Mean Green MOVIEOLA: Check Out This DVD!

PlummMeanGreen · May 14, 2004

The DVD version of "Gettysburg" is finally out and now available. I got my copy at WalMart.

The movie first came out in 1993 and it stars Jeff Daniels (as Colonel Joshua Chamberlain), Martin Sheen (as Robert E. Lee), Tom Berringer (as James Longstreet), Sam Elliott (General John Buford) and Stephen Lang (Pickettt) plus a cast of many faces you will recognize.

The making of this movie only found on the DVD version is superb. Ken Burns (PBS producer/director of "Civil War") and Shelby Foote (famous Civil War author) narrate "the Making Of Gettysburg--The Movie." The soundtrack of this movie composed by Randy Edelman will just flat give you goose bumps.

There is also another special featurette called "The Battle of Gettysburg" which is narrated by Lesley Nielsen. (Aren't DVD's and all the extras on many of the movies now on DVD the best thing since movies went talkie)?

"Gettysburg" is the prequal to "Gods and Generals" (Robert Duvall as R.E. Lee in this one) and even Texas Senator Phil Gramm has a cameo in G's & G's. All of you Civil War (or War Between the States) buffs will love both of these movies and I'd bet if you are a Civil War buff you would have most likely already seen them. Non Civil War buffs will equally be impressed.

Both productions were under-written by Ted Turner and he has a cameo appearance in both. I have both DVD's in my library. I believe the 3'rd movie of the trilogy is now or soon to be made.

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QUESTION? ? ? ? ? Do any of you have any DVD/VHS or movies presently at the theatre you would recommend that you could give a mini-description of? If so...please share with us, OK?

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** MOVIEOLA? This was the name of a CD and compilation of British composer John Barry's best movie themes. Barry wrote the movie theme scores of "Out of Africa,", "Born Free", "Dances With Wolves" , "Somewhere In Time" and many of the Bond movies among others.

"IF" you can find the CD "Movieola" and you like some of the best movie themes in cinematic history--buy it!

Edited May 14, 2004 by PlummMeanGreen

Texas Stranger · May 15, 2004

QUESTION? ? ? ? ? Do any of you have any DVD/VHS or movies presently at the theatre you would recommend that you could give a mini-description of? If so...please share with us, OK?

A couple if hidden gems I would recommend are:

"Disorganized Crime" starring Corbin Bernsen, Lou Diamond Phillips, Ruben Blades, and the late, great Fred Gwynne. It's a comedy set in Montana somewhere about some bungling ex-cons that meet up to rob a small-town bank. Lotsa good laughs.

"The Package" with Gene Hackman and Tommy Lee Jones. A late 80's thriller about a plot to assasinate a foreign leader visiting Chicago. Very well written, with a great ending.

PlummMeanGreen · May 15, 2004

A couple if hidden gems I would recommend are:
"Disorganized Crime" starring Corbin Bernsen, Lou Diamond Phillips, Ruben Blades, and the late, great Fred Gwynne. It's a comedy set in Montana somewhere about some bungling ex-cons that meet up to rob a small-town bank. Lotsa good laughs.
"The Package" with Gene Hackman and Tommy Lee Jones. A late 80's thriller about a plot to assasinate a foreign leader visiting Chicago. Very well written, with a great ending.

Thanks Texas Stranger, I am going to Blockbusters this morning and will get both. I like the actors in both of the movies you have described. Thanks for the tip!

PMG

CMJ · May 15, 2004

Gettysburg has actually been available for DVD for quite awhile. I got it about 2 years ago. Excellent movie, but unfortunately Gods and Generals was pretty poor.

PlummMeanGreen · May 15, 2004

Gettysburg has actually been available for DVD for quite awhile. I got it about 2 years ago. Excellent movie, but unfortunately Gods and Generals was pretty poor.

Of course everything is available out there sooner in Los Angeles, CMJ!

Hey, CMJ, the rest of us in these here United States are usually only about 10 years behind all of you in California! LOL!

I have been looking for it and I just guess Weatherford's WalMart just didn't order when they could have 2 years ago, maybe that's it?

Hope all is well for you. When you coming back to Texas for a visit?

