Week 8: The Counte of Monte Cristo

Jim Caviezel (HIGH CRIMES) and Guy Pearce (THE TIME MACHINE) give sizzling performances in THE COUNT OF MONTE CRISTO -- the greatest tale of betrayal, adventure, and revenge the world has ever known. When the dashing and guileless Edmond Dantes (Caviezel) is betrayed by his best friend (Pearce) and wrongly imprisoned, he becomes consumed by thoughts of vengeance. After a miraculous escape, he transforms himself into the mysterious and wealthy Count of Monte Cristo, insinuates himself into the French nobility, and puts his cunning plan of revenge in action. This swashbuckling thriller will have you sitting on the edge of your seat until the last ounce of revenge is exacted.

"I loved this movie! I really enjoyed the romance of the story. It was hard to watch with all the light though."

4.5 / 5 thrusters

"I found it weird that Hollywood would make an old timey version of ABC’s hit series “Revenge” when the show is barely out of its first season.  But I do love a good revenge story so this movie gets some points from me.  I thought Janeane Garaffalo gave a stellar performance as Jim Caveezal’s beard.  I read a rumor that Jim actually died while digging the tunnel out of the prison and the whole story after that is just a dream sequence; but I don’t really buy it.  I like a happy ending so in my mind he did avenge himself and reunite with his fiancé and son; even if that wasn’t the director’s intention."

4 / 5 thrusters

"It’s a solid movie. It doesn’t have any levels, there’s no real hidden meaning behind any of the scenes or motives. While the movie is a healthy portion of spoon-feeding, it hides some things until just the right moment. It’s a revenge movie, it’s basically just like Taken… Or Memento… Or Finding Nemo. Same movie."

3.75 / 5 thrusters

"The Count of Monte Cristo is Janeane Garofalo’s best movie. She plays a betrayed, revenge hungry lesbian perfectly. However, I’m sad that this sequel didn’t accurately portray Sammy Jenkin’s memory loss. At time’s he had trouble recognizing the Count of Monte Cristo, but the rest of his memory seemed to be intact. If you’re interested in watching a tall handsome black-haired man get into some awesome sword fights and beat down an entire government, then you should be excited for Equllibrium, the undisputed best action movie on our list."

3 / 5 thrusters and a pair of double doors

"So Lenny wants Jesus’s mousey fiancé. Lenny makes Jesus grow a beard and has him whipped. Jesus rots away in a prison until the day that Grand Wizard Doozledorf emerges from the ground of his cell like a newborn baby ripping his way from the womb. Doozledorf gave Jesus a six-year Hogwartzian degree in magic. Jesus drags his cross to Rome (of all places) to rescue His-Only-Son.  Lenny managed not to kill the mouse (wow!). After everyone thought he was dead, Jesus comes back to life to forgive the mouse’s sins. This story was intricately woven, though not by the genius of the likes of I.P. Freely or Drew P. Weiner. It comes as no surprise that this romantic drama was crafted by A. Dumbass (look it up)."

3 thrusters and two clicks / 5 thrusters

Week 7: Cast Away

"Cast Away is a 2000 drama film directed by Robert Zemeckis and starring Tom Hanks as a FedEx employee stranded on an uninhabited island after his plane crashes in the South Pacific. The film depicts his attempts to survive on the island using remnants of his plane's cargo. Hanks was nominated for Best Actor in a Leading Role at the 73rd Academy Awards for his critically acclaimed performance."

"This is one of my favorite movies of all time. There’s no one else I’d rather see stranded for two hours with three words of dialogue more than Tom Hanks. The movie is incredibly emotional, thought provoking, and even funny. It provides meaningful closure without going overboard.  I enjoyed it more the first time through, but was still incredibly solid several years later."

5/5 Thrusters

"Incredible."

5/5 Thrusters

"I really liked this one. The first time I ever saw this movie I cried when Wilson floated away. I thought it was good but thought that maybe Kelly could have waited for him."

