Movies you've seen recently

[TheChris92]

Not disputing that, but it sounds like the case would be naturally repetitive, at the least, because they were repetitive!

I made that point too "What's even worse is that it is incredibly hard to care about these characters at all, or why they doing it, partly because the story itself "Stealing from pop-culture icons like Lindsay Lohan or Paris Hilton" isn't that interesting,". What is also important is what  makes for compelling storytelling. A movie needs to entertain too so regardless if the movie is based on a true story it also needs something to entertain, whether it be adding elements to the story to spice it up a bit. The Bling Ring sadly didn't but I still sort of enjoyed it. I like Sofia Coppola, love Lost in Translation, I know she can do better than this.

[sorophx]

Not to make excuses for the Iraq war but the majority of Iraqis that I've met were in support of the US toppling Saddam(to my face at least).

well, this movie supports your claim. but then it shows episodes where US troops failed to do proper police job, because they were under orders not to get involved. and that's what bothers me the most. the US sends in troops to occupy a country under pretenses of rebuilding it, but then simply abandons the people it promised to take care of. and I saw interviews with Army officers who couldn't hold back their tears, because they knew they weren't doing everything they could've done to help people, they were powerless. because generals and politicians ****ed everyone over

[Monte Carlo]

Gravity. It's almost two hours of a chick with PMT in a tin can.

 

What was the fuss about?

[Serrano]

Gravity. It's almost two hours of a chick with PMT in a tin can.

 

What was the fuss about?

 

It was a big special effects showcase, I imagine that in the cinema with surround sound and 3d it would have been spectacular but watching it at home was not so great. There was probably more plot in that story George was trying to tell throughout the movie that in the movie itself. 

[Volourn]

"The Bling Ring sadly didn't but I still sort of enjoyed it."

 

You are posting out both sides of your keyboard. It was either entertaining or it wasn't. Pick a side.

[TheChris92]

"The Bling Ring sadly didn't but I still sort of enjoyed it."

 

You are posting out both sides of your keyboard. It was either entertaining or it wasn't. Pick a side.

But of course I am - There are several factors one can judge a movie from -- Aesthetically, the cinematography, soundtrack, the framing, then there's the entertainment, story, plot, dialogue. Since I'm a film student and a general lover of cinema I'm gonna judge on all fronts. Like how Gravity was damn boring but it was a pretty well-made movie. My verdict here is that because the source material is already so uninteresting it hurts the film. But as a film, it was decent enough, despite a few hicks like say the soundtrack. It was okay.

Happy now?

Edited March 15, 2014 by TheChris92

[Raithe]

Veronica Mars.

 

If you liked the tv series, you'll enjoy the movie.  It's basically what it is, a feature length version of an episode. That and the posing question of where all those characters would be 10 years on from where they were last seen. Some funny bits, some snarky bits, some sassy bits, all wrapped up around a few mystery elements.

[C2B]

Veronica Mars.

 

If you liked the tv series, you'll enjoy the movie.  It's basically what it is, a feature length version of an episode. That and the posing question of where all those characters would be 10 years on from where they were last seen. Some funny bits, some snarky bits, some sassy bits, all wrapped up around a few mystery elements.

 

It even has bits that are setups for future storylines.

[SilverMoonDragon2]

The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel.

 

Quite an enjoyable movie I must say, I wasn't expecting it to be as good as it was. It made me cry, laugh, smile...you know, all the good stuff 

[Oerwinde]

Hansel and Gretel: Witch Hunters. One of the best action movies in a long time. Its like a big budget Army of Darkness.

[Amentep]

Veronica Mars - thought it was really well done.  Went with my brother who never really watched the show (he was familiar with the basics though) and he enjoyed it as well.  Like most of the episodes, its not really a "who dunnit?" so much as a "how will/can Veronica solve it?" so it is very much like an episode of the show, but bigger and with a gratuitous PG-13 F-word (which IMO pays off with Logan's PG-13 line at the end of the film).

 

Great seeing the characters again, kinda wish Wallace and Mac had bigger parts (even though they play important roles) and I always can use more of Veronica and her Dad.  And again Mr. Casablancas (since his first name got caught in the filter) reveals why he's a fan favorite (rendering the gag I placed in these parenthesis nonsensical).  And yet it was also pretty much the best thing I could expect, and definitely pleasing for this fan of the show.

 

I hope it won't be 7 years before we get to visit the characters again (in film, since there's a novel coming in a few months from Rob Thomas).

