Movies at Home

laurelin_kit wrote:

Auroura76 wrote:

killershrew wrote:We were on a roll this weekend, because last night we watched The Prestige. I really like Christopher Nolan's other films, and this was no exception. I was really glad that at the end they explained

Spoiler:

Did they, though? Wasn't there some big discussion about how we, the audience, is hoodwinked by the whole story? It's been a while since I've seen it, so forgive me, but I remember reading a really interesting post somewhere that posited the entire movie was a "prestige" on us. I'll see if I can find it.

Spoiler:

I was okay with all of this because as long as they explained it SOMEHOW, that was all I wanted.

mokey75 wrote:I am a terrible person, because I laugh SO HARD at that scene in the salon where Julia Roberts has the fit. "Drink your juice, Shelby" never fails to give me the giggles.

It's always OK to laugh at Julia Roberts. Always.

We watched Crazy, Stupid, Love last night and it was really good. Steve Carrell swings perfectly from comedic to emotional in a heartbeat. I'm sort of glad there was an even balance between the single guy out on the town and the recently separated couple interactions, and I'm glad Jacob didn't go through the whole "I'm a player, but now I'm in love, so I'm going to become a total committment-phobe" thing. The whole film was just great.

Confederate States of America. It's a mockumentary about the South winning the American Civil War, and taking control of the whole of America, covering up to the present day. Creepy as hell, and I suspect that was the point.

Part of me wants to criticise the history, but part of me realises that the attention to true historic detail wasn't really the point.

The makers really stretched the idea of foreign assistence was close to happening, but plenty of CSA apologists make it seem like the south "was this close to winning". Of course it wasn't really the point and more it was to examine the consequences of how the war would have turned out as nostalgists would have wanted it. Even though it was a satire and okay to laugh I still felt guilty about doing so.

Is it wrong for a grown man to tear up at Dr. Zhivago? Because I totally didn't do that.

Beginners was a very sweet, sensitive little movie with some really nice performances - including Arthur, the Jack Russell terrier (who runs a close second to Uggie from The Artist as best canine in a film this year).

I finally saw Midnight in Paris and I liked it but it was a pretty slight movie and suffered from just ending like Allen got bored and decided to stop making a movie. Owen Wilson was a pretty good Woody Allen stand in and Marion Cotillard got to wear some beautiful 1920s costumes. I also really liked this portrayal of Hemingway, speaking in nothing but the most dramatic language and generally being exactly how you'd imagine him. I just feel like it needed just a little bit more to really be complete.

I watched Cedar Rapids last night, and ultimately decided that I liked it, despite all the embarassment squick. (I hate embarassment squick). John C. Reilly is a national treasure. So is Stephen Root.

can someone tell me what the hell [The Road] was about?

I love me some bleak, depressing shit, but I had to take a 12 hour break from that movie when

Spoiler:

And I read the book, so I knew what was going to happen.

I'd argue that the movie/book resonates on different levels with different people--environmentalists, say, vs. sociologists--but to me it was a study of moral relativism. The boy wants to be good guys, and the father just wants his kid to live. My mother liked it as a post-apocalyptic fairy tale.

Personally, I can't read or see it again. It's just too depressing, even for me.

Gilda, are you decent?

Yes, I'm... decent.


And with that I fell in love with Rita Hayworth. How have I not seen Gilda before?

Why did no one say that Warrior was such a good movie? More than just an underdog sports movie. And I cried so many tears at the final scene.

Midnight in Paris was so charming! I wish Inez and her family weren't such over-the-top horrible people, just to make them more interesting. But now I want to go to Paris so bad!!

Inez was horrible.

Also, HOT.

inversed wrote:Midnight in Paris was so charming! I wish Inez and her family weren't such over-the-top horrible people, just to make them more interesting. But now I want to go to Paris so bad!!

Yeah, I felt like one ugly American caricature could have been enough and Inez's parents were overkill.

I watched more movies this weekend than I have in a year, thanks to 2 cross-country, baby-free flights. Katesti and I watched that masterpiece of cheese (cheeseterpiece?) Step Up and then I watched Midnight in Paris and What's Your Number on the plane. Number managed the near-impossible of making Boston look like a sunny and gorgeous place to live and naked Chris Evans was excellent, but I would have cut Ally's parents and all her friends except her sister (who was soooo pretty). They were just pointless.

