What film/s did everyone watch today?? Redux Deux

[JoBlo]

The old thread was getting a little too big for its own weight, so here's a brand new thread (likely the longest ongoing thread in the history of our site) regarding everyone's LATEST MOVIE VIEWINGS...

Remember that you can also elaborate on your viewings in MOVIE FAN CENTRAL, just a click away...

[outsyder]

Let's break it in then.


Traffic - 9/10

[Puck Bond]

Just curious...combined with the original thread, how many replies does this thread have all together, I'm guessing around 50,000?!

[KcMsterpce]

Originally Posted by Puck Bond

Just curious...combined with the original thread, how many replies does this thread have all together, I'm guessing around 50,000?!

The first thread was bogged down and abandoned at around 59,000 posts. The second was at 23,000...


In other news:
I watched AVATAR for a second time because my bro-in-law really badly wanted to see it.
I liked it a little more this time, actually. I had a nice little nap and enjoyed the sound effects a LOT.

6/10

[sarah1980]

since i just finished season 5 it's fitting that i would watch this



9/10

[Smiert Spionam]

Can't wait to finish Season 5 up myself and move on to Fight the Future. Pretty excited.

A Fish Called Wanda - 8/10

[Natty]

Observe and Report (Jody Hill, 2009)



Well that was suprising. This will hopefully get the golden schmoe for most underrated movie of the year, unlike most people I thought it was quite brilliant. Its the blackest of black comedies for sure but I think if you realise that its more of a character study you'll appreciate it. After all, how many comedy films feature racism, bullying, mental deficiency, rape, disability discrimination and child abuse as the themes of the jokes - surely writer/director Jody Hill isn't that ignorant and intended for the film to be quite serious. That might be part of the problem though, some parts are funny as they are so ridiculous and are edited as typical 'haha' moments so we aren't exactly sure how we are meant to be feeling here; alternatively, that could have been Hill's intention. Film also succeeds due to the great performances, this is Rogen's best work to date (he may get a Best Actor nod from me), Faris is also quite good and Michael Pena is...different. The soundtrack was hit and miss, but overall the movie was a weird but rewarding experience, I'm thinking cult classic. Also, I LOVED that Taxi Driver homage!*

8/10

*

Spoiler:

When Ronnie is lifting the weights and doing the 'mission' voiceover, he decides to stop and start again a la Travis Bickle, with the camera also going back to the shot, except he actually says "wait I need to do that again"

[Highspeed]

9/10

[Le_Big_Mac]

Life Is Beautiful- 8/10

Don't get the hate (or at least moderate disliking) for this movie.

[RandalGraves]

The Hangover 9.5/10

I loved this in the theater and then I bought the dvd the day it came out and watched it that same day but gave it a lower rating cause i was having a really crappy day, so I rewatched it and realized how funny it really is!

[sbunn10]

American Beauty (Sam Mendes, 1999) - 8.5/10

[Puck Bond]

Originally Posted by KcMsterpce

The first thread was bogged down and abandoned at around 59,000 posts. The second was at 23,000...

Damn! Over 80,000...had no idea it was that many! There is a lot of movie-watching going on by the schmoes I guess...


The World Is Not Enough(1999)-7/10

[Conz]

Orphan - 6/10, wasn't bad.

[syxxpac]

The Night Flier



This is one of my favorite King short stories, so I was looking forward to seeing how badly someone could fuck it up en route to the screen. The good news is that it wasn't. The directing was tight and the tension was there, but it had a couple of embarrassingly amateur gaffs that I couldn't overlook. I mean, did anybody spot the boom mic dropping into frame for at least two seconds on not one but TWO separate occasions? They couldn't do another take? That's not just oversight, that's plain laziness and made me laugh when the movie was otherwise working for me. Annoying. Anyway, despite having an arrogant son of a bitch as a protagonist, the cocky ambition Ferrer brings to King's jaded reporter Richard Dees is more than adequate to pull you into the proceedings, and makes the ending click with a delightfully bitter irony, not unlike the approach Darabont took to the ending of King's Mist novella. The vampire was surprisingly effective, aside from them giving him the stereotypical high-collared black and red cape when we see him clearly as a man, and there's a scene near the end of the story in an airport restroom involving the clever use of mirrors and a urinal that was left intact in translation and definitely made a similar creepy impact.

