What movie did you see?

I just went to see Percy Jackson and the Lightening Thief. Am I the only one left in the world who had never heard of Rick Riordan? I hadn't heard of his series of Olympian books for kids, or his adult mysteries. I really enjoyed this movie. Great creatures, some fine actors, good, clean fun. It reminded me of Night at the Museum or National Treasure, perhaps not the most weighty drama in cinema, but certainly a great movie to munch popcorn to. Uma Thurman as Medusa? Perfect. There was only one off moment in the movie for me, and of course I can't say what it is here or there would be spoilers.

Anyway, I just ordered Mr. Riordan's book, Big Red Tequila. I thought I would give him a try in the adult world.

I hadn't heard of him until I saw the trailers. It looks decent enough for me to consider reading the books (when I have the time).

I'm glad you liked it, MrsLee. I hadn't heard one way or the other yet about how it was. I'm hoping to bring my boys to see The Lightning Thief sometime in the next couple of weeks. We've all listened to the audio of the first book, I've read the entire series, and my 9yo is on the last book. Hearing him chuckle to himself while reading this series has been making my days.

Oh, forgot to say, the books were okay, not on par with the Harry Potter books, I found them simpler but still fun. My 9yo is really enjoying them.

I'm looking forward to seeing Percy Jackson, it looks fun. It's supposed to come to our theatre next week. I went to see Shutter Island last night and thoroughly enjoyed it. Very good movie. I had to laugh though, as I'm leaving, feeling very satisfied with having seen an excellent movie, a couple of older teenagers/young adults(?) were behind me, commenting on how the movie "totally sucked man" ! LOL. We obviously watched it with completely different viewpoints.

AND I'm looking forward to Clash of the Titans!! Hubby and I enjoyed the original with Ray Harryhausen's wonderful work (I'm such a fan). It'll be great fun to see all the CGI of the remake (I'm such a sucker for good CGI). Watching the preview last night made me wonder how much Harryhausen's work inspired the new movie.

I love the books and I thought the movie was very good. My 2 youngest kids enjoyed it too. I thought the ending was a little cheesy, but still a fun book.

I'm looking forward to Clash of the Titans too! The preview looks great!

Just got back from Alice in Wonderland. It had bright moments, but for me, was disappointing.

We're going tomorrow to Alice. How did you get to see it early, MrsLee?

Last night I watched A Serious Man. Book of Job via the Coens. Not as funny, or bloody, as most of their other movies, but very Coen-ish.

It is a thing some theaters allow for their employees, to come and sit through the trial run while they make sure all their equipment is working and everything is synchronized. My daughter took me. :) No cell phones, no babies crying, no crowds. I had planned to go again and take my friend, but I'm not sure I could sit through it twice.

I'll be interested to see what the reaction to this movie is in this group.

sounds fun, but yeah, comedies are sometimes better with a bunch of other people laughing.

Alice in Wonderland is no comedy. Be prepared.

Local TV weekly magazine program has just run an insert hyping the Alice movie up. As far as I could see round the pretentious interviewsthe visuals were somewhere between terrifying and profoundly unsettling; was that anywhere near your impression, MrsLee? That said, I'd be curious to see it on rental DVD (so that I can stop it and return the media if I really can't handle any more).

Yes, Hugh, definitely a dark and twisted vision of the story. For those who liked the book, Wicked, it's possible they may love this. As I just said on FaceBook, I despised Wicked. I resent present-day authors twisting beloved tales into dark things. They should get their own ideas to monkey about with. I realize that not everyone feels this way though.

#11 so, no whimsy? Alice should be whimsical. Dark is fine, but it should still be funny.

Not much in my opinion. A lot of hand clenching, I caught myself doing that, but no laughing. Perhaps a smile or two. No word play, or if there was, my old ears didn't catch it.

@13 Mrs Lee, I tried twice to read Wicked, but it was too dark and...parched. You have just hit the nail on the thumb :D Now I really see why I couldn't get into it--I didn't *want* to go to the dark side of the rainbow. I like my rainbow just the way that Judy Garland saw it. Or even as it was in the book.
And it sounds as if I will watch Alice as hfglen described, on dvd with my finger on the pause button. Thanks for the advice!

Oh give me the black black rainbow!!! I am a fan of any and all fairy tale retellings. I have a feeling I am going to LOVE Alice in Wonderland!

I took the kids to Alice, and we all enjoyed it. It wasn't quite what I expected, but knowing it was a Tim Burton film I expected something slightly dark. I thought it was fun.

I just got back from Alice, and I liked it. I thought it had some whimsy to it, and it wasn't as dark as it might have been. I wouldn't have liked it if it had purported to be the original story, but set as a return to Wonderland, I bought it. It reminded me strongly of Hook in a couple of places. I'd say it's worth seeing unless you hate Tim Burton's weird style, or are a purist when it comes to Alice.

Back to my earlier message, I was telling my husband about the movie, and I figured out what I felt was missing. I think it wasn't dark enough, that it could have gone further. I guess then it wouldn't have been a Disney movie, but I think there were themes that could have been explored to bring even more complexity to the story. Not that I always like dark stories, I just thought that they hinted at things that could have been taken much further, but they just sort of backed down.

Alice in Wonderland: I thought it really sucked. It's like someone just saw the pictures and made up a story to go with it, after having seen Harry Potter, LOTR and Narnia. What was up with that plot? The acting performances were good, and I really liked the costumes, but it completely ignored the wonder, intelligence, and dreamlogic of the original material.

Johnny needs to break up with Tim and play a real human being before he forgets how.

I really REALLY don't like Alice as a book so the chance I'd go see the recent film is absolutely nil. I think the author must have taken so many drugs he left the hippie movement in the dust. If not he had more than one screw loose, or lose, even...
IMHO.

But then I loved Avatar so perhaps I'm the one who should have my grey matter scrutinized ;-)

Busifer, Alice's best bits are wordplay, so perhaps it's a language thing? Although, your English is better than many native speakers so perhaps not.

I know it's the wordplays, but I just... I guess it's not my thing *shrugs*
Just too way out weird.

And thanks for the compliment. The bad pronunciation doesn't come through in the written language... ;-)

I'll still be seeing AiW, but I'll make sure I go expecting a Tim Burton movie, rather than Alice in Wonderland. They'll be two separate entities in my mind.

I have low standards for movies, so I'll probably enjoy it. If it's entertaining, I won't dislike it.

I knew I could count on littlegeek to sum up my feelings succinctly. :)

#25 I'll make sure I go expecting a Tim Burton movie, rather than Alice in Wonderland.

I did that, it didn't help. It's not even a good Tim Burton movie. Sorry, I wish it were otherwise.

thanks for the props, MrsLee.

17: It's not a retelling, it's a continuation of the original. Should have been titled with something like, "Alice Returns to Wonderland"

Otherwise the title is misleading though I actually liked this one for once.

Naz

Wow, a lot more negative than positive reviews here.

I know that my girlfriend really really wants to go see this in the theater, so... we will go see it in the theater. But I cringed watching the trailer at the last film I went to see- and I like trippy, dark movies!

I loved Tim Burton's 'Beetlejuice' and 'Edward Scissorhands,' as well as 'Nightmare Before Christmas,' but I haven't been so impressed with his work of late.

Well, my husband and I really enjoyed Alice! I reread the original Alice in Wonderland recently, but I don't think my husband had ever read it (although he was vaguely familiar with the original story). I knew it was not a retelling or adaptation of the original, thanks to the comments here and some of the reviews and it might help that I am not a huge Tim Burton fan, although I have enjoyed some of his movies.

The plot is pretty basic (simple? simplistic?) but it's beautiful and fun.

