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mashby

The personal blog of Michael Ashby

Tag / movies

The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo – US Version

I’ve read all the books and I’ve seen all the Swedish films and when I heard that there was a US version of the movies being made I had no interest in seeing them. Then this happened… Two words. Fincher. Reznor. The subject matter in the first book is very dark and if there are […]

My Thoughts Exactly

I just read a great article on Gizmodo by Peter Serafinowicz regarding the various reasons he chooses to pirate music and video entitled “Why I Steal Movies… Even Ones I’m In. It’s a pretty funny read, but it’s also very much on the nose for why I too sometimes download content through illegal means. I […]

Palm Geek Chick Flick?

Holly is currently out-of-town, so you’d think that I’d have spent the whole weekend eating pizza, renting violent movies and sitting around in my underwear — you know, reverting back to adolescence while my better half is away. Surprisingly, I wore pants and did a bunch of small chores around the house. However, I did […]

Punk’d

The Matrix Reloaded - In IMAX FormatThe Matrix Reloaded was finally released in IMAX format, so yesterday after church, we headed over to Opry Mills to the Regal Cinema Opry Mills 20 IMAX theatre. It happened on a bit of a lark, I just happened to notice that there was a 2:15 showing while glancing at the Nashville Scene as I rode in the back seat of my Mother’s car. We got out of Church at 1:00pm, so it seemed like a perfect fit. Go to church and then go see the movie.

We arrived at Opry Mills at about 1:15pm, so we had about 30 minutes before they began seating. We took the opportunity to browse Barnes & Nobel. Going in I couldn’t think of anything that I wanted. I had purchased all my magazines for the month and I’m already reading 3 books, so I didn’t need another. That’s before I found out that they sold DVDs as well. :). I ended up purchasing the The Animatrix Boxed Set, which includes the Animatrix DVD and the Animatrix soundtrack. It was turning into a Matrix day.

It’s been a long time since I’ve seen an IMAX movie. The last one I saw was “The Alamo” when Holly and I were celebrating our 2nd Anniversary in San Antonio. I’ve certainly never seen a feature film released in the format, so I was VERY excited and intrigued in what the differences would be between the 35mm experience and the IMAX Experience.

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$@#*ing Commercials

Bachelor Chow - Now With Flavor!If there is one thing that has reared its ugly head in American cinema in the past year that just sticks in my craw are movie theatres showing commercials. Don’t get me wrong, I love commercials and dearly miss AdCritic and wish it would come back to its “Internet Bubble” heyday. But I don’t mind commercials on TV because they are subsidizing what I’m watching. I don’t pay for network TV so I understand the role that commercials play. However when I go to a movie and pay $8.50 a person the last thing that I expect to see is a freakin’ commercial. I paid a fee to watch commercials? I don’t think so. Yet with each movie that I go to see, more and more commercials are appearing prior to the previews. I saw the Italian Job today and was subjected to no less than 7 commercials.

Some people might argue that previews are really just commercials for movies. Well, that’s true, but its part of the movie experience, ads for Degree antiperspirant are not. Or you might argue that commercials are defraying the cost of movies. Bollocks. When was the last time you saw a movie theatre go out of business? Besides, movie attendance is higher than ever and when the Matrix Reloaded can pull in over 200 million in one weekend I don’t think theatres are hurting. Also, don’t forget that the gross movie sales do not include the cost of popcorn and other snacks. By my own rough estimation, I’d say that for every two tickets at $8.50 there’s at least $8.50 spent at the concession stand. So, when a movie pulls in $200 million, there’s roughly $100 million that goes straight to the movie theatre. That’s not counting the money made from the Coca-Cola ads, etc.

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Reloaded And Re-spent

After a 4 year wait, the Matrix Reloaded finally arrived. Not since The Empire Strikes Back have I lusted for a movie sequel. Given that I was only 13 when the Star Wars sequel was released, suffice to say that I didn’t know what lust was. So, you can imagine how much I’ve been waiting […]

New Stuff Posted

Even with the ‘Male Obsession Bug‘ running rampant in my system, I did make time to post a few new things around the site. In the books section, I have a review of The Sterling Huck Letters by Sterling Huck and a review of Trading Spaces Behind the Scenes by Meredith Books. In the movies […]

Double Jeopardy

Double JeopardyDirector: Bruce Beresford
Writer(s): David Weisberg and Douglas Cook
Category: Thriller
MPAA: R
Runtime: 105 min
Country: USA
Language: English
Year: 1999
Tagline: Murder isn’t always a crime.

Plot: Framed for her husband’s murder, Libby Parsons (Ashley Judd) survives the long years in prison with two burning desires sustaining her: finding her son and solving the mystery that destroyed her once-happy life.

Review: Predictable, shallow and without any flavor. That is how I would characterize this movie. You’ve seen it before and you know what’s coming throughout the entire movie. I feel like a patrol cop telling the crowd “keep moving, there’s nothing to see here.”

Ashley Judd gives another lackluster performance as a well-to-do wife who gets sent to prison for 6 years. You’d think she was sent to the time out corner instead. Judd portrays the same character leaving prison as she DOES when she enters. Wait, I take that back. Her character does do some sit ups to prove that she’s tough now. Please. %)

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Magnolia

Magnolia
Director: Paul Thomas Anderson
Writer(s): Paul Thomas Anderson
Category: Drama
MPAA: R
Runtime: 188 min
Country: USA
Language: English
Year: 1999
Tagline: Things fall down. People look up. And when it rains, it pours.

Plot: From director Paul Thomas Anderson comes a mosaic of American life woven through a series of comedic and poignant vignettes. Through chance, human action, past history and divine intervention, an eclectic cast of characters (including Tom Cruise, Julianne Moore, William H. Macy and more) weaves and warps through each other’s lives on a random San Fernando Valley day, building an unforgettable climax.

Review: This movie is not for the faint of heart. I made the mistake of starting this movie at 10:30pm thinking that it’d be the usual 1.5 hour movie. I should have looked at the sleeve more closely, this movie is over 3 hours long. Not to mention the fact that Anderson pushes the boundaries of storytelling by interweaving a multitude of characters to tell one story, or message. This is a “thinking man’s” movie and not something to just flip through like so many movies released today.

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