So all because of Sean K, I went to see AvP. It wasn't bad. Definitely worth the $5.00 matinee price. I didn't really care too much about the human characters (except the female lead was OK), but the fight scenes were cool.

The funniest part of the movie was when some kids near me were talking. One boy replied to his friends/family: "That's not scary; that's action!"

This was the first Alien movie to give us well lit full body shots of the aliens that moved really convincingly, looked good, and didn't at all look like a guy in a suit.

Sean is right about this.

eta: I think it could have been much better, though. And what's up with the PG-13 rating?

I saw Collateral this afternoon, and liked it up to the point when it hit me that I wasn't going to like the ending no matter which way they went with it, because I wasn't really rooting for either character. But other than that, it's very well-directed, and Tom Cruise proves once again that playing pseudointellectual sociopaths is what he does best. If you see it, try to see it in digital projection -- it was shot on HD, and looks fantastic.

[The other neat thing about seeing it digitally is that Loews apparently has no digital commercial reel, so we saw 9 trailers, including Team America, and a Christmas family comedy with Ben Affleck and James Gandolfini. Note to movie marketing people: if your movie contains Tony Soprano hitting Ben Affleck over the head with a shovel, I will go see it, because I'm just that easy.]

If there are any Blade Runner fans out there, I have some fabulous news for you. If you want a copy of the original Vangelis soundtrack, you can download it via bittorrent from here. This recording has never officially been released and it is the absolute total and proper music soundtrack to the film. There are other versions out there, both official and unofficial but none as complete, or as perfect, as this version. The quality is awesome and needs to be heard by any fan of the movie. Get it while it lasts b/c fuck knows when you'll ever get the chance again.

So all because of Sean K, I went to see AvP. It wasn't bad.

Yep. Not high art, but doesn't even remotely try to be.

I think the good, convincing looking aliens made me so happy I was willing to overlook anything else wrong with the movie.

And actually, now that you mention it, I really care about any of the humans except the female lead, either. I really mostly cared about alien/predator part of the storyline, and the backstory to that (although the human archeological background was as silly as the "science" behind Day After Tommorow, but AvP gets away with it because, you know.... not pretending to be serious).

Note to movie marketing people: if your movie contains Tony Soprano hitting Ben Affleck over the head with a shovel, I will go see it, because I'm just that easy.

Yeah, I saw a preview for that one before AvP, and that was almost exactly my reaction, too. Seriously, if your movie contains Affleck getting brained with a shovel, especially by James Gandolfini? I'm sold.

This recording has never officially been released and it is the absolute total and proper music soundtrack to the film.

Not true - the Vangelis soundtrack was finally released several years ago.

This recording has never officially been released and it is the absolute total and proper music soundtrack to the film.

There was some version of the Vangelis soundtrack relased on cassette tape at one point. I owned it. I wish I still had it, but this news makes me very happy.

Saw Harold And Kumar tonight which I found delightful. Funny, and smarter than I thought it would be.

Then snuck into Collateral, which was underwhelming. Some scenes were amazing, and others just seemd forced and laughable. It's a beautifully composed and shot film, though.

Some scenes were amazing, and others just seemd forced and laughable. It's a beautifully composed and shot film, though.

Yep, that was pretty much my reaction. I think if I'd left before about the last 20 minutes, I would have liked it much more. Because it's not so much that it falls apart, it's that it falls apart in such a bland clichéd way, and up until that point, it had been tense and atmospheric enough for me to forgive most of the plot holes. (Like, why didn't he just kill the lawyer first?)

The Vangelis soundtrack is on the Blade Runner Director's Cut DVD. I'm guessing that's the original source material for the bit-torrent.

Anybody know anything about the remake of Zatoichi? It's playing in DC; should I make the effort to see it?

I've got the Blade Runner soundtrack right here.

It's a bit stretchy from over playing but...