I've Been Going to the...MOOOOvies

[Strider]

[Strider]

[SozoZoso]

I can recommend a old fashioned British ghost story..."Oh whistle and I'll come to you my lad"

It's a BBC drama based on a short story by M.R James

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3j4MAzQiTxE

Edited November 13, 2013 by SozoZoso

[Strider]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bpBETvNqHvQ&feature=youtube_gdata_player

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_h6SRrn7NA0&feature=youtube_gdata_player

[Cecil.]

I can recommend a old fashioned British ghost story..."Oh whistle and I'll come to you my lad"

It's a BBC drama based on a short story by M.R James

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3j4MAzQiTxE

And a very good choice to, sometimes suggestion can give anyone a sleepless night.

[Juliet]

LAST VEGAS.. .

[ebk]

LAST VEGAS.. .

Did you enjoy it Juliet? I saw a screening, and while I love the cast, I found the movie really...blah. I didn't hate it, but there was nothing really to recommend it for me. Other than Kevin Kline... (and Mary Steenburgen, honestly) I like to say that I'd listen to Morgan Freeman read the phone book...I'd really rather listen to him read the phone book than watch this movie again.

[Strider]

Did you enjoy it Juliet? I saw a screening, and while I love the cast, I found the movie really...blah. I didn't hate it, but there was nothing really to recommend it for me. Other than Kevin Kline... (and Mary Steenburgen, honestly) I like to say that I'd listen to Morgan Freeman read the phone book...I'd really rather listen to him read the phone book than watch this movie again.

I know you were asking Juliet, ebk, but I had the same reaction as you to "Last Vegas". Much like "The Counselor" and "The Family", the cast gave one hope for something better than what was actually delivered.

Count me as one who has always had a soft spot for Mary Steenburgen.

[Strider]

[Juliet]

Did you enjoy it Juliet? I saw a screening, and while I love the cast, I found the movie really...blah. I didn't hate it, but there was nothing really to recommend it for me. Other than Kevin Kline... (and Mary Steenburgen, honestly) I like to say that I'd listen to Morgan Freeman read the phone book...I'd really rather listen to him read the phone book than watch this movie again.

HI ebk and Strider:

I chose that over; Bad Grandpa, Captain Phillips, and Gravity....other shows that were at the same cinema....I wanted something light....

[Strider]

At last, it is the final day of the AFI Fest and my last screenings of the week. A wrap-up of the good, the bad and the ugly is forthcoming.

[redrum]

A heartbreaking work of staggering genius. Gina Rowlands and Peter Falk are mint.

The trailer doesn't do it justice. You have to see it in hi-def. I was blown away by the color along with the acting.

[redrum]

The final scene from 'The 49th Parallel.' Raymond Massey puts the hurt on the nazi bastard. :^)

[zepscoda]

I'm taking the kids to see Despicable Me II tonight..........my neurologist just up my dosage of Propronoal from 80 to 120 mg, so I may actually enjoy this movie....LOL.

[Strider]

I'm taking the kids to see Despicable Me II tonight..........my neurologist just up my dosage of Propronoal from 80 to 120 mg, so I may actually enjoy this movie....LOL.

Not being a medicine man, I have no idea what that does or is prescribed for...is it a sedative?

The 2013 Cinema Italian Style Festival http://www.cinemaitalianstyle.net/home.html has begun and I saw two amusing comedies last night, with two of the beautiful actresses from the films in person...Claudia Gerini from "A Perfect Family" and Kasia Smutniak from "Welcome Mr. President!"

A Perfect Family (Una Famiglia Perfetta) 2012

Directed by: Paolo Genovese Runtime: 120 min.

Cast: Sergio Castellitto

Claudia Gerini

Marco Giallini

Carolina Crescentini

Synopsis:

Leone (Sergio Castellitto) is a very wealthy, very lonely man. He makes the decision to create a family Christmas by writing a script and hiring professional actors to play different family members. The comedian Fortunato (Marco Giallini), his wife Carmen (Claudia Gerini), the old Rosa (Ilaria Occhini) and young Sole (Carolina Crescentini), Luna (Eugenia Costantini) and Pietro (Eugenio Franceschini), are the cast of the ramshackle company who, when in the presence of Leone, play their parts. However, when alone they become themselves again, expressing their own thoughts and feelings about their real lives and this absurd project which they have agreed to participate in. It is not an easy task, with Leone’s constant mood-swings disturbing his own script and forcing the actors to improvise. To complicate things further, he threatens to not pay if proceedings do not develop in an acceptable way. The unexpected arrival of Alicia (Francesca Neri) causes a serious disruption, throwing the script into a disorder that will ultimately make or break the strange family unit.

Welcome Mr. President! (Benvenuto Presidente! 2013

Directed by: Riccardo Milani Runtime: 100 min.

