Last Movie You Watched...

ILove2Write said:

The books were better.

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Aren't they always?

I realized about midnight last night that I'd never gotten around to Breakfast at Tiffany's. I stayed up until 2 AM with it. What a lovely film.

Tangentially related to movies: I'm currently watching this amazing review of The Phantom Menace, and being surprised by how closely critique of a film corresponds to critique of a novel. For example, the reviewer complains that there is no protagonist - the Jedi are not emotionally involved enough, and Anakin doesn't turn up until 45 minutes in and even then lacks understanding and control over his situation. The reviewer also goes through a lengthy and amusing comparison of original trilogy characters (they have personality) to Phantom Menace characters (they have makeup and clothes). I'm learning a lot.

edit: I love the running gag that the narrator is a serial killer.

Jack Frost A very beautiful film.

Avatar - This is an amazing movie. It wasn't unpredictable, but it had A-level storytelling, it was beautiful, and it represented a true advancement in the state of the art of effects. Recommended for everyone with a pulse[SUP]1[/SUP].


[SUP]1[/SUP]Seriously. Those of you who frequent this thread may have noticed that I sometimes wax hyperbolic about some B movie that nobody but me will like. This isn't one of those times.

Avatar. Amazing visuals--the next step the way Jurassic Park, Matrix, et all were-- decent story.

Also saw Avatar. Also loved it. Great visual and great plot.

About to watch the new Star Trek for the second time. Such a good movie.

Night at the Museum 2. It was ehh

Avatar will stay with me for a very long time. So few movies do that. So many are forgotten an hour later. Avatar was a feast for all of my senses. I was completely immersed. I was shocked to later find out three hours had passed. (I didn't check the movie length before going in.) James Cameron rules.

Yeah, my friends were raving about Avatar too, I can't wait to see it! Only thing is I'll probably opt for the 2-D version than the 3-D version. Funny how they can spend so much on making the 3-D film but ignore the 3-D glasses, which are still as uncomfortable as ever

Avatar 3D. Excellent!

Going to see Avatar 3D when it's not so crowded. On a completely different note...

The Bed Sitting Room. Classic comedy from 60s Britain, about the survivors of a nuclear apocalypse. Yes, it's absurdist and grim, but it's also really funny, packed with too many great one liners to recall. Dudley Moore and Peter Cook of Beyond The Fringe as two detective types who keep telling everyone to "Keep Moving!" even as they transform into animals and even furniture, plus Marty Feldman as a nurse (complete with blue dress!) who hands out death certificates to the living and perfected the "in womb birth". Wild stuff! (but good luck finding it on DVD)

The Princess and the Frog. So freaking great.

mario_c said:

The Bed Sitting Room. Classic comedy from 60s Britain, about the survivors of a nuclear apocalypse. Yes, it's absurdist and grim, but it's also really funny, packed with too many great one liners to recall. Dudley Moore and Peter Cook of Beyond The Fringe as two detective types who keep telling everyone to "Keep Moving!" even as they transform into animals and even furniture, plus Marty Feldman as a nurse (complete with blue dress!) who hands out death certificates to the living and perfected the "in womb birth". Wild stuff! (but good luck finding it on DVD)

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If you can play Region 2 PAL DVDs, it's available in the UK.

eyeblink said:

If you can play Region 2 PAL DVDs, it's available in the UK.

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That's what I love of my DVD player, the only thing it doesn't read is the palm of the hand.

Just saw Star Wars: The Clone Wars (Animated movie version) and The Princess and the Frog in one night

The Hangover - Funniest movie I've seen in a while.

eyeblink said:

If you can play Region 2 PAL DVDs, it's available in the UK.

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Can you get one called Mediterraneo? It's Italian, IIRC, about some soldiers assigned to guard an island during WWII. Saw it years ago on VHS. The bit about the enemy chicken still cracks me up sometimes.

GI Joes The Rise of Cobra- I love movies that are made after cartoons or superheroes, when they do it well of course, and this movie wasn't so bad chalk full of action and little homages to the cartoon.

shawkins said:

The Hangover - Funniest movie I've seen in a while.



Can you get one called Mediterraneo? It's Italian, IIRC, about some soldiers assigned to guard an island during WWII. Saw it years ago on VHS. The bit about the enemy chicken still cracks me up sometimes.

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Amazon's got it in Region 2.

eyeblink said:

If you can play Region 2 PAL DVDs, it's available in the UK.

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I'll check it out, thanks. My Mac is basically my TV so I expect I can download the software (need to watch some of my expensive imported discs again!)

And last night...Bad Lieutenant: Port Of Call New Orleans. When I heard about a Bad Lieutenant 2 being made I said WTF? But when I heard Werner Herzog was directing Nicolas Cage in it I knew there was hope for it. Sure enough, it's a completely new take on the original's theme of a powermad N'Orleans cop coping with his own self-destructive nature. The best thing here is Nic, who channels his old batshit abstract acting style - the staged drug use must have invoked the demons from his pre-rehab days but it's effective, scary and funny and moving to watch. And Herzog takes the shoot into the darkest corners of the city, visibly risking life and limb at any given moment (love the musical iguanas!). I don't know what to think of how it all turns out, but it's a delicious open ending that compels you to solve the puzzle. Must not have been the right time for as dour an ending as the original - and no, Nic Cage does not whip his cock out. That's definitely different.
This movie is good stuff. But I'm still hoping for an Abel Ferrera comeback!

Bandslam. A terrific picture that should have done much better box office.

Persona. OK, is it just me, or does Ingmar Bergman sometimes just annoy the hell out of other people? Visually stunning, as all his films are, with more than its share of shots that are nothing short of genius, but I'm not sure his single point was sufficiently developed before the sudden flurry of can't-say-what-to-avoid-spoilers in the last few minutes. Or does it work better if you speak Swedish? Which I don't.

Persona. OK, is it just me, or does Ingmar Bergman sometimes just annoy the hell out of other people? Visually stunning, as all his films are, with more than its share of shots that are nothing short of genius, but I'm not sure his single point was sufficiently developed before the sudden flurry of can't-say-what-to-avoid-spoilers in the last few minutes. Or does it work better if you speak Swedish? Which I don't.

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Same here. I find Ingmar Bergman's films to be lacking in unity. The central conflict of Persona seemed to have been dropped halfway through for a different one. It felt as if he wrote a first-draft screenplay, without having gone back to strengthen the plants and payoffs.

I think of him as the poor man's Tarkovsky. *ducks*

Exir said:

Same here. I find Ingmar Bergman's films to be lacking in unity. The central conflict of Persona seemed to have been dropped halfway through for a different one. It felt as if he wrote a first-draft screenplay, without having gone back to strengthen the plants and payoffs.

I think of him as the poor man's Tarkovsky. *ducks*

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No brickbats headed your way from this direction. I'd say that's a pretty fair assessment.

An Education.

Do yawl think the same about Seventh Seal?