PS. CMJ, many I presume would not have liked "God's and Generals' because of maybe what they'd think is a bit too religious a Stonewall Jackson, perhaps? For some reason, politics and religion make Americans real tense.

I thought Robert Duvall did his usual best as Robert E. Lee in "G's and G's", though. The soundtrack for both movies are simply great and the opening credits of "God's and General's with the female vocalists is as good as they come IMO. Who was that female vocalists?

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Just last night I viewed "The Fogs of War" DVD/movie/documentary about Kennedy/Johnson Secretrary of Defense Robert S. McNamara and it was such a surreal feeling for me watching that man talk about life in Washington D.C. during his time on Capitol Hill. I had visited D.C. as a 12 year old just 1 week before Martin Luther King's big march in August of 1963. Was in the Senate chamber and saw Barry Goldwater on the Senate floor. Of course, he ran against LBJ the next year and got slaughtered in a landslide.

BUT.....McNamara's description of himself personally taking Jackie Kennedy out to Arlington National Cemetary to find a spot to bury her husband would make most choke up (as he did in this movie).

Wish others from the 'Nation would share their favorite movies. I would rather listen to what regular people like ourselves have to say about them than any movie critic myself.

CMJ · May 16, 2004

Plumm I'll be in town for Emmitt's wedding next month. It's funny I got Gettysburg when I was in town for another buddy's wedding 2 years ago...so it was in Texas.

As far as G&G goes I just felt the film was really flat. It wasn't focused at all. Basically they bit off more than they could chew. Trying to cram in 2 years of the Civil War into one movie was a big mistake. There were too many stories the film tried to tell(and it didn't even tell those very well).

I have nothing against Stonewall's religious fervor...it's how the guy was. I'm a bit of a CW buff, or at least I used to be, and I think that's what really irritated me about G&G. Was it historically accurate? Yes, very(for what they showed at least). But it didn't make you FEEL. Gettysburg really let you in to many of the Generals and other officers thoughts. G&G just didn't.

I SOOO wanted to love the movie, and was bitterly disappointed.

As for Fog of War I haven't seen it yet, but I'm a huge fan of Errol Morris. He's made some of the best documentaries ever, so I'll rent it here soon.

eagle60 · May 16, 2004

I can hardly wait for "The Alamo" DVD to come out. I had the equivalent of a religious experience watching that movie! Billy Bob Thornton and the rest really "looked" properly for 1836.

I wanted to sit through it again but everyone else (they aren't Texians!) wouldn't go it.

PlummMeanGreen · May 16, 2004

I can hardly wait for "The Alamo" DVD to come out. I had the equivalent of a religious experience watching that movie! Billy Bob Thornton and the rest really "looked" properly for 1836.
I wanted to sit through it again but everyone else (they aren't Texians!) wouldn't go it.

REVISED AND EXPANDED:

eagle60, "The Alamo" will obviously do much better on DVD than what it did at the theatre. I'll buy a copy to go alongside my John Wayne DVD copy of "The Alamo." I am with you, eagle60, I loved the movie although the critics (and the general public) seemed not to. Most non Texans would be introduced for the first time on cinema what followed the fall of the Alamo, ie, the very decisive Battle of San Jacinto which (as you know) gave us our independence from Mexico and whose subject matter was the last 1/3'rd of "The Alamo."

The Battle of San Jacinto, considered one of the world's 10 most decisive battles has rarely been shown on in depth on film. This one shown in this latest rendition of "The Alamo" was pretty darn exciting to watch and I thought Dennis Quaid's portrayal of General Sam Houston was as good as it gets, almost worth the price of admission alone. All Americans should appreciate Sam Houston and his "Texicans" for with that victory against Santa Anna and his army eventually gave our country almost half its entire land mass. There I go, another braggin' Texan, eh?

Being from the Houston area, most every Spring my grade school class would take an annual sojourn to the San Jacinto battlefield, the "Washington-monument like" ** San Jacinto Monument and the vintage World War II Battleship Texas nearby just off the Houston Ship Channel.

FUN! FUN! FUN! Jeez! The fun we kids had on that old WWII battleship. Espeically when we could sit on the anti-aircraft guns and revolve around on its axis just like they did in the World War II movies. Battleship Texas park officials eventually locked the anti-aircraft guns so kids (and, uh, "BIG" kids) couldn't do all that revolving around on them, though.

