What Movies Are You Watching?

[Blue Train]

@ the moment we're tentatively going to see a 70mm screening of Vertigo.

[walto]

I enjoyed The Millers at the Wellfleet Drive-in the other night. Crass, but really funny.

[Jazzooo]

I enjoyed The Millers as well. Not a classic, but enjoyable.

Elysium was also decent, not a disappointing followup to District 9 although it didn't quite connect with me the same way.

The World's End, I think, is the most fun I've had at the theater in a while. From Simon Pegg and Nick Frost and some other talented ensemble players, it's the story of an ex-charismatic teen leader who is now a washed up loser, trying to get his old mates to go on a drinking spree to relive their past glory, and also there are alien robots.

[LennyH]

I liked Bernie too.

We watched the first half hour or so of Cloud Atlas. We got tired and went to bed but I can't think of one good reason to pick it up again. I just didn't give a shit.

[steve(thelil)]

I enjoyed The Millers at the Wellfleet Drive-in the other night. Crass, but really funny.

I'm glad to hear that. It seems that any comedy that has problems as a movie gets awful reviews - even if it's really funny. I get scared off by reviews too often from films I think I want to see. It seems that reviewers won't actually tell you whether an overly formalistic, crass or silly movie IS FUNNY. They just won't acknowledge that if you laugh your ass off at something you don't give a damn whether it's impressive from a filmmaking point of view.

[steve(thelil)]

Bernie

Fantastic movie. Not being a huge Jack Black fan I went into it low expectations. Needless to say I gained a whole new level of appreciation for Black. He really knocked that one out of the park. Not truly the one man force Edward Norton was in American History X, but pretty close.

If you haven't watched it, you need to.

Totally agree. It just wasn't what one thinks of as a "Jack Black movie." Extremely well done.

[steve(thelil)]

Saw 2 films in theaters recently that I really enjoyed.

Prince Avalanche: A small arty film involving the relationship between a 17 year old and 30-something working together to paint lines on an isolated Texas highway. Paul Rudd was practically unrecognizable as the lead. And excellent.

The Way Way Way Back. Another film with a big comedy leading man playing against type. In this coming of age flick, Steve Carrell plays a schmuck who's shacking with up a 14 year old kid's mother, and bringing grief and tension to a family vacation. The kid finally finds some joy and acceptance at a tacky watermark where Sam Rockwell plays basically the Bill Murray character from Meatballs (winningly) as the authority/goofball figure. Similarly,Liam James' performance recalls the lead kid who played Rudy in Meatballs. In many ways, this film was a grittier and darker version of Meatballs. The water park scenes were light and quite funny much like Meatballs' summer camp vibe. But, unlike in Meatballs, you got to see the rough part of the coming of age kid's life and understood on a deeper level why he was in his shell.

[Monte Smith]

Bernie

Fantastic movie. Not being a huge Jack Black fan I went into it low expectations. Needless to say I gained a whole new level of appreciation for Black. He really knocked that one out of the park. Not truly the one man force Edward Norton was in American History X, but pretty close.

If you haven't watched it, you need to.

Weekend at Bernie's remains a powerful evocation of our tenuous situation in the universe and pulsates with the notion, in a demeaned and mistaken form, of the immortality of man. American actor Terry Kiser owns the picture, obviously, with his confident and even understated artistry in the titular role. I never saw Weekend at Bernie's 2 or this new Jack Black iteration, but if you say it's good then it goes on my list.

I watched The World's End, good, and Life of Pi recently. The latter was a great feast for young minds. The young 'uns loved it.

[mjb]

We saw 20 Feet From Stardom

Essentially a very good / fun / melancholy documentary about backup singers in pop and rock. A lot of very good music.

Most telling line, for me, was from Mick Jagger: “Singing ‘oohs and aahs’, it’s kind of fun for a minute, but I’m not sure I’d like to do it for a living.”

[moldyfigg]

I watched the complete "Birth of a Nation" the other day. Everything that has been said about it rings true.

[Jazzooo]

I had a couple of hours to kill so I saw the supposedly comedic flick The Heat, a female buddy/cop picture with Sandra Bullock and the obese woman from Bridesmaids. Just despicable.

