Miscellaneous Movie Musings the Sequel

[JWBear]

I've heard that Cameron filmed some stuff with the Californian, but it got dropped from the final cut.

[Prudence]

A bunch of movies in my Netflix streaming queue are disappearing with the new year, so I'm watching as many this weekend as I can. So far today I've tackled A Man for All Seasons and Sabotage, and now I'm on to the Incredible Mr. Limpet.

[flippyshark]

Originally Posted by Prudence

A bunch of movies in my Netflix streaming queue are disappearing with the new year, so I'm watching as many this weekend as I can. So far today I've tackled A Man for All Seasons and Sabotage, and now I'm on to the Incredible Mr. Limpet.

Watched all of those within the last year or so. I really liked A Man For All Seasons. I followed it up with Anne of the Thousand Days, which was not as well written or compelling, but it was a logical and relevant follow-up. (I revisited Mr. Limpet not long ago, which was nostalgic fun. I know that the sung chorus of "be careful, be caaareful" rang through my head for decades after I saw this at the age of maybe 6 or so.)

[alphabassettgrrl]

So it turns out The Goonies is a pretty cool movie. Also, it's nice to watch older movies- all the trivia's on IMDB.

[Prudence]

Concluded the day with The 39 Steps - my clear favorite of the today's assortment.

[innerSpaceman]

Wow, was I ever disappointed with The Muppets. What did everyone else like about this lackluster film? I enjoyed the songs. And I liked the bit about Fozzie reduced to performing in Reno with a Muppet cover band (the Moopets, bwahaha) and being forced to change his song lyrics to shill for the casino he worked for. Everything about that segment was as funny as the rest of the film WAS NOT.

It was mildly cute at best.


Next - Sherlock Holmes was fun. Wow, is Sherlock ever even MORE gay for Watson in this one! I found them both enjoyable as a couple, but less so than in the first movie since the fun of being introduced to these characters and their interaction was now absent. The plot was ridiculous, and Sherlock came off a bit less brilliant this time. But it was all good fun and I liked it well enough.

But, um, enough. I don't think I'll be splurging for any further installments at the movies.


I've enjoyed screener season way more than holiday movie season this year. So glad I got to check out Hanna. I'd been misinformed about the subject when it was in release, and it turns out to be a film I really like - about a girl bio-engineered to be a perfect soldier - then hidden in a remote ice-country to grow up when the project is shelved and all the other engineered kids destroyed. Rather charming mayhem ensues. If and when it's out on DVD, I highly recommend it. Eric Bana and Cate Blanchett star. The fantastic Saoirse Ronan plays the title character. You may have seen her in The Lovely Bones or Atonement.. She's awesome.

Ides of March was decidedly not bad. A little overwrought perhaps, but good Liberal entertainment. Good presidential campaign crew drama with a great cast - Phillip Seymour Hoffman, Ryan Gosling and George Clooney (who also directed).

The Debt is a very fine film about Mossad agents in East Germany in the early 60's trying to nab a high-level Nazi and bring him to justice in Israel, and what happens in the present day as a result of that operation. Helen Mirren and Tom Wilkinson star. Seemed a little long because there's the full story of what happens in both time periods, but worth it.

I rather liked Anonymous. Quite the highbrow affair for the likes of director Roland Emmerich, and it's a fun take on the Shakespeare denialist theories. It actually makes me a bit curious to look into those a little more. Bookend bits by noted Shakespearean actor Derek Jacobi lend a bit of credence to the film's conceit that Shakespeare's plays were not written by him, and that the bard was actually (and to fun effect) a drunken, illiterate, blackmailing actor and charlatan. Much more romantic to have the works ghost written by a nobleman romantically involved with Queen Elizabeth who dare not reveal his authorship.



That's all for now. More as I watch more / remember which films I've seen.

[Ghoulish Delight]

Originally Posted by innerSpaceman

Wow, was I ever disappointed with The Muppets. What did everyone else like about this lackluster film? I enjoyed the songs. And I liked the bit about Fozzie reduced to performing in Reno with a Muppet cover band (the Moopets, bwahaha) and being forced to change his song lyrics to shill for the casino he worked for. Everything about that segment was as funny as the rest of the film WAS NOT.

I think I said it here before, but I'll repeat my impression.

I can't argue with anyone for whom it didn't work as a movie. Even as I was tearing up at nearly everything, I could recognize that it was not a particularly good film, and not a particularly good showcase of Muppetdom.

But for me (and the others who liked it), it simply nailed the correct emotional tone. Likely aided by the fact that Jason Segel is very close to my own age, meaning the way we experienced the Muppets growing up was very similar. So even though I can objectively see what was lacking in the movie, something about it spoke directly to how I FEEL about the Muppets. It was 90 minutes of, "I know what the Muppets mean to you, they totally mean the same thing to me, and I totally want them to mean the same thing to people again. You should have brought tissues."

That, combined with the a slew of online and TV Muppet bits that HAVE been good, that DO contain the spark of the old Muppets. That whole package has me hopeful that a real comeback is on the horizon. It will have to improve upon this movie, but I'm currently encouraged and happy to be part of the positive reaction that will hopefully spur Disney to let whoever has been doing the good writing continue to do so.

[Strangler Lewis]

"Young Adult" was better than the typical Adam Sandlerish "If I could only return to my youth" stuff, but it still seemed a little broad, and I'm not sure that I bought the lead character. The Patton Oswalt character was something new and worth the price of admission.

"We Bought a Zoo" was the best movie I'd ever seen about a family that bought a zoo. Good fun and reasonably involving even if none of its dramatic plot lines amount to much at the end of the day. I'm on the fence about where it belongs in the developing oeuvre of "Matt Damon as paunchy, put-upon widower" films.

[Kevy Baby]

We watched Red Riding Hood last night. What a complete turd of a movie

[Alex]

Well, hopefully it put you into the mood for TWO live action versions of Snow White this year.