A Visit to the Cinema Wellman DVD Vault
Hello and welcome to Cinema Wellman. I’m your host David, and today we’re going to take advantage of Chet’s absence as he takes his daughter to college to take another trip to the Cinema Wellman DVD vault. Chet doesn’t like when I venture into the vault, so I waited until he was away.
Have a great year, Chloe! Go you Huskies!
The first time we ventured into the Cinema Wellman vault we looked at some odd multi movie packs I collected over the years, and today we’re going to take a look at some DVDs that I actually purchased at some point in my life because, I guess, I thought I needed to own them.
I’ve mentioned earlier that at the peak of my DVD madness my collection consisted of well over 300 movies.
My half a house on Franklin had a sweet walk-in pantry with a bunch of shelves for tons of food storage, and I used it to store all of my DVDs.
So, there’s that.
There's no denying that I’m a big fan of rewatching movies. I once had a database of all the films I had seen over 10 times, and it was over 100 films long, so I absolutely love a rewatch.
JAWS every 4th of July, annual screenings of The Big Lebowski, New Year’s Eve viewings of Casablanca with meatloaf…
Yes. Yes. And, yes.
But…300 DVDs?
Was that pantry the Criterion Closet? (I wish!)
So let’s begin with a Rom-Com!?!
Love Actually (2003)
R/135 m/IMDb: 7.5/directed by Richard Curtis
What on earth is going on?! With everything I’ve said over the years about how much I dislike “Rom-Coms,” why on earth would I own a copy, Blu-Ray no less, of a HOLIDAY ROM COM?!?!
Well, do you have anything in your possession directly related to an ex?
Yes?
No?
Don’t want to think about it?
I bought it because I thought we’d watch it together for many years.
Haven’t watched it in ten years.
You want it? E-mail be your address. It’s yours.
Unknown (2006)
NR/85 m/IMDb: 6.4/directed by Simon Brand
IMDb: “Five men wake up in a locked-down warehouse with no memory of who they are. They are forced to figure out who is good and who is bad to stay alive.”
This is an excellent cat-and-mouse thriller that will keep you guessing throughout.
The cast is tremendous. Those five men are played by Jim Caviezel, Greg Kinnear, Joe Pantoliano, Barry Pepper, and Jeremy Sisto, so the 85 minutes are in good hands.
I remember buying this because I thought it would be a good movie to screen with guests, something they probably hadn’t seen.
I don’t recall how it ends, so I’m pulling this one out of the vault for a…REWATCH!
Next up is another film with the same title!
Unknown (2011)
PG-13/113 m/IMDb: 6.8/directed by Jaume Collet-Serra
You know what’s “unknown” about this movie, other than the title?
My memory of anything about it other than it stars Liam Neeson.
Hence my referring to this DVD “thing” as madness or a problem.
You know what else is “unknown” about this movie?
Why I bought it.
The box says something about a coma and Diane Kruger and January Jones.
Nope. Still unknown.
Next, a movie NOT titled Unknown, but another ROM-COM?!?!
Kate & Leopold (2001)
PG-13/118 m/IMDb: 6.4/directed by James Mangold
Let’s go to IMDb to see if there’s a valid explanation for this.
IMDb: “An English Duke from 1876 is inadvertently dragged to modern day New York where he falls for a plucky advertising executive.”
Well, there you go. It’s a “Time-Travel Rom-Com!”
It certainly wasn’t that plucky ad exec.
She’s played by Meg Ryan, the Duke is played by Hugh Jackman, and there’s a solid supporting cast of Liev Schreiber, Natasha Lyonne, and Bradley Whitford.
I liked this, but it still doesn’t explain why I’m holding a copy of it in my hands.
At least there are no more Rom-Coms on the list.
Oh good god, what fresh hell is this?
Catch and Release (2006)
PG-13/124 m/IMDb: 5.9/directed by Susannah Grant
No time travel this time, just Jennifer Garner grieving her fiancé’s death and learning about his secrets?
What the shit?
I love Timothy Olyphant, but really, folks.
No excuse for this one either.
And again, send me an e-mail with your address.
American Hustle (2013)
R/138 m/IMDb: 7.2/directed by David O. Russell
I can explain this one! Really I can.
It earned 10 Academy Award nominations, including Best Picture AND the cast includes some people I have always enjoyed over the years; Jennifer Lawrence, Amy Adams, Christian Bale, and to a lesser extent Bradley Cooper.
There was tons of hype surrounding it when it came out and everyone was raving about it.
I missed it in the theaters, so I considered it a must own without seeing it.
Boy, do I wish this was the ONLY time I ever did that!
Fool me once…etc.
Million Dollar Baby (2004)
PG-13/132 m/IMDb: 8.1/directed by Clint Eastwood
Let’s begin by saying this is a tremendous film. Nominated for six and winner of four Academy Awards, and all four were “biggies!”
Best Supporting Actor: Morgan Freeman
Best Actress: Hilary Swank
Best Director: Clint Eastwood
And Best Picture
A great sports film with themes of determination and courage.
A great boxing film with the grizzled old coach and the up and coming fighter.
