I've Been Going to the...MOOOOvies

[Patrycja]

I caught "New Moon" streaming and sat through it. Terrible terrible movie. I mean even bad movies would be embarrassed to have this be called a bad movie. There's a scene where Bella crashes on her motorcycle (helmets people, helmets!) and he head's bleeding a bit. So hottie werewolf rides up to her to see if she's ok. Then he stands up, and takes off his shirt so he can dab the blood on her forehead . Too much slo-mo, too much emo, too much bad dialogue. At least I didn't spend any money on it.

I also saw "The Kite Runner" which was very good. A story of friendship, courage and redemption set (in part)in the backdrop of the Afghan/Russian war.

[longdistancewinner]

I caught "New Moon" streaming and sat through it. Terrible terrible movie. I mean even bad movies would be embarrassed to have this be called a bad movie. There's a scene where Bella crashes on her motorcycle (helmets people, helmets!) and he head's bleeding a bit. So hottie werewolf rides up to her to see if she's ok. Then he stands up, and takes off his shirt so he can dab the blood on her forehead . Too much slo-mo, too much emo, too much bad dialogue. At least I didn't spend any money on it.

Oh, god, I saw New Moon and thought the same. I did the same thing, so didn't spend any money, but still, I felt bad for watching it.

I actually didn't have a problem with Jacob (Taylor Lautner), he did the best with what he was given. I felt it was all on Bella. Kristen Stewart is a terrible, terrible actress who believes blinking, biting her lip and sweeping her hair back is the appropriate emotional response in every scene. You're about to get fucking eaten, sweetheart, so what do you do? I think I'll blink for a bit. Eurgh.

Rob Pattinson is a close second. 'Never trust a vampire... trust me.' I see what you did there, Rob. Really clever He looked so pained whenever he had to kiss Bella. To be fair, so would I, but he's the actor. Friggin' act like you love her.

The only saving grace in this film was Jackson Rathbone (a bloodthirsty Jasper), but even then that's because I'd be on it 'til it fell off. I sat through 2 hours of shit just to hear him utter two lines. I ought to feel dirty but he's just so beautiful...

[Patrycja]

Oh, god, I saw New Moon and thought the same. I did the same thing, so didn't spend any money, but still, I felt bad for watching it.

I actually didn't have a problem with Jacob (Taylor Lautner), he did the best with what he was given. I felt it was all on Bella. Kristen Stewart is a terrible, terrible actress who believes blinking, biting her lip and sweeping her hair back is the appropriate emotional response in every scene. You're about to get fucking eaten, sweetheart, so what do you do? I think I'll blink for a bit. Eurgh.

Rob Pattinson is a close second. 'Never trust a vampire... trust me.' I see what you did there, Rob. Really clever He looked so pained whenever he had to kiss Bella. To be fair, so would I, but he's the actor. Friggin' act like you love her.

The only saving grace in this film was Jackson Rathbone (a bloodthirsty Jasper), but even then that's because I'd be on it 'til it fell off. I sat through 2 hours of shit just to hear him utter two lines. I ought to feel dirty but he's just so beautiful...

I didn't read the books but a lot of my students kept on about them and the media hype was excessive. I get that it'll make its $200+ million by virtue of catering to that demographic alone. But it's not so much that the movie didn't live up to too high expectations - any movie no matter how great can fall short in that context. It's that it seems they didn't even bother putting some effort into making it palatable for anyone who actually wants to see, you know, a decent movie. The books are what they are, not exactly masterpieces, but you can still make a good film with average source material. Are Bella and Edward really that wooden in the books? Makes you wonder why the two hottest guys in town are after her to begin with - or is just a case of birds of a feather? Taylor wasn't that bad, true, but I might have just been distracted too much by his six pack. Good eye candy all around, agree with you.

At least it didn't break the opening weekend's take of "The Dark Knight" which was excellent. A little bit of justice there.

[ninelives]

I caught "New Moon" streaming and sat through it. Terrible terrible movie. I mean even bad movies would be embarrassed to have this be called a bad movie. There's a scene where Bella crashes on her motorcycle (helmets people, helmets!) and he head's bleeding a bit. So hottie werewolf rides up to her to see if she's ok. Then he stands up, and takes off his shirt so he can dab the blood on her forehead . Too much slo-mo, too much emo, too much bad dialogue. At least I didn't spend any money on it.

I also saw "The Kite Runner" which was very good. A story of friendship, courage and redemption set (in part)in the backdrop of the Afghan/Russian war.

Kite Runner was great - the book is much much better - an incredible and moving story and one of the best books I've ever read.

[redrum]

Just watched 'I Want To Live' with Susan Hayward.

She played convicted murderess Barbara Graham who was executed at San Quentin.