Admittedly, it's not a movie, but I did receive it from Netflix, "Murdoch Mysteries" with Yannick Bisson as Murdoch. Aside from the loveliness of Mr. Bisson, the mysteries are fun. The first one involved Nikola Tesla and lots of lovely experiments. Reminded me of my Steampunk loving friends here.

And for my lovely-men loving friends:

Looks fun, MrsLee! I'll have to have a look out for that one.

Mr Bisson does look hansome!

I watched a wonderful movie on Netflix instant play called "Departures." It is Japanese and subtitled. I watched it because Netflix recommended it to me based on my liking of Dr. Who: The Dead Planet. When I read the description of the movie, it sounded as if the only thing in common was the word, dead. What a great surprise to find that although it is nothing like Dr. Who, it is one of the better movies I've watched in a long time.

Good for you, MrsLee! I don't know if I would have bothered with a subtitled movie once I figured out the "connection". You got a nice surprise!

I *finally* saw Avatar this weekend. My overall reaction is "My eyes were pleasantly bedazzled and I almost believe that Pandora exists." Some images still float up in my mind a few days later.

I had been avoiding reviews, etc. because I didn't want to be spoiled, but then heard from a friend that there were scenes I might not appreciate. So I checked out several reviews, including kids-in-mind, which gives objective details about each movie, rather than subjective reviews. Decided that the warning was exaggerated and that it was still worth seeing.

Despite knowing a bit too much beforehand, I still enjoyed the show for what it was--I wasn't expecting anything deep, so I wasn't disappointed. I tend to be shallow in my entertainment preferences anyway.

I'm glad we saw it in 3-D, although I am sure it would have been almost as pretty without it. I used it as a conscious distraction when the movie was slow or when something especially silly happened (or was said).

My girls went to see The Princess and the Frog at the dollar movie. Two thumbs up. They wanted to see Sherlock Holmes, but it was sold out. It sounds like this was a more interesting movie than it sounded at first.

I'ma gonna go watch "How to Train Your Dragon" today. Will see if I can recognize David Tennant's character. :) Heard he has a small part, and possibly the narration at the beginning.

I took my boys and a couple of their friends to see The Lightning Thief. I was disappointed we didn't get to see more of the other Gods and Camp Half Blood was different from what I'd envisioned. I LOVED Medusa though. Definitely my favorite character.

My boys loved the movie. My 9yo and his friends thought it was especially neat that they got to sit away from the grown-ups, in the very first row. Sigh, one of those signs that they're growing up and want to be independant. Then again, we recently watched the Merlin episode with the troll pretending to be a queen (another wonderful villain) and my 9yo was squished against me on the couch clutching my arm the whole time. So he's still my little boy for a little while yet.

Saw Alice in Wonderland last week and enjoyed it, but I couldn't help thinking that the SyFy Channel (or whatever they're calling themselves these days!) did it better even Johnny Depp-less. Much as I love him, it felt a bit as if he was replaying his Captain Jack mannerisms and I kept expecting him to sprout an eye-patch and yell "Arrgh!"

We watched Coraline via Netflix on Sunday and while it was a bit slower than I expected, I wasn't disappointed. But I haven't read the book, either - how does it fare (for those of you who read first and watched after)?

re: Coraline, I liked the book oodles better than the film. Much better creepy atmosphere.

I wondered, watching it if it hadn't been prettied up a bit for the kiddies - seemed like it could have been a good bit creepier. Well, I'll definitely have to go look the book up.

This week I saw Alice in Wonderful, Men Who Stare at Goats, and Precious.

I liked Alice more than I thought I would and was very disappointed in Men Who Stare at Goats. The whole time I watched Precious, I wondered how many of my students live similar lives. We have students every year who are removed from their homes because of abuse.

I must say I liked Alice in Wonderland more than I expected to. I would give it a 3.5 out of 5 stars, whereas I was expecting it to be a 2/5. The visuals were rather fun even though the plot was ultimately mindless. I just love watching Johnny Depp - although, did anyone find the mad hatter makeup on him to be a little "tooo mad" ? I found it somehow distracting.

Watched Shutter Island last night. I was impressed by how faithfully it followed the book. The island they used looked just like I imagined it would. It was very atmospheric.

I liked Shutter Island, too. I went with a friend who had not read the book. I kept waiting for her to "get it."

*whispers* I'm going to see Clash of the You Know What tonight. :D

I just watched Monsters Vs. Aliens. I laughed until the enormous woman was dissed by her man. Then I listened to her revelations. They were pretty much right on the money. This is a test for how many fairy tales and cartoons you have read in your childhood. I liked it.

AAAAAAAA! Clash of the You Know What! It looks so good!

Jealous pout.

Well, it was good, the effects were fine and all. Still, I came away with the feeling that I enjoyed Percy Jackson and the Lightening Thief more. Worth seeing though. I'll be going again with a friend on Monday. I have issues with the dude who was Perseus. I think a wood block might have done a better job.

Was he better than Harry Hamlin???

I saw Diary of a Whimpy Kid and fell in love with his mean older brother, Roderick. Check him out when he is wearing eyeliner, so sexy. Roderick also had some of the best lines..."No time outs, only death."

Yeah, the whole cheese thing made me sick.

#48 Honestly, all of the older Harry Harryhausen movies are a blur of creatures for me. I don't remember the people or plots at all!

ETA: My daughter said she is so tired of producer/storywriters making Hades into a Satan-like being. She says that of the big three, he was the kindest and most maltreated in the Greek stories. :)

I saw How To Train Your Dragon and now I want to read the book. That is always a good sign. What I felt in the screenplay should be mucho better in the book. Of course there were the third, forth, and fifth unlying stories that were put in to sell the movie, but #1 and #2 got me.

#1 something impossible happened, something that even if you told people, they would never believe you.

#2 Ever find a stray? My fav kind of love story.

My daughter and I saw Alice in Wonderland last week. I slept through some of it, as I seem to do for many boring movies, but what I saw was visually appealing. I got my grandson the Percy Jackson and the Olympians trilogy and will give them to him tomorrow. Here's hoping they're an easy read. This weekend we'll probably go to see Class of the Titans. My daughter said she and her brother saw it about a million times as they were growing up. Really? Where was I? Ah the memory slip, sliding away.

I saw Hubble 3D this afternoon. It was my 1st 3D movie and I don't think the 3D part added anything. I found it distracting and the glasses annoying - had to close one eye every now and then. The photography was amazing but honestly I'm enjoying the web site more.

I saw Clash of the Titans. Blech! I'm easily pleased with movies. This didn't please me at all.

Today my friend and I decided to choose a grown up movie to watch. We chose The Ghost Writer and were very pleased. Well, I was, she didn't like the ending, I thought it was perfect. The whole thing seemed very Hitchcock-like. Ewan McGregor did a great job! The rest of the cast was fine as well, but I loved watching his reactions and such. Also, the crowd was so involved in the movie! There was speculating and gasps and all sorts of interaction and for some reason it wasn't distracting, but added to the pleasure.

My daughter and I saw Clash of the Titans in 3D. First of all, 3D added nothing, second of all, it was a good movie to encourage napping. My daughter said she liked the original better. Isn't that always the case? I think recently I liked a remake of a movie more than the original, but I can't remember what it was. Anyone thing of a remake that was better than the original?

56 - Given that the original is famous for its *terrible* special effects, your daughter's opinion is quite the panning.

Watched Sherlock Holmes and Where the Wild Things Are over the weekend. Enjoyed both, though neither was quite what I was expecting. Holmes felt a might like the newest Star Trek movie in terms of turning something that wasn't an action movie into one. However, its been ages since I read any of Sir Conan Doyle's stories. I did, however, appreciate the bad-assery of Holmes in this one being on display when I seem to remember his fighting skills only being really hinted at in the books. Jonez took WTWTA to a place I wasn't exactly expecting, but it worked for me, and I enjoyed it. I wouldn't show it to a preschooler, however, as there are some scary images, or if I did, I'd be sure to be there watching it with them and talk about it afterwards if they need to. It does play around with a lot of interesting ideas about friendship and responsibility, which I rather enjoyed.

