A Cold Day In Hell

Ick! This is a terrible movie. I'm writing this to warn you off. Don't bother renting this boring movie. It takes boring to a whole new level. There's only one thing worse than a badly written, slow moving movie and that's a badly written, slow moving movie with bad acting! And has this movie got bad acting. The opening scene happens inside a store which isn't believable at all. A trio on men walk in...there's no dialog...they stand around looking at stuff..another guy walks in. So the bad guys threaten to kill the store keep and the stranger kills them. Talk about bad! I've seen high school student videos that were better and more entertaining. And everybody in the film is fat! They must have been casting at a couch potato convention..so bad acting by fat guys! Hey, I'm not skinny, but but me up next to this bunch and I'll look much better! Really one of the worst movies I'm seen in recent memory.

Maybe you should watch it so you can appreciate a pretty good movie again!

Bad western, set in the old west. Long shots made everything look slow. The train looked slow, the "action" looked slow, even the train looked slow.

Galaxy Quest

It's a little surprising that this movie was made nearly 12 years ago. Just a funny, really funny parody of the phenomenon that happened to to actors that starred in "Star Trek."

But, what if REAL aliens contacted the washed up actors? I love this show! Tim Allen as the glory hound that believes in helping the aliens and going on the adventure. Allen Rickman is hilarious as the embittered Spock character and Sigourney Weaver is the communications expert who repeats everything the computer has just said.

"The Office" fans will recognize Raiin Wilson in a minor alien role.
Brandon Long is the head of the geeks who work to save the actors, you'll recognize him from Apple vs Mac commercials.

This is really clever while being FUN science fiction!
Time to revisit this great comedy.

Almost Famous

I don't often recommend "R" rated movies. But I recently watched "Almost Famous" for a second look and the film is still very good.

Cameron Crowe (who directed the film) took home the academy award for best screen play. The film came out in 2000 and marked one of the first memorable appearances of Kate Hudson in film.

The film is a fairly realistic portrayal of a kid who wants to write about rock and roll and finds an opportunity. It's loosely based on actual experiences of Cameron Crowe and so has an edginess that earned it it's R rating. By today's standards the number of "F" words would still put it over the P-13 rating, but it would be a very soft R.

I found the entertainment value of the film to be worth the small amount of bad language and I would recommend it for a second (or first) look.

New York Doll

You can rent this on Netflix. I liked it. It wasn't as engaging as many biographical films I've seen, but the story of a rock star who has hit rock bottom and joined the Mormon church is pretty unique.

I probably liked the documentary more than most folks because David Johansen, lead singer of the Dolls, plays an important role in one of my favorite movies. You'll remember him as the "Ghost Of Christmas Past" in "Scrooged". I remember him as "Looney," the goofy sidekick of Richard Dryfus in the movie "Let It Ride." You used to be able to rent it on netflix, but someone must have broken the last copy and they don't know when it'll be available again.

Towards the end of the documentary, David Johansen sings "A Poor Wayfaring Man Of Grief." This is an unexpected moment. one that brought tears to my eyes.

I don't expect others to appreciate this flick as much as I do, but to me, it was pretty enjoyable. Nominated for the 2005 Grand Jury Award at Sundance Film Festival, the film has impeccable credentials.