I'm getting enCaged! (UPDATE - Movie #9: Fire Birds)

[coopdro]

You know dude, I honestly thought the only thing about that film that was particularly bad was the ending. I feel like the ending colors everyone's perception of the whole movie. It's definitely bad. But the rest of the movie is pretty watchable, in my opinion.



I enjoyed it but it may have been a bit longer than it needed to be. It's implications are terrifying though.

I think the shit it touches on is something that we as a society should be talking much more about.



LOL

I actually started that one a little while back. It was going to be movie #5 but I got about 20 minutes in and turned it off. I'll circle back to it at a later date.

Next up is probably The Rock.

You could be right with Wicker Man just leaving ya feeling so shitty with the ending that it ruined the whole experience for me. Have you ever seen Simon Helberg's interview on Conan about Nic Cage? It's amazing! "You bitches!!! It was all for honey!!!!" Fuck love it! (that particular part is at 2:22 of the vid)



Have you watched The 5th Estate or Citizen Four yet? If not, definitely check those out.

I'm looking forward to you circling back to Vampire's Kiss. You gotta go in with your guns hot knowing you're about to endure some bad movie all up in your face.

 

[Guestx]

You could be right with Wicker Man just leaving ya feeling so shitty with the ending that it ruined the whole experience for me. Have you ever seen Simon Helberg's interview on Conan about Nic Cage? It's amazing! "You bitches!!! It was all for honey!!!!" Fuck love it! (that particular part is at 2:22 of the vid)

Ha ha, I had never seen that. That's pretty funny.

Have you watched The 5th Estate or Citizen Four yet? If not, definitely check those out.

I've seen Citizen Four but not The Fifth Estate. It was pretty interesting.

Fifth Estate any good?

I'm looking forward to you circling back to Vampire's Kiss. You gotta go in with your guns hot knowing you're about to endure some bad movie all up in your face.

Yeah, we'll have to try again at some point.

I think of the four films the one that surprised me the most was Knowing. It's a bit of a mess in some ways, but it also touches on some really interesting ideas and I thought it was a lot better than it's usually given credit for. I avoided it for years because I heard it was shitty.

I would probably be more motivated to punch through these films if people were actually responding to my reviews, but as you can see no one is really commenting.

 

[coopdro]

Ha ha, I had never seen that. That's pretty funny.



I've seen Citizen Four but not The Fifth Estate. It was pretty interesting.

Fifth Estate any good?



Yeah, we'll have to try again at some point.

I think of the four films the one that surprised me the most was Knowing. It's a bit of a mess in some ways, but it also touches on some really interesting ideas and I thought it was a lot better than it's usually given credit for. I avoided it for years because I heard it was shitty.

I would probably be more motivated to punch through these films if people were actually responding to my reviews, but as you can see no one is really commenting.

Ha ha, I had never seen that. That's pretty funny.

I love that impressions video. It was the reason I went back and watched Vampire's Kiss. I had to witness that scene, which is pretty deep in the movie. I just kept anticipating it giddily.

Fifth Estate any good?

The Fifth Estate isn't bad, not great, but not bad. Covers the Julian Assange aspect there. It was definitely Hollywoodized, which I'm sure you'll pick up on if you watch it.

I think of the four films the one that surprised me the most was Knowing. It's a bit of a mess in some ways, but it also touches on some really interesting ideas and I thought it was a lot better than it's usually given credit for. I avoided it for years because I heard it was shitty.

I hadn't seen Knowing in quite some time. I reckon I'll add that to my Cage list.

I rewatched Next about 6 weeks ago with my Cage bender. It was exactly how I remembered it. This was really starting to mark the era where Cage was becoming known more for his schtick than actual good acting. This one was somewhere near the beginning of his downward spiral iirc. There's this one scene where Jessica Biel is talking to a mexican girl and she says Nic looks at her like her sister's boyfriend does. I exclaimed to the chick "incoming derp face!!", and Nic didn't let me down at all. One of the best derp looks he's delivered when he's supposed to be super suave. Stuff like that is what makes the Cage all the rage!

 

[Guestx]

I hadn't seen Knowing in quite some time. I reckon I'll add that to my Cage list.

You should give it a look and report back!

