Mario Live! » Movies

Why American Gangster Really Had An End And Why Free Downloading Is Not Free At All

Mario — Sat, 13 Nov 2010 14:39:48 +0000

A while ago when I was having a drink with my mates I had this conversation with René. This time it was about the Ridley Scott movie American Gangster with Denzil Washington and Russel Crowe. At one point René told me that he didn’t like that movie very much as it ended kind of abrupt. He thought it was very disappointing to watch a movie that was also nominated for an Academy Award and that ended that suddenly.

I was flabbergasted at that moment and we talked about the ending of the movie. It seemed that he and his wife had missed the last fifteen minutes of the movie. When I told him how the version ended that I saw (I’ve seen so many movies in the meantime that I don’t really remember at the time of writing this down) het turned to his wife and said:

"Sweetheart, Mario just told me that Amercian Gangster really had an end with closure and all."

My suggestion was to go to the shop where he purchased his DVD and ask for a full functioning version as there was clearly a flaw in the DVD he’d bought. René told me that he had borrowed the DVD by a friend we have in common. This friend had downloaded the movie for free from the Internet via a Usenet server.

I guess there is no one out there who never had listened to music or watched a movie that was downloaded from the Internet. You maybe have experienced it by yourself that a movie borrowed from the Internet wasn’t complete.

My first reaction was that our friend didn’t download this movie for free as he had to pay $10,- a month for making use of the Usenet server. Let’s be realistic here, $10 a month is not free. OK, the guy had complete hard discs full of movies. More movies than he will ever be able to watch. It’s a kind of a sport. He is always happy to have movies or TV shows that are not even available in the Netherlands at the moment he downloaded them.

I don’t know about you but I don’t enjoy bootlegs. Watching a movie that just plays in theatres filmed from the screen with a lousy sound isn’t my kind of sport.

Our download friend said with a smile on his face that most people don’t even know how downloading stuff via Usenet works. Yes, this was one thing he seemed to be very proud of.

So here is how it works in a nutshell and this isn’t meant to encourage you to do this (I would never encourage you to do anything illegal):

Every file on the Usenet server is in fact a text file. No text files you could read by any means. No, if you open them you see weird character combinations. But if you download, combine and decode all the files needed for this particular movie with a special program you have the DVD files. Sometimes they are incomplete. This depends. Don’t ask me on what but it depends. So the result is an illegal downloaded movie and the quality isn’t guaranteed either.

Is this a hassle? Now, yes. And of course you have to keep in mind that you still have to pay for using this servers. So for 30 bucks you have 3 month to download whatever you want illegally.

Luckily the movie industry isn’t as ignorant as the music industry was when the download trend showed up years ago. So there had to come a way to download movies legally and it should have some important advantages for the one who downloads them. As there are:

No risk of spyware or viruses
The downloader owns the movie just as if he had purchased the DVD at the mall
The pricing is the same or lower than making use of the described servers
No need for installation of any software that slows down your computer in the long run by blowing up the registry
No chance to get sued. No trial. No enormous fines that could rip you off or even worse: prison time
No movies that end abrupt because someone missed a file to add
Fast download
Crisp HD quality and sound
Hassle free

Do the math one more time and see what kind of pricing the following two sites have to offer:

Movies Capital has the following three membership models:

Platinium Unlimited
For $39,95 you can download unlimited movies for 2 years.
Gold 50 Movies
You can download 50 movies for $34,95.
Silver 25 Movies
Download 25 movies for $29,95

Of course there are no hidden fees. For more details on their offers please visit the Movies Capital website.

Full Movies has the following membership models:

Platinium
For 5 years of unlimited download access you pay $39,95
Gold
This gives you 1 year of unlimited access for the price of $34,95
Silver
If you think you have downloaded enough movies withing 3 month you can go for this one for $29,95. This access is unlimited as well.

For the full details of their offer please visit the Full Movies website.

Have fun with your legal downloads and most of all with your movies.