-> 6/10

[Badbird]

Malice (1993) - I had no idea. I thought this was a murder mystery, but it ended up as much, much more. Pleasantly surprised. Lots of sex (pretty sure that wasn't really Kidman naked; probably a double).

8/10

[Canto]

I hate Powell. 9/10

[Highspeed]

Originally Posted by Badbird

Lots of sex (pretty sure that wasn't really Kidman naked; probably a double).

8/10

Shh dont ruin the only good thing about that movie for me. Being fair though I haven't seen it since I first hit puberty, so I'd probably like it more now.

[athf1980]

Observe & Report[2009]

4/5

a very good dark flick. Rogen best performence.

[Terror Australis]

Up (2009) - 5/5



Michael Jackson's This Is It - 5/5



Where the Wild Things Are - 4.5/5



(500) Days of Summer - 4.5/5



Julie & Julia - 4/5



Me and Orson Welles - 4/5



2012 (2009) - 4/5



The Descent: Part 2 - 1.5/5

[BakeTheMooCow]

EXTRACT (2009) - 8/10

Something about this movie really connected with me and cracked me up all the way through. Jason Bateman is excellent and I loved the guy who played Brad the gigolo. And the whole cast of characters is very likable and in the short amount of time, create sort of memorable personas. Ben Affleck in particular is hilarious. I never should have doubted Mike Judge. He really taps into everyday ordinariness and low-key observations of average people living average lives. Great stuff.

[Puck Bond]

That's quite a lineup Terror Australis...though The Descent: Part 2 seems quite out of place...


Alexander(2004)-9/10

[ilovemovies]

Avatar - ***

I liked it but did not love it. And even though I overall had a good time, I still can't help but be disappointed by this movie. It's definitely Cameron's weakest movie.

[Bahs]

First viewing and liked it better than I thought I would

8/10

I know some people complain about the slow burn of the movie but IMO it really adds more effect to the intense climax

[cloneofkelso]

How The Grinch Stole Christmas(Jim Carrey)
Clue

[Monotreme]

As promised, the full review:



A Serious Man (Joel & Ethan Coen, 2009) - The Coen brothers never cease to amaze me. It’s just incredible and wonderful to see a directorial duo with such a distinct and unique cinematic voice, yet who still manage to re-invent themselves with every subsequent film. Just these past three years they went from a gritty, dark, dramatic crime-thriller (“No Country for Old Men”), the likes of which they hadn’t made since their first film in 1984, “Blood Simple” (“Fargo” was injected with far more humor than the two aforementioned films), to a hilarious, over-the-top espionage spoof comedy with an all-star cast (“Burn After Reading”), to their latest, “A Serious Man”; a deeply personal and philosophical family dramedy lacking both in recognizable film stars and in murder plots or any of a wide assortment of other genre filmmaking staples that have characterized the Coen’s oeuvre throughout their careers. It is really the only film of theirs I can think of that isn’t overly stylized and actually attempts to exist in the real world, although it is obviously a skewed version of the world as seen through the Coen brothers’ eyes; so many elements come into play during the film, from their own childhood memories of being on the verge of adolescence in the suburban Northwest in 1970, to their Judaism and what that faith meant to them then, and now. And due to all this content and subtext, ideas and themes, the film also becomes what may be their most cerebral one yet.

It is certainly an odd bird of a film. The Coens start it off with a pre-credits stand-alone short depicting an old fable of a Jewish couple being visited on a cold, winter’s night by a Rabbi who may or may not have died three years prior; in classic Coen style, when the brothers couldn’t find an existing fable that fit what they wanted to tell, they made one up and wrote it entirely in Yiddish no less. Afterwards the actual film begins and the connection between the Yiddish short and the 1970’s-set story is never really made apparent. The story launches us into an intricate world constructed partly of memory and partly of historic events, a stylized version of the Coen brothers’ childhoods if you will; rich with period detail but also with more dream-like imagery. The story itself is highly allegorical. Larry Gopnik finds the American dream falling apart around him. His brother is a mathematical genius but is also a sociopath and a slob who sleeps on Larry’s couch and constantly finds himself being brought home by police officers for illegal gambling. His son is rebellious and disrespectful, smoking marijuana and listening to Jefferson Airplane and Santana on a transistor radio while in Hebrew class. His wife leaves him for his best friend. And all the while, Larry tries (and ultimately, pretty much fails) to understand why all this is happening to him. Is it the world that is changing around him? Or has he done something wrong? Is it his drifting away from his faith? Perhaps it is he who is unfaithful to his wife, gawking at his promiscuous neighbor from his vantage point on the roof of his house while she sunbathes? Is he letting his son slip away, or is his rebellion simply the natural evolution of American culture at the time, drifting away from faith and values and tradition and plugging into the pop culture information stream. The film raises these questions and many more, and doesn’t seem particularly interested in providing answers for them. Rather, it tries to craft an understanding of the period and of the culture, perhaps to indicate the huge gap between where things were then and where they are now.