The trip to the aforementioned Houston area historical sites was an annual event each Spring for my class. I suppose our teachers couldn't think of much else to do in the Houston area that would be considered educational and would also get them out of the classroom, too! LOL! (We did sneak in a couple trips to the Hermann Park Zoo, though).

BACK TO THE ALAMO: Touchstone Pictures should have left Ron Howard as director of this movie, but because of their not wanting to accomodate Howard's requests for the making of this movie they are now trying to recoop their losses.

** Some federales in Washington D.C. got pissed at us Texans for building the San Jacinto monument to look almost identical to the Washington Monument BUT also.......making it "TALLER" than the Washington Monument is what got em' the most! As G(T)NT always ends his post: GOD BLESS TEXAS!

Edited May 16, 2004 by PlummMeanGreen

meangreendork · May 16, 2004

Three really great foreign horror films that could possibly make you toss out your US horror flicks:

"The Eye"- a girl gets an eye transplant and starts to see things...a fairly decent story, but the way the director scares the audience is great. The film was done on a very small budget, but it's well done. Filmed in China and Thailand

"Tomei Replay"- a girl has a dismembered human head removed from her abdomen. The head grows a body and things get ugly from there. The Japanese director takes a manga story and turns it into a good film.

"Ringu"- the Japanese fim that "The Ring" was based upon...much more frightening than the US version.

eagle60 · May 16, 2004

Plumm, your movie review was excellent. Sure enough the coverage of the San Jacinto battle was great. Yes, Dennis Quaid spoke some powerful words as Sam Houston. It got my "combat face" fixed on.

The movie is still being shown in theatres in areas of Central California where the "Okies" and Texans migrated to during the depression! The little towns around are revealing something here!

PlummMeanGreen · May 18, 2004

Three really great foreign horror films that could possibly make you toss out your US horror flicks:
"The Eye"- a girl gets an eye transplant and starts to see things...a fairly decent story, but the way the director scares the audience is great. The film was done on a very small budget, but it's well done. Filmed in China and Thailand
"Tomei Replay"- a girl has a dismembered human head removed from her abdomen. The head grows a body and things get ugly from there. The Japanese director takes a manga story and turns it into a good film.
"Ringu"- the Japanese fim that "The Ring" was based upon...much more frightening than the US version.

meangreendork, where can I rent such movies? My Blockbuster's never heard of them, of course, we're talking a Blockbuster's in Parker County, too.

CMJ · May 18, 2004

Most video stores have a limited foreign film library. But some of the more independednt stores(ie not a chain) have the best.

PlummMeanGreen · May 19, 2004

"Miracle"

Watched the DVD last night on our USA Olympic team's gigantic victory over Russia at Lake Placid.

Kurt Russell may have had his best performance from any other movie I've seen him in and that counts "Backdraft" among that group.

UNT's MEAN JOE GREENE IS IN "MIRACLE" ! ! ! !

That is, they show part of his "Thanks, Mean Joe" Coca Cola commercial in the movie "Miracle"...BTW, that commercial won a Cleo Award.

untbowler · May 20, 2004

You guys should check out Suicide Kings: Christopher Walken is great as the mob boss and the movie moves along with some twists.

Then one of my favorites is Rounders, if you like poker this movie is classic.

Finally check out Good Will Hunting or Bagger Vance Matt Damon is greta in both movies with a great supporting cast.

CMJ · May 20, 2004

You guys should check out Suicide Kings: Christopher Walken is great as the mob boss and the movie moves along with some twists.
Then one of my favorites is Rounders, if you like poker this movie is classic.
Finally check out Good Will Hunting or Bagger Vance Matt Damon is greta in both movies with a great supporting cast.

Yeah, all four were good movies - though I think Suicide Kings is the weakest. The best was GWH, but all are worth a look.

I'm a film nut(duh, look at the industry I'm in) and see/enjoy way too many movies to list here.

Edited May 20, 2004 by CMJ

PlummMeanGreen · May 21, 2004

Yeah, all four were good movies - though I think Suicide Kings is the weakest. The best was GWH, but all are worth a look.
I'm a film nut(duh, look at the industry I'm in) and see/enjoy way too many movies to list here.

