Miscellaneous Movie Musings the Sequel
 

The old thread is over 5000 posts and is loading slowly for me, so I thought I'd start a new one.

Did you just watch a cool flick? Did you just jab your eyes out with an ice pick because of the stinkified movie you just viewed? Any Netflix queue recommendations?

Post 'em here.

--------------------------

I can't wait to see Precious. This film sounds like a winner.

Speaking of winners, what do you guys think about the whole 10 nominees for Best Picture thing the Oscars are doing next year?

Moderator Note: Here's a link to the old thread for reference sake.

I'm probably the last one here to see it, but I really enjoyed "Spirited Away." I've now greatly enjoyed the two Miyazaki movies I've seen, the other being "Ponyo." I thought that the otherworldly premises to both movies had a huge "Huh?" quality, but it did not matter.

I was somewhat surprised to see John Lasseter introduce my DVD as a big Miyazaki booster given that the Pixar movies are overly padded with heartless, zany animated peril.

I am against ten best picture nominees. The most rational objection I have is that I have internalized the suspense developed by the reading of five nominees. Read ten, and I'll be off making a sandwich.

I'm not sure how I feel about the 10 nominees thing. It'll be neat to see because it's different but I kinda feel like it waters down the award a bit, makes it less special. But I sure am curious to see what is going to be nominated.

Here are some of my predictions for nominees for Best Pic:
Precious
Up
Nine
Inglorious
The Road
The Soloist



Predictions for acting noms:
Streep in Julie and Julia
Daniel Day Lewis in Nine
Swank in Amelia
Sharlto Copley in District 9
Gabourey Sidibe in Precious
Christoph Waltz in Basterds
Mo'nique in Precious
Audrey Tatou in Coco Before Chanel
Downey and Foxx in The Soloist


I predict Up will get a Best Pic nom and it will cause a ruckus in the media. Not sure it will win, tho.

And, as always, I predict some film everyone loves will be snubbed.
:D

Which Nine? The musical or the animated stitch-punk epic?

Is The Road out yet? Anytime soon? I liked the book, but I could think of a thousand ways to ruin it cinematically.

I don't think 10 nominees waters down the final award. What I'm interested in seeing if it actually brings more mainstream successes into the limelight (not necessarily a terrible thing) or just more art house fare (also not a terrible thing but not good for ratings).

I'd be very much in support if it were used as a way to kill some other categories. Hold earlier voting on Feature Documentary, Feature Animation, and Foreign Language Film and announce those winners at the overall nominee announcement with each guaranteed one of the 10 Best Picture nomination slots.

Somewhat conversely, I'd be happiest if they eliminated Best Animated Feature and let those compete like the regular movies they are with everything else ... under the assumption that one or two will usually nab one of the increased Best Picture nom slots.

Yeah, hopefully that would be the case. I've heard talk that if even with 10 slots Up still doesn't get a Best Picture nom that they will eliminate Feature Animation (assuming they keep 10 BP slots) to force the issue.

The awards prediction community is split on whether Up deserves a slot or not. (I think it does, personally.)

Precious was indeed quite good. Extremely effective with character and emotional storytelling - but there were directing choices that I thought didn't match the quality of the rest of the film. The fantasy sequences didn't always work for me, but I see why he used them. I think MoNique is a lock for supporting, and Sidibe is also quite possible.

The Fantastic Mr. Fox was good, but overrated by critics. I was expecting more. I really did enjoy the animation, and the bordering-on-adult humor, but there was something that didn't totally jive with me. Loved the musical Robin Hood reference, since that Disney flick was a favorite in my youth.

I won't make predix on Oscar contenders without seeing the films, and at this point, of the major contenders (as noted by the awards watching communities, not based on my taste) I've only seen:
* An Education
* (500) Days of Summer
* Julie & Julia
* Precious
* Up
* District 9
* The Informant!

Terribly out of our usual loop for not having yet seen The Hurt Locker, The Cove, Bright Star, The Road, and A Serious Man. Films that are not out yet that we'll need to see include Up in the Air, The Lovely Bones, Nine, and A Single Man.

The musical.
:)

We just watched UP - awesome on BluRay and I hadn't seen. Very good movie.

Now Transformers II - which I know bites but I'm sure it's pretty in BluRay as well.

There's nothing cuter than the young Carl at the beginning of Up. HUGE glasses. So cute. :)

Make sure you see "Howls Moving Castle" and "Totoro". :snap:

I just watched Dug's Special Mission on the Up DVD.
It's pretty good.
:)

The musical is Nine, the stitchpunk is 9.

Someone tell GD the other thread is closed so he doesn't keep posting there with his moderator powers!

Anyway, I was very much interested in seeing Pirate Radio but the reviews have mostly put me off. However, I'm hearing that the version released earlier this year in the UK (under the title The Boat that Rocked) was significantly better.

It's unlikely but if anybody has seen/sees both I'd like feedback on that.

D'oh! That's what I get for relying on Firefox's smart address bar to bring threads up.

R2D2 in Star Trek (yes, Trek).

Okay, I saw this at the Bevery Center this last weekend,


wait for it




















I thoroughly enjoyed it. It was perfectly done, often hilarious and moved as quickly as a bad 70's tv episode. And I thought, I will bet mousepod and flippyshark would love this movie.

Yay! Can't wait!

I didn't exactly hate 2012, but there wasn't all that much to recommend it.

It would make a great double bill with George Pal's When Worlds Collide, of which it was basically a remake. It had that same sensibility, too. In other words, too earnest by half. Except for some scenes with Woody Harrelson's crazy radio host character, the movie was not tongue-in-cheek enough. It didn't need to be farcical, but a touch more self-awareness in a movie this earnest about the end of the world would have made it work better in our post-1953 world of cinema.

I think it only works in the context of a remake of that George Pal film, so a good double bill is possible -- if you've got several hours to spare. 2012 was so long, I felt it was going to be 2012 when we left the theater.



The destruction of Los Angeles, as seen extensively in the latest trailer, is the most fun segment. Followed by the fantastic eruption of, well, most of Yellowstone National Park. Other than those, the film was surprisingly short on fun world destruction scenes. That surprised me. I don't exactly want my $15 back ... but I was expecting something more funpocalyptical.

iSm, what did you think of John Cusack's performance?

Eh, he was alright. I think he was kinda phoning it in a bit though. He's pretty likable no matter what, but ....

Hah, I couldn't help but read the spoiler.

I wonder how big the box office is going to be for the opening of New Moon. I have a feeling it's going to be huge. No interest really in seeing it, tho.

I just wanna see the scene with the shirtless he-wolves in the woods.


Actually, the trailer looked pretty cool. I enjoyed it more than I did the entire first movie. I HATE that girl, and the whole thing was vapid. I might rent the sequel later ... just to skip to the werewolf clan parts, ya know, where they just hang out in the forest without their shirts on for, apparently, no reason.

Do they need a reason to take their shirts off?

I say "no!"

Well, i guess they have to be prepared to transform into werewolves at any moment ... no need to rip those trendy Abercrombie shirts in the process.

I didn't care enough about Cirque du Freak: The Vampire's Assistant to want to pay to see it in the theater, but I do like John C. Reilly so I downloaded a pretty poor-quality cam version and we watched it on the plane.

Verdict: Solid miss. There's really no particular reason for this movie to exist.

I hope Sydney got a few seconds of airtime... We're worth destroying, too, ya know ! :D

You Can't Run Away From It - Terrible 1956 musical remake of It Happened One Night. June Allyson (she was also in a terrible musical remake of The Women, too) and Jack Lemmon star in this film. I couldn't get through it. Stopped watching after a half hour. Bleh!

Lash, I think there was some mention of Australia, but nary a blip shown of its destruction, sorry. The destruction of Rio, so heavily featured in billboards here in L.A., was shown only in crap-quality news video in the movie. Very disappointing.

I've been told different parts of the county got different trailers accentuating their local areas of decimation. Was it only coincidence that, here in L.A., the trailer showed almost the entire destruction of L.A., the best part of the movie? Or are there completely other versions of the film out there for other parts of the world? Does John Cusack live in Hong Kong in some of them, and he has to get to Canada to be saved???

It is a well known fact of movie reality that the destruction of the world rarely extends south of the equator. For surely it is a myth that people actually live down there.

I consider it a great leap forward for globalism that apparently Rio de Janeiro was granted inclusion.

Hey, the bugs blew up Buenos Aires in Starship Troopers.

But that's only because Heinlein hated Mexicans! (and they didn't destroy the whole world and Heinlein didn't hate Mexicans though he did hate Democrats but only after he married Virginia).

On the Beach is another exception that reinforces the rule (Australia lasts longer but is also eventually destroyed).

Not that any of the fans care, but New Moon is at 27%/all critics, 37%/Top Critics on rottentomatoes.com. It's still going to be huuuuuge.
Ugh.

Ebert gave it one star. I loved the opening line of his review.

About $72.7 mil for New Moon. That's big. Sh!t, I guess we have to go through all this brouhaha again when the next one comes out.
:D

We just saw 2012. What a glorious mess! It was boring until all the destruction started; then we just laughed and laughed. The only sad part was:
Oh...

Each time I watch Tom Jones (1963), I love it more and more.
The food scene is so silly, so brilliant.
:)

"It's hard when a woman leaves a man nothing but a memory and a muff."

Today I caught The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie..... woooo didnt realize how scandalous that movie is. Though I can't figure out why all the women speak like drag queens.

Wow. Not that I should be watching it (too emotional for me) but they're playing the gay cowboy movie on Bravo! Awesome!

The one where all they do is eat pudding?

Blazing Saddles is on? Damn, I wish I could watch it.

I was quite surprised by that movie, especially the scene involving young Pamela Franklin having her portrait painted. I hope she was older than she appeared to be. Maggie Smith's performance was predictably amazing, but at the time, I wasn't sure what to make of her character. I guess I was expecting a "Dead poet's Society" type of film, but instead, Miss Brodie was out-of-touch, pro-fascist and reckless in her encouragements to her charges. I may have to revisit with adjusted expectations someday, as I was quite thrown the first time around.

I saw a handful of film lately. Some good stuff.

Elmer Gantry - I have never been a huge fan of Burt Lancaster, but I thought he was perfectly cast in this film. I wonder if they could have made a film like this now, I wonder what the response from the religious right would be...

Carnal Knowledge - I remember seeing some of this film in college but never got a chance to see it all. Surprisingly, it was on TCM uncut as they say. One of my favorite directors is Mike Nichols. He does a terrific job with this film. Not only with direction but with the screenplay as well. I never thought I'd actually say this but Jack Nicholson is actually kinda hot in this movie.

Never Cry Wolf - Cool story, nicely shot, not a lot of dialogue... Loved it.

Topaz - Couldn't get through it all. Hitchcock, yes but boring nonetheless.

Saboteur - Liked it. Robert Cummings again. He kinda played the same character in every movie but he was still pretty good in this one.

The Prisoner of Zenda (1952) - I had heard the name before but never actually saw the film. I liked it, the story is simple but pretty good.

Mr. & Mrs. Smith - Another Hitchcock but a slapstick comedy! I thought it would be funnier than it was but it was okay.

She was 19 at the time of filming. I, too, was really thrown by that. They look so incredibly young during those first several scenes. But if you watch to the end, and then go back to watch the beginning, you can see the tricks they use to make them look more youthful than they actually are.

Fantastic Mr. Fox

What can I say, I'm a sucker for Wes Anderson movies. And this was definitely one of them. I don't know how good of a movie it is, all I know is that it definitely satisfied my Anderson fix and that was good enough for me. If, like me, you can't get enough of stand-offish father figures, neurotic but loyal children, and matching uniforms, FMF won't disappoint. It's not his best, but the novelty of the animation and animal characters added to an otherwise by-the-numbers Wes Anderson movie.

Now I should go read the book.

I finally saw (as in didn't fall asleep in the first 10 minutes) Fellini's 8 1/2. The world may come to an end now.

Oh, and I loved it. I can't wait to see Nine.

GD was led astray by his magical moderator powers again (and now NA as well).

On Fantastic Mr. Fox, I had planned to see it this weekend but Lani's decided she wants to see it so now I have to wait until either she can fit it in or she forgets she wanted to see it.

Explaining Alex's post - I once again let my browser take me to the old thread and posted my FMF post there, and NA followed. Now I've moved the posts here where they belong.

Grrrrr.

I did nothing. Innocence abounds.

Saw, A Serious Man, the latest from the Coen Brothers. It has one fantastic performance from the lead (Michael Stuhlberg) but that's about all I liked about it.

I guess it all just went completely over my head. One of those movies where I can feel a point floating around but I'm just not getting it. But if you like the comedy of social discomfort, this may be a good bet for you.

We netflixed the pilot of HBO's version of "The No 1 Ladies' Detective Agency". OMG, it's wonderful.

I watched the entire series and delighted in it, 100%. I can only hope it will continue to a second series, since both the producers passed away last year :-( hard to say.

I watched Julie and Julia last night and found the parts about Julia delightful and the parts about Julie slightly annoying and uninteresting.

While I was conscious of Meryl Streep being Julia, she caught just the right amount of effervescence or joie de vivre that personified my perception of who Julia Child was and is. I loved it.