This brings me to one of if not the most important themes the film deals with: its characters’ Judaism. I’m sure that many people from all creeds and faiths can enjoy the film’s style and its philosophical ruminations, but I do think that, as a Jewish person myself, and furthermore as one who has had personal experience with the Jewish Community in the United States and what it symbolizes and entails, its values and traditions – I may have gotten a little extra something out of the film, seen it on another level. As the plot develops events start to become odder and odder and subsequently more and more symbolic and allegorical in terms of what the characters are going through, dabbing primarily in themes of fate. Two freakish car accidents occur at the same time; one leads to death but in the other, Larry is spared. Why? And is if even a good thing that his miserable life didn’t just end right there. Later, Larry is visited by a spiritual personification of the victim of the other crash. Is this a visit by a dybbuk – a spirit come to life according to Jewish folklore – and does it curse Larry? Or perhaps the couple seen in the prologue being visited by a dybbuk themselves are Larry’s ancestors, and he was already cursed from the get-go. Does Larry control his actions and his fate, or has everything been pre-determined for him? The question of fate is one that comes up often in discussions about faith and religion; a man could lead the most secular life and have only good things come to him, while another man could devote himself to God and find his life plagued with tragedy. The Coens seem quite interested in what this means in terms of man’s relationship with God, and how faith influences a man’s life. There also seems to be some harsh criticism against the organized religious Jewish establishment: Throughout the course of the film Larry visits three Rabbis seeking advice, each one symbolizing a different generation. The young Rabbi is obviously completely out of touch with the Jewish tradition and faith, and doesn’t even know what Larry is talking about when he mentions that his wife wants a “Get” (a traditional Jewish divorce). The second, middle-aged Rabbi tells Larry a long and convoluted allegorical tale that seemingly has no point whatsoever. And the third Rabbi, representing the elder generation rooted in tradition and custom, won’t even see him. What this means about the Coen’s opinion about the establishments and higher authorities of organized religion, one can only assume.

I’ve gone on about the film’s themes and ideas and haven’t even mentioned its technical elements, which are definitely worth bringing up. After a one-film gap the Coens are back with their regular cinematographer, Roger Deakins, and the return to form is quite apparent. “Burn After Reading” was shot by Emmanuel Lubezski, another one of my favorite working cinematographers but whose work on that Coen film was pretty generic; the visual language in “A Serious Man” just emphasizes the great rapport the directors and Deakins have acquired over the years. It’s a highly stylized and gorgeously shot film, featuring the Coen’s usual style of a constantly moving camera with many smooth dollies and crane shots, and also Deakins style of indirect lighting and asymmetrical but aesthetic compositions, and all of it combined serves to create a uniquely rich visual style that has come to be identified with and be expected of the Coens. I have recently pointed out a trend in the form of the “indie period drama”, independently-produced films with an indie aesthetic (and budget) which are nonetheless rich in period detail and accuracy. A good number of them this year have been set in the 1960’s, interestingly enough, and as expected from the Coens (who are no strangers to period settings), the details in the set design, costumes, cars, language, behavior and everything are exceedingly accurate and detailed. Also worth mentioning are the fantastic performances. As I mentioned before, the film lacks the heavy star-power that has characterized many previous Coen efforts, but the cast is still packed with familiar faces audiences have seen in the background on TV and elsewhere, who really get a chance to shine here. Particularly worthy of note is Michael Stuhlbarg, who completely embodies the role of the neurotic protagonist whose world is crumbling around him. Topping it all off is yet another effective and memorable musical score/recurring theme (as it often is in their films) by Carter Burwell, the Coen’s most loyal and frequent collaborator.

