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MOVIES: What are you watching?

K ksc02Member
quote:
Originally posted by thelostverse:
I am generally not a movie fan, at least not as my primary form of entertainment. However, as my wife is recovering from some surgery, we've watched many in the last five days.

Gran Torino
Last Chance Harvey
Defiance
Swing Vote
Fools Gold
Seven Pounds
He's Just Not That Into You
New In Town
Valkyrie

I think I've done my part for now.

Your pick for MOTW? Smile
thelostversethelostverseMember
quote:
Originally posted by KSC02:
quote:
Originally posted by thelostverse:
I am generally not a movie fan, at least not as my primary form of entertainment. However, as my wife is recovering from some surgery, we've watched many in the last five days.

Gran Torino
Last Chance Harvey
Defiance
Swing Vote
Fools Gold
Seven Pounds
He's Just Not That Into You
New In Town
Valkyrie

I think I've done my part for now.

Your pick for MOTW? Smile



I think I'd go with Defiance in a close one with Gran Torino.
glennkglennkMember
On the plane the last couple of days:

The International – Typical dark Clive Owen drama, but it kept me entertained.

Mall Cop – I was falling in and out of sleep during this one. Obviously juvenile, but I did laugh a few times….

Bride wars – Could only stand about 30 mins of this before I went back to my ipod. I don’t find Anne Hathaway attractive and while I do think Kate Hudson is cute, she is nowhere near hot enough to suffer through this movie. Avoid at all costs.
winetarelliwinetarelliMember
quote:
Originally posted by indybob:
quote:
Originally posted by GlennK:
quote:
Originally posted by winetarelli:
quote:
I don’t find Anne Hathaway attractive

Eek Eek Eek Eek

Eek
Like girl next door, but so plain you don’t know she is next door. ;


Did you grow up next to the Playboy mansion? Love me some Hathaway.


I've had a thing for her ever since The Princess Diaries.
indybobindybobMember
quote:
Originally posted by winetarelli:
quote:
Originally posted by indybob:
quote:
Originally posted by GlennK:
quote:
Originally posted by winetarelli:
quote:
I don’t find Anne Hathaway attractive

Eek Eek Eek Eek

Eek
Like girl next door, but so plain you don’t know she is next door. ;


Did you grow up next to the Playboy mansion? Love me some Hathaway.


I've had a thing for her ever since The Princess Diaries.


She's how my wife got me to see The Devil Wears Prada, Wink.
J jcocktostenMember
quote:
Originally posted by GlennK:
On the plane the last couple of days:

Bride wars – Could only stand about 30 mins of this before I went back to my ipod. . . . Avoid at all costs.


Could not agree more - was a total estrogen fest on the flight back from Milan and I was treated to the first 10 minutes of He's Just Not That Into to You (would have been the best of the lot) until they had some problem and stopped that - followed by Confessions of a Shopaholic - which was dreadful like a Lifetime movie but I watched it anyway and then Bride Wars - the worst of the lot - I think I only laster 15 minutes though - Crapola. MLV watched the whole thing and confirmed its crappitude.
winetarelliwinetarelliMember
The Court Jester

Haven't seen it in about 10 years, time to re-visit. (Got the idea from a post on another board about a 'vessel' and couldn't stop thinking about the 50 second patter about the pellet with the poison.)

Also on tap this weekend:

The Adventures of Robin Hood - not the crappy Kevin Costnar movie, but the REAL one, with Errol Flynn.

This week: Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince -- currently at 96% Fresh on Rotten Tomatoes! (And Peter Travers, who hasn't written his review yet, apparently loved it, too.)

Also on tap for this week: Chinatown

Eclectic tastes in movies, no?
indybobindybobMember
Volver: ***

quote:
Originally posted by dannyk8232:
I watched about an hour of The Curious Case of Benjamimn Button.

Then I pulled the gat away from my temple, ejected it, and replaced it with The International, which is awesome.


I guess that's why they don't just make one movie a year. Everyone has different tastes. I loved this one.
D dannyk8232Member
quote:
Originally posted by indybob:
Volver: ***

quote:
Originally posted by dannyk8232:
I watched about an hour of The Curious Case of Benjamimn Button.

Then I pulled the gat away from my temple, ejected it, and replaced it with The International, which is awesome.


I guess that's why they don't just make one movie a year. Everyone has different tastes. I loved this one.


Big Grin That's why we watch 'em!
D dunderMember
quote:
Originally posted by thelostverse:
I almost forgot, mostly because it is very forgettable, but we watched Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull.