A Ice Cold Fist Grabbed My Heart

Mario — Wed, 14 Jan 2009 01:59:36 +0000

It’s a couple of weeks ago already that I watched the movie Hotel Rwanda with Don Cheadle, Nick Nolte en Sophie Okonedo. In the first place I wasn’t sure if I could and should write a review about this movie. This was because of two reasons: the first one was that I couldn’t find the words to describe the emotions I had during and after watching it. The second reason was that my reviews are normally light hearted written and let’s face it, it’s very different to write about the booty of an actress or about a genocide where about 1 million people where killed within 3 months.The movie lay on my table for a while before I decided to watch it at last. After Blood Diamonds and The last King of Scotland I needed a time out. As I told in my review of the latter, I don’t like movies that show a overload of violence. Just as the in The last King of Scotland, a sublime work was done by not going into much detail regarding the violence. The story of it’s own was violent enough to make me feel as if a ice cold fist had grabbed my heart. I was ashamed. Ashamed about the fact that while this happened the whole world had looked aside. Me, you, the rest of the world. We all heard it in the media about Hutu where killing Tutsi with machetes. Slaughtering innocent people. I can’t describe the feeling I had in a other way than this. I was ashamed and wondered why and how the following is possible: a horrible act of violence committed in WWII, when a genocide took place and 6 million people where murdered, is still discussed every given day after more than 60 years, while a genocide where 1 million people got murdered is ignored while it happened?
I just don’t get it. Are we out of our minds?

Having written this, it is maybe clear why it isn’t easy for me to write a review about this movie. The subject is absorbing me in a way that I drift off. OK, you already guessed rigth that I recommend this movie. Here’s why:

Image via Wikipedia

From the very first moment I was in the ban of Don Cheadle’s convincing acting performance. I’m glad that he at least was nominated for an Academy Award.

My reaction is a proof that this movie has reached his goal. It make’s you think. This all goes hand in hand with an outstanding cast and a good camera work.

Again, I can highly recommend this movie and give it 5 stars out of 5.

Thanks you for reading this.

Mario.

It’s Not The Blues, It’s Her…

Mario — Wed, 07 Jan 2009 00:00:48 +0000

OK, it sounds a little like defending myself by saying that I watch a movie purley because of it’s content. As there is the plot, the cast, the soundtrack and the composition of camera shots. But it’s true. What is also true is the fact that I never was one of those who said that Christina Ricci is a great looking actress. She is a very good actress, no doubt about that, but I never considered her as great looking.

That said, I have to admit that there were three reasons for me to watch the movie Black Snake Moan:

Christina Ricci’s body
Christina Ricci’s body
and last but not least
Christina Ricci’s body

Shame on me! But I can explain: I like Samual Jackson as well. He was drawing my attention first when I was looking at the cover of the DVD and I thougth: ‘Cool, a movie with Samual Jackson tonight!’ My second thought was: ‘You’re kidding, this amazing looking babe beside him is Ms Ricci?’ So, I had to see it. And I really liked the movie, the acting and all. What I did not like that much was when Samual Jackson started singing. They should have leave the singing part to Justin Timberlake, who played a role also.

However, the unusual plot of an sex-addicted girl (Ricci) and a Blues singer (Jackson) who is a god fearing man (don’t know if I say this correct) who ties her with a chain to a radiator made everything good. He ties her to the radiator to heal her from her addiction, after he found her half death on the street.

I don’t have much understanding of the Blues part and it’s not my favorite music, but I think that fans will love the soundtrack. It’s a movie I recommended to my friend Pedro, and when I dare recommending a movie to him, I dare recommending it to everybody. There was no unnecessary length or something else that annoyed me. An easy-watching movie with a surprisingly sexy…you know who.

Have fun!

Mario

Light Of My Life, Fire Of My Loins, My Sin, My Soul…

Mario — Wed, 31 Dec 2008 00:00:14 +0000

If you read this title of the today’s Wednesday Movie Review, you can already guess that I watched recently the 1997 remake of the literary movie LOLITA with Jeremy Irons and Dominique Swain.

Together with my girlfriend I enjoyed every single one of the in total 137 minutes of the movie. Just like Leone would have done, Adrian Lyne took these shots that told the story together with the music, written and orchestrated by Ennio Morricone. This is one of the reasons that this movie made a lasting impression on me. The story by Vladimir Nabokov, the acting, the music, just ever bit is a masterpiece. That’s why I give this movie 5 out of 5 stars if you ask me. And you do ask me (smirk).

After watching the movie I was searching like a maniac for a trailer on Youtube and other places on the web, but I couldn’t find any. But luckily I found something else for you: some users on Youtube were so friendly to share some lost scenes and screen test from the movie. This way I can embed in this last post of the year some extra material.

Screen test:

Lost Scenes:

Please be careful with you fireworks tonight, to make sure you can read this blog next year without depending on special usability tools.

I wish you a happy 2009 already!

Mario

P.S.: If you found any typos in this post, it’s because I am drunk already.

