Happy New Year!

I almost forgot to wish everyone a Happy New Year!

"Be always at war with your vices, at peace with your neighbors, and let each new year find you a better man. " Ben Franklin

Our Movie Date Will Rule In 2009

Almost everyone in the United States watches TV. However, many people don't know about the impending TV blackout.


In a throwback to the Y2K transition, a number of Web sites are running countdown clocks that, presently, read "426 days, 8 hours, 39 minutes, 31 seconds." That is the time remaining until Feb. 17, 2009, the deadline set by Congress when all US broadcasters must cease analog broadcasting and switch to all-digital signals.

As this date approaches, interested parties are ratcheting up the debate over a number of important questions, including:

How prepared are the government and the broadcast industry for the changeover?
How aware is the public of the transition?
Who is most likely to be affected by the change?
What technical issues need to be resolved before the transition happens?

You can read more about this issue at eMarketer.

Personally, I think the most important question is what Movie Blog will capture the attention of the American Public because, let's face it, when the TV screens go dark in 2009 the only choice we'll have to be entertained by the boob tube is to pop in a DVD and watch movies. Forget about video games, the Wii and XBOX 360!

Bad for Television, but GREAT for sites like Our Movie Date!

Hopefully, OMD can keep this in mind from this point moving forward so we can post regularly and build a steady following leading up to this fateful year.

Who knows, in another year DVD's may become obsolete and everyone will be participating in Virtual Reality ala the Star Trek Holodeck.

Until then, we encourage you to visit this site often and tell your family and friends about us.

If, by some chance, Television and Movies go the way of the dinosaur we might just have to start a new blog - - one about books perhaps!

Could you imagine the length of time between posts on that site? CRIPES! Let's hope it doesn't come to that any time soon.

Blockbuster Favors Facebook Users

Ok, is anyone else fired up with Blockbuster over their preferential treatment of Facebook users?

This weekend I finally spent some time setting-up an account on Facebook. I was thrilled when I learned that they have a new Facebook widget called Movie Clique and that you can link it to your exisiting Blockbuster Online account.

What pissed me off was when I learned that they were offering THE SAME TYPE OF SUBSCRIPTION for a much lower rate to Facebook users! Talk about feeling as though I was just slapped in the face with a book from these corporate executives.

I'm paying $19.99/month and new subscribers through this Facebook application will only be charged a whopping $3.99/month.

I may be missing something, but even if it's only a special introductory offer for a few months it's still much cheaper than the one I was offered ($14.99 for the first 3 months).

I wonder why there's such a major difference between in-store customers and online customers who sign up for this subscription.

Who decides these things?

EFFECTIVE IMMEDIATELY...

So, I see that Wifey posted recently by putting a cute little Christmas widget of our family on here a few weeks back.

Uh-huh. I get it.

She likes to post on here, but doesn't like to do movie reviews of the classics as planned! Just kidding Wifey. The amount of time since our last movie date is just as much my fault as it is yours.

(Have to write that so I'm not on the couch tonight)

As we approach the end of the year with only 3 movies reviewed since we started this way back in July/August I've decided to shake things up - - dramatically.

EFFECTIVE IMMEDIATELY: Instead of reviewing only the movies from the AFI list, we will post reviews on EVERY movie we rent and watch from this point forward. That includes classics, new releases and personal favorites.

So, sit back and enjoy the ride! Things should get a lot more interesting around here fast.

Merry Christmas!

REVIEW: Rear Window

Seeing this post you're probably just as shocked as I was when Wifey came to me on Saturday night (10:15pm to be exact) and said, "Why don't we watch Rear Window as our next OMD movie?" It's been a month since our last review so of course I said YES even though Bonnie & Clyde was listed as our next film - - oh well! This 1954 Alfred Hitchcock classic is #48 on the all-time greatest list so it actually beat out Taxi Driver, which was #52. Watch Trailer.

WIFEY'S REVIEW

So, we are onto our 3rd movie and I must say this one was pretty good. We’re on a roll now! This is the 2nd movie in a row that’s in color so now I’m having fun!

We started our movie date on Saturday at 10:28pm, but then had to stop it at 11:50pm seeing my Hubby and I were falling asleep, but then picked it back up on Sunday at 9:49pm and finished it at 10:35pm, and this is how it went…

I have to laugh at these old movies because the scenery is so fake. One big thing that really bothered me this whole movie was that no one in their apartments had window shades up and for some reason if there was one or two you could see right through them! Not something I would want in my apartment with all those peeping toms!

Ok, so this guy the main character is named L.B. Jeffries and he is wheelchair bound seeing as how he broke his leg (which we have no clue how and they don’t give you a lot a background on this fellow) and he has this wonderful girlfriend taking care of him, but do you think for once he wanted to marry her? NO! All he wanted was someone to cook and take care of him. SCUM!!! I guess even back then men were afraid of commitment.

Here’s a question…Why is it called Rear Window? When I hear that I think that I’m sitting in a car not an apartment in his living room. Anyways, here’s some positive feedback. I really liked the suspense that this movie gave me because there were times I was clutching onto Hubby’s arm wondering if someone else was going to get whacked.