[longdistancewinner]

I didn't read the books but a lot of my students kept on about them and the media hype was excessive. I get that it'll make its $200+ million by virtue of catering to that demographic alone. But it's not so much that the movie didn't live up to too high expectations - any movie no matter how great can fall short in that context. It's that it seems they didn't even bother putting some effort into making it palatable for anyone who actually wants to see, you know, a decent movie. The books are what they are, not exactly masterpieces, but you can still make a good film with average source material. Are Bella and Edward really that wooden in the books? Makes you wonder why the two hottest guys in town are after her to begin with - or is just a case of birds of a feather? Taylor wasn't that bad, true, but I might have just been distracted too much by his six pack. Good eye candy all around, agree with you.

At least it didn't break the opening weekend's take of "The Dark Knight" which was excellent. A little bit of justice there.

I'm not a huge Twilight fan, but, still, you'd think that they would've tried to better the success of the first one. I wasn't a huge fan after Batman Begins, but TDK blew that one out the water. And if they make a third one, I'll want that to surpass TDK - visually and in plot. New Moon should've done that. It should've surpassed Twilight. And it didn't. Epic fail on Summit's part.

The problem with New Moon was that a different director took the helm. Everything from costume and make up, to the acting, was 'uncharacteristic' of Twilight. If you're not going to follow the books religiously, fine. But, if you're doing a supposed 'Saga', you might want to consider continuity a wee bit more thoroughly. The time that lapses between Twilight and New Moon is a matter of weeks, yet, somehow, most of the characters have different hair, eye colour, personalities, etc. It just irked me to see characters from the first film seem out of character in the second one. And they were pretty out of character in the first film, as it goes.

[Patrycja]

Kite Runner was great - the book is much much better - an incredible and moving story and one of the best books I've ever read.

I'm just starting it with one of my students! One of those rare times I read something with them that I'd read on my own time, too. Looking forward to it. Have you read his second novel - A Thousand Splendid Suns? I'm in the middle of a few books now for work but was wondering if this one too came recommended. Oh, and hi Nine

[ninelives]

I'm just starting it with one of my students! One of those rare times I read something with them that I'd read on my own time, too. Looking forward to it. Have you read his second novel - A Thousand Splendid Suns? I'm in the middle of a few books now for work but was wondering if this one too came recommended. Oh, and hi Nine

Hi Patrycja

Yes I've read his second novel. Also well worth reading and very emotional. Highly recommend it too!

[BonzoLikeDrumer]

Went with my granddaughter and niece to see the new 3D Christmas Carol movie the other day and was very pleased with it!

It was a "Disney" style picture with lot's of action and great graphics! A few scary part's but not too bad really. My granddaughter was trying to catch snow flake's with her tong that seemed to be floating in the room (Got to love that!)! Quite real looking and the scene's where very well translated to one another and it was a tear jerk'er in some area's.

It followed the story and scene work of the movie I remember seeing as a kid in the 1970's with Alistair Sim as Scrooge filmed in 1951. I like the colorized remake of that one.

It was 2 extra buck's for the 3D glasses but it was worth the price as even the preview's where in 3D!

If you go take some glasses cleaner with you as the one's we got where not all that clean.

Edited November 27, 2009 by BonzoLikeDrumer

[Deborah J]

Just watched 'I Want To Live' with Susan Hayward.

She played convicted murderess Barbara Graham who was executed at San Quentin.

One of the best movies ever made. I have the DVD as my Mom got me to watch this when I was really young. Still love it!

[Poindexter]

Avatar.

The 3-D was amazing as well as the wonderful colors. Eye candy.

The movie was an hour longer than need be and the younger children began to wander the isle towards the end.

Cameron relied too much on Aliens and special effects. Ripley, Sigourney Weaver was back as well as many of the Aliens props.

Sam Worthington who stunk up Terminator Salvation tried his best to leave his foul stench on Avatar cast in the lead role.

Zoe Saldana was great as the Na`vi princess Neytiri.

The movie was over-hyped, the plot a bit thin and the dialogue was full of bad one-liners but overall, a good movie for a cold winter day.

[Broken Levee]

I saw Taking Woodstock a few days ago. Its not about the music, but more about the spirit of woodstock, like free love and drug experimental. The main guy had like 2 or 3 homosexual encounters, lol. It wasn't what I expected, It was kind of artsy. I really enjoyed it though.

[bigstickbonzo]

I finally saw Watchmen today..

I generally liked the film, having never read the graphic novel growing up. Snyder did a good job keeping the pacing of the film at an enjoyable level and I really never found myself getting bored. The characters were fresh and in your face. Rorschach was fuckin' bad ass.

All in all a good flick. 3 outta 4 from this guy.

