Watched any good movies lately?

My daughter and I have been watching the Harry Potter movies. Is is just us, or was #3 not as good as the first two?

Has anyone seen Dr. Horrible's sing-a-long blog? It's made by Joss Wheadon and one of the three stars is Nathan Fillion. Pretty silly. I think you can watch it on the web, but we bought it on DVD.

I just mentioned to my husband the other day that it was time to watch the HP movies again. Personally, I like them in order they came out. First best, fifth least best. Not worst exactly, it's just that JK kept writing bigger books and it's gotten harder to put them into one movie. It's very encouraging that the 7th book will get two movies.

My daughter and I watched Damn Yankees two weeks ago. My husband and some friends of ours watched the George C. Scott version of A Christmas Carol. That's the last good movie - we did watch The Mummy 3 the other night and it was pretty rank. First of all they didn't get the original Evie back for it, and the new one was a disaster in my opinion. Plus, there were just too many stupid things - yeti among them.

We're watching Monty Python now - the TV series. We laugh so much we can only handle 2 at a time. We watched Spam last night.

Watched Diary of the Dead with my son last night. No nightmares. I got Battle of Algiers in Netflicks, and cannot wait to see that, but it might have to wait until after the season.

Message 3 = I actually liked the fifth movie the best. I like the third the least.
And I just watched Hide and Seek with De Niro and Dakota Fannings, a great movie with a good cast.

Joyeux Noel, Stardust, Sarah Jane Adventures...

#3 Spam!Spam! Spam!Spam! I'm a lumberjack and I don't care!

Watched Un Conte de Noel. French film with Catherine Deneuve, Jean-Paul Roussillon and many others. A family gets together for christmas and some family secrets get revealed, some others don't, some laughs and some tears and after 2 hours we all go home with a christmas spirit.
Marvelous French film

Cat on a Hot Tin Roof. Elizabeth Taylor was never more powerful or more beautiful. And Paul Newman...incredible.

"It was the Cotton Bowl, Sister-Woman."

It's the holiday season, so we've started watching our Christmas movies. We saw Scrooged Sunday night.

Others on the list:
A Christmas Carol (with Scott and with Stewart)
Love, Actually
Home Alone
The Santa Clause
The Year Without a Santa Claus

Next year I'll pick up The Santa Clause 2 and/or the Muppet Christmas Carol.

Milk was a very good movie, which if you are lucky is still playing in a theater in your area.

I also recently watched a German film called The Lives of Others, which was about East Germany before the Berlin Wall came down. It was an extremely classy and fascinating movie.

Just watched Made of Honor--very cute--I enjoyed it. Definitley a chick flick.

Haven't been watching much, but my son and I loved the original of The Grinch Who Stole Christmas. We may all go see Marley and Me on Boxing Day.

A couple weeks ago I watched "The Tatooist" with Jason *sigh* Behr. I wasn't sure I'd like it because it was kind of presented as a horror movie, but it was more of a thriller with some gruesomeness thrown in. Not a bad story at all.

Other than Twilight (which I get the feeling people are sick of hearing about and therefore will not discuss) I haven't watched any other movies that I've really enjoyed lately.

Recently at the cinema I've seen Changeling, Day the Earth Stood Still, Inkheart and Twilight.

At home I've seen Stardust and HP4.

A few weeks ago I had the long delayed privilege of watching Casablanca for the first time through the recent Blu-ray release.

#3 - I thought the yeti were the best part of the film! But I'm a sucker for yeti, sasquatch, bigfoot, you name it. :)

>6 Choreocrat: I saw Joyeux Noel for the first time on Sunday night, on ABC. An excellent movie.

Shokara, how did you like Casablanca? Did it seem as wonderful as it is made out to be? I know I loved it when I first saw it, but that was a gazillion years ago. But films have changed a great deal and maybe tastes in films too.

I'm not Shokara, but I saw Casablanca for the first time this year and was surprised at how much I liked it.

>15 neverbaby: I didn't even realize Inkheart had come out!? I've been waiting for them to start showing the trailers on television and haven't seen anything yet.

We watched Oh Brother, Where Art Thou? the other night. I just love that movie. Homer and hillbilly music, you just can't go wrong.

I like the 3rd Harry Potter movie the best, but there's no accounting for taste.

maggie1944: Yes, Casablanca did indeed live up to all the hype for me. I loved every minute of it.

Saw Beowulf, Employee of the month and The Librarian: Curse of the Judas Chalice recently, so no. I haven't seen any good films recently.

I love Casablanca, it's one of those you mouth the words to as you watch it for the hundredth time. :)

I also have been looking for Inkheart, my daughter says it doesn't come out here until January.

#22 - :) Wish I could watch the Harry Potter movies with you! Even if we disagree on our favorites. They have helped me take a big step in my snake phobia, I actually have not turned away when the snakes are on the screen, my stomach doesn't even cramp up, though I must say, I cheered when Snape zapped the snake in the wand duel. Oh, why, if they want us to root for the good guys, do they make the villains in these movies so darned attractive?

#34 Musereader - The Librarian: Curse of the Judas Chalice? I must look for this. The first Librarian movie is one of my favorite terrible movies. Sometimes I just love really bad movies. :)

We've been to the movies for the first time in what seems like ages so I can finally post something here! My husband and I had a date night last week, the kid went to Parent Survival Night at The Little Gym (best thing ever, $25 for 6:30-10!) and went to dinner and saw "Four Christmases". I didn't expect much from the reviews I saw, but we thought it was hilarious! Lots of really funny bits with some heartwarming pieces too. So, a fun night out for us. Then we rented "I Am Legend" and "Get Smart". We enjoyed both of them, but "Get Smart" took some serious suspension of reality to watch. I covered my eyes during a lot of "I am Legend" and boo-hooed several times, especially the end.

:)

#25 MrsLee Judas Chalice is the third one, theres a second one called The Librarian:Return to King Solomons Mines and the first one, as you probably know, is subtitled Quest for the Spear.

eta Noah Wyle is so cute though, much cuter than George Clooney

Muse - I think that's why I like them, Noah Wyle and the fact that he's a librarian. :) Thanks for the heads up, I'm going to put them on Netflix now!

The Scarecrow of Romney Marsh an oldie but goodie from 1963, produced by Walt Disney.

Watched Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire tonight. I'm torn. On the one hand, I believe the books need editing, but on the other, I get mad when the movies chop up the books so ruthlessly. No pleasing me I suppose. ;) I like seeing how much the actors have grown and changed in each movie.

Oh, the new Dumbledore. He looks more like I imagined, but he was a bit hoppy. And one more thing. David Tennent is wasted as Bertie Crouch, Jr. He should have been Lupin.

Wall-E yesterday on our new blu-ray player. Fantastic. Moving. Funny. Cute. Astonishing how Pixar just goes from strength to strength.

Just watched Prince Caspian, I rather liked it.

All the Indiana Jones movies, Dark Knight, and Hellboy II. Yep, I got movies for Christmas!

We're getting overdosed with the Pink Panther here. I like some of them especially with Peter Sellers.

Has anyone seen The Day the Earth Stood Still? I love the original version.

>35 GeorgiaDawn: Haven't seen the new one, but some of the reviews were not good. I'm a fan of the original, too.

I saw some of Casablanca last night (after the kids went to bed and turned the new Wii off); then I watched The Big Sleep--TCM was doing a Bogart salute. I keep hoping I can pass along some of my love of classic movies to the nieces, but not a lot of luck so far (she fell asleep).

I think GoF may be my favorite HP book, but I'm not sure I've considered which is my favorite film--still might be GoF. I've just started re-reading the series, so will think deeply about this question!

I have seen The Day the Earth Stood Still. I saw it at our Imax theater. I enjoyed it.A little departure from the original but enjoyable. I am going to the movies tonight with my girlfriend and her family. Not sure which flick we will be seeing. it will either be the new Will Smith flick or the Brad Pitt flick. Will let you know.

We watched Iron Man last night, but I cannot say that it was that good. Too long. Too preachy. Too obvious. Too cliched.

We watched the new Indiana Jones last night. Harrison Ford did a very good job. I liked the way they put it in the 50s, but some of the lines were atrocious and Karen Allen can't act her way out of a paperbag. Major fluff. I probably won't watch it again, although I watch the first and third ones every once in a while. The 2nd one is yech.

I haven't watched Casablanca in probably 20 years or more but love it.

#36 ej1955 - Goblet of Fire is one of my absolute favorite books because it has so many storylines and is the beginning of the ultimate battle between Voldemort and Harry, but the movie was choppy, as MrsLee says. And in the 5th movie, I did not like the actress they used for Dolores Umbridge - not toad-like enough and not malevolent enough.

Personally I loved Richard Harris as Dumbledore. I don't like the new one, Michael Gambon (I had to look him up) although I think he's more authentic to the description from the books. I would probably like him more if he had done all the movies.

I saw Prince Caspian at a neighbor's house on Christmas day. I thought the "story" was essentially non-existent and the film too much battle and not enough story. But then I came home and brought out my Narnia set and had a look through. Caspian is one of the volumes that I have not read yet. Maybe it is mostly battle???

Today I watched Matrix: Revolutions for the first time. I LOVED the first movie, really was disappointed with the second, and am not sure what I think of this third one. At least it was better than the second, I would say.

#40 - Read Prince Caspian, there is a lot of story there, many people thought too much, and not enough action, which was obviously the writer/director's point of view. My vote is for the book.

My favorite part of the 4th Indiana Jones movie was the whole atomic testing site bit at the beginning.

We just finished watching Donnie Darko and it was the oddest damn movie I've ever seen.

Morphy - I just peeked at the description on IMdB, it sounds like a dark version of Harvey. I never liked Harvey.

Oh, it was a very brief description, as in, "A troubled teenager is plagued by visions of a large bunny rabbit that manipulates him to commit a series of crimes, after narrowly escaping a bizarre accident."

I love Donnie Darko! It's not my favorite but I first watched it shivering under a blanket with an assorted medley of boarding school girls from various socioeconomic and cultural backgrounds, everyone united around this small laptop screen, and maybe it was just the experience of togetherness but I just thought it was the cutest movie. Although, yes, odd, and sometimes that felt gratuitous. I thought it wrapped up all right though.

A movie I watched recently and enjoyed was... umm... lemme check, it's been a while... I kind of like Joyeux Noel but I would have liked it more if they had sliced the ending a little. Seemed a little unnecessary. And some parts were a little unrealistic too (the spotless trenches, for one). Other points were even trite. I enjoyed it because it was a heartwarming flick, not because it was an especially good movie. But I did enjoy it!

Another movie I watched recently and enjoyed much more was Bad Education.

I watched Ever After on Christmas night & enjoyed it - however predictable it was :)

Last night & the night before I watched Tinman (it was split over 2 nights on TV) which I really enjoyed & would recommend :)

Donnie Darko is one of my favourite movies ever. I can understand that people would find it odd, but if you have a close relationship with a person who has a serious mental illness it would make a lot more sense.
Also, in my opinion the music selection is divine. On mornings when I just can't get started, I usually set my ipod to my Donnie Darko Album.

Yes, I noticed the music for DD was really cool.

#40, yes they did over do the battles a bit in the film, the siege on the castle wasn't in the book, or not like that anyway, last time I read it was about 4 years ago so it was faded enough in my memory to be tense about what was happening and it drew me along because of that. The guy, Adamson that has made the two films so far seems to like putting in battles, I wonder what hes going to do with the Dawn Treader, since there are no battles.

I really like Donnie Darko, bwecause it addressed time travel issues and mental health, two things I was familiar with enough to follow the film, but my then boyfriend didn't get it, he hated it, 'no resolution' he said 'So what?' i said.

#46
I agree with you that Donnie Darko, on the surface sort of a "horror movie" was more about trying to live with mental illness, both for the main character and the people around him.

This shouldn't discourage anyone from seeing the film, it's very good and it's quite all right just to watch it as an entertaining "thriller", although dark and, it must be said, a little odd. :)

> 42 and all . . . When I read your post, Morphie, I thought: odder even than Eraserhead? Granted, I have not an exhaustive history of film-watching, but Eraserhead is one seriously wierd movie.

But now that I read that it treats time travel and mental illness, maybe DD is worth seeing.

Just watched Wristcutters; a Love Story. cute. sort of funny in places. has Tom Waits in it. Always a plus.

Not a movie, but watched the first season of "Weeds" a few nights ago. Highly entertaining . . . sorry, pun intended!

I just was captured by The Sound of Music on the TV. Not what I had intended to do this evening. But I can't resist. It is such a happy musical.

My kids are watching it too.

I've only seen Donnie Darko once - I need to get it on DVD, as I think it'd benefit from multiple viewings. I liked it though, and mentally added it to my (short) list of "movies which handle time travel well".

Actually, I'm struggling to think of another example right now other than "12 Monkeys". Maybe I should start writing the list down.. though if it's only two entries long, why bother? ;)

Last night I concluded my Christmas holiday season tradition with a viewing of "While You Were Sleeping." Unfortunately, I think I've changed. It's still a nice enough movie, but I think I've seen it enough times at Christmas.

Plus, it didn't help that I wiki'd Bill Pullman, and it seems that his yumminess in WYWS was mostly the haircut and acting (loved his character) not any intrinsic sexiness on his part.

Maybe it's finally time to buy the animated versions of "How the Grinch Stole Christmas" and "Merry Christmas, Charlie Brown!"

>56 walk2work: Wow, that Wiki picture of Bill Pullman is not, shall we say, flattering at all!

I watched, on a friend's recommendation, a Hallmark movie called "A Christmas Card." Oh, dear. Totally predictable, smaltzy, and the female lead couldn't act her way out of a paper bag (or maybe it was just the script?). Sometimes it amazes me that we can be such good friends and have such completely opposite tastes in movies/TV, but that's okay. We'd make a terrific team for Jeopardy, if only Jeopardy had teams on it.