The last one I watched was Sunshine (the one in space, not the one with Ralph Fiennes). Did any of you see it? Because I seriously need to talk about how/where it went off the rails. I actually really liked it--I just felt like it completely lost steam at the end.

Are you talking about the part where they

Spoiler:

It is also a problem for me with the last part of 28 Days Later which I think starts strong and has a weak ending.

The Towering Inferno I saw it my grandparents when I was a kid and it gave me nightmares. As an adult I can enjoy the cheese. A wonderful monument of the garish 70's and it's never bad to see Paul Neuman.

bbridges wrote:Are you talking about the part where they

Spoiler:

It is also a problem for me with the last part of 28 Days Later which I think starts strong and has a weak ending.

YES. THAT. I'd forgotten about the last act of 28 Days Later, but you're right that it was the same problem, where

Spoiler:

Plus, I loved all of the characters except Rose Byrne's wet dishrag and was disappointed that

Spoiler:

Sunshine! Ugh, that movie was SUCH a missed opportunity. I saw it in the theater and was enthralled with the first two thirds of it; the premise was cool and the circumstances were creepy and intriguing. But yeah, it completely went off of the rails

Spoiler:

We watched Crazy, Stupid Love last night, and I liked it a lot. I was glad they kept the obligatory wacky hijinks to, like, 10 minutes. I forgot how much I like Julianne Moore when she isn't attempting a Boston accent, and the kid who played their son practically stole the movie with his report on The Scarlett Letter. (Which was true, btw.) And oh my, Ryan Gosling is hot like fire. I've always thought he was attractive, but oh my. *fans self*

Unstoppable. Oh my, what glorious junk food. So very cliched, and aware of it. I like that it tweaked a few of them. The old guy, three weeks from forced retirement. And he lives. They toyed around a bit with the corporate suits suffering from asshat syndrome, but kept it to a minimum so there really wasn't a human villain here. That actually surprised me. I hadn't ever really seen a trailer for this film, though I remember it coming out in theaters. I had expected there to be some stupid terrorist nonsense. A straight up man-versus-machine story hasn't been done in a while, I think. Not counting stories where the machines are intelligent.

The Guard was not as much of a comedy as the trailer lead us to believe, but it was still pretty entertaining.

I hadn't ever really seen a trailer for this film, though I remember it coming out in theaters. I had expected there to be some stupid terrorist nonsense. A straight up man-versus-machine story hasn't been done in a while, I think. Not counting stories where the machines are intelligent.

That was why I enjoyed Unstoppable too, the fact it was just a complete accident and not anyone deliberately trying to hurt people was almost...refreshing.

Count me as another fan of Unstoppable. I went in expecting nothing more than to look at Chris Pine for ninety minutes and surprised myself by really enjoying the story. Then I had to go read about the real incident that inspired the movie.

mokey75 wrote:We watched Crazy, Stupid Love last night, and I liked it a lot. I was glad they kept the obligatory wacky hijinks to, like, 10 minutes. I forgot how much I like Julianne Moore when she isn't attempting a Boston accent, and the kid who played their son practically stole the movie with his report on The Scarlett Letter. (Which was true, btw.) And oh my, Ryan Gosling is hot like fire. I've always thought he was attractive, but oh my. *fans self*

The man really knows how to wear a suit.

I watched I Love You, Man earlier on, and was mostly disappointed. I liked the premise - how difficult it can be to make friends as an adult - but I just didn't find it funny. Maybe I couldn't warm to Jason Segal's character because he refused to clean up after his dog.

How to Train Your Dragon. Dreamworks's cartoony people are less appealing to me than Pixar's, and the writing was so-so in spots. But those are nitpicks. I LOVED it. The voice acting was great. It had the kind of ending I like the most, where

Spoiler:

It didn't hurt that the main dragon was animated to be basically a giant kittycat. Also all the flying scenes were awesome. I'm disappointed I didn't get around to seeing this in 3-D in the theater.