#58 What you said about the Holmes movie is what I wasn't crazy about. I remember from the books a character with the outward appearance of a gentleman and these other "interests" being well hidden. In the movie, people knew how "dirty" he could get. There were the moments when he came across well-behaved and then turned the tables, I liked those parts the best. ;P

Watched Lost in Austen over the weekend. It was diverting.
It did remind me it's time for another reread of Pride and Prejudice though, or to watch the BBC movie again.

Forgot about watching Porco Rosso, one of Hayao Miyazaki's lesser known but still amazing works of animated genius a couple days ago with some friends. Marco Pagott, the main character, is voiced perfectly IMHO by Michael Keaton. I didn't particularly like Keaton as Batman, but he shines as this swashbuckling aviator locked in the body of a swine.

Keaton was my favorite Batman ever. Oh, be still my heart!

I prefer Bale honestly, but to each his own I guess.

I watched Grey Gardens the other day - the original documentary which was from the mid 70s I believe. Apparently, the definition of a documentary to the film maker was to just take a camera to the subject's house, film them acting bizarrely without any commentary or context whatsoever, and then just add the film abruptly. Strange.

edited to change "bizarre" to "bizarrely" but I am not sure that is right

#64 bookaholicgirl Have you seen last years Grey Gardens with Drew Barrymore? What a sad, wonderful movie about some pretty sad, bizarre characters.

Citizenjoyce - I haven't seen that one yet but plan on watching it soon. I think I may enjoy the movie more than I did the documentary. I checked the reviews on Netflix after mailing it back and found it was definitely a loved it/hated it type of movie.

I remember when Grey Gardens came out and I never saw it, but I am fascinated by the story. I'll have to find it. Thanks for bringing it up again.

My daughter and I saw The Runaways yesterday. That Dakota Fanning is something. She has the body of a 12 year old boy but plays the sex goddess Cherie Currie perfectly. I'm sure she could be believable as a 6 foot tall body builder if the movie required. Kristen Stewart on the other hand amazes me. She looks like Joan Jett, but it seems that the ability to be open to life's possibilities is necessary to the art of acting; yet she is completely clenched, mouth, jaw, shoulders, chest, fists. Why she has made it in acting is beyond me.

You can hear some of Currie's music here http://www.cheriecurrie.com/

Saw Clash of the Titans last night. It was ok...

however, on Friday a student doing an encyclopedia search in my class found a photo of a statue of Perseus holding Medusa's head...he was quite excited as he had seen the movie, and he made the connection! So maybe, he'll see the benefit of encyclopedias, who knows? Also, since it and The Lightning Thief have come out, my students are clamoring for Greek mythology books. So yay, Hollywood!

Watched How to Tame a Dragon yesterday with my 9yo. It was lots of fun. We both enjoyed it, though 9yo said the book was better :o)
He had fun afterwards telling me all the ways the movie was different from the book.

My grandson told me he liked the book Diary of a Wimpy Kid better than the movie. Music to my ears.

Saw Toy Story 3 and absolutely LOVED it!!! Go see it, NOW!!!

Also saw Jonah Hex and loved it, but it was definitely nitpickable. The bastards made somechanges to the character, but frankly the mAin change worked for the movie.

I watched Babylon AD last night while I was marking exams. It was unexpectedly good. It wasn't what I expected at all.

The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo is the best movie I've seen all year. I hear The Girl Who Played With Fire comes out in July in the US, but I don't know if we'll get it that soon. I hope, I hope. At my RL book club we were talking about the fact that the US is going to remake the movies. Oh, dear. That can't be a good thing.

I'm going with two friends to see Killers tomorrow. We get in free, so it won't matter if the movie is bad. Sometimes bad movies can be fun if you see them with friends. :)

MrsLee, Killers isn't bad, though not nearly as funny as I thought it would be. You'll certainly get your money's worth.

I'm excited. I'm taking my daughter to see Toy Story 3 tomorrow night to kick off our vacation. I'm sure I'll like it. Then my step-son and I are going to see Eclipse next Tuesday.

Sadly, I saw Prince of Persia recently. A load of overblown, cliched, poorly acted tripe.

Ugh.

Robin Hood & I liked it a lot! Then i rented Tooth Fairy from a red box & it is very funny! Recommend both! 8^)

I thought Tooth Fairy was cute. Robin Hood bored me but I loved the various sets. So sad about Prince of Persia. I haven't gone to see it because I thought that might be the case, but thought it might possibly be worth it for Jake Gyllenhaal's body. No?

I just watched Gladiator on DVD last night and it struck me that the music was awfully familiar to Pirates of the Caribbean, which I know came out much later. Has anyone else noticed that? It was hard to keep to the mood of the movie after making that connection when all I could picture was Captain Jack standing on the mast of his sinking ship as it sailed into the harbour. ;-)

I watched The Curious Case Of Benjamin Button on dvd with my girlfriend on Saturday. At several points I had to pause the film to console her. It's quite an emotional roller coaster.

Ahhh, method in your madness, right? The consoling is the best part.

We all enjoyed Killers. Not your intellectual movie drama, but great fun with friends, and that's all we were looking for. :)

We saw Knight and Day Sunday. We thought it was one of the better action-humor movies we've seen in a while. Tom Cruise might be a crazy scientologist, but he's good at his craft.

We saw Avatar on DVD, Saturday night. Five stars! Loved it. It was AWESOME.

It's always amazing to me when a movie lives up to its hype. I also loved Avatar.

We watched Galaxy Quest again last night. I love that movie. It never fails to make me laugh.

eta: I've only seen Avatar the one time at the theatre, and enjoyed it. I really want to rent the DVD and see it again too.

Galaxy Quest! Great movie, and stands up well to re-viewings.

We also loved Avatar in the theater in 3D, but imagined it wouldn't be all that good on DVD. Glad to hear it is.

I was invited by two friends at work to go to a midnight showing of Eclipse last night. I read the first three books and saw the first movie before deciding it wasn't really my thing. I think I could get into the series more if the main two characters weren't so frickin' annoying! It seems to me Bella has no personality and Edward is a controlling psycho.

But, it was still a good time. The actor who played Jacob was very good and made up for the horrible acting for Bella. It was exciting at times and I was able to get into the story. Would I recommend it to a non-fan? Not really.

Went to see The A-Team. Perfectly cheesy updating of a perfectly cheesy TV series. Plenty of things blowing up, massive holes in the plot, over the top acting. We loved it!

I just saw Punch Drunk Love for the second time (first time was a while ago, and I have such terrible memory that I actually enjoy rewatching films many times.)

The cutest, quirkiest love story ever. I was giggling the whole time. Adam Sandler is totally wasted in any other film but this kind. Really, he has made some horrendous choices otherwise. Sad.

Last night I saw My Blueberry Nights. Another beautiful love story. Now, these are my kind of romantic movies. The indie, slightly dorky, slightly weird kind.

Delerium, agreed. Sandler can be great, when he makes the right choices.

I'm catching The Omen, right now, the 2006 version, the 1976 version is on request from the library.

93 - I haven't seen the new version. It got pretty well panned, so I didn't bother. You'll have to say which one was better.

Well, I have to admit, I fell asleep for part of it. But there was one scene that made me jump, so maybe it balanced out. We'll see what the original is like. I think I remember a lot of it from viewing many years ago.

I've been watching the Last Exile anime while I'm reading about child language acquisition. It's quite clever.

Watched The Lovely Bones last nite. I had not known before that that it was a PJ movie! It is very different than what I had thought it would be. 8^)

I fed my virus the Blues Brothers yesterday. It is well known that viruses hate laughter.

