What movie have you seen today?

[hasselbrad]

Took Taylor to see Eragon.
Meh. Predictable. Seemed like a film based on a book written by a teenager.

Going to see The Queen or The Last King of Scotland this weekend. Stoked.

[Richard]

Originally Posted by Jacoby

I've seen lots of film since my last post. Been on a real Woody Allen kick. He's the man. But yeah, seen lots of good, and a few stinkers.

Some great ones:

Sleeper
Children of Men
Fountain
Hollywoodland
Bananas
Love and Death
Far Side of the Moon
28 Days Later
Little Miss Sunshine
Leolo

and a few more, but those are the only ones I can think of this second.

I am getting a 30" LCD tv and a HD DVD player for my Xbox 360, so my movie watching should have a nice boost to it. Can't wait to own Fountain and Children of Men on HD DVD.

How is Hollywoodland? Any good?

Funny you should mention HD DVD, I just saw a promo or trailer or whatever it's called for movies available on HD DVD -- about the only thing that impressed me was being able to bring up the menu and its selections without ever leaving the movie. Now that was cool.

[Mandy]

Before I forget, I just saw "Pan's Labyrinth" a.k.a. "El Laberinto Del Fauno," a spanish movie with English subtitles. I went into it thinking it was going to be some happy fairytale, but it ended up being slightly depressing and it's quite a bit haunting.

Summary from imdb.com:

"Pan's Labyrinth" is the story of a young girl who travels with her pregnant mother to live with her mother's new husband in a rural area up North in Spain, 1944, after Franco's victory. The girl lives in an imaginary world of her own creation and faces the real world with much chagrin. Post-war Fascist repression is at its height in rural Spain and the girl must come to terms with that through a fable of her own.

Seriously, see it.

[kingdumbass]

Pan's Labyrinth....

Mandy pretty much summed it up....
A visually stunning film; kind of a much darker version of The Chronicles of Narnia. I made a special trip to my GF's college town, ostensibly to visit her, but the REAL reason I went was to see this film. We were both impressed.

If Pan's Labyrinth wasn't in Spanish, it certainly would have been nominated for Best Picture at this year's Academy Awards.

5 out of 5.

[kingdumbass]

Yes, technically, a double post, but we're talking new movies here....
(If any mod has a problem with this, let me know, and I won't do it again; but I don't see the point -- it's been DAYS since the last post.)

Twelve Angry Men....

A jury must decide a murder case on which a man's life hangs. At first, it seems cut and dry, but one juror, played by Henry Fonda, demonstrates that the truth might not be so obvious.

12 Angry Men shows why film worked as a viable medium for telling stories. It relies purely on drama -- just 12 people in a room arguing; nothing else. I found myself wrapped up in the film, and for an hour or so, all of the other bullshit that normally worries me was completely unimportant. 12 Angry Men was good enough to enagage me like that.

The film depicts the importance of having someone in society who, even in times of high emotion, can step back, and say, "Wait a minute here...."

The vast majority of the films made today can't compete. Here, we simply have 12 average, balding shlubs talking about something...and it's great drama.

5 out of 5.

Head....

A truly terrible attempt by The Monkees to go psychedelic after their TV show was cancelled. This film was written by none other than Jack Nicholson, who obviously was blown out on LSD while putting this one down on paper. NO plot to speak of, and not worth watching...unless you find The Monkees interesting.

1 out of 5.

Black Christmas....

A psycho killer murders members of a sorority.

Boring as hell, and pointless. Not even scary.

1 out of 5.

[mongoose]

I just saw a new release : Epic Movie.
Who saw any Scary Movie, and found them good, then this one is great.
I laughed pretty much

[Jacoby]

Originally Posted by Richard

Funny you should mention HD DVD, I just saw a promo or trailer or whatever it's called for movies available on HD DVD -- about the only thing that impressed me was being able to bring up the menu and its selections without ever leaving the movie. Now that was cool.

Yeah, the menu features are really nice, but the main selling point is the picture. Obviously you gotta have an HDTV, (which I just bought...vereh nice) but the high def is so worth it. It doesn't seem like too much of a jump, but when you go from watching an HD DVD to a regular DVD, the first thing you think about is how much better it would be in HD.

I just got MI:3 in HD from blockbuster online today. I haven't seen it yet, so it shall rocketh.

[Norseman]

The jump to HD-DVD 1080p quality is big. Seen "The Gladiator" in Full HD quality and it was amazing on a 42". Wonder what next step will be.

I seen Bobby today. It was pretty bad and I never usually have a bad opinion on films

[kingdumbass]

Nurse Betty....