The most important thing, the film made me hungry and want to cook and cook outside the box, adventurous food. I do not own Mastering the Art of French Cooking, but this almost made me want to buy it.

Completely agree with your assessment of this movie. I liked the Julia parts so much, I'll probably buy it and skip Julie.

Go for it on The Art of French Cooking. The introduction is quite interesting and the whole volume just makes a kitchen look classic.

I may just do that Flippy. It will be worth it to learn the art of pate a choux, but I already have that in the Baking with Julia cookbook.

Of course, my real problem is, I am supposed to be on a diet. :(

*sigh* Me too.

pate a choux? easy as falling off a log. It's one of those myths, along with how difficult a souffle is.

An article I was reading lead me to another interesting blog post about "unoriginality" and Hollywood. And why Hollywood doesn't come up with original ideas.

I think it sheds light on why movie studios aren't so inclined to just sit people down at typewriters and come up with completely original stuff. Based on what we reward, why would they?

The top 40 grossing live action movies from 2000-2009:

1. The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King - Sequel, book adaptation (no more original than a TV show adaptation)
2. Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest - Sequel
3. The Dark Knight - Sequel, comic book adaptation
4. Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone - Book adaptation (I didn't realize that the first one was still the highest grossing one)
5. Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End - Sequel
6. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - Sequel, book adaptation
7. Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince - Sequel, book adaptation
8. The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers - Sequel, book adaptation
9. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire - Sequel, book adaptation
10. Spider-Man 3 - Sequel, comic book adaptation
11. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire - Sequel, book adaptation
12. The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring - Book adaptation
13. Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith - Sequel
14. Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen - Sequel, comic book/TV adaptation
15. Spider-Man - Comic book adaptation
16. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban - Sequel, book adaptation
17. Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull - Sequel
18. Spider-Man 2 - Sequel, comic book adaptation
19. The Da Vinci Code - Book adaptation
20. The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe - Book adaptation
21. The Matrix Reloaded - Sequel
22. Transformers - TV/comic book adaptation
23. 2012 - Hodgepodge of metacultural ideas but not based on existing property
24. Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl - Yes, inspired by a ride but that hardly contribued anything beyond some gags so I'll be friendly and call it original.
25. Star Wars: Episode II - Attack of the Clones - Sequel
26. Hancock - Original
27. The Passion of the Christ - Book adaptation
28. Mamma Mia! - Play adaptation
29. Casino Royale - Remake, sequel, book adaptation
30. War of the Worlds - Book adaptation, remake.
31. Quantum of Solace - Sequel
32. I Am Legend - Book adaptation
33. Iron Man - Comic book adaptation
34. New Moon - Sequel, book adaptation
35. Night at the Museum - Book adaptation
36. King Kong - Remake
37. Mission: Impossible II - Sequel, TV adaptation
38. The Day After Tomorrow - Original
39. Meet the Fockers - Sequel
40. Troy - Very old book adaptation

Aren't a large proportion of films book adaptations? When I began work at a public library I was surprised how many films were based on bestsellers (mostly because I don't read much in popular fiction).

It's hard for me to say that taking a new novel (like, say, The Bourne Identity) and making a movie out of it is derivative or somehow worthy of scorn. Making a movie out of an older book may be more lame but I Am Legend is a situation I'd again be ok with, as the original book isn't super-well-known and neither is the first movie adaptation (which I hear is for good reason). There are always exceptions.

Anyway, getting back to your point, you're 100% right. We reward retreads, for obvious reasons.

I Am Legend was actually the third time it had been made into a movie. And within certain circles it is a very well known book.

I'm not in any way saying that a book adaptation is worthy of scorn (and being an old book no more or less so), simply that adapting a book to screen is no more an act of originality than coming up with a sequel or comic book adaptation or turning a TV show into a movie.

As for this, that's an interesting. I'll look.

Hmm, I disagree.

In some sense, all movies are book adaptations in that they're going from script to screen. Thus, to my mind, the art in movie making lies in the transition from written word to visual medium. So I consider films that don't have a visual world to start from more original than films that are derived from an already-created visual counterpart. Comic book adaptions I suppose fall somewhere in between, though I put them on the more creative side since there's still a pretty big gap from drawing to screen.

All that said, none of it matters if the end result is done well, whether it's entirely original or a sequel or whatever. But in terms of what receives more respect from me, it would be movies where most of the movie-specific components are new and not recycled.

So, among the top 40 of the decade, 90% were "unoriginal." How does that compare to overall?

So far, there have been 94 live action, non-documentary movies that have earned at least $15 million dollars domestic in 2009. But original are much more common in the top tiers of this list than in the other list (note that this is domestic grosses where the other list was worldwide grosses; worldwide tends to filter out comedies).

Anyway, curiosity sated. Data in the spoiler.

In a nice bit of serendipity, exactly half (47 are original screenplays). There's room for quibbling on some.

While it is a valid point, and that is certainly more creative on the part of the director (assuming they didn't write the script) to have to create the visual world out of whole cloth since regardless of adapted script or not they start in the same place.

But I'm thinking more in terms of the creativity of the entire enterprise and in that view, I think your position significantly undervalues the script.

And it is certainly true that original script or not has little correlation to quality. Paul Blart was an original script and The Godfather is an adaptation and The Maltese Falcon was both a book adaptation as well as the third time it had been made into a movie.

I disagree that all movies are book adaptations. A script is VERY different from a novel. Personally, I don't read scripts for my lit fix (nor do I see movies for my lit fix - they usually leave much to be desired). With fiction, the author uses ONLY words to create a visual and then it is often non-specific and completely open to the interpretation of the reader. A script usually gives some very specific scene information and blocking in addition to dialog.

I don't have a lot of comic book knowledge, but I can see a shorter path between the two in this case. The writing is not THE most important thing in a comic and is aided quite heavily by illustrations - much in the same way the setting and blocking is provided in a script.

My review of The Princess and the Frog. Short version: It's not horrible but it didn't set my world on fire by any stretch of the imagination. Ok start, boring middle, really good end.

Yes, and my intent wasn't to equate the two beyond the superficial commonality of the gap between words and visual. Like you said, a novel doesn't have the visual descriptors that a script does. Which is exactly my point.

Yes, script-writing is also a major creative component, arguably more important than the visual aspect as, with rare exception, a movie with a bad script can't be saved by a good visual translation of that bad script. But part of good script-writing is creating something that's going to translate to screen well. With source material that already exists in movie/picture form, that part of your work is already done for you.

There's a big difference between how a story is told on the page vs. how it's told on screen. That's why I never fell in love with the Harry Potter series of movies, they are too literal a translation from book to movie. When I see a movie adaptation of a book, I don't want a filmed version of a book, no more than I want a filmed version of a play. I want a movie. And I consider the creative effort that goes into that translation a bigger skill than the creative effort that goes into just writing a follow-on script from something that's already in that medium.

Of course, none of this is absolute. If done well, any movie, no matter the source, can be good, creative, and a demonstration of movie-making skill. But as a predictor of movies I will enjoy, book adaptation/original script are on par for me with the others a step below.

Thanks Alex, I always look forward to your reviews! The boy and I hope to see it this weekend if we're not snowed in.

I should point out that in being mostly indifferent to this one I'm in the critical minority. It's in the low 80s at RottenTomatoes.

If Avatar tanks I would expect this list to grow longer....

No, regardless of how much money Avatar makes the list of the top 40 money making movies from 2000-2009 will still only be 40 titles long.


(Yes, I know what you mean.)

Johnny Got His Gun is on TCM right now. To me, it's still one of the most disturbing films I have ever seen.

I watched Up, it was good. Heartwarming, fun and I loved Kevin and Dug.

I was very impressed with, and delighted by, The Princess and the Frog. My expectations were hopeful but not high. But, this is worthy of comparison with the best of Feature Animation's 1990s hot streak, and far better than anything they've produced in the last ten years. Lots of stylistic tips of the hat to past masters, and Eric Goldberg is SO the man! (He animated - triumphantly - the cornet playing alligator Louis, and supervised a nicely stylized musical number near the beginning.) I bet I will rewatch this more than Little Mermaid or Beauty and the Beast. (Randy Newman's songs are not immediately catchy, but they are pleasing and will stand up to repeat exposure nicely. Sometimes that works better for me. Overexposure to the classic B&B songs have kept me away from that Best Picture nominee for many years now.)

I really want to see a dark ride that includes the nifty voodoo elements from this one!

*Alpha dog voice*
Do not mention Dug to me at this time.

Just a quick note about something.
I just watched the latest Harry Potter on DVD and I must say the score at the beginning of the end credits is quite marvelous. Love it!
Just sayin'.
:)

I slept soundly through Half-Blood Prince, and missed the last 45 minutes completely. Not the movie's fault, though. I'll try again soon.

So you only know who a quarter of the half blood prince is.

I stayed awake through the whole thing but must admit I have absolutely no recollection of who or what the half blood prince refers to in the title.

I'm struggling ot remember any events from the movie at all and all I'm coming up with are:

1. Dumbledore and Harry visit the set of Beowulf (sadly minus naked Angelina Jolie) and

2. Snape's visibly uncomfortable constipation finally gets the better of him and he does something bad.

I guess I better read some recaps to remind myself of the other stuff before I have to see the last 16 hours of movie.

I found out it's called the 'Weasley Stomp'. Very lively choice for the end credits when the ending was really sad.

If you get the DVD, watch the doco about JK Rowling, it's quite good. It is a year in her life as she wrote the final book. I liked her even more after watching it. She talks very openly about her depression. I hope her kid fans that watch it, who struggle with the same don't feel so lonely about it.

3D movie called Larger than Life... limited release... playing here in Honolulu! Dave Matthews Band in 3D! I'm kvelling. Good job Hawaii movie theatres. I. Can't. Wait to see it!
:) :blush:

Why have I not heard of this?

Must. See.

Disney continues its trend towards more diverse princesses

tee hee hee, good one! :)

We saw Princes and the Frog tonight. I enjoyed it quite a bit. The kids in our audience seemed to have a good time and no one semed overly scared. Most of the little ones didn't seem to be scared of the Voodoo stuff and all squelled(sp) at the fireflies.

I had a good time with the boy and know that soon he may not want to go to "kids" movies with me anymore, so I enjoyed it even more.

Soon, like me, you may have to go to such movies alone. Sure, I get the occasional odd look, but ...

About 80% of the movies I see in the theater I see alone. Never noticed anybody caring in the slightest.

Saw Princess and the Frog - Animation was fantastic proving my theory that its an underappreciated art as of late. Everything else was pretty weak. Music was decent but nothing that had me running out to buy the soundtrack or realy remember. The story was different but was really all over - which I'm sure was written by committee and it shows.

Best part was the Firefly - really well done and voiced very well. The scene with them in the swamp was very Disney/Magic which was lacking from the rest of the movie.

Better than Pocahontas in many ways but not quite to the Hercules & Huntchback levels IMHO. Beautful to look at though.

These days, never. But back in my college days, I would often find myself the lone non-parent adult at showings of Disney films, (this was before the big Disney renaissance of the early 90s) and I definitely got suspicious glances from parents wondering why I would possibly choose to be there. I even recall one of them asking me why I was attending "The Fox and the Hound," and I felt silly explaining to them that I was there because I enjoyed animation.

Well, if you were watching the animated Disney animation films from the '80s in the theater and weren't forced to by a child, I too would be suspicious.

I just saw the trailer for The Sorcerer's Apprentice - I didn't even know Disney was filming this.

Is it wishful thinking, or did one of the scenes look like a bunch of brooms walking around a flooded cellar? :cool:

I saw "The Fox and the Hound" alone during college in the '80s, but I don't remember it being animated. I think everyone in the theatre was there alone.

Wait. That was "The Foxxx and the Hound."

Effects, nice, casting, godawful. Wiseass kid and Nicholas Cage? You couldn't pay me to see this.

Indeed.

Disney's trying soooo hard to come up with their own blockbuster series like Harry Potter. I bet they're kicking themselves that they didn't acquire the rights for those books, but I'm glad they didn't.

Here's the Disney description for the movie:

Epic Romantic Comedy Adventure... Uh, yeah.

Well, you couldn't pay me to watch the National Treasure movies (actually, I did get paid to watch both but that's the only way I'd be happy about it) and that seems to have worked out ok for Disney.

And on paper Enchanted sounded awful so you never know.

I just watched The Brave One with Jodi Foster. I thought it was a good movie. I loved the little twist at the end. It was cool to see Naveen Andrews in something new, outside of Lost.

Crap, I thought that guy looked familiar.

Jay Baruchel was in Undeclared, the almost-good sitcom follow-up to Freaks and Geeks.

How old is he supposed to be in this movie? He was playing a college freshman in 2001, and he's actually 27 right now, but the trailer made it look like they were trying to pass him off as 17....

"Julie and Julia" - awful except for Stanley Tucci. Meryl Streep did Julia Child as the lumbering village idiot, the spotless sunshine of Julia Child. Amy Adams did not have a lot to work with to make her character likeable or even interesting. Tucci's performance was nuanced, interesting, believeable.

