seas. Guess its just salt pools for me from now on. At least in the daylight. And by the way, have you ever been in a salt pool. Man, those things are weird. Your tongue is screaming, “Hey we’re in the ocean,” but your eyes just chuckle as they can see the walls of the pool. Anyway this movie is epic, was brilliantly filmed and even briefly has boobies. Honestly though if you really wanted to get to know Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio you could just check out The Color of Money. I’m just saying, its way more serious in that movie. Interestingly enough spell check says I should change Mastrantonio to masturbation. Me personally, I don’t know if I’d go that far, but boobies is boobies. Apparently, this movie was shot in a nuclear power plant, you know where they have those huge reservoirs. And took 7 million gallons of water to film. I must say though, if you do want to check out this movie, get the special edition because there are some scenes added in with the aliens that, to me, makes the movie make soooooo much more sense. Yes that many “o’s” were necessary. It is a completely different movie without those added scenes that has this whole moral message just cut out of it if you go the theatrical release route. James Cameron really knows how to make them, and the scene when Ed Harris gets his wedding ring back from the chemical toilet and then it later saves his life by blocking the closing flood door is the reason my wedding band is titanium. I mean, come on, they make spacecraft out of that stuff. Besides Micheal Biehn’s mustache alone is worth the price of admission on this one. Seriously, just LOOK at it! How many movies has that guy been in where he’s been a navy seal? We need to start a trivia section because that question would be in it. This movie, like Aliens is damn near perfect, but even with the stop killing each other message edited back in, it still doesn’t hit me with the same emotional weight as most of Aronofsky’s stuff does. Still a wonderful watch. 5 out of 5

His Take: Watching Moon the other week and then District 9 today made me realize how much I absolutely LOVE science fiction. I especially love minimal science fiction. I can remember the first time I saw Stalker or the original and not the Clooney crap-fest Solaris. I really enjoy how every scene is wonderfully framed. There is not much motion through the scenes themselves that lend this comic book feel to the whole movie, and comic books always will have an air of the magical to me. As if the world is only possibilities. Hence, I find 2001:A Space Odyssey to be very magical. I’ll admit it has its slow moments and were it made today it would only be about 30 minutes long, and the hipster kids would dismiss it as pretentious. Hell, they probably do that now anyway. But 2001 has such a weight. The ending is still baffling as hell to me and the wikipedia entry about the ending of the book(yeah, yeah, I know. I’m still working on the the top sci-fi book list so I’ll get there eventually)and it makes me even more bewildered. Man, now that is a good word, bewildered. You know, so is beguiled, for that matter. Any way it seems like Kubrick just did his own little thing with the ending of the movie and while it does make for some great visuals, it still doesn’t help the ending make any sense. But I don’t want you to get the wrong idea, dear reader. I absolutely LOVE Kubrick. And even though this movie is monumental, epic, minimal, heavy, awe-some, and bewildering, it is not my favorite work by him. And no, my favorite isn’t Spartacus either. 3.5 out of 5.