Edited March 17, 2014 by Amentep

[Raithe]

Okay, for the slightly surreal movie trivia..

 

io9 - Scarlett Johansson really picked up random dudes for Under The Skin

 

 

This is insane. You know how the movie Under the Skin is about a sexy alien played by Scarlett Johansson who picks up men, has sex with them and then kills them? All those men she picks up weren't actors. Just regular people she randomly met on the road.

Johansson revealed as much during an interview with The Guardian:

 

A remarkable aspect of

Under the Skin

is that a lot of the people who appear in it aren't actors. They're normal people – who happen to be walking down a road minding their own business when a pretty lady pulls up in a van alongside them and offers them a lift to Tesco and then a film crew clutching disclaimers leaps out of the back.

At what point did Glazer tell you: "Oh yes, by the way, Scarlett, we haven't really got any other actors. We're just going to cruise the streets and find them"? "That happened later on. And none of us knew how it was going to work. We toyed with lots of different things like prosthetics, teeth, all kinds of things that would change my face but only slightly, when in fact there was no need to do any of that."

 

The Daily Mail actually found one of these guys to talk to:

 

A lovelorn workman has described the moment he thought he had 'hit the jackpot' when a beautiful brunette van driver stopped and asked him: 'Are you single?'

Kevin McAlinden was completely unaware the siren was Hollywood star Scarlett Johansson disguised in a dark wig – and that he was secretly starring in her new sci-fi movie.

Father-of-two Kevin, 29, had recently separated from his partner when the actress drove up.

Last night, recalling his lucky day, said: 'What man wouldn't think, "Wow," when a good-looking woman has just pulled up in a van and comes out with something like that within minutes?

'She said: "Are you single? What are you doing tonight?"

'I thought, "Yes! This is unbelievable!" I'd been having quite a tough time in my personal life, so this was like a lucky break. I should have known it was too good to be true.'

 

I can't even begin to process this. Does making men think they're going to potentially have sex with Scarlett Johansson constitute cruelty to animals in some way?

Edited March 17, 2014 by Raithe

[sorophx]

"Cruelty to animals", jeez 

[LadyCrimson]

The Face of Love - melodramatic, kinda weird romance with Vertigo overtones (no murder/action mystery to it tho). Main reason I watched it is because of Ed Harris. He's great ... so was Annette Bening. Neither could make the film better than it was - which isn't very. Still...the whole time watching I kept thinking how great they both are as actors.

[TheChris92]

Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind

 

One of the best romantic-dramas in the history of all cinema, with a very nice unique mixture of science fiction -- It's also incredibly heartwarming. I've watched it again for about the 15th time and I always love it. Basically, it's what one could expect from the crazy surreal minds of Charlie Kaufmann or something out of Spike Jonze. What I'll say about this movie is that in terms of how it's made, the editing, the cinematography and narrative structure -- It's just spot on. Nothing is out of context, but all of it is put together so as to challenge the viewer's attention as well as their emotions. It's as mind-boggling confusing as it is quite simple. It's a story about love, what else do you need to know? Plenty, I'll say. Much of the story, for instance, deals with memories being erased, and thus the film presents these memories in an un-chronological order,while Joel, and the viewer alike, explores them as they slowly disappear from the minds of our protagonists.

 

It's quite incredibly charming to see Jim Carrey as Joel & Kate Winslet as Clementine, losing their minds together. They center themselves so well that we end up really caring about their escapades and the outcome of this erased loving-relationship. Before the viewer even realizes it, they'll come to understand that what they've been watching from the beginning of the film is actually Joel's memories, which have seen disappeared or buried themselves away. As the film kicks off Joel is seized with an inexplicable compulsion to ditch work and take the train to Montauk, and on the train he meets Clementine. To anyone's knowledge, ours, as the viewer, and Joel, they've never seen each other before, but looking at the signs of affection Joel awkwardly presents towards her simply by looking at her back.. Gives the slightest sense of deja vu.¨

As the plot develops too and time is moving freely, dizzyingly, forward and backward in time, they will each experience fragmentary versions of relationships they had, might have had, or might be having. It's incredibly poignant, surreal and romantic. Despite the less than encouraging scenes of frustrations the film presents their relationship, and how very different they are (one is shy and compulsive, the other is extroverted and wild) they still make for excellent chemistry. They complete each other as they both desire companionship and love from each other. It's love that spans the boundaries of science and heck.. even reality. '

 

This what makes this film work so well alongside the incredible performances from Winslet & Carrey -- Winslet playing a completely different kind of character than what she's done before. It almost felt like a transformation, or Jim Carrey who truly let out what he's really capable of as an actor and allowed us to explore a different side to the actor in the role of Joel. There were even moments in the film, where I could tell "Yep, it's still Jim Carrey" but the best thing. It works so well for this film. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind is a journey within the human mind, and like Jonze's Her, it explores the basic desires of companionship, but also the things we can never replace. At the end of the day, our memories are all we really have, and when they're gone, we're gone.