And then there's the film's weird veneration of Julia Child. She did not originate these recipes. She was an excellent cooking teacher. The whole shebang was so Nora Ephron pre-fab you could hear her in the background: I did people finding each other via call-in radio. I did people finding each other via internet chat. Now I'll do people finding themselves via a blog.

Ick, ick, ick. Except for you, Stanley Tucci. You can stay.

Loved The Princess and the Frog. I even shed a tear or two. My only nitpick on first viewing was that Dr. Facilier's song was way too close to Oogie Boogie's song in NBC. I guess that Randy Newman is an Elfman fan, too.

Primer (2004). I'd never heard of it until this xkcd comic, did a little reading and decided I wanted to see it. In brief, it's a super-low budget hard science fiction story about a very limited form of time travel.

It takes a lot of attention, and there's a fair amount of Howard Hawks-style fast-talking and talking over each other which makes it very difficult for me to follow (but that's why there's a back button).

I recommend it, especially to engineers, programmers and other geeky types (like me) or anyone with an interest in hard science fiction. If you liked Pi (1998) you will like Primer. When you're done, the Wikipedia page will help make sense of what you just saw, as will this scholarly deconstruction.

Although it's not a perfect film, Fiddler on the Roof has a special place in my heart. (It's on TCM right now.) It's the first big stage play I did in Hawai'i. Motel the Tailor was the start of me being cast in a ton of character roles.
Love the cast in this film.
:)

I love Fiddler on the Roof too! I so wanted to see the live version when it came through Portland but sadly it was not to be!

Heck, I can't really find fault with Fiddler the movie. (I guess it's missing a couple of numbers from the show, but oh well.) The exceptional cast and authentic location make it pretty timeless. Only the dream sequence feels stagey and artificial, but then, that's what makes it such a highlight in an otherwise naturalistic film. I wish there were more musical adaptations that worked this well.

Edited to add - The last few minutes, in which the movie takes on an almost documentary quality, are really haunting and unforgettable. I doubt anybody would risk such an approach nowadays.

I think the movie is quite slow in places. And the one number that I can think of off the top of my head that they cut from the film was cut from our version of the play as well. It was a kinda clunky song where the town gossips with Yente...

Yeah, it's missing two numbers - "The Rumor" and "Now I Have Everything" Neither is a big loss.

I just finished my annual viewing of the George C Scott version of A Christmas Carol.

Oh dear sweet zombie jesus no. no no no no. no. no. no. no.

I love Jay Baruchel, he's totally adorable.

But this movie looks like the worst of Bruckheimer garbage. And Nicholas Cage? Worst actor ever? I happily went about my day, thinking he was put in jail for tax evasion, but nooooooooooo. Why don't they just laminate a large turd on a stick, and then CGI in some expressions later? It would certainly give a better performance.

They just need to have The Shaggs do the soundtrack for The Sorceror's Apprentice, and you'll have one fine film :) :eek:

Just watched How to Steal a Million, a 1966 caper comedy with Peter O'Toole and Audrey Hepburn. I enjoyed it a lot.

But I want Hepburn's car:

That's a old convertible Mini, I believe. Too cute!

No, after research I have found it is a 1965 Autobianchi Eden Roc. Autobianchi was an Italian partnership between Fiat and another company. The inner workings are apparently a Fiat 500 with a new body design.

Apparently only 20,000 or so were made so I'm guessing it would cost me a pretty penny to get one. Somehow the thought of me driving around in a car that looked small around Audrey Hepburn pleases me.

Seven Pounds.....never seemed to get going....boring....knew what was going to happen from the get go.....Hubby fell asleep and didn't miss anything.....thumbs down!

We attempted to watch it and got so bored halfway through we turned it off.

I know Seven Pounds was thoroughly reviled last year but for me it was one of the best movies of 2008. But I recognize I'm almost completely alone in that.

A big difference seems to be that a lot of people who hated it thought the movie was presenting Will Smith as noble whereas I thought it was presenting derangement taken to logical excess. Plus I thought Rosario Dawson was very good in it.

I have it in my Netflix que, someday I'll get to it.

Thank goodness ours was from Netflix....would have been a waste of money to purchase.

The Alvin and the Chipmunks sequel outsold Avatar on Wednesday.
lol

That it did, but looking at the numbers I wonder how long that will last, I'm guessing not long (though it'll happen again with Sherlock Holmes). It probably also helps that Chipmunks 2 is half the length of Avatar.

Deeper in the numbers it is somewhat interesting that of all the movies already open yesterday (so not the chipmunks) only Avatar and Up in the Air made more money than on Tuesday and Up in the Air when from a limited release to wide yesterday. It's already defying normal patterns so now to see if it has legs. If it makes it into January strong I have to think it is going to go pretty well.

For the life of me, I don't think I can come up with ten films that should be nominated for Best Pic. Maybe three (so far) and that's it.

I've only seen 56 2009 releases and that doesn't include much of the year end bait. Those I've seen that I rated a 4 or a 5 in my movie log are:

State of Play
Up
The Hangover
In the Loop
Ponyo
District 9
Inglourious Basterds
The Informant
Zombieland
Precious
The Fantastic Mr. Fox
Up in the Air
Avatar

Wouldn't really consider them all Best Picture candidates since some of those are "good for the kind of movie they are" ratings (District 9) or mostly remarkable for a performance or two (In the Loop, Inglourious Basterds).

But so far it has been a decent year at the movies that I've rather liked almost 25% of what I've seen outside the house.

So, it didn't last long. Avatar was back on top the next day. $11.3 mil for Avatar and $8.0 mil for Alvin.

Tried to go to Gardenwalk to see Avatar in 3D IMAX...so did everyone else. Will wait a while to go see it...like after the Holidays. It runs till 01-07 so no problem there.

Off to see Princess and the Frog instead.

GardenWalk IMAX is a waste of money, as it is FAKE IMAX. Do not get suckered.
link

We went once. Never again.

Wow, how obnoxious that IMAX is flushing their brand in the toilet.

Hee hee.

So how can you tell the difference of what the theaters have to offer? I would love to see Avatar on a true IMAX screen....where might I find one locally?

Use this map to find your local IMAX screens.

If you're 2.4 miles from Disneyland then the IMAX screen at the Irvine Spectrum is a true IMAX screen. GardenWalk is not.

Thanks Alex....Irvine Spectrum is where we'll go then.

While we have a plethora of real (and fake) IMAX theaters in the area, it's a four and a half hour drive to the closest one playing Avatar. I had to settle for a standard multiplex 3D theater. Ba humbug.

Huge weekend numbers!
$75 mil for Avatar
$65 mil for Sherlock
$50 mil for Alvin
$22 mil for It's Complicated

Wow!

That list includes the GardenWalk one, called "CinemaFusion IMAX Anaheim Resort". I wouldn't trust the map.

We saw The Princess & the Frog today. Yes, we're late.

I think this is the movie I've been waiting for all year. Wonderful. Loved it. Congratulations to Disney Feature Animation and welcome back.

You have to go by the color codes. Yellow bad. Blue good.

*smacks forehead*

Should I feel ashamed that, as I sat in the theater today watching the 3D trailers in front of Avatar, I actually clapped my hands and said 'Yes!" out loud at the prospect of Piranha 3D? Well, I should, but I don't. I'm so completely psyched. I just hope it's as lively an exploitation flick as the trailer makes it out to be. The Joe Dante original is a personal fave, certainly the most entertaining of the Jaws rip-offs that followed in that film's immediate wake.

haha, that's awesome. we saw that trailer and wndred "Has flippy seen this?"

Flippy, if you wander out west, we'll have to have a Jaws/Piranha/Lake Placid filmfest :)

Richard Dreyfuss is in Pirhana 3D.
How sad.
:D

Not sad. Awesome. I'm assuming he has a sense of humor about the whole thing. (I hope.) Anyway, I'm first in line when this opens in April. Now, that's sad.

Noticing Dreyfus in the trailer put it over the top for me :D

If it was a parody of 'get out of the water' movies then I'd laugh. But I dunno. It seems kinda crappy.
:D

While I didn't think Princess and the Frog was any great shakes, it's very disappointing that Chipmunks 2 will probably do significantly better than it (might even pass it before next weekend).

I'm honestly baffled by the way the marketing of trite crap works so well. Saturation-marketing turns me off, even from good movies sometimes. I know that with family films, a lot of parents simply go with what's showing, because they need something, anything, to take the kids to, but $50 million for a Chipmunks sequel? Yeesh.

A few years ago, I remember Roger Ebert reviewed the awesome kiwi movie Whale Rider, and essentially begged parents to skip the latest Scooby Doo movie or other mass market crap and make a beeline for this movie. (Rightly so. It's fantastic.) I wish there was always such good counter-programming for family audiences as a matter of course. (Even the best Pixar movies seem hyperactive and hollow next to something as warm and uplifting as Whale Rider. Can you tell I loved this movie? If you've missed it, queue it up.)

Whale Rider was amazing. Very powerful.
I loved it.

Over the past few days, my kids have enjoyed repeat viewings of both "Pride and Prejudice" and "Santa Buddies."

"Santa Buddies" gave me the idea for an all animated-dog-mouth version of my favorite Greek tragedy: "Oedipus Rex."

Pride and Prejudice? Which one? The Firth one or the Knightley one or the Greer Garson one?
I love all of them.
:)

It's because it works well on children who have their parents wrapped around their fingers.

There are two Firth ones if you count "Bridget Jones's Diary." This was the Knightley one.

I think I'm gonna watch "Emmett Otter's Jugband Christmas" again tonight.

It's possibly my favorite Jim Henson special, and there isn't a single Christmas song in it.

Matt - Maddie loved it. And her favorite part is the out-takes.

Maybe it's just my particular circumstance but I saw way more advertising for Princess and the Frog than I did for Chipmunks 2. I only really saw Chipmunks ads the week before release whereas Princess was seemed to have half the busses in the world plastered a couple months before it opened.

And in this case it isn't picking great vs. crap it is picking unknown mediocre over known crap (since presumably they saw the first one too). I know I'm in teh minority among Disney people for not particuarly caring for it, but among my non-Disney parental coworkers the response to it has been pretty mixed.

I wonder how much more money Princess would have made if it was preceded by the Pixar logo rather than the Walt Disney Pictures logo.

Saw Princess & the Frog Sunday afternoon....cute.

Saw Milk on Sunday evening.....WOW, powerful movie!

Saw the Proposal last night.....cute.

I'm not sure why I'm posting this but it's movie related.
For background noise, I put Little Miss Sunshine in while I was on the laptop. And the scene where Olive goes to comfort Duane on the side of the hill, with the bus in the back ground.... I lost it. I just started bawling. Not sure why. The depression, I guess. It just reminded me of my little sis and me. She used to have them big 'ol glasses and cowboy boots. I guess I'm just a sad little man.
lol!

Went to a matinee of The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus yesterday. I'm surprised that there's almost zero advertising for the film that is a real return to form for Terry Gilliam after the badly reviewed Tideland and the just plain bad Brothers Grimm. Without giving the plot away (I recommend you go into this movie cold), I was particularly struck by just how good an actor Heath Ledger was. After his death, his role was completed by three of his friends, which actually works for the most part. My one regret was that during a particularly good scene played by one of his peers, all I could think about was that Ledger should have played it. Sad.

I had heard about the film a while ago, completely forgotten about it, then suddenly in the last couple of weeks started seeing some promos again. I was super excited as it really did look like Gilliam of old.

So happy to hear it's good, but it seems we won't be seeing this one until DVD as it's only in limited release (ArcLight Hollywood, and AMC Santa Monica). :(

What a great line-up to end the year! TCM's movie list for New Year's Eve is:

The Man Who Knew Too Much
Marnie
Shadow of a Doubt
Psycho
Vertigo
Rear Window
and 5 of the Thin Man movies.

:)

GC - you're such a sweet softie.

Aw NINE last night - A couple really good performances and some well done dramatic moments but it was a bit of a mess storywise - Daniel Day-Lewis was horrible in this with a really fake accent. The music/songs were all over the place and confusing mostly due to the actors trying to use accents in the songs.

I know it.
:D

Sometimes I'll pop in a sad movie (or any movie that will be emotional for me) just so I can get a good cry out of it. One of my therapists in the past said it was me reminding myself that I'm alive. I think she was right.
:)

That is a great lineup!

Have you seen Fellini's 8 1/2? Narrative is decidedly a secondary consideration in that classic, so that may carry over into the musical adaptation as well. I've never seen NINE on stage, but the movie looks colorful enough from the trailer. It's really a lost cause trying to make a film based on such an iconic film (and B'way play) and try to come up with something distinctive, so my expectations for this are muted.

Sherlock Holmes wasn't horrible (and I'm not bothered by the buffed up Holmes as it isn't nearly so present in the movie as in the trailers; and the books do refer to Holmes being a quite accomplished pugilist in a time when there was no such thing as boxing gloves) but it was too long and not very interesting in terms of the central mystery. An awful lot of time was spent setting up the sequel.

A Single Man - I was simultaneously bored by the movie and captivated by Colin Firth's performance.