It was so bad, we actually left the house about half way through to go watch a nieces softball game. Unfortunately, we watched the rest when we came home.
That movie was physically painful to sit through.
S slipperypeteMember
Indeed ... Christian Bale's American Psycho image stuck too deep in my mind. Feels weird to see him playing Good guy every time.

My Recommendations:

RONIN - My all time favorite Robert DeNiro movie. Like a very expensive burgundy; It's subtle, complex, and a rare masterpiece. Recommended watching 2 times or more. Do Not watch it with noisy friends.

Recently watched 2 Oscar Foreign Films Winners

LIVES OF THE OTHERS(2006) East Germany, Cold War Drama about a Heartless Soviet-trained old bald dude spying on "class enemies" of the state.
THE DEPARTURES (2008) Japanese Drama about a musician(cellist) who loses his job as orchestra dissolute, and later lands on a strange but interesting job that en-coffins dead people. Some dark humors here.
glennkglennkMember
Mrs. Glennk played hooky yesterday and dragged me to Ice Age 3. I have never been able to get into animated movies and this was no exception as I feel asleep 3 times. The 3D was cool in some scenes but overall I found the glasses and the experience distracting from the actual movie. For what it’s worth, Mrs. Glennk gave it a C+ and she normally loves animated movies…
winetarelliwinetarelliMember
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince

Excellent. Wonderful audience to see it with, too. 400 people second night of release for a late night screening (they had a 10:45, 11:30 and a midnight showing -- guess which one I went to). Everyone clapped as the lights went down, then "sssshhhhed!" as the previws started. Not a word was spoken by anyone in the audience until the credits started rolling.
By far the funniest of the movies, and the most well acted. They could have extended the movie a bit to include more, but the movie did flow quite well.

I was considering whether people whove never seen a 'Potter' movie or read the books would enjoy this, and I think the would. Yates (director) did an excellent job with the camera and staging to show you exactly who was going to be important in the movie as those people were introduced, even if they had no lines at the time. There is also enough exposition in the film that if people are paying attention, they'll "get it". (eg. it is mentioned that Snape used to be the potions professor and is now Defense Against the Dark Arts.)

I was surprised by how genuinely funny some of the movie was, particularly the teen romance parts. You could also tell exactly where Rowling had to cut Dumbledore's line about a girl in his youth.

Everyone's acting has improved. I was particulary taken with Emma, who stumbled through HP4, seemed more on track in HP5, and really came together here. Rupert has always been good, and Dan really came into his own in HP5. Michael Gambon, who also stumbled through HP4 (Mike Newell butchered the Hell out of that movie) was at his very best in this endeavor. Tom Felton, who plays Draco Malfoy, really showed that he actually can act and gave a more nuanced performance then he's ever had to give. And Jesse Cave, who plays Lavender, was a delight to watch.

But the movie also had plenty of action, suspence, drama, fantasy and darkness.

I will certainly be buying the DVD and probably see this in the theatre again. This is easily my second favorite Potter film behind genius director Alfonso Cuaron's brilliant Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban.

As a movie, I agree witht he vast majority of critics that this is a 3.5/4 star or A- movie. But as a person who is both a fan of the genre and particularly of Harry Potter, I absolutely loved it.

Highly reccomended, if you couldn't tell!

P.S. There is no logical reason that this is PG whereas he last two films were PG-13. This was in no way 'toned down' so that parents would feel comfortable taking their 7 year olds. (Probably not a wise idea.)

P.P.S. David Yates did an excellent job directing this and, after directing small fare such as The Girl in the Cafe it will be interesting to see how his career proceeds post 'Potter' (he is also directing Deathly Hallows parts 1 and 2. I imagine he will be able to take on any poject he wants.
T thereweresevenineightMember
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince- saw this last night with my son. My opinion will differ from winetarelli's as I have not read any of the books but have seen all of the HP movies.

I thought it was good, but not great. For the first time I thought there was a lack of development in both character and storyline, as if one needed to have read the book prior to seeing the movie. I enjoyed some of the special effects as usual. I thought where the movie lacked more action/adventure than previous, it made up for it with a more mature story and I enjoyed the juvenile romance and the humor that went along with it.

I agree with winetarelli that you could piece it together without reading the book, but IMO, this was about the movie being more predictable than having previously read the book. The ending was predictable; I will withold comment to not spoil any details.

Overall- both my son and I enjoyed the movie and it is definitely worth seeing. I would recommend not expecting too much or getting caught up with "hype".
G gigabitMember
winetarelli/MJ-

Mrs. Gigabit is a HUGE Potter fan. She and her mother went yesterday, and she is going again today with friends.

She mentioneded that the director took many liberties with the storyline, and also said that the movie is dark is some places - just to reiterate the comment about taking younger kids.

