Tom's Random Reviews

[Tom]

Here is my review of "The Shop Around the Corner".

but until recently I didn't know there was an original version (what with the completely different name).

Even though they used the title as the name of the shop of Meg Ryan's character

[addicted2dvd]

This is true.. but remember... I am the one that is still fairly new to the classics. So if...

1. They don't say ahead of time this is a remake
2. They don't use the same name (so I see it on sites like IMDB when I look a movie up)

there is no way for someone like me to know! 

[Tom]

2. They don't use the same name (so I see it on sites like IMDB when I look a movie up)

I usually look at the trivia link of a movie on IMDb and/or read the Wikipedia article. Through IMDb I knew for example after watching "You've Got Mail" for the first time, that it was a remake of "The Shop Around the Corner"

[addicted2dvd]

do you actually read all that info for every movie you watch though?

[Tom]

do you actually read all that info for every movie you watch though?

I usually skim through the Wikipedia article (as I link to it with every one of my reviews).
I usually skip the plot summary (not needed because I just watched the movie) and read the critical reactions and trivia stuff. So it is usually not much to read.
Before I started reading the Wikipedia articles I always read the trivia page on IMDb (now I am not always doing that). I am sucker for movie trivia.

[Tom]

Title: Music and Lyrics
Year: 2007
Director: Marc Lawrence
Rating: PG-13
Length: 104 Min.
Video: Anamorphic Widescreen 1.85
Audio: English: Dolby Digital 5.1, French: Dolby Digital 5.1, Spanish: Dolby Digital 5.1
Subtitles: English, French, Spanish

Stars:
Hugh Grant
Scott Porter
Nick Bacon
Andrew Wyatt Blakemore
Dan McMillan

Plot:
First you're hot, then you're not...and then you're Alex Fletcher. So when the sizzlingest tween queen on the charts asks the has-been '80s pop sensation to write her a song, he grabs for another chance at stardom. Problem: Alex can say it with music, but he sure can't say it with words. Enter Sophie Fisher, his beguiling if quirky plant lady, who has an unexpected green thumb for lyrics. Together, they go after songwriting success – and discover that if you want to write the perfect love song, it helps to fall in love.

With Hugh Grant and Drew Barrymore at the keyboard and Marc Lawrence (Two Weeks Notice) directing, Music and Lyrics is a witty, wacky romantic comedy that faces the music...and laughs!

Awards:

Casting Society of America Awards	2007	Nominated	Best Feature Film Casting – Comedy	Ilene Starger
Teen Choice Awards	2007	Nominated	Choice Movie - Chick Flick
Teen Choice Awards	2007	Nominated	Choice Movie Liplock	Drew Barrymore, Hugh Grant
Young Artist Awards	2008	Nominated	Best Performance in a Feature Film – Young Actor Age Ten or Younger	Jeremy Karson

Extras:
Closed Captioned
Deleted Scenes
Featurettes
Music Videos
Outtakes
Scene Access

My Thoughts:

A good feel-good movie. And as I like Drew Barrymore rom-coms and also enjoy Hugh Grant's rom-coms, this was a no-brainer to get. This is the second time I have watched it, and I think this time around I enjoyed it even more than the first time. Hugh Grant is perfect as the has-been pop idol.
Drew Barrymore is as cute as she is always in romantic comedies.

Rating:

[Tom]

Title: America's Sweethearts
Year: 2001
Director: Joe Roth
Rating: FSK-6
Length: 99 Min.
Video: Anamorphic Widescreen 2.35
Audio: German: Dolby Digital 5.1, English: Dolby Digital 5.1
Subtitles: English, German

Stars:
Julia Roberts
Billy Crystal
Catherine Zeta-Jones
John Cusack
Hank Azaria

Plot:
Gwen (Catherine Zeta-Jones) and Eddie (John Cusack) are America's Sweethearts - the country's favorite couple, on-screen and off. But when their very public romance turns into a very private breakup, only veteran press agent Lee (Billy Crystal) and Gwen's assistant Kiki (Julia Roberts) can help Gwen and Eddie show some love while they promote their last film together.

