Tombstone (1993)

Netflix Synopsis: Legendary marshal Wyatt Earp (Kurt Russell), now a weary gunfighter, joins his brothers Morgan (Bill Paxton) and Virgil (Sam Elliott) as they pursue their fortune in the thriving mining town of Tombstone. But Earp is forced to again don a badge and get help from his notorious pal Doc Holliday (Val Kilmer) when a gang of renegade brigands and rustlers - headed by Ike Clanton (Stephen Lang) — begins terrorizing the town.

Review: I heard so many rave reviews about this film. I also love this time period. So I figured between that and the highly acclaimed cast, I’d really enjoy this film. Was I ever wrong! It bored me to tears; and I just couldn’t watch more than an hour. Had the movie not been over 2 hours, I would have followed through to the end, but with it not even 1/2 over I just had to turn it off. Such a shame, since there were so many big name actors, it should have been a lot better. If all the movies I ever saw were ranked best to worst, this would sadly be near the bottom.

Submitted by: Kathryn 3/31/06

The Upside of Anger (2005)

Netflix Synopsis: Joan Allen plays Terry Wolfmeyer, a woman who’s dumped by her husband (he lives the cliché and runs off with his secretary) and is left to raise her four daughters (Erika Christensen, Alicia Witt, Keri Russell and Evan Rachel Wood) alone. There could be a silver lining behind it all, however, when Terry hooks up with Denny Davies (Kevin Costner), a retired baseball player. Mike Binder directs this poignant drama.

Review: I didn’t expect to like this much since a couple of our members didn’t like it. Mel and I have similar tastes and she rated it one star… but I assumed too much, lol. I DID actually like it! I didn’t LOVE it but I thought the plot was interesting and unique. I haven’t been a Kevin Costner fan in years but he redeemed himself in this movie. I love that the characters are REAL and aren’t made to be perfect nor are they playing out the “victim” role I have seen in so many movies about cheating spouses. Joan Allen is able to convey the appropriate amount of anger and pain without seeming whiny or pathetic. This movie is all about using anger (which is inevitable in life) to learn and grow from, I found that a refreshing and noble concept. The big twist at the end shocked me, I didn’t see it coming at all. There was no plot foreshadowing that I can recall and I am not sure whether I liked that twist or not… I am still mulling it over and probably will for some time to come, lol.

Rating:

Submitted by: Brandy 3/28/06

The Weather (2003)

Netflix Synopsis: Host Donal McIntyre combines a scientific interest in climate (primarily found in meteorologists) and the fearless gall of a daredevil as he explores extreme weather conditions. Whether braving below-zero temperatures in his briefs or exposing himself to wind gusts of 100 miles per hour, McIntyre informs on the elements while entertaining the audience by endangering his life.

Review: This BBC documentary set came from my 14 year old’s queue. He is a weather addict and has been serious about aiming for a career in Weather Science for years now, he studies everything he can get his hands on relating to weather. He will get offended if someone asks him if he wants to be a “Weatherman” since he has no intention of being a news forecaster, his dream is to work for NOAA or the NWC, lol. ANYWAY, back to the documentary, we had not planned on watching this with him but after I read the DVD sleeve, I was intrigued. I am so glad I watched it!! The documentary is very well done, weather phenomenon is explained in easy terms that anyone can understand and is presented in an interesting format, we never got bored at all and this is a 2 disc set with 2 parts on each disc. You do not have to be a weather buff to enjoy the awesome power of nature presented in this Documentary. I learned a lot of very interesting weather tidbits myself….and the fact that the host, Donal McIntyre, is a bit of a nut with the stunts he performs to explain how weather effects us all actually works in this, lol. It does keep your attention, for sure! (Parents, he is never in any real danger….all of his experiments are very carefully monitored by experts) It’s really unusual that I would want to watch a documentary more than once but I would watch this one a few times more. It really is amazing, rent it!!