I went to the midnight showing of Eclipse as well and I really enjoyed it.

I could NOT get through the first two books, for the same reason as #90, but I really liked the last 2 books. Now I'm waiting patiently for Breaking Dawn....

We just watched Ocean's 11. Love that movie.

I just watched Whip It. I'm not remotely interested in actual roller derby, but the movie is fabulous.

agree, bluesalamanders. Isn't it funny how much you can like a movie and enjoy the characters' enjoyment of an activity that doesn't interest you at all. I also loved Whip It. But I imagine I'd probably like anything Drew Barrymore and Ellen Page are in.

It is funny, and it happens for a lot of sports movies (for me :). And Drew Barrymore had such a tiny part! I was a little surprised.

It was also great to watch a non-romantic movie with so many women.

#101 Whip It is one of my favourite movies and perhaps Drew Barrymore took a minor part because it was her first effort at directing. I think she did a great job! Try A League of Their Own.......I'm not a baseball fan but I love that movie.

I saw A League of Their Own again a few days ago. What a wonderful movie that stands up to many viewings. Again a movie with lots of women and little romance. That's probably what makes these movies so enjoyable. While romance seems to fill up 90% of the lives of (female) screen characters, in real life it's rather less than that.

Yeah, I've seen League of Their Own four or five times. It's a great movie, and you're right, it's another one with lots of women and not much romance.

Are there other movies like that? The only other movies I can think of with lots of women are all based on Jane Austen books.

And Jane Austin's all about the romance. How about 9 to 5? Great movie.

Exactly.

I hadn't heard of 9 to 5, but it looks interesting. I'll add it to my Netflix queue.

I was looking at my dvds and it's kind of annoying how few of them have many female roles. Practical Magic has lots of women and isn't (entirely) about romance. Under the Tuscan Sun, too. Most everything else is either few-to-no women or, if there are women, it's all romance. Sigh.

Fried Green Tomatoes
Steel Magnolias
Boys on the Side
Charlie's Angels

I haven't heard of Boys on the Side, that sounds really interesting. Thanks!

Boys on the Side is great! I love it, along with A League of Their Own. Great women movies.

Bruce Beresford's "Paradise Road" is another movie revolving around women and with some very well known actors, but since it's set in a Japanese concentration camp it should not be included in the lighthearted movies listed above.

On the topic of women in movies, feminist author Alison Bechdel introduced a concept in a comic she wrote that has become known as the Bechdel Rule. It goes that a movie is only worthwhile from a feminist perspective if a) there is more than one woman in the movie, and b) they have a conversation at some point that isn't about men or sex. It's scary how many films do not actually fulfill that rule. I think the ones mentioned here are the best examples (and some I hadn't considered before).

I went to a site about the Bechdel test

http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/TheBechdelTest?from=Main.BechdelsRule

and found this little tidbit about Virginia Wolf: •Decades before Alison Bechdel codified the test, Virginia Woolf advocated this in her essay/book A Room of One's Own. In it, she writes a mock review of a non-existent book: in this book, the first few pages concern two women who "like" each other and work together in a laboratory in the pursuit of their own interests. Woolf commented that the portrayal of female-female friendship was appallingly scarce in literature, with women constantly being portrayed as bitchy, catty loners who can't stand each other. It's an ongoing problem.

Passing the test doesn't actually say that a movie is feminist, just that it shows women as people. The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo for instance doesn't fulfill the requirements of the test, yet it's a very feminist movie. Salander is just a loner, not bitchy or catty, just very alone. I'm sure The Girl Who Played With Fire will pass the test, but all the women have to do is talk to each other, the sex is particular to the movie.

The article mentions lots of science fiction stuff and The Devil Wears Prada which I hadn't thought of but again love. So maybe passing the test doesn't necessarily make a feminist movie, just an interesting one.

Oh, and imager, Paradise Road is perfect, as is Julia. Have you seen it. It's from Pentimento about Lilian Hellman and her friendship with a politically active woman, a spy. It involves Nazis, communists, and life threatening situations. Very powerful, very good.

Passing the test doesn't actually say that a movie is feminist, just that it shows women as people.
Very true. It's not a perfect rule, but it is very interesting to consider the movies (and television shows and so on) that pass the test. Failure doesn't make it a bad movie, and passing doesn't make it a good one.

Warning: the above link is to TVTropes, and may suck up all your time. Don't click it if you plan on being productive.

Citizenjoyce, although I've seen reviews on Julia and thought it looked interesting, I've yet to see the movie. You might look up Iron Jawed Angels if you haven't seen that one. It's not a bad representation of women involved in the suffragette movement and stars Hilary Swank and Frances o'Connor.

Thanks, imager, I did see that. Agree, very good.

#115
Indeed. For instance, I'm amused to find that "Sex & The City 2" passes the test, according to The Bechdel Test Movie List. It says that the four women talk about lots of things besides men.

Well, that may be true (and I wouldn't be caught *dead* watching that film to find out otherwise anyway), but it still is a terrible premise behind a film. Nobody would call it feminist, that's for sure.

Incidentally, I have to confess I did watch partially the first movie one very boring evening on cable at my friend's beach house... and that's because we were slightly... errr... "incapacitated"... and there was nothing else on TV. :S

#118 delerium that's such a great site but with errors. I tried to fix both the entries on 9 to 5 and Julia and couldn't.

Saw Last Airbender today, which I've been looking forward to for ages. This is the first time I've wanted to find a director's e-mail to write him a nasty letter. Its obvious Shyamalan had no respect for his source material. He couldn't even do fan service properly. I pray to the movie gods the movie tanks. I'm hoping it does and someone else takes a shot at it in another five years or so and does it better. He had solid source material, a strong story, and what he came up with was a muddled mess.

A-Team...I just wanted a piece of escapism and it fit the bill. It was fun. Even though I knew some of the original cast had cameos, I still did not spot them. I found out who they were by watching the credits.

I just watched Equilibrium with my boyfriend. It was very well done! The plot was about a futuristic society where the government decided to take away all things that caused emotion because those feelings led to war. The soldiers had missions to destroy art and literature. Everyone in the society had to inject themselves with a drug that made them incapable of "feeling." It was a really interesting story. I don't usually like action/sci-fi, but I think this one was better than The Matrix.

#120
*Groan* I was planning to go on an outing to see that with some friends. I wonder how much I will suffer...

I watched Best Little Whorehouse in Texas. Much fun! But now I have a brain worm...

"Nothing dirty going on!"

>122 Darragh: Expect to see none of the major plot points except for Katara and Sokka discovering Aang in the ice orb and the battle at the Northern Water Tribe, and for most events to take place in the wrong place and in some cases the wrong sequence.

There's also poor use of music trying to make things sound epic when they're not.

They turned commander Zhao (however you spell that) into a self doubting doofus.

One of my favorite fight scenes in the first season is the fight between Zuko and Aang soon after Aang is captured in the southern water tribe. If you remember this scene it works because of the enclosed space and the fact that Aang disappears in an essentially empty room by slipping into Zuko's blind spot. In the movie this fight takes place in a store room in the Northern Water tribe. Three of the four other people I went with had never seen the series and still didn't like the movie.

It should be noted that this is just a few examples of the things they got wrong. They screwed up so much I'm not sure I could make a list of everything wrong with the movie.

Watched the third in The Pirates of the Caribbean trilogy with friends who had not seen it. It was even more disjointed than I remember. Also more ludicrous. I still can't help but guffaw when Calypso turns into the 50 foot woman then disintegrates into a mass of crabs. It's so 50's sci-fi, which is bad, because it wasn't trying to be.

I cannot bring myself to go see the Last Airbender. I loved the animated series, and hated everything about the previews except for the special effects.