But the press junket is in a resort hotel miles from anywhere, and while Lee and Kiki frantically try to keep the media away from the real story - and keep Gwen and Eddie from revealing their secret - Kiki finds something entirely unexpected in this romantic comedy about true love, happily ever after and other Hollywood endings.

Awards:

ASCAP Awards

2002

Won

Top Box Office Films

James Newton-Howard

Extras:
Deleted Scenes
Production Notes
Scene Access
Trailers

My Thoughts:

I haven't watched this one in a while. I remembered it as rather boring. So I was surprised that I really enjoyed it. Billy Crystal as the manager/PR guy is great. And I liked Julia Roberts as Kiki. Hank Azaria as the lisping Spanish guy is hilarious. Also fun was Seth Green in the small role of Billy Crystal's "apprentice". And what's not to like about Christopher Walken as eccentric film maker.

Rating:

[Tom]

Title: I, Robot
Year: 2004
Director: Alex Proyas
Rating: FSK-12
Length: 110 Min.
Video: Anamorphic Widescreen 2.35
Audio: English: Dolby Digital 5.1, German: Dolby Digital 5.1, German: DTS 5.1, Commentary: Dolby Digital 3, Commentary: Dolby Digital 3, Commentary: Dolby Digital 3
Subtitles: Commentary, English, German, Turkish

Stars:
Will Smith
Bridget Moynahan
Alan Tudyk
James Cromwell
Bruce Greenwood

Plot:
In 2035 A.D., robots are programmed to live in perfect harmony with humans and have become part of everyday life on Earth. When a brilliant scientist at the U.S. Robotics Corporation is found dead, Chicago Detective Del Spooner (Will Smith) is called in to investigate. Aided by robot psychologist Dr. Susan Calvin (Bridget Moynahan), Detective Spooner uncovers the possibility that a robot may be the primary suspect in the case. But as Spooner gets closer to the truth, he gets caught up in a race for his life, when robot intelligence attempts to shut down his investigation. With time running out, a deeper threat emerges from the core of a mechanized world that challenges the very existence of mankind.

Awards:

Academy Award	2004	Nominated	Best Visual Effects	John Nelson, Andrew R. Jones, Erik Nash, Joe Letteri
ASCAP Awards	2005	Won	Top Box Office Films	Marco Beltrami
Saturn	2004	Nominated	Best Science Fiction Film
Saturn	2004	Nominated	Best Special Effects	John Nelson, Andrew R. Jones, Erik Nash, Joe Letteri
Teen Choice Awards	2004	Nominated	Choice Movie of the Summer
Visual Effects Society Awards	2005	Nominated	Outstanding Created Environment in a Live Act on Motion Picture	Rachael Haupt, Mark Tait Lewis, Nick McKenzie, Geoff Tobin

Extras:
Commentary
Deleted Scenes
Featurettes
Photo Gallery
Scene Access
Trailers

My Thoughts:

Essentially this could have been a real fun action popcorn movie, but I cannot get over the cheap looking special effect. There is not a moment where I couldn't forget that they were acting in front of a green screen. There were a lot of moments where the actors just didn't really match with the background (lighting etc.).
Alan Tudyk (Wash from Firefly) is "playing" the robot Sonny. A fun surprise to see here was Chi McBride as Will Smith's boss, who is the guy who played Emerson Cod in Pushing Daisies.

Rating:

[Tom]

Title: Over Her Dead Body
Year: 2008
Director: Jeff Lowell
Rating: FSK-6
Length: 91 Min.
Video: Anamorphic Widescreen 2.35
Audio: English: Dolby Digital 5.1, German: Dolby Digital 5.1
Subtitles: German

Stars:
Eva Longoria Parker
Paul Rudd
Lake Bell
Jason Biggs
Lindsay Sloane

Plot:
Eva Longoria Parker (TV's 'Deperate Housewives') stars in this devlishly funny romantic comedy about holding onto the ones you love...even after you're gone. When Kate (Longoria Parker) is killed by an ice sculpture on her wedding day, her fiancé Henry (Paul Rudd, 'Knocked Up') gives up on romance until he falls for the beautiful psychic (Lake Bell, TV's 'Boston Legal') who's supposed to be helping him move on. But Kate's not having it, and now she's making it her heavenly duty to send their budding relationship six-feet-under.