If you’ve seen this, you also know how stunningly heartbreaking it is.
I know I saw this in the theater because my mom pretty much forced me to go.
“YOU HAVE TO SEE THIS!”
The ending, of course, hit me like a sledgehammer, which brings up the question…
Why would I buy the DVD?!?! This isn’t something I want to watch over and over. I honestly never want to watch it again!
Did I think the DVD would have a different ending?
I’m honestly starting to question a lot of my past DVD purchases.
Well at least I never bought a copy of…
The DaVinci Code (2006)
PG-13/149 m/IMDb: 6.6/directed by Ron Howard
Are you serious?!?
I loved this book. I remember not being able to put it down, and I think I read it in two days.
Then I was excited to find out that Ron Howard was going to direct Tom Hanks in the film version.
Little did I know how horrible this movie would be. It’s absolutely horrendous.
And Tom Hanks' hair?!?!
Worst Supporting Actor.
So…. why the hell did I spend actual money on a DVD of a movie that I despised.
This mystery is much better than the one in the film.
Deep Impact (1998)
PG-13/120 m/IMDb: 6.3/directed by Mimi Leder
Oh, I actually really like this movie, and I’m going to take it out of the vault and put it in the studio collection.
I think it got sent to the vault because I find parts of it terribly heartbreaking and must have been feeling that the day the vault vs. studio collection decision was made.
IMDb will back me up: “A comet is discovered to be on a collision course with Earth. As doomsday nears, the human race prepares for the worst.”
No thank you to that in real life.
Mr. Destiny (1990)
PG-13/116 m/IMDb: 6.4/directed by James Orr
This movie will forever be grouped with Midnight Run because the all too frequent screenings of both had Lysa asking, “You’re really watching this again?”
Yep!
IMDb: “Unhappy Larry Burrows sees what his life could have been like if he had hit that winning home run as a teenager.”
Nothing really new here with the alternate paths, the road not followed, etc. etc.
That being said, I’m a total sucker for this movie. Jim Belushi is NOT a great actor, but he manages to make his way through this fantasy that has two paths; one in which he’s married to Linda Hamilton, and another in which he’s married to Rene Russo.
Boo Hoo!
This movie was made in 1990, so Michael Caine is in it, and he’s delightful as the bartender mixing up the magic cocktails for Belushi.
I’m an unapologetic fan of this movie.
Next up is a film whose title can be found on Urban Dictionary.
I did NOT know that when I added this movie to my collection.
Hard Candy (2005)
R/104 m/IMDb: 7.0/directed by David Slade
Maybe IMDb can help me; “Hayley’s a smart, charming teenage girl. Jeff’s a handsome, smooth fashion photographer. An internet chat, a coffee shop meet-up, an impromptu fashion shoot back at Jeff’s place. Jeff thinks it’s his lucky night. He’s in for a surprise.”
Take my word for it, Jeff deserves everything he gets. And more.
I hate Patrick Wilson because of this movie. I cannot watch him in anything else without getting totally skeeved out because of his character in this movie.
I remember screening this for Larry during a visit, and he was pretty much silent during the movie.
During the closing credits he looked at me and asked, “Why the hell would you show me that?!”
Valid question, indeed.
Why did I buy this DVD?
To show it to Larry I guess.
Primary Colors (1998)
R/143 m/IMDb: 6.7/directed by Mike Nichols
IMDb: “A man joins the political campaign of a smooth-operator candidate for President of the United States.”
I’m not a big John Travolta fan other than Pulp Fiction, but the supporting cast is stellar from top to bottom including Emma Thompson, Kathy Bates, Billy Bob Thornton, Blair Underwood, and Maura Tierney.
This is the story of Bill and Hillary Clinton, no doubt. It’s so thinly veiled at times that I’m wondering if any legal action was ever taken.
I realize this is fiction, but this is also a look at the world of American politics with all its sleaze, lies, and corruption.
Unfortunately, a lot of this movie seems like a documentary.
And that leaves us with one more DVD to more or less explain before we close the doors of the vault again.
Chet’s due back soon.
It’s a movie I know I’ve talked about before since there’s so much to talk about.
Phone Booth (2002)
R/81 m/IMDb: 7.1/directed by Joel Schumacher
IMDb: “Publicist Stuart Shepard finds himself trapped in a phone booth, pinned down by an extortionist’s sniper rifle.”
So, boys and girls, a phone booth is a small, often enclosed, public structure containing a telephone for making calls.
Colin Farrell plays Shepard, and even though this entire thing is pretty cheesy, I think he does an excellent job.
Shepard is NOT a likeable character by any stretch, but you can’t help but feel for him when he’s stuck in the trap of the calculating sniper who taunts him the entire time via a phone conversation.
Suspenseful cheese would be the genre I’d say this fits into.
Is that a genre?
Well, that’s a wrap from here at Cinema Wellman as we took another look into our extensive vault of DVDs that still haven’t made their way to the local library!
We hope to see you again next time as we go Back to School with Cinema Wellman!
Two different school movie episodes are in the works!
There are a morning session and an evening session!
Don’t be late for that.
And until then, take care.