Overall, she enjoyed it quite a bit. I will probably join her for her 3rd, 4th, or 5th viewing. Smile
winetarelliwinetarelliMember
MJ and Gig...

My friend had a very differing view of the movie from mine and after reading her very long review, I have many negative things I'm adding to my review. This doesn't change the initial review, and I loved the movie, but there were A LOT of problems with it I now realize.

First and foremost, at the end of the 6th book there are two major unanswered questions. Questions that make you absolutely yearn for book 7. Through camera angle and a flourish of music, one of those questions is deffinitively answered at one point in the movie. Through direction and acting, the other question is deffinitively answered in the movie. There is absolutely no possible way any sentient being could possibly be confused or kept guessing -- real problem... since those are what the final movies are SUPPOSED TO BE ABOUT! (I mean, seriously, these questions are answered so deffinitively that MJ having only seen the movies might not even know what I'm talking about!)

Second, you'll notice in my initial review, I did not mention Bonnie Wright's (Ginny Weasly) acting. That is because it was not particularly good and the chemestry between hr and Dan was not believable.

Third, you'd have to be deaf dumb and blind not already to know that a major character dies in this one. The death did not make me tear up or tug at my heart strings at all.

Fourth, the scene in the cave is a rip-off of The Lord of the Rings in the book, but in the movie it is almost *shocking* how much it is ripped off. Like, Tolkien/Peter Jackson should sue.

Fifth, there should have been more (*A*) fight with the Death Eaters / students / professors at ^some point in the movie I won't say when^

All of that said, I still loved it. But those are all serious problems I had, upon reflection.
winetarelliwinetarelliMember
quote:
Originally posted by winetarelli:
MJ and Gig...

My friend had a very differing view of the movie from mine and after reading her very long review, I have many negative things I'm adding to my review. This doesn't change the initial review, and I loved the movie, but there were A LOT of problems with it I now realize.

First and foremost, at the end of the 6th book there are two major unanswered questions. Questions that make you absolutely yearn for book 7. Through camera angle and a flourish of music, one of those questions is deffinitively answered at one point in the movie. Through direction and acting, the other question is deffinitively answered in the movie. There is absolutely no possible way any sentient being could possibly be confused or kept guessing -- real problem... since those are what the final movies are SUPPOSED TO BE ABOUT! (I mean, seriously, these questions are answered so deffinitively that MJ having only seen the movies might not even know what I'm talking about!)

Second, you'll notice in my initial review, I did not mention Bonnie Wright's (Ginny Weasly) acting. That is because it was not particularly good and the chemestry between hr and Dan was not believable.

Third, you'd have to be deaf dumb and blind not already to know that a major character dies in this one. The death did not make me tear up or tug at my heart strings at all.

Fourth, the scene in the cave is a rip-off of The Lord of the Rings in the book, but in the movie it is almost *shocking* how much it is ripped off. Like, Tolkien/Peter Jackson should sue.

Fifth, there should have been more (*A*) fight with the Death Eaters / students / professors at ^some point in the movie I won't say when^

All of that said, I still loved it. But those are all serious problems I had, upon reflection.


I just spoke with someone who has a friend who has seen the movies but not read the books. He loved the movie and, according to my friend, she did not detect that he had picked up on the incredibly non-subtle hints in the movie for the two mysteries that lingered after book 6. So maybe it is just because we already knew...
winetarelliwinetarelliMember
quote:
Originally posted by thelostverse:
Saw the new Harry Potter movie on Friday. It was well done, but at the end of the day, it was just ok for me.

I heard a report this morning that the worldwide ticket sales since Wednesday's opening were nearly $400 Million. Wow.


I can understand people not getting so into this one if they are hoping it will be as good as the book (it wasn't) or they aren't HP fans to begin with. On page 62 I listed several complaints I had with this one. I could go on and on about what I liked and didn't like about it...

Yeah, I heard the 400m number, too. Here's hoping it beats Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen -- that got terrible reviews and is still at 3/4 Billion world wide. That is what Megan Fox / a gazillion dollars worth of advertising will do. I HATE Michael Bay.
K ksc02Member
quote:
Originally posted by GlennK:
quote:
Originally posted by KSC02:
The Watchmen
That did you think? I have been curious to see how they adapted the comic to a movie. Have you read the comic?

Never read the comic, Glenn. So I suppose I just couldn't ever identify or get comfortable with the whole script.
I lasted the movie but it was LOOOONG.... IMO
G gigabitMember
quote:
Originally posted by KSC02:
quote:
Originally posted by GlennK:
quote:
Originally posted by KSC02:
The Watchmen
That did you think? I have been curious to see how they adapted the comic to a movie. Have you read the comic?

