Ransom. The movie by Ron Howard starring Mel Gibson, Rene Russo (who is very beautiful in this movie), Gary Sinise and Liev Schreiber (he really got that bad guy's face). A kid gets kidnapped for ransom but when delivering the money goes wrong the father Tom Mullen turns to ransom in reward money to bring him the kidnapper dead or alive. This is basically Hearts of Steel the movie. The kid of a wealthy man gets kidnapped for money and everything goes wrong. Both the father as well as the kidnapper have a few tricks upon their sleeve. One of the best scenes in the movie and possibly in Mel's career is the phone call he makes with Sinise and totally explodes in anger. That's Mad Max and Martin Riggs combined in that scene. Definitely worth 3,5 stars but that scene deserved Oscars for Gibson, Sinise and Russo.

The Jackal with Bruce Willis and Richard Gere. Willis plays an hitman called The Jackal and often changes appearances. Gere plays the man who is after him, a former IRA-member in prison who had a relationship with a moment that can identify The Jackal. The movie started great with a pretty violent action sequence, unfortunately the story moved on rather slow with not much spectacle after that, even though the scenes that contained violence after that were brutal, it was mostly about Willis going from one disguise after the other, all over the world. 2 stars.

Oh yes. The Jackal was terrible. It was actually a remake of the 1973 film The Day of the Jackal which was FAR superior. They even changed the ending in the reboot which everybody hated and was not one of Willis' finest moments.

There is one scene however which i still enjoy in the reboot which takes place between Gere & Venora. When he asks her name, she replies, "Koslova. Major Koslova".

Koslova was my favorite character of that movie actually. A tough, strong woman that despite the big scar on her face was still very attractive.

Last night I have seen The Fate of the Furious AKA Fast 8. After 7 movies, revitalizing the franchise more than once and relaunching careers and the loss of a great actor who was co-lead, where do you go from there? You give them their worst enemy you can think of. One of their own and controlled by the first female villain played so exquisitely by Charlize Theron. That is one woman you do not want to mess with. She showed her evilness in movies like Snow White but here she really is one angry woman. I'll try not to spoil too much but I do got to say this one is the darkest movie in the franchise. I always wondered when it would happen but it's like the fun's over now. You can clearly see they miss Paul Walker and I can't help but wonder what if he was able to star in this movie and has to face his best friend again? Though I think they made a logical turn. After all they've been through, maybe it's time to start analyzing who it affects their lives. This one was a good start but they will never reach the heights they did with part 7 again, nor they shouldn't. I think it's time the franchise is brought to a close with the two remaining movies. Just keep in mind part 7, they will never reach that again. And I've read the studio's realise that as well. It can only go downhill from there but go downhill easy with not too much damage along the way and carefully park the car there and say goodbye.

Financially the movie is doing pretty good, over half a billion dollar in the opening weekend alone and they've already set a new record.

So in all I give this movie 3,5 stars. Yes, there are some obvious stuff with the movie but I'd rather have you see it for yourself. On the other hand who needs logic in a movie like this. Action remains overblown and they really did what they could with what they came up with. There was nice touches and jokes in the script as well. It's just up to you with what you're willing to let slip by.

In all this is the order I like the movies: 7, 5, 6, 8, 4, 1, 3, 2.

I loved seeing Beauty and the Beast and La La Land!! <3<3 Those were such great movies!!!

So....Basically it will fall in line with my odd ones. I will probably not enjoy 8.

MacGyversGirl4Ever, I enjoyed La La Land too. Still have yet to see Beauty and the Beast.

I saw Uncle Buck on Friday.


Released back in 1989 and starring John Candy as Uncle Buck, Macauley Culkin & Jean Louisa Kelly, this tells the story of married couple Cindy & Bob who, in the midst of a family emergency have to leave town and with no one to take care of the kids, they lean to Bob's lazy brother, Buck. While things seems to go smoothly at first (Sort of), Buck soon realizes that he will have to change his ways if his stay will be a success.

This lighthearted comedy was a mild hit when it was released.Screenplay and direction went to John Hughes. Coincidentally, Hughes, Culkin & Candy's next movie was of course Home Alone. So this is a prequel in some ways.

It's not a bad movie and often funny to watch. I give it a generous 3 stars.

Yesterday i saw The Fly (1986).


A remake of the 1958 classic, the 1986 version starred Jeff Goldblum in the lead as scientist Seth Brundle who invites Veronica (Geena Davis), a journalist to his home after attending a science convention to show off his latest invention. A teleportation device.