Rating:

Submitted by: Brandy 3/27/06

Just Friends (2005)

Netflix Synopsis: An ex-dork reconnects with the girl who broke his heart in this romantic comedy. After being turned down by his high school crush, a nice guy moves to Los Angeles, where he’s transformed into a womanizing music executive. But when he’s stranded in his New Jersey hometown, he runs into his former puppy love — and is completely floored by her once again. Ryan Reynolds, Amy Smart, Anna Faris, Christopher Marquette and Chris Klein star.

Review: I gave this movie a chance……and I actually REALLY liked it!! Yes, it was fluff…but it was funny fluff. Language wasn’t the best at times but other than that this was a cute movie, with some really hilarious moments if you like physical/gag comedy. I thought Ryan Reynolds looked amazing in the fat suit and it was really interesting to watch the Extras about that. I think he really did a good job projecting the difference in the character’s past and his present..but I have been a Ryan Reynolds fan since Two Guys, A Girl and a Pizza Place…although I didn’t like Van Wilder AT ALL, lol. Anyway, the whole side story about the Paris Hilton wanna-be was worthless and unecessary to the story, in my opinion. But the rest of the movie, I liked.

Rating:

Submitted by: Brandy 3/24/06

The Home Front (2002)

Netflix Synopsis: Social outcast and single mom Camille Picou (Tatum O’Neal) struggles to raise her two teenage children (Lacy Chabert and Patrick McCullough) in a small Cajun town in Louisiana during World War II. Adding to her burden is the sneaking suspicion (on the part of the town populace) that she’s a Nazi saboteur who relays information about American merchant ships to German U-boats lying in wait in the Gulf of Mexico.

Review: It was interesting to me, to see Lacy Chabert in something other than Party of Five (which I used to watch every week on tv). The movie was ok. Not great, but not bad. I enjoyed it, but it seemed a little slow in parts. I enjoy historical based stuff (usually books), so it was a nice change of pace from the normal movies I watch.

Submitted by: Mel 3/23/06

The Legend of Zorro (2005)

Netflix Synopsis: Alejandro de la Vega, aka Zorro (Antonio Banderas), comes out of retirement to ensure California’s statehood in Martin Campbell’s sequel to his 1998 blockbuster The Mask of Zorro. It’s 1850, and de la Vega lives quietly in San Francisco with wife Elena (Catherine Zeta-Jones). But when tyrants threaten to change the course of history, de la Vega dutifully dons his black mask and cape and defends California’s statehood as the sword-swinging Zorro.

Review: I really liked The Mask of Zorro and expected to enjoy The Legend of Zorro just as much…and I was not disappointed. Catherine Z-J is stunningly gorgeous as usual and Antonio Banderas is equally as gorgeous and stunning, lol. The movie was a lot of fun, with some really funny moments….and a couple of not so funny moments when a peasant is harassed and killed. Mostly the movie is just what you would expect from an adventurous “hero saves the day” movie and we all enjoyed it, from beginning to end. The only criticism I have of the movie is Welsh actress, Catherine Z-J’s “spanish” accent, having lived in Spain for 5 years I could tell it was “put-on”. It sounds more Transylvanian than Spanish and I kept expecting to see vampire fangs everytime she opened her mouth, ROFL. Other than that, which is really minor, I liked the movie a lot, especially considering it was a sequel. I loved how the characters remained true to the original movie and this felt like “Act 2″ instead of “Part 2″.

Submitted by: Brandy 3/20/06

A History of Violence (2005)

Netflix Synopsis: Operating a diner in a small-town community, Tom Stall (Viggo Mortensen) and his wife (Maria Bello) are the picture of normalcy. But when Tom prevents a robbery and enjoys hero status in the local media, he attracts the wrong kind of attention from mobsters (Ed Harris and William Hurt) who think he’s someone else. David Cronenberg (The Fly) directs this taut suspense-thriller based on the graphic novel by John Wagner and Vince Locke.