One of those rare movies that really has no obvious selling points, but simply relies on a good, creative story and skillful performances. Rene Zellweger plays Betty, a small town diner waitress with no hope or prospects in life. She's a simple, not-too-intelligent -- but GOOD -- person who has accepted a life without respect. One day, she witnesses the gruesome murder of her asshole husband (perpetrated by two hitmen played by Chris Rock and Morgan Freeman), and loses her mind. In shock due to the trauma of what she's seen, Betty is thrown into a fantasy world, in which she hunts down the star of her favorite soap opera (played by Greg Kinnear), believing that she's destined to marry him. The story gets much more complicated beyond that.

I never paid any attention to Rene Zellweger until I saw Nurse Betty; but she is excellent in this film, making us feel sympathy for her generally pathetic character. She charms, and makes us root for her. And the rest of the cast impresses, as well. There is remarkable chemistry between Rock and Freeman, and even Crispin Glover pops up, giving a typically weird performance.

This movie doesn't quite fit into any particular category, and it is certainly destined to be forgotten, but I liked it a lot. Just a really good story. That's not very common.

4 out of 5.

[kingdumbass]

The Stepford Wives....

This movie was interesting to me in that I think, one day, we will ALL be Stepford Wives -- drugged and microchipped into being what others view as the standard. Thanks to advances in science, and the natural human inclination to forcibly eliminate anything the majority views as harmful or counterproductive, freedom of choice will one day be phased out. Gradually, we will all become productive and healthy members of society, with forces beyond our control deciding how we feel, how we look, what we eat, what drugs we take, and so on and so on.

Technology is making it possible, and as it advances, we simply can't resist the urge to use it, allowing the process of eliminating humanity to continue for our own convenience (I miss the days when we simply worried that the future would bring nuclear holocaust).

This may not be what The Stepford Wives intends to address, but that's what the film got me thinking about. We all should know by now what this film is about, so I won't give a synopsis; but I will say that Nicole Kidman's nosejob was a major distraction for me. She would be quite beautiful without it.

Anyway, the film was a little too cartoony, but overall, I found it interesting. You rarely see a Hollywood production that's interesting in any way.

3 out of 5.

[Joana]

The Pursuit of Happiness

Summary:A struggling salesman (Will Smith) takes custody of his son (Jaden Smith) as he's poised to begin a life-changing professional endeavor.

I really like it! It's sweet and simple! Will Smith is fantastic and his son is so so so cute!

[mehrdad368]

Originally Posted by Mongoose

Who saw any Scary Movie, and found them good.

I love scary movies specially 4th one.

[hasselbrad]

The Last King of Scotland
I hope Forrest Whitaker has dusted the shelf he wants to put his Oscar on, because I don't see how he can't win it. Absolutely brilliant portrayal. He captured the essence of Idi Amin perfectly; charismatic and batshit insane. Childlike, yet capable of murdering 300,000 citizens.
And, for those eagerly awaiting Atonement you get a preview of James McAvoy's acting skills...as well as his arse and a glimpse of his unit.
Enjoy, ladies.

[Jacoby]

Originally Posted by Norseman

The jump to HD-DVD 1080p quality is big. Seen "The Gladiator" in Full HD quality and it was amazing on a 42". Wonder what next step will be.

The next step? Smell-o-vision.

[michael22]

they have that in pinball to

[Richard]

Recently...

One, Two, Three (1961)
Directed by Billy Wilder, this movie is a sleeper hit. Taking place in West Berlin, Germany, James Cagney plays a Coca-Cola executive assigned to look after his boss's daughter Scarlett while her parents are vacationing in Europe. When Cagney's character finds out that the underaged Scarlett is engaged to be married, and under his watch, all hell breaks loose. And I mean Hell with a capital H!

I loved this movie. It's a laugh a minute, literally. Rapid-fire dialogue that will leave your head spinning! It should be on AFI's Top 100 Laughs. It wasn't even nominated. Cagney is amazing and non-stop hilarious. A truly remarkable actor, but then again we all should know that. Fans of Howard Hawks' His Girl Friday should check this out.

