movies

[lukethedrifter]

The Lightning Thief- mostly it was interesting to watch my 9 y/o's reaction to a movie adaptation she had looked forward to. I warned her in advance that film adaptations can sometimes let down readers by cutting out important parts or getting too Hollywood but she felt confident TLT wouldn't take that path. So last night she read until 1255- so she says because I was asleep- in order to finish before seeing the movie this morning.
The movie was entertaining enough, the story was pretty weak, Rosario Dawson was soooo hot like always and the 9 y/o had a few disappointments- they left out a very important battle scene that takes place in the Arch for godsakes- but was liked it well enough. For me it was fun to have her tell me about the parts that were changed and whether she was okay with it or not.

Way not worth seeing if you aren't with a kid, imo.

[go birds]

Watched Sherlock Holmes last night.

I feel like i've read and heard nothing but bad reviews of this movie. Let me mention that this is the first SH movie ever seen, so there was nothing to compare it to, which may or may not have been why i liked it.

I thought it was great. A little confusing at times but everything gets tied up in the end. It appears as if there will be at least one more installment, which i am looking forward to.

worth checking out if you haven't seen it.

I'm not good with reviews so i'll just leave it at that.

[Jocephus]

Watched Sherlock Holmes last night.

I feel like i've read and heard nothing but bad reviews of this movie. Let me mention that this is the first SH movie ever seen, so there was nothing to compare it to, which may or may not have been why i liked it.

I thought it was great. A little confusing at times but everything gets tied up in the end. It appears as if there will be at least one more installment, which i am looking forward to.

worth checking out if you haven't seen it.

I'm not good with reviews so i'll just leave it at that.

my reviews about 10 words long...yours is fine

[robbotis]

Watched Zombieland this weekend. Normally, not a huge zombie movie fan, but this was more comedy than zombies.
Real funny. Loved the Slo-Mo zombie slayings in the intro. The soundtrack was awesome(SeaWolf, The Black Keys, Metric, Velvet Underground). Bill Murray, hilarious, but WTF was he thinking in the home theater? I always liked Woody Harrelson, and he's great in this.

[Freed Roger]

Appaloosa- Was this flick ever in theaters? I'd never heard of it until I watched it yesterday. Ed Harris pulled of a pretty good traditional Western with shades of a film noir potboiler.

It was in theaters in October 2008, but I don't know how long it stayed; I saw it with my grandma. Really interesting twist on the "Man with No Name" motif (normally the hero—named or not—has to do such horrific things to save the town that he isn't fit to live in it when he's done). I thought it dragged a bit at times, but overall, I really enjoyed it. As you'd expect with Ed Harris and Viggo Mortensen, the acting is absolutely top notch.

[SHOW]

I was expecting it to go that route but instead of how brutal Virgil Cole was you got how socially inept he was.

I enjoyed it.

[SHOW]

I loved how Everett took that mantle so Virgil could settle down, albeit awkwardly, as you said.

I'd forgotten that Jeremy Irons was in it too. He sure plays a kickass bad guy.

agreed about Irons, but i felt he was almost wasted in this movie.. i enjoyed it as a whole and
i can't stand rene zellwlehrehreger and she almost ruined it for me, but harris and viggo
were great together so i was still entertained.. i just felt they need to make Irons character
way more evil to justify the entire movie's premise.. i don't know

Watched Appaloosa last night. thanks for mentioning it GRB. It is enjoyable and overlooked - but I agree with Omaha's take on the flaws -Zellweger is just awful*, Irons character was undervillian-ized. Viggo Mortenson owned it, Harris was great too.

*zellweger

[SHOW]

her character had femme fatale side to it that had promise, but not with her playing it. at the end when Mortensen/Hitch shoots Bragg/Irons, I really wanted Hitch to turn the gun on Zellweger next and really set Virgil free.

Somewhere it says Diane Lane was originally cast for the Allison/Zellweger character - that would have worked much better.

[JL21]

I watched The Wolf Man re-make over the weekend.

