Spoilers What Movie Are You Watching?

[Huntn]

The film was called "Looper", not "Loopers". This annoys me as much as when people spell "loser" "looser". Sorry, but it drives me nuts.

I stand corrected. In my defense there were a bunch of loopers running around.

My Saturday watching is consisting of

Les Miserables
Django Unchained
Hotel Transylvania

Do you live in the theater, although I imagine you can rent Hotel Transylvania?

Recently watched:
It's a Mad Mad Mad Mad World- excellent. I wonder how younger viewers see this movie as hilarious or as a silly movie from the 60s?

The Great Race- A silly movie from the 60s... too much unfunny slapstick. This is amazingly bad after Blake Edward's brilliant direction of The Pink Panther which I love. Later he did "10" too.

Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows- Highly choreographed to a point that tension and excitement lost in all the stop-action action. I did not like the first one, along with Guy Ritchie's direction.

The New World (2005)- A story of Pocahontas. An interesting movie, on the slow side, but I loved the atmosphere and it is impressive that she was welcomed in Court of the King and Queen of England. John Smith does say, "if ye will not work, ye will not eat!"

 

[Scepticalscribe]

Watched "The Iron Lady" last night. Please note that I will not be discussing the politics of the title character (with much effort and self control), only the movie qua movie.

I enjoyed it very much. I always have a problem with biopics in terms of accuracy. The public portions of the main character's life are a matter of public record, but the private portions always give me pause in terms of accuracy. In this film, it is so stylized that the absolute accuracy of Thatcher's descent into dementia is not really the issue.

I know it's become cliché to gush over Meryl Streep, But gush I will! She so amazingly disappears into her character, so completely submerges herself in the role, it is breath taking. This movie is eminently worth watching just to see her craft.

I am also a big fan of Jim Broadbent. I saw him first (or at least was first taken with him) in a film called "Langford", a truly superior film which I recommend most highly. In it is an actress whom I would compare, in her amazing ability to inhabit her roles comparable to Streep's, named Samantha Morton. Very few actors, IMO, compare to Streep in their skills and range of parts played, but Samantha Morton is also able to inhabit her characters, and to play an amazing range of roles...also like Streep.

BTW: kudos to make up and prosthetics. A great job!

I would recommend "The Iron Lady"...not 100% successful, but very much worth a look.

Yes, I watched this in the past week also (and mentioned it a few days ago on this thread). Agreed - Meryl Streep was superb, as was Jim Broadbent as Denis.

As it happens, the unfortunate and tragic fact that Mrs Thatcher (who had a superb intellect - I won't comment on her politics here save to remark that I don't share them) suffers from dementia is now pretty much a matter of public record, and Streep's portrayal of this was magnificent.

However, while her public life is a matter of record, I would have liked to have seen a little more emphasis on it, and indeed, also on her youth.

After all, this was a woman who through sheer ability and graft obtained a place at Oxford - a young woman whose father was a grocer managing to land a place at Oxford in the late 1940s to study chemistry was no mean achievement, and who then actually worked as a scientist - a research chemist - for a number of years after that before she met and married Denis.

 

[twietee]

Had a good look at Mephisto, since we spoke about it lately scepticalscribe, beautiful movie and Brandauer sure is an excellent actor - as was the general btw., quite tempted to watch his Largo in 007 now.
But I wonder if you watched it dubbed or with subtitles, since his voice and accent is so very remarkable.

 

[Scepticalscribe]

Had a good look at Mephisto, since we spoke about it lately scepticalscribe, beautiful movie and Brandauer sure is an excellent actor - as was the general btw., quite tempted to watch his Largo in 007 now.
But I wonder if you watched it dubbed or with subtitles, since his voice and accent is so very remarkable.

I watched it with subtitles. As a general rule, I much prefer watching foreign language movies in subtitles - viewing a dubbed (movie) is rarely a satisfactory experience. Besides, I speed-read, (so rapid reading of text does not present a problem) and I much prefer to be in a position to hear the original voices, language and intonations as I watch the movie.

Agree re his (Karl-Maria Brandauer's) voice, by the way, absolutely beautiful and very resonant with a wonderful timbre. In our visually obsessed world, we pay far too little heed to the actual sound of a voice, and the effect it can have - personally, it is something I am always very aware of.

 

[fiddlestyx]

I watched Looper recently and I thought it was pretty good; it was well acted and had an interesting concept. I didn't necessarily expect the ending, but I kept thinking of alternative scenarios in which the movie could of ended after I finished it.

