I thought the Disney movie of Pinocchio was pretty bad when I took my little sister to see it as a teenager. Haven't seen any of the other versions or read the original, but I don't particularly like the story in general.

I highly recommend del Toro's version then because I was very much in the same camp. I didn't think Disney's version was "pretty bad", but definitely didn't think it was great and thought I didn't like the plot.

I guess I meant "pretty bad" in comparison with the other classic fairy tale and fable-based Disney cartoons. It was better than "The Smurfs and the Magic Flute" and some other cheaply made kids' cartoon movies that I also took her to see.

Lol yeah I was 100% in the same boat then. Really have a new appreciation for the story after seeing this version.

Assayas’ demonlover is on criterion channel now, one of the best movies of 2000s imo

Pinocchio is one of the truly all time great ideas ever written... and not in the fact that a Puppet has desires to become Human, but in our recognition that 'thing's/elements' beyond ourselves can be seen as, and having the desire to be, as we are. Even in a religious sense, Jesus was created in the image of man, if you catch my drift.

More Human than Human...

Collateral (2004)

Steve Urkel, the later years: Played by the guy who played Ray Charles and who is so good that it's squirmingly painful to watch!

Best film score ever!

Drug overlord played by the guy who eventually gets promoted to play a hitman in No Country For Old Men.

And the guy from Snatch.

I read about this guy -- gets on the MTA and dies: Six hours he's riding before anybody notices!

It’s just temporary: 12 years!

No, I shot him: Bullets and the fall killed him!

Lady MacBeth, leave the seats: The light's green!

You’re Stressed: Just keep breathing!

Six liters of blood: Okay, that's good enough!

I off one fat Angelino and you throw a hissy fit: It was a South Central deer!

I need this job: No you don’t!

Yo! Homey! Is that my briefcase?: Yeah, what else you got for me? BANGxBANG

We got time to kill: You like jazz?

Culiacan and Cartagena: He quit Julliard and tracked down Charlie Parker.

And here I thought you were such a cool guy: I am a cool guy!

She carried you in her womb: For nine months!

Max never had many friends: Always talking to himself in the mirror!

Same wound pattern: Two in the sternum, one in the head!

Private sector?: Six years!

Sorry? Sorry does not put back together again Humpty Dumpty: So I tossed the list to protect your Hermes, Facconable sorry ass!

Good Club Shootout scene!

What a custerfluck: Only thing didn't show up was the Polish cavalry.

All the cabbies in LA: I get Sigmund Freud meets Dr. Ruth!

Vanessa Williams: Played by thrash-metal singer Jada P. Smith: Full Damsel-In-Distress Mode, crawling across the carpet on her hands and knees, in her power suit, on the top floor of an office building in the middle of the night, after, get this, Tom Cruise has cut off the lights by hacking through a 4” electrical conduit with a fire ax in a conveniently-left-open pipe race: And it works perfectly!


Remarkable example of the Buddy Film Hitman Roadtrip movie. Remarkable acting. Still has some followers, but unrecognized in its time. Absurdly good. Easily top ten film of the millennium! Check it out!

love collateral

I saw collateral when it first came out in some monster movie theater; loved it. The Jazz reference was perfect.

I’ve been to Culiacan; I spent a week there one day and night; I think. Please note: Culiacan is not a city for the timid.

Roving gangs of thugs patrol the city in pickup trucks full of armed men in the truck bed. Rifles and shotguns at the ready. If you are a Gringo stay out of sight and get out of town as soon as possible. Anywhere else is safer. Aside from the general threat of violence it is a freeway drug hub to the US.

Give the whore houses a wide berth.

Just called Greyhound and White Star and cancelled my trip.

collateral was phenomenal

I loved it when I first saw it, then watched it years later and thought it was a far fetched mess. Despite that I still enjoyed many aspects of it, especially the character development.

I was surprised that I still liked it. I hadn't watched it since it was first released. Of course, being far-fetched doesn't bother me, I consider everything and everyone far-fetched, so there is that. It's a classic buddy movie, but I almost called it a screwball comedy with Tom Cruise playing Katherine Hepburn and Jamie Foxx playing the awakening Cary Grant. But I wasn't entirely sure that I could make it stick.