It was the film equivalent of watching your favorite football team drive the length of the field... and kick a field goal. It's satisfying and disappointing all at once. It could've been much, much better. But, it pays proper homage to the original with Lon Chaney, Jr., as well as a few others in the werewolf genre; it's pretty gory at times; and it's got fantastic atmospherics. It didn't totally take a dump all over the original and that's kind of all I expected out of it.

[omaha_red]

the new world - i watched "the thin red line" years ago and didn't like it, but now
after watching all of malick's movies i think i need to revisit it. "the new world" was
great and it had all of the elements that make his movie his. people walking through
tall grass, tons of slow shots of the clouds, trees and water, very little dialogue even
for a 2+ hour long movie and a brand new huge character being introduced with about
20 minutes left but it all works. great movie. i remember seeing someone had this in
their top movies of the 2000's.. that's why i watched it. not sure where i'd put it but
i'm glad i watched it.

a serious man - the new coen bros. movie. it's most definitely a coen bros movie
but i'm not 100% sure how i felt about it. i gave it 4 stars on netflix but it's one
i'll have to think about for a long time. i can see people loving it or hating it. i'm way more
on the "loving" side for sure but i bet a lot of casual moviegoers will have some
terrible things to say about it.

[haltz]

I had a [expletive] blast at The Wolfman this afternoon, but I thought the entire thing was purposefully tongue-in-cheek. Haven't laughed harder at a film in a while. Reading some reviews, they aren't lauding it as the perfect well-executed big budget B-movie parody that I thought it was, so maybe the filmmakers were serious.

Watched Zombieland last night after some effusive you've-got-to-see-this praise. Entertaining, and worth it for the Bill Murray bit and Woody Harrelson for sure, but that kid is like the Michael Cera I never liked even for a little bit. Just annoying as hell the entire movie.

[Jocephus]

watched "top secret!" last night...can't believe id gone this long without seeing it...i love slapstick comedies (done the right way) and this was hilarious...

[cardsfansince82]

Assassination of a High School President- This movie was surprisingly good if you don't take it very seriously. I expected it to be terrible and was pleasantly surprised. It had a noir feel to it, but was also funnier than most mainstream movies that claim to be comedies these days. The lead actor was very good and Bruce Willis was flat out awesome as the principal. If you can look past the plot problems and the predictability and just enjoy it, this is one of the best movies about high school. I enjoyed it so much that I can't believe how under the radar it is. I don't think it was ever in theaters or received any press, but it's destined to be a cult classic. Also, Mischa Barton's boobs. 8/10

Bronson-Supposedly a very factual representation of the life of Britain's most infamous prisoner. He was originally sentenced to seven years in prison and to this day has served over 35, almost all in solitary confinement. He wanted to be famous for something and his only skill was fighting. So he would fight guards any chance he got and has been convicted of taking several people hostage. During his time he developed an alter ego he called Charles Bronson. The lead actor is absolutely deserving of some sort of recognition for the quality of his work. At times the movie is fantastic, at times it's just really weird (and that doesn't even include the excessive and unnecessary full frontal male nudity). I have no idea how to rate it or if I would recommend it to anyone. Average movie watchers would probably hate it. Movie buffs might want to give it a look because of the quality of the acting.

The Donner Party-Not a bad movie, but didn't really do the real story justice. Sort of felt like I was watching a made for TV version of the story when it could have been so much more. Crispin Glover did well as Mr. Foster, but overall the real story is much more compelling than the movie. The movie wasn't very faithful to the true facts of the story and parts of the movie were unclear or left unexplained. 5/10

Good Hair-The Chris Rock movie about african-american women and their quest to find "good hair". I learned quite a bit and was shocked at how much some of them spend on weaves, etc. It was also really funny. I wish a little less time had been spent on the industry convention and hair competition and more time with interviews/time in the barbershops and salons, but it was still pretty good. 7/10

Shoot First and Pray You Live- A new Western that is billed as "Kill Bill meets the Outlaw Josey Wales!" Apparently that means a Tarantino fanboy/wannabe makes a [expletive] western that fails miserably with horrible acting, dialogue and plot. The only common thread is gratuitous violence, but even that is botched. A homeless man's Christian Bale and his quest for revenge that involves Jim Gaffigan in a serious role. Sounds like a winner to me. 3/10