Duel

Who: Bill
What: Duel
Where: Turner Classic Movies (TCM)
Why: One of the first movies directed by Steven Spielberg

Mild-mannered salesman David Mann (Dennis Weaver) is on his way to meet a client. Traveling on a remote two-lane California highway he gets behind a slow-moving, exhaust-spewing old tanker truck. He bypasses the truck, but very quickly the truck bypasses him. Soon, Mann finds himself in a high-speed, life-threatening "duel" between his four-door sedan and the menacing tanker truck, whose driver's face is unseen. Call it an extreme case of road rage.

Duel was first seen Saturday, November 13, 1971 on ABC's "Movie of the Weekend", which along with that network's Tuesday night "Movie of the Week", consisted entirely of made-for-TV feature films. Each movie was budgeted at no more than $450,000 and just long enough to fit into a 90-minute time slot. "The Movie of the Week" was a huge hit upon its debut in 1969, as viewers enjoyed the World Premiere of a new motion picture presented for free each week. When Steven Spielberg was assigned to helm Duel, he had already established himself as an ambitious young director for Universal Television, working on episodes for popular shows such as Rod Serling's Night Gallery, Marcus Welby M.D. and Columbo. What could have been an average TV movie thriller, Duel is made unique by Spielberg's direction with minimal dialog and effective camera angles which add to the overall suspense of the story. These are especially effective in the chase scenes between the plain red early-70's Plymouth Valiant and the dirty, sinister tanker truck squaring off in a fight to the death. Of equal merit is Dennis Weaver's performance as the stalked driver, who can't understand why he is being terrorized for simply passing another vehicle on a lonely road.

Duel is one of the most famous films presented as part of ABC's "Movie of the Week" franchise. A few weeks after its airing, another acclaimed TV movie had its premiere: Brian's Song. Both movies were so well received by critics and viewers that they were even given theatrical releases. In the case of Duel, this involved the addition of several scenes and some mild profanity. This is the version that has aired on TCM, and seen on a special edition DVD. Duel is recommend not just to observe some of the best early career work of Steven Spielberg, but as an effective suspense thriller.

By the way, if you want to see how Duel was first presented to viewers, check out its preview clip on You Tube by typing "ABC Movie of the Weekend" in the search box. You can also see openings from "The Movie of the Week" and other network movie programs from the 1960's through the 1990's.

P2

Who:  Amber
What:  P2
Where:  @ home - free Starz weekend!
Why:  I like horror movies

This movie wasn't so much as "scare the pants off you" as it was "how is she going to get out of this".

Angela is a young go-getter who works in a corporate office.  She is stuck working late on Christmas Eve.  She is totally late for a family get together.

When she finally tries to leave, her car won't start.  Thankfully, the parking garage attendant is there to help ... or kidnap her!  It seems young Tom, our parking attendant who owns a very vicious dog has a crush on Angela.  And working the night shift in a parking garage is very lonely.  It's a good thing Tom has video camera everywhere, so he's been watching Angela for months.

I never got the feeling that Tom was going to hurt Angela.  Sure, he chained her to the table for a Christmas feast (in his parking attendant office), and he handcuffed her when they went to 'take a ride' around the parking garage.  Tom introduces us to a little back story about Angela, and about a jerk guy she works with.

Angela is pretty smart, and she's always thinking of ways to escape.  Unfortunately, Tom has keys to everything in the parking garage (floors are P1, P2, P3, etc ... hence the name of the movie), so it's impossible to escape.

Since the only 2 actors in this movie are Tom and Angela, I figured one of them would eventually kill the other one.  Who will it be . . .

The Messangers

Who:  Amber
What:  The Messangers
Where:  at home - recorded off cable
Why:  My Friday the 13th scary movie marathon!

This movie was more 'thriller' than horror.  It was scary, but it's wasn't a bloody gore fest.

The movie opens with a mother, teenage girl and a young boy running thru their large farm house from spooky Grudge-like apparitions.

Fast forward 5 years, and a family is moving in to the farm house.  The teenager, Jess (the girl from Twilight) is obviously not thrilled about moving from Chicago to middle of nowhere North Dakota.  Bad things start happening to her, and only here, so of course her parents don't believe her.

At first this seemed like a typical super natural thriller.  You know, the house is alive type of movie.  But throw in a little surprise ending, and it was pretty good!