Awards:
Extras:
Scene Access
Trailers

My Thoughts:

This was a complete blind buy. Only after buying it I looked it up on the internet which set my expectations low when I read that it only had 15% on RottenTomatoes. But I was very pleasantly surprised. I really enjoyed this movie. The interactions between Ashley (the "psychic") and Kate (the ghost) were funny. Kate came back from the dead to haunt the new prospective girlfriend (Ashley) of her fiancé.
Also it was nice to see Lindsay Sloane again. And Stephen Root seems to be very busy lately. I see him in movies and on TV shows more and more often lately.

Rating:

[Tom]

Title: The Truman Show
Year: 1998
Director: Peter Weir
Rating: FSK-12
Length: 99 Min.
Video: Anamorphic Widescreen 1.78
Audio: English: Dolby Digital 5.1, German: Dolby Digital 5.1, Other: Dolby Digital 5.1, Other: Dolby Digital 3, Other: Dolby Digital 3
Subtitles: Bulgarian, Danish, Dutch, English, Finnish, German, Icelandic, Norwegian, Swedish

Stars:
Jim Carrey
Laura Linney
Noah Emmerich
Natascha McElhone
Holland Taylor

Plot:
Truman Burbank is a normal man, living in a normal town. He grew up to be a desk clerk for a insurance company, living an ordinary life, having an ordinary wife, an ordinary neighbour and an ordinary bud, who pops in from time to time with a sixpack. But Truman is not happy with his life. He wants to see the world. He wants to get away from his happy-happy, ever tidy, nice'n'shiny little island town at the seaside. In reality, Truman was an unwanted pregnancy. His 'father', Christof, a reckless TV-Producer whom he never met, made up the Truman Show - the greatest show on earth - a show in which life is live. So, everyone around poor Truman is an actor with a little headphone in the ear. One day, Truman accidentally bumps into a catering area backstage and gets pretty suspicious. His plan now is: Pretend to be sleeping and steal away...

Awards:

Academy Award	1998	Nominated	Best Director	Peter Weir
Academy Award	1998	Nominated	Best Supporting Actor	Ed Harris
Academy Award	1998	Nominated	Best Writing, Original Screenplay	Andrew Niccol
AFI	1998	Nominated	100 Years... 100 Cheers (2006)
ASCAP Awards	1999	Won	Top Box Office Films	Philip Glass, Burkhard von Dallwitz
BAFTA	1998	Nominated	Achievement In Special Visual Effects	Michael J. McAlister, Brad Kuehn, Craig Barron, Peter Chesney
BAFTA	1998	Nominated	Actor In A Supporting Role	Ed Harris
BAFTA	1998	Nominated	Cinematography	Peter Biziou
BAFTA	1998	Nominated	Film	Scott Rudin, Andrew Niccol, Edward S. Feldman, Adam Schroeder
BAFTA	1998	Won	Original Screenplay	Andrew Niccol
BAFTA	1998	Won	Production Design	Dennis Gassner
BAFTA	1998	Won	The David Lean Award For Achievement In Direction	Peter Weir
Blockbuster Entertainment Awards	1999	Nominated	Favorite Actor - Drama	Jim Carrey
Blockbuster Entertainment Awards	1999	Won	Favorite Supporting Actor - Drama	Ed Harris
Blockbuster Entertainment Awards	1999	Nominated	Favorite Supporting Actress - Drama	Laura Linney
British Society of Cinematographers Awards	1999	Nominated	Best Cinematography Award	Peter Biziou
Broadcast Film Critics Association Awards	1999	Nominated	Best Picture
Costume Designers Guild Awards	1999	Nominated	Excellence in Costume Design for Film	Marilyn Matthews
Directors Guild of America	1999	Nominated	Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Motion Pictures	Peter Weir
European Film Awards	1998	Won	Screen International Award (for a non-European film)
Golden Globe	1998	Won	Actor in a Leading Role - Drama	Jim Carrey
Golden Globe	1998	Won	Actor in a Supporting Role	Ed Harris
Golden Globe	1998	Nominated	Director	Peter Weir
Golden Globe	1998	Won	Original Score	Burkhard Dallwitz, Philip Glass
Golden Globe	1998	Nominated	Picture - Drama	Edward S. Feldman, Andrew M. Niccol, Scott Rudin, Adam Schroeder
Golden Globe	1998	Nominated	Screenplay	Andrew M. Niccol
Hugo Award	1999	Won	Dramatic Presentation
MTV Movie Awards	1999	Won	Best Male Performance	Jim Carrey
MTV Movie Awards	1999	Nominated	Best Movie
National Board of Review Awards, USA	1998	Won	Best Supporting Actor	Ed Harris
Online Film Critics Society Awards	1999	Nominated	Best Director	Peter Weir
Online Film Critics Society Awards	1999	Nominated	Best Film
Online Film Critics Society Awards	1999	Won	Best Screenplay, Original	Andrew Niccol
Online Film Critics Society Awards	1999	Nominated	Best Supporting Actor	Ed Harris
Satellite Awards	1999	Won	Best Art Direction	Dennis Gassner
Saturn	1998	Nominated	Best Actor	Jim Carrey
Saturn	1998	Nominated	Best Director	Peter Weir
Saturn	1998	Won	Best Fantasy Film
Saturn	1998	Nominated	Best Supporting Actor	Ed Harris
Saturn	1998	Won	Best Writing	Andrew Niccol
Writers Guild of America Awards	1999	Nominated	Best Screenplay Written Directly for the Screen	Andrew Niccol
Young Artist Awards	1999	Nominated	Best Family Feature – Drama