So I've resolved to attempt to keep track of my movie watching, with personal ratings and notes. I hate that I can never remember what I've seen, and even when I have seen something I can't remember what I thought about it. I'm not sure if this will be different than the numerous attempts I've made in the past to do this, but perhaps Google docs and the fact that I can access it from anywhere thanks to my magic phone will help.

I also just went back and, with the help of this thread, other threads on the board, and our Netflix viewing history, I've reconstructed as well as I could my viewing habits from 2009.

28 movies viewed, 8 of them in theaters (that's really high for us). Discounting Harold & Maude, which we just watched tonight but have seen a few times before and gets a 10 from me, the movie I rated the highest was 1974's The Conversation. What a brilliant piece of film making. The worst was Burn After Reading

Among new movies, The Hangover edged Avatar, with Watchmen being my least favorite (not by much).

Logging is good.

Want to see the list of 1,316 movies I've seen since January 1, 2002?

Movies seen this year: 177. 57 of them 2009 releases.
Lowest rated (1 out of 5): Perfect Stranger, Battlefield Earth, Fast & Furious, Max Payne, Living Hell, Silent Hill, Krull, This Girl's Life, Xanadu, Sex and Breakfast, The Proposal, Godzilla (the Matthew Broderick one), Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen
Highest rated (5 out of 5): You Can't Take It With You, Up, The Shawshank Redemption, Avatar, Up in the Air, Precious.

Bold are 2009 movies.

Just watched The Hangover, and it is a heck of a lot of fun. Heather Graham's character was underused, I thought. I especially enjoyed Ken Cheong as Mr. Chow. At first, I thought I was going to hate Zack Galifianakis' character, but he did a wonderful job here.

How is it Alex, with so many movies that you legitimately had to see this year, that you decided to watch Battlefield Earth? I still can't get that stink out of my head.

Curiosity. I actually quite enjoy the book where most people say they hate it (though surprisingly often it seems to be simply because L. Ron Hubbard wrote it and not for anything in the book itself) so I've always wondered if the movie really was horrible or if the same prejudice was maybe involved.

It was available for streaming from Netfilx so one afternoon I watched it.

Shadow of a Doubt (1943)

Spoiler. Don't read if ya don't wanna know stuff.

One of Hitchcock's better ones.
Joseph Cotton. He wasn't the best looking actor, but there is something quite likable about him. Great casting choice by Hitchcock.

Oh, I also sat through Marnie again and still find it dull.

We finally watched Harry Potter and the half blood prince. You know, I was kind of meh about the whole thing. I think it's just been too long since this whole thing started and I really don't care at this point how it all ends. Although Luna has grown on me and I actualy liked her more.

I liked the book Battlefield Earth. If it has any of Hubbard's later insanity in it, he hid it well.

The movie was just horrible.

Oh, there's a fair bit of his silliness in it (particularly anti-psychiatry) but that doesn't necessarily make for bad fiction.

ETA: I know Hubbard denied his silliness was in there, I just don't agree with him, though it may not have been intentional

I put Shawshank in the oddities bucket with Michael Clayton. Good performances and something that resembled good writing, but with a huge bullsh*t factor that I just could not overcome.

I know I'm supposed to love Vertigo and I've tried. But after watching it again today, I think I'm in the category of 'don't like' now. I don't know. It's hard to describe but although there are some interesting shots in it, the movie drags. I don't find Stewart or Novak to be likable.

SL ~ I don't know. I love The Shawshank Redemption. I think it's well made.

I'm mostly with you on Vertigo. I like the first 40 minutes or so but then it just starts to bore me. But I try to avoid saying that out loud.

I appreciate Vertigo, but don't love it.

I really really like Shawshank, but am utterly baffled as to how it remains the #1 rated movie on imdb. I mean, it's just not THAT remarkable to me.

I had read Rita Hayworth and the Shawshank Redemption several times before seeing the movie so I could not believe Tim Robbins as the small, mousy character in the story. And who reads a Stephen King story and thinks, we need to make this more sappy?

Wow, I could not disagree more. For me, Vertigo is not only Hitchcock's most accomplished movie, but one of the truly great, great films ever produced. Like, The Big Lebowski, Vertigo is best given a second, third or even a fourth viewing. Vertigo is as complex a movie as I have seen; multi-layered, menacing, dark, unearthly and a bit twisted. (Its closest cousin would be Lynch's Mulholland Dr., which shares many of its dream-like scenes) In fact, San Francisco could very well be a stand in for the Serling's Twilight Zone for all its absurdities, hypnotizing colors, weird art and dream-like parks, rooming houses, florists and the like. I admit, it took me, at least, three viewings before the film really hit me hard. I had my doubts about the film at first, but something always brought me back to the movie, again and again. And each time I saw the movie, more was revealed to me. You begin putting all the little pieces together, things you may have disregarded the second or third go-around. And the final scene still haunts me -- Stewart alone on the balcony. He conquered his fears and solved the puzzle but it cost him --- everything. Devastating and brilliant. But hey, that is just my opinion. Whatcanyoudo?

I found Vertigo slow going on first watch, but the ending hit me hard and drove me to watch it again. It really does reward repeat viewing, as Tref asserts above.

Back in the early 80s, I worked as a projectionist, and Universal did a theatrical re-release of Rear Window, Rope, Vertigo and The Trouble With Harry. We showed all four, and I fell in love with all of them over the course of the month or so we had them. Vertigo was indeed the toughest sell, and Harry was the surprise that no one had heard of and everybody loved.

We were also provided with a long trailer promoting all four films, narrated by Jimmy Stewart. I kept that trailer for years, adding it to an eclectic reel of odds and ends that I would show to friends after hours. Among other things, it included old snack bar ads, promos for Dallas Community Colleges, a ten minute chunk of The Big Doll House, the Star Spangled Banner, trailers for horrible children's films from Mexico, and more. We called it the Midnight Matinee. I assume it got destroyed along with the theater in about 98 or so.

Which reminds me - if you want to see the best trailer compilation ever, check out 42nd Street Forever 5: Alamo Drafthouse Forever. It made me want to move to Austin.

Some movies I disparage those who disagree with me, the correct opinion is just so obvious.

But Vertigo isn't one of them. I'm fine with people loving it, but it just doesn't connect with me, and it isn't for lack of viewing. Over the years I've seen it at least a half-dozen times and I'm pretty sure I get what there is to get, I'm just not interested by it.

Saw The Hurt Locker last night. A good movie, but I'm not sure why all the "best movie" buzz. While I felt that Bigelow did a very good job of bringing the "reality of war" (I put it in quotes because, having never been to war, I can only imagine) to the screen, but there was still something clichéd about the characterizations to me, no matter how well acted they might have been. Also, I found the plot surprisingly predictable, even taking into account the nature of the built-in suspense inherent in a story about soldiers who dispose of unexploded bombs for a living.



Not a bad movie at all, and very watchable (though Heather did get sick from the shaky-cam effect - be warned, GD), but at the end I was seriously considering a near-future screening of the old British TV series "Danger:UXB".

Same here.

I have watched it repeatedly and... nada. When I was living in the Central Coast and had visited San Francisco a number of times, I got a kick watching it for the locations. But other than that...



I have yet to see The Hurt Locker. But recently as mousepod had said all these best of 2009 nods has me curious about it.

Saw Up In The Air. Liked it a lot. I thought it was a great look at what some of "normal America" is like, which can be rare in movies. Clooney was great. It touched on some things that struck a chord for me personally, left me a bit melancholy.

Just the clips I've heard on NPR made me really sad and depressed, although I am sure Clooney is great in this. I can't quite make myself want to go see it, but I'll probably check it out when I can rent it.

Hee hee.
The box set that I bought long ago that included 3 versions of Close Encounters of the Third Kind comes with a poster sized flow chart of what's in what version and what's been cut etc.
How funny.
:D

Yes, I found that chart amusing as well. I wanted to retitle it "Wow, We've Been Floundering With This Movie, Haven't We?" Still, I'm very glad to have all of that stuff.

Over the weekend I saw Avatar for a second time. Enjoyed it just as much as the first time. Lani and I both expected that this time we'd spend more time looking around the screen and then afterwards realized we were just as involved as the first time and didn't really do that.

Noticed a few things I'd missed the first time (such as, the so obvious in retrospect) fact that the avatars had five fingers/toes per limb whereas the Na'vi have four. Noticed some throwaway lines early in the movie that are more explanatory once you know what happens later in the movie.

Saw It's Complicated. It is a perfectly pleasant adult romantic comedy. It is always nice to see one not involving 23-year-olds, or 30-year-olds acting like 23-year-olds. Good performances from Meryl Streep and Alec Baldwin. Though a best actress nom for Meryl Streep (such as the Golden Globe) is really just a reflex habit as it isn't anything transcendent.

Saw The International, a Clive Owen/Naomi Watts suspense thriller from earlier in the year. It was fine, really reminded me in tone of Sidney Pollack's The Interpreter from a few years ago. One problem is that the last act is preceded by an out-of-scale gunfight. It would have been fine in a Bourne movie but the style of the movie as a whole didnt' really support such a spectacle.

I think we'll put this in the Netflix queue. The trailers have made it seem really appealing, glad to hear it lives up to that.

I'd love to see that flowchart if it's online anywhere.

Well, this is the closest thing I could find. Hard to read, tho.
lol

So far as I know (having searched around since my second screening), all real Na'vi have four fingers (three and a thumb). All avatars (human-Na'vi hybrids) have five fingers (four and a thumb).

Real Na'vi? Uh, you know this is a work of fiction don't you?

colon, capital "d"

The Many Faces of Michael Cera
lol!
:D

It is a fact that I cannot dispute...but damnit it's entertaining every time!

Heehee. Yet the 14 year old girl in me has a poster of him on her wall.

I can see it now. George Michael Sloan.
:D

I was named for my grandpa George, and my middle name is Michael.

That explains it!
:D



So, Greg is like a nickname for George? I didn't know that. Interesting. It's like John and Jack? Cool.

No, it's not really a nickname. They just went with the first letter.

Well that (and linked pages) just wasted half an hour. ;)

The Great Ziegfeld is a good movie. Great cast. Interesting biopic. But it's freaking 900 hours long. I hate to say it but every time it's on TCM or I pop it into the DVD player I can't help but comment on the movie's length. Toooo long! Also, I have no idea why Luise Rainer won a Best Actress Oscar for her role. Her character was pretty annoying. No idea why she won for The Good Earth either...

You know, TCM just added a lot of 70's films to their rotation. Yes, I still love TCM, but I can't help feeling that they don't belong. I mean, I like The Bad News Bears, Carnal Knowledge and Rollerball but... oh well.




PS - The Bad News Bears has one of the best last lines in a movie.

In a slightly related comment the recent The Princess and the Frog has one of the creepiest last lines ever, definitely creepiest for a Disney movie.

The Bad News Bears is just so delightfully wrong. I haven't seen the recent-ish remake. Did it end with all the kids being handed beers as well? I bet not.

I don't remember the last line of The Princess and the Frog, and couldn't find it in a quick search. Can anyone remind me?

"O-ho-ho! Ho did we end up in zis soup?"

Actually, still haven't gotten around to seeing that yet. Yay netflix!

Last week I finally saw The Treasure of the Sierra Madre... wow what an awesome flick!!! I frickin love that old man. I was knee slappin' and toe tappin' right along with him on the sofa. It was making Jim nuts.

And Bogey played quite the looney... can't believe I never watched that one before. Five steenkin badges out of five.

Well, TCM is trying to attract a younger audience, since it appears to them, 20 somethings won't watch a movie if it's in b/w. Hence the addition of the obnoxious Ben Mankiewitz (or however you spell it) as a host. I realize Ben was added a few years back, nevertheless, adding him removed some of the terrific preservation/restoration/documentary programming.

I do not have an issue with TCM showing modern classics at all, providing they're good films, or in line with a theme they're running. I can always elect not to watch. But, I'd hate to see some of the earlier era films (especially one's they've not shown in a long long time) suffer in the rotation for the newer films. That said, it pains me to see Russell Crowe on the cover of the February Now Playing guide since February is the dreaded Oscar month.

Rollerball has some cheesy charm, John Houseman at his grumbly/gravelly best. It's horribly dated, and probably was in the 1970s when it premiered, too.

As long as TCM runs their films uncut, in the original aspect ratio, I'm good.

But, I would dearly love to see some really creaky old pre-codes and some films they've not run since year 1 or 2 of TCM. I also wish they could get some rights to early (1930's) Paramount films that have not seen the light of day since old TV 36 in San Jose in the late 1960's early 70's. Universal has them and I'd love to see them, so many I've not seen.

Okay..............off the proverbial soapbox now. Jeez, GC, did you hit anerve or what?:D

I'd say they need a TCM Classic Channel and a New Coke TCM Channel.

I'm not too bugged by Ben Mankiewicz (or however you spell his name) because his last name and his lineage is legendary. But, yeah, he's a cocky schmuck.

All he got was the name, he got none of the talent of his illustrious predecessors. Yes, he is a cocky schmuck.

Agreed. I like saying "cocky schmuck" out loud. Try it, it's fun.

Treasure of the Sierra Madre is wonderful, and I've found it's a good "starter" classic for younger people wary of anything made before they were born.