August Rush

Mario — Wed, 24 Dec 2008 00:00:27 +0000

Are you one of these people who always saying: ‘Oh, but this movie isn’t realistic. This can’t happen in the real world.’ If so, I’ll give you a tip: sell your TV and home cinema system on eBay. No, I am not trying to insult you, it’s just a good opener for this weeks review, because I recently saw a fairy tale mixed up in a 112 minutes music video masterpiece.

Come on, it’s Christmas, don’t be realistic and sit down, cuddling with your spouse without breaking the remote control by sitting on it and enjoy this movie. The plot is as warm as your cacao and comes right out of fairy tale tellers heart.

August Rush tells the story of two young musicians. The guitarist and singer of a rock band and the talented young cellist. They have just one romantic encounter at Washington Square in New York. The legacy of this night is a baby boy without the fathers knowing. The father of the woman makes her believe that she lost the baby when she has an accident. But baby Evan isn’t dead.
At the age of 11 orphaned Evan finds shelter by a stranger who is trying to earn money with the immense musical talent the boy has. One day he gives him the artist name August Rush, what makes him not easier to find for his mother…

Out of five stars, I give this movie 4,5 because of the awesome acting of the whole cast. The soundtrack is sublime. Especially the mixing of the classic and rock music when they show two concerts that take place at the same moment. Very enjoyable.

Merry Christmas!

Mario

Felon

Mario — Wed, 17 Dec 2008 00:00:44 +0000

When I watched this movie recently it was like one of my worst nightmares had been told by director Rick Roman Waugh. Can you imagine by just protecting your family and your properties you brake the law accidentally by yourself? This is what happens to main character Wade Porter played by Stephen Dorff.

Felon tells the story about the nice family man Wade Porter with a good future who loses all when he by accident kills a thief that broke into his house. Sentenced for manslaughter he has for the next three years to face the hard reality in prison, where the rules of the normal society are no longer valid. Whilst doing his time in prison he not just need to survive but also has to make decisions that can cost him even more years of his life.

Until now, I just knew Stephen Dorff as a vampire and I find his play very convincing. At some point the two different worlds of society and prison collide and the pain when Porter seems to lose his wife and kid is real and not over the top. On some forums I read there were complains about to much camera movements. It was OK for me, as it gave some scenes a special feel of reality, as if you are amongst the prisoners.

The story is good but has not the format of a ‘Shawshank Redemption‘, but there is no need for this. I do not compare any western with ‘Once Upon A Time In The West‘ also. The characters have enough depth to be real, especially Val Kilmer. A good movie and not just another prison story. Good for entertaining 104 minutes in front of your telly. I’ll give it 3 out of 5 stars.

The Last King Of Scotland

Mario — Wed, 10 Dec 2008 00:00:28 +0000

Just saw this amazing movie masterpiece with James McAvoy (I knew I know this guy from ‘Wanted’) as Dr. Nicholas Garrigan and Forest Whitaker in his Oscar role (2007) as Idi Amin. Of course I’ve heard the name Idi Amin when I was a boy, but I did not know that it was a dictator. (I often wonder if there is another kind of President like this out there in Afrika). When I see that this all took place in the ’70 when I was a kid, I notice that I’m getting old. But OK, that’s not the point now.
The movie was shocking at least, but not in a cheap way. The strength came pure out of the acting of the awesome cast, whilst the violence was suggested instead of shown. That made the movie confronting but not disgusting. I hate to much violence (not just in movies) and I dislike movies that are filled up with unnecessary pictures of acts of violence, just because the director wasn’t able or sensitive enough to show more with less. In this point of view ‘The Last King Of Scotland’ is an absolute winner.

The movie tells the story about a doctor from Scotland who by coincidence becomes the personal medical advisor of Idi Amin, who took Uganda over from President Obote. In the beginning Dr. Carrigan is honored, but as soon as he notices what a unbelievable beast he is working for he got big problems with his conscience.

The most scary thing about Idi Amin, as shown in the movie, was the happy, funny and almost childish behaviour. The monster that was slumbering under the surface didn’t come out to fast. In the beginning it was somewhat impossible not to like him. I think that is what it takes to make playing this role a challenge. Please keep in mind that I watched this video without any historical knowledge of the subject. When I was a thirteen year old boy I didn’t follow the news. (Gosh, was I lucky without knowing about all this bad things going on in the world).

