Movie Notes...

Just a couple movies notes here... Don't have time to write one of my mini reviews, but I watched the 1985 movie To Live and Die in LA the other night. This movie was on my list for a while - mostly to see the insanely well done car chase, and because of William L. Petersen (a very good actor currently of CSI Fame) - but the movie in whole was very good. It's about counterfeiting, and not just the money as the director notes in the extra features. The thing was, there are very few movies that surprise me anymore. I can usually see the plot points coming, but this one surprised me. All I knew about the movie was the car chase and the synopsis on the back. So when that twist happened with some time still left, I was actually surprised. (if you've seen the movie, you know what I mean). That's just not done nowadays, as the director Friedkin and actor Petersen go into (the studio didn't want it, but they did it anyway). That's a gutsy move, and really drove the point of the movie home. On the surface, it's a generic action movie; but looking at it deeper its a study of characters that are grey, not black and white, and some out over the edge, and their actions have consequences. Check it out, but make sure you rent the Special Edition though and watch the extras after. Caught the second part of The Lost Room sci-fi miniseries tonight, and will want to catch the finale tomorrow. It stars that guy from Six Feet Under (Peter Krause) and the nurse from ER - Julianna Margulies, who still looks really good :) Not quite sure where it's going since I didn't catch the first part, but I think I've got the gist of it. And that shootout with the comb object that pauses time was a cool twist to the standard shootout scene. Should be an interesting finish...and btw, you don't see that many miniseries on TV anymore, do you? Wonder why...