Saw Shrek 4 with a friend as a matinee and absolutely loved it. Doesn't really make up for the travesty that was TLAB, but still enjoyed it. rewatching the series and enjoying it immensely.

Saw 'The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo' w/English subtitles last nite. I have not read the book,but the friend i went w/has & she said the changed stuff & left stuff out (as usual). Over all I enjoyed it & am thinking about reading the books now. 8^)

Watched "Arang" on Netflix. Korean mystery/horror movie. I chose it because of the lead actress (Yun-ah Song) and she did a good job. The movie held my interest, but there were too many Asian horror plot devices that were old hat.

Ok - dare I admit I went with friends (and their teenage daughters) to see "Twilight, Eclipse" last night. I haven't read the books or seen the other movies, so a lot of stuff was just confusing. Some observations (or questions): Edward is creepy, what on earth does she see in him? What is the REAL reason he won't have sex with her? At least Jacob is cute, and seems to want what is best for her. Why can't they make CG wolves that actually look and move like wolves? What is making all the teenagers so crazy about these books/movies? Now I'm going to have to borrow the books to find out what is going on. (not from the library - I couldn't put stuff like that on my library card)

Edited to add - Morphidae's tag "Yuck, Quit, Ptooey" came to mind once or twice...

109-110 > I LOVE Boys on the Side! I haven't watched in years. Off to Netflix I go!

123> Now I have that song stuck in my head..."Texas, has a whorehouse in it. Lord have mercy on our souls..." Thanks, thanks a lot.

>132 Belladonna1975: Thanks a lot! I just got it out of my head and now it's back in! :P

Watched The English Patient. Good movie.

131 NorthernStar

As someone who read 3 of the 4 books in the series (don't ask), I just want to say that reading them does not necessarily explain why they're so popular. I mean, from the generic characters to the terrible writing to the fake vampires...

Anyway, one of the most interesting explanations I've seen for why so many people, especially young girls, like it comes from the blogger Cleolinda. She's talking about how fast romantic and sexual relationships go these days and how for a lot of people it's generally assumed that you'll have sex on the third date - or even the first date:

{A} lot of girls feeling drawn to the Edward Cullen character, for all his high-handed fuckwittery, because this is someone who is willing to take it slowly. In fact, you can push him as much as you want--you can push it all the way to the edge of how far you're willing to go--and he's still not going to give in. It's liberating for the shy or inexperienced (right up until the point it becomes frustrating as all hell): Edward's the training wheels on your bike.

Also, if you want to avoid sullying your library card with those books, I recommend Cleo's Twilight recaps which are fantastic.

I think Cleo has a good part of it correct. I could ramble on further about what is missing from a teen's life these days that this story fills in, but all I want to say is fairy tales are good.

Haven't seen a movie all summer, but I heard the newest Twilight was a dud too.

I heard it was a lot better than the others. But that's not saying much, is it?

I saw Iron Man 2 a couple of days ago and quite enjoyed it. Not as good as the first one, certainly, but certainly not as awful as I was led to believe.

I watched Zero Effect, with Bill Pullman and Ben Stiller. I'd never heard of it until my husband brought it home. Bill Pullman is sort of a modern day Sherlock Holmes in a very socially awkward and reclusive way, and Ben Stiller is his assistant. Has some funny bits but it's not a comedy. Really enjoyed it.

Hi blu *waves* long time no see, or chat, whatever...so you reccomend Iron Man 1 then?

Just saw TRON on DVD. 9 July 1982 was the premiere date, so it was the 28th anniversary :D

Can't wait for December and TRON: Legacy. Yay!

#134
I'm a *huge* fan of Cleo's reviews, especially her Movies in 15 Minutes. And her LOST recaps. Best.Recaps.Ever.

138 pppaper

I recommend both Iron Man movies, the first because it's actually a good movie and the second because it's fun (but don't expect it to be as good as the first).

139 Delirium

Yep, Cleo is fantastic. I was never a Lost fan, so I didn't pay any attention to that, but I like SLoD and m15m and her Twilight recaps will never stop being funny (and terrifying, especially book 4).

I just watched Airplane again. It is still very funny

Just finished watching 'Girl With A Pearl Earring' & the look of the film is so much like a painting-it is amazing! The cinematography is by Eduardo Serra who has filmed 'The Deathly Hallows'. So the photography in those films should be great too! 8^)

I rented 'This is Spinal Tap' last night after I got off work. It was really funny! I found it amusing that the music in the film was actually pretty good for a parody. Considering getting the soundtrack.

We saw the Indie film Mother and Child with Annette Bening and Naomi Watts. What a wonderful film about motherhood in its many aspects. The women are all difficult and complex, the men, however, are just quietly there.

Despite the reviews, we went to see The Last Airbender...since I'd never heard of the series, I had no bubbles to burst. It was predictable, obviously there will be sequels, and I've made my predictions to my husband. Unfortunately, I went with my husband, who CANNOT follow a fantasy plotline AT ALL, lol. It was the same when we went to see The Lightning Thief, Clash of the Titans, and pretty much every fantasy movie we've seen together. But bless his heart, he takes me anyway. I told him we are going to watch all my Harry Potter dvds (he's only seen GOF, and was totally lost), and then he'll be able to go to DH this fall. :)

KB discovered I'd never seen Silence of the Lambs, so we watched that last weekend. Anthony Hopkins is terrific, of course, and I was pleased to watch a thriller that didn't have spurting arteries.

Silence of the Lambs was the first movie I ever saw with Anthony Hopkins. Good movie, but it was a while before I was willing to see another movie with Hopkins. He was ingrained as Hannibal Lechter in my mind and I was convinced he would be too creepy doing anything else. I've learned otherwise since then, but I still won't watch any of the other Hannibal movies.

I've seen all the Hannibal movies, none of them as good as the first. The third one was pretty bad, but I still have that vision of the brain eating scene in my mind.

I do have problems seeing Anthony Hopkins in anything else just a little bit. I keep waiting for him to suck his teeth and lick his lips, lol. He's really good in Fracture, but then, he's pretty good in almost anything he does.

We watched The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo last night. Wow. What an amazing movie. Very, very good. I want to read the books now too.

Oooh, good. I have The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo on my Netflix queue. I want to read the book as well, but I like to watch the movies first so I'm not disappointed by it.

#146-149 -- I've never seen Silence of the Lambs (nor do I want to; not my kind of thing at all), so when I think of Anthony Hopkins, I picture him as C.S. Lewis in Shadowlands. Quite the difference, huh?

If you would like to see the gentler side of Anthony Hopkins' acting then I'd also recommend the lesser known movie "Spotswood" (known in the USA as The Efficiency Expert).....you might also recognise a few Aussie actors there who are quite well known in Hollywood today. Another favourite of mine is "The World's Fastest Indian".

Believe it or not, my first thought was "The Lion in Winter".

#143
That movie is brilliant! I also thought the same thing of the music when I first saw it. It was just a few years ago with friends. Couldn't believe I'd never seen it. I finally understood what the fuss was about with the "going to 11" bit and all. Heh... :D

#152
Or The Remains of the Day. I loved Anthony Hopkins in it.

He's been in some wonderful movies. The Lion in Winter is excellent isn't it? Peter O'Toole and Katharine Hepburn, they were great together.

eta, spelling...*sigh*

Finally got to see Toy Story 3 with my college bound daughter last week. *sniffle* Between the two of us we used quite a few tissues. If you are a fan of the fist two and you haven't seen it yet, you should make the effort... seriously.

My grandkids and I saw that one too, Clam. Loved it. My daughter got the sniffles - and so did her husband, although he'll deny it 'til doomsday!

It was both touching and hilarious, wasn't it MerryMary? Makes me want to watch the first two again. I love that Don Rickles, bless his 84 year old heart, is still voicing Mr. Potato Head!

#153 I agree, WillSteed. He was so young! And wonderful as Richard.