[Jazzooo]

She now looks a bit like a plastic version of her old self, sad to say.

[moldyfigg]

I had a couple of hours to kill so I saw the supposedly comedic flick The Heat, a female buddy/cop picture with Sandra Bullock and the obese woman from Bridesmaids. Just despicable.

A much better "Heat" was with DeNiro and Pacino

[moldyfigg]

The KKK movie?

Yep, quite a warped piece of history from a century ago.

[walto]

Seen about half of Lincoln. Very well done...but I'm not sure if I'll watch the rest or not. On the advice of the gang here, I watched Bernie. Got a little bored with that too, though. I guess I have a short attention span.

Also, I liked Heat more than moldy. Not a lot, but some. Melissa M. makes the first half pretty good, after which it turns entirely into a bad cop show (with a decent post-credits coda). Nobody could possibly care what happens or why. Bullock looks uncomfortable throughout, but it's not entirely her fault. The writers really didn't have a sense what she was supposed to be like, other than a foil for McCarthy. Her character makes no sense. Also, she can't improvise, and they threw her in with a bunch of stand-ups and told her to try to be funny. She's really terrible in this in almost every scene.

[LennyH]

I had absolutely no enthusiasm to see Lincoln but didn't have any better ideas so we watched it. I liked it quite a bit. DDL is a freak.

[steve(thelil)]

She (Sandra Bullock) now looks a bit like a plastic version of her old self, sad to say.

I used to think she looked like what Michael Jackson was trying to look like.

[Monte Smith]

Strange Cargo, 1940. Clarke Gable, Joan Crawford, Peter Lorre, and Ian Hunter as the Lord of All Creation. Several convicts, one lady, and God escape from a French penal colony. Excellent film, one year out from MGM's miracle year of 1939 but belonging very much with those pictures. Four Montes.

[Jazzooo]

I saw the second of the summer While House Down picture, with Channing Tatum and a great cast. Surprisingly, it was a fun popcorn movie. I wish it had been a tad funnier, but it definitely made me laugh (on purpose) a few times. Just an improbable (actually impossible) summer movie scenario, but a good enough time.

[stonemonkts]

The Master, and Django Unchained

I enjoyed The Master for the great acting by the two leads, whom are both among my favorite American actors. I also really liked Johnny Greenwood's score (as good as the work he did on There Will Be Blood).

Django was entertaining, especially Sam Jackson's over the top character. But seriously, is it just me that finds Tarantino's treatment of black people a little (or a lot) wrong? Many of his movies contain a certain casual dismissive treatment of black characters, but this time it was ridiculous. I'm not sure why or how he gets a pass, but in my gut I know something is wrong here. I haven't thought it through enough to be more articulate about it.

[mjb]

Just back from a TIFF showing of A Field in England. Director Ben Wheatley was there for a Q&A ... seems like a first rate bloke. I enjoyed Down Terrace and Kill List and will now hunt down Sightseers.

[Monte Smith]

This was an interesting picture dealing with corruption versus people power that asks "What is the meaning of Gandhian political values in the new, rising India?" It stars Bollywood giant (and sometime political figure) Amitabh Bachchan, who I see every damn day in commercials on this cricket channel I have been watching ("Get your bank deposits to India within four hours with Xoom.com"). Like all Bollywood pictures it was long, but I enjoyed it. You have to like a film where the hero's hunger strike is interrupted by a musical number.

[LennyH]

The Master, and Django Unchained
But seriously, is it just me that finds Tarantino's treatment of black people a little (or a lot) wrong?

I love Pulp Fiction but even after all these years I can't past QT's use of the N word, meaning the use by his character in the film (well, for that matter, I can't past his acting either).

[walto]

I enjoyed Life of Pi quite a bit. Very moving. Pretty too.

[sozamora]

Speaking of which, even though I'm an old school Stephen King fan and usually adverse to remakes, I have to admit the trailer for the new Carrie actually looks very intriguing.

I just saw the commercial this weekend. I don't know. Ms Moretz is talented, but she seems too pretty for the title role. It's hard to imagine her as a high school outcast. Julianne Moore is always great, though. I'll withhold judgement until it's on Netflix next year.