Hmm, just Googled images on Bill Pullman, because inquiring minds need to know. He seems like one of those fellas who is more attractive for the character he is playing and perhaps didn't age as well as some others? His nude photo is sweet and modest. I have no idea what sort of man he is, but when I see him he makes me want to smile. Not necessarily anything else though. :)

#52 ejj1955 - & (IMHO) Weeds just keeps getting more entertaining as the seasons go on :) a friend from work lent them to me on DVD & I'm up to season 4 now, its absolutely hillarious!!! If you like Weeds you may also like a New Zealand based show called Outrageous Fortune, I think it only ran for a couple of seasons tho :(

#22 We bought "Oh Brother, Where Art Thou," and find it is great no matter how many times we watch it. (Went down the hill free movies for "Priceless" which is quite amoral but wonderfully acted.)

I just finished watching Superman Returns :)

> 58 *Gasp!* I'm not sure that I should look at a nude photo of anyone on the internet, including Mr. Pullman, even if it is available on Google . . . but your description of it as "sweet and modest" tempts me.

Alas, I think I shall just have to content myself with my imagination of Jack Cavanaugh (his character from While You Were Sleeping). Disappointment is worse than not knowing.

:) Believe me, I didn't ask to see the nude, it just popped up, right along with all the others!

karenmarie, I agree with you on the Mummy 3... I was such a fan of the first two movies and was incredibly let down on the third installment.

We watched GoF and 101 Dalmatians today. Everyone laughed when I recognized one of Cruella Deville's henchmen and yelled,"It's Ron Weasley's dad!" (And House being the other one)

I'm going to watch The Prestige right now while I fold laundry. Hugh Jackman fix. :)

I saw The "Curious Case of Benjamin Button" today! I liked it. A nice way to spend a few hours.
Last week I saw "Slumdog Millionaire." I really liked that one!!!

We watched Ghostbusters last night.

Much yelling of lines at the screen ensued.

"This chick is TOAST!"

"Cats and dogs living together. Mass hysteria!"

Morphy: My favorite line is: "Listen, do you smell something?" Cracks me up every time.

I'm about halfway through My Man Godfrey, which is really good so far.

Just watched The Hunt for Red October with Sean Connery. That man is like a fine wine he just gets better with age ;)

Even if it was 15 years ago. : )

>69 chezhedmom:

I've seen that movie probably 30 times. Still stop whenever I'm channel surfing and it's on.

I watched The Magnificent Seven today. Gosh, I forgot how cool Steve McQueen was! I had a poster in my dorm of him on a motorcycle from The Great Escape. Another great movie!

oh, jewels, I had a Steve McQueen crush, too! What a hunk he was. So sad he died young.

You too Maggie! He did die young of a rare form of cancer I recall.

#74 I thought it was just plain old lung cancer, but I could be wrong. He was a hunk.

I love Donnie Darko. And I think it had a pretty clean resolution. Actually, it ended up making a lot more sense than I thought it would. Plus it has Mary McDonnell, what is not to love?

Hubby and I had a date night and just came from seeing Slum Dog Millionaire. It is an absolutely amazing movie and I LOVED it.

OH MY GOD. We watched Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull last night. It was SO much fun.

And BOOO to those critics that said that certain parts blew their suspension of disbelief. It's an INDY movie!

"You're a teacher?"

Bwhahaha.

McQueen died of mesothelioma (sp?) lung cancer caused by exposure to asbestos. Warren Zevon died of the same.

Watched Burn After Reading, the latest Coen brothers film. It's no Lebowski, but it's also no Ladykillers. Decent. Good laughs. Malkovich is a joy to watch unravel.

I saw a really wonderful, small film called Once. It's a simple, low budget love story with songs used as a central device to convey the emotions of the characters. If you connect with the music, as I did, it's very moving and will linger in the memory.

Saw the latest Woody Allen: Vicki Cristina Barcelona.
Must be real tough for an actor like Javier Bardem to make out with Scarlett Johanson, Penelope Cruz and Rebecca Hall in one of the best cities in the world.
Nice film about relations and Barcelona: 7/10

The original Invasion of the Body Snatchers is on TCM today. I definitely will be watching! I love these old movies. The book is not bad either. :)

#78 In 1980 that form of cancer was rare. My Dad died of the same form. He was a pilot and the cockpit in the day was lined with asbestos. He was 56. I was told at the funeral by his buddies that he was one hell of a good pilot too. No computers in those days just pure knowledge and guts. I was told he saved a whole crew of men from a grave in the Pacific based on his navigation skills (no GPS systems back then either) Dam I wish I knew that when he was alive but The Greatest Generation never talked about it they just did it. Sorry for going on and on.

No apology necessary. Sounds like a hell of a man.

>82 jewels: you have every right to be proud of who he was--and of course all those good things went into who you are, too.

It's OT, but there are a lot of things I wish I could talk to my parents about (and can't because they're gone). We've found some very suggestive letters to my mother from her brother-in-law! She would never have done anything improper, but the tone of his letters suggests either that he was an extraordinarily caring BIL or that maybe he had feelings for her that his wife would not have appreciated.

#84 I appreciate your kind words. He is a tough act to follow. I am trying my best so he would be proud of me. For those of you who still have your parents let them know how much you love them. I say it every time a plane flies overhead.

hey #82, no worries. Back in 1980, I'm sure it wasn't rare, only under-diagnosed. Asbestos was everywhere. The miracle substance. Little did we know. The island one downriver from where I work has a huge, abandoned Naval prison on it. Beautiful acreage. Gorgeous building. Condemned. Completely unretrievable due to asbestos. It's just mouldering away. I only see it once or twice a year and it makes me sad every time.

Last night the family watched Ghost Rider. I think we all liked it but the best part is we all watched it together which is unusual lately.

Wow, two totally different yet exceptional movies. Tonight was The Dark Knight. Wow. Just wow.

Very intense.

I wanna go watch movies with Morphy.

Watched "Capote" with Philip Seymour Hoffman's great performance, although I don't think the story was told as effectively as it was in "infamous," which I saw maybe a month ago.

Also watched "Jumper," a better idea than a movie; and then the lovely and romantic "Ladyhawke."

"Milk" was amazing. And wonderful. And sad.

'The Bucket List' , it's great! Usually i don't like Jack Nicholsen (sp?) all that well-he is great in this one. Of course, it goes w/o saying that Morgan Freeman Jr. was just as wonderful as he usually is. Great movie. 8^)

>92 Vanye: Vanye:

My husband and I just rented "The Bucket List" too! We originally got it while my mom was here visiting to watch with her and didn't get the chance so we watched it later after she left. We both boo-hooed big time at the end. Later my husband said that he guessed it turned out ok that my mom wasn't with us when we watched it! Hmmm, didn't want to shed some unmanly tears in front of the mom-in-law I guess. ;D We really liked it too.

I loved Infamous too. I read the George Plimpton book Truman Capote that the movie was based on.

For holiday movies I recently re- watched on DVD Hogfather, and Mixed Nuts .

I just saw on one of the cable indie channels Blow Dry about a UK hairstyling competition set in Yorkshire (maybe the same town as Calender Girls ?). It was wonderful.

The DVD in the US is packaged with two of the young teeny actors on it. I have no idea who they are, but they are minor characters in the film. It makes the film look like its one of those horrible teen flicks, but its not. It has Alan Rickman, Bill Nighy, and Miranda Richardson in it, funny, campy, bittersweet.

I actually saw a documentary about the whole hairstyling competition thing on PBS. Besides national competitions they have international ones. The doc was about the US team in the international competition being held in Russia.

We watched the 50's version of Invasion of the Body Snatchers last night as well as Invaders from Mars. My husband kept laughing during the second one which really hurt my feelings *sniff*. It gave me nightmares when I was little and watched it with my sisters! I mean...it was scary back then...when the big, zombie-like martians, dressed in funny, zippered up suits galomphed up and down the tunnels after the soldiers. REALLY SCARY!!! Well, okay, I laughed a bit too...

I love 50's sci fi :-D

I watched Dark Knight!

two words Magic Trick!

What a way to lose such an amazing actor. Mr. Ledger your sadly missed!

Watched the first part of Jurassic Park with my kids today. Now my hubby and I are watching the end, since they will want to finish it tomorrow and he wants to see it now. It's making me jump quite a bit!

No Reservations is playing on cable this week, and I can sit mesmerized. It combines food and story. The music is pretty good too. I decided just a couple years ago that I liked 'Sway', an old Dean Martin standard, and there it is in the movie.

My husband and I were very excited to find a copy of "The Last Castle" with Robert Redford on dvd. Our VHS version died a while ago. Has anyone else seen it?

I think we have a copy of The Last Castle around here somewhere. Isn't that the one where Redford's in prison and for some reason persecuted and he has to build a wall then tear it down and build it again? Or something like that?

Yep. Thats the one.

I just watched The Last Castle a couple of months ago. It's really good! But then...Robert Redford...

We watched Mr. Roberts on TCM last night. What a great movie. Henry Fonda, James Cagney, Jack Lemmon, William Powell.

I was watching parts of this once, and decided I had to see it all the way through.

Thank goodness for Tivo. The Last Castle was great, though at first when I saw the title I was hoping for Jack Vance's The Last Castle

Speaking of Robert Redford, have any of you seen Sneakers? My mum found it at a small town library several years back, and it has become my favourite movie by him. The only weird thing is that I've never (and I mean NEVER) found anyone else who's seen it.

If you ever have a chance to see it, do so!

Sneakers was very fun. Sydney Portier, Mary McDonnel now on Battlestar Galactica and then having been an academy award nominee for Dances with Wolves. The late River Phoenix, Dan Akyroyd, Ben Kingsley, david Straitharn. A great cast. I count 4 academy award winners in there for a light hearted dramedy.

I've seen Sneakers several times (on TV).
Nice light action techno comedy with some good acting in it. Of course the technology is very comical (there are better movies on hacking), but a nice way to spend 90 minutes

Yay- people who have seen Sneakers! It is an amazing cast, and David never fails to amaze me with his acting.

If you like sleeper movies with all-star casts, Relative Values is another awesome movie- very funny!

Sneakers was a great movie. I haven't seen it in years.

Last night I watched Beowulf and Grendel. It wasn't as bad as people made out, but it wasn't good either. It got a bit slow for about 2/3 of the movie, despite everything else not being too bad.

MissWoodhouse, you will be happy to know my husband and I actually went to the theatre to see Sneakers. Yes, we are that old! And I agree, it's a fun movie, been ages since I've watched it, should watch it again one of these days. Like I said, anything with Robert Redford.

katylit, I am sooooo envious! How cool! My mum and I have always talked about running a theater that played older movies- this is one I'd love to see on the big screen.

I think that Ben Kingsley as Cosmo was so very menacing that it made the movie great.

Last night I saw 'The Curious Tale of Benjamin Button', which had me laughing, crying, and generally enthralled. The makeup/cgi to make Brad Pitt and Cate Blanchett look elderly was incredible...

What a beautiful, sad, funny story. Really recommend it.

Season one of Corner Gas. That show just cracks me up. It's something my husband and I actually enjoy watching together.

Also watched The Dark Knight with my daughter. Lovely, sad movie.

The last movie I saw at a theater was Beverly Hills Chihuahua. I thought it very funny.

We got sucked into Men In Black again last night. Even though we've watched at least a dozen times, we love it.

And get a decorator in here quick, cause, damn!

I love this gun.

It's a 37-hour day. You get used to it or you have a psychotic episode.

Finally got to see Wall-ee last night! The movie is just brilliant in terms of which elements of the story are verbalized and what elements are simply told via images. If I were teaching a film course, I think I would open the course with this one just to demonstrate the power of visual story-telling. The story itself isn't all that unfamiliar but the way in which it was told was just phenomenal. Really not just a children's movie.

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button...loved it!

King Kong (2005) is hitting Blu-ray a week from today, and here's some comparison shots between it and the 2 disc special edition DVD release from late March, 2006.

http://www.dvdbeaver.com/film/DVDReviews21/king_kong_2005_dvd_review.htm

And here's some shots of the BD itself and its menu screens confirming that both the theatrical and extended versions are indeed on one disc.

http://newboards.kongisking.net/perl/gforum.cgi?post=236556;sb=post_time;so=DESC...

I watched Carnival of Souls last night. Wow. Way better (read: good 'n' creepy) than I thought it would be. In fact, I'd say it's one of the best zombie(ish) movies I've ever seen. And I loves me the zombie movies.

Hmmm. Gonna have to add Carnival of Souls to the Netflix queue.

drneutron: Oh, do. Then let me know what you think once you've watched it.

I have The Pianist from Netflix. Not sure when I'm going to watch it. Anyone seen it?

>122 Morphidae: Loved it; just have tissues handy. :)

I keep getting suckered by the OH into watching bad movies lately. It started with The Happening by M. Night Shyamalamadingdong. What a piece of garbage! Why didn't anyone tell me it was that bad?! We almost turned it off after 20 minutes, a missed opportunity we now regret, but we convinced ourselves to see if it made any sense later. Nope. MNS is truly the Ed Wood of our generation.

Last night was X-Files: I Want to Believe. Umm... yeah. Not only was it a crappy flick, but the OH & I were completely taken aback by some of the plot elements. After 12 and 20 years being active in the GLBT community, neither of us is easily offended. Chris Carter was a bit heavy-handed with the Catholic elements, as well. Seriously, is his bag of tricks that empty?

M. Night Shyamalamadingdong. LOL.

The fact that Marky Mark was in it didn't give you a clue? That had to be the.worst.acting.ever.

I went to see "Australia" last week. What a beautiful love story.........not without its faults, but I hope people don't wait for the DVD because it really needs to be seen on a big screen.

My friend and I went to see Doubt tonight. VERY good movie. I was so impressed with the acting and the many layers of the story.

