KinkyCyborg's Random Reviews 2011

[KinkyCyborg]

New year, new thread... if not somewhat belated. 


Doctor Detroit



Title:Doctor Detroit
Year: 1983
Director: Michael Pressman
Rating: R
Length: 90 Min.
Video: Anamorphic Widescreen 1.85:1
Audio: English: Dolby Digital: Mono
Subtitles: English, French, Spanish

Stars:
Dan Aykroyd
Howard Hesseman
Donna Dixon
Lydia Lei
T. K. Carter

Plot:
Comedy superstar Dan Aykroyd stars as a mild-mannered professor of chivalry and infamous underworld pimp in the hilarious comic romp Doctor Detroit. When Professor Clifford Skridlow (Aykroyd) accidentally gets conned into taking on the persona of "Doctor Detroit," he soon finds himself up to his neck in luscious ladies, the Chicago Mob, and a notorious crime czar called "Mom" (Kate Murtagh). It's comedic chaos all the way as Aykroyd attempts to juggle two very different career paths without losing his life or his mind. From the producers of The Blues Brothers, and co-starring Donna Dixon and Fran Drescher, comes the laugh-out-loud film about a man committed to making the world safe for insanity.

Extras:
Scene Access

My Thoughts:

Mostly silly comedy with a few laugh out loud moments. I liked the Southern lawyer bit in the courthouse and the big pimp/whore group dance with James Brown near the end was great too. I think Akyroyd is better when he has one of his comedy brethren from his era to play off like Chevy Chase in Spies Like Us or John Candy in The Great Outdoors. Aykroyd on his own is just a little too vanilla.

Interesting to note that Fran Dreschner was just as annoying long before she became The Nanny.

KC


Rating:

[addicted2dvd]

I never could stand Fran Dreschner either.  You ever see the movie Summer of Fear (AKA: Stranger in Our House). It is a TV movie from 1978 with Linda Blair. She has a part in it. Not a very big part... but a decent part. She isn't quite as annoying in it. It is like she is just getting a hint of that nasally voice of hers. So she is actually bearable in this one. 

[Rogmeister]

Fran Drescher is also in Weird Al Yankovic's one movie, UHF, which I think also came out before The Nanny.  I don't recall her being too annoying or nasally in that.

Kinky, welcome to 2011! 

[KinkyCyborg]

Collateral



Title:Collateral
Year: 2004
Director: Michael Mann
Rating: R
Length: 120 Min.
Video: Anamorphic Widescreen 2.40:1
Audio: English: Dolby Digital: 5.1, English: DTS: 5.1, English: Dolby Digital: Dolby Surround, French: Dolby Digital: 5.1, Commentary: Dolby Digital: Dolby Surround
Subtitles: English, French, Spanish

Stars:
Tom Cruise
Jamie Foxx
Jada Pinkett [Jada Pinkett Smith]
Mark Ruffalo
Peter Berg

Plot:
Vincent (Tom Cruise) is a cool, calculating contract killer at the top of his game. Max (Jamie Foxx) is a cabbie with big dreams and little to show for it. Now, Max has to transport Vincent on his next job – one night, five stops, five hits and a getaway. And after this fateful night, neither man will ever be the same again. Tonight everything is changing...

Extras:
Scene Access
Audio Commentary
Bonus Trailers
Deleted Scenes
Featurettes
Production Notes
Closed Captioned

My Thoughts:

Even though I had seen this before I put it on late in the evening and ended up watching the whole thing keeping me up until past 1 am.  

Great movie and I think one of Cruise's better performances. As thrilling as the action was, just as fascinating were the discussions in the cab between Vincent and Max as they psychoanalyzed each other while passing the time, traveling from one hit to the next. The third kill,

Spoiler (hover to show)

the jazz musician,

was totally unexpected the first time I watched it and a very memorable scene for me.

Michael Mann is masterful at telling stories of men who have been pushed to their limits and finally push back which Jamie Foxx's character does here and like James Caan did in Thief.

Loved how it ended, with Vincent

Spoiler (hover to show)

's corpse going for a ride on the subway, unnoticed by it's passengers

which was the very event he spoke about with such derision not long after getting into Max's cab.

KC

Rating:

[addicted2dvd]

Thanks for the review... this one is in my unwatched pile. Will have to try to get it watched soon.

[KinkyCyborg]

I think you'll enjoy it. Good edge of your seat action. 

[KinkyCyborg]

The World Is Not Enough



Title:The World Is Not Enough
Year: 1999
Director: Michael Apted
Rating: PG-13
Length: 128 Min.
Video: Anamorphic Widescreen 2.35:1
Audio: English: Dolby Digital: 5.1, Commentary: Dolby Digital: 2-Channel Stereo, Commentary: Dolby Digital: 2-Channel Stereo
Subtitles: French, Spanish

Stars:
Pierce Brosnan
Sophie Marceau
Robert Carlyle
Denise Richards
Robbie Coltrane

Plot:
When the suave Agent 007 (Pierce Brosnan) is assigned to protect a beautiful oil heiress (Sophie Marceau), he is catapulted into a passionate, adrenaline-charged adventure that pits him against one of his most deadly adversaries: Renard (Robert Carlyle), a ruthless anarchist whose total imperviousness to pain makes him a virtually unstoppable enemy. The unrelenting suspense, breathtaking action and sly wit never let up in this explosively entertaining thriller.