I saw Nine a couple of weeks ago (the artsy musical, not the cute animation). Meh. It was mostly an angsty artistic comment, and not a very good one. Daniel Day-Lewis was very good, though. He played his role well.

The songs were not anything more than bland, for the most part. The exception, musically was Be Italian, sung by Fergie from the Black-Eyed Peas. It was very spectacular. I suspect someone gave the choreographer the sarcastic challenge to make sand and tambourines sexy, and was taken seriously. It's a great song.

Agreed, WillSteed. I thought all the actors were great. I even thought many of the songs were good. What was the one Kate Hudson sang? Hm, I can't remember, but it was appealing. The story just didn't come together, and it didn't come together so much that the whole movie was a bust to me.

Not a movie, but after several recommendations from friends who have my tastes in comedy, I started watching The IT Crowd last night. Finished Series 1, got part way through 2. I love it because it made me laugh hysterically, and I needed that last night. Favorite parts so far:

The very first one where Roy was on the phone with his spiel, "Did you try turning it on and off?" Then he had to explain how to turn it on. It reminded me of a recent phone conversation with a coworker as I was trying to help her.

Loved The Visit from Aunt Irma and I don't know the name of the episode, but the one where they attend the musical, "Gay!"

Last night I watched Daybreakers. Wow! I really liked it. It was original (for movies, at least), well shot, decent acting (a couple of lapses, but forgivable ones) and an exciting plot with decent twistiness. Definitely worth watching, as long as you don't mind some gore (it is produced by Lionsgate, after all).

#163
Is that the vampire thingie with a title that sounds like it could be mistaken for the Russian vampire Nightwatch but isn't?

Yeah, I hope that made sense. :P I loved Nightwatch and it sequel Daywatch, but I don't think I've seen Daybreakers.

#162
Not a movie, but after several recommendations from friends who have my tastes in comedy, I started watching The IT Crowd
Just because you said that, may I recommend some other series? :)

1) Black Books, also by IT Crowd producer Graham Linehan.
It's hysterically funny. Dylan Moran as a drunken Irish bookseller. 'nuff said. ;)
2) Garth Marenghi's Fright Knight, also starring Richard Ayoade.
A spoof on Stephen King's Kingdom Hospital.
3) The Mighty Boosh, Ayoade and Matt Berry have appeared in a few episodes, I think.
4) Spaced, starring Simon Pegg and Jessica Stevenson.
5) No Heroics

Yeah, I love British comedies! :P

164 - It's an Australian/American production where most of the world's population have become vampires. I think that's the one you meant. The trailer's here

Daybreakers looks good, but gory.

164 I love Black Books and Dylan Moran is a genius! Anyone that loves books and especially anyone who has ever worked at a bookstore HAS to watch Black Books! (now I am off to find info on IT Crowd)

166 - It is a little gory in parts. Showing gore is not the primary aim of the movie, but if you don't like to see it at all, you won't like the movie.

Did someone mention british comedies? :D

I'm currently making my way through the "The Thick Of It" box set, and it's probably one of the most brilliant shows I've ever seen.

Black Books is also hilarious, I'd definitely second that recommendation. Other favorites include Spaced, Coupling, Peep Show and Nathan Barley.

#165
Ohh that trailer looks really cool.

#169
Nathan Barley is from the same people that made No Heroics. Well, the other way around, since NB came first. I haven't seen it yet, though. But NH is super funny.

Thanks for the recommendation of The Thick Of It. I've added it to my list of shows to watch out for. :P I see that it stars Peter Capaldi, who was EXCELLENT in Doctor Who and Torchwood, so that's a big incentive for me.

There are also Peter Serafinowicz's shows. I love him, he's brilliant! That episode of Black Books with him in it, I can watch it on a loop forever, that's how funny he is! :D And there's his involvement in Simon Pegg's projects, too.

New shows have been duly noted and will be tried, thanks!

I'm taking note of new shows too :)

This evening at a social gathering, I made a reference to "twu wuv", not one person got it. Only one person had ever heard of The Princess Bride. Then I began a rousing rendition of "Men in Tights"...which had to peter out because, again, no one got the reference. Clearly, I am hanging out with a substandard group of people.

Oh, my dear. New friends, new friends! Or educate the old ones.

Perhaps you could host a series of high-brow movie screenings for your friends? Robin Hood: Men in Tights, The Princess Bride, Monty Python and the Holy Grail . . .

How sad...no one had seen Princess Bride or Men in Tights.

I just finished "Tuck Everlasting" on Netflix (the one with William Hurt, Sissy Spacek and Ben Kingsley). I have yet to see a bad film version of this movie. All of them have been beautifully filmed and acted.
I think I probably would not have been as wise as Winnie Foster though and would have drank from the spring.

I haven't seen Princess Bride for years and didn't memorize one thing about it except Billy Crystal's cute face. You have shamed me into requesting it at the library.

#173 Inconceivable!

I told them I was having a movie watching party at my house; however, I'm pretty sure most of them still wouldn't get it. Especially my husband. sigh. But that's ok---I knew you all would understand me.

Have fun storming the castle!

(And good luck)

I just watched Logan's Run. I know I saw it when I was a kid, but I remembered nothing about it. It was interesting.

I watched The Wyvern Mystery with my daughter. Creepy all around! But in a fun way, if that makes sense.

Watched Zombieland with a friend earlier today. Its been on my to watch list for ages, and I loved it.

#173
Ohhh that is just a crime, a crime! Inconceivable!

#183
I really liked Zombieland, it was way better than I thought it would be. I like it when I see something with low expectations coming in, and I end up being pleasantly surprised.

Can't wait for The Social Network (the film about Facebook's founder), starring the same kid who starred in Zombieland, he was great!

---

Not a movie, but I've been watching several TV shows lately that I've downloaded:

1) The X-Files: I can't believe I'd never seen it. I'm just in the first season and so far, so good. But I find Dana's outfits and hairstyle pretty jarring, though. I mean, I know it was the early '90s and all, but still... I'm constantly wanting to shout at Gillan Anderson "You're too pretty and young to be wearing such severe styles!" :)

2) Breaking Bad: I've only seen the pilot episode but it blew me away. What an incredible opening sequence!

3) Castle: it's cheesy, the plots are predictable (I usually know who the killer is halfway through the episode or earlier even), I think it's ridiculous that the two male cops never seem to know anything, and the by-the-book female cop/irreverent male sidekick dynamic has been done to hell (Moonlighting or Remington Steele, anyone?), but I love the show! The dialogues are really, really witty and well-written, and too funny! Plus, Nathan Fillion's delivery of his lines is just spot-on. I love the chemistry between him and Stana Katic.

Just saw Shrek 4 in 3D! Lots of fun. Our little theatre is now hi-tech with 3D equipment. This was their first 3D showing (well, last night was actually the first showing). When I first moved here there wasn't even a movie theatre in town, the old one had burned down, and it took years for us to get a new one. That was pretty bad, because the next town with a theatre was 4 hours away.

I enjoyed Castle until I got bored of it. The guy from Firefly just wasn't enough to retain my interest.

Rewatching Avatar: the Last Airbender for the third time and loving it just as much as the first run through. I'm amazed at how Shyamalan could take such strong source material and create such a massive failure from it.

Rediscovered "Deadliest Warrior," a lovely little show that allows me to revel in my inner soldier/warrior/barbarian/gangster/what have you. Some of the match-ups a are a bit ridiculous, but its still fun. Especially when the experts they bring on really get into it and start taunting each other and talking smack. the Jesse James/Al Capone episode was great for this.

# 178> "You keep using that word. I do not think it means, what you think it means." :)

I could do Princess Bride quotes all day long. OOo and You've got Mail quotes.

"Anybody want a peanut?"