[Gfted1]

Dallas Buyers Club

 

Pretty excellent and McConaughey is crazy talented, imo.

[Serrano]

I just watched Ender's Game. I didn't hate it but I don't see how anyone who hasn't read the books could get very much out of it or properly follow the plot. it's like someone made a movie of the cliff notes of the book or decided to just make an ensemble of their favourite scenes and release them into the wild without much thought of how to fit them together.  It's a little annoying actually because the actors, the script and especially the special effects are all good, you feel like they've done well at bringing Ender's Game to the big screen but it just isn't long enough. Nowhere near. They've cut out too much to even tell the main story arc properly.  

Edited March 20, 2014 by Serrano

[Bryy]

Peabody & Sherman was horrible. It was like a throwback to old 1993 animated films when they didn't know how to make these movies yet. It was a set piece film, but it was animated so who cares?

[Meshugger]

 

Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind

 

One of the best romantic-dramas in the history of all cinema, with a very nice unique mixture of science fiction -- It's also incredibly heartwarming. I've watched it again for about the 15th time and I always love it. Basically, it's what one could expect from the crazy surreal minds of Charlie Kaufmann or something out of Spike Jonze. What I'll say about this movie is that in terms of how it's made, the editing, the cinematography and narrative structure -- It's just spot on. Nothing is out of context, but all of it is put together so as to challenge the viewer's attention as well as their emotions. It's as mind-boggling confusing as it is quite simple. It's a story about love, what else do you need to know? Plenty, I'll say. Much of the story, for instance, deals with memories being erased, and thus the film presents these memories in an un-chronological order,while Joel, and the viewer alike, explores them as they slowly disappear from the minds of our protagonists.

 

It's quite incredibly charming to see Jim Carrey as Joel & Kate Winslet as Clementine, losing their minds together. They center themselves so well that we end up really caring about their escapades and the outcome of this erased loving-relationship. Before the viewer even realizes it, they'll come to understand that what they've been watching from the beginning of the film is actually Joel's memories, which have seen disappeared or buried themselves away. As the film kicks off Joel is seized with an inexplicable compulsion to ditch work and take the train to Montauk, and on the train he meets Clementine. To anyone's knowledge, ours, as the viewer, and Joel, they've never seen each other before, but looking at the signs of affection Joel awkwardly presents towards her simply by looking at her back.. Gives the slightest sense of deja vu.¨

As the plot develops too and time is moving freely, dizzyingly, forward and backward in time, they will each experience fragmentary versions of relationships they had, might have had, or might be having. It's incredibly poignant, surreal and romantic. Despite the less than encouraging scenes of frustrations the film presents their relationship, and how very different they are (one is shy and compulsive, the other is extroverted and wild) they still make for excellent chemistry. They complete each other as they both desire companionship and love from each other. It's love that spans the boundaries of science and heck.. even reality. '

 

This what makes this film work so well alongside the incredible performances from Winslet & Carrey -- Winslet playing a completely different kind of character than what she's done before. It almost felt like a transformation, or Jim Carrey who truly let out what he's really capable of as an actor and allowed us to explore a different side to the actor in the role of Joel. There were even moments in the film, where I could tell "Yep, it's still Jim Carrey" but the best thing. It works so well for this film. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind is a journey within the human mind, and like Jonze's Her, it explores the basic desires of companionship, but also the things we can never replace. At the end of the day, our memories are all we really have, and when they're gone, we're gone.

 

 

Spot on. Her and Eternal sunshine of the spotless mind are the only two romantic movies that i've actually liked.

[Gorgon]

Veronica Mars - thought it was really well done.  Went with my brother who never really watched the show (he was familiar with the basics though) and he enjoyed it as well.  Like most of the episodes, its not really a "who dunnit?" so much as a "how will/can Veronica solve it?" so it is very much like an episode of the show, but bigger and with a gratuitous PG-13 F-word (which IMO pays off with Logan's PG-13 line at the end of the film).

