Movies you have seen recently

[theslug]

The Curious Case of Benjamen Button

 

I really quite enjoyed it. Great story, great musical score and aesthetically pleasing.

[Kelverin]

Starting up a Bond marathon (again) watched Dr. No last night. Great flick and one of the best Bonds, in the top 6 on my list. Connery is terrific in the part. No gadgets and the film is mostly played straight; the humor is there, but it's adult in nature and sophisticated unlike the latter Bond films. His scene with Dr. No at the dinner table is perfection. Great locations, some bad special effects (small budget and it's 47 years old), Ursula Andress is stunning as Honey Ryder. Who delivers one of my all time favorite lines;

 

Bond: I promise I won't take your shells.

Honey: (Brandishing her knife) I promise you wont either.

 

Some other memorable lines;

Dr. No: East, West, just points of the compass, each as stupid as the other.

 

James Bond: Don't worry. I'm not supposed to be here either.

Honey Ryder: Are you looking for shells too?

James Bond: No, I'm just looking.

 

Dr. No: That's a Dom Perignon '55, it would be a pity to break it

James Bond: I prefer the '53 myself...

 

All in all a spectacular debut of a legendary character.

[Starwars]

Watched a swedish film called "En s

[CoM_Solaufein]

I felt like watching a Western so I put in my High Plains Drifter DVD. Good Eastwood movie.

[Calax]

Up...

 

VERY good cute movie

[Monte Carlo]

Watched a swedish film called "En s

[Oerwinde]

I saw Wolverine and thought it was a good movie.

 

You must not be a comic fan. Lucky you. I mean that. Reading the source material of adaptions before seeing the movie always ruins the movie. The first two Harry Potter movies I consider the best ones because I hadn't read the books, after that I read all the books, and not a single movie after has lived up to them. (Chamber of Secrets and Philosophers Stone were actually very faithful though.)

[Tigranes]

Went and watched several movies this week, which is highly unusual for me:

 

Seven Samurai

Finally got around to the Kurosawa classic. For those who don't know, it's an old (1954?) B&W film about medieval Japan, where a farming village takes the unprecedented step of directly hiring samurai to defend against bandits. They have no money and thus struggle, but eventually a company of seven eccentric samurai are formed, and a detailed defence against the bandits take place. Kind of like a Citizen Kane that's still fun IMO - nothing new or amazing here now, but you can clearly see that in its time it was a masterful accomplishment of a specific type of cinema and story. I actually enjoyed its slower pace and long-windedness; if made now it would easily lose an hour of screening time. It's been a long time since I saw a cut where someone runs from point A to point B, and you actually watch the entire journey as opposed to the start and end. I prefer it to the frenetic and overplayed editing decisions of contemporary Hollywood cinema, though. Hell, here one of them is allowed to have a drunken rant for a full two minutes.

 

Fargo

Another classic, from the Coen brothers (No Country for Old Men, etc). Setting: snow-laden Minneapolis and a small, sleepy town of Brainerd. Jerry has screwed something up, is in debt, and resorts to hiring two criminals to kidnap his wife and demand ransom from the rich, authoritative father. Problem is, nobody in the damn movie is particularly bright, and things don't work out neatly like you'd expect in a movie. People are killed, negotiations break down, Jerry starts feeling more and more trapped, and eventually it all ends face down. It's not as funny as The Big Lebowski, but afterwards you definitely have a sense of what the Coens wanted to do - a movie which isn't populated by perfected, contrived archetypes acting out stories which are wound together to deliver a clean thematic point, but where normal people, with all their flaws and contradictions and mediocrities, stumble about trying to do business. William J. Macy does the job wonderfully as well, as a cowardly, big-eyed automobile dealer (Jerry).

 

Benjamin Button

What you'd expect from this kind of movie. Classic Ameri-can storytelling, classic hollywood romancing, so on and so forth with the requisite classical inspirations in the mad sailor and button-maker. It was delivered quite well though. Warms the heart without covering it in cheese.