At first however, Brundle is unable to teleport living things due to his computer being unable to interpret the difference between animate and inanimate objects however he soon figures out the obstacle and trials himself as the first human to be teleported. Unfortunately his first trip becomes something of a freak accident when a housefly happens to go into the pod the moment he teleports thus fusing Brundle's DNA with that of the fly's. At first, Brundle appears normal, but soon starts to realize he has new skills. And soon enough, a new appearance.

This was quite a hit when it was released back in the 80's and spawned a sequel with far less reaching success. It seems a little dated now but is still an interesting movie to watch. I give it 3 stars. If you are interested, there is another reboot in the works. Who knows? Maybe Fly ver 3 might be another hit.

Well, if that's your attitude, you probably won't either.
If you go for spectacle, you won't be disappointed or go for Theron's performance. She really owns every scene. There is room to debate about everything a bit actually about the movie. Things that could be avoided but you know it's the 8th movie so there something bound to sneak in though, like pulling the oldest trick in the book. But I let you figure that one out for yourself.

The Fly, also one of my favourites. Cronenberg is a man who dared to go the other way in almost all his movies. What David Lynch does for psychological or suggestive horror, Cronenberg did for body horror. Too bad it's also a form of horror, we don't see anymore. I don't count Saw or Hostel in that because that's torture most of all. Cronenberg came up with mostly new stuff each time yet never wandered too far of his trademarks. Usually also about some mysterious organisation who uses someone throughout the movie that goes through a deep mental and bodily change. Like The Fly or Videodrome or Scanners or even eXistenZ. All his early movies has this feel you're in way over your head and than your body starts to change in the most inhuman ways possible. Also most of his characters are regular peoples, just like Seth Brundle. Who knows, maybe MacGyver was there on that science convention. Anyway, good one and I think even his best movie.

I guess its not really the spectacle i like or dislike.

Even when neither star reprised their role for Tokyo Drift, most critics thought the franchise was over. But I loved the third. I thought it was a great change. The second was less than stellar IMHO. Then when they all returned for the 4th, i thought, great! But sadly the movie just didn't quite have that "Oomph!" that the first one had. Surprisingly with my hopes shattered, i loved the 5th. It made its appeal as a far better sequel than the 4th one was.

Then 6. Again, explosions, stunts, cast. But not really a story that wowed me.

Then here comes 7 with a furious plot and i once again was enthralled.

So yes. Its weird but i actually like the odd numbered ones. So i can only assume i will dislike the 8th one. But who knows? Maybe i might be wrong.

Did you see the 1958 Fly ? The ending is so scary !!!

Tokyo Drift was my favorite of the original three as well. With Walker's death now it's the first one because I see now, more than ever that it has the heart 4, 5, 6 and 7 has, because it's the absolute beginning and as Vin Diesel himself pointed out you can see it in the barbecue scene about halfway in the movie. 2 really is my least favorite as well despite the intro's of Roman and Tej. 5 was indeed the best at the time and it has a deserved 2nd place but they can't top the 7th.

But we all have that one movie in a franchise that is just less appealing than others. Or in this case every other movie and it's an even number this time.

I have not tvero. But i believe it is a classic and would VERY much like to see it.

Well MacGyverGod, there you go. Even numbered F&F movies are less appealing than the odd ones.

I just went back for a second time last night. It's even better, now.

I have not tvero. But i believe it is a classic and would VERY much like to see it.

I'm very silly cause I can't post videos here . Sorry denizen. But on YouTube : the fly (1958) ending, help me... you'll see it . Of course back then the special effects were but you identify with the main character ( as least I did ...) and as I said I found it very scary.

Six Days, Seven Nights. Directed by Ivan Reitman, this is a romantic action, adventure comedy that might remind some of us of Romancing The Stone, Final Approach and On A Wing And A Prayer with Harrison Ford, David Schwimmer and Anne Heche. Couple Frank (Schwimmer) and Robin (Heche) go on a vacation to Makatea where he wants to propose Robin to marry him. When they arrive on the island they have to use a charter plane for the last part of their journey to the hotel and they meet Quinn (Ford) to bring them there. Quinn is an older drinking pilot and with his own passenger Angelica. Robin and Quinn don't really get along but when she receives a call from work to supervise a shoot in Tahiti she asks him to bring her there. They get up caught in a storm and crashes on a deserted island (the same island as in the King Kong movie from 1976). Frank and Angelica are getting worried because they haven't returned and starts search parties. Robin and Quinn are trying to find ways to get of the island since their plane has been damaged in the crash. When they see a boat they try to reach it until Quinn witnesses a murder and they have to make tracks back in the jungle. In the jungle they find a crashed Japanese airplane from WWII and Quinn gets an idea on how to fix his plane.