After all, Bringing Up Baby is far-fetched, but it is supposed to be.

Foxs character's transformation is one of the most compelling arcs in recent cinema.

Syriana A

It has been quite a while since I have seen this one, so I gave it a go. It takes a couple of viewings to realize what exactly is going on in this movie, but when one understands what is going on, it is hard to argue against this movie being a masterpiece. I imagine most people around here have seen it, but if not, it is a must-watch.

Air, Ben Affleck, 2023

I love underdog success stories, and this one was fantastic. It's about how Nike bet their whole annual budget of $250,000 for new basketball player signings on one player - Michael Jordan - when they were running a distant 3rd behind Adidas and Converse in the commercial basketball shoe market.

It's also about how shrewd of a businesswoman Deloris Jordan, Michael's mom, was when negotiating a then unheard of stipulation that Michael would get a piece of every shoe with his name on it, in addition to the $250k per year he would make from Nike.

That stipulation is estimated to have made Michael Jordan roughly $400 million a year.

Fun movie about Matt Damon's character trying to sign Jordan while getting his colleagues to believe in his crazy idea about making a shoe expressly for the athlete and not just have the athlete where the same show everyone else is wearing. Air is about the birth of the Air Jordan.

Tremendously entertaining movie, with fun performances by Damon, Affleck, Christ Tucker, Viola Davis, Chris Messina, and Jason Bateman.

Nuremberg C+

Everybody loves Brian Cox, and that is the draw of this movie. The movie is about the Nuremberg Trials after WW2. As a lawyer, I do like to partake in courtroom movies, but unfortunately, this one does not do the story justice. Alec Baldwin is uncharacteristically bland in this one. The only saving grace of the movie is Brian Cox, which does steal the show with an excellent performance.

Sadly, Brian Cox's performance is not enough to save the movie. It is boring and lacking in character development. Alec Baldwin's character infamously was terrible at cross-examining Herman Goering, but that is glossed over here and blamed on hostile judges and only led to one day that was a low point for the prosecution. It makes for a main character that is too perfect, which in this case was certainly not true-to-life.

It is an unfortunate wasted opportunity.

Collateral suffers from the same third act 'fails' that nearly all Michael Mann's films seemingly have... the wrong person dies.

I do love Collateral, but the third act is certainly a weak point for the movie.

You were hoping for Jada, right?

Dungeons and Dragons: Honour among Thieves was quite fun. Funny jokes, likeable cast, imaginative action scenes. Although that is what I thought about the first few Marvel films. Well before we get to DnD movie 382, I'll be singing a very different tube.

Eric Roth strikes again... next up is a Robert Zemeckis film, HERE

White Men Can't Jump remake/whatever has terrible Imdb ratings so far but I enjoyed it for the most part. The acting and the story were both fine as well as the minor comedy throughout for the most part. At worst it's a 6/10 type movie but I'd still rather watch it over half the stuff out there that takes itself much more seriously.

Same goes for a similar remake in House Party. It's a fine and 6/10 type movie. Great "B" movie on rerun back in the day type that you'd watch on cable TV.

Also while on the topic of sequels or remakes.....

Puss in Boots: The Last Wish - really enjoyed it with my seven year old. I'm not sure I've ever watched the original all the way through but this was definitely a fun children's movie.

Evil Dead Rise - fun watch for me atleast. I like all the Evil Dead movies or similar genre though.

Watched Synecdoche, New York again last week and realized how little I remembered. Weird how some movies don't quite stick with you. What a great film, and stars two great actors, Philip Seymour Hoffman and Tom Noonan.

See Noonan's What Happened Was . . . , a film he wrote, directed and starred in. Reminds me of me on dates--a little.

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Air was good. Trying to build suspense was a little hard when you knew the outcome.

Biggest disappointment was that the credits didn't have a bunch of old time Jordan Ads in them. That would have topped off the movie.