Speaking of declining standards on cable channels - we happened to watch most of Little Miss Sunshine today on A&E (still one of the best movies of recent memory and among the best films I've ever seen period). The commercials were for A&E's shows, including Paranormal Cops, Dog the Bounty Hunter, Hoarders, Intervention...it's just shocking. Whatever happened to Arts and Entertainment? I'm reminded of a joke in an old Wayne's World sketch - "A&E is the WWII channel". Hmm, not so much anymore.

No one should have to sit through a Dog the Bounty Hunter commercial, much less an episode. Talk about hitting a nerve... I find his show personally insulting. A big idiot not from here trying to talk pidgin. Like Edward Scissorhand's "hands" on a chalkboard.

I can never watch feature films on TV if they're censored and cut up for commercials. I feel so strongly that I want to send GD and CP a DVD copy of that movie so they can enjoy it properly.
:)

I love Hoarders and Intervention.

Wouldn't watch it for the first time there, but we saw Little Miss Sunshine in the theaters, so this was just a rewatch to pass a Saturday afternoon.

Hope you were inspired. You have a few years to get Theo into pageants before it'll be obvious he's the wrong gender.

Just watched the original 3:10 to Yuma. I liked the remake a couple years ago very much and I like this one very much as well, and in different ways.

I liked this bit of dialogue:

The Evil Dead was mentioned in another thread but I'll mention it here. I saw it was available by Netflix streaming (though II and Army of Darkness are not). So I watched it since football is boring me.

Did not like it. Which isn't much of a surprise since straight up horror movies have never really done anything for me. I know the humor element is ramped up in the sequels so I'll still eventually give them a shot.

But this one was just boring screaming, splatter, and early '80s makeup effects. For people who can like that I can see why this is such a cult classic, though.

Part II is the best, Alex. It's basically a revisionist history do-over of part 1, but with lots more comedy :)

Oh, in other news, I'm usually not an idiot about what's happening in a movie.

But it was only in discussion afterward that Lani and I realized that the ending of The Book of Eli had gone completely over my head.

Also, if you think you're interested in seeing it I would recommend avoiding ANY discussion of the movie. There's an obvious movie reference to be made and simply seeing it referenced will immediately spoil the movie.

MacGruber red band trailer (NSFW)

I gotta say, it actually looks like it might be funny. Assuming they didn't show us all the funny parts in the trailer....

I love when I see an old movie I'd never even heard of and it just tickles me in all the good ways. That happened yesterday with People Will Talk, a 1951 play adaptation starring Cary Grant and Jeanne Crain. A fantastic follow-up (as in next collaboration, not a sequel or anything) by Mankiewicz and Zanuck to All About Eve. Eve is, of course, far superior but People Will Talk has many of the same elements (adult adults, crisp dialog).

Plus a lot of themes and ideas that resonate well in today's world, and it is nice that the movie does not at all flinch from or condemn Crain's character for being pregnant out of wedlock.

I don't think they put all the funny parts in that trailer.

Saw "A Single Man" yesterday. An odd mix of fashion photography closeups and long conversations with not terribly sharp dialogue. Perhaps that's what life's supposed to be like in the film's view, but it doesn't make for great entertainment. Colin Firth was good though.

These are funny. But I must admit, I like the LOTR quote. That moment makes me all teary.

The 100 Cheesiest Movie Quotes of All Time

I played a "Lord of the Rings" pinball machine today. It was oddly heavy and ponderous. I even came to resent the fact that it gave me five balls for my fifty cents.

Almost caught up with the Oscar potentials. Three more to go. Up is still my favorite by a long shot. Second year in a row with little that I really loved.

Heather and I saw a bunch of the Oscar potentials recently, and the only two that I'd consider watching multiple times are Up and Inglourious Basterds. Still have several to go, though.

We finally signed up for Netflix (don't judge!) and streamed some "His Girl Friday". Not sure how I felt about that one, really.

Oh, the joy of His Girl Friday is the ease and alacrity of the dialogue of Roz Russell and Cary Grant. One of Howard Hawks best, I think. Really, the film moves like lightening. Great, snappy and very biting dialogue and a message buried in there, too. I love this film.

"She's no albino. She was born right here in this country."
:D

In honor of the late Zelda Rubinstein, and because I've been wanting to for a while, I watched Poltergeist again for the first time in quite a while. It had been long enough that I had forgotten how many wonderful little touches there are in this movie. The big scares don't have the impact they used to, but the performances are wonderful, and I had a great time re-encountering some of my favorite things about this film:

- The early scene in which Carol Ann loads up Tweety's cigar box chokes me up every time. And the burial scene soon thereafter is very funny.
- My favorite little moment - Buzz the dog is in the master bedroom barking madly at the spot on the wall, then runs purposefully out of the room, returning moments later with his favorite squeaky toy.
- WTF is with that terrible edit between the kitchen scene and the awkward visit to the neighbors?!?
- Beatrice Straight is just wonderful as the sympathetic and nervous parapsychologist.
- The "midnight snack" scene is gratuitous but sensational. And really, was that guy actually going to fry himself up a steak in someone else's house in the middle of the night? How rude.
- Zelda Rubinstein is brilliant, funny and perfect.
- Emotionally, this movie is over about fifteen minutes before it really ends, but that last reel is still really fun frosting on the cake.
- It's impossible not to think about the early ill fates of Dominique Dunne and Heather O'Rourke. Beyond sad.
- Some rough edges, but this is a wonderful movie.

Having spent the last several months immersed in the comedy stylings of the likes of Patton Oswald and his fellow Comedy Death Ray crowd, we finally gave in to the repeated mentions of the movie Big Fan and got off our butts...wait, no, got on our butts...to add it to our instant Netflix Queue.

I was sadly a little disappointed. It was mostly a by-the-numbers indy film. Patton certainly delivered a solid performance of his character, there were definitely some priceless moments in there ("I don't like root beer!!!"), and the little bit of a twist at the end kept me guessing. But on the whole it lacked enough substance throughout to rise above the "great idea, adequate execution" level and at points risked losing my interest.

I always imagined that Steve Freeling's boss was the brother of the Mayor of Amity Island.

I love that movie.

I always thought the Steve and Diane were the coolest parents on Earth.

I may have been too subtle in my review, but I really didn't like When in Rome.

An odd thing is that I really have no problem loving a movie that everybody else hates but I doubt myself when I hate something everybody else loves. Fortunately, it has just a 17% at Rotten Tomatoes and most of the reviews I've looked at are even harder on the movie than I was.

Everything I've seen about that movie has screamed stupid. Good to hear my instincts were right.

Great review Alex. Really. I'm sure your review was way more entertaining than the film. Saved me $10 (or $14)

We finally saw the Hurt Locker. Like everything I see lately, mixed feelings abound.

The Razzie nominations are out for this year. Transformers and Land of the Lost are up for top honors.

It looks like Sandra Bullock could be up for a Worst Actress Razzie and Best Actress Oscar this year (different movies). I wonder if that's ever happened before. Not that she stands a chance of winning both. It's sure to be Mega Fox's year at the Razzies.

Thought of Eddie Murphy with Dreamgirls and Norbit but those were in consecutive years.

Now that the Oscars are nearing once again, we're catching up on last year's nominees. (Okay, and we finally signed up for Netflix, which means we're busily cranking through all the things we've ever wanted to watch.)

So, we watched Slumdog Millionaire tonight. Perhaps it's just that other people heard it was so great and were disappointed and that we heard it was awful and were thus delightfully surprised. Regardless, I liked it rather a lot. I liked it's Bollywoodness (someone dies, destiny guides life, one couple ends up together, etc...) I liked that it took place somewhere else. I liked that it didn't have Hollywood stars that I had to spend half the film remembering that they weren't whatever character they played last.

Most of all, I liked the escapism. Maybe it's just this time in my life, but I'm starting to feel comfortable acknowledging that I want and enjoy escapism. Sometimes I feel like the only "real" movies are the downers. Apparently it's not Film unless I ponder the meaninglessness of life as the credits roll.

I didn't really comment on the Hurt Locker except to see that we'd seen it. Why? I could recognize that it was technically well done, but I have no urge to see it again and kind of wish I'd never seen it in the first place. There are big, horrible, sucktastic things going on with my family right now, and I don't want to be reminded of all the other sh!te going on out there, you know? Maybe I'm pathetic, but I have a limited capacity for attempted empathy. If I have to shoulder it all I'm going to end up in the fetal position around a box of Twinkies.

Anyhow, I like escape. I like movies where people are in love at the end. I am in love, and I want to watch movies where people act like I feel. I want to watch first kisses while I snuggle up against my sweetie and remember when. But most of all, when I see credits roll I want to feel like I should go do something positive -- be it seek out adventure, try out for a game show, make an outfit to go with the corset, or just be reminded of the many happinesses in my life.

Maybe other people are different. Maybe nihilism makes others thankful for what they have and invites them to look at how they can make a difference. Me - I feel immobilized. Maybe happy endings are by definition pablum, but they are what make my world turn in a sparkly, twinkly, rave party fashion.

So there.

No problem with your views. But I'm somewhat flipped.

The Hurt Locker, to me, is escapism while Slumdog Millioniare is a slog through forced thoughtfulness. Yes, there is horrible stuff in The Hurt Locker but is isn't about the war, about what horrible things people do, it is about what kind of person does what is shown. Whereas Slumdog Millionaire is, to me, hell bent on simultaneously making you feel awful about abject poverty and making you feel like it is ok because at least they have lottery odds of escaping it and doesn't love just make hell fun?

It's always interesting to see how different people react to the same thing. You find Slumdog uplifting. I find it depressing. And vice versa on Hurt Locker (well, I don't find it uplifting but I find it pleasantly interesting).

Danny Boyle deserved an Oscar for Trainspotting. I love that film.

What the hell?

I've seen three of the best picture nominees. (Avatar, Bastards and District 9).

What is up with that? Are the Oscars trying to go main stream? Targeting a lower class of viewer?

Weird.

After this weekend I will have seen six (already seen Hurt Locker, District 9, Up, and Up in the Air, Inglorious Basterds is next in the Netflix queue, and we're going to try to see Avatar this weekend.) That'll even make 4 of 5 director nods.

I've seen nine of the ten, the only one I've missed is An Education. All five for director. 3 of 5 for actor. 3 of 5 for actress. 1 of 5 for supporting actor. 3 of 5 for supporting actress. 8 of the 10 screenplay nominations.

Oddly, the nominee list at Oscar.com seems to be broken, listing only the first four nominees in many categories (At first I thought they'd trimmed the acting noms to four and I hadn't heard).

In the Best Picture noms, I've yet to see Precious, An Education and Blind Side.
The only one I want to see is An Education, though I guess I'll see the other two for cocktail party conversation.

Of the 19 movies nominated for the "big eight", I still have to see 11.

I'm most surprised that Cloudy With A Chance of Meatballs didn't get a Best Animated nod. What is The Secret of Kells?

Seen 3.25 of the best pic noms, an uncharacteristicly large percentage for us. 2 of the directors, but only one of the nominated acting performances.

Now I'll have to keep an eye on iTunes for when they release the nominated shorts, since we are not likely to be able to attend the screening this year.

Snark-ified reactions to Oscar:

Each year I get more "ho-hum" about the Academy Awards. More and more I go, 'Who the f cares about the Oscars?'

Sandra Bullock nominated for Best Actress. Bleh! Can't stand her. Same exact character each and every movie.

Also surprised about Cloudy not being nominated...

Still do not see what everyone sees in Inglorious Basterds. Cristoph Waltz was great in it, tho.

Nice that Up got a Best Pic nod. Disney must have a lot of pull with the Academy. Oh and look, the Oscars are on ABC... And wasn't Pixar the company Eisner wanted to cut loose? Snark diddy snark snark.

I thought District 9 should have had at least one nom for Sound.

Click on the "printable list" link at the top of the page for a simple text list.

Ah, I was wondering about Ponyo and found that it was released in Japan in 2008.

I chalk these observations up to the widening of the field to 10 noms.


Pru, I feel mostly the same. Dramas bum me out. Quite often we'll get something from Netflix that's a 3 hour drama and we'll never be in the mood for it. Meaning, I am never in the mood to be depressed about how people are f'n stupid or life is unfair.

That said, when I end up watching good drama I enjoy it a lot. I like when a movie makes me cry, to some degree, and I do think that these things need to be pondered. Dramas are healthy entrees and comedies are chocolate cake. I just want to eat cake all the time.

Slumdog was a smart film in that it had so many different things going on, making it heavy and light at the same time, which is the Bollywood style. I enjoyed it a lot, but I have to say that the heavy elements are going to prevent me from watching it again.

I love escapism. But at the same time, seeing a realistic drama which gets an emotional response from me reminds me that I'm alive. I like both.

Slumdog was good. I wasn't really all that blown away by it. Loved his use of music, he's very good with that just like Tarantino. I loved the Bollywood dance number at the end...

Have you seen The Blind Side? I went simply because I knew it was going to get some nominations but I was very surprised, both by the movie as a whole and her performance in particular. I don't know if she was among the top five of the year but I know she was better than at least one of the other nominees (Meryl Streep in Julie & Julia; not that Streep was bad, just not particularly noteworthy)

Haven't seen Cloudy so can't comment, but The Princess and the Frog simply should not be on that list, at least while Ponyo is not.

