I watched Hellboy on StarzHD last night (it's airing free right now) and the PQ was awesome except for some pixelation during very fast sequences. I was surprised how good this movie was. The special effects were awesome, Hellboy kicked ass and the world was saved. It was a very dark movie but the detail was excellent and very sharp.
Which HD Cinema Movies have you seen?Would you like to post your review of the movie?
- Thread starter Sean Mota
- Start date
- Latest activity Latest activity:
- Replies 796
- Views 70K
Groundhog Day - 4.5 stars : Great movie -- in fact, the kind of movie you could watch all day -- over and over and over and over 
. Seriously, though, it has everything. Very funny (when Bill Murray is good, he's very very good), a good romance, and even a little action (loved the chase scenes). And it gets you thinkin' about how you might handle the same situation. PQ was quite good and the surround sound was excellent, especially for the music and during the chase scenes. Andie McDowell was pleasant to watch, and even Chris Elliot was less annoying than usual.
. Seriously, though, it has everything. Very funny (when Bill Murray is good, he's very very good), a good romance, and even a little action (loved the chase scenes). And it gets you thinkin' about how you might handle the same situation. PQ was quite good and the surround sound was excellent, especially for the music and during the chase scenes. Andie McDowell was pleasant to watch, and even Chris Elliot was less annoying than usual.
Wow! You won't believe it, but this was a coincidence!
I saw you in the thread, but I didn't know you were writing about Groundhog Day!
Of course, I am re-living this day over and over, so it was easy for me to guess ...
I saw you in the thread, but I didn't know you were writing about Groundhog Day!
Of course, I am re-living this day over and over, so it was easy for me to guess ...
The Wicker Man - 3.0 stars : Pretty trippy stuff here. And cool. No shortage of nudity and weirdness. A pretty good mystery (although not too difficult to figure out, especially if you've ever seen Spellbound) and some over-the-top acting performances. If you're generally a fan of odd little cult favorites, this one may be for you. Not the best pq or sound, but there are some nice shots and the folksy music is kinda cool.
Just Another Girl On The I.R.T. - 1.5 stars : Look, I appreciate a low-budget independent film where someone has an idea, raises a little money, calls his friends and makes a movie as much as the next guy -- as long as it's good. This one isn't. It just kinda bites off more than it can chew, but doesn't say anything that hasn't been said before, and better. It's well-intentioned and ambitious, but ultimately comes across as a heavy-handed cliche-riddled after school special. The acting is historically bad, the dialogue even worse. It's like the writer read a Sunday paper feature where they translate all the hot street slang and then tried to cram as many of the words as possible into a ninety minute Salt 'n' Pepa video. It's sort of like a high school counselor trying to be "cool" to better relate to the students -- just doesn't come across as real and in the end looks ridiculous. It gets the star and a half because I appreciate the effort, and the soundtrack was pretty cool. But all in all, a disappointment.
The Old Settler - 2.0 stars : Pretty slow. I won't go so far as to call it boring, but it was certainly walking a fine line. Well acted though, and did a good job of exploring a couple relationships.
The Crow: Salvation - 3 stars : Electrocution, explosions, blood, fantasy, strippers, slow motion fog walking, hard rockin' soundtrack, Kirsten Dunst. Yet somehow this movie manages to not quite hit the spot. Perhaps I just can't help comparing it to the original movie, which I love, and to which this fails to live up. Or maybe it's just the bad acting/lack of charisma of the lead actor. Not sure, but at times this film comes across as pretty stupid -- which is a shame because at other spots it rocks. The pq's pretty good and the sound is very good. The soundtrack itself is friggin' awesome. Rocks HARD -- Kid Rock, Filter, Danzig, Rob Zombie. I'll probably pass on the DVD, but buy the CD.
The Opium Wars - 2.5 stars: The showing of this movie, 2-3 weeks ago, was timely since my wife teaches history and was preparing a lesson plan dealing with this subject. It was common knowledge that the British Empire was the world's leading drug trafficker in the 19th century. The destructive nature of opium was well known at the time of the Opium Wars. Addicts seldom lived past age fifty; heavy smokers had a life expectancy of only five years. While a prosperous Chinese official could afford opium addiction, a Chinese worker would spend two-thirds of his wages, thus neglecting his family. Many Chinese saw opium as a poison introduced by foreign enemies. Eventually, the Emperor banned the import of opium, except for a small amount, licensed as medicine...which obviously led to The Opium Wars.
This was an interesting movie, but it did not fully explain the hypocrisy of the egocentric Britains missionaries preaching Christianity, while the businessmen were profiting from the sale of opium regardless of the affect it had the Chinese people and their overall economy. Of course, quite a bit of the movie was in Chinese and had no subtitles, which may have shed more light on the Chinese point of view during this time.
This was an interesting movie, but it did not fully explain the hypocrisy of the egocentric Britains missionaries preaching Christianity, while the businessmen were profiting from the sale of opium regardless of the affect it had the Chinese people and their overall economy. Of course, quite a bit of the movie was in Chinese and had no subtitles, which may have shed more light on the Chinese point of view during this time.
Captives - 2.5 stars: I enjoyed it, mainly due to the good actors. Tim Roth is always good. Julia Ormond is not only good, but pretty too. The classic tale of a romance between a convicted murderer and his dentist gets a little stupid later in the movie, and frankly just isn't very believable. PQ was fine, and surround sound was surprisingly good.