This movie was quite amusing and actually quite the MacGyver adventure too. This could've been a great first or second season episode or maybe third and fourth season. As if Mac would have to fly an annoying woman who is not used to the outdoors to a tropical distant country and they crash and have to learn to survive and improvise and than fall in love. It sounds like been there done that but that was the basic principle of the movie. And actually it remains lighthearted, despite Robin and Quinn not getting along, they only keep to bantering and bickering and not really hating and Robin is not constantly complaining, moaning or helpless. She does her part on trying to survive.

So if you look for something light and adventureous this is your movie.

Oblivion with Tom Cruise and Morgan Freeman. The earth has been destroyed after a massive nuclear war and Jack Harper and his wife Victoria are there to do maintenance on whatever remains of the earth. Yet he faces a threat that makes him doubt his entire existence especially when he meets a survivor from a crashed sleeping pod who claims to be his real wife. And then there is Morgan Freeman who has to bring him back to defend them all from the remaining troops and they come up with plan to finish off the threat once and for all.

I don't think I have seen so many Tom Cruise movies as in the past year. His movies are often aired (maybe it's because of the two new commercial channels, that are more men-oriented than others) and they are often very good with exception of Days of the Thunder which was his least interesting one for as far as I know and maybe Jack Reacher 2. But I still liked that one. But one way or another Tom Cruise always delivers. He doesn't just make another action movie, each movie needs that have to certain element that keeps it interesting, even if doesn't always work out well. But there is something different about his movies than let say with Stallone or Schwarzenegger who always wanted more of the same and bigger and better than last time. It's like Cruise cares more about story without cutting too much in the action. There's like this balance he has in his movies, like a trademark or something.

Elysium with Matt Damon from Neill Blomkamp. An decent action film along with Jodie Foster and Wiliam Fichtner. Spectacular action sequences but Oblivion was better.

Gothika. A long forgotten movie with Halle Berry, Penelope Cruz, Bernard Hill and Robert Downey Jr. Berry plays a psychiatrist who ends up in her own ward after a car accident on her way home in which she barely missed a girl in the middle of the road. The next thing she knows she wakes up in the ward three days later not knowing what happened as it turns out she is now the prime suspect in the murder of her husband. Entertaining but very mediocre stuff in an attempt to make an intelligent supernatural psychological thriller. Cruz was however convincing as a crazy woman. Not bad for someone who usually play gentle, goodhearted and fragile women.

I liked Gothika. Oblivion & Elysium were smart Sci-fi flicks too.

I managed to see a few myself!

First was Family Fang.


Directed by Jason Bateman & starring Bateman as well as Nicole Kidman & Christopher Walken, Family Fang is the story of An actress (Kidman) and her brother (Bateman) who investigate the mysterious disappearance of their parents after they are missing during a car accident. The problem is that both are infamous hoaxsters so whether anything really happened to them or not remains to be seen.

This was a strange movie but despite it having the potential to be extraordinary, the momentum of the movie is slow and dull. I give it 2 stars.



Yes. Smurfs. I took my son to watch this at the theater. Was relieved it was still showing and he thoroughly enjoyed it. This is the full CGI reboot over the prior 2 movies which fused live action with CGI. And for what its worth, it wasnt a bad movie.

Smurfette, Brainy, Clumsy and Hefty find a map that guides them on a quest to find a lost village which answers a timeless Smurf question. But its easier said than done as their nemesis, Gargamel is hot on their trail.

Its a kids movie but its a fun one too. I liked the proposed storyline which i feel will satisfy lost of Smurf fans. I give it 3 stars.

Lastly i saw Underworld Blood Wars.


The fifth installment in the Underworld franchise is better than the last movie and is a return to the roots of the series however its starting to feel like a retread. In this, Selene (Beckinsale) is lured back to the vampire clan in the hopes to train their recruits against a bloody war with the lycans only to be betrayed by a small few and framed for something she did not do. She eventually rises to redemption when she takes on new allies to avenge the evil doers but her life could be at risk this time.