I rewatched Next about 6 weeks ago with my Cage bender. It was exactly how I remembered it. This was really starting to mark the era where Cage was becoming known more for his schtick than actual good acting. This one was somewhere near the beginning of his downward spiral iirc. There's this one scene where Jessica Biel is talking to a mexican girl and she says Nic looks at her like her sister's boyfriend does. I exclaimed to the chick "incoming derp face!!", and Nic didn't let me down at all. One of the best derp looks he's delivered when he's supposed to be super suave. Stuff like that is what makes the Cage all the rage!

LOL that was the very first movie I ever streamed on Netflix. I still remember that shit. Unfortunately I found the movie to be pretty bland.

 

[coopdro]

You should give it a look and report back!

Will do, I'm also adding Shanghai Dangerous to my list of next Cage movies to watch.

LOL that was the very first movie I ever streamed on Netflix. I still remember that shit. Unfortunately I found the movie to be pretty bland.

It's not good, no doubt about that. The first movie I ever streamed on Netflix was "Run Lola Run". It's funny I remember that. Even remember I was in the spare bedroom at a condo I was renting with my gal cause that's where I had a system connected via HDMI to stream. It's come such a long way man. Netflix is the bee's knees as far as interface and stream quality, especially if by chance you're working with constricted bandwidth.

 

[Guestx]

Will do, I'm also adding Shanghai Dangerous to my list of next Cage movies to watch.

Bankgkok Dangerous, I think you mean. I can't say that one was one of my favorites, but I'd be curious to get your take on it.

It's not good, no doubt about that. The first movie I ever streamed on Netflix was "Run Lola Run". It's funny I remember that. Even remember I was in the spare bedroom at a condo I was renting with my gal cause that's where I had a system connected via HDMI to stream. It's come such a long way man. Netflix is the bee's knees as far as interface and stream quality, especially if by chance you're working with constricted bandwidth.

Yeah, I remember at first I was just amazed that movies could be streamed at all. Before Netflix got into the streaming thing, pretty much everyone was either using Netflix's DVD service for movies or they were still going the traditional route of renting movies from their local video store. So the introduction of streaming was definitely a game changer.

I do remember one pre-Netflix form of movie streaming though: Many years ago, when YouTube still had a 10 minute limit on videos, people would upload full movies in like 10 parts at 240p or whatever. I remember watching Hackers that way.

 

[coopdro]

Bangkok Dangerous, I think you mean. I can't say that one was one of my favorites, but I'd be curious to get your take on it.

Totally right, must of had a brain spasm or sumpin. I haven't seen it in forever and imagine it's going to be rough as hell, but I gotta refresh my memory on it. I owe it to Cage, is the least I can do .

Yeah, I remember at first I was just amazed that movies could be streamed at all. Before Netflix got into the streaming thing, pretty much everyone was either using Netflix's DVD service for movies or they were still going the traditional route of renting movies from their local video store. So the introduction of streaming was definitely a game changer.

I do remember one pre-Netflix form of movie streaming though: Many years ago, when YouTube still had a 10 minute limit on videos, people would upload full movies in like 10 parts at 240p or whatever. I remember watching Hackers that way.

Oh man, I do remember watching a few flicks that way. I'm an old school NNTP guy (Network News Transfer Protocol), otherwise known as Newsgroups, so I had access to tons of media forever. That and I was an early adopter of P2P like Napster/Kazaam/Morpheus and finally BitTorrent, so streaming didn't affect me much until Netflix started getting a better library and fine tuned their streaming software to the amazing setup of today.

I'd say behind Netflix it goes in order of performance and quality of streaming it goes, Hulu, HBOGo, Amazon Prime, Showtime, then Starz. I can't really attest much to the normal cable channel streaming software. At one of my old gigs, I used to work on the HBOGo and Starz servers since they were hosted by the cloud company I worked for at the time. We're talking 6 years ago at this point, their shit wasn't very good back then and they were always over cooking their servers.

 

[chickenluver]

Just waiting to read your thoughts on Industrial Symphony No. 1: The Dream of the Brokenhearted

 

[Guestx]

Just waiting to read your thoughts on Industrial Symphony No. 1: The Dream of the Brokenhearted

LOL

I know that one's easily accessible via YouTube and it's less than an hour so it could be coming soon.