I finally got to see Repo: The Genetic Opera last night (don't ask how). It's great! It's the sort of movie I've been waiting for years for someone to make. It's not to everyone's taste though. Squeamish people, people who don't like musicals, people who don't like heavy music, people who don't like opera and people who don't like Paris Hilton will all be disappointed in the movie. Paris Hilton didn't do too bad of a job though. She's partially redeemed herself.

Just saw The Visitor. About a professor who suddenly finds an illegal family living in his New York appartment. A very nice combination between US dialogs and European storyline. Fine acting as well. Recommended.

Went to see Valkyrie tonight. Interesting, I had no idea the plot got that far, or whether that was movie magic, but still interesting. I still can't help feeling that it wasn't a very German movie. Tom Cruise was just...Tom Cruise. It started with captions and spoken in German and I wish the whole movie had continued that way.

ETA: The best part about the movie was the preview of X-men Origins, I mean, Hugh Jackman, no shirt, big screen. Sigh.

a movie to enjoy and think..Slumdog Millionaire,directed by Danny Boyle, Loveleen Tandan. With Dev Patel, Anil Kapoor, Saurabh Shukla. The story of the life of an impoverished Indian teen Jamal Malik, ...

I watched Mirrormask again last night. I may not like Neil Gaiman's books, but I very much like his movies.

I picked up Viggo's new movie on DVD. I have seen it at he theater but now I have my own copy. Yea! Appaloosa has any one seen it? i wish Good would be playing around here. I understand it is out on limited release. Similar to Slumdog Millionaire.

We saw The Curious Case of Benjamin Button and Inkheart this weekend. Benjamin Button was wonderful and is mightily deserving of a few Oscars I'm thinking (although I haven't seen any other of the nominees yet). The makeup and special effects alone were amazing! And I love the story.

Inkheart was good, I enjoyed it, but not as much as B.B. The casting was spot on I thought, I loved Helen Mirren as Eleanor, and I couldn't picture Paul Bettany as Dustfinger until I was watching him and then he was Dustfinger. Now I can't imagine Dustfinger as anyone else!

I also went to see Inkheart today and thought it was wonderful! I agree with katylit that the casting of Dustfinger was excellent as was the casting of Brendan Fraser as Mo.

I just watched the new Superman movie for the second time.

I liked it better this time - maybe because I wasn't expecting the villain plot to, well, make sense. So it was ok that it was a completely unbelievable bad-guy-trying-to-take-over-the-earth thing. That isn't the point of the movie, anyway.

I saw Inkheart also, loved the characters more than the movie, not sure what that means.

Friday might I saw Revolutionary Road with Kate Winslett and Leonardo DiCaprio. Excellent movie with lots of subtleties in it.
Saturday night was The Life Aquatic with Bill Murray. Surreal experience.

The History Boys. Entertaining, and yet depressing.

I spent Australia Day keeping cool at the movies watching Slumdog Millionaire. I can understand why it has so many Oscar nominations - it's visually stunning and although the story is quite harrowing it has some dark humour as well. I haven't read Q and A but a lot of the movie brought back memories of reading A Fine Balance.

I saw Slumdog Millionaire this weekend. I really enjoyed it. I have a student in my class whose family is from India. His family is from Mambai( Bombay) which is the setting for the money. His family wants to bring me something back from India. Does anyone have a suggestion what I should request?

A scarf or sari? If you'd wear it . . .

Spices or tea?

DVDs of Bollywood movies?

Your own tech support guy?

Enough of my stereotypes, maybe someone who has actually been there has some suggestions.

Thanks #141 I appreciate any tips. I don't want them to spend a lot of money. Hmm maybe the scarf sounds like a good idea. Any other suggestions folks?

Jumping to a different part of the globe, my husband and I watched The Shoes of the Fisherman, starring Anthony Quinn and Sir Laurence Olivier, with John Gielgud and Leo McKern in supporting roles. Interesting if not fast-paced.

Reversal of Fortune, about which I have written elsewhere, is on BBC America tonight (I'll be DVR'ing it). And now the classic Fast Times at Ridgemont High is on HBO--a must see for the finely tuned performance of Sean Penn as Jeff Spicoli.

I just saw Slumdog Millionaire, and loved it. GO! It's really great.

I also rented and watched "There Will Be Blood", which I really loved, but it's not a film for everyone. Harsh and unrelenting.

My housemate's on a dance-movie craze at the moment. So while she was watching Take the Lead, I got suckered in. It wasn't a great cinematic revelation (it was for dancing what Bring It On was for cheerleading and Sister Act 2 was for singing), but it was entertaining and left a warm, fuzzy feeling.
And given that the other option was Step Up, I think I got the good one.

Watched Gomorra. A very depressing film about the Maffia in Naples, Italy. Based on a book by an Italian journalist who was undercover inside the area pictured in the film. Some statistics: The Gomorra (the name for the Naples Maffia) kills somebody every 3 days.

You would think after the first time, that person would just stay dead. Or learn to avoid the Gomorra.

Zombie!!!!

yay for English and its unclear syntax!

This week: The curious case of Benjamin Button. A lot, but not entirely like Forest Gump, however 2 hours well spent.

Vickie Christina Barcelona down at the Hall. . . and at home 1776 ~~~~variety is indeed the spice of life!

I saw Gran Torino last night. A must see movie. I am surprised it hasn't gotten the PR like the other flicks out there. I am not a major Clint Eastwood fan but this film really reminded me of people I grew up in my old neighborhood. the story was great. Really foul language and violent but really makes you think about the people and relationships. I really liked it!!

We saw Slumdog Millionaire last night and I thought it started out interesting, and then morphed into a giant flaming bag of cliches at the end. The children were great, tho.

Watched (after DVR'ing it) "Akeelah and the Bee" last night. Thought it was charming and I liked the ending, which offered a slight twist on the expected.

I watched Penelope on friday, which I liked, then I tried to watch Waitress yesterday, but my sister came round and we decided to make chocolate truffles.

We watched The Merchant of Venice starring Al Pacino and Jeremy Irons last night. It was just an outstanding production of the Shakespearean play. Make the time to watch it, even if you aren't big on the Bard!

I saw Coraline this afternoon. It was fantastic.

*Adds The Merchant of Venice to movie list* I saw Much Ado About Nothing for the first time recently- the one with Emma Thompson and Kenneth Branagh. Oh my. Quite lovely. I always was partial to Robert Sean Leonard in House- now I know why. ;) Keanu Reeves playing a bad guy didn't hurt my opinion of him much either. Just sayin'...

Also watched an old favourite- The Trouble With Angels. Not as much time for movies as I could wish. I bought Ballet Shoes before Christmas to watch with Mum (she read the book to me when I was little), but we haven't had the chance. Maybe next weekend.

#157 Much Ado About Purple Leather Pants (yum)

Watched more Corner Gas, now Netflix will deliver my feast of five King Lear productions. :) I'll be watching King Lear for awhile.

Oh, also got sucked into Independence Day with son yesterday, and we tried to watch Born in East L.A., but it was too foul for our tastes. Husband had seen it on T.V. and I guess they cleaned it up a lot.

#157 MissWoodhouse I think you and I (and your Mum) would enjoy watching movies together - we seem to have very similar tastes! I love The Trouble with Angels. Rosalind Russell, Hayley Mills - it's wonderful. I think you'll really enjoy Ballet Shoes, they did a superb job with it.

And I second The Merchant of Venice with Al Pacino, it's amazing.

We went out for dinner and a movie and saw Taken. Nothing wonderful, but we needed a distraction and I guess it worked for that. One of the disadvantages of living in a small town with only one theatre, limited choices for a movie :-(

Most recent movie for me was last night, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. I really enjoyed it. The concept of wiping someone from your life was interesting. i have weanted to do that myself. The realization that you regret your decision midway through the process is really cool too. Very realistic, I think. Choices made rashly or in the heat of emotion are not always the best ones. And the way they found each other at the beach was touching. Like hearts drawn together, meant to be, and all that jolly rot.

I took my niece to see Hotel for Dogs on saturday, it was such a cute movie :) & listening to all the kids in the theater (it was sold out, so lots of kids) giggle or go "awwww" at the same times was half the fun for me :) My niece loved it, tho every time there was something slightly romantic she'd turn to me & say "ooh la la" LOL. I'm glad i saw it, much better than Yes man which I took my nephew to see last month...

Yesterday I went with a friend to see Slumdog Millionaire. It was pretty full on, very disturbing @ times, definately didn't make me wanna go to india, but twas a really good movie IMO & I'm really glad I saw it. Luvd the cheesy bollywood dance scene @ the end :) The kids were great, I really hope there's no truth to the rumours that they didn't get paid what they were promised & are still living in the slums...

Watched one I hadn't seen in years: The Year of Living Dangerously. Early Mel Gibson and an elegant Sigourney Weaver and the brilliant performance by Linda Hunt. Great score, too.

Saw "Taken" today. Liam Neeson kicks butt, no matter if he's a bit older. The movie wasn't particularly realistic, but the action was great, the plot moved quickly and the film clocked in at about an hour and a half. All big bonuses for me. A fine afternoon of escapism. No terrorists in sight :)

Not a movie, but I did see the pilot of Dollhouse last night. It's good enough to keep me watching for a few episodes.

Oh, speaking of "not movies" I'm half way thru disc 5 of season 2 of Battlestar Gallactica & loving it!!!

We watched Fargo last night for the first time. OMG it was HILARIOUS! I had to keep pausing it so we could catch our breath. It was so... Minnesota. And Frances McDormand's deadpan... "and then we had this execution style thing here."

Morph, we watched Burn After Reading last night which was funny too and it reminded us of Fargo, same sort of dark humour. We've gotta watch Fargo again, ah-yeah ;-)

Frances McDormand is perfect in movies like that, I really like her.

I absolutely love Fargo! It's a great movie. I have Burn After Reading from Netflix and have not watched it yet, but I think I will tonight.

Watched Troy on VHS (from library, they haven't quite made the shift to DVD yet). Ho-hum.
Highlight of last week was a German TV film, "Willkommen zu Hause" ("Welcome home"). It's about a soldier returning from his tour in Afghanistan after surviving a suicide bombing on an army convoy. Post-traumatic stress disorder gets him soon after. A topic that's old news for Americans, but hasn't been talked about in Germany much (not even in army circles).
Even though the film had its weak points (the script had some wooden dialogue), it was gripping, and served its purpose (there were comments on the issue from the Min. of Defence, as well as a discussion in parliament last week). What more can a film maker expect?

#165 Will, I need to see that but nobody has bought it in england yet. Gah.

Burn after Reading is not up there with Fargo, so be prepared. Fargo, Hudsuckeer & Lebowski are pretty much the heights for the Coens.

I was feeling nostalgic so I watched The Sting for about the 50th time. It just never gets old. Great characters. Great plot. Great humor. Great timing. And boy oh boy, great eye candy.

Also watched the original Italian Job again. Couldn't stop singing The Self-Preservation Society for a whole day. Love Benny Hill's cameo; perfect casting. Great movie.

Morphie: For Minnesota humor, you should get your hands on "Drop Dead Gorgeous" with Kirstin Dunst in one of her earliest roles. My son-in-law is from Minnesota, and we laugh 'til we pee when we watch this.

I never have been able to figure out if it's a "great movie" or not (I laugh too hard to analyze). It probably isn't, but I love it.

Yay! Just returned from the cinema after 2 3/4 hours of "Australia". Utterly and absolutely not what I expected (did not know much about it, had only heard it was an epic, so I expected sweeping shots, sweeping story). While I wouldn't rate it top of the pile (7.5/10, I'd say), I liked the turn the story took. And the attempt at Magic Realism. The cinematography went along well with this.
Hey, I might even want to see this again, on the big screen (no, probably not, but that's because it will fall off the schedule soon...).

"Rudy" is one of my favorite flicks. I tis so AMC classics right now!

171 - No one's bought it in Australia, yet, either. *coughs, looks shifty*

Watched the last 40 minutes of Shooting Dogs last night. It is about a refugee camp in Rwanda in the around 1993/4 and how they were essentially let down by the UN troops who came to help them. I was moved to tears and seeing as I only saw the end that is saying something.

I am in a bad mood, so I'm watching The Usual Suspects. Lots of killing people and blowing things up. The convoluted plot doesn't bother me because I've seen it a dozen times before.

I don't know how late I'm going to stay up tonight, but if I feel like watching anything after this, I'll put in the first dvd of Alias.

Yesterday with sick son I watched Back to the Future I, II and III, then Pirates of the Caribbean. A good day for movies. He wanted to watch Wayne's World, but waited until today when I was not in the room. Some things are meant to be watched with Dads.

I watched Goya's Ghost last night. It was an interesting story it just felt forced in a few places.

I will start season 1 of Dexter tonight when I get home, it seems like a really interesting show.

bluesalamanders - I LOVE TUS. some of the comments when they're being arrested is classic - "do you think you brought enough guys?" "oh...fucko." Kills me every time. Husband and I can practically do the whole movie.

Bookmarque-

Hah, me too, it is a great movie, so messed up and fantastic and hilarious and violent all at the same time.

I can never ask for car keys without thinking of that movie.

Oh yeah. I saw a person with a screen name that went - Give ME the keys...". Great scene. McManus was crazy.

I listened to the director's commentary once and apparently that scene was supposed to be played completely straight, but that was one of those days that everybody had the giggles, so it was impossible. I think it's better the way it is anyway.

I think it could play either way. With them laughing it shows how unworried they were about the line up...which either did or did not exist. : )

I watched Bourne Identity last night, then all the special features, then again with the commentary. Will continue the trilogy the rest of this week. Me loves it.