It was released in 2008, but it was qualified for this year's Oscars.

Interesting.

I have not seen The Blind Side. I can barely stomach any movie she's in. But maybe I'll give it a shot.

According to boxofficemojo.com, Avatar just beat out Titanic on the Domestic Box Office chart. It makes me wonder how well Dark Knight would have done if it were also in 3D and charged more for tickets.

Avatar: $601,141,551
Titanic: $600,788,188

In the last week, I've watched "Stepbrothers", "Willy Wonka & The Chocolate Factory", "The Incredible Mr. Limpet" and "Pee Wee's Big Adventure" - nothing but fun stuff.

I love fun movies.
:)
I've decided (after going to a used bookstore that sells DVDs and buying Traffic, Private Ryan and Lifeboat) that I'll be buying more comedies and escapist flicks. I watched Clueless last night. I love that film. I think it's a sweet adaptation of Emma.

I just found "Clueless" last night in my car....It's the Wolfette's, but I'm sure she'll let me borrow.

It's a little dated now but it holds up. The script is hilarious. This movie got kinda lumped in with a lot of teen comedies that came out around it but it's a good one, more of a parody. Very quotable.

I walked out on Clueless in the theater. But I was in high school with a bunch of guys, so I was just kinda going with the crowd and hating it because I was supposed to. I finally sat down and watched it not long after and really really enjoyed it. It's one of Paul Rudd's best performances, imo.

I've kind of gone the opposite way. I really liked it the first time I saw it but then have less each time I've seen it (or more often just a part of it). I guess it is just a sign of how far I am from the teenaged girl I used to be.

And this is the true story of how I came to see it that first time. A friend in my dorm was thoroughly turned on by that Alicia Silverstone/Liv Tyler video they did for Aerosmith. So I ended up accompanying him and some other friends even though I'd never heard of her, seen the video, or had any interest in the movie. (Oh what a backward time that they could only tell me about the video and hope that it would come on MTV at some point when I was around.)

I like Paul Rudd a lot. Yep, great in Clueless. I liked him in Object of My Affection also but maybe because the film hit more of a personal chord with me, I could personally identify with both the Rudd and Aniston characters at the same time. Not the best film, I guess, but it was ok.

There was also a shot of him in Romeo + Juliet that I loved. Just a cheesy reaction by his character Paris that makes me laugh.

Read the book. It's much better, imo. (But aren't they always?)

George Washington Slept Here is on this morning on TCM. I love this movie. It cracks me up. Too bad it's not available on DVD. I'd watch it over and over. I find it to be funnier than Mr. Blandings Builds His Dream House. It's interesting that there are a lot of similarities between the two movies.

I'm watching Planet of the Apes - it was originally released today in 1968.

Whenever I watch Planet of the Apes, I always feel compelled to watch my entire box-set of Apes movies over a few consecutive evenings. The first four all have enough good stuff going for them that I really enjoy re-watching them. The fifth (Battle for the POTA) is fairly skippable, but I slog through it anyway. I also have the TV series on DVD and I want to get the cartoon series as well. I'll never feel the need to rewatch Tim Burton's version again, though.

Cover Girl

Wonderful, awesome cast. Movie is not so great. But it does break my heart to say so, I mean it does have Rita Hayworth, Gene Kelly, Phil Silvers and Eve Arden in it. But still it's dull dull dull.

I will watch Eve Arden in anything. She always brightens the picture with her ability to quip. Otherwise, I'd agree with you, Rita is gorgeous but the movie has no magic.

Same here. I love Eve Arden.
"I predict a hatchet murder before the night's over." ~ Stage Door

:)

Have any of you young whippersnappers every seen the TV show Mzzz Arden was in called "The Mothers-In-Law" (co-starring Kaye Ballard)?

Spurred on by recent mention elsewhere we watched Sid & Nancy. God damn if Gary Oldman isn't the most versatile actor ever.

No, but I've heard of Our Miss Brooks...

LOVED The Mothers-In-Law, co-starring Kaye Ballard!

But, I passed whipper-snapper some time ago.

I remember that!

Me too!

Big fan of "The Mothers-in-Law." I think it's terribly sad that Herbert Rudley outlived Deborah Walley.

In the early '80s, before the station went batsh*t crazy, KSFO used to air "Our Miss Brooks" and all sorts of great old-time radio shows. Also, Larry King in the middle of the night.

As do I. I was rather fond of it as a kid.

"Alligators have the right idea, they eat their young. - Mildred Pierce

Raises hand. I remember loving it.

I love Mildred Pierce! Eve has some great lines. "When men get around me, they get allergic to wedding rings."

My favorite hedonistic quote comes from that movie (but it's not one of Eve's). "I loaf, in a decorative and highly charming manner..."

New Toy Story 3 trailer

"Nice ascot."
lol

I really want to see this one now.
:)

Zachary Scott was hot and had a way with dialogue, too. Mildred Pierce is a great movie, and not merely for Joan (who is too soapy for me, until she she slaps the vicious Veda). It's the satellites that surround her, the many parts that sum up this movie. Jack Carson is always wonderful, too and tosses off a few great lines.

Eve Arden flirting with the mousy accountant, bwahahaha, rowr.

By now, you may have run across the rumor thatUniversal is considering a remake of JAWS in 3D, with Tracey Morgan in the role of Matt Hooper. That sounds absurd, and my gut feeling is that it's just as untrue as the direct-to-video JAWS 5 rumor of a couple of years ago.

That said, I really, really, really, really want them to do a spectacular shark movie in high quality 3D - not a lame ass comedy (so please, no Tracey Morgan - who is wearing thin with me, as is 30 Rock, sadly) - I want to see a balls-to-the-wall, scary as hell 3D shark movie. Sequel, remake, not part of the Jaws franchise at all, whatever - heck, I'm first in line to buy a ticket if they do Steve Alten's MEG. But please, not a comedy.

Jaws 3 was a fine piece of comedy :)

I've never cared for Tracey Morgan (even on 30 Rock) but I saw the red band trailer for his new movie with Bruce Willis and not only did it make the movie look more appealing (the green band trailer was awful) but actually made me like him a little bit more.

Jaws 3 puts me to sleep. Even the shark scenes move at a snail's pace. And the would-be 3D optical effects are just atrocious. Even the monumentally stupid Jaws: The Revenge has more entertainment value, even if only as WTF fodder.

There are plenty of cheap-ass shark movies to go around, and I watch most of 'em. They mostly rehash the basic plot of Jaws, or they follow the MEG formula. (There's a giant research facility - someone finds a megalodon tooth that isn't a fossil and hypothesizes about the presence of a surviving meg, invariably, this person brings up the coelecanth - 'We thought IT was extinct, but then we found one!" - someone mentions that sharks don't get cancer, so maybe they are the key to a cure - the meg attacks various big boats, submarines and, of course, the big high tech facility, hero fights shark in a mini-sub. I've seen this story many times now.) These elements are trotted out with clockwork predictability in most of the silly Scyfy (yeesh) Channel movies and direct to DVD extravaganzas.

As it happens, I am writing three (count 'em three) shark stories - none of them takes place at a small town beach resort or a high tech facility. I challenged myself to come up with at least three shark concepts that avoid the cliches. I'm thinking of vanity-publishing them if I get them done. (They take a backseat to the Christmas-themed piece I've been hacking away at for four years now.)

Ah, sharks.

Dang, you're right. I've been really excited about this movie as I've been hearing Kevin Smith talk about it through its production, but was totally disappointed by the ads I've seen. Just watched the red band and yeah, much much better.

Oof! Put me down as having the opposite response to the red band Cop Out trailer. I'm pretty hot and cold with Kevin Smith, but one thing I just don't get (and I realize this makes me unhip) is his obsession with dick jokes. (And I realize that if I say anything further about that, I'll be setting up a dick joke.)

Between this and the red band trailer for Kick Ass, it looks like children saying over-the-top obscenities and behaving violently is the edgy comedy-trope-du-jour. It's Paper Moon and Bad News Bears all over again, except much more harsh. (And in the case of Kick Ass, I have to admit, pretty damn funny.) Oh, I'm sounding like such an old man.

Have you noticed that they seem to be running away from the fact that Kevin Smith directed it? No mention at all in any of the advertising I've seen (though it may be in the small print).

Just saw Tristan and Isolde. I wonder how I missed that the first go-round. Enjoyed it. Early-centuries British Isles love story with plenty of swordfighting. Very LOTR minus magic.

I tried to sit through the opera of the same name. It was like 5 hours long. Couldn't do it. Had to leave.

Looks like regular advertising is really over now. It's all about the red band trailers.


Speaking of which, we watched Grandma's Boy at the behest of my brother, who claimed it was worth our time. Surprisingly, it was a rather enjoyable stoner/gamer film. If you like this sort of thing, I'd recommend it.

I remember seeing ads for this on TV rather briefly and being completely confused. They never showed the grandma in question and it was impossible to know what the film was about. I can't find the ads in question, and the trailer available online is red band, which I never saw at the time.

TV is useless in advertising these types of nasty films. Since I can't get enough crude humor I'll have to stick to red band.

Though for mediocre/bad R comedies it really does mean they can show all of the best jokes in the trailer.

Ugh, can't believe I said "in question" twice in that post.

Your fired.

It hurts me deeply to see this next to your name, for two reasons.

Wolfman has restored my faith in Universal Studios' ability to release a GREAT horror movie, I absolutely loved it from start to finish. Many moments that made people gasp or jump in their seats, great tension (and some killer gore to go with it).

Heheheheh....

We've been trying our best to see Oscar-nominated films. Last week we saw Avatar and Ingorious Basterds. I am not a big Tarantino fan, so I was surprised at how much I enjoyed that particular film.

We're going to try to see Princess and the Frog tonight at DTD, and we have our Netflix-ed A Serious Man to watch.

That just leaves three for best picture. An Education I really want to see and it's playing in Manhattan Beach. The Blind Side I don't really have much interest in. And Precious I don't want to see, but feel like I should because if I do then we will have seen all the best director nominees.

Sigh.

Seeing Crazy Heart last night means I've now seen:

4 of 5 Best Actor. Jeff Bridges did not sway my personal vote for Clooney in Up in the Air. But I still expect Bridges will win.

4 of 5 Best Supporting Actor. Maggie Gyllenhaal is not in the running for me. I'd vote Mo'Nique.

3 of 5 Best Original Song. I didn't like the music in the Princess and the Frog so I'll throw my vote behind The Weary Heart.

I'm dense. What are the two reasons?

The first would be yet another misuse of "your". I'm assuming the other is that she thought you were making a reference to The Apprentice. Cause Donald Trump invented the phrase "You're fired".

Ok, the first one was on purpose, but I wasn't thinking of The Apprentice when I said it.

Given the changes and omissions, I think that the assumptions are one-and-done for Percy Jackson.

I thought Jeff Bridges was great. I tend to put George Clooney in the "always plays himself" category, which is not to say he doesn't have his appeal. In the category of doe-eyed alien-headed women, I'll take Vera Farmiga over Maggie Gyllenhaal.

Finally saw Princess and the Frog. There were definitely things I liked. That bit of animation where she's singing about her restaurant with her mom was great. I actually liked that the soundtrack was more cohesive and less random song-like.

But where was the wooing? It's a princess movie. There was supposed to be wooing. It's like they spent so much time in animal story land that they forgot about the wooing. That might work for the Lion King, but this was a princess happily-ever-after movie and that requires wooing.

Woo woo!

(sorry - the drink was a little strong tonight.)

I had a lot of computer work to do today as I make up hours at my old job. So, being the only one in the office, I decided to play Gone with the Wind on one of the computers near me just for noise. I noticed a couple of things that I find interesting:

Rhett proposes to Scarlett in the same room where her husband's funeral just occurred, possibly on the same day. That's so awful and in character for both of them. Love it.

The "David Copperfield" reading scene is one of my favorites. The editing in that scene is great for back then.

It totally makes sense why Rhett loves Bonnie so much. She's the one person in the movie (besides Belle) that loves him. And yet even that is in question as she's always talking about her pony and a doll in a couple of scenes.

Interesting that Scarlett and Ashley are caught together but only Scarlett gets blamed for what happened.

I seem to remember in the book that Scarlett gets married a day before Melanie... I could be wrong...

In the scene where Scarlett's sisters are picking cotton, Scarlett enters the shot and we hear "Too bad about that!" but her lips aren't moving.

Missed this exchange before.

Actually, reason one is the idea that Alex would fire me, and reason two is the misuse of "your" (which I knew was intentional on your part). Supposed to be funny, no salvaging that now.

Just got back from Shutter Island, and while it's not top shelf Scorsese, (I spent an awful lot of time looking at the directorial flourishes rather than getting absorbed by the narrative), it's moody, intriguingly convoluted, and I thought Leo DiCaprio did a fine job in it.

I don't think it will have much repeat value for me, though. It's a two and a half hour journey that doesn't end up being terribly credible. And I'm not sure everything adds up, or is even meant to. But, eerie fun.

random observation - Within the first few seconds of the film, I recognized Gyorgi Ligeti's composition "Lontano," which was also featured heavily in The Shining. Also, a very early shot of a car driving along a road shot from above at a very wide angle felt to me like a deliberate tribute to that same film.