“When the truth is found to be lies / and all the joy within you dies / don’t you want somebody to love / don’t you need somebody to love?” Thus goes the classic Jefferson Airplane song that serves as a recurring motif throughout the film, and I think it pretty much sums up, albeit very simply, what the film is really about. Larry perhaps finds out that the truth he has believed in all his life, invested his faith and tradition in, is not what it seems. Judaism has let him down, specifically his community’s leadership, and all he wants is somebody to love. But his brother is a degenerate. His wife left him. His neighbor seduces him but he knows that it’s not love. His son is a lost cause and drifting very rapidly away from him; his daughter is already long gone. What’s left for him to do? “I’ve tried to be a serious man,” he pleads. By that he doesn’t mean someone who is humorless, but rather, the term refers to someone who is serious about his Jewish faith and about allowing that faith to guide their life. But he is let down, time and time again, and finds himself lost and delirious and jaded. The film’s quite abrupt and startling ending further emphasizes that nobody, especially not Larry, can stop the storm that is about to sweep over his life, and mo matter how he’s led it, how much he’s invested in his faith, his culture his tradition, his values – all of it is meaningless in the ever-changing seas of the world that surrounds us.

RATING: 8/10.

[JackassFan]

2012 - 6/10
Paranormal Activity - 5/10

[smacaskill]

Executive Suite featuring William Holden, Fredric March, and Barbara Stanwyck - This was an intricate and entertaining view of office politics. Stanwyck is my favorite actress and she was very good. June Allyson looked great in the movie and was entertaining as Holden's wife. i think March's performance as the ambitious executive who only cares about stock prices was the best part of this film. 9/10

Across the Pacific featuring Humphrey Bogart and Mary Astor - Although this is one of Bogart's lesser known movies I found this spy film to be pretty good. Everyone's loyalties and motivations, especially Sydney Greenstreet's, were revealed at a steady pace and built up the suspense. The final scene with the showdown at the Panama Canal was especially well done. 8/10

[The Mad German]

Had never heard of it until 2 days ago. Was excited to see something 'new' with Lithgow.

[God of War]

Disclosure - 7/10 Good drama

[Le_Big_Mac]

La Haine- 9.5/10

Thank god, maybe the best movie I've seen in over a year.

[Mr.HyDe807]

10/10



8/10

[Highspeed]

8/10



10/10

[sarah1980]

8.5/10 my rating has gone down a bit

[someguy]

The Messenger - 6/10

The movie has a great cast but they can only do so much with the script. I was a little bothered by the movie mostly focusing on various people grieving at the news that their loved one is dead (it felt like a cheap way to throw emotional weight behind the movie) but the different sequences were executed well enough that they didn't feel too manipulative. There were also some issues with the pacing and direction, mainly that the almost 2 hour length feels a lot longer and a lot of awkward shifts between a hand held/long take and conventional style. Luckily Woody Harrelson, Ben Foster and Samantha Morton all do great jobs and most of the problems I had with the movie don't show up until later on. This is clearly an actor's movie, it's too bad that it felt lacking with everything else.

The International - 7/10

For the situation I was in (bored and looking for something to watch on TV) this movie was perfect for me at the time. The writing is bad at times, Naomi Watts/Clive Owen are under-developed for being main characters and most of what's in here isn't exactly refreshing but I was entertained throughout. Owen/Watts are likable enough that their roles don't feel completely useless, the globe hopping story kept the pace going and the cinematography/direction are good and the long shootout at the Guggenheim is so good it's easy to forgive the fact that it's a lame attempt to throw some action into the mix. A really basic thriller but a perfect way to kill some time.

[BakeTheMooCow]

THE BLIND SIDE (2009) - 3/10

The audience for this movie is religious, white Southern football fans who want to feel good about themselves. There must be a fuckton of those. 90% - 95% of the script consists of one-liners, zingers, clever homespun maxims and generally shit that people never say but sound great coming out of their mouths. Michael Oher's story is terrific and I would love to see a documentary of it someday, but this is not his story. The kid who plays him says next to nothing for the majority of the movie and even when something good happens to him, the actor just blinks and smiles and you kinda want to smack him for not even saying 'thanks'. It's such an inoffensive, passive performance that it's easy to mistake it for a good one since the character is a painfully shy, anti-social, near-mute loner. Don't be fooled.