Last night I watched Repo: The Genetic Opera - twisted musical ...very very twisted and bloody and dippy fun and way over the top.
http://www.repo-opera.com/ In a world where organ transplants and repossession of said organs are the new bling -status thing....a tale of a father's love and a daughter's rebellion - not to mention a little spurned lover revenge

188 - I loved that movie! It's everything I want in a movie. Sure there are a couple of weak points (and it's not Paris Hilton, oddly enough), but they're easy to see around.

I haven't watched The Usual Suspects in years, but you all have me wanting to see it again. I'll have to add it to the netflix list.

I watched Don Juan Demarco earlier today. Whoa, definitely one that calls for a cold shower afterward.

will- sorta half way between sweeny todd and rocky horror ;) - but gotta love the over the top fun

Watching "L.A. Confidential" right now. I love it.

We watched Who Framed Roger Rabbit for the gadzillionth time. Always enjoyable.

Oohh. L.A. Confidential is another great one. Mr. Pearce cleans up but good.

I watched Miss Potter last night which was rather interesting. It did have her come off as a bit of an eccentric. Ewan McGregor is always good for a swoon, even with the wild moustache.

I just watched Tropic Thunder, I don't know why I didn't dislike it, I could normally not stomach that much obscenity, but I really enjoyed this movie.

*
*
*
*
Spoiler:
It raised Tom Cruise in my estimate as someone who could laugh at himself. :) The dancing on the couch never did bother me.

Oh, the other great performance I watched today was King Lear, with James Earl Jones (Lear) and Raul Julia (Edmund).

Watched "Fargo" last night for the first time. What the ...? *lol*
*thumbs up*

>198 GirlFromIpanema: It's even funnier if you live in the Upper Midwest because you recognize some of the behavior.

#199: They seemed a bit like the people around here. You know, there is this joke about us:

"Moin." - "Moin." - "Schnacker."
("Hi." - "Hi." - "Motormouth.")

I've been guilty of the "Ah Jeez" and of being out with a neighbor, staring up at the sky and talking about the weather.

And there are people here that ARE as laid back as the police officer and her husband.

I watched The Quiet Man; LOVE the scene where Sean drags his wife back to town and then fights her brother, and the whole town is watching and taking bets. I know this is unAmerican, but it's pretty much the only John Wayne movie I ever liked.

>202 theretiredlibrarian:

I like some other John Wayne movies, but I love this one. So much so that despite owning the DVD I still watch it whenever it's on TV.

It may be contrary to my feminist heart, but I even love the line "And here's a stick to beat the lovely lady." As for the fight, it's got to be one of the best fight scenes in film. I also love the bit where the old guy with the white beard is lying in bed, listening to scripture, but gets up and pushes his womenfolk aside so he can go off and see the fight.

Watched Coraline tonight. Visually very interesting and fun to watch. Good where it stuck to the plot, but there were added bits that in my opinion took away from the creepiness of the original story.

Might have enjoyed it more if there hadn't been a group behind us that had a wiggling, squirming, whining baby. The baby wasn't as noisy as whoever was with it though. They were *whispering* on their cell phone through a good half hour of the movie! Then either they, or the baby were crinkling and crackling some sort of wrapper in my EAR. My friend and I took turns glaring, but they were too immune to get it. Why were they even there? Someday I'll get a spine.

:) At Inkheart, two older women were repeating the movie and the actions of the characters in a semi-loud voice, but not as if either were hearing impaired, they just seemed to need to filter the movie through their mouth. My friend's husband finally turned around and said, "I'm sorry, were we listening too quietly?" It was great. I think it took them awhile to process that, but they were quiet after that.

MrsLee

I had a similar problem during Coraline. There was a boy and his father sitting behind us who kept talking - the boy would comment (loudly) on what was going on, or ask a question (loudly), every few minutes, and the father would answer. Gah. I tried to shush them a few times, but it didn't help.

I love "were we listening too quietly?" though.

people on cell phones are my #1 pet peeve...really are you THAT important that you have to take a call EVERYWHERE you go??? In line at the bank, at the grocery store, in the movies, at dinner, in the car...just hang up and INTERACT WITH THE PEOPLE WHO ARE ACTUALLY STANDING NEXT TO YOU!!! We went out to dinner last week w/2 other couples, and the other two women between them took or made 5 phone calls. One of them had a new iphone; she not only made phone calls, but checked the basketball score and a couple of other gee-whizzes the thing can do. And why would you pay $8.00 to go to the movies and then talk thru the whole thing??? And don't even get me started on those stupid things that are stuck in your ear...my husband has one, and we'll be talking (face-to-face mind you) and he'll suddenly go, "Hello?" and take a call right in the middle of our conversation. It really pisses me off, and he knows it but does it anyway. Because he's one of THOSE people. These kinds of cell phone users are just RUDE. Don't get me wrong, I'm not some kind of Luddite ready to throw away technolgy (I have a cell phone, and sometimes actually know where it is), but really can't some of these people get a clue about their behavior? (Including my husband!!)

#205 & 206 Word. I can barely stand to go out to the movies any more. Unless it's a CGI-fest, I prefer to rent it and watch it at home where my husband is quiet as a mouse. (Or will pause it if he has something to say.)

I was regretting that I hardly ever get to the movies anymore, I just see them when they show up on HBO. Now, not so much. It's quiet and comfy here at home.

around here the Movie theaters will actually though you out for using a cell phone during the movie

It is more convenient at home, but I have become addicted to the large screen. :) Also the popcorn with real butter smothering it. When you have a good and simpatico audience, it can be a fun group experience with everyone sighing, crying or screaming at the appropriate moments. Plus, since daughter works there, I get in free when I go with her. I just wish there were a way to screen the audience.

I just had to rant...I am surrounding by family and friends who just don't "get it" why cell phones, particularly blue tooth, get me riled up. I am also on a rant about reality tv...if I see one more reality contest show, I will hurl...It all started with Survivor (thought it was stupid then and still do)...American Idol, Last Comic Standing, some stupid chef show, Biggest Loser...hate 'em all and will leave the room when my husband wants to watch them (he tried to be a contestant on Biggest Loser *cringe*). the shows about the family with so many kids, parking wars, court tv, ad nauseum, can't stand 'em. About the only ones I enjoy are on TLC;like Dirty Jobs and Mythbusters. They are entertaining and informational and no one gets voted off the island. I think the main problem I have with the reality shows is that they are mean-spirited. I mean, everyone is glad when someone is booted off the show. Blech; I like well-written dramas and comedies; documentaries are fine; I even like half-baked scifi shows. Therefore, I mostly watch re-runs, the History Channel, or SciFi Network. Or I just turn the tv off and read book instead!
*rant over*

I took my son and one of his buddies to see Coraline in 3D yesterday. We all enjoyed it immensely.
:o)
No one talked or wiggled behind us.

My only complaint is that it's $11 a ticket for 3D films, even the matinees. *gulp*

clamairy - What did you think about the head twisting? By the end of the movie I was having sympathetic neck pains. We didn't have it in 3D.

>211 theretiredlibrarian:

I happen to like a lot of reality shows, but I do understand people who don't. One of my favorites is The Amazing Race, not only because of the wonderful tour of the world I get to enjoy vicariously, but especially also because the contest generally rewards the team of two people who work together, treat each other (and people in other countries) with respect, and cheer each other on when the going gets tough. Sure, there's occasionally some conflict between teams, but for the most part teams get a lot further concentrating on the tasks than tryng to trip another team up.

Of course, I also enjoy it when some cocky player on Survivor gets blindsided by people he or she thinks he/she has under his/her thumb!

I like Project Runway, but it looks like it's never coming back on tv again. Frakkin' lawyers.

I have a co-worker with a visually-impaired son - they have to narrate movies for him (not the dialogue, but the visual stuff). They're careful to sit as far as they can from others and also to warn anyone who sits near them before the movie starts.

There is some new technology that provides headphones and narration for the visually-impaired but not all theatres have it.

tardis - I'm aware of that issue, but in my instance I'm pretty sure that was not the case, they were just chatting about obvious things to each other. I don't mind an occasional whisper to a friend, some aspect of the movie you have to share with your buddy, but chatting in your regular voice is a pain. "Will you look at...", "He's going to do...now" "Get ready for..." Those sorts of comments drive me nuts.

>215 littlegeek:

I didn't realize this, what a bummer. Sounds as though they have a season taped but don't know if it will be shown. Somewhat freakily, while I was reading the article, a song by Seal came on the music channel I have on. Cosmic coincidence?

MrsLee, I'm sure you're right - they sound just plain inconsiderate. Don't you find though that many people have a much reduced sense of how they sound to others? I mean, the whole cell phone thing - the other day I sat on the bus next to a girl who was on her cell phone narrating her last night's date in GRAPHIC detail in a perfectly normal voice. Perfect strangers do NOT need to know that kind of thing about each other.

I watched Ghandi with a good friend of mine last night. its a 3.5 or so hour epic about Mohandas Karamchand "Mahatma" Ghandi, and its breathtaking. The man accomplished something that, in my mind, no one else could. Given, he kind of failed, but the fact that he achieved anything is amazing. The man took down the most powerful empire in the world at the time with salt and nonviolence. Thats pretty impressive. I should also mention that Ben Kingsley is a god among men.

Yesterday I rented the remake of Prince Caspian. Mean to see it in theaters but never got around to it. Seeing as I'm taking a seminar on Lewis it seems oddly appropriate to watch it now. I'll let you all know what I think after i see it.

The thing that kills me most about the constant communication these days is that I have so little to say. I mean, when it was once a week or once a day catch up, I could easily fill a conversation. Now that I have people 'chatting' with me daily, it's tough to come up with something to say. Wasn't it more fun when we didn't telegraph every second of our lives to everyone and actually lived instead?

#213 - Well, I felt bad for Wyborn, or however you spell his name. Neither of him seemed to be able to hold their heads upright.

#222 - :) I suppose that was just the artist's interpretation of the "teen slouch."

212 - If only tickets were $11 here. An adult pays $15 (which is actually US$11, and I'm going to shut up now).

I rewatched xXx last night. Marton Csokas is really quite excellent. And I had no idea he was a Kiwi!

gotta love those kiwi's

#225- The human ones, the birdy ones and the fruit ones!

I watched One Night with the King last night. A sort of speeded up version of Esther. Not bad. She had some great gowns! Also fun to see John Rhys-Davies, John Noble, Peter O'Toole (don't blink, you'll miss him) and Omar Sharif (right up there with Peter O'Toole in my pretty older men book).

Just popping in to mention that BSG has completely turned to shite.

little geek, I agree about Battle Star Galactica... it is like the point in the original when the found earth. Perhaps Richard Hatch realized that and allowed himself to be easily killed off. Why go through two series deaths?

#228 Oh my do I agree. To think the series jumps the shark a few episodes before its end.

Watched King Lear with Lawrence Oliver. Very fine. After reading the play, and watching two other productions, I finally figured out what happened to old Gloucester!

He's served on a cracker?

#232 - LOL, I think I would like that version!

So very GD.

I need to rent that, as I'm reading Fool by Chris Moore right now. (Which still won't touchstone.) It's hilarious, btw.

We watched Tropic Thunder last night, partly because MrsLee said she'd enjoyed it. We enjoyed it too - pretty funny, some good laugh-out-loud moments. I don't usually like Ben Stiller, but I needed something silly and funny and this worked. Tom Cruise! Who'd a-thought???

And I also watched Star Trek Generations, like a comfort movie for me. You know I could do with escaping into the Nexus...

Watched Burn After Reading last night. The kids detested it. I laughed in a few places, as did mrclam, but this film really should not have been billed as a comedy...
0.0

We saw "Flash of Genius" which is based on the case of inventor whose intermittent windshield wiper was stolen from him by Ford Motor Co. (An actual fact, tho movie isn't a documentary.)
>198 GirlFromIpanema: about "Fargo". . .I do not like violent movies but I love "Fargo"!! We bought the DVD and have watched it many times. . . guess that signifies it's well-made.

I watched Be Kind Rewind last night - I was pleasantly surprised by it. A heartwarming story, if a little odd. Definitely some good funny bits in it.

I watched Van Helsing yesterday. I know it had poor reviews, but I wanted to see for myself. Hey, it was only two hours, right? Well, given I had such poor expectations, it lived up to them, but it didn't exceed them by much, either. I couldn't actually pinpoint what wasn't that great about it. The look was very good, the acting wasn't appalling, even if not incredible. Maybe the plot?

#239 - Van Helsing is on my list of "corny movies I love to watch but don't know why." :) The fact that Hugh Jackman is in it is only part of my like for it, but I can't really tell you what the other part is.

Well, for me, the other part is Kate Beckinsale! 8^}

Van Helsing was on TV here on Saturday too (do German and Australian TV cooperate in programming?). I had a look at it but switched off after about 10 minutes. It just did not keep my interest... (Hugh Jackman notwithstanding).
But then, I hate Fantasy&Co. with a vengeance, anyway.

Watched Spiral last night. Thriller made by 30-somethings. Too bad all the good ideas have been done already, otherwise they'd have something solid. Acting was decent although the girl was a Britney knock-off and the boss-friend was a poor man's Ben Affleck.

Ben Affleck is poor to begin with.

Is Spiral based on Spiral by Koji Suzuki? If so, it should be a sequel to Ring, both book and movie. The book version of Ring was pretty good and Spiral's on my TBR.

not watching movies this past weekend - but was catching up on "Supernatural" season 3 -

"Twister" was on again last night.

"We've got cows."

The second part of Masterpiece Theater's "Oliver Twist." Lovely happy ending for poor orphaned Oliver. Interesting that the dramatization dropped Rose's suitor entirely from the story, though. Dickens does have a large cast of characters, so I guess they couldn't all show up in a mere three hours.

>247 MerryMary: "Where's my truck?"