Chris Walken is one spooky looking individual, but he was superb in Stephen King's "Dead Zone."

Edited May 21, 2004 by PlummMeanGreen

emmitt01 · May 21, 2004

I am becoming a big film enthusiast...I see movies for free with the badge...and I highly, highly recommend Troy, unless you want something true to the Illiad. If you want action, a good story and great acting then go see it. Van Helsing could have been a total bust but it was actually quite too.

And, if you can stomach buying the ticket face to face with the clerk, Mean Girls wasn't all bad either...but this is one you'll probably want to see only if you get in free or see it on DVD.

As for movies not newly released, check out:

1)Reservoir Dogs...really bloody but like all Tarantino flicks some great dialogue.

2)Momento...strange, but really good I thought.

3)Goodfellas

4)Identity...John Cusack is one of my favorites and this movie has a great twist

5)The Story of Us...I recommend this one only because I get married in a matter of two weeks or so and this movie reminds me soooo much of my fiance and I. I think any married couple will see a little truth in it.

UNTLifer · May 21, 2004

Usual Suspects: Great movie, have to pay attention, rough language, once you see the ending you will want to watch it again.

Fanof49 · May 21, 2004

4)Identity...John Cusack is one of my favorites and this movie has a great twist

Identity

I saw this when it was in the Theatre. It's a little more 'slasher-type' of movie than I normally watch, but it was captivating!

When I saw it, my wife and I disagreed on how it ended...and that led to us confusing each other further by discussing it. I'm going to rent this movie just to try and piece together the ending.

I watched Miracle last night, and it was as good as they say.

Also, some old ones...

Antwoine Fisher is a good rental.

If you've got a date with your wife/girlfriend and need a 'chick-flick' type of movie, see Somewhere in Time. It's an old movie (80's) with Christopher Reeve and Jane Seymour. Interesting time-travel movie.

Edited May 21, 2004 by Fanof49

Topper1974 · May 21, 2004

Hello everyone, this is my first time post on your board. I'm a WKU fan, but I try to keep up with things at the other Sun Belt institutions. I'll have to echo a couple of the other recommendations that have been made on the board.

The Usual Suspects-an ABSOLUTE must. Kevin Spacey does and excellent job in it and the twists and turns the movie takes are awesome. You do definitely need to pay attention throughout the movie. The ending threw just about everyone I knew for a loop, and it does make you want to watch it again.

Memento-is also a wonderful movie with a lot of twists. It's very well written and it is a lot of fun to follow.

Identity-finally saw it a couple of weeks ago, and I really enjoyed it. It is somewhat a slasher flick, but it does have a ncie twist at the end of the movie that make it worth seeing.

The Italian Job-it's just has a good old-time caper feel to it. It doesn't have a lot of twists and turns, but it does have some great action scenes. Plus, it has Edward Norton which is a big plus.

Speaking of Edward Norton, I'll through in three other movies that he's done that everyone should see. I think he's very under-rated as an actor, and I really like a lot of his movie choices. Three of my favorites are:

1). Primal Fear-this courtroom thriller is with Richard Gere. Gere stars as a hotshot defense attorney defending an alter boy (Norton) accused of killing an arch bishop. It has tons of twists and turns. It's the movie where I first really saw Edward Norton, and he did one heck of a job.

2) American History X-Norton was nominated for an Oscar for his performance in this movie. He plays a Neo-Nazi skinhead whose younger brother idols him, so the brother also becomes entangled in the lifestyle. Co-stars Edward Furlong & Stacy Keach.

3) Fight Club-Brad Pitt co-stars in this movie. It's directed by David Fincher, and it has some really nice cinematographer. Everyone does need a strong warning that this movie is VERY violent. When this first came out at theaters, I wasn't really inclined to see it. I mean to me, it just looked like a movie about a bunch of guys who liked to fight. Fortunately, this movie is soooo much more than that. It does have some interesting twists, but it also has a very unique way of looking at society. It addresses the who are people searching for something to give their lives some sort of meaning, but who don't want to be confined by the ways others live their lives.