 

[Guestx]

EnCagement Movie #5: Gone in 60 Seconds

Last night I was looking through my free movies on Comcast OnDemand and ran across Gone in 60 Seconds. And since this is one of the ones that got away back in the day and I never saw it, I figured what the hell and pressed play.

I remember the reason I missed it the first time around was because I saw the trailer and, for whatever reason, it just didn't inspire me to pack up my shit and head to the theater. And now that I've actually seen the film . . . well, I feel like I might have been onto something. That is not to say that I think this is a bad film, but rather that I think it's "just OK" and that my life is neither better nor worse for seeing it.

Been a while since this one came out so let me hit you with a plot synopsis as a refresher:

Randall "Memphis" Raines long ago abandoned his life of crime, but after an ominous visit from an old friend, he finds he has no choice but to return to what he does best -- stealing cars -- in order to save his brother's life. It all comes down to one night, 50 cars and a contract.

What this basically felt like was one of those DTV movies that Cage has been doing later in his career, but with a bigger budget and more star power. Indeed, the budget was there, as they spent $90 million on this thing. And it really is a star-studded line up: Robert Duvall, Giovanni Ribisi, Angelina Jolie, Timothy Olyphant, Scott Caan, Delroy Lindo, and of course the Cage himself. I mean, Jesus, that really is a hell of a cast!

However, while those performers turned in fine performances, and I felt like the movie had a nice, fairly stylized visual look, and the driving scenes were at least competently done, I just felt like there was something missing from this one. At the end of the day, despite the trappings, it still felt rather generic (even though I couldn't point to another movie just like it). It wants to be something akin to Oceans 11 but with cars, but I felt that ultimately it lacked the unique character that makes the great heist movies great.

I really don't have anything more to say about this one. It was okay. I'd go ahead and recommend it to someone who's just looking for an adrenaline-fueled car/action/heist film, but that's it. And even that is with the caveat that The Fast and the Furious is still the GOAT in that arena.

6/10

 

[Guestx]

I know I'm not the only here who has seen Gone in 60 Seconds. . .

 

[europe1]

I basically agree with what you said. It has a very fun premise, stitch-together this motley crew of carjackers and have them kidnap 50 magnificent cars within a timeframe. But all-in-all it feels very generic, very serviceable. A watchable movie but it doesn't stand out that much.

Vinnie Jones placing his sandwich on the cadaver always made me chuckle.

 

[Guestx]

I basically agree with what you said. It has a very fun premise, stitch-together this motley crew of carjackers and have them kidnap 50 magnificent cars within a timeframe. But all-in-all it feels very generic, very serviceable. A watchable movie but it doesn't stand out that much.

Vinnie Jones placing his sandwich on the cadaver always made me chuckle.

Considering the talent that was involved it's unfortunate they couldn't come up with something that was a bit better than serviceable.

My biggest disappointment were the driving scenes. They were "okay." But in a movie about stealing cars, you really want better than simply okay. With better auto choreography this film could've been really thrilling.

 

[coopdro]

You're right, this was a missed opportunity with such a good cast in hindsight.

HOWEVER, in the year 2000, I was 16 years old with a major hard on for cars. This movie was very influential to me and I thought it was beyond cool at the time. I've since rewatched it as I've gotten older and I see just how ridiculous it can be. Ohhh Eleanor though, I did really enjoy that chase scene and still do. I can still hear the music playing as he's jumping it on the bridge.

This movie still holds as one of the better car movies that I've seen. Things like Need for Speed & Redline were much worse imo.

As far as racing, I love the movie Rush. It's on my top 20 movies of all time list.

I did like the movie Drive w/ Ryan Gosling. It was a slower off-speed type movie, but I liked the noirish vibe I got from it along with the 80's music in the soundtrack.

Getaway could of been half way decent if it weren't for how they did Selena Gomez's character. She was just annoying all the way through and being a hacker too was just ridiculous.

Drive Angry was just silly, and this one actually belongs in the thread. Ragin Cagin and all.