We watched The Kingdom last night. I didn't want to see it, which is why we watched on DVD instead of in the theater. My hubby wanted to see it very badly. It was actually pretty good. The plot was pretty tight, the story didn't have holes and the acting was great. Although I didn't understand the presence of Jason Bateman, since I do love him I didn't mind. The politics at the beginning required a lot of pausing and explaining because I am not politically astute. In the theater, this part would have been a disaster for me. The "war movie" aspect that I was afraid of and that made me not want to see it, was much less than I thought it would be. Sure, the plot was around a terrorist activity, but it just wasn't as "war" feeling as I was afraid of. I can't explain that, but I did enjoy the movie. Jamie Fox and Jennifer Garner (Jason Bateman, as I mentioned, in a totally superfluous part), that actor whose name I forget who played the bad guy in Breach, and some really fine acting by men who played Saudi Arabians, no clue who they were, but they did a good job and looked great doing it.

>249 Morphidae:: It's in the suck zone. *slurp*

242 - Nope, mine was on DVD. Stick with x-men if you're just wanting to ogle High Jackman (or an Aussie film called Paperback Hero if you're after a romantic edge).

Hugh was pretty scenic in The Prestige and The Fountain. As a matter of fact, he's probably the only good reason to watch that last one.

#253 - I agree about The Fountain, meaning HJ is the only good reason to watch it, unless you like a bit of mind twisting without drugs.

I was so disappointed in The Fountain. The promos made it look like it was going to be so good (well...when don't they?) and then - bleck! Thank goodness for HJ! He really is a very talented fellow isn't he? I was quite impressed with his performance on the Oscars - I mean, he's not just a pretty face ;-) .

OH! eta We watched The Devil and Daniel Webster last night. That's a neat old movie, 19th Century New Hampshire farmer selling his soul to the devil and good ol' Daniel Webster getting him out of it. Walter Huston makes a great Mr. Scratch.

>252 Choreocrat: You're the only other person I've ever seen mention Paperback Hero. I remember really enjoying the movie a few years back. I should hunt my DVD collection and watch it again.

256 - It's one of the chick-flicks that I actually enjoy. I'm surprised it's been heard of outside Australia.

Speaking of chick-flicks, I watched Mamma Mia when I was over at a friend's place last night. It was quite tolerable, for a movie aimed at mothers reminiscing about the 70s. I do much prefer Across the Universe, though, when it comes to making musicals out of a band's repertoire. I can't comment on We Will Rock You. I haven't seen it.

Edit: The Musical Is Back!

Netflix has failed me. No Paperback Hero. The only copy at Amazon is non US playable. Rats.

Psst... Don't tell, but there appears to be a shady source. You didn't hear it from me, but then if you can't watch it any other way...

There's a VHS copy on www.half.com, though it will cost more than the shady source version!

We rarely go to the movie theatre, but as a treat last night we saw Slumdog Millionaire. And it was a treat.
The spectacle of the slums and modern India enhances my reading by giving me more hooks for visualizing stories like The White Tiger and so many others. Movies do play an important role for us readers, I think. They strengthen my connection to a setting that I've never experienced otherwise.

Coraline! Very fun little movie.

I also saw Rachel Getting Married, which showed an eerily realistic sister relationship. (This move should have been MUCH shorter than it was).

Thanks Will, of course I saw nothing...I've been, uh, cooking, uh, cleaning, uh reading, yeah, reading the last two hours.

>258 MrsLee: I picked up the Paperback Hero dvd on ebay. It didn't look like a bootleg...

Last night I actually got the whole family to sit down and watch City of Ember with me. I'd been hoping to read the book first but Netflix beat me to it. I think we all enjoyed it, although my husband said he didn't really like the ending.

Last Friday went to Slumdog Millionaire. Excellent film and a very rare 5-out-of-5. Very good depiction of the slums of Mumbai AND a very good thriller.

Yesterday I went to see Watchmen, the impossible film after the classic Graphic Novel by Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons. I heard different stories about it, but was nicely surprised with how the film gave tribute to the comic, to the time it was written, but remained an entity on its own, adding bits and pieces to make it a modern film.

Watched "Howl's Moving Castle the other day on TV & now have got to get hold of the book. 8^)

Oh, I enjoyed Howl's Moving Castle. But then I'm biased towards Studio Ghibli. I also like Diana Wynne Jones, so I think I'd enjoy the book.

The book of Howl's Moving Castle is very different and much better. I did like the movie, but it was not very faithful to the book in details or in theme.

#265
Papiervisje you nailed the Watchmen movie. Nice review, I agree.

Will Steed, thank you for pointing out that "shady source". Took a look at the first 10 min last night, and it seems to be a fun little film. Since it seems to be ripped from a German DVD I'll probably go and buy it (my listening comprehension of broad Australian isn't too good... :-) ).

Watched Effi Briest last week (after a novel by Theodor Fontane, a period drama about a very young woman (girl, in fact) who is married off to a politican, good looking, but 20 years older than her, back in the 1890s. The guy used to be the lover of her mother.
She then takes up an affair with a young, dashing officer, but when her husband gets posted to a ministery in Berlin, she ends the affair. Years later, her husband finds the letters, challenges the man to a duell, throws her out of the house and files for divorce.
Conventions, conventions and a young woman trying to break out. A fresh look at an old story, and at a few subplots that didn't get much treatment in the novel. The usual treatment was "morals, male honour, rules of society, and the adulterous heroine has to die in the end". This film lets Effi live in the end, and shows how she breaks out of all these conventions and out of her arranged, loveless marriage. It's all there in the book, but according to 1890s literary conventions, she had to die back then.

Watched the movie "Taken" recently and was surprised to find Liam Neeson as the main character. It was quite a brutal character to portray but I'd like him on my side if ever the situation arose. Move over Dirty Harry.

Dakota Fanning in Hound Dog was last night's rental movie. She plays a 'poor white trash' girl obsessed with Elvis. An abusive daddy (who gets his due in strange ways), no mom, fair-weather friends, blues-men next door, and then Elvis comes to town! And the real trouble begins. good movie.

I watched Mænd der hader kvinder (The Girl with the dragon tattoo) last night. It was really good and really true to the book. Some of the scenes where tough to set through due to what happened in them, but having read the book I wasn't surprised by them.

Gran Torino finally opened here in Netherlands. As with all of Eastwoods films lately, a must see film. Mankind is getting bad, but there is still hope for the future.
Small culture clash: looking at the houses in the film, what is called a "bad" neighbourhood, is considered a well-to-do neighbourhood in most parts of the rest of the world.

I've had movies for the last couple of days. :) I watched Taare Zameen Par (Aamir Khan as an art teacher teaching a dyslexic kid - a real tear-jerker and worth the watching) at a friend's place last night. This morning I was assisting sewing costumes while we watched Moliere, a delightful French film about Moliere's "life", including pieces of his plays - like Shakespeare in Love, but classier.
Then this afternoon, I was at a different friend's place. We had a video afternoon, and watched Hairspray (lots of fun, and good propaganda), another Bollywood film called Hulchul (Akshaye Khanna in a film that is to West Side Story what West Side story is to Romeo and Juliet, and less tragedic), and Gosford Park (complex, deep and engrossing upstairs/downstairs mystery).

Wow. I have been a couch potato! However, I enjoyed all of the films, and can recommend them too.

Speaking of Eastwood, I watched In the Line of Fire the other night. It was dubbed though and so unsettling to watch Eastwood and Malkovich be so damned polite to each other.

I went to see Slumdog Millionaire. The marketing hype machine had turned me off to the point I was prepared to find it disappointing and over-rated. It was not!

I loved it and think it deserved every award it won. Just a fantastic cimematic experience.

>276 Choreocrat:

I really liked Gosford Park, also. Heck of a cast.

#279: Yep. Finally bought it last week. And the soundtrack too (some Ivor Novello songs brilliantly sung by Jeremy Northam --never heard of Novello before but what beautiful songs).

May I just fall back to #195? aka_DL: "Ewan McGregor is always good for a swoon, even with the wild moustache."
I missed my chance to get near him last week :-). Roman Polanski was shooting his new film "The Ghost" on the islands here, primarily Sylt --as a stand-in for Martha's Vineyard. About 3 months ago, our paper had a short article on page one, looking for extras. I never got around to ring that number. So there you are. My 15 minutes of fame and I lost the phone number. ;-)

Just watched "In Bruges." Highly entertaining.

279/280 - I want Jeremy Northam's voice. And to look like him or Clive Owen while I'm at it. I wouldn't mind their costumes either. Very snazzy.

#282: I missed Northam reading poetry on BBC R 3. Still beating myself up over that.
Re: Costumes. I maintain that men's attire never looked better than between ca. 1840 and 1930. ;-)

I would have watched a good (or at least enjoyable) movie tonight, except my dvd play decided to STOP WORKING.

AGAIN.

I would like to point out that this dvd player that I have is already a replacement for a dvd player that was recalled because it had a tendency to just...stop working.

Just like this one has.

Never, ever buy Toshiba.

I hate to tell you, but Panasonics and Sonys also don't work very long. My current Sony requires shaking after you load the DVD to actually get it spinning.

We've been on a classics kick. "Casablanca" two weeks ago and "The Shop Around the Corner" last night. My son has insisted on "Jurassic Park" for next week.

>285 RitaFaye: All good choices, I think.

I spent about $30 on my replacement DVD player; it's a Magnovox and I don't use it often, but so far, so good.

Watched Fargo and Full Metal Jacket this weekend, both classics I've been meaning to watch for a while. FMA is dark and disturbing but funny at points. Apparently its also one of the most realistic portrayals of the Viet Nam war ever made. The guy from Law and Order: Criminal Intent is in it. Gives a pretty amazing performance too considering his only acceptable performance in CI, imho. If nothing else, I'd recommend seeing this movie for R Lee Ermy. Apparently he was originally only the tech adviser and just inserted himself into the role. Intense doesn't even begin to describe his performance.

287 - Rumour has it that his tirade at the beginning of the movie was not scripted. They just let him go at it. I wouldn't like to meet him. Drill sargeants scare me.

What I heard was none of his stuff was scripted, they just let him slip into his drill sergeant role and go at it. It should also be noted that according to at least one member of the crew he was normally a very nice guy, not the way he is on screen at all.

Watched Ghost Town, not as good as some movies in this genre like The Ghost and Mrs. Muir, but adequate.

Have you seen the Others? That movie was amazing and freaky. Saw it with a couple friends. We were all so freaked at the end that we ended up sacking out in my room.

We watched Voyage to the Center of the Earth. Stupid but fun.

And Brendan Fraser is hawt.

ETA: Oh! And we watched the 50's Invasion of the Body Snatchers. First time for me. Interesting.

>290 Sharonxxx:

Try All the President's Men, the book or the movie, both are really good.

I'm watching, not for the first time, Hackers. Guilty pleasure--young Jonny Lee Miller and Angelina Jolie (they were married for four years just after the release of this movie).

ejj

I love Hackers! It's so awful and so fun.

Added Voyage to the Center of the Earth to my Netflix. I had wanted to see that in theaters, but forgot.

>296 MrsLee: Definitely B-movie, MrsLee. But we grinned all the way through it.

Recently watched the remake of The Last House on the Left. A bit better than the original, but lacks the balancing bits from it. Kind of hard to watch through if your overly sensitive. Watched 10 people leave the theatre.

Try "Attack of the Fifty-Foot Woman." A hoot.

#297 - B-movies are some of my favorites. They don't demand anything of you, they are just there for your entertainment. :)

I watched Miss Pettigrew Lives For A Day which stars Amy Adams and Frances McDormand. Not as good as the book, but still light entertaining froth.

Watched Taken last night. Sort of like Bourne in his 40s or 50s. Loved all the Liam Neeson.

I'm watching David Copperfield on PBS right now. Great Performances Daniel Radcliff played the young David last week.

We watched Flawless w/Michael Caine & Demi Moore. 1960s semi-heist film. Not bad. Caine is a bit more of a bastard than expected and Moore fairly disappears into her lacquered role. Also watched Bonneville - a nice, buddy-roadtrip movie with 60ish women. Not terrible, but nothing unique either.

It was apparently chick flick day on tv here and I didn't feel like doing much, so I watched...let's see if I can remember...

The last half of Save the Last Dance
Step Up
(I admit I'm slightly a sucker for the dance movies; Center Stage is one of my not-so-guilty pleasures and some day I have got to get Tap and White Nights on dvd)

Bits and pieces of...
Must Love Dogs (ew, though it has a few funny scenes)
Something's Gotta Give (eh, it's ok)
Return of the Jedi (ok, not exactly a chick flick)

The Holiday (very cute)
The Last Holiday (okay, occasionally failed at being serious in the serious bits and funny at the funny bits, but overall not bad, Queen Latifa and Gerard Depardeau were great)

Watched about fifteen minutes of "Oh Brother, Where Art Though?" today, along with snippets of half a dozen horror movies on Sci-Fi since last night. If the Sci-Fi channel stopped making crappy horror movies and focused on shows they could probably do some kick-ass stuff. Infact, I know they could. Of course, now I'm getting off topic.

>306 DeusExLibrus:

See this thread for a discussion of that very topic:

http://www.librarything.com/topic/60373

Well, since you asked. This will probably step on toes, but I watched Harold and Maud today and found it a total load of crap. Why do they blame Harold for being self-absorbed? Maud was even worse! I didn't buy the ending of him walking away happy and what could have been an interesting film just failed in so many ways. Sorry, I'm sure some of you loved it. My SIL recommended it to me with 5 stars, it is good we all have our own take on things. Daisies, right? :P (That is a sick face)

Friends and I were watching something, and then S.W.A.T came on. Snigger.

We watched part of it solely for mocking purposes.

Oh, this is about good movies right? In that case - no.

Mind you, I did watch Notting Hill the other week, but I watch that all the time and it's my favourite movie, so I'm not sure it counts when you know every line off by heart.