The X-Files: I Want to Believe

Who:LaRelle
What: X-Files: I Want to Believe
Where: my living room
Why: I love X-Files


Well I finally got around to watching this movie. I'm surprised it took me so long considering when the series was on tv it was practically my religion. Although I was kind of putting it off because I had heard very mixed reviews on it and that a lot of die hard fans were disappointed.
Well I wasn't disappointed at all. I thought the story was decent. Yes, it didn't really go too far into the supernatural stuff that the show used to....there were no ghosts, or monsters or anything like that......but the show wasn't always like that.
And the best part was just seeing Mulder and Scully on screen together again. David Duchovny (hottie!) and Gillian Anderson always had incredible chemistry together on the show, and they still have it. I wish that there would have been more "inside jokes", so to speak, related to the tv series. There were a couple of things at the very beginning related to Mulder's character, but it would have been more enjoyable if they had thrown more in throughout the movie.
I wasn't a huge fan when I had heard that Amanda Pete was going to be in this movie because she kind of annoys me...but she actually wasn't too bad. And Billy Connolly was very good in his role as a psychic priest.
So overall it was done pretty well. I'd definitely recommend it if you were a fan of the tv show at all. And even if you weren't it can stand alone, and is a decent thriller/drama type movie.

Zodiac

Who: Bill
What: Zodiac
Where: The Movie Channel-- offered free during January
Why: Portions of the movie were filmed near my hometown.

During the late 1960’s-early 1970’s, there were a series of unsolved murders in the San Francisco Bay Area. The suspect identified himself as the “Zodiac” through a number of taunting letters mailed to local police and area newspapers. To date, the case technically remains unsolved, although there is strong evidence of who was the actual culprit.

Zodiac follows the intense investigation by the police and newspaper reporters, focusing primarily on San Francisco Chronicle cartoonist Robert Graysmith (Jake Gyllenhaal), who takes an interest in the case after deciphering some of the cryptic codes in the killer‘s letters. Also covering the story is Chronicle writer Paul Avery (Robert Downey, Jr.). Early scenes alternate between the reporters and the investigators that include San Francisco police detectives Dave Toschi (Mark Ruffalo) and Bill Armstrong (Anthony Edwards), Vallejo Police Officer Jack Mulanax (Elias Koteas) and Napa County Sheriff’s Officer Ken Narlow (Donal Logue). The latter half of the movie follows Graysmith’s near obsession with the “Zodiac” as he writes a book on the case, in which he concludes the killer was a man named Arthur Leigh Allen (played in the movie by John Carroll Lynch). Allen was identified as a suspect and interviewed by detectives in 1971, but despite strong circumstantial evidence, there was never enough physical evidence to charge him with the "Zodiac" crimes. Allen died in 1992.

At almost three hours, Zodiac covers a lot of detail and many years (1969 to 1991), but holds your attention. The period detail is impressive thanks to excellent digital photography and realistic computer-generated effects shots. There is some blood seen when three of the actual Zodiac murders are depicted early in the film, but these are more suspenseful than horribly graphic (it still may disturb some viewers). One way to approach the movie is by seeing it as an expanded R-rated version of Law and Order. So if you have the time and enjoy a good (true) mystery, Zodiac is highly recommended.

Vacancy

Who:  Amber & Jonathan
What:  Vacancy
Where:  @ home - recorded off cable
Why:  I wanted to see it.

This movie scared the crap out of me!  I think it scared Jonathan too.  I think he said it best when he said, "It was scary b/c it could really happen."

Luke Wilson and Kate Beckensale (I already forgot their movie names) are driving in the middle of nowhere in the middle of the night.  Kate wakes up and asks where they are.  Luke explains that there was a wreck on the highway, so he took a shortcut.  Unfortunately their car isn't cooperating.  It breaks down.

They walk 2 miles up the road to a dumpy hotel.  They are the only people at the hotel.  The TV doesn't work, so Luke pops in a VHS tape that's sitting on the TV.  (seriously, who does that, and who watches VHS tapes anymore).  It's a horror movie, looks homemade and ghetto.  Wait a minute ... the movie takes place in the room they are in!  Wait a minute, it's not a movie, it's a recording of something real - somebody dying!

Side note:  These tapes are horrible to watch.  It looked really real, and it was gross.

When Luke and Kate figure out what's going on, they try to escape.  Unfortunately, the 3 guys who run the hotel have started to "hunt" them.

Unlike most horror movies, Luke and Kate are pretty smart.  They sit down and actually watch more horrible tapes, and figure out how the 3 guys work.  They almost escape a couple times, but it never works.

I'm going to stop now, because I don't want to give anything away.  Will Luke and Kate get away?  Will only 1 get away?  Will they suffer the same fate as a lot of other guests at the hotel?

This was a very unique horror movie.  It was also pretty gross, but if you like horror movies, I highly recommend it!

