Cinema Cycle - The Treasure of the Sierra Madre

CINEMA CYCLE

(Cardio Workout And Reviewing Movies At The Same Time)

DATE REVIEWED: 03/30/2016

TITLE: The Treasure of the Sierra Madre

FORMAT: LaserDisc

TIME RIDDEN / FILM LENGTH: 2 hours 7 minutes

DISTANCE RIDDEN WHILE VIEWING: 27.5 miles

TOTAL CINEMA MILES LOGGED: 4528.6 miles

SYNOPSIS: Two down and out ex-patriots mine for gold in rural Mexico with the help of a grizzled old miner.

CONCEPT IN RELATION TO THE VIEWER:  Greed and the evil that men do because of it.   The source of the phrase, “We Don’t Need No Stinking Badges!”.

PROS AND CONS:  There is only one con regarding this film and it is slight.  It is long.  There are scenes that could have been shortened or cut out, but you enjoy them regardless.  

What set this film off for me was the superior script and the way the actors delivered it.  This is quality screen writing of the caliber that is not seen in Hollywood much these days.  

The story line here is linear, with no subplots or flashbacks to try and fill in details or motive.  You follow the same characters from beginning to end and experience what they experience.  It is just plain good storytelling.

To read an overview of this project, check out this status posting.  

This film is a part of my LaserDisc Collection.

Clicking on the title will take you to the Internet Movie Database (IMDB) entry for this film. 

This film was viewed while exercising on my recumbent cycle.  A summary of my time spent working out on my journey through movie-land can be found on Strava.com.

Five Frames - 03/29/2016

Five Frames

Images Taken With A Lytro Illum Light Field Camera on 03/29/2016.

These images and many many more can be found on my Flickr account.

Five Frames - 03/25/2016

Five Frames

Images taken with Google Glass / Sony Mavicas on 03/25/2016.

These images and many many more can be found on my Flickr account.

Five Frames - 03/24/2016

Five Frames

Images Taken With Various Digital Cameras on 03/24/2016.

These images and many many more can be found on my Flickr account.

Cinema Cycle - The Monuments Men

CINEMA CYCLE

(Cardio Workout And Reviewing Movies At The Same Time)

DATE REVIEWED: 03/28/2016

TITLE: The Monuments Men

FORMAT: Blu-Ray

TIME RIDDEN / FILM LENGTH: 1 hour 58 minutes

DISTANCE RIDDEN WHILE VIEWING: 25.7 miles

TOTAL CINEMA MILES LOGGED: 4501.1 miles

SYNOPSIS: A group of scholars infiltrate Nazi Germany to recovered pilfered art before the Nazis destroy it and the Soviets confiscate it.

CONCEPT IN RELATION TO THE VIEWER:  The buddy film, where a group of guys go off against insurmountable odds to ‘do the right thing’ for humanity.  

PROS AND CONS:  Not a great film.  If you had never seen George Clooney or Matt Damon before, you would think this is a pretty slick film.  But we have seen them in countless others films with essentially the same plot.

If you have seen ‘Ocean’s Eleven’ (and 12 and 13), then you have seen this film before, only in this one they wear uniforms.  About half way through the film I got the impression that the cast were under contract to Sony Pictures and had to make this film.  So, they appear to be going through the motions.  

There are a lot of meaningless scenes in this film that are either irrelevant or put across a plot point in a very roundabout or odd way.  Some scenes and storylines lead nowhere, which had me scratching my head.  For all the money they spent on this film, they could have done so much better.

To read an overview of this project, check out this status posting.  

This film is a part of my LaserDisc Collection.

Clicking on the title will take you to the Internet Movie Database (IMDB) entry for this film. 

This film was viewed while exercising on my recumbent cycle.  A summary of my time spent working out on my journey through movie-land can be found on Strava.com.

Shutter Saturday - 03/26/2016

SHUTTER SATURDAY

Images taken with film cameras. All of these images were shot by me using one of several cameras that I own. The film is developed by myself (unless otherwise noted) and the negatives scanned into a computer. Many of the images are updated / reprocessed in Photoshop. The complete gallery of all my public images is view-able on my Flickr Account. Read the picture details / comments on Flickr to learn more about the particular image.

Five Frames - 03/28/2016

Five Frames

Images Taken With A Lytro Illum Light Field Camera on 3/27/2016.

These images and many many more can be found on my Flickr account.

Cinema Cycle - In the Name Of The Father

CINEMA CYCLE

(Cardio Workout And Reviewing Movies At The Same Time)

DATE REVIEWED: 03/25/2016

TITLE: In The Name Of The Father

FORMAT: Laserdisc

TIME RIDDEN / FILM LENGTH: 2 hours 13 minutes

DISTANCE RIDDEN WHILE VIEWING: 30.7 miles

TOTAL CINEMA MILES LOGGED: 4475.4 miles

SYNOPSIS: A young Irish Catholic man and his family are wrongly accused and convicted for planting an IRA bomb.

CONCEPT IN RELATION TO THE VIEWER: The concept of occupation and torture in the first world.  There are atrocities committed by ‘high minded’ governments that we don’t want to acknowledge.   

PROS AND CONS: A long and slow film that leans more on character development than action.  While well shot and directed, the actors carry most of the weight in this film.

The film chronicles a true story about police corruption and wrongful imprisonment in the 1970s when the British government was looking for ‘scapegoats’ to pin IRA bombings on when they could not find the real perpetrators.  

If you have ever wondered why some stupid farm hick or uneducated inner city black man would confess to a murder they did not commit, then watch this film.  All your questions will be answered.

To read an overview of this project, check out this status posting.  

This film is a part of my LaserDisc Collection.

Clicking on the title will take you to the Internet Movie Database (IMDB) entry for this film. 

This film was viewed while exercising on my recumbent cycle.  A summary of my time spent working out on my journey through movie-land can be found on Strava.com.

Five Frames - 03/23/2016

Five Frames

Images Taken With A Motorola Droid Maxx Cellphone on 03/23/2016.

These images and many many more can be found on my Flickr account.