I also liked the fact that they were laid back actresses and actors. I can’t tell you how many times they screwed up their lines and they kept on going.

***WARNING: SPOILER ALERT! MOVIE ENDING GIVEN AWAY!***

So, here’s the end result of this movie. The girlfriend of L.B. Jeffries goes and gets arrested for breaking and entering the murderer’s apartment and she gets all the evidence needed to put this guy behind bars and all he does is say thanks, but still no marriage! He falls out of his window while fighting with the murderer and the movie ends with him having 2 broken legs.

I would say that this movie moves right to the front of the line. I give it 4 Ben & Jerry’s. So long until next time!

HUBBY'S REVIEW

I was absolutely thrilled when Wifey suggested we watch Rear Window. To be honest, I have a bit of a man crush on James Stewart not to mention Alfred Hitchcock. Both were some of the all-time greats in their profession. Throw in Grace Kelly (I'm not much of a guy who likes blondes, but B-B-BABY!!!) and you have a recipe for a great film. I also thought it was pretty neat that this was the first Hitchcock movie that Lindsay had ever seen.

So, the stage was set and we were ready to rock and roll. For those of you who haven't seen this classic, but are wondering if there's a modern equivalent think of this past year's hit Disturbia.

This particular film is completely Hitchcockian (what a fun word!) in that it's another visual study of human nature.

Nurse Stella, the no-nonsense, straight-shooter said it best in one of the opening lines of the film when she said, "We've become a race of Peeping Toms. What people outta do is get out of the house and look in at their own lives for a change." Certainly, the same could be said for today's reality-show saturated society.

The film does take some time to build up some speed and suspense and I think that was bugging Lindsay. After about an hour, she looked like she wanted to throw herself out of a window!

I kept trying to tell her, however, that movies back then were all about the story, the acting and the directing. They were so much more well written than they are today. The actors were "real" too. They just felt like people you could know in your life and identify with. Yet, when they did fumble their lines a few times I felt like I was watching an episode of Lindsay's favorite soap General Hospital.

A majority of the camera angles are from inside L.B. Jeffries' (played by James Stewart) apartment. Hitchcock brilliantly put the audience in the SAME position as our hero when you think about it because the moviegoers would've been in a darkened theater looking through a window of sorts (i.e. movie screen) seeing the same things from the same perspective. A really neat twist that I never thought of before.

I won't ruin how it ends, but I will say that the last 20-30 minutes are some of the most suspenseful scenes in the movie and in movie history at the time.

In conclusion, this classic is simply a study of obsessive human curiosity and voyeurism.

I give it 4 Ben & Jerry's as well, which means this film gets a OMD rating of 4 Ben & Jerry's Ice Creams.

Oh yeah, and I think the reason why EVERYONE's apartment was visible due to open windows was because of the unprecedented heat wave that swept through that part of Manhattan that week of the summer. They were all trying to stay as cool as possible.

At least I'd like to think that a master of cinema like Hitchcock would've thought of this and had an explanation built into the story.

Brits Have It Right

At least our English counterparts know horror when they see it.

Earlier today, I wrote a post about a TIME online article in which Bambi is included as one of the "Top 25 Horror Movies of All Time."

It was refreshing to read just a few hours later about a recent British poll that voted on the scariest movies of all time. Specifically, the "HMV 2007 Annual Horror Poll Top 10."

Oh yeah, missing from their list? No cartoon characters and especially not Bambi!

The Exorcist took the top spot followed by The Shining and Halloween respectively.

Nice job! Cheerio!

We're Baaaacckk!

We thought it was fitting to make a formal announcement on Halloween that no we haven't forgotten about this project of ours.

We realize it's been a full month and a half since our last review, but things have been EXTREMELY crazy lately (here's a secret...Wifey's been a stick in the mud on this! LOL). And by "crazy" I mean to say that Wifey has been dragging her feet on wanting to watch another classic film.

That's right, I wrote it. I get the distinct feeling that she's none too thrilled about watching 73 more movies, several of which were at the theaters BEFORE she was even born. If it doesn't have color, a love story element, and a name and a face that she recognizes she doesn't want to see it!

She'll probably tell you that it's my turn to pick the next movie we watch so it's my responsibility to make things happen. Good excuse. I would respond by saying that it's kinda hard (the thrill is gone) when my partner in crime doesn't seem as excited as me about all of this. In fact, I don't even think she's read the last review posted about Taxi Driver yet.

That gives me an idea! Maybe what she needs is a movie that has more of a romantic element to it or a love interest of some kind.

Maybe we'll go with Bonnie & Clyde next. That settles it! Consider it done!

Lastly, in an effort to update this on a more regular basis (weekly is the plan) we're going to make a "rule" that every time we order 3 new movies from our Blockbuster Online account we have to make sure that at least 1 of them is from our OMD Queue.

That should speeds things up a bit.

Thank you to those of you who have patiently followed this site anxiously waiting for the next review. The wait is finally over!

Who Knew?

Who knew that a Disney cartoon from 1942 could strike fear and horror into the hearts of men and women everywhere?