Edited January 7, 2010 by bigstickbonzo

[Footsteps of Dawn]

I saw Sherlock Holmes a while ago... I thought it was decent, if not great. I thought it worked great as an action film - it had sort of a Pirates-esque adventure feel, which I liked - but as a Holmes film, it needed a loooot more story.

I actually liked Robert Downey Jr. as Holmes, although as with Iron Man, you're going to get more RDJ than the character, but the melding of the two worked for me (even with the bad accent, hehe). Who I really liked was Jude Law - I thought he was perfect for Watson. I'm a little tired of Watson being played as a bumbling old fool, when he's really not that way in the books, so that was a nice change. The bad guy (Mark Strong) did really well with what he was given, too. I'm not even going to waste my breath on Rachel McAdams - let's just say she sucked and leave it at that. Call Helena

[The Rover]

The "Feel Good" Movie of 2010 ??

Wide Screen View

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NdI_9P6zM2k

Edited January 10, 2010 by The Rover

[Patrycja]

In no particular order:

"This Is It" - it's a behind the scenes look of rehearsals for what would've been MJ's 'comeback' concert. It definitely would've been a spectacle, so too bad it didn't happen. Entertaining overall. It's like watching DVD extras for a couple of hours. I appreciated all the hard work and perfectionism it takes to stage something of that scale, but a couple of big turn-offs were MJ telling other musicians how to play their instruments (ie/ Orianthi's guitar solo) and - worst of all - the nauseating ass kissing of MJ by Kenny Ortega. If other stars get even a fraction of such treatment it's no wonder they have a hard time getting a grip on reality.

"The Hurt Locker" - awesome movie about a bomb diffusing squad in Iraq and how looking death in the face can become addictive. Unsentimental yet moving. Finally a movie that lets the subject matter speak for itself rather than playing up and on audience emotions. Great performances.

"2012" - Well. It is what it is. Still, pretty funny how terrible a movie can be. Miscast (I just don't buy John Cusack in this situation), it's like watching a video game in which the characters are outrunning a calamity from earth or air, only you don't get to use the controls. Lots of explosions, including the center's of some of the world's main religions (Vatican was shown being destroyed, Mecca was not. Apparently Emmerich wanted to show it, but producers nixed that idea. Can't imagine why ) and then people survive a movie that seems to promise the end of the world. Good guys are saved again in a modern steely ark.

"Brothers" - good performances for the actors, but not much of a plot (it's made to look as if Jake has an affair with Toby's wife while the latter's presumed dead in Afghanistan, but that doesn't really develop so...), and it ends at what feels like a midpoint. I guess it was a vehicle for actors stretching their acting chops?

"Inglorious Basterds" - really good, cool style, Tarantino does not disappoint. Even Pitt and his cheesy, affected southern accent was tolerable with a strong supporting cast. It's separated into five chapters with a through line of vengeance and gory violence that links them. Christoph Waltz as Hans Landa was excellent.

"Avatar" - simplistic plot that almost - but not completely - gets forgotten by the spectacular visuals. Seriously, it was almost hypnotic and then when you get out of the theatre real life seems, well, a bit dull. I'm liberal and even I found the message a tad blunt and pandering to the converted. Still, it's a juggernaut. I went at 2pm this past Sunday to buy tickets for the 3pm show - sold out, as was the 6pm slot. Got the 7pm tickets, arrived at the theatre half an hour before it started and the best I could get was third row. Normally I hate sitting that close, but the 3D ensures that you get the same perspective no matter where you sit. Actually, it made it seem as if we were in that world all the more, so it's actually better to sit a little closer for a 3D movie. A definite leap forward in cinematic technology and movie going experience. I guess this is one (albeit expensive) way to offset streaming online. It just doesn't compare when seeing it in 2D.

[Dance the Crunge]

Just watched Michael Clayton on DVD. Great movie with an amazing performance by George Clooney among others. Highly recommended.

[Patrycja]

Forgot to add "The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus", a weird and wonderful tale of the Doctor trying to gets out of a Faustian deal made centuries before. Excellent cast and performances, especially a nice surprise from Andrew Garfield. Bittersweet since it was Heath's last performance, so whenever Jude Law, Johnny Depp or Colin Farrell were on screen you knew it was because Heath had passed. Still, splitting the character into three worked really well with the story.

The visuals were sort of Daliesque but competed with the narrative. Sometimes they were too obscure and it took you away from the story because you were left trying to figure out what the hell you were looking at, and what it had to do with the story, and other times you were hit on the head with the symbolism. Case in point, Dr. Parnassus travels through a seemingly endless series of lifeless environments, and comes to a bottomless cliff at the edge of which is a highway cut off at both ends. Ok. He's reached the end of the road. Got it. Put the hammer away, Terry. Still, worth a look since you rarely see movie with that kind of style. Has some heartwarming moments, too.

