What movies have you seen recently?

[Dr Neo Lao]

I had a look through the first 17 pages of the OT forum but didn't find any threads about recently watched movies. I figure that if there was an old one, it was better to start a new one rather than resurrect an old one.

Basically, I thought it might be good to have some reviews of films you've recently seen and if you would recommend the film or not.

The Mist

When I saw the trailers for this film, I wasn't expecting much. I later found out that it was based on a novel by Stephen King, which should tell you a lot right there.

Having recently had a chance to watch the film, I have to confess that it was a lot more enjoyable than I thought it would be. The first three quarters are a reasonably good psychological study in what happens when you lock a bunch of people in a room and scare them silly.

The whole "there's something in the mist!" element is quite the far-fetched fantasy but it maintains its internal consistency and and it's fairly easy to suspend your disbelief as you watch the film. As I said, the first three quarters are quite engaging, and you see that the people have a lot more to fear from each other than they do from the something in the mist.

The ending, while depressing and quite "horrible", is still internally consistent with the rest of the film. Although we, as the audience, would have liked a "happier" ending, it does round the film off. One is left thinking "what would I have done" or more accurately, "what would I have done differently" if we had been in that situation.

The main things that I didn't like about the film are that there were a few moments where some simple actions that most people would do would have altered the course of the film dramatically. However, it also shows that the film was based on a book.

Would I recommend this film? Yes, if you have nothing better to watch. A good way to make it better would be to watch it with a group of friends and see who can pick which of the characters make it alive to the end of the film.

[TheSuburbanLetdown]

I saw Forbidden Kingdom. It's kinda fun, but not very good. Watch it with a group of friends and make sure you don't have to pay for the ticket. But the Monkey King rocks pretty hard.

[Killbert-Robby]

The Mist was actually a very good short story, one of King's best. Haven't seen the film, but I heard it doesnt do the text justice.
Ironically, now I'm in film school, I watch films less and less and less. Just feels like goddam extra work

Oh wait! I actually saw The Prestiege yesteday. Except people were all "You'll NEVAR guess wut happens lol". The second I saw that scene with the cats and the hats, everything just clicked into place, and I patiently waited through half the movie too see if I was right (I was )

*But*, nonetheless, it was a very enjoyable movie. I had a good time watching it.

[Ti-Phil]

Last movie seen :

Dans une galaxie près de chez vous 2

Synopsis : In the year 2034, the earth is dying under the rays of the sun. The ozone layer was destroyed by the car's carbonic gasses, chimical industries and spray cans. We need to find a new planet to move 6 billions idiots...no 5... actually, there are only 4 billions left. The world turns toward the first world power, the Canada. It is their knowledge that allowed the 28 october 2034 to send the Romano Fafard to search throught the far reaches of space, where mankind's hand never set foot.

Based on the TV series of the same name, it is closer to their roots than the first movies and it starts simply by their last probe hitting a deer in space and the group trying to find it, as well as, maybe, a home for humanity. It still has all the characters from the serie :
Charles Patenaude the captain who hasn't slept once since the beginning of the MISSION (look upward toward the corner of the room when you say this) whose knowledge of proverbs are.... satisfactory.
Valence Leclerc, the ship's mental specialist whose's Charles' lover and whose talent is rather underestimated by the whole crew.
Favier Bouchard, the radar boy who is half alien, this allow him superior hearing, sight and can resist destructo..destructri...drostruc....killing rays.
Bob Dieudonné Marcellin, the ship's pilot and Flavier's best friend. Despite his low intelligence he is the best at what he does, which is driving and eating. He is rather unlucky with women and his parents are still alive on earth.
Pétrolia, a girl found on a russian deep space station, she quickly became the ship's mecanician and doctor... unfortunately. She seems worried and jealous that Flavier, her boyfriend, is half alien and that's she's juste a normal earth girl.
Serge 18, Petrolia's robot who became the security personel of the ship, he has a bad tendency of dying, hence the number 18. The Captain seems unable to call him by his name.
And finally but not the least, Brad Spitfire, the scientific on board... he's mean, vile, backstabbing, scaredy cat, hateful and the ship's punching bag. The ship's "cell" has been renamed "Brad's secondary house" because he spends so much time there. Will he finally find a friend in this universe?

You do not need to know the serie to enjoy the film but it is always a plus.

[Yeahduff]

The only recent films I've seen.... recently.... are Juno and Persepolis. Both excellent.