4/5 thrusters

"I enjoyed this movie but its not really my kind of movie.  Why complicate things at the end having Kelly Frears be married with a child?  After watching Tom Hanks struggle to stay alive for two hours I think the viewer should have been rewarded with a happy ending , instead the viewer is given a sad Tom Hanks monologue about living breath to breath.  And it bothered me that he didn’t open the single package with a working satellite phone in it? I mean come on, but then I guess there wouldn’t be a movie.  Janeane Garaffalo made Tom Hanks look like a two bit amateur when she acted her ass off as Wilson, Tom’s only friend on the island."           3.2/5 thrusters

"I was highly anticipating this one, but it fell a few feet short of my expectations. I forgot how little depth the star of the movie actually had; the casting director clearly phoned it in when picking the role of Wilson. Despite that though, the movie depicted 2 great struggles – 1) Man versus Nature and 2) Tom Hank’s forehead versus Helen Hunt’s forehead."

3/5 thrusters, a snicker bars, and a CD player.

Week 6: Taxi Driver

Paul Schrader's gritty screenplay depicts the ever-deepening alienation of Vietnam Veteran Travis Bickle (Robert De Niro in a tour-de-force performance), a psychotic cab driver who obsessively cruises the mean streets of Manhattan.

SPOILERS: "There’s many different ways to view all of the scenes and the entire movie can be interpreted in many different ways. I don’t think there’s any question about the ending, it’s absolutely a dream sequence. The movie finished with DeNiro’s character tying up all the loose ends and it gives emotional closure, but there’s no chance any of these events happen. Chris brought up an excellent point stating, “The ‘dream sequence’ started after DeNiro closed his eyes for the first time.” This movie is from the Taxi Driver’s point of view regardless of how he may view the world."

5 / 5 thrusters

"It was a great movie, it was a great movie.

Seriously though this movie would never be made by a major studio in 2012.  It was dark and unsettling with no pay off at the end, but strangely I really enjoyed it anyways. I go back and forth whether it is a commentary on how we treat veterans clearly suffering from PTSD or how we as a society elevate certain kinds of people to hero status; in this case a taxi driver who commited a triple homicide.  At the end of the movie I felt like Jodie foster’s Iris… used, abused, and longing for something familiar.  I don’t think I will be watching another movie like this for some time.   Still it deserves the rating I am giving it:"

5 / 5 thrusters

"Can’t think of anything funny to say. This movie reminded me of those old black and white crime dramas with DeNiro driving around at night, the bright lights, the always wet and raining streets, the shots of just his eyes in the rear view mirror, and the soft voice-over talking about the scum and fog of depression that sits over a city he has nothing but disdain for.  True to this format, DeNiro’s character is a truly unrelated-able protagonist with more than his share of issues….Check that…He’s straight creepy. The world around him is so corrupt that he’s powerless to fix it.  There are people walking just outside his cab, but emotionally they couldn’t be further away.  He’s always so tired and sleep deprived, but can never get around to closing his eyes even to blink.  I couldn’t look away, and if anything substantial happened, I must not have been paying attention. Artsy fartsy, but engrossing."

4 / 5 thrusters

"Round 2 and DeNiro knocks it out of the park once again. I’m not sure who’s talking to him, but it’s definitely not Cybill. She apparently has no problem going on a date with a stalker, but when he takes her to a pornographic film, suddenly she’s offended. To top off her bad judgment, she manages to find and wear a pair of eye-glasses that make her look like a cross-eyed Rick Moranis.

The movie brought up a bit of debate to our group, wondering if the end was a dream or not, but I’m more concerned with the fact that nobody mentioned Janeane Garofalo’s performance as Jody Foster’s pimp. Not only did she get ripped for the part, but she played a much more compassionate character than typical for her."

3 / 5 thrusters at the amazing low price of 1 dollar and 89 cents.

"Umm…this movie was terrible. There were literally no redeeming qualities to be found. DeNiro was creepy the whole movie, it was slow moving, and just weird. How was this man a hero?? He murdered three people in cold blood and is then hailed as a hero. Yeah they were bad guys but that doesn’t mean he can just go around shooting people.  Also what the hell kind of guy takes a girl to a dirty movie on their first date??"

0.5/ 5 thrusters