Saw

Who:  Amber & Jaclyn
What:  Saw
Where:  @ Jaclyn's house
Why:  I made her watch it

I'm not sure how much Jaclyn (who also writes for Movie Yak) enjoyed Saw (she was a first timer.  I think I'm about a 6-timer!), but I absolutely love it!  I actually found it in the Walmart $5 bin the following day and finally bought it.

This is not your typical horror movie.  This movie really goes into some big time character development for every single character.  So you really know their back story, and you actually care about them.  It's also not a crazy, psycho super-power killer.

"Jigsaw" is just a regular guy (or girl - we have no clue who it is), who chooses people who take life for granted (drug addicts, people cheating on their spouses, etc.).  He sets up elaborate (almost unreal) traps for them.  If they can get out of the trap, they walk away unharmed.  Well, honestly, they are usually harmed and bleeding a little bit.  If they can't get out of the trap, the trap will kill them.

Dr. Gordon (Cary Elways - a cutie!) and Adam (one of the writers of the movie too) wake up from being knocked unconscious in a super gross bathroom.  They are chained by the ankle to the wall.  The game/trap is the Dr. Gordon has to kill Adam before 6pm.  If not, his family will die.  So it's a pretty tough game for Adam - he has to wait to die!  While Dr. Gordon and Adam try to figure out what's going on, they get to talking and figure out how they are connected to one another.  Jigsaw has left clues and props hidden around the room, to help them play the game.

One of the props are 2 saws.  Are they meant to saw thru the chains ... or saw thru something else?  (Ewwwww!)

During this time there are flashbacks to Adam and Dr. Gordon's lives.  We also see 2 cops (Danny Glover and another guy) who have been trying to capture Jigsaw for about 6 months now.  We also see some super gross victims of Jigsaw's games, who lost their 'games'.

I can't recommend this movie enough!  It's about 30% horror, 50% thriller and 20% drama.

And the ending is INSANE!  You will never, in a million years guess what happens!!!  And I truly mean that - it's nuts!  And, yes, there has been Saw 2, 3, 4 and 5.  And they are making Saw 6, and I believe Saw 7.  Saw 2, 3 and 4 are actually pretty decent movies.  But don't let all these other Saws scare you away.  The original movie is 1000X better than the sequels.  I highly recommend it!  I think it's in my "Top 5 favorite movies of all time" list, and that's really saying something.

Final Destination

Who:  Amber
What:  Final Destination
Where:  @ home - I own it on DVD
Why:  Great movie!

This is the first movie that made me SCREAM out loud in the movie theater.  I won't give anything away, but in involved a bus.  And I'm taking about a loud scream in the movie theater.  And I'm not a screamer.

The entire high school is headed to Paris, but Alex is getting paranoid.  He's not a fan of flying.  Then, when he buckles in he has an intense vision of the plane going down (this vision lasts for about 15 minutes - and while it's sad when plans crash, it's a fabulous scene!).  He wakes up from his vision, realizes it was a dream ... but he knows it will come true.  He freaks out, and runs off the plane.  A couple of his class mates try to stop him from acting like a jack arse, and about 6 kids get kicked off the plane.  The plane takes off, and 2 minutes later is crashes.  The 6 kids who "escaped" were really mad that they are missing their flight to Paris, but now are dumbfounded and amazed ... they are alive!

Unfortunately, the 6 kids were 'supposed' to die.  It was their time.  So death eventually comes for them ... unless they can outsmart death.

What makes Final Destination (and it's sequels) such great horror movies is the simplicity of it.  This is not a crazed killer or a flesh eating virus killing people - it's every day objects, like a beach towel or a drive thru window.  And that is really freaky.  It actually makes you think that you could die any day by doing every day things.  It's a great movie, but it leaves you really creeped out in the end.

Plus, don't say I didn't warn you about that bus scene ...

Shutter

Who: Jaclyn
What: Shutter
Where: @ Home
Why: Who doesn't like a scary movie and Joshua Jackson?

I don't know what possessed me to rent this from Netflix, but I did. I think maybe I'm going through a Joshua Jackson phase since his new series "Fringe" started.

Anyhoo...this movie is about a newlywed couple, Ben and Jane (Joshua Jackson and Rachel Taylor). They go on their honeymoon in Japan since Ben is a photographer and has to go there for work.

On a dark and icy night, while driving in Japan, Jane hits a girl with their car. Freaked out by this, she drives Ben crazy since he didn't see anything and thinks she didn't see what she thought she did.