Extras:
Scene Access
Audio Commentary
Feature Trailers
Featurettes
Music Videos
Closed Captioned
Secrets of 007; Alternate Video Option, 4-Page Booklet

My Thoughts:

Just an average entry in the Bond franchise. Some good individual performances stand out against a story that has been rewarmed many times over, even within the 007 saga itself.

Robert Carlyle was great as the dying villain who feels nothing physically but is inflamed emotionally by the evil Elektra played by Sophie Marceau. She is undoubtedly gorgeous but I found the french arrogance shining through and it put me off somewhat. Always great to see Robbie Coltrane play someone, anyone other than Hagrid, ala Harry Potter. He reprised the character he played in Goldeneye but signed out after this one. And then there is Denise Richards, looking as sexy as she ever has, playing a nuclear physicist which is just wrong on so many levels....  Pierce Brosnan was a serviceable Bond but doesn't hold a candle to Connery, my favorite.

Still haven't watched either of the Daniel Craig Bond movies yet which I hear are unlike anything that came before in the 007 series. Looking forward to watching them.

KC


Rating:

[KinkyCyborg]

Shooter



Title:Shooter
Year: 2007
Director: Antoine Fuqua
Rating: R
Length: 126 Min.
Video: Anamorphic Widescreen 2.35:1
Audio: English: Dolby Digital: 5.1, Spanish: Dolby Digital: 5.1, French: Dolby Digital: 5.1, Commentary: Dolby Digital: 2-Channel Stereo
Subtitles: English

Stars:
Mark Wahlberg
Michael Peña
Danny Glover
Kate Mara
Elias Koteas

Plot:
Get ready for edge-of-your-seat thrills as Mark Wahlberg ignites the screen in his most compelling role yet: the Shooter. When respected former Marine scout sniper Bob Lee Swagger (Wahlberg) is pressed into service to stop an assassination attempt against the President, the unthinkable occurs: he's double-crossed and framed for the attempt. Determined to prove his innocence, the rogue shooter is now in a high-tension race from every law enforcement agency in the country and a shadowy organization that wants him dead. From Training Day director Antoine Fuqua comes a gripping film co-starring Danny Glover (Lethal Weapon 4) and Michael Peña (World Trade Center). Joel Siegel of Good Morning America proclaims that Shooter is a "thriller...with a ton of white-knuckle action."

Extras:
Scene Access
Audio Commentary
Feature Trailers
Deleted Scenes
Featurettes
Closed Captioned

My Thoughts:

Mark Wahlberg is the guy with all the cool guns and man, can he sure use them!!

Thrilling movie about a black OP agency with no name that chooses the wrong guy to be their patsy. Top notch action, great story and great performances.

I noticed early, even before the characters made reference to it, how after the assassination the similarities between this kill and the JFK assassination, how quickly information was available about the shooter mere minutes after the deed was done. Michael Pena's FBI role surmised this but he had difficulty finding people to listen or believe him.

Danny Glover was ok but the part he was playing started to look a little foolish considering the amount of swagger and confidence he had but whose actions never panned out or justified the bravado.

Two beauties in this one, Kate Mara & Rhona Mitra. Kate was great and gorgeous even with those sunken eyes. Rhona has always been a favorite of mine and although her character was a little uptight and fierce at first she redeemed herself with a simple scene... her answering the phone in her home with her hair let down and showing off her well toned midriff... deadly sexy! 

Wahlberg is quickly becoming one of my favorite action stars. He's no nonsense, leveled and more down to earth than most of the puffed up action stars of today. Curious to see him in the new action comedy The Other Guys, oddly paired up with the one dimensional Will Ferrell.

KC

Rating:

[Jon]

Oooh, bit nasty to Ferrell there! I like Shooter too. No nonsense movie. I saw The Other Guys last night and really enjoyed it. Right up my street and I found it very funny. Not in the same league as Anchorman but so much better than Talledega Nights and Step Brothers. On a par with Pineapple Express really. Some decent action and lots of running gags. Whalberg is great ("I'm a peacock! You gotta let me fly!") and there was decent chemistry between him and Ferrell.

[Dragonfire]

I really liked The Other Guys too.

[Achim]

I saw The Other Guys last night and really enjoyed it. Right up my street and I found it very funny. Not in the same league as Anchorman but so much better than Talledega Nights and Step Brothers.

Saying something is better than Step Brothers is not really saying much, is it...?

[Dragonfire]

Saying something is better than Step Brothers is not really saying much, is it...?

I haven't seen Step Brothers, but I've heard it is pretty bad...so..possibly not.

[Achim]

I haven't seen Step Brothers, but I've heard it is pretty bad...so..possibly not.

I watched it on an airplane, you know, free-of-charge, nothing-netter-to-do and all, and had to turn it off after about 20min.

[Jon]

I saw The Other Guys last night and really enjoyed it. Right up my street and I found it very funny. Not in the same league as Anchorman but so much better than Talledega Nights and Step Brothers.

Saying something is better than Step Brothers is not really saying much, is it...?

Don't know how I missed this! But yes, you're right. 

I haven't seen Step Brothers, but I've heard it is pretty bad...so..possibly not.

It passes by rather harmlessly, just without being particularly funny and a couple of basics really annoyed me: http://www.dvdcollectorsonline.com/index.php/topic,5216.msg88451.html#msg88451

But in the interests of balance, Emma did like it: http://www.dvdcollectorsonline.com/index.php/topic,5601.msg99945.html#msg99945

[samuelrichardscott]

My problem lies with the fact Will Ferrell can't carry a film. As a supporting actor I like him but as a lead, only Anchorman and The Other Guys have been good watches for me.