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Everyone must see Tyler Perry's Temptations: Confessions of a Marriage Counselor. It is without a doubt the craziest movie ever. I rented it, for free, because the Linoleum Knife podcast dissected it in such detail that I had to see it. It truly lives up to the alternate title Dave White, the Movies.com critic, gave it: Tyler Perry's Girl: You've Got Some AIDS BANANAS!

Ha, my mom's neighbor gave her a bootleg of Temptation: Confessions of a Marriage Counselor right after it was released, which was weird, because he never does that sort of thing. She refused to watch it on principle but I kind of wanted to see it because I'd seen the articles written about it being horribly offensive and awful. I do want to see the terribleness of Kim Kardashian's acting in full.

I had my reservations about Robot and Frank based on the premise (a former cat burglar in the early stages of Alzheimer's gets a helper robot) but it turned out to be pretty cute. There was a subplot that felt unfinished, like there had been more to it that got edited out, but overall I enjoyed it.

A year behind the times, I watched Cabin In the Woods. As promised, by basically everybody, it was awwwwesome.

I just finished Skyfall and it was boring as shit. I wouldn't have bothered finishing it if I wasn't surfing the internet at the same time. Also, I have a hard time taking Daniel Craig seriously because he's constantly making that stupid Blue Steel face.

Ohhh, I will join you on that unpopular opinion. I mean, I do love Daniel Craig as Bond, but I thought Skyfall was mediocre, and the second half was waaaay too drawn out, so by the time the big [spoiler, etc.] happened, I didn't care anymore. I was baffled by everyone going nuts over it.

I'm planning on watching One Day tonight. Don't have big expectations, so please don't disappoint me, thanks.

I finally watched Shopgirl & I liked it a lot! I don't like Jason Sch. but i liked his character. it was sweet how the yoga tapes changed him. i also liked that there was non-drama that created a comic moment. In another movie, it would have been a bigger element. It was so nice to see Mirabelle move on so happily & confident.

What I love the most is the musical score composed by the singular Barrington Pheluong (from inspector Morse & Endeavour fame). It must be b/c I love Endeavour but the score was very, very similar -it was romantic & uplifting w/a melancholic note.

I watched Stoker and Life of Pi this weekend, two very visually striking movies.

I loved Stoker. It was sensuous beyond just the visual and I was able to overlook flaws/questions and suspend some of my disbelief because I was just so mesmerized with the way it was filmed. Mia Wasikowska's character is super aware of her senses so they amplify certain sounds or zoom in on objects and it was very pleasing to watch and listen to. Matthew Goode is also very pleasing to watch and listen to, which, hellooo, Matthew Goode. How did I not know about you before?

Weirdly, I thought the visual beauty of Life of Pi didn't distract as much from its shortcomings. It was definitely a movie I wished I'd seen in the theater and probably would have had a different initial reaction to (although I was watching it on a 3D TV which was an interesting experience). Pi kept saying we'd believe in God by the end but I definitely didn't feel like there was anything particularly revelatory about this story of survival.

I also think I might be tired of the flashback/storyteller thing. I didn't read the book, so I'm guessing this was the best way to convey Pi's thoughts since he's alone the whole time but, I don't know, I guess the time-jumping and random-listener is kind of jarring for me. I do want to read the book now though; I wanted to hear in more detail about the things they encountered.

puddingcup wrote:Ohhh, I will join you on that unpopular opinion. I mean, I do love Daniel Craig as Bond, but I thought Skyfall was mediocre, and the second half was waaaay too drawn out, so by the time the big [spoiler, etc.] happened, I didn't care anymore. I was baffled by everyone going nuts over it.

It was all right, but nothing spectacular.

One thing that struck me was how... perfunctory and removable the "Bad Girl Bond Girl" subplot was. It was almost like, "Yeah, yeah, you expect us to do this, so here it is, now we're moving on."

Mud is excellent and I highly recommend it.

Thanks, inversed, I will bump Mud up in my queue.

Dropping this link here for convenient future reference.  Anyone have thoughts/opinions on any of these-?  I mean, Toys, really?
Refinery 29's Hidden Netflix Gems

My first thought was how can The Pianist be a hidden gem? It won a bunch of Oscars, it's not exactly flying under the radar.

