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Morning Angel wrote:I saw Saving Mr. Banks tonight.  Liked a lot more than I expected to.  Emma Thompson and Tom Hanks were really great as was Colin Ferrell and Paul Giamatti.  Paul Giamatti had a smaller role, but he's such a talented actor, he really can do so much in so little time.  Thoroughly enjoyed it as did the group of people I saw it with.

I saw this on New Year's Eve and was actually really disappointed. I thought Emma Thompson and Tom Hanks were great but I hated most of the flashbacks. The way all of Mrs. Travers' weird quirks could be traced back so neatly to an event from the past, with such obvious explanations, was irritating to me. I know the movie is based on a true story so maybe she really DID have all those things happen and it explained each quirk but I doubt it. Also I couldn't figure out if I hated Colin Farrell's character more or his wife more, which I know was sort of the point but I just didn't enjoy watching it, even if I could tell it was a well-made, well-acted film.

I watched The Wolf of Wall Street on New Year's Day. The movie was entertaining and I was surprised that I didn't feel the length (I thought it was going to be noticeable). While DiCaprio is playing a loathsome, despicable character, the scene with the Italian rescue showed his still youthful face making him look innocent. But I digress. In my primitive brain, I really wanted those men to die. So loathsome, disgusting and aggressive, corrupt people. The contrast with the naive people in the seminar (last scene) puts the wall street type into sharp focus - it takes a different kind of person to succeed in wall street.

Earlier in the week I watched anchorman 2 and found it very funny. Now that one, I did fidget in my seat a few times. But I would watch it again.

I really wanted to see The Wolf of Wall Street, until I saw the bananas running time. That's going to have to wait for a rainy Sunday DVD viewing.

So we saw The Secret Life of Walter Mitty instead, and I was really surprised at how much I liked it. If I wasn't already planning a trip for this summer, I would definitely be planning one now.

I saw The Wolf of Wall Street today and I both loved it, and found it had issues. DiCaprio does give probably his best performance, but only because Marty included everything he committed to film? I didn't feel the over length in the way I did with American Hustle, but it felt far more indulgent and disjointed. Okay it basically boiled down to I have a limit when it comes to Jonah Hill and good GOD did Scorcese go over my limit. I'm sorry I don't think he's not a good actor, but I just can NOT stand him or his constant need to inject gay panic into his characters. I did love Patsy Stone and the secretary at company

Spoiler:

Ha!

I actually think it might have worked better without the comedown. Jordan in perpetuity would work better because it's more truthful three years in country club, where he leveraged his privilege isn't exactly comeuppance, of the wow he's so wizened variety, unless it's he's so wizened he knows how to leverage without committing crimes kind.

Finally saw Frozen with The Glen. Enjoyed it quite a bit, even though I find digital animation to be ugly in general. The ice effects looked really good, it was funny and had some really positive female characters. I wasn't crazy about most of the songs, thought they were pretty forgettable, except for 'Let it Go', which deserves to win best song at the Oscars, IMO. I saw a clear connection between this and other feminist reinterpretations of fairytales, such as Wicked and Enchanted, particularly with the casting of Idina Menzel. It felt like Wicked for babies, which is not to take anything away from it. 'Let it Go' was definitely its 'Defying Gravity'.

though I wish I saw more critical love for Jeremy Renner as well.

You know, I think I was most impressed by him. I mean, I don't know if it's because of the character (Who,

Spoiler:

, that his vulnerability and warmth were so different from a lot of Jeremy Renner's trademark scowl, or that the rest of the cast were playing archetypes we're all rather familiar with, I just felt the most affected in his scenes.

I loved Renner and the way he played Polito too. I was so glad

Spoiler:

I thought the performances were fantastic but I hope it doesn't win Best Picture.

The Wolf of Wall Street is entertaining as hell, because you want to stab every single person on the screen/die of second-hand embarrassment for the entire three hours but are somehow still cringe-laughing at the same time. DiCaprio is great, as usual, and so is Jonah Hill. Jean Dujardin is awesome as a Swiss banker, and I was really impressed by Margot Robbie, who plays his second wife, as well.

We watched The Book Thief on the weekend and it was fine, but I definitely think it was much more engaging and interesting as a book.

FINALLY saw Gravity. Very glad I saw it in 3D. It was great.

I laughed during the credits when two people (two!) were credited for "Greenland casting." Casting for what? There were two damn people in the movie and I don't think either of them came from Greenland.

It was just long enough, too. I cried, but only a little.

Were their any extras when she landed at the end? I haven't seen it. But extras would fall under "casting", and if they shot it in Greenland (though... why?)....

Skyblade wrote:

though I wish I saw more critical love for Jeremy Renner as well.

You know, I think I was most impressed by him. I mean, I don't know if it's because of the character (Who,

Spoiler:

, that his vulnerability and warmth were so different from a lot of Jeremy Renner's trademark scowl, or that the rest of the cast were playing archetypes we're all rather familiar with, I just felt the most affected in his scenes.