 

Also dabbled in a bit of In Bruges, but I'm pretty damn sure I can't take 90% of all movies made this century. They're all drenched in this same sensibility that makes me convolute. Not that I can sit and watch, say, a Citizen Kane / 2001 marathon. Did Cannes throw up anything good this year? I need to dig into some good 90's classics I missed, and also some French cinema.

[Blarghagh]

I saw Wolverine and thought it was a good movie.

 

You must not be a comic fan. Lucky you. I mean that. Reading the source material of adaptions before seeing the movie always ruins the movie. The first two Harry Potter movies I consider the best ones because I hadn't read the books, after that I read all the books, and not a single movie after has lived up to them. (Chamber of Secrets and Philosophers Stone were actually very faithful though.)

 

I have finally gotten myself to the point where I can detach the two quite easily, and though some changes about Wolverine did rub me the wrong way I felt Wolverine was a pretty good summer action flick.

 

This sums up my thoughts quite nicely: http://digitalpimponline.com/strips.php?ti...ovie&id=469

 

I saw Silent Hill. The first half of which looked awesome and gave me some decent thrills and scares, but it fell apart in the second half.

Edited June 8, 2009 by TrueNeutral

[Hiro Protagonist]

I saw Wolverine and thought it was a good movie.

 

You must not be a comic fan. Lucky you. I mean that. Reading the source material of adaptions before seeing the movie always ruins the movie. The first two Harry Potter movies I consider the best ones because I hadn't read the books, after that I read all the books, and not a single movie after has lived up to them. (Chamber of Secrets and Philosophers Stone were actually very faithful though.)

 

Actually, I am a comic book fan and have been collecting comics since the late 70's. I'm more of a DC fan (Batman - my earliest Detective Comic is #45 ), not really a Marvel fan except for Punisher. I understand what you mean though. I read Terminator 2 before seeing the movie and felt the movie didn't live up to the book. There was a bit cut out of the movie which they put in on the Special Edition dvd and they changed the original ending of the movie, which can also be seen in the special features on the dvd. I preferred the original ending to T2, but then there would be no sequels.

Edited June 9, 2009 by Hiro Protagonist

[fastpunk]

There was a bit cut out of the movie which they put in on the Special Edition dvd and they changed the original ending of the movie, which can also be seen in the special features on the dvd. I preferred the original ending to T2, but then there would be no sequels.

 

Good thing that original ending was removed, else the world would not have received the brilliant last two Terminator movies... oh wait...

 

But seriously, I liked the original ending more as well.

 

 

On thread topic: the last movie I saw was Zack and Miri make a Porno, which was hilarious for about 2/3 of its length, but sadly turned into a typical romantic comedy towards the end. So you could say it was kind of a mixed bag.

[Oerwinde]

I liked how the moral of the story of Zack and Miri was that women shouldn't play mind games, because they just end up hurting themselves.

[Oner]

Actually, I am a comic book fan and have been collecting comics since the late 70's. I'm more of a DC fan (Batman - my earliest Detective Comic is #45 ), not really a Marvel fan except for Punisher. I understand what you mean though. I read Terminator 2 before seeing the movie and felt the movie didn't live up to the book. There was a bit cut out of the movie which they put in on the Special Edition dvd and they changed the original ending of the movie, which can also be seen in the special features on the dvd. I preferred the original ending to T2, but then there would be no sequels.

You are aware that the movie was before the (comic/)book?

[Pidesco]

I just bought a Herzog boxed set, which includes Lebenszeichen, Aguirre, der Zorn Gottes, Woyzeck, Fitzcarraldo, Cobra Verde, and Mein Liebster Feind.

 

Also, the DVDs have a bunch of extras, including quite a few of Herzog's documentaries. GLEE!!!!!!!

[Hiro Protagonist]

[You are aware that the movie was before the (comic/)book?

 

you're talking about Wolverine? As I said before, I'm not a Marvel fan, so I'm not familar with the Wolverine back story/history. I guess that's a good thing for me.