Otherwise I've been catching up on stuff I should've seen years ago. Last two were Citizen Kane And The Opposite of Sex. The first being the highly influential and visually stunning Orson Welles classic, The second being a complex wiity piece of pulp starring the visually stunning Christina Ricci. The latter is a bit dated, as it came out at a time when it was like "OMG, GAY PEOPLE!!!" but the dialogue crackles, and at its best feels like The Last Seduction (straight up classic, by the way).

I might watch Annie Hall tonight.

[Guildmaster Van]

Last movie seen :
Dans une galaxie près de chez vous 2

Brad est metal \m/

[Killbert-Robby]

Juno's been confusing, haven't made up my mind if I wanna see it or not. Those who like it rave about how its the best movie ever. Those who don't say its the worst of the worst. Its the Marmite of the movie world.

[Yeahduff]

The controversy over it is so weird. If you can accept the 16-year-olds might not be as sharp as the ones in this movie, and that teenage pregnancy isn't all that rosy, you shouldn't have much problem enjoying it (if you like movies involving girls talking about stuff).

[Laemkral]

Harold and Kumar 2, aka Harold and Kumar Escape From Guantanamo Bay.

Overall, it was okay. I saw a matinee cause I knew I wasn't gonna pay full price for this sucker, and it really isn't as good as the first one but that's the trouble with a sequel, has the hype to live up to. I think they did a wonderful job of referencing the first movie while making sure this was its own thing. The progression of events is pretty similar to #1, and the jokes aren't quite as clever in my opinion. That being said, there are some really funny moments, there's a ton more swearing, a ton more nudity, and even more NPH goodness.

The end scene kinda left me ticked because it just felt...off. Didn't seem to match the rest of the movie or just wasn't funny enough or something. I may leave this movie unbought because I don't think it's got the replayability of #1.

[Boozeathon4billion]

I hit up Forgetting Sarah Marshall last week and it was pretty good. It's like a romantic comedy which was written for dudes instead of chicks. My g/f really liked it though... it just wasn't a pain for me to sit through like most chick flicks end up being.

[Killbert-Robby]

A rom/com for GUYS? I may just have to fucking see that.

[Jkandra]

Saw Juno several months ago. Very good. Saw Forgetting Sarah Marshall this past Friday. Not a great film but a lot of fun. We may have been biased in our opinion since it's set in Hawaii (we have relatives there and love to visit), we didn't have the kids for a couple days and were just a "couple" again, and it's been so long since we went to the movies with any frequency that our standards must have slipped. I did notice that the full frontal nudity in the flick was MALE frontal nudity.

[Yeahduff]

Judd Apatow's other fare is romantic comedy for dudes. Check 40-Year-Old Virgiin, Knocked Up, and to a lesser extent, Superbad. Of course, most Adam Sandler movies can fit in this category, they just all suck.

Anyway, I kinda wanna see Sarah Marshall, but it's mostly because Veronica Mars is the title character.

[Killbert-Robby]

Oooh, suddenly I remember I Am Legend. Anyone read the book? Amazing stuff, actually tries to give you the science behind vampirism, like WWZ and The Zombie Survival Guide did for zombies. The movie was actually alright (bear with me here) I mean... the first 30 minutes? Besides the deer chase, I thought it was great. The whole "How does the last human in a city live" sorta thing. And then he's cuddled up with the dog and you hear them outside? But cant see them? Worked *great*
But then...
... then they had to SHOW you the vampires.
Now, of course turning into bats bla bla bla could use CGI.... but wait.... these are just pale human beings. So why not... use make up... and... you know... have em look real instead of...
crap...
It just *really* ruined the movie for me.

[McDuffies]

Oh wait! I actually saw The Prestiege yesteday. Except people were all "You'll NEVAR guess wut happens lol". The second I saw that scene with the cats and the hats, everything just clicked into place, and I patiently waited through half the movie too see if I was right (I was )

*But*, nonetheless, it was a very enjoyable movie. I had a good time watching it.

I liked "Prestige". I'm not a big fan of other Nolan's works, I could never see why people find "Memento" so complicated for one.
I think "Prestige" is wrongfully made into a thriller with a token twist ending. I think that, being basically a film about magic and magicians, it intentionally makes ending seem like when a magician tells how he does his trick - you're bound to be dissapointed a bit because those tricks are always very simple and overly efficient, and ending does that perfectly. In a way it's a film that thells that behind magic, there's no real magic.

I might watch Annie Hall tonight.