MrsLee, I so totally agree. That movie did not age appropriately.

Wow, I love Harold & Maude, but I fell in love with it back in the '70's and haven't seen it in about 10 years. A lot of what is so great is Bud Cort's face. And the Bay Area landmarks.

How can you not love the scene where he chops off his arm?

Watched The Terminator.....again (not going to admit to how many times I've seen that movie).

#305 Stepping Out with Liza Minelli is an old one that's worth a look, along with both versions of Shall We Dance.

I know we Aussies have a thing for quirky movies so maybe that's why I enjoy Harold & Maude so much.

Well, I watched the 2008 remake of The Women with Annette Benning and Meg Ryan. It didn't make money in theaters as near as I can tell, and despite its good intentions, it just didn't make it as either sparkling comedy or as modern day chick-flick on DVD. It had a good message and tried to refer back to the 1937 version in an intelligent way. Unfortunately, it didn't gel as well as I'd hoped. It was "just okay" as opposed to absorbing. (They threw away Bette Midler's talents in the part of the Countess -- totally unused, I mean, really!)

I never saw that one, because I loved the 1937 so much. Chicken, I guess!

I've seen Shall We Dance with Richard Gere and...people. Definitely like that. I'll put those others on my list, thanks!

Watched the first episode of the Masterpiece version of David Copperfield today. Daniel Radcliffe did an amazing job, better in some ways than in the Harry Potter movies, as he's really the only character that remains through the first whole chapter, so has to carry the story along himself. I was just about in tears during the sequence where he's walking to his aunt's house. Of course I'm a big softy when it comes to kids. I'll probably watch episode two tomorrow.

Yesterday, "Pretty Woman" was on TV. Of course I watched it (even though I own the video). It's an utter and complete fairy tale, and I love it *snif*.

#316 I saw David Copperfield as well. I know the scene you were referring to. It tugged at my heart as well. Daniel Radcliff was 10 when he was given this role. I enjoyed his performance very much. He was in another Great Performance production based on a story I believe written by Rudyard Kipling. The setting was around the first WW and took place in England.It was well done too.

>318 jewels:

I saw that one, too, it was "My Son Jack," about Kipling's own son, and sad. Really sad.

Copperfield was good, though, with everything all tied up in the end, in typical Dickens fashion.

#311 - littlegeek, I thought there was so much potential in scenes like that, and in the boy and his "angst" but it just didn't come together for me at the end.

I watched a version of Pilgrim's Progress last night. Modern special effects and all. They did a pretty good job. I'm working on embroidering leather gauntlets for the Aragorn costume I made and gave to a little boy at church. Every Sunday he looks at me with big hopeful eyes, so I thought I'd better get purposeful and finish them!

#320 HAROLD & MAUDE SPOILERS - Wow, I always think of that movie as just about perfect, plotwise. The only thing that I think doesn't make a lot of sense is Maude's decision to commit suicide. Her love of life would seem to preclude that. Still, it makes for a neat little ending, imo.

I went out with a couple of girlfriends last night & saw Confessions of a Shopaholic... Wasn't expecting much but it was absolutely hilarious! Isla Fisher was great (she's come a long way since her Home & Away days!) & we were in stitches for most of the movie, the three of us all walked out with big grins on our faces :)

X-men and the special features. Has anyone counted all the x's in the movie? I wondered because it was a challenge from the director. Not me.

Just watched Children of Heaven. The children were lovely, the movie absorbing, but I had to go look at Wikipedia to see whether the ending satisfied me or not. Apparently, it did.

Just back from seeing a preview of Nicholas Cages new movie, "Knowing". It's a mystery/scifi/disaster movie. I liked it. The disasters are very well done but some people won't like the ending.

324 - Wow! Wikipedia has an article about everything...

#326 - :) Yes, sometimes when you really want spoilers, so you can see if you understood something, it's hard to find them, but we can always count on Wikipedia!

Watched Pan's Labyrinth a couple of nights ago and haven't stopped thinking about it since. What an incredible blend of wartime reality and a little girl's fantasy world..........Ivana Baquero portrayed Ofelia perfectly.

Watched "the 13th Warrior" with some friends earlier today. Its based on the book Eaters of the Dead, which I haven't read. The book is an ingenious retelling of the Beowulf story, and is well worth seeing, although it wasn't received well by critics.

Well, as for grownup movies, I'm all out, but I did see "Cars" the other day with the kid! It's actually pretty funny, with lots of little things thrown in for the adults. I kept looking away from my book to see what was going on!

:D

I went to see The (A?) Haunting in Connecticut. I thought it was creepy, but actually managed to have a plot (sort of). There were some weak scenes where I was left wondering "where are their parents" or something similar. And the boy from Twilight movie is one of the main characters (not that I care either way, but some people do...).
Oh, also saw part of Enemy of the State, which I will finish watching when I don't also have to be grading at the same time (thus not paying attention, and missing key points).

Watched an old silent movie yesterday, "Where are My Children". Very heartbreaking and suprisingly modern story about illegal abortions in the 1920's. Truly amazing film.

I'm watching Heat right now. One of my favorites.

Casino Royale, after listening to the audio book a while ago. I saw it at the cinema when it was released and thought it was very good, powerful in places. The James Bond films never managed to draw me in (I thought they were pretty ridiculous), but this one did. Good action (not fo the OTT type), interesting gambling scenes, and a Bond girl with brains (train scene, anyone?).

Saw a subtitled Russian film at the weekend, The Ninth Company, about a group of young Soviet army recruits going out to fight in Afganistan. Interesting both to see it from a non-western point of view and to compare against what's happening again now.

#328-When i saw Pan's Labyrinth i was appalled to hear what they said about how the Allies left those Spnish resistance fighters to their fate @ the end of the war. Despite the great service they had done in denying needed materials to Hitler by blowing up those trains. It's a story i had never heard before. 8^)

When I was with my mom and sister at my grandmother's house this past week, we didn't have a dvd player so we watched some of grandma's old VHS tapes. We ended up watching The Lady Vanishes and The 39 Steps.

Over the past weekend I managed to watch Twilight, Quantum of Solace, and Babylon A.D.. Needless to say, none of them impressed me very much.

However, I just got Metropolis and The Great Yokai War in the mail, so I'm probably going to be enjoying movies again very soon.

#337 - I love watching Hitchcock films, especially two or more in a row.

I watched Fugitive Pieces on HBO last night but I must have dozed off; I don't remember the ending. I got Anne Michael's new book Winter Vault in the mail yesterday. I hope it's as good as FP.

#338 Metropolis is so way cool, Schehezerade; hope you enjoy.

Just watched Final Fantasy VII :The Advent Children. The art was mesmerizing. I wasn't really sure what was going on most of the time because I haven't watched any of the earlier movies, but it was a total escape. I really liked it. So did my mom. But then we watch chop-sockys all the time.

My husband made me sit down and watch Bedtime Stories with Adam Sandler the other night and I really enjoyed it much more than I thought I would. Kind of a neat little premise.

Just finished Quantum of Solace. I've been a fan of 007 since elementary, and I've gotta say, I was a bit iffy about the reboot, but the new Bond is growing on me. He's more real somehow, more nuanced, emotional. The way the character worked in the past, what with the age fluctuations and whatnot, my friends and I had a theory that the name James Bond and designation 007 had become a title rather than the name of an actual person, with the different actors portraying different agents. May be a common theory, but certainly makes more sense than it being the same person. I'm looking forward to seeing what happens to the reboot when Craig passes the mantel to someone else, whether they'll maintain the same personality, or make each Bond different.

I need to whine somewhere. I watched Twelfth Night, the one produced by Kenneth Branagh, tonight. I grant you that the material gives room for serious thought, but they took it so far that the play was very depressing. It's supposed to be a comedy. It has underlying serious thoughts for our minds to touch on, not dwell, just as any good comedy has. At least that is what I loved about reading it. I didn't like this interpretation at all. Blech.

Watched an old favorite Friday night with my daughter and son-in-law - "Drop Dead Gorgeous." Laughed ourselves silly. Supposedly a documentary on a beauty pageant in a small Minnesota town. Stars Kirstie Alley and a very young Kirstin Dunst. Love it.

Saw Shine yesterday. I liked it though I don't see what she saw in him, to be honest. Sort of squicked me, to be honest.

Just watched "Equilibrium" with a couple friends this afternoon. Love that movie. Christian Bale holds the all time record for most on screen kills by a single character in a single movie for his part as the hero in Equilibrium. Its essentially a retelling of Fahrenheit 451 mashed up with the Matrix.

We watched 'Doubt" last night. Merly Streep and whatzhizname. Philip symore Hoffman She was ...did she just do Mama Mia?

Very good

I just finished watching "Gremlins". Very funny but also very creepy.

Shotgun Stories. Indie film about 3 brothers (Boy, Son & Kid) who meet their 4 1/2 brothers at their mutual father's funeral where the disowned brothers say some not so nice things about the man who abandoned them. The 4 other brothers, who have actual names, aren't happy. Trouble ensues. Emotional, subltle and well done.

347 Equilibrium rocks!

I enjoyed Equilibrium, too. It really is a mash-up of 1984, Farenheit 451, We, The Matrix and the whole totalitarian dystopia genre. But they do it well, and it's exciting.

Yes, they surely do. It reminds me mostly of Fahrenheit 451 and the Matrix, although it does have a few 1984 like bits (Father=Big Brother anyone?). Haven't read We, so can't comment on that though.

Easter Weekend allowed for a few good films.
Step Up (mentioned before here), the story isn't something you haven't seen before, but the music and the dance are good!
A Good Year (guilty pleasure): A light comedy of the bastard-to-teddybear variant set in Provence. Beautiful cinematography.
Blood Diamond: Definitely no light fare, and the first time I saw it, I was like "Who *is* that guy in the lead? I know I have seen him before." Mightily impressed by DiCaprio's performance (and by Djimon Honsou's as well). There is also an interesting subtext of father/son relationships in that film that I didn't "get" the first time around.

I also taped a few other films from TV that I have to check out in the next days.

#1-I have always considered that Harry Potter #3 The Prisoner of Azkaban was the best of the early ones & is still my favorite overall. 8^)

We watched Stranger than Fiction a couple of weeks ago, for the second time. It's a great film!

I watched Gone With the Wind last night on TCM; was just going to watch a "little bit" as I had things to do...sigh, of course ended up watching the whole thing. It's TCM's 15th anniversary, so they are showing really good stuff...Singin' in the Rain (my absolutely favorite musical) was on right after GWTW, but I turned it off & went to bed. The other things didn't get done...I WILL NOT turn on the TV tonight! Must take care of of *real world* stuff! sigh

Lost in Austen came out in DVD yesterday. Since it was first on it has become my wife's favorite movie. So naturally we had to watch it last night. Soon I will have it memorized. I am waiting for the sequel, where we follow Elizabeth Bennet in modern times

Went to see Duplicity last night. About 20 minutes in I whispered to my friend that this movie could really use some explosions or car chases. I give it kudos for trying to bring back a mood like The Sting or some of the 40s movies, but it didn't do it successfully. I just didn't care about anyone or anything in the whole movie. Sat there waiting for it to be over and wishing we had waited 10 minutes and gone to see Knowing instead. Clive Owen was nice to look at though.

My daughter felt exactly the same way about Duplicity so I'm not going to rush out to see it.

I watched the weirdest combination of movies last night.....Wall-E and then From Dusk Till Dawn. Talk about chalk and cheese !!! Maybe not a vampire movie for Twilight fans.

When I saw the previews for Duplicity I thought that Owen and Roberts had zero chemistry. Not even a Netflixer for me.

I came home from work today and the hubby was watching Meatballs. I love that movie, even though it's totally lame.

"It just doesn't matter! It just doesn't matter!"

Just saw A Haunting in Connecticut and I enjoyed it. An actual solid attempt at a non-gore horror movie.

And if you love the so bad it's almost good type movies, Dragonball hits that. One of those that's good after a few drinks with a large group of friends.

My Wife and I went to the movies last week and saw "Monsters vrs Aliens" and it was great. We both laughed all the way though it.

Silk Stockings is on TCM right now...Cyd Charisse is dancing about and falling in love with French underwear at the moment...

Three was more everyone growing a tad more and learning about their changes wuth themselves as young adults?

Saw The Reader with Kate Winslett.
Impressive movie and the Oscar was well deserved

White Nights is on tv right now. I was just thinking about this movie the other day, when I saw some other (much less good) dance movie. It is breathtaking to watch Mikhail Baryshnikov dance, even though I'm not a huge ballet fan, and it is wonderful to watch him and Gregory Hines do a combination tap/ballet dance together.

I watched Changeling last night, I can't remember the last time I became so agitated during a movie. The b.s. they expected her to go along with really got my blood pumping. I'll need to find a good comedy for tonight.

I'm watching Emma (with Gwyneth Paltrow). It's quite pleasant, though not an ideal adaptation.

Last night I watched Good Luck Chuck with the hubby which managed to be raunchy and funny at the same time.

Tomorrow I have tickets to go see Monsters vs. Aliens in 3D with my son. Should be interesting.

I watched Let The Right One In last night. I liked it, but it's probably not for everyone. There's so much they had to leave out, but that's the way it goes with these really packed books.

Just finished North and South BBC adaptation of Elizabeth Gaskell. Good way to spend a weekend.

What in the world is on Turner Classic Movies?? Peter Sellers is walking around naked with a guitar in front of his nether regions.

Ahem! Play that funky music, white boy.

Update: Elke Sommers seems to be naked too.

*hides from the stampede of male Dragoneers running to check TCM*

An early Pink Panther - A Shot in the Dark, I think.

Taking a break to make a couple of after dinner drinks. O Brother Where Art Thou will soon return. Love that one.

Favorite quote from "O Brother where art thou?"

"Those boys desecrated a fiery cross!"