Later on, they start noticing weird images in the pictures they have been taking on their trip. Who is this mystery person? Further into the movie Jane finds out the woman is somehow connected to her new husband.

Even weirder things start to transpire as this girl haunts their lives. Will Ben ever be rid of his past?

This movie was a creepy concept for sure. Scary though? Not so much. Sure, it had its "EW!" moments, but nothing that would have any horror fan rattled.

Deep Blue Sea

Who:  Amber
What:  Deep Blue Sea
Where:  @ home - I own it on DVD
Why:  I LOVE THIS MOVIE!!

This is my all time favorite "I just need something random to watch/listen to" movie.  I've probably seen it 100 times.

Researchers in some under water base are messing around with sharks brains to find a cure for Alzheimer's disease.  Great for mankind - bad for sharks.  While they are trying to save the world, the sharks are getting smarter and smarter as a 'side effect'.

Samuel L. Jackson (love him!) comes to the underground lab for some reason.  He's a billionare and he's going to fund their research or something.  A hurricane hits, so they can't get off their 'island'.  Did I mention that the sharks are becoming smarter and smarter?!?

The sharks starts to break into the underground lab, which starts a flood ... which also starts the sharks' eating frenzy.  Who will live, and who will die?!?  The answers may surprise you.

And I think the GREATEST SCENE IN A MOVIE ever is in this flick.  Just wait until Samuel L. Jackson's shark encounter ... awesome!!!

Ghost Ship

Who:  Amber & Jonathan
What:  Ghost Ship
Where:  @ home - recorded off cable
Why:  I've wanted to see it

I remember wanting to see this movie when it came out (2003?), but I heard it was just awful - almost the worst movie ever made.

You know what - it wasn't half bad.  I like my horror movies to be creepy and no questions left unanswered.  Normally there is a bad guy, and you don't understand why he's bad, and why he feels the need to kill people.  Thankfully, a little girl ghost helps us see the entire back story via flashback.  I love it!!!

The opening scene of this movie was pretty darn sweet.  It's 1962 on a luxury cruise ship.  Everybody is gathered together, dancing the night away.  All of a sudden, a cable snaps and goes hurling thru the passengers.  And I mean that literally - THRU the passengers.

Fast forward 50 years, a ship of scavengers finds the cruise ship and plans to tow her back to shore.  They find a little girl ghost onboard.  Then things start to go horribly, horribly wrong.

All in all, I say it's a worthy horror movie.  Even the ending was kind-of unique.  

If you like horror (it wasn't even very scary), then I recommend it.

Godzilla

Who: Amber
What: Godzilla
Where: @ home (I own it on DVD)
Why: It's a fun movie for background noise.

I think I am the only person alive who likes this movie. 

Everybody else ragged on it b/c they remade such a classic.  And, yes, P Diddy (or what ever his name is) also ripped off a classic '70s song to make the new Godzilla theme music.  Anyways . . .

I think the CGI Godzilla is pretty sweet.  And Matthew Broderick is such a cutie.   The rest of the cast is kind-of annoying (like the blond chick and the super NYC accent girl), but you can watch the movie and hope they get eaten for a Godzilla lunch!  This is no Jurassic Park - but it's still pretty fun, if you don't take it too seriously.  Plus, the DVD has some pretty sweet bonus features.  And I'm a sucker for bonus features.

Seven

Who: Monica & Andy
What: Seven
Where: Home
Why: B/C it was on and we had nothing else to do.

We had by far, the laziest 3 day weekend on record. We watched parts of a ton of movies on TV, "Seven" being the only one we caught in full. I know I've seen this movie when it came out, but I had forgotten EVERYTHING about it! It's funny to look back at a Brad Pitt movie when he was just arriving to be a Hollywood Hunk. I don't adore him as much as others, but he does a great job in this movie. Morgan Freeman is always fantastic, especially when he plays a detective/police kind of part. I totally forgot Gwyneth Paltrow was in this and Kevin Spacey too!!

The plot goes something like this. There is a killer on the loose (who we don't "see" until the end) and we eventually find out that there will be 7 murders. The murderer is following a sort of random pattern with murdering someone to represent the 7 deadly sins. (Lust, Gluttony, Greed, Sloth, Rath, Envy, Pride) Will all 7 murders get completed before he's found?? You must see the movie.

