One Missed call (2008)

I have reviewed movies in the past (when I get a chance to review movies) the have really stunk and to avoid them. This reluctantly fits the bill. It wasn't really a bad movie, except for the fact it didn't make a lot of sense. I wanted it to start making sense, thinking I somehow had missed something and things were going to come together. But it didn't and it really had no ending.

All in all, not worth watching. I gave it a barely 3 out of 10. Probably should be a 2.5. PU!

One Missed Call (2008)

Director: Eric Valette

Writers (WGA): Andrew Klavan (screenplay)
Yasushi Akimoto (novel)

Actors:
Shannyn Sossamon ... Beth Raymond

Edward Burns ... Det. Jack Andrews

Ana Claudia Talancón ... Taylor Anthony

Ray Wise ... Ted Summers

Azura Skye ... Leann Cole

The Bucket List (2007)

It would be so easy to give away the ending of this very fine movie in this review. Needless to say, Jack Nicholson gives a fantastic performance, followed closely by Morgan Freeman. I thought the movie started out a little slow but the last half seemed to move on at a nice pace. Great writing and a nice story with a very satisfying ending. I gave it an 8 out of 10. I can highly recommend this movie.

Director: Rob Reiner

Writer (WGA): Justin Zackham

Cast:
Jack Nicholson ... Edward Cole
Morgan Freeman ... Carter Chambers
Sean Hayes ... Thomas
Beverly Todd ... Virginia Chambers
Rob Morrow ... Dr. Hollins

Trivia:
# Jack Nicholson and Morgan Freeman shaved their heads for the film.

# Justin Zackham finished the script in just two weeks.

Sahara (2005)

I rewatched this movie last night. It has got some great humor and action to it. For the ladies there is Matthew McConaughey running around with out a shirt on. For the guys there is Penelope running around with a shirt on, except for the very end. I like this Movie enough to have purchased the DVD, which I only do with Movies I find very enjoyable, or those that are at a great price, but this one falls into the first category.

I gave it a good solid 7 out of ten. The writing is just a little weak in places, but the action more than makes up for it.

Director: Breck Eisner

Writers (WGA): Clive Cussler (novel) Thomas Dean Donnelly (screenplay)

Cast:
Penélope Cruz ... Eva Rojas
Matthew McConaughey ... Dirk Pitt
Steve Zahn ... Al Giordino
William H. Macy ... Admiral Jim Sandecker

Digital Converter Box

I just recently purchased 2 of the digital converter boxes for our over the air signal for out TV's. We presently have 3 TV's that we use on a regular basis at our household. Probably the biggest difference one notices right off hand is the signal the TV receives. It is much crisper and uniform generally. Two of the TV's have the converter box attached. The one TV without the converter box will still be able to pick up the analog signals after the switch over because not all TV stations have to switch over.

Also another great feature of the Converter Boxes we purchased was the fact that our HD Ready TV now has a tuner which receives the local signal and shows 1080i signals (HD). We kind of got burned when we bought our TV back a few years ago. There are two different kinds of digital Tuners. This TV had the wrong one, so come the switch, we wouldn't have gotten a signal on our digital TV even though it had a digital tuner in it. I had read where the over the air broadcast HD signal is better than Satelite HD signal.

I would say its as good, at least here locally. and It don't cost us a dime. I am very thankful for that.

Chaos (2005)

I just rented this movie last night. I didn't know what to expect going into this movie. I had seen earlier work from Jason Statham, such as The Transporter and Transporter 2 and the Italian Job (all very good movies in my book), so I was expecting a fast paced movie with plenty of shooting and driving fast cars. What the movie turned out to be was a well paced thoughtful film with a very good ending. I liked the writing, even though there were some small plot holes, but all in all well worth the watch. I gave it a 7 out of 10.

Director: Tony Giglio

Writer: Tony Giglio

Cast:
Jason Statham ... Det. Quentin Conners
Ryan Phillippe ... Det. Shane Dekker
Wesley Snipes ... Lorenz / Jason York
Henry Czerny ... Capt. Martin Jenkins
Justine Waddell ... Det. Teddy Galloway
Nicholas Lea ... Det. Vincent Durano
Jessica Steen ... Karen Cross

The Kingdom (2007)

Another great movie in my book, With extremely tight editing and a great ending. The camera work in places reminds me of another movie, The Bourne Ultimatum, which has very quick, hand held, up close camera work that makes it hard to figure out just what is going on. In this movie, unlike The Bourne Ultimatum, it really adds to the realism of the nature of the Movie. Here the camera work when used in this style, is taught, up close and personal. I have never been in war, but now I feel I know a little bit better of what our American soldiers are going through at times when checking homes and rooms in the city environment. Some scary times indeed.

I found the ending to be refreshing and complete. Just about the time when you think every thing is winding down ...

I gave the movie a well deserved 8 out of 10.

The Kingdom (2007)

Director: Peter Berg

Writer (WGA): Matthew Michael Carnahan (written by)


Cast:
Jamie Foxx ... Ronald Fleury
Chris Cooper ... Grant Sykes
Jennifer Garner ... Janet Mayes
Jason Bateman ... Adam Leavitt
Ashraf Barhom ... Colonel Faris Al Ghazi

American Gangster

Been a while since I posted here. Been awhile since I saw something that was decent enough to post about.

American Gangster is a great movie. Granted, it is very violent in places, like the first 5 minutes, and deals with a terrible human beings rise in the crime world. It is deplorable how the main bad guy lives his life. But the direction, the lighting, the camera work, the writing, .. it just all works quite well. The Actors, The supporting actors, the scenery, the costumes, the cars, its all a great combination that I have sorely missed.

Bravo American Gangster. Bravo.

I give it an 8 out of ten. Would have been higher but for the main thrust of the movies bad guy. Yucko.

Director: Ridley Scott

Writers (WGA): Steven Zaillian (written by)


The cast

Denzel Washington ... Frank Lucas
Russell Crowe ... Det. Richie Roberts
Chiwetel Ejiofor ... Huey Lucas
Josh Brolin ... Detective Trupo
Lymari Nadal ... Eva
Ted Levine ... Det. Lou Toback