Shane (1953)
Directed by George Stevens, many people consider this movie one of the greatest westerns ever made. Alan Ladd plays Shane, a supposed retired gunslinger who wanders onto the Starrett ranch and befriends the family -- eventually working for them. Right off the bat the character of Shane is strange and mysterious, and not much information is given to the audience about his background and past affairs. He is a seemingly nice fellow and quick on the draw, but we don't find that out until the latter part of the movie. Van Heflin plays Joe Starrett; Jean Arthur, in what is to be her final film appearance, plays the wife Marian; and Brandon De Wilde as their little boy, Joey. The Starrett family and many others live in a small town with no established law. This means that trouble is always frequent and the peacemakers of the bunch find themselves and their property threatened by wild and reckless cowboys. A man named Ryker wants to buy the Starrett property, but Joe is adamant with his decision and refuses. Leaving him with no alternative Ryker sends for an infamous gunslinger named Wilson to "take care" of Starrett, but Shane intervenes and saves the town.

I doubt westerns get any better than this. It's a beautiful looking movie with wonderful cinematography, not to mention a story that really gets into your heart. Its classic ending really is what everyone says it is. The showdown between Shane and Wilson is short, quick, and without bullshit. I don't want to give it away, but that looked, felt, and was, a REAL showdown.

I'm beat, so I'll just be very, very brief with these that I watched over the past several weeks...

Town Without Pity (1961)
The story is odd, but I thought it was nicely done. Kirk Douglas is very good in this and Gene Pitney's title tune will have you humming for days.

Get Yourself a College Girl (1964)
Terrible. Just terrible. Nothing worth recommending, not even Nancy Sinatra, which I find very upsetting.

Die! Die! My Darling a.k.a. Fanatic (1965)
Tallulah Bankhead made this movie worth watching. She is supposed to be playing a bible preaching psycho and her characterization is nearly perfect.

Yolanda and The Thief (1945)
A Fred Astaire/Lucille Bremer drama/comedy/musical. But more of a comedy with a few dance numbers thrown in. Not very well known today and I can understand why. Nothing worth remembering here except a lengthy near 10-minute dance sequence, which I thought was pretty.

The Actress (1953)
Loved it. Good story directed by George Cukor and another great performance by Spencer Tracy.

The Garden of Allah (1936)
And Marlene Dietrich does another tedious film. It is actually her first film in color, and she, along with Charles Boyer, are so goddamn boring you want to choke yourself! I swear to God, if that woman didn't intrigue me as much as she does I would probably hate her guts! She looks gorgeous as ever, by the way.

Brief Encounter (1945)
Now this is filmmaking. A masterpiece directed by David Lean. I would like to say more, but what more can I say, I loved it. Hell, it was probably the romantic in me.

The Caretakers (1963)
Not very interesting to watch. At least I didn't think so. Crazy women in an asylum (beautiful or not) are a turn off. Robert Stack is kinda spooky, but then again we all should know that.

Topper Returns (1941)
Not meant to be taken seriously. Just a crazy, fun, silly time with Ronald Young while he sees dead people. I liked it as it was very amusing.

Picnic (1955)
I thought it was great. Kinda soap opera-ish, like Peyton Place, but I still thought it was interesting. William Holden was good, but the real star I thought was Rosalind Russell. I enjoyed her dilemma the most.

[kingdumbass]

Quite a selection there, Richard....

Idiocracy....

Mike Judge (Office Space) battled with the studio over this one and lost -- Fox only released Idiocracy on DVD, and gave it virtually no promotion. Here's the deal:

An average guy (played by Luke Wilson) is frozen for 500 years. He wakes up, only to learn that, in the future, everyone is an idiot. In fact, everyone is SO dumb, that he's basically the smartest person on Earth. GREAT concept. Simply on that idea alone, I bet this movie could have made plenty of cash, but sadly, Idiocracy never saw the theaters.

When watching this film, one must accept that it's cheap as shit -- the movie relies heavily on some pretty crappy computer-generated special effects. If you can get beyond that, you may find it pretty funny. The idea that the human race is doomed because, to a large degree, only the dumbest among us are reproducing, is pretty amusing. I laughed a few times.

3 out of 5.

[hasselbrad]

The idea that the human race is doomed because, to a large degree, only the dumbest among us are reproducing, is pretty amusing. I laughed a few times.

So basically, mankind is reduced to a Jerry Springer audience? Sounds pretty much like where we're headed. Was Luke Wilson's character frozen in 1508?

[Porcelain_Doll]

I'm dying to see "Pan's Labyrinth"!!!
Haven't been to the movies in a while, the last one I saw was "Babel" and it was amazing. I went with my dad, and at one point he got so upset he almost left the theater!

The realism was so striking, I was frozen.

Yesterday I saw "Dear Frankie" on the t.v. I nearly melted with Gerard Butler's performance...his character didn't even have a name, but you just fall in love with that semi-bad guy image of his.

*Sighs........*