 

Great seeing the characters again, kinda wish Wallace and Mac had bigger parts (even though they play important roles) and I always can use more of Veronica and her Dad.  And again Mr. Casablancas (since his first name got caught in the filter) reveals why he's a fan favorite (rendering the gag I placed in these parenthesis nonsensical).  And yet it was also pretty much the best thing I could expect, and definitely pleasing for this fan of the show.

 

I hope it won't be 7 years before we get to visit the characters again (in film, since there's a novel coming in a few months from Rob Thomas).

Why the hell would you watch a college girl detective TV show. Must be awesome indeed.  

[Katphood]

The Thousand Eyes of Dr. Mabuse

 

One of the best crime-movies I have ever seen.

[Meshugger]

Inside Llewyn Davis

 

Well for a movie about a striving artist that doesn't know where he is going and doesn't have a place to live, the movie is really about that. The plot is really thin when everyday is just part of a journey trying to find a gig or get some money. I find it understanding that people find this a bit boring or uneventful. But atleast like in other Coen's movies, the characters themselves are quite the character. However, the soundtrack is excellent. Who knew Justin T. could sing such good folk songs?

 

Edited March 22, 2014 by Meshugger

[Mor]

^ There many such movies that focus on specific situation in life or simple human emotions, most of them never sell well but many of them cal leave you with warm feeling or a grin.
 

The Thousand Eyes of Dr. Mabuse

One of the best crime-movies I have ever seen.

Whenever I perceive something as black and white tv old, I get into these bizarre moods. For example here, I found myself reading the movie summary on IMDB in late ww2 radio broadcast about allied troop advancement excited fashion    

Edited March 22, 2014 by Mor

[TheChris92]

I can't wait to watch Inside Llewin Davis - Big Coen Brothers fan, I've heard the soundtrack and love it.

[TheChris92]

Requiem for a Dream

 

An incredibly nauseating and harsh psychological downer, revolving around 4 people's struggle with their own addictions, spiraling out of control. It deals with contemporary themes of youth, like the media, drugs & sex. It reflects upon alienation and self-ownership. The film utilizes drugs as a narrative device/subject matter, to explore the inner psyche of these characters -- All of our main characters are affected by the problematic implications of "drugs", and Aronofsky grabs hold of the audience, ass to head, and throws us through this escapade of brutality, beauty & sadness.

It raises questions of what exactly defines a 'drug' to us? If we asks ourselves, we'll find that 'addictions' is something you'll find everywhere, from quitting cigarettes to wanting to lose weight. The film draws itself out from a larger perspective than drugs -- The aftermath of addiction and modernity. The condemnation of society is clear: the individual is alone, without reference, unable to discern right from wrong. The world we live, as stated by Aronofsky, is Dionysian and alienating. These addictions all come with a price, which isn't something one is willing to pay, or strong enough to decline.

 

We follow Harry(played by Jared Leto), his friend Ty(Marlon Wayans), girlfriend Marion (Jennifer Connelly) & mother Sarah (Ellen Burstyn), as their individual addiction slowly takes effect and ruins their chances for a real life, second by second. Harry's idea of hustling heroin as a way of life & business practice pulls him into an addiction to the drug which eats him up. Ty remembers the days of a better time where his mother would shield him, and now his substance abuse has led to a life of crime -- Marion becomes addicted along with Harry and finds herself slowly graduating to prostitution, as our very own Keith David grabs hold of her reigns. Mother Sara is dependent upon the TV, the only escape from her deteriorating age and longing for youth. Her days are punctuated by viewing diet shows. It goes well with a doctor, who prescribed the addictive appetite suppressants (amphetamines). But as she takes them, her sense of reality is destroyed completely.

The film is packed with symbolic undertones, like the repetitive shots of what can only be assumed to be Harry's pupil as it enlarges itself from the injections of heroin. The eye, from a symbolic viewpoint, is considered the mirror of the soul. Looking carefully into the tiny reflection of the iris, there is a blue sky with clouds, it evokes a dreamlike plane, which means it symbolizes the characters opening a doorway into a new place of escape. Beyond a dream. The contrast between the black pupil dilated, a sign of altered perception, and the blue sky as a reflection, evokes the spirit of confusion between dream and reality, between perception of reality and simulacra (similarity). The characters are all experimenting reality by the intervention of a substance or object, whether it be heroin or television. Their world view is distorted.

 

Requiem is heralded as one of the generations best films, and the praise is certainly warranted. A startling slide of isolation & loneliness in a cruel world - Visually and aesthetically, Aronofsky materializes urgency of need, the obsession with consumption. Requiem is a beautiful film, juxtaposing its rather tragic characters.