Cast: Claudio Bisio

Kasia Smutniak

Giuseppe Fiorello

Remo Girone

Synopsis:

Giuseppe Garibaldi (Peppino to his friends) lives in a tiny Italian mountain village. “Afflicted” with incurable optimism he enjoys good company, finds his work at the public library extremely rewarding but – above all… he loves fishing along the mountain streams. His life moves on peacefully until, by one of those political intrigues, his name comes up as the elected President of the country. He finds himself suddenly cast into a role he knows he is inadequate for but for which, against all odds, he accepts responsibility. His shameless commonsense, unlimited straightforwardness and disarming honesty produce unexpected results. The new President shakes the institutions to the bones and wins back the trust of a disheartened country. But of course murky schemings can be glimpsed over the horizon. Life in the high seat of power will never be as peaceful as a mountain spring.

I have to imagine that there will be some studio that attempts an American remake of "Una Famiglia Perfetta"...it's a perfect feel-good Christmas-time movie. As for "Benvenuto Presidente!", there were some similarities to "Being There", the charming 1970s film starring Peter Sellers...but this Italian film is more overtly loopy and slapstick in its satire of Italian politics. Both of the leads are ingratiating and fun to watch...and Kasia is most definitely easy on the eyes.

Tonight I'm going with friends to an Edgar Wright triple-bill at the American Cinematheque's Egyptian Theatre..."Shaun of the Dead"/"Hot Fuzz"/"The World's End", with Edgar Wright in person for a discussion and Q & A.

http://www.americancinemathequecalendar.com/content/shaun-of-the-dead-hot-fuzz-the-world%E2%80%99s-end

I have seen the first two, but haven't had a chance to see "The World's End" yet, so looking forward to crossing it off my list.

Edited November 16, 2013 by Strider

[zepscoda]

^ Propranolol (INN) is a sympatholytic non-selective beta blocker....as written by wiki. After a lifetime of getting headaches, I decided to see the doc about it. After 7 months of ruling out allergies by my primary doc, a neurologist confirmed after a 15min conversation that it was indeed migraines.....he prescribed propranolol and it was the like Red Sea parted...LOL. Works amazing, from 3 a week to 5 a month.....but to answer your question, yes there are some VERY mellow aspects to this drug, but not like an opioid.

Turns out the movie was really good , for what it is. Better than the first one....seeing it at a dollar theater made it all the better!

Edited November 17, 2013 by zepscoda

[redrum]

With football in season this was hilarious.

[SozoZoso]

After the whole afternoon festooned with sickening Christmas stuff, I'm treating myself to watching an ol' 80's gross-out film..Slugs

[redrum]

We're going to watch this tonight:

[paul carruthers]

[zepscoda]

We got our tickets for opening night of the Hobbit in 3D IMAX.

[Strider]

Here's your answer ebk...

"Out of the Furnace" is a bit of a mix of "Deliverance", "Winter's Bone" and bare-knuckle fighting. It's good, not great...but the cast is uniformly excellent: Christian Bale, Casey Affleck, Zoe Saldana, Willem Dafoe, Woody Harrelson, Sam Shepard, Forest Whitaker. Bale hardly seems Welsh anymore, he's so adept at American accents that it is always shocking to me to hear him speak with his normal Welsh voice.

Just as writer-director Scott Cooper wrote the movie "Crazy Heart" expressly for Jeff Bridges, Cooper wrote "Out of the Furnace" purposely for Christian Bale and would not make it until Bale could do it. Cooper also wanted to use Pearl Jam's song "Release" and after showing the movie to Eddie Veddar, Eddie was so impressed he said he would record a new version of the song for the film. You hear the original "Release" during the movie and the new version over the closing credits.

The film is set and was shot in and around Braddock and North Braddock, PA...with other locations shot in West Virginia and Beaver County, PA.

The film played during the AFI Fest a few weeks ago, but there was only one screening scheduled and my schedule was in conflict. Fortunately, I got to see it at a preview last week with Scott Cooper along for a Q & A. "Out of the Furnace" opens tomorrow in limited release and then should start spreading around the country. The problem is that it will probably be overshadowed by that other Christian Bale film coming out in December: "American Hustle". Studios usually don't like to schedule two films with the same actor so close together.

But if you get a chance to see "Out of the Furnace", I definitely recommend going before it gets swallowed up by all the big-studio Oscar-bait coming out this month.

[zepscoda]

The kids are getting cabin fever due to the ice storm. We are going to make a break for it and try to make it to the theater to see Frozen this afternoon.

[jb126]

"Thor 2" - The first Marvel Comics film I've gone to the theater to watch. I wanted to see a movie, there weren't many choices. It was entertaining, fun. I wish Tom Hiddleston had more minutes.

"Out of the Furnace" - "Release" is one of my favorite Pearl Jam tunes that I hadn't listened to in ages. As soon as I was in my car, into the CD player "Ten" went. "Furnace" included some very powerful performances, but I found myself wishing for more character development. To add to Strider's notes above, I would include some themes from "The Deer Hunter" into the mix.

"Blue is the Warmest Color" - loved it. Realistic portrayal of being in love for the first time, I thought about it quite a bit after seeing it. This three hour film did not seem too long to me.

[Kiwi_Zep_Fan87]