Extras:
Scene Access
Trailers

My Thoughts:

This is my favourite Jim Carrey movie. This movie was released before there was Big Brother. At the time this seemed a little like Science Fiction, but not long after people voluntarily did go on TV shows with being filmed 24 hours a day.
It is sad to think that Truman had to go through this fake life. The most disturbing is that his best friend since he was seven is the one most responsible to hide the reality from Truman.
The ending always gets to me

Rating:

[addicted2dvd]

It has been years since I saw that movie... I may have to pop that one in myself!

[Jon]

I always like the audience moments in The Truman Show, like the guy holding onto his shower curtain, willing Truman to survive! Wonderful stuff.

[Tom]

Title: Outlander
Year: 2008
Director: Howard McCain
Rating: 15
Length: 115 Min.
Video: Widescreen 2.35
Audio: English: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1, English: Dolby Digital 5.1, French: Dolby Digital 5.1, Commentary: Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo
Subtitles: English

Stars:
Jim Caviezel
Sophia Myles
Jack Huston
John Hurt
Cliff Saunders

Plot:
As an age old battle rages amongst the stars, Kainan's ship burns brightly as it crash-lands into the Nordic coast. His space ship comes to rest in the fjords of ancient Norway and it's with dismay that Kainan (JIM CAVIEZEL) realises that he is not the only survivor, as a second passenger, the Moorwen, also emerges from the wreckage.

A hellish, fire-breathing monster, the Moorwen is intent on causing havoc and destruction to those it has perceived to have wronged it. As the Moorwen kills everything in its path, Kainan must work together with a tribe of fierce warring vikings to destroy the blood thirsty beast before it kills them all.

Awards:

Scream Awards

2009

Nominated

Best Sci-Fi Movie

Extras:
Commentary
Deleted Scenes
Featurettes
Photo Gallery
Scene Access
Trailers

My Thoughts:

I have first seen this movie at the FantasyFilmFest 2008. This is what I have written at the time:
The movie begins with a man from another planet crashlanding on the earth in 8th century Norway. There he encounters a Viking town where he becomes known as the "Outlander" (they of course think he is only from another land). Sadly he brought a dragon-like beast with his ship which is now loose. Now he has to gain the trust of the Vikings and battle the beast.
This movie is well done. Story-wise nothing new, but fun nevertheless. It is a mixture between Sci-Fi (mostly in the beginning) and Viking movie during most of the rest. And becomes a Horror movie at the end (I was a little reminded of "The Descent").