Hope these recommendations help some of you guys out. I'm an avid movie buff. I have an ever-growing DVD collection with films of all types, plus I try to make it to one or two movies a week. I look forward to getting to know everyone better.

CMJ · May 21, 2004

I am becoming a big film enthusiast...

Dude, and to think of how often you made of my movie obsession.

The best films listed so far(for my money) are Memento, Usual Suspects, and Fight Club. Though just about everything mentioned is worth a look.

My favorite film of '04...and maybe the best I've seen in several years...Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. That movie has more truth about love, loss, memory, and their collective importance to us as human beings than any movie I've ever seen. A flat out masterpeice.

Edited May 21, 2004 by CMJ

PlummMeanGreen · May 21, 2004

Hello everyone, this is my first time post on your board. I'm a WKU fan, but I try to keep up with things at the other Sun Belt institutions. I'll have to echo a couple of the other recommendations that have been made on the board.
The Usual Suspects-an ABSOLUTE must. Kevin Spacey does and excellent job in it and the twists and turns the movie takes are awesome. You do definitely need to pay attention throughout the movie. The ending threw just about everyone I knew for a loop, and it does make you want to watch it again.
Memento-is also a wonderful movie with a lot of twists. It's very well written and it is a lot of fun to follow.
Identity-finally saw it a couple of weeks ago, and I really enjoyed it. It is somewhat a slasher flick, but it does have a ncie twist at the end of the movie that make it worth seeing.
The Italian Job-it's just has a good old-time caper feel to it. It doesn't have a lot of twists and turns, but it does have some great action scenes. Plus, it has Edward Norton which is a big plus.
Speaking of Edward Norton, I'll through in three other movies that he's done that everyone should see. I think he's very under-rated as an actor, and I really like a lot of his movie choices. Three of my favorites are:
1). Primal Fear-this courtroom thriller is with Richard Gere. Gere stars as a hotshot defense attorney defending an alter boy (Norton) accused of killing an arch bishop. It has tons of twists and turns. It's the movie where I first really saw Edward Norton, and he did one heck of a job.
2) American History X-Norton was nominated for an Oscar for his performance in this movie. He plays a Neo-Nazi skinhead whose younger brother idols him, so the brother also becomes entangled in the lifestyle. Co-stars Edward Furlong & Stacy Keach.
3) Fight Club-Brad Pitt co-stars in this movie. It's directed by David Fincher, and it has some really nice cinematographer. Everyone does need a strong warning that this movie is VERY violent. When this first came out at theaters, I wasn't really inclined to see it. I mean to me, it just looked like a movie about a bunch of guys who liked to fight. Fortunately, this movie is soooo much more than that. It does have some interesting twists, but it also has a very unique way of looking at society. It addresses the who are people searching for something to give their lives some sort of meaning, but who don't want to be confined by the ways others live their lives.
Hope these recommendations help some of you guys out. I'm an avid movie buff. I have an ever-growing DVD collection with films of all types, plus I try to make it to one or two movies a week. I look forward to getting to know everyone better.

Thanks Topper1974, good to get some objective reviews from other Sun Belters!

Welcome to GoMeanGreen.com's M-O-V-I-E-O-L-A !

Edited May 21, 2004 by PlummMeanGreen

PlummMeanGreen · May 23, 2004

Was at WalMart last night and purchased the 1997 movie "The Net" with Sandra Bullock. Wonder why this Austin, Texas, beauty is still a single woman is beyond me.

"The Net" is a very entertaining and suspenseful movie about how one's life (Bullock's) is erased from existence. Its theme of how the internet, computers, etc, have most everything we do recorded is kinda' bothersome and almost spooky in a way.

Dennis Miller plays the part of Bullock's psychiatrist in this movie. I had forgotten that he was in the movie as I saw it when it first came out.

eagle60 · May 24, 2004

Recent additions to my DVD collection are Captain & Commander-Far Side of the World, The Road to Perdition, and Big Fish. Even my neighbors line up to borrow one!

Greenballer · May 24, 2004

I really enjoy a lot of the movies listed above. One movie I haven't seen listed that most people haven't seen is Frailty with Bill Paxton. That was a great movie that kind of flew in under the radar.