2 & a half stars from me.

The Boys Next Door. An old and due to demanded cuts a more dated movie about two kids going on a rampage in L.A. Bo and Roy on their graduation day. Two kids with no future graduate from school but aren't invited to the party. They crash the party and cause a bit of fuss. Both disappointed in their lives and knowing they have no future, they decide to spend the weekend in L.A. before they go to work in a factory for a last time of fun. However where ever they go, they cause problems and especially Roy starts murdering peoples at will.

The idea behind the movie is not so bad, it might even have a social message, a bit like Falling Down. The movie apparently was too violent at the time so cuts and adjustments where demanded mainly in sound effects. Gunshots sounds like 10 years older and punches sounds like someone clapped their hands. Which I think is a bit of a shame, because it loses intensity and shows the real frustration Roy is dealing with. The movie stars an 18 year old Charlie Sheen as Bo. He really looks like he never shaved before. And I've read his father Martin Sheen has tried to talk him out of the movie and when he saw the movie he walked out of the theatre apparently. Maxwell Caulfield plays Roy and Christopher McDonald plays a cop who is after the two boys. The script was written by James Wong, director and producer of Final Destination and The X-Files.

Blue Jasmine. I think my first Woody Allen movie ever. Cate Blanchett plays Jasmine, a once very wealthy woman who lost everything after she found out her husband had several affairs with other women during their marriage. She takes revenge by calling the FBI who than discover her husband was involved in a massive fraud case. All this causes her to have a nervous breakdown and bankruptcy. She is forced to leave New York and goes to live with her sister in San Francisco who she always looked down upon. Her sister is poorer and lives in a small flat with her two children and works in the local supermarket and is dating some loser but who is at least honest. Her sister tries to help Jasmine to get her life back together somewhat and even manages to do so a little while Jasmine nags to her to find a better man. During all this we see the two lives of Jasmine when she was wealthy via flashbacks and the present time in which she lives with her sister and takes pills with alcohol. And once more Blanchett shows how well she can act. She is this totally messed up woman with no future who talks to herself the whole time. I like the idea of the movie but not enough has been done with this. The scenes set in the present time were much better than the scenes where she was wealthy. I think the movie would've been better if this was about a woman who finds her redemption and gets herself out of the mess, she is responsible for. I like these kind of tragic comedies, humor was subtle though. I think what the director is concerned you really have to understand him and his sense of humor and/or storytelling. But there is more, much more in a story like this and it's a shame it didn't came out.

Last one I've seen last night was this one. I'll let the trailer speak for itself.

Wow. Havent seen Mohicans in like 20 years.

Maybe i'll give it another go sometime.

It has been 10 to 12 years for me since I've seen it as well. Forgot a lot about it, so the movie had great impact again. The movie has great pace too with just under two hours of runtime. But there are appear to be several versions of the movie out there. The theatrical, an expanded and a definitive cut all with edits in them. I have the definitive cut in which Chingachook says he is the last of the Mohicans but other lines were cut. Of course everyone plays their roles perfectly. Daniel Day-Lewis, Madeleine Stowe, Wes Studi and Jodhi May all play outstanding. And partially scored by Randy Edelman along with Trevor Jones.

The Divide. An intense psychological horror/thriller of French director Xavier Gens starring Michael Biehn, Milo Ventimiglia, Lauren German and Roseanne Arquette. The movie opens with a devastating nuclear attack on New York and the tenants of an apartment building running in the cellar of the building. 8 peoples, including the janitor (Biehn) and a little girl find refugee there from the attack. Not knowing what is going up there the people have to learn to live with each other which seems to be a lot harder than expected. Tension rises and things becomes worse when the little girl is taken by men in protective suits. The tenants manage to get a protective suit to investigate but is found out. He flees back to the cellar and they find out they're being welded shut from the outside world. Whatever was supposed to be protect them turns into a very deadly trap and they start to turn on each other especially when they run out of food and water while everyone slowly become increasingly physically and emotionally unstable and unpredictable.

Red Dragon. The third or should I say fourth in the Hannibal movies. The third one with Anthony Hopkins than. Again a very good one.

Its strange how they tried to build around Silence of the Lambs by making the sequels.

IMO, Red Dragon was the only worthy sequel. Or actually prequel. It is in fact the first of the original trilogy (Before Hannibal rising was written), followed by Silence and ending off with Hannibal.