Review: I cannot BELIEVE this movie got such stellar reviews!!! It was AWFUL. I didn’t even know what to think. This movie could have been a fascinating sociological study of human behavior and adaptability but the “in your face” sex and violence mutates this movie into worthless trash in my opinion. It could have been GREAT. The tenacity of the violence was hard to watch but could have made a real impact on the story if the rest of the plot had been as good and adeptly portrayed. The sex….OH MY LANTA….I was SHOCKED. I have NEVER seen a mainstream movie that showed this one particular sex act quite so vividly before, it was so personal and invasive and VISUAL that I think this movie qualifies for an X rating. Nothing was left to the imagination. The violence of the second sex scene is equally as shocking. I was wishing I had turned the movie off. I regretted watching it all the way to the end but I really wanted to see the outcome of the main storyline. If you are at all concerned about what you let your kids watch, well…I ABSOLUTELY DO NOT RECOMMEND YOUR KIDS (NOT EVEN TEENS) SEE THIS MOVIE! I would give this -5 stars if I could!

Rating:

Submitted by: Brandy 3/19/06

Just Friends (2005)

Netflix Synopsis: An ex-dork reconnects with the girl who broke his heart in this romantic comedy. After being turned down by his high school crush, a nice guy moves to Los Angeles, where he’s transformed into a womanizing music executive. But when he’s stranded in his New Jersey hometown, he runs into his former puppy love — and is completely floored by her once again. Ryan Reynolds, Amy Smart, Anna Faris, Christopher Marquette and Chris Klein star.

Review: BOOOOOOORRRRRRIIIIIINNNNNNNNNG!!! The first maybe half hour was ok, and had its funny moments, after that it was a snooze fest. Someone who had already seen it warned me not to waste my time but I was so sure I was going to like it LOL.

Rating:

Submitted by: Karen 3/17/06

A History of Violence (2005)

Netflix Synopsis: Operating a diner in a small-town community, Tom Stall (Viggo Mortensen) and his wife (Maria Bello) are the picture of normalcy. But when Tom prevents a robbery and enjoys hero status in the local media, he attracts the wrong kind of attention from mobsters (Ed Harris and William Hurt) who think he’s someone else. David Cronenberg (The Fly) directs this taut suspense-thriller based on the graphic novel by John Wagner and Vince Locke.

Review: I did not like this movie at all. Bored me to tears, and the first sex scene of the movie was a bit much and certainly not needed. After reading up on the director I guess he is famous for such sex scenes in his movies. The movie doesnt leave much for you to guess, pretty much hands the viewer all the info right off the bat and for me things just dragged and dragged.

Rating:

Submitted by: Lisa 3/16/06

Into the Blue (2005)

Netflix Synopsis: A group of divers discovers a dangerous deep-sea treasure in this thriller starring Paul Walker, Jessica Alba, Josh Brolin, Ashley Scott and Tyson Beckford. While diving in the deep blue waters off the Bahamas, the team finds a sunken plane with an illegal cargo worth millions. But ruthless drug kingpins are also after the plane’s illicit booty, and the divers wind up in hot water as they quickly go from the hunters to the hunted.

Review: I watched this movie under duress, it was in my husband’s queue because he has a “thing” for Jessica Alba, whom I cannot STAND, lol. But to be fair, this movie was not as bad as I thought it was going to be and it held my interest right to the end. Pretty good since I had told hubby I was only giving it 15 minutes to engage me before I left the room to read a book, lol. If you like action/adventure and can ignore the CONSTANT bombardment of “hollywood beautiful” shoved in your face with the actors constantly showing bathing suited skin, the plot and story is actuallt pretty good and gets better towards the end. And I LOVED how the characters didn’t give in to the pressure to do the easy thing instead of the right thing until they were forced by circumstances and even then morality won the day.

Rating:

Submitted by: Brandy 3/13/06