I haven't actually seen too many of those titles (I keep meaning to watch Top of the Lake). But I have watched King of Kong, a documentary about two guys battling it out for the champion Donkey Kong title. It was really fascinating.

themis wrote:Thanks, inversed, I will bump Mud up in my queue.

Dropping this link here for convenient future reference.  Anyone have thoughts/opinions on any of these-?  I mean, Toys, really?
Refinery 29's Hidden Netflix Gems

Ugh. I lost movie choosing privileges for a long time over Toys.

I brought Mud home from the library last weekend but haven't had a chance yet to watch it. I'm glad it comes so highly recommended, inversed!

I also tried Oz but didn't finish it. It just didn't hold my interest, even with the special effects and visuals. When the annoying flying monkey entered the picture, I was like, "Check, please!" Plus I found James Franco to be more irritating than usual in it. If that's even possible at this point.

I did like Admission, though -- a lot, in fact! It was funny and (I thought) well-written, especially Tina Fey's character. And it was nice to see Lily Tomlin in a role again, playing Tina's mother. She's just a gem.

As for the list, I've seen:
King of Kong -- I saw it a while ago but I do remember it was really good. I think it was a documentary about players trying to get the highest score in Donkey Kong. It really kept my interest, as I recall.
Pillow Talk -- I think this was the one where Doris Day and Rock Hudson play feuding neighbors who share a party line (in the old days, people shared phone lines with their neighbors). He pretends to be a rancher from Texas after he meets her because he's actually a playboy who's interested in dating her but doesn't want her to know he's her dreaded neighbor. It's interesting because at one point over the phone he implies that the rancher could be gay, and then he puts on an act as the rancher that makes her question whether he might be or not. Given Hudson's sexuality, it's a bit ironic, to say the least! I haven't seen it in years, but it was my aunt's favorite movie, and I would think it would be extremely dated at this point.
Call the Midwife -- JUST saw this a few weeks ago, and I'd highly recommend it! It's about a nurse/midwife who goes to work in a kind of tenement in the 1950's. It's excellent, both well-acted and well-written.

That's it for me, though. I haven't seen any of the rest of them that I can recall.

I enjoyed Ira & Abby. The premise was kind of silly, but great cast: Chris Messina, Fred Willard, Judith Light, small role by Jon Hamm, a bunch of fun cameos. Parts of Mind of a Chef were interesting, especially if you like Japanese food.

Not gonna lie, I love Toys. There's just something endearing about its absurdity. It's somehow both totally a product of the 90s and not of any decade at all. Plus the soundtrack is awesome. ("Closing of the Year" is one of my favorite Christmas songs!)

I've seen a few of the others on that list. Fat, Sick, and Nearly Dead is pretty much an hour-long ad for a juicer. But now I own one, so I guess it's effective. I found Mind of a Chef pretty pretentious.

inversed wrote:Not gonna lie, I love Toys. There's just something endearing about its absurdity. It's somehow both totally a product of the 90s and not of any decade at all. Plus the soundtrack is awesome. ("Closing of the Year" is one of my favorite Christmas songs!)

Seconded. That soundtrack is amazing. I especially love the Thomas Dolby number that Leslie and Alsatia sing during their Mission: Impossible break-in.

It was the first movie I remember seeing Michael Gambon in and to this day, even when he's Albus Dumbledore, I picture him sitting in a field around a conference table with a bunch of Army brass in their skivvies.

And I love how LL Cool J plays his son and the race thing isn't mentioned at all. It really puzzled me the first few times I saw it, then my dad suggested that it was just one more level of the camouflage he's always pulling off. I like that.

War Horse is pretty much sucking in a totally wholesome, Spielberg, family movie kind of way. I didn't have high hopes anyway, since the trailer with it's "I will find you!" line had me rolling on the floor every single time it aired.

laddical wrote:

inversed wrote:Not gonna lie, I love Toys. There's just something endearing about its absurdity. It's somehow both totally a product of the 90s and not of any decade at all. Plus the soundtrack is awesome. ("Closing of the Year" is one of my favorite Christmas songs!)