But they only had Foster for one movie. She turned down the role in Hannibal and that ruined it for me. And may others i guess. Yet, Norton held up.

Interestingly enough Silence is actually a remake of the 80's thriller, Manhunter.

I know the chronology is a bit messed up. I thought Manhunter was the original version of Red Dragon, at least according to the review on allmovie. They say Red Dragon is closer to the book but Manhunter is closer to the spirit of the book.

I remember seeing Silence of the Lambs and that was alright but not so great. With Hannibal, I think his storyline in Italy was a little long but the movie recovers more than well when he returns and meets Starling again. It's been a while since I've seen them so comparing performances between Foster and Moore is probably not a good idea. But I think it's interesting that Foster declined a return or that Hopkins couldn't persuade her in playing to role again but she probably had a good reason. There is also the great dinner scene. Besides that I think Gary Oldman's part was outstanding. It's amazing what you can do with that guy. He can play a drugdealer with rastas who thinks he's black in True Romance to Dracula to a horribly disfigured character in Hannibal to an older cop with glasses, moustache and decent combed hair in Batman.

Red Dragon in all was good and indeed maybe better than Hannibal as Hopkins thought Lecter should be an evil serial killer instead of some anti-hero as in the previous movie. There is also an interesting approach in how Hannibal is actually more of a supportive role than the real antagonist. They're always looking for another serial killer with his help. The movie seemed to have better reviews than Hannibal so in some way it redeemed itself. And Emily Watson was such a doll in her scenes and Ralph Fiennes was so messed up. It's a great movie.

Other movies I've seen.

A Few Good Men. With an outstanding Tom Cruise and Jack Nicholson. 'You can't handle the truth!' It's like all of Cruise movies are being aired now, I think I've almost seen all of them by now.

Air America with Mel Gibson and Robert Downey Jr. Not bad but not great either. Downey did have a nice MacGyver-moment though in the movie. The movie also stars Burt Kwouk known as Cato from The Pink Panther movies.

Correct. Sorry. I meant a remake of Red Dragon. Not Silence. Silence was only written in 1988.

A Few Good Men is a too movie. I have that one in my collection

Air America is fun too.

I really enjoyed Air America....nice and light hearted

Though I like war movies and mainly World War II movies, every Vietnam movie just feels a little strange like, I don't know, wrong or inaccessible. Big respect for Robert Downey Jr. who performed the helicopter stunt by himself though.

Last seen:

Nuremberg. A two-part miniseries with Alec Baldwin about the Nuremberg trials after World War II.

And Tango and Cash. A buddy action movie with Sylvester Stallone and Kurt Russell like there are many others. Also starring Teri Hatcher, James Hong and Eddie Bunker.

Love Tango and Cash!

The Last Castle starring Robert Redford, James Gandolfini and Mark Ruffalo. The story is about an elder general who has been sent to a military prison for a 10 year sentence. On arrival he seems to have made peace with the situation and simply wants to do his time but after a couple of incidents that has been brutally struck down by the strict prison warden (Gandolfini) the inmates are beginning to look up to the older general in hopes he might be able to something about it. Reluctant at first, he teaches them all something about discipline and self respect.

The movie was not that brutal the whole time. The movie is quite tame for the most part. Maybe that would seem odd if you're sentenced in a military prison but everyone seems to be getting along. There is some slight picking on a character early in the movie but more in such a way that the bully would be easily disciplined by having him send to detention. By the way that character was played by Brian Goodman, the dad in Tokyo Drift.

If you want some interesting trivia. Jerry Goldsmith was writing to score on 9/11 and dedicated the movie's theme song to that day and because of that day they decided to change the movie's poster which originally represented the American flag upside down as an international call for help.

In all the movie was entertaining enough with a spectacular finale. Gotta say that Redford looks like Brad Pitt. Or is it the other way around? Oddly enough I have been thinking of other actors to play the role. When you say a general in captivity, Russell Crowe comes to mind.

And lastly: Joy Ride 3. Though I haven't seen the second movie yet, this one is one of those guilty pleasure movies. And this one was more brutal than I expected. I expected something terrible but the movie was much harder and bloodier. Rusty Nail and his truck are back, this time played by Ken Kirzinger.

I've been in a serious Ghostbusters mood as of late, so I watched Ghostbusters and Ghostbusters 2, now I'm binge watching the Real Ghostbusters on Netflix and playing Ghostbusters: The Video Game.

Help me, I can't stop....