Wednesday, May 11, 2016

Cinema Cycle - Daisy Kenyon

CINEMA CYCLE

(Cardio Workout And Reviewing Movies At The Same Time)

DATE REVIEWED: 04/27/2016

TITLE: Daisy Kenyon

FORMAT: Streaming (iTunes)

TIME RIDDEN / FILM LENGTH: 1 hour 39 minutes

DISTANCE RIDDEN WHILE VIEWING: 19.1 miles

TOTAL CINEMA MILES LOGGED: 4731.1 miles

Synopsis: A young socialite has to chose between a married man and a troubled World War II veteran.

Concept In Relation To The Viewer: The proper way to have a high class affair in the big city after the second world war. No one does crazy better than Joan, and she does not disappoint here.

Pros & Cons: I knew this film would be good. I have never seen a Joan Crawford film that I have not liked. This one was no exception. While the film was probably somewhat scandalous, dealing with an affair with a married man and actually having discussions with an unmarried woman in her bedroom! Shocking!

The film seemed weird, in an almost surrealistic sort way. This is the modern inner city life of Ayn Rand and Ray Bradbury after the second World War. Women were different and so were the men and this is brought out in the acting and lighting of the work.

Speaking of which, the acting by Andrews, Fonda and Crawford is the centerpiece of the whole film. Fonda is particularly out of character and erie for much of the film. Ow, and Joan does have her one standard crazy scene in the film.....glorious!

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.

Cinema Cycle - What About Bob?

CINEMA CYCLE

(Cardio Workout And Reviewing Movies At The Same Time)

DATE REVIEWED: 04/25/2016

TITLE: What About Bob?

FORMAT: LaserDisc

TIME RIDDEN / FILM LENGTH: 1 hour 39 minutes

DISTANCE RIDDEN WHILE VIEWING: 20.3 miles

TOTAL CINEMA MILES LOGGED: 4712 miles

Synopsis: A stuck up professional psychiatrist is hounded by a troubled patient with abandonment issues (among others).

Concept In Relation To The Viewer: Sometimes the people that we can’t stand to be around are just misunderstood.....so don’t be an asshole.

Pros & Cons: I didn’t think I was going to like this film, but it slowly grew on me to the point that I was chuckling by the time the credits rolled.

Bill Murray has always been a little hard for me to take and he walks a fine line between being silly and being serious. At first his character is grating and unnerving, like the people that customer service representatives have to deal with. We eventually warm to his character as Dreyfus’s doctor becomes more and more obnoxious and self centered.

In the end, this is a morality tale wrapped up in a farce about how being a hypocrite can backfire on you in more ways that one.

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.

Cinema Cycle - Blades of Glory

CINEMA CYCLE

(Cardio Workout And Reviewing Movies At The Same Time)

DATE REVIEWED: 04/22/2016

TITLE: Blades of Glory

FORMAT: HD-DVD

TIME RIDDEN / FILM LENGTH: 1 hour 34 minutes

DISTANCE RIDDEN WHILE VIEWING: 19.5 miles

TOTAL CINEMA MILES LOGGED: 4692.5 miles

SYNOPSIS: Two male figure skaters team up as a pairs team after being disbarred from skating for life.

CONCEPT IN RELATION TO THE VIEWER: High farce, done well and very funny.

PROS AND CONS: I didn’t expect this movie to be that good. Comedy either works or it doesn't’ and when it dosen’t it is really painful to watch. Such was not the case with this film.

This film is over the top, but it just works. The lavish expense of putting the viewer right in the middle of the skating world along with Dick Button and Nancy Kerrigan really tends to make you feel a part of the action.

I assume that there are some special effect involved here, since neither Will Ferrell nor John Heder can possibly skate as good as they do in this film.

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.

Tuesday, May 10, 2016

Cinema Cycle - Mulholland Falls

CINEMA CYCLE

The (Cardio Workout And Reviewing Movies At The Same Time)

DATE REVIEWED: 04/15/2016

TITLE: Mulholland Falls

FORMAT: LaserDisc

TIME RIDDEN / FILM LENGTH: 1 hour 46 minutes

DISTANCE RIDDEN WHILE VIEWING: 23.5 miles

TOTAL CINEMA MILES LOGGED: 4673 miles

Synopsis: A corrupt cop and a high government official find out that they have both been having an affair with the same murdered woman in 1950s Los Angeles.

Concept In Relation To The Viewer: Your indiscretions will come back to haunt you in the worst way possible.

Pros & Cons: This film walks a fine line from being campy and funny to being a little to rough and violent. Visually, the film is fun to watch. It is highly stylized and does a good job of capturing what Los Angeles was like in the 1950s.

That said, the acting is a bit over the top and the characters are a bit hard to identify with or empathize with. The film gives into over-the-top violence and stunts near the end. A special treat is the destruction of a DC-3 transport near the end of the film. It isn’t a special effect. They really crash the plane.

As I state in the video review, the best thing about the film is the car that the ‘Hat Squad’ drive around L.A. in. The characters were supposedly based on real people that actually did what the squad supposedly do in the film. The image of these four burly guys, all wearing fedoras and driving around LA in a huge convertible just struck me as a bit funny.

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.