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Total Recall

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  • Title: Total Recall
  • IMDB: link

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It begins with a dream of Mars and a construction worker (Arnold Schwarzenegger) with aspirations for another life waking up in bed in a cold sweat next to his beautiful wife (Sharon Stone). Director Paul Verhoeven‘s 1990 adaptation of the Philip K. Dick short story “We Can Remember It for You Wholesale” might feel a little corny in spots (especially after more than 20 years) but it remains one of Schwarzenegger’s best films.

Despite warnings from a friend (Robert Costanzo) about rumors of lobotomized patients, Doug Quaid’s (Schwarzenegger) obsession with Mars leads him the Rekall, a company that uses memory implants to give its clients experiences of fabulous vacations including the chance to improve the fantasy by living out his vacation as a secret agent who will save the entire planet and fall in love with the woman of his dreams. Of course it doesn’t make too much arm-twisting to get Doug to buy the whole package. And that’s where the adventure really begins.

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Cat Run

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  • Title: Cat Run
  • IMDB: link

cat-run-dvdWith Cat Run director John Stockwell and screenwriters Nick Ball and John Niven deliver a derivative action flick that wants so hard to be cool it’s almost embarrassing. Mixing a healthy dose of nudity with brutal stylized violence (including torture scenes with a cigar cutter and dental drill), a plot that doesn’t make all that much sense, and intentionally bizarre characters (such as D.L. Hughley as a one-armed, no legged, office worker) Cat Run is one mess of a film.

Our story takes place in Eastern Europe where genius introvert (Scott Mechlowicz) turned failed chef and his childhood best friend (Alphonso McAuley) decide (for no apparent reason) to start a low rent detective agency above a porno theater in Montenegro. Their first client is a prostitute named Cat (Paz Vega) who stole their car and phone and is the sole remaining witness to a series of brutal murders. Well, client is a rather strong word as no one actually hired these likable but ridiculous pair to find anyone.

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The Fairest of Them All

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  • Title: Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs
  • IMDB: link

snow-white-and-the-seven-dwarfs-blu-ray75 years ago Walt Disney set out to create the first animated feature film by adapting the Brothers Grimm fairy tale of Snow White about a beautiful princess, a jealous queen, a magic mirror, and seven dwarves. Disney had to fight his business partners, movie theaters who balked at showing a full-length animated film, and a Hollywood movie business that saw the entire project as nothing more than “Disney’s Folly.”

Despite these obstacles, the film premiered to a standing ovation and went on to be the highest grossing motion picture of all time. (A record the film held until the release of Gone with the Wind.) The movie was an immediate box office and critical success that would give birth to an entire genre of animated film. Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs would be re-released in theaters eight times over the next half-century, each time earning new fans and more praise.

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Mirror Mirror

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  • Title: Mirror Mirror
  • IMDB: link

mirror-mirror-blu-rayDirected by Tarsem Singh (The Cell, The Fall) Mirror Mirror was the first of two movies this year adapting the fairy tale of Snow White for the big screen. Mirror Mirror, much like Snow White and the Huntsman, is a bit of a mixed bag. The film definitely targets a younger audience with its PG Rating, but Lily Collins‘ Snow White is a pretty drab leading lady (at least until she starts her bandit career), and, despite what we’re told in the film’s opening narration, this is certainly Snow White’s tale and not that of the Queen (Julia Roberts).

After a brief opening narration, the film opens on Snow White’s 18th birthday where she ventures out into the village for the first time since the death of her father, the King (Sean Bean), years before. On her journey she will learn just how ruthless the Queen has become, meet a charming young prince (Armie Hammer) and a motley crew of dwarf thieves pretending to be giants, and find a way to live happily ever after.

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Guilty Pleasure – The Pirate Movie

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  • Title: The Pirate Movie
  • IMDb: link

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Loosely based on Gilbert and Sullivan’s The Pirates of Penzance, 1982’s The Pirate Movie starred Kristy McNichol as mousey young Mabel lost in a dream of swashbuckling, and singing, pirates. After an accident leaves her thrown overboard and washed up on a beach, Mabel’s imagination creates a fantasy world casting herself as the youngest daughter of a Major-General (Bill Kerr) who falls for a young pirate named Frederic (Christopher Atkins) adamant on leaving his service of the Pirate King (Ted Hamilton) to start a new life.

The plot, which involves Fredric’s attempt to leave his old life behind while trying to stay true to his word and duty, is secondary to how insanely everything is played including some memorable music numbers such as “Pumpin’ and Blowin'” (you can find the video below). I’ll be honest, the film doesn’t work as well for me as it did when I was seven years-old, but it still provides enough enjoyment for me to classify it as a guilty pleasure.

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