Jackie Chan
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HOjLelKGP-M

I can barely fathom how hard this must have been to physically perform, simply amazing !

I saw Gone Baby Gone today........powerful movie about moral ambiguity. Left me thinking "What would I have done?".

#378 - Now I'm gonna have to watch that movie again. I love Jacki Chan.

Did you hear that he's in trouble (I think it was him) for saying maybe China is better off with freedom.

Devils wears prada is on right now with outtake I hadn't seen before.

Meryl Streep has 15 Academy Award nominations... Who ever thought someone could eclipse Katherine Hepburn.

I can't stop watching the Drunken Master

The next time I go to class, I'm going to flop around like a drunk and see how long it takes for the senior students to kick my ))

On 2nd thought, no I won't do that lol

Hubby and I saw Monsters vs Aliens last night. Okay, it's been a little stressful for us lately, but somehow it just hit a funny bone. We laughed and laughed. It's just silly and funny and we came out feeling lighter and happier.

The other adults in the audience did keep looking at us though! LOL Guess we were laughing a bit loud *blush*

Watched Australia while on a visit w/my brother. I liked it a lot. 8^)

Just watched Tom Jones. . .Albert Finney was a gorgeous young man!

Watched (or listened to, while reading) A Lion in Winter. Too many good lines to count.

I'm watching 霸王别姬 (Farewell My Concubine). It's beautiful, and somewhat heart-breaking (and very long).

I went to see The Soloist last night. I had no idea that there were so many homeless people living in LA. The movie was an eye opener. I learned and enjoyed at the same time.

The madness of King George... Phenomenal performance.

Saw a spanish film called "Soldados de (Soldiers of) Salamina" about a Facist man Rafael Sánchez Mazas that escaped the replicans during the Spanish Civil war, it follows a present day writer as she tries to find out more about what happend to him during the escape and made me think a lot.

I just watched two great films, "Goodnight, Mister Tom" and "The Wild Parrots of Telegraph Hill." I cried through both of them for both happy and sad reasons, but I think that's just me today since I cried through the hymns in church, too. Just one of those watery days.

I watched The Three Faces of Eve yesterday, and Funny Girl Saturday night. I love TCM!!

Watched The Counterfeiters last night. German w/subtitles about camp prisoners forced to create and print fake foreign bank notes to fund the Nazi war effort. Gritty, but over the top...it stays focused on the mission and how far the men will cooperate or resist.

Went to see Monsters vs. Aliens tonight, I LOVED it! So fun if you are familiar with all the 50s scifi films. :)

Just watched a movie I had DVR'd--"The Jane Austen Book Club." I loved it--it helps a little that I've read all of Austen's novels, but I don't think that's necessary at all, it just enhanced it. But wonderful for romantics who like happy endings ;-)

My wife and I think the Jane Austen Book Club is a very good well crafted movie also.

Agreed on Jane Austen. . . also with Mrs. Lee's "Goodnight Mr. Tom" and the parrots film. ~~~ We saw the wonderful "Born into the Brothel" which puts Slumdog to shame for truthfulness.

I watched Season 2, Disc 1 of Dexter last night. I am so hooked on that show!

Watched "Moonstruck" again last night. Still wonderful.

I found "Dexter" fascinating, too; it was rather cruel to show the first season on CBS and then just leave us non-Showtime-having folks hanging! I also saw the first several episodes of "The Tudors" online and am really wanting to see the rest of that series. One of these days . . .

Rented both Doubt and Quantum of Solace last weekend. I thought Doubt was quite interesting but Quantum lacked plot -- lots of special effects, but only the barest plot. (Don't mind me. The only thing Ian Fleming ever wrote that I liked was Chitty Chitty Bang Bang

I very much like "Jane Austen Book Club". I don't often get movie-crushes, but I definitely have a movie-crush on Grigg. He's so cute, and funny, and geeky!

I saw the X-Men Wolverine movie this afternoon. If you go in with the proper expectations - lots of things go 'splody, pretty people, and occasional witty banter - then you shouldn't be disappointed. If you want to actually see a good/deep/meaningful movie...go see something else. I enjoyed it. I laughed (occasionally at inappropriate times, but oh my god, the fight scenes were hilarious at times).

And there's a thing at the end, after the credits. Kind of creepy, that.

I watched The Bucket List last night. Instead of being depressing it was quite uplifting with lots of humour and just the right actors with Morgan Freeman and Jack Nicholson playing the main characters.

Watching Army of Darkness. third in the Evil Dead series.

It's a trick...get an axe.

I love this movie.

I saw Wolverine last week. It was great fun, but I'm biased. I've always liked Wolverine. Deadpool's lines were completely Deadpool and completely worth it.

My weekend was filled with movies. We had a movie weekend with a Disney/Musicals theme.

- The Little Mermaid
- Brigadoon (oh god, the *accents*! Save me from the accents! But lovely dancing).
- Beauty and the Beast
- Oklahoma (big points for putting non-standard English in a major musical at that time! Sure, Porgy and Bess did it, but it was a different kettle of fish then, and still controversial).
- The Hunchback of Notre Dame (OMG, that was lovely, except for the last minute. I'm inspired to read the original).
- Singing in the Rain (always a lot of fun to watch)
- Once More With Feeling (from Buffy - Singalong!)
- Annie (Tim Curry!)
- Ratatouille (Oddly fun. Bonus points for putting French into a film with a primarily American English-speaking target audience).

I love "Once more with feeling". Best musical tv episode ever (which I realize is a small set, but still). Also seriously a very good Buffy ep.

Watched Dead Poets Society again-1st time in a long time & still love it! 8^)

Ditto on "Once More with Feeling." I noticed more and more on subsequent viewings how well it advanced the plot despite being all in song. Brilliant.

Saw "The Last Mimsy" last night--fun. Re-watched "Sense and Sensibility" this morning. "Suddenly, Last Summer" is on now. Elizabeth Taylor is just gorgeous, though perhaps slightly less so than in "Cat on a Hot Tin Roof."

Maggie the Cat was her best.

I finally watched Slumdog Millionaire. I was worried it wouldn't live up to expectations b/c of all the hype, but I really enjoyed it. I felt the end was too sad for me, but I am hyper-sensitive to sad movies (which is why I watch horror basically).

>410 brlb21:

Yes, because there's nothing sad about people being slashed or otherwise killed into many pieces!!

Have you tried romantic comedies?

(I'm just kidding, really. If you like horror, have at it!)

Watched Flawless last night, with Demi Moore and Michael Caine. I'd never heard of it until I saw it at the library. It's about a diamond heist, set in the 60s. I thought it was pretty good.

#411 There is something sad about it in real life, but in most horror films there is not an emotional connection - I could care less about the characters. They just tend to be disturbing. Granted there are some "scary" movies that get elevated beyond the generic horror category - and then they make me sad, and I don't ever watch them again.

I truly despise romantic comedies. Not much of a comedy person in general, I don't think my sense of humor matches up with mainstream conceptions of what "comedy" is.

I watched Persuasion last night (the one with Anthony Head as Walter Eliot). O_O Giles is vain! But the production itself was lovely, and perhaps a shade too dark, even for Persuasion.

Then, for something completely different, Ironman. I don't know why I took so long to watch it. I enjoyed the whole danged thing! Clever, witty, actiony, explodey, eye-candy-y for everyone.

I find the Ciaran Hinds Persuasion to be the best... Just all seems to work...

>414 Choreocrat:, 415

I liked the Ciaran Hinds Persuasion best, also; what bothered me about the one with Anthony Head in it (and Rupert Penry-Jones as Captain Wentworth) was the ending, which was just wrong.

Captain Wentworth buys her family home as a gift for Anne? Umm, no, it was entailed. Sir Walter couldn't sell it.

But could the inheritor sell it? Or, as the arrangement with the admiral, lease it out? But you are right, Anne and Captain Wentworth need to be at sea together...

Apparently the idea was to keep land in the family pretty nearly no matter how cash-poor the owner became. So the heir couldn't sell it, either; it was handed down to the eldest male. There's some information on Wiki on how people tried to get around it or break the entail, but it wasn't easy.

It also featured in Pride and Prejudice, as Mr. Bennett's property was entailed and would pass to Mr. Collins, the obnoxious minister. And Mr. Bennett couldn't sell it or otherwise find a way to provide for his daughters out of the estate.

Oh I understand about regency inheritance, I am just trying to give some sort of plausibility for the ending of the newer version of Persuasion. Ultimately it ends the way it does as just a choice of the director who probably didn't care about Jane Austen, or the time period to try and give his impression of a happy ending.

Yes, I can just see the meeting with the director, producer, writers around the table. Hey, I've got a great idea for the ending! says one. I guess I should be grateful Captain Wentworth didn't challenge her cousin to a duel or just pull out a blunderbuss and blow him away, maybe accidentally shooting her father in the process (or her absolute beotch of a sister--Elizabeth, not Mary).

I watched a great film called Lars and the Real Girl recently. Anyone else seen it?

I loved Lars--and my husband stayed awake for the whole thing! That's a recommendation in itself.

Watched "August Rush" with my daughter tonight. Very nice movie, it reminded us of a Big Fish sort of movie without Tim Burton effects. Loved the little boy and the little girl in it.

I watched a documentary on PBS's 'Independant Lens' the other day, titled "New Years Baby." It's about Socheata Poeuv's family trip back to Cambodia and the secrets she discovers regarding her family's internment in a refugee camp years before.

One Xmas holiday her mother reveals a secret that they have been hiding for 25 years. None of the brothers and sisters are directly related as normal siblings are. This obviously sets all in a tizzy of sorts, but also has Socheata curious as to her roots, and why she was called the "Lucky One.

The family knew they came out of the camps, but the children were so young that much of it is a fuzzy memory. Socheata wasn't born in a camp so she always had misgivings about that name, probably feeling a bit guilty that she was spared the existance in the camps while 30 of her mother's family died.

Through the movie you see the layers of the family's existance revealed, while the lives they learned to accept because of their internment is overwhelming and in some ways humbling.

The documentary was about an hour long, but well worth it.

edit for clarity. (not that I made a huge improvement, but.......)

>424 prehencil_pencil: That sounds fascinating - I'll have to keep an eye out for it.

I did a triple-feature the other night:
*Return to Oz, which is still a tad creepy after all these years.
*Big Top Pee Wee, the lesser sequel to Pee Wee's Big Adventure, yet more true to the Pee Wee's Playhouse series.
*Cabaret, which I have meant to watch for years, but didn't get around to it. Now I'm wondering what took me so long - it's fabulous! And Michael York is such a tasty morsel...

Went to see Appaloosa.
Excellent Western by and with Ed Harris. The next macho movie actor that makes an excellent Western. Brutal and honest with lots of humor

Papiervisje - Thanks for reminding me of the name of that movie. I really did enjoy it but could not for the life of me remember the name.

Just got back from Coraline. Awesomeness.

I don't care how good Star Trek is, it won't beat Wolverine for me. Let's just say, it was a great way to view Hugh Jackman for the pool man.

Watched Quest for Camelot with some friends earlier today. Not saying its great film making but certainly an enjoyable cartoon.

MrsLee, I could not agree with you more! : )

Saw Star Trek last night as a mom's day gift from my son. Loved it!!

Mum and I finally watched Ballet Shoes last night. What a delightful movie! Slow moving, but beautifully filmed, well acted, and adapted quite well in my humble opinion.

Just finished Doubt, and watched Punisher Warzone and Dead Like Me: Life After Death over the weekend. Doubt definitely deserved the Oscar IMHO. Its amazing, although my blood did boil at the sister (whose name I can't remember). Honestly, he may have done something, but going after him with no proof? Punisher Warzone was an enjoyable bit of mind candy, although its the very definition of a guy flick. Dead Like Me felt like an extended episode, which in this case was perfect, as the series was hilarious.

Went to see Star Trek this weekend. My husband & I loved it (grew up in the 60's watching the original & the reruns in the 70s); our 19 year old son said "it blew". What does he know?

the actor playing McCoy was perfect, and the young Spock also fabulous.

>435 theretiredlibrarian: McCoy was definitely my fave!

Last night my husband, son and I watched the newest version of The Day the Earth Stood Still which was pretty good. I never saw the original or read the book so I had nothing to compare it to which may have been a good thing. My son could not figure out why it was called "The Day The Earth Stood Still" though.

Haven't seen the new one, but I LOVE the original. In that one, at least, the alien shows Earthers his power by making all artificial power (engines, motors,etc.) stop for a time. He graciously makes exceptions for hospitals who need their power for life saving, and airplanes already in the air. (whew!) With those exceptions, the earth (or at least the humans) really did stand still.

Man on Wire - at our son's urging we watched this documentary of the man, Phillipe Petit, who walked the wire between the World Trade Center buildings. Engrossing and amazing, with an additional punch in this post-9/11 world.

I love Man on Wire! They make it sound like a heist movie, and Phillipe Petit is just crazy but brilliant. Shame what happened to his friends though...

I watched Pinocchio (the Disney version) on Blu-Ray. Pinnocchio is one of the few "gender neutral" Disney films he made in his lifetimes, as much of his work is associated with princesses and rigid gender roles. I like Pinocchio as a movie, and the Blu-Ray transfer of it is great!

Just watched Star Trek.
Awesome ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! !

I saw the new Terminator movie yesterday with a couple of friends. The three of us agreed: we really liked about the first two-thirds of the movie, but the last third was just one unintentionally hilarious thing after another and we couldn't stop laughing.

Married Life with Chris Cooper, Patricia Clarkson, Pierce Brosnan and Rachel somebody. 1950s era drama about a man trying to get out of his marriage and decides that murdering her is the only way. Of course things don't go quite as planned. Lots of hats and smoking.

>442 Bookmarque:
"Lots of hats and smoking."

That's one of the best movie reviews ever--makes it possible to envision the movie perfectly!

thank you. thankyouverymuch!