When I have to rate the movie with a maximum of 5 stars I want to give it 4, because after approximately 1 hour and 20 minutes there is a certain length that I can’t describe. I don’t know what there could have been cut out (I guess nothing) but I had the feeling that the movie was slowing down a little, before the drive came back in the end. However, all thumbs up for the frightening play of Forest Whitaker.

Prozac Nation

Mario — Wed, 03 Dec 2008 00:00:31 +0000

This is the first edition of the Wednesday Movie Reviews that will, of course, be a regular part of this blog every Wednesday. It’s not necessarily that I talk about movies that are in theaters at the very moment. I will talk about movies that caught my attention. Therefore it can happen, like this week, that I write a review about a movie that’s a little bit older (2001) and don’t plays in theaters anymore. This week we have such a movie.

When it comes to books or movies about the use of any anti-depressive medications like Prozac, I look at it very close and maybe more careful. This is because I used anti-depressive like Lexapro and Notrilen myself (whereby the latter are Brands of certain medicines in the Netherlands). Luckily after two years I was and I am completely recovered from my depression. Besides the medication the main work was done by Paul McKenna. However, I want to review the movie and not my medical record here. Besides this, I surely wasn’t that manic depressive like the main character Elizabeth Wurtzel in this movie, that is based on a true story. I didn’t picked the movie because of the true story thing. Most of the time I don’t know this before I even push the play button of my DVD-player.

The story is about Elizabeth Wurtzel, a 19 year old girl that go’s to Harvard because she wants to become a writer. Everything works fine and she gets a job as freelancer for the Rolling Stone. She even meets Lou Reed (who plays himself in the movie). Even though she has all the fun with her girlfriends and her boyfriend she becomes depressed and her life is getting more and more out of control.

Christina Ricci plays the part of Elizabeth Wurtzel very convincing and she’s supported as well by Jessica Lang, who plays her mother. For me the most intruiging moments are when Ricci switches between the typical ups and downs of the depression very quickly. This are symptoms I could see by my grandma, who had a very bad manic depression all her life and who refused any medical support in any way. She could make your Christmas a hell and would ask you less than five minutes later if you would like to unboxing the presents. In the movie Ricci blames her mother that her father has gone and a moment later she hugs her and says crying how sorry she is about all that. A few moments later she begins blaming again. A very annoying situation, not just for the depressive patient but also for the people who have to cope with such a person. The fact that you begin to dislike Ricci is the proof of her acting talent. Keep in mind that she is playing a role whilst watching this movie.
As this movie is very close to reality I wouldn’t recommend it to people who are in a depression (in my case it proves that I am over it). Everyone else I can surly recommend it. For the very good play of Ricci and Lang I would give the movie 3,5 stars out of 5.

Newsflash About Horacio Cane – Dead or Not?

Mario — Fri, 28 Nov 2008 03:19:38 +0000

You know what annoys most viewers of CSI (Vegas), CSI Miami and CSI New York in the Netherlands? It’s the stupid kind of broadcasting. RTL4 and RTL5 seem not to be able to broadcast the episodes in the right order. When there is a episode that says in the end ‘to be continued’, guess what? In stead of showing the next episodes where whole the Netherlands is waiting for, they first show us for a couple of weeks some episodes from older seasons. Why they are doing that? Before I give my opinion I want to share with you the video that solves the riddle about Horacio Canes death last week.

In my opinion they think the Dutch viewers are silly and so they try to attract them to watch every week. More viewers, more income in advertising. Keep the stupid people a couple of weeks longer in front of their tellies. Duh, this is unnecessary dumbos! They already watch every effing week, even if there is no CSI. Savvy?

My plae to the responsible persons at RTL: CSI is one of your greatest assets. Don’t you fucking mess it up.

My Life Without Me

Mario — Thu, 30 Oct 2008 02:00:49 +0000

This is a pretty good movie, even though it did not move me as much as other movies did. It’s about a 23 years old young mother, that lives with her man and two children in a trailer in her mothers backyard. One day she get the diagnosis that has only 2 or 3 month to life. Thats it.
She begins with a list (yes, call it a Bucket List if you want) and prepares herself and her unknowing family for her death.
It’s a surprisingly good movie, worth your time. OK, at least worth my time.

My Life Without Me [Region 2]
My Life Without Me

Mario Live! » Movies

Why American Gangster Really Had An End And Why Free Downloading Is Not Free At All

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A Ice Cold Fist Grabbed My Heart

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It’s Not The Blues, It’s Her…

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