 

[Guestx]

HOWEVER, in the year 2000, I was 16 years old with a major hard on for cars. This movie was very influential to me and I thought it was beyond cool at the time. I've since rewatched it as I've gotten older and I see just how ridiculous it can be. Ohhh Eleanor though, I did really enjoy that chase scene and still do. I can still hear the music playing as he's jumping it on the bridge.

I'd have been 18. I wonder how I would've felt about this movie if I had seen it then as opposed to now. Would it have been cooler to me? Maybe.

But for me, it was The Fast and the Furious that really got a hold of my ass when it comes to cars. I still think that movie is great.

This movie still holds as one of the better car movies that I've seen. Things like Need for Speed & Redline were much worse imo.

Never saw Redline, but Need for Speed was incredibly problematic.

Dat Imogen Poots, though. Very nice.

As far as racing, I love the movie Rush. It's on my top 20 movies of all time list.

Awesome movie. One of only like three movies I've gone to see twice at the theater.

Easily one of Ron Howard's best. Maybe even #2, behind Apollo 13.

I did like the movie Drive w/ Ryan Gosling. It was a slower off-speed type movie, but I liked the noirish vibe I got from it along with the 80's music in the soundtrack.

Great film, but not REALLY a car movie in my opinion.

Getaway could of been half way decent if it weren't for how they did Selena Gomez's character. She was just annoying all the way through and being a hacker too was just ridiculous.

Drive Angry was just silly, and this one actually belongs in the thread. Ragin Cagin and all.

I haven't seen either one, but I'll eventually have to get around to Drive Angry.

 

[dildos]

lol, i love gone in 60 seconds. its a great fun action flick. it came out around the same time the gta game was getting popular and car jackings had a huge spike.

saw that in the theaters and numerous times after it. and here is a funny story where we went for a friends 12th birthday and all us horny kids loved the scene where they were scoping the lambo whilst watching the couple in the bedroom, and they too were getting heated. that was hilarious, one kid covered his eyes because his parents never let him watch scenes like that. that was a hoot.

i was upset to hear @mb23100 absolutely shit on this movie (http://forums.sherdog.com/threads/gone-in-60-seconds-is-the-worst-movie-ever.3415507/), i mean its no leaving las vegas but for what its worth its great!

 

[Guestx]

lol, i love gone in 60 seconds. its a great fun action flick. it came out around the same time the gta game was getting popular and car jackings had a huge spike.

LOL. That's hilarious.

I guess life really does imitate art sometimes.

saw that in the theaters and numerous times after it. and here is a funny story where we went for a friends 12th birthday and all us horny kids loved the scene where they were scoping the lambo whilst watching the couple in the bedroom, and they too were getting heated. that was hilarious, one kid covered his eyes because his parents never let him watch scenes like that. that was a hoot.

I loved that scene but only for the Lambo. The Countach was my first love when it comes to cars, the Diablo my second.

i was upset to hear @mb23100 absolutely shit on this movie (http://forums.sherdog.com/threads/gone-in-60-seconds-is-the-worst-movie-ever.3415507/), i mean its no leaving las vegas but for what its worth its great!

LOL I saw that thread when I was searching for this thread earlier. I'll have to read through it, but I definitely disagree with the title. Obviously Gone in 60 Seconds is not "the worst movie ever." That's just silly talk.

 

[mb23100]

lol, i love gone in 60 seconds. its a great fun action flick. it came out around the same time the gta game was getting popular and car jackings had a huge spike.

saw that in the theaters and numerous times after it. and here is a funny story where we went for a friends 12th birthday and all us horny kids loved the scene where they were scoping the lambo whilst watching the couple in the bedroom, and they too were getting heated. that was hilarious, one kid covered his eyes because his parents never let him watch scenes like that. that was a hoot.

i was upset to hear @mb23100 absolutely shit on this movie (http://forums.sherdog.com/threads/gone-in-60-seconds-is-the-worst-movie-ever.3415507/), i mean its no leaving las vegas but for what its worth its great!

Its sooooooooo bad.....

 

[Guestx]

Its sooooooooo bad.....

Is it really though. What is SOOO BAD about it? Isn't it really just mediocre?

 

[mb23100]

Is it really though. What is SOOO BAD about it? Isn't it really just mediocre?

The entire movie is cringe.....the whole thing. Even Jolie wasnt as hot as i remembered.
















Still would