:D

I couldn't agree more about how annoying the DVD viewing experience can be. (Disney is the worst in this regard.)

On the other hand, the handful of pirated things I may have accidentally encountered have been of such crappy quality, it certainly didn't matter that I was able to play them right away. Camcordered in a movie theater equals unwatchable for me - I can wait.

On quite another hand, rentals through iTunes store or free from netflix are unhindered by all that crap, look terrific projected on my wall, and cost very little to nothing. That's pretty much my favorite means of movie-watching these days.

I love watching the previews - it makes Maddie nuts.

On occasion, a disc will have previews that are interesting to watch at the time of release, but if you take the DVD for a spin a few years later, those tired old trailers make the entire disc seem dated and disposable, with their "Now In Theaters" tags and their non-skippable promos for other movies "Now In Stores Everywhere." (Again, worst offender, definitely Disney.)

Then there is the whole matter of menu screen spoilers. (Okay, let's start up Planet of the Apes. Hey, what's that statue doing there?!)

It would be nice if the dvd/blu-ray were intelligent enough to have some sort of 'seal' that were broken after the first viewing. That way, subsequent viewings would not force us to view things we don't want to.

'Shutter Island'. I loved it. I tried to pay close attention to everything. I've never read the book. Only had seen the previews for ever and had been dying to see it.

I think it was long at times, but, I would like to see it again to see things from the perspective of knowing how it ended.

Purchasing movies. I don't know why but today I bought 'Night at the Museum 2'. I enjoyed the first one and it was only $12.99 for a blu-ray/dvd/digital copy combo. I really like these type of movie combos because when we travel {oh, please let us travel again some day, damn economy!!!} we carry a portable dvd player. Sucks if every movie is blu-ray.

Someone today said to me they didn't like the editing of 'Shutter Island'. He had to rush off before he could explain. What do you think? I mean, how do we know? ha ha We didn't see all of the takes? What did he mean???

My feeling about the ending of Shutter Island



Also, it occurred to me that if I had read the novel



So, ultimately, the plot didn't work for me, and it might be my own fault, but I still enjoyed the atmosphere and the usual formidable Scorsese filmmaking. I was never bored.

After the movie, my husband and I felt trippy. We didn't say anything right away to one another. Went to the bathroom, talked with some friends, walked out to the car, started to drive away. Then in our discussion he was saying {and his face looked worried} that he was looking at himself in the mirror at the bathroom and he felt...he felt...and I did a 'booga booga' in his face 'Weird???' I said. LOL No we aren't crazy. :evil:

The movie was a fun ride. I love Leo. :0)

Oh yes, even if some parts seemed slow to me {maybe it is me that is slow...hmmmm} it was always interesting. I didn't want to miss a thing!!

Glad, too, I didn't read the book. May want to now, but not sure.

Those books, like I see at Target, they have pictures from the movie on the cover. Are they real novels or just the movie in a book? I don't care for that. I want the real thing. What the movie was modeled after. Is it a different story?

I've seen them a lot, like, the movie he did with Kate Winslet? But, I don't want to read the movie again. I want the real story!!

Though the trade paperback has a movie photo on its cover, it's a real novel written by Dennis Lehane a few years ago. (He was also listed as associate producer on the movie, so I figure it has his blessing to some extent.)

I confess that I skimmed the last chapters a bit, and



so it looks like the book probably has the same denouement as the movie.

Thanks for that, maybe now I'll read the books.

Oh, okay. Ooo. I'm so afraid to say anything.

You know,since the movie, I've been biting my tongue and avoiding the subject as much as possible. My 3 kids haven't seen it. ARGH

So, nice we could share what we have. Whew. A little steam released....

Maybe the whole movie was just a dream.......

ha ha

Ok, this is worth breaking my hiatus over - because your story reminded me of something about my Shutter Island experience I totally forgot about.

We've been going to the theater where we saw it for years. It's the relatively new Pacific in now-hip downtown Culver City. They string rope and stanchions across the wide lobby to take your ticket before you hit the snack bar area. But this time, they moved that way back to the narrow bottleneck between the snack bar and the auditoriums. Makes much more sense, and we told the ticket takers so, and they remarked on the positive change.


After the film, we come out to find the ticket taker position back where it always has been, and all the mile-wide ropes and stanchions in place. We asked why they had moved it back when the new location made so much sense, and they looked at us like we were insane.

We felt so frelling weird and gaslighted for a few moments - then went outside the theater and fell down laughing.

:D
:snap: :snap:




But, like flippy, i didn't buy it at all. There's no way the staff, the doctors, the patients, the guards and the nazis were all in on it, and let crazy Leo have run of the place. Nope - did not fly. And kinda ruined, for me, a movie I liked.


But I totally don't put it past the theater staff to have messed with our minds for fun and sport. :eek:


:iSm: (just to see if my icon is still here)

So I should avoid this thread if I haven't seen every movie ever made? Oh well, don't need to see Shutter Island now then I guess. Saves me wasting time and money.

I realize after watching The Darjeeling Limited that I really don't like Owen Wilson. But I really do like Adrien Brody and Jason Schwartzman.

iSm, that's too funny! Yep, I don't know how they did it exactly but my head was definitely messed with. Not a hard task but my husband usually isn't taken in by anything.

Oh, but I see what Steph means, perhaps, without being the red pen police, you could put that part about the movie into a spoiler tag? :D

Inywho...what's the next movie coming out? I just saw they are re-releasing 'Alice In Wonderland' on DVD...hmm...forgot to see if it was on Blu-ray. Does it matter? Isn't it the newer animation where it makes a difference?

:iSm:

Hello, friend.

Oh Boy! At last! Tomorrow night I get to see the UCLA/BFI restoration of The Red Shoes on the big screen (The Castro). I'm so excited! Orgy of technicolor!

Also, in Palo Alto at The Stanford they are having a 100th birthday retrospective of Akira Kurosawa. I just got the schedule and have already missed Seven Samurai and Rashomon (dammit). Thank goodness TCM is also running a ton of Kurosawa films this month. Yay!

That sounds so exciting, Snowflake!! Enjoy!

I watched 'The Crazies' tonight, while Rose watched Bon Jovi- I had fun; there were only 3 people, including myself in the theater.

Heheh, I watched a movie called C.R.A.Z.Y. a couple of nights ago. Cute French Canadian film about a harried family with five sons, and the one who grows up eccentric and fabulous and gay.


* * * * * * *


In theaters now: Go see The Ghost Writer. Don't be put off by Polanski's recent press. It's a much better Hitchcock movie than Shutter Island. Loved it.

I wish I could, but Orlando is too much of a backwater to have it yet. I think it opens wide in a few weeks, and I'm planning on seeing it.

Where's Alex? I was looking for the Alice review this morning and Alex isn't here!

One thing I have to mention here, The Crazies may just be a remake of a movie that doesn't really hold up too great, but using the Johnny Cash version of "We'll Meet Again" for the opening sequence made me smile.

The car wash scene gave me nightmares- I used to get really freaked out at a local car wash when I was a little kid.

Alice was boring.

There was a super great opportunity for plot twistiness, but they decided to go with conventional instead. Snoozefest.

Damnit. :(

Yesterday, I watched Raiders of the Lost Ark, 20,000 Leagues Under The Sea, Battle Beyond The Stars, and Rock And Roll High School.

Today I've watched Scanners, and now I'm watching the Star Wars Trilogy.

Hey, I just watched Scanners last night. I've always really enjoyed it, but, like many others, I have to acknowledge that the lead performance by Stephen Lack is distractingly odd. I try to make allowances for the fact that he is playing a very psychically broken person, but really, his line readings are just so robotic and non-credible. Mind you, with time, this has become one of the movies charms, not any longer a demerit. And I just can't get enough of Michael Ironside in his leering, evil prime!

Are you well? It sounds like you may be bedridden with all this marathon watching. If so, please get well. If not, um, keep enjoying!

I've got a bit of a cold, but nothing too serious (yet). I'm just stuck at home with the animals while my wife is in Vegas.

Here's a second "meh" on the new Alice in Wonderland. Some really marvelous elements that didn't quite gel for me - in a re-telling that features all the familiar settings and characters, but with a rather conventional story grafted on.

Yet, as might be expected, the picture looks awesometastical. And I enjoyed almost all the performances -- with the notable exception of Johnny Depp - whom i HAteD as the Mad Hatter. And hated the role this story saddled him with.

I loved Bonham Carter as the Red Queen. Quispin Glover was also rad, as was Anne Hathaway. The girl who plays Alice was terrific, as were Tweedle-Dee and Dum.

Good Cheshire Cat, too, but he suffered - as did many of the "beloved" characters - from being too straightforwardly benevolent to our heroine. In fact, all the usual suspects just sort of banded together as the Alice Team of cuddly, helpful friends who remember her fondly from .... from the earlier Disney movie, I guess. A little too neat and sweet. And the standardly heroic storyline lacked the oddball charm of the original tale - that was nonetheless mimicked too faithfully.


Sigh, I don't think there's ever been a completely satisfactory version of Alice in Wonderland on screen. This one comes as close as many. But not close enough for me. I'm glad I saw it, but I never need to see it again.

Ooh! Forgot about the Clash of the Titans preview where I busted out in a giant belly laugh at the "Release the Kraken!" line.

I'm pretty sure that wasn't the intended result, but then again, I haven't seen the original. Maybe it's a comedy?

My friend and I loved Alice. We may go see it again in 3-D.

It was beautiful and a fun adventure. Mia Wasikowska held her own against the big-names. I love what Depp did with the Mad Hatter - tragic, creepy and, well mad.

My all time favorite Mad Hatter is Steve Buscemi. "I'm so mad I wash my hands a 100 times a day, because they smell like my mother!"

"Release the Kraken!" is indeed about the only memorable line from the first movie, which isn't really a comedy, but is about as cheesy as it can be. I've always found that the original CotT disappoints. It's pretty slow, and even the Ray Harryhausen creature sequences are pacey and sluggish, especially compared to the swashbuckling likes of Jason and the Argonauts or The 7th Voyage of Sinbad. Those are kind of clunky as well, but whenever a cyclops or a skeleton shows up, it's wildly kinetic and exciting. Titans was the most expensive movie Harryhausen got to make, but his hands seem curiously tied, as if perhaps he was rushed once he got around to his animating table.

On the other hand, this is one of those PG rated movies that had some rather welcome nudity for a teen in the pre-internet days. I remember insisting on watching it every time it appeared on HBO just so I could see Andromeda's lovely bare behind as she stepped out of her pre-sacrificial bath. (Yes, you got to see her crack just before she was offered to the Kraken. Heh)

I enjoyed Alice. It wasn't great, but good. And this is not a movie to bring small children to.

How could Alice be bad?? Did it follow Tim Burton's Secret Formula? ;)The original is a family fav of mine. My brothers and I said "Release the Kraken!" constantly. I have no perspective on it but I still think it's the best Harryhausen. Jason and his Argonauts be damned. :p I'm kind of excited about this remake though I figure once the reviews come out I'll probably lose interest. It happens to me every time with these action epics.

I remember attributing his line readings to bad acting. Of course, perhaps he was really going for a kind of Paradise Lost thing where the good guy is boring, and the bad guy is attractive. But my bet's on bad acting.

Then it is faithful to the book.

Hehe. That was great!

BwaHahaha. Exactly.

I've a friend who doesn't want to see it, but wants to see the good parts. It occurred to me a nicely edited half-hour would be great ... so I'll try to do that when the DVD comes out ... in what? 3 weeks is it?


Better yet, a really creative edit of the 25 or so film versions of Alice in Wonderland could yield a version that captures the dreamlike ever-changing oddness of the text. That could be an awesome project.


Anyway, I had to watch the '51 Disney version last night to get the taste out of my eyes. That's hardly a flawless version either, but I really needed it. The Burton version is, imo, seriously disappointing and so wrong in overall tone that I cannot recommend it - despite, as i said, some fantastic elements and performances.

We watched Milo and Otis last night. Neither of us had seen it before. We were both traumatized (but it did NOT help my desire for an orange kitten one bit).

Well, if it's any help, the net consensus seems to be that probably no animals were harmed in the making of Milo and Otis.

I just finished watching "Rollercoaster" again. I still love this movie, it's so much fun (and sad at the same time) to see some of my favorite coasters 30+ years ago. I love the Lalo Schifrin score, too.

Milo and Otis is rad. I wanna see it again. Can't believe Lisa's only seeing it now for the first time. The movie that put Pugs on the map!



******

BTW, the 3-D in Alice in Wonderland is lame. I found out today the movie was filmed in 2-D and converted to 3-D, and it looks it. Everything has that flat, cut-out, old multi-plane camera look. And the handful of 3-D "tricks" they did were straight out of 1950's 3-D movie schtick. Embarassing.

So, if you're gonna see it, see the 2-D version.

First Movie I ever got on DVD !! and also the reason I bought my first ever VHS !