Seconded. That soundtrack is amazing. I especially love the Thomas Dolby number that Leslie and Alsatia sing during their Mission: Impossible break-in.

Thirded, for the movie and soundtrack. Was just listening to it the other day, in fact, and both the above-mentioned tracks are favourites.

If you like your movies creepy, with gorgeous cinematography, sound, and art decoration you must check out Stoker.  Mia Wasikowska and Matthew Goode bring the creepy and India and Uncle Charlie Stoker, and Nicole Kidman is really good as the mom.  The film doesn't have a lot in the way of dialogue, but it's got incredible visual storytelling.  And I know it's totally messed up but I dug the twisted romance.  Maybe that's because Matthew Goode is just ridiculously good looking. But seriously, he and Mia just had CRAZY chemistry together.

naughty zoot wrote:War Horse is pretty much sucking in a totally wholesome, Spielberg, family movie kind of way. I didn't have high hopes anyway, since the trailer with it's "I will find you!" line had me rolling on the floor every single time it aired.

I never really wanted to see that movie, but I just had to say that I loved this review. Peace Pony is the name of my goth industrial band.

The celebrities thread reminded me of this - I decided to watch Sleepy Hollow on a whim and I realized I had never realized I never watched the commentary track before; either Tim Burton sucks at commentaries or he didn't really know what he was talking about, because he kept saying "this person is channeling a silent movie" or this is "Hammer (film) like" over and over. That movie doesn't really make any sense and is not really as compelling once you know the mystery but I have a soft spot for it.

Cutebutpsycho wrote:

naughty zoot wrote:War Horse is pretty much sucking in a totally wholesome, Spielberg, family movie kind of way. I didn't have high hopes anyway, since the trailer with it's "I will find you!" line had me rolling on the floor every single time it aired.

I never really wanted to see that movie, but I just had to say that I loved this review. Peace Pony is the name of my goth industrial band.

I saw that with three other women who boarded their horses at the same barn as mine, and we were complete wrecks by the end. I actually burst into tears the moment "The Somme" appeared as a caption on the screen, because shit. And the bit when the horse panics and bolts and you can see his brain shut down so the only thing he's thinking is runrunrun--it was a surprisingly faithful rendering of Complete Panic Leads To Epic Wreck, and all four of us just about had to leave the theatre.

And then the blondest of us went back to work with her eyes all red like a white bunny rabbit, and the rest of us went to the barn and fed treats to our mares until we were calm enough to drive ourselves home.

So yeah--totally different reaction over here. But it might help if you (a) weep at the mention of WW I and (b) also own horses!

Coneycat wrote:

Cutebutpsycho wrote:

naughty zoot wrote:War Horse is pretty much sucking in a totally wholesome, Spielberg, family movie kind of way. I didn't have high hopes anyway, since the trailer with it's "I will find you!" line had me rolling on the floor every single time it aired.

I never really wanted to see that movie, but I just had to say that I loved this review. Peace Pony is the name of my goth industrial band.

I saw that with three other women who boarded their horses at the same barn as mine, and we were complete wrecks by the end. I actually burst into tears the moment "The Somme" appeared as a caption on the screen, because shit. And the bit when the horse panics and bolts and you can see his brain shut down so the only thing he's thinking is runrunrun--it was a surprisingly faithful rendering of Complete Panic Leads To Epic Wreck, and all four of us just about had to leave the theatre.

And then the blondest of us went back to work with her eyes all red like a white bunny rabbit, and the rest of us went to the barn and fed treats to our mares until we were calm enough to drive ourselves home.

So yeah--totally different reaction over here. But it might help if you (a) weep at the mention of WW I and (b) also own horses!

I don't even own horses, and I couldn't even watch the damn TRAILER for that film without getting upset. So, needless to say, there will be no watching the film at my house.

I haven't owned a horse since I was a teenager, but that scene where Joey panics on the battlefield was brutal. I'm getting shivers and tearing up just remembering it. War Horse is basically a retelling of Black Beauty, set during WWI, with some amazing cinematography. It wasn't my favorite movie of the year, but I enjoyed it - but I think seeing it on a big screen helped.