I normally don't have any opinion about Renner at all, but I did like him in the role for the reasons cited here. As for the rest of the movie, include me in with those who found it overlong and unfocused. It felt a lot longer than The Wolf Of Wall Street despite being considerably shorter. Also, and this might have been a function of most of the characters feeling like archetypes rather than people, but I wasn't as engaged by the Seventies setting as I expected to be. I remember the Seventies pretty well, and American Hustle felt like elaborate dress-up rather than reality, but I think that was mostly because the characters felt so artificial. Entertaining, but artificial in ways that held me at arms' length.

laddical wrote:Were their any extras when she landed at the end? I haven't seen it. But extras would fall under "casting", and if they shot it in Greenland (though... why?)....

There were no extras. BUT, there was a radio voice at one point, and looking at the credits the character name looks Inuit and the actor name looks Scandinavian, so, that must be it.

I also did not realize until I saw the credits that Ed Harris is "Houston."

Instant Monkeys wrote:

laddical wrote:Were their any extras when she landed at the end? I haven't seen it. But extras would fall under "casting", and if they shot it in Greenland (though... why?)....

There were no extras. BUT, there was a radio voice at one point, and looking at the credits the character name looks Inuit and the actor name looks Scandinavian, so, that must be it.

I also did not realize until I saw the credits that Ed Harris is "Houston."

Yep, the conversation Sandra Bullock sort of has has on the radio was with an Inuit fisherman, who can be seen in the accompanying short:Aningaaq.

OH COOL!! I didn't know that existed. And that certainly explains the Greenland casting credit.

The Wolf of Wall Street is sooooooo bloated. Ugh. There's no way that movie needed to be as long as it was. I actually dozed off for like 10 minutes in the middle, because I was so bored.

mokey75 wrote:The Wolf of Wall Street is sooooooo bloated. Ugh. There's no way that movie needed to be as long as it was. I actually dozed off for like 10 minutes in the middle, because I was so bored.

God, yes. I felt like it was a 3 hour audition tape for Leo, displaying all the human emotions he is capable of acting. Which are many, and he's a highly enjoyable actor. But it was soooo long and rambly. I wanted an editor and a narrator to say "and then this happened" instead of the extraneous hour or so that it wanted me to watch. I even found the nudity and sex boring and tiresome. And I don't really think those 3 hours had any point at all, really, beyond showcasing Leo (and I guess Jonah Hill but I hate him, so).

An hour in, I turned to my husband and said, "how the hell is there still 2 more hours of this?" Apparently, it was because Scorsese is too awesome to be edited, and we needed multiple scenes of the same damn thing happening. Because hey! If snorting coke off a woman once is good, then showing it fifteen more times must be awesome, right?
There's probably a really excellent movie in there somewhere, but I was so tired and annoyed by the end that I just can't seem to find it. Or care.

The Wolf of Wall Street is sooooooo bloated. Ugh. There's no way that movie needed to be as long as it was. I actually dozed off for like 10 minutes in the middle, because I was so bored.

I saw this last night and I mostly enjoyed it, but after about the twentieth drug fuelled sex romp I was my best friend and I were just rolling our eyes at each other. Like, we get it: you're all rich and you do as many drugs as you can and screw as many women as you can because why not? I mean, I know it's based on this guy's memoir, but seriously, Martin, we get it. I really don't think eliminating about 45 minutes of that stuff would have detracted from the story.

I was surprised that Jonah Hill got an Oscar nomination for his role, but now that I've seen it, I think it was deserved. He was pretty great in it.

Did anyone else here see Her?  I'm wondering if feeling massively depressed is not expected, because I think I'm an outlier in that sense.

Plus the damned trousers all the men wore distracted the hell out of me.  Do little old men from Boca run the men's fashion industry in that future timeline?

Loved the Perfect Mom game!

It was an interesting idea, wonderfully acted and beautifully written.  But I felt down for hours afterward.

mrinsouciance wrote:
Plus the damned trousers all the men wore distracted the hell out of me.  Do little old men from Boca run the men's fashion industry in that future timeline?

I actually turned to my husband at one point and asked why everyone looked like they walked off the shuffleboard court at Del Boca Vista.

The LEGO Movie. Go! See! Awesome!

Yeah, seconding the Lego Movie recommendation! It was really funny!

Laddical, did you stay through the credits? There's an "unplugged" version of Everything Is Awesome near the end.

I did! And then immediately downloaded the soundtrack and its six different versions of the same song for the ride home.

This is, as the robot says, "my jam".

We saw Dallas Buyers Club on the weekend and I thought it was really good. Matthew McConaughey and Jared Leto were fantastic and I'm happy they were both nominated for the major awards this season.

I can't deal with The Lego Movie. I seriously muffled my laughter the whole time for fear of sounding crazy in front of my date. The roomful of kids didn't seem half as amused as I was, but that movie was so charming and ultimately very heartfelt. Bad Cop had me squirming with giggles the first 20 minutes or so, and Batman and Vitruvius kept me keeling over the rest of the time. Of course, "Everything Is Awesome" is stuck in my head, which is...awesome!