Thanks to TIME for releasing this list of their Top 25 Horror Movies yesterday.

One entry they included on this list clearly illustrates the absurdity that can some times override our better judgment.

Surprisingly, they listed Bambi (1942) as one of the “Top 25 Horror Movies of All Time” because the film has a “primal shock that still haunts oldsters who saw it 40, 50, 65 years ago.”

Seriously? Seriously.

That’s interesting because I’ve never heard about anyone walking into a Blockbuster Video store on Halloween night looking for Bambi.

REVIEW: Taxi Driver

It's been almost an entire month since our last post and a 2 full months since our first review. I'm pleased to report that we've finally completed our second movie date. This time it was the #52 movie on AFI's list - - Taxi Driver.

This 1976 classic directed by Martin Scorsese and starring a very young Robert De Niro is at its simplest a story about a NYC cabbie who's ready to snap. Yet, like the main character there's so much more going un beneath the surface. Watch Trailer.


WIFEY'S REVIEW

Ok, second movie date and I got to choose this one. I was thinking a nice movie with some action seeing it was about driving in a taxi. Boy was I wrong!!!

We started the movie around 8:30pm and ended at 11pm. I had to stop at points to collect myself. This was a very hard movie to sit through. Now that I'm thinking about it, I think I would watch Citizen Kane 10 more times before I watch this one again.

This is how it went down...

In the beginning, there was lots of music and hardly any talking (BORING) and then Robert De Niro as the main actor (he was a VERY negative man). Not only was he a pill popper and a drinker, but he was also addicted to porn movie theaters (not someone I want driving me around). But I can say that when it came to asking a lady out he was very confident. He marched right into her office and asked her right out. His only downfall was that on the first date he took her to a movie. A porn movie!

One thing that really bothered me was that this guy Travis only slept once during the whole 2.5 hours we watched this movie. This was a very slow movie until we got to the very last half hour where it quickly became a violent movie.

Travis flipped out and wanted to kill all the pimps in the movie. Oh, did I forget to mention Jodi Foster (all of 13) was the main prostitute in the movie? Nice. So, the ending consisted of a major bloodbath. Sooooo not a chick flick!

I would rate this movie 1 out of 5 Ben & Jerry's Ice Creams. Next movie, I promise, will be a chick flick in some way!


HUBBY'S REVIEW

I guess it's fitting that waiting for this movie date was like waiting for a taxi in a major city.

I had seen this movie just once before and that was back in 1998 so this was like a new one to me. I knew from one of the opening lines ("Thank God for the rain that washed the garbage and the trash off the sidewalks...") that this was going to be a positive and uplifting film.

On a side note before I get started, what was America's fascination with taxi's in the '70s? Wasn't there a TV show - - a comedy - - about taxi drivers? Was that the glamorous profession of choice back then? But I digress.

Only 20 minutes into the movie I wrote down that Lindsay's face looked "priceless" so we were off to another great start.

I really like Wifey's point about De Niro's character Travis. This guy was a pretty shadey character himself. Ironic, because he hates everyone he deems "immoral" on the city streets ("This city is like an open sewer..."). Perhaps he hates them because they remind him of the things he hates about himself.

Movie Date Tip #1: On a first date, never, ever take her to a porno!

Movie Date Tip #2: The next day when you call to make nice, never, ever suggest that maybe the reason why she reacted the way she did is because she had "a virus" and is sick!

How twisted is that? This guy labels everyone who's not like him as being the problem. CLICHE ALERT: Now that's the pot calling the kettle black.

I did note how it was interesting to me that the same things that the public debates today (i.e. social issues/causes) were being debated by cabbies on their break back in the mid-'70s.

The gratuitous violence aside (nothing compared to today's standards, but at the time considered so), a couple of my major complaints involve stereotypes. First, why is it that Hollywood portrayed EVERY Vietnam Veteran as a social outcast who was a mass murderer in waiting? Remember Rambo? Second, why is it that Hollywood portrayed (and continues to potray) Christians as wackos ready to kill?

I can't remember the last time I heard about a war veteran or a Christian going on a killing spree. Quite the contrary! Just bothers me every time.

Wifey also mentioned the Jodi Foster character. If I remember correctly, Scorsese took a lot of heat for allowing an underage Foster to potray a prostitute in this film and there were allegations of subjecting her to a form of child abuse through this role.

It's frightening to think that there are people like this guy walking around every day and that these ticking time bombs are just waiting to explode.

It's fascinating that if Travis would've killed the Senator and Presidential candidate he would've been a villain. He kills a member of the mafia and a pimp (and saves a young runaway prostitute in the process) and he's instead a hero.

In the end, the entire movie is a prime example of what the world and society is like once God is removed. When people's hearts and minds are constantly focused on things like sin, the result is unfortunately a world that resembles the evil that exists in those innermost hidden parts. Only by changing hearts and minds to meditate on good, pure things will the world finally change for the better.

I gave Taxi Driver 3 Ben & Jerry's Ice Creams out of 5. Under our rating system that means that this movie earns 2 Ben & Jerry's Ice Creams from OMD.