I am watching Sense and Sensibility. It is the Ang Lee version. I never get tired of watching it. Emma Thompson and Kate Winslet are both lovely.

#187 No more rhymes now. I mean it................definitely addictive!

Watched Ice Age 3 again with the family today. One of the few animated films where I'm still enjoying the sequels as much as the original. Buck was a good addition to the "herd" and I can see myself quoting some of his lines soon too.

Our pastor keeps quoting The Princess Bride from the pulpit. Much fun for the very few of us who get the references.

I watched "Who Am I," a Jackie Chan film last night. Sort of a Chinese Bourne film. Not great as a film, but I always enjoy watching Jackie Chan. There was a fun fight with Dutch wooden clogs.

We're going to see Inception today. I hope it lives up to it's hype, but has DiCaprio done a bad movie? We almost chose The Sorcerer's Apprentice, but want to wait until my grandson can go with us.

#190 - My daughter really liked Inception, and she's very hard to please.

We saw Inception, it has level after level after level, exactly how many is unclear. I knew what was happening in the scene right in front of me, but trying to figure out how it fit in with all the other levels could keep your head spinning, and there's enough action to keep you breathless. As for any truly deep meaning or compelling story, well, you can't have everything. There were two 20ish girls sitting next to my daughter. One was texting throughout the whole movie. About 1/4 of the way in she said to the other, "This is really confusing." And the other who had been paying attention said, "I think it has to do with dreaming." Well done. You've got the premise now.

Hah! We liked Inception a lot, but we had to pay close attention - which was easy, as we got totally caught up in it. Texting at the same time - no way.

I really enjoyed Inception as well. From my count, they went 3 levels -- dream within a dream within a dream (Van going into water, Hotel w/ elevator, Snow scenes) plus Limbo

we took my grandson to see The Sorcerer's Apprentice today. He thought it was OK as did I. Those of us who read and loved The Mists of Avalon have a hard time with Morgana (Morgaine) being cast as the most evil being in the universe. When do you think the last time was that Nickolas Cage cared much about what/who he was playing?

Probably not since the first Fast and the Furious movie. The little I saw of the first National Treasure movie certainly seemed phoned in.

I watched The Last King Of Scotland last night on dvd I checked out from the library. Great acting and intense situations. Forrest Whitaker did a fantastic job. It was puzzling to me how often the story diverged from actual historical events, though.

Regarding the layers of Inception. I'd say there were at least 5, maybe 6 depending on how you view the ending, which does classify as one of the better endings of a movie ever.

I thought The Last King of Scotland was horrifying and fascinating. I didn't realize it differed greatly from historical events. Forrest Whitaker is another actor who never disappoints.

Yeah. Nick, the Scotsman, is a fictitious character, inserted into the story.

Oh, but how about the accounts of the incidents themselves?

In Inception we counted the same 3 levels plus Limbo as >194 dsstukes: goddesspt2.

There is only one level. The entire movie takes place in limbo .... so say some movie geeks at RottenTomatoes.

#200

Mostly true, with a some details fudged or switched around.

Argh, there's a thing called ***SPOILER WARNING***, thanks!! :|

Just saw Terry Gilliam's Tideland. (Haven't read the book it's based on, though.)

I had never read any reviews, so I wasn't aware of the very polarizing opinions on it, but then it's not so surprising. It's Gilliam after all.

I loved it! Give me dark & twisted fairy tales over conventional stories any day of the week. :) Ohh and that little girl was brilliant! So perfect for the role.

My friend and I had to choose between brain twister (Inception) or brain candy (The Sorcerer's Apprentice). In the end we chose brain candy and enjoyed it very much. Except for the very corny beginning, I thought it was a lot of fun. I enjoyed a lot of the visuals, I love architecture, and when it comes alive it's even better.

A bonus, my fellow Green Dragoners, guess what movie is coming out next summer??? A movie about Smurfs!!!!! La, LA, la, la, la, la. La, la, la, la, la

I finally saw The Princess Bride, so I get MLT with perky little tomatoes, inconceivable, and twu wuv. Definitely some quotable lines.

Heh. Welcome to the in crowd! Here's a page to help you get up to speed: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0093779/quotes

8^}

Watched "The Last Station" via Netflix (have quit going out to movie houses). Problem = too many Blue Ray ads and previews of movies before it began (not sure if we could have fast forwarded on download). However the movie itself was fascinating/well-done.

I just watch The Last Station last week Esta and enjoyed it too. I didn't know that much about Tolstoy, so found it very interesting to learn more about him.

We went to see Inception the other night, but it was sold out, so we saw Toy Story 3 instead. Delightful, truly had some laugh-out-loud moments. Mr. Potato Head, oh my goodness!! Great fun.

Thanks for the Princess Bride quotes. It was very entertaining, Billy Crystal, the Tesla of comedy, but I don't think I'll be making a religion of it.

We have, in the past, filled long loooonnnngggg threads with PB quotes. It's a sickness.

Sleep well, and dream of large women.

Have fun storming the castle!

(The most used in our house.)

Rush a miracle worker, you get rotten miracles...

And my personal favorite:

Rubbish, Filth, Slime, Muck, BOO

thanks #208.

I

Wesley was one of my first celebrity crushes. Mmmm. Very nice looking man.

I just went to see Inception. It was amazing! The beginning mad pretty much no sense, but once I understood what was going on I was hooked. Ellen Page and Leonardo Dicaprio did an awesome job. I felt really lucky to be able to see two of my favorite actors in one movie. I'm still not sure what to think about the ending though.

Saw Terminator Salvation with a friend yesterday. Its been on my "I need to see this" list since it came out. It was a fun movie, even with the plot holes. Although, like 3 it definitely didn't live up to the second one. Rented Boondock Saints II: All Saints Day to watch tonight. Loved the first one, so we'll see how this is. Definitely not a kids movie, thats for sure.

Not a movie, per se, but watched American Experience: Dolley Madison. I enjoyed it thoroughly. I did not know anything about her except her name, so I learned some things.

I liked the way they filmed it. Instead of doing a voice over for her letters, they had the actress speaking to the camera (like a video diary).

Watched Saints II yesterday. Very fun movie with a lead-in to a sequel that I hope gets made. Boondock

Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance - the first in a Korean trilogy about revenge. I heard that Kill Bill was partially inspired by this trilogy. The only parts of Kill Bill I liked were the David Carradine bits (miss his work). I liked this, but it was very slow going at first. I will definitely watch the next one in the sequence (Oldboy).

I watched this in between bouts of cleaning the house. It definitely made things go by faster.

I watched the '70s version of Taking of Pelham 123. Interesting to compare the differences needed in the two stories due to modern technology and essentially, a different culture than the Seventies.

The original showed the Old School white guys having to deal with racial and sexual integration into the workforce, and most of them were not dealing with it very well. It did make for one of my favorite lines from Matthau though, an undercover (long haired) policeman lay injured and face down in the subway and the Matthau character pats him and says, "We'll have an ambulance here soon, miss." Guess that just made me laugh because of my son's long hair and the tension of the movie at that point.

Anyway, my very favorite moment was the last shot of the movie where Matthau catches the bad guy and gives a "look." Nobody can give a look like he does.

We saw Salt today and loved it. I just love a kick ass woman. Angelina Jolie kind of plays Jessica Alba's Dark Angel without the bar code. I'd read that Tom Cruise was the original star considered. I'm glad they went with Jolie, she was great. I heard it was 2nd in box office this weekend, after Inception. We went early in the afternoon, and our theater was packed.

From what I've seen, Salt seems a lot like the Bourne movies, except starring a woman. Please tell me I'm wrong.

Kind of but Bourne always manages to find himself a woman to help and Salt goes it very alone.

Speaking of The Princess Bride, ThinkGeek now has a Miracle Max T-shirt:



AND the Storming The Castle card game:

Too cool. You gotta love ThinkGeek.