I've been introducing my girlfriend (at her request) to the wonderful opus of Woody Allen, so I re-watched "Bullets over Broadway", which I think is one of his by far most complex and most unpredictable films, plus a meditation on what differs a real artist from scriboman.
Funny though, she got interested in Allen when watching his part of the "New Yourk stories" omnibus, which I think was one of the least good pieces by him... kind of generic Woody Allen if anyone can imagine that.
I was never so amazed by "Annie Hall" because I've watched it after "Manhattan" and many other films in which Allen expanded the same basic formula. I can see how Annie Hall was amazing and inovative in it's time, but nowadays it seems like just a step up for Allen's creative development.

I've seen "No land for the old man", it's ok film but it's not nearly as great as "Barton Fink", "Fargo" or "The man who wasn't there". What I like about Coens is that they always try to make different films, poke different genres, but always keep their basic violent and absurdist style, and in this film shey seem to have tried to make an epic film, with it's wide screen, long shots of which many are silent and very stoic, and themes are all-American, what with all the talk of American history of violence, film fits into that trend fairly. I guess it's good if you can stomach it, but it isn't the best, unless you have a very conventional taste.

[Yeahduff]

Watching Woody Allen makes me wanna make something. I guess while it's going by I can imagine him at the typewriter putting it all together. I haven't seen nearly enough of his stuff, but Sweet and Lowdown is my favorite so far.

I guess No Country For Old Men was a throwback to when the Coen's were doing stuff like Blood Simple, the straightforward, violent, amoral stuff. I still haven't seen it, but I aim to.

Memento wasn't that complicated, but I liked it. A good gimmick that I felt ultimately served a deeper purpose. Also like Insomnia. The Illusionist turned me off from bothering with The Prestige.

[Phact0rri]

watched Henry and June, Die Hard 4.0, and The Prestige as well actually.

Henry and June, was a well photographed film, adapted from the Anais Nin Novel of the same name. It tells the story of Nin and her love affair with Henry Miller. I actually didn't think I'd like it going in, but it turned out to be quite stunning. Oh and Kevin Spacey is soooo young in it.

Die Hard 4.0... it has action... bruce willis gets all bloody... your usual fair, no complaints

The Prestige... there is nothing that hasn't been said. I enjoyed the lighting, and prop design more than the actual movie... and the movie was great... if that tells you anything.

I liked "Prestige". I'm not a big fan of other Nolan's works, I could never see why people find "Memento" so complicated for one.

I love Nolan actually. Memento I adored, not because its overly complicated... but the way in which it fitst together. I always thought Insomnia was more complicated than memento.

[Tim]

Man, I haven't seen any movies in a while, aside from flipping through whatever's on cable.

Though I'm damn well going to see Iron Man next week.

[Dr Neo Lao]

I'm loving the new trailer for Wall*E - have a look on the Apple trailers site if you haven't seen it yet.

Ghost Rider
Summary: A stuntman sells his soul to the Devil, cops a raw deal and ends up as a burning-skull'ed motorcycle rider hooked on jelly beans.

Thoughts: If you want to watch this movie, you need to watch it for the right reasons. Firstly, it has some really good special effects. Don't watch a downloaded version, borrow a DVD from somewhere. Second, this is one of those films that you park your brain at the door in order to watch. Keep an eye out for when Johnny Blaze (Nicolas Cage) stacks it on the motorcycle. You'll be wincing in pain.

It's a comic book to movie conversion (astonishingly, I didn't see a Stan Lee cameo), so it's not great literature. But it does provide 90 minutes of enjoyment. The movie does have it's limitations and "what the hell?" moments, but it is worth the time to watch it since it's a rounded story with a (more or less) happy ending with some resolution. If you have seen it, I strongly recommend reading this much better review on Head Injury Theatre. Even if you have no intention of watching the film, you'll probably enjoy the review anyway.

Recommendation: If you enjoy simple, no-brain entertainment you'll like this film, but try and avoid paying money for the privilege.

[TheSuburbanLetdown]

"No Country for Old Men" was good, but I like some other Coen brothers movies better. I was surprised by how straight-forward it was because Coen Brothers movies can get complicated and weird.

Oooh, suddenly I remember I Am Legend. Anyone read the book? Amazing stuff, actually tries to give you the science behind vampirism, like WWZ and The Zombie Survival Guide did for zombies. The movie was actually alright (bear with me here) I mean... the first 30 minutes? Besides the deer chase, I thought it was great. The whole "How does the last human in a city live" sorta thing. And then he's cuddled up with the dog and you hear them outside? But cant see them? Worked *great*
But then...
... then they had to SHOW you the vampires.
Now, of course turning into bats bla bla bla could use CGI.... but wait.... these are just pale human beings. So why not... use make up... and... you know... have em look real instead of...
crap...
It just *really* ruined the movie for me.

I loved the first half of "I Am Legend." I won't talk about the second half because it'll ruin it.