A Room With A View - 2.5 stars : One of those turn of the century period romance things where the men are kind of poofy and the women are fainty wusses, and class and etiquette are everything. Like most of those films, this one goes nowhere fast. But at least this one has Helena Bonham Carter -- whose work I prefer in Fight Club, but who makes this dog more watchable. She's young young here, and adorable. Julian Sands was alright too, as the one character who's a bit on the wild side. But next time, if only one of them has a full nude scene, what say we make it Ms. Carter instead of Mr. Sands? Please.
PQ was just okay. Although there wasn't much call for surround sound, it was there when needed for music and birds and such.
PQ was just okay. Although there wasn't much call for surround sound, it was there when needed for music and birds and such.
Man Friday - 2.5 stars: A little different take on Robinson Crusoe. Peter O'Toole plays Crusoe, whose sanity is questionable, but who is always enjoyable, if not comical, with occasional over-the-top acting. Richard Roundtree also does a good job, but his character's excessive morality is unbelievable, at best. Some of the singing performances were accidentally quite funny. To sum it up: an interest twist on Crusoe - acting was pretty good - some of the over-the-top acting and singing was accidentally quite funny - unexpected ending.
"The tribe changes as the tree changes."
"The tribe changes as the tree changes."
OT: Our Town - 4 stars : Very good documentary about high school kids in Compton putting on the first play at the school in twenty years. They did a good job of using the students' opinions and footage of an old tv performance to show how the old play about a rural town can still be relevant today, even to a bunch of kids in Compton. Also touches on several of the problems the students face -- poverty, Compton's image, violence, disappearing dad syndrome, prioritizing of athletics over arts and education (Tyson Chandler of the Chicago Bulls is in the film briefly -- he was the star of the basketball team, drafted right out of high school).
PQ was okay. Surround sound was well used to showcase hip-hop music -- and there was no shortage of bass.
PQ was okay. Surround sound was well used to showcase hip-hop music -- and there was no shortage of bass.
BreakHeart Pass 3.0 stars A good Western staring Charles Bronson. It's about an undercover agent trying to get a conspiracy to sell illegal weapons to the indians. I like the movie. It is OAR (1:85:1) and PQ was great.
Love Serenade 2.5 stars. Funny movie. I waited and waited for something to happen but kind of never happened. Two sisters are seduced by this guy who had been divorced three times already. The guy is not good looking at all but give them both what they deserved for being so blind. The movie lacks the quality of a good plot. The most exciting moment was when the younger sister shows her goodies and they are good but it only lasts for a couple of seconds. That's the movie. By the way, excellent PQ and OAR.
Vatel 3.5 stars. Not a movie for everybody. The story develops very slowly but it has great actors in it. A tragedy but not one that gives you the awe factor. Most exciting times are the chef's decoration and the performance put for the King. Great creative mind of Vatel and it was based on a true story. OAR and PQ was excellent.
Love Serenade 2.5 stars. Funny movie. I waited and waited for something to happen but kind of never happened. Two sisters are seduced by this guy who had been divorced three times already. The guy is not good looking at all but give them both what they deserved for being so blind. The movie lacks the quality of a good plot. The most exciting moment was when the younger sister shows her goodies and they are good but it only lasts for a couple of seconds. That's the movie. By the way, excellent PQ and OAR.
Vatel 3.5 stars. Not a movie for everybody. The story develops very slowly but it has great actors in it. A tragedy but not one that gives you the awe factor. Most exciting times are the chef's decoration and the performance put for the King. Great creative mind of Vatel and it was based on a true story. OAR and PQ was excellent.
No Way Out - 4 stars: Good movie -- suspenseful, exciting, slowly builds up to an exciting ending. Solid performance by Kevin Costner. Was a little disappointed in the pq, but the sound was nice. I also got a kick out of how all the "high tech" 1987 stuff just doesn't seem all that high tech anymore.
The Last Picture Show - 4.5 stars : Almost perfect. An excellent small town coming-of-age slice-of-life film featuring the debut of Cybill Shepard. After seeing this, it is no mystery why she went on to become the star that she did. Surprisingly good pq for a 1971 black and white movie, and an excellent soundtrack of Hank Williams tunes. At times it moves just a little slow for my taste, but I really thought the characters rang true, and was impressed with the actors who portrayed them.
Avanti: 4 stars. 1970's Jack lemmon film written and directed by Billy Wilder and filmed in Ischia Italy. Need I say more. Just beautiful. Film is not his best, but it is so worth watching just for the feeling in Ischia and a classic of that time.
Cat Ballou - 2.5 stars : Disappointing. Program guide gave it four stars -- very generous. It never really decided if it was a western comedy, romance, or shoot-em-up-you-done-me-wrong revenge movie -- so it ended up doing a little bit of each, and badly. Oh, it wasn't horrible -- it did hold my interest for an hour and a half or so -- it just wasn't good. Jane Fonda was as cute as can be, but not very convincing. Lee Marvin played two juicy roles, but only one of them well. PQ was hit-and-miss and the sound was disappointing, even with a few catchy tunes by Nat King Cole and some other dude.
Similar threads
