Fall of Sam Axe

I like Burn Notice a lot.  It’s a bit hokey, but it’s fun and funny and there’s enough blowing up on the screen to keep my attention well enough.  This movie was basically a double episode, set in a different location and without Jeffrey Donovan.

I doubt the Fall of Sam Axe is going to blow anyone’s mind, but Bruce Campbell is the man and he makes it a great experience.  It’s a bit slicker and tighter than the show, and the mountains of Columbia are really beautiful.

MST3K: Final Sacrifice

Watched this one tonight, was flippin’ hilarious.  Most episodes of that show are great, and perhaps it was because I hadn’t seen one in a bit, but I was rolling over laughing at some points.  Great stuff.

It was also the first time watching something through on Amazon Prime Instant Video.  It worked really well, despite some temporary error on my Roku box.  I’ve just dropped Netflix, but am one of two DVDs in Allison’s account via their Profiles feature.  Amazon Prime doesn’t have a video queue, which is a bit of a downer, though you can add movies to a Wish List and manage it that way.

Dexter: Season 5

We blasted through the fifth season of Dexter in less than a week.  It was incredible.  If you’ve never seen the show, it’s time to start from the first season and work forward.  It’s intense, and beautifully produced from start to finish.

I wasn’t sure what to expect with Julia Stiles, though she did an amazing job on all accounts.  The other characters, including Dexter, are all continuing to evolve in interesting ways.  Bravo.

1984: the movie

A lot of what Orwell brought to the table in 1984 was in the in the description of the party, the system of control, and the psychology of humans.  It’s hard to put all of that into a movie form, especially when limited to two hours.  The movie did a great job in a lot of ways, and the lighting was absolutely beautiful.  I will say, though, that it’s no substitute to the book.  Still, it’s heavy material and was very well done.

Muay Thai Giant

Wow.  That was actually a great time.

Muay Thai Giant is, as you can guess from the box art and the title, not an intellectually stimulating movie.  It’s main offering was a goofy story, a mountain of a man, and a young woman who kicks ass with Muay Thai.  My world isn’t shaken or anything, but it’s nice to have some variety.  There was probably a touch too much wrestling, since apparently this is the specialty of Nathan Jones.  I didn’t get it until the end, but in many ways the giant is the shorter of the two central pugilists.

Check it out when you have some time.  It gave me some laughs and was all in good fun.

Mother

What a good movie.  This was recommended to me via Netflix for a while, and I’m glad I got down to seeing it.  Mother is an intelligent movie, and it runs a good balance between suspense and mystery.

The movie plays with what you might expect, sometimes moving in the direction you see, and other times holding back.  The soundtrack and cinematography are similarly beautiful, operating on negative space while not lingering too long.  The general story is that of a mother and her son, but it’s not a straight narrative, and it’s well worth seeing whenever you can get the chance. A+

The Fighter

What a great movie.  I was a bit on the fence about watching it for whatever reason, but I was quite blown away.  Everyone did a great job, and it portrayed the complexities of family without resorting to explicitly good and bad characters.  It does help to like boxing movies a bit, though even without that it’s well worth seeing.