Overall though, I enjoyed the flicked but don't think I'd watch it again.

 

[twietee]

American Gigolo. Saw it several times already and can't understand the bad imdb score it got (6.0). Quite a classic imho and a genuine 80s time capsule.

 

[JohnLT13]

I'm watching Drive on Netflix. Only heard about it briefly but after the rave reviews, decided to start it. I'll finish it later tonight when I get home from work.

So far, very well made, very beautifully filmed.

good movie,but it felt awkward. Brian Cranston is a great actor, but this is not one of his best efforts IMO.

 

[saporiti]

Taken 2

Really liked the first one, but this, meh... They always have to squeeze franchises even when there is no way to do it....

 

[fiddlestyx]

Taken 2

Really liked the first one, but this, meh... They always have to squeeze franchises even when there is no way to do it....

I've been hesitant to watch this movie or exactly that reason. I keep thinking though that'll be a good "turn your brain off" action movie and just enjoy the fun.

 

[saporiti]

For that purpose it's perfect. I watched it on a plane from Dubai to Portugal and was wide awake the all time

 

[sk1wbw]

good movie,but it felt awkward. Brian Cranston is a great actor, but this is not one of his best efforts IMO.

Well. This has to be one of the best movies I've seen in recent years. Honestly. It was that freaking great. I wasn't really expecting much but after reading nothing but 5 star reviews on iTunes, I watched it.

Wow. That deserves two thumbs up and a double z snap.

 

[JohnLT13]

Well. This has to be one of the best movies I've seen in recent years. Honestly. It was that freaking great. I wasn't really expecting much but after reading nothing but 5 star reviews on iTunes, I watched it.

Wow. That deserves two thumbs up and a double z snap.

Agreed, good movie. The storyline was just a bit off. I wish there were more driving in the movie, if you know what i mean. Def 4 stars

 

[millerj123]

We watched ParaNorman today. I wouldn't say it's as funny as Aardman animation, but it was pretty close. Of course, I still like bathroom humor, so my opinion may be suspect. My boys enjoyed it, but with the zombies, it was a little too scary for a night-time movie.

 

[fiddlestyx]

For that purpose it's perfect. I watched it on a plane from Dubai to Portugal and was wide awake the all time

I'll def have to watch it one weekend then. I do enjoy mindless entertainment

 

[Mav451]

We watched ParaNorman today. I wouldn't say it's as funny as Aardman animation, but it was pretty close. Of course, I still like bathroom humor, so my opinion may be suspect. My boys enjoyed it, but with the zombies, it was a little too scary for a night-time movie.

You should look up the amount of time/effort, and the technology that went into Paranorman. Stop-motion is seriously a labor of love, but seems to be a dying art these days

Some stats - 31,000 individual facial elements were created, with 8,000 for Norman's character alone.

 

[Huntn]

Taken 2

Really liked the first one, but this, meh... They always have to squeeze franchises even when there is no way to do it....

I really liked the first one. I assumed this would be more of the same (ps, not a good thing).

We watched ParaNorman today. I wouldn't say it's as funny as Aardman animation, but it was pretty close. Of course, I still like bathroom humor, so my opinion may be suspect. My boys enjoyed it, but with the zombies, it was a little too scary for a night-time movie.

I'll watch that when it appears on cable.

 

[ritmomundo]

Gangster Squad. The trailers looked great, but the reviews were pretty poor, so my expectations weren't that high for this movie. Fortunately, it wasnt a let down as it was a bit better than expected, but still, I wouldn't consider it great. However, it was easily forgettable and didn't really leave me thinking about anything afterward. And it didn't have that 40s filmy look that the trailers had, so that was a bit disappointing.

Next on my list is Zero Dark Thirty.

----------

snip-
I found this Screenrant.com link. A well written article that discusses time travel paradoxes and pigeon holes Loopers
-snip

Btw, thanks for this link. It was a good read, and sums up the issues I had with Looper as well.

 

[Shrink]

I am watching "Sherlock Holmes: A Game Of Shadows".

First, my bias; my favorite Holmes films are the ones with Basil Rathbone and Nigel Bruce. While I will grant that liberties were taken with the Watson character, making him something of a dufus, it still was closer to the characters created by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle than many of the other portrayals.

I cannot see ANY resemblance between the Downey and Law characters, and the characters created by Doyle. Having read (many, many years ago) the entire Sherlock Holmes collection, I do not recall Holmes being a black belt in martial arts.

