Movie Rental Recommendations -- TA-TO
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Tales Of The City
This detailed story of a small group of people's intertwining lives in 1970s San Francisco is a masterful portrayal of the social consciousness of that time. Drug use and promiscuity aren't "issues," rather they're just character traits. It wasn't until about three-fourths of the way into this mini-series that I realized what this story really is: a very well written, well acted "Melrose Place."
IMDb
The Tango Lesson
"The Tango Lesson" is a brilliant movie by Sally Potter, who wrote, directed, and starred in this film about love. The movie has excellent cinematography, and a story that revolves around a woman's infatuation with the tango, and ultimately with the man that drew her to it. Pablo Veron plays himself as the tango instructor, but the movie is not about learning how to dance the tango, rather, it's a touching, honest film about passion and love through the metaphor of dance. A must see, this is the kind of movie you should share with someone special.IMDb | Other Reviews
There's Something About Mary
It's rude. It's crude. It's funny. A definite weekend feature.
IMDb | Other Reviews
The Thin Red Line
I'm not a big war movie fan, but I did see "Saving Private Ryan" and felt I needed to see the "other" WWII war movie that came out about the same time. They couldn't be more different. "Thin Red Line" immediately caught my attention with its extraordinary cinematography. Yet, it moved much slower than "Ryan," and at times lost my attention. Then it would jump into an action scene and I'd pop up. During the movie I wasn't sure I liked it, but something kept me there. In the end, I figured out what I liked was the human connection. The story follows the story of a few soldiers, but one in particular whose story line flashes back to his wife at home through daydreams. It's a nice tie-in to the real contrast of a horrify war and life as usual at home. Sad, but intriguing. A good weekend flick.
IMDb | Other Reviews
This movie is a mess of characters and plots set in World War II, is the long-awaited film from artist's artist Terence Malick. It sure seems like the type of movie that wins Oscar nominations, as it did, but man alive! -- it is un-frickin'-believably long and boring. Laughably artsy-fartsy lines like "I wonder where love comes from" are delivered by a procession of Southern drawls over slo-mo shots of women on swings, natural beauty, yadda yadda. The skillful cinematography might have approached the poetry it tries so humorlessly to capture if the sentiments weren't so banal and if the characters were something more than the one-dimensional ciphers of Deep Anguish usually relegated to ninth-grade creative writing classes.
IMDb | Other Reviews
A Thousand Acres
This movie really, truly surprised me. I thought it was going to be a story about the changing nature of farming families when farming was nothing but the bookends for a story about a family and how secrets within a clan always catch up to it. The acting was first-rate, the story excellent, and I found myself eager to find out what was going to happen in the middle, and how it was going to end as it neared the ending. Warning: Don't watch this with your kids unless you want to do a lot of uncomfortable explaining about dark, evil truths. This is an excellent weekend feature, particularly for a date when the guy has had his choice for several weekends in a row.IMDb | Other Reviews
I had a different take on this movie based on Jane Smiley's Pulitzer Prize-winning novel. The story is pretty much King Lear in Iowa. Jessica Lange, Michelle Pfeiffer, and Jennifer Jason Leigh play three daughters of a powerful farmer named Larry Cook. Larry, played by Jason Robards, decides to retire and divide his homestead among his daughters. The youngest refuses, so the spoils go to the other two. But then dad changes his mind, setting off a firestorm of bitterness and betrayal in which deep and disturbing secrets are revealed. You can see the big secret coming a mile a way in this tearjerker. But the performances raise the bar much higher than it deserves. It's rated R.
IMDb Other Reviews
Three Kings
This could have been a simple story about a group of disenchanted Gulf War soldiers out to steal some gold from Saddam for their personal use. But very little about this darkly comic action flick is simplistic -- from its characterizations to the film's direction. As the characters venture forth, they encounter a small group of Iraqis being bullied by Saddam's men. The Western servicemen are faced with the moral dilemma of helping the villagers or taking the gold and leaving. Essentially, George Clooney, as a retiring Special Forces officer, is playing the same maverick character that made him famous on "ER." And the action sequences were pretty run-of-the-mill. What makes this movie stand out is David O. Russell's creative visuals and provocative screenplay. Overall, "Three Kings" provides the right mix of action, comedy, interesting plot and star power to make it worthwhile.
Full Review | IMDb | Other Reviews
Time Runner
A B-movie time-travel story made in 1993, starring Mark Hamill("Star Wars"), where Earth is being invaded by aliens in the year 2022. The last hope for Earth rests on Michael Raynor (Hamill), who goes back in time to 1982. Once landing in the past, Raynor is tracked by a secret government organization aware of who he is and the threat that he possesses. The plot line is vaguely interesting, with all the typical characters (mean agents, sympathetic scientist) in play. The slow-motion scenes are are so stretched out the viewer wonders if the editor dozed off. A late-night snoozer.
IMDb
Titanic
First, the movie didn't seem like it was a three-hour film as it seemed to go by quickly. I also thought the movie was quite disturbing, mainly because I am not generally a fan of "tragedy" movies. The way third-class passengers were locked in while the ship was sinking and the bodies floating in the water after it went down were images that wrenched my gut in a way that I wanted to do nothing but turn my head. I also though the love storyline was weak. A weekend feature in a pinch.IMDb | Other Reviews
Tomorrow Never Dies
The latest James Bond offering is ... like all the recent ones: A caricature of itself. You know what will happen each and every moment and the stunts and fights seem no different than bushels full of movies that come out every year from Hollywood. Pierce Brosnan tries his best, but ... wait until it hits a cable channel or network near you.IMDb | Other Reviews
