Last Movie You Watched...

The Tempest. Very nice reinterpretation of the classic, keeping all of the original dialogue intact (I think. I am a simple screenwriter and unversed in fine arts ) while making full use of the amazing Hawaii locales. Helen Mirren performs an amazing Prospero, with Ben Whishaw as a nude hermaphroditic Ariel and Djimon Hounsou as an over the top Caliban. On the other hand, there's Russell Brand doing his thing as Trinculo and some Beatles-esque reinterpretations of various poetic monologues. It's pretty enjoyable, though classical purists might freak out.

...and tonight: The Tourist. Very disappointing. I dig Johnny Depp and here he's very funny and owns the role. Angelina is gorgeous - she's like a young Sophia Loren in this movie (that's the highest praise I can muster). But is it me or is she incredibly wooden in her last few movies? To be fair, Johnny looks embarrassed too but at least he tries. And this one struck me as amazingly derivative and predictable sub-Hitchcockian filmmaking, coasting on the gorgeous leads and gorgeous Venetian locations to blind us to how formulaic the whole thing is.

PS Followed up with the Netflix disc du jour, Shock Corridor. Couldn't finish watching it. Hilariously bad tripe if you're in the mood to laugh at some pretentious old swill.

Toy Story 3 - hadn't seen it yet and LOVED it.

Rites of Passage. An indie family drama starring Jason Behr and Dean Stockwell. Surprisingly good, since I watched it on a whim and hadn't heard anything about it.

Wall Street II

Not bad. Douglas played the role well as he always does. I don't think it was as good as Wall Street I though, IMO.

127 Hours - I thought it lived up to the hype. I wasn't totally gung-ho about seeing it at first, but the ending was great
Before that, True Grit, which I loved.

The Horse Boy. And yes, I cried.

Angels & Demons. Meh.

Winter's Bone - Terrific. Powerful. Great film-making.

Arn-The Kinght Templar

It's available on Netflix streaming and is well worth the time. A fantastic Swedish production about the Knight Templar warrior that later returned to unite Sweden and become king. It's based on the novel trilogy by Jan Guillou. I admit it seems a bit long because it tries to get a big story into one production, but the acting, cinematography, story and battle scenes are fantastic. No computer crap, real actors riding horses hacking and slashing. I love Ridley Scott, but Arn should have been made instead of Kingdom of Heaven.

True Grit. This is amazing stuff, and Jeff Bridges is a hilarious towering Ruben "Rooster" Cogburn. The lead teenaged girl is the actual star, and she's awesome too. This may be the Coen Brothers' most audience friendly movie in years, even as it arrives at their usual WTF climax.

Toy Story 3. Kids got it for Christmas. Really sweet, I teared up.

Dear John. Not bad. Reminded me of when my husband and I got married, and he deployed, it was around the same time in the movie. The twist at the end was surprising though.

Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead.

Thought it was fantastic -- even the DH laughed himself silly at points.A few hours before that, I watched Moon for the second time. Great, great flick.

The Boys Are Back - I enjoyed it.

"Big Night"

SaraP said:

Toy Story 3 - hadn't seen it yet and LOVED it.

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Watched Toy Story 3 last week with the kids, and agree... Loved it!

Saw Day and Knight last night and was really surprised that I loved it too.
Best Tom Cruise has been since Top Gun, and certainly since jumping up and down on Oprah's couch.

Temple Grandin. It's superb.

The 2009 version of Wuthering Heights. Watched it twice and really enjoyed it.

In the Wild - based on the true story of Chris McCandless and his 2-year journey as a leather tramp. Very good adaptation of the book.

Resident Evil 4. Enjoyable crap.

Little Fockers. It was funny, but probably the least family friendly of the series. I've seen it twice, of course that is because I work at the theater and get free movies. Lol. Next movie will probably be Season of the Witch or Green Hornet.

A Hard Day's Night.

Fun flick.

Saw Black Swan last night. There were many things I liked about it - the subjective camera (although that took some warming up to), and the little hints early on things were not exactly as they seemed that gradually drew you into Nina's state of mind. The one thing I couldn't buy was (Spoiler Alert - highlight the following so I can give away the whole plot. Or don't, which would be better)

There is no way on God's green earth to dance two acts as she did, with that level of precision and grace, with a big gaping hole in her abdomen. I've had an appendectomy, and I can state based on that experience that the wound she (apparently - or did it really happen?) effectively disconnects the upper body from the lower in terms of vigorous activity. It's not even a matter of going on adrenalin. It's like cutting a bowstring. The bow simply will not perform its function, nor would a human body, regardless of adrenalin rush or training or any other consideration, IMHO and based on my experience. Never mind the wound would bleed enough that the back row would wonder why the whole middle of her costume was bright red.

Cronos. I don't quite know what to make of it. It was an odd little film to be sure.