As a Victorian period piece action/adventure film...it was OK. As a film supposedly based on the Doyle characters...not so much. For me, a better title would have been "Two Guys Who Bear No Resemblance To Holmes and Watson: A Game Of Shadows".

So, for me, as long as I didn't think about the characters as being Holmes and Watson, it was fun to watch, and a reasonably enjoyable diversion.

BTW: Downey's British accent (not so terrific), paired with his penchant for mumbling very rapidly, rendered him often unintelligible to me.

 

[twietee]

I am watching "Sherlock Holmes: A Game Of Shadows".

I agree on both accounts: first that the Downey/Law pieces are somewhat entertaining popcorn-flics (I watched them because of boredom) and think I enjoyed the second even a tad more - although it was much too much action for my taste - not speaking about smart deductions here...in the end it was a bit of a let down since I quite like Downey, but he couldn't stand my expectations here.

second that the Rathbone/Bruce pieces are my favorite interpretations too. Watson, the needle!

Have you seen the recent BBC Sherlock series? I heard good things about it and was quite close from buying it - but decided in favor of The Kindom/Ridget by Lars Von Trier. Good series too btw.

 

[ritmomundo]

Have you seen the recent BBC Sherlock series? I heard good things about it and was quite close from buying it - but decided in favor of The Kindom/Ridget by Lars Von Trier. Good series too btw.

If you like the Downey/Law Sherlock Holmes flicks, you'll like the BBC Sherlock series. If not, then there's a good chance you won't.

 

[twietee]

If you like the Downey/Law Sherlock Holmes flicks, you'll like the BBC Sherlock series. If not, then there's a good chance you won't.

They're kickboxing and having a romp there too? Doubt it! But thank's ritmomundo, saw that I can get the series 1+2 for 11 Pounds now...that sealed the deal.

 

[Shrink]

I agree on both accounts: first that the Downey/Law pieces are somewhat entertaining popcorn-flics (I watched them because of boredom) and think I enjoyed the second even a tad more - although it was much too much action for my taste - not speaking about smart deductions here...in the end it was a bit of a let down since I quite like Downey, but he couldn't stand my expectations here.

second that the Rathbone/Bruce pieces are my favorite interpretations too. Watson, the needle!

Have you seen the recent BBC Sherlock series? I heard good things about it and was quite close from buying it - but decided in favor of The Kindom/Ridget by Lars Von Trier. Good series too btw.

I haven't seen the BBC series. I read many have enjoyed it. My only complaint about many of the Holmes/Watson presentations (as mentioned in my post above) is that the names are used, but bear little or no resemblance to the Doyle characters. I don't know if this is the case in the BBC series, but does apply to other so called Sherlock Holmes movies I have seen.

A quick, but very strong, recommendation for the movie "Kill The Irishman". It has a bit of the feel (not a direct comparison) of "The General". I really liked it a lot!!

 

[twietee]

A quick, but very strong, recommendation for the movie "Kill The Irishman". It has a bit of the feel (not a direct comparison) of "The General". I really liked it a lot!!

Thank's. Haven't seen The General yet, but the disc lays around here, so I'll get at it asap.

And a good version of Sherlock & Watson is actually Basil The Great Mouse Detective. Rather dark for a Disney movie and it features Vincent Price as Rattigan. If you're a bit into animation, I'd say it's a must see. Was my first movie in a theatre though, so I'm quite biased.

Edit: saw Sunset Boulevard once more yesterday. Two favorite scenes: the dead ape and Norma's visit at Cecil B DeMille in the studio. Hilarious!

 

[sagar4995]

Saw argo y'day with my wife! brilliant stuff!

 

[Scepticalscribe]

Thank's. Haven't seen The General yet, but the disc lays around here, so I'll get at it asap.

And a good version of Sherlock & Watson is actually Basil The Great Mouse Detective. Rather dark for a Disney movie and it features Vincent Price as Rattigan. If you're a bit into animation, I'd say it's a must see. Was my first movie in a theatre though, so I'm quite biased.

Edit: saw Sunset Boulevard once more yesterday. Two favorite scenes: the dead ape and Norma's visit at Cecil B DeMille in the studio. Hilarious!

Sunset Boulevard is a fantastic movie; what sheer class, a flawless, superbly intelligent, beautifully acted, elegiac study of the world of Hollywood itself.

It is a movie that mourns a world that has passed, mourns it with respect, no small degree of affection, but, at the same time, without illusions and not blind to the inherent flaws of that world. Simply magnificent. It is a movie I can watch again and again.....