This week I have watched Australia, Doubt, Slumdog Millionaire, The Birds, Pride and Prejudice, and The Ghost and Mrs. Muir. It was an unusual week for me. I started watching all of these around 11pm. Insomnia.

I love Netflix!

We watched Quantum of Solace last night and were very disappointed.

As an action movie, it was below average. Twice I had to stop the movie because the cinematography was so fast and choppy, our brains couldn't register what we were seeing. We had to go back to re-watch things so we could figure out what happened in basic chase scenes.

As a Bond movie, it was awful. There was no fun, no humor. There was no one to root for. I have no idea why the women went to bed with him as he has no charm and no sex appeal (the character, not the actor.) There were too many bad guys and too many plot lines. There were NO good guys.

Thumbs way down.

Watched Spaceballs last night. God I love that movie. :D Mel Brooks is a genius.

Just back from seeing "Half Past Autumn: The Art of Gordon Parks," a superb documentary. (Agree with remarks about "Man on Wire." I applauded loudly at both of these!). . . Free movies (big screen) an advantage of our senior community.

#447 I had to admit to my love of Spaceballs on the Guilty Pleasures thread !!

I've just finished reading People of the Book and it was entirely by co-incidence that I saw a movie this week called "The Hunting Party". I knew nothing about it before it started and was surprised to find the setting was war torn Bosnia. It was surprisingly humourous (in a dark way) and takes a very cynical view of war criminals and international politics.

I went to see Every Little Step last night. It's a documentary on the casting for a revival of A Chorus Line. Very nice film.

Watched Prince Caspian last night...

Just didn't buy it. I imagine it is straight from the book. But here we have a whole society that doesn't like weird beasts except for an old man and the prince. Then when the prince starts fighting for his thrones, he has no care about how many of his own soldiers, who don't know that they are fighting him, often, that he kills.

I wouldn't want Caspian to be my king if he led an attack by these monsters and killed my dad, brother or son...

I just watched Gattaca for the first time in a few years. Fantastic movie, I absolutely love it. The end always makes me tear up.

>>451 DWWilkin:: If you read the book it'll clear up a lot, infact, I think its explained in the movie even. The "old man" (I'm assuming you're referring to Caspian's tutor) was actually a dwarf in disguise, hence, it'd be kind of weird if he didn't believe in the existence of talking animals etc. Caspian believed because his nurse had been telling him stories about them since he was little.

As for the killing his own men thing, they aren't his men. The soldiers were Miraz's troops, they were the enemy. As for being loyal to him after he took power, remember, Miraz took power in a coo (spelling?) against Caspian's father, the rightful ruler. For all we know there could very well be a lot of Telmarines that were still loyal to Caspian and rejoiced when he reclaimed his throne. People die in war, its just plain fact. I wouldn't expect Caspian to break down in tears every time one of his men fell to a Telmarine weapon.

On a different subject entirely, I watched the extended edition of Fellowship of the Ring yesterday. I haven't seen it in a year or two except for catching bits of it on TV once (I don't watch movies I like on TV as a rule), and it was nice to sit down and watch it again. I'll be watching Two Towers today.

Deus, I'm pretty sure it's "coup" :)

Saw Into the Storm on HBO.

This could have been great. But it wasn't

Very good acting. A good story to work from. A complex time with a vastly complex compelling person.

And the writers allowed their story to be cut in half.

Churchill during the war. And what we get is ten minutes for a whole year...

This needed to be several hours long. Four, five six... And it was mashed together so you get a few of his famous lines...

Now If I lived under a rock. I know that there was a guy who ran England for the duration of the war and that got the old heave ho at the end of it because he called his politcal enemies gestapo.

Please don't throw rotten vegetables at me.

We watched Sean of the Dead the other night and I didn't love it. I thought it was clever and funny in spots, but I guess I'm not cultish because I don't really see why people are so taken with it. I suppose it's like Fargo. I don't love that either. *sad because I don't fit in a cult*

But, MrsLee, GD is your cult. You fit right in.

Just finished the second disc of the Two Towers Extended Edition this morning. I can't help but chuckle when I think about how many times I've watched these movies and yet I haven't actually read the books yet! However, they are on my summer reading list. It'll be interesting to see how they compare.

You really need to watch Romero's Living Dead movies to get the cultishness of Shaun of the Dead. There are so many nods to the good old zombie classics in there!

MrsDrNeutron didn't love it either. 8^}

I've watched, and enjoyed, Night of the Living Dead. But that's about the extent of my zombie knowledge. :) I knew I was spelling "Shaun" wrong, but was too lazy to look it up. Gotta go to work now.

Watched 'The Red Shoes' ...again....this has got to be one of my all time favourites!
Then 'Spirited Away' - brilliant animation from Japan.
'Mirrors' with Kiefer Sutherland - creepy stuff.
'The Grudge' - don't watch this one on your own!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
And I am going to see 'Drag Me to Hell' tomorrow!

We just saw an interesting vampire movie, "Let the Right One In", a Swedish (I think) movie featuring two 12 year olds who do a remarkable acting job. We saw it dubbed, which has its own problems (it's fine for the central characters but awkward for some of the others); elsewhere I've seen people complain about bad subtitling.

Its pacing is quite different from the usual fast-cutting of U.S. films, and that takes some getting used to, but it is well done and quite memorable.

I've seen the book, but had no idea it had been made into a film. Thanks!

I always think there is a similarity between the end of King Kong and the Red Shoes. All the spectators around the bodies perhaps.

Yeah, although I think Moira Shearer was a little smaller!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Let the Right One In was a great book and a decent movie. As is usually the case, the book is deeper than the movie, but the visuals in the movie were great. I whole-heartedly recommend both (with the caveat that, yeah, the dubbing could have been better).

I watched Stranger Than Fiction for the third (possibly fourth) time. Love that movie.

Just watched the Happening. Reminder to self, don't watch m. Night Shmalyan movies. They disappoint.

But that was really Betty Buckley???

Has no one else yet been to see "Up," or am I the only one still susceptible to Pixar's heartstring tuggers? We went last week, and I loved it.

Just finished the extended edition of Return of the King. I love those movies, really should read the trilogy though. Speaking from having seen every version of LotR and read the Hobbit however, I feel I can pretty confidently say Tolkien was a bloody genius. There's a reason most fantasy draws on his work.

Finally went to see Coraline. I would have liked to see the 3D version, but that wasn't showing. Liked it a lot, though the hype was bigger then the movie.Perhaps a 2nd viewing will reveal more. Will definitely buy the DVD.

Finally saw the first Daniel Craig as Bond movie, Casino Royale. Loved it--seemed gritty to me in a way the films haven't been since the very early ones. And he is not hard to look at!

I loved Casino Royale, too, ejj. I'm not normally a fan of Bond movies, but I thought that one was great. Also agree that Daniel Craig is very easy on the eye! : )

Another thumbs up for Casino Royale, which I saw in the theater first and on cable since then. Daniel Craig totally revives the series for me with the grittiness mentioned above. It was starting to become a spoof of itself, and now is returning to its gripping Sean Connery-type form.

I do hope they bring in more of the humor as it goes forward - Craig has the charm to pull it off.

I thought Casino Royale was quite good. Quantum of Solace almost seemed like back-pedaling though. Maybe I need to see it again, but there didn't seem to be much plot to it.

My favorite quote from Casino Royale:
Waiter: Shaking or Stirred, Sir?
Bond: Do I like I could give a damn ?

Well, I happened to have a free trial for a video downloading service, which I think I've just used up in downloading Quantum of Solace (as an aside, I think that's an odd title).

I think I need to see it again, too: the chase scenes are pretty spectacular, but I agree with DeusExLibrus that the plot was thin. Knowing how it ended makes me want to watch it again to see what I may have missed in the middle.

I'm that way with mystery books. Ok, now that I know whodunit, let's go back and read it again with that in mind and pick up the signs.

It's fairly obvious that spoilers don't bother me!

I've just sat and watched Slumdog Millionaire. It's a great film, and a bit different to what I was expecting.

I watched a really unusal movie today "Lars and the Real Girl". Ryan Gosling was perfect in the part of Lars, an introvert who suffers the delusion that a mannequin doll is both alive and his girl friend. The weird part is that everyone around him supports his delusion and the whole story is both funny and poignant at the same time.

I love Lars and the Real Girl. It's one of my favorite films and yes, it is very funny and poignant, and also heartbreakingly sweet.

KB and I loved Lars. He even stayed awake for the whole thing!

We finally went to see Star Trek last week. I was prepared to hate the "reboot" but I loved it.
And last night we finally saw Wall-E, after only catching the last half several times.

Watched 'The Blair Witch Project' last night. Well scary!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I watched Monster House a couple of days ago. Found it to be quite creepy! I can't imagine people taking children younger than 7 or 8 to that. Mine wouldn't have slept peacefully for quite some time. I used to look at old broken down houses and imagine how I could refurbish and make them lovely again. Now I think, BURN THEM DOWN!

Last night "Gran Torino," tho we generally do not go to violent flicks. (Saw it free, on big screen. Previous night, "Singing in the Rain" at home. Quite a contrast.)

Just watched "Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day." Generally light and sweet, but there was one extremely poignant moment when they hear the planes heralding the start of WWII and she looks at the character played by Ciarin Hind and says, "They don't remember the first time," or something like that, recognizing that they are virtually the only people at the party old enough to remember the horrors of WWI.

My wife and I watched Gran Torino on PPV tonight. Incredible movie. 5 stars.

Saw the last chunk of American History X earlier. That is one disturbing movie. Still haven't seen the whole thing, but not sure if I really want to go rent it.

There are some movies that make me think about them for a long time afterwards and American History X is definitely one of those. It was his performance in this movie that made me consider Edward Norton as one of the finest actors around, along with one of his earliest films, Primal Fear.

Two old movies on the tellie: "In the bedroom", a drama on the murder of a son and its effect on a family. With Sissy Spacek and Tom Wilkinson. Strong acting and nice slow development.
And "Mostly Martha", about a female chef whose life is turned over by the arrival of her orphaned niece and a flamboyant italian sous-chef. Like a very good soufle: Not too heavy but delicious.

I watched American Dreamz last night. It had a much darker tone than I expected. Some moments were amusing, but mostly it was just sad.

The Dark Knight is on HBO tonight, so I'll finally get to see that. Yay.

Watched "New In Town" the other night- it's cute with some very funny moments, but I'm not as enamoured as the others who watched it with me. Wish I could share the funny parts, but they would give away plot points so you all will just have to watch it!

We watched The Usual Suspects. Great movie!

Morphy - I love that movie! It really is fantastic.

Me ditto. Great movie; love the last five minutes especially.

>497 ejj1955: It was jawdropping! "No Way!"

498 - ohmigosh was this your first time? I can't remember what it was like, I've seen it a dozen times, but yeah, I bet it was jawdropping!

Yep, neither of us have seen it before.

We saw Up last night. Honestly I think Pixar made this one for adults, not kids. It was great. Even my husband said he wants to go again - he never wants to see a movie at the theatre twice! Maybe it's just 'cause we need the humour in our life right now. Two thumbs up.

We also saw UP last weekend and loved it (four individuals over age of 21).

Right now, I'm watching an old favorite, Ivanhoe (1982) that stars - she said with a delicate sigh -- Sam Neil as Brian DeBois Guilbert. Olivia Hussey plays Rebecca and Anthony Andrews plays Ivanhoe. Some nim-null blonde is Rowena; an utterly forgettable performance.

Watching 'The Dark Crystal' at the moment . Truly Amazing! Along with 'Labyrinth', its one of my favourite movies.

Watched part of Billy Elliot and the new Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory earlier. Still haven't seen the new Willy Wonka from start to finish, been meaning to rent it at some point. What I've seen looks nothing like the old musical, although I've heard the old version was nothing like the book. Unfortunately, not having read the book in years I don't remember that much.

I watched To Sir with Love on the wknd - I really enjoyed it :)

503 - So I'm not the only one with an unremovable yet unexplainable connection between The Labyrinth and The Dark Crystal? Sure, they're both Henson pictures, but that's kind of where it ends.

# 503 & 506 - I also connect them, but I think it's only because of the creatures. I didn't care for The Dark Crystal, but The Labyrinth is one of my favorites. I think the difference for me is David Bowie. :)

#506 & 507 - You're quite right, the two stories are completely different, I think its the visual cleverness, the sheer imagination that gets me going! And yes - David Bowie does make quite a difference, doesn't he!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I'm a big Henson fan, and I would never think of David Bowie in a Henson movie, but he is *perfect* for the part, isn't he? Neither of these is my favorite, but I agree that Labryrinth is better. I wanted so badly to like The Dark Crystal, but it was too clunky...or something.

I just watched Grace is Gone, with John Cusak(sp?). It is a sad topic, but not as "tearjerker" as I feared. More poignant, with John doing the "not moving, not speaking" pain that he does so well.

Went to see Taking of Pelham 123 the other night with a friend. Good action-packed, fasten-your-seatbelts kind of movie. Lots of foul language and vivid killings though. Denzel Washington is fine, as always, and John Travolta was quite scary. I really wasn't sure which direction the plot would take, so it kept me in suspense. There was the way I wanted it to go, the way I was afraid it would go and all the others in-between.

Who could have foreseen that "Vinnie Barbarino" could play such scary bad guys?

It's always a bit weird to look back on TV shows and see the people who became breakout stars. I enjoyed David and Maddie on Moonlighting, but who could have predicted Bruce Willis as John McClane based on that early performance?

Or, for that matter, that Jeff Spicoli was not simply Sean Penn's alter ego, but an early brilliant performance in a career full of them?

Well the Taking of Pelham 123 is actually a previous TV movie, so it goes well with previous TV stars. Don't know if the new movie is the same as the old, or if they just reused the concept and the title.