It is a great story, not "edge of your seat" kind of suspense though. It did make me nervous a little and for those kind of movies, that's a good sign. It has a certain gore factor, though it's pretty few and far between times when you see that. The end is a little shocking the first time if you haven't seen it, I totally forgot and tried to guess through the entire last 20 minutes what was happening. (Andy reminding me to knock it off and enjoy the movie)

When a Stranger Calls

Who: Amber
What: When a Stranger Calls
Where: at home - recorded off cable (free Showtime weekend???)
Why: I liked the original

I really enjoyed this movie! It's not your typical horror, slash-em up movie. It is kind-of slow, but very suspensful. It was about 1 solid hour of the babysitter in a house, getting creepy phone calls. Sounds like a snooze fest, but I was on the edge of my seat. You don't actually see the bad guy until about 10 minute left in the film. Super creepy!

I couldn't remember what happens in the first movie, so the ending was going to be a suprize to me. I liked the 'real' ending. Then the director threw in 1 extra scene, that was pure crap! Boo to that.

Most remakes from the '80s seems kind-of cheesy (this original movie was from '79). Since everybody has a cell phone now, none of the "problems" teens had in the '80s wouldn't be a problem b/c they would have a cell phone. This movie addressed those issues and handled them quite well.

I hope they make a remake of the sequel (from the '80s), When a Stranger Calls Back. The scene with the bad guy in the brick room - I will remember that scene for the rest of my life!

Along Came a Spider

Who: Monica
What: Along Came a Spider
Where: Home
Why: B/C it was $2 on sale and I LOVE any movie based on a James Patterson novel.

This is based on the novel, by the same name, by author James Patterson. His stories never disappoint me. This movie came out in 2001, which was really before I got into reading the novels. Detective Alex Cross is the main character in these crime thrillers, there's a HUGE series! I encourage anyone to read them, they are FANTASTIC and EASY reads!! This is actually the 2nd novel/movie in the series, right after "Kiss the Girls".

Detective Alex Cross is played by Morgan Freeman and he's awesome. His side kick in this one is a Secret Service Agent, played by Monica Potter. It's a great crime thriller if you love that kind of thing. The special effects in the first scene are laughable though, I didn't realize how bad they were until I watched it this time.

If you haven't seen it, rent it sometime. If you have to choose though, read the book, it's better!

Poseidon

Who: Jaclyn
What: Poseidon
Where: At home
Why: Because there was nothing else on.

I liked this movie back when it was called Titanic. Just kidding. Well, sort of. This is yet another movie that has turned me off from the idea of cruising. In this movie, instead of building character stories first and then tragedy striking, they go right for the tragedy and how they pull together to get out of the ship. The problem with that is, you don't have an emotional attachment to these people beforehand, therefore, don't care if they make it out or not. It's just one fire ball after another and every other cavity being filled with water.

To make matters worse, there's an annoying child in it who everyone has to waste time looking for. It also has a very Armageddon feel to it when a father puts himself in danger so his daughter's fiance doesn't have to risk certain death. The only reason I kept watching this was because of Josh Lucas. Much like Dane Cook, he could just be on the screen doing nothing for 2 hours and I'd still watch it. Yowza!

The Wicker Man

Who: Amber (& Jonathan)
What: The Wicker Man
Where: at home - free HBO weekend!
Why: I love Nicholas Cage, plus (from the previews I remember) this was a horror movie, and I like horror movies.

From the previews (I saw a long time ago) I was expecting some fake enchanted scary forest killing people. But this is an actual movie with an actual plot - not just some random horror movie! Actually, I would not classify this 'horror' at all. It wasn't very scary - more of a detective suspence thriller. However, the ending does not leave you with a good taste in your mouth AT ALL. It's not a movie you can watch all over again, but I'm glad I gave up 2 hours of my life. I'll take some Nicholas Cage any day. I guess this is a remake too - although I never saw the original. I've read that this is a really horrible remake. So I guess if you've seen the original - skip this one!

Pan's Labyrinth

Who: Amber (& Jonathan)
What: Pan's Labyrinth
Where: rented from Blockbuster (thank you Coke rewards!)
Why: Jonathan saw 20 minutes of it on TV at 2am one night,and wanted to see the entire movie.


Let me just start by saying I do not enjoy artsy movies. If a movie has been nominated for ANY awards, I normally don't touch it with a 10' pole. And a movie with subtitles - forget about it! Never the less, my husband rented this movie, and I watched it ... wait for it ... it's wasn't bad! Even with all the subtitles, I still enjoyed it.

From the previews I thought it would be all labyrinth, all the time, but it was only about 10% mysterious weirdos inside the labyrinth and 90% story about a family during WWII. I actually wanted more of Mr. Eyeballs in his Hands (weirdo inside the labyrinth with no genetalia (sp?)). So from a hater of 'good/award winning'' movies - I slightly recommnend this! Just make sure you put your reading glasses on