I really WANT that T-shirt, but I am too large for it right now. Maybe I shall buy it and use wearing it as a goal.

I want it!!!!

I'll have to ask at game night if anyone has played the Princess Bride game. If they haven't, I'm sure someone will be willing to buy it and see if it's any fun...

So yesterday I watched Monsters vs Aliens with my sister. It was hilarious, totally adorable, and much better than I expected.

I loved that movie. It wasn't what I had expected either, but it was a lot of fun.

My daughter took me to Inception. I loved it! It is definitely a movie which can be seen more than once, just to pick up on the clues throughout. So well done! Leonardo DiCaprio didn't even annoy me in it, and I LOVED the other actors. Joseph Gordon-Levitt (very dapper, reminds me of Cary Grant or possibly David Niven) may just be my new crush, though I suspect he's young enough to be my son, so I will restrain myself. Tom Hardy reminds me of Humphrey Bogart. I adored him in this. Ken Watanabi is another of my favorites and several of the other actors, too. I had no idea they were in it.

I won't talk about my thoughts on the movie here, no spoilers for those of you who haven't gone to see it yet, but I didn't find it difficult to follow, once I got the idea of what they were doing, and yeah, if you are texting throughout the film (which would get you thrown out of our theater), you won't get it.

We will be buying this one, it bears rewatching just to capture all the nuances of each team member's dreams.

I think that i posted earlier that i saw the Swedish production of The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo which has English subtitles. Now it appears that Hollywood wants in on this gravy train & is going to make an English language version of it! I guess l lot of people do not wish to read subtitles. The gal who played the title role is wonderful & they will not be able to get anyone else who fits the part as 'bang-on' as she does & I will not be seeing it anyway! 8^)

Daniel Craig has signed on to play Mikael Blomkvist but the Lisbeth role hasn't yet been cast. The Daily Beast says it has learned there are now four top contenders: Sophie Lowe, Sarah Snook, Rooney Mara and Lea Seydoux.

Spouse and son dragged me to see Inception. It's an interesting premise and well constructed. I just didn't fall in love with it the way the guys in my household did.

On the other hand, I watched the 1981 version of Clash of the Titans this morning before anyone else got up. Cheesy as it comes!

We're going to see The Girl Who Played With Fire tomorrow. It seems I've been waiting a year. As for the English cast of The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo, Daniel Craig, meh, and the 4 girls considered for Salander all look about 12 years old, but that could work. There's no doubt I'll see the movie, there's lots of doubt about whether or not I'll like it.

#232
Joseph Gordon-Levitt: I loved him in Mysterious Skin, and well, of course, Third Rock From The Sun. He's a very talented actor. I haven't seen Inception yet, but I'm dying for it to come to theaters here!

Was it you, MrsLee, who on another thread said you were watching Leverage? I have never seen the show, but I've just found out that Mark Sheppard (Badger from Firefly) has a recurring guest role. Now I want to watch the show just for him, I love him! Oh and also Christian Kane (Lindsey from Angel) is there. Yay, two Whedonverse actors!

I just watched an episode of The X-Files guest starring Mark Sheppard. He's great!

We watched the new version of Clash of the Titans last night and the Red Baron too. Clash wasn't anywhere near as bad as we were expecting from everybody's terrible reviews, so that was a pleasant surprise, a good, fun rental.

And the Red Baron was well done, very interesting. I couldn't help but think what a difference 90 years has made on our attitudes. Is there such a thing as an "honourable enemy" anymore or is it simply an archaic, dead concept? I know realistically it's the latter, but this movie made me ponder the changes that have come down through the wars since 1918.

I saw a new Australian movie called South Solitary. It's about a woman who comes with her uncle to run the lighthouse on a tiny, barely accessible island. It's light drama, with some very clever moments. Perhaps it was a little too sparse at times, but it will make a very good rainy afternoon movie when it's on DVD.

Yes, Delirium, it was I. :) Mark Sheppard is wonderful in Leverage. Except he really messes with the "good" guys. He's not a bad guy, but you want to think of him as such. Now I have to rewatch Firefly, because I can't remember Badger! Christian Kane is a lot of fun to watch on Leverage as well. They even let him sing. Did you know he sings? Look him up on YouTube. Better yet, I'll give you a link.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZaF4u3NfTtM

I had no idea he could sing!

Anyone know when/if the next James Bond movie is coming out?

We saw The Girl With Who Played With Fire today. It wasn't as good as the first one, but then neither was the book. Having read the book, I enjoyed the movie, but the first movie was stand alone, and I don't think you'd get the full benefit out of this one without reading the book first. A major concept was explained kind of obliquely and what I had thought was allusion to a major character was omitted. The big ending scene which was pretty unbelievable in the book was completely unbelievable in the movie. Oh well, it was worth seeing as a bridge movie.

My boyfriend coerced me into watching Speed Racer, the live action movie. Ugh, it was bad. I told him that if I watched his movie, I was showing him my favorite romantic comedy on our next date. Looking forward to that ;)

I watched Monster A-Go-Go on Netflix yesterday. How did movies like this ever get into the public domain? Happily, I was watching it through the filter of MST3000, so it was hilariously painful.

Just got back from seeing Inception. Wow!! What a movie. Excellent. I agree MrsLee, we want to see it again too, for the pure enjoyment and to pick up more of the story. What an imagination!!!

I watched The Miracle at St. Anna last night. Very disappointing. I was left confused and frustrated, to say the least. Unrealistic and often embarrassing. Bash-you-over-the head obvious music as plot devices. Blegh.

242: The next James Bond was supposed to be out in late 2011/2012, but I've heard that production delays have pushed it back even farther. :(

I saw inception about a week ago. Mind. Blown. It was beautiful! And I'm dying to go see it again. Maybe I'll go later. :p

#240
Ohhhh what a lovely voice he has!!! Thanks! :D

I mentioned this on FB, but I watched the first two episodes of the new Sherlock Holmes on BBC. I didn't actually watch them on BBC, but they were made for BBC. Anyway, it is set in modern London, Sherlock is fully aware of the computer age and cell phones. Dr. Watson is a young man who served in the military in Afghanistan. All the characters are there, only modern, and as far as I'm concerned, it WORKS! I'm enjoying it muchly. Stephen Moffat is in on it, I notice that they do something with the cinematography to fuzzy things up a bit when they go for the long view, which rather blurs the lines between modern London and London past, as well as set it apart as fiction rather than hard-boiled reality. I'm looking forward to more of these.

On the BBC website, there is a link to Sherlock's webpage, which is rather entertaining as well. It has ciphers to solve for those of you so inclined.

I saw them, too, MrsLee, and I really enjoyed them. The plots are a bit predictable but the characters are a lot of fun so I didn't really mind.

ETA: As I understand it, it is a 3-episode miniseries, although I've also heard there may be a second season at some point.

blue - Thanks, I had heard nothing about them until my daughter found them online. I think the interaction between Holmes and Watson is very well done. I agree about the predictability, but also am not bothered by it, because it is much like the stories which have already been written and I know all of them.

Something which has made me laugh, there have been at least 4 times where I asked the screen a question as the show was playing, or told it something would have to happen to make things work, and almost immediately I received an answer or the show made that thing happen. I almost felt like I was in the Dr. Who episode, Blink.

#250
Yay! It's already out! I was waiting for it to premiere, as I read about it a few months ago. I'll look for it online, thanks, MrsLee!

This thread is taking forever to load, I'm going to start a new one.

Just saw Inception and loved it!!! Also, saw Shutter Island on DVD via netflix and it was also great! Two very thought provoking movies... not for the faint hearted.

I am hoping to see a movie this week. I haven't been in foreva! Popcorn, candy, and a good laugh or cry or both!

New thread here:

http://www.librarything.com/topic/96304