This is really a movie about the Nice White Lady, Ms. Sandra Bullock who has been in two of the worst movies this year - All About Steve and The Proposal and effortlessly goes 3 for 3. Unlike the embarrassing slapstick shenanigans she participates in in those movies -- on this occasion, she plays the character of Leigh Anne Tuohy with a smug self-confidence in every scene that is hard to stomach. Her character knows everything, is always right, is five steps ahead of everyone, doles out tough love like candy on Halloween and is in a nutshell, the most irritating, self-congratulatory cunt in the universe who you wish could be left alone in a jail cell with a naked Charles Bronson.

But there is one sequence that pushes this beyond Lifetime movie-of-the-week fare and even beyond the Nickelodeon-level absurdity of the scene where Leigh Anne Tuohy interrupts a practice session to remind Oher that his teammates are like his family and he needs to protect them, after which he switches on like a robot and proceeds to play amazingly well. Just like that. And that sequence consists of actual football coaches like Tommy Tuberville and Nick Saban making cameo appearances and trying their damnedest to act but failing miserably. They are so atrocious and yet they inexplicably take up screen time and you realize that, with Christian values also getting so much play, this is some of the most focus-grouped, manufactured, manipulative garbage ever made

[Frosty_86]

My first viewing. 8/10

[Puck Bond]

Avatar(2009)-10/10...the stunning, spectacular, visionary and groundbreaking epic sci-fi adventure from director James Cameron is everything it is advertised to be and more. It is the year 2154 and humans have set up a mining colony on the wondrous moon of Pandora to extract a valuable mineral called unobtanium. Sam Worthington stars as Jake Sully, a paraplegic marine who is given a second chance when he is recruited to the avatar program...an experiment that involves linking the human brain to the body of a Pandoran native known as the Na'vi. These thin 12 foot blue-skinned people live in clans and are one with nature. Their way of life and location is at odds with the human's goal of overunning the land for profit. Jake's mission is to become one of them by ingraining himself in their culture and learning their ways from the inside. Of course things change when Jake falls in love with his Na'vi guide Neytiri, played by a very convincing Zoe Saldana. Visually this is one of the most original and spectacular movies I have ever seen...the visual effects mastery on display in every facet of the movie is a credit to Cameron. For me the real star of this film is Pandora itself, a beautifully stunning world that inspires great awe. The land ranges from dense, lush jungles to spectacular floating mountains. Dangerous creatures and exotic plants also populate this magical and mystical world. I especially loved this world when it was shown at night, as many of the plants would light up with this flourescent glow, and respond to the touch of a hand or foot. For a big-budget effects driven movie this is a very spiritual film...its not that the Na'vi are just one with nature and believe in an energy surrounding all living things as guided by their deity called Elyra, but they literally plug into them as well...using part of their anatomy to link up with a creature, making it possible to ride them and control them. It created a great parallel to the way Jake links up to his avatar, while he is asleep he is in his avatar body, but when he is awake his avatar switches off. It basically means he is always conscious in some form or another...I just found the whole science and how it all worked fascinating. The film is not perfect by any means, as I've heard complaints about the story in particular. The story of nature vs. machine is nothing new and the story of indigenous people fighting for their land is as old as time itself...but it suits this film so well. The package its wrapped up in makes up for it and then some. I appreciate films that dare to be different, take risks and push the boundaries of what an exciting cinematic experience can feel like. I go by how movies make me feel, and this film made me feel lucky and grateful to be alive to see something like this...its the type of film that renews the passion I have for movies in the first place. I can imagine what it felt like for those who saw something like Star Wars for the the first time. Simply put its a film that deserves to be experienced not just seen. Cast also includes Sigourney Weaver(who is wonderful by the way), Stephen Lang, Michelle Rodriguez and Giovanni Ribisi.

[Puck Bond]

Die Another Day(2002)-8/10

[Cop No. 633]

Anvil!: The Story of Anvil -- 9/10

Jules & Jim -- 8/10

Nights of Cabiria -- 8/10

[Puck Bond]

Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind(2004)-10/10