Building a DVD collection update 3

[Non_Comformist]

I had some time to burn since the last update and have already managed to watch a decent amount of new DVD's.

Not a very good lot this time.

I have decided on another rule, more for the purpose of these posts. I am limiting the number of spots in The Collection to 100. This will put the emphasis on seeing the best movies, instead of a bunch of cheaply priced good movies. It will also make being selective in my ratings even more important. The cap of 100 will not be permenant but for a period long enough to allow viewing of the entire Collection. I'm thinking something like 4-6 months.

for the uninformed
The Rules
#1. All DVD's (movies) are graded from 1-5 (5 being the best. 2.5 being the line between good and poor movie. Only movies that attain a grade of at least 3.0 are allowed in the collection. If a DVD is purchased sight unseen and fails to attain a minimum grade of 3.0 it must be disposed of a soon as possible and cannot be stored with the collection. This is usually accomplished by giving it away or trading it in for a different DVD.

2. When a DVD is purchased it is placed at the beginning of the collection. DVD's are wathced in order (left to right) and this order is never broken. This assures that each DVD is watched equally and prevents movies from going "stale" do to over viewing. I call this the "good song on the radio syndrome." I think it is self explanatory.


on to the movies

Absolute Power Unbelievable and not very interesting. Disappointing for a Eastwood film.
Rating 2.0

City Hall Good Story of corruption and scandal. Bridgette Fonda is hot.
Rating 3.35

Italian Job Basically Ocean's Eleven lite.
Rating 2.60

Runaway Jury {Rolls Eyes}
Rating 2.50

Rundown The Rock's best movie and good for a few laughs, yet I think I would have preferred a wrestling DVD, perhaps Ric Flair's.
Rating 2.40

The Last Samurai Swords, Samurai and Ninjas, enough said. Simply awesome. Can't believe I missed it on the big screen.
Rating 4.30

Jerry Seinfeld Comedian More interesting than funny. Comedian follows Jerry after he retired all of his original material. Orny Anderson was annoying.
Rating 2.75

That makes The Collection as follows.

1. Godfather Part I 5.00
2. Godfather Part II 4.99
3. Office Space 4.55
4. Braveheart 4.50
5. Pale Rider 4.40
6. Training Day 4.35
7. The Last Samurai 4.30
8. Swingers 4.25
9. Die Hard 4.00
10. Spinal Tap 3.85
11. Meet the Parents 3.75
12. Catch Me If You Can 3.60
13. Oceans Eleven 3.45
14. City Hall 3.35
15. Fog of War 3.30
16. Ace Ventura Pet Detective 3.25
17. The Godfather Part III 3.10
18. The Good The Bad and The Ugly 3.09

82 spots remaining.

I decided to eliminate The Recruit reducing its rating to 2.80 from 3.05. After some thought I realized it was a good movie but didn't really add anything to the genre and that there are much better CIA films (Clear and Present Danger, Spy Games) to make room for. In the end it came down to this. I looked at The Collection and it just didn't fit in. Good call by those who said so all along. No way close to top 100.

I increased the rating of The Good, The Bad and The Ugly to 3.09 from 3.00

On a positive note with watching a good number of movies, I have pretty much stopped watching TV expect for sports.

[Blarg]

Ever see Three Days of the Condor? Very fun paranoid spy flick. Max Von Sydow is the assassin who "compassionately" consoles office workers as he kills them with a silenced machine gun. Very creepy, and funny, and sad at the same time -- in other words cool and different. Lots of good, tense scenes in this one. Really great ending, with delicious and clever shifts of power back and forth between the main players.

Oh, here's another old spy goodie -- Marathon Man. Great fun, and one scene did for dentists what the movie Jaws did for sharks.

[Non_Comformist]

[ QUOTE ]
Ever see Three Days of the Condor? Very fun paranoid spy flick. Max Von Sydow is the assassin who "compassionately" consoles office workers as he kills them with a silenced machine gun. Very creepy, and funny, and sad at the same time -- in other words cool and different. Lots of good, tense scenes in this one. Really great ending, with delicious and clever shifts of power back and forth between the main players.

Oh, here's another old spy goodie -- Marathon Man. Great fun, and one scene did for dentists what the movie Jaws did for sharks.

[/ QUOTE ]

I have heard or neither but will try to try to pick up both. The first (Three Days of the Condor) seems interesting and the type of movie The Collection is missing.

[Non_Comformist]

I would be interested in some non spoiler opinion, your ratings and rating predictions for the next 10.

In order
1. 21 Grams
2. Zoolander
3. The Usual Suspects
4. Saving Private Ryan
5. Star Trek Nemesis
6. Boiler Room
7. Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon
8. Clear and Present Danger
9. Sleepers
10.Jerry Maguire

[Usul]

I haven't seen 21 grams but the rest are all well into the "good" range of movies. The weak link might be nemisis, but even it was well above average.

*EDIT* Check that, I confused Sleepers with Sneakers. I haven't seen Sleepers, but Sneakers is excellent.

[deacsoft]

Sleepers is good.

Still no Pulp Fiction. That means I get to slap you right?

[Blarg]

Saving Private Ryan had the worst ending imaginable - Steven Spielberg at his most bombastic Color of Purple sentimentality, ham-handedness, and clumsy emotional pandering. I mean the very ending, when the old man asks his wife if he lived a good life. (Believe me, I didn't give away anything worthwhile here.) The real ending to the movie came earlier, and it's astounding even Spielberg would be so stupid and afraid of leaving anything not beaten into the ground that he would do so much to ruin his ending and infantilize his own movie with the little extra bit on the end. I also never quite bought Tom Hanks in the role. I can buy him as a serious actor, but to me he never really lent a spark to the role. Sometimes I almost felt like I was watching him struggle to do something with the role, but come up with nothing but blanks. The first part of the movie, the pure battle scenes, were really very good, though. Action is Spielberg's specialty. But when it comes to people, he's not the man for it. He just doesn't really care. His idea of deep characterization is Indiana Jones. Which is fine, in an Indiana Jones mvoie.

The Usual Suspects -- one I was not tempted to watch again for years. Has a big cult appeal, but my problem with it is that the "revelation" in the movie is something I could see from miles away. And I'm terrible at watching whodunits, going "Ah HA!", and realizing before anyone else that the butler did it So if it was that transparent to me...I can't see many others not seeing through it instantly. And that takes some of the fun out of it. It did have some good moments, though. The description of what a mafia-type guy does when his family is threatened, and his whole concept of "men of will" and how much an unspeakable conviction can tear up the world, is great. I also especially liked the evil, oily lawyer, particularly when he threatened one guy's wife, and the way he did it. Fun movie; but not the endlessly rewatchable sock to the jaw a lot of people say. The character, rather than the mystery, of Kaiser Soze is the memorable part. But it's not really a character piece. Uh oh.

Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon was a lot of fun. The action wasn't as good as Iron Monkey, though. But very imaginative. Lots of flying, so this is more kung fu superhero than kung fu gritty.

[Non_Comformist]

I remember watching Iron Monkey in the theater and being disappointed that it wasn't as good as CTHD. Guess I need to revisit it. I love these types of films when done well.

I haven't seen Hero yet but plan to pick it up and I am hoping House of 1000 Daggers goes mainstream so it will show up locally

[Non_Comformist]

[ QUOTE ]
Sleepers is good.

Still no Pulp Fiction. That means I get to slap you right?

[/ QUOTE ]

It's a problem I'll grant you that. It will be there before I get to 100.

[Topflight]

The rundown has a great opening scene, really great. Then it stays good for a while. Then starts to suck.