[Pidesco]

[You are aware that the movie was before the (comic/)book?

 

you're talking about Wolverine? As I said before, I'm not a Marvel fan, so I'm not familar with the Wolverine back story/history. I guess that's a good thing for me.

 

He's talking about T2, of course.

[Hiro Protagonist]

^^ ahh, okay.

 

You are aware that the movie was before the (comic/)book?

 

Actually, the book was based on the script of the movie and came out before the movie was released. I read the book a couple of weeks before the movie was released and saw the movie on opening night. James Cameron cut scenes from the movie and changed the ending which is why the movie and book are different. You can see the scenes put back in and the original ending on the Special edition dvd. Also, Kyle Reese makes an appearance in one of the cut scenes in T2.

[Hiro Protagonist]

There was a bit cut out of the movie which they put in on the Special Edition dvd and they changed the original ending of the movie, which can also be seen in the special features on the dvd. I preferred the original ending to T2, but then there would be no sequels.

 

Good thing that original ending was removed, else the world would not have received the brilliant last two Terminator movies... oh wait...

 

But seriously, I liked the original ending more as well.

 

 

On thread topic: the last movie I saw was Zack and Miri make a Porno, which was hilarious for about 2/3 of its length, but sadly turned into a typical romantic comedy towards the end. So you could say it was kind of a mixed bag.

 

I saw Terminator Salvation last night and have to say the ending was a bit iffy.

 

I would have preferred the ending be

have Marcus detonate the bombs from within the factory to redeem himself. No need to put John Connor in mortal danger and have him spiked through the heart. Bad idea. Heart Transplant bah.

 

[Hiro Protagonist]

Started watching the TV show, The Mentalist. Have all the episodes and halfway through Season 1 at the moment. It's a bit like a modern day Sherlock Holmes seeking out his enemy Red John (Moriarty/Jack the Ripper type) and solving cases along the way.

[taks]

i was thinking about renting either bedtime stories or the uninvited tonight. i'm a geo-bachelor (wife and child are in NY this week), and i'm bored to tears at home. anybody seen either? neither is considered awe-inspiring, and remakes of horror flicks are rarely all that good, but my alternative is to watch reruns or play on the computer till i can't take it anymore. dunno...

 

taks

[Kelverin]

Welcome Home, Roscoe Jenkins (2008) A bad film full of cliches. I still laughed my ass off through most of it.

[Oner]

You are aware that the movie was before the (comic/)book?

Actually, the book was based on the script of the movie and came out before the movie was released. I read the book a couple of weeks before the movie was released and saw the movie on opening night. James Cameron cut scenes from the movie and changed the ending which is why the movie and book are different. You can see the scenes put back in and the original ending on the Special edition dvd. Also, Kyle Reese makes an appearance in one of the cut scenes in T2.

I see.

[GreasyDogMeat]

Rented The Spirit.

 

Based on both critical reviews and average reviews (imdb.com) I'm a totally bat **** crazy nutzoid because this movie has been almost universally slammed for sucking yet...

 

I LIKED IT! Even more so than Sin City. Is there something wrong with me?

 

They're coming to take me away, ha-haaa!!

They're coming to take me away, ho-ho, hee-hee, ha-haaa

To the funny farm. Where life is beautiful all the time and I'll be

happy to see those nice young men in their clean white coats and they're

coming to take me away, ha-haaa!!!!!

 

[Meshugger]

I just bought a Herzog boxed set, which includes Lebenszeichen, Aguirre, der Zorn Gottes, Woyzeck, Fitzcarraldo, Cobra Verde, and Mein Liebster Feind.

 

Also, the DVDs have a bunch of extras, including quite a few of Herzog's documentaries. GLEE!!!!!!!

 

Of those mentioned, I have only seen 'Mein Liebster Feind', shame on me

 

Klaus Kinski was a magnificant bastard though. Insane, epochal, and most of all: passionate.

[ShadySands]

I saw The Hangover a couple of days ago and I have to say that it was one of the funniest movies that I've seen in a long, long time.