[C0mmunicati0nBreakd0wn]

In theaters:

The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus

At home:

Inglourious Basterds

Loved both movies! "Imaginarium" was quite unusual, but very brilliant. Its was unbelievable at how much Jude Law, Johnny Depp, and Colin Farrel seemed to look like Heath, and I thought it was very nice of the actors of giving all the money they made for that movie to Heath's daughter Matilda. Overall, I adored "The Imaginarium" and it never at one point disappointed me . "Inglourious" was probably the best movie I have ever seen (Besides like 10 others on my fav movie list, including "Imaginarium" ) Boy, do I love that "Bear Jew"!! Loved everything about it, the style, the actors (Brad Pitt with that accent, gold.), the whole storyline, just incredible. When Hans Landa appeared next to Emmanuelle Mimieux, I almost had a heart attack! I think I also almost had a heart attack when he beat the man with the bat, scalped nazi's, and carved the Swastika into Hans' forehead.

Couple other movies seen recently (All still great):

No Country for Old Men

The Crow

Sherlock Holmes

Ocean's Thirteen

The Bourne Supremacy

I wish I could say something about those movies too, but I'll probably end up writing a butt load of stuff. It was hard enough not to write so much about "Imaginarium" and "Inglourious" .

[bigstickbonzo]

I saw The Book of Eli last night.

Denzel and Gary were awesome. Too bad the movie they were in sucked. The music was melodic and sometimes was eerily frightening and it was great to see Ray Stevenson (Rome) in something other than a bad Punisher flick. There just wasn't enough of a backbone for the movie to really work other than a vehicle to promote Denzel as a badass, bible toting drifter and Gary Oldman as a madman possessed with capturing Denzel's holy book. Mila Kunis, while looking better than ever, doesn't really do much either. To her credit, she tries everytime she's presented with a scene that calls for a dramatic tone, but again, the script is too hollow for any of them to really engage us in anything beyond a breezy, half baked, shoot-em-up, post-apocalyptic fantasy.

2 outta 4 stars.

[redrum]

Just watched 'FANTASIA' again. The animation beats any computer generated mierda!

[maven2blue]

Watched "The White Ribbon". I liked it but can't say I loved it. The way the movie ended kept it from being great, imo.

[~tangerine~]

Saw two movies lately. Two weeks ago took my daughter and one of my nieces to see "The Princess and the Frog". I really enjoyed the authenticity of New Orleans the movie brought to it. I even shed a couple tears towards the end when the firefly died and joined his true love My daughter fell asleep half way through (but she's not good at sitting still long). My niece really liked it. Today i took my daughter to see "Alvin and the Chipmunks, the Squeakquel". Wasn't sure i would be able to sit through it, but it wasn't too bad. Best part, we were the only two people in the theatre! My daughter really liked it so was worth the trip. I am hoping to see Avatar at IMAX soon.

[djzoso]

Just watched 'FANTASIA' again. The animation beats any computer generated mierda!

that movie used to creep me out when i was young when the really dramatic parts started and the music got really intense it freaked me out but now i see it and it's beautiful.

Edited January 22, 2010 by djzoso

[longdistancewinner]

I saw Sherlock Holmes a while ago... I thought it was decent, if not great. I thought it worked great as an action film - it had sort of a Pirates-esque adventure feel, which I liked - but as a Holmes film, it needed a loooot more story.

I actually liked Robert Downey Jr. as Holmes, although as with Iron Man, you're going to get more RDJ than the character, but the melding of the two worked for me (even with the bad accent, hehe). Who I really liked was Jude Law - I thought he was perfect for Watson. I'm a little tired of Watson being played as a bumbling old fool, when he's really not that way in the books, so that was a nice change. The bad guy (Mark Strong) did really well with what he was given, too. I'm not even going to waste my breath on Rachel McAdams - let's just say she sucked and leave it at that. Call Helena

I saw Sherlock Holmes tonight actually. I pretty much have to agree with you.

RDJ is a really, I think, charismatic actor, but it kind of bleeds into every role he does. He had the same kind of witty banter and charm going on in Zodiac, Iron Man, and, now, Sherlock Holmes. Having said that, he may not an obvious choice for the role, but one I'm glad he took. His accent was the only thing that let it down for me. It was far too contrived. He drank, had bare-knuckled fights, dressed like a tramp, yet he sounded like a Lord? Nah. Rachel McAdams is a good actress, IMO, but I didn't get her role in this at all. She had little to no point and she just confused me. But, the one I was really impressed with was Jude Law. He sucks majorly at being a loyal boyfriend, but is a pretty good sidekick. I don't think he's a strong enough actor to pull off a lead, but has enough stregth to support one. He and RDJ had great chemistry.

All in all it was entertaining enough.