Rating:

[Emma]

I remember think Outlander was so random when I watched it... I had no idea where it was coming from :p I enjoyed it though

[Tom]

Title: Weißblaue Geschichten
Year: 1983
Director:
Rating: FSK-6
Length: 965 Min.
Video: Full Frame 1.33:1
Audio: German: Dolby Digital 1
Subtitles:

Stars:
Gustl Bayrhammer

Plot:
Gustl Bayrhammer - kein anderer verkörperte den immer leicht "grantelnden" aber stets herzensguten Ur-Bayern so wie er. Egal ob als Meister Eder oder als Kriminalhauptkommissar Melchior Veigl im Tatort - er war ein Publikumsliebling. "Seine" weißblauen Geschichten prägten fast ein Jahrzehnt die Abendunterhaltung im ZDF. Die beliebtesten Schauspieler gaben sich hier ein regelmäßiges Stelldichein: Hans Clarin - die unvergessene Stimme Pumuckls, Toni Berger - der ewige "Boandlkramer" aus dem Stück "Der Brandner Kaspar und das ewig' Leben", Max Griesser aus der "Polizeiinspektion 1", Maxl Graf - der kongeniale Partner von Beppo Brehm in "Die seltsamen Methoden des Franz Josef Wanninger", oder Erni Singerl, Fritz Strassner, Karl Obermayr, Lisa Fitz, Christine Neubauer, Elmar Wepper und Gerhard Lippert, um nur ein paar zu nennen. Freuen Sie sich auf Gustl Bayrhammer in vielen sympathischen Rollen, z. B. als kauziger Dorfarzt, resoluter Gemeindepfarrer, spitzbübischer Briefträger und noch viele mehr...

Extras:
Scene Access

My Thoughts:

"Weißblaue Geschichten" (lit. "White-and-blue stories", the colors of the Bavarian flag) is an anthology series with Bavarian slice of life stories. It has aired since 1984. The star of this series was Gustl Bayrhammer until 1993 (the year he sadly died).
This was one of the series I loved to watch. It was one of the few series I had watched with my parents instead of going to my room and watch something else.
I haven't seen it since the mid-90s and I am surprised how much I still like the episodes. This set includes 18 of the produced 22 episodes which star Gustl Bayrhammer. For unexplained reasons, four episodes are not included. Sadly one of those is an episode which did leave a lasting impression with me. At least I think it was from this series. It was an episode guest-starring G.G. Hoffmann (the German voice of Captain Kirk and early Sean Connery).

#	Episode	Rating
01	Der Kurpfuscher / Der Seemann / Der Kraftprotz
02	Der Schlaumeier / Der Tandler / Das Gspusi
03	Der Freund / Der Vater / Der Heilige / Der Retter
04	Die Goldene Hochzeit / Der Glückspilz / Der Klangkörper / Der Landarzt
05	Der Amerikaner / Der Erlkönig / Der Gondoliere
06	Der Kohlhas / Der Gendarm / Der Schutzheilige
07	Der Bazi / Der Schwan / Der Hacker / Der Dickschädel
08	Der König / Der Sauhund / Die Fremde / Der Star
09	Das Wunder / Der Casanova / Der Bub / Der Geschäftsmann
10	Der Fremde / Das Schlitzohr / Der Lausbub / Der Künstler
11	Der Rosenkavalier / Die Schraube / Die Tuba
12	Bua oder Madl / Der Briefwechsel / Der Gasableser / Der Dorfbrunnen
13	Klappern gehört zum Handwerk / Lüngerl und Hax'n / Ein paar Blumen hat jeder verdient
15	Ein Bus nach Alicante / Herta / Bergvagabunden / Penner-Party
16	Datapac 206 / Die Sterne lügen nicht / Der Madonnenschnitzer / Der Kakadu
19	Die Radltour / Das Schlafmittel / Hochwürden Josef
20	Die Hauspost / Das Echo vom Karfunkelsee
21	Die Doppelgänger / Ferien