Never read the comic, Glenn. So I suppose I just couldn't ever identify or get comfortable with the whole script.
I lasted the movie but it was LOOOONG.... IMO

I'll be watching it (guffaw) this weekend.
glennkglennkMember
quote:
Originally posted by KSC02:
Never read the comic, Glenn. So I suppose I just couldn't ever identify or get comfortable with the whole script.
I lasted the movie but it was LOOOONG.... IMO
That is actually what the comic is like as well. I couldn’t get comfortable with the story and it dragged. It was pretty offbeat and while I didn’t really like the comic, I’m super curious to see the movie for some reason.
G gigabitMember
quote:
Originally posted by GlennK:
quote:
Originally posted by KSC02:
Never read the comic, Glenn. So I suppose I just couldn't ever identify or get comfortable with the whole script.
I lasted the movie but it was LOOOONG.... IMO
That is actually what the comic is like as well. I couldn’t get comfortable with the story and it dragged. It was pretty offbeat and while I didn’t really like the comic, I’m super curious to see the movie for some reason.

I had the same curiosity, so I viewed it last night. I'm not quite sure how to critique the movie. It was political, dark, confusing, curious, interesting, and bizzare. I wasn't drawn to any of the characters, and I never found any type of emotional attachment to the movie - positive or negative. To use an appropriate analogy, it was like a disjointed bottle of wine.
K ksc02Member
quote:
Originally posted by gigabit:
quote:
Originally posted by GlennK:
quote:
Originally posted by KSC02:
Never read the comic, Glenn. So I suppose I just couldn't ever identify or get comfortable with the whole script.
I lasted the movie but it was LOOOONG.... IMO
That is actually what the comic is like as well. I couldn’t get comfortable with the story and it dragged. It was pretty offbeat and while I didn’t really like the comic, I’m super curious to see the movie for some reason.

I had the same curiosity, so I viewed it last night. I'm not quite sure how to critique the movie. It was political, dark, confusing, curious, interesting, and bizzare. I wasn't drawn to any of the characters, and I never found any type of emotional attachment to the movie - positive or negative. To use an appropriate analogy, it was like a disjointed bottle of wine.

Well said, gig.

If you felt that about the comic, Glenn, then you're SURE to experience that watching the movie.
Take an Advil (or something more effective, if available) prior to watching and enjoy... Razz
indybobindybobMember
quote:
Originally posted by gigabit:

I had the same curiosity, so I viewed it last night. I'm not quite sure how to critique the movie. It was political, dark, confusing, curious, interesting, and bizzare. I wasn't drawn to any of the characters, and I never found any type of emotional attachment to the movie - positive or negative. To use an appropriate analogy, it was like a disjointed bottle of wine.


Agree. I felt that I wanted to have deeper thoughts about the storyline, but found I didn't care enough about it to spend much time pondering the meaning of it all. I felt the same about Dark City, which I know some folks here love.
indybobindybobMember
quote:
Originally posted by GlennK:
quote:
Originally posted by indybob:
Brüno: ** 1/2
I’m guessing that is out of 5 stars? What did you like/not like? Did you like Borat?


Out of four stars. I liked it, but hard to follow in Borat's footsteps (*** 1/2). I was bummed I'd read so many reviews, felt like I'd seen the film already. Loved the karate studio/focus group/campout scenes especially. I'd recommend it, but as you know, it's not for the squeamish/conservative/prudish.
glennkglennkMember
quote:
Originally posted by indybob:
quote:
Originally posted by GlennK:
quote:
Originally posted by indybob:
Brüno: ** 1/2
I’m guessing that is out of 5 stars? What did you like/not like? Did you like Borat?


Out of four stars. I liked it, but hard to follow in Borat's footsteps (*** 1/2). I was bummed I'd read so many reviews, felt like I'd seen the film already. Loved the karate studio/focus group/campout scenes especially. I'd recommend it, but as you know, it's not for the squeamish/conservative/prudish.
Cool. I’ll probably have to wait for DVD as Mrs. GlennK can’t watch that kind of stuff. She feels too embarrassed for the people involved to enjoy herself. It’s rare that a commercial will make me laugh out loud but the scene where he says he named his baby OJ gets me every time.
R RothkoMember
quote:
Originally posted by ThistlinTom:
Saw Mamma Mia also. Pierce Brosnan is a horrible singer. Entertaining movie, but nothing special. Maybe its because I'm not a big ABBA Fan, though I did like the show Chess


I agree that listening to Pierce Brosnan was barely tolerable. He is an exceptionally skilled actor, but shouldn't do musicals.