Quantum of Solace
Michael Clayton
The Visitor
The Day The Earth Stood Stiller - not so good
Doubt - pretty good
Slumdog Millionaire - not bad, but I don’t know what all the fuss was about
Bedtime Stories - stupid, but great special effects
Marley & Me + Seven Pounds - I watched these one after the other - very red eyes by the end of the night
djm
Watchmen
I thought it was worth the price of the ticket just to enjoy how beautifully crafted it is. Terrific photography.
Yes, it was certainly an eyeful, but that isn’t what people were praising it for, so it left me wondering what was so “special” about it. Definitely worth seeing once, though.
djm
Rent Superbad on DVD. It’s an old (by now) but good teen flick. Watch it before it becomes one of those movies that is on TV all the time but they clip out all the mature parts and lose the meaning of the film.
Harvey Milk, with Sean Penn - really liked it.
Knowing, with Nicholas Cage - what a crap.
Movie I missed: The Watchmen. How did you like it? I am a true science fiction fan, would you recommend it?
I just read the Watchmen book and thought it was pretentious garbage. I’m hoping the movie has enough visual effects to make up for the stupid storyline.
djm
Hmmm, maybe. The thing about Watchmen is that if you go in expecting an action movie you’ll be disappointed. If you go in expecting a drama that asks the question “What if the hero is crazier and more dangerous than the villian?” then you may like it. Also, it’s kind of a period piece, set in an alternate 1985 where the USA won the Vietnam War.
That, right there, disrecommends it to me. This, from someone who enjoyed and likes to think he “got” Jacob’s Ladder.
Watched it last night. Very good performance, as usual, by Sean Penn.
I recently watched (again) my favourite film of all time; Dr Strangelove or how i learned to stop worrying and love the bomb
Enjoyed:
[u]To Kill a King[/u] - about the friendship of Oliver Cromwell and General Fairfax. Dougray Scott does a good job as Fairfax, but Tim Roth is outstanding as Cromwell.
[u]Bottle Shock[/u] - about how a California wine won a blind taste test in France in the late 1970s. Bill Pullman and Alan Rickman are both very good in their roles.
Did not enjoy:
[u]Sideways[/u] - about two jerks on a road trip through California wine country. Why did this movie get such good reviews? And an Oscar for the writing? Bleh.
There are about, I don’t know, 5 - 10 movies I watch about annually. That’s one of them.
Let’s see.
Dr. Strangelove
2001: A Space Odyssey
Blade Runner
Pulp Fiction
Almost Famous
Magnolia
The Station Agent
I think No Country for Old Men might end up in that category.
Bolt
Kung Fu Panda
Monsters v Aliens
none of which are as good as Shrek, which is my yard stick for all things animated
Lordy, my film watching is limited these days.
I agree, it could be a good film but it’s ruined by the fact that I hate both the main characters. If they’d at least made the sidekick character likeable, instead of an obnoxious dick, then it might have worked better.
Having said all that the scene when they try and crash the car is pretty funny.
What?! Slumdog Millionaire?! That movie was shot like television. Every shot was tilted 30 degrees to one side and overexposed. Not to mention the too-frenetic pacing and poverty-porn, hipster-chic premise.
I thought it was a decent movie. Better than a lot of things. Not particularly good, either. Certainly not “beautiful.” YMMV.
I agree with all your observations. I meant that I thought the subject matter, i.e. the people, places and daily life of India, to be an eyeful in themselves.
djm
Not new, but I finally got to see “The Full Monty”… absolutely worth watching, at least once! Hillarious and poignent as well.
The Visitor. Liked this a lot.
Ghost Town. I saw this in the theater and then a couple times on airplane flights. Moving and funny.
Man for all Seasons. (This is old, of course, but well done.)