...and we loved Alice - especially the 3D. They didn't resort to the usual cheap tricks and any "protrusions" out of the fourth wall were justified. It made it a lot easier to get immersed in the ambiance and settings. We'd recommend it to anyone. We woldn't recommend it to small children as a lot of characters seem to have a penchant for poking others in the eye with things.

The Rollercoaster score is available for purchase in iTunes. I had the soundtrack album when I was a kid, and I was very happy to get this again about a year ago. There is a tremendous variety of styles that Schifrin got to write in, as he had to provide both the dramatic score and the "source" music in the various theme parks portrayed in the film.

As for the movie, I have a great deal of affection for it, but it's a textbook case of anti-climax.

Neither of us have seen Men in Black either.

:eek:

Forgive me, but, I haven't seen Milo & Otis in many years. My older kids watched it quite a few times {on VHS}.

I can't remember...why was it painful?

Did Thurston and Kimchi watch it, too?

Do dogs snack while watching t.v?

ha ha I always think of you guys when I see it.

The list of horrors that happened to BOTH Milo and Otis was HUGE! Pugs don't swim very well, yet Otis was thrown into the ocean and a river, was supposed to fend for himself for a year, hand a run-in with a bear who grabbed him and was stuck in the snow for a LONG time. Otis was left to travel downstream in a little box, went over a falls, had run-ins with birds of prey, a bear and a fox, and he was obviously not a well taken care of cat in the films because his ears were FILTHY and looked infected.

Thurston watched almost the entire film with a lot of interest. He seemed as horrified as I was at the things happening to the poor pug and kitty.

I love Milo and Otis. Yes, it is fraught with peril, and the poor things look pretty disheveled for most of the film, but it's the ultimate animal buddy flick. Tori and I used to watch it all the time when she was little. :)

Well damn. I'm glad I'm not a betting man. Congrats on your double win Sandra.

Note to self. NEVER watch Milo and Otis. EVER.

Please tell me it has a happy ending.

It was his sled.

I am more with Bear on this one. I didn't love it - just liked, but it was entertaining.

After talking with several people this weekend about Alive, the responses seem to be divided thusly: people who pay more attention to the fine details of the story; how it does (or doesn't) follow the original story; how well the story and plot line were developed; etc., then those people didn't like it. For those of who enjoy an entertaining movie, can be amused by good visuals and a story that isn't full of ugly holes, we liked it.

This is NOT meant as a slam against those who like the details I mention in the first group; it is simply an observation on two groups of movie goers. I personally don't see that many movies (I don't think I had been in a movie theater for about a year), so maybe my simpler mind is just more easily amused.

Loved her acceptance speech at the Razzies. I like Sandra Bullock - she doesn't take herself too seriously.

If they didn't go in nearly strict order from place-to-place following the (Disney version of) Alice in Wonderland, I wouldn't have minded so much that they imposed a completely different and stupidly vapid story upon it. Want original story? Then don't copy the layout of the original tale so slavishly.

Of course, that the story chosen was so cut-and-dried, and no one but the Red Queen even for a moment tried to mess with Alice's head, left the proceedings feeling NOTHING like any presentation that should dare to call itself "Alice in Wonderland."

The characters and settings don't make the tale what it is, especially if half those characters are nothing like their literary counterparts. (The settings were well done, and half the characters were indeed like their literary counterparts. Forgot to mention that the Caterpillar fvcked with Alice's head quite properly. Good on him.) :D

I'm glad I read enough here that I went into Alice with adjusted expectations. I had a pretty good time while watching it, but now, just a couple of hours later, I can only remember things about it that I didn't like.

It really did feel more like a Narnia story with a Lewis Carroll visual overlay. (And could the Dormouse character have been any more of a distaff Reepicheep?)

How did anyone think that the Mad Hatter's little dance was a good idea? (Especially unfortunate for its musical accompaniment. Yuck.)

I'm giving it a pass here, because they made the Red Queen's giant head part of the story, but I do not want to see any more digitally inflated head characters at the movies ever again. (Same goes for digitally embiggened eyes.)

But, I didn't hate it.

We saw it in IMAX 3D and I have to say that I really liked it; but I wasn't expecting it to be a true "Alice in Wonderland". I knew it was based more on Carroll's poem "Jabberwocky".

That said, I too found the Mad Hatter's dance entirely out of place.

Sigh. I may never get to watch another "gritty" movie again. Because apparently these days "gritty" is synonymous with "shaky". :(

Got 24 minutes into Hurt Locker before having to stop. Took some dramamine and we're going to try again in an hour. Perhaps I'll be able to at least watch enough chunks to get through it eventually.

That's about as far as Heather got. Shakycam is not her friend.

(And if you don't make it through the flick, rent The Messenger instead. A much better movie about the current war. No shakycam. And it takes place in New Jersey.)

Made it to the 90 minute point last night. Less than an hour left, I think I can make it through tonight. I hope so, because I've enjoyed it so far.

You know, I'd like to take this moment in the MMMtS thread to state officially that I hate the new environment friendly packaging of DVDs. Basically, it's a regular plastic DVD box with the recycling logo cut out of it leaving the box flimsy and not so easy to close and also seems to make it cave in on itself.

I'm not a big recycler. Never was. I do it because it's PC. But I'm not convinced that recycling is all that. I mean, in Hawai'i, the recycling apparently goes to the same place the rest of the trash does: to the dump. Which means that the landfill that's being created will have huge pockets of plastic and cardboard and tree cuttings instead of having it spaced evenly across the landfill which I'm thinking will cause the mountain created to be less stable. That's my own cockamamie reasoning and not based on any sort of fact. Not only that but products made with recycled material are more expensive. If they are reusing materials that already exist, then why is it more expensive? Anyway, I could go on for days and I only mean it halfheartedly and most likely am railing against it because people are so adamant about recycling in that if you don't do it you are some sort of demon spawn pirate terrorist.

That being said, I reiterate: I hate the new DVD boxes.

:p

Are you serious that the recycling goes to "the dump"? I'm assuming there's a recycling handling facility at the same place as the trash handling (er, dump).

Trash facilities now have ways of sorting garbage to get some more recyclables out. Supposedly it's pretty widespread technology now.

I just watched "Dead Hooker In A Trunk". It was kind of like a home made horror movie version of Pulp Fiction. Not everybody's cup of tea.

Here's the trailer

Apparently, there's no budget to do the recycling thing currently. So it all goes to the dump.

Finished Hurt Locker.

I thought it was pretty great. Powerful and effective. It's strongest point was that it didn't dramatize the experience more than it needed to. It didn't force a complex story arc on the situation, it just presented the raw experience, as plainly as possible while still making a watchable movie with characters you invest in. That also bled into it's weakest point, which was the lack of satisfaction at the end. Which surely was part of its point, but I felt it ended flat. But that aside, it's a great film. I can't quibble with its best pic win. I enjoyed Inglorious more...but that's no knock on Hurt, you're not supposed to "enjoy" it.

Inglorious was certainly the most intoxicating movie experience I had this year, and the one I find myself thinking about most often. I've got Hurt Locker wending its way toward me, and I'm looking forward to it, even though I know it won't be "fun."

Already, I can barely remember Alice, which I saw just yesterday.

Hurt Locker wasn't as grisly as I thought it would be. There was only one scene which made me wince. The happenings were messed up, to be sure, but not gory. Made for a very watchable war film (shaky cam aside). Very good film.

I'm pretty square with Flippyshark. Having read the comments online, I just went in to the theater and put on the 3D glasses and said okay let's watch it. I enjoyed myself and really felt Helena Bonham Carter walked away with the film. The Mad Hatter dance was truly awful and should have been jettisoned.

I came away feeling like I enjoyed it, but I really did feel they made this Narnia in Wonderland and I was half expecting Alice to be crowned in the end.

I do not feel I wasted my time, I had fun and enjoyed the film. The hand pulled ramen afterward was splendid.

Forget the Mad Hatter's dance - what about the creepy romance angle?

Never mind the Lion or Tin Man, she'll miss the Scarecrow most of all.

I guess I didn't perceive that as a romance at all - more of a "you remind me of my father" bond.

ha ha I thought you meant romance between the Queen and the tall skinny Crispen Glover.

Not Afraid and wendybeth;

Oh yes, a lot of peril!! And, having been a while, I didn't remember until your brought it up. I guess I only saw the animal buddy element of it. Also, I've never had a pug. Poor Thurston! To see a pug be put through the ringer!

Now I'm wondering how much of it I actually watched. I am remembering a shack in a very pretty wooded area? Aye carumba. Slip goes the tranny in my brain........

Daddy issues in a Burton film? You don't say!

I did not get that at all, more Peter Pan-like to me.

A lot of people did see it. I've seen several reviews that commented on the ickiness in the seeming undercurrent of potential romance between Alice and the Mad Hatter.

I was mildly positive on the movie. Plenty of good stuff and nearly as much awful stuff.

I don't see a daddy-figure being worried about Alice being the "proper" size.

We had a really great day yesterday and between laundry, dishes, feedings, vacuuming, yard work, cleaning bunny cages, and playtime, we somehow managed to watch two movies.

Polyester. That's the first John Waters movie I've actually seen. I've long guessed I'd like his movies, just never got around to watching any. It's amazing just how familiar that suburban world is to me. I mean, my family and childhood were not even remotely as dysfunctional as all that, but the suburban trappings it's set in are straight out of my childhood (my parents HAD that couch!). Plus it helped to think of the characters as embodiments of the worst-possible-caricatures of each other that they all imagine. So the bimbo daughter and delinquent son were depictions of what an over-protective mother imagines happens when they're out of sight. And a ludicrously nosy mom who can literally sniff secrets out is how an angsty teen imagines their mom when they've been caught. I think he nailed that.

The second movie was Metoroporisu (Metropolis), the anime version, loosely based on the german silent film of the same name. Loooooosely. Based on in the same way the series Nadia: Secret of the Blue Water is "based" on 20,000 leagues in that it has an eccentric guy named Nemo with a submarine, this is "based" on Metropolis in that there are underground workers and a girl who doesn't realize she's a robot.

But that's not to take away from it. I actually rather like the Japanese tendency to pick the bare essentials from an old story like that and splice it into the usual nuclear-arms-race context that you can't blame Japan for obsessing over. I didn't care for the character animation design in Metropolis so much, and it's not the most well constructed film ever, but the setting is gorgeous and the story is fairly compelling. It was worth it just for the scene where the robots come to put out the factory fire.

I love both of those, GD. And as to the character design, it's based on a manga by Osamu Tezuka (creator of AstroBoy), whose style I used to find overly cutesy and mock-Disneyesque, but it's grown on me. (Especially after reading some of his more adult manga, as well as his epic biography of the Buddha.) Really, the entire anime/manga industry owes it all to Tezuka. (So do the creators of The Lion King, but that's another story.)

I'm glad you enjoyed Polyester, and I think you've nailed its basic appeal. did you have Odorama cards to scratch and sniff? Did you listen to the commentary? John Waters' commentary tracks are amazing, often funnier than the films themselves.

Now, are you ready for Waters' earlier, cruder and more openly sadistic films? (Pink Flamingos, Female Trouble, Desperate Living) I find those hard to sit through, but still kind of fascinating at the same time. And they all have interesting/hilarious commentary tracks on their DVD releases. Go on, rent Pink Flamingos. I double dog dare ya!

Yeah, I know it's the style. And it grew on my as the movie went on, and in other films I think it's great. But for some whatever reason I thought it hurt this film, dumbed it down a little.

And Wall-E. Holy crap did Wall-E lift stuff straight from this film or what?

Ah, ok. I thought it was purely an attempt to use 1930's comics and animation elements (pie eyes) to echo the 1930's style architecture etc. To that end, if they had taken it to the nth degree and had the characters look like Steamboat Willie but in color, it might have been awesome.

Otherwise, it was beautiful.

The original Tezuka Metropolis manga was published in 1949, and the 2001 animated film retains its character designs, but they decided to render the environment digitally (and as pointed out, quite beautifully). The resulting contrast in detail and dimensionality is indeed striking, maybe even jarring, but unique.

HBO is making Mildred Pierce into a mini-series
 

This is just 27 different kinds of wrong.....

HBO remake with Kate Winslet as Mildred, Guy Pearce as Monte

EW report is here

5 hour mini-series? Jeebus the nice tight 111 minutes does quite nicely.

They going to cast Ann Blyth as Mrs. Biederhoffer?

Are you sure it isn't a remake of Mildred Fierce?

Well, my parents and I all went to see Alice In Wonderland today, and I loved it. The 3-D was alright, not really all that great like Avatar. But, overall I'm madly in love with it. And I quite enjoyed the Mad Hatter's dance, I giggled throughout the whole thing.


That may be because they were planning to do it like that in the first place but then backed out of the idea and went with this. I (you may call me weird) do like the idea of Alice and the Mad Hatter like that, they do seem to fit together quite well. Then again, that's just what I think. I like weird couples. :D

The boy and I went to Diary of a Wimpy Kid yesterday. I think they did a good job keeping it close to the books. I'm so glad I'm not in Junior High anymore!

How to Train Your Dragon

Loved it!

I highly recommend it.

I noticed that the front cover